Nearly 200 volunteers from diverse backgrounds, including fishermen, scientists, professional divers, citizens, and underwater archaeologists, will work together from June 3 to 6 to clean the seabed of the port of Calpe (Alicante). Gravity Wave, a company specialising in collecting marine plastic and transforming it into sustainable materials, has organised this mission to mark World Oceans Day, celebrated on June 8, with the goal of removing 10,000 kilos of waste in just four days.
Calpe hides beneath the waters of its port “a story that goes far beyond plastic,” the startup explained in a statement. Along with ghost nets that have been trapped on the seabed for years, all kinds of containers, and plastic waste of unknown origin, the divers will encounter sunken historical cannons that can only be handled by certified specialists. Therefore, “this cleanup is not an ordinary operation: it’s an expedition,” they pointed out. Professional underwater archaeologists will be part of the diving teams to ensure that the submerged historical heritage is identified, documented, and treated with the rigour it deserves.
In this way, the diving teams will confront an ecosystem of waste accumulated over decades. Among it are ghost nets (abandoned fishing gear that continues to silently trap marine life, turning the seabed into a death trap for fish, cephalopods, and crustaceans) and plastics of all kinds. They will also find historical debris such as cans, glass, and metal objects from different eras that reflect decades of dumping into the sea. Particularly noteworthy is the presence of cannons, which require the presence of underwater archaeologists for their documentation and proper handling. Finally, the intervention will also allow for the release of marine species that have become entangled in the nets, with the support of marine biologists integrated into the team.
This operation will involve a diverse group of people working in a coordinated manner both on the surface and underwater. These include local fishermen from the port of Calpe, who are knowledgeable about the seabed and interested in its recovery; professional divers with experience in underwater cleanup operations; underwater archaeologists to treat submerged historical heritage; marine scientists and biologists to document the state of the ecosystem and the affected fauna; and citizen volunteers. All of this will be coordinated by Gravity Wave, a company that transforms plastic extracted from the sea into raw materials for new products, “demonstrating that a circular economy is also possible in the ocean environment,” the company emphasised.
This operation in Calpe is one of the most ambitious that Gravity Wave has led to date, and it coincides with World Oceans Day on June 8th, aiming to focus public attention on one of the greatest environmental challenges of our time: marine plastic pollution. Gravity Wave has warned that more than 70% of the plastic that reaches the ocean ends up on the seabed, invisible to most people. Ghost nets represent 46% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and are one of the leading causes of marine wildlife mortality. Furthermore, a single kilogram of plastic on the seabed can generate millions of microplastics that enter the food chain, the company explained.
In this context, the Mediterranean is one of the most plastic-polluted seas in the world, with a density of waste far exceeding the global average. The initiative is organised by Gravity Wave in partnership with B100 and Visa, with the collaboration of the Calpe City Council, the Calpe Fishermen’s Association, Dive and Dive Diving Centre, and IMEDMAR (the Mediterranean Marine Institute).
