With about 100 miles of dramatic coastlines, the Isle of Man can be a paradise to those who seek to embrace nature’s beauty.

But the history of the island is one which teaches one consistent lesson, the sea is a cruel mistress.

If a person falls into the Irish Sea which surrounds this isle, or there is a suspected drowning, the Isle of Man Underwater Search and Recovery team are on hand to support emergency services in their search.

But this wasn’t always the case. Michelle Haywood, the charity’s secretary explains how the death of Joshua Caley on New Year’s Eve 2015 inspired the charity’s creation.

She said: ’Many people think the government has a team of divers to send in in the event it was needed, but this is just not the case.

’There has been underwater search teams drawn from the fire service, but they were disbanded some time ago.’

The charity, consisting of members aged from late 20s through to early 50s are on hand to respond if requested by Civil Defence or the police.

The team have the equipment to be able to search in lakes, ponds, reservoirs, quarries and around the coast of the island up to between 80 and 100 metres.

Sometimes the team will go out in boats equipped with sonar equipment to recover a sunken watercraft or, as was the case recently, recover submerged fishing gear worth around £20,000.

It took volunteers three days and around a dozen dives to untangle it from rocks and bring it to the surface.

The relieved fisherman made a donation to the charity.

Other times it can be the most trivial of searches. A few Sundays ago, three of the team recovered a smartphone that a woman had accidently let slip into the harbour.

After 24 hours immersed in seawater, her phone switched back on. She also expressed her gratitude by making a donation.

The divers are supported by shore-side volunteers to aid with coordinating searches, communications, ferrying kit around or even making welcome cups of tea.

Furthermore, not everyone who ends up in the sea and drowns will sink. Some bodies will float and eventually wash up on shore, so the volunteers will need to be on hand in this scenario.

Chairman of the charity, Sean O’Connell worked as an inshore commercial diver for nine years and was a worked for the Gardaí in Dublin for 16 years.

For five of his 16 years, he was part of the police diving search team and was involved in over 90 searches for missing persons.

Mr O’Connell, who previously won Channel 4’s Come Dine With Me Isle of Man special, said: ’I searched for suicides, murder victims and accidental drownings. You name it, I looked for it.

’And if you can imagine most things that are liquid, I’ve been in them - rivers with zero visibility, canals, lakes, the sea and sewers.

’I’ve lost count of the amount of bodies I’ve recovered from water.’

He added: ’After working in search and recovery for the police I know how important it is for a family to receive the remains so that they have somebody to mourn and bury.’

Michelle, who also runs Discover Diving in Port St Mary, revealed she receives requests from recreational scuba divers to join the charity.

She added: ’It’s one thing to gain a scuba diving qualification whilst on holiday in the aqua-marine waters of sun-drenched resort and something totally different exploring the island’s freezing-cold waters.

’It’s certainly not for those who have done a little bit of diving on holiday and think they would like to jump in.

’The waters around the Isle of Man can be some of the fastest moving, darkest and coldest that you can dive in around the British Isles.’

The charity welcomed a donation from PokerStars which enabled the charity to buy full-face masks fitted with communication systems which allow divers to talk to each other and with the surface team.

The charity also requires a generator to provide power in isolated spots around the island and has ordered specialist training mannequins to practice handling and retrieving a body from the water.

To discover more information about the charity, visit: www.iomunderwatersearchteam.weebly.comor www.justgiving.com/underwatersearch-recovery

On New Year’s Eve 2015, during a night out with friends, Joshua Caley was tragically lost to the sea and has never been found. At the time, the island didn’t have a dedicated underwater search and recovery team. Sam Turton discovers how a dedicated team of volunteers has changed that.