Stichting Duik De Noordzee Schoon leaves Friday 5 July for the 13th^the diving expedition in the North Sea. This 10-day trip, Expedition Dogger Bank 2019, is dedicated to unique discoveries in this special Natura2000 area. The volunteers also clean the locations where they dive by taking garbage upstairs. 

The team dives into locations that have never been dived before. 28 highly experienced recreational divers collect as much biological and archaeological data as possible from more than 20 different locations. They remove waste – especially ghost nets, lead, fishing hooks and lures – photograph and film. The divers expect clear water (up to 25 meters), which can benefit the photo and film material. This can help to promote the North Sea, an important objective of the foundation. The team also hopes to observe special or new animal and algae species for the Netherlands. 

“Great and exciting to dive with yourself this year! And inspiring as a marine biologist to contribute to a better picture of the biodiversity on and next to the wrecks. The expedition provides valuable knowledge about the North Sea”, Tammo Bult, director of Wageningen Marine Research.

The dive team hopes that researching a potential wreck site will contribute to the search for the missing Hr. Ms. O 13, the last undiscovered Dutch submarine. The wreck has been lying somewhere on the bottom of the North Sea since June 1940. What exactly happened to the O13 is still a mystery. A representative of the Submarine Relatives Foundation steps on board with an extensive database of coordinates of as yet unknown wrecks. 

“How nice would it be if we were exactly on the 13^the expedition of Stichting Duik de Noordzee Schoon, finally finding the O13.“, Jouke Spoelstra, Relatives of Submarines Foundation. 

“With our passion for wreck diving, we want to show that it is worthwhile to properly protect the hotspots in the North Sea”, Ben Stiefelhagen, expedition leader. 

Expedition Dogger Bank 2019
This expedition is an initiative of Stichting Duik De Noordzee clean. The expedition team consists of marine biologists, amateur archaeologists, ecologists, photographers, videographers and support divers. The diving work can only be done by highly experienced recreational divers given the difficult conditions in which the project has to be carried out: 25 to 45 meters in depth in cold, flowing water. The volunteers have recovered 60,000 kg of fishing nets and fishing lines in 8 years. The team works closely with research agencies, the business community, universities and the government. It is the 13th expedition organized by the foundation. Stichting Duik De Noordzee Schoon wants to put the importance of artificial reefs in the North Sea on the map and enforce sound policy. Wrecks and stones act as nurseries and shelters for many animals, an estimated 500 different animal species live on these hard substrates. In addition, wrecks can be time capsules of great cultural-historical importance. Since 2011, the foundation has already organized twelve successful expeditions to different areas in the North Sea.