Time to Clean Up: A German Freediver Collects Plastic off Mallorca's Coast

A Person, a Diving Mask, and a Net Bag: This is how a small cleanup begins

Late in the morning, when the sun is already warming up a bit and boats are not yet everywhere, Angela puts on her fins and jumps into the water. Not with an oxygen tank, but with air in her lungs and a simple mission: to fish trash from the sea. She herself says it sometimes only takes a few minutes until her net is full.

Why she does it

The 50-year-old from near Stuttgart has been coming to Mallorca for more than three decades. The island is a place of strength for her, she explains between one breath and the next. “Here I think more clearly,” she says, “and if I can give something back, I’m happy to do it.”

She is a trained freediver and prefers the small coves on the east coast: clear water, shallow reefs, lots of fish. There, she says, she finds plastic sheets, cans, glass and often small plastic pieces that don’t immediately stand out while snorkeling. All of it ends up in her so-called Trashbag, a net bag that she disposes of properly on land after the dive.

The problem is bigger than a single person

Estimates show that each year large quantities of plastic enter the Mediterranean: microplastics in the six-figure tons and in total several hundred thousand tons of visible waste. This is also because the sea is relatively closed between countries, so particles do not drift away so easily. Public cleanup efforts show some effect: this summer, state services reportedly removed around 37 tons of waste from the Balearic Sea between May and September — Mallorca was the island with the largest share.

“It’s actually fun” — and simple

Angela compares her work to collecting rings in the swimming pool as a child. She doesn’t need much: diving mask, fins, gloves, and the net bag. “Who can snorkel can also pick up trash,” she says. A few snorkeling minutes are often enough to fill a full bag.

Her appeal is practical: don’t wait for others to do it. On your next beach outing, bring a grabber or a bag, pick up a few pieces of plastic on the beach, dispose of them in the designated containers at the harbor. Small gestures, says Angela, add up.

A call to locals and visitors

Anyone interested can connect with Angela and other volunteers — there are local groups; you just have to ask. And if you go to the beach tomorrow on a calmer morning: look closely. A bucket, a glove, a short dive of one or two minutes can help. Mallorca stays beautiful if we keep it clean together.