Guwaa* global under water awareness association is an organization that started several global projects, from local cleaning in different countries to the World Aqua Day which is the biggest underwater cleanup in the world, where more than 60 different countries participated. See more on worldaquaday.com
S.P.E.E.D. Unit is one of the top projects launched by Guwaa and Prince Albert II of Monaco foundation. It shows how much individuals can do for the environment. This incredible team of divers picked up more than 50 tons of garbage just by their hands in first year of launch, which is impressive and remarkable. Now this group of divers travels the world and organize clean ups of oceans, lakes and rivers with local divers and authority to raise awareness about one of the most serious problems of our time, water pollution.
Many organizations today are raising awareness worldwide with conferences and discussions, but S.P.E.E.D unit-s method is simple and more efficient, take waste out of the oceans, lakes and rivers and let the shocking results raise awareness among the global audience. S.P.E.E.D. unit will provide visual results of the global scene in Ecology.
Divers
S.P.E.E.D. unit divers are handpicked by GUWAA CEO Kristijan Curavić former free diving champion, scuba and free diving instructor and commercial diver from Norway. This diver has dedicated his whole life to the sea and after finishing his career as a free diver, with historic free dive on the cap of the North pole in 2005. to depth of 51 meter, he decided to spend rest of his life protecting the oceans, lakes and rivers, to thank this element for all the magical moments spent in the blue depths.
Kristijan Curavić was inspired by Calypso at young age. Yacques Yves Cousteau and his expeditions where inspiration for millions of people around the world and before the launch of the S.P.E.E.D. unit in Monaco, Kristijan met one of the legends from Calypso, Francois Sarano – world famous oceanographer and personal friend of Yacques Cousteau. Francois Sarano has spent more than 30 year on Calypso with Cousteau and his experience from expeditions was something that had to be integrated into S.P.E.E.D. unit. Now Francois Sarano is one of the leaders of S.P.E.E.D. Unit together with Kristijan Curavić and their mission is not simple or easy. Their journey has officially started and the battle for clean, unpolluted waters is here.
The rest of the team is, at the moment, still a secret because of the classified information and positions divers have. They come from antiterrorism police, navy seals and other organization that would like to stay in the background.
They are all equal and they all wear the same sign – S.P.E.E.D. Unit. This is more than enough to recognize them when you see them in the sea. Other members of the team will be presented, scuba instructors, marine biologist and other non-sensitive backgrounds. S.P.E.E.D. Unit is currently recruiting women with long experience in diving. When a new member is picked, whole S.P.E.E.D. unit team has to approve the new member, not only CEO. Team members need to count on each other so it’s necessary that the new member fits in, making it harder to become a member if they don’t have the same goal and motivation.
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Country
Participation
Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Belgium, Italy, France, England, Monaco, Germany, Spain, Greece, Turkey, Portugal, Israel, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Brazil, South Africa, China, Japan, Canada, Russia, Mexico and Korea. In the USA – Los Angeles, New York, Houston, Washington, Oregon, Florida, Hawaii, Alaska and South Carolina.
Local Action
S.P.E.E.D. Units slogan is act locally, think globally.
Global work is done by acting locally and that is why this group of divers always work closely together with local diving centers or divers. Before S.P.E.E.D. Unit enters the water they need to get all possible information about the diving site, this is crucial in order to be efficient underwater.
Especially when they are diving in lakes and rivers where visibility is bad or there are extreme cold temperatures. Local cooperation with the diving centers, authority and partners are very important for S.P.E.E.D. unit to perform at high level and to salvage maximum amount of the garbage.
This corporation is also helping local diving centers to get further support from their local authority and government in the future. Once the local community comes together and puts ecological projects to a much higher level we are all making a big change on a global level.
Act locally, think globally.
Team Work
Global Team Work and the network
Water pollution and plastic in the ocean is a global problem. It can’t be solved by one organization specialized in one field, it has to be a team effort and without cooperation between world NGO, Governments, local diving centers, local fishermen and diving centers it cannot be solved.
Guwaa and S.P.E.E.D. unit are now working on creating a global network of partners to be more efficient in this battle for clean waters. Each organization possesses crucial information to deal with this problem and communication between these organizations and local partners has to be efficient and transparent to achieve good results in water protection, preservation and cleaning.
We possess the necessary information about the global water pollution but still we have not achieved the necessary result in the amount of toxic waste and garbage that needs to be taken out from the sea. We need more hands below the surface of the ocean because 70% of all plastic lies on the sea bottom while 30% floats in the ocean.
Global team work will be crucial for the efficiency in water preservation.
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Global
Organizations
Every day we have one more organizations participate in our work.
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Filming
S.P.E.E.D. unit has launched the world first episode about sea pollution and cleaning. This episode will help the organization receive more support in doing what they live for and raise awareness even further among global audience. Filming all the cleanups and presenting them to the world will have a strong emotional effect on the worldwide population. This approach is very efficient because no matter how many meetings and discussions about the problem you have, it will never replace the visual effect when you see with your own eyes all that trash removed from a place you may live close by.
People don’t know the real situation below the surface, only divers do, and that is why GUWAA declared divers as the world ambassadors of the ocean. Once you become a diver you become its protector and voice. Once you submerge below the surface you have an obligation to speak for it because this is the only way to make a difference.
All S.P.E.E.D. unit divers are carrying the go pro camera that documents every piece of the garbage below the surface fastened on their scuba tank. After cleaning footages are used by our and other organizations for the documentation of the sea bottom and its toxic content.
S.P.E.E.D. Unit is receiving videos from all over the world about the oceans, lakes and rivers pollution and this is making it much easier for our organization to prepare for the cleanup and being more efficient.
Clean Seabed
The oceans, lakes and rivers have been a trash can for people for generations and it’s only in the last ten years we are coming to our senses and realizing the devastation that has been done to the seabed. But this garbage and toxic waste which has been thrown in will not disappear with time, it will not dissolve by its self, it will stay there.
Once you submerge your body below the surface you expect to see fish, sea vegetation and other ocean organisms but you only see plastic, glass, metal and other non-degradable material and you know that is wrong. You should ask your self is this what we want to leave behind for the next generations.
Oceans, lakes and rivers bottom needs to be cleaned. It’s a place for marine life not garbage and waste. S.P.E.E.D. Unit divers dived in the most polluted places and their main mission once they enter the ocean lakes and rivers is to leave that place clean for fishes and other marine life.