Community Reef Clean Up
In order for our valuable reef systems to sustain an abundance of marine life we must do our part by giving mother nature a hand. Since it's our hand that destroys mother nature, we must be stewards of the sea which one way is cleaning up our reef systems. The Gulf of Mexico is one of the most diverse reef systems in Florida which has been passed up or pushed off by many local dive shops and media for one reason or another. Whether it be politics, government or personal greed by other business owners pushing the Keys or the Atlantic as the premier dive sites of Florida, this is far from the truth. The Gulf of Mexico has two different types of water both the green Gulf water and also what you see in other areas like the Keys, the Blue Water. This gives us a more abundant marine atmosphere than anywhere else in Florida and the best part is you don't have to travel hours and hours to get there. We have living natural reefs accessible off the beach and 100's of other dive sites which range anywhere from just a mile off to as many as you like to travel. I personally have seen over six different living reef systems that are so diverse and full of life which far surpasses just about any other body of water in Florida. Now may I remind you that the Gulf is not the same environment then the Keys is, but in some if not most cases I feel it is better. On any given day you will encounter more marine life via fish, coral, sponges and other organisms. In order for this to continue we must do our part by cleaning up the trash we leave behind. Unfortunately, we drop cast nets, line gets caught up on the site, boat anchors, fishing poles, beer bottles, tackle, old crab pots, rope and more, which can serve as a hazard to marine life, fishermen, and divers. Reefs are ecosystems that respond in a variety of ways to changes in their environment, both good and bad so if you would like to donate your time or money, we need as much help as possible. Nominal donations will be used towards fuel, dive equipment like tanks, scuba gear, hardware, garbage bags and so much more that it's hard to list everything. If you can donate your time either as a diver, boat operator or deck hand then please let us know as we are trying to clean up one reef system at a time in one big effort. In order to clean the Reefs we need 8 boats, 8 Captains, 8 Deckhands, 16 Divers, and plenty of help on land when the boats get in from the clean up to disperse the trash.
We will conduct a safety and coordination meeting on November 9th at Naples Marina & Excursions which will start at 5:30pm. We will give each boat a set of GPS numbers to one of the reef piles at the Wiggins Pass Reef and assign the crew of 4-5 pob that will conduct the on the water cleanup. We will also need a land crew of 5-6 people to coordinate the return of the vessels and collection of garbage to different bins, trucks ect. upon return of the boats.
November 10th we will meet at Cocohatchee River Park Marina at 7am to load up and depart by 8am which we will then commence the cleanup plan as discussed at the November 9th meeting. We plan on doing this every month ongoing until every last reef system within reach or knowledge is living free of human waste. With your efforts as a community we can have the best fish & dive sites in all of Florida!