20 tonnes of rubbish removed from Marsa Alam port

Another big clean-up was organised in Egypt. After Dahab, it was time for Marsa Alam, where 20 tons of waste and various pollutants were removed from the local port! As you can see, the local diving community decided not to waste time and the period of suspended tourist traffic was filled with activities improving the situation underwater.

On 28 and 29 June 2020, a group of 20 divers from Marsa Alam joined forces to carry out a massive clean-up over and below the water surface over two days. The result was the removal of more than 20 tonnes of waste from the site and immediate vicinity of Marsa Alam port.

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The collected marine waste was transported to the solid waste treatment facility in Marsa Alam, to be sorted and prepared for treatment or recycling.

“The solid waste management team did a fantastic job as usual. We don’t have enough words to express our respect, gratitude and appreciation for their hard work to protect the Red Sea through the daily collection of waste in coastal areas.”

Human activities have a serious impact on marine wildlife. For example, lost items of fishing gear such as nylon lines, nets and fishing lines, when entangled in coral reefs and other assemblages of underwater life, can cause significant damage, the effects of which are felt for many years. Moving with the currents and tides, discarded objects abrade, scour and damage coral.

Another problem is pollution of all kinds, which is not only unsightly but also dangerous to the organisms that make up the local ecosystem and to human health. Not to mention the serious losses they can generate for the local economy, which in turn affects everyone. Suffice it to say that the global environmental damage caused by plastic waste is estimated at $13 billion per year.

^{Source and Photo: redsea-project.com}