What a GoPro Looks Like After 1½ Years at Bottom of Quarries

When something sinks 116 feet to the bottom of the Quarries, you generally don't get it back. My GoPro was risen from it's shallow grave after 1½ years under water! If you're wondering how that's even possible, keep reading...the story is quite interesting.

In July of 2016, we dropped off my 14-year old son and his friend at the Quarries in Waite Park. We had just got a new GoPro and they wanted to get cool footage of them jumping off the cliffs and into the water.

Little did we know that even with the floating accessory, the GoPro can easily unlatch and slip out of it's casing that holds it to the accessories. That's exactly what happened after a jump, and when my son came up from the water, the camera was gone from it's casing -- underwater and lost for good. I've never seen a kid feel so bad, ever.

It's been a year and a half since, and Saturday morning we get a knock at the door from a Stearns County sheriff's deputy. She (Laura was her name) asked if I was "Barry" and I was a little worried WHY was the sheriff at my house. Assuming the worst, I said "yes, that's me, and why do you ask?". Laura pulls out a GoPro and said they believe it belongs to me after looking through the footage on the camera! The only way they were able to identify who we were is because I recorded a video of me cruising around St. Cloud with the GoPro on my helmet, and and one point I was facing my motorcycle license plate, so they knew who it belonged to when they saw that. Laura had a big smile on her face seeing my surprise and when I asked how they found it, she said that divers went 116 feet to the bottom of the Quarries and recovered dozens of cameras, and this was one of them.

Here's what I learned from that experience:

1. The quality of GoPro is unbelievable. The camera works perfectly and just needs a little cleaning on the outside. The sim card and charging port were perfectly sealed and untouched by water.
2. Our St. Cloud area law enforcement are stellar. They're not always out to bite us, and really enjoy seeing people smile. They do so much more than make arrests. I'm at fault like most of us for thinking it's a 'bad' thing if we see them.
3. Don't record anything you may not want anybody else to see. I'm glad we're pretty straight-laced in our household and didn't have anything on the GoPro that we may not have wanted others to see. In this case, it probably would have been an interesting conversation if there would have been questionable video content!

Oh, and if you're wondering how my son reacted about the news of the GoPro being recovered? Here's my text to him on Saturday: