Cornish divers take part in 'epic' global sea plastic clean-up

Organisers behind the event claim 50,000 bottles worth of waste have been removed from the ocean in 24 hours - as part of World Ocean Day

Author: Oliver MorganPublished 9th Jun 2023
Last updated 9th Jun 2023

What's claimed to be the world's first clean-up of the seven seas has taken place - with Cornish divers kick starting the programme in the North Atlantic.

It's past of the '100 Year Clean Up', which is an effort to fund the cleaning of the planet's plastic waste, with the goal of removing 1 billion plastic bottles by 2030.

Six divers from the UK took part in the global underwater clean up in Mullion Cove yesterday morning (June 8) to mark World Oceans Day.

Part of a 40-strong crew of divers around the world, alongside a tribe of volunteer ocean lovers, they went to depths of 15+ meters across 7 time zones to collect 50,000 plastic bottles worth of waste in the space of a day.

The '100 Year Clean Up' initiative seeks to fund cleaning the planet of waste every year, for the next 100 years, led by Zero Co and The Hidden Sea - a wine company on a mission to remove 1 billion plastic bottles from the ocean by 2023.

Diving crews were also deployed in the Pacific Ocean (Sydney, Australia), North Atlantic Ocean (Cornwall, UK), Arctic Ocean (Great Slave Lake, Canada), South Atlantic Ocean (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), Indian Ocean (RushiKonda beach, India), the Southern Ocean (Chubut, Argentina) and The Red Sea (Hurghada, Egypt).

Co-founder of The Hidden Sea, and chief diver in the North Atlantic, Justin Moran said: “We’re on a high because to clean all seven seas is nothing short of epic. But I also know my fellow divers around the world will face similar depressing underwater scenes today. The problem is out of control, we need to get behind efforts to reverse the tide. I hope that sharing what we’ve witnessed in the ocean, will inspire people to join us in taking action.

“I dived in the beautiful tourist destination of Mullion Cove, Cornwall, and even though the water looked inviting from the surface, it was sad to see what was hiding under the water. It shows how deeply-rooted the plastic problem is.

“The Hidden Sea's goal is to take 1 billion plastic bottles out of the ocean by 2030. By helping to drive forward the 100YR CLEAN UP, we hope to inspire people and businesses to support the initiative and, in the end, simply do what matters: help preserve ocean health.”

Plastic pollution has risen exponentially over the past few decades, with more than 170 trillion plastic particles now estimated to be floating in our seas.

You can get involved with the mission - and find out more - on their website).

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