Local Dive Notes - 2005 & 2006

Splash for Trash 2006. A clean up dive. at Boothbay Harbor, Saturday May 20, 2006
This year we dove and surfaced with approximately 300 lbs of trash.
#Divers: 19 divers
Each year the numbers seem to be growing. This year we had some divers from years past and a new mix of divers.
They seemed to work well together. We even had help from the DMR. The divers came from as far south as Milford New Hampshire and as far north as Bucksport Maine. The youngest diver was a 10 year old girl.
#Crew/Dock help: 15 dock help
The new mix of divers brought a group of new dock help. The new crew mixed well with the seasoned help. The youngest dock help was a 6 year old boy.
Location: Boothbay Harbor ME, Browns Wharf.
Visibility: 0 - 15 ft
Max. Depth: 30 feet
Bottom Time: Each diver was filling bags with trash and returning to the surface so it varied.
Type of day: windy with sun, mild temp.
Water Temp: 48 to 50.... Not bad, some of us dove wet.

What we saw: Trash, brittle sea stars, lobster, green crab, northern sea star, frilled sea anemone, Toad Crab, shrimp, I'm sure I saw the following but not sure of exact names sea peach, sea vase, all sorts of sea stars ... blood worms too! and when the bottom "silted up" we saw nothing.
*On each dive it seems someone finds something to talk about ... Today it was the amount of plastic chairs we found. We also noted how healthy the harbor looked
* We had tour boats come by the docks to see what we were doing. It was Coastal Appreciation Day and The Boothbay Land and Trust were showing people, "we ALL care about the coast and our waters."
Submitted by Sarah on 05/24/06.
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Splash for Trash, A clean up dive with UDNH at Prescott Park in Portsmouth, NH, Saturday Sep 17, 2005
Click here for newpaper write-up in Portsmouth Herald.
What a great time!!!...There were about 10 divers, 9 dock help and it never rained.
The visibility was 5 to 10 feet and there was good sea life. I really enjoyed seeing the huge starfish.
We dove out of a beautiful park in historic Portsmouth NH and were treated to food after the dive at the Seacoast Science Center. The center gave us free admission to their museum and we got to watch an artist create a sculpture out of the trash we brought up. .
We found a bunch of things like a metal bicycle rack, dog toy, cell phone, boat rail and the normal trash of bottles and cans.
The Seacoast news took photos and the Portsmouth Herald did interviews...I told them about the Maine-iacs and our part in working with the UDNH and how they help in our water.
Submitted by Sarah on 09/17/05..
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Splash for Trash, A clean up dive at Boothbay Harbor, Saturday May 21, 2005
This dive we surfaced with approximately 300 lbs of trash.
#Divers: 11 (Maine-iac divers) Bob, Lester, Mark, Robin, Clark, Fred, David,
~UNDH Steve & Kerry ~ Skin-divers Paradise divers, Ian, Jackey and John
#Crew/Dock help: 9 (Maine-iac divers) Sarah, ~ UNDH, Linda ~ Skin-divers
Paradise John ~ Extra local help Troy, Jay, Todd, Julia, Pete and Eleanor
Location: Boothbay Harbor ME, Peir One & Foot Bridge
Visibility: 0 - 7ft
Max Depth: 16 feet
Bottom Time: 28 minutes to 40 minutes. Each diver was filling bags with trash and returning to the surface so it varied.
Air temp: 52 and Coludy
Water Temp: 43 degrees at depth, 59 surface...Not bad, some of us dove wet.
What we saw: Trash, Lobster, green crab, blue mussles, northern sea star, green sea urchin, frilled sea anemone, red-gilled nudibranch, Jonah Crab, Asian Shore Crab, shrip, I'm sure I saw the following but not sure of exact names, soft coral, sponges, and sea peach, Rough Malted Nudibranch, star fish...and when the bottom "silted up" we saw nothing.
*On each dive it seems someone finds something to talk about...Today it was a bench found under one of the tour boats. The bench was deep in the mud. The divers tried a few times to tie off to the bench and pull it up. The only thing they could get up was the arm rest.
Submitted by Sarah on 05/31/05..