Growing amounts of waste along the seafront in Port Vila have become a concern for local dive operators.

Big Blue Dive Port Vila has reported an increase in underwater rubbish found along the seafront area, with divers collecting more than 190 different pieces of waste during a clean-up conducted on 28 March.

Experienced diver Cathy Savei said the majority of items found underwater were glass bottles, particularly alcohol bottles, followed by plastic waste, metal pieces, food packaging, toys, discarded business signs, and even wheels.

“Most of the items we found were glass bottles. After the glass bottles came plastic bottles, then metal pieces, food packaging, toys, business signs, and even wheels.”

She explained that much of the waste appears to come from heavy rainfall washing rubbish from land into the sea, as well as direct littering.

“During heavy rainfall, a lot of rubbish is washed down into the water, but it is not only the rain. Sometimes people are also throwing rubbish directly into the sea.”

However, collecting the waste is not easy.

Cathy said some debris is too large to remove safely, while coral reefs are also at risk when fishing lines, ropes, and other waste become entangled.

“Sometimes marine creatures lay their eggs inside cans such as soft drink cans, so we cannot remove those items. In other cases, fishing lines and ropes become tangled around coral or sea creatures.”

This marks the fifth seafront clean-up carried out by Big Blue Dive, as operators warn that increasing pollution could eventually affect tourism activities.

The divers say tourism depends on keeping both the land and underwater environment clean, and that poor waste management on land continues to be a major cause of marine pollution.