Campaign launched to clean detergent packets at Oman's beaches

Muscat: The Environment Authority has carried out a cleaning campaign for the beaches of Daymaniyat Islands Nature Reserve.

The Environment Authority said in a statement: "To complement the efforts of the Environment Authority, in cooperation with the relevant authorities, to remove plastic waste from beaches, the Environment Department in the South Al Batinah Governorate launched a campaign to clean the beaches of the Daymaniyat Islands Nature Reserve. A number of diving and volunteer teams participated in the campaign."

This comes after tens of thousands of detergent bags were spotted on the coastline of Muscat. This could cause extensive damage to the country’s marine life and ecosystems, say diving instructors in the country.

On Friday evening, many divers who were out exploring the seas with friends, or leading tour groups out into water, came across a number of bags that birds were trying to get to. While they initially thought they were buoys left by local fishermen, they were shocked to find that these were actually bags of detergent powder.

“The detergent packets have spread from Barka in the north to Quriyat in the south, and all the way up to the Daymaniyat Islands,” said Abdullah Al Maskari, a diving instructor in Oman. “You can imagine just how far it has spread.The detergent is going to cause huge damage to our ocean ecosystems, so we need to act fast to remove as much of it as possible."