A drowning victim was located in 340ft deep water in Lake Mead near Bolder Island in Nevada less than 3 hours of searching using a Teledyne BlueView 2D Imaging sonar and VideoRay Pro 4 ROV. The search team consisted of Earth Resource Group (ERG) personnel, National Park Service rangers, Nevada Department of Wildlife game wardens and volunteers. This was the fourth drowning this year; the first three victims took much longer to recover without the aid of the sonar and ROV.
The drowning victim was clearly identified at 40m range. The ROV and sonar provide an invaluable tool for searching large areas in almost zero visibility.
The ROV and sonar combination is very compact and easily deployed by one person and is a perfect solution to searching large deep water areas with low visibility conditions. Search and recovery teams worldwide are using 2D imaging sonar on ROVs and boat mounted to search for drowning victims, inspect waterways and monitor rescue divers real time.
