Massachusetts divers pull a motorbike and decades of trash from Nyes Pond
By Ramen Cromwell
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CAPE COD, Massachusetts (WCVB) — Beneath the surface of Cape Cod lakes and ponds, a sisterhood of senior women is waging a war against the scourge of underwater garbage. Their name is OLAUG: Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage.
Longtime member Alison Leschen says founder Susan Baur started the group after beer cans began shaping her swimming route back in 2017. In 2018, Baur gathered friends to swim and kayak around a pond and clean it up. Afterwards a volunteer said “We’re a bunch of Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage,” and the rest is history.
Today, Alison says, OLAUG has grown to about 30 members and removed roughly three tons of trash from Cape Cod lakes and ponds. Membership comes with a fitness test: divers must be able to swim a half mile in under 30 minutes and retrieve objects from as deep as 10 feet. Kayakers provide support (while trying not to knock anyone with a paddle).
On a recent project at Nyes Pond in Falmouth, the team set out to remove a motorbike spotted and marked the previous fall. Despite poor visibility the group was able to retrieve the bike as well as several abandoned tires and various other bottles, pots, and garbage.
While beer cans and tires seem to be the most common recovered items, Alison notes on previous dives OLAUG has found a bowling ball, a blue toilet bowl and even the rear end of a 1990s Corvette.
The day was a success, having cleared more garbage than expected. Alison agreed they had risen to the occasion—and said the group never takes itself too seriously. With a name like Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage, she added, that should be apparent.
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