Scotland is filled with winding rivers, creeks, and large bodies of water. While these can look beautiful, they also play the part of an unsuspecting killer- beneath the surface of these waters can be deadly currents and ensnaring rocks. It’s no wonder that so many missing people in Scotland are found near or in bodies of water.
Unfortunately, the police don’t always have the resources to search these treacherous terrains for extended periods. That’s where Beneath the Surface comes in.
“We don’t do it for fame or fortune. We never ask for a penny from families.”
Beneath the Surface is an underwater search-and-recovery team based in Lancashire, who operate completely off volunteers and donations.
Founded accidentally by divers who shared a passion for diving on wrecks, Beneath the Surface has been active since 2019.
Brig spoke to Phil Jones, a founding member of Beneath the Surface, to gain some insight into how the group operate.
Phil told us about the first missing person the team ever found.
“One Christmas period, [around] four years ago, we saw a social media post from a family trying to raise a lot of money to pay a private dive team to search for their missing loved one.
“We felt people shouldn’t have to pay for this, so we reached out to the family to offer our help for free and to keep the money as a backup,” he said.
After their first recovery, the team realised how many more families may be suffering- they have missing loved ones, but no money to look for them.
In Scotland alone, there are currently 42 active missing persons cases. Phil told Brig how this realisation spurred the team to continue their searches.
“We had no idea what was about to happen, how many people go missing in UK waterways every year and how many grieving families there were,” he said.
“It has snowballed very quickly from there. We also have conducted searches for missing dogs and lost property in our local areas.”
Beneath the Surface consists of volunteers, meaning that the group have to paying jobs outside of their search and recovery commitments.
“We operate at weekends and try to cover all our expenses from our Monday to Friday jobs.
“What we do is extremely emotionally, mentally, and physically draining, and we don’t do it for fame or fortune. We never ask for a penny from families.”
The team have travelled around the UK to roughly 30-40 different locations, many of which they have visited more than once.
Time management is crucial in running this group, with jobs and family to prioritise alongside their diving.
Phil said: “Trying to find the time is difficult as we spend Monday to Friday working our jobs and then we leave our families at weekends to try and help others.
“We have a team of seven or eight volunteers at the moment, some based in England, and some based in Scotland, and we operate when we can. We tend to be able to organise a search team quite quickly.”
Alongside the physically taxing side of the job is the emotionally taxing one. Beneath the Surface is a search and recovery group – unlike a search and rescue, they plan on finding the person deceased. They are only called in when the missing person has no chance of a rescue.
Regarding being a search and recovery group, Phil said: “Sadly, this means we can never provide a happy outcome and are only ever able to give bad news which is emotionally tough. We either can’t find the person, or we find the person deceased.”
On top of all of this, the team pay for their accommodation, transport, and any other costs of a trip themselves. They do accept donations, but they believe that it is more important to spend donations on equipment that will aid them in their searches.
“If people are generous enough to make a donation to us then we feel it should be a legacy to the missing loved ones and while it won’t ease the families suffering perhaps it can be of small comfort that what happened to their loved one may help other families in future,” Phil explained.
So far, the team have been able to purchase an Underwater Camera ROV and Full-Face Masks with a communications system. Both these tools improve the safety of the divers when underwater and aid in their searches.
Phil told Brig that they currently have multiple items on their “wishlist”, but one stands out above the rest. They are looking to purchase an AquaEye, a handheld sonar gun used to find human bodies in water.
“The AquaEye is widely used in the USA however there are only two or three units currently in the UK. The AquaEye costs approximately £6000,” Phil said.
For more information about Beneath the Surface, or to get in contact with them, click here.
The team are still accepting donations, if this is a cause that you feel strongly about you can donate here.
Featured Image Credit: Beneath the Surface / Facebook
Fourth year student journalist studying Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Journalism Studies.
Words at Brig, The Daily Evergreen, Alloa Advertiser, Discovery Music Scotland, and The Mourning Paper.
