In a statement made to the Lusa agency, Sandra Godinho, leader of of the Association for the Study and Conservation of Oceans (aECo), stated that “it took more than two hours to remove the polluting material from the bottom of the ocean, in an operation that received support from multiple entities.


“In addition to our volunteers, the Maritime Police and divers from the University of the Algarve and some local fisherman also took part in the operation,” she said.


The three batteries weighed almost 50 kilograms each and according to Godinho “they were very similar to batteries that accumulate energy from the solar panels installed in vessels. It is not known who left them there in the middle of Ria Formosa.”


According to Sandra Godinho, the large batteries, flagged for some time by the Maritime Police and the fishermen operating from the wharf of Culatra, were removed and handed over to the maritime authorities to “carry out the necessary steps to identify the owner or authors of this environmental crime and refer them to the waste management system.”


The action was carried out under the “Ria Formosa- free of Plastics” campaign, with the support of the European Outdoor Conservation Association, the Association of Residents and Friends of Culatra Island, the University of Algarve and the Captaincy of the Port of Olhão.
The association has scheduled several environmental clean-up activities in July, including the cleaning of the harbour of Culatra Island and one of the barriers islands of the Ria Formosa, in the Faro district.