As we help celebrate Project AWARE’s 25th Anniversary, there is no better time to lend a hand by tackling the issue of marine debris. Like many other PADI 5 Star Instructor Development Centres, at Sunshine Divers we integrate reef conservation in our everyday activities. Now our team has taken the next step toward a cleaner underwater environment – we’ve “Adopted a Reef”. This means that we have committed not only to cleaning our reef, but to regularly recording and sharing the rubbish-collecting data with Project Aware. It is a fairly straight forward initiative if you’re interested in joining the movement. 

Step One: Make the commitment. It’s not a one-off clean-up (although that is still a great thing to organise), rather it is a repeated effort to visit the same reef at regular intervals. This helps good intention evolve into scientific practice.

Step Two. Clean, clean, clean. With guidelines from Project Aware, organised underwater cleans-ups can be conducted in a safe, responsible and fun manner. Even better, divers returning to Koh Tao and our local dive sites year after year, will now be able to see their hard work making a difference in the exact same stretch of reef.

Step Three: Record and report. With some very simple tools and forms (free of charge and downloadable on projectware.org), the type and quantity of trash removed now needs to be shared. By recording and reporting, this information can now be used by the Project AWARE team to make policy change. We also keep our online community involved by sharing these clean-up stories on our My Oceans page www.projectaware.org

Citizen science is the way forward on route to a cleaner reef. If you do take the leap and “Adopt a Reef”, we hope you have as much fun as we have at Sunshine Divers organising regular events for guests and staff. Together we can make a difference.