Sunday, the team was back to the wreck of the Alice Marie in Mounts Bay, Cornwall.
Following the survey and recovery work last weekend, we knew we had to return as soon as possible to clear all remaining ghost gear, ropes, and litter that could cause death or injury to marine life.
The main target was a tangled mess of monofilament gill net, which was found towards the end of the previous dive the week before. In addition to this, there was further rope, monofilament fishing lines, hooks, and a variety of litter which had gathered on the wreckage.
Due to the way the hazardous gill net was tangled into the wreckage along with hooks and other debris, the plan was to carefully cut away and lift in lumps placed inside mesh bags. That way, the mesh bags could be sent up one at a time on lift bags and safely lifted over the side of the RIB without the risk of damage to the boats tubes from any potentially hidden sharp objects. We could also then easily carry the bags off the boat at the harbour.
However, due to the amount we recovered on the first dive, we realised we'd need to empty some of the bags into the large gorilla buckets we use to hold divers equipment before divers jumped back in.
During the surface interval, we also had a special guest come aboard while divers changed their cylinders and off gassed. Once the boat inspection was complete and he was happy that everything was in order, Steven Seagull left the divers to kit up and begin the second dive.
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