Advanced Scientific Diving Workshop brings 300 foot
depth closer to reality
This story entered on 17th Mar, 2006 01:13:41 PM PST
NOAA and the Smithsonian supported a scientific meeting
in Washington, DC February 23-24, which concluded that there is
a national need for scientific divers to perform research at depths
beyond the 190-feet limits imposed by compressed air scuba. "Scuba
diving conducted by scientists is an invaluable research tool; a
trained eye underwater provides research value and flexibility that
unmanned systems often do not", said the Smithsonian Institution's
Michael Lang. With a large number of marine ecosystems located in
depths of up to 400-feet deep-or, too deep for conventional scuba
diving and too shallow to make deep submersible work cost efficient;
exciting research on deep water corals or ecosystem assessments
on National Marine Sanctuaries, for example, might not be possible
without the added capability to dive to 300 feet.
In response to this need, NOAA and the Smithsonian Institution
invited fifty diving experts representing academia, the U.S. Navy,
commercial diving companies, and international experts to describe
techniques used to dive to 300 feet and beyond. Open-circuit trimix
and closed-circuit mixed-gas rebreathers are currently being used
in the scientific community and their use can readily be extended
to deeper depths.
However, mixed-gas surface-supplied techniques,
including diving from a bell or deep saturation system, as described
by commercial and U.S. Navy representatives are not currently used
by the scientific community. NOAA representatives believe the information
from this workshop can be used to develop procedures for safe scientific
diving to 300 feet. This will allow NOAA supported scientists to
extend the accomplishment of NOAA's mission by making first-hand
observations, taking fine measurements, and conducting exact sampling
at deeper depths. The workshop was supported by NOAA's Undersea
Research Program, the Smithsonian Institution, NOAA's National Marine
Sanctuary Program and the American Academy of Underwater Sciences.
Contact information
Name: Gene Smith
Tel: (301) 713-2427
gene.smith@noaa.gov
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