At 6.30 am, Dao Dang Cong Trung, born in 1980, director of a travel firm in Da Nang, was seen one day putting diving equipment and trash scooping nets on his motorbike as he left for the beach. He surfed the waves to find and pick up trash on the continental shelf, stuck on coral reefs.

Trung began doing this in 2011. In that year, he dived under water, and discovered coral reefs at Son Tra Peninsula in Da Nang, and Cu Lao Cham in Quang Nam. Under the deep water, he discovered non-biodegradable waste, bottles, beer cans, and broken fishing tools which were sunk, stuck, and covered on coral reefs.

Seeing the sea water damaged because of waste, he decided to pick up waste voluntarily.

Twice a day, from 6.30 am to 8 am, and 5.30-6.30 pm, he quietly goes to the sea, and dives under the deep water to remove trash. He prioritizes collecting and processing sinking garbage that does not get stuck in coral reefs, such as bottles, jars, and plastic bags.

As for broken fishing tools left by fishermen, such as nets and ropes, he has to spend more time to remove and then cut the waste to avoid possible damage to coral reefs.

Trung said after each dive, he can collect 15-20 kilograms of trash of different kinds. The collected trash is carried ashore and then transported to the city’s trash bins for proper treatment.

Spending time on work which doesn’t bring money, Trung faces criticism from people. 

“In the first years when I began doing this, my friends, relatives and colleagues thought I was crazy,” he said.

However, he has never thought of giving up and has even continued his work of picking up trash more regularly. Later, his friends and colleagues understood and went with him to pick up waste.

Trung has been doing this for 13 years and doesn’t intend to stop. He spends 5 days a week doing so and also spends big money on specialized tools that can make the work easier.

This is dangerous work which is not for those with weak diving skills. Divers also need to have knowledge about aquatic creatures to be able to differentiate creatures and know which are dangerous and which are not.

Trung has set up a team of people who love the sea and want to protect the environment, called Da nang Free Diving, with 3,500 members.

Ha Nguyen