Category: Mesophotic Exploration
human ocean exploration – why bother?
Those of us who work and play out there on the edge – be it physically or intellectually – fully appreciate the challenge in self-motivation. There is often no ‘competiton’ per se to drive us along. Our mission comes from within, and we must do all we can to challenge ourselves and make progress. When…
Read Morehumans’ place in frontier exploration
I received an e-invite a few days ago to participate in an online event that suggested participants will be “exploring the ocean without leaving the shore“. Of course this peaked my interests, so I followed some web links around and arrived at the statement, “Just imagine Neil Armstrong never leaving his desk in Houston yet…
Read MoreHand in Hand | the Exosuit and Accessible Ocean Space
This is a special series on a ‘New Life’ by National Geographic Explorer Michael Lombardi as he chronicles his journey through ‘Depth, Time, & Space‘ using the new Exosuit Atmospheric Diving System (ADS). Content syndicated from National Geographic’s Explorers Journal: http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/04/30/hand-in-hand-the-exosuit-and-accessible-ocean-space/#.UYBs3VlMDxk.blogger The journey we’re all on indeed has mysterious ways of revealing itself; all the…
Read Morea new world view from the ‘bottom up’
Several year ago, I stumbled on an article by an MIT student that discussed the concept of ‘underwater camping’ – the simple ability to make a foray into the ocean, and stay for awhile. It was a compelling idea. My interests in ocean exploration have always leaned heavily on improving human intervention – advanced diving…
Read MoreOctober 12th is ‘Exploration Day’
Celebrating ‘Columbus Day’ always resonates with me for several days pre and post this impactful day in history – marking Christopher Columbus’ landfall in the Americas in 1492. Specifically, he set foot in the Bahamas – the island chain to the south and east of the US State of Florida, and perhaps not so coincidentally –…
Read Morean in between era using in between technology
I recently returned from the field, working in a remote stretch of the Exumas, Bahamas – where I consider my home away from home. The objective? Deploy an experimental undersea habitat that, if successful, would provide for unsurpassed wet diving access to the lower limits of mesophotic coral ecosystems. As it happens, the deployment went off…
Read Morecontrolling the invasion | some lionfish news for you
The invasive lionfish – a huge threat to tropical Atlantic and Caribbean reefs. I was in the Bahamas back in 2005 when one of the first two juveniles was captured in the country. Today, they are everywhere, putting predatory pressures on small herbivorous reef fishes that keep the algae under control on coral reefs. In…
Read MoreA Last Dive for Glowing Animals – NYTimes.com
From our friends and colleagues at the American Museum of Natural History and the City University of New York, posted in the New York Times: On the 15-kilometer boat ride out to the Western Province reef, the members of the research expedition sit tight, focusing on the night dive ahead — our last dive in…
Read MoreMaking Headlines | Ocean Space Habitat on Nat Geo
Having realized limitations in deep Mesophotic intervention from work in 2010, Lombardi teams up with Subsalve USA to develop a portable inflatable habitat for improved decompression efficiency. Lombardi receives second award from National Geographic Society to deploy and evaluate the system. Lombardi and Godfrey are first to successfully deploy a purpose built inflatable portable decompression…
Read Morethe end of the Age of Aquarius
Being immersed in the ocean science community, many of this foresaw this inevitability, but there’s nothing like the national e-news to confirm things – Aquarius, the world’s last underwater laboratory dedicated for science is closed. The symbolism of this closing event is more discouraging than the close itself. From a business perspective, especially given the…
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