SEABEDS CLEANED TO MARK COAST DAY

 Cyprus Mail 26 September 2020 - by Evie Andreou

Seabed cleaning activities took place this week to mark Coast Day on September 25, an annual celebration aimed at raising awareness of the importance and vulnerability of the coastal zones in the Mediterranean.

In Paphos, the seabed was cleaned on Saturday between the municipal baths area up to the port of Kato Paphos.

The seabed was cleaned by professional and volunteer divers from the castle of Kato Paphos to the municipal baths.

According to Akti representative Anna Tselepou there was a lot of material on the seabed. She added that the data that will be recorded will be entered in the international database of the Ocean Conservancy to be used for future research.

Cyprus’ seabed, she said, is full of plastic waste. “Just because we do not see it does not mean that it does not exist,” she told the Cyprus News Agency.

The clean-up was carried out by the Akti Project and Research Center with the support of the Embassy of Ireland in collaboration with the Paphos municipality, Cydive diving centre, and the associations of diving centres of Cyprus, of Paphos fishermen and coastal fishermen, and Paphos’ winter swimmers Vrysouthkia Kelpetri group.

People taking part in the clean up in Paphos on Saturday

Earlier in the week the fisheries department carried out a beach and seabed clean-up in the area of Moni in Limassol in cooperation with GPM-Henkel Ltd as part of the company’s Dixan Deep Clean campaign that carrys out seabed clean-ups in Cyprus.

Certified divers removed rubbish from the seabed while staff of the fisheries department cleaned the beach.

“Tins, plastic bottles, bags, fishing gear, plastic tubes and car tyres were among the waste collected from the seabed. Plastic pieces, bottles, bags and even forgotten shoes were collected from the beach,” the fisheries department said.

In both cases, the European protocol for the registration of litter found on seabeds and beaches was applied, based on which the waste is divided into categories, and recorded.

The fisheries department urged members of the public to mobilise and clean beaches and the seabed. “The protection and preservation of a healthy and clean marine environment is our responsibility and right, but also our obligation towards future generations,” it said.