Delos – More than a ton of debris was removed from the seabed

Delos is the legendary birthplace of Apollo and Artemis. A mythical place inhabited before the dawn of civilization. Then Proto-Cycladic societies developed. Over the years it has developed into a leading religious, economic and commercial center of classical antiquity. A sacred island that with the remnants of its glorious past causes awe and admiration to the visitor. At the bottom of Delos, the team of All For Blue organization removed more than a ton of garbage with the assistance of the divers of One Breath Freediving, as part of the symbolic environmental mission #KeepDelosBlue.

At the bottom of the sea where the ships of the Athenian Alliance used to sail, as its treasury was once kept on the island, they found everything from hats, plastic bags and glasses, to fishing equipment, chairs, signs, bottles, tires and irons. And these were just some of the items that the group of free divers took from the bottom of the island, on Sunday, September 5th.

Coastal cleaning

At the same time, the Mykonos children’s team of All For Blue, consisting of boys and girls aged 5-12 and the Green Team of the Tseti Pharmaceutical Group (OFET: Uni-pharma and InterMed), which supported the actions, carried out a coastal cleaning by removing a lot of waste.

“The Holy Island of Delos is an integral part of World Culture. It is touching that the response from everyone was so great and substantial. The result of the cleaning and the volume and variety of waste we collected was really impressive “, said the founder of All for Blue Katerina Topouzoglou to AMNA agency. “Days like this give us great courage to continue the cleaning, information and awareness actions of the All for Blue organization, throughout Greece, and to strengthen our efforts, in order to put a little stone for a better tomorrow in the country,”  stressed Ms. Topouzoglou and warmly thanked all those who contributed to the cleaning.

“The heart of the history of Greece beats on the sacred island of Delos. We consider it our duty to protect it and to promote it in any way we can. That is why we responded immediately to the invitation of All for Blue for the underwater cleaning “, said the experienced  free diving coach Dimitris Koumoulos to AMNA. “As the leader of the One Breath Freediving team, I have made it clear that both I and my athletes, of all ages and levels, are first responsible, active and creative citizens and then athletes. With this logic, any such action will always find helpers for us,” he stressed.

The action was supported by the ephorate of marine antiquities but also by the port police, members of which took an active part in the coastal cleaning, while a tour of the archaeological site by Maria Moutsiou and Amaryllida Grypari preceded the action.

For her part, the CEO of the Tseti Pharmaceutical Group, MSc pharmacist, President of Global Compact Network Hellas and member of the Board of SEV, Mrs. Ioulia Tseti – who also participated in the environmental action – underlined: “It owes us all, businesses and citizens, to protect our planet and our ecosystem. Both the health crisis that we have been experiencing for a year and a half, and the provocation of the climate crisis, show the way. We are called to acquire a new productive model and at the same time, to focus on the Earth. To cultivate it and of course to protect the Greek biodiversity, emphasizing the cultivation of medicinal plants. We at OFET say: “Value for Man, responsibility for Society” and we try to prove it in practice “.

“We managed to clean the island and take out a lot of garbage. I am happy for that, but I hope that the visitors, next time, will pay more attention and respect the place “, said ten-year-old participant Angelina Demolitsa with a smile.

It is noted that the safe movement of volunteers was done with Delos Tours with the help of Mr. Francesco Nazo and Don Blue Yachting, while the underwater cleaning was recorded by the submarine drone Sofar Ocean Trident, which was won by the All for Blue team in a competition. abroad.

All the waste was recorded in a global database while the cleaning was done, as always, with reusable equipment avoiding disposable plastics.