Underwater cleanup gathers more than 20 divers, who bring out hundreds of kilograms of finds from Driksa

For a large-scale underwater cleanup in Jelgava, the section of the Driksa River from the hotel “Jelgava” to the city market was chosen. Following the wishes of the city management for a successful work and a briefing, from 11 o’clock divers and water hunters took turns going into the water to successively clean up and free the river bed from various wastes. “We must admit that this time we were very disappointed by the weather – the water temperature was optimal, around seven degrees, but the wind and strong current made it very difficult to work. Visibility under water was only about 10 centimeters, and that means working almost to the touch,” admits underwater cleanup coordinator Shota Plijevs from Jelgava, explaining: the usual visibility in this river is about a meter, so this time for safety reasons, several applied divers could not participate in underwater work.

Despite the unexpectedly poor visibility, the experienced divers with oxygen cylinders nevertheless accepted the challenge to explore the historical evidence in the depths of the river bed and as a result brought diverse finds to the shore. Among them were smaller items – women’s shoes, blankets, mattresses, clothes, bags, bottles, bowling ball, films, rubber tubes – as well as dozens of car tires of different sizes, metal poles, barriers, large garbage cans, bicycle frames, chairs and also a solid wood log. During the underwater work, metal boxes were also brought to the shore, in which milk was probably delivered to the neighboring school in the past. One of the biggest catches of the underwater cleanup was also the historical market cart weighing around 100 kilograms, which was once probably used to transport meat products. Specialized equipment – a car equipped with a winch and rope – also came to the rescue for lifting these and other weights.

The highlighted debris was initially placed on the river bank near the pedestrian path, so that the visitors of the event, who were quite numerous throughout the day, could see the finds found in each section of the river. The representatives of the student self-government of the Latvian University of Biosciences and Technologies (LBTU) were creative while helping to collect garbage on the shore and created a special collage from some of the found items – jeans and fabric pants, sweaters, jackets, bags and books. At the end of the event, these and many other finds filled the seven cubic meter container. In addition to experts in underwater work, the cleaning of the river bank was also carried out by a specialized technical unit, which lifted various stones and other waste from the water with a rake-like bucket, and also carried out the harvesting of bank vegetation.

It should be noted that during the event, an approximately four-meter-long aluminum boat floated in the depths of the river. In the presence of a large circle of spectators, divers tried to pull it out of the water with a rope and a winch, but over time the boat has sunk too deep, filled with sand and mud, so it was not possible to pull out the several-ton heavy catch.

“Today we clearly saw that as a result of joint work, scuba diving can be not only an exciting hobby, but also a social work with added value. The Driksa river has become cleaner, and for that we must thank all the participants who found time and got involved,” said Sh. Plijevs, emphasizing: taking into account the response, such initiatives will definitely be continued in the future.

It should be reminded that the event was organized by divers in cooperation with the association “For green energy for Latvia” and the student self-government of LBTU. There are several enthusiasts in the city who have scuba diving as a hobby, and on the Great Cleanup Day, they joined forces with other experts to not only explore the underwater world, but also to clean it up and get rid of various garbage.