Diving deep into caves to remove 100 years of trash

We help clean up a unique and fragile ecosystem on the edge of what is known to science and on the brink of extinction. What a privilege to be able to do such work! All thanks to our amazing Mossy Earth Members who funded this project with their monthly contributions.
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💡 ABOUT THIS PROJECT
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The cave we are cleaning is called Rupecica and is located near Ogulin in Croatia.
This type of cave is part of the karst topography of this region characterised by a complex maze of interconnected cave systems, sinkholes, and above-ground streams.
As a consequence of this, some fascinating ecosystems have flourished in these caves with some really unusual creatures, and sometimes, when the caves are isolated for long enough, they may even contain species that only exist in a single cave, much like a lonely island in a vast ocean.
This particular cave is home to the olm (Proteus anguinus) listed by the IUCN as vulnerable to extinction, the Croatian Dace (Telestes polylepis) which is only known to exist in this cave and is listed as critically endangered by the IUCN and Eunapius subterraneus which is the only freshwater sponge in the world that lives in caves and currently isn't even on the IUCN list due to data deficiency.
In the past, this cave was used as a dumpsite and while a lot of the surface waste has been removed there is still the underwater waste to contend with. The mix of trash down there includes large plastic and metallic objects and electronic appliances with an estimated volume of approximately 16 m3. Many of these materials take centuries to degrade and will continue to release toxic chemicals into the cave water if they are not removed.
This is a unique and wonderful world that lives on the edge of what is known to science and on the brink of extinction which is why Tiago one of our Biologists here at Mossy Earth selected this project for us to carry out with the funds from our amazing Mossy Earth members.
You can read all about this project here: mossy.earth/pr...

[@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 🎉

[@PatrickPecoraro]

It’s a cable spool not a wheel.

[@freshboy3968]

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

[@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

[@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!

[@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 😃💚

[@gailhasler8435]

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

[@kakashi91197]

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

[@MossyEarth]

Gald you enjoyed this project :) - Duarte

[@maxwell-dv8ou]

All of your projects make me so happy

[@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.

[@proudtiger2538]

your channel deserves so many more views than it gets

[@mathddv]

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

[@serjior25]

why people trashing the caves? whats wrong with the world

[@funnywolffarm]

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

[@realryder2626]

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

[@giosaniii8329]

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

[@EcclesiastesLiker-py5ts]

Absolutely fascinating!

[@zekethefreak4]

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

[@frostwolf6571]

😇😇❤

[@Traxxya]

Thank you for your work

[@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.

[@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!

[@RuneChaosMarine]

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

[@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.

[@falcolf]

Wonderful job!!

[@davidsmith1310]

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

[@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.

[@RuneChaosMarine]

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

[@Spicy_wiener]

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

[@takenname8053]

Love Olms! Happy to see this happen!

[@jennifermatthes4030]

Please make a saving coral reefs video!

[@snokehusk223]

Hello from Croatia!

[@treverthetree]

Comment for engagement!

[@CleanCrown]

Thank you for cleaning my country!

[@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!

[@ioanlungutranole3553]

Great work team!

[@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?

[@200dixiepartners8]

Wow amazing guys ❤️❤️❤️

[@ristube3319]

The wheel is a big cable spool

[@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]

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

[@SnowTroII]

🌲🌲

[@tivhal]

super cool video and project!

[@MossyEarth]

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

[@solomonsmith3658]

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

[@WesCSC]

👌

[@iuliiavasiuta2740]

👏👏👏great job

[@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.

[@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