Sea and Japan Project Public Relations Office
Iriomote Island’s untouched marine debris collection project: We have carried out marine debris collection!
February 28th (Wednesday), 29th (Thursday), March 26th (Monday), 2024 Sea area around Iriomote Island
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The Iriomote Foundation (General Incorporated Foundation) worked with professional divers from the Taketomi Town Diving Association three times from February to March to collect garbage accumulated in the sea and on the seabed in the waters surrounding Iriomote Island. This event was held as part of the marine litter countermeasure project “Ocean and Japan Project – CHANGE FOR THE BLUE” promoted by the Nippon Foundation.
[Image 1: https://prtimes.jp/i/77920/2550/resize/d77920-2550-da09f89920eb7fee1cd6-2.jpg&s3=77920-2550-fcc5d8ece6e96742a711d7a868b3939d-679×594.jpg] -Event Overview-
A lot of garbage washes up on the coast of Iriomote Island, which is rich in nature and is registered as a World Natural Heritage Site.Not only does it pollute the beautiful scenery, but there are also concerns about its impact on the ecosystem. In addition, it is thought that garbage that has sunk before washing ashore and garbage from fishing activities remains in the surrounding waters, but the actual situation is not well understood, and collection is rarely done. . This time, as part of the “Iriomote Island Untouched Marine Debris Collection Project,” we collected underwater and undersea garbage three times from February to March with professional divers who belong to a local diving association.
-schedule-
Wednesday, February 28, 2024, Thursday, February 29, and Monday, March 25, 2024 -Venue-
Sea area around Iriomote Island (Sakiyama, Amitori, Funauki, around Shirahama, around Uehara Port)
-The number of participants-
19 people in total
-Cooperating organizations-
Taketomi Town Diving Association, Iriomote Eco Project
Collecting trash from the sea and the seabed by diving
A lot of garbage washes ashore on the coast of Iriomote Island, but the actual situation is not well understood, such as where and how much garbage is there. Furthermore, given the lack of budget and personnel to collect even just the garbage that washes up on the coast, administrative agencies do not have the luxury of even getting involved in the collection of underwater garbage.
This time, we will be talking to diving guides who belong to the Taketomi Town Diving Association and who usually show us around the beautiful sea world, and we will be taking a trip to the sea around Iriomote Island, around Sakiyama, Amitori, Funauki, Shirahama, and around Uehara Port. We dived and collected underwater and seabed debris. We conducted research in advance through interviews and other methods to find out where garbage might be found, and selected collection points based on the collection results from another project conducted two years ago. We conducted three dives a day, each time taking one dive. We made a total of 9 dives over 3 days, each lasting approximately 50 minutes, to collect marine debris. Overall, the most common items were ropes and fishing nets entangled in corals and rocks, which we collected by cutting them off with sickles and scissors. In addition, broken buoys and plastic bottles were found on the seabed in some places, and plastic trash was found stuck between rocks at points with complex terrain, which we also collected by placing them in nets. Because the debris creates considerable resistance in the ocean and each task takes time, we were not able to collect as much trash as we did on the beach, but we still managed to collect three ton bags in three days. was able to be recovered.
[Image 2: https://prtimes.jp/i/77920/2550/resize/d77920-2550-fa01ae434e8b11ea1381-2.png&s3=77920-2550-4c01fefcbb825af2f1198e99317e0734-1722×677.png ]
Voices from participants (what we learned)
・I realized that there was a lot of garbage when I looked closely, even though I didn’t notice it during normal diving.
– Plastic bottles and other trash on the ocean floor are moved by typhoons and other factors, making it difficult to predict where it will accumulate. It wasn’t where it had been seen before.
・There is a lot of garbage near the port, which appears to have sunk by hitting the breakwater.
・It’s hard work, but it’s meaningful.
・I want fishermen to be aware of the current situation.
-Group Overview-
Organization name: Iriomote Foundation
URL: https://iriomote.or.jp/
Activities: Conservation of the natural environment, initiatives for proper tourism management, education and awareness regarding nature and culture, etc.
[Image 3: https://prtimes.jp/i/77920/2550/resize/d77920-2550-bf61f894e8a6815f1199-0.png&s3=77920-2550-6de15f04a2c05d4762cc8efca9a4f4ce-512×211.png ]
CHANGE FOR THE BLUE
As part of the Nippon Foundation’s “Ocean and Japan Project,” the 2018 This is a project that has been underway since November. We will work with stakeholders from industry, government, academia, and the public to create a marine litter reduction model and disseminate it domestically and internationally.
https://uminohi.jp/umigomi/
[Image 4: https://prtimes.jp/i/77920/2550/resize/d77920-2550-1e7418d3cc6458a3ce7b-0.png&s3=77920-2550-9c4afff29c3942ed8fd00b7b5066333c-512×147.png ]
Nippon Foundation “Ocean and Japan Project”
The sea supports Japanese people’s lives in various ways, sometimes giving them peace of mind, excitement, and inspiration. This is an all-Japan project that aims to encourage people across the country, including children, to view the ongoing environmental deterioration of the ocean as their own, and to expand the circle of action to preserve the ocean for future generations. is.
https://uminohi.jp/
More details about this release:
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000002550.000077920.html