What is ghost gear? How I helped World Animal Protection ask divers to ‘Buddy Up’ for marine life

A threat that keeps killing after it is lost

Nets, traps and lines lost at sea don’t stop working. Ghost gear goes on trapping and killing marine life for years. Alliances such as the Global Ghost Gear Initiative work with governments, NGOs and businesses to tackle it, but they need people on the water to spot and report it.

I come across it myself: on a walk at Durdle Door I found a lost fishing pot washed up on the beach.

Two PSAs, two audiences

With World Animal Protection, the Global Ghost Gear Initiative and Pembrokeshire Coast Marine Reserve, we made two public service announcements: one for the diving community and one for the fishing community.

The diving film features Joanna Toole of the Joanna Toole Foundation, urging divers to ‘Buddy Up’ for the protection of marine life.

A diver’s habit, turned into conservation

Two films, two communities and one familiar phrase: ‘Buddy Up’ turned a diver’s safety habit into a way to protect marine life from ghost gear.