On September 22, 2012, under gray Pacific Northwest skies, forty-five people performed an underwater cleanup at the Sail Sand Point (Magnuson Park) on Lake Washington, Seattle, Washington under the auspices of the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department and organized by the Northwest Diving Institute. The cleanup effort comprised five dive teams and one shore team encompassing an underwater area of approximately 100,000 ft2. The cleanup was preceded the evening before with a dive briefing at Northwest Diving Institute in Bellevue (www.nwscuba.org).

A total of 1,320 pounds (600 kilos) of debris was collected from depths up to 45 feet deep over a two-hour period. Items collected included large airplane tires, fire extinguishers, bicycles, chairs, tables, cook stoves, pots & pans, school alarms, bottles, cans, batteries, building materials and bags of garbage. All debris was sorted, weighed and marked for disposal by the Parks department.

We’d like to thank the following volunteers for making this effort possible: Alicia Miller, Beth Carter, Brent Diaz, Brian George, Caleb Nakatani, Cameron Nagel, Casey Nakatani, Chuck Neudorf, Corey Wilson, David Wakeley, Elizabeth Thampi, Emela Moreyra, Eric Pratt, Gaby Lout, Jane Cottrell, Jay Gilbert, Jennifer Anodide, Jessica Witzigreuter, Jon Borchardt, Joshua Ward, Kay Stevens, Kim Corn, LeAnne Livingston, Logan Carter, Manuel Moreyra, Nancy Moreyra, Nick Carter, Nick Nagel, Pieter Booth, Pravin Thampi, Steve Gartner, Tabitha Borchardt, Taylor Seavey, Todd Hulett, Wayne Foley, William Stieler and others.

In addition, we’d also like to thank Morgan Collins of Sail Sand Point for their generous site support of the dive teams and cleanup efforts. Our appreciation also goes to our Shore team and Grill Master, Kim Corn, for graciously cooking and serving the postcleanup BBQ, and to Starbuck’s Coffee for providing coffee on the morning of the cleanup.