More than 600 PADI Torchbearers™ were mobilized on the 26th of February, 2022 to protect some of California’s most iconic underwater ecosystems, at the 40th annual Avalon Harbor Underwater Cleanup on Catalina Island. With the goal of taking local, hands-on action for the ocean, their immediate impact proves that working together in small-scale, targeted efforts can make a big difference on the wellbeing of our blue planet.
As part of the passionate team – including 14 California-based PADI Dive Centers from throughout California and PADI partners that includes SEIKO, Wrigley Institute, and Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber – 654 participants spent the day cleaning- up both above and below the surface at Casino Point, Stepp Beach, and Green Pier. In total, 2,743 pieces of marine debris that weighed a collective 3,380 pounds were removed from the ocean. In addition to the trash removed, 119 marine animals – including octopus and sharks – were released from entanglements, unharmed.
“This was an extremely successful event that attracted a wide array of people from both the local community and afar to take part in ocean conservation in a meaningful – and hands-on – way,” says Danna Moore, Director of PADI AWARE Foundation™. “The collective results of the Avalon Harbor Underwater Cleanup have put us within grasp of removing over 2 million pieces of marine debris from the ocean since we set out on this mission in 2011. In addition, we have helped make the waters around Catalina Island that much safer for the marine life who call the kelp forests home – and we saved over 100 animals in the process.”
Over the last decade, more than 90,000 PADI Torchbearers have contributed to the largest underwater citizen-science database for marine debris on the planet, both removing debris during dives and logging it to fill a much-needed data gap on just how much debris is in our ocean.
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