Vincent J. Capone, M.Sc., FN-89
Side Scan Sonar Subject Matter Expert • Hydrographer • ROV Pilot • Marine Technology Instructor Fellow, The Explorers Club (FN-89)
Email: vince.capone@blacklaserlearning.com
Location: Bath, ME USA
Website: www.blacklaserlearning.com, Blacklaserlearning.vhx.tv
Vince Capone is a recognized side scan sonar subject matter expert and instructor with 35+ years of experience in hydrographic surveys, side scan sonar search operations, and training military units, law enforcement agencies, search and rescue teams, commercial survey teams, and marine researchers.
He is the founder of Black Laser Learning, producer of 35+ sonar training videos, and developer of the U.S. Navy MK 18 Basic & Advanced Side Scan Sonar Training Programs. His most popular commercial, Side Scan Sonar training video, has over 850 copies circulating worldwide. Vince also developed and taught hydrographic programs for the US Navy Underwater Construction Teams (UCT) and sonar/magnetometer training programs for the US DoD Humanitarian Demining Training Center (HDTC).
Clients include the US Navy (EOD, NOMWC, MDSU, UCT, NSCT-1, SPAWAR, NIWC, SOCOM Divers, NAVSEA, IHMEP). Vince trained numerous foreign allies, including the Israeli Navy, the Irish Navy, the South Korean Navy, the Montenegrin Navy, KH EOD Divers, the Royal Solomon Islands Police, and the New Zealand Navy. He has worked with or trained the FBI, USACE, DOJ, RCMPs, USEPA, USEPACIS, State Police, and dozens of law enforcement agencies, as well as fire/rescue groups & park service personnel.
Working with the NIWC Point Loma Lab, he assisted in integrating sensors and software into MK 18 UUVs and in implementing and training AI-based automatic target detection systems (ATR).
His career started with a marine division at an environmental consulting firm, then he moved on to Oceaneering. Later, he founded Marine Search & Survey, conducting hundreds of SSS and hydrographic surveys. He was an early adopter of commercial multibeam technology in the mid-1990s. He was a noted small-medium class ROV pilot, starting with Chris Nicholson's Mini-rover MK II in the late 1980s.
He has found numerous ships, aircraft, hazardous-waste drums, and other items lost at sea, including America’s oldest intact warship and the German submarine U-215. Vince has served as an expert witness in maritime cases and is recognized by the US Federal Court System and the US Navy as a sonar subject-matter expert.
Vince started his underwater career in the mid-1970s as a diver exploring the shipwrecks of New Jersey. He earned degrees in Marine Biology and Marine Science with minors in geology and experimental statistics. As an Underwater Archaeological Assistant, he assisted with the underwater documentation of the Land Tortoise radeau, America's oldest intact warship. The archaeological work earned him induction into the Explorer's Club in 1989.
In 2014, he received the Citation of Merit as operations manager for locating and recovering the Apollo rocket motors from the deep ocean off the coast of Florida. Vince frequently presents programs on adventure, history, and the search for lost shipwrecks. Vince has been a guest lecturer and presented at the US Naval Academy, universities, dive shows, and historical societies. He has appeared on live TV with Erin Bernet Live and on the Sea Hunters TV Series in association with author Clive Cussler.