Saturday, April 14, 2007

On Saturday, April 14, 2007, a group of divers and snorkelers consisting mainly of tourists with some Bonaire residents met at the Dive Friends Bonaire location at Port Bonaire to clean this area underwater, which had never been cleaned before.

The group of 29 was made up of 23 divers, two snorkelers, and four persons who were available for shore support and “critter control.” Dive Friends Bonaire also added four staff in the water to assist the divers and snorkelers, as well as one for shore support.

After a comprehensive briefing by Susan Davis of NetTech, the divers geared up in their buddy teams, entered the water, and headed out of the area in a southward direction.

Shore duty and Critter Control was ably handled by Bonaire’s own REEF expert, Linda Ridley, who demonstrated to the others how to responsibly check the trash once it had been brought up: The trash had to be immediately checked to be sure no marine animals had been inadvertently included, and in which case when animals were found, they were immediately returned to the ocean.

Another important factor of shore duty is to sort the trash, count it, and then dispose of it all in a safe manner. In this cleanup, the following trash was retrieved: 6 plastic 2-liter beverage bottles, 64 glass beverage bottles, 11 caps or lids, 18 pieces of clothing or shoes, 1 packaging container, 7 crates, 32 pieces of fishing line, 30 cups, plates, forks, knives, or spoons, 8 food wrappers, 1 pull tab, 1 child’s toy, 3 light bulbs, 6 plastic shopping bags, 18 pieces of rope, 1 strapping band, 18 pieces of building materials, and 5 car parts. A large floor rug was found on the bottom (unrolled), and a portion was brought to the surface for Ms. Ridley to inspect. However, because animals had already begun to colonize the rug, the decision was made to leave it in place.

After the dive, all participants and their families were welcomed back for a Pot Luck BBQ—Dive Friends Bonaire and NetTech, the sponsors of the quarterly Bonaire cleanups, provided drinks and main courses, while participants supplied side dishes.

Images from this cleanup are available online at the Bonaire Insider Photo Gallery at http://www.bonaireinsider.com/index.php/gallery_bonaire/category/C28/.

The next cleanup dive organized by Dive Friends Bonaire and NetTech will take place on Saturday, July 14, 2007. All those on Bonaire at that time are welcome to join in. Meet at Dive Friend’s Yellow Submarine facility at 1:00 PM.