Marine Debris
More than 250 million tons of plastic are estimated to make its way into our ocean by 2025. The environmental damage caused by plastic debris alone is estimated at US$13 billion a year.
Divers are often the first to witness human impact on the marine environment and are uniquely positioned to help report, remove and advocate to stop marine debris at its source.
We strongly support and advocate for brands/products that minimize packaging and plastic. We utilize reusable cups/carafes wherever possible. We support stronger regulations and restrictions on plastic and packaging.
While we collect debris on every dive, we also organize and support multiple large scale clean up dives each year. These efforts regularly result in 500-1000 pounds of debris removed on each clean up. In 2022, we have received a grant from PADI AWARE to support and enhance these clean ups.
Find out more about our large scale clean ups below.
Des Moines Marina
Each year for International Coastal Clean Up Day, we partner with SR3, the City of Des Moines, Des Moines Marina, MaST Aquarium and Washington Scuba Alliance to clean the Des Moines pier area around the existing tire reefs. Find out out more about the tire reefs here.
We have been working this project for 3-4 years and we still remove 500-1000 pounds of debris each year.
Seacrest Pier
We work in partnership with Seattle Parks and Recreation and King County Marine Division (operator of the West Seattle Water Taxi) to clean under the Seacrest Pier.
On our initial clean at this pier, we removed over 500 pounds of debris from this site with 10-12 divers. Part of this debris volume was over 600 squid jigs on this single clean up.
We are able to safely clean under this pier when the Water Taxi isn’t running on weekends (generally fall/winter). The Water Taxi has run full weeks since our original cleanup while the West Seattle Bridge has been closed. We very much look forward to continuing this work.
