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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Environment
Frankie Adkins

Straws, vapes and a lady’s sex toy: the Manly diver who’s spent 30 years clearing marine plastic

Manly James Gourley Ocean Sydney
Veteran diver Richard Nicholls posing against a fence and a bright blue sky.
‘If we can stop plastics going into the ocean and turning into microplastics, then we’re winning,’ says veteran diver Richard Nicholls. Photograph: James Gourley/The Guardian

Every morning a tractor rolls over Manly’s picture-perfect beaches, scraping away the signs of the day before. But below the water’s pristine surface, where council clean-up teams struggle to scour, a jumble of plastics tell a different tale.

It is a story Richard Nicholls knows well. Over three decades, the 63-year-old “Tricky” Nicholls has led thousands of divers and snorkelers on monthly clean-up dives while tracking trends in Sydney’s marine plastics.

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