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Transcript/ScriptSenegal Underwater Museum-Fernandes
HEADLINE: In Senegal, Underwater Museum Draws Attention to Environmental Woes
TEASER:
PUBLISHED AT: 7/17/2022 at 2:46 pm
BYLINE: Allison Fernandes
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: DAKAR, Senegal
VIDEOGRAPHER: Mbaye Ndir
VIDEO EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: KE, Bowman
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA,
PLATFORMS: WEB __ TV _x_ RADIO _x_
TRT: 3:04
VID APPROVED BY: KE
TYPE:
EDITOR NOTES: See video in original French at https://www.voaafrique.com/a/senegal-ouverture-d-un-mus%C3%A9e-sous-marin-sur-la-c%C3%B4te-de-dakar/6654140.html?withmediaplayer=1 Allison can be reached at fernandesallis@gmail.com. Also note Annika Hammerschlag web story, which VOA News published June 20. Could embed video in it.))
((INTRO))
[[Senegal has opened an underwater museum just off the coast from its capital, Dakar. Its goal: to raise awareness of environmental problems in the bay. Allison Fernandes explains in this report narrated by Carol Guensburg, with video by Mbaye Ndir.]]
((Narrator))
The Océanium, a Senegalese scuba diving center and NGO specializing in environmental protection, has just set up West Africa’s first underwater art museum.
(Underwater images with Oumy Diaw)
About a hundred meters off Dakar’s shore, eight sculptures were installed last December. Scuba diving offers the best way to see the sculptures in waters often clouded by pollution and cluttered with plastic bottles and other debris.
((Oumy Diaw, Contemporary Art Marketer)) (female, in French)
“We think that by creating this museum, we will create awareness. Because as soon as you say art, people move. … These sculptures are made from ecological material.”
((Narrator))
The material is a type of clay, says art marketer Oumy Diaw. Six months after its installation, the sculptures are covered with marine life like barnacles that filter and cleanse the water.
((Oumy Diaw, Contemporary Art Marketer))
“So, that means restoration is at work.”
((Narrator))
Artificial reefs provide habitat for marine life, with food and shelter encouraging reproduction. That could help counter the overfishing that has depleted the bay.
The underwater art museum is the brainchild of Rodwan El Ali, director of the diving club. The club takes other steps to aid the environment.
(Rodwan El Ali diving from a boat)
((Narrator))
On this morning, El Ali and a team of other divers descend 25 meters to remove two fishing nets attached to sunken ships. Fish and other sea creatures can get tangled in the nets and die. It’s dangerous for divers, too.
[[For radio: … says Walid Stéphane Hussein of Oceanium.]]
((Walid Stéphane Hussein, Oceanium scuba diver)) (male, in French)
“The first risk is that we cling to the net and get stuck. That's why there has to be at least two divers: one watching while the other works. The second risk is when we inflate the parachute to lift the net. If the net catches us, we go up without stopping, so we can have a decompression accident.”
((Narrator))
After 45 minutes underwater, the divers bring up a nylon net stretching roughly a hundred meters long and about 20 meters high.
(Rodwan El Ali in the water holding a dead moray eel)
((Rodwan El Ali, Director, Oceanium)) (in French)
"There was a moray eel that died eating a fish. The fish is still in it.”
((Narrator))
Last year, El Ali and his divers pulled 25 tons of fishing net out of the sea. Fishing is vital to Senegal, employing roughly 600,000 people and serving as a main protein source nationwide. But the sector is in crisis from overfishing, by individuals and industrial fleets.
((Rodwan El Ali, Director, Oceanium)) (in French)
“People are hungry, fighting more and more to live, even to survive. And today, we lose a ton of fish every year to nets.”
((Narrator))
El Ali estimates his organization removes 30 to 40 abandoned nets each year. He said Océanium hopes to get financial support so it can continue its environmental work.
((For Allison Fernandes in Dakar, Senegal, Carol Guensburg, VOA New))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)((For Allison Fernandes in Dakar, Senegal, Carol Guensburg, VOA New))
Embargo DateJuly 17, 2022 16:02 EDT
BylineDAKAR, Senegal
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
