Alkhobar’s Half Moon Beach cleanup nets half a ton of debris

ALKHOBAR: Six hundred and sixty-five kilograms of plastic water bottles, aluminum cans, lids, cups, barbecue grills, "shawarma" wrappers, torn carpets, discarded clothing, broken glass, food containers, and paint cans were among the debris gathered during Project AWARE: Beach & Underwater Cleanup event, that took place on Oct. 5 at Half Moon Beach.
Organized by Recreational Diving Aficionados (RDA), in collaboration with Arabian Gulf Divers, this year’s cleanup event registered almost 200 volunteers including divers and non-divers from different organizations in Riyadh, Dammam, Dhahran, and Alkhobar including APO-DAA, Saudi Divers Group and IDEA Divers.
Raul Ausemestre, PADI instructor development course staff, welcomed guests and volunteers with a short speech emphasizing that the cause of the annual cleanup activity is to promote marine environment protection through education, advocacy and action. Highlighting “buddy system” to the divers, PADI dive master Allan Abulencia explained the cleanup map covering 50x25 meters underwater area for trash collection. Simultaneously, non-diver volunteers were led by the organizers to conduct beach cleanup along the 3-km Half Moon shore. Special gift packs were awarded to outstanding volunteer divers and shore cleaners who gathered the most trash during the event.
“Aside from our aim to promote awareness, our group also signifies both our concern and appreciation to the natural resources of Saudi Arabia which has been a second home to us (expatriates). We hold this annual cleanup event to raise awareness especially to the local youth in order to encourage them to uphold cleanliness and to care for their environment,” according to Frederic Ocampo, PADI Dive Master and organizer.
Half Moon Beach, aside from being a favored dive site for trainings and in-water skills practice for scuba divers in the central and eastern part of Saudi Arabia, is also a common host for swimmers and beach-goers due to its mapped wrecks, quiet location, growing number of fish species and occasional sightings of dolphins and wild ducks.
This year’s Project AWARE: Beach & Underwater Cleanup at Half Moon Beach was sponsored by KUDU Corp., Mobily-Globe-KSA, Sharky’s Dive Center, Jollibee and TFC-Middle East.