Journey to Ithaca - The Documentary

From devastation to paradise: Epic sea cleanup restores pristine beauty of Greek island with the removal of 76 tons of debris!
In just over a week, a team of 45, most of which volunteers including 20 divers, undertook an unprecedented cleanup removing 76 tons of debris from the sea, coastline, and 4 beaches on the Southwest of Ithaca, an island in Greece famous for being the home of King Odysseus and a universal symbol of home yearning.
After George Lilas, a local diver and passionate environmentalist, publicized photos of an abandoned fish farm wreaking environmental havoc on Ithaca, marine conservation organisation Healthy Seas mobilized all its forces, together with partners Ghost Diving and Enaleia, engaging volunteers, local authorities and sponsors that wanted to help restore the pristine beauty of the area.
This was the biggest project in the history of above organisations in terms of positive environmental impact and community involvement, delivering astounding results in a short amount of time.
The company that had gone bankrupt in 2012 had left behind fish farm cages and other equipment that polluted the area endangering the local community, marine life as well as maritime traffic. In September 2020, Ianos, a rare hurricane-like storm caused the tons of industrial type of plastic pipes, fishing nets, nylon ropes, concrete blocks, plastic buoys, large rusty metal pieces and all kinds of waste to be carried away, later to be found floating on the surface of the sea, laying on the seabed and on the beaches.
Find more information here: www.healthyseas.org/2021/06/2...
Direction / Editing: Michael Westreicher, Compressor Room
Homepage: www.healthyseas.org/
Facebook: / healthyseas
Twitter: / healthyseas_org
Instagram: / healthyseas
LinkedIn: / 17995867

[@TheIkkyo]

Thank you so much for all the hard work you have and continue to do! I live in Kefalonia so wholeheartedly appreciate the wonderful work your teams do. Thank you❤

[@JuanDiegoLopezGiraldo]

GREAT JOB

[@gpolykra]

Amazing work! All the people involved are the kind of heroes the planet needs!

[@HealthySeas]

Thank you!! We're really proud and thankful to be working with dedicated and passionate volunteers, partners and other stakeholders.

[@hazelold2882]

Wow!!! This is so inspirational!! Thank you all for your amazing work!! My husband and I make a point of picking up 10 pieces of plastic each from every beach we visit. Sometimes it’s a challenge to find 10 but often it’s too easy. This clean up you did inspires me to keep doing my little bit. Thank you again xx

[@HealthySeas]

Thank you so much for your incredibly kind words and for the wonderful effort you and your husband put into cleaning up beaches.Sending you both waves of gratitude and encouragement! 🌊💙

[@hazelold2882]

@@HealthySeas thank you 😫 we all need to do our bit and things can get better. You’re doing a fantastic job on a scale that makes a huge difference- it needs to be celebrated xx

[@user-wi1zb8vy3l]

You are a wonderful example of how people must work together and try to make a better World.

[@HealthySeas]

Oh wow, thank you for your kind words of support! Team work really is important!

[@annatar2619]

It's a real shame that while I live on the Ionian coast I got informed about this amazing initiative 1 year later through reddit. Kudos to you, may Poseidon keep you always save.

[@HealthySeas]

☺ we're happy that you've found your way to our documentary!

[@Panos835]

Great flight and amazing work my friend Thanks for sharing Subscribed 👍

[@HealthySeas]

You're welcome! We appreciate your support and subscription. Stay tuned for more great content! 👍

[@Deathstar_TV]

Just watched the whole documentary because I saw the post on Reddit! Hopefully the viral post there will help this/your company go viral again! This should have way more views than it does. I loved the video and you guys did an incredible job, however I kind of wish you guys showed a few more close ups of the after pictures, and also maybe how the locals/economy reacted to your guys’ hard work, and if it’s made a profound change! I know they mentioned at the beginning this type of cleaning COULD promote those positive things, but I would’ve/ would love a follow up video :D. Thankyou again for your amazing work

[@rainscratch]

Yes it would be good to have some background on the fishery business, the local population, fishing people opinions, etc. The seas around Ithaca (and probably all the Ionian) have had markedly reduced marine life populations for the last many years.

[@rainscratch]

Excellent documentary, in a cinematic aspect ratio, editing style, music etc. My ancestry being from Ithaca, I was drawn to your video title, perhaps it should be labelled more to reflect the content of marine environmental salvage, rather it can be mistaken that it is a tour of the island. Would be good to have some more background information on the fish farm during operation, whether the fish farm was detrimental even when operating, whether it was beneficial to the economy and was not as environmentally harmful as the derelict state? What was the authorities' position on the fate of the farm - just left to rot and cause damage? Were the operators liable at all for the clean up? Congratulations on the work you are doing.

[@heinzjurgenressar3170]

Wir sind begeistert 👍👌🍀💪

[@HealthySeas]

Vielen Dank für den lieben Kommentar!

[@Maik_GUE]

Danke Jürgen ❤

[@pesa4580]

Thank you for your work! Great Job!

[@HealthySeas]

Thanks so much! This was team work at its best!

[@gkandilakis]

Great job🎉

[@HealthySeas]

Thank you so much! We're impressed by the team and volunteers who made this possible!

[@pameladelcarmensaraviapere1940]

Muchas gracias !! un excelente trabajo, y una muestra de que si podemos ayudar a mejorar las condiciones de nuestros oceanos.

[@HealthySeas]

Absolutely! Everyone can take action - every little step counts!

[@Maik_GUE]

Hola Pamela :) Que tal? Soy una vaz al ano en mexico para buceo en el cenotes :) Nos vemos para tomar algo la próxima vez :)

[@BeBraveToAct]

Amazing work guys ! Thanks for making informative video explaining the project in detail.

[@HealthySeas]

Thanks for the kind words! It's been such a huge team effort with everyone involved :)

[@automaticasa_matteosulis]

Please publish this in 4k!

[@HealthySeas]

Thank you for your comment. :) Unfortunately, there is no recording in 4K. But we will keep this in mind for the next movies done by Michael. Greetings!

[@rainscratch]

Looks very good to me in 1080p. Thank you. Some of the films I made of Ithaca in Super 8mm film in the 1980s look ok but not as sharp as latest video of course. @@HealthySeas

[@sabinereiss1374]

Tolle Arbeit!

[@HealthySeas]

Danke dir Sabine! Deine Unterstützung bedeutet uns viel!

[@johnwilliamsscuba6487]

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