NQUEC takes an active role in caring for and promoting the environment. The club has a long association with Clean Up Australia Day, where we have conducted underwater rubbish collection activities around many local sites such as Townsville’s Ross River, the Townsville Strand, the Picnic Bay Jetty on Magnetic Island, moorings around Pelorus and Orpheus Islands, and Yanks Jetty on Orpheus Island, to name just a few. We organise formal clean-ups where we register groups and seek sponsorship through council, as well as informal clean-ups performed on an ad-hoc basis during club dive trips. We constantly collect and remove broken and discarded fishing tackle, and often recover boating equipment such as fishing rods, tackle boxes, gaffs, boat hooks, and anchors.
NQUEC divers are beginning to notice more Crown of Thorns Starfish (COTS) at the sites we visit, and the club is actively pursuing funding opportunities for the provision of training and equipment used to manage and eradicate COTS.
NQUEC also conducts clean-up activities above the water level, collecting and removing rubbish from inter-tidal zones, beaches, and camping grounds.