Dania Pier Cleanup 2019: Diving for Marine Life!

Participating in pier cleanups are great opportunities to do something positive for the environment and for our local marine life. South Florida piers are usually reserved for fishing and off limits to scuba divers. This is also an opportunity to dive a forbidden place while giving back to the ocean and its inhabitants.

Volunteer divers remove debris from the ocean bottom and pier pylons including monofilament line, hooks and lead sinkers which will all be collected and recycled. The idea is to protect aquatic life and clean up the underwater environment.

Turtles and other marine life risk entanglement from discarded fishing line and can die if they can’t surface to breathe. On top of that they get hurt because the sharp line can cut deep into their skin causing pain and infection and can even lead to the amputation of a flipper.

Fish also get hurt by fishing line and lures preventing them from feeding or escaping a predator. We once spotted a fish next to the seawall with a lure stuck in his mouth and the line was wrapped around a metal rod. I think he had given up the fight and was barely moving. We managed to rescue him by pulling him out using a small pole with a mesh bag on the end. He lay there perfectly still as we unhooked the lure. I could swear he smiled at us as we threw him back in the ocean and watched him swim away!

Stories like this are why we get involved in pier cleanups and so can you. Anyone can help, as surface support is necessary for a successful event to lower buckets for collecting debris from the divers and to help with sorting and separation.

For the past 8 years Divers Cove has organized the Dania Pier Cleanup and this year they paired up with Stoked On Salt who coordinated a beach cleanup at the same time.

The event was a success with 200 divers, 100 topside volunteers and 1211 pounds of debris removed in 2 hours.

On top of that, we got to dive a forbidden spot and saw the thriving marine life living under the pier. We saw huge schools of reef fish, lots of arrow crabs, drum fish, a blue crab, a scorpionfish, and even a lionfish. Also, some lucky divers (my husband included, but unfortunately, not me) also saw a huge manta ray swim over the group to check us out.

See our Life on the Reef Gallery

Showing up and doing something good for the environment is rewarding and it feels good too! Here in South Florida there are many ways you can get involved in various conservation efforts: Pier and Coastal Cleanups, Turtle Releases, Coral Restoration are just a few of the opportunities available. Let me know if you would be interested and we will let you know the next time we are going out.