US Navy diving units are among the many government agencies using JW Fishers Pulse 8X metal detectors for their underwater search operations.  Several Navy dive teams have purchased the 8X including Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 1, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Units 4 & 11, Underwater Construction Team 2, and the Facilities Engineering Service Center in Port Hueneme, California.   The teams use the detectors for a variety of tasks such as locating explosive devices and weapons, finding anchors and chains, tracking pipelines and cables, and searching for tools that are dropped from ships and piers.  The detectors were also used by navy divers aiding in the recovery of debris from the I-35 bridge collapse in Minnesota.

Another government agency that has made the Pulse 8X their detector of choice is the FBI.  The Bureau’s dive units in New York, California, Florida, and Washington DC are all using these detectors for their underwater search operations.  Robert Chacon, head of the California unit calls the detector’s rugged construction “practically bulletproof”. Each team has purchased a quantity of these detectors along with a several of the interchangeable coils.  Six different coils can be attached to the detector’s electronics unit which gives the 8X tremendous versatility.  It can be used on land, diving to depths of 200 feet, or deployed from a boat.  Coil sizes range from a 1 inch diameter probe designed for getting into tight spots, to an 8 x 48 inch oval coil with 100 feet of cable that can be towed from a boat.   The oval coil recently helped sheriff’s department divers in Sonoma County, CA find a knife and gun used in a homicide. 

Other government agencies using the Fishers detectors are the US Border Patrol, US Forestry Service and the US Environmental Protection Agency.  Each of these agencies have diverse uses for the 8X.  It helps the Border Patrol search for weapons that are disposed of, and sometimes hidden in, rivers and water holes.  It aids the Forest Service in locating chains implanted in river banks to secure soil and vegetation, and it assists the EPA in locating drums of hazardous waste that are disposed of in our nation’s waterways. 

Foreign government agencies have also purchased the Pulse 8X. The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Conservation in Hong Kong is using the detector with the probe coil to find metal plates buried in the beach that mark the location of sea turtle nests.  Department spokesman KS Cheung says, “We have used some cheap detectors before, but their performance was poor.  A professor at Taiwan University used the Fisher detector for the same purpose and reported excellent results.”   In Australia a scientist with the Centre for International Agriculture and Research is using the detector to monitor shellfish populations. Dr. Tasman Crowe tracks the movements of marine snail colonies by detecting small metal tags affixed to their shells. And in the Sultanate of Oman, the 8X is helping the Ministry of Heritage and Culture locate submerged historical sites reports archeologist Tom Vosmer. 

For more information on Fishers complete line of underwater search equipment go to www.jwfishers.com.