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Date Published: 18/04/2023

ARCHIVED - Military debris to be removed from the Mar Menor for the first time ever

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Marine rubbish from Air Force bases and airfields will be cleaned up across Spain

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Military debris to be removed from the Mar Menor for the first time ever

For the first time in history, the Ministry of Defence has agreed to collaborate with the Hippocampus Association to remove rubbish from the seabed in military areas throughout Spain. Crucially, the delicate work will allow the extraction of waste, primarily iron, that has accumulated on the bed of the Mar Menor.

Other areas of concern include the military bases of the Air Force in Mallorca, Lanzarote and Barcelona.

The agreement is part of the Hippocampus Association’s ‘Plumbum’ project, which was launched back in 2017 and aims to recover lead waste from the ocean. In this instance, divers will not only focus on military garbage but will also retrieve rubbish that has been dragged from the land into the waters, a mass that accounts for 80% of all marine waste.

Trained divers will scour the depths of the Mar Menor lagoon over the next four years and will focus on the vicinity of the General Air Academy and the San Javier airport, the Los Alcázares military barracks and the officers and non-commissioned officers clubs of Santiago de la Ribera.

Further afield, the clean-up operation will begin at the Pollensa military aerodrome in Mallorca, at the Lanzarote aerodrome, the Gando airbase in Gran Canaria and in the military zone near Barcelona’s El Prat airport.

"This will allow us to assess how these areas are doing, quantify how much rubbish there is, and be able to attack all the waste that we can remove by hand," the leading Association explained.

In the event that sunken boats or other major debris are located, the organisation will notify where "this large-scale garbage" is located.

The Association was born with the aim of promoting the protection and care of seahorses in the salt water lagoon, a species in danger of disappearing in the Mar Menor.

"We will offer lectures to the military on the contamination of the sea floors with this waste thrown into the sea," explained Hippocampus president José Luis Alcaide.

Now read: SmartLagoon system installed to monitor Mar Menor water quality

Images: Asociación Hippocampus

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The Hippocampus Association is a Civil Society Organization (CSO) working in the Mar Menor lagoon since 2007 to study seahorse populations.

The association consists of a group of volunteers working and promoting citizen science to gather underwater information about the ecosystem dynamics in the Region of Murcia’s Mar Menor.

There are monthly field work trips for certified divers willing to join them for collecting this valuable data and there is also a training session for newcomers, usually held in early April each year, but some extra training could be arranged.

For non-diver volunteers, there are also other possibilities to collaborate with Hippocampus (which comes from the Latin word for ‘Seahorse’) by supporting diving logistics, Imaging support and educational activities, including snorkeling.

Seahorse populations are in danger worldwide and Hippocampus are trying to monitor this population in the Mar Menor to evaluate possibilities for recovery, but first it is important to follow up the marine ecosystem evolution and the lagoon water status.

They sign agreements with government and private institutions which are legally responsible and interested in marine management, and they accept support from different organisations and individuals to carry out their activities, caring about seahorses as their main purpose.

Project Plumbum

The Hippocampus Association has started a new project called Project Plumbum – www.proyectoPlumbum.com – which is basically collecting lead (Pb) from the seabottom and coming mainly from fishing activities to avoid the presence of heavy metal in marine environments, and at the same time, to recover this valuable material to reincorporate it into the production/manufacture cycle again as a clear example of the circular economy. Divers are also welcome to join this project.

Hippocampus Association is also working on ocean literacy and to promote citizen awareness for saving and caring for our seas, marine protected areas and underwater marine world. They work in close collaboration with other local, national and international organisations towards creating safe and healthy marine ecosystems as a vital supporting cornerstone worldwide.