PNBC Cleaned the Ocean

The 20th of September was the global Ocean Clean-up day. The ocean matters to all of us, including companies who think it doesn’t. They’re just not aware of it.

And it is in trouble. That is why the global Ocean Clean-up got started. We can, even on the smallest scale, make a difference.

Many ask: Why bother? Our few kilos of waste removed make no difference. This is tempting, but wrong. Here is why:

Plastics in the oceans decay, from current, friction with seabed, UV exposure on the surface, etc., to microplastics. These things find their way into living organisms, including us. Removing 5 kg of plastics from a beach or the ocean, helps protect the equivalent of up to 80,000 Olympic swimming pools of water. And that’s just from 5 kgs of plastic waste removed.

With this in mind, a gang of PNBC-members plus guests set forth to Puerto Galera. Karin, from the Mission Alliance, had helped organize rooms and diving. ShipMoney arranged a van to and from Batangas. Odfjell Tankers added a car from Manila to Batangas when we realized that the van was overflowing (diving gear is bulky). Teamwork of the best possible kind, and nine divers arrived in PG Friday afternoon.

Saturday dawned and already there were people combing the beach for detritus. We got going. On the dives we hauled broken glass, bottles, PVC-tubes, plastic sachets and much more from the seabed. We also spotted a few denizens of the deep. Moray eels, sea feathers, cleaner shrimps, Nemo (clownfish), coral groupers, nudibranchs and much, much more. Both Svend and Karin took pictures, and we are all smiles at sharing some of them with you here.

The ocean is an adventure and it rewards patient exploration. Saturday evening we did a little patient exploration of our own, and shared a meal at Tamarind restaurant. Sunday saw many head off for more dives, while Team ShipMoney went to different beaches and islands to look for garbage there. And garbage they found, sadly.

While we were not as many as we had hoped for this time, there will be a new Ocean Clean-up next year. Just join – the worst that can happen is that you get to spend a weekend by the sea while doing something useful.

Just think about it: 5 kilos of plastic waste saves up to 80,000 Olympic swimming pools from microplastic pollution. That’s a worthwhile way to spend a weekend.