Marine Life & Conservation
PADI and Seiko Prospex unite to help create the world’s largest underwater cleanup for ocean change
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PADI® and Seiko Prospex are teaming up to help marine conservation charity Oceanum Liberandum host the world’s largest underwater cleanup event in Sesimbra, Portugal on 24 September 2022.
Taking place during AWARE Week, the event aims to bring together 700 divers to clean up the coastline for a 12-hour period and is anticipated to host the most divers ever on record taking part in one consecutive underwater cleanup effort. Participating divers and dive centres from around the region will come together to collect marine debris–which will ultimately be logged into PADI’s Dive Against Debris database.
“Our database is the world’s largest in terms of capturing seafloor debris data, which has already helped drive two pioneering scientific papers being used to create new waste management policies,” says Emma Daffurn, CSR Specialist for PADI Worldwide. “More than 250 million tons of plastic are estimated to make its way into our ocean by 2025 and the environmental damage caused by plastic debris alone is estimated at $13 billion US a year. This world record attempt further highlights the important role divers play in reporting, removing and advocating to stop marine debris at its source.”
PADI is proud to have Seiko Prospex on board as the sponsor of the marine debris program and a partner for this world record attempt. Their support is critical to advancing the PADI Blueprint for Ocean Action, and protecting the global ocean now and for generations to come.
“Helping to raise awareness and take an active role in environmental conservation has become one of Seiko Prospex’s missions,” says Miguel Rodrigues, Sales & Marketing Director for Seiko Prospex. “We seek, whenever possible, to support events that have ocean conservation at their core, and we are very honored to sponsor the world’s largest underwater cleanup. We are proud to contribute to a more sustainable future where humans are an integral part of nature.”
Those who want to volunteer to take part in the world record attempt can learn more and sign up at oceanumliberandum.pt/en/Largest-Underwater-cleanup-in-the-World/. The 15 euro registration fee will go towards supporting dive centres with boats, facilities and air bottle logistics.
“We’re thrilled to have the chance to work with Seiko in supporting the largest underwater cleanup event so that we can mobilise Ocean TorchbearersTM to take action to protect what they love, capture more essential data for policy changes, and continue the wave of momentum in creating positive ocean change,” says Daffurn.
For more from PADI, visit www.padi.com
Marine Life & Conservation
GROUNDTRUTH collaborates with PADI on pioneering submersible collection
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GROUNDTRUTH, a story-led material innovation company that is fast forging a reputation for its next generation travel gear, is thrilled to announce its collaboration with the world’s largest diving association – PADI – on a range of pioneering submersible bags.
Entitled UNDA, Latin for wave, the collaborative range sets a new standard in sustainable design, with the GROUNDTRUTH team transforming the standard drybag into a future-focused travel companion, representing the two partners’ shared philosophy of ocean and environmental protection.
The 100% recycled bag range’s proprietary material is made from plastic waste including ghost fishing nets, post-consumer Nylon and plastic bottles. It is used alongside GROUNDTRUTH’S own patent-pending GT-OCO-CO2® hardware range, made from recycled plastic and captured CO2 emissions.
With a presence via 6,600 dive centres and resorts in 184 countries and territories throughout the world, PADI has amassed a hugely engaged community of 30 million+ divers to date. This collection creates a platform to highlight the shocking / mind blowing impact of plastics affecting our blue planet while actively contributing to its removal – empowering people from around the globe to take meaningful action to protect what they love.
“We are incredibly excited to partner with PADI on this project which will be launched via PADI’s global diving network and via our own channels,” said Georgia Scott, Co-founder and CEO of GROUNDTRUTH. “Ghost fishing nets account for over 50% of all plastic waste in our oceans, causing irreversible damage to global marine ecosystems. By combining our expertise in innovative design with PADI’s dedication to Ocean conservation, we aim to make a significant positive impact through the repurposing of these harmful plastics. GROUNDTRUTH was created with the value that all consumer products should contribute to a safer planet.”
“We are proud to collaborate with GROUNDTRUTH, as this partnership exemplifies our shared mission to mobilize the global community of Torchbearers who actively explore and protect our ocean,” said Lisa Nicklin, Vice President of Growth and Marketing for PADI Worldwide “Together, we’ve revolutionized the way that divers can carry around their essentials while elevating their commitment to protecting the place they love. It’s truly a product line designed by divers, for divers.
The UNDA range will be available for pre-order through www.groundtruth.global from the 3rd of February 2025 with PADI members being given the first opportunity to buy via their channels. Join us in this pioneering initiative to explore, protect, and preserve our oceans for future generations.
For more information about the GROUNDTRUTH x PADI collaboration, click here.
About GROUNDTRUTH®
GROUNDTRUTH sparks a new generation of travel gear that enables and accelerates positive change, making a transformative impact to industries, processes and people. As a green technology business and lifestyle brand, at the heart of GROUNDTRUTH is the exploration and development of new materials crafted from the world’s pollution and plastic waste. Their patent-pending GT-OCO-CO2® hardware range, created from recycled plastic and captured CO2 Emissions, is a world first.
Utilising their origins as investigative documentary filmmakers, sisters and founders Georgia, Sophia and Nina Scott, have hand-built GROUNDTRUTH’s unique Bluesign® certified supply chain ecosystem with partners who share the brand’s ethos for people and our planet. Their mission and products are created to support and empower individuals who are making a difference, both in their communities and around the world.
About PADI®
PADI® (Professional Association of Diving Instructors®) is the largest purpose-driven diving organization with a global network of 6,600 dive centers and resorts, 128,000 professional members and more than 29 million certified divers to date. Committed to our blue planet, PADI makes the wonder of the underwater world accessible to all, empowering people around the world to experience, explore and take meaningful action, as Ocean TorchbearersTM, to protect the world beneath the surface. For over 50 years, PADI is undeniably The Way the World Learns to Dive®, setting the standard for the highest quality dive training, underwater safety and conservation initiatives while evolving the sport of diving into a passionate lifestyle. For divers by divers, PADI is obsessed with transforming lives and, with its global foundation, PADI AWARETM, creating positive ocean change. Seek Adventure. Save the Ocean.SM
Marine Life & Conservation
Go Diving Show 2025 UK Stage Speaker: Lloyd Rees-Jones
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Sharks dwell off the UK coastline, but did you know there is one that glows in the dark? Join Lloyd Rees-Jones at this year’s GO Diving Show in March when he takes to the UK Stage to showcase a very different side of our marine life when viewed in a different light (no pun intended!).
Lloyd Rees-Jones is a HSE Part 4 Media Diver, PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer, underwater videographer and seasoned volunteer with Neptunes Army of Rubbish Cleaners (NARC). For almost 20 years he has been completely captivated by three shore diving locations in Pembrokeshire, West Wales, and every year he discovers something new that fills him with excitement for the season ahead and keeps him going back year after year.
Ultraviolet night diving in Pembrokeshire
Lloyd’s talk on the UK Stage will be about marine fluorescence and the nocturnal activities of our favourite coastal species, and will give a glimpse on how ultraviolet night diving has the potential to rekindle our passion for night diving – and also the hidden benefits it can bring to our UK diving adventures.
Go Diving Show 2025 takes place at the NAEC Stoneleigh Park, Coventry, on the 1st -2nd March.
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