Big Blue would like to thank all out volunteer divers who help us with our Dive against debris this weekend: Jan, Angie, Jack, Johno, Sarah, Gordon, Julia, Beau, Terry, Jonny and Big Blue’s own Sam. Thanks also to Charlie and Roy who were on the boat. We would also like to say a huge thanks to Ivan and Nancy from Numbawan Café who did a fabulous job on shore helping weigh, sort and count the rubbish- 413kg in total. We would also like to thank Justin at the Boat Yard who disposed of the rubbish we collected.

One of our divers Jan has written about his experience of participating in our dive against debris: 

“PADI's Project Aware came into force again last Sunday whereupon 11 of Port Vila seasoned divers assembled for another cleanup of a tiny portion of the sea floor.

With an overcast sky we were greeted by an aluminium cloud of dive tanks assembled on the waterfront by the professional staff of Big Blue under the direction of Christina Shaw whom was destined to lead the operation.

Once kitted up we boarded "Scuba Blue" and headed out to the south-western portion of the Bay in front of The Boatyard adjacent to the main Warf. Here we were given strict instructions on how and what to pick up in terms of foreign objects and protection of the environment. Once in position we were assigned our designated areas and armed with large bags down we went.

Surprisingly many of us thought we would fill just a bag each, but once down and cleaning up our patch our bags were soon full and had to drag them ashore for more.

In such a small area our focus soon took on new dimensions and we could not believe in the multitude of plastics, glass, cans and general human waste that is commonly found in our daily garbage bins.

After an hours dive and many full bags later we then had the awful task of sorting the 400kgs of garbage into different categories so that a data base can be kept for analysis, in order to assess the acceleration in waste and type that finds itself on the sea floor not only in Port Vila but also worldwide. 

The worst culprit was the plastic bottle followed closely by the shopping plastic bag that seemed everywhere. Once the trash was sorted and disposed for the dump we headed back cold and sombre in the knowledge that if we had spent a whole month underwater it we would barely get the job half done.

In conclusion what started as an easy day out diving left us all in awe at the monumental task that faces us all to convince all members of the public to stop using the harbour as a dumping ground, the corporate responsibilities of drink companies to recycle and stores to stop using so much unnecessary plastic bags.

Our thanks once again go out to BIG BLUE for providing the tanks and vessel and for its positive social responsibility towards protecting the environment.”

Jan Bochenski