argylesock says… You may recall how the hunt for a missing plane drew attention to the oceanic ‘garbage dumps’. I’m grateful to my fellow blogger Steve Pogonowski at Oceanic Explorer for reminding us that the rubbish is still in our oceans.
Project AWARE’s new interactive map is the first to visualize nearly three years of ongoing reporting by an international network of scuba divers who remove marine debris they find underwater through the Dive Against Debris programme, a year round global citizen science initiative.
Marine litter does not belong underwater however it is estimated that more than six million tons of it enters the ocean each year entangling and injuring marine life and damaging critical habitats. Everyday items like plastic bottles and plastic bags as well as other plastics like fishing line and nets are some of the sources of plastic waste reported by divers.
The Dive Against Debris Map shows that plastics are the number one type of litter found by Project AWARE divers, making up 70% of the total amount of debris reported since 2011. The aim of the map is to raise awareness of the problems of underwater…
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Science on the Land 