Full Tanks, Full Bags: Lake Cleanup Season
How much trash can 5 divers take out of a lake, before lunch.
This past weekend, a small crew of six of us local divers suited up for what has become an unofficial annual underwater cleanup dive tradition at Lake Samish. We’ve been doing these for a few years now. At this point, we’ve come to expect the usual suspects: vapes (doubly disgusting when we bring those back to the surface), bottles, cans, lots and LOTS tangled fishing line, wrappers, and the occasional “how did that even get down here?” surprise sitting on the lakebed. In the past the more exotic things we’ve found under this lake even includes a laptop, a bowling ball, and yes, a gun (yes, the police were notified).
Diving to Make a Difference
What we do hope is that the videos and photos from dives like this get people thinking, and maybe even make folks a little more mindful about their gear and garbage while enjoying the waters here in the PNW and summer sets in.
Cleanup dives like this aren’t your typical pleasure or adventure dive. We’re not chasing fish or taking in the sights. We’re navigating low visibility, silt clouds, and the occasional underwater tangle of old fishing line, cans, and who-knows-what.
It’s not glamorous. But it’s worth it.
There’s something satisfying about surfacing with a full bag, after bag, after lake-stanky bag, and knowing you left the lake just a little better than you found it. I’m proud to be part of a crew that shows up, year after year, to do exactly that. Making a small difference, for the sake of the waters we all love to explore…and get our drinking water from.
Shout out to Andy, my good friend, and the best dive partner a diver could ever ask for, for coordinating these efforts each year….and some awesome hot dogs.