Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association (HEPCA) said on Monday it has collected 350 kilograms of waste that had become stuck in Red Sea coral reefs. Around 120 Egyptian and foreign scuba divers took part in the clean-up operation, with boats transporting them to the reefs. Their work involved collecting garbage from the coral reefs of the Red Sea islands of Om Qomo’r, Shaab al-Erq, al-Fanoos and Fanadir. The participants collected huge amounts of plastic waste, wooden debris and other waste dropped from diving boats, said HEPCA. Ali called on owners of diving centers and boats to warn tourists not to throw any waste into the sea and report any areas with plastic waste, since it poses a danger to coral reefs.

Source: Egypt Independent September 12, 2016 09:56 UTC