Category: the Life Aquatic | an Evolution
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…
Read MoreSalvage 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…
Read MoreConfined Spaces and Atmospheric Management 101
Confined space entry is among the most hazardous occupational activities in the industrial sector. The issues that must be addressed are clear ingress/egress of the space, collapse, and of course atmospheric management. The latter is what makes the activity very similar to diving, and in fact, advanced techniques for extended range confined space penetrations are…
Read MoreOceanOne Robot | an Avatar for the Life Aquatic
The recent news of Stanford University’s OceanOne Robot’s successful salvage/recovery of artifacts from Louis XiV’s flagship came as quite the news to me. Admittedly, I know very little about the robot, however it does warrant some thought and discussion as we consider the value of humans versus robotics within the field of ocean exploration. On…
Read MoreThe not so novel concept of a Caribbean Marine Research Center
Interesting read, good in principle, but gives re-birth to lessons that the US government has not yet addressed: the proposal to turn the Guantanamo Bay facilities into a research center. In reflecting on my own career path recently, it dawned on me that I’ve been a part of the ebb and flow of all too…
Read MoreIsaac Asimov, and life under the sea
This recent Blog post couldn’t have summed up our conundrum any better: link. The piece kicks off with a quote by Isaac Asimov, stating: “Population pressure will force increasing penetration of desert and polar areas. Most surprising and, in some ways, heartening, 2014 will see a good beginning made in the colonization of the continental…
Read MoreNew Paper | A Paradigm Shift for Human Exploration
Very pleased to share a newly published paper in the Marine Technology Society Journal (Vol. 50, Issue 1), entitles, “A Paradigm Shift for Human Exploration of the Sea: Standards of Practice, Training, and Program Development for Atmospheric Diving”. download .pdf This is a timely and essential white paper reflecting on the recent efforts to bring together partners…
Read MoreTop Underwater Tech Gadgets to Keep an Eye On in 2016
This last year has made me enthusiastic to see the future of diving unfold. While there are certainly numerous ‘big’ issues to address, a few seemingly simple innovations, or rather evolutions of terra firma tech to life beneath the waves, have surfaced (or rather made their first descent!). The following pieces of tech are, in…
Read MoreOceanscrapers & Cities by and within the Sea
Every handful of years we see a short bit of press related to elaborate proposals to construct grandiose and magnificent cities beneath the sea, much like this recent piece in CNN highlighting Vincent Callebaut’s proposed ‘Oceanscraper’. These are all awe-inspiring, intriguing, and draw on dreams buried ‘deep’ within our brains that were all left by the…
Read MoreA Big Splash in the Ocean State
Yesterday’s news of a humpback while sighting well within the margins of Narragansett Bay is certainly news- and noteworthy. It seems that there have been more and more of these big splashes and sightings in recent years here in the Ocean State, and that’s a great thing. Last year, there were the beluga whales. The…
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