A total of 55kg of rubbish was collected on Wednesday the 27th of May by the dive against debris team made up of twenty-three divers from Ban's Diving Resort and Sunshine Divers. The team targeted Laem Thien and Hin Wong Bay on the east coast of Koh Tao, Thailand. It was amazing to see so many divers working together to help keep our beautiful island the paradise that we all love. As scuba divers we are the ambassadors for the aquatic environment; the ocean requires our respect and protection.

Congratulations to Jeerapong and Ian for achieving diver status in the PADI Dive Against Debris Distinctive speciality and congratulations to the MSDT candidates Natalie, Brett, Ricardo, Lulu, Christina, Nicole and George for achieving instructor status. The course was run by Michael Richardson, PADI Course Director, marine biologist and co-creator of B.E.A.C.H. Michael devotes a lot of his time to giving lectures, running activities and teaching courses to raise awareness and share his passion for the marine environment.

As PADI dive instructors we are given the opportunity to live the dream and share our passion with our students and fun divers on a daily basis. Once you have connected with the ocean through scuba diving you will be forever enchanted by its' magic. As divers we are responsible for ensuring that we spread the message about environmental responsibility and act as role models so we can be united against marine debris and win the fight for our ocean planet.

Data reported from clean-up dives is entered into the 'Action Zone' section of the Project AWARE website, this data is then used to identify the types and amount of debris that effect different areas and helps enforce policies to combat marine debris.The data is displayed publically on the 'Dive Against Debris Map' which can be used to target the areas that are most in need of better waste management efforts.

www.projectaware.org/diveagainstdebrismap

By participating in a dive against debris these divers have contributed to change on a global scale.