PHOTOS: Six cubic metres of rubbish cleaned from Lovište Bay

(Photos: Igor Duricic/Ivica Trojanović/RK Puntar)

More than a hundred divers cleaned the beautiful bay of Pelješac. Alongside local members of the Ecological Diving Club Lanterna, divers from Pelješac, Korčula, Dubrovnik, Split, Metković, Slovenia, Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina participated.

Lovište, 16 June 2024 – Members of the Ecological Diving Club Lanterna in Lovište welcomed colleagues from Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Slovenia as early as Friday.

Combining the pleasant with the useful, this is how the eco-diving action to clean the seabed of one of the most beautiful bays on the Adriatic could be described.

Some of the divers from neighbouring countries also participated in last year’s event, falling in love with this picturesque location nestled deep in a protected bay at the tip of Pelješac.

(Photo: Igor Duricic)

This is an oasis for sailors, offering views of luxurious yachts and sailboats anchored for several days from the shores of Lovište from early spring to late autumn.

To preserve their piece of paradise, Lanterna members are organising the seabed cleaning for the second year. They are assisted by divers from Dubrovnik, Korčula, Metković, and Split, as well as members of the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service.

(Photo: RK Puntar)

(Photo: RK Puntar)

On Saturday, just after 9 am, more than a hundred participants gathered at the Lovište waterfront.

(Photo: Ivica Trojanović)

Around 10 am, the action commenced, leaving only a few supporting members and sponsors on the waterfront, including the mayor of Orebić Municipality, Tomislav Ančić, to which Lovište belongs. He personally came to support the initiative, noting that tourism, alongside viticulture and winemaking, is one of the most important sectors for the municipality.

(Photo: RK Puntar)

Beautiful beaches and the sea are essential resources, underpinning the tourist success of our areas in Orebić. Therefore, a responsible approach to the environment and sustainable tourism is a logical choice and strategic direction.

(Photo: Ivica Trojanović)

The divers were seen off from the waterfront by Mladen Đeldum, the director of the Orebić Municipality Tourist Board. He was pleased to report that overnight stays in the first five months in the Orebić area were up by 12.7 per cent compared to the same period last year, with 68,548 overnight stays recorded.

If early trends are indicative, this could be an excellent tourist year for the Orebić area, which is also celebrating 120 years of tourism, said Đeldum.

Around 2 pm, the divers returned. Rubber boats and ships were overflowing with rubbish, which was unloaded at the waterfront and then transported to a landfill.

(Photo: RK Puntar)

The gathering didn’t end there—it was just beginning, said Igor Đuričić, president of the Ecological Diving Club Lanterna. A lunch followed, and diving continued throughout the weekend at the most beautiful locations of the Pelješac seabed.

(Photo: Ivica Trojanović)

How does he assess the event?

“The second ecological-diving action in Lovište Bay went very smoothly. We removed about six cubic metres of rubbish, the same amount as last year, but there were almost forty more divers this time.

(Photo: RK Puntar)

Given the amount of rubbish collected and the ratio of divers to last year, we can conclude that there is less rubbish this year and that this project has begun to achieve its goals in just two years – reducing rubbish and raising awareness among local residents and tourists about the importance of environmental care,” emphasised Đuričić.