Dive company’s cleanup mission pulls dumped cars out of Waikato River

Hamilton-based commercial diving company Deep Dive Division removed six cars from the Waikato River last week. Photo / Supplied

Seven divers from Waikato-based commercial dive company Deep Dive Division defied the strong current of the Waikato River last week to haul six dumped cars, a motocross bike and several bicycles from a section of the river near Hamilton Gardens.

The cleanup mission has been three years in the making. Deep Dive Division founder Tua Karalus says he and his team detected 18 vehicles in various parts of the Waikato River on just one of their regular missions.

Deep Dive Division completed a scanning operation of seven key swimming sites along the central catchment of the awa in June. From this initial scan, they were able to gather data and footage of vehicles and hazardous debris. This scan was funded by Waikato Tainui and enabled the subsequent funding from the Waikato River Authority to remove the vehicles and hazardous debris

“We work on the river regularly, we survey riverways and do environmental monitoring. During one of these trips, we noticed the vehicles on our scanner,” Karalus says.

“It was mixed emotions, I was so disappointed [to see this]. It’s sad that people think they can just throw things out like this, but it also made me want to get them out straight away.”

But it turned out nothing was going to happen straight away, because the vehicles were neither a navigational hazard nor leaking toxins, making the removal not a matter of urgency.

“We didn’t have a lot of support initially, but we didn’t stop trying,” Karalus says.

“The kaitiaki [guardianship] aspect is what drives us. If the water is healthy, our people are healthy. Water is our life force, so it’s important to keep it clean.”

Deep Dive Division founder Tua Karalus. Photo / Facebook

The recent weather events also delayed the mission because the cyclone and flooding led to a high river flow.

“For this mission, the [river] had to be low. Diving in the river is dangerous because the current is so strong, there are logs that can hit you and you have limited vision,” Karalus says.

The divers secured the vehicles in depths of 4-8m and removed them from the river with a 30-tonne crane.

“The oldest vehicle we found was an FJ40 [Toyota] Landcruiser from the 1970s, but it was also the best intact. Another vehicle we found was stolen,” Karalus says.

The Deep Dive Division team also found a 1970s Landcruiser in the Waikato River near Hamilton Gardens. Photo / Supplied

He says the team didn’t find any bodies, but the police were one of the numerous parties involved in last week’s salvage.

Deep Dive Division has already removed four vehicles from the Waikato River near Ngāruawāhia and Huntly, a further eight will be removed from a Hamilton section of the river at a later date.

“We know that there are more vehicles throughout the Waikato River, it’s hard to tell how many exactly, but the number is likely to be in the hundreds,” Karalus says.

You can find out more about Deep Dive Division on its website.