Two years ago, 14 divers from Project AWARE and PADI Asia Pacific braved the Australian winter chill to complete the very first Dive Against Debris at Shelley Beach, NSW, Australia. They removed and recorded a variety of marine debris including plastic bottles, plastic bags and fishing line – all the usual culprits.  Since then, divers like you have reported data from more than 1,000 Dive Against Debris surveys.

We also asked for your feedback and you told us what we can do better. We’ve listened and given the Dive Against Debris materials and online data submission process the makeover they deserve.  So give the new and improved Dive Against Debris a try and dive in:

• Download the Dive Against Debris Survey Kit – the kit includes a new Data Card, Survey Guide, and Debris ID guide - the must have materials if you’re running a survey with your buddy or organizing an event for divers.
• If you’re organizing a Dive Against Debris for a group, get the Dive Against Debris Event Organizer Kit including revamped Dive Against Debris Survey Lesson Guide and promotional tools like posters, banners and a sample press release.

We’ve streamlined and improved the materials and web pages, eased website navigation and fixed the online data submission form making it easier for you to get involved. The work to visualize the data you submitted for the world is still ahead of us. But, if we want to see a trash free ocean, we need you to Dive Against Debris and we need your data today!

The more we know about debris underwater, the more we can influence change in waste management at local, national and international levels – shaping policies needed to stop trash at the source. Let’s Dive Against Debris together for a clean, healthy ocean planet.