Diving deep into caves to remove 100 years of trash

[@Thomas201101]

I came across this older video on your channel after watching some of the most recent ones. This video is also great. What a cool salamander. Perhaps you could talk a little bit more about its characteristics and distant relatives in a next video!

[@MossyEarth]

Hi Thomas! Thank you for checking out these older videos! We will be doing more projects with the olm and other underwater caves in Croatia soon. Rob will be there to film things and we will be sure to give a more detailed explainer of the olm. - Cheers, Duarte

[@maxwell-dv8ou]

All of your projects make me so happy

[@gailhasler8435]

Good people fighting to clean up our ecosystems. Kudos. 🤗😍

[@randomgamerdude98]

Man I love what you guys are doing. Its crazy how under appreciated this channel is. Seriously you guys deserve at least 1 million subs. I will gladly donate to the cause of rewilding as soon as i get my money up

[@akauppi2]

Me 2 🎉

[@takenname8053]

Love Olms! Happy to see this happen!

[@kakashi91197]

Why am I only now seeing this?! It’s great!

[@MossyEarth]

Gald you enjoyed this project :) - Duarte

[@MerryMoss]

It's heartbreaking to think how carelessly people (used to?) interact with nature... that's why I love watching your channel even more - to know that you guys are actively doing something about it 😃💚

[@Traxxya]

Thank you for your work

[@mathddv]

I remember going to Croatia and seeing one of those little guys. So cute, thank you for your amazing work ❤

[@dictatorofcanada4238]

Reminds me of my first summer job where I cleaned garbage out of a river (among other tasks)

[@MossyEarth]

Sounds like a cool gig!

[@giosaniii8329]

absolutely amazing and glad to hear that the trash is old and not much new. great question

[@funnywolffarm]

Thanks for the video. Curious why pull out a wooden spindle wheel though?

[@delphine2883]

Super interesting!!! Hope you'll manage to get that wheel out

[@MossyEarth]

We'll keep you posted on that one :)

[@PyroBlaze202_alt]

@@johh55, according to their latest update (Feb 7, 2022) they haven't been able to remove the wheel yet.

[@debbiehenri345]

I wouldn't try pulling that giant reel out as it is (I know from experience how much they weigh - without them being soaked through like that). Instead, I think it would be better to try and break it up a bit first. Next time, bring a couple of crow bars and try to lever any weak parts off the main structure. You could also bring a chisel to try and create some 'weak points' in the reel. Good work though. Never considered the problem that there might be polluted caves out there too. We humans trash everything.

[@MossyEarth]

Thank you for the advice Debbie! I think the team has already pulled the wheel out but I will check in with them and if they haven't I'll pass your advice on. I also think it might be a bit much to try and haul it up with a rope...

[@dorianmus6771]

@@MossyEarth Most or all of it is wood, I would just leave the wood and take the rest out

[@Domihork]

But why does it need to be pulled out in the first place? Isn't it just wood?

[@dorianmus6771]

@@Domihork Screws are metal and there are a lot, some also have metal rods to be sturdier.

[@proudtiger2538]

your channel deserves so many more views than it gets

[@CleanCrown]

Thank you for cleaning my country!

[@EcclesiastesLiker-py5ts]

Absolutely fascinating!

[@RuneChaosMarine]

when exploring this cave, red lights at minimum, should be used for recording footage. if possible please use high power ultraviolet light, for recording video and images. this enviroment will react in a bioluminescent under ultraviolet light. only the ultraviolet light of the sun is able to penetrate substrate of water and earth.

[@nickvaden3196]

A truly fascinating and unique ecosystem. Hope you keep up the amazing work and you will receive the recognition you deserve!

[@Miron_Marnic]

Amazing work. Thank you!

[@zekethefreak4]

There is an similar salamander found somewhere in an aquifer here in Texas but it’s very elusive

[@falcolf]

Wonderful job!!

[@Spicy_wiener]

I'm curious how the wooden wheel contaminates the water?

[@realryder2626]

The "wheel" you speak of, is a wooden cable drum ;)

[@snokehusk223]

Hello from Croatia!

[@lamebubblesflysohigh]

Removing wooden trash like that wooden spool is kinda pointless and potentially damaging. I would focus on anything with paint, then metals containing copper, lead and zinc, then plastic then iron. Wood is that was rotting there for decades is not that bad.

[@Deckzwabber]

This appears to be a big cable reel, I reckon there's a pretty good chance that wood had been treated against rot. If so, it will slowly release the nasty stuff into the water or into the food chain, when things try to eat it. Even so, if there's a good flow of water through the cave, it is possible that any toxins will be diluted and carried off and leaving it would be the safest option for the cave. It was my thought too that one could easily get carried away and that the disturbance could cause more harm than the pollution once all the most toxic trash has been removed. That being said: great thanks to the divers and support team for taking up this job and cleaning up our environment!

[@mg4361]

Organic matter, while mostly not toxic, can affect the level of dissolved nutrients and the balance of the different lifeforms in the water. E.g. it might lead to growth of fungi and bacteria that would otherwise be present in low levels and whose metabolic products may, in turn, be toxic to other lifeforms in the ecosystem or that might suck up too much oxygen from the water. I would say, remove anything that doesn't belong down there.

[@lamebubblesflysohigh]

@@mg4361 that is true but unless it was treated as @Deckzwabber mentioned above, it is not much different than a big branch that would find its way there naturally. I think priority should be given to obviously harmful stuff and there was plenty of it in this video.

[@davidsmith1310]

Why remove the wooden wheel? As its made of wood won't it decompose harmlessly?

[@ioanlungutranole3553]

Great work team!

[@200dixiepartners8]

Wow amazing guys ❤️❤️❤️

[@jordanh9668]

The reel is mostly just wood right? That shouldn’t be much of an issue. I know the wood may be treated but with it being as old as it is it shouldn’t be leaching much of anything, if anything at all.

[@Miron_Marnic]

Usually you would be correct, but such wheels have lots of metal inside. And remember that it's not pure wood, but rather a kind of compressed wooden scraps which might contain some chemicals.

[@daveandhelenkirkland6898]

Keep up the great work!

[@rebelcommander7starwarsjur922]

I love your video I really really do it was amazing every place deserves to be cleaned up I love how you are finishing species and ecosystems that otherwise would be in trouble and without your help could be hurt and go extinct! You really are an amazing team and I love what you do! Ps: you mentioned Attenborough's Ark I can’t find anywhere to watch that show even if I make my internet look like I am in the UK using a VPN

[@cromwellcruz]

Question. why did they have to pull out the wooden wheel when that could have naturally contributed as organic substrate and detritus for microorganisms?

[@ristube3319]

The wheel is a big cable spool

[@jennifermatthes4030]

Please make a saving coral reefs video!

[@RuneChaosMarine]

bright light will cause damage to life in such an environment.

[@tivhal]

super cool video and project!

[@MossyEarth]

Thank you! I love this project and think it deserves more attention :D - Cheers, Duarte

[@frostwolf6571]

😇😇❤

[@iuliiavasiuta2740]

👏👏👏great job

[@jujitsujew23]

Fantastic work cleaning up all the waste but I’m puzzled as to why the wooden spool (you called it a wheel) needed to be removed. It’s wood so unless it was pressure treated it’s completely natural will biodegrade much faster than plastic or metal

[@obiwahndagobah9543]

Wood products are often laced with toxic chemicals to prevent rotting.

[@jujitsujew23]

@@obiwahndagobah9543 try reading what I wrote again and you'll find that I already mentioned that...

[@obiwahndagobah9543]

@@jujitsujew23 I am German and not a native English speaker, so forgive me for overreading some details. So I have to assume, that "pressure treated" means treated with chemicals?

[@jujitsujew23]

@@obiwahndagobah9543 yes, pressure treated wood is infused with copper, chromium and arsenic to prevent rotting. Not sure about Europe but I looked it up and they don’t even sell pressure treated spools in the US. Spools are not meant to sit outside for years and therefor don’t need to be pressure treated

[@RuneChaosMarine]

would Boyan Slat be interested, in creating, small plastic filter drones for your company?

[@EricS-uf9mv]

Honestly they should have just LEFT that giant spool, they called it a wheel, in the pond. It was made out of wood and it provided VALUABLE cover (eg.. habitat) for fish and other aquatic life in the pond that OTHERWISE was completely devoid of vegetation & tree cover along its banks.

[@RuneChaosMarine]

all these questions and more! answered in next weeks episode of! MossyEarth! in the Adventures of Real life! and Stuff!

[@RuneChaosMarine]

creatures, plants and other life, in this cave environment do not enjoy bright light.

[@solomonsmith3658]

You could have rolled the wheel out by wrapping the rope around its centre a few times and pulling on the rope

[@SnowTroII]

🌲🌲

[@treverthetree]

Comment for engagement!

[@serjior25]

why people trashing the caves? whats wrong with the world

[@WesCSC]

👌

[@RuneChaosMarine]

would Elon Musk be interested in helping Boyan Slat create, small plastic filter drones for MossyEarth?

[@Ghost-Mama]

No. Elon musk has been more concerned with how he can acquire two nuclear ☢️ bombs 💣 to restart the polarization of mars. He wants to nuke outer space 🪐 to restart a dead planet WITHOUT considering the ripple effect of annihilating earth 🌎. He’s not considering helping anyone. He just wants to wipe us all out of existence because he’s a retarded genius. The real genius and Hero of the story is Duarte and his team’s of Earth 🌍 Angels around the world 🌎 doing everything that they can to save everything that they can. When others ask W.W.J.D.? I look 👀 at the world 🌎 around me and ask.. W.W.D.D.? Because the Lord lives and works THROUGH PEOPLE.

[@PatrickPecoraro]

It’s a cable spool not a wheel.

[@freshboy3968]

Eeh, it's still round and could go from a wheel.