My kid has risky hobbies. He likes to participate in "urban exploration" which is essentially prowling around abandoned buildings. And of course he is doing it (as you do) in New Orleans and surrounding areas.
Now he wants to try magnet fishing. In the canals, lakes, ponds, creeks, etc around NOLA. This is essentially dragging a high powered magnet across the bottom of a waterway and pulling out what you find. So I googled it. All kinds of really fun stuff is coming up from the murky depths! Guns, explosive devices, safes and a wide variety of stolen items are being found. Some of the pictures are impressive! I would guess he is about become a Glock owner, since its popular with NOLA urban residents.
So.... is anyone out there actually doing this? Where are you doing it? And what have you found?
Damn kids....
I did see an episode of Expedition Unknown where the metal detector dude (Gary Drayton) from The Curse of Oak Island was magnet fishing and he was dragging up stuff fairly easily.
Update: First pistol recovered! Taurus Millennium G2 9mm. Locked up tight. After the recovery, the kid made many attempts to turn it to District 1 NOPD. He finally had to force it on a cop he came across parked at a restaurant eating dinner. No Glocks yet, but he has only been doing it for about 2 weeks.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: YooperSigs,

Anything found that may have been used in a crime should probably be reported to local law enforcement.

After all, he might be considered a suspect in any prior crimes for which it might have been used.

It might be an idea to keep a record (maybe with a camera with date/time) of items rescued.

I had the whole stolen property and guns used in prior crimes conversation with him already. His stated goal is to find historical items.
Which might be true and possible, give the history of NOLA but I think it will include other less desirable stuff.

We used to magnet fish under and around each and every ship I was stationed on, and every now and then so did other ships crew....it gets real boring when the ship doesn’t sink/burn while at the pier, but I digress. Anyway, we found all kinds of pots, pans, cutlery, and tools. One shipmate found an old stainless ruger revolver while diving under the docks in the Withlacoochie River in Yankeetown Fla. one of our reservists Kness who lost it and eventually it wS returned to the owner, but the steel parts were toast.

Whole ton of shit. Since Katrina God knows what ended up in the rivers, bayous etc. During one of the cleanups they pulled out refrigerators and washing machines. What does he do for a living? Sounds like he is the age of my kids. Here is a link to an interesting story. LINK:

https://www.wlox.com/2019/06/0...e-ship-come-america/

This is the story of recently discovered slave ship, the Clotilda.

Ahhh.... Katrina. I had not considered that. Thanks!

I used to scuba dive around the public docks on Lake Washington- If it can be carried to the water it's been thrown in.

The guns surprisingly were mostly straight down at the end of the dock.

Another concern I have is what are they going to do with all the junk and garage they pull up. Are they just going to chuck it back in the water or leave it on the shore. Are they now responsible for proper disposal?

quote:

Originally posted by gpbst3:
Another concern I have is what are they going to do with all the junk and garage they pull up.

If you're going to do it more than once- You need to remove the debri to clear the area for the new stuff.

I have 6-10 docks that produce and I would dive weekly during the summer.

130 pair of sunglasses in 3 months.

You're only getting ferrous metals with the magnet- I've taken at least 14 ounces of 14K gold jewelry out of Lake Washington.

A friend recovered golf balls in a stream next to a golf course to pay for his scuba gear.

Another good point I had not considered...
What to do with all the junk you find. Thanks!

quote:

He likes to participate in "urban exploration" which is essentially prowling around abandoned buildings. And of course he is doing it (as you do) in New Orleans and surrounding areas.

He needs to be up on Louisiana trespassing laws.

La trespassing law