‘Ed the Diver’ finds trash and treasure in Wisconsin’s waterways

Here in Wisconsin, we’re surrounded by beautiful lakes and rivers where we can swim, boat, fish and enjoy nature, right in our backyards. But recreation brings litter: lures get stuck, trash gets forgotten, sunglasses, phones and jewelry fall in. And it adds up.

One Wisconsin man is working to clean up our state’s waterways — and building an online audience as he does it.

Ed Bieber is a recovery diver based in Wisconsin. He makes online videos under the name “Ed the Diver,” documenting his search for trash, treasure and lost items in Wisconsin’s rivers and lakes.

His videos have gotten millions of views across Youtube, TikTok, and Facebook. He was recently selected by Do Good Wisconsin for its 2025 “Celebrity Impact Award,” and in November some of his treasures will be on display at the Neville Public Museum in Green Bay.

Bieber told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” he sometimes gets recognized while he’s out diving, especially in the Fox River. 

“A lot of people know me from over the years. Kids will come out and scream my name … So I’ll toss some lures up on shore and they’ll grab them to go fish with,” Bieber said. “They tell their friends about it, and then they start cleaning up the garbage themselves. It’s really cool.”

Bieber joined “Wisconsin Today” to talk about the joy and purpose he finds at the bottom of rivers throughout Wisconsin.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Lee Rayburn: How did you become Ed the Diver?

Ed Bieber: It all started with me taking my kids fishing in the Menominee River. I started losing my lures, my kids were losing my lures, and — with all the people coming from across the Midwest, even across the world, to come fish here for walleye — they’re losing a lot of lures. So I decided to get in the water when it warmed up, and get mine back along with all theirs.

LR: How did it go from picking up lures to actually cleaning up some of Wisconsin’s rivers?

EB: I started noticing all the extra fishing line that was left behind. I also started noticing tires, cans, bottles, plastic containers, batteries, vapes and all these different things that people leave under water while they’re floating down rivers on tubes or while they’re fishing or enjoying the water in their boat. 

So I decided to do something about it. I upgraded my equipment. Right now, I’ve got two kayaks, and I just load them full of stuff. At one time, I had 27 anchors from the Fox River in one of my kayaks.

LR: What happens to all the stuff that you gather?

EB: All the goodies and treasures end up in my home in Marinette, Wisconsin. I kind of have a museum now, and I get people requesting to come see everything laid out.

LR: What are some of the most surprising things you’ve come across dredging the bottoms of these waterways?

EB: Over in the Wolf River in Shawano, Wisconsin, I was doing a cleanup by the dam, and I found this Barbie doll from 1993. It was all full of grime and stuff from being underwater. There were even mussels and sand in her hair, and it’s all jacked up. But I made a video, and a lot of people wanted to buy it.

So I ended up putting it on eBay, and within a week, it made national news. It got spread all over the place, and a lady from Green Bay, Christie Barlament — who is now my fiancée — bought the doll. It was her birthday, I hand-delivered it to her, and we’ve been together ever since.

LR: What’s it like at the bottom of these Wisconsin rivers?

EB: There’s a lot of weeds, muck, low visibility. Especially the Fox River, (where) I do a lot of recoveries and cleanups. The deeper you go down, it gets darker and cloudier, and then once you hit the bottom looking for stuff, it gets all stirred up, and it’s just complete darkness. 

So I’ve got metal detectors that I use, or I just use my hands and feel around. When I’m down there, I’ll start noticing dead fish. And you wonder, well, how are these fish dead? And I’m down here stirring the bottom up some more, and hopefully I don’t get what they got.

LR: What’s the wildlife like down there?

EB: A lot of them get tangled up in fishing line. Especially mud puppies and crayfish, they like to crawl around the rocks in rivers and lakes, and when there’s hooks and lines stuck in these rocks, they get all tangled up. I’ve cut a lot of line off of mud puppies (whose) backs are all crooked … because they grew up with fishing line on them. 

I do find fish tangled up or stuck on a hook, (where) the line is stuck to a log or something, and they’re just swimming in circles forever — until they die, I guess. But it’s good to go down and help them. 

It’s nice to see the huge sturgeon. A lot of times they bump into me when I can’t see them, but it’s nice to swim up to them and try to pet them or just get a really good camera angle. Actually, someone called the DNR saying that I was touching the sturgeon underwater.

LR: What did the DNR do?

EB: They followed up. They came into my camper when I was selling (lures) by the river, and they said, “Hey, we got a complaint that you petted a sturgeon underwater.” He looked at me, and I looked at him, and we both laughed.

LR: Do you ever find something you come across that needs to be reported to the police?

EB: For sure. A couple of guns. A lever-action Winchester Model 94, all wrapped in plastic and electrical tape. I had to call the sheriff’s department on that, but ended up getting it back because they couldn’t find any crimes committed with it. 

I’ve got that in my museum, along with another rifle, a couple of BB handguns, several hard drives, laptops — all kinds of stuff that does not belong underwater.

LR: What helps you stay positive, despite seeing so much pollution in our waterways?
EB: It’s the impact that it’s making, and knowing that with all the trash, you’re gonna find some treasure.