On the 1st of November we set out to survey a wreck 3 hours north of Koh Tao at a depth of 40-50m called the Torpedo Wreck. Due to the depth of this dive careful planning and technical training are a must to dive it. 

As we set off from Koh Tao we had perfect conditions, flat sea's, blue water and very little water movement when we arrived at the wreck site. The mission was to locate and map the areas of the wreck that were covered in nets as previous dives have made it clear the wreck is heavily fished and often caught but trawling nets that get discarded.

With the mission in hand we set off on our first dive to survey the wreck. When we arrived down at around 46m we noticed the usual nets over the bow and covering the stern as well as one draped over the cargo hold. But the main thing we noticed was the ammount of dead fish on the wreck.

Most were dead Barracuda, Snappers and Rabbit fish but some of the Barracuda were still alive (just) but laying down on the wreck opening and closing their mouths like they were not long going to be still alive.

On the surface interval all the teams had notice this and we estimated that 1-2000 fish had been dumped over the wreck by trawlers that had by catch or rotting fish as they may have been out fishing for days. On the second dive the first team sent up one of the live barracuda but when we pulled it out the fish was rotting, not dead but was rotting from the inside. We believe the fish were dumped by fishing boats that were moored up around the wreck as they were rotting on board and fisherman had no use for them.

A sad sight to behold and goes to show us how much the fisherman take and then just throw back in without a seconds thought. Fishing is big business in Thailand but is it sustainable when they are practicing it like this? 

In conclusion we found the wreck covered in nets but the larger problem was definately the trawlers who had dumped there by catch. Without technical training and completing missions like this we would never have known about these actions taking place.