A B.C. scuba diver recently filmed his underwater excursion, exploring an intentionally sunken Boeing 737 plane, which carries with it a fascinating history.
Daily Hive connected with Carl Sorensen, who recently posted a video of his underwater exploration of the 737 artificial reef off Vancouver Island in the municipality of Chemainus.
We talked to Sorensen about the dive and about his diving history, and he told Daily Hive he actually did this dive once before, about four years ago.
“There is a lot more life on the aircraft now, though. We dove the 737 last Sunday (June 28, 2026) on a dive organized by a local dive shop.”
Sorensen is 45 years old and is from B.C., having lived on Vancouver Island his entire life. He has been diving for about five years. We wondered what sort of preparations a diver needs to take on an adventure like this one.
He said that deeper dives like this one are around 80 to 90 feet, and for dives like this, divers use a breathing gas called Nitrox.
“We used a blend of 32 per cent oxygen, which reduces the nitrogen build-up in our systems and allows us to spend more time exploring the wreck at depth; we’d need to ascend to reduce the risk of DCS (decompression sickness).”
He also told Daily Hive that the Artificial Reef Society of BC intentionally sank the 737. The aircraft is one that Air Canada deemed no longer airworthy, so it donated it to the society after stripping its usable components.
According to the Artificial Reef Society, this 737 is the first artificial reef in B.C. from an aircraft. It was sunk on Jan. 14, 2006. The aircraft was decommissioned due to age and structural issues.
Filming brings its own preparations.
“For me, outside of other divers, I need to take extra time preparing my camera gear. My camera fits inside of an aluminum housing with a large glass dome on the front to protect the lens. I need to take powerful video lights as well, and also an underwater monitor attached to the housing, which allows me to compose my shots. The entire camera rig weighs 36 pounds out of the water, but it’s essentially neutral when in the water.”
For knowing where to dive, the 737 is marked for divers with a large surface buoy.
Is it dangerous? Not so much, he says.
Sorensen suggested a dive like this is in a mild current area and on a flat ocean bottom, with a maximum depth of 90 feet, which he says is “well within recreational limits.”
The main safety concerns relate to monitoring bottom time so as not to exceed decompression limits.
“If you choose to enter the airplane, you need to be extremely careful because you’re entering an overhead environment. You also do not want to stir up silt, or you could reduce visibility to zero, which could be dangerous. There aren’t really any dangerous wildlife in the area.”
Sorensen says the reef is making excellent progress and “life is really taking hold.”
“Large plumose anemones, starfish, rockfish, nudibranchs, sea cucumbers, feather stars, and more are growing and living all over the plane.”
Sorensen films all of his dives, which you can find on his YouTube channel or website.
He also has three films airing on PBS that were filmed in local waters through the Ambient Film Franchise: Reef in Browning Passage, Kelp Forest in Browning Passage, and Shipwrecks of BC.
Getting the plane into the water was quite the process.
“The process of finding an underwater home for the aircraft proved a turbulent one, with sites considered from Vancouver to Sechelt to Courtenay/Comox and Victoria,” the society says.
The plane was mounted on 11-foot-high support stands before being lowered by crane into the waters of the Georgia Strait off Chemainus.
Artificial Reef Society of BC
You can read more about it on the society’s website.