Professor swims Black Forest to Black Sea to show Danube pollution

A German chemistry professor is starting a 2,700-kilometre swim on Friday down the length of the Danube to highlight the level of pollution in the river, reported dpa.

Professor Andreas Fath from Furtwangen University is expected to take three months to swim to the mouth of the Danube in the Black Sea, passing through or along the borders of countries including Austria, Hungary, and Serbia, and ending just kilometres from the Romanian border with Ukraine.

The Clean Danube project accompanying Fath says that every day the Danube washes 4 tons of plastics into the sea.

"Some Danube countries have neither effective bottle recycling systems nor sound waste prevention strategies. Plastic bottles, plastic bags and microplastics are found along the banks and at the bottom of the riverbed," the organization says.

The 57-year-old lecturer will take samples everyday from the Danube as he swims. In addition, a so-called passive sampler is also attached to Fath's wetsuit to detect foreign substances in the water. The project website will display rapid test results from the samples as they come in.

During his journey, the 57-year-old will be accompanied by a team that will offer workshops, lectures and river cleaning activities at the various stages.

This is not the first time Fath has combined science and extreme sports: he swam thousands of kilometres along the Rhine in 2014 to draw attention to water quality.