Since 2008, this Blog has been a communications priority providing shorts, op-eds, and bramblings that communicate experiences through the life aquatic..
To my fellow Americans, Happy 4th of July, if it can be. Among the myriad of social, economic, and political turmoil we’re presently blessed with I want to draw particular attention to a new ideological battleground – where environmentalists are saving environmentalists from their attempt to save the environment. Every movement – be it towards independence, social justice issues, religious
This is a refreshed op-ed from its original publication in 2017; to expand on context related to modern and future subsea habitation as we reflect on the historical significance of the Sealab Program on its 60th anniversary. Call it one of those quirky fateful twists – as I started up my truck this morning [January 6, 2017), the local radio
In June–July 1964, Ed Link – businessman, inventor, philanthropist – conducted his second Man-in-the-Sea experiment in the Berry Islands (a chain in the Bahamas) with Robert Sténuit and Jon Lindbergh, one of the sons of Charles Lindbergh. Sténuit and Lindbergh stayed in Link’s SPID habitat (Submersible, Portable, Inflatable Dwelling) for 49 hours underwater at a depth of 432 feet (132 m), breathing a helium-oxygen mixture. Dr. Joseph B.
Taking a short break from the intensity of Olympic curling, I thumbed through Netflix this weekend and was pleasantly surprised to find Leonardo DiCaprio’s documentary “Before the Flood”. I’ll be honest that I’ve often viewed celebrity backed cause documentaries with some question as to the motive, but DiCaprio proved me
I like to think I’ve aged well with diving. There have been some grueling periods where I know I wreaked havoc on myself physically and physiologically during arduous working dives, but in hindsight, I was always smart enough to take the little things into consideration that I had a hunch
It’s always a matter of perspective. One person’s half full glass is half empty for someone else, and so that is our yin and our yang. This push and pull, good and evil, happiness and sadness, positive and negative is what keeps our wheels turning and humanity evolving. The notion
I struggle with the Christmas holiday, and have struggled for a significant portion of my adult life, and probably spend a solid month of every holiday season deep in thought about the how and why this is. I wouldn’t say its holiday depression per se, but rather a forced very
I was struck during a brief conversation with a colleague recently when we stumbled upon the topic that my professional track is viewed as a success by outsiders. Being immersed in my own moving and shaking every day, I’ve struggled to view successes versus failures or any broader perception as
A few folks close in my circles have been asking, even prodding, when I expect to be back in the field exploring and studying the deep. Well, as I’ve come to appreciate over the years, there isn’t much sense going back “just because”. Certainly, we could have been out there
Today will forever be one of those days where every American will reminisce a bit and contemplate where and how we are moving forward. In my case, today the dive supervisor reminded me that this was the 4th anniversary of Lyle passing away. Lyle Smith was the owner of Coastal
Ahh, the glamour and high life promised to we commercial divers – international travel, becoming part of fabled sea stories, mega-buck paychecks – boils down an inconvenient truth; boring worms aren’t (or at least shouldn’t) be that boring. For every one of those fabled sea stories that turns into a
Acceptable risk. This is something that is widely variable from person to person, from diver to diver, and can ebb and flow based on the current state of affairs, and even day to day state of mind. Earlier this week, while conducting a fairly routine activity underwater – fully accepting
Re-hashing an oldie with some fresh perspective – Standards. We all hate to love them, and love to hate them; ‘standards’ are the cookie cutter codes of practice that everyone follows in some form or fashion – be it standards by which we educate, standards by which we are obligated
Yesterday, our local news featured a piece about Stop & Shop’s regional compost facility in Assonet, MA. This is such an amazing facility, and hopefully becomes a model of efficiency for other large companies: http://turnto10.com/news/local/stop-shop-facility-turns-food-into-energy Some might ask how in the world this seems to excite me? Well, environmental advocacy
On the rare occasion that I get some tube time, I tend to shy away from the reality tv that seems to have plagued even the highest echelon of American society and culture and go for some real grit…typically along the lines of Ancient Aliens or the like. During tonight’s
This past week I made a dive that I hadn’t made in some time – 60 [feet] for 60 [minutes]. This is one of those marks within diving space that is well-recognized given the US Navy dive table’s no decompression limit at 60 feet…you guessed it – 60 minutes. The
I am always amazed at the pace of progress, particularly in diving, where it seems a 10-20 year cycle is in play for better understanding new technologies, new techniques, and their implications on human factors. A recent article from the Divers Alert Network about pseudoephedrine and diving illustrates this point
This week was one of those weeks – a marathon stretch of hard mud diving every day which equated to just shy of 30 hours underwater within a 5 day stretch, with one day including a 7 hour dive. I’ve had lots of weeks like this, for better or worse,
