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