News
Diver will use ‘Aquanaut’ suit to explore ancient wreck
Phil Short is dressed like an astronaut, but he is not going into space – he’s going to the bottom of the ocean.
The technical diving educator will be part of a team of six men who will dive as deep as 1,000 feet to try and recover artefacts from a Greek shipwreck using an exosuit that was featured on Scubaverse.com last year.
The Exosuit atmospheric diving system, which looks similar to a metal spacesuit, allows divers to drop to extraordinary depths for hours without the need for decompressing upon returning to the surface. Short and members of the dive team will use the new technology in September when they return to the Antikythera wreck in the Mediterranean. The wreck is said to date from the first century BC. It was discovered by sponge divers off Point Glyphadia on the Greek island of Antikythera in 1900.
“To train in the suit and use it on the forthcoming project is a privilege, an honor and very exciting,” Short said.
Made of mostly aluminum, the suit weighs 530 pounds and uses patented rotary joints to enable both arm and leg movements that allow divers to complete delicate work on the seabed.
The technology was invented by Canadian Phil Nuytten and has been developed and built by Nuytco Research Ltd.
“It’s like a submarine, but it’s a hard suit so you’re really inside a man-shaped suit,” Mr. Short said.
“The suit is basically a mini submarine with jointed arms and legs where the diver is maintained at surface pressure rather than being exposed to water pressure.”
The expedition, called Return to Antikythera, follows a four-year journey for Short, who has been researching the site for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, the same institute that discovered the wreck of the Titanic.
The ancient Greek site is most famous for the discovery of what is known as the world’s oldest computer – the Antikythera Mechanism.
The device is believed to have been used to predict astronomical positions, such as the movement of stars and comets, and pre-dates the use of Greek scientists in 100 BC.
“What is so exciting about it is it predates any other machinery with cogs,” Short said.
“The object has been described as the ‘first manual computer’ that pre-dates the clock by hundreds of years.”
Divers with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute began surveying the site in 2012 using rebreathers.
Short said in 2012 the team uncovered the ship’s anchor, bow and stem anchor and last year discovered the shipwreck’s layout. “Last year we found an object using ship-mounted electronic survey equipment that could be a missing life-size statue of horse, at about 600 feet,” Short said.
During September’s expedition, the divers will be able to reach the statue and bring it back to surface, where it will be studied and later displayed at the Athens National Museum.
The team will survey, study and perform the excavation of the wreck and surrounding area, and will conduct the authorized recovery of key artifacts.
As well as his work with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Woods has trained with groups including the U.S. National Parks Service and the archeologists of the Chinese National Museum in Beijing. He has also worked with search and rescue teams including the UK Police Underwater Search team and media teams from the BBC.
Find out more about Phil at www.philshorttechnical.co.uk.
Source: www.compasscayman.com
News
Dive Worldwide Announces Bite-Back as its Charity of the Year
Over the next 12 months, specialist scuba holiday company Dive Worldwide will be supporting Bite-Back Shark & Marine Conservation with donations collected from client bookings to any one of its stunning dive destinations around the world. The independently-owned operator expects to raise £3000 for the UK charity.
Manager at Dive Worldwide, Phil North, said: “We’re especially excited to work with Bite-Back and support its intelligent, creative and results-driven campaigns to end the UK trade in shark products and prompt a change in attitudes to the ocean’s most maligned inhabitant.”
Bite-Back is running campaigns to hold the media to account on the way it reports shark news along with a brand new nationwide education programme. Last year the charity was credited for spearheading a UK ban on the import and export of shark fins.
Campaign director at Bite-Back, Graham Buckingham, said: “We’re enormously grateful to Dive Worldwide for choosing to support Bite-Back. The company’s commitment to conservation helps set it apart from other tour operators and we’re certain its clients admire and respect that policy. For us, the affiliation is huge and helps us look to the future with confidence we can deliver against key conservation programmes.”
To launch the fundraising initiative, Phil North presented Graham Buckingham with a cheque for £1,000.
Visit Dive Worldwide to discover its diverse range of international scuba adventures and visit Bite-Back to learn more about the charity’s campaigns.
MORE INFORMATION
Call Graham Buckingham on 07810 454 266 or email graham@bite-back.com
Gear News
Scubapro Free Octopus Promotion 2024
Free Octopus with every purchase of a SCUBAPRO regulator system
Just in time for the spring season, divers can save money with the FREE OCTOPUS SPRING PROMOTION! Until July 31st SCUBAPRO offers an Octopus for free
with every purchase of a regulator system!
Get a free S270 OCTOPUS with purchase of these combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with A700
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with S620Ti
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with D420
MK25 EVO Din mit S620Ti-X
Get a free R105 OCTOPUS with purchase of the following combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with G260
MK25 EVO or MK17 EVO with S600
SCUBAPRO offers a 30-year first owner warranty on all regulators, with a revision period of two years or 100 dives. All SCUBAPRO regulators are of course certified according to the new European test standard EN250-2014.
Available at participating SCUBAPRO dealers. Promotion may not be available in all regions. Find an authorized SCUBAPRO Dealer at scubapro.com.
More information available on www.scubapro.com.
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