One of the reasons I love this community and feel such a strong part of it is that those you meet are always looking out for each other. This was especially true when I visited Splat Café earlier and the owners offered some additional Local Heroes they recommended I visit and meet as part of my exploration of the community.
Located in Manly Beach is Dave and his organization, Eco Divers. In this video I sit down with Dave for a few minutes at Splat Café and we discuss why he started Eco Divers, what he hopes it can offer, and how it has been an important agent of change in the community since it was started.
The organization came out of an idea based on the other groups Dave had worked with in the past. Those other organizations frequently didn’t do as much work as he would have liked. Most activities focused on awareness, petition signing, and other activities to recruit new attention, but Dave found that the more you actually did to further the cause directly, the more people paid attention.
That’s what Eco Divers is all about. Their mission is to protect and preserve the marine environment and its inhabitants on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. To further that cause, the group performs cleanups, surveys, ongoing research projects, direct marine animal rescue operations, community education classes and underwater photography and videography to further the cause.
With weekly updates on their activities, organized outings, and plenty of community engagement, there are a number of ways to get involved with Eco Divers on their Facebook Page or by interacting with them directly if you are on the Northern Beaches.