Although we know that, based on the recent history of Piran Bay, it seems like a bad joke, we want to assure you that this is true: there is a joint action by Croatians and Slovenians taking place in the bay. The idea behind the action is getting the Adriatic as clean as possible, no matter where the borders between the countries are.
That’s what brought together the “Cleaning without Borders”, during which numerous Croatian and Slovenian divers will remove as much as possible of junk dropped into Piran Bay. The main event of the hopefully long-lasting action will take place on June 9th of this year. On that day, it is expected that one hundered divers from one side of the border and another one hundred from the other side will dive in Piran Bay, and work on removing as much of the waste from the bottom as possible. The experienced divers will have some amazing help as well, as the participants in the Fourth International Children’s Diving Eco-Patrol will be joining them!
Andreja Vedrina, a promotor of this activity explains to Jutarnji list that the people have recently, in the past half century, concentrated only on taking as much as possible out from the sea, and now it’s time we started paying some of it back. Cleaning the sea can be an important first step. The fishermen all over the Adriatic warn of the reduced amount of fish, and Piran Bay is a traditional location for fishing. Over-fishing over the years has factored in the reduction of the fish population, but so has the polution. Microclimate of the region plays a role, as the winds and storms often deposit waste into the bay.
This is not the first time that the divers will work in Piran Bay, as in previous years similar actions were undertaken, and somewhere between 10 and 20 cubic meters of waste gets removed each time. This year’s joint dive by Slovenian and Croatian divers will be supported by Electrolux, household devices manufacturer, as they will donate a portion of their sale of each vacuum cleaner to the organisation of this dive. Additionally, the buyers of several modes of vacuum cleaners will recieve a discount for a diving class!
