PHOTO GALLERY

Many people worked very hard to make this event a success. This is a pictorial tribute to all Manzanillo's dedicated volunteers.

The primary purpose of the orientation dive was to look for potential hazards, check ocean contamination, and survey for ocean tides and currents.

Prior to the event, San Pedrito had to be surveyed by a knowledgeable diver.

In just 10 minutes, approximately 20 lbs. of trash was collected, most of it plastic containers and bags.

Left, Sergio Montiel, owner of El Marino restaurant, assists PADI Instructor Susan Dearing out of the water with a bag of water-soaked trash.

One week prior to the event, a press conference was held. The purpose was to show the attending print and radio media how much trash was in San Pedrito, and how urgent the need was for a continuing underwater clean-up program. Representatives from 4 major newspapers and 2 radio stations attended.
The registration began at 8 a.m. People of all ages waited patiently to sign in. The volunteers were organized to participate into 2 categories: beach cleanup and ocean cleanup. Other volunteers, such as the Red Cross Emergency Response Team, and Proteción Civil (the Mexican national guard, or Civil Protection), the University of Colima, and the Colima Department of Tourism, all registered. 

Left to right: Juan Luis Flores, Freda Rumford, Dr. Lidia Silva, and Carol Laudeman help with the sign-up process.
Data collection is extremely important. If volunteers had never categorized and counted the debris items that they found, beach cleanups would have just faded away. Volunteer data collection efforts have continued to change the way people think about the ocean and its ability to handle society's wastes.

Here is a list of the Top 10 items ("The Dirty Dozen") collected worldwide from 1996-2000: 1) cigarettes, cigarette filters; 2) bags; 3) caps, lids; 4) food containers, wrappers; 5) cups, plates, forks, knives, spoons; 6) beverage bottles (plastic); 7) beverage bottles (glass); 8) straws, stirrers; 9) beverage cans; 10) rope.

Dr. Lidia Silva has spent many years working with trash data. The statistics she will be continuing to collect in Manzanillo will serve to educate many.

Carlos Cuellar (left) instructs boat divers on what constitutes "trash," and how to get it in the boats.  Marine maps were passed out to all boat captains to coordinate pick-up of divers and bags of debris. Divers were to work in "buddy teams" and follow all safe diving procedures. They were told to avoid all hazardous wastes, if found. (Fortunately, none were.) Bags and gloves were passed out to all divers.  Divers were warned not to collect natural items like driftwood or seaweed. Divers were also instructed not to remove debris encrusted with living organisms, now a home for many creatures.

Left, Super Scuba Mom Rhonda Whyte (standing) and her daughter Whitney diving from the beach.

Right, first group of boat divers gets ready to leave.

Because divers frequent the underwater environment, they understand better than anyone the effect of trash dumping. 

It's impossible not to notice the adverse changes to the aquatic environment because of the "up-close-and-personal" relationship with the underwater world. This reinforces divers' natural roles as ambassadors for the protection and conservation of aquatic resources.

Determining where all of the debris originates is no easy task since trash and litter can travel long distances before being deposited on our shorelines. For example, a mother who lives in a tiny town up in the mountains, washes her clothes in a creek. When she is finished, she throws her bleach bottle and soap packet into the water. With each rain, the trash washes further down stream, eventually empting into the ocean. While she works, her baby sleeps under a shade tree nearby. When the baby needs a new diaper, the old one goes into the creek, leaving that village clean, but eventually arriving at the sea.

The impact of plastic on wildlife.
What does the future hold for the aquatic environment? The answer is up to us. Throughout this feature, you have read about the problems we are facing in Manzanillo, from simple lack of knowledge, to careless human actions and wasteful destruction. We have many options with legislative initiative and public education.

The education of our children begins with us. Left, teen Whitney Whyte is serious about diving for debris. Whitney, along with other kids, can learn quickly as long as we, as adults, set an example.