Streamed video shows sunken Tahoe shipwreck

An eight-minute video posted on the State Parks Facebook page over the weekend shows a 100-foot barge on the bottom of Emerald Bay at Lake Tahoe. It is the public’s first look at a new underwater trail at Emerald Bay State Park that leads to two barges and 12 recreational boats.

It was broadcast Friday on Facebook Live as the Department of Parks unveiled the Emerald Bay Maritime Heritage Trail. To see the video, go to Facebook, and under search, type in “Diving in Emerald Bay” and select the video from California State Parks.

The hope was to broadcast a live dive to the sites Friday, a landmark attempt to provide a first look at several sunken wrecks. However, there were problems from the start.

First, the video was delayed by 56 minutes, which caused only about 40 people to stick around to see it (by Sunday, there had been more than 2,500 views of the video).

The divers then showed the 100-foot barge and not a vintage 27-foot launch, which — along with other sport craft — was expected to be the star of the show. Those who narrated the event appeared to be winging it and said they didn’t know whether their comments were being aired.

In any case, the video offers a a unique glimpse of Lake Tahoe’s past. It would make many wonder what else is down there, and perhaps want to learn how to scuba dive to see the other sunken treasures.

Tahoe’s depth, cold and altitude preserve anything that goes down. Many have long figured there are mobsters from the roaring ’20s, perhaps with bullet holes in their foreheads and wearing pinstripe suits that are preserved perfectly in the depths off South Lake Tahoe.

To help divers locate the wrecks in Emerald Bay, State Parks is providing GPS locations and waterproof interpretive cards, and on the lake bottom, each of the sites is placarded.

The locations for three of the dive sites had not been released until now, said Adeline Yee of State Parks.

Among the dive shops able to assist are: Tahoe Dive Center, 775-884-3483, http://tahoedivecenter.com; Adventure Scuba Center, 775-826-5333, http://renoscuba.com; Sierra Diving Center, 775-825-2147, www.sierradive.com.