What lies beneath
Volunteer divers prepare to search for underwater trash Saturday at City Beach in Whitefish. Divers pictured are, front row from left, Lanti Carlson, Dusty Dusterhoff and Libertie Barkley. In the back row, from left, are Mark Herron, Greg Postell and Ky Zimmerman. Craig Moore/Daily Inter Lake
By KRISTI ALBERTSON
Divers clean bottom of Whitefish Lake
The Daily Inter Lake
People packing giant garbage sacks were a common sight over the weekend as they spent time clearing litter from roadsides and parks in honor of Earth Day.
One group, however, grabbed mesh bags and took the hunt for trash to a less visible location - the bottom of chilly Whitefish Lake.
Sponsored by the Salty Dog Dive Shop, the Trash Bash lake cleanup has become an Earth Day tradition. It began two years ago at Foy's Lake and continued last year at Somers Bay in Flathead Lake.
More than 10 divers donned wetsuits Saturday and searched the lake's muddy bottom at Whitefish City Beach. Despite stirred-up silt at the bottom, Whitefish Lake was spotless compared to the other two.
"I was surprised," Libertie Barkley said. "There was hardly anything out there."
Barkley, who owns the Salty Dog with her husband, Rod, said they typically find scores of empty beer bottles, soda cans and plastic water bottles. Without so much litter to pick up Saturday, divers actually got to enjoy the dive and go exploring.
The exploring and adventure of diving initially drew Barkley, a self-proclaimed "adrenaline junkie," to the sport.
Children spend their days exploring and learning about the world around them, she said. Spending time underwater, "the other undiscovered space," gives adults the opportunity to do the same thing.
Barkley has dived at the Cayman Islands, Panama, Bonaire and Buena Vista, Mexico. She and her husband recently returned from a dive trip to Belize, where they swam with whale sharks, dolphins and sea turtles.
But the waters around the Flathead are equally interesting, she said.
Underwater explorers can learn about Somers' logging history in Flathead Lake. Lake McDonald offers glimpses of a petrified underwater forest. Other lakes and rivers in the area have their own treasures, she said.
Saturday's treasure hunt focused on the rear end of a vehicle rumored to have sunk not far from shore.
The divers organized a search pattern, occasionally stopping for faded plastic sandals, buckets and a discarded Jennifer Lopez CD. It took less than half an hour to find the rusting axle.
Trash varies with each lake. The bottom of Foy's Lake, a popular ice-fishing destination, is littered with small barbecue grills as well as the usual cans and bottles. An ice house floating near the surface was hauled in during the 2005 Earth Day dive, as was a driver's license from the 1970s.
Somers Bay was clean to a point - as far as beachcombers had reached when the lake receded the summer before. Farther out, however, divers found fishing poles, lures and more than one swimsuit.
"I don't want to know what that story is," Barkley said, laughing.
Salty Dog Dive Shop is registered with the Professional Association of Diving Instructors, a global diving organization. The association works with Project AWARE, a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving underwater environments.
A lot of the groups' work focuses on oceans, Barkley said, but the concept is still applicable in Northwest Montana.
"We love to give back to the community," she said. "It's one of the best valleys in the world. We want to keep it clean."
On the Net: www.saltydogdiveshop.com
Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.