No sea serpents or mobsters – but Tahoe trash divers still strike gold

Debris and garbage collected during the year-long Lake Tahoe clean-up (Haven Daley/AP)

Scuba divers who spent a year cleaning up Lake Tahoe’s 72-mile shoreline found no trace of a mythical sea creature, mobsters in cement shoes or long-lost treasure chests – but came away with something they hope will prove much more valuable.

In addition to removing almost 11,500kg of underwater litter since last May, divers and volunteers have been meticulously sorting and logging the types and GPS locations of the waste – in a first-of-its-kind effort to learn more about the source and potential harm caused by plastics and other pollutants in the storied alpine lake on the California-Nevada border.