Pigeon Island Cleanup
Another Project A.W.A.R.E initiative by SSL
(Given below is an excerpt from a local publication. Yahoo Search Key: Eric+Fernando+AWARE)
PADII Project AWARE International Cleanup Day 21st Sept 2002 - Pigeon Island and Underwater Cleanup
"On 21 September 2002 nearly one million beach goers, scuba divers and water lovers in more than 90 countries around the world signed up to help combat one of the aquatic environment's most pervasive problems: debris. Last year, nearly one million volunteers collected more than 5 million kilograms/13 million pounds of debris from aquatic environments.
In Sri Lanka a group of 11 recreational scuba divers headed by PADI Dive Instructor Eric Fernando undertook to clean up Pigeon Island and the surrounding underwater environment. The event was supported by the Nilaveli Beach Hotel who have strived to educate visitors about the need to protect Nilaveli Beach and Pigeon Island. The scuba divers scoured the sea bed surrounding the island and picked up several bags full of debris such as plastic bottles, metal cans, food wrappers etc much of which is non-biodegradable.
The 2002 tourist season for the East Coast has been a hectic one, with the current ceasefire and peace talks paving the way for safe travel. Thousands of visitors thronged to Nilaveli beach. Several fiberglass boats are operated by local fisherman to take groups to Pigeon Island to view the beautiful corals and other marine life. Unfortunately, many visitors are unaware of the fragility of this unique environment and many have been seen breaking off pieces of live corals, collecting live shells etc to take home as souvenirs. Also a lot of litter is strewn about on this small island and much of this has also found its way into the sea bed surrounding the island.
Mr Eric Fernando is a PADI certified scuba diving instructor and operates from Bentota during October to March and Nilaveli from April to September. Anyone interested to obtain PADI certification in scuba diving could contact him on +94 777-728 277".
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