Diving  is a  potentially  hazardous  activity.  The materials  contained within  this  magazine  are for informational purposes only and are not intended as a substitute for proper and appropriate training.

ROV solves Lake Seneca Mystery

Lake Seneca Sonar test Facility with - inset - Joe Plano and his SeaOtter ROV

Joe Plana, company  owner of Aquatic  Centre of  Rochester, in Henrietta, New York, was  recently  hired  by a  Massachusetts firm to  help  with  the  recovery  of some acoustic  equipment  from  Lake  Seneca,  the  site  of  the U.S. Navy's  sonare test platform. The Seneca  Lake Sonar test Facility  is a field  station of  the  Naval  Sea  System's Command (NAVSEA) and is  world renowned as a sonar test site.  The 650-feet deep fresh water  lake provides a  controlled environment for  acoustic testing  in weather conditions that  are comparatively calm in  comparison to the  ocean or Great Lakes. The facility  offers heavy  load  handling  capability,  an abundance  of power, and is located only an hour from Syracuse or Rochester airports. An automobile  size device had been lowered  from the platform and anchored to the bottom for  testing.  When  the  tests  were  completed,  an  explosive  charge  was supposed to  sever the  cable between the  device and  the anchor, allowing it to be raised  to the  surface.  However, after  detonating the  charge the  device wouldn't budge, even  under 4,000 lbs of  pull  from the  on-board  crane.   Why  the  device wouldn't rise to  the surface was a  mystery that had  the engineers scratching their heads.  A decision was made to call in Joe  with his JW Fishers 'SeaOtter' ROV to see what was going on. Manoeuvring  the ROV  through  the tangle of  cables to the bottom, 500 feet below, was no  easy  task, but  Joe  finally  managed  to  locate  the  acoustic  device.  He positioned the ROV to  view  the cable connecting  the device  to the anchor.  Using his "underwater eyeball" he could clearly see the problem.  The explosive charge had severed  the  cable,  but  as  the cable  passed  through  the  eye of  the anchor, it became  twisted  and hung  up.  Once  engineers  were able  to see  the  problem, a solution was quickly implemented and the device was raised to the surface. Use of the ROV had  eliminated the need for a very expensive deep water commercial diving operation saving the company thousands of dollars. For more information  on the SeaOtter ROV, or any of JW  Fishers underwater search equipment, visit their website at: www.jwfishers.com