Off the shore of Con Dao Island in Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province, southern Vietnam, scuba divers have collected several metric tons of waste ensnared on coral reefs.

A recent survey showed that trash was discarded across some 600 hectares of reefs off the island.

Since the end of July, more than 2.1 metric tons of garbage, mainly fishing nets and rope, have been removed from the reefs, according to the Con Dao National Park.

Scuba divers have been cleaning up coral reefs off Bay Canh, Cau, Ba, and Tre Lon Islets in a bid to protect marine life.

After using cameras to observe coral reefs damaged by trash, divers drew up a cleanup plan and began removing waste from the reefs. 

Diver Nguyen Nhat Tien said that several fishing nets measuring up to 50 meters long had been swirling around coral reefs.

He and other divers used scissors to cut the large nets into pieces to remove them from reefs in order not to harm the corals.

Empty cans were also found stuck on reefs off Con Dao.

Marine waste collection was seen as a determined effort of the province to promote sustainable development on the island.

Apart from cleaning up coral reefs, the management board of the national park is carrying out garbage collection on beaches and mangrove forests on the island.

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