CEBU, Philippines – More than 200 scuba divers will gather on September 25 in Lapu-Lapu City to mark the annual World Coastal Clean-Up Day.
Hotel and beach resort owners in Lapu-Lapu City have expressed their support to the affair.
Andy Berame, of the communication group NERVE based in Lapu-Lapu City, said divers from Luzon and Mindanao will be joining divers from the Visayas for the clean-up.
The clean-up will not only focus on underwater debris but also garbage lining the shores.
"The divers will take care of the underwater garbage while other volunteers will be scouring the coastline and the beaches for debris," said Andy Berame.
Berame said underwater garbage will be classified and recorded by the collectors in a data sheet.
Data collected will provide information on what type of garbage is thrown or drawn by the current into the waters of Lapu-Lapu City.
A trend or a sudden rise of the volume of a particular garbage can raise the alarm for policy-makers or concerned agencies to act on it.
Andy Berame said not all underwater garbage will be collected.
Divers will undergo a briefing before they start the underwater clean-up. "Those we might consider garbage but have become part of the underwater marine habitat will not be disturbed anymore," Berame said.
The most important fragments that must be removed are discarded fishing nets that may trap marine mammals.
"Marine mammals like dolphins and sea turtles need to breathe air since they don't have gills. Once trapped in these nets, they will die," Berame said.
Lapu-Lapu is home to the only urban reef in the country, according to Berame.
"Other reef formations are far from urban centers. One has to travel far by land and by sea just to enjoy it," Berame said.
He said in Lapu-Lapu City, the urban reef is just right there, a few minutes away.
The urban reef is part of Danahon Bank, a rare double barrier reef that stretches from the sea boundaries of Leyte, Bohol, Lapu-Lapu City up to Talisay in Cebu.
The Danahon Bank is considered by marine biologists as the center of marine biodiversity of Asia and the Pacific.
This means that all marine life originated and evolved from these seawaters. (FREEMAN)