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Missing a headless owl statue? Divers may have found it at a Newport Harbor clean-up over the weekend

by in News

  • Jake Fitzgerald displays a skateboard that was collected by his team in Newport Harbor on Saturday, June 1, 2019. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)

  • An on-land volunteer decides not to pick up a pair of shoes during his search for trash on a beach in Newport Harbor on Saturday, June 1, 2019. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)

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  • An underwater volunteer displays his trash during the Newport Harbor cleanup on Saturday, June 1, 2019. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)

  • A group of on-land volunteers search for trash on a beach during the Newport Harbor cleanup team on Saturday, June 1, 2019. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)

  • Cindy Salemi hoses down Kyra McDonnell after spending the day hunting underwater trash on Saturday, June 1, 2019. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)

  • A scuba team displays a metal pole that they took out of the waters Newport Harbor on Saturday, June 1, 2019. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)

  • A scuba team shows off some of the trash they collected in Newport Harbor on Saturday, June 1, 2019. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)

  • Sebastian Echeverri checks his breathing gear before diving into Newport Harbor for an underwater cleanup on Saturday, June 1, 2019. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)

  • Allison Metchikoff helps Ashley Arnold put on her scuba gear before heading out into Newport Harbor for an underwater cleanup on Saturday, June 1, 2019. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)

  • Louis Truong and Lauren Douglass hug for a picture after spending their morning hunting for trash in Newport Harbor on Saturday, June 1, 2019. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)
    (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)

  • Scuba diver Austin McGriff displays trash picked up during the Newport Harbor underwater cleanup on Saturday, June 1, 2019. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)

  • Scuba diver Elizabeth Carney displays a traffic cone and a wine bottle that her team took out of Newport Harbor during an under water cleanup on Saturday, June 1, 2019. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)

  • Scuba diver Elizabeth Carney pretends to take a drink out of a wine bottle that was plucked out of the waters of Newport Harbor on Saturday, June 1, 2019. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)

  • Andy Chhun and Justin Lesieur take off their scuba gear after participating in the Newport Harbor underwater trash collection on Saturday, June 1, 2019. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)
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  • Donna Kiley gets hosed down by Allison Metchikoff after spending a day hunting trash in Newport Harbor on Saturday, June 1, 2019. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)

  • Underwater scuba teams collected a wide variety of trash in Newport Harbor on Saturday, June 1, 2019. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)

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Scuba divers and volunteers on the sand collected about 4,700 pounds of trash Saturday, June 1, during the Newport Harbor Underwater Clean event organized to tidy up the area’s 25.2 miles of coastline, bay and harbor waterways.

The three-year-old clean-up is coordinated by Help Your Harbor, a collective of local environmental groups.

Among the more unique finds Saturday were a headless owl statue and a toilet bowl. The clean-up crew set their sights predominantly on plastics, fishing line and other items that are dangerous to the environment and to sea life.

Areas around public docks are among the most at risk. Trash also finds its way to the harbor by traveling inland via San Diego Creek.