A dedicated group of divers has successfully retrieved abandoned fishing gear from sunken World War II ships.
With the aim of safeguarding marine life, the team meticulously removed entangled nets and other fishing equipment that had become trapped in the wreckage.
Their primary focus was on a specific unidentified vessel, from which they managed to recover a substantial 700kg net originating from the Battle of Convoys.
Remarkably, the ship still housed several aerial bombs and vehicles.
Following the removal of the net, the shipwreck has now become a safer environment for fish and fellow divers.
Ghost Divers, a non-profit organization comprising volunteer technical divers specializing in the retrieval of lost fishing gear, partnered with marine cleanup charities, Healthy Seas and SDSS.
The volunteer dive expedition spanned eight days, concluding on June 29.
Divers from five different countries joined forces to extract ghost gear from sunken ships scattered across the Mediterranean Sea, between Italy’s Lampedusa Island and Tunisia.
Captivating footage captures the collective efforts of the volunteers as they embarked on their mission to cleanse the ocean.
Photographs showcase the divers working collaboratively as they collect marine debris and nets.
Pascal van Erp, Deputy Director of Healthy Seas and founder of Ghost Diving, remarked, “Wrecks serve as exceptional habitats for marine life, acting as reefs and offering shelter.”
“It is estimated that a staggering 640,000 tons of fishing gear are lost or abandoned each year in the world’s seas and oceans, resulting in the suffering and demise of millions of marine animals.”
