Oceans of Opportunity

Author: oceanopportunity

all clammed up

While most of the world was busy getting ‘Trumped’ Tuesday night (election night), there I was, all clammed up on the galley bench of a clam dredge fishing vessel trying to get a few hours sleep while en route to Nantucket Shoals off of Massachusetts. The mission – recover a clam dredge that had been…

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and…One More New Paper: standards of practice for Atmospheric Diving for science

Recently published: Lombardi, MR. (2016) Proposed Standards of Practice and Recommendations for Inclusion of Atmospheric Diving System (ADS) End-User Training and Operations within the Scientific Community. In Lobel, LK., & Lombardi, MR. (editors) (2016) Diving for Science 2016: Proceedings of the AAUS 35th Scientific Symposium, September 20-14, 2016, Narragansett, RI. Dauphin Island, AL: American Academy of…

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Another New Paper: variable depth capability for portable inflatable habitats

Recently published in cooperation with colleagues at NYU and URI: Piispanen, RA., Lombardi, MR., and Burleson, W. (2016). Variable Depth Capability for Portable Inflatable Habitats. In Lobel, LK., & Lombardi, MR. (editors) (2016) Diving for Science 2016: Proceedings of the AAUS 35th Scientific Symposium, September 20-14, 2016, Narragansett, RI. Dauphin Island, AL: American Academy of Underwater…

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New Paper: hookah diving system for aquaculture science & husbandry

Recently published in cooperation with our colleagues in Hong Kong: Wartenberg, R. Lombardi, MR, and Chan, LL. (2016) Triple-Redundant Hookah Diving System for Remote Inshore Aquaculture Husbandry and Science is Cost Effective, Efficient, and Safe. In Lobel, LK., & Lombardi, MR. (editors) (2016) Diving for Science 2016: Proceedings of the AAUS 35th Scientific Symposium, September 20-14,…

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a lot to digest…

Here in the US, consumerism has evolved to reach scales of excess that most cannot even imagine. Most people go about their day, making trash, flushing toilets, and throwing away food without any second thought of how this post consumer waste is managed. Frankly, once the trash man takes it away, it is out of…

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barnacles for breakfast

This morning I chugged down half a coffee and then slipped beneath the layer of floating cigarette butts, seaweed, and miscellaneous plastic garbage to settle in to my home for the next 90 minutes – scrubbing the hull of a sailboat that had sat stationary in a dirty marina for more than a year. Nothing…

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the Greeks and testing time

I find myself frequently fascinated by the cycles of life, within life, and in how history does indeed repeat itself. Ever more fascinating is how every now and again someone stands out as seeming to have a handle on making history, rather than just becoming a part of it. It’s a skill that very few…

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Salvage of the Irish Piper

The last few weeks have marked the return to getting out there on the water and diving in to the life aquatic in full force. I must say, after a couple of years sitting behind a desk in a management capacity, the return to the field has come with some bumps and bruises – part…

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The ‘Tails’ of Two Whales

Go figure – I’ve been making the drive to the Green Mountain State (Vermont) for ten years now, and it took until this past weekend to actually notice the ‘Reverence’ sculpture alongside 89 North.   The Wikipedia write-up tells its story nicely, so I’ll spare the duplicate effort. However, a little more digging shed some…

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Dive #4000 this Sidemount Saturday

My technical beach excursions have gained some attention the last few weeks, and I suppose with reasons to be understood as I schlep a diver propulsion vehicle and a few sidemount bottles to the beach of our most popular local dive site where openwater training is the norm. Over the winter, I had the place…

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