WWF Geistertaucher

With WWF ghost-diver you can help us find lost fishing nets

Help wanted in the search of ghost nets – and easy done! The WWF ghost-diver-App addresses and enables primarily divers, but also fishermen, sailors and water sports enthusiasts to participate in the search for ghost nets and to report positions where the nets have been found with only a few clicks. Having spotted a net, you can also add important information on the App such as geographical position, depth, short description of the item and images of your find, which can be relevant for later retrieval.

In the last years, the WWF has recovered 9 tons of ghost nets from the Baltic Sea. The method of retrieval employed by the WWF has proven successful and environmentally friendly: with a special side scan sonar the seafloor is extensively searched for ghost nets. Divers (like you) can then check registered positions and confirm through the App whether the suspected find truly is a net or whether it reveals to be some other item. In this way, sports divers become an important part in the work process. At the confirmed ghost net positions, professionally salvage divers then take over the actual recovery, which is too risky without a special training and appropriate technical support at hand and should be a socio-political task in the first place. Together we want to address the serious consequences of ghost nets, and in doing so – together with you – protect the Baltic Sea.