A RUM OLD CLEAN UP

AN HISTORIC Gibraltar bay to which Lord Nelson's body was brought following the Battle Of Trafalgar has been tackled by a team of divers for Project AWARE's Clean Up Day 2010.

And the divers – from Simply Diving on Spain's nearby Costa del Sol – managed to clear almost 500 items of marine debris from the sea bed.

Rosia Bay is where the HMS Victory was towed after the most famous British naval success of all time. On board as it was tranferred to the UK via Gibraltar was Admiral Nelson's body in a cask of rum.

The bay is also one of Simply Diving's most popular dive spots for its immense wealth of marine life and many accessible wrecks.

Among their haul on the day were 250 glass bottles, 150 soft drink and beer cans, 75 plastic bottles, hundreds of feet of discarded fishing line, as well as a children's bike, several deck chairs, a mobile phone and a police boat siren.

The PADI 5 Star IDC Centre from Torremolinos in Malaga took 14 staff and volunteers for its annual operation, with perfect diving conditions and visibility up to 20 metres making the job in hand much more enjoyable for all involved.

Simply Diving's Dive Operations Manager Simon Bell was particularly impressed with the work of his team. He said: “We managed to retrieve plenty of marine debris today. Much of it potentially dangerous to divers and, more importantly, the amazing marine life that make their home here.

“We had to be extremely careful with what we removed and how we removed it to be sure we didn't damage or accidentally pick up any living plant or animal. Every item has been documented and will help Project AWARE assess the scale of marine debris around the world.”

As part of the Underwater Clean Up Day, 15,000 divers in more than 100 countries around the globe make notes of each item found beneath the water's surface to help prevent the marine debris epidemic affecting our ocean planet.

And this is Simply Diving's second operation of 2010 – the first being an April reef clean up of popular dive site Marina del Este on the Costa Tropical.

Simon added: ‘As the Costa del Sol's only Official Partner of Project AWARE, we are always telling our divers that our dive sites are not just our playgrounds. They must be looked after, however historic they are. So a massive thanks to our staff of Instructors and Divemasters, plus the local volunteers, for giving up an entire day to help out!”

IN THE NEWS!

…in the press and online

	Sport Diver magazine, November 2009 [PDF, 1.3Mb]
	Costa Del Sol News, October 2009 [PDF, 800Kb]
	Bebo reality show Gapyear.com, October 2008
	BMI Baby inflight magazine, August 2008 [PDF, 400Kb]
	Sport Diver magazine, January 2008