Deep Blue Dive Center in Aqaba, Jordan, took advantage of the pandemic-enforced disruption to start what it calls a “Cleanup Team.”
For a long time, dive operators in Jordan have been open for business, although the country was still not accepting tourists. While the operator still had some locally based tourism, it meant the team had a lot of time on their hands to get involved and create the Cleanup Team.
The team spent a significant amount of time cleaning up their local dive sites and house reef, which suffer from debris being blown on them from the nearby beaches. They also got involved with cleaning the Underwater Military Museum. The dive operator did not charge anybody for volunteering to encourage local divers to get involved with the cleanup effort. As a bonus, they received a 20% discount on any guided dives they wished to book after that.
The team kept a record of all the debris they removed, and from December 15th, 2020, through June 29th, 2021, the team managed to remove a staggering 1230Kg/ 2711lbs of debris!
You can find out more about the Deep Blue Dive Center here.
