Tag: clean up dive

Marine Debris, Anyone?

cbartazo

It’s my third year in a row to participate in International Coastal Clean Up Day.  And I  was wishing I have done it sooner when I become a diver almost five years ago.  The issue of coastal protection and preservation has been a major advocacy for all aqua people, if not for individuals who have great concern for our planet.  Trash threat for our waters is a serious concern, it has caused so much harm in the marine world.  It pained me to see garbage deep down or watching documentaries about human destruction on aquatic environment.  Such shame!

Without hesitation I committed for the dive clean up together with my dive mentor’s group, of course it won’t be complete without Angel.  We crammed up our weekend for the clean up all the way to the town of Medina plus our specialty lessons in Balingoan.  Angel have to be in Cagayan de Oro on a Friday afternoon to catch the early trip to this coastal town.

On a Saturday morning, it was all still but when we got at the Medina pier, things were all ready for the activity.  How comforting that the people were all in peace, when two weeks back the town has just been besieged by NPA attack!  But on that morning, there were no traces of any bloody encounter. The preliminaries was graced by the local officials including the Mayor, who was so enthusiastic and grateful for the clean-up activity.

gathering trash !

Angel and I went to  descend right near the pier, on a sandy slope carefully not to disturb the silts.  Watching the concrete pillars with the sun rays in between made me remember Ducomi Pier. It’s like a forest scene, like big tree trunks with the sun rays penetrating in between – such a sight to behold!  The school of glistening daschylus wiggling in unison in between the pillars was a wonderful sight.  I was almost lost I forgot I was there to work, I joined Angel who was already starting to fill up his net bag with trash. I have to stay near him, as my dive computer was not working good!

debris under water...

We gathered bottles, fishing lines, hooks, plastics, sachets, wrappers, clothes, caps, tansans and more. We passed by some tires which we ignored, it was too heavy for us to bring!  Our work was punctuated with seeing colorful nudis, puffers, mantis shimp, clown fish, scorpion fish and more.  We filled at least three bagfuls of trash cruising to the rope hoisting to collect it all up.  We still went for another round when we were summoned to surface, noticing there were no more other divers in sight!

just few what was collected from the pier

An hour underwater with no less than thirty divers gathering trash did can make a difference not only for the marine life which thrived even with such nuisance debris, but also for the community.  I know the litters we picked up were just a speck of a big mountain of garbage in our seas, but I believe in many ways together with other enthusiasts in many parts of the country and the whole world, it was a great job.  There is always hope if we all join hands in working to protect our marine environment.  There is much work to do for our second home – the sea!

NB.  Photos courtesy of DiveSpecial Diving Central.

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Cleanup Dive 2010!

cbartazo

 

 After an adventure dive trip at Camotes Islands, Angel and I signed up for a clean-up dive at Opol Marine Sanctuary to join the force for the International Coastal Cleanup which DiveSpecial Diving Central organized with the LGU of Opol. Despite work pressures, we chose to be part of this endeavor – to do something worthwhile for the marine environment, a favorite dwelling which we wanted to visit more often. So we packed our gears, Angel flew again to CdeO and we went to Opol feeling joyful for the activity and excited to discover another underwater scenery. When we reached the Ajis Beach, the area was teeming with people already. It was good to see Mario, Ma’am Cristy , Mar Brandy and Cris. It was a sunny Saturday, actually perfect for beach antics – I saw banana boat, jet ski and kayaks just waiting around for a ride!

We were the first group of divers who went down for the clean up, with XU-College of Marine Biology students and a dive guide from LGU, all were men. I’m always thankful that Angel is with me in my dives, I would be honest to admit that diving alone with strangers is sometimes awkward but with my favorite dive buddy I can always count on his abiding presence. After a short briefing from Mario, we climbed up the boat (Mar Brandy have to assist me) and cruised for about ten minutes to the sanctuary.

We anchored near the floating shed serving as guardhouse of the sanctuary, and prepared for the descent. I stayed near Angel as we started to go down but unfortunately I can’t with my three weights (?), I suspected it was due to my BC. Anyhow, I was able to borrow from the guide and another diver. Angel went up to see what’s wrong 😛 He signaled that we must stay near  each other as the visibility wasn’t good. We descend on the shallow part and went around. It was somewhat tricky since we’re not there for just enjoying the scenery but to be quick also to find trashes underwater. Most of it have blended the environment, the silt have made them looks like part underwater. Angel and I found the planted car wreck! It now served as artificial reef, where some corals with lot of tropical fishes claimed as their home.

We found angel fish, damsels, wrasse, groupers, bat fishes, snappers, sweetlips, surgeons, clownfish, butterfly fish, puffers, and variety of anthias. There were branching corals, soft corrals, barrel sponges, cucumber and more. I managed to touch a long floating worm which Angel held for me with a twig.  We searched for more trash until we lost each other! I got with me plastics, food wrappers, a whisky bottle, fishing lines, sachets, etc. when I ascend with the guide. Angel surfaced ten minutes later as I waited for him at the floating shed. We got unto the boat and cruised back to the beach as soon as everybody surfaced.

Another rewarding clean up dive, perhaps my gathered trash wasn’t much but doing something for marine life’s benefit is truly worthwhile. After taking lunch, getting a free shirt, taking photos – we packed our gears, freshen up and bid byes from the group. Angel and I left the beach resort with a joyful heart promisisng ourselves for another cleanup dive next year!