A massive team of divers have broken the Guinness World Record for the largest underwater cleanup. The team of 633 people organised by Dixie Divers in Florida picked up litter from the seabed near the Deerfield Beach International Fishing Pier on Saturday.
The marine conservation non-profit project AWARE and the scuba diving agency PADI also supported the event, aiming to show how conservation is bringing people together more than ever before.
Arlington Pavan, who owns the Dixie Divers facility, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on the weekend: “It’s amazing to see everybody here, happy, just amazing.
“The last record took 24 hours and we did it in two hours, so it’s amazing.”
The Sun Sentinel reported that the Dixie Divers team broke the last record from 2015, where 615 divers led by former Egyptian Army scuba diver, Ahmed Gabr, performed a clean-up in the Red Sea.
Guinness World Record adjudicator Michael Empric reportedly came from New York City to oversea the official head count between 9am and 11am on the day.
Jack Fishman, a diver who attended the event said that at least 3,200 pounds of fishing gear was used for the dive.
Writing in a Facebook post he said that more than 9,000 pieces of marine debris was reported to Project AWARE.
“What an amazing day for conservation and an amazing day for the drive community,” he wrote.
“To say today’s collaboration of The World Record Clean Up Event hosted by Dixie Divers was a success is an understatement.
“Hundreds of Divers under the support of PADI, Project AWARE, many other dive centers, community members, and more, all came together to make Deerfield Beach a better place for all who live there, above and below the waves.”
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