Our planet is suffering at the hands of the greatest threat it has ever faced – us humans, now more than ever before. With an increase in the use of plastic, our oceans are being polluted to a point of no return. However, during these bleak times, 633 divers in Florida gave us a glimmer of hope and a ton of inspiration.
A Guinness World Record has been created!
On June 15, 2019, 633 scuba-divers created a Guinness World Record of carrying out the largest underwater cleanup in Florida. The scuba divers gathered to handpick debris at The Deerfield Beach International Fishing Pier.
According to reports, the divers have collected about 680 kg of trash and 30 kg of fishing line from the ocean bed! However, Ocean conservation group, Project AWARE, estimates that the amount of marine debris removed from the ocean will amount to about 1500 kg! The cleanup drive attracted divers from as far as Europe and South America who worked relentlessly for two hours to clean up the ocean.
Why we need to step up
This clean up drive has set a fine example for other countries to get together and tackle the rising ocean pollution. Since oceans form the end point of most of the waste that we produce, it has been reported that more than 245,000 km² of oceans are dead due to an increase in acid levels and pollution. These dead areas cannot support any type of marine ecosystems. According to Ocean Crusadors, a whopping 5 trillion pieces of plastic bags pollute our ocean beds! If these plastic bags are joined together, they can circumnavigate the globe approximately 4,200 times.
The level of enthusiasm to save the ocean has been truly inspiring. For all of us who cannot participate in a clean up drive, let's vow to be mindful of our plastic use and reduce the amount that we use everyday.
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