As another year comes to a close, we reflect on all of the amazing wins for the ocean that the Project AWARE community has achieved. When we come together for a shared goal, we can do amazing things, the proof is in the pudding, so here’s a round-up of our successes in 2019 for the big blue.

Clean Ocean
Our flagship citizen science program, Dive Against Debris® goes from strength to strength with 269,379 items of debris removed from the seafloor and reported to our global database (as of November 2019) taking us ever closer to our 2020 goal of two million items of debris removed. We have 533 adopted dive sites around the world with dedicated owners cleaning and submitting data at least once a month, strengthening the data from those sites.

Healthy Ocean
2019 was an important year for sharks and rays with some significant wins including trade controls secured for 18 species at CITES CoP18. As well as our shark work, we shone a light on an arguably less charismatic ocean dweller and made the humble sea cucumber our 2019 poster boy. These incredible creatures needed some love and the community didn’t disappoint.

“We were inundated with high-quality photos and demonstrable levels of support, says Ian Campbell, Project AWARE Associate Director Policy and Campaigns. This led directly to the US and EU governments referencing the value of them as an attraction to marine tourism as well as playing a vital role in keeping reefs healthy. While there was significant opposition from some countries that consume sea cucumbers, we managed to get a huge win, with over 100 countries supporting, and the role public support played was critical.”

Community Action
This year, ocean adventurers around the world made #EveryDiveASurveyDive, took part in over 140 events for AWARE week and went to extraordinary lengths with friends and family to fundraise for our ocean planet. Although we still have a long way to go and we find ourselves in a time where the ocean and indeed the planet has never been under so much threat, together we are making a difference. Thank you to every single one of you that make up the ocean community, your continuous commitment is driving change and protection for the ocean. Here’s to 2020 and another year for the ocean.