Divers brave briny Edmonds entanglements to collect marine debris

EDMONDS — The “feels like” temperature was a teeth-chattering 33 degrees Sunday morning as 12 divers prepared to plunge into the Salish Sea to scavenge for debris.

Hiding from the biting wind, they huddled around a fire pit just off marina beach while Emerald Sea Dive Club member Matthew Shawhan explained the ground rules for the 70-foot dive.

“Don’t worry, it’s warmer in the water,” said Sarina Elliott, one of the divers. “About 44 degrees compared to our 37.”

Sunday was Elliott’s eighth time volunteering for the dive club’s twice-annual cleanup.

Their objective was straightforward: collect the manmade odds and ends at the bottom of the sea that shouldn’t be there. Things like fishing line, nets, bait baskets, lures, cans, weights, clothing and plastic pieces all pose threats to wildlife. A team of people would wait at the pier to hoist up milk crates that had been sunken for the divers to fill.

“Plastic leaches, so it gets into the fish and then into us after we eat them,” Shawhan said. “Removing (the debris) keeps us healthier, keeps the fish healthier, keeps the community healthier and protects biodiversity.

In teams of two, the drivers trudged toward the surf. They were loaded down with about 100 pounds worth of gear each: drysuits, gloves, hoods, tanks, knives and weights (to counteract the buoyancy of their drysuits).

Like pairs of otters, each team sat back into the surf and paddled out toward the pier on their backs. Flippers poked up above the surf as they made their way out to the “tire reef.”

Years ago, people sunk tires off the end of Edmonds Fishing Pier to create habitat for marine life. Although the tires did create habitats, they also leach toxins, snare lures and harbor veils of fishing line.

“There’s a lot of line out there, and it’s a big entanglement risk,” Shawhan said. “It hangs off of (the pyramid-shaped tire reefs) and drifts in the current. And that fishing line is extremely difficult to break. The more you turn, the more you get entangled. … You’re stuck.”

It traps everything from small crabs to sea lions.

Scott Welton, 73, and Jay Guard, 53, were among the teams diving in. They’re both experienced divers and had knives on-hand to cut free bunches of fishing line. All groups had an hour to round up as much “booty” as they could. Welton was jazzed and ready to take the plunge.

“We’re not trying to pull engines out of here,” Shawhan said. “We’re focused on the small stuff.”

But the small stuff adds up.

Six milk crates full of debris were hauled above the waves and dumped into a wagon to be carried away.

The booty included hundreds of squid jigs and other fishing lures as well as bait traps, nets and masses of knotted fishing line. But other bits and bobbles showed up, too: an unscathed Nokia phone, a spark plug, a credit card and an ID.

At the fall event, divers collected about 140 pounds worth of debris. But from the Sunday’s first dive, they anticipated this spring cleanup’s tally to be smaller. All six groups said the same thing: there was less debris in the water this time around.

“There wasn’t too much. We just saw small items today. After the summer, maybe there will be more,” diver Yuri Parfemov said.

The dives continued from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Once the debris has been collected and removed from the sound, the dive club offers it up to the community to reclaim. The lures, bait traps and crab pots are all fair game, too. So if you lost an ID or Nokia phone off the Edmonds fishing pier, give the Emerald Sea Dive Club a call.

“I think this is really valid effort,” Shawhan said. “Having people come out and donate their time to help better all of us. … It’s a community effort to try to keep everybody happy and healthy.”

Kayla J. Dunn: 425-339-3449; kayla.dunn@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @KaylaJ_Dunn.