Avalon Harbor Cleanup
Location: Avalon, Catalina Island, California
Dive team: Jim Babor, Angie Biggs, Sean Canullas, Karim Hamza, Andrew Hung, Shane McWilliams, Daniel Pio
Shore team: Alysha Acosta, Katie McWilliams
The Avalon Harbor Cleanup is an annual event in Southern California. The purpose of the event is to raise funds for the USC Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber. The chamber is run by highly trained volunteers. It is the only chamber that stands ready 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year ready to treat injured divers. There is something special about the Avalon Harbor Cleanup. It is the first of 2 fundraisers that support a year of chamber operations. It provides a sense of purpose for participants. It also serves as an annual reunion for the diving community. While Southern California is large, the Southern California diving community does a great job of making it feel smaller and friendlier. This event also gives everyone the opportunity to give back to the island that gives us all so much. Almost everyone has memories of diving the Casino Point Dive Park and a favorite Catalina dive site.
This year Ghost Diving USA had a booth in Avalon during the event and our team supported with heavy item recovery from aboard the Giant Stride. On shore, it was exciting to watch the Giant Stride come into the harbor. It was fun to wave to our friends from the beach.
It was a very busy day for both our shore and dive team. The shore team had the opportunity to connect with other dives and passersby. In talking to the visitors, it was interesting to hear the various experiences with marine debris. Many of the visitors shared about trash they find at their favorite dive sites or the balloons that they see floating on the surface as they make the crossing to Catalina Island.
As sad as it is that we all have experiences with marine debris, it is refreshing and inspiring to connect through a shared passion for cleaning up marine debris.
We had our model of the UB-88 on display. It was great to discuss the success of our UB-88 project. As we talked to people, it was interesting to see how many people were unaware of the UB-88 wreck and its history. It adds a unique texture to the fabric of the history of Southern California wrecks.
The shore team got to say a brief hello to the dive team when they brought a boat battery and other debris to the shore to be counted.
In talking to all of the participants, they had a great time and enjoyed a day that serves to build community and camaraderie.
We look forward to next year!