With only half of the current operation complete, the teams recorded in excess of 1200kg of rubbish, including broken glasses, straws, restaurant chairs, plastic menus, cigarette butts and various other assorted plastics being recovered, each piece carefully collected by hand. 

A statement from Ocean Village and Marina Bay Marinas follows below:

This month, the Ocean Village & Marina Bay Marinas team intensified the frequency of rubbish  clearance operations within the shallower marina waters, in front of the restaurants and bars. 

The enhanced rubbish recovery schedule is a result of close collaboration with HM  Government of Gibraltar’s Department of Environment and has involved Dive Charters, acting  as recovery specialists. 

With only half of the current operation complete, the teams recorded in excess of 1,200kg (1.2  Tonnes) of rubbish, including broken glasses, straws, drink cans, broken bottles, restaurant  chairs, plastic menus, cigarette butts, beer mats, 6 mobile phones, a watch and various other  assorted plastics being recovered, each piece carefully collected by hand. 

In the week marking World Oceans Day, which is celebrated to inform the public of the impact  of human actions on the ocean and to spread awareness to protect the marine environment,  this local operation has provided a shocking and sobering realisation of the extent to which  the careless actions of the few, can impact so greatly on Gibraltar’s local marine waters.  

William Bowman, Marina Director of Ocean Village & Marina Bay Marinas said: 

“Please help us to safeguard the precious marina environment and marine ecosystem by  disposing of your rubbish in the bins that are provided so that we can all collectively benefit  from better water circulation within our marinas, creating cleaner waters for marine wildlife and  for the enjoyment of anyone that visits.” 

The second half of the rubbish recovery operation continues within the marinas this month.