R & R in Buenos Aires

After having finished this season´s contract with Peregrine Shipping, I am taking a few days in Buenos Aires to recharge before I return to Ushuaia and to the Antarctic Peninsula for the final month of cruising. Yes, another full month! Believe it or not, my last trip is leaving on March 21 and due back in port April 1.

The next two trips will be with scuba diving customers, one on "Grigoriy Mikheev" and the next on its sister ship "Aleksey Maryshev", then the final trip will be on "Professor Multanovskiy" which is currently still operating for Quark Expeditions.

The last trip on Peregrine´s vessel "Akademik Ioffe" went to the Falklands, South Georgia and the northern Peninsula region. It was my first trip on the Ioffe and it took me a few days to get used to its slightly different setup. But the trip itself went great and the rest of the staff team were really great to work with again.

On the previous Falklands-South Georgia-AntPen (with Akad. Sergey Vavilov) trip we had made a landing on the South Orkneys, on this one we managed to zodiac cruise around Point Wild - what else can one wish for! As per usual, we got blown out of a few sites in South Georgia, but we always managed to make up for that by visiting some other places. And the Falklands impressed me yet again: incredible wildlife experiences, fantastic people, great atmosphere...

We were also briefed by several of the Quark management staff on the ongoing and future changes to the company and to our operations, now that Quark has assumed control of the former "Adventurefleet" ships, including Vavilov and Ioffe. The Quark Fleet will certainly be the biggest player on the market from now on, both in terms of ships and in terms of passenger capacity, with Hurtigruten as no.2 on the Antarctic market and Oceanwide as no. 2 on the Arctic (counting the current Arctic charter of "Antarctic Dream" as a part of the Oceanwide fleet).

On all occasions have Quark management confirmed that they will not resume scuba diving operations as part of their programme, so Oceanwide (and Waterproof Exp.) will remain the only players on that field.

Additionally, Quark is expanding its commitment in the Svalbard-East Greenland area by one ship. The Akademik Shokalsky will be joining the Akademik Sergey Vavilov in that area, so one can expect more encounters and more need for careful scheduling in the Svalbard area as well.

Interesting times!

Proceedings of the 2007 International Polar Diving Workshop available

The Smithsonian Institute's Scientific Diving Program has recently held an international workshop on Polar Diving in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard. The proceedings are now available here and I have also uploaded them on my own website's download section.

Here is an overview of the contents of this proceedings issue:




Interestingly, the workshop also covered the "USCGC Healy Diving Mishap" where two US coast guard divers died during an under-ice dive. According to the report, there were several serious and hair-raising issues with the divers' qualifications, the site and dive supervision, inadequate training of dive tenders (who apparently were also consuming alcohol), extraordinary amounts of lead weights used by divers ("... in excess of 60 pounds...") and the list just goes on.
As I had blogged a while after the incident, this had also some serious consequences for the commanding officer of the USCGC Healy (see original posting here).

But the proceedings also specify the national requirements for ice diving for the various polar research programs:





Although it is a pretty thick volume to read through, it definitely contains lots of valuable information on polar diving, and not only for scientific diving applications but also for the recreational diver or even underwater photographers.

DEMA show 2007 - Orlando

Last week, the "Diving Equipment & Marketing Association" (DEMA) held their annual trade fair at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. This event is the industry's only international trade-only event and regularly features new product showcases, new destinations, and new companies.



Oceanwide Expeditions has traditionally been one of the exhibitors at the show, and this year I was invited to join the US staff at the booth and to give the seminar presentations on Oceanwide's polar diving activities.



To give you a feeling for the size of the event, here is a floorplan (Oceanwide's booth is marked with a red circle).



Apart from the two seminar presentations, we had to man the booth during opening hours, meet with long-time clients as well as potential future business partners and offer information, brochures and in-depth information (no pun intended ;-) about our diving operations.



Here you can see Marina (Oceanwide's US office) and Michel (Oceanwide's executive director) at our booth.

We had a quite successful show, all things considered, and have been able to establish some very interesting contacts as well as renewed some previous contacts with tour operators and agents. This was not a customer event and there were almost no items on display or for purchase. Such trade-only events seem mostly about number-crunching and hand-shaking and not so much about buying or selling, but I was able to check out some new products and make some contacts with equipment manufacturers in between presentations.

One of the most interesting things to see during the show were the new Poseidon Cis-Lunar Mk VI rebreather which is a remarkably compact and lightweight unit.



It also bears strange resemblance to the Seaway CORA II rebreather which I was able to test dive last year in prototype version. Unfortunately this unit never really made it into full production and sales, the company seems to have disappeared or at least its internet presence is suspended (site under construction).

Another interesting bit of news is the Poseidon Flexisuit which is hoped to appeal to the advanced rebreather and technical diver community. I tried it, it is extremely soft and flexible, but for my taset even TOO soft and TOO flexible.

But a front-entry zip has of course always en vogue in the tech/rb community so I guess this suit is going to be a hit (just not with me). Here is a picture:



Another exciting new product which unfortunately was not quite ready yet for the market is the OTS full-face mask. Unfortunately, I was not able to take a picture but it resembles pretty much the Interspiro (AGA) mask that everybody knows as the "gold standard" for lightweight FFM's.



Interspiro Divator

But the guys at OTS had the ambition to make an even better FFM so they pulled up a list of issues that users have had with the IS Divator mask:

• bad fit for small/narrow faces
• regulator is permanently attached to FFM body
• regulator comes from the left (as is usual in rescue/recovery, professional and firefighter masks, but not in sports diving)
• mask body has quite large volume above the oral/nasal cavity (thus often requires counterweights attached to the sides)
• quite highly priced

So they tried to fix it, and here is what they came up with (so sorry, still only text):

• double latex seal for improved fit
• detacheable regulator (p-connector with release button inside)
• regulator can be mounted from left or right
• mask body with smaller volume (only slightly, but they say it makes a difference...)
• roughly 50% of the retail price of the IS Divator (but shipping will start approx. in 6 months, so who knows...)

On top of that they have decided to offer it in a range of attractive color combinations... ;-)






I ended up not buying (or rather, ordering) a mask from them yet, as they admitted that it would still need a couple of rounds of serious tests and "some small adjustments and improvements".

But it looks like as if I will be going to the DEMA 2008 as well, next year it will be in Las Vegas, and by then they promised to have the mask ready and shipping!

Images of OTS FFM prototypes by remi, Hareid Sub Sea, originally posted at www.dykkesiden.no.

First Arctic Diving Trip 2007 - some pics and comments

You can find a recently updated selection of Arctic Summer pictures here. The trip started with a minor logistical hickup - the diving bottles and the compressor had not been transferred from the other vessel as planned, and the new equipment that had been bought and shipped as replacements did never arrive in Longyearbyen -but thanks to several helpful contacts in Longyearbyen and Ny-Ålesund, we managed to get everything necessary together within a hectic few hours. Thanks again to the Longyearbyen Dykkerklubb, University Center (logistics department), Norwegian Polar Institute, and Kings Bay a/s.

We had a great trip with 14 divers from the Netherlands, Ireland, and Great Britain, and we managed to get two really good iceberg dives as well as one dive north of 80° N (off Lågøya).

Brilliant weather and plentiful wildlife, experienced divers and a good team of expedition guides (thanks to Martin, Monika, Mick, and Mike) made sure that this trip turned out just great!

In a few hours, Monika, Mick and myself will be off for another seven days of cruising (this time without diving) and I am already looking forward to that. The next posting and fresh pictures will come on the 27.06.

Pre-season dresscode remarks

It is three days until the Arctic season 2007 starts for me, and I just realized that most people probably have a totally wrong perception of "working at sea": images of sailors with scraggly beards, unwashed feet and rough language spring to mind, while the same "sailors" are expected to be well-kempt, well-dressed and - in short - tamed by their spouses and families.

It turns out it is all the other way around... ;-)



In fact, right now both my landlord (oil platform medic) and his son-in-law (geophysical survey technician) prepare to go out at sea at the same day as me, and we all will have to shave, get a haircut, collect the newly ironed shirts with company logos and start thinking "company-speak" those days before we fly out. Out at work, we will be well-dressed, well-kempt and as polite as possible (well, the oil rig "company speak" might be a bit rougher at times) until we come home again.

Then we will go back to running around in the Harley-Davidson t-shirts, ski bum outfit, and faded jeans (banned on my workplace, can you believe it!) and grow our beards again (as much as our spouses will tolerate...).

Watch out for weekly to bi-weekly updates on the blog on the way things will go in the Arctic: diving, kayaking, new people and new vessels should make for yet another interesting season!

Trafficking Ganja Scuba Tanks

From X-Ray Mag Blog (posted by Willy Volk):

"Jamaican diver Joseph Campbell told his family that he was heading to Kingston to visit his sick father. Instead, the so-called “ganja diver” was discovered dead in Kingston Harbor.

Wearing a wetsuit and a tank, police located a second tank nearby — along with an adjustable wrench, a hacksaw, a screwdriver, and various nuts and bolts. The police claim Campbell was in the process of attaching the second canister, containing more than 100 pounds of compressed ganja, to the hull of a ship when he was struck in the head by the ship’s propeller and killed.

In Jamaica, certified divers — like Campbell — are offered up to $5,000 for each canister they affix to commercial vessels heading for the US or the UK."

X-Ray Dive Mag #16

X-Ray, the free online dive mag, has recently published issue 16, including several favourite topics of mine:



• Reactive Oxygen Species (hey, that's one of my research topics!)

• newly discovered species under Antarctic Ice (hey, that's another of my research topics... ;-)

• Rebreather trim with Cedric Verdier (hey, my favourite RB author on my favourite RB subject!)

So, if you are similarly minded, or just want to figure out what a free online dive magazine actually looks like, check it out.

Actually, clicking on any of the headlines above will take you directly to the relevant section download (2-4 MB each) so you will not have to handle the entire file (16MB).

Also, you might remember the blog Divester by Willy Volk. Guess where he is hanging out now: yep, at X-Ray Mag's blog.

Ice Diving in the White Sea

If you are serious about ice diving, you should consider the "Arctic Circle Diving Center" of RuDive, a major Russian dive operator, which also operates the Barents Sea live-aboard "Kartesh".

The company was founded by members and graduates of Moscow State University (MSU) and has a strong focus on marine biology as well as safe and responsible diving.

Here is a link to their site.

back from the Antarctic Peninsula

Just a quick update for the blog (when have I last touched it... :rolleyes:)

I just returned from Antarctica via Argentina (which, according to the Argentineans, really is the same thing... ;-) and will post some news, links and pics here and on my home page. Expect some new sites and designs there, too!

I should also be able to put together a little picture album of some Antarctic diving as well as zodiac landing, as well as a download section (no, not for the pics... ;-) where you can get the full-text, color and image files of some expedition logs as pdf files.

So watch and feel free to comment.

Coast Guard Diver Fatality - Autopsy and Report (AP)

SEATTLE, Washington (AP) -- One of two Coast Guard divers who mysteriously died during a training dive in the Arctic last summer sank uncontrollably as far as 190 feet below the icy surface and suffocated, according to an autopsy summary obtained by The Associated Press.

The divers had slipped into a patch of open water near the ship's bow and were planning to dive to a maximum depth of 20 feet, said William Hill Jr. His daughter Lt. Jessica Hill, along with Boatswain's Mate Steven Duque, died August 17, 500 miles north of Alaska.

A support team supposedly held ropes attached to them lest they became disoriented under the ice, Hill said. "Why in the hell did they let out that much rope?" he asked. "It was only scheduled for 20 feet."

The Coast Guard has released little information about the deaths but relieved the Healy's commander, citing a loss of confidence in his ability. A spokesman said the Coast Guard would not discuss Hill's autopsy report -- given to the AP by Hill -- pending the outcome of its investigations, expected next year.

The autopsy summary, written by Armed Forces Regional Medical Examiner Stanley D. Adams, said Hill suffered "an uncontrolled descent to a possible depth of 189 feet."

The amount of air in the divers' tanks would have lasted a half-hour at 20 feet, but only 10 minutes at 180, the report said. By the time Hill, 31, and Duque, 22, had been pulled up, their air tanks were empty or nearly empty, the report said.

The dive support team reportedly pulled the divers to the surface after becoming concerned; attempts to resuscitate the two failed.

The autopsy ruled Hill's death an accident. The cause was asphyxia, lung trauma caused as pressure decreases during ascents, and possible air bubbles in the blood. Duque's family could not immediately be reached to confirm whether he died of the same causes.

"It is quite likely the divers lost consciousness prior to or during the ascent," Adams wrote.

The autopsy summary also noted that a third diver planned to take part, but "immediately aborted the dive" for reasons that are not mentioned.

Healy was sailing through the Arctic with about 35 scientists to collect data that would help them map the ocean floor. Hill was the ship's dive officer as well as the liaison between the scientists and the crew.

Adams added that his findings must be squared with investigations into the state of the divers' equipment and into the circumstances of the dive.

Hill, of St. Augustine, Florida, said he plans to ask an independent pathologist to review the autopsy results.

His daughter's birthday would have been Monday.

"Right now, I'm just waiting to get the Christmas holidays over and wait for the New Year," he said. "Then I can expect the next report."

North Sea Divers drugged by authorities

There is a ongoing struggle between Norway's North Sea Diver association and the State of Norway over compensation for work-related injuries sustained by the so-called "pioneer divers" of the mid-60's, when according to the diver's association the rules and information policy about dive and decompression risks were unacceptably poor. Now, a new medical investigation by a researcher of Trondheim's St. Olav's Hospital sheds some more light and credibility into their claims of mistreatment.

Medical director Kari Todnem at St. Olav's Hospital states that she believes North Sea divers were secretly and systematically drugged in pressure chambers during ascent in order to calm them and to spare diving gas. Her research demonstrated nerve and lung damage among the pioneer divers and found the repetition of drugs such as Medrol and Valium in records, and this widespread sedation is a new discovery. This drug use was later confirmed via interviews with surviving divers.

The letters the divers have acquired as evidence were marked top secret for an 80-year period in the future by Norwegian authorities, and reveal knowledge of the dangers involved with the type of repeated diving the men were doing.

For a full report, go to Aftenposten (English version).

Submatix SCR/mCCR testing

Recently - well, actually several weeks ago - we tried out the Submatix SCR and mCCR unit, what they call an SCR 100 ST. As mentioned before, this product is by now fully upgradeable to a KISS-style CCR, and since our local dealer only had a CCR model available at the time, we reversed the process and "downgraded" it to SCR for the sake of the experiment.

Also, this was because I still cannot bring myself to accept manually controlled closed-circuit rebreathers as such a really good idea... but that's probably just me.

So here come a few glimpses of the unit (note the "plug" in the first stage feeding the KISS valve on the right side reg):



Here you see the unit assembled with the back cover opened for the OP test:



And now the closed unit, a very compact and sleek design.



Finally, we got to the wet part of the testing (hint: rebreather on the left side...).



The usual stretching exercises...



The system is sooo quiet, you could almost fall asleep underwater!



To sum it up: a nice compact and lightweight unit which is easily converted SCR->CCR and vice versa. By now, the counterlungs are two separate bags, thus reducing concerns about possible leaks affecting the breathing mix (previous models were equipped with one bag within the other, presumably resulting in easier WOB). Everything works, is ready for the market and even has acquired CE approval (for what it is worth, this is probably mostly of concern to dive shops, retailers and insurances).

The downside as I see them are:

• compact size also means restriction to one (rather small) size and shape of tanks (unless you want to attach the tanks on the outside of the case)

• connections for the loop as well as counterlung bags are plastic rings which "snap" in place. Handling these connector rings takes some confidence and practice, and I could not shake the impression that it was a matter of time before the "snap" comes while you handle that ring, but before you have connected it...

• the price point (cited at 2.900,- € + taxes) is not bad, but not very competitive either: you get a lot of Dräger parts for that kind of money...

So I remain unconvinced, and will probably keep using the Dolphin for scientific dives while looking for a nice used unit for recreational diving.

All you need to know about drysuit diving

X-Ray, the free (!) online diving magazine has delivered a nice overview over drysuit designs, materials, accessories and so forth.



If you do not want to download the complete pdf version of the current issue (#13), you can get the dry suit article as stand-alone here.

You like icebergs? Bring your own!

I just found this gem over at Divester, another of my regular blogs to watch.

Sure, climbing around on icebergs is a tempting, but quite risky thing to do, and even if you come in a dry suit, which will keep you relatively safe and warm in case you slip and splash, there still is one issue that stands between you and iceberg fun most of the time: when you need one, there is none!



Here you see me practice on a little one... ;-) note that 90% of the berg's mass is under water, just like it says in the books...

Of course, inversely, when you are in a rush, they are all over the place!



But thanks to the excellent folks at Comfort 1st.com, you can now get a safe, fun and practical solution: an inflatable iceberg!



Just US $5,999.95 (add US $ 200 for shipping) and it's yours!

(Approx. 20' x 14' x 14'. Ages 14 +)

Divenews.com: "Scientist's Persistence Sheds Light on Marine Science Riddle"

Now that's a headline to my liking ;-)

I found this on divenews.com which is of course on my regular blog watch list (via rss). So the story goes like this:

Dr. Gary Rosenberg of the Center for Systematic Biology & Evolution at the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, has been compiling mollusk data for years and this has, among other things, resulted in an online database dubbed "Malacolog".

Using this database, Dr. Rosenberg was able to contribute to a long-lasting debate on the so-called Island Rule (aka Foster's Rule), a principle in evolutionary biology stating that members of a species will get smaller or bigger depending on the resources available in the environment.

In Rosenberg's case of marine gastropods (snails) colonizing the deep sea, large-bodied species become smaller and small-bodied species become larger.

In his original 1964 paper in the journal Nature, titled "The evolution of mammals on islands", J. Bristol Foster proposed the simple explanation that smaller creatures got larger in the absence of so many predators that they had been used to on the mainland and larger creatures get smaller with the absence of food sources.

To this Rosenberg commented: "Only resource limitation clearly applies to deep-sea animals. We know there is less food available in the deep sea than in shallow water, but the area of the deep sea is much larger. ... A lot more study needs to be done on the relative importance of these factors, but clearly resource limitation is a key factor in the evolution of size."

Well, this is definitely one boost for long-term data collection efforts and especially for organisation of this knowledge into databases.

Good to see this kind of headlines in a mainstream scuba news feed, too!

Deep Sea Detectives on Amazon UnBox

In case you missed any (or all) of the episodes of "Deep Sea Detectives", a History Channel dive adventure/documentary show, you now have the opportunity to download the episodes from Amazon's UnBox Video Download service. $1.99 per episode.

And now you know what I will do over the weekend... ;-)

Croc Hunter dies after stingray attack

Although many people have criticized his daredevil approach to wildlife and dangerous animals in captivity, most of us could not stop admiring Steve Irwin's never-ending enthusiasm and energy, and also his great presence on the screen.

A great ambassador of the wildlife of Australia, but also of various other parts of the world, he was killed while snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef.

Crikey.

12-year-old gets certified Master Scuba Diver, writes book about it

Congratulations, PADI!

Some call it "the fastest scuba certification ever".

This must be a new record...

For full story, visit New West Books & Writers or visit the PADI certifying dive store online.

RB stories and pics

If you are interested in a few more stories and acompanying pics of rebreather diving, check out DrMike's stuff at smugmug.

Submatix mCCR on the market - CE-approved

So time ago I blogged about my experiences with the Seaway CORA II rebreather which we were able to take for a test dive in the pool.
Unfortunately, nothing much has been heard from Seaway since, and persistent inquiries about the promised CE certification as well as the upgrade options mCCR and eCCR were not addressed by the company.

Another unanswered story was the promised CO2 sensor, all of which had been announced during the BOOT 2006 trade fair (Düsseldorf).

Well, it seems that their rival, Submatix, has made the cut in the meantime, as they have recently announced that their mCCR version of the SCR 100 ST is now both certified and available. And the best part: they also offer conversion kits to upgrade the SCR 100 ST to something they now call CCR 100 SMS.

Although their price point is not as low as Seaway's (JFGI ;-) they do offer a complete set of accessories, sensor systems, adapters to include existing ppO2 monitoring systems like the Aladin Oxy 2 and so on.

So now it will be interesting to see whether Seaway will at least manage to pull even this year, or even launch their promised eCCR model, which would be the next step up the ladder.

More on rebreather horror stories

Statement from the homepage of Deep Life Limited:

"Contemporary eCCRs carry 900 times greater chance of death per hour of use than Open Circuit SCUBA, when it should really be the converse."

Therefore, the friendly people of "Deep Life Ltd." have compiled a list of known accidents on rebreathers (also referred to as CCR's, for Closed-Circuit Rebreathers).

Find the document with the inviting title "How Rebreathers Kill People" here.

Rebreather Dive goes wrong - Dave Shaw in Bushman's Hole

If there is one thing in common for most rebreather dive fora and discussion groups, it is maximum depth. Rebreathers have the potential to take you significantly deeper than conventional "open-circuit" scuba gear with much lower amount of gas consumption - and therefore tanks to haul. Also, modern advanced rebreather systems monitor and adjust your gas mix (oxygen and nitrogen, at greater depths also helium) but in turn, these electronic compounds demand careful attention and constant monitoring themselves.

But as more and more of these (previously exclusively military) systems have become available to the civilian public, along with certification agencies and demanding training programmes, deep wrecks and especially caves have become the rebreather diver's preferred playgrounds.

In South Africa, a rebreather diver named Dave Shaw successfully completed a world record dive two years ago, inside a huge freshwater-filled cave known as Bushman's Hole. While he spent a few precious minutes exploring the bottom, he found the body of a diver who died here ten years earlier. He was unable to move it as it was stuck in the mud, but marked it with a line and returned to his long ascent and hour-long decompression schedule.

As soon as he surfaced, he announced a plan to his dive buddies: to go back and retrieve the body and return it to the dead diver's family.

Read the full story in this article of Outside Magazine.

But beware: this is a tale of an extreme dive gone tragically wrong, the diver who set out to recover the dead body he found ends up dead himself, his best friend and backup diver gets seriously bent with permanent consequences, and due to a grim twist the two deceased divers surface by themselves while the team is picking up their shot lines and safety gear...

A terrible story, but a well-written account of it. If you wonder why people do things like this, maybe you will get a better understanding after reading this article. And if you are more into audio (and can stand ABC's style of reporting) you can also listen to a podcast about the story, provided by ABC News.

CORA II rebreather test dive

Recently we had a presentation and test dive of the new rebreather developed by Seaway, called CORA II. Although it was only a short demo and pool dive, some clear differences between the Seaway rebreather and the Dräger rebreather (Dolphin) became apparent. But first some pics (courtesy of M. Bartz):



Adjusting OP valve on exhalation side of counterlung. Since the counterlungs are designed to sit on top of he diver's shoulders (OTS-style ;-) they offer considerably more breathing comfort than the (smaller) bags of a Dolphin which are crammed into a box that the diver carries on his/her back.



Always lovely to dive in the pool... and so meditative! We dived a 80% premix all the way down to the max. depth of 5 (five!) meters at the very deepest tile of the pool's floor. Here you see us recovering on a safety stop at 4,2 meters... The systems were (virtually) silent, but of course I could not resist the temptation to roll around in all kinds of positions to try out the unit's breathing behaviour. Of course the bypass will fill up the counterlung as soon as you roll on your back, but thanks to the lower pressure gradient there were no noticeable "monkey cheek effects".



As you can clearly see on here, the loop is very short, similar to those known from chest-mounted systems (think: LAR series, Oxylon) which is of course a very nice feature both in terms of "lung butter accumulation" (which does not happen noticeably, it all drains right down into the counterlungs) and also, it makes it virtually impossible to lose the DSV - on maximum extent, it hangs in front of your face, at avout eyebrow level. Of course, if you have decided to bail out, this might be a nuisance...



Just hanging out...

So here is my list of items where Seaway has the edge over Dräger:

• stainless steel container for absorber unit and cmf valve
(Dolphin: case is prone to cracking)
• short "OTS" loop, smooth one-hand-operable DSV
(Dolphin: long loop, DSV harder to open/close)
• manual add-on valve on counterlung as standard
(Dolphin: not offered on basic configuration)
• modular design, fits (almost) any jacket and (almost) any tank dimensions
(Dolphin: comes with jacket, only two tank sizes)
• solid and balanced mounting of tanks on either side
(Dolphin: premix below box, bail-out side-mounted in cordura pocket)
• easy handling +maintenance of absorber unit, high capacity, seamless capacity adjustment
(Dolphin: awww, none of this...)
• easy connection of counterlung unit to the rest of the RB; just snap it on
(Dolphin: so many parts, so many screws...)
• 32, 40, 50, 60 and 80 % valve come with basic configuration
(Dolphin: no 80%, only one or two valves in basic config)
• reasonable pricing, cheap and standardized spare parts
(Dolphin: awww, NOT so again...)
• easy to upgrade to SCR II (two gases, two cmf valves, switch during dive), mCCR and eCCR: simply exchange the "head"

I am looking forward to getting my own unit asap, and expect it to replace the Dolphin in the German research diving with rebreathers.

An Encounter with Hypothermia-Induced Tourette Syndrome

What would you think if somebody told you that his or her job was doing research on tropical fish? You would probably think: what a dream job.

Now, if you were a diver and you were to learn that this tropical fish research involved a lot of diving, in fact even rebreather diving, you would probably growl: "gimme a break - and they pay you for this? And they pay for all the gear, too?"... and if that fish researcher would just nod happily now, most would probably at least roll their eyes by now.



But the truth is, as usual, quite different: the everyday life of a field researcher is full of hardships, extreme physical and mental challenges, and is generally much more demanding than most people would ever imagine.

You don't believe me, do you? Well, then check out this video.

(posted on Google Video; if streaming does not work smoothly, just download the .avi file and play it from your local drive).

Seaway CORA II vs. Landeta TOMMY I: a close call

A little while ago I posted a note about the coming CORA II rebreather from Seaway, which had been announced at the BOOT 2006. A number of questions have since been raised in various special-interest fora, such as: when did the CORA I appear? Have I missed it? Was it some "secret" model only supplied to the military (:rolleyes:)? Since when does Seaway produce rebreathers anyway? Do they even exist as a company any more? I thought they went out of business ... and so on.



All of these concerns blended in just perfect with the normal chitchat of online fora, and posters did their best to keep up the semi-informed, semi-abusive style typical of online writing (a note: have you ever seen anybody "flame away" at another person in real life? ...really?). But one question remained unanswerable to even the most level-headed of the cool:

• when does this thing actually appear, in real life, serial production style, and without some of the "obvious bugs" pointed out by numerous "experts" from direct or indirect evaluation of the prototype?

Well, it seems like the model hit the market despite all the rumours (which probably are excellent promotion, anyway) and to some people'e surprise, it looks just as "raw" as the prototype on display at the BOOT 2006. Seems like some people have not been paying attention: we are talking about SEAWAY here, for crissakes!



Here you see the connectors on top of the absorber unit, with the head including the dosage and bypass valve. The cam bands for the nitrox and bailout bottles are supposedly suitable for up to 10L tanks, and are firmly attached to the central stainless steel cylinder holding the absorber.



Here you see the absorber container, very simply made out of plexiglass with a central bolt. The mesh plates holding the absorber in place can be positioned with nuts riding up and down the bolt, so it is fully adjustable. Also, you can make a nice 'french press' pot of coffee for the aprés-dive with your buddies and spouses... ;-)



The inside of the head, showing o-rings for the closing seal as well as a smaller o-ring for the absorber unit (in case you wondered, it is positioned off-centered on a pvc plate on the bottom, and sealed against the head with this). Exhale (left) and inhale openings are oval, while the central round opening is for the head valves.



The manual injection valve on the inhalation counterlung. Below, a dump/drainage valve (you might also call it a "spit-and-snot-valve" if you have had the pleasure to rinse a well-used counterlung before...). The over-pressure vale is obviously positioned higher up on the exhalation side, and is said to be easily reached and adjusted (as opposed to: positioned in the middle of a canister right between your shoulder blades - you hear that, Dräger Safety?).



Here is the counterlung unit. Two things should be noted about this: a) the positioning of the counterlungs b) the direct connection of these to the head connectors, allowing for a minimum of hoses - and a minimum of loop length! Apart from the Dräger LAR-V, which is mounted on the chest anyway, I have not seen such a short and convenient breathing loop so far. There were concerns about its diameter and the involved work of breathing, though, and I am eager (like many others) to try it in real life and see whether this indeed is a problem.

Note that these are all the components you will get: a cylinder without tanks, a counterlung bag without harness or BCD, and only one regulator (for the SCR valve). Bring-your-own BCD and bailout set, that is the idea! Again, very Seaway-style, but considering that most "serious" rb divers sooner or later dump the standard BCD and use their own rig (usually backplate + wing) you might as well cut costs and not offer a packaged BCD at all, just like the Dive Rite O2ptima.

If you are familiar with the current models of rebreathers, at least from pictures out of magazines or off the net, you will have realized that Seaway has not "redeveloped" the concept altogether: they have just copied bits and pieces, ideas and smart solutions from pretty much anyone. Which is fine, I believe, since many people probably have made up such a "wish-list rebreather" in their minds (or forum posts) for some time already. This also explains the considerable fuss over "when does it come out on the market" on the net: this is quite simply a nice combination of components at an even nicer price.

But what if even 1800,- is out of reach for you, but you still want to dive bubble-free? If you happen to know your way around electronics, pvc, sewing, a dremel, like p.e. FERNANDO LANDETA, you simply start building one yourself!



This guy made it all from scratch, with low-cost components, crafted by himself in his spare time and in between studies and jobs as a waiter. If you ask me, the best part of the whole rig is the "Tommy Hilfiger" cover for the (also home-made) wing which you can see under the (also home-made, of course) stainless-steel backplate (with original Dräger harness straps).



But this guy did not stop at semi-closed design, he went all the way into electronically controlled closed circuit design! See the display unit in the lower left corner.



Looking at Fernando's home-built and then again on Seaway's "new CORA II", I could not help but notice that they were pretty much the same, but the TOMMY I (HILFIGER I would be cooler, but is probably a trademark ;-) definitely has a clear advantage in that direct contest!

For a full story on the construction details, materials and hardships endured in the process, go to the rebreather site - Hilfiger CCR.

Thanks, TR300 and César for the links ;-)

Interspiro Divator MK II on ebay

After having pondered over the purchase of a (used) Interspiro FFM (full-face mask) for some time now, this ebay article was just too good to be true: 320€ for a mask which after all costs about 700 new...



But behold: 320€ was just the starting price. Certain that this would not be the final bid on such a nice piece of equipment (well, okay, they tend to get a little yellowish around the edges, but otherwise solid stuff!) I decided to watch the bidding and see it trail out of reach - since I happen to be in a bit of a "dry patch" at the moment and should really refrain from all sorts of investments.

And guess what happens: the mask is auctioned away - to the initial starting price - and to the very first bidder!

Which is not me, by the way. ;-(

"Ice Island" free download

Karst Productions, the company of Wes Skiles is currently offering the movie Ice Island as a free mp4-file download through a site called iDocumentary, whose only purpose seems to be to distribute free copies of that movie, which still sells for about 20 USD on Amazon or other online shops.

In short, it is a well-made documentary about Antarctic icebergs and Antarctic ice diving, and for rebreather enthusiasts, there are some Cis-Lunar systems in use and on display.

The rb diver in charge of the operation was Jill Heinerth who also talks about this expedition on a podcast episode of Bottom Time Radio (I mentioned her also in a previous post).

Obviously, there are some requirements before you can get your free (and of course somewhat compressed) copy of the documentary, i.e. you have to give up your name, email and age class as well as country of residence. Big deal...

After downloading the file and watching it in Quicktime, I must say that it is some cool and definitely hair-raising material, especially the iceberg penetration dives, which, by the way, do not take place anywhere near the famous mega-iceberg (some have called it a "teraberg") B15 but on some rather small and, one could add in a slightly blasé voice, ORDINARY iceberg... ;-)

But still, overall it is worth to watch it (but I am as happy that I did not shell out for the original DVD...)

full report on fatal dive accident in Hemmoor

The diver who has recovered the body of the missing diver who was killed in the recent dive accident has posted a full report on Taucher Net (in German) which was translated by a buddy over at Rebreather World into English.

The short version of the whole story is that three divers (out of a group of five Danish technical divers) decided to do a second dive shortly after the 5-man team had finished a first deep dive on Easter Monday. The three divers all used Inspiration rebreathers.

Apparently, they ran into difficulties as one diver experienced a stress situation and subsequently emptied both his rebreather gas supply as well as one stage/bail-out bottle due to his heavy breathing. The team got split up on their ascent, the stressed diver breathing through a second 7L bail-out tank, which was filled with pressured air just like the first.

Tragically, the deceased diver appears to have been pulled down again by his gear just after he had already reached the surface. The reason for this was only discovered as the body was recovered: although all divers had ditched all of their gear once the surfaced, all of them also used (home-made) cable lamps whose battery tanks were attached to their rigs while the lamp head was attached to their forearms with some rubber or velcro straps. The deceased did not manage to detach his lamp head from his forearm, and through the spiral cable running from the lamp head to the battery tank was still connected to his entire rig (i.e. the rebreather with weights, backplate, stage bottles etc.) which inevitaby pulled him down.

For a full translated version of the report (in English) click here.

My thoughts go out to the friends and family of the deceased, and especially to his surviving dive buddies who are still under medical treatment, one of them in artificially induced coma.

Dive Computer test at Divernet

If you are looking for a realistic in-water test of current dive computer models, this article might be something for you. Unlike the usual dive magazine reviews with glossy pictures and long extra-feature lists, this tester strapped 12 models on a board and took them diving in the Red Sea. The whole point of the exercise (apart from some pretty intense gadget fidgeting... ;-) was to observe the recommended deco stop schedule of the various computers once the dive had been extended past the no-stop point for that depth. The most cautious route was then followed up to the surface.



This 'rig' of computers was then photographed at regular intervals to capture the deco readings on each display, and are presented in the following table (split for convenience in two parts):




This is followed by the inevitable side-by-side review of the physical characteristics of all teste models, including a basic list of features as well as prices (in GBP) which are omitted here for obvious reasons (see above).

Unfortunately, the otherwise straightforward and interesting article also includes a paragraph on "deep stops", a.k.a. gradually ascending from maximum depth before heading more directly for the safety/deco stop depth. Since virtually any sports diver is probably familiar with that kind of dive profile (except for its new label) why discuss it in such an article? The argument offered is astonishing:

"Extreme deep-diving ichthyologist Dr Richard Pyle noted that if he made pauses in an ascent from a dive at a depth equal to around half the maximum pressure to which he had subjected himself, instead of ascending straight to the surface, and then repeatedly did the same thing again between there and the surface, he felt a lot better afterwards.
The idea is based on the theory that the human body can sustain a 50% reduced pressure change without suffering ill effects."

So now we await eagerly to read more about that "theory that the human body can better sustain a 50% reduced pressure change". Unfortunately, all the authors can offer here is of little use:

"Although this is not based on any other real scientific evidence, giving slow tissues time to off-gas in this way, even at the expense of faster tissues on-gassing, makes sense!"

Now what on earth makes more sense, things based on "real scientific evidence" or some arbitrarily designed rule of "stopping halfway will make you feel better"?

However, to be fair to Mr Pyle who apparently stands behind this "50/50" rule as it could be dubbed, I will point you to this site where he decribes his theory - and how he came to propose it - in full detail.

Returning to the scope of the dive computer test article, I would conclude that from a scientific and especially medical point of view, people should probably rather be advised to use the most conservative computer model employing the safest algorithm, and press this point as the main decisive factor (apart from display readability, maybe) for any dive computer purchase.

But of course we all know that this is neither the way how such purchases usually are being motivated, nor the way how "deco plan safety tests" are being performed and published, unfortunately.

Arctic Diver Frozen Out of Record Attempt

Since I am always curious what other 'Arctic Divers' are up to, this news story caught my eyes immediately:

from Edinburgh Evening News:

"Former Broughton High School pupil Daros Gray, who specialises in Arctic diving, was forced to abandon his quest to swim underwater in Sweden's deepest lake after temperatures plummeted to -30 C above ground and -3 C under water.

Mr Gray, a security contractor in the Capital, hoped to "free dive" in Lake Tornetrask, about 160 miles north of the Arctic Circle, and swim for up to 100m underwater without any scuba equipment.

But the ice was too thick for Mr Gray's team's cutting equipment and they were not able to carve out a channel for the attempt.

...

The diver, a champion spear-fisherman who killed a five-metre great white shark in self-defence off Cape Town, South Africa, said he planned to return to the lake next year."

What can I say: security contractor, under-ice free-diver, spear-fisherman, great white shark killer (apparently in self-defence...).

Any questions?

how about a nice dive barge - from ebay?

The wonderful things you can find at ebay:



Ex Navy YRST2
Dive Salvage Barge
(APL Hull)

"Salvage US II"

...

Replacement Cost
Over $6,000,000

Located in Norfolk, Virginia.


This Dive Barge cannot be sold to a Non-US Citizen or Foreign Entity without prior approval from 1 or more government agencies; the US Department of Defense, US State Department, US Navy, and or any agency that has jurisdiction over exportation.

the seven steps of rebreather enlightenment

A while ago, I posted the Seven Levels of Enlightenment for PhD students. Well, here is an alternative world view, centered around a slightly more intriguing subject: rebreathers! (originally posted on rebreatherwold.com by schford).

The funny thing: also here I seem to have reached the fourth level... ;-)

"Come in, Come in my young journeyman. I see you are a seeker on the path of Rebreather Enlightenment. Sit - let me tell you of the way before you.

Tis a difficult and challenging path for all, some steps are easy for some but none are easy for all. Before we begin let me warn you tis a long and expensive journey you face but one filled with adventure, travel to far off lands, great people and even treasure for some!

Well I see you are still with me journeyman so let me begin ….

Step 1 – The Monkey



This step is where we all begin and must see break free from, this is where the dreaded bubblers or even worse they who must not be named seek to poison you with tales of woe.

You doubt that Rebreathers are for you, tales of woe, of mistakes, of sorrow are presented to you passionately, jokes involving shovels or insults are thrust upon those nearer enlightenment. Tis easy to flounder at this step but you must break through and move on to become a seeker.

Step 2 – The Seeker



You have broken free and are no longer a monkey – welcome seeker.

Tis often joked that you are joining the dark side – this as a result of the ill informed meanderings you suffered as a monkey.

As a seeker you are seeking the knowledge and the truth. You must speak to all who are nearer enlightenment than you. Your questions are keen and your mind is sharp. I hear your questions echo towards me:
Why do you dive a Rebreather?
Which one is it?
How does it work?
Where is it from?
How much is it?
How many Rebreathers are there?
…. and on they go.


Those seekers who do well, discover one of our fountains of knowledge where many lords of rebreatherhood gather to drink and discuss the path to enlightenment.

That fountain is http://www.RebreatherWorld.com use it well journeyman.

Step 3 – The Diver




Welcome journeyman, you have come far and now are well on your way to enlightenment.

Many find this is a truly challenging step, there is considerable expense both financial and time in mastering this step, with many new skills and hours to spend training.

You must put the knowledge you learned as a seeker to good use, selecting your Rebreather and your instructor.

It is important that you do this step well as it truly is the foundation as you move ever closer to enlightenment.

Although perhaps the most difficult step very very few fail here. This step it is said by many gives the greatest pleasure to you – as when mastered you may float free and silently amongst the citizens of the deep.

Step 4 – The Evangelical



Step 4 can be a painful step to watch for those who are further towards enlightenment, fortunately for most tis a relatively short step.

The evangelical Rebreather diver now after only a few short hours thinks he knows everything about Rebreathers, they are the only way to dive and his particular unit is absolutely the best because of x, y and z.

At this stage the evangelical diver is very vocal and can alienate new divers and those further towards the path of enlightenment (who he should still be learning from) and even non Rebreather divers. Tis often the case to see pages of well written arguments on why either their Rebreather or style of diving is the best.

Fortunately most seekers of enlightenment leave this step quickly behind them as they move on.

Step 5 – The Progresser



As we move towards enlightenment we realise that our journey is very much work in progress and we need to build on our solid foundation.

...

Step 6 – The Sith Lord



Sith Lords are truly those who have mastered the dark side of diving as others call it.

...

Step 7 – The Builder



Little is known of how one reaches the pinnacle of enlightenment.

...
________________________________________________________________
For the full version of this post, go to the original post by schford @ rebreatherworld

Final report into the Interactions between humans and leopard seals now available

Just returned from yet another Antarctic tourist diving expedition, I received an email from Keith Reid of the BAS and Shona Muir of the Kirsty Margot Brown Fund, announcing the final report on investigations of human-leopard seal interactions. This is a quote of the email text:

"Following the tragic death of Kirsty Brown, who was attacked and drowned by a leopard seal in July 2003 a one-year study, sponsored by the Kirsty Brown Fund and hosted at British Antarctic Survey, was set up to review the available information on humans and leopard seals in the Antarctic. Data on interactions between humans and leopard seals, from over 180 questionnaires and interviews, were analysed to provide the information required for any assessment of the risks posed by leopard seals to people working in the Antarctic. The results have been published in the journal Antarctic Science (Antarctic Science 18 (1), 61*74, March 2006) and the full report is available to download from the BAS website at this site."

The report includes reported data of all the nations involved in Antarctic aquatic research as well as nature photographers, film makers and tourist dive operators. I had been asked along with several others to participate in the online questionnaire data survey on behalf of the German Antarctic scientific diving activities, while well-known underwater photographer Göran Ehlmé, who is also in charge of Oceanwide Expeditions' polar diving activities, had been extensively contacted as advisor for the authors of this publication.

The report also decribes in detail the incident resulting in Kirsty Margot Brown's death and reviews it in comparison with other known leopard seal behaviour and seal-human interaction pattern. The appendix contains the dive policies of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), the United States Antarctic Programme (USAP), and the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) for reference.

This is a most useful compilation of leopard seal interaction reports as well as a review of risk avoidance/evasion strategies.

It is also well in agreement with the position of Antarctic tourist dive expedition operators and their dive guides, who will certainly use this publication as reference for future staff and customer preparation and briefings.

BTW: In the near future, some spectacular shots by underwater phtographer Andre Crone of a leopard seal handling a freshly killed gentoo penguin near Jougla Point, Goudier Island (near Port Lockroy base), can be expected in relevant publications.

Elephant seals diving for science

Scientists like to talk about "vessels of opportunity". These are basically 'cheap' ways to hitch a ride for a scientific project, i.e. you jump on some pre-existing cruise and use their ship and trajectory to perform some of your own data collections. Since you have not been involved in planning, funding, organizing and managing of that cruise, you (the hitchhiker) are normally bound to tag along and take things as they come, go where they go, and try to make some sense out of it for yourself afterwards.

This has greatly increased many projects and their range and coverage, but there is still one limiting factor: there are only so many rides (i.e. scientific vessels) available. But with the advent of smaller and smaller scientific devices and satellite transmission systems, there is an entirely new fleet of "vessels of opportunity" at the scientists' disposal: seals!



Researchers of the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU), Gatty Marine Laboratory, University of St Andrews have been quite successful with this approach in their SEaOS (Southern Elephant Seals as Oceanographic Samplers) project. It basically works like this: they attach a sensor/transmitter device (a 'tag') on a seal's head as shown above. Now, as the animals swim for thousands of km and dive down to 2,000m, their tags record details of temperature, depth and the salinity of the water, and when the seals pop up to breathe, the tags transmit their information to scientists in Scotland via satellite.



Of particular importance to the scientists are oceanic fronts, i.e. where warmer and colder waters meet and mix, much like atmospheric fronts we know from weather charts. Just like atmospheric front systems, the oceanic fronts are highly dynamic and can only be adequately understood and predicted if a sufficient amount and spatial coverage of observations is available.

The seals can help with this, since they occur in significant amounts on several of the subantarctic islands and as they have wide diving and swimming ranges, they frequently cover the oceanic front systems of Antarctica.



South Georgia's population at 400,000 is the biggest group and has been relatively stable since the end of large-scale hunting in the 1950s. But the groups centred on the islands of Macquarie and Kerguelen have not fared so well; and in the case of Macquarie may still be in decline. Why this is so may emerge from an analysis of the data gathered by the seals.

And in case you worried about the tags on the seal's heads: they fall off after about a year, when the animals moult (i.e. change fur).

new rebreather coming on the market - CORA II

The producer does not even have it on their own websites yet, but the German/Austrian company Seaway Diving has been introducing an all-new product line with their CORA II rebreather. Here is a shot of this setup:



Note that the counterlungs are placed around the shoulders rather than in a container on your back or chest. This has the convenient effect ofa significantly shorter loop as well as probably eliminating "froggy cheek" issues. Looks like a smart move to me (although it reminds one of those 'toilet seat' BCD's of the olden days...)



You will quickly notice: something is missing. Right, there is no BCD, no harness, no nothing. "Bring your own" is the motto!

In a way, this makes sense: many people whose feet and hands have grown enough webbing to grab a rebreather instead of 'boring simple tanks' already have a jacket/harness/wing/stainless-D-ring-collecting contraption of some sort that fits them perfectly. Why not use that to carry the rebreather around?



This of course also significantly reduces the cost, and Seaway are able to offer this in a basic configuration for a bit more than half the price of the Dolphin, and a third of the sports-KISS, not to mention any MEGALODON price tags... (they seem to be very thorough with even that detail over there... i.e. "make it MASSIVE" ;-)

But for me, this is just fine, because I really do not like the Dolphin BCD, as one example.

At the moment, Seaway is offering an basic nitrox-SCR config, while a SCR-II config will soon be available allowing two gases, and mCCR and even eCCR are in the works.

The beauty of it all: these components (dosage, sensor heads, battery case etc.) will all be solidly attached to the "lid" of the central cylinder which holds the absorber unit, so it would ideally be fully modular. Just pop on the eCCR lid, attach your tanks, and off you go again! Nice.

If I get some time, I could try a more side-by-side comparison to the Dolphin (forget the Ray), the KISS sets, and the MEG.

Let's see.

rebreathers using artificial gills for O2 resupply?

Once you are enthusiastic about diving, it is likely that you want to spend more and more time underwater, but as soon as you cross the border from swimming and snorkelling to scuba diving, you promptly come across the technical and physiological limitations of the available diving equipment, which usually limit the duration of your underwater experience.

For the sake of brevity, I will focus on the technical aspects and leave out the physiological, although they are also being addressed to some extent by all of the alternative ways of "underwater breathing apparatus" listed below. So what if you were able to "do it like the fishies" and truly breathe underwater? So far, it seemed technically out of reach and unefficient, so people had to resort to a number of compromises instead.

1) Conventional "open system" scuba, relying on a tank of pressured air (or blended gas like nitrox or heliox etc.), work only as long as it takes you to deplete the tank's charge, which is commonly around 200- to 300x compressed air, or bar (sometimes also measured in psi, or pound/square inch, factor 14.5). So once your tank approaches the minimum pressure needed by your breathing regulator, your air supply breaks down. Not a fun thing to experience while being underwater...

2) Surface-supplied systems rely on large gas tanks or compressors constantly connected to you and your personal breathing regulator to supply you with air, usually also with communication and sometimes even hot water which circulates through your suit, to prevent you from getting too cold. It is regularly used by commercial divers, p.e. working at underwater construction sites or out of saturation diving bells, where the limited range and mobility imposed by moving on an "umbilical" is not a big problem. However, if something (or someone) fails to work properly with your surface supply, you can be in trouble, so there is both the radius/mobility issue as well as the dependency on the smooth operation of your supply system which is completely out of your hands.

2a) One funny spin-off of this is Snuba, a combination of "snorkel" and "scuba", and the pitch is offering the advantages of snorkelling, i.e. free and easy roaming of shallow inshore waters, with scuba, which basically allows a person to stay underwater longer than anyone can hold his or her breath. However, proper SCUBA diving has some inherent risks that require adequate training, while snorkelling really just requires kicking around with or even without fins. Get rid of the tank, which follows you on the surface mounted on a float, and you can feel as free and easy as a snorkeller while taking advantage of the air supply of a compressed air tank so you do not even have to hold your breath any more. Again, once the tank is close to empty, the fun is over.

3) Rebreathers offer another extension of your stay underwater, while still relying on compressed gas. Although this gas is usually Nitrox, a "blend" with an increased oxygen percentage, they are much more efficient in exploiting that gas reservoir by recycling or "rebreathing" a large part of the inhaled and exhaled gas volume.

But since you are forced to deal with both supply of oxygen into and transport of carbon dioxide (CO2) out of your respiratory system, you also need a "scrubber" or absorber that removes the exhaled carbon dioxide from the recycling or "rebreathing" process. So even though the improved gas efficiency of a rebreather has drastically prolonged your time underwater, you still have the same old problem: sooner or later, your supply of oxygen will run out.

But what if you could refill your tank on-the-go? Israeli inventor Alon Bodner thinks he came up with a technical solution, a battery-powered artificial gill. Basically, it pumps a large amount of water through a system where dissolved oxygen "bubbles out" of the water and becomes breathable gas - just like CO2 bubbles out of a soda bottle (or beer can ;-) once you pop the cap. This could be it, the answer to all problems: unlimited gas supply! (or at least as long as the system's power supply runs...)

But wait, just before we get into details and technicalities about how exactly it is possible to gain oxygen out of sea water just like the fish, there is that nasty detail: not only your gas tank, but also your CO2 scrubber is only good for a certain time (or rather, a certain amount of gas being "scrubbed") so even if you had unlimited supplies of oxygen, you still need to dump the CO2 somehow.

Using a rebreather system without adequate removal of CO2 is bound to slowly suffocate the user, and exchanging or even "recycling" the CO2-absorbing substance while being underwater is not really practical or even possible so far.

So although it seemed like there finally was a solution to the scuba diver's dream of unlimited underwater time, it is unlikely to become available as personal diving equipment until the CO2 scrubber problem also has been addressed.

Where it still might become a practical solution is in manned subsea installations (like Cousteau's famous "underwater habitats" Conshelf I, II and III and all it followers, or possibly in submarines, where access to an ample supply of energy and frequent removal of CO2 scrubbers are not a problem.

So we dream on about genetically manipulated fish-men with gill slits and webbed feet - while webbed fingers could prove to be rather impractical in the long run... ;-)

Full-face diving masks - from Phantomas to Darth Vader

After having recently been to the BOOT 2006, a rather large water sports (and diving) trade show/shopping event here in Germany, the whole "full-face mask thing" came into mind again.

I have been using full-face masks for a couple of years now, while diving for my own pleasure as well as for scientific missions and usually in rather cold water. Most of the time I use the good old "Cressi" type (also dubbed "Phantomas" and sometimes mistaken for a fetish thing ;-) which is cheap, simple and reliable. There is only one way to make it unusable, and that is to break the front window, in which case you just pop in a spare one.



This type of mask is by now considered quite "old-school" but adequately fulfills its purpose: it keeps your face dry and holds your reg in place, which of course is a nice safety featue.

So (theoretically) you do not have to bite into the mouthpiece any more, which can be tiresome, especially in long exposures in seriously cold waters. You can even add a "diver's telephone" i.e. a surface line communication system to this mask, although this requires drilling a small hole in the silicone or rubber mask body and glueing the microphone into the mask, which will stick into your chin with its rubber cap.

But there are more advanced alternatives from professional diving equipment manufacturers like German Dräger Safety or Swedish companies Interspiro and Poseidon, all of which make pretty similar masks.

Here a few shots of my favorite type, which I started using on "open-system" ice diving missions in the Arctic recently:



The Interspiro Divator is a classic in its own right, although not going back quite as far as the 1960's Cressi model. It is one of the most common military, rescue, and scientific models currently in use. Unfortunately, it is also still the most expensive... (ca. 950€)

Full-face masks are usually produced and sold as professional (or military) diving equipment and apart from fire and police departments, only commercial or scientific divers are commonly seen to use them as standard equipment. True, there is a growing market for so-called 'tech divers' and recently this trend has also trickled into the mainstream market.

Here is the runner-up, which I am currently thinking (or rather, dreaming:) of purchasing one day for myself:



Not surprisingly, the Poseidon is more or less an exact replica of the Divator, although it has a few improved design features - and a more reasonable price...(ca. 850€)

If you are thinking of putting a rebreather mouthpiece into a full-face mask, you will probably either 'mod' an existing cressi or older Dräger masks with straps and glue and handmade parts, or you will succumb to the designers and marketing people of Dräger and shell out for their "Panorama Nova" model:



This is the newest of the three and comes with three reg/communication/bailout ports which can be conveniently opened and closed by easily handled plugs, so that you can breathe surrounding air while you are already fully sealed and dressed up, or you can even swap a rebreather loop for a reg or one reg for another. It is also the cheapest of them all (680€), except for the Cressi which will cost you only 50€ apiece (I bought 4 over the years...).

I used it successfully in recent under-ice rebreather diving missions (using Dräger's Dolphin system) both in the Arctic and Antarctic, and the most prominent "user-friendly" features are both the 'port plugs' and the quick-release feature, i.e.you can easily pull the mask away from your face even with thick gloves by grabbing the two "bars" on each side of the mask, which will open all of the four the strap buckles at once. Maybe this system could be modified for the other masks as well?

There is just one slight problem: ONLY Dräger's own second stages or especially modified Apeks regs will fit into ANY of its ports. Of yourse you can try to modify another regulator (p.e. by welding a dräger-style mouthpiece onto a Poseidon Cyclon 2. stage) but anyway you are forced use a fitting regulator. Another downside: you cannot get them as "overpressure" systems which are a switchable option for the other two systems, so you will have to go on "demand-only" instead.

BTW: there are several (in my eyes largely unsuccessful) models of full-face masks produced by sports diving equipment manufacurers like Scubapro and OceanReef, but after trying them both for s short period I returned them immediately: too expensive and neither as functional nor as robust as any of the models mentioned above, while offering poor comfort and even warped visor surfaces which scratch easily and give you 'tunnel vision' alreada at the surface.

wreck diving - out of a personal submarine?

A good (old) SCUBA joke goes like this:

"Young attractive male seeks female dive buddy for shared recreation and friendship, must have boat. Please sent photo of boat."

Apart from a car, which is the one vital component of any SCUBA gear (to haul all the assorted other components from home to beach or lake), a boat probably ranges second on any ambitious sports diver.

But for wreck divers, there is a new fancy to replace it: private-owned submarines!



Sounds crazy? Well, remember that every dive flick, or any action movie including diving (like virtually all 007 episodes) includes at least one "sub scene". Cousteau had one, (so did Steve Zizou;-), his grandson even has a "shark sub".

If you look past the technical and logistical problems and challenges that clearly arise from getting, building or even operating a non-military, non-scientific, recreational submarine, it all seems quite appealing (at least to wreck divers):

• more often than not, wrecks lie in deep water. That means long descents, several gas mixes, even longer ascents, endless decompression stops etc.

• the one thing most feared by divers (and especially dive boat crews) is not sea sickness itself, but "anchor sickness", i.e. the unpredictable movement of a boat at anchor, or even adrift, as there is no main propulsion component any more, i.e. the boat is rocking in ever direction seemingly at once, even in comparatively calm conditions. And this is when you have to set up your equipment, get into that gear, check your stuff, wait until everybody is ready, move around with weights and tanks and all... and nausea is rising. As far as I have heard, subs do not have that problem.

• the cool factor: hey, you can shoot your very own James Bond scene!

In fact, there is a guy that seems to be able to pull this off: Carsten Standfuss and his team are building their 16m-submarine including a diver recompression chamber and everything that is needed for a week-long trip at sea, diesel-electric propulsion and all.

Here is a more extensive documentation of their efforts in German version.

Diving Icebergs, part II

...two American cave diver dove not only under but in fact IN TO icebergs in the Ross Sea, and did "deep penetration dives" (yeah, that's what they call it) of the mega-sized iceberg (some even called it a "teraberg") B-15.

It turns out they used CCR systems (which stands for closed-circuit rebreather) - which makes sense for extended cave diving - but of course the berg calved while some of them were inside, and of course their entry was blocked by that... but miraculously they came out again, and lived to turn a profit out of it by selling it as both science and a cool documentary. And they even had the blessing and support of the US Antarctic Program of the NSF! Now, this is just too crazy and weird NOT to be true.

If you want to hear Jill Heinerth, one of the iceberg divers, you can load a podcast from "bottom time radio" (you can find it on the iTMS) or you can actually buy the documentary film that came out of that expedition, as a DVD on Amazon (look for the "Ice Island").

Diving Icebergs, part I

I also found a cool report on a recent campaign by the staff of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute - which by the way must be the grown-up version of a childhood dream to join the Cousteau team. Okay, maybe before you have seen "A Life Aquatic" ;-)

Anyway, these researchers spent December in the Weddell Sea diving a ROV around and underneath icebergs to study their impact on the water masses around them. Here is another link to their project.

Since I am myself extremely interested in ice diving, whether it is SCUBA, ROV or even AUV, this was quite cool to read.

But wait: one more thing as we talk ice diving and icebergs (two things that sometimes confused), let me state this clearly: normally, ice diving involves going through and under a more or less thick, more or less solid layer of sea ice (or fresh water ice, if you are in a lake) and NOT icebergs. Or at least that's what I thought. Who would dive under an iceberg, as a diver, anyway? And what for? Turns out, a team of US cave diving experts did just that...

one year since ISPOL

I just realized that it has by now been a year since we left Cape Town for the ISPOL expedition, a 3-month scientific cruise to the central Weddell Sea - and I still have not posted a single pic to my website! Well, here are some appetizers:



Here you see our sea ice team from my institute. Our boss (middle) also happened to be the scientific cruise leader.



As soon as we arrived, we were under constant surveillance. Every piece of equipment was inspected thoroughly.



We did some diving there - that's how I usually get my stuff done - and this is a nice action shot of the team ;-)



Another action shot;-) That seal is about 3.5m long and had some big nasty teeth!
Later she came by (it was a big female) and showed me - while we both in the water.
Unfortunately, I could not repay the favour due to the big full-face mask (see pic above).

So as soon as I got these and a lot more pics properly set up on my homepage I will put up another post about it.

no life aquatic

In case you wondered what a polar ecologist/sea ice biologist is actually doing most of the time, well, you are not alone. I wonder about the same thing every single day ;-)

And since I am in bed with the flu today and the same questions have been haunting me all morning:

"...what have I been doing since the last expedition?" ..."what am I supposed to do next when I get back to work?" ... "is there any future in this?" ... "should I get a REAL job?"... and so on

(okay, maybe it is not all that dramatic, but still, you get the point)

I have finally decided to blog those demons away, and post my 'accumulated wisdom' about polar research, or at least my little part of it, on this site.

There are a number of things most people will agree on about Polar research:


• it is expensive (think icebreakers, helicopters, snow mobiles, lots of cold weather gear, hauling tons of equipment to the ends of the world...)

• it is at the same time about very remote places but also about the the global perspective (think ozone hole, deglaciation, sea level rise, thawing permafrost)

• it is Prestige Science (think National Polar Research Programs, National sector claims in the Antarctic, the Race to the Poles, Amundsen, Nansen, Scott, Nobile, Wegener, Andree, and all the other national icons and polar heroes)

• it is more often than not perceived as interesting but exotic, challenging but not (economically) rewarding, and in toto not all that relevant for most people's lives.


So from these statements you can derive some secondary points that define the life of a polar researcher to a great extend:


• it is a very competitive business

• there is a very narrow job market and a lot of turnover, especially among those "early-stage researchers" (...like me ;-)

• it is personally demanding and sometimes exhausting (think months of expedition time, uncertain future perspectives, a constant struggle for renewal of financing)

• it is often presented as more glamorous and heroic than it actually is, while at the same time people ask "so what is coming out of all this?"


So why bother? There are many reasons, probably as many as there are people actually doing this. It is certainly not about getting as much adventure and fun as you would expect from watching the Cousteau movies.

(after all, I am writing mostly about the German research programs here, where the biggest adventure is getting all the right permits and forms in time for your next trip)

Science, escpecially basic science, is probably not a career choice where a higher income and bonuses, possible advances in the hierarchy, or earning a personal spot in the parking lot, are the standard factors that people will typically discuss over lunch with their co-workers.

On the other hand, the office part of your work time is probably not that different from so many jobs outside of science.
You have your deadlines to meet, you have to wrestle with the printer when it is jammed, you argue whose turn it is to get the coffee and milk on the table for your breaks, there are forms and applications for everything, and sometimes the data network just breaks down and everybody is terrified.

So let's line up the cool part of this business for a change:

• an academic position (usually) comes with a great level of independence

• your position (especially in polar research) covers a great deal of different tasks and environments: there is of course the fieldwork and expedition time, there is lab work, office work/desk time, conferences and travels

• you get to see places and do things that other people pay a fortune for (which you could never afford on an academic salary;-) and you get paid for it (sometimes you even get a 2,39€ bonus, per day!)
______________________________________________

(working in tourism has finally killed the idea that there are still places on this earth that are virtually untouched or unreachable for humans, except maybe scientists. Forget it.
If there ever has been a single human being before, then there will be tourists shortly after. The more exclusive, the better.

"Tea and cake in the Dry Valleys? Just sign here, and fill in your credit card number. A souvenir from the South Pole? Stand right there, sir, next to the Ceremonial Pole marker, and please don't take your sunglasses off. A hike around the North Pole? As soon as the helicopter has touched down, ma'am. Northwest Passage? Would you like to book a starboard or port side suite for the trip? Skiing across Greenland? Certainly, sir, twice a season, would you rather go east-west or west-east?"

You get the idea...)
______________________________________________

I think after having written this, I should finally get in gear and compose that page about my PhD project that had been announced on my webspace for years now. So watch out, next time I get sick it might be there, on this spot!