Guernsey PADI dive school Donkey Divers is running an underwater beach clean and training course to raise awareness of marine litter in partnership with Condor Ferries.
The initiative takes place later this month and sees a classroom session for qualified divers followed by a local dive which will collect plastic and rubbish lying off Guernsey’s West coast. A beach clean will also be part of the environment programme.
Steve Bougourd, Managing Director of Donkey Divers, said: “We dive year-round and are passionate about our seas, wanting to raise awareness of environmental issues and highlight the need to protect our marine and coastal ecosystem.
“The support from Condor enables us to purchase special clean up kits from Project Aware, a global ocean conservation charity, which are ideal for both water and beach cleans.”
The underwater clean takes place on Saturday 19 October at 09:30 at Rousse, preceded by the three hour tuition a week earlier, the latter costing £40 per person. The Project Aware kits include reusable mesh bags for underwater use and rubbish collection bags for beaches and Donkey Divers is supplying tanks of air free of charge for the dive.
Tracy Peters, Condor’s Community Officer, said: “As a ferry company we have a natural affinity with the sea and are working hard ourselves to reduce waste on board and take steps to protect the marine environment. We are really excited to be working with Steve at Donkey Divers and hope this becomes an annual initiative.”
To register for both the training course and underwater clean, contact Steve Bougourd, on 07781 409 060, or steve@donkey-divers.com
