About 15 divers took part in the underwater clean up off Exmouth Pier in 2009, and as ever, we recovered miles of fishing line, weights, cans and even a bicycle!! 

Five of the divers who had taken part in the Clean Up dive, spent the afternoon taking their Project AWARE Specialty and learning about the many ways we are damaging the environment and how we help prevent further destruction!  There was also the regular Duck Pond Clean Up, which was coordinated by the Exe Estuary Management Group. For more information about getting involved please contact the Dive Centre.

Please remember that cleaning up is not a 'once a year' activity, so if you would like us to come and talk to your class or Scouting or Guiding group, please get in touch.

The International Beach Cleanup is coordinated by Project Aware - more information on the activities of Project Aware can be found on their website www.projectaware.org.uk

British Divers Marine Life Rescue

Many of us here at the Dive Centre are keen Marine Mammal medics with British Divers Marine Life Rescue, this involves looking after the environment and the the marine mammals in it!! The course itself is a very fun one which involves life size models of whales and dolphins!! For more information contact us at the Dive Shop or click on the following link to see what the BDMLR are up to - www.bdmlr.org.uk

April '08: The BDMLR were involved in keeping an eye on a seal that was hauling out on the bank of the Exe, up by Countess Weir.  It appeared to be undernourished, and possibly partially blind.  It was behaving normally, as it did not seem at all worried at people approaching it - which was, in itself, worrying.  There were a couple of attempts capture it for transfer to the Seal Sanctuary at Gweek, but eventually it disappeared of its own accord.  We hope it has made its way back out to sea - maybe to be seen again around the harbour entrance!!

Marine Mammal Medic Course: this took place on Sunday 4th March 2007 - and due to the gale force winds and torrential rain the course took place in a outbuilding near Woolacombe. The students learned all about how to rescue stranded whales, dolphins and seals!  Medic courses take place on a regular basis around the country - if you are interested, have a look under training on the BDMLR website.

The picture below shows the the students with a whale filled with water to give them an idea of how heavy they would be!

Schools

If your school is coming to Exmouth for a trip, why not contact the Dive Centre and arrange for a short talk on the wildlife that divers see underwater, and find out what you can do to help protect the environment.  If you're lucky, you may get to try some fins on!