Two years ago, our partner LAUE (Los Angeles Underwater Explorer) started the project Infidel clean up. The goal was to remove all the nets which cover the wreck and regularly trap marine life (seals, sea lions, even birds). The wreck seats under 150ft of water, which makes the cleaning work challenging and requires lots of caution. Strong dive teams and very rigorous process.
After many dives, the wreck starts to look much better now, and new marine life is elected it as new home: lobsters, nudibranchs, wolf eel, and so on.
On Aug 23rd, 2014, new missions were set to both continue removing the nets (and a lot was removed again), but also document the new life. Unfortunately, the visibility wasn’t very good for still picture, even video. But on the way back, they had the chance to have the company of a Great White Shark, probably 16 to 20ft long! She checked out the divers very closely and tagged along for 4 minutes of pure excitement! :-)
Enjoy the pictures and the video of this amazing mission!
Video © Cyrille Rio
LAUE: Ghost net cleanup and Great White Shark encounter! Full day report. from Ghost Fishing on Vimeo.
