Healthy Seas cleans waters around Greek island

Teile:
15.07.2021 17:38
Kategorie: News

From devastation to paradise: By removing 76 tons of debris, epic cleanup project restores a Greek island to its original beauty

In just over a week, a 45-member team, primarily volunteers, including 20 divers, carried out an unprecedented cleanup project. The effort removed 76 tons of trash from the sea, shoreline and four beaches in southwestern Ithaca, a Greek island famous as the home of King Odysseus and a symbol of homesickness.

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After George Lilas, local diver and passionate environmentalist, published photos of an abandoned fish farm wreaking ecological havoc on Ithaca, the environmental organization Healthy Seas mobilized all its forces, bringing together volunteers, local authorities and sponsors to help restore the pristine beauty of the area. The project started on June 8, 2021, World Oceans Day, and lasted until June 16. It is worth mentioning that this is the largest project in the history of Healthy Seas. Not only in terms of positive environmental impact and community involvement, but also that amazing results were achieved in such a short time.

The fish farming company, which had gone bankrupt in 2021, had left behind fish farming cages and other equipment that had since polluted the area, endangering both the local community and underwater wildlife, as well as marine traffic.

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In September 2020, the rare hurricane-like storm Ianos resulted in tons of industrial plastic pipes, fishing nets, nylon lines, concrete blocks, plastic buoys, large rusty metal pieces and all kinds of debris being swept away, only to be later found floating on the ocean surface or lying on the seabed or beaches. "Thanks to the heroic efforts of the team and the support of our partners, we were able to accomplish the unthinkable and remove the abandoned fish farm piece by piece in just eight days," said Veronika Mikos, director of Healthy Seas.

"Local people have been waiting for a long time for someone to do something about this environmental disaster. We decided to take on this enormous challenge and use our resources and expertise to help them," Mikos says. "It's already making an incredible difference when you look at the bay and you can't help but be emotionally touched by it. That, along with the warm greetings we've received from locals, is our great reward."

For full eight days, 14 international volunteer technical divers from Ghost Diving worked to remove the rings, pipes and fishing nets, while another team of volunteers tackled the beaches on the surface, some knee-deep in foam pellets that had leaked from the floats over the years.

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Local divers from Greece assisted in the cleanup, lifting smaller items from the seafloor. Heavy metal structures, which were found on the seabed, were recovered by professional divers and a workboat. In total, the team collected five tons of fishing nets, 32 tons of metal and 39 tons of plastic, including150 bags full of Styrofoam balls.

"We couldn't believe our eyes! After five days of shoveling Styrofoam balls into plastic bags, we realized we needed another solution to leave the beach as clean as possible. Luckily, we found an industrial vacuum cleaner, which we converted into a filter using a mesh bag from a volunteer," says Mikos.

In addition to the obvious and profound difference this project has made to the natural environment, it is also a shining example of collaboration and community engagement. Healthy Seas hosted a public event in the local main square to inform locals about the project, while 75 children participated in educational activities aimed at raising awareness about the ghost fishing phenomenon.

Six months of preparation were needed to both organize the logistics and bring together the partners without whom this project would not have been possible. Enaleia, a sustainable fisheries start-up, was the main Greek partner in the project and played a leading role in coordinating the actions on the ground.

Marine biologist Erik Wurz, who works for Wageningen University and is a member of the Ghost Diving team, conducted scientific research to assess the interaction of the nets with the underwater environment by conducting seabed surveys at various locations near the cleanup site. The entire project was documented with photos and videos.

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Healthy Seas is a best practice example of circular economy where waste is a resource. The nets that were salvaged are now first cleaned, sorted and transported to a collection point near Athens. Most of them are of the nylon 6 type and are reprocessed by Aquafil along with other nylon waste into ECONYL® yarn, the basis for many sustainable products such as socks, swimwear, sportswear, accessories and carpets. Other types of ghost netting have also been salvaged in the area and will be transferred to Bracenet to be processed into handmade products. Enaleia will facilitate the feeding of the remaining marine plastics and scrap metals into the circular economy.

Hyundai Motor Europe provided funding for the project, which would not have been possible without the valuable support of many other partners such as Kefalonia Fisheries, the Greek Coast Guard, Odyssey Outdoor Activities, Aquatic Scuba Diving Club, Scubalife, the Municipality of Ithaca and the Prefecture of the Ionian Islands, Kosamare and the Ionian Environment Foundation. The project took place under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Maritime Affairs.

About Healthy Seas

The mission of the Healthy Seas, a Journey from Waste to Wear initiative is to rid the seas of waste, particularly fishing nets, with the aim of creating healthier seas and recycling marine debris into textile products. The salvaged fishing nets are processed and upcycled by Aquafil into ECONYL® yarn, a high-quality raw material used to create new products such as socks, swimwear, sportswear and carpets. Since its inception in 2013, Healthy Seas has been able to collect over 585 tons of fishing nets with the help of volunteer divers and fishermen.

More information:
https://www.healthyseas.org/