By Founder and President Kurt Lieber
Several of our diehard volunteers boarded the ODA flagship Mr. Barker’s LegaSea on Sunday, June 23rd. It was the first time in many months that we had good sea conditions and a crew that was ready and available.
We met at the boat slip at 8:30am, stowed all the dive equipment aboard, and pushed off a little after 9am.
The crew consisted of: Kim Cardenas, Craig LaPorte, Dave Merrill, Geoff Walsh, Mike Wynd, and me.
The skies were overcast the entire 10 miles to Anacapa Island. Along the way we saw several pods of dolphins cavorting off in the distance, but we were on a mission and didn’t stop to enjoy their company. It was still a delight to see them, knowing that they’re there because there’s plenty of fish in the waters for them to eat.
When we arrived, we dropped anchor in an area where we’ve seen lots of abandoned traps in the past, on the far east side of the island, close to Arch Rock. Once the anchor hit the bottom, within a minute we could see that we were not going to be safe diving in the strong current. So, we picked up the anchor and headed to a calmer spot.
This time we were on the south side of East Anacapa. The seas were flat as a mirror, and we could see and hear hundreds of sea lions lounging on the sandy shore. There were also dozens of them swimming all over the place.
We dropped the anchor in 40 feet of water. A few minutes later Kim, Craig, Geoff, and Mike were in their dive suits, ready to go.
Craig and Mike teamed up and jumped in first. They headed down the anchor line and then headed north towards the shore, since that is where we’ve seen dozens of traps set there in the past.
Kim and Geoff were five minutes behind them. Once they dropped down, they headed west, pretty much paralleling the shoreline.
Dave and I kept watch on the bow, hoping to see some lift bags come to the surface. For 40 minutes we scanned the horizon but didn’t see any lift bags. The we saw Craig surface, about 100 yards from the boat. As he was making his way back to the boat, we saw Mike come up, a short distance from Craig.
They had become separated but kept searching for abandoned traps. They came up empty…
Just as Craig was climbing up the dive ladder, we saw two lift bags off in the distance. And I mean way off in the distance! Five minutes later we saw another set of bags hit the surface. It takes two lift bags to raise a single trap off the seafloor, which means that when we see two bags close to each other there should be one trap attached to them.
We waited for Kim and Geoff to surface, but for 20 minutes they didn’t. Then suddenly they popped up 20 feet from the boat. Amazing that they found their way back to the exact spot that they had last been seen, an hour earlier. Those are some award-winning navigational skills! Before we started to head back to our home port, I measured the distance that they had covered. It was about 1,300 feet. Thank heavens for underwater scooters!
Once Kim and Geoff were back aboard, we picked up the anchor and headed to the two sets of bags. Because of the current, they were now 500 feet away, but behind the boat.
We pulled the two traps onto the front deck and saw that one of them had two sheep crabs in it.
Kim carefully pulled them out. Unfortunately, one of them was not very grateful and latched onto her finger with its huge claw. She let out a few words not fit for a family publication, and then set it free. Although she was bleeding, she kept smiling knowing that they’d live to see another day, and hopefully raise some young ones.
It was great to be out on the water doing what we’ve been doing for 24 years now: Ridding the oceans of potentially deadly fishing gear.
Here we are with our "Catch of the Day"!
Thank you to our Ocean Defenders – Kim, Craig, Dave, Geoff and Mike. Can’t think of a better way to spend a day than with passionate marine conservationists, saving wildlife, and improving their habitats!
Your donation to fuel our boats and keep us at sea, doing what we do best is vital...and we THANK YOU!
