Borneo Divers' Dive Against Debris Next Week

A team of local scuba divers will be taking part in the "Dive Against Debris" event to be held at Mamutik Island in Tunku Abdul Rahman Park, Malaysia as part of Borneo Divers' commitment to protect the ocean.

The diving event will be taking place on 7th December, 2011 at one of Malaysia's most popular destinations for scuba diving holidays and the divers will be supported by fifteen contestants of the Miss Scuba International pageant.

Trained divers will be removing debris from the sea including plastic bottles, fishing lines, and rubbish that has been washed out to sea from beaches. As well as taking the debris out of the ocean, the divers will be identifying and documenting everything they see underwater so they can prevent marine debris in the future.

The amount of debris that enters the ocean waters is rising and Borneo Divers' are calling for a permanent reduction of rubbish along with conservation organisations and other divers around the world to prevent damage to the fragile marine ecosystems.

A representative from Borneo Divers said in a statement this week: "In conjunction with Project AWARE ‘Dive Against Debris' underwater clean up and awareness project, 15 contestants of the Miss SCUBA International Pageant 2011 (Hong Kong x 4, China x 2, Indonesia x 3, Thailand x 2, Malaysia x 4) will be joining us to walk the talk on making our world a better place.

"We also would like to take this opportunity to exhibit and fight against global warming through the use of organic enzyme as a substitute to adhesive cleaning to create awareness among our 250 targeted participants led by Mr. Wong Tack, President of Sabah Environment Protection Association (SEPA)."

Every year, hundreds of scuba divers head to Tunku Abdul Rahman Park for scuba diving holidays. The nature park is a cluster of islands comprising Pulau Gaya, Pulau Sapi, Pulau Manukan, Pulau Mamutik and Pulau Sulug.

Mamutik Island is one of the most visited scuba diving destinations in the park with 60,000 square metres of land fringed by coral reefs and crystal clear waters teeming with sergeant major fish, parrot fish, butterfly fish angle fish and clown anemone fish. Shaped like a triangle, Mamutik is the smallest and less crowded of the five islands and with white sand beaches and warm ocean waters; it is paradise for travellers' scuba diving in Malaysia.