Magnet fishing catches on with a group of Bethel high school students

3 days ago

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A twelve teenagers heave connected a skinny statement of paracord stretched tight complete nan separator of a boardwalk successful nan halfway of Bethel. At nan different extremity of nan line, nan rusted hulk of a Honda ungraded motorcycle dangles from a mini grappling hook.

Finally, nan group’s efforts salary disconnected and nan ungraded motorcycle crashes down connected nan boardwalk complete Brown’s Slough to an outpouring of cheers.

“We started astatine 12. What is it now, 1 o’clock, one, 1 thirty? We’re conscionable getting started,” precocious schoolhouse elder Corin Pike said.

It’s nan 3rd play successful a statement that Pike and immoderate of his chap classmates person spent connected nan boardwalk tossing an assortment of magnets, hooks, and lines into nan murky waterway. Pike said that they person already pulled astir 50 bikes retired of nan slough that winds its measurement done nan tundra and yet empties into nan Kuskokwim River. But those aren’t nan group’s only catches.

“There’s been scissors, shotgun shells, powerfulness tools, bikes, nan motorcycle today, chains, immoderate metallic scrap, screws, nails, food hooks too. There’s pike successful here, [that] sometimes group fish,” Pike said.

Students successful nan Bethel-based section of nan Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP) heave connected a statement attached to a ungraded motorcycle pulled from Brown's Slough successful Bethel connected Sept. 8, 2024.

Bethel students successful nan Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP) stitchery astir a ungraded motorcycle pulled from Brown's Slough successful Bethel connected Sept. 8, 2024.

All of nan students who scramble astir nan boardwalk are enrolled successful nan Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program, aliases ANSEP. It’s an accelerated programme launched by nan University of Alaska Anchorage made up predominantly of, but not constricted to, Alaska Native students. It gives them nan opportunity to simultaneously gain precocious schoolhouse and assemblage credits.

Every semester, students successful nan Bethel-based section of ANSEP, presently hosted by nan University of Alaska Fairbanks, Kuskokwim Campus, request to rack up astatine slightest 25 hours of unpaid activity successful nan organization to support definite privileges – for illustration nan expertise to time off field during nan time to get a java aliases spell to nan section fittingness center.

“Kids tin unpaid and activity anywhere. This could beryllium nan nutrient shelter, Bethel Friends of Canines, arsenic agelong arsenic they’re doing thing for nan community, that’s really they get their minimum hours,” Pike said.

Pike said that his liking successful magnet sportfishing started small, but that he quickly saw its imaginable for cleaning up Bethel’s waterways.

“I was conscionable successful Bethel, saturated successful my room during nan summer, and I kept seeing those videos online astir magnet fishing, and I ne'er heard anyone trying to successful Bethel,” Pike said. “So 1 time I conscionable decided, you know, fto maine conscionable bid a small magnet online. I came retired present and caught 10 bikes and mislaid that magnet. I knew, like, beatified cow, there’s conscionable tons of worldly successful there,” Pike said.

Getting ace magnets sent to Bethel is tricky, fixed dense restrictions connected nan packaging required to nonstop them by air, but Pike said that he had nary problem ordering done Chinese e-commerce level Temu. In total, he said that he spent little than $50 for a setup that includes a magnet pinch a pulling unit of 600 pounds, a overmuch smaller assistance magnet, and nan grappling hook that held patient to nan ungraded motorcycle pulled from nan slough.

“You bid ‘em from China and they travel cheap, and well, arsenic you tin see, each nan worldly performed today,” Pike said.

Pike has been posting pictures of each nan group’s finds connected a celebrated Bethel organization Facebook page. Some items person gone to nan landfill, aliases person been salvaged by adjacent residents. Pike said that aggregate group person besides been reunited pinch bikes tossed disconnected nan boardwalk complete nan years.

Students successful nan Bethel-based section of nan Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP) are seen magnet sportfishing successful Brown's Slough successful Bethel connected Sept. 8, 2024.

Students successful nan Bethel-based section of nan Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP) hoist a motion that they retrieved magnet sportfishing successful Brown's Slough successful Bethel connected Sept. 8, 2024.

One of these group is ANSEP 10th-grader Rei Merrill, who said that she didn’t expect to find her ain small, greenish motorcycle among those pulled up connected nan day of Sept. 8.

“So erstwhile I was younger, I had a motorcycle that looked precisely for illustration this one, down to, like, nan patterns. And my neighbour stole it, and they said that they threw it complete nan thing,” Merrill said. “But I’m beautiful judge this was my bike. She was not lying.”

Every mates of minutes, nan magnets latch onto thing caller to flurries of excitement from nan students. Just arsenic a ample “Caution” motion is pulled from nan slough, Rei comes up pinch a drawback of her ain connected nan smaller magnet: unrecorded ammunition.

“I sewage a shotgun shell!” Merrill yells crossed nan boardwalk arsenic Pike and nan different ANSEP students tally to cheque retired nan catch.

Ultimately, nan shotgun nan students had hoped for – and that section rule enforcement would apt besides beryllium willing successful knowing astir – ne'er appeared. But nan group’s enthusiasm was by nary intends dampened.

“I thought this was going to beryllium our past day, but looks for illustration no, because we’re still pulling up each kinds of worldly that person been present complete nan years,” Pike said.

But nan timepiece is ticking for nan Bethel magnet fishers. In a matter of weeks, nan wintertime freeze-up will come, leaving nan bicycles, motorcycles, scooters, shotguns, and each nan stories they person to tell, erstwhile again locked up nether nan ice.