Andreas Fath had already swum around 540 kilometers through the Danube when he got out of the water in Linz shortly before 2 p.m. on Monday. And he still has about 2,160 kilometers of river stretch ahead of him to his destination.
Fath is a professor of chemistry at Furtwangen University in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. For his project “cleandanube” – i.e.: clean Danube – he swims through the river from its source to its mouth in the Black Sea. His path leads him through ten countries. His goal: He wants to draw attention to the pollution of the river by microplastics. “This is a serious problem. Researchers have found more microplastics than fish larvae in the Danube,” says the scientist. “Around 4.2 tons of it are transported from the Danube to the sea every day.” Pollutants such as pesticides and drug residues are deposited on these tiny particles. These are taken up by the aquatic life.”
This can also be a problem for humans, because they ingest pollutants and microplastics when they eat aquatic life.
Two months in the water
“Rivers are a source of life,” says Environment Councilor Stefan Kaineder (Greens), who swam about a kilometer through the Danube to Linz with Fath. “They are sources of food, cleaning facilities and transport routes. But our interaction with nature has made these ecosystems ill, and it is a misconception that we humans can still remain healthy as a result.” It is therefore important that the affluent society develop into a sustainable society. He cites plastic deposits and recycling systems as examples of this.
Fath began his voyage on April 20 in Germany and is scheduled to arrive at the Black Sea on June 17. He swims between 30 and 70 kilometers a day. Along the way, he and his team – accompanied by a boat – take samples that are analyzed at the end of the trip.
A knowledge workshop will also be set up at various stations to inform visitors about the water world of the Danube and the problem of pollution. In Linz, Fath’s arrival was also used as an opportunity for a school campaign: young people from the Leonardo da Vinci middle school collected plastic waste on the banks of the Danube. “They collected about twelve kilos of waste in just one hour,” says Eva Schobesberger (Greens), Councilor for the Environment.
“cause rethinking”
Fath is convinced that such actions can lead to change, “because you can reach a lot of people with them,” he says. And the scientist knows what he’s talking about, because the Danube isn’t the first river he’s swum across: in 2014 he tackled the Rhine and in 2017 the Tennessee River. There he and his team found up to 18,000 microplastic particles per cubic meter of water. “That really caused a rethink there,” says Fath. “I still get news about environmental protection actions that are being carried out there.” That is also the meaning behind his sensational projects: “Because when else does a crazy professor swim through the Danube?”
Source: Nachrichten
