Fishing for Bikes in the Amsterdam Canals

File this under “only in Amsterdam”: fishing for BIKES. As one of the world’s most bicycle-friendly cities, there are, in fact, more bikes than humans in the Dutch capital. And with some 60 miles of canals winding through the city, odds are that a missing bike met its fate at the bottom of one. That’s where skipper Jan de Jonge and his crew come in with their giant claw machine …

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Ah, Amsterdam:

the canals, the weed, the bikes.

There are a lot of bikes here.

(speaking in foreign language)

Yeah, they're everywhere.

(speaking in foreign language)

Wait, what?
(splashing)

(speaking in foreign language)

(speaking in foreign language)

There are 165 canals in Amsterdam,

totaling over 60 miles in length.

And resting on the ground in these canals

are bikes, lots of bikes.

(speaking in foreign language)

These two guys, they're bike fisherman.

They pull bikes out of
canals in Amsterdam.

(speaking in foreign language)

(rattling)

I'm just gonna ask the obvious:

Why?

Why are there so many bikes in the water?

(speaking in foreign language)

The machine they use is basically
an oversized claw machine.

It goes into the water
and pulls out bikes.

Most bikes are found near
the edges of the canals.

(speaking in foreign language)

And what happens after they're removed?

(speaking in foreign language)