Volunteer divers to search for trash in Newport Beach Harbor

NEWPORT BEACH ― If you are out on the water or taking a stroll around Newport Beach Harbor on the first Saturday morning of June, you may notice some public docks closed with scuba divers submerged in the water. What these divers will be uncovering remains to be seen, but they will surely find plenty of items littering the sea floor. Newport Harbor Underwater Cleanup is scheduled for June 3.  The organizers, Billy Dutton and Mark Ward, are expanding their monthly Help Your Harbor program by incorporating an annual underwater cleanup. Dutton and Ward hope to have a significant turnout of certified scuba divers as well as dockside volunteers in a collective conservation effort. “This is the first ever volunteer-based underwater cleanup in Newport Harbor,” Dutton said. “We are looking for about 100 to 200 volunteers – both certified scuba divers and above water volunteers. We need just as many people above water for safety [and assistance] as we do below water.” Help Your Harbor began more than three years ago following Dutton’s and Ward’s “Electric Surf Safari.” The Log reported on the 348-mile open water expedition these two surfers did aboard a solar and electric powered Duffy back in 2012. Dutton and Ward...