Video: 'Deadhead' logs posing serious danger to boaters

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SEATTLE - Boats of every size skim across Lake Washington, but it's what may lie directly below that sparkling surface that has King County's marine unit very concerned.

"I saw the snow pack and thought, we're going to be in for an incredible summer," said Deputy Steve Marshall.

Marshall and his colleagues are trying to pick up what nature has deposited.

"Way more than we've ever seen before. It's hard to keep up with them,'" he said.

The Cedar and Sammamish rivers flow directly into Lake Washington. Thanks to high snowmelt, they've been running high and fast, and collecting all kinds of wooden debris, including large trees, many with massive root balls still attached.

"If a boat was going at 20, 30 and hit that thing, you basically would separate the hull, sink the boat and probably throw everybody out of it," said Marshall.

It's not just entire trees that boaters need to be wary of, even something like a wooden board could do some significant damage to a boat and its occupants.

The problem isn't confined to boaters. Last month a sea plane almost sank on Lake Washington after a pontoon hit submerged debris.

And it's not just lakes. From SkyKING you can see huge trees bobbing around Puget Sound.

The Army Corps of Engineers reports last week alone they collected 35 tons of subsurface debris from the Sound in less than two days.

While the logs, or deadheads, as they're sometimes called, can provide a convenient perch to wildlife, they are a true hazard to humans.

Deputies say many boaters and homeowners on the lake are being helpful by alerting them about submerged logs and even towing them away.