Last week, a seabed cleanup was organised at the popular Foss dive site in Valletta. Although a cleanup was held there only three weeks ago, a wide range of rubbish, debris and detritus were brought up by an 18-strong diving team, snorkelers and land team.

Some of the items which were fished (excuse the pun) out of the sea were shoes, plastic bottles, an oil leaking gearbox, a metal bar stool, lengths of pipe, broken glass bottles, metal cans and tins, countless cigarette butts, a denture, carpets, clothes and many more items.

To think that this is a problem which is exclusive to Malta is wrong. It is a problem which is found all over the world, from the UK to Sharm el Sheik… it’s a case of “out of sight, out of mind”.

In the past, people just used to dump any old thing into the sea, and not much has changed. The law comes down heavily on people who dump things out in the open, but the sea is a different matter.

While a mattress or a wardrobe is unsightly, plastics and oil are very harmful to marine life, killing it and preventing it from regenerating for years. Another problem is items being dumped on the foreshore. Every time it is windy, or there is a downpour, anything that is left on the shore gets dragged into the sea, and it compounds the problem.

While many may think that the sea is only for divers and fish, it is not. The oceans and seas keep our planet – our one and only collective home – alive. Without it and without the life it sustains, we would all slowly expire.

Cleaning the seabed is a tough task. Not only does it require scuba equipment and diving skills, but it also requires people who are willing to do it. It is also imperative to make sure that a kettle, for example, which has become home to an octopus or crabs, is not lifted out of the water life and all. One must always make sure that one does not cause harm by trying to do good.

The UN has declared the seabed to be mankind’s common heritage. We all have a duty to safeguard it and protect it. Next time you have a cigarette, stub it out in the bin. Next time you need to get rid of a bulky piece of refuse, use the free service. Next time you have a beer, throw the bottle in the bin. You can only appreciate the true scale of the mess once you see what is down there… it’s not pretty.