'A job that has to be done': Being an RCMP diver is not for the faint-hearted
There are only about 70 RCMP divers in Canada who are often tasked with finding bodies and evidence
They work in a murky world, where they are often sent out to search by touch alone.
And a day's work can involve hunting for bodies — the victims of accidents or crimes — that are lost in lakes, rivers or the ocean.
The members of the RCMP Underwater Recovery Team form a specialized unit that is on call across the country. There are only about 70 RCMP divers in Canada, so it's an elite group that's used to working in extreme conditions.
A small team with six members and more being trained is on call for the Maritime provinces. The team is made up of regular officers who are called on whenever a search is needed in water.
Underwater recovery isn't for everybody.- RCMP Cpl. Mark Bishop
In the past year, that has involved about 20 call-outs.
"Primarily we look for missing people or missing items underwater, whether it's related to investigation [or] a piece of evidence," said RCMP Cpl. Mark Bishop.
"It could be anything as small as a bullet to as large as a car, plane, boat."
This is not work for the faint-hearted.
The grim reality of underwater recovery is that the team is often sent to find bodies after an accident.
Giving families closure
"It's a job that has to be done," said Bishop.
"Underwater recovery isn't for everybody. When we're looking for a missing person, we're helping the family as well because [when] we locate that person, we're giving them some closure."
Sometimes, the team is sent to search for important evidence.
The team has twice found evidence "instrumental" in leading to a conviction in murder cases, said Bishop.
All the divers have been through weeks of training at the RCMP training centre in Nanaimo, B.C.
Training day
This month saw the Maritimes RCMP team undertake a day of training at the Department of Natural Resources office on Lake William in Waverley, N.S.
Divers arrived in a specialized truck that carries their equipment and can act as a mobile command centre for the search. It also includes a compressor, so that divers' air tanks can be filled on site.
A supervising diver ticked off a checklist of equipment and tasks for each diver.
Once in the water, divers were tethered by rope to a supporting team member on shore.
'We do a lot by feel'
The December training exercise was in shallow water in reasonable visibility.
But a real call-out could be in February, in a snowstorm, in the dark.
"We do a lot by feel, for things as small as a cellphone or bullets," said Bishop. "We train in zero visibility and sometimes complete darkness."
Poor visibility isn't the only challenge the team faces.
Sgt. Ross Burt of the Halifax Regional Police is also a member of the team as part of the force's integrated unit with the RCMP.
Cold, dark conditions
He remembers being towed on an underwater sledge off Peggys Cove, searching for a tourist swept into the ocean from the lighthouse rocks.
"I was so cold that I couldn't feel my arms or shoulders," he said.
The job can be demanding both physically and mentally.
"It's not something everybody can do," said Burt. "Nobody does what we do, and we've got great camaraderie with the team."
There are resources in place within the force to help divers deal with the inevitable stress of recovering bodies, but the team members also rely heavily on each other for help — both in the water and on land.
"We're really, really close and we look after each other a lot internally," said Burt.
Always on call
The next call for help could come tomorrow or next month.
They never know.
And while they wait, they gear up for the next training exercise under the ice in a New Brunswick lake in February.
It's fun for the divers, but there's a tragic subtext: they practise there for the inevitable winter accidents involving snowmobiles and drivers crashing through the ice.
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