“Old crappy boat and state of the art underwater sonar”
Carl Beyer
Carl Beyer and his dive partner Mike Hicks of St. Catherines, Ontario have put together several videos from their dive experiences and discoveries in the Niagara River. Their videos are called Wreck’D Divers and were filmed in the summer of 2020. This is their first video!
A river that flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario is known as the Niagara River. It forms part of the boundary between the province of Ontario in Canada (on the west) and the state of New York in the United States. (on the east) The river often referred to as a strait, is approximately 58 kilometres (36 mi) long and includes Niagara Falls in its course. In the last 12,000 years, the falls have advanced about 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) upstream from the Niagara Escarpment, resulting in a gorge below the falls. The Niagara Gorge stretches from the falls downstream and includes the Whirlpool of Niagara and another portion of rapids. On the river, power plants include on the Canadian side, the Sir Adam Beck Hydroelectric Power Stations (built-in 1922 and 1954) and on the American side, the Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant (built-in 1961). They generate 4.4 gigawatts of electricity together.
Dive Report:
Carl Beyer confirmed that shorty wetsuits were worn with 75 degrees F water temperature, and the dive’s date was July 23rd, 2020. The pace of the current was very quick, so not a perfect dive for a first-timer, but you learn to use this fact in the river to your advantage. If you enter the water at Smugglers Cove Boat Club, you can drift down to Navy Hall and come upon Beyer’s discovery. (not revealed, but is in the video) Visibility was 8-10 feet at their discovery, (20 feet) but clarity was better around 36 feet. Slit stirs up fast, but the fast current helps to take it away quickly.
The Scuba News Canada will be featuring more of Carl’s videos in the future Stay tuned!
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