Net, rope and a lobster pot from Mounts Bay

At the weekend, our team of volunteers were out busy recovering ghost gear from Mounts Bay, Penzance, Cornwall.

Making the most of the small window of reduced wind, the team set off with two objectives. The first was to revisit and clear the remaining ghost gear from the wreckage of the SS Alice Marie. The second was to respond to a report from a member of the public who had spotted a suspicious buoy relatively close to shore that hadn't moved for quite some time. Our aim was to simply establish what was at the bottom of the buoy and then decide the best course of action. Was it lost fishing equipment, a lost mooring or simply a lost buoy with a length of rope which had become caught on the rocks?

The first dive proved quite challenging, as the recent bad weather has really churned up the visibility. During the first dive, ghost gear comprising monofilament netting and ropes was recovered.

After the first dive, the team travelled across Mounts Bay to look at the second objective. When the team arrived at the location given, they found a very green buoy and rope that was clearly abandoned and had been there for a very long time. When they descended down the rope from the buoy, they found a crab/lobster pot half buried in the sand. The decision was made to lift the pot and remove it along with the rope and abandoned buoy.

Special thanks to Niki for reporting the buoy to us with such an accurate location using What3words. And of course thank you to the rest of our supporters for enabling us to continue our work clearing ghost gear and marine debris from the ocean.