Helping out to keep the ocean clean

Text and photo: Sveinung W. Jensen, Tellus Kommunikasjon

"We couldn't have done this without assistance from Farmar. The company helps to bring up larger objects that the divers find and does an invaluable job," says Geir Smedbøle.

He is head of the association of the Friends of Songvaar Lighthouse, which collaborates with Søgne Diving Club on underwater clearance of the South coast og Norway.

This weekend, they organised a clean-up operation in the Farsund archipelago together with the Friends of Søndre Katland Lighthouse, the sea scouts on Flekkerøya, Hatholmen Lighthouse, the Norwegian Diving Association Stavanger Diving Club and the Norwegian Lighthouse Association.

"AT MOST we have had ten divers in the water. In total, around 1,000 volunteer hours are spent on these days," says Smedbøle.

This week, pupils and teachers from Farsund Middle School are also taking part as part of the annual Sea Monster Week. The project aims to provide pupils with knowledge about litter and plastic in the sea, how ecosystems are affected and how littering affects important resources for Farsund municipality.

THE MARITIME rubbish that is picked up is documented and displayed for all to see.

"Check this out," says Smedbøle, lifting up a couple of car batteries.

"This isn't something that fell out of a boat. Someone has thrown this into the sea on purpose."

The same has happened to the boat wreck that André Mosvold from Farmar hoists ashore. It was filled with rocks when divers found it off the Langøy island.

"It's probably been there for a few decades. That's what people used to do when they wanted to get rid of a boat. But they probably didn't think about how much a fibreglass boat like this pollutes when it sits at the bottom of the sea," says Smedbøle.

TOGETHER WITH Søgne Diving Club, he retrieves several thousand ghost tools from the seabed. This is the fourth year in a row that the clean-up operation in Farsund has been organised.

Farmar will also provide a boat and skipper this year.

"We think it's important to help. As a maritime company, we are dependent on a clean sea," says FFS Argos skipper André Mosvold.

After bringing the fibreglass boat ashore from the depths, the crane boat from Farmar will serve as a depot for what the divers retrieve.

"We can load more than the other boats involved in the operation. When we don't have to go in and empty as often, the clearance becomes more efficient," says Mosvold.