"When I go fishing, pelicans are also fishing close to my boat. Once, I heard a strange noise and turned my head to see a peculiar image. A pelican was trying to swallow a fish, but it was big and the half of it was still hanging out of its beak. The tail looked about a foot long, so I deducted that it was a big fish. I jumped into the water, waded through the mud, grabbed the bird and pulled the fish out of its mouth. It was too much for the pelican, he couldn't swallow it. And I had needs... A couple of hours later, I sold the fish in the village and earned 3.500 drachmas. It was a good amount of money back then".

A great narrator

John Savvides once got into a 'fight' with a wild bird and since then he does his best to repay the debt.  He comes from Vathylackos of Kozani, but he has been living in the area around Kerkini lake since 1985. Among the various professions he juggles in order to make a living, he is also a boat guide. The people who adore Kerkini remember him standing upright on the boat -he never sits down- and describing the miracles taking place in the lake's waters in a unique way. 

John lives with the birds and considers them as his roommates and partners. He eats from the same plate as they do and he shares his food with the birds equally. The birds pose for visitors to admire them and he supplements his income by taking tourists on amazing naturalistic sightseeing tours.

He has something good to say about every animal and plant in there, even the leeches, which he praises because they have the ability to clean the waters from the sludge. "Leeches seem to be cruel animals, but they are sensitive and they can't stand living in dirty waters. I often visit the water lilies and observe the snails and the leeches, as long as they live in there the lake stays clean".

Kerkini lake couldn't get polluted anyway since its waters change more than ten times a year. On one side, water is pumped out for irrigation and on the other Strymonas River and streams from the mountains flow into the lake.

There are no fields with fertilizers around the banks, so pollutants don't find their way into the lake. The tobacco farming may have caused problems once, but now that subsidies have been cut off, farmers don't cultivate tobacco anymore.

He feeds the birds

Until 1982, the lake was partially covered by water lilies. There were 5,000-7,000 acres of water lilies back then, while today only a few are left. Truth be told, they can be counted on one hand...  In Mandraki village, in the port, there are still some water lilies left. If someone wants to see the flowers he must go in the morning hours, because in the afternoon they close. Unless it is cut, a water lily survives in the lake for months at a time.

Under the lake's surface one can see the water lilies' roots, similar to straws, connecting the water's surface with the bottom of the lake. Sometimes they are even five metres long. "These 'straws' are sometimes wounded by snails, who feed on them. On one hand they ruin the water lilies, but on the other hand, they eat the plankton and the sludge. If one has an aquarium, the snails from Kerkini lake can clean it perfectly".

John is very sad when he sees hungry birds. "I see the baby storks gathering in the port by the dozens looking for food. I feed them carefully because they unwillingly bite my fingers". Many residents have seen John buying fish in order to feed the birds.

When a bird is in trouble, people call him so that he can take care of it. If he can't help, he informs the watchtower of Kerkini and the bird is sent for treatment to some ornithological centres in Thessaloniki or Aegina Island near Athens. When the birds are cured by the experts, they're once again set free. The day of their return is known to the local community and it is a real feast for everybody, especially the children.

He's never held a gun

Back in the day, the banks around Kerkini lake looked like a battlefield. One could see empty bullet cartridges sprawled around everywhere. Today, this is no longer the case, as hunting around the lake has been forbidden and the area is closely monitored both by the authorities and the locals. When someone hears the slightest noise, he immediately calls the authorities and policemen rush to the lake in their jeeps in order to catch the illegal hunters. Even so, people still find numerous wounded birds around the lake.

"Do you know what pity it is to wound creatures that can't be eaten? Those who hurt them are despicable men. If so many birds are found wounded, imagine how many thousands of them have been killed. The worst of the lot are retired men, who are bored in their homes and come here with their shotguns to shot at whatever is flying. I've never held a gun in my life. When I came to live here I had the chance to buy a gun, but I didn't like the idea".

Illegal fishing is a crime

There are incidents of illegal fishing in the lake as well. When the water's level is down, the fish head towards the dam where the water is deeper. But some unconscious men follow them and catch the baby fish. If they let them reach the first year of their lives they would then weigh one kilo each and they could be sold for more money.

Illegal fishermen, though, prefer to catch plenty of young fish, even if they know that they will sell them at a lower price, totally indifferent to the damage they are causing to the future fishery. "It is a great sin to fish illegally. I see some blokes who go there, carrying big cages with long handles, and lurk until the fish give birth to their eggs or leave the spawn. These men then trap the fish and drag them out of the water. The other day, an illegal fisherman was caught with 800 kilos of fish-mammas in the back of his truck".

Because of the illegal fishing and the literally voracious cormorants, less than fifty fishermen are left in Kerkini. The locals love catfish and carps but stay away from fish from the sea. "When we go to seaside resorts and they have feasts, like the well-known sardine fest, we don't go near the fish taverns.  Our babies and grandchildren don't eat sea fish either".

He is not alone

John's guided tours last at least two hours and are like a rite of passage. No matter how strange it may sound, this man's work is very important and he advertises his home in a much better way that tourist leaflets ever could. He's not alone; there are many other great naturists living in Kerkini's villages.

It is said that some of illegal fishermen and hunters were persuaded to switch camps by their children. The new generation has learned to love the environment in school and children react when they see animals and birds suffering in pain.TEXT-PHOTOS: GEORGE ZAFEIROPOULOS
SOURCE: www.greecewithin.com

MORE PHOTOS

The slightest agitation on the surface of the lake causes conjectural ripples.

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