115. A National Strategy for Plastic Pollution plus Wet Notes news, information and commentary

Scuba Shack Radio

Joe Dituri recently completed a 100 day mission underwater with Project Neptune 100 sponsored by the Marine Resource Development Foundation. He smashed the old record of 73 days. Find out more at mrdf/project-neptune. Mark and Sherry Grishom of PSI/PCI (Professional Scuba Inspectors / Professional Cylinder Inspectors) were recently honored by NASA for their work on the Resupply Air Tank Team for the International Space Station. Aqualung announced that the company is being acquired by Barings Investment. Barings had been providing financial support to Aqualung since it was sold in 2016 to Montagu, a private equity firm. The sale is expected to close later in 2023. The NOAA Ocean Podcast's latest episode is all about rip currents, a timely conversation. The podcast features Greg Dusek, a senior scientist for NOAA working on rip current modeling and prediction. You can find out more - https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/podcast/june23/nop66-rip-currents.html Commentary Being prepared as a diver encompasses many facets including training, practice, experience, and equipment. Part of this equipment is your safety gear. Signaling devices are a critical part of this safety gear. Sometimes divers might not think they need this but you never know when it will make a difference. Not only do you need to have this safety equipment with you, you also need to know how to deploy and use the gear. Remember, when you actually have to use the safety equipment, the situation will be stressful. That is not the time to learn how to use it. The US EPA has developed a Draft National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution in April 2023. The draft strategy is currently in a comment period that has been extended to July 31, 2023. This strategy builds upon our National Recycling Strategy with a focus on actions to reduce, reuse, collect and capture plastic waste. The three top objectives are: Objective A - Reduce pollution during plastic production Objective B - Improve post-use material management Objective C - Prevent trash and micro/nanoplastics from entering entering waterways and remove trash from the environment. You can provide review the draft strategy here - https://www.epa.gov/circulareconomy/draft-national-strategy-prevent-plastic-pollution