It gets murkier beneath the surface
The news last week that Malta’s waters were deemed the third cleanest behind Luxembourg and Cyprus was good news and will surely continue to bolster our tourism destination appeal.
Malta has scored consistently well in this regards since the sewage treatment plants began operating some years ago, resulting in much less sewage pollution in bathing areas. A decade ago, the joke was always that you should keep an eye out for torpedoes while bathing close to places such as St Paul’s Bay, or the South, and even Sliema, as the infrastructure could not keep up with the waste that was going into the system.
Fast forward to present day. Malta has some of the bluest and cleanest seas in Europe, if not the world. We placed only behind Luxembourg because the waters there are lakes and behind Cyprus because of the population-to-landmass ratio.
But, there is another aspect to all of this. While samples are collected for bacterial matter and other contaminants, the results do not reflect two major issues that affect our waters and a very important niche tourism market: diving.
Malta has been voted as a top diving destination in Europe year after year. Unlike Cyprus, we still have fairly abundant sea life, there are a mixture of natural historic wrecks, as well as purposely sunk wrecks and artificial reefs. We also have abundant cave systems and interesting reefs.
But. There is a problem. What many people do not realise is the scale of volume of rubbish that ends up on the sea bed year after year. The problem worsens as the still summer months set in and the currents become tamer and almost disappear. As tourists throng to our beaches and go on boat parties, the amount of plastic, metal and glass that ends up in the sea is to be seen to be believed. Many might scoff at the notion, but it is only when diving gear is strapped on that one can see for themselves.
Cigarette butts, alcoholic beverage containers, plastic bags and cups are the most plentiful bits of rubbish that can be found. But as diving schools and clubs try and do their bit, cleanups from the sea bed can unearth anything from carpets to gear boxes and entire lifts, tyres and other untold ‘treasures’. It is not uncommon for a school to clean up their ‘home’ dive site and get rid of a whole skip full of rubbish. We need to enforce things more and perhaps, we need a lot more rubbish receptacles to at least encourage people to dispose of things there, rather than throw them in the sea with an “out of sight, out of mind” mentality.
Another issue that must not be taken lightly, is that of overfishing and poaching of species. It has become the norm for people to trawl up and down the coast, some of them illegally, using cylinders, to clear whole swathes of seabed molluscs, sea urchins, fish and octopus – which are already becoming very rare. We must also think about the consequence of these actions. Diving and environmental experts said that the filling in of the Chalet shell with concrete led to some of it leeching out into the sea water and settling on parts of the sea bed. This was not done with any malice, but with a lack of understanding of how it can affect life underwater. Malta is a gem of a tourist destination; it is also a gem of a diving spot. We must continue to diversify, but we must also realise that above all else, most people come here to indulge in swimming and beaching. If we ruin the water around us, or kill off the life that makes it so interesting, we will be much poorer for it.