Lake Cleanup Event - Orlando Area - Calling all advanced divers

[siikik]

It's not real clear... will each team be required to have a diver down flag? I want to be safe, but a flag might be a hindrance and/or counterproductive.


Anyways, I found these pages while poking around looking for lake stats... I was also confused about the depths between the websites and the post.

Lake Virginia:
Orange County Water Atlas: Water Resource: Virginia, Lake: General Information

Lake Osceola:
Orange County Water Atlas: Water Resource: Osceola, Lake: General Information

Lake Mizel:
Orange County Water Atlas: Water Resource: Mizel, Lake: General Information


I paid close attention to the Coliform values as they are significantly different between the lakes; despite their close proximity to each other.



Ken

 

[jridg]

Seems to me that coordination with the local/responsible PD as well as the Coast Guard and Fish/Game would be wise. They could post the date/time of the dives and help control boat traffic. Also if we got some media coverage the whole thing would be a positive for the dive community as well as the lakes. That way the times could be set and the word would get out - and if you get the Coasties involved, the strict requirements could be modified for the event.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

My experience with clean ups, is that the area of clean up is off limits to boaters. That way the divers don't have to worry about flags.

 

[siikik]

My experience with clean ups, is that the area of clean up is off limits to boaters. That way the divers don't have to worry about flags.

Do you think claiming the whole lake will fly? How else are we going to solve the "how deep is it?" question?

 

[Fox-Cousteau]

Just got this update from my girlfriend who works at Winter Park.

I am coordinating the scuba event for May 2nd @ either Lake Virginia or Lake Osceola. I was wondering where can I get stats on the lakes: depth, clarity levels, types of underwater plants, etc?

REPLY:

Both lakes have similar depths to about 30 feet or so. Lake Osceola probably as a slightly greater average depth (average depth in both lakes is greater than 10 feet).


Clarity fluctuates throughout the year. Both lakes can range from about a meter to over 4 meters in clarity. Currently both lakes are between 1.5 and 2.0 meters. There can be quite a bit of spatial variation in clarity as well. There can be as much as a meter difference in clarity from one part of the lake to another.

There are significant amounts of aquatic plants in both lakes. Eel grass is the dominant species in both lakes, but pondweed and hydrilla can be present in large amounts depending on the treatment schedules. The coverage of lake area with aquatic plants ranges from 50% to as much as 85%.


No particular permits would be needed for the divers to participate in the event.



If the divers are going to use motorboats I would like to know the type of boat and the Florida registration number in advance. That way we can exempt them from the CityÃÔ user fee for the day. If they already have a pass for their boat, then that is okay too.



All boats and divers must be in compliance with all State and Coast Guard safety requirements, or they are subject to fines and/or ejection from the lakes. The Winter Park Police are the primary enforcement entity on the water, however the City of Maitland, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, or the Coast Guard may have officers on the water at any given time.



For safety purposes, I would recommend that any diving activities be restricted to early morning hours (until 10:00 a.m. or so), and within the 100 foot no wake zone around the lake shoreline areas.

None of the lakes are in any worse shape trash wise than others. All of the lakes will have their share of sunken ÅÏo wake buoys, as we lose quite a few a year. There will also be concrete blocks and nylon rope associated with the buoys. We remove what we can, but once the buoy is lost, a lot of that material is not visible from the surface. Lake Mizell has the clearest water, and the least amount of boat traffic, so they may want to try that for starters. They may also be able to stay out longer on that lake due the low number of motorboats.

More to come..

Count me in but only if NetDoc will do another of his Cousteau type posts like he did last year following the Devil's Den Easter Egg hunt!

 

[BWDscott]

A couple of yaks would be handy. They could display the dd flags, wave off other boats, and be a collection point for the trash, so divers won't have to drag it all along the bottom... adding to the poor vis.

 

[cyberfed]

I like it, anyone have any??

 

[Fast Eddie]

I may have a couple of local dive buddies interested. I will monitor this thread and check back for updates.

 

[cyberfed]

Cool, we are still looking at May 2nd for the event.
We may have some media coverage including local news!!

 

[Orlando Eric]

Yaks are a great idea. Some oars and a Jon Boat is even better. I am going to look at the calendar for those days-- hard to tell this far in advance.

All the nit picking about required certs is silly. There has to be a line / standards. Obviously someone with NO CERT and 1,500 dives picking up golf balls for a living would trump ANY tech certification for this speicific dive. It would be down right liabilis to allow them to dive without the certification though.

As a matter of fact he said "any cert" beyond OW --- I do not care if you are into caves, ocean reef, or wreck you should have SOME kind of cert beyond OW if not you have plenty of time to get it.

This sounds like a great idea and I am amazed a City is going to be behind it. Our local city could not arrange a goat breeding or a Primate breeding a football event without screwing something up.