lookout Point Jackie Stark

Members of the Marquette City Police Department dive team are seen through the middle of a massive tire they helped pull from the bottom of Marquette’s lower harbor.

Taking ouT The Trash

Cleaning up Lake Superior, one day at a time

Story and photos by Jackie Stark

With so many miles of public shoreline in Marquette, it’s easy to find a spot to take in the beauty of the big lake. A sunrise at McCarty’s Cove, or a sunset on Presque Isle. Serene waves lazily lapping at the sand along Little Presque, or an angry Mother Superior on stormy days sending waves crashing over the black rocks. Many who live in the area — and indeed those here for a visit — feel called out to the lake, to breathe in the crisp, cool air and gaze out at the rippling water teeming with life.

But what’s lurking below the surface? Just a few feet down is an ecosystem all its own, and in Marquette’s lower harbor much of it is manmade — tires, refrigerators, car batteries, old chains and bicycles.

After diving recreationally in Marquette’s lower harbor and seeing all of the debris that had been tossed into the lake, unseen and forgotten, Don Fassbender decided it was time to do something about it.

“I got sick of seeing all the crap … as I’m out in the harbor seeing these things and bringing bags in, I noticed there was a lot more trash than one guy can handle,” Fassbender said. “I started putting videos on Youtube and linking them to my Facebook page, and some folks took notice and offered to help.”

So began the first ever lower harbor cleanup organized by Fassbender. Most people know him as Diver Don, and indeed, pretty much everyone in attendance on Saturday July 31, was there because they knew him. Now in its third year, the event has pulled tons of trash — literally — from the bottom of Marquette’s lower harbor.

Looking out over the water, Barbie Dupras said all she initially sees is “geese and boats.”

“You don’t understand what’s underneath the water,” Dupras said. “Don was posting video of his dives and talking about how much garbage there is underneath the water. It’s unseen. So generally, none of us know. We look at the lake and appreciate it, and it’s beautiful and that’s the end of it — but it’s not.”

Dupras is the treasurer for the Great Lakes SCUBA Divers and Lake Preservation Club, a group newly formed and on its way to attaining nonprofit status.

Their first goal is to raise money for an air compressor so Marquette area divers can fill their oxygen tanks locally. As it stands now, the nearest place to refill empty tanks is Iron Mountain.

“If we can get a compressor for the club, then right here in Marquette, all divers year-round can have access to air,” Dupras said.