Project AWARE Clean up Day

Mermaids Dive Center rallied up the troops once again for the monthly underwater clean up which took place at Koh Keung Bedaan. Koh Keung Bedaan is one of Pattaya’s Far Islands and is very popular with divers due to the varied fish, turtles and amazing corals.

Heading out to the island which is an hour and a half boat ride away gave us ample opportunity to review the objectives of the two dives which is to remove trash not relevant to the eco system. Jon Sussman, who co-organised the clean up explained that a good example of this is plastic bags which turtles may mistake as jellyfish, a staple part of their diet. Everyone was given the dive brief and informed to check each item carefully for any signs of activity inside the items they wanted to remove.

Upon arriving at the Island, the cleaners jumped into action with the standard clean up kit including mesh bags and lift bags and soon found an assortment of items to bring up. Amongst the items were crates, cups, containers, fishing nets, rope and bottles. This time 90 glass bottles were removed and an assortment of plastic bottles. A jelly pot was found and after careful examination was replaced back as there was a squid living inside it. A seahorse was also sighted by a group which caused lots of excitement.

In total 17 people took part and collected approximately 10kgs of trash dotted over a space of 2 km’s. 8 trash bags were filled and Jan Namphathai, Mermaids official PA co-ordinator said “we like to make our dive sites look better for our regular divers and holidaymakers”

Thanks to everyone that took part and to our wonderful crew of Mermaids 1 who recycle the rubbish we collect and return to the pier.