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Climate change is depressing to think about, but you don’t have to passively watch the world become a polluted overheated mess. In Florida, a group of scuba divers set a new world record for the largest underwater beach cleanup.
A total of 633 scuba divers participated in the cleanup on June 15 in Florida’s Broward County.
Donned in wetsuits and diving gear, they gathered a stunning 1626 pounds of trash from the water — a new Guinness World Record. They also retrieved 60 pounds of fishing line.
633 divers set world record cleaning ocean floor off Deerfield Beach https://t.co/LIyP2H8JuK pic.twitter.com/lLOw0kK37M
— Orlando Sentinel (@orlandosentinel) June 16, 2019
Those numbers might continue to grow, however, because officials are still tallying the weight of the recovered trash. Project AWARE, an ocean conservation group, tells CNN that as much as 3200 pounds of debris may have been removed from the sea.
“There were countless lead sinkers… everything from a boat ladder to a barbell,” Tyler Bourgoine, who helped organize the cleanp, told CNN.
The cleanup is an annual event. Divers come from as far away as Europe and South America to participate.
633 divers at Florida beach break world record for largest underwater cleanup.https://t.co/KDDsWsbRQL pic.twitter.com/x1Uz40Vj3N
— FOX 10 Phoenix (@FOX10Phoenix) June 16, 2019
“It was a great time. Everyone was working together and cleaning up one part of the reef or pier,” Tyler said.
It’s a popular fishing area, which Tyler says is one of the reasons that there’s so much debris. Somebody’s got to help clean it up — and why not the people who know how to dive for it themselves?
The city of Deerfield Beach will help dispose of the debris and recycle anything that can be recycled.
