Maine and Connecticut State Police Dive teams conducted joint training under 28 inch thick ice in March near Greenville, Maine. Harris was invited to join the exercise and was asked to provide training to the Maine troopers on our hand-held sonars. Connecticut has one of our DLS-1’s and they have made it a key safety component of their under-ice equipment.
The Maine divers used both the DLS-1 and DLS-3 sonars to search for a mannequin and a sunken snowmobile in 40 to 50 foot deep water of Moosehead Lake. The Connecticut team showed Maine how they mount acoustic beacons on their under ice divers and have a rescue diver deploy with the DLS-1 in a passive mode. The rescue diver can then locate the other divers and lead them to safety.
The Connecticut State Police Dive Team is an experienced user of our sonars, having owned a DLS-1 since early 1999. They use the DLS-1 throughout the year, as conditions allow, assisting in search and recoveries of vehicles, bodies, and evidence. The Maine divers are convinced that our sonars will be a useful tool for their missions and will be looking to use them this summer on an open ocean training exercise.