Tangalooma Cleanup Dive

There are few experiences more rewarding than scuba diving but over the weekend the Adreno Scuba gang from Brisbane did a cleanup dive at the Tangalooma Wrecks in Moreton Bay. It quickly became clear that the combination of Scuba and cleaning up rubbish takes that sense of reward to another level.

As divers, we spend a lot of time enjoying fruits of the underwater world and it’s inhabitants but rarely do we have to opportunity to help protect arguably the most precious ecosystem. There are countless detrimental factors and in many cases, the damage is being caused by factors outside of the control of an individual. To suggest each of us can’t help is naive and disrespectful to our underwater friends and future inhabitants of this planet. We often have people in-store wondering how they can help clean the ocean, where to clean and what sort of rubbish is generally found down there and to get a first-hand look was something else...

We’ve all experienced the serenity of a dive interrupted by a rogue plastic bag or nappy and I'm sure we all felt better having taken the rubbish with us to the surface and into the bin. This is why we were so excited to get involved in the Tangatours clean up dive at the Tangalooma wrecks- in association with Projectaware. Not only is it perhaps the best diving close to Brisbane but it’s a vital habitat for many Moreton Bay dwellers, such as Wobbygongs and baby Nurse Sharks. But when you consider the vast numbers of punters revelling in the Wreck’s beauty on a daily basis it’s one of the most littered upon.

The plan was to rally a crew of like-minded ocean frothers to help clean the wrecks and the channel towards the shore, where most boats park when they head to Moreton, with the help of SCUBA, stoke and Adreno Crayfish bags. We filled our scuba tanks at the Brisbane store before rendezvousing at the Holt Street ferry terminal. The crew gathered on the Island around midday before setting off in 3 teams of 4 divers, two groups navigated a crisscross through the channel while the other group worked the wrecks. We didn’t know what sort of rubbish we’d come across but from reports we knew there would be a lot of single-use plastic. Upon getting down there we found fishing line, food packaging and beer bottles- most of it coming to rest in the valleys along the channel floor.

It quickly became clear most of the rubbish was recreational, namely snorkels and masks, fishing gear, beer cans and wine bottles but I guess that comes with the territory. As the three parties converged on the dive boat it became clear we’d been successful, hauling multiple cray and mesh bags upon deck all full of trash- metals, plastics and glass in abundance! We took the loot back to Tangatours HQ before having a well-earned meal, beverage and sunset.

I’m excited to head back in summer to see how much worse it can get and rubbish aside, the 15 individual wrecks combine to make this one of Brisbane’s best dive sites! It’s not deep, barely getting below 10m at it’s deepest but with mondo varieties of sea-life and a labyrinth of caverns and nooks within the wrecks, it's easy to dive the day away and sail home with a smile. Keep your eyes peeled for future cleanup dives! Thanks for reading and more so caring!!!