Photo by Shelley Hanson. MOLLY KAPLET, left, and her daughter Kinzie Kaplet, 16, of Barnesville participate in Saturdayás Creek Crawl on Captina Creek near Jerusalem. Also shown in the background are, from left, Abbey Hayward, Mike Deliman, Brooke Sanderson and Karen Deliman.

JERUSALEM — Members of the Captina Conservancy and others got to have some fun playing in Captina Creek on Saturday while also doing a good deed — cleaning up any trash they spotted.

The first Creek Crawl was held at Rainbow’s End, which is land privately owned by the Blue Feather Land Trust. The land abuts Captina Creek near Jerusalem. The day-long event provided people the chance to learn more about Captina Creek and why it is important to keep it clean, said Abbey Hayward, executive director of the Captina Conservancy.

“Not everyone knows this is one of the most pristine creeks in the state,” she said. “There are 56 species of fish and macroinvertebrates in the water.”

Captina Creek also is famous for being home to the Hellbender salamander, an endangered species. Hayward said the Hellbender does not have gills, but instead breathes through its skin. This is why it is important to keep silt amounts down in the creek.

She said during the past couple of years the amount of silt in the creek has increased. Though scientists do not know exactly why, Hayward said it could be caused by a variety of activities, including construction and people driving across the creek in vehicles.

“I compare it to us trying to breath through smog,” Hayward said of the impact of silt on the aquatic creatures.

Brooke Sanderson, who is the Belmont County Soil & Water Conservation District’s Captina Creek Watershed coordinator, said when people get to see the creek up close it makes them more aware of how special it is, to realize there are actually species thriving in the water.

Among the 26 or so people participating was Kinzie Kaplet, 16, of Barnesville. She attended with her mother, Molly Kaplet, and grandmother, Debbie Gussett. Kaplet said the Creek Crawl was allowing her to log volunteer hours as a Barnesville High School student.

Karen and Mike Deliman of the Somerton area said they are conservancy members because they enjoy the creek and the group’s activities associated with it.

“We bring our grandson (Ariel) out here. It’s good for children to be outdoors,” Karen Deliman said.

Mike Deliman said he enjoys fishing and believes in leaving a place cleaner than it was when he arrived.

“And the people are nice,” he added of the conservancy members.

Following the cleanup of about a 1-mile stretch of the creek, the group was treated to lunch. Afterward they helped look in the creek for fish species and macroinvertebrates in the South Fork of the creek. The conservancy also debuted its new Captina Creek Aquatic Trail Guide.