Lost while free-diving Pier J, Long Beach
BY MERIT MCCREA
LONG BEACH – The LA Fire Department and other media reported on recreational free-diver Conner Lees missing the evening of Wednesday December 4th around 9:45 pm. Off-duty, the 29-year-old fire fighter was pursuing lobster recreationally with 3 others in the vicinity of Pier J. When he did not resurface 9-1-1 was called for assistance. With one man aboard their boat and 3 in the water, only 2 returned.
The SAR operation was terminated unsuccessfully after 19 hours of searching with sonar and multiple scuba divers. An L.A. Fire Department spokesman said “The decision to transition to a recovery operation is not taken lightly…As we make this transition, our thoughts and prayers continue for the family of the missing diver and for our brothers and sisters at the Los Angeles City Fire Department.”
That recovery operation continued on into Friday December 6. At 4:00 PM Lees was declared lost at sea. The LAFD posted “At approximately 4:00 PM Friday, after all reasonable search efforts had been exhausted, the recovery operation was ended, with Firefighter Lees presumed lost at sea. Anyone with information can contact the Long Beach Police Department Missing Persons Detail at (562) 570-7246.”
“Firefighter III Connor J. Lees has faithfully served the City of Los Angeles as a six-year veteran of the Los Angeles City Fire Department, assigned to Fire Station 94 in the Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw community.”
Both LAFD, Los Angeles and Long Beach police department dive teams participated in the search for Lees, with up to 2 dozen SCUBA divers combing the murky waters and several vessels involved.
A GoFundMe set up for the family of Connor Lees had gathered around $35,000 as of Wednesday December 11th.
Free-diving is diving done without an air supply, unlike SCUBA diving. Lobster taken by free-diving local breakwaters is typically done in relatively shallow water along the uppermost portions of the structure. Divers look into holes and crevices with the aid of a bright underwater light. Most breakwaters are porous and waters can surge and flow through and around the rocks. Hazards include becoming trapped within the breakwater, as well as becoming entangled in lost ropes wedged within the structure.
Free-diving to deeper depths also comes with the risk of “shallow water black-out” which is a result of low blood oxygen levels incurred at depth. Ascending toward the surface causes air within the lungs to expand and pull out the little oxygen remaining in the diver’s blood stream. The free-diver then looses consciousness just a few feet down a few seconds before reaching the surface.
Underwater work within harbors and ports is especially risky due to the abundance of lines and ropes left dangling from docks and piles or lost among the structures, coupled with typically murky conditions, low visibility and boat traffic.
