Mr. Nguyen Van Duc (39 years old, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province), spent most of his time in the ocean as a scuba diving instructor. Mr. Duc loves the sea.

In 2001, while exploring the seabed, the death and destruction of coral reefs, sea anemones, beautiful fish caused him distress.

As a result, he began to voluntarily clean up the bottom of the sea whenever he had free time to save his beautiful home – the ocean.

“There are many kinds of rubbish. It could be household waste or fishermen’s broken tools. If nobody takes action, marine life will be severely damaged. Therefore, I decided to save the sea,” he said.

However, he soon realized that he could not save the marine life alone. He thought of inspiring others.

Collecting garbage on the ocean floor is a dangerous task. Collectors have to undergo intensive training to protect themselves and the marine environment.

This made it hard for Mr. Duc to gain support. But he did not give up. He decided to train his students to gather waste on the seabed while teaching them scuba diving.

During Mr. Duc courses, he tried to educate his learners about the importance of preserving the marine environment. Gradually, they supported his actions and took part in collecting waste on the ocean floor.

The waste is transported to a gathering point on land so that people can classify according to regulations.

Thanks to Mr. Duc’s dedication to marine life, there are more and more non-profit groups and organizations participating in preserving the beauty of the sea. These include all kinds of people, including those who love scuba-diving.

Each person will have a different role depending on his or her capabilities. Those who are qualified for diving will help Mr. Duc collect rubbish, while others will stay on shore to pick up litter floating on the sea surface or keep garbage bags for divers.

Ha Nguyen