In Greece's Aegean Sea, divers find "gulf of plastic corals"

A volunteer diver of the environmental group Aegean Rebreath gathers plastic waste from the bottom of the sea, off the island of Andros, Greece, July 20, 2019. Picture taken July 20, 2019. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas

ANDROS, Greece (Reuters) - Like colorful corals, they swayed in the underwater current.

Only these were not gorgeous natural reefs built up over centuries but plastic bags, stuck to the golden Aegean seabed since a landfill crumbled into the water eight years ago.

Fish swim next to plastic waste at the bottom of the sea, off the island of Andros, Greece, July 20, 2019. Picture taken July 20, 2019. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas

Thousands of plastic bags were pulled from the sea off Greece's Andros island this month by a team of divers and environmentalists who described what they found as a "gulf full of plastic corals."

Seas polluted with plastic have become one of the most shocking symbols worldwide of mankind's damage to the planet.

"It was a very scary thing to see," said Arabella Ross, a volunteer diver with Aegean Rebreath, a group founded in 2017 to carry out underwater and coastal clean-ups.

A plastic bag is seen at the bottom of the sea, off the island of Andros, Greece, July 20, 2019. Picture taken July 20, 2019. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas

"It really shook me and I think it really shook everyone who saw it."

The Mediterranean is among the seas with the highest levels of plastic pollution in the world, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said in a report in June.

Greece produces about 700,000 tonnes of plastic waste a year, or about 68 kilos per person, it said. About 11,500 tonnes end up in its seas every year, and almost 70% of that returns to its coastline, one of the longest in the world.

A volunteer diver of the environmental group Aegean Rebreath lifts ghost nets from the bottom of the sea, off the island of Salamina, Greece, June 30, 2019. Picture taken June 30, 2019. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas

The sea pollution off Andros is thought to date back to 2011, when heavy rain caused an informal waste disposal site to collapse, with most of the materials tumbling into the sea.

Aegean Rebreath divers plucked blue, black and yellow plastic bags tangled between reefs, swaying among fish.

It was "like the paradise of the Caribbean Sea, where you find coral reefs everywhere of every color. It was the exact same thing, but instead of corals it was bags," Ross said.

A volunteer diver of the environmental group Aegean Rebreath gathers waste from the bottom of the sea, off the island of Andros, Greece, July 20, 2019. Picture taken July 20, 2019. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas

The team only managed to clean up a fraction of the plastic waste they found, she said.

They also pulled 300 kg (660 lb) of discarded fishing nets - known as "ghost nets" - from Andros. In a separate operation in June off Salamina, a small island near Athens, they pulled two tonnes.

"If people are wondering where their rubbish ends up, we see it each time we go into the water," Ross said.

A volunteer diver of the environmental group Aegean Rebreath swims next to ghost nets, off the island of Salamina, Greece, June 30, 2019. Picture taken June 30, 2019. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas

(This story has been refiled to clarify in penultimate par there were two separate operations off Andros and Salamina.)

A volunteer diver of the environmental group Aegean Rebreath swims next to ghost nets, off the island of Salamina, Greece, June 30, 2019. Picture taken June 30, 2019. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas

(Writing by Karolina Tagaris; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)

A swan swims on the seaside, the island of Andros, Greece, July 21, 2019. Picture taken July 21, 2019. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas

A volunteer diver of the environmental group Aegean Rebreath uses balloons to lift ghost nets from the bottom of the sea, off the island of Salamina, Greece, June 30, 2019. Picture taken June 30, 2019. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas

Plastic and other waste are pictured at the bottom of the sea, off the island of Andros, Greece, July 20, 2019. Picture taken July 20, 2019. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas

A volunteer diver of the environmental group Aegean Rebreath swims among to ghost nets, off the island of Salamina, Greece, June 30, 2019. Picture taken June 30, 2019. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas

Plastic and other waste are pictured at the bottom of the sea, off the island of Andros, Greece, July 20, 2019. Picture taken July 20, 2019. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas

A volunteer diver of the environmental group Aegean Rebreath uses a balloon to lift ghost nets from the bottom of the sea, off the island of Salamina, Greece, June 30, 2019. Picture taken June 30, 2019. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas

A balloon of the environmental group Aegean Rebreath lifts ghost nets from the bottom of the sea, off the island of Salamina, Greece, June 30, 2019. Picture taken June 30, 2019. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas

Plastic waste is pictured at the bottom of the sea, off the island of Andros, Greece, July 20, 2019. Picture taken July 20, 2019. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas

A volunteer diver of the environmental group Aegean Rebreath swims next to ghost nets, off the island of Andros, Greece, July 20, 2019. Picture taken July 20, 2019. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas

A volunteer diver of the environmental group Aegean Rebreath holds a small crustacean as the team cleans the bottom of the sea from ghost nets, off the island of Salamina, Greece, June 30, 2019. Picture taken June 30, 2019. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas

Volunteer divers of the environmental group Aegean Rebreath gather waste from the bottom of the sea, off the island of Andros, Greece, July 20, 2019. Picture taken July 20, 2019. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas

Plastic waste is pictured at the bottom of the sea, off the island of Andros, Greece, July 20, 2019. Picture taken July 20, 2019. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas

Volunteers of the environmental group Aegean Rebreath bring ghost nets from the bottom of the sea on their boat, off the island of Salamina, Greece, June 30, 2019. Picture taken June 30, 2019. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas

A faucet is seen at the bottom of the sea, off the island of Andros, Greece, July 20, 2019. Picture taken July 20, 2019. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas

A volunteer of the environmental group Aegean Rebreath arranges ghost nets gathered from the bottom of the sea, on the island of Salamina, Greece, June 30, 2019. Picture taken June 30, 2019. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas

Volunteer divers of the environmental group Aegean Rebreath swim next to ghost nets, off the island of Salamina, Greece, June 30, 2019. Picture taken June 30, 2019. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas

Volunteers of the environmental group Aegean Rebreath carry waste that they removed from the bottom of the sea off their boat, on the island of Andros, Greece, July 20, 2019. Picture taken July 20, 2019. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas

A volunteer diver of the environmental group Aegean Rebreath carries a toilet bowl that was removed from the bottom of the sea, on the island of Andros, Greece, July 21, 2019. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas