Liverpool divers bring rubbish to the surface in Underwater Litterpick

Car number plates, a pair of sunglasses and a watch were just some of the items which divers from Liverpool-based club TS Neptune brought to the surface during an Underwater Litterpick in the city centre.

Members of the city’s TS Neptune Sub Aqua Club, which is linked to the sea cadets, staged the clean up in Liverpool’s Dukes Dock to celebrate the BSAC’s Diamond Jubilee and as part of the Club’s annual Underwater Litterpick campaign. Club members spent more than five hours clearing debris from the dock basin.

Keith Bayley-Hamilton, TS Neptune SAC Secretary and Assistant Diving Officer, said the day proved a big success with more than 100 separate items being cleared from the bottom of the dock.

He said: “Although the club is affiliated to the Sea Cadets it is open to anyone to join. We had two of our cadets join a dozen adult divers for the day and they thoroughly enjoyed the event.

“It is important to get across the importance of clearing up the environment and looking after what is an important underwater habitat for wildlife. The problem is people seem to think because rubbish is out of sight underwater it doesn’t matter.

“However, there is a huge amount of wildlife living in the docks, including crabs, dog fish and even jellyfish and we wanted to improve the environment in which they live.” Liam Williams, 12, a pupil of Alsop High School, Queen’s Drive, Walton, said he thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the Underwater Litterpick.

He said: “I found loads of bottles and old tin cans. It was a massive event which has been good for the environment. The visibility was quite good until the bottom got stirred up and I saw loads of stone fish and crabs.

“I started diving seven months ago with the sea cadets. I am an OC, ordinary cadet, and have qualified as a BSAC Ocean Diver. I want to carry on diving in the future, it’s brilliant.

“It’s especially good when we do stuff like clearing all the rubbish from the bottom of the docks. I think people who stopped to watch what we brought up were amazed at just how much trash there is in the docks.”

Keith Bayley-Hamilton says he was surprised not just by the volume of rubbish collected but by the variety of items found.

He said: “I think we all expected to find lots of bottles and tins but there were lots of other things too. Plastic is so harmful to wildlife yet there is so much of it.

“But we also found the odd old shoe, and a ladies watch although it certainly wasn’t an expensive one, more a type of fancy dress or piece of costume jewellery. And a pair of old sunglasses which was something of a strange find.

“It makes you wonder just how long some of these things have been lying in the dock and how they got there in the first place.”

The BSAC Underwater Litterpick 2013 runs until 31 October and clubs/individuals can still register to take part. Click here for details.