Nothing is more frustrating than a task abandoned.
Despite everyone’s best efforts last September, time and deco racked up, gas levels depleted and the large section of trawl on the Vale of Leven remained firmly attached to the bottom, forcing us to leave it and return to the surface.
On Wednesday 23rd April, we returned eager to finish the job. Steady Steve perfectly shotted the wreck, almost exactly where it was last time, down to even the same tidal state, making navigating the small wreck an easy treat. The team, also consisting of Fred Nunn and Sam Brunsdon, headed straight to the beast.
Most of the net was in the overhang when we got there, as opposed to partially out on the seabed as it was the previous time. We did a quick re-survey swim around it to try and identify and release any obvious snagging points. Then headed back and started pulling the net out of the overhang and free.
Once a good chunk of the net was free from the overhang, we attached a lift bag and added a fair bit of gas to it. Then we headed down to the bottom looking for tension.
After a bit of feeling around in the silt cloud, we stumbled on the big tree trunk of twisted net. Then, the two Tasmanian devils (Phoebe and Sam) got to work. Despite the thick trunk seeming like an almost impossible task, working in turns with lots of swaps, we eventually managed to get through it!
Even though this felt like the biggest success, we weren’t done yet as the net was still snagged on the other side of the overhang. So, we headed around to the stern to find where it was still snagged. The last little bit was so small in comparison – amazing how all it takes is a few small strands to be caught to immobilise such a massive net. But tired arms meant even this tiny section was a task in itself. A last bit of effort released this and off it went!
Fist bumps and overwhelming fulfilment all around!
With the net recovered, it was safely transported back to the storage facility for later cleaning and recycling.
In total, it weighed over 160kg!
Cover photo by Emma Critchley