Atton's Lake public beach was the scene of a beach clean-up conducted by the Battlefords Scuba Community, July 8.
At the end of the afternoon there was a pile of garbage recovered from the bottom of the lake. This was part of a world wide effort spearheaded by diving organizations that have become concerned about the state of the aquatic environment around the world.
Organizations such as Project AWARE have taken up the cause of environmental awareness related to the waters that are such a large part of our world. The groups have picked various issues to focus on - the endangerment of sharks, the deterioration of the coral reefs, and the accumulation of garbage in the many bodies of water in the world.
The BSC, which offers PADI training courses at the local pool and whose members dive in the lakes of Northwest Saskatchewan, chose to get involved in the beach (and lake bottom) cleanup because of the debris the members encountered during their dives. Divers have run across tires, plastic lawn chairs, candy wrappers, pop cans, beer bottles, golf balls, dive masks, and other trash.
Club members say the problem was worth bringing to the attention of those discarding these items that just because the garbage is not seen by most people, the garbage is not really gone.
Four divers from the BSC readied themselves on the public beach and attracted avid attention, especially from the younger set, who wanted to get involved. While the divers were out in the lake, these youngsters picked up garbage from the beach area and added it to the pile pulled from the lake.
Mark and Noreen Barclay, Howard Ducherer and Dennis McCullough enjoyed the opportunity to get wet and cool off on a very hot day, while shore co-ordinator Carol Ducherer added to her suntan.
While the alga bloom made for poor visibility, the divers were able to recover considerable booty from the bottom in a little less than one hour. Some of the treasures included a couple of umbrellas, the frame of a folding camp chair, a boat anchor, bottles, cans and golf balls. The youngsters who helped on the beach took the pop bottles to recycle with stern admonishments from the divers that they did not want to see the bottles in the lake the next time they went diving.
The Regional Lake Park Authority agreed to take the garbage away once it was recovered.
The dive club is hoping to have more divers attend next year and this should result in the recovery of a greater amount of underwater garbage.
For more information about the Battlefords Scuba Community, check out the club's website at www.battlefordsscubacommunity.ca.
