Saturday 16th September was both Malaysia Day and International Coastal Cleanup Day. A good excuse for Bubbles of Hope to go out again and enjoy the beauty of our Sabahan underwater world while chasing any trash that is polluting it. After all, even if ‘coastal’ refers to the border next to the sea, we have to remember that pollution has no such boundaries and eventually ends up deeper in the ocean.
Five of us boarded one of Scuba Junkie’s boats with Jason and Alex, our two DMs for the day. With optimal conditions – water temperature 30°C and visibility up to 15 meters we were in for a great day, ready to do our part, and have fun!
Very happy to report our first dive site was clear of trash! After 45 minutes of trash hunting, we came back with empty mesh bags except for one plastic bottle. The kind of failure that feels like a victory. Pik Yen and Isabella even found time to play rock, paper, scissors to celebrate during our safety stop 😉
A quick snack and then onto a small cove of white sand that looked empty from afar. But behind the big tree roots lots of plastic bottles, packaging and diapers were there, ready to stay for the next hundreds of years. When plastic takes over nature, nobody wins. We removed 3 big trash bags before it was time to head out again.
After the second dive – no trash either – and lunch, we decided to use our free time on the beach to have some fun.
Work hard, play harder
Let’s not forget that Bubbles of Hope is a group of teen divers. And although it may sometimes sound like tedious work to remove trash, we actually have a lot of fun in the process; both under and above the water.
Once the diving part is done, there remains a group of young people who just want to keep the fun going. Give us a beach, a bit of sun and a beach ball, and we will make the best of it. Sand in my hair was all worth it after an epic battle of sand balls, as we all left with a huge smile on our faces. To me, there’s no better sight than to see youth reconnecting with nature, having fun, and bonding together – a luxury that we never take for granted.
Overall, we may not have found so much trash underwater, but to me this trip was a success yet again. We still managed to do our part for the park and the fun that we had that day was a reminder of why we are protecting such an amazing place.
Bubbles of Hope #12 was a blast! Definitely looking forward the next one…
Julia Rabenjoro
