In the wee hours one morning in 2006, the trawler Infidel sank off the southern end of Santa Catalina Island, taking several tons of squid and a 9,000-pound fishing net down with it.
The Infidel came to rest on its keel, about 150 feet under the sea. But in the turbid currents, the fine-mesh hemp and polypropylene net -- 40 feet high, several hundred feet long and made to last thousands of years -- wrapped itself around the wreck and became a deadly snare for marine life.
FOR THE RECORD
Fishing net: An article in Monday's California section about the removal of a snagged fishing net from a sunken trawler off Santa Catalina Island said that divers on the project used scuba tanks containing nitrous oxide. In fact, their tanks were filled with a special mix of nitrogen and oxygen used to decrease their risk of developing decompression sickness.
It has been entangling and killing sea lions, dolphins, sharks and fish ever since, littering the sandy bottom with skulls and bones picked clean by crabs.
On Sunday morning, a team of volunteer scuba divers armed with filet knives and shears began cutting away the danger. Guided only by flashlights, they sliced off swaths of the netting, which they then attached to inflatable air bags that rose to the surface. From there, the netting was hauled aboard the 75-foot trawler Captain Jack.
The potentially dangerous mission was organized by Ocean Defenders Alliance, a nonprofit marine conservation group based in Huntington Beach and founded by Kurt Lieber.
Rising out of the clear blue water, Lieber removed his mask and said, "It's one of the spookiest things I've ever seen.
"It's a huge vessel encased in a net -- anything that swims into it gets trapped in its billows," he said. "The enormity of the task before us is daunting. We're making a little bit of difference today. But we have a long way to go."
The team of seasoned divers included Avalon Mayor Bob Kennedy, owner of Catalina Scuba Luv, and employees of three other scuba stores on the island. Also on board were UC Irvine marine biologist William Cooper, nature-film maker Tony Christopher and Avalon harbor patrolman Jason Manix. Use of the 200-ton Captain Jack was donated by its owner, Mike Hoover.
"We've all put aside our differences as competitors in the scuba industry . . . and united behind a common cause," Manix said. "Catalina is our backyard, and we don't want this kind of garbage in it."
Cinde MacGugan, 36, a store manager at Catalina Diver Supply, led a group of team members who sliced off roughly 200 square yards of netting within 30 minutes.
Removing her flippers after spending 60 minutes under water, MacGugan said: "We got a lot of wins on that one -- but it was one of the scariest dives in my life.
