Islanders looking for something different to do on September 17 might consider being part of a clean-up of Deep Bay waters taking place between 1 and 4 at Sandy Beach. It's a dive for debris that's also a social event with a band, foodstuffs and the novelty of seeing whatever gunk and junk divers drag up from the depths.
Organizer Amber Spitkovski says that she and fellow divers find plenty of garbage underneath the waves in Bowen's waters. She regularly hauls up car batteries, electronic equipment, abandoned crab traps, and other discarded stuff, and she felt a more concerted clean-up effort was warranted.
"My reaction when I find all this garbage is 'oh my God this is horrible,'" she told the Undercurrent in a talk at Snug Cove earlier this week. "The big thing about what we're doing is awareness, showing people how it's not a case of 'out of sight, out of mind.'"
Garbage pollutes the ocean, destroys habitat and is harmful to marine life. She found a world-wide group called Project Aware (PA) and this clean-up will be connected to its Divers for Debris efforts. "It feels good being part of a bigger movement like that."
She'll be recording what they find, and where they find it, on a data base on the Project Aware website to become part of a study. There is already talk of looking toward making it a yearly event, choosing a different Island water locale each time.
The divers will be boated to points in the bay and start collecting. Kayaks will be placed over divers to make certain boaters do not endanger them. The garbage will be brought ashore and Spitkovski could use more help dealing with the garbage once it's onshore.
There will be light refreshments, thanks to local businesses, and music will be provided by Bowen's Chillbillies, who'll play between 1 and 2:30 p.m.
Besides Spitkovski, some other divers who will be giving their time and efforts are Adam Taylor, Larry Morse, Brian Hartwick and Vince Huggins.
Taylor is an organizer of the annual Bowen Nature Dive (the fifth was held last June) and part of the mandate of that event is to show kids how wonderful the creatures undersea are and show everyone how habitats and marine life are damaged by discarded garbage.
