These volunteers are cleaning Acapulco's seabed

They have one mission: Tackling the pollution surrounding beaches.  Meet the "Voluntary Ecology Divers" of Acapulco, Mexico.

Transcript

00:00The issue of pollution in Acapulco is very much rooted in the lack of education and awareness

00:15within the same inhabitants and some other tourists who are asked not to leave their

00:22garbage and they continue to do so.

00:40We are dedicated to cleaning the seabed through the page of Voluntary Ecological Search

00:46on Facebook.

00:47We call on people to come and support us.

00:51The main task is to extract solid waste from the seabed, but the activities also include

01:00the separation of organisms that are embedded or stuck in the waste and the separation by

01:05type of waste, the weighting and the annotation of everything that we extract.

01:29In terms of types of garbage, we have found from PET, we have found dung, tires,

01:39car batteries, glass bottles, many pieces of fiberglass, wood, and well, all the

01:50waste that is normally seen on the outside, we have found them inside the seabed.

01:55The garbage that generates the most damage in the seabed, apart from the microplastics,

02:01are cigarette butts and also the fuels used in the boats, oil, diesel, gasoline,

02:09are among the waste that pollutes the seabed the most.

02:12The ugliest thing we have had to deal with has been the oil or diesel stains used

02:19in the boats to operate, and when we are diving, it affects us because the visors fog up

02:29and snorkel gets into us, and we have to withdraw from cleaning because it is not possible to

02:37continue working like this.

03:29The damage that waste generates to marine organisms is the most shocking way for them

03:36to know how it affects their waste, especially here in Acapulco, where we live from tourism,

03:44and if we continue to pollute our sea, we will no longer have anything to offer.

03:59We feel more powerless as ecologists when we realize that after a rainy season,

04:05the sea is completely dirty again, with a lot of floating garbage, and that's when we feel like,

04:14hey, we are trying to keep our home, our environment, our source of work clean,

04:20and that people do not support us.

04:23I hope that our participation in marine cleanings will generate people to look back

04:32at the damage they are doing, and that they change their habits of consumption

04:38and get rid of their waste.

04:42After all, it is everyone's job.

04:50For more UN videos visit www.un.org