SCUBA Divers Make an Eco-Splash at the Newport Harbor Underwater Cleanup Sept. 21

By Guest Contributor – September 26, 2024

Source: Newport Beach Independent https://www.newportbeachindy.com/scuba-divers-make-an-eco-splash-at-the-newport-harbor-underwater-cleanup-sept-21/


By Spencer Grant | Special to the NB Indy

It’s surprising what you can find at the bottom of Newport Harbor.

Bicycles, toolboxes, traffic cones, even a boat. There’s lots of plastic and things that have fallen off boats—not that boaters are dumping stuff deliberately; they just wind up in the harbor.

On one memorable occasion, a diver found a gun. “We informed the police and they said don’t touch it,” explained boatman Guy Harden. “Two divers stayed there until the police showed up, saying the gun was part of an investigation. We never heard anything about it after that, sorry to say.”

Newport Harbor got an aquatic boost on Saturday, Sept. 21 after the fourth annual Newport Harbor Underwater Cleanup arrived at Marina Park on Balboa Peninsula to seek out and collect underwater trash.

Around 60 SCUBA divers and 125 “above-water” volunteers answered the call to make the bottom of the harbor a cleaner place. The event was part of the larger Coastal Cleanup Day along the OC shore.

Explained dive safety officer David Mansfield, “There’ll be divers on multiple boats all over Newport Harbor plus others diving off the beaches. Then there are the above-water people: their job is to clean the beaches and beach heads.

And all trash isn’t of equal importance.

“I’ve personally collected up to 10 pounds, but the entire event collects hundreds of pounds,” said diver Amy Meier. “Some of the most important stuff doesn’t weigh very much: plastic scraps that get eaten and become part of the food chain. They look like sea life, so if you can see them and get them out of the water before they break down any further and get eaten, that makes a difference. A beer bottle in the ocean doesn’t do much harm but plastic does.”

The cleanup began at 9 a.m. as a dozen boats loaded up with divers and headed for prechosen spots in the harbor, each diver equipped with a mesh collecting bag. While the subaquatic searching was random in some places, other target areas had been scoped out a week before, yielding a bigger return on the divers’ efforts.

The harbor is no more than 20 feet deep, meaning that divers had to avoid passing boats whose propellers would stir up sediment and obscure vision. In addition, the divers wore powerful flashlights on their wrists and were careful not to stir up sediment with their foot-long flippers.

Wearing SCUBA outfits costing anywhere from $2,500 to $10,000, the volunteer divers expressed their commitment to the project.

“It’s a new experience and we expect to find all sorts of stuff,” said diver Claire Brown. “We love the ocean and want to give back some of the joy we get from it. We know other people do too.”

Noelle Daniels echoed the sentiment: “The ocean brings me so much peace and joy. It’s my way of giving back and taking care of the ocean. I love the ocean, and a lot of people don’t realize how much trash there is out there. We need the ocean to have everything on earth.”

By 11 a.m., the dive boats were returning to Marina Park with their loads of recovered refuse. After being unloaded on the pier, the trash was piled on a boat owned by Apex Diving who in turn transferred it to a CR&R. dumpster for final disposal.

David Mansfield pronounced it a good haul.

“We didn’t get the big stuff this year but we got plenty all the same. I’m grateful to the volunteers who made it such a successful event.”




By Guest Contributor – September 26, 2024

Source: Newport Beach Independent https://www.newportbeachindy.com/scuba-divers-make-an-eco-splash-at-the-newport-harbor-underwater-cleanup-sept-21/

0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

July 4 Old Glory Boat Parade 2023 / photo by Lawrence Sherwin

Whether you have a beautiful luxury yacht or a luxurious Duffy boat, it’s time to decorate your watercraft and participate in the annual Old Glory Boat Parade on Thursday, July 4, beginning at 1 p.m.

This is part of the three-day American Legion Newport Harbor Post 291 Centennial event, celebrating its 100th anniversary.

When the question was asked as to when and where the first beer can race was held, there were several virtual hands raised with the same answer: Balboa Yacht Club’s Thursday evening Beer Cans Summer Series.

A 1988 story in the Los Angeles Times recalls a bar bet 25 years earlier that got it started, which would put the 2024 season as the 62nd edition. Here’s what they’ve been doing inside this Southern California harbor for a long time:

Newport Beach International Boat Show

The Newport Beach International Boat Show will take place April 18 through 21 at Lido Marina Village, 3434 Via Oporto, with both on-water and on-land exhibitions, activations and entertainment.

The reimagined show will transform Lido Marina into a beautiful European coastal experience for everyone to enjoy.