If our past two decades of conservation have taught us anything, it’s that Project AWARE divers are true leaders in ocean protection! We’re a growing movement of marine activists numbering in millions across the globe, making a lasting positive impact for our ocean planet. And our work isn’t easy – it’s estimated that as much as 250 million metric tons of plastic could make its way into the ocean by 2025, damaging critical habitats and endangering marine life. But when it comes to the Ugly Journey of our Trash, the Project AWARE dive community is fighting back.

Divers are taking a stand against the onslaught of ocean trash: Through Dive Against Debris surveys, divers not only remove harmful debris from their local dive sites, they also contribute valuable data which is essential to work towards long-term solutions. In 2015 alone, over four thousand scuba divers from 58 different countries removed close to 90,000 marine debris items from underwater environments. In honor of these amazing contributions, we’d like to shine a light on some of our most outstanding leaders, that is, our Dive Against Debris Heroes!

Today, we’re proud to announce our first Dive Against Debris Hero of 2016, Brige Zintz.

For the first time in Project AWARE history, Brige Zintz has done what no other diver has before: 100 consecutive days of Dive Against Debris surveys! From December 2015 through March 2016, Brige and her team at Seaventures Dive Rig visited their local house reef off the coast of Mabul Island in Malaysia daily, removing debris and recording and reporting results to Project AWARE.

Drawn to the world of scuba after falling in love with a diving instructor, Brige has become passionate about ocean protection. Ever since becoming scuba certified four years ago, she’s enjoyed countless dives in and around Mabul surrounded by beautiful environments and fascinating marine life. Though unfortunately, her local dive site – like so many others – suffers from a garbage problem. Upset that she couldn’t dive anywhere without encountering a piece of plastic, bottle, can or fishing line caught in coral, Brige was determined to take action to enact lasting change.

Brige explains, “Here at Seaventures, we conduct irregular clean ups on our own house reef, but it never seemed to be enough. That’s when it hit me to do something bigger… With my team of 12, one day of Dive Against Debris only makes a small difference, so I thought, ‘Let’s try 100.’”

Through daily journaling, photographs and data reporting, Brige’s 100 days of Dive Against Debris surveys are revealing information about underwater marine debris like never before. Brige and her team reported 10,285 items of marine debris through their surveys, amounting to over 2000 pounds (over 900 kg) worth of trash – yuck! Not only did Brige and her team improve the health of her local underwater environment, her consistent, quality Dive Against Debris surveys have helped us to better understand changes in debris flow in this area over time.

Project AWARE thanks Brige for her incredible commitment to Dive Against Debris – she really is a true ocean hero!

Want to join Brige in the fight against ocean trash? Dive Against Debris today.