The Midnight Hour
The Midnight Hour
Location: Catalina Island
Site: The Midnight Hour
Team 1: Jim Babor, Andrew Hung, Juan Torres
Surface Support: Katie McWilliams
Mission Impact: Site surveyed, net located, assessed, and marked for a future recovery mission.
Not every mission is about what we pull out of the water that day. Team Ghost Diving USA set out for the site we call the Midnight Hour with a different objective: to scout and prepare it for a future mission where we intend to recover a substantial amount of net.
Preparation dives are some of the most valuable work we do. Before a major net recovery, our team needed to prepare the site, cut cables securing the net to the wreck and stage lines for the following cleanup.
Divers gearing up on deck as we approached the site.
Conditions topside were in our favor and the team made quick work of gearing up. With a clear plan for the day, divers entered the water to begin the survey.
Divers work the surface before descending to assess the site.
Once down, the team located the net and went to work documenting it — sizing up the section, noting how it sat on the structure, and identifying the best approach for cutting and lifting it on a future dive. As always, our divers checked the net for entangled marine life as they worked. The site was marked so we can return directly to it, and the team captured photo and 360 video to brief the recovery teams.
A very special thank you to our partners at Healthy Seas and Hyundai USA for supporting our clean-up efforts.