How a Marinette man, Ed the Diver, became an internet sensation cleaning up Midwest waters

He just wanted to get his fishing lures back.

Ed the Diver never set out to become an internet celebrity, an environmental influencer or online entrepreneur. And he certainly didn't plan to find the love of his life.

It all started about seven years ago, Ed Bieber said. The 42-year-old Marinette man was fishing with his kid on the Menominee River on the border between Wisconsin and Michigan.

"We lost some lures," Bieber said. "So, I decided to dive down to get them. Just free diving, holding my breath and going under. I ended up getting my lures and everybody else's."

Bieber posted about this victory on social media and found that a lot of people identified with a couple things about his foray into underwater treasure hunting. One, a lot of people lose lures and wanted them back. Two, his followers were astounded by how much stuff he was able to find and pull out of the water.

For the next several years, Bieber's diving escapades evolved. In addition to salvaging lures, he started bringing up other items, everything from boat anchors and motors to iPhones. He started searching and finding specific items that people dropped in the lakes and rivers and wanted back. He became a certified scuba diver so he could spend more time underwater and be safer in his underwater searching efforts. He also began his own business, Bieber's Underwater Recovery, in which he dives for items that clients have lost in water.

As he was doing all this, he began to deepen and monetize his social media presence, writing and posting on Facebook (58,000 followers), Instagram, more than 100,000 followers, and creating videos for TikTok (about 137,500 followers). He makes the most money from Facebook, he said, but TikTok helped him raise his profile the most. He's got an agent to help him maximize his celebrity. People can also find his content on YouTube, where he has 10,400 subscribers.

He isn't quite sure exactly how this whole thing went viral, but he does have a theory. "Treasure hunting is always fun," Bieber said. "And its environmentalism, mixed with fishing, mixed with outdoor adventure. ... People like the positivity coming out of all this, and the channels just grew like crazy."

Now he's added a love story to the mix.

Ed the Diver falls in love

Christie Barlament, 40, is the manager of CityDeck Landing apartment building in downtown Green Bay and a frequent guest on the "Maino and the Mayor" radio show on 97.9 FM WGBW. She knew about Bieber from his rising social media profile and got to know him better when he was a guest on the show.

"I started following his (Bieber's) videos, and I absolutely loved them," Barlament said.

When Bieber auctioned off a grungy Barbie doll he found underwater in Crandon to fund a three-month clean-up tour this summer, Barlament went all in. She ended up getting the doll for $1,225.

"I'm not crazy, I promise," Barlament said, laughing. "It got to be a bidding war, and it got to be a joke."

Underneath was a serious intent, Barlament said. "All that money, so he can do his clean-up efforts and keep going."

When Barlament ended up the high bidder for the Barbie, Bieber went all out, putting it in a "big adorable tacklebox, with a mermaid plaque," she said, and delivering it in person to her. Along with the Barbie, the two went out to dinner.

"We ended up having the most wonderful time," Barlament said. "And he asked me out again."

Barlament agreed, having been lovestruck by the dinner, she said.

"He's the most humble, selfless and genuinely kind person," she said. "When he finds peoples' things, his number one priority is to return them. ... He's so happy when he can return things to people. He's the kindest person I've ever met."

The admiration was mutual, Bieber said.

"I was starting to fall for her before I dropped (the Barbie) off," he said. "And then we were at supper having some drinks, and it was her laugh, her smile, her excitement, her pep."

Barlament has become a kind of partner in the Ed the Diver business as well. She's used her extensive network, radio experience and business sense to help elevate Bieber's effort.

Bieber approaches his clean-up efforts with a kind of happy-go-lucky charisma that appeals to Barlament. She began taking scuba lessons shortly after meeting him, and hopes to soon join him in his underwater adventures.

Meanwhile, they both get a kick out of how their relationship is another one of Bieber's efforts that has gone viral. Barlament said she gets regularly recognized as his girlfriend when she is out and about. Drinks have been named for them at downtown Green Bay's Heights Pub & Parlor. There is talk about a play being written about their quirky whirlwind romance.

"Christie is pulling a lot of strings," Bieber said.

Ed the Diver as a clean water advocate

Bieber takes multi-pronged, multi-level approach to business that is constantly evolving. He continues to remove trash from waterways, in addition to selling the lures and other items he finds on his dives. He's curates his online channels to keep audiences interested and engaged. Sometimes he salvages lost property and returns it to the owners. Sometimes he finds fish, turtles or other wildlife tangled up in line, and he works to set them free.

It's all satisfying, fun and addictive work, he said. His smiling and laughing on his videos is not contrived. It is who he is.

"I'm just a normal guy trying to make a difference," Bieber said.

Going forward, Bieber said he aims to make a shift in his approach. He wants to double down on the environmental message of his work: That litter and garbage on land often ends up in the water and everybody can do their part in helping clean up waterways.

That ethic is contagious, Barlament said. It blows her away thinking about the things that Bieber finds in the water.

"He's found toilets, sewing machines, guns, Apple watches, Barbie," Balarment said, with a laugh. "It's unbelievable. It's shocking what people throw in the water."

Bieber also hopes that he can gradually sell less of the things he finds, and do more giveaways. Giving children fishing lures to help them get involved in the activity, for example.

"That would be the best thing I could do, I think," he said. "I've learned at 42 that money is not everything. It's about making a difference in the world."

Keith Uhlig is a regional features reporter for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin based in Wausau. Contact him at 715-845-0651 or [email protected]. Follow him at @UhligK on X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram or on Facebook.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Ed the Diver cleans Wisconsin waterways, finding love along the way