Reef Clean Up Nets Nearly 1,300 Pounds of Trash

Most people are not aware some of the best reef diving in the state is available just a few miles off Clearwater Beach.

Dennis Kellenberger said that is because of the work of Dr. Heyward Mathews, who helped start Pinellas County’s artificial reef program more than 30 years ago. He also helped found the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in 1972.

Now, Kellenberger and Mathews are part of Reef Monitoring, a nonprofit group that catalogs scientific information related to the underwater ecology.

They organized the cleanup and noted efforts last year which yielded more than 1,500 pounds of trash and debris.

“Hopefully we’ll have less this year,” Kellenberger said.

As it turns out, they did.

About 20 boats filled with more than 100 divers brought an anchor, fishing line, crab trap rope and even a discarded fishing pole as some of the 1,295 pounds of trash removed from Three Mile Reef off Clearwater Beach during Winter’s Reef Cleanup Saturday morning.

Just because the trash can’t be seen, does not mean it is not there, said David Yates, president at the , which teamed up this year to help with the cleanup. 

Towels, monofilament fishing line, crab trap rope, anything people take on a boat can end up under the water, Yates said.

“It’s not just an eyesore but more important, it kills marine life,” he said.

Yates also mentioned the importance of keeping waterways clean, with the reminder that Winter the Dolphin lost her tale after getting wrapped in crab trap line.  

“We love this stuff,” Yates said. “This is what we’re all about.”

Les Amour led the dive team for the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. While he works a full time job in the health care industry, when he is done with his graveyard shift, he starts his time as a volunteer logging 40 hours a week with the aquarium.

He hopes cleanup efforts like this happen more regularly.

“This is our future,” Amour said.

Boats weighed anchor and within an hour some divers were coming to the surface with their finds.

Rick Haver came up with a fishing pole and a pile of crab trap line to put on Greg Tita’s boat. Dive master Jim Hartwick came to the surface with an aged anchor and a pile of crab trap line - like the kind caught around Winter.

“There’s your story,” Yates said.