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ALONISSOS: As part of an EU-funded marine cleanup project, volunteer divers take rotting plastic bottles, an abandoned tire, and a rusty anchor chain from the bottom and place them in garbage bags.
The recovered waste—collected near one of Europe's largest protected marine parks and a renowned tourist attraction noted for its turquoise waters—represents only a fraction of the tens of thousands of tons of garbage that contaminate the Mediterranean every year.
Established in the early 1990s, the marine park near Alonissos is home to one of the world's few surviving Monk seal populations, as well as over 300 fish species, dolphins, and sea turtles.
Its existence has raised awareness among both residents and visitors about the dangers of marine pollution, according to Theodora Francis, 31, one of the divers who participated in the two-day effort.
"We visited five, four areas to check whether we find rubbish in those areas," according to Francis. "In most of those areas we didn't... but in some areas we did." She claimed that the main port of Votsi, where most tourist and fishing happens, was the source of the most rubbish.
To safeguard its coastline biodiversity, Greece has vowed to establish two more marine parks in the Aegean and Ionian Seas in the west, as part of 21 programs totaling 780 million euros ($887.5 million).
It has legislated to increase marine protected areas to 30% of its territorial seas by 2030, and it has presented proposals to the EU outlining how it would regulate fishing, tourism, and offshore energy.
"People all throughout the world should understand that we have the power to alter everything. We genuinely believe in people's individual responsibility, and we invest in it," said George Sarelakos, 46, president of Aegean Rebreath, the Greece-based firm that organized the cleaning.
According to Francis, Alonissos can serve as a paradigm for sea protection.
"If every island had the same interest in taking care of their environment, we would have the Alonissos situation in many more islands."
