Konyaaltı Beach, one of the city's popular destinations, hosts thousands of local and foreign tourists every year. During this process, pollution accumulates on the seabed due to waste thrown into the sea or left on the shore, which eventually reaches the water.
Members of the Underwater Society of Akdeniz University are striving to clean the seabed, which is particularly affected by pollution caused by plastic waste. In an effort to raise awareness and highlight the pollution issue, the group records footage during their dives. The footage notably emphasizes plastic waste. The collected waste is removed from the sea by the group members using bags.
Onur Kuş, the President of the Underwater Society, stated that they conduct cleaning dives along the shore throughout the summer season. He said, "The beach gets crowded during the season, and the sea gets polluted. What we see underwater surprises us more with each dive. Plastic pollution is generally widespread. Anything can be found underwater. This also causes significant harm to nature. We try to clean up during every dive. However, we find it even dirtier the next time we go. Underwater pollution isn't very noticeable because it's not visible on the surface. We are trying to draw attention to this. The seas are our homeland, and we need to take care of them."
Yusuf Şamil Arslan, another member of the society, mentioned, "With the start of the summer season, we frequently conduct cleanups on the seabed. Here, we generally encounter picnic and plastic materials. We do our best to collect and document them. In order to raise awareness, we share these on our social media accounts. There's no limit to the amount of garbage we retrieve from the sea. We want people to be more conscious about this issue. It deeply saddens us that they are polluting such a magnificent beach. While we reach a large audience through social media, it's still not enough. The shore is getting more polluted day by day. Measures can be taken regarding this issue."
