When Lee Johnson, owner of Perth Scuba in Western Australia, first read the AWARE Shark Conservation Study Guide he was horrified by the number of sharks killed every year. "The figures were very sobering. It makes you want to act to protect them, NOW!"
Lee has always had a fascination with sharks. Now Lee teaches AWARE Shark Conservation to inform his divers of major ocean protection issues and tell them how they can act locally and internationally to protect sharks.

We kicked off September's Debris Month of Action with a photo contest - calling for your weirdest, strangest and craziest marine debris photos. And boy did we get them! 
One month, 159 entries, 8 finalists and over 1000 votes later, we're pleased to announce the following winners:
1st Place: "Underwater Recycling" by Christian Skauge, from Norway.
Runners Up: "Easy Rider" by Frances Whitfield, from Australia and "Two of my Favorite Things: Handbags and Nudibranchs" by Twila Midgley from the UK.

September’s Debris Month of Action was a month chock full of underwater cleanup and data reporting activity. To date, more than 130 committed AWARE leaders reported data from the underwater trash they found last month. In total, data was reported from 160 Dive Against Debris surveys held at 90 locations around the world.

Last month, we kicked off the Debris Month of Action with a marine debris photo contest. We asked scuba divers and Dive Against Debris volunteers to photograph the weirdest and wildest trash they found underwater.

Northwest Atlantic fishing countries reduce skate quotas, improve shark catch reporting slightly

The work Project AWARE divers undertake to keep our oceans healthy is "no walk in the park," despite the casual action captured in a recent photo contest submission, seen below.

Did you know that a staggering 250 million metric tons of plastic could make its way to the ocean in the next 10 years? One of the reasons Project AWARE is collecting marine debris data from divers is to help build a clear picture of the underwater trash that threatens ocean life. With this knowledge, we can make more effective decisions when it comes to waste management policies.

It’s the only pirate ship discovered in the Caribbean and it’s the site of Dive Against Debris this Saturday, September 17th. The Captain Kidd's 1699 Quedagh Merchant shipwreck located offshore Isla Catalina in the Dominican Republic continues to see its share of marine debris. The constant flow of our trash from the nearby river threatens this irreplaceable historical and biological treasure that rests among an endangered Elkhorn coral habitat.  

If you lost some pants somewhere near Moscow, Russia - never fear, they’ve been recovered by the debris divers from 13 Dreaming Dolphins. And thanks to their fantastic work and spirited Dive Against Debris competitions, we now have debris data recorded for three pairs of men’s underpants and a parachute.
Since Project AWARE’s June launch of the new Dive Against Debris program, developed just for divers, 13 Dreaming Dolphins has been logging their debris dives each month. And you just never know what you’re going to find.