News
California diver finds GoPro that was lost at sea a year ago
John La Grange was diving off of Solana Beach in California on the 30th October when he noticed something on a little sand crevice lodged between two rocks. It was a small drone that carried a GoPro camera.
With help from his son Patrick, La Grange was able to capture the drone’s video of the fateful flight. According to the last time stamp the drone took off on November 2, 2013, from a vacant lot on the ocean-top bluff on Border Avenue.
The drone went out over the ocean, then slowly lost power, and descended into the water. The video kept running as the camera sunk, picking up the dying battery warning beep, but also capturing swaying kelp and a few fish swimming by.
Still photos on the camera show an image of who La Grange believes was the drone’s pilot, along with the front of a house in Solana Beach. On the 4th November, La Grange believes he found that house, and left a note on the front door, hoping to reunite the camera with its owner.
“I found the camera only a few hundred feet from where the video shows it went into the water,” says La Grange. The drone was side down in the sand, due to the weight of the motors being on top of the unit. “It’s amazing it survived,” added La Grange.
Earlier models of the hobbyist drones, such as the one La Grange found, would simply fall slowly back to the ground when the batteries went low. Newer versions now use GPS guidance to return the devices to the place of origin, even if the controller is unable to maneuver due to weather, dying batteries, or loss of transmission range.
The La Granges posted the camera’s video on YouTube. La Grange asks for anyone recognizing the pilot to contact him, which you can do through the Solana Beach lifeguard station.
Source: www.sandiegoreader.com
Over the next 12 months, specialist scuba holiday company Dive Worldwide will be supporting Bite-Back Shark & Marine Conservation with donations collected from client bookings to any one of its stunning dive destinations around the world. The independently-owned operator expects to raise £3000 for the UK charity.
Manager at Dive Worldwide, Phil North, said: “We’re especially excited to work with Bite-Back and support its intelligent, creative and results-driven campaigns to end the UK trade in shark products and prompt a change in attitudes to the ocean’s most maligned inhabitant.”
Bite-Back is running campaigns to hold the media to account on the way it reports shark news along with a brand new nationwide education programme. Last year the charity was credited for spearheading a UK ban on the import and export of shark fins.
Campaign director at Bite-Back, Graham Buckingham, said: “We’re enormously grateful to Dive Worldwide for choosing to support Bite-Back. The company’s commitment to conservation helps set it apart from other tour operators and we’re certain its clients admire and respect that policy. For us, the affiliation is huge and helps us look to the future with confidence we can deliver against key conservation programmes.”
To launch the fundraising initiative, Phil North presented Graham Buckingham with a cheque for £1,000.
Visit Dive Worldwide to discover its diverse range of international scuba adventures and visit Bite-Back to learn more about the charity’s campaigns.
MORE INFORMATION
Call Graham Buckingham on 07810 454 266 or email graham@bite-back.com
Free Octopus with every purchase of a SCUBAPRO regulator system
Just in time for the spring season, divers can save money with the FREE OCTOPUS SPRING PROMOTION! Until July 31st SCUBAPRO offers an Octopus for free
with every purchase of a regulator system!
Get a free S270 OCTOPUS with purchase of these combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with A700
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with S620Ti
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with D420
MK25 EVO Din mit S620Ti-X
Get a free R105 OCTOPUS with purchase of the following combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with G260
MK25 EVO or MK17 EVO with S600
SCUBAPRO offers a 30-year first owner warranty on all regulators, with a revision period of two years or 100 dives. All SCUBAPRO regulators are of course certified according to the new European test standard EN250-2014.
Available at participating SCUBAPRO dealers. Promotion may not be available in all regions. Find an authorized SCUBAPRO Dealer at scubapro.com.
More information available on www.scubapro.com.
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