Elliot and Daren Styles are heroes in their community for clearing rubbish and debris from the Noosa River on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.
But when the father and son rescued a $30,000 vintage watch from the bottom of the waterway, they became the personal heroes of its grateful owner.
Making a splash with precious finds
Elliot, Daren, and their friend Michael Whitehead have been snorkelling together in the Noosa River for years.
But it's not always just for leisure, with the three of them often dredging up litter that's fallen from boats or been thrown into the depths.
"We've pulled bikes, shopping trolleys, fishing gear, plastic pipes, glass bottles, you name it, we've pull it out of there," Daren said.
"But every now and then you find a treasure."
It all started years ago when Elliot discovered a GoPro camera while snorkelling.
He then put some of the camera's images up on the local Facebook community page, where the owner was discovered amid dozens of comments from well-wishers.
"It gave us a bit of a name as the finders of the Noosa River," Elliot said.
"Then we started getting contacted from our Facebook page whenever someone lost something in hopes that we could get it back."
One of the most recent requests came from a desperate river-goer who had lost his Rolex Submariner – a watch he'd owned for 50 years.
The vintage timepiece was worth anywhere from $20,000 to $30,000, but it was the sentimental value of the man having owned the watch for five decades that trumped everything.
Initially, the prospects of finding the watch seemed good, with the trio catching the local tides at the right time of day.
"The water was beautiful and clear, we were going for a good 20 minutes," Elliot said.
"But we were starting to lose hope because the water was so clear you'd think you'd see it by now."
Time was ticking for the lost watch, but after taking the search further downstream, Elliot spotted the treasure glinting in the riverbed.
"I just got to the surface and shrieked, and we were all yelling … it was just a big hoot of relief," he said.
"Just seeing the word Rolex on that watch was crazy. I'd never seen a Rolex before, let alone held one."
The Submariner lived up to its name, with the watch surviving the waters and still ticking as it made its way back to the grateful owner.
Loading...Keeping watch on our waterways
It's easily the most valuable find of the trio's years together.
But you can't put a price on the work they do keeping their stretch of the river pristine and healthy.
Daren refers to their retinue as the "eco-warriors of the Noosa River".
"The river is a wonderful place," he said.
"Even if you just pull out a straw and a bit of fishing line and a plastic bag, it's something less in the water to tangle things up.
"It's moving all the time, it's a living entity — let's just look after it."
This passion has flowed onto Elliot, too, with his teenage hobby turning into his adult vocation.
He recently finished his Bachelor of Marine and Antarctic Science at the University of Tasmania and is now researching an honours thesis on seabirds' vulnerability to plastic ingestion.
It's taken him to the literal end of the earth, with expeditions out to the continental shelf in Australia's southernmost waters.
"I've just always been astounded at the amount of plastic that is able to enter our oceans," he said.
"It's always been in the back of my mind how the natural world is interacting with our greatest inventions."
Encouraging a ripple effect in our waters
Of course, devoting your career to rivers and oceans need not be everyone's calling.
Elliot says there are humbler reasons to keep waterways clean — from the odd finder's fee for lost things to community kudos.
"We don't do it just for the praise," he said.
"But it's pretty nice to see that people agree with what you're doing and it's a feel-good thing."
While Elliot sails into broader horizons, at home his father and his mate Michael will continue to do their part locally, and urge others to do the same.
"I think Elliot will make a huge difference, whatever he chooses to do," Daren said.
"But if we all just picked up one or two pieces of rubbish, it would make a huge difference.
"At the end of the day, it's all about doing your bit."
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