Xemxija Bay looks beautiful at this time of year. There are very few boats and the sea is clean and clear. Or is it? Put on a wetsuit and a set of snorkels to see what lies below and a dismal scene is revealed: discarded boat batteries, beer cans, plastic bottles and containers, oily rags, metal objects, doors, refrigerators and much more ghastly junk.

Can’t anything be done about this mess? Over the past few years during October my nine-year-old son Marcus and I have spent an extremely pleasant and rewarding weekly afternoon picking up the rubbish from the bottom of Xemxija Bay, occasionally joined by my friend Alan Doublet Barry.

We then gather the garbage and deposit it in the rubbish bins dotting the coast. It’s a great way to bond with one’s offspring and a great way to inspire awareness in the young.

Snorkelling is also great fun, with the occasional entertaining interludes, including the spotting of sizable fish, eels and octopus.

All that is needed is a wetsuit, a pair of gloves, goggles, flippers, a rope (to pull up the heavy stuff up), a sturdy shopping bag (to carry the small items underwater) and a surface marker buoy tied to your leg.