The Radio Tower
Date: 07/30/2023
Location: Rancho Palos Verdes, California
Wreck/Site: The Radio Tower
Teams:
Team 1 (Net handling): Jim Babor, Jamie Mitchell
Team 2 (Net handling): Shane and Katie McWilliams
Team 3: Daniel Pio (Documentation), Vladimir Dontsov (Observation)
Surface Support: Juan Torres
Mission Impact: 85 square feet of net recovered.
Team Ghost Diving USA set out aboard the Giant Stride on Sunday July 30th. Their sites were set on the Radio Tower. The objective for this mission was to continue to remove nets from the structure. Conditions were challenging to say the least. Summer in Southern California is very hot, though the day of our mission was a brief respite from the heat. The team was treated to overcast skies and, though humid, much more tolerable temperatures. Unfortunately, the ocean was far less forgiving. The swells were 3-4 feet and came very close together and there was a consistent surface chop. Once the divers got into the water, they were also faced with a series of challenges. These challenges included a strong current which required divers to pull themselves along a drift line. The purpose of this line is to help divers to move efficiently on the surface without getting swept away by the current and without exhausting themselves prior to descent. The current was helpful, in some ways, on the first dive. As divers were placing the lift bags and cutting the net, the current cleared the visibility and allowed divers to see their work more clearly. This visibility allowed Jim and Jamie to attach lift bags to a section of net and partially inflate it in preparation for the second dive.
Unfortunately, the conditions deteriorated in the 90 minutes between the first and second dive. The surface chop increased, the current grew stronger, the visibility significantly reduced, and it grew darker at depth. While our team faced challenges, we choose to focus on the positives. Shane was able to rescue a fish from the clutches of the nets! The fish was found upside down and immobilized by a piece of net that was squeezing his body near his gills. Initially, the team thought he was dead. As Shane approached the net to cut it free, sending the net to the surface, the fish began to frantically wiggle. Acting quickly, Shane was able to place his finger between the fish and the net to create a little space and cut the piece of net that the fish was caught in. Once free, the fish stopped for a moment and then quickly and purposefully swam off.
Collectively, the team was able to recover 85 square feet of net. The remaining net is intertwined with the structure and embedded in the sea floor. This means future net retrieval dives will take some time because the process of freeing the net and then cutting it will be more time and labor intensive. Additionally, this means we will be collecting smaller volumes of net because we are growing closer to the end of our mission at the Radio Tower!
