Shoalwater resident finds dozens of vapes at the bottom of ocean while snorkelling

Wayne Bradbury was out for an afternoon snorkel when he saw a flash of bright colour in the usually pristine sands off Shoalwater.

But it wasn’t an exotic breed of fish adding a spot of colour to the seabed it was a brightly coloured vape...

Mr Bradbury was annoyed when he saw the first vape in the water but shocked to see a second.

“The water was very clear, and as I looked around, I could see a field of vapes lying on the ocean floor,” he said.

“I had to make two trips back to shore to empty my pockets.”

The vapes, which are illegal to sell in Western Australia, were scattered on the seafloor covering a radius of about 20 metres.

“(Most) likely thrown into the water from the shoreline,” Mr Bradbury said.

When he came back to shore, seeing the pile of vapes left Mr Bradbury in disbelief that people could be that reckless.

Mr Bradbury, who has snorkelled in these waters most of his life, said this was the first time he’d encountered vapes in the water.

“The waters off Rockingham are very clean,” he said.

Mr Bradbury counted a total of 38 vapes before taking a picture of the pile.

Vape waste is becoming an increasing problem, with single-use e-cigarettes could take hundreds of years to break down.

The lithium batteries contained in the vape can leach dangerous chemicals and are hard to recycle.

Mr Bradbury shared a photo of the vapes on social media where it soon attracted more than 100 comments.

One woman commented that it is the same at other jetties nearby due to e-cigarette users throwing them in the water when they’re done.

Others congratulated him for taking the time to clean up the area.

Meanwhile, Mr Bradbury had one message for the people who had dumped the vapes: “Pull your head in, don’t litter our beautiful coastline. Dispose of your rubbish properly. Be a better human”.