SINT MAARTEN (SIMPSON BAY) - As you may know, the Kidz at Sea SXM Coastal CleanUp project is part of the island’s recovery programme from Hurricane Irma, funded by the Dutch Government under the Sint Maarten Trust Fund. R4CR selects different projects each year to help build a stronger and cleaner St Maarten.
After a range of courses, the 2022 SXM Coastal CleanUp group has come to the end of their studies with the last, but certainly not least, training in SCUBA diving. Six of the total 12 students spent two days in the water learning how to carry out underwater search methods followed by techniques on how to recover and bring items to the surface that are too large to be carried by the diver alone.
When islands are affected by storms, a lot of debris from the land ends up underwater in the ocean, but also near the shores. Think of all the large pieces of roofing and pvc that come apart from housing, as well as the small debris such as household items. And then of course, the plastic and litter that is left on roads and beaches and gets blown into the sea on an average windy day. .
In order to collect these different sized pieces underwater, we need a team of different skilled divers who can safely collect and bring them up onto the boats; thus the Kidz at Sea SXM Coastal CleanUp project is about teaching a team of SCUBA divers who become part of St Maarten’s underwater cleanup team. Some focusing only on picking up the smaller pieces and some working with the more technical larger stuff.
In these shots you can see the students during their PADI Search & Recovery training dives, practicing their knot skills as well as how to use a lift bag to safely resurface the objects and bring them onto the boat.
With the dive training programme having finished, they will now do one last theory study of the ‘PADI Diver Against Debris’ course, and then carry out their first real underwater cleanup. The cleanup is set to happen this Saturday October 22nd, and though it seems like a long time after Irma, we can almost be certain that we will continue to find hurricane debris along our coastlines, which is exactly why it is so important to have this programme in place; to make sure we keep cleaning our underwater coastline, so that aquatic life, our community, as well as our visitors can safely enjoy beaches to be proud of.
Source: Souliga Newsday https://www.soualiganewsday.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=46296:kidz-at-sea-sxm-coastal-cleanup-project-finishes-training-program&Itemid=450
