Environment Minister José Herrera swapped his ministerial garb for a wet suit and oxygen tank last week, as he and his wife Sandra dove deep beneath Malta’s waves to collect litter at the bottom of the sea.

Dr Herrera took part in an underwater clean-up organised by Mr Green Ltd and Whiteflag International at Marfa Bay.

Although Malta’s environment minister is a keen snorkeller, it is his wife who has the scuba diving bug.

“I haven’t been scuba diving long,” Dr Herrera told Times of Malta, “but my wife used to work with a scuba diving centre in her younger days”.

The sea they had cleaned up at Marfa was “on the clean side”, the minister noted.

“Most of the waste we found consisted of plastic and material related to the fishing industry,” he said.

Dr Herrera shared news of his subaquatic experience on Facebook, in a post in which he also shared good news about Għajn Tuffieħa being designated a White Flag beach.

Oslo-based Whiteflag International awards beaches, rivers, lakes, hotels and resorts which actively work to clean the sea and shoreline of debris and litter.

The organisation describes its mission as that of “systematically cleaning up water zones and keeping them clean”.

President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca led the ceremony at Għajn Tuffieħa, which was cleaned of plastics thanks to the sponsorship of Mr Green Ltd.