Plastic flood in the Adriatic

Ghost nets as a danger: WWF boss dives!

More than eleven million tons of plastic end up in sensitive ecosystems every year. An Austrian woman is fighting against this.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Matko Pojatina, Danijel Kanski)

The Viennese eco-activist Andrea Johanides is fighting against the flood of plastic in the Adriatic. She heaves ghost nets out of the Mediterranean.

"More than eleven million tons of plastic end up in sensitive ecosystems every year. Various fishing gear accounts for a lion's share of this threat," warns the WWF during a local inspection in the depths.

In fact, abandoned drifting ghost nets account for around ten percent of all plastic pollution worldwide. They become deadly traps for marine life and are the most dangerous form of plastic waste in these vast, undulating habitats.

The seabed in the Adriatic is littered with countless of these deadly traps for underwater fish life.

(Bild: Matko Pojatina)

(Bild: Matko Pojatina)

"Dolphins, sharks, rays and other rare fauna get caught in them. They all suffer a slow and agonizing death. This is because the carcasses attract other animals, which in turn become entangled while feeding - a deadly vicious circle," says WWF Managing Director Andrea Johanides sadly.

The likeable activist plunged into the water with all the more determination. As an experienced diver, she saw the creeping environmental catastrophe for herself. A shocking fact in the mysterious world at a depth of 40 meters: in addition to the direct danger to the fragile creatures of becoming entangled in the nets or suffocating on pieces of plastic, the waste is also destroying entire coral reefs. "The ghost nets clinging to the rocks down there will dissolve sooner or later and ultimately decompose into microplastics, which can also have risky consequences for humans - because microplastics end up on our plates via the food chain," warns Johanides.

Releasing the nets at depths of up to 40 meters requires a great deal of experience and stamina when diving.

WWF-Meeresexperte Axel Hein

Bild: WWF

The area of operation of their eco-mission together with conservationists from WWF Croatia: the Mediterranean Sea around the island of Molat. "On our last mission alone, we were able to fish almost three quarters of a tonne of plastic out of the sea with our Croatian friends," reports Johanides.

The amount that the team found here, even in the smallest of spaces, is particularly worrying in these places. This is because the area around the island of Molat is considered a particularly valuable habitat with exceptional biodiversity, including several species of shark and ray. To get to the root of the problem, the WWF wants the region to be declared a marine protected area!

Courageous, water-loving and determined to save nature: WWF head Andrea Johanides, who has now also given her all physically in the matter of ghost nets

(Bild: Matko Pojatina)

Dives are risky and extremely strenuous
"Entering the shallows to remove the ghost nets is risky, extremely physically demanding and very time-consuming. Two people can retrieve around 100 to 250 kilos per dive. Removing the nets at depths of up to 40 meters requires a great deal of experience and stamina when diving," says WWF expert Axel Hein, paying tribute to his boss. The problem: the nets have to be cut free, brought to the surface with lifting balloons and collected by boat.

Since the start of the project, however, around 1.5 tons of garbage have already been recovered, most of it gill nets and a considerable amount of fish traps. This has required around 40 salvage operations and numerous others for localization and mapping in advance. The WWF's declared goal is to bring around one tonne ashore every year by 2028.