Saturday 29 March 2014

Keeping it CLEAN at Tugboat, Curacao


Last weekend, Dive Bus divers cleared up enough fishing line to reach halfway to the Curacao Seaquarium, from one of Curacao's signature dive site.



The pier at Tugboat, Curacao is a popular location for fishing-for-mostly not-very-good fishermen, it seems. Little do the fishermen know that the pier provides a perfect home to hundreds of small, colourful reef fish, creatures and sponges, creating a shallow, dramatic and beautiful dive site - but not particularly good eatin'. The ugly, twisted, tangled fishing line chokes and kills the fragile marine life, giving the fishermen's real targets - the BIG fish - fewer reasons to visit the neighbourhood.


Is it just me, or can anyone else smell fish around here??
The Dive Bus Curacao Clean Up Crew of volunteers have been cleaning beneath the pier for years now. It's HEAPS cleaner and healthier than ever before, which reduce the risk of entanglement to divers and snorkelers, as well as marine life. Perhaps that's why there are treasures such as seahorses and frogfish to be found there so frequently... if you know where to look ;o)


Last Sunday, the team of 10 volunteer divers removed over 500m of entangled fishing line and fishing weights. 

Clean up data is added to the Project AWARE database which enables this excellent organisation to monitor progress and continue increasing folks' awareness of our impact on the ocean. So folks like you and us can do our bit to fix it, or at least minimise our impact.

Enjoy the rest of the clean up photos here - and thanks HEAPS again to all who took part!


(You might be surprised...)