Sea harbours rubbish

A high heeled shoe. Wine glasses. Tyres. Fishing gear. Even a Northern steamship company plate from the 1920s.

This is some of the rubbish divers found in Tauranga Harbour during a  clean-up on Saturday.

As part of Seaweek, which began yesterday, Mount Maunganui Underwater Club made many unpleasant discoveries - including dozens of cigarette butts pulled from the depths of the deep blue.

Organiser of the dive, Shane Wasik, of the Mount Maunganui Underwater Club, said about 20 divers spent two hours under the pier at Salisbury Wharf, which clearly showed "the human impact on the sea".

At first glance the Bay's beaches and estuaries look pristine.  But the dive revealed the reality was old bottles, tyres, sunglasses, bracelets and even a working torch lurking in Tauranga Harbour - potentially harming marine life.

Read more in today's Bay of Plenty Times