September Dive Against Debris with Sea Experience

On Saturday, September 13, 2025, The International SeaKeepers Society partnered with Sea Experience for the final Dive Against Debris cleanup of 2025! Sea Experience is a dive shop located in Fort Lauderdale that is awarded the PADI Green Star to commemorate their efforts and dedication to conservation and identify them as a dive shop that cares about our coastal environment and actively takes steps to protect it. This month we were joined by six volunteer divers who descended with mesh bags to collect any trash they spotted beneath the waves. Our first site was Hog Heaven, the wreck of a 180-foot barge about 60-70 feet deep, intentionally sunk in 1986 as part of the Florida Artificial Reef Program. As usual, our volunteers came to the surface with tons of cargo straps, as well as huge bundles of line and rope that have been at the site for quite some time. On the second dive at The Caves, a shallower reef site ranging in depth from 20-30 feet, our volunteers found some fishing line and hooks, and a diver’s missing fin. Unfortunately, there were a lot of signs of coral bleaching on the reef, which SeaKeepers Community Engagement Manager reported to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection through a BleachWatch report. This last cleanup brought our 2025 total to over 107 pounds of debris removed directly from our ocean through Dive Against Debris cleanups with Sea Experience! We look forward to partnering again in 2026 to keep the momentum for our ocean going.