A screengrab from the video "this was absolutely disgusting (SO MUCH TRASH!!!!) diving the Penticton channel".
Image Credit: YOUTUBE
October 22, 2021 - 11:42 AM
A scuba diving team from Lake Country that hunts for trash every weekend hit the mother lode in the Okanagan River channel in Penticton.
A seven-minute video posted, Oct. 15, shows a team of divers making their way to Penticton before arriving at Coyote Cruises, the common starting point for floating the channel.
Using underwater cameras from the diver's point of view, viewers are shown dozens of dead fish lying close together on the channel floor – and they’re almost in the way of all the empty cans and garbage getting picked up.
At one point the cameraman finds a Visa card.
Ajay Weintz, the diver who recorded the video, said in a Facebook message that the team of five took out 50 pounds of trash — including a bicycle and a shopping cart — out of the water.
Other sections of the channel appear less filthy, but single pieces of garbage and dead fish still remain scattered among the rocks and seaweed.
“This is by far the worst trash site we have dove this year,” the video's narrator said. "Due to the high population in this river during the summer months people just throw there cans and trash in the water and don't think anything of it but this bad!!!"
READ MORE: Divers pick trash from Okanagan Lake — including those with fins and gills
Some shots make the channel appear pristine, when they capture healthy fish swimming around in clear waters.
The video was uploaded to YouTube by Mind Over Matter Diving, which is sponsored by the Okanagan Forest Task Force.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Dan Walton or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
News from © iNFOnews, 2021