Laguna Beach

Location: Laguna Beach, California

Site: Crescent Bay, Crystal Cove, and Emerald Bay

Teams:

Team 1: Andrew Hung, Norbert Lee

Team 2: Karim Hamza, Erik Lu

Surface Support: Jim Babor, Emma

Mission Impact: 100 pounds of debris removed.

Every mission serves as a lesson for team Ghost Diving USA. The goal for this mission was to motor down the coastline to Laguna Beach and collect lobster pots reported by two of our team members, Andrew and Norbert.

The team arrived to find that water conditions were quite challenging. There was a large North to South swell that created intense current and very poor visibility. The teams searched the area for the pots. Unfortunately, after a lengthy search, the teams had to call off the search due to poor visibility.

The team opted to move to a second site. Captain Jim of the Giant Stride skillfully anchored on GPS coordinates provided by Andrew and Norbert. The teams re-entered the water. They successfully located a lobster pot, despite the challenging conditions. They were also able to find a pile of fishing debris including fishing rods that Andrew had placed while on a shore dive prior to the mission.

While the dives were challenging, team Ghost Diving USA rose to the occasion and were able to learn valuable lessons as we continue our pursuit of ghost gear.