As luck would have it, AWARE Week 2018 in the Philippines kicked off during the most powerful typhoon of the year. Typhoon Mangkhut battered the northern part of the country, but here in the western province of Palawan, we could feel its effects, too.

I had been planning to conduct a Dive Against Debris survey in El Nido Bay for Saturday, the 15th of September, the start of AWARE Week. It was also International Coastal Cleanup Day. I'd hoped to get the whole diving community of El Nido involved, as well as the Philippine Coast Guard. But three days before cleanup day, all water activities and interisland voyages were already being cancelled. Classes were suspended. The locals started securing their homes and vehicles. El Nido was getting ready for a potential supertyphoon.

The morning of the 15th was rainy and windy. The bay was still fairly calm, but safety was foremost in my mind. In the end, I decided to push through with the cleanup, but on a much smaller scale. 

When the rain let up a bit at noon, my fellow PADI Instructors Max Cawed and Roy Nacanaynay, PADI Divemaster Brian Sumbillo, and I plunged into the cold and murky waters off the main beach of El Nido town and managed to collect a good amount of trash in just 45 minutes, including an entire boat engine!