The world’s seven seas are being cleaned by diving crews around the globe today in an epic move to tackle ocean plastic pollution.
The worldwide deep-sea clean-up was led by Zero Co and The Hidden Sea – a wine company on a mission to remove one billion plastic bottles by 2023 – as part of the 100YR CLEAN UP, an initiative that seeks to fund cleaning the planet of plastic waste every year, for the next 100 years.
UK divers took part in the global underwater clean up in Falmouth, Cornwall, marking World Oceans Day. A crew of 10 divers took to the Atlantic Ocean, diving to six metres. Members of the crew witnessed plastic pollution caused by beach litter along with fishing net debris that can be harmful to marine life.
Diving crews were also deployed in the Pacific Ocean (Sydney, Australia), North Pacific Ocean (San Diego, USA), Arctic Ocean (Great Slave Lake, Canada), South Atlantic Ocean (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), Indian Ocean (RushiKonda beach, India) and the Southern Ocean (Chubut, Argentina) – with the goal to remove the equivalent-in-weight of 50,000 single-use plastic water bottles from oceans across the planet. The plastic collected will be sorted, recycled, and re-purposed where possible.
“We’re on a high because to clean all seven seas is nothing short of epic,” Justin Moran, co-founder of The Hidden Sea, said. “But I also know my fellow divers around the world will face similar depressing underwater scenes today. The problem is out of control, we need to get behind efforts to reverse the tide. I hope that sharing what we’ve witnessed in the ocean, will inspire people to join us in taking action.
“I dived in the beautiful tourist destination of Falmouth, Cornwall, and even though the water looked inviting from the surface, it was wild just how much trash was hiding under the water. It shows how deeply-rooted the plastic problem is.
“The Hidden Sea’s goal is to take 1 billion plastic bottles out of the ocean by 2030. By helping to drive forward the 100YR CLEAN UP, we hope to inspire people and businesses to support the initiative and, in the end, simply do what matters: help preserve ocean health.”
Plastic pollution has risen exponentially over the past few decades, with more than 170 trillion plastic particles now estimated to be floating in our seas.
This epic global event by Zero Co and The Hidden Sea is one part of their ambition to fund large-scale rubbish cleanups for the next 100 years. Everyone can get involved. Businesses and the public are invited to sponsor a bundle of rubbish which the 100YR CLEANUP – https://www.100yrcleanup.com – will collect on your behalf.
