What we see

Critters
Bass, sheepshead, muskie, and crayfish. Sometimes catfish, walleye, eels.
Sturgeon (one a youngster) were spotted last year, but sightings are rare. 
Areas of the bottom of the river paved with zebra mussels;
they are aware of shadows, closing up when you pass a hand over.

Bridges
The South Grand Island Bridge and the North Grand Island bridge,
have piers that go into the bottom inside corrugated steel housings,
partially filled with silt.  The piers break the flow and just 
downstream from them the water is almost stationary.
All sorts of junk may be found under the bridges;
construction debris, highway marker cones, hub caps, tools, 
bicycles, and guns thrown out of cars.

Water Intakes
The towns along the river (Tonawanda, North Tonawanda, Wheatfield) 
all have water intakes in the river.  These are concrete
structures to stand up to the winter ice. Since they break the flow
of the water, fish like to hang out around them.  They cause eddies
downstream, which scours the bottom, and brings up old bottles.
City water intakes do not have a strong inward flow, and are not
particularly dangerous.  We stay well clear of the intakes for the
electric power generating plant, which are very dangerous and in a
restricted area downstream from the North Grand Island bridge.

"The Trench"
A natural gas line from Grand Island, near Fix Rd, across
the W. Niagara river to Canada, is buried in a trench. The current
has scoured out the trench.  As you drift over the trench, there is
a rollercoaster effect.  Inside the trench, the water is stationary, 
and one may work along perpendicular to the flow.

Channel Markers
These are buoys, connected by heavy link irons chains to 
concrete blocks on the bottom. Sometime anchors may be found, caught
on the chain.

Junk
Tires, tree trunks, logs, tree root bundles, 50 gallon drums(mostly empty),
batteries, cars, etc.

Small anchors
Small anchors we find are usually new, lost recently by boaters.
An anchor line, flat on the bottom in the direction of the current,
is often attached to a small anchor.

Large anchors
 
Lost by ships, usually many years ago.  Each year a few are recovered.

Hank, with Paul Suter's anchor, recovered from

East Niagara off of Motor Island, 1995

Bottles
 
The river bottom is always changing, turning over and revealing bottles.
Selective divers pass by all modern bottles, but keep "glob tops" 
(Hutchinson stopper bottles). These are  typically 100 years old. 
"John Howell" glob tops are common: this company provided bottles to many
brewers and soda bottlers in the area.  
Rarer than glob tops and more highly prized are ceramic bottles.