Dr Sylvia Earle raises “largest dive flag in the universe”
On Friday 11th December 2015 Dr Sylvia Earle arrived at the Cozumel Scubafest event and one of her first official duties was to raise a huge dive flag, thought to be the largest in the world, at a ceremony on the island of Cozumel. A large crowd turned up at the Plaza Civica, Puerto de Abrigo to watch as the giant red & white flag was unfurled and then raised up into the blue sky. Measuring over 5m in length, the Cozumel Scubafest organisers believe it to be the largest ever raised and so Dr. Earle re-named it the “largest dive flag in the universe.” Along with Sylvia Earle, Jean-Michel Cousteau and several local dignitaries were on hand to assist with proceedings.
Dr. Sylvia Earle is a renowned marine biologist, and is now an ocean ambassador, who travels the world to try to spread the message that the oceans need our help; and they need it now! During the Cozumel Scubafest event, she spoke about the need to make better food choices and called on divers to spread the word that we cannot keep consuming fish if we want our oceans to recover and survive.
Jean-Michel Cousteau is a long standing friend of the island, and people, of Cozumel. He and his father (Jacques Cousteau) were smitten with the reef system that surrounds this island, along with the abundant wildlife that this reef supports, and he now attends the Scubafest event each year. Divers from around the world who came to the 2015 Cozumel Scubafest dived the Scubafest Jean-Michel Cousteau Route, which are the hand-picked 9 favourite reefs of the Cousteau family, as part of their dive package. As well as the great diving, those attending the 4 day event were treated to talks on a range of topics each evening, show stands, nightly social events and a gala dinner. The topics covered marine research, cave exploration, dive medicine and other diving subjects.
The enormous dive flag that now flies in the Cozumel sky is a symbol of the commitment of the people of Cozumel to protect the reef around this beautiful island for divers now and for all the generations of divers to come. It is a stunning symbol that flies high for all to see.
