“On a day like this, we say that it is ‘smeigevær’ in Kristiansand.”
Ida Camilla Skaar of Norges Dykkeforbund squints into the sun. She is visiting Mandal Dykkerklubb to take part in today’s cleanup operation at Lumber in Kristiansand.
In recent years, Sørlandsklubben has been an active contributor in the fight against marine litter. They have received support from The Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund to continue the Clean Sea Agder project, a cleanup project targeting marine plastic waste underwater along the coast between Farsund in the west and Grimstad in the east.
“The divers are in a very special position, because they not only clean up along the shoreline – they also have the expertise needed to clean up under water, where an incredible amount of litter has accumulated,” says Skaar.
Ida Camilla Skaar from Norges Dykkerforbund says that they have retrieved all sorts of rubbish from the seabed.
Skilled divers
Marine plastic waste is an ever-increasing problem for the ocean ecosystem. Mandal Dykkerklubb aims to help reduce the amount of microplastics in the ocean cycle.
– Before an action, I can spend hours planning and thinking about how we can carry it out.
Øystein Kristoffersen of Mandal Dykkerklubb smiles as he stands on the quay watching the divers get ready. He says that, fortunately, he has little reason to worry, as he is surrounded by skilled people with solid experience of this type of work.
“Rent Hav Agder is a project we have been running for almost four years, in different forms. The Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund is absolutely essential for organised clean-up actions like these. We would not have been able to provide the resources required in the form of equipment, fuel and everything else needed without them.”
The divers participating in the cleanup operation generally have solid prior experience of this type of work.
Big goals
The divers are divided into teams, each assigned its own area. Once they have dived down and located the waste on the seabed, they attach it to a so-called “lifting balloon” – a plastic container that can be filled with air to make the waste float to the surface.
“All the waste we collect is transferred into containers that are collected by the local waste management company,” says Kristoffersen.
Mandal Dykkerklubb has so far cleaned up a significant number of harbours in Lindesnes municipality, but Kristoffersen says they still have quite a few left. He believes the need is virtually unlimited, as there are not many operators able to do what they do.
“Our goal is to recover 30–40 tonnes a year, and we are well on track to achieve that!”
