SD River cleanup a trash-collecting success

Nearly 150 volunteers, including San Diego City Councilwoman Lorie Zapf, picked up trash and debris in the San Diego River estuary area near SeaWorld over the weekend as part of the San Diego River Park Foundation’s ninth annual kayak cleanup.

“There was so much trash,” said Zapf, holding up a plethora of items from the kayak she shared with Conrad Wear, who represents Zapf in Point Loma and Ocean Beach.

“Alcohol bottles, aerosol cans, a full bottle of lighter fluid…The number of aerosol cans and lighters were off the charts,” she said. “I wish we could do this more than once a year.”

Saturday’s event, from 8 a.m. to noon, marks the only day kayaks are allowed to be in that part of the river, an estuary that meanders down to Ocean Beach. The area is normally not accessible because it is a protected habitat area.

More than 100 species of birds use the estuary area as a resting place along the Pacific Flyway during their yearly migrations between Alaska and Mexico.

The estuary is a 330-acre wildlife area with habitat for sensitive species, including endangered birds like the Ridgway’s Rail and the California Least Tern that nest in the area.

Ed Henry, past president of the board of directors for the San Diego Audubon Society, oversaw activities to ensure endangered birds were not disturbed.

Volunteers worked in teams of two on kayaks or walked along the path and through the rocks above the river collecting debris.

Nearly 2,100 pounds of trash — everything from plastic bags to hubcaps to rugs — was cleared out.

Carol Sniegoski of Mission Beach and Kirk Belles of North Park, members of the San Diego Kayaking Club, said the opportunity to paddle out in the area was one they couldn’t pass up.

Among the items Sniegoski and Belles found were old shoes, a 4-foot iron rod and a gasket from a washing machine.

The kayaking event kicked off the foundation’s 2017 schedule of community cleanups. Last year volunteers removed 224,000 pounds of trash from the river.