Divers take broom to Coast sea floor

Goldcoast.com.au: Divers take broom to Coast sea floor

BEER bottles, chip packets, suitcases and even a roll of carpet.

It may sound like the contents of the local dump but it is instead a list of items found by a small group of divers who are intent on cleaning up the sea floor of the Gold Coast's most popular scuba attractions.

Led by Arielle Szatmary and Sarah Richmond, the Griffith University Dive Club yesterday held a clean-up dive on the Gold Coast, removing rubbish from the bottom of the Seaway.

It was the second dive of its kind held by the club, which recently removed five large bags of rubbish from the seabed surrounding Wave Break Island in the Broadwater.

Ms Szatmary said the popularity of the Coast's waterways meant they were often polluted, creating hazards for all users.

"A lot of people don't realise how dirty it is down there but there is a lot of rubbish and fishing gear," she said.

"It is not often we get out of the Seaway without one of us getting cut by the rubbish.

"I have been caught before (in fishing line) and separated from my group."

Ms Richmond said divers were now entering the water expecting to have to deal with the rubbish and possible entanglements.

"I very rarely dive here without a knife because it is so easy to get caught," she said.

Yesterday's dive yielded another six large bags of rubbish, mostly made up of discarded fishing gear and general waste.