Bluff Point

Location: Rancho Palos Verdes

Site: Bluff Point

Teams:

Team 1 - Katie & Shane McWilliams

Team 2 - Keith Chu & Norbert Lee

Team 3 - Angie Biggs & Jung-han Hsieh

Surface Support: Juan Torres

Mission Impact: No metrics.

Despite recent storms, the team opted to give a mission a try. With variable sea conditions following a large storm, the team was unsure of what conditions below the surface were going to be. Captain Jim of the Giant Stride greenlit the team heading out. Surface conditions were chilly but the water was calm and the sun came out to greet the team. The team was provided a briefing of the site, agreed upon a plan, and were committed to executing the plan.

The goal of this mission was to give the recreational team some mentorship time and hands on experience with net. Armed with scooters and a plan, the teams set out. Once the teams arrived at their target location, they geared up and jumped in. As they descended, conditions fell apart fairly rapidly. The teams descended down the anchor line. The visibility in the first 30 feet of water was decent, the light was penetrating the water column. At 40 feet, darkness crept up into the water column like ink. As the divers descended to 50 feet, the visibility went to virtually zero. The water became a dense green. As divers continued to descend to the bottom at 60 feet, they were unable to see the sand. The visibility was completely gone. The divers were in the position of having to feel their way around. 

The mission became extremely complicated at this point. The 6 divers were broken down into 3 teams of 2. The purpose of dividing the teams this way was to make it easier for the divers to stay together. By only being focused on staying with 1 person, rather than 5 others, the divers can easily balance both looking for the net and staying with their partner. Unfortunately, 1 team of 2 became separated from the group due to poor visibility. More unfortunately, the other 2 teams did not see that the third team had remained at the anchorline. The other 2 teams were able to stay together and started to search for the net due west. After approximately 8 minutes of searching, the teams decided it would be better to abort their efforts and return to the surface. Once the teams surfaced, they were reunited with the third team and returned to the boat. 

While it could be easy to call this mission a loss because there was no net or any other debris recovered, it’s more important to focus on the wins because there were plenty! First, the teams came back to the boat safely. While this seems a bit obvious, it is the most significant of the wins. Conditions like those encountered by our divers can and have led to catastrophic accidents. Our divers were able to maintain their composure and work together to not only try to complete the mission but they were able to recognize when it was time to make a decision based on safety. At the end of the day, this mission was a win because all of the divers, individually and collectively, reverted to their rigorous training. They received the dividends of their earlier investment. Not only were they able to problem solve individually but they were able to build a functional unit that was able to navigate a challenge. 

While not every mission can result in the typical win, every mission is a lesson. This mission taught our recreational team that any dive can escalate to extremely challenging in a matter of seconds. Our divers must remain vigilant and prepared. They must commit themselves to honing their craft and furthering their education. They must always strive to be their best selves for themselves, the team and the mission.