Diving For A Cause: Tortuga’s Cleanup At The Alamo Sea

GRAPESEED, SAN ANDREAS (WZL) – On July 25, 2023, Tortuga Marine Conservation held a public deep dive cleanup in Grapeseed off the shore of the Alamo Sea. Those joining the cleaning efforts split between two shifts, a 3- and 8 PM cleanup. It was led by diving specialists from Tortuga Marine Conservation.

Public Cleanup at Alamo Sea

Tortuga Marine Conservation held a public deep dive cleanup in Grapeseed for anyone that wanted to join in and clean up the shore of the Alamo Sea. Multiple civilians showed up to help, and both Black Hawk Coffee and CodFather were there to serve everyone exquisite food and drinks. If you do not own diving gear, you could also rent diving gear from Tortuga for the low price of $100, giving everyone an opportunity to join in and have fun. As the cleanup was starting, Harlow Greene explained how to put on the gear and how it worked for everyone’s safety, making it possible for everyone to dive safely while having fun cleaning up. Together everyone was able to clean up a lot of trash at the bottom of the sea, including old shoes, plastic bags, batteries, and car doors. The coast guard even stopped by for a little while to see the work, and a K9 unit, Helios, is a big attraction for people. Who does not love cleaning up our local water forms and petting dogs?

The Importance of Keeping the Ocean Clean

Our oceans are extremely important, and we need to get a grip on keeping them clean, stop throwing trash in the water, and put it where it should go. The oceans on our planet work almost like the Earth’s life support system, and we need to ensure a sustainable future, hence why we need to protect and preserve Earth’s waters and ecosystems from all kinds of pollution. “The ocean is the lifeblood of Earth, covering about 70 percent of the planet’s surface, driving weather, regulating temperature, and ultimately supporting all living organisms.” Oceans also generate over half the oxygen we breathe on land. The ocean’s pollution harms animal and human life, which is why it is essential to consider when throwing trash into the ocean, you are hurting yourself by doing it. One way to help keep our oceans clean is by reducing your use of plastic items since when plastic gets into the ocean; it is very hard to get it out again. Here are some ways to reduce your use of plastic;

• Swap single-use plastic bags for reusable ones.
• Stop using disposable plastic cups, plates, cutlery, and bottles; bring your own!
• Avoid useless plastic wrappings and buy food and cleaning products in bulk. Many shops and supermarkets let you fill your own jars/bags or bottles.
• Choose metal or glass containers instead of plastic ones.
• Avoid buying beauty or cleaning products containing plastic microspheres or microbeads.

You can also help out by reducing your carbon footprint by doing any of these things below;

• Instead of driving a car, ride a bike, walk, or use public transportation.
• Save energy by turning off lights and devices you are not using.
• Instead of turning up the heating, put on an extra layer when you are home.
• Be vegan or at least try to reduce meat and fish consumption: industrial farming releases vast amounts of CO2 and methane.

Start taking care of our oceans, minimize the use of plastic, minimize your carbon footprint, throw trash where it belongs, and clean up anything you can! You might not think you can help by yourself, but if everyone started doing just one of these things, we could start moving towards cleaner oceans on Earth.