Operation Clean Sweep involves removing junk from beneath the Marina 1, A-F fingers.
Santa Barbara Harbor’s Operation Clean Sweep, a seafloor debris cleanup program, will hold its 14th annual event on May 7. A team of volunteer divers, supported by 40 or so volunteer dock workers, will remove junk from beneath the Marina 1, A-F fingers.
Divers will locate the junk, and dock volunteers will haul it up and cart it off for disposal. The event begins at 8 a.m. with a briefing on the Travel Lift Pier beneath the Harbormaster’s Office, complete with free coffee and doughnuts, and concludes with a box lunch at 11:30 a.m.
During past events, volunteers have removed more than 20 tons of debris from Santa Barbara Harbor. Items retrieved ranged from bicycles, barbecues, plastic barrels and boat propellers to wire cages, outboard engines, phones, computers and the occasional marine battery.
The city of Santa Barbara’s Waterfront Department joins volunteers from NOAA, Santa Barbara Maritime Museum, Santa Barbara Channel keeper, Santa Barbara Sail and Power Squadron and Salty Dog Dive Service in this effort.
For more information about the event or to volunteer, call Chris Bell at 805- 897-1962 or visit www.santabarbaraca.gov/cleansweep.
— Marilyn McMahon
