Beneath the Surface (Lynn H. Blackburn) – Blog Hop + Giveaway

~ Did You Know These Underwater Investigation Facts? ~

1. There are three main types of underwater recovery operations: body recovery, vehicle recovery, and evidence recovery. Searching for and recovering evidence is the most common activity for diving investigators.
2. Underwater crime scene investigators are subject to the same chain-of-evidence rules and crime scene protocols as regular land investigators, but due to the environment they are working in, their search method is similar to conducting an archaeological dig.
3. Many of the places diving investigators need to search are pitch black and mucky, sometimes even contaminated, making conditions very challenging indeed!
4. Diving investigators generally have to search by feel, moving back and forth in straight lines along the bottom of the body of water, a little bit like mowing a lawn v..e..r..y  s..l..o..w..l..y. They work in pairs, holding onto a rope while sifting through the silt, mud, trash, and foliage at the bottom. As soon as the lead diver completes a section, the backup diver re-searches that area.
5. As well as ensuring they follow all evidence protocols and perform a methodical search of the area, divers need to monitor dive times and air/gas consumption. Gas consumption varies with water depth, physical exertion, and mental distress (um, body recovery anyone?), so it’s important that these factors are closely monitored.
6. Depending on the location of the investigation, divers may also have to contend with turtles (some of which can have very sharp teeth!), poisonous snakes, alligators, or inquisitive fish. You just never know what your hand might land on, and whether they’ll take it in stride or take exception to your intrusion!
7. Because underwater searching is such a time-consuming process (and restricted by air/gas requirements), there is often the need for a secondary or back-up diving team to complete any search and/or recovery that remains unfinished.
8. Body recovery isn’t for everyone. You can have all the right training, but nobody really knows until they attempt their first body recovery whether they can handle it mentally. Training with mannequins isn’t the same as recovering a real body—which may be in various stages of bloated decay! Yuk!
9. In the event that there is a body to be recovered, normal procedure is to bag the body (or, er, parts thereof…) underwater, both to preserve the evidence and to prevent onlookers (which can include family and/or media) from seeing the body as it emerges from the water.
10. Vehicle recovery can be quite dangerous. Divers need to be careful of entrapment or entanglement when examining a submerged vehicle, there’s the possibility of fuel (and cargo) leakage, and the process of getting the vehicle back to the surface needs to be carefully planned and executed in order to preserve evidence and avoid injury.
11. Divers need to be mindful of exerting any effort that might interfere with their breathing when moving heavy underwater objects. Holding your breath is a no-no when scuba diving, and if you’ve ever paid attention when you exert effort to move something, you’ll find it requires conscious effort not to stop your breath at the same time!

Want to know more? Check out this article: What It’s Like To Be An Underwater Crime Scene Investigator

~ Giveaway ~