Yo-Han Cha spends a day with Fathoms Free , a group of marine clean-up volunteer divers at work in Cornwall
YO-HANCHA
Cleaning up
Yo-Han Cha spends a day with Fathoms Free , a group of marine clean-up volunteer divers at work in Cornwall
A
growing number of us are becoming aware of the issue of ghost gear , especially as we as divers can see what ’ s happening beneath the waves . In an effort to address this , a number of different charities have formed , one of which is Fathoms Free , founded in 2014 .
Fathoms Free organises a wide range of activities in Cornwall and Devon . Three quarters of the trustees and the vast majority of their core team of around ten divers are members of various local BSAC clubs or BSAC direct members . They don ’ t just target ghost gear but also marine debris . And it was for that purpose , specifically to combat marine plastic pollution , that they secured funding from Natural England that was used to charter Moonshadow of Atlantic Scuba out of Falmouth .
Three of their trustees – Julian Collinson , Elle Speirs and Luke Bullus ( Elle and Luke are both members of Peninsular Divers ), were taking part in the clean-up , along with five other volunteers . Then there was me . I was there to take photos of them underwater .
I must state that I can ’ t take any credit for anything that was retrieved as I didn ’ t take part in retrieving anything . I was just keeping out of the way while taking snaps !
The dive site we were targeting was the Stanwood in the Fal Estuary . As a wreck in a tidal area , it had certainly collected a lot of both ghost gear and marine debris . The
conditions weren ’ t great . I was grateful for the sunny day , but incessant rain over the previous few days had reduced the visibility down to about one metre . And just to cap it off , we would be diving in the middle of a plankton bloom !
This , however , did not deter the cheerful but determined Fathoms Free volunteers . They worked in buddy pairs to collect the smaller items into mesh bags , which were then attached to lift bags ; lift bags were directly attached to the larger items . Once all of this had made its way onto the surface , it was collected by Moonshadow , skippered by the late Mark Milburn . Mark , the world will be a quieter but a much less joyful place without you .
As expected , the visibility deteriorated throughout both dives , as anything from ropes to plastic bottles were being pulled off the wreck and seabed . After two dives , there was still much of it left on and around the Stanwood , but it looked much cleaner than at the start of the day . Highlights of what was retrieved included a lobster pot ( almost certainly lost by its deployer ) and a marine toilet ( likely thrown overboard ).
If you ’ d like to volunteer , Fathoms Free selects its divers based on their skill sets for different activities , with various levels of training for the various tasks at hand . They haven ’ t developed any of their own courses , as their divers , especially if they ’ re from BSAC , already have training on how to use lift bags . Fathoms Free are also members of the UK Ghost Gear Coalition , who combine their resources to make better use of their equipment and funds .
Go to fathomsfree . org for more details . �
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