“Out of sight, out of mind.” This cliché is true for a lot of things. Something might be vitally important to us, but the moment we set it down, and walk away, we forget where we left it. Like that cup of coffee this morning. Or your car keys.
Just because something is out of your mind, doesn’t mean it’s not there anymore or is no longer a problem. For years, our oceans have been a dumping ground for the things we don’t want to see any more.
The problem is that junk that we’ve thrown into the ocean just stays there. Or it floats. And it kills birds or turtles, porpoises and whales who get tangled in it.
When I dive, I often pick up trash that hasn’t been down too long. When I was diving in Grand Cayman recently, I spotted an empty tuna can and tucked into my BCD to bring it to the surface, for example. 
I know lots of divers who do that. On the other hand, if fishing line is entangled in a reef, you’ll do more damage by pulling it lose than leaving it in place. A can or a bottle that has been on the bottom for a while might have something living in it. In the local lake where I learned to dive, and many divers explore every day in the summer, I often see beer cans, plastic cups and other debris on the bottom.
Today, most of us who grew up with the crying native American standing beside the road from the Keep America Beautiful commercial get angry when we see litter by the side of the road where some inconsiderate, selfish slob has thrown it from their car. We need to have that same reaction when we see trash in the ocean. National Geographic reported earlier this year that eight million tons of plastic trash is dumped into the ocean every year.
You might have heard of the floating garbage dump in the North Pacific, but did you know there are actually five floating gyres of plastic and trash?
What you can do
1) Look for alternative materials or avoid excessive packaging when deciding on purchases. Use paper bags, milk and juice in cardboard, and cloth diapers. Insist on paper bags and glass bottles.
2) Recycle. Many communities currently offer pick-up recycling programs for #1 and #2 plastics. Other forms of plastic may be accepted by a local recycling business. If your community doesn’t have a recycling program, contact your city or town hall to request one.
3) Educate others about the problem of marine debris, enhancing “voluntary compliance through awareness.”
4) Get involved. Locate or start a cleanup in your area.
From the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
PADI’s Project Aware is organizing the Beneath the Waves drive for divers to share their photos of underwater debris on Instagram and Twitter with the hashtag #BeneathTheWaves leading up to the Our Ocean 2015 conference on October 5 and 6.
Divers, it’s time to do more than picking up a piece of trash or two and bringing it to the surface. Show the world what you see. Maybe then, it won’t be out of sight any longer.
In one conversation, a good friend made the comment that he had always wanted to take a ride on a riverboat and go through the locks on the river. A few texts to my friend JD Pauley later and we had set up a river trip on the sternwheeler Hobby III. We cruised through the locks at Marmet and had a great day on the water. It was a day full of talking about the history of the river and the industry and what the Great Kanawha River means to West Virginia.
I don’t know anyone who hasn’t been awed by a lion at one time or another; either at the zoo, the circus or in the wild. They are truly majestic animals, although not always as noble as we like to make them out to be. I had the opportunity to get close to a pride of lions on a reserve in South Africa a few years ago. For the record, these photos are not of Cecil.
here is tremendous moral outrage at the moment directed toward this guy. I hope we don’t forget about Cecil in a few days when the next thing to obsess about on social media pops up. I hope we learn to channel that outrage to the support of conservation efforts. The reason places like Zimbabwe allow lion hunting on a limited basis is to generate income. They know the rich and foolish will pay large amounts of money to feed their egos. African lions face extinction by 2050. Sport hunting for lions happens in 16 of 20 countries in which lions exist. And don’t imagine this is an isolated incident. The importation of animal trophies from Africa is on the rise.