I just dived with a friend on Lake Norman at a site where people raft on the weekends, tying groups of party barges together, drinking and fishing, etc. I couldn't believe how much stuff there was in the water! (In a ~75 minute dive, we recovered ~12 pairs of sunglasses, an underwater camera (flooded) and 5 anchors, leaving at least 3 beach towels and probably 100 beer bottles and cans.
I was wondering if there might be any interest in doing a cleanup at a site like this some time. Planning in tentative, but if we could get a group of 10-15 divers together with a couple of surface boats for support, I bet we could have some great dives, some interesting finds, and get a boatload of garbage out of the water.
The drawback is that vis is relative low (10-15 ft). Good silt management is a must. Depths are shallow, in the 20 ffw range. Water's warm with little or no current.
What I'm thinking is that, if we have enough interest, we pick a date, get some volunteers for surface support, and just do it before the end of the season. If we have a good time, then we do something on a larger scale next spring. The Florida Conch Divers do lots of these, and they're always great opportunities for diving and socializing, plus you get a chance to do something for the underwater environment. (Again, if we have enough interest, we hook into one of the established groups, shoot some photos, weigh the junk we recover and tell folks about it. It's a nice way of gently saying that you shouldn't throw your garbage overboard.)
I'd like to set something up that can bring together several clubs and shops in the area. Pool some resources and have fun together.
Any thoughts?
I was wondering if there might be any interest in doing a cleanup at a site like this some time. Planning in tentative, but if we could get a group of 10-15 divers together with a couple of surface boats for support, I bet we could have some great dives, some interesting finds, and get a boatload of garbage out of the water.
The drawback is that vis is relative low (10-15 ft). Good silt management is a must. Depths are shallow, in the 20 ffw range. Water's warm with little or no current.
What I'm thinking is that, if we have enough interest, we pick a date, get some volunteers for surface support, and just do it before the end of the season. If we have a good time, then we do something on a larger scale next spring. The Florida Conch Divers do lots of these, and they're always great opportunities for diving and socializing, plus you get a chance to do something for the underwater environment. (Again, if we have enough interest, we hook into one of the established groups, shoot some photos, weigh the junk we recover and tell folks about it. It's a nice way of gently saying that you shouldn't throw your garbage overboard.)
I'd like to set something up that can bring together several clubs and shops in the area. Pool some resources and have fun together.
Any thoughts?
