A total of 30 ScubaSG members volunteered to help clean up the surrounding reefs at Pulau Hantu, located south of Singapore. Pulau Hantu was chosen because it is the only designated recreation area for scuba diving in Singapore. The small strip is known for its proximity to sheltered and biologically diverse reefs.

ScubaSG.com forum owner, Singaporean Budin Aris explains, “While the surrounding waters at Hantu may not be heavily polluted, it’s still a good opportunity for our community to come together and dive for a cause. Many recreational divers are enthusiastic about the sport and enjoy the ocean, but some do not practise having proper buoyancy while diving resulting in their fins hitting or damaging corals. And corals take a long time to grow. It may also be something as careless as throwing their rubbish into the sea while on diving trips. With Singapore’s Marina Bay development, I believe we are now more conscious that our actions, in the case of reservoirs, have a direct impact on us. The same can be said for seas and oceans. I feel we all need to learn that our actions will have consequences, even though we may not be there to witness the immediate effects.”

The event lasted four hours from 2pm to 6pm. Divers were grouped into two teams and with favourable weather conditions, were able to cover a considerable stretch of the surrounding waters at Pulau Hantu.

Visibility was between 2 to 3 meters with very mild currents throughout the dives. In total, the divers managed to bring up 16 bags of debris
from the water. Among the debris are plastic and glass bottles, detergent and chemical containers, styrofoam bits, plastic sheeting, tires, abandoned fishing nets, food wrapping, and various other mainly plastic material that have floated in with the daily tides.

For American volunteer Michael Smith (pictured above, left), a scuba instructor who’s been diving all over Asia for over 20 years, “I heard about the clean-up on ScubaSG and volunteered because it looked initially like they were having trouble getting people to do it. I also volunteered in case they needed someone with a lot of dive experience. I have not participated in cleanups before, so the ScubaSG initiative provided the right catalyst to motivate me. I do almost anything for a free t-shirt! I learned to dive at Pulau Hantu, in 1989, and also did my rescue and instructor courses there so it is close to my heart.”

ScubaSG.com was set up in April 2010 and is currently the only dedicated scuba diving forum in Singapore.