Hurricane Irma bore down on Florida and parts of the Caribbean in September, leaving a wake of destruction in its path. More than 1 million homes in Florida alone had no power, and about 6 million people evacuated.

Throughout all the chaos, resident Jack Fishman was already planning. As he sat in New York, safe from the storm, he was connecting with his dive buddies and laying out plans to organize and lead cleanups upon their return.

“I knew that during this time, the chances of rubbish heading back out to sea would be a massive concern for us,” says Fishman. “Working closely with our community to organize Dive Against Debris cleanup actions and help negate some of the possible damages was my number-one priority.”

A Community Banded Together
Fishman is the marine conservation coordinator at Rainbow Reef Dive Center on Key Largo. He knows and understands that conservation cannot be done in isolation. It takes the entire community to be stewards, be responsible and be engaged.

“Working together, like-minded individuals and groups have a real opportunity to join forces to create positive action,” says Fishman. “The Florida Keys are known for having more dive shops than gas stations. At a dive shop, the divers are the gas.

“Each dive center is fueled by passionate people working hard to create access to and an understanding of the wonders of the underwater realm. When we implemented Project AWARE’s Dive Against Debris program in our dive store, we knew it would be a great opportunity to generate hands-on action in the community. We have organized large events with as many as seven different community dive shops to share our conservation efforts up and down the coast of the Florida Keys.”

After Hurricane Irma, a new set of issues appeared. Debris from land-based sources, such as lobster traps that had come loose, were found scattered across the reefs and underwater habitats. It was imperative that divers remove these hazards safely and as soon as possible.

Philip Rash, a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer, organized several wreck and reef survey dives post-Irma.

“The first site we hit was the wreck of the Benwood. Within the first five minutes, my dive buddy Ari and I had armfuls of rope and line that were entangled on the wreck,” says Rash. “As we scoured the Benwood, we continued to find bottles and other various debris. We moved from the Benwood to multiple other sites, collecting debris not only underwater on our dives, but also on the surface in between sites. We even ended up hauling in a full-size refrigerator on the way back to the docks.

“Much of the debris we found during these post-hurricane dives was from a natural disaster that no one could have prevented. But a lot of the debris we pick up on almost a daily basis is not.”

Diving, Passion and Stewardship
As the community of Florida rallies together, Fishman explains, the most enjoyable experience of working in conservation is seeing the passions of so many hardworking people and organizations come together for the right reasons. Whether it is sharing the love of diving or keeping places you love clean, it is easy to see why bringing others into the underwater world is so important.

“When people care about something, real change happens. When you find making a difference is exciting, easy and enjoyable, anything is possible,” says Fishman.

Read more about Project AWARE’s remarkable volunteers, or get involved yourself, at projectaware.org.