Below Deck fans should brace themselves as Captain Lee Rosbach introduces a chilling true crime case during Deadly Waters‘ season finale.
In Us Weekly‘s exclusive clip from the season 1 finale, which airs on Saturday, July 20, Lee, 74, sets the scene. “Just a 22 mile ferry ride west of Los Angeles, Catalina Island sits in the vast Pacific Ocean,” he begins. “In its heyday, it was a playground for the Hollywood elite. “Now it is a resort island playing host to tourists, cruise ships and recreational boaters alike. But even in this beautiful beach community, grisly secrets can wash up.”
The sneak peek continues with journalist Tricia Takasugi describing what took place on the island in 2006. “A pleasure boat operator was heading toward Catalina Island. He notices a flock of seagulls who are shrieking and feeding on something,” she recalls. “He sees something floating in the water. It turns out to be a body.”
The synopsis for the Deadly Waters season finale describes how “three missing fingers point to the identity of a body” that is found off the coast of Catalina Island. Authorities are ultimately plunged into “the mysterious investigation of a wealthy mogul, a luxurious yacht, and a manhunt for a killer hiding in an unlikely place.”
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Before joining Deadly Waters, Lee was part of the Below Deck franchise, which debuted in 2013.
Lee didn’t return for season 11 and was instead replaced with Below Deck Adventure‘s Captain Kerry Titheradge. The Below Deck OG transitioned into running his “Salty With Captain Lee” podcast and Oxygen’s Deadly Waters With Captain Lee.
During an interview with Us, Lee admitted that Below Deck didn’t prepare him for his new gig, sharing in May, “Not at all. I mean, there’s cameras and water. That’s where all similarities end. … [With Deadly Waters], you’re talking about bodies popping up and about the effect that it has on the relatives and the mothers and the fathers and the sisters and the people that are left behind.”
Lee said it was nice to be back in front of the camera with Deadly Waters.
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“For one, it’s got something to do with water. So usually if it’s got something to do with water, I’m in. I [also] like crime shows. I’ve been watching Law and Order and all of the whodunits for a million years,” he noted. “I’m that guy that sits there and thinks he’s got it all figured out and then realizes that he wasn’t anywhere close to what really happened.”
The captain used his own time at sea as a resource for the show, adding, “There’s certain aspects that when a murder is committed on dry land, maybe they’re gonna drive the body somewhere or dig a hole and put it in there. When you’re on the water, the most obvious thing is, ‘We’re gonna dump it over the side.’ But what they fail to realize is — especially if they don’t know anything about tides, currents or wind waves — is that what necessarily goes over the side and sinks to the bottom doesn’t necessarily stay at the bottom.”
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He continued: “There’s a reason that bodies don’t stay down where they’re supposed to or where their perpetrators want them to. But because they don’t know about the ocean and they don’t know what water can do, it puts them at a disadvantage. That’s where our dedicated men from the people that serve in maritime law enforcement agencies have a distinct advantage because they do know. The Coast Guard when they get involved, the maritime police [and] the Navy. They have a thankless job and it all too often gets extremely gruesome.”
The season 1 finale of Deadly Waters With Captain Lee premieres on Oxygen Saturday, July 20, at 9 p.m. ET.
