Getting the goods on ocean dumpers.

When it comes to illegal dumping from cruise ships, sometimes the best watchdogs are appalled vacationers who catch the action with their video cameras. In 1993, passengers aboard the Regent Sea witnessed and photographed crew members throwing plastic garbage bags into the ocean 30 miles off the coast of Florida. Also in 1993, a group of fishermen discovered and partially retrieved more than 25 plastic garbage bags floating several dozen miles off St. Petersburg, Florida. The debris was determined to have come from the Begent Rainbow, another ship operated by Regency Cruises Inc. Regency received a whopping $250,000 fine this spring for violations of MARPOL, the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution From Ships.

The big payoff for the fishermen and the as-yet unidentified Regent Sea passengers is that they may receive half of Regency's fine -- $125,000 -- for providing information that led to the luxury cruise line's conviction. A decision on the award is expected soon from the U.S. District Court in Tampa.

Two years ago, the United States government chartered a new course by prosecuting illegal dumping that occurred 200 nautical miles from its shores. Suddenly, the cruise ships began receiving unwelcome scrutiny from their environmentally concerned passengers. Due to the passenger's complaints, several luxury cruise lines are currently under investigation for alleged MARPOL violations.

Cruise ships are allowed to dump some garbage at sea, but such materials as glass and metal must first be crushed into one-inch square cubes. The dumping of any plastic, including garbage bags, is illegal, and no dumping can occur within 12 nautical miles of shore.

Cruise ships account for up to 15 percent of the seven million tons of waste that is illegally dumped at sea each year, says the Washington-based Center for Marine Conservation (CMC). An estimated one million birds and 100,000 marine mammals and sea turtles anually die from eating plastic bags and pellets, or are choked to death by plastic six-pack rings.

"The plastic doesn't simply disappear," says Betsy Schrader, a CMC spokesperson. "If Columbus had flipped a six-pack ring off the side of the Santa Maria during his voyage to America 400 years ago, it could float to shore today."

Alvin and Marilyn Levett found their 1991 vacation abroad the Regal Princess rudely interrupted when they spied -- and filmed -- crew members hurling plastic garbage bags into the water off the Florida Keys. "It angered me particularly because the ship had bragged about its state-of-the-art trash disposal system," says Alvin Levett.

Largely due to the Levetts's videotape, Princess Cruise Lines, the Regal Princess' owner, paid a $500,000 MARPOL fine; the Levetts got half. Since that incident, Princess has completely revamped its waste disposal system and now has "the best waste management program in the business," says CMC's Schrader.

Contact: Center for Marine Conservation, 1725 Desales, NW, Washington, DC 20036/[phone].