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Mundo Azul Special Guidelines for Underwater Clean-ups
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(© Ricardo Jimenez / Mundo Azul) |
The following is a list of rules you should consider when participating in an underwater clean-up in order to ensure your own security, to avoid loss of animal life and habitat destruction caused by the activity.
If you are planning an underwater clean-up, require all divers to be certified (minimum open water diver).
Contact local dive stores, dive instructors and/or lifeguards for advice on the dive site if you are not familiar with the location.
Have people available to assist divers in and out of the water.
Evaluate the site prior to the event. If you are doing an underwater cleanup, dive the site a few times to get a feel for the currents and any underwater hazards. Talk to other divers who are familiar with the area.
It may be appropriate to have medical supplies, including oxygen, readily available. For the underwater aspect of your cleanup, PADI-sponsored professional liability insurance provides the event organizer and other responsible parties' coverage as additional insurence. It is highly recommended that the safety coordinator carry professional liability insurance for supervising diving activities.
1. Be cautious
of the environment
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When doing underwater clean-ups, be patient, so your movements are not destructive to the environment. Remember that a slow clean-up which does not harm the environment is preferable to a fast clean-up that can result in damage to marine life. Avoid making contact with sea life. Maintain neutral buoyancy to avoid contact with the sea-floor. Avoid touching the ocean floor with your fins.
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Once at the surface, make a final check for animals you may have accidentally brought in with the trash.
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Rather than dumping your whole bag in the trash at once, examine each piece one more time for marine life. Fill a bucket with water to temporarily hold any organisms.
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Various invertebrates such as bristleworms, which live in debris, have defense mechanisms that may cause harm to humans. When removing these creatures, handle them carefully and wear gloves whenever possible.
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Return all marine life to the water. They are much more likely to survive if divers return them to the bottom near places where they can hide, as opposed to presenting them unprotected to predators by throwing them back.
2. Caution!!
Underwater collectors should only take debris that does not have growth of marine organisms on it or in it.
Some high priority items to remove
are: oil filters and batteries (which leak poison into the water),
disposable diapers, towels and other cloth items that smother marine
growth, and plastics that may cause marine life entrapment.
3. Do not take:
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Any debris that has become part of the underwater environment (has growth on it, algae or barnacles).
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Bottles, cans, etc., whose openings are not encrusted closed (small fish may live there) unless you can see that there is no marine life living inside.
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Nets, which can be dangerous for divers. Inform local marine authorities.
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Large metal containers, which may contain hazardous material. Inform local marine authorities.
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Paint does not dry underwater, be sure to protect yourself as well as your dive gear from exposure.
4. Equipment needed
Have some plastic bags in your jacket or a separate small mesh bag and use them to pack batteries, paint containers, oil filters and other small garbage encountered.
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Oil filters from boat engines. A total of 400 oil filters + 3500 batteries were collected during Mundo Azuls 2004 underwater clean-up in Pucusanas harbour (© Stefan Austermühle / Mundo Azul) |
Be careful to protect yourself from sharp objects. Often, one piece of trash can protect you from another, such as a piece of plastic wrapped around a paint can. Once at the surface, make a final check for animals you may have accidentally brought in with the trash.
5. Guidelines for Collecting Fishing Line
6. Diving participants may want to bring the following items:
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Erizo - completamente enrededado en una linea de pesca. (© Stefan Austermühle / Mundo Azul) |
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Dive supplies (include extra O-rings, mask straps, fin straps, and other accessories that if lost or broken could ruin a dive).
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Mesh bags for collecting debris underwater (bags should be fairly small to avoid accumulating too much weight).
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A piece of plastic pipe or wood to roll fishing line around.
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Dive knife
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Shears or wire cutters (to cut fishing line and hooks).
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Float markers (for items too heavy for one team to move).
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Dive flags and markers
Upcomming events
Back to Contamination initial page
Report
on 2003 Pucusana underwater clean-up and beach clean-up
Report on 2005 Pucusana terrestrial
clean-up
Mundo Azul Environmental education activities
Clean-up school events
Recycling training
Recommendations
for organizing a clean-up event
"Stop
the Poison" Campaign
Download: Report:
"Human Rights and Contamination" (PDF - english)
