We Pulled Three Chairs and a Kite Out of Strawberry Reservoir
On October 10, four of us dove Haws Point at Strawberry Reservoir. Me, Tony Nitrox, Dallas Staheli and Ricardo Hernandez. David Sedano shot video from shore.
We came up with about 35 pounds of trash. That is my estimate, and I aimed low. Everything was waterlogged and we did not have a scale.
Three folding chairs and a wire basket on a pole, laid out after the dive.
What Came Up
Visibility was about 15 feet. Everything came out by hand:
Three folding chairs
An umbrella, upside down in the mud
A kite, tails and all
A fishing pole, a fishing net and a wad of fishing line
A wire basket on a metal pole
Cans, including one Diet Pepsi
The Diet Pepsi was the find of the day. The fish are judging.
Most of it looked like fishing gear and leftovers from days on the shore.
The kite, the umbrella, the Diet Pepsi and a pile of kite tails.
The Umbrella Fought Back
The umbrella was stuck upside down in the mud. Pulling it free silted out the whole area. Dallas caught it on his GoPro.
It was sunny under there, so I am really glad we found it.
Me with the umbrella, back on shore. Frame from David Sedano's video.
The kite I found by following its line along the bottom. I unfolded it right there underwater.
Crawdads and a Velociraptor Fish
Crawdads were everywhere. Dallas filmed a fish skeleton covered in them.
I also brought up what I am calling a tooth from a velociraptor fish. That is how you know the Loch Ness Monster lives at Strawberry Reservoir. We will find the whole body next time.
Trash Collector, Version 1
This was the first dive for my homemade trash collector, a tube built from ABS pipe. It worked pretty well. Long things like poles and paddles do not fit inside, so the next version gets bungee straps on the outside.
Tony Beat the Rain
Tony left a little before the rest of us. About 30 seconds after he drove off, it poured.
Watch It
We cut the morning into a one minute video, from gearing up at the trucks to the velociraptor tooth. Dallas Staheli shot the underwater footage and David Sedano shot from shore.
Watch it on YouTube: https://youtube.com/shorts/Fvhv04etinQ
This was a crew dive, four certified volunteers on our own time, not one of our official cleanups and not a recovery. More on the lake itself is on our Strawberry Reservoir page.
If You Want In
You do not need a certification to help, and you do not need to get wet.
Come to a cleanup. Dates go up on our website as they are confirmed.
Report something. If you have seen trash, a vessel, or a vehicle on the bottom of a Utah lake, tell us at fathomrestoration.org.
Donate. It helps get more volunteers in the water.
Fathom Restoration is a disabled-veteran-led Utah 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to lake cleanup and the recovery of submerged vehicles, vessels, and debris from Utah's lakes and waterways. Donate / Volunteer / Report a vehicle at fathomrestoration.org.
