633 Divers Undertake The Largest Underwater Clean Up Ever, Remove 1400 Kgs Of Trash In 2 Hours!

It is common knowledge that our oceans are being choked with plastic waste and other trash. There have been countless instances of sea creatures washing up on the shore after ingesting these harmful substances. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) estimates that 8 million metric tons of plastic ends up in the oceans every year. On June 15, a group of divers decided to do something about it and set a Guinness World Record in the process.

633 divers met at the Deerfield Beach International Fishing Pier in Florida at 9 am and spent the next two hours in a massive underwater cleanup.

633 Florida Divers Collected 1,600 Pounds of Trash for the World’s Largest Underwater Cleanup – Six-hundred and thirty-three divers gather at the Deerfield Beach International Fishing Pier for the world’s largest underwater cleanup. Photo: Dixie Divers

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— effinfun (@effinfun) June 18, 2019

Watch them in action, setting a record for “Most participants in an underwater cleanup in 24 hours.” The World Record they beat was set in the year 2015 by a team of 614 divers that cleared up trash from the Red Sea in Egypt.

Forbes reports that the 15th annual event was organised by Dixie Divers and the Woman’s Club of Deerfield Beach. The sponsors included Project AWARE and PADI, the Professional Association of Diving Instructors.

The team has successfully collected 3200 pounds of discarded fishing gear and 9000 pieces of marine debris which included trash and plastic waste from the ocean floor.

WORLD RECORD: 600+ divers removed 1,600+ pounds of trash in Deerfield Beach, making it the largest group of divers taking part in an underwater cleanup ever 👏🏼👏🏼 https://t.co/2mogdY5397 pic.twitter.com/Dhw29oU03e

— Joel Franco (@OfficialJoelF) June 17, 2019

Ocean Divers Set Guinness World Record For Largest Underwater Cleanup https://t.co/W0L0LhRxq9 pic.twitter.com/glkDKGAbPt

— Essex Explorers (@xexplore) June 19, 2019

According to CNN, the collected debris (lead sinkers, a boat ladder and a barbell etc) will now be recycled. The pieces which cannot be recycled will be disposed of in a proper manner.

A participant named Tyler Bourgoine said,

“It was a great time … Everyone was working together and cleaning up one part of the reef or pier.”

We hope that more and more people come forward and undo the mistakes humankind has made in the past and make others aware of the hazards of disposing waste into the ocean.