Saving The Sea: Divers Lead Daring Mission To Free Trapped Marine Life

After transferring nan discarded extracted from nan seabed astatine Penyal d’Ifac, biology institution Gravity Wave has officially concluded its underwater cognition “Mission Calpe”. The inaugural focused connected nan urgent removal of a monolithic shade net, astir 400 metres long, that had been trapping marine life successful nan area. The cognition was carried retired pinch nan support of B100 The Healthy Banking — ABANCA’s integer banking marque — and Visa.

The involution takes connected peculiar value erstwhile viewed successful nan discourse of nan increasing integrative contamination situation successful nan Mediterranean. According to nan study Mare Plasticum: The Mediterranean (IUCN, 2020), it is estimated that 1,178,000 tonnes of integrative person already accumulated successful this sea, pinch a further 229,000 tonnes added each year.

More than 40 per cent of this discarded consists of abandoned aliases discarded sportfishing gear, known arsenic shade nets. These materials tin return up to 1,000 years to degrade, continuing to trap fish, turtles, and different type while damaging basal habitats specified arsenic seagrass meadows and coral reefs.

A cardinal measurement successful marine conservation

For this reason, nan removal of shade nets has go a apical privilege for Mediterranean conservation, forming nan halfway of Gravity Wave’s ngo to combat this type of pollution. Ignacio Martí, caput of operations for Gravity Wave successful Mission Calpe, explained: “The main extremity was to destruct nan shade nett that was still trapping marine life. It was a analyzable process that required a afloat time of activity pinch crane vessels and master divers. During nan operation, we freed trapped animals and worked pinch awesome precision to debar damaging nan seagrass meadow.”

The cognition was carried retired successful 3 stages. First, nan area was marked and secured to protect nan Posidonia meadow and guarantee nan team’s safety. Then, decades of accumulated discarded were extracted — including nan 400-metre shade net, ropes, tyres, and remnants of sportfishing instrumentality — successful a coordinated effort involving divers, crane boats, and method staff. Finally, nan materials were transported to Calpe port, wherever Reciclamás took complaint of discarded management. This was a peculiarly challenging task owed to nan tangled quality of nan net, which made handling and measurement difficult.

Next steps see residence restoration

This first shape aimed to urgently region nan nett that was endangering marine species, marking nan opening of a broader, semipermanent project. The adjacent extremity is to return to nan seabed of Calpe to clear remaining debris and statesman restoring nan underwater ecosystem to its earthy authorities from 50 years ago.

The cognition was conducted successful collaboration pinch nan IMEDMAR-UCV technological team, which helped specify nan areas of action and archive interactions betwixt discarded and recovering marine communities. Future stages — Phase 2 and Phase 3 — will attraction connected removing further discarded and restoring marine habitats, pinch nan purpose of making Calpe a nationalist benchmark for marine conservation and ecological regeneration.

A unsocial marine space

Gravity Wave has called connected organisations and entities willing successful joining nan inaugural to actively collaborate successful restoring this unsocial marine space.

Julen Rodríguez, co-CEO of Gravity Wave, concluded: “Our committedness is to retrieve and protect this place, which is our location and wherever our task began. We want Calpe to regenerate naturally, arsenic it was half a period ago, and go a starring illustration of marine restoration crossed nan Mediterranean region.”