The underwater diving club “Daivings” organized the fourth underwater diving festival in Latvia in August. This time, the divers chose Ziemupi, where they also conducted a survey of the wrecks commissioned by archaeologists.
The festival lasted a total of three days and was one of the activities of the recreational event "ma-DARA", where interested parties could learn about the work of divers.
As the sea was rough, the festival was opened by diving club instructor Valters Preimanis, who arrived alone at Ziemupe beach by boat from Pāvilosta, while his other colleagues welcomed him.
He points out that the event is not just for the divers' own curiosity and pleasure, but is also combined with a useful purpose - wrecks are examined at the underwater diving festival.
"We survey the wrecks directly on behalf of archaeologists. For example, they give us a list of 16 objects, we survey them and give them the information."
Often, experts themselves also participate in the research, but their schedules are tight, says V. Preimanis.
This time, two archaeologists and one underwater archaeologist dived at the festival. All of them had previously trained at the “Daivings” club.
Only a couple of certified scuba divers went on reconnaissance on Friday, the majority of the team joined on Saturday.
V. Preimanis says that this is his main job, but many do it as a hobby, so he has to combine it with other work and the time allocated to the festival is limited.
The diving season in Latvia lasts from May to September, so the participants at the festival in Ziemupe enjoyed one of the last gatherings of the year in the depths of the Baltic Sea.
"The objects we want to see here are up to 40 meters deep. They are various wrecks. Some have known names, but some do not," the instructor points out.
The festival has previously taken place elsewhere, but they were attracted by the idea of holding the event on the shores of the Baltic Sea.
“Because there is a historical place here. Another reason is that one of my students and I were at the “ma-DARA” event one year to exhibit divers and this year we wanted something different. So I asked my friend, what if we held the festival during “ma-DARA”?” about why we chose Ziemupi, says V. Preimanis.
Typically, divers from the underwater diving club “Daivings” travel by boat to wrecks located from 100 meters to 15 kilometers from the coast. Photo: from the archive of the diving club “Daivings”
In addition to surveying wrecks, the club does other work. For example, it responds to people's concerns.
"Last year, we were given information that there was something suspicious in the sea. We went to investigate and realized that it was a huge net that hung to the bottom. It was full of anchors, floats. It was floating in the sea like a big pole. This year, we went and lifted three tons of material. Three boats participated."
When asked whether they often encounter garbage in the Baltic Sea, the diver's answer is affirmative. Plastic bags or various cans can also be seen on shipwrecks. V. Preimanis assumes that much of the debris has ended up in the sea because of sailors.
Divers from the “Daivings” club have to deal with waste and pollution, including when examining shipwrecks. Most often, you can see plastic bags, tin cans and old fishing nets in the water, which not only catch animals, but also anchors, floats and other things. Photo: from the archive of the “Daivings” diving club. One of the participants, diving instructor Mārtiņš Angers, enthusiastically shares his observations that the Baltic Sea has surprisingly good visibility – in places you can do without lighting even at a depth of 15 and 20 meters, especially if the day is sunny.
He has been actively diving for three or four years, but has only been diving regularly off the coast of Latvia in the last year.
"We discovered new interesting places geographically. There are such rocky slopes under water. We achieved all the planned goals, surveyed several wrecks and explored four potential sites," says V. Preimanis after the last festival.
The diving instructor points out that during the "ma-DARA" recreational event, visitors were told about ecology and why the club is trying to find and remove fishermen's abandoned nets.
People were interested because they asked questions, the diver is happy.
