KRAPANJ, CROATIA —Kristijan Curavić, founder of the White Flag initiative and Ocean Alliance Conservation Member (OACM), is taking his campaign for plastic-free tourism beaches and marine areas to a new extreme: the seabed of Croatia’s historic Krapanj Island.
The Croatian former professional diver, world-record holder and environmental campaigner is preparing for a continuous underwater plastic and marine-debris extraction operation lasting up to 12 hours. The event is planned as a Guinness World Record attempt and will include an unusual diplomatic component — an environmental address to world leaders delivered live from beneath the Adriatic Sea.
For Curavić, however, breaking another record is not the ultimate objective. His larger ambition is to establish verifiably plastic-free beaches and marine zones in tourism destinations around the world.
A Fighter for Plastic-Free Beaches and Tourism
Curavić has built a reputation as a go-getter with a fighter’s attitude toward environmental protection — and an understanding that visibility, international attention and even fame can become powerful tools when directed toward a cause.
His White Flag initiative was built around a straightforward proposition: tourism destinations that economically depend on beautiful beaches and clean seas should take measurable responsibility for protecting them.
That philosophy has evolved into broader OACM programs designed to connect governments, tourism destinations, businesses and international institutions with measurable marine conservation.
Unlike conventional beach-cleaning campaigns, Curavić’s concept extends below the waterline.
A beach may appear pristine to tourists while plastic, fishing gear and other debris remain on the seabed. OACM’s approach therefore seeks to address both the visible coastline and the underwater environment.
The Krapanj operation brings that philosophy back to where Curavić is perhaps most comfortable: underwater.
World-First Subsurface Presidential Address & Diplomatic Keynote
One of the most extraordinary elements of the Krapanj operation will take place not on a conference stage, but on the seabed.
During the physical endurance attempt, Curavić plans to deliver what OACM describes as a world-first underwater environmental address, broadcast live from the seabed through specialized acoustic communications telemetry.
Speaking directly from inside his heavy traditional copper diving helmet, Curavić will deliver a message of gratitude to former and current heads of state and international leaders whom OACM credits with early support for, or adoption of, its Sustainable Ocean Solution Conservancy Program (SOS CP), helping lay the groundwork for the organization’s international expansion.
OACM names among these leaders:
- H.E. Borut Pahor, former President of Slovenia
- H.E. Gjorge Ivanov, former President of North Macedonia
- H.E. Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, former President of Malta
- H.E. Danny Faure, former President of Seychelles
- H.E. Karmenu Vella, former EU Commissioner for Maritime Affairs & Fisheries
- H.M. King Charles III
- H.M. King Abdullah II of Jordan
- The Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, former Prime Minister of Canada
From the seabed of Krapanj, Curavić also intends to issue a direct global appeal to incumbent heads of state, presidents, prime ministers and international policymakers to join the initiative, establish sovereign plastic-free marine zones and commit to measurable and verifiable ocean restoration for future generations.
The symbolism is powerful: rather than addressing policymakers from another international conference room, Curavić intends to speak to them from the place where much of the world’s marine pollution ultimately ends up — beneath the sea.
Krapanj: Where Diving Heritage Meets Ocean Conservation
The choice of Krapanj carries special significance.
The small inhabited Adriatic island is famous for its centuries-old sponge-diving tradition. For generations, Krapanj islanders made their living beneath the Adriatic, developing a diving culture that became part of Croatia’s maritime heritage.
For the record attempt, that history will meet modern environmental technology.
Traditional copper hard-hat diving equipment weighing approximately 80–90 kilograms will be combined with contemporary commercial diving systems, underwater cameras, communications and physiological monitoring.
An underwater operational hub is expected to provide continuous video and telemetry, allowing audiences around the world to follow the endurance attempt and extraction of marine debris from the seabed.
“Operating from the historic seabed of Krapanj in traditional copper diving equipment, this record demonstrates continuous physical subsurface cleanup while delivering real-time underwater telemetry to the world,” said Goksel Kahya, OACM Directorate General & Global Operations Director, a retired Turkish Air Force general and former Military Representative of Türkiye to NATO.
From the North Pole to a Global Ocean Mission
Extreme underwater challenges are nothing new for Curavić.
In 2005, he gained international attention after completing a freedive beneath the Arctic ice at the North Pole, descending more than 50 meters in extreme conditions without scuba equipment.
More than two decades later, he is attempting to channel the same appetite for physical challenge into an environmental initiative with potentially broader consequences for the global tourism industry.
For destinations dependent on pristine coastlines, plastic pollution is no longer only an environmental issue. It can affect destination reputation, tourism competitiveness, marine biodiversity and ultimately the economic value of the coastline itself.
OACM’s Certified SAFE Marine Area approach seeks to make marine cleanup something destinations can measure, verify and communicate, creating a bridge between environmental conservation, sustainable tourism and investment.
The Krapanj project is also intended to position Šibenik-Knin County internationally as a destination where maritime heritage and sustainable tourism can coexist.
Footage and data from the operation are expected to contribute to OACM’s planned South Pole Expedition documentary project, with ambitions for an international streaming release and a presentation connected with Cannes in 2028.
Clean Beaches Are Not Enough
For Curavić, the message behind the spectacle remains remarkably straightforward.
A tourism beach cannot genuinely be called clean if plastic remains beneath the surface.
His campaign is therefore moving beyond cleaning what visitors can see toward restoring what lies underwater — while challenging tourism destinations and governments to take responsibility for the seas that make many of those destinations famous.
From diving beneath the North Pole to fighting plastic on the seabed of his native Adriatic and addressing world leaders from underwater, Curavić continues to pursue a distinctive form of environmental activism: ambitious, physical, highly visible and difficult to ignore.
If his vision succeeds, the White Flag could ultimately represent something increasingly valuable to coastal tourism destinations worldwide: not merely a beautiful beach, but a marine environment verifiably free of plastic.
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