‘A tough neighbourhood’: how Gulf scientists are reaching across political divides to help coral reefs

Peace parks' that establish protected areas across borders are one idea from those working to protect marine ecosystems in a region rife with geopolitical sensitivities

In Sweden they train crows to pick those up," shouts a passerby, unhelpfully, as my colleague and I fill our jam jars with hundreds of cigarette butts. Half an hour later, it's plastic bottles, tin cans and a pair of boxer shorts.

Our team of a dozen volunteers are snorkelling and scuba-diving their way around the Dubai coastline of the Gulf - specifically a stretch of La Mer Bay that has been adopted by Chloe Griffin, a diving instructor who organises these debris dives" for students.