Kategorie: News
Scuba divers discover the carcass of a grey seal
Abandoned fishing nets continue to kill for decades! This fact was confirmed once again during the recent ghost net recovery by the Society for the Rescue of Dolphins (GRD) off the island of Rügen. During the recovery of a trawl net, volunteer scuba divers discovered the carcass of a grey seal that had recently died in agony. On the same day, the net was recovered through the courageous efforts of the marine conservationists and now no longer poses a threat to marine biodiversity.
Help came too late for a grey seal
Once brought to the brink of extinction by humans, the grey seal population in the southern Baltic Sea has been slowly but steadily recovering since the turn of the millennium. Losing an animal to an abandoned fishing net is therefore extremely painful. The site of the incident was the wreck of a former coal freighter that most likely sank during the Second World War and is now lying on the bottom of the Baltic Sea at a depth of about 30 metres off the island of Rügen. In GDR times, a trawl net got caught on the wreck of the ship, which has been fishing inexorably ever since.
The most recent victim was the grey seal that was found entangled in the net on 14 April during a ghost net salvage operation by volunteer recreational divers led by GRD project partner Wolfgang Frank. The carcass underlines the importance of salvaging this deadly legacy of fishing, especially as 5,000 to 10,000 nets and net parts are lost every year in the Baltic Sea alone, endangering marine biodiversity.
Over nine tonnes fewer ghost nets since 2020
Since 2020, the GRD has been carrying out salvage operations off the island of Rügen under the motto "FOR SEA LIFE" together with the ghost net expert Wolfgang Frank in order to render the deadly traps harmless. Without the commitment of recreational divers from all over Germany, this GRD project would not be feasible. Last Friday, at a depth of 28 metres and under adverse external conditions, they cut net parts on the one hand and locked lifting bags on the other, so that the former trawl net weighing around one tonne could be pulled on board the escort vessel SAS-111 - "CHRISTIN-BETTINA". Since 2020, the GRD has recovered almost 9.3 tonnes of nets and net parts in this way.
Ghost net salvage on land
The recreational divers take on this by no means harmless task because they want to actively support environmental and marine protection. Day 2 showed that this active support can be carried out not only in the sea but also on the coast. As the recovery in the Baltic Sea had to be cancelled due to strong waves and currents, a beach clean-up north of Prora was carried out without further ado. Which nobody had expected: The waste collectors found a total of four nets during this action - both directly on the water and in the adjacent forest area. In addition, they found an old tyre, a tube television and a spent smoke grenade. But above all, the bags were filled with lots of plastic waste, crown caps, cigarette butts and dog excrement bags.
Further plans to protect the Baltic Sea
The next ghost net recovery by the GRD in cooperation with Wolfgang Frank is planned for August 2023. Before that, there will be a workshop on Rügen in May to train recreational divers to participate in ghost net salvages. This workshop is already fully booked, but applications for further workshops are always welcome on the GRD website.
These actions are made possible thanks to the generous support of the German Postcode Lottery, the divers involved, Wolfgang Frank and all supporters of the GRD project "Ghost Net Salvages in the Baltic Sea". The auction "Art instead of Plastic" organised by the agency Medienmonster from Kiel recently donated an additional 1,840 euros to the protection of the Baltic Sea.