“It’s important to remove large objects, especially things that don’t decompose,” Barnes said. “Just from today, we’ve pulled out 30 bikes, just from (under) one bridge.”

Barnes said an accumulation of random items would harm fish and other organisms in the Red Cedar River.

“It would impede the flow (of the river), so debris would get caught in it, and eventually you would have a huge mess,” she said.

Fisheries and Wildlife Club President Shawn Szabo said the club also found police barriers and, oddly, a giant bag of love notes.

To figure out how polluted the river is, Szabo said the club uses a process called macroinvertebrate sampling, which uses the insect species as a reflection of the health of the river.

“Some species like healthy water, and some forage better in water that’s more polluted,” he said. “And based on macroinvertebrate sampling, the Red Cedar River is really not that bad. It can support a whole lot of life.”

Szabo said a various wildlife species can be found in the river.

“There’s a lot of invertebrates, everything from stone flies to water scorpions and, of course, the ducks,” Szabo said. “And there’s a lot of fish, too.”

Zoology freshman Angela Wang, who participated in the cleanup for the first time, said she was surprised by all of the debris they found in the water.

“I was amazed that there was that much garbage in the river because you can’t tell it’s all there,” Wang said. “I mean, occasionally you’ll see a bike near the surface of the river, but all of the stuff we pulled out … I mean, really, a shopping cart?”

However, Wang said she enjoyed volunteering for the event.

“It was a lot of fun — really wet, but a lot of fun,” she said.