Local centre wins 3rd place in Dive Against Debris Campaign

Project AWARE, the International non profit organisation mobilising divers to protect the ocean, has awarded Bubbles Dive Centre in Marsalforn, with joint 3rd place in its Global Dive Against Debris campaign.

This award was given by Project AWARE in recognition of the efforts made by the dive centre during their recent two ‘Dive Against Debris’ events held in Marsalforn Bay. The centre organised trained divers to not only remove underwater debris such as plastic bottles and fishing lines, but also identify and document everything they saw underwater in a larger effort to prevent marine debris.

Donna Hayler-Montague, owner of Bubbles Dive Centre, said “we opened this dive centre to focus specifically on raising awareness of marine conservation and encouraging low impact diving, considering we have only been open for 4 weeks we are absolutely delighted to achieve 3rd place.”

Donna went on to say that “this award and the subsequent publicity will be seen around the world by millions of divers and will certainly help to raise the profile of Gozo as a dive destination and one which encourages respect for the environment.”

“We raised 85 kilos of rubbish from the sea bed during the Dive Against Debris campaign, but there is still a lot of work to do. We hope that this award will encourage others to get involved in marine conservation. It is so important to make sure that the future diving in Gozo remains one of the best in the world,” said David Hayler-Montague, Director of Diving,

Project AWARE awarded first prize to a diver in Bali, who pledged to Dive Against Debris every day for two weeks in July. Second place was awarded to a group of divers who are based in Moscow and third place joint winners are Bubbles Dive Centre and a diver who is based in Israel.

Scuba divers are uniquely positioned to tackle the global marine debris issue, to take action every day and prevent debris from entering the ocean.

For more information visit the facebook page http://www.facebook.com/BubblesDiveCentre ^[1] , website: www.diving-gozo.com ^[2] or contact Donna Hayler-Montague on 2702 8299 or email donna@diving-gozo.com ^[3].

Dive Against Debris, organized worldwide by Project AWARE Foundation, a nonprofit organization mobilising divers to protect the ocean, has an underwater approach that’s totally unique. It’s a year-round, citizen science program to tackle trash beneath the surface and address its negative impacts.

For additional information in Project AWARE’s Dive Against Debris program and to join the global movement for ocean protection visit www.projectaware.org ^[4].