Rebreather Pro

Documentary Expedition Reality

These are the realities of documentary filmmaking. Most of the day is actually spent humping gear through the bush and sweating. It is a relief to get wet and cool off. Here James Barrat (Director) and Gordy Waterman (camerman, son of Stan Waterman) and Dave Strayer (Audio Recordist) film Brian Kakuk at Sawmill Sink. There is a lot of exciting science happening here, but we have to break down each action into filmable parts to put it all back together for the final film which will be released on NOVA next summer. The National Geographic article will come out at the same time.

From Abaco - Jill Heinerth

Tech Tip: Pre breathe your rebreather and some weighty loop issues

 

 Dr. Kenny Broad is conducting a pre-breathe on his Megalodon rebreather at Bahamas Underground in Abaco. I wanted to share this shot for a couple of reasons. First, it shows the proper conduct of the pre-breathe, with the nose plugged. This ensures that the check catches any CO2 issues. If your nose is not blocked, then your brain will compensate and allow you to unknowingly suck in some fresh air to make up for the rising PCO2.
The second reason I have included this shot is because it shows an inexpensive way to weight down your breathing loop if it is in your field of vision. Loop weights are a great solution, but if you are in the field and need a quick fix, buy a small spool of Silver Solder and spiral it around the breathing hoses. Trim the ends to ensure you don't damage the rubber.  -- Jill Heinerth

US Deep Caving Team Uses Poseidon Mk6 Discovery Rebreather

Safe Return from Mexico

Members of the US Deep Caving Team, led by Dr. Bill Stone,  have returned safely from their J2 Expedition in Mexico. Utilizing the Poseidon Mk6 Discovery Rebreather, they were able to crack several sumps and make some significant discoveries that will help unravel the complexity of these remarkable caves that may eventually become the world’s deepest diving ventures inside the planet.

Kacia Biernacka and Marcin Gala documented the expedition and have posted some of their shots on their website. The gallery can be viewed at:
http://speleo.pl/galeria_flash.php?album=99&lang=en
Many more pictures will follow, but if you go to the last page right now, you will see the rebreather in action.

More details about the mission can be seen at www.usdct.org.

National Geographic Expedition Bahamas: Diving Sanctuary Blue Hole

Sanctuary Blue Hole – July 18, 2009

We had a tough hike in to the blue hole, trying to avoid the various banana holes along the trail. Some are only ankle busters, but others are twenty feet deep, disguised with twigs and bushes and large enough to swallow someone on the trail. The path is overgrown and despite aggressive machete hacking, is draped with weeping Poisonwood and touch-me-not bushes. I stumbled momentarily and fell into a touch-me-not and immediately felt the fire of innumerable small spines injecting heat into my skin. The splinters lodged in my t-shirt and flesh, re-stinging me all day long. I was still grateful it was not the dreaded Poisonwood that seems to have afflicted so many on our team. A cold has also ravaged our team, passing through everyone except Kenny and I. We are both extremely careful about cleanliness on the boat and are constantly reminding the “sickies” to stop putting their hands in the trail mix and lips on the big water jug. The quarters are so close, it is a miracle that everyone of us is not ill.
The heat was torturing today and we collectively drank 20 gallons of water; over one gallon per person in the field. It still did not feel like enough.
Nikita Shiel Rolle, one of scientists, has family throughout Andros. We hired her father to cook lunch for us and found an uncle and two cousins to hire as sherpas. Even with the extra help, we each made five trips in and out of the bush before and after the dive. We got the bus packed as darkness was falling.
I had an absolutely fantastic dive. We dropped through thick hydrogen sulphide and a halocline to reach a steep talus slope scattered with human bones. Sixteen sets of remains were removed by Rob Palmer almost twenty years ago, but many are still present. We set up a grid for survey while Kenny and Bahamian archaeologist Michael Pateman settled down for the documentation and recovery. Wes shot stills, so I ran the HD camera for a while. We traded off and he completed the shooting.  Afterward, we shot a stunning canyon called Mohibe Hall. Brian and I swam through the fracture at 110 feet with almost 200 feet of blackness below us. On the way up to decompression, Brain and I bagged some more interesting bacteria for Jenn.
When I finished decompression, I surfaced the HD camera and started orchestrating the hauling of tanks from the water up the rock face. We only had one drop line, so it didn’t happen quickly. More to come...   Jill Heinerth

National Geographic Expedition Diving Science

All is well on the Bahama Blue Hole shoot for National Geographic. The science keeps rolling in. Some of the conditions are very challenging with high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide and low or no visibility. We're using Megalodon rebreathers for collections of stygiobitic life and sampling of bio-mats. Now that we have arrived in Andros, we will be recovering some human Lucayan bones from Sanctuary and Stargate caves. Brian Kakuk, Kenny Broad and I will also search for and recover a deep speleothem from Stargate in order to date previous sea level stands. One brought out of Dan's cave has been dated up to 350,000 years old. The climate data within this sample can show what topside conditions were like in almost year by year accuracy. These samples have already revealed that several massive warming events in the past occurred extremely rapidly. Its a thrill being a part of such fascinating science, but I can't do it justice. Stay tuned next summer for National Geographic Magazine and NOVA Television.  Jill Heinerth  Pic: Dr. Tom Iliffe with cave biology sample (JH)

Rebreather Oxygen Cells

Date Codes on Oxygen Cells

Many people have asked me how they can tell how old their oxygen sensors are, in other words, when they were manufactured. Teledyne sensors are imprinted with a date code that indicates their “born on” date. The codes are letter-number combinations. If your sensor reads A8, it was manufactured in January 2008. If the code reads D9, then it was manufactured in April 2009. When you remove the sensor from its bag to install in your rig, you should also label the sensor with a Sharpie marker and indicate the date you installed it in the unit. -- Jill Heinerth

Bahamas Mission

National Geographic in the Bahamas

I’m on an expedition in the Bahamas for the next month. We’re utilizing the vessel RV Tiburon  and will be offshore and out of contact. I’ll do my best to keep up the posts if I can reach a 3G network, but we’ll see. Wes Skiles is the DP for the film shoot, which will  produce a television special to be released through National Geographic Television and NOVA next summer. As a producer, I’ll be trying to keep logistics on the rails while diving as underwater grip and second camera. Wes is also shooting an article for National Geographic magazine. Dr. Kenny Broad and Brian Kakuk and I will be using our Megalodon rebreathers for some deep dives on Andros and Dive Rite Nomad sidemount gear for the rest of our work in Abaco and other sites offshore. Tom Morris and Nathan Skiles complete the diving film crew.
We have several scientists, including rebreather diver Dr. Tom Iliffe, on the project. We’ll be recovering human Lucayan Indian remains, taking deep samples of Sahara dust and speleothems that will help illustrate former sea level stands, studying ancient paleo-animals in sinks and caves and working on documentation of biological resources. The show will tell the story of the significance of Bahamian Blue Holes and we hope, will create a public interest in their protection. -- Jill Heinerth

Bahamas Rebreather Expedition Report

Lost Reel Croc – Friday, July 10 – Bahamian Independence Day (Junkanoo)

The cave is a non-descript water hole on the side of the main north/south highway. There’s a trash heap in the parking lot and the water stinks of sewage. Garbage floats in the brown water and a home-made ladder is tied to a pine tree. It’s not very inviting. We’ve come to this site to investigate a fully articulated crocodile skeleton and its trail of fossilized feces. Given the small passages, hydrogen sulfide, sliding peat avalanches and lack of visibility, Wes trims the team down again to Kenny Broad, Brian Kakuk and myself. Three of us dive our Megalodon rebreathers in order to minimize the percolation and Wes opts for open circuit sidemount gear.
We descend through wispy veils of hydrogen sulfide and dodge branches and tree trunks that choke the entrance. We follow a loose mound of collapsing peat down to a deeper layer that has a little bit of visibility. It is there that we find huge petrified turds. It seems this crocodile had an enormous digestive tract, large enough to pop out something the size of a human baby. After descending to 100 feet, we follow a silty passage to a small alcove, dodging crumbling formations along the way. Brian ties in a line and we cautiously follow to the resting place of the large croc. Bringing up the rear of the pack, I have lost all visibility and can no longer see my displays. Luckily my heads-up light keeps me in contact with pertinent information about my life support. I know we are at the croc site only because I can hear Brian and Kenny yelling measurements and depths. The pace of Wes’s bubbles tells me he is fine too. For twenty minutes, the guys try to document and retrieve a long bone for dating. Wes is off the line attempting to film the event. Once completed, the only way to get Wes out of the murky recess is for Brian to gently pull the camera lens to safety. Wes hangs limp and rides the camera in trust to get back on the line. Our exit is completely silted out, so we follow the line and play “bump and go” to get to our decompression stop. Seventy-eight minutes in complete milk. The dive is a great success.   Jill Heinerth

Jill Heinerth in Car Crash

As some of you may know, Jill and I were in a pretty violent "rollover wreck" yesterday on the Florida  Turnpike.  We are a bit battered and bruised, but okay so far.  We had a van packed full of dive gear and underwater film equipment, including a few rebreathers. Let us all join together and sing the praises of Pelican cases.  Wes Skiles, Tom Morris and Nathan Skiles were traveling with us in another van, and they hurriedly turned around to assist.  It was a bit dicey there while we were rolling upside down and end over end!  I kicked out the windshield to extracate myself, and with the assistance of an ER nurse (in scrubs who was passing by), we got an upside-down Jill right-side-up.
After a checking over by a doctor, Jill continued on to meet the RV Tiburon for a National Geographic film project.  I am picking up the pieces and holding the fort.
Thank you all for your love and support!  Robert McClellan, for Jill Heinerth