23.04.2022 – Protect the ocean, celebrate the Earth

The 22nd of April marks Earth Day, a day dedicated to celebrating our planet and simultaneously highlighting the unquestionable necessity of protecting it. As a whale-watching company our team tends to celebrate our planet by dedicating our time to protecting the place we spend the most time in; the Atlantic Ocean. Oceans cover 71% of the earth’s surface and thus, Oceano Azul Foundation decided to use Earth Day to encourage their partners in Portugal to organise events throughout the week of the 18th to 24th April that would be dedicated to awareness on our oceans.

The perfect transition from the land to the ocean are our beaches so, once again, we teamed up with partners for a Spring Beach Cleaup. It was a wonderful success and was attended by people of all ages and backgrounds. In four and a half hours we managed to clear 153 kg of waste from the beautiful beach of Madalena do Mar. Details of the collected waste will be sent to the Regional Government as data to reduce pollution on the island and the cleanup organisers will draft a report detailing sources of waste and potential strategies to minimise them. Beyond this, we find the pictures and data speak for themselves.

We are grateful for every single participant in this event and would like to give a special shoutout to our partners in the event Ocean Devotion, Greeneract and Zerowaste Madeira. Another special thank you to the Digital Nomads Madeira for providing a lot of man and woman power; what a way of giving back to your home away from home! Last but not least we would like to thank Oceano Azul Foundation for the great initiative, we were honoured to be a part of it!

By Paula Thake

Sightings of the day:

35 beach cleaners

90kg of discarded metal

62kg of undifferentiated waste

161 plastic bottles, cups and metal cans

39 COVID face masks

571 cigarettes

153kg of total collected waste