Divers' bay rubbish haul tops 750kg

A massive 753kg of rubbish was collected from Queenstown Bay by about 80 volunteers by the end of the Splash For Trash event on Saturday.

Scuba-diving instructor Steve Traynor and more than 30 divers retrieved a mattress, a wheelbarrow, dozens of tyres, road cones, signs, bottles, a shopping trolley and some large parts of a birdman costume from the depths of Lake Wakatipu.

More than 6100 cigarette buts were picked up on the shore.

International non-profit organisation Project Aware was behind International Clean Up Day.

Splash For Trash was organised by Wanaka based operation Scuba Steve, owned by Mr Traynor, who gave prizes for the most rubbish collected and most unusual item.

"Thank you so much for taking part today, we made a real difference," he told volunteers.

Queenstown Lakes harbourmaster Marty Black said: "Special thanks to everyone involved, it was a great effort and was a job well done."

The first Splash For Trash was held in Wanaka last year and 250kg of rubbish was collected by 20 divers and 43 shore volunteers.

Organisers intend the annual clean-up day to rotate between Wanaka, Queenstown and Cromwell.

 

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