Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Lost GoPro underwater for a year

Do you know this house? Shot from a GoPro equipped drone that has been found in the ocean one year later.
Do you know this house? Shot from a GoPro equipped drone that has been found in the ocean one year later.

John LaGrange was diving off of Solana Beach on October 30, looking for a fish to spear for dinner. Out past the surf, in about twelve feet of clear water, he noticed something lodged on a little sand crevice, between two rocks. It was a small drone that carried a GoPro camera.

With help from his son Patrick, La Grange was able to capture the drone’s video of the fateful flight. According to the last time stamp it took off on November 2, 2013, from a vacant lot on the ocean-top bluff on Border Avenue.

Upside-down fish caught on camera

The drone went out over the ocean, then slowly lost power, and descended into the water. The video kept running as the camera sunk, picking up the dying battery warning beep, but also capturing swaying kelp and a few fish swimming around.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Still photos on the camera show an image of who, La Grange believes, was the drone’s pilot, along with the front of a house in Solana Beach. On November 4, LaGrange believes he found that house, and left a note on the front door, hoping to reunite the camera with its owner.

Video:

GoPro crashes into the ocean

The last footage from a quad copter drone recovered from 12 feet of water off south Solana Beach. It was found one year after the date of the last recording.

The last footage from a quad copter drone recovered from 12 feet of water off south Solana Beach. It was found one year after the date of the last recording.

“I found the camera only a few hundred feet from where the video shows it went into the water,” says LaGrange. The drone was side down in the sand, due to the weight of the motors being on top of the unit. “It's amazing it survived,” added LaGrange.

Earlier models of the hobbyist drones, such as the one La Grange found, would simply fall slowly back to the ground when the batteries went low. Newer versions now use GPS guidance to return the devices to the place of origin, even if the controller is unable to maneuver due to weather, dying batteries, or loss of transmission range.

The LaGranges posted the camera’s video on YouTube. LaGrange asks for anyone recognizing the pilot to contact him. (One may contact LaGrange through the Solana Beach lifeguard station or through this author’s Reader contact link.)

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Pie pleasure at Queenstown Public House

A taste of New Zealand brings back happy memories
Do you know this house? Shot from a GoPro equipped drone that has been found in the ocean one year later.
Do you know this house? Shot from a GoPro equipped drone that has been found in the ocean one year later.

John LaGrange was diving off of Solana Beach on October 30, looking for a fish to spear for dinner. Out past the surf, in about twelve feet of clear water, he noticed something lodged on a little sand crevice, between two rocks. It was a small drone that carried a GoPro camera.

With help from his son Patrick, La Grange was able to capture the drone’s video of the fateful flight. According to the last time stamp it took off on November 2, 2013, from a vacant lot on the ocean-top bluff on Border Avenue.

Upside-down fish caught on camera

The drone went out over the ocean, then slowly lost power, and descended into the water. The video kept running as the camera sunk, picking up the dying battery warning beep, but also capturing swaying kelp and a few fish swimming around.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Still photos on the camera show an image of who, La Grange believes, was the drone’s pilot, along with the front of a house in Solana Beach. On November 4, LaGrange believes he found that house, and left a note on the front door, hoping to reunite the camera with its owner.

Video:

GoPro crashes into the ocean

The last footage from a quad copter drone recovered from 12 feet of water off south Solana Beach. It was found one year after the date of the last recording.

The last footage from a quad copter drone recovered from 12 feet of water off south Solana Beach. It was found one year after the date of the last recording.

“I found the camera only a few hundred feet from where the video shows it went into the water,” says LaGrange. The drone was side down in the sand, due to the weight of the motors being on top of the unit. “It's amazing it survived,” added LaGrange.

Earlier models of the hobbyist drones, such as the one La Grange found, would simply fall slowly back to the ground when the batteries went low. Newer versions now use GPS guidance to return the devices to the place of origin, even if the controller is unable to maneuver due to weather, dying batteries, or loss of transmission range.

The LaGranges posted the camera’s video on YouTube. LaGrange asks for anyone recognizing the pilot to contact him. (One may contact LaGrange through the Solana Beach lifeguard station or through this author’s Reader contact link.)

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gonzo Report: Eating dinner while little kids mock-mosh at Golden Island

“The tot absorbs the punk rock shot with the skill of experience”
Next Article

Poway’s schools, faced with money squeeze, fined for voter mailing

$105 million bond required payback of nearly 10 times that amount
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader