Kalkan is to take part in the worldwide International Marine Clean-up Day on Saturday 19th September 2009.

Promoted by Kalkan Dive Centre and with the agreement of the Sahil Güvenlik, (the coastguard), this event will see parties of divers remove solid waste and debris from the underwater coastline around Kalkan and Kalamar Bays.  

Permanent signs will also be erected at strategic locations to encourage awareness of the fragility of the marine environment and the dangers that marine life faces from waste, especially plastics, toxic metals, lost fishing nets and monofilament fishing lines.

The project is to be financed by a very generous grant from the marine conservation organization, The ProjectAWARE Foundation, together with many other large and small donations from Kalkan businesses and recreational divers patronising the Kalkan Dive centre.

Kalkan Dive Centre’s owner, Altan Kuşat, said that he had had encouraging meetings with the Belidiye, Kalkander and the Coastguard  about the project in early May of this year and with their backing had applied to ProjectAWARE for funding assistance, which he had heard had recently been granted.

It is intended that this year’s effort will be just the first of many such events, with further clean-up events taking place in the following few years.  According to Altan, these works will only have a successful outcome if there is a genuine effort by all marine users to reduce the amount of waste polluting Kalkan’s waters in the first instance.

Kalkan Dive Centre is currently carrying out the detailed planning of the operations and is asking for volunteers from local and visiting experienced divers to assist on the day.  Backup personnel are also required to help with the on-board servicing.  

If anybody is able to offer their services, Altan would be pleased to hear from them.  He can be contacted by telephone on 0532 553 2006, or at the Kalkan Dive Centre situated at Kalamar Beach Club.