2025 Recovery Diving Highlights

I had a great diving season this year, with tons of interesting experiences. I love the variety that my days can hold. It’s so fun to be able to travel all over and meet different people, helping with various things. The vast majority of what I’m hired to find is phones, keys, glasses, and sometimes wallets. Cutting ropes off props and checking intakes for clogs is also common, and I do find quite a bit of jewelry. But, sometimes I find unusual items. Here are some of the most interesting things I’ve found this season (more photos are in the gallery below.

Early this spring, I was able to help with an environmental hazard. My client had been out fishing in a small Jon boat when he capsized, losing a couple of fishing rods and a large battery. His main goal was recovering the battery, but after searching a much larger area than anticipated, I found the fishing rods first, then eventually the battery. Capsizes are difficult to recover items from, as it’s challenging to get a close enough location. Searching underwater is typically slow going, and small distances can be more time-consuming than you might expect.

One of my most long-shot successes this year involved another capsize and some expensive fishing rods. A guy called who had been out on his fishing kayak at a small inland lake. He capsized and lost all eight of his rods, plus five tackle boxes and other miscellaneous items. I told him the chance of getting the right spot was slim, but he wanted to try. After about five hours in the water over two days, I actually did find every single one of his lost items, nowhere near where he thought they would be. It was a big project but satisfying in the end.

While I was out looking for those fishing rods, I got an interesting call from a concerned dad. His son and a friend had been up to some mischief. They went out for a paddle at their lakefront home and decided to toss a neighbor’s large bronze frog statue into the water, in classic teenage fashion. The neighbor was quite upset, stating it was one-of-a-kind and quite valuable.

The police became involved, and the dad was hoping I could solve this situation before any further escalation happened. The boys were abashed when I arrived and were definitely feeling regretful. They helped me move my equipment to the right area, and I was able to find Kermit fairly quickly. I was happy to help restore the frog to its home, and the families were happy at the prospect of restored neighborhood peace.

Unlike previous seasons, I didn’t find any guns this year. The closest I got was a call to find a Border Patrol Badge. It was no different than finding a wallet, but it was fun to have a little variety! I was also hired to find two different iPads. I haven’t been hired to find any tablets or computers before, so that was fun. I don’t believe they are waterproof, but I think the owners wanted them back for insurance purposes.

I also found something a little less fun this season: the risk of electric shock drowning. It’s a risk that is exists at all marinas, which is why swimming is prohibited at all of them. If a boat isn’t properly grounded, or if the marina’s shore power has a problem, electricity can leak into the water. To dive safely, I always use a testing device. I’ve found stray current a couple of times, but one incident this summer stands out to me as very avoidable.

At a marina in St. Clair Shores, my meter was going off even though the boat I wanted to dive under had its shore power shut off. The owner mentioned that another boat, two slips down, had been having electrical issues they believed were coming from the shore power tower. We shut off the power to that boat (the slip in between the two boats was empty), and that fixed the issue.

After talking to the marina staff and the boat’s owners, I discovered the real issue: the marina wasn’t at fault at all. The newly purchased boat wasn’t grounded properly, and its owners had been silencing the warning alarm instead of addressing the problem. Their boat had been leaking current into the water for weeks, causing a serious hazard. Electric shock isn’t just a risk for swimmers and divers, people fall in the water pretty frequently, either after a few drinks or just because the docks are narrow and often a little wobbly.  

I was a victim to a different hazard that I didn’t expect early in the season. I had been hired to check out a dredge boat at a mine lake and see if I could assist with attaching a cable. While I was there, a small, yellow-striped fish seemed to feel I was invading its territory and was defending it aggressively. I wasn’t that worried at first, but then the fish found my only bit of exposed skin… my lip! I had never been bitten by a fish before, and never would’ve thought that could happen. My lip swelled up a little after and was painful, an impressive attack for a tiny fish! I think it was probably a perch, but everything happened so fast that I’m not positive.

I also got to enjoy the company of some less aggressive fish: sturgeon. I love to dive the St. Clair River for fun, especially in Port Huron, and had a great time diving during their spawn. The river was full of huge sturgeon; I was practically bumping into them! While I was out metal detecting for fun, I got really lucky and found an old pocket watch. It has some silt inside, but I’ve never found anything quite like that!

Another strange find this year was goose eggs… I found three, in different locations, all underwater and intact. It was confusing to me, apparently they’re not that unusual, but I’ve never encountered them before. Maybe the geese are having worse aim this year?

Another highlight was finding an heirloom ring in Harrison Twp. this July. I was at the marina to find a phone for someone, and a man who had lost this family ring three years prior saw me and told me about this ring. He remembered exactly where he lost it, and I was able to find it in about ten minutes. Not bad for something lost three years ago!

Two other great jewelry recoveries I had this year were in the Downriver area, a little outside of the area I usually work in. I primarily dive in Lake St. Clair and anywhere in between Detroit and Port Huron, but these two pieces were definitely worth the drive. The first was a gold bracelet in Gibraltar, a gift from my client’s grandmother. It was a little ways out in the canal, but I got lucky and it didn’t take long to find. The second was a men’s ruby ring in Wyandotte, it had been in my client’s family for generations. He was relieved to have it back.

I also found a small outboard motor early in the season for a marina after it fell off of one of their work boats. Fortunately, this happened in a canal, and the motors are large enough that they are relatively easy to find. It’s great they wanted to get it out of the water instead of leaving it to degrade.

I love the rewarding nature of recovery diving. Every day brings something different, and I get great variety. There’s nothing quite like finding a lost family heirloom, but I get nearly the same satisfaction from recovering dropped iPhones, prescription glasses, and the occasional scrub brush. No matter what you’ve lost, if it’s in the water I’d be happy to help you get it back. Call or text 586-873-8110, or click here to learn more about my services. You can also read about last year's recovery highlights.