The Global Dive Community Mobilize for AWARE Week

The first global AWARE Week ran from 15th - 23rd September 2018 and saw the dive community take action for the ocean planet. From Dive Against Debris surveys in Dubai to AWARE Shark Conservation courses in Canada and Project AWARE specialties in New Zealand, divers all around the world equipped themselves with the skills needed for ocean protection.

Project AWARE® and PADI®’s call to dive professionals and the dive community to lead or take part in an AWARE Week activity was answered in abundance, with over 150 events taking place across the week. As well as the Dive Against Debris® and AWARE Shark Conservation Specialties being run, other community actions included reducing single-use plastic and upcycling workshops, fundraising and coral reef restoration projects. Activities from Project AWARE’s global community included:

Davy Jones Locker — Koh Tao, Thailand

Sponsored swims, reducing their single-use plastic and Dive Against Debris Surveys were amongst Davy Jones Locker’s AWARE Week contributions.

“On one of our recent dives, we noticed that there was a lot of fishing net and rubbish on one of our beautiful local dive sites, Hin Wong Bay. So one of our events for AWARE Week was a Dive Against Debris. We collected 32kgs of rubbish between six of us, not bad, but there is a lot more work to do there, so we are going to adopt the dive site and clean up at least once a month.” Monique Richards, Davy Jones Locker

Divers Down UAE — United Arab Emirates

As a way of creating shark awareness, Divers Down UAE conducted an AWARE Shark Conservation Specialty course for 14 of their PADI divers. They also collected over 110 pounds of marine debris during their Dive Against Debris Survey.

“We kicked off AWARE week with a Dive Against Debris at the popular Umm Al Suqeim Public Beach in Dubai. This beach sees thousands of visitors a week; beachgoers, surfers and tourists all making the most of the scenic beach view with the iconic Burj Al Arab Hotel in the background. We had around 30 people join us for the event from junior open water divers to master scuba divers and instructors. In total, we removed over 450 items from only the North side of the beach.” Divers Down UAE

Curaçao’s Dive Task Force — The Caribbean

Working with the local community, Curaçao’s Dive Task Force - a collaboration of dive centers and businesses on the island, removed over 900,000 Kilograms of rubbish from land and sea. More than 140 divers across 18 dive centers joined together to remove underwater rubbish on Dive Against Debris Surveys.

The success of AWARE Week is a perfect example of the passion and power ocean adventurers have for marine conservation. The global dive community proved itself a force to be reckoned with and has shown that combined actions have a huge positive impact on our ocean planet.

Let’s make every week an AWARE Week and continue working towards a clean and healthy ocean. Join the global movement today at Project AWARE.