Quest volume 22, No. 4 November 2021

Quest The Journal of Global Underwater Explorers

Vol. 22, No. 4 – November 2021

PHOTO GRAPH ER PORTF OLIO: PETR P OLÁCH

A GIANT CAVE

A small, dedicated team explores the Ox Bel Ha system in Mexico

RETURN TO THE PRINCESS CLEANING THE BALTIC

Princess of the Orient – the deepest diveable wreck in the Philippines

Unique partnership to remove oil spills from old shipwrecks

TEAM LES MISÉRABLE

EXPOSURE SYSTEMS

Report from a CCR 1 class – is it really like starting from scracth?

Everything you always wanted to know about drysuits

EDUCATION · CONSERVATION · EXPLORATION · COMMUNITY

GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR DIVING

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Available in English, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, and Korean.

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EDITOR’S LETTER Divers are like wind-up toys

P

icture, if you will, an old-fashioned mechanical toy. You know the type—one with a metal spring inside and a wind-up key in the back. You wind it up, put it down, and let it do its thing. After a while, the toy loses momentum and needs a new tightening of the spring to work again.

Divers resemble mechanical toys. They, too, can run out of impetus after a while.

I’m sure a lot of you are like me. When I started diving, just being underwater was enough.

The excitement of conquering a new element with the clever application of skills, knowledge, and technology—and the ability to explore new territory—was all the incentive I needed to go diving. In the beginning, the sensation of surviving each breath under the surface is enough to satisfy most divers. But after a while, the spring in any diver’s back loses tension and needs to be tightened. Just being under the surface is no longer enough, and most divers begin to look for something to do while diving. It might be as simple as starting to appreciate and understand marine biology, enjoying observing life on a coral reef, or learning a new skill like using a DPV or a drysuit. I have a feeling that most divers that are not frequently exposed to activities or courses that figuratively tighten the spring in the back eventually lose interest in diving and begin other activities.

Statistics from mainstream diving agencies indicate that the most likely outcome of an entry-level diving course is that the student stops diving! Very few students pick up diving as a more sustained activity after their initial certification. To continue with the wind-up toy metaphor, these statistics suggest that the spring never was tight enough in the first place to secure any thrust after certification.

For me, what sets GUE divers apart is the focus on the goal and the skill set needed to achieve it. The goal being exploration and conservation.

From the beginning, GUE always saw education as a means to an end, not the end itself.

Taking a GUE course is like replacing the metal spring with an atomic perpetual motion device; the momentum comes from being enabled to participate in and contribute to meaningful aquatic activities such as exploration, documentation, conservation, and other community-based projects.

In this issue of Quest, you will find plenty of examples of divers driven by a common goal.

Read about the documentation of the Princess of the Orient (page 6), the Dutch divers who want to expand their diving potential with a CCR course (page 18), the Mexican cave exploration (page 24), and the cleanup efforts in the Baltic (page 48).

Dive safe and have fun!

Jesper Kjøller Editor-in-Chief jk@gue.com

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Quest IN THIS ISSUE The Journal of Global Underwater Explorers

Vol. 22, No. 4 · November 2021

Editor-in-chief // Jesper Kjøller

6 RETURN TO THE PRINCESS OF THE ORIENT After a successful 2018 trip, an all-GUE team returned to the wreck of the Princess of the Orient. The team’s goals were to uncover more information about her and to become the first team to conduct actual penetration dives inside the wreck.

Editorial panel

// Michael Menduno // Amanda White

Design and layout // Jesper Kjøller

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Copy editing

// Pat Jablonski // Kady Smith // Nic Haylett // Catherine Taber-Olensky

Writers

// Karl Hurwood // Richard Hakse // Emőke Wagner // Laszlo Cseh // Bjarne Knudsen // David J. Cord // Dan MacKay // Panos Alexakos // Jarrod Jablonski

Photographers

// JP Bresser // David Lee // Karl Hurwood // Phillip Lee // Matt Broughton // Tom St. George // Jesper Kjøller // David Umberto Zappa

Quest is published quarterly by Global Underwater Explorers 18487 High Springs Main Street, High Springs, Florida 32643 www.GUE.com Follow Quest on Facebook www.facebook.com/QuestJournal

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TEAM LES MISÉRABLES

More and more GUE Tech 1 divers are taking the next step and enrolling in the GUE CCR Diver 1 class. The flexible gas logistics, savings in helium costs, and extended range possibilities are all selling points that are hard to argue against. This is a story of three students and their journey to become members of the bubble-free squad.

26 A GIANT CAVE IN MEXICO

The Ox Bel Ha cave system in Quintana Roo, Mexico, is the second longest underwater cave system in the world. The system exits into the Caribbean Sea by way of three different underwater vents. A connection to it has not yet been found.

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PORTFOLIO // PETR POLÁCH

He has been interested in photography for over 40 years. In 2003, when Petr started diving, he transferred his hobby to the underwater world, where he honed his craft and became a highly talented, award-winning underwater photographer.

42 ESSENTIALS // EXPOSURE SYSTEMS

Unless you dive in water close to body temperature, you need an exposure system to keep you warm as well as to protect you from scrapes and scratches caused by the environment and your equipment. Your exposure suit is also an integral part of your buoyancy system, and it plays an important role in achieving a balanced rig.

52 BALTIC WRECKS

The Baltic Sea contains so many shipwrecks that it has been called the world’s largest underwater museum.

While that is a pleasant way to describe the situation, it ignores the fact that some of the exhibits are time bombs. Many of these wrecks went down loaded with fuel. As the vessels erode over time, oil release becomes a major threat to the local environment.

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26

52

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COVER PETR POLÁCH

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RETURN TO TH Princess of the Orient – The largest diveable wreck in the Philippines

After a successful 2018 trip, an all-GUE team returned to the wreck of the Princess of the Orient. The team’s goals were to uncover more information about her and to become the first team to conduct actual penetration dives inside the wreck.

TEXT KARL HURWOOD PHOTOS DAVID LEE, KARL HURWOOD, PHILLIP LEE, AND MATT BROUGHTON 6

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HE PRINCESS PHOTO DAVID LEE

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A

fter a successful 2018 trip, an all-GUE team returned to the wreck of the Princess of the Orient. The team’s goals were to uncover more information about her and to become the first team to conduct actual penetration dives inside the wreck.

After a previous project on the Princess of the Orient (POTO) in 2018, we had a much better understanding of the ship but were left with questions about what we had not seen. Immediately after the end of the 2018 project, we had set about planning realistic goals for 2019, with the main focus of conducting meaningful penetration dives. The majority of the original 2018 team rejoined, along with a few new faces from GUE divers based in Asia.

cern about the next few days contributed to our decision to get an earlier start on succeeding days, noting that the wind seemed to pick up after lunchtime.

First dives

On day two, we were en-route to the site before sunrise. Conditions seemed much better than the previous day, so the team was in good spirits as we ate breakfast at sunrise. The wind began to increase again as we arrived at the site, but conditions were far better than the previous day. With divers fully kitted up, pre-dive checks done, and conditions looking better than the previous day, POTO 2019 was officially a go. The first two teams entered the water and descended toward the wreck.

The plan for the first day was to do a shorter dive with 30 minutes of bottom time and a total runtime of around four to five hours.

Initial dive and weather concerns Support divers were scheduled to enter the The first day involved an early departure from water one hour after the first team descended, Puerto Galera to reach the POTO site. To our confirm the divers were okay, and then wait at surprise, the morning wind had 45 m/148 ft to collect unused picked up, and the water was bailout bottles or bring down choppier than we expected. additional shallow deco gasThe descending As the morning went on, es if needed. The descending support team was the wind continued to pick up, support team was surprised to surprised to find the making it difficult to attach our find the divers already close to divers already close bailout bottles to the top of the 30 m/100 ft, around 45 minutes shotline so that divers could ahead of the expected deco to 30 m/100 ft, around don them in-water. schedules. With some in-water 45 minutes ahead of Wearing our rebreathers, communication and note passthe expected deco the team prepared to enter the ing, the first team relayed that schedules. water, but the conditions worsthey had suffered two failures ened. We felt diving was still on the dive—a leaking mouthpossible but were concerned piece followed by an imploded about the conditions in five to six hours, when lighthead. After only about 20 minutes, they the divers would resurface. called the dive.

The weather conditions continued to worsFortunately, we were able to fulfill our oben, and it became clear that entering the water jectives despite cutting the first dive short. at that time would be a gamble, so we decided We observed an entry point at the bridge and to call the dive. The on-site conditions seemed confirmed that the shotline was in place as worse than the forecast had predicted, but we expected. The shotline rested on the seabed, a opted to stay at the site for another few hours few meters from the wreck. The team deemed to see if a shorter dive could be completed. it too tight to enter; however, the port side exit Sadly, however, things continued to worsen as door was left in an open position, which althe day went on, so we felt we’d made the right lowed access to the bridge from the corridor call in canceling the first day’s dive. Our conofthe upper deck.

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A 120 m/394 ft dive requires six 80 cft bailout tanks, which complicates penetration somewhat.

We are introducing many more new skills than are introduced in a T2 class. This includes 15 new CCR skills and five bailout skills, as well as introducing SCR operations.

PHOTOS DAVID LEE

GUE Instructor Ali Fikree documents the dive with a scooter-mounted video camera.

The GUE Level 2 CCR diver must be able to handle multiple stages, both when on the loop and after a bailout to open circuit.

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If everything goes well, the gas in the bailout tanks is never used.

First penetration

After already losing a full day of diving to the weather at the start of the second expedition, we had another early start for day three. The plan for this day was to conduct a penetration dive through the bridge and into the internal corridors accessed from the rear of the bridge.

Upon reaching the side of the bridge, one thing became immediately clear: the shortage of tie-off locations close to the entry point. This meant we would be running the line from farther away from the opening than planned, but it did not add significant time overall. Having set in place a few secure tie-offs to allow bailout bottles to be staged, we removed the many bailout stages and deco bottles, along with DPVs, and clipped them to the line we had secured outside the entry point.

After a few drops and turns in the tight outer corridors of the bridge, we emerged into a larger, open space. We could already see light entering this space from an opening on the far side, which were clearly the outer windows of the main bridge. In front of us was a large control panel with various levers, switches, and even several telephone handsets attached. The 10

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coiled telephone cords were still clearly visible from the control panel, leading to handsets encrusted with growth from 20 years underwater.

The curtain

The vinyl flooring of the main bridge had lifted, and it fell toward the seabed, resting like a huge drape over a small column in the center of the control room. The vinyl flooring now effectively acted as a curtain between the front and the rear half of the control room. Years of growth had turned the normally flexible vinyl into something as hard as concrete, making maneuvering within the tight space of the control room difficult.

As we descended further down into the control room, other features became visible. The ship’s helm was still in place, although it had been twisted 90 degrees. The main wheel was also intact. It’s always a surprise to see just how small the actual helm is on a ship the size of the Princess of the Orient. Many years of seeing huge wheels at the helm of pirate ships in movies leads you to expect something similar, so when the actual steering wheel is no bigger than a typical car, it’s somewhat of a shock.

Divers getting ready.

The expedition vessel Caribbean Tigress on a calm day.

PHOTOS KARL HURWOOD

Moving past the helm, the radar stations were still in place, along with other various panels.

The whole control room was illuminated by dim columns of light penetrating from the outside windows.

Making our way to the rear of the control room on the port side, we located the door leading to the rear corridors. A large cupboard was located immediately adjacent to the doorway we were traveling through. With the ship on its side, this cupboard was now positioned directly above the doorway, with fabric straps from life jackets dangling down like thin strip curtains.

As we moved through the doorway, more silt fell from the life jacket straps, causing visibility to drop to almost zero. This corridor section seemed to continue as expected, with various debris from fire extinguishers and furnishings laid over the lower section. Reaching our turn time, we decided to secure the line and exit, saving the corridor exploration for the next team.

A sting in the tail

The bottom part of the dive had gone very well.

We’d managed to deploy the initial line inside the wreck and had located the internal corridor. De-

compression went as planned for the deeper sections. The current was a little stronger than expected at depth, but things were going well until around 60 m/200 ft, where we started to notice jellyfish sweeping by us in the current. This continued as we slowly ascended. At 45 m/148 ft, the water was filled with jellyfish and loose tentacles. The current had picked up quite a bit by this time, and it was difficult to decompress without holding the line. This part of the ascent became tedious, as each of us was repeatedly stung by jellyfish for the next hour or so.

Back on board, we held our debrief, and everyone was looking forward to the following day of diving and seeing where the corridor would take us. The weather had picked up again after lunch, as expected, so we decided on another early start for the next day.

Exploring the corridor

The following day we reached the dive site just after sunrise to see much improved diving conditions over the previous day. Several of the team members needed to leave early the following morning, so this was to be their last dive of the trip. Pre-dive briefings and setup went

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The only way to explore a wreck of this size and with half a dozen bailout tanks is with a scooter.

The video footage the team obtained included the full entanglement.

Although not much can be seen, it emphasizes one of the benefits of CCR diving, which is that the gas supply can easily be extended, even at 118 m/388 ft in zero visibility.

PHOTO DAVID LEE 12

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as planned, and the team was in the water just after 8 am.

The two teams surfaced from the dive in just short of five hours. All seemed good, so we let them de-kit, and we met upstairs for a briefing on the bottom part of the dives. The initial part of the dive had gone as planned, with the first team following the initial line through the bridge and into the unexplored corridor. The team extended the line farther, but sadly the corridor came to a dead end after around 10 m/33 ft.

From the video footage, it looks like a stair handrail in the upper section, with debris from chairs and beds blocking the access “down” the stairs to the level below. The team had turned the dive at this point and exited.

The hook-up

The first part of the exit was passing the door restriction between the rear corridor and the main bridge control room. As the team exited through the doorway back into the control room, the first diver became entangled and unable to move forward or backward. The silt from the cupboard above the doorway restriction had resulted in near-zero visibility, but based on feel and what little visibility remained, the team was able to find that one of the life jacket strap loops had caught around the valves, preventing movement.

Clearing the entanglement allowed the diver to move forward through the obstruction and back into clear visibility. The video footage the team obtained included the full entanglement.

Although not much can be seen, it emphasizes one of the benefits of CCR diving, which is that the gas supply can easily be extended, even at 118 m/388 ft in zero visibility.

Other than the entanglement, the remainder of the dives had gone to plan. Sadly, the corridor was blocked, so further exploration there did not seem to be an option. However, the other team located large openings into the hydraulics rooms by the car ramp, a result of damaged louvers.

Final day

Conditions were much better on the final day.

Reaching the wreck, we quickly traversed to the penetration entry point and removed bailout

stages and DPVs before once again entering the bridge. Passing through the bridge without the need to lay line allowed for a more relaxed dive.

We could slowly descend through the near-vertical space of the control room, taking a closer look at different aspects of the control panel and other features.

Reaching the door at the rear of the control room, we could see the line passing from the control room through the door opening. We understood the line was secured just on the other side of the door, as it had been left there the previous day due to the zero visibility in the doorway. It was evident that the straps from the life jackets in the cupboard above the door had been disturbed, because the fabric loops were now drooping the full height of the door opening and covering direct access through the door.

We therefore opted to leave the final section of the line in place, cutting the line just before the doorway and retrieving the line from this point back to the exit.

Cutting the line proved to be straightforward; however, to tidy up efficiently, I opted to use two hands. I looked for a suitable place to temporarily rest my camera setup. The area directly below me was a little silty, so I followed the line toward the exit for a few meters before placing the camera and taking some time to clean up the line.

Cleaning up

Having cleaned up the line and returned to the camera, I looked up to see the “floor”, effectively the port-side wall of the control room, lit up by the bright video lights. In the illuminated area in front of me, I could see two porthole frames that must have “popped” inside the control room as the vessel sank. Next to these was a clear dome. On closer inspection, this was almost certainly the ship’s pinnacle cover. Growth covered the majority of the dome, making it difficult to see if the compass was still in place.

Turning to signal, I adjusted the angle slightly and caught sight of a familiar shape on the floor below—something clearly bell-shaped. Moving in for a closer look, I confirmed that it was certainly a ship’s bell, although like the wheel at the helm, it was a lot smaller than I expected. The November 2021 · Quest

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THE PRINCESS OF THE ORIENT GRAPHIC KARL HURWOOD

The Princess of the Orient is a wreck with a history of misfortune. Originally built as a Japanese luxury cruise liner, the Sunflower 11, in 1974, her early life was threatened before her construction was even complete during the 1973 oil crisis.

Soaring oil prices resulted in fuel costs rising by over 300%, while dwindling passenger demand resulted in the Sunflower 11 changing owners several times in her initial operation.

When oil prices finally started to decline in the 1980s, this coincided with a steady rise in the value of the Japanese Yen. With the Japanese ship building industry in heavy recession and fuel prices falling, it became more economical for operators to build new vessels rather than the costly refurbishment and maintenance of their older fleet. After several more changes of ownership, the Sunflower 11 was finally sold in 1993 to Sulpicio Lines of the Philippines. The vessel was renamed the Princess of the Orient and underwent a significant retrofit to increase her passenger capacity to almost 4,000. Even in 2021, this would make her the largest capacity passenger liner in the Philippines.

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Final voyage

Operating as the flagship of the Sulpicio Lines fleet, the Princess of the Orient made its final voyage on September 18, 1998, on her regular Manila-Cebu route. A large tropical storm was passing over the Philippines at the time; however, the strong winds were not expected to cause a problem for a vessel so large, so the Princess left port as planned around 10 pm.

Upon reaching open water, outside the cover of Manila Bay, the reported winds were far stronger than forecast, with peak speeds of over 160 km/h (99 mph), strong enough to be a danger to even a vessel her size. To make matters worse, a large number of the expected passengers had not boarded due to the storm, so with the ballast tanks filled for a higher number of passengers, the vessel sat higher in the water than normal, making it more prone to capsizing.

Sea conditions continued to worsen, and the vessel developed a port-side list as a result of the waves and, reportedly, unsecured vehicles in the car decks that had begun to shift. With

Before being named Princess of the Orient, she was called Sunflower 11. the waves worsening, the vessel headed for the shelter of nearby Fortune Island. Finally, at just before 1 am on Saturday, September 19, 1998, the vessel floundered and sank off Fortune Island. The stormy sea conditions prevented any rescue attempts, and 238 passengers in life rafts were left drifting at sea for more than 12 hours before a rescue could be mounted by the fishermen of nearby Cavite province. Of the nearly 500 passengers and crew on board, over 150 are thought to have lost their lives in the sinking, either having been trapped inside the ferry or swept away by waves.

The Princess of the Orient now lies in 130 m/426 ft of water near Fortune Island in Batangas, Philippines. At 200 m/656 ft long and 14,000 gross tons, the wreck is the largest diveable wreck in the Philippines.

To make matters worse, a large number of the expected passengers had not boarded due to the storm, so with the ballast tanks filled for a higher number of passengers, the vessel sat higher in the water than normal, making it more prone to capsizing.

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front of the bell was engraved with “NFLOWER 11.” The start of the name was obscured by silt, but it was fairly obvious the bell was from the Sunflower 11, which was the original name given to the vessel. We hadn’t expected to find the bell or such a large vessel, and it was a great way to end the 2019 trip.

Finding the ship’s bell is like finding the Holy Grail for a wreck diver.

The final curtain

We exited the control room with huge smiles.

One last challenge still lay ahead. The line on the way to the exit had pushed against the vinyl flooring draped through the center of the control room. The line was now buried into the vinyl itself and hard to remove, because pulling the line caused the vinyl to sway. We decided it was better to tie off the line and leave it in place rather than risk damaging the control room interior. If the vinyl curtain was to fall, it would likely damage the radar stations below as well as block access to the lower part of the control room.

Around five and half hours after we descended, we again broke the surface to bring a close to the underwater part of the 2019 POTO project. Getting back on board and out of our gear, we held our final debrief about what we’d found on the last dive. We felt it was a great finish to a project that had gone smoothly despite the best efforts of the weather to turn things sour, a few bits of faulty equipment, the stress of the dives, and of course, half of the jellyfish in the South China Sea arriving to cheer us on during deco. 

Karl Hurwood

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PHOTO KARL HURWOOD

Karl is based in Manila, Philippines, where he has lived for the past 12 years.

During this time, he has been able to participate in numerous global projects, but his passion remains setting up local projects in and around the Philippines.

Outside of exploration projects, Karl runs Protech Philippines and can generally be found teaching, diving, and exploring in Subic, Anilao, and Puerto Galera.

Karl has several wreck projects planned and is keen to hear from anyone interested in joining. Getting a confirmed team of good divers together is often the most challenging part of a project in his experience, and having. more participants from the global GUE community is a great boost.

– GUE CCR 1 course in Vinkeveen, Netherlands

TEAM LES

MISÉRABLES TEXT RICHARD HAKSE PHOTOS JP BRESSER

More and more GUE Tech 1 divers are taking the next step and enrolling in the GUE CCR Diver Level 1 class. The flexible gas logistics, savings in helium costs, and extended range possibilities are all selling points that are hard to argue against. This is a story of three students and their journey to become members of the bubble-free squad.

If you do not enjoy preparing and maintaining dive equipment, then CCR TEXT KARL HURWOOD diving is not for you.

PHOTOS DAVID LEE, KARL HURWOOD, JIN HUI, PHILLIP LEE AND MATT BROUGHTON 18

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PHOTO JP BRESSER

PHOTO JP BRESSER

T

he following tale is my effort to reflect upon a specific experience enjoyed by Team Les Misérables—John Zwoferink, Tom Nicolaes, and me, Richard Hakse. We are a trio of seasoned open-circuit divers. We had, however, begun to look with envy at the rising number of rebreather divers and their impressive machinery. To us, the most appealing features were the easy gas logistics; the complete silence underwater; the impressive, prolonged dive times possible; and the quiet, bubble-free world. All of that convinced us to take the next step—the GUE CCR Diver Level 1 course.

In planning the course, our number-one priority involved finding the perfect instructor.

Practicing the CHAOS pre-dive sequence until it is second nature is an important part of the GUE CCR 1 course.

Based on that criteria, JP Bresser was our first choice. JP is known far and wide as not only an excellent diver and instructor, but also as a genuinely nice guy. With that decision made, our next criteria were nice weather and clear waters, so we chose Krnica in Croatia, with a GUE Premium Dive Center owned by Maurizio Grbac and known for the many interesting wrecks lying inside our diving vicinity.

All the time in the world

With all the plans completed, we were ready to purchase the JJ-CCRs. We had given ourselves plenty of time and had ordered them through Graham Blackmore six months before the course was to begin. They were delivered to Scuba-Academie, a GUE Premium Dive Center located in Vinkeveen, a small village south of November 2021 · Quest

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PHOTO JP BRESSER

Vinkeveen has lots of objects to explore. A perfect playground for training CCR skills.

It is true that diving a rebreather is different from open-circuit, which should be obvious, and it is also true that ascents need extra work.

Amsterdam in the Netherlands. We used the extra time to personalize our units, customizing them with individual wing colors, embroidered names, different tank colors, and other valves, to name a few of our fun modifications. Assisted by Cees den Toom, owner of the center, and Ricardo ten Kortenaar from Scuba-Academie, and of course guided by JP, our units were assembled GUE-style, and we were ready to rock and roll.

As the start date of the course approached, COVID-19 caused us to rethink our planned location, and we changed the venue from Croatia to Vinkeveen, which, in hindsight, was a smart choice because of logistics, time management, and fewer boat rides. Also of interest was the undulating bottom of the lake, which contains multiple sunken objects, including a bus, all ideal for mastering trim and buoyancy. Finally, with our change of location, we saved money, which 20

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allowed us funds for future trips after graduation, a necessity to hone our experience.

No spoilers

Our aim is not to explain in detail about the contents of the CCR course. We don’t want to spoil the surprise for you. Needless to say, many have heard the horror stories stirring up the notion that you will have to learn to dive all over again and that your hard-earned trim and buoyancy control will be of no value, but there is no truth to those claims. It is true that diving a rebreather is different from open-circuit, which should be obvious, and it is also true that ascents need extra work. Of course, the written exam and the mandatory swimming competency test is still part of the course, but after six days of drills, skills, and theory, we passed our exams and became proud GUE CCR 1 divers, ready to enter the silent world of rebreather diving.

PHOTO JP BRESSER

Concentration is needed to make sure everything is set-up correctly.

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JOHN: About three years ago, I got my GUE Tech 1 certificate. I had already made quite a few nice Tech 1 dives.

But what do you do after Tech 1 if you have the ambition to get even more out of it? Tech 2 or CCR 1? I quickly concluded that I wanted to do CCR 1. Several divers I know have also done CCR 1 or are about to do so. So, for me, it was logical to take that step now. And boy, am I glad I did! I found the course intense but, at the same time, also very enjoyable.

The way JP teaches really appealed to me, especially his encouragement.

The big difference with open-circuit is the peace under water, but I also noticed that I am much more comfortable in the water. The breathing is also different, but I find that very pleasant now.

During the course, we spent a lot of time in the water and did many exercises, which is a confidence builder. As a result, I was soon able to make nice dives with my teammates.

The third dive after obtaining our CCR 1 certificate was with a DPV to a depth 22

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of 30 m/100 ft. That just went well!

Since the course ended five weeks ago, I have made 15 dives, almost all to 30 m/100 ft. We practice ascents, and they go just fine. In the shallow part, we practice the failures. In the coming weeks, we will continue to push our boundaries. Of course, we want to be well prepared when we visit the wrecks at Krnica, Croatia, in August.

RICHARD: One of my issues with open-circuit diving is that, every time, I was the one who had to call the dive.

My surface consumption rate was always higher than those of my buddies.

Especially during a cave dive, where I always wanted to know what was behind the next corner while looking at my pressure gauge, then, bang: turn pressure reached! For me, that was the main reason for taking the next step to rebreather diving.

My main challenge during the CCR course was the different way of breathing with a JJ-CCR. It’s not more difficult, but it is different, and it took time for me to get used to it.

Currently, we’re training for a wreck diving trip in Croatia and revisiting the caves in the Lot in France!

TOM: The CCR 1 course in Vinkeveen with JP Bresser was challenging, which I like about GUE courses in general! At the beginning, I had little trust in the JJ-CCR. All those things you need to set up and test, and then…

Will it all work underwater? What about my platform underwater? Do I need to learn to dive again and start at the beginning? What is a DSV, ADV, and MAV? And, a lot of other questions which, in GUE style, were all answered during the couse.

PHOTO JP BRESSER

PHOTO JP BRESSER

GUE Closed-Circuit Rebreather Diver Level 1 The course provides the opportunity for divers to gradually transition from open-circuit diving to closed-circuit diving.

It is intended to challenge divers in a comfortable environment and emphasizes the need for learning management, maintenance procedures, and protocols of the closed-circuit rebreather. The course also emphasizes the need for increased physical and mental fitness.

WHO IS IT FOR? GUE’s Closed-Circuit Rebreather Diver Level 1 course is intended for GUE Tech 1 divers who desire to learn to dive with a closed-circuit rebreather. Tech 1 divers who aspire beyond their current level will find that this course gives them the tools to do so by building and enhancing their technical diving abilities.

WHAT WILL YOU LEARN? Course outcomes include, but are not limited to: cultivating a competent and comfortable rebreather diver with solid personal and team skills; knowledge of rebreather functions, operation, and how to respond to failures; competency in performing bailout to open-cir-

cuit, including ascent protocol; and planning technical dive missions including, gas, absorbent canister endurance, oxygen toxicity management, and decompression strategies.

Applicants for a GUE CCR Diver Level 1 program must: • Be a minimum of 21 years of age.

• Be physically and mentally fit.

• Be a non-smoker.

• Be able to swim.

• Obtain a physician’s prior written authorization for use of prescription drugs, except for birth control, or for any medical condition that may pose a risk while diving.

• Have passed the GUE Tech 1 course.

• Have a minimum of 25 logged Tech 1 level dives beyond GUE Tech 1 certification.

See a full list of course prerequisites here.

The Closed-Circuit Rebreather Diver Level 1 course is usually conducted over six days, requiring a minimum of eight dives and at least 48 hours of instruction, which includes classroom lectures, land drills, and in-water work.

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Scratching the surface

To sum it up, the first dives on a rebreather are indeed challenging. You need to unlearn some open-circuit habits and focus on managing your optimal loop volume. Yes, the breathing is different. You also need to find your platform again, but don’t forget: As a GUE diver, you already have an excellent platform upon which you can rely and build. Don’t let anyone tell you that, with a rebreather, you need to learn diving again, because this is not true. I find that diving with a rebreather is more comfortable than open-circuit. It is warm, the breathing is more natural and relaxed, and it is quiet! Oh, and did I mention that your gas consumption doesn’t matter (so much) anymore?

At the time I’m writing this, the course ended five weeks ago, and I’ve managed to get in

40 hours on the rebreather so far. With every passing hour underwater, the JJ-CCR becomes more comfortable. Even so comfortable that, this week, I did my first two cave dives in the German slate mine where it all started in 2017.

During these two dives, the JJ-CCR gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling because I knew I had more than enough gas and—even better—a second open-circuit system with more than enough gas if the JJ-CCR failed. So far, I’ve only scratched the surface of rebreather diving, but I’m 100 percent confident that it was a good decision to do the CCR 1 course. I’m glad that GUE has introduced CCR 1 directly after Tech 1, and I chose the JJ-CCR with back-mounted diluent tanks, which built upon my established experience from previous courses. PHOTO JP BRESSER

TEAM LES MISÉRABLES

John Zwoferink was already a proficient diver of many years, whose experience culminated in a Tech 1 certification with 30+ dives in the logbook. He loves wreck diving and is a fervent scooter aficionado.

Tom Nicolaes was already a very experienced diver before joining GUE. Now, he is a Cave 2 (100+) and Tech 1 (30+) diver. His XK1 looks like an extension of his right arm.

Richard Hakse has been diving since 2015 and joined GUE in 2017, like Tom. He is also a Cave 2 (100+) and Tech 1 (30+) diver.

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TEXT EMŐKE WAGNER, LASZLO CSEH & BJARNE KNUDSEN PHOTOS TOM ST. GEORGE

A GIANT CAVE SYSTEM

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PHOTO TOM ST. GEORGE

The Ox Bel Ha cave system in Quintana Roo, Mexico, is the second longest underwater system in the world (and fourth longest among all) with slightly more than 300 km/190 mi of known tunnels and about 150 cenotes. “Ox Bel Ha” is a Mayan phrase meaning “three paths of water,” as the system exits into the Caribbean Sea by way of three different underwater vents. It covers an enormous area, mostly southwest of the town of Tulum, and extends almost all the way to the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve to the  south. A connection to it has not yet been found.

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IN

a huge, complex place like also means “path” in Mayan. This labeling has Ox Bel Ha, the first quesbeen used on directional markers throughout tion for a cave diver could the exploration. After this point, months of surbe: where to begin? Out vey followed, both upstream and downstream, of the 150 cenotes, only a to determine the complex nature of the dive site. few are accessible to the public—most of them We mainly used MNemos, an electronic survey are locked away on private land, and in many device, which accelerated the work in some cases they do not have a proper road to them. areas but challenged it in others.

After the initial COVID-19 lockdown was lifted Despite the current trend in exploration, we in Mexico, different cenotes slowly began to decided to put knotted line in the overhead while open to the public again. We were looking for exploring. This method might be old-fashioned, possible dive sites at the time, and we chose a but it would act as a valuable backup if the cenote called Yax Chen. “Yax Chen“ means “blue MNemos failed and could make the work of a or green well” in Mayan, and this opening is surveyor easier if they were to create a detailed characterized by a massive, shallow open water map of a specific area. area with abundant green algae growth in it. The The first breakthrough cenote is located at the southern corner of the In September 2020, on one of our regular surOx Bel Ha cave system. vey dives about 2 km/1.3 mi upstream from the Yax Chen was first explored in 1997 by Kay main entrance, we saw a relatively small openand Gary Walten, who established most of the ing in the wall with a lot of dark sediment around known lines both upstream and downstream of it. Swimming closer, the conthe cenote. They made incredible ditions worsened because of penetrations, especially considerpercolation and silting, and the ing the available dive equipment at Despite the current opening seemed too small for the time. A few years later, a group trend in exploration, backmount divers. As Laszlo of GUE divers, the Mexico Cave we decided to put turned back toward the line, he Exploration Project (MCEP), conknotted line in the had a massive white wall next tinued the exploration of the area. to him. But from this angle it Their efforts resulted in many other overhead while looked more like a big boulder great accomplishments, such as exploring. This that had collapsed from the the connection to Cenote Far and method might be ceiling, and the moving water the discovery of sections similar had smoothed the wall. There to Arizona and Little Chen. In 2004, old-fashioned, but it would act as a was not much flow present, Yax Chen was connected to the Ox Bel Ha cave system by Bil Phillips valuable backup if the but the “wall” was visibly open on one side. We decided to and Steve Bogaerts. Although we MNemos failed. go out farther with a reel and had limited knowledge of some follow the newly established parts of the cave because of previbigger opening. After a sharp right turn, a left ous projects, we had no data about the cave, so one followed, and after a small duck-under we did as we have done before in other places— identified by Bjarne, the short tunnel opened into we started resurveying all the existing lines that a collapsed area. At this point we knew we were could be of interest to us in June 2020. on the other side of a gigantic set of collapsed Our little team consisted of three members: Emőke Wagner and Laszlo Cseh, originally from areas that had previously blocked us. Turning back a bit south, however, led us under a ledge Hungary but working as GUE cave instructors that gradually became a well-defined tunnel and in Mexico, and Bjarne Knudsen, originally from took a direction to the north. This happened at Denmark, a scientist and former WKPP cave halocline level in combination with percolation, diver. Adding the letters of our names together which made the initial smaller tunnel difficult we came up with the team name BEL, which

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Tried and trusted survey techniques rely on compasses, pencils, knotted lines, and wetnotes.

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PHOTO TOM ST. GEORGE November 2021 · Quest

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PHOTO TOM ST. GEORGE

Our team had access to and utilized opencircuit GUE backmount and sidemount configurations only. The benefit of having two types of GUE-sanctioned configurations allowed us to alternate between the two anytime the cave required it from us.

Most of the passages in the Ox Bel Ha cave system are quite shallow and can be explored on Nitrox 32.

to explore. After about 150 m/500 ft, the cave opened up into a bigger saltwater tunnel with dimensions of 10-15 m/30-45 ft in width and 3-4 m/10-13 ft from floor to ceiling. The tunnel leading further upstream had many fragile, decorated corners. We had to cease exploration when we ran out of line, but we knew that a lot of great exploration was waiting for us.

Many dives followed there while we were trying to find the continuation of the cave and looking for other promising side tunnel leads.

Relatively early in the exploriation, one such dive resulted in bumping into an existing downstream line in the saltwater section of the cave.

This established a new underwater connection between the upstream and downstream area of Yax Chen.

The difficulties

Exploring a cave system like Ox Bel Ha can be quite challenging, even if the cave has a relatively shallow average depth. Through our dives here, we were exposed to an average depth of 30

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12 m/40 ft, and the deepest point we found was 21.8 m/71.5 ft. The shallower freshwater areas were bigger than the saltwater areas found, so decompression was never really a problem on our regular six-to-seven-hour dives. It is also important to note that in both the upstream and downstream of Yax Chen, you can enjoy a nice, shallow travel out after your exploration, so even if we had found something deeper, scootering out of the cave was a decent deco in itself.

However, the benefits end here, as the only easy thing about exploring Ox Bel Ha is the depth.

Our team had access to and utilized open-circuit GUE backmount and sidemount configurations only. Dives were conducted in teams of two divers to make the work more efficient, even in challenging conditions. The benefit of having two types of GUE-sanctioned configurations allowed us to alternate between the two anytime the cave required it from us.

In the beginning, and in the bigger tunnels, we always referred to our trusted doubles, but for many of the breakthroughs we had, sidemount

was required. This could be one of the reasons for our success in the area, since sidemount was historically not used extensively in this area of the cave. We also had to experiment with how to carry the gear far in while sidemount and while staying as standardized and comfortable as possible, plus navigating the multiple narrow and silty areas along the way. If there is one thing we have learned during our time here, it is that the cave will not stay big forever.

When finding a small sized cave farther in the system, even if divers possess the required equipment to travel that far in the overhead, they still need to be comfortable with the feeling that they are in a small cave far away from the entrance.

Another challenge we had to face was the access to entry points. We were able to use the main cenote of Yax Chen only. Most likely, even if we had found other cenotes along the way (and we did), they would be useless, as there is either no road to them, or we had no access to the land. Longer travel meant less gas available

for exploration, more gear to transport, and the risk of getting more tired and making mistakes.

Although we have a lot of caves in Mexico, this does not mean that it is easy to find new cave passages today. Actually, the opposite is true: we always try to picture ourselves in the shoes (or fins?) of the original explorers when we survey an existing line. Where were they trying to go? Where is the flow coming from? Why did they tie off the line here? Today we need to think about things they were not aware of back then. Finding new cave off an existing line can be quite difficult and requires good eyes and understanding of the mapped cave.

Exploration continued

With disappointment, we realized that the furthest northwest area we discovered stayed more and more in the saltwater and got smaller in size, so we were ready to finish our exploration there. The newly explored area stood at 5 km/3 mi of tunnels at this point. There was only one northeast lead left. The silty restric-

PHOTO TOM ST. GEORGE

The team switched between backmount and sidemount configurations as the cave demanded.

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Percolation, tannins, and haloclines affect the orherwise good visibility in the cave.

GUE as an organization comes from an exploration background, and projects like this show how diverse the system can be in different conditions and how much divers benefit from a unified team approach.

PHOTO TOM ST. GEORGE 32

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tion there was not inviting at all; as we swam closer, it was probably a bit less than about 50 cm/20 in from floor to ceiling, and it was very wide but full of dark, muddy sediment. Arriving on the other side, a collapsed tannic room awaited us, and we immediately took the opportunity to go up.

Navigating tannic rooms takes some time, since the tannic acid in the water completely colors the cave’s water brown, and the visibility drops down to a few meters/yards or less. Luckily, these rooms are often solid and shallow, so there is plenty of time to find your way around them. Tannic acid is often seen as a bad sign in exploration because when the organic matter above releases the tannin, if any flow is present, the tannic water should be taken away. However, with a bit of luck, you can drop back down on the other side and, as the visibility clears, you are back in the flow. The room dropped down nicely on the other side, and after following a good 100 m/333 ft of irregular crumbly tunnel, the cave opened into massive freshwater rooms that were full of cave formations. We knew that we were farther north than everything we had found so far. The new objective became finding a way around the restriction from the other side of the cave.

A few dives later we found a strange vertical crack in the saltwater that allowed for our line to be brought farther, and our old line was visible ahead. The connection was not perfect but still established a much better route for traveling, albeit a bit longer than what we had before. Going farther north-northeast from there, the cave started to change. It left the saltwater completely, became quite shallow—around 9-10 m/33 ft of depth—and the defined tunnels opened up into maze-like, lower-ceiling rooms with less decorations but with a thick layer of gray sediment. After a while, holes in the floor revealed a slightly deeper layer of the cave at about 14-15 m/45-50 ft of depth and with a halocline where one of the tunnels turned straight north and had flow. Toward the end, one part of the tunnel led to a collapsed, tannic room, and the other side just seemed to stop. But the flow was still present. Dropping some gear and trying to squeeze through, another very hidden corner had an

amazing tunnel behind it. It was time to go, but this lead proved to be interesting for future dives. It added another sidemount restriction to the picture at a penetration distance of almost 4 km/2.5 mi. On one of our subsequent dives, we set up the cave to follow this lead, with a total of four stages plus sidemount to have enough time to safely check out the tunnel. We found a few hundred meters of new tunnel behind the north restriction but, sadly, one end dropped back into the saltwater and “died” while the other end hit the other side of the previously mentioned tannic room. Now the cave already have above 10 km/6.2 mi of explored tunnels, but there was one more lead left to be checked.

Under the wetlands

The above-mentioned lead started from the freshwater in a small, not so silty, white room.

On the southeast side of this room, a decent-sized opening was visible, but it dropped abruptly down into the saltwater to 20 m/66 ft.

Easily disturbed, lighter brown sediment was present everywhere in the tunnel. Bjarne took the lead, and the cave passage was very defined, bit it was only a short while until we were faced with yet another sidemount-sized restriction. The tunnel behind it seemed to stop after it traveled to the east for a while, where an opening/crack was observed toward the ceiling.

Here, the tunnel took a turn toward the north and continued that way while becoming bigger and bigger. Along the way we observed some ancient animal bone remains, which may have been some kind of bird.

Going further upstream, the saltwater tunnel passed through the halocline and arrived at a massive freshwater room. It was one of the biggest rooms we have ever seen in Mexico and definitely the biggest room we have ever found. It was incredible, not just in size (about 100 m/330 ft in diameter) but also in its features, including the many fragile white formations and the saltwater that was visible all around the edges. Despite how big this room was, strangely there was just one decent lead coming off it. Loading the survey data from the MNemos at home, we observed that this new room was closer to the downstream of Yax November 2021 · Quest

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PHOTO ”TEAM BEL”

Chen. We decided to try to find the connection from the other side, using the downstream of Yax Chen for traveling. With some luck, this could be shorter (1.5 km/0.9 mi of penetration instead of 2 km/1.2 mi to the new area) and maybe even easier.

After two more dives, we were successful in establishing another connection between upstream and downstream, as well as a better way of travel. One of these dives was done with GUE cave instructor Daniel Riordan. Danny and Laszlo were navigating silty but shallow freshwater tunnels when suddenly light was coming in from the distance. We connected into a sunlit, oval-shaped cenote. Because the light in the water created a green-colored effect, we named it Yax Ich or “green eye” in Mayan. After another 80 m/262 ft of penetration from here, another yet-undiscovered, cenote waited for them. Much less light was coming through the roots making it darker, so the divers named it K’aas Naay or “bad dream.”

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Team BEL is appropriately named after Bjarne, Emőke, and Lazslo, and after the Mayan word for “path”.

We checked our only northeast lead from the big room, and it had good flow. Exploring TOM ST. GEORGE more and plotting the PHOTO data afterwards, we quickly realized that the historic Ox Bel Ha exploration area from 1999 was not that far from here. The northwest exploration there was led by Emőke, who arrived at the end of a nicely decorated, collapsed room. We spent quite some time in that room, as the flow was present, but seemingly, we had no way forward because of collapses.

After some dives northeast of the big room, we found a hidden, but well defined, tunnel with water flowing in it. Although the tunnel was defined and went steadily across and under the wetland, it had many small openings, which made it difficult to decide exactly which one to push through. This kept going for a good 200 m/656 ft until it opened up into a bigger cave with dark sediment on its floor. The divers named the tunnel leading there the “Wormhole” because of its nature. Little by little, we carried

FINDING MNEMO

The survey unit called MNemo allows for a survey process that is almost as fast as simply swimming the cave. It is outfitted with a line slot that catches the cave line; next to it is a mechanical wheel that spins as it touches the line and counts the distance traveled. It also contains a digital compass that measures the azimuth, depending on which way the device is facing.

In challenging conditions, sometimes the traditional way of surveying cave with notes and a compass becomes too difficult or even impossible to conduct safely and accurately.

As long as the MNemo unit is attached to the line and calibrated, it basically does the job itself. A small screen that can show multiple colors in different situations makes the device easier to use in limited-visibility conditions.

While swimming in the cave you want to survey, simply clip MNemo on the line, stabilize for a couple of seconds, swim at a normal pace until the next tie-off, stabilize again, unclip then reclip after the tie-off, and repeat.

Read more about the MNemo here...

The MNemo in action. The survey device records distance traveled and compass headings.

The data can be downloaded and analyzed after the dive.

PHOTO TOM ST. GEORGE

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True cave exploration requires the use of highcapacity reels when laying new line. more gear through and became more efficient in the travel, despite the challenging geometry.

Arriving on the other side, there were plenty of leads, but we decided to make a connection to the historic Ox Bel Ha first. This happened on one of the first dives as the divers turned immediately to the east and pushed through small, irregular tunnels full of thick layers of fluffy, dark sediment. As we explored after this, we ended up finding five additional connections between Yax Chen and historic Ox Bel Ha. The last week was really intense, wrapping up all remaining leads. We spent a total of 21 hours underwater in three consecutive days of diving. In the end, that small survey dive started something big, and by the time we had finished checking all our leads, we realized we had created a new connected exploration area of 20 km/12 mi.

Final words

Most of our exploration took place in an area where there is a huge, swampy wetland above 36

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the ground. This made us name the new section the “Swampland” or “Los Pantanos” in Spanish. This was our biggest exploration so far, and a lot of work was involved in it, but we also gathered plenty of useful experience, both as divers and instructors. The dives also posed problems that we had to solve with careful planning and the use of safe, standardized procedures. GUE as an organization comes from an exploration background, and projects like this show how diverse the system can be in different conditions and how much divers benefit from a unified team approach. Additionally, we would like to express our thanks to Dr. Mario Valotta, who supported us with equipment, and Daniel Riordan, who joined us briefly for some exploration.

Last, but not least, huge thanks go to scuba filling station Cuzel, which professionally supported the project with our scuba cylinder rental and standard gas fill needs.

DATA

TOTAL NEW EXPLORATION AREA'S LENGTH, ALL CONNECTED 20.3 km/66,000 ft ACCESS From cenote Yax Chen only TIME INTERVAL September 2020 to May 2021 AVERAGE DIVE TIME 6 hours AVERAGE depth 12 m/40 ft DEEPEST POINT IN THE SECTION 21.8 m/72 ft LONGEST PENETRATION 4 km/2.4 mi CONNECTIONS Two upstream to downstream, 6 Yax Chen to historic Ox Bel Ha EQUIPMENT USED GUE OC backmount and SM configurations, Suex DPVs, and MNemos

SOURCES

caves.org/project/qrss/qrlong.htm AMCS Activities Newsletter, No. 30, June 2007, Donna and Simon Richards: Yax Chen and Ox Bel Ha, Quintana Roo

Bjarne Knudsen Bjarne began diving in 1993, taking his first tech classes in 1997 and his first GUE cave and tech classes in 1999, so has been part of the GUE community since the early days. In the early 2000s, he spent several years in Florida, where he was a part of the WKPP. During this time, he also pushed Sheck Exley’s end of line in the Cathedral Cave system. Bjarne is currently on a world cruise with his wife on their sailboat. For the last few years, they’ve been stuck in Mexico.

Emőke Wagner Emőke Wagner is originally from Hungary and began diving at a young age.

She has been an active instructor since 2014. After a couple of years spent traveling around the globe, she moved to Mexico with her husband in 2017.

While living in Mexico, cave diving became her real passion, and she began exploring more of the local cave systems. Since 2016, Emőke has been working as a full-time GUE instructor and is currently teaching the cave, foundational, and recreational curriculum.

László Cseh László Cseh is from Hungary and has always been fascinated with the underwater world. He became a recreational diving instructor in 2012 and began teaching and traveling with his wife, Emőke. After becoming a GUE instructor in 2016, he moved to Mexico to look for new diving challenges.

Local cave exploration possibilities helped him achieve his GUE Cave instructor certification.

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PETR POLÁCH P

THE GLOBETROTTER

etr Polách has been interested in photography for over 40 years.

In 2003, when he started diving, he transferred his hobby to the underwater world, where he honed his craft and became a highly talented, award-winning underwater photographer.

Originally from the Czech Republic, Petr has visited and photographed much of the aquatic world—from warm, southern oceans and seas like the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, through temperate oceans such as Mediterranean and European lakes, to freezing northern waters like Iceland, the White Sea, and the North Sea. In the past few years, he has focused on cave systems in the Yucatan Peninsula, reporting that “flooded caves, in which a diver floats in a state of weightlessness between the beautiful stalactite decorations, have absolutely captivated me and forced me to capture this beauty and share it.”

For photographic equipment, Petr uses Canon and Sony cameras and lenses in SEA&SEA housings. For shooting in caves with absolute darkness, a total of five flashes are used, with two flashes on the camera and three external ones in a unique, self-developed configuration.

Among Petr’s many awards are 4th place in one of the world’s most prestigious competitions, Ocean Art 2019, in the category “Macro”; semi-finalist in the competition Red Bull Illume Image Quest 2019 in the category “Creative

by Skylum”; 2nd place in the global competition Ocean Art Safe Under The Sea 2020; 1st place in the global competition DEEP Indonesia 2020 in the category “Divers”; 2nd place in the worldwide competition DPG/Wetpixel Masters Underwater Imaging Competition 2020 in the category “Wide Angle Traditional”; and 1st place in the international competition MonoVisions Photography Awards 2021 in the category “Nature and Wildlife.” He would like to thank his wife Lidka, who accompanies him on his travels and dive trips, his son Martin for his photo consultations, and David Dušek for his assistance during the photo shoots in Mexican caves. www.polachpetr.cz/en

TITLE Wreck LOCATION Elba, Italy, 2007 CAMERA Panasonic DMC-FX01 EXPOSURE 1/320 sec @f/2,8, ISO 80 FLASH No COMMENTS This image shows the wreck of the Elviscot, which lies in the Mediterranean Sea near the Italian island of Elba.

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TITLE Shark and pilot fish LOCATION Red Sea, Egypt, 2012 CAMERA Canon EOS 500D LENS Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.55.6 IS EXPOSURE 1/200 sec @ f/11, ISO 200 FLASH Two SEA& SEA flash mounted on the camera housing COMMENTS The photo shows an oceanic white tip (Carcharhinus longimanus) surrounded by pilot fish.

TITLE In front of the curtain LOCATION Jardin del Eden, Yucatan, Mexico, 2019 CAMERA Sony A7RII LENS FE 16-35mm F4 ZA OSS

EXPOSURE 1/100 sec @ f/5,6, ISO 4000 FLASH No COMMENTS A cave diver enters caves through cenotes.

The sun’s rays in this image evoke the illusion of a curtain.

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TITLE Hell’s Bells LOCATION Yucatan, Mexico, 2019 CAMERA Sony A7RII LENS FE 16-35mm F4 ZA OSS EXPOSURE 1/80 sec @f/11, ISO 3200 FLASH Two on-board flashes and three external COMMENTS There is only one place in the world where you can see this unique formation – Cenote El Zapote.

TITLE Under the ice LOCATION White Sea, Russia, 2011 CAMERA Canon EOS 450D LENS EF-S10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

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EXPOSURE 1/80 sec @ f/5,6, ISO 800 FLASH No COMMENTS An underwater view of the ice of the White Sea. The ice is usu-

ally about 1 m/3 ft thick. It breaks due to the tides and forms various shapes.

Light from the sun is refracted through the ice and creates different colors.

TITLE Emerging out of the Sand LOCATION Red Sea, Egypt, 2012 CAMERA Canon EOS 500D LENS Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS EXPOSURE 1/125 sec @ f/9,0, ISO 200

FLASH Two on-board SEA&SEA COMMENTS The picture of a turtle and a suckerfish (remora) shows the symbiosis of these two animals. The turtle was resting in the sandy bottom but is getting up to get a fresh breath of air.

TITLE Small dragon LOCATION White Sea, Russia, 2011 CAMERA Canon EOS 450D LENS EF-S60mm f/2.8 Macro USM EXPOSURE 1/80 sec @ f/20, ISO 400 FLASH Two on-board SEA& SEA flash COMMENTS The scorpionfish resembles a small dragon.

Menacing is not only the expression on the face but also the thorns, which are the protection against enemies.

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THIS ARTICLE SERIES IS BASED ON THE GUE PUBLICATION DRESS FOR SUCCESS BY DAN MACKAY, WITH EXCERPTS FROM OTHER WORKS BY PANOS ALEXAKOS AND JARROD JABLONSKI. PHOTOS DAVID UMBERTO ZAPPA, SANTI, AND JESPER KJØLLER

PHOTO DAVID UMBERTO ZAPPA 42

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ESSENTIALS OF THE GUE EQUIPMENT CONFIGURATION

EXPOSURE SYSTEMS

Unless you dive in water close to body temperature, you need an exposure system to keep you warm as well as to protect you from scrapes and scratches caused by the environment and your equipment. Your exposure suit is also an integral part of your buoyancy system, and it plays an important role in achieving a balanced rig.

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E

xposure systems are all about insulation. Once a diver is cooled to the point that shivering occurs (the body’s natural response for re-warming), or when the body’s core temperature drops to 35.7°C/96.1°F, hypothermia has already begun. At core temperatures below 36°C/96.8°F, all diving operations should be discontinued. If core temperature is allowed to drop to 34°C/93.2°F, temporary amnesia may occur. At temperature ranges of 30–32°C/86–89°F, cardiac irregularities occur, which could result in unconsciousness.

Your body responds to diving in cold water (less than 21°C/70°F) in several ways: Gas consumption is directly related to heat loss from your body; therefore, gas consumption increases in colder water. When a diver is cold, heart rate and blood pressure increase due to thermoregulation. At 4°C/39°F, water impairs divers’ ability to judge time and impairs mental performance for tasks that demand concentration and short-term memory.

No wonder you are uncomfortable when your body goes through all of these physiological responses! You may not notice these responses at first: Research has shown that divers may not be the best judges of their hypothermic state. The best answer to the problem of maintaining thermal equilibrium while diving is the use of a drysuit, since it is easier to heat air (e.g., in a drysuit) than to heat water (e.g., in a wetsuit). The laws of physics make a drysuit far superior to a wetsuit for thermal equilibrium. To heat a volume of water by 1°C requires 4.2 times the amount of energy needed to heat the same volume of air. By reducing heat loss as much as possible, a drysuit requires much less energy to maintain your body temperature.

UNDERGARMENTS

Since the drysuit does not offer any insulation in itself, it needs to be used with some kind of undergarment to provide thermal protection, particularly in cold water or when exposure time in warmer water requires greater protection than a wetsuit alone provides.

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Selecting the correct undergarment assures there will be no undue thermal stress on the diver, causing hypothermia or compromising a decompression schedule due to cold.

Also, you should avoid undergarments that provide little, if any, protection from a leaking drysuit.

What to look for in an undergarment

• Moisture-wicking material that touches the skin (not cotton) • A second layer of insulating materials (Thinsulate™) • A third layer of GORE-TEX™-type material on the outside that will allow moisture to flow through from inside but will not allow penetration of outside moisture • Materials that keep you warm even when wet • Snug fit with low loft that eliminates excessive material • Use of layering to keep core warm • High CLO rating (a CLO rating is expressed in units of thermal resistance) • Construction that allows flexibility and the full range of movements used in diving The undergarment should fit snugly but not so snugly as to impede normal movement. Of primary concern are the areas under the arms, the waist, the crotch, and the legs. A good test is to don the undergarment and have a buddy hold the undergarment down at the waist while you reach up and

touch the back of your neck. You should be able to reach as far down your back as you would without the undergarment on.

Often, the undergarment is either not considered or “thrown in” when purchasing a drysuit. In reality, this is an item of primary importance, since undergarments can make or break your comfort and flexibility when diving a drysuit. Some manufacturers tailor undergarments with non-flexible materials and use straight seams in areas that require high degrees of flexibility, such as under the arms or between the legs. These designs tend to be very restrictive to the point of being a safety hazard by making it impossible for the diver to reach the tank valve(s) or to kick properly.

Modern undergarments are constructed in multiple layers. Typically, the layer closest to the skin is a polyester fluff or Polartec-type material that provides comfort, additional warmth, and moisture-wicking from the skin.

The next layer is a Thinsulate™ or a derivative made from recycled plastic. This layer provides warmth by trapping air or argon in the loft of its microfiber. Thinsulate™ cannot be used by itself, as it requires a confining layer on both sides. A notable feature of Thinsulate™ is that it will keep you warm even when wet.

Finally, the outer layer is a breathable shell—such as a nylon taffeta covering—that provides protection from the

environment as well as from the condensation that occurs inside the drysuit.

A good undergarment is designed to not only keep you warm, but to also keep you dry by wicking perspiration away from the skin and migrating it to the outer layers where it condenses on the drysuit. This moisture should remain trapped between the suit and the outside shell of the undergarment.

The Thinsulate™ layer provides loft, or the space that traps and confines gas. Body warmth heats the gas, and the diver stays warm. The industry provides two ratings that indicate the insulating value of undergarments: CF and CLO factors. The CF ratings indicate the loft of the Thinsulate™ layer: CF100, Often, the CF200, and undergarment is CF400. The either not considered assumption is or “thrown in” when that the greater the loft, the purchasing a drysuit. greater the In reality, this is warmth. A an item of primary CLO rating is importance, since the ability of a undergarments specific material to retain can make or break warmth, with your comfort and values ranging flexibility when from 1.0 to diving a drysuit.

2.4. In general, the higher this number is, the warmer the garment. The warmth of a CLO 2.4 is roughly equivalent to CF400, but can be attained without the loft. Both ratings are an indication of the weight per square meter/yard of the fabric: The heavier the material, the warmer it is.

CLO – DEFINITION CLO is the measure of the ability of the insulation to keep you warm. The CLO unit is defined as the amount of clothing required by a resting subject to be comfortable at a room temperature of 21°C/70°F, relative humidity less than 50%, and air movement   of 6 m/20 ft per minute.

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Be very wary of high-loft suits. Since loft can cause air trapping in a drysuit, this will, in turn, cause buoyancy concerns along with unnecessarily dynamic and unstable air movement. The best choices are custom-made, low-loft, highCLO underwear made of a stretch material.

Employing a layering technique with undergarments is a practical solution and preferred by many divers. For example, a CLO1.2/CF200 undergarment is excellent for most exposures.

However, when greater thermal protection is required, add thin polyester or Polartec-type long johns or a one-piece. When it gets colder yet, adding a Thinsulate™ vest will provide maximum thermal protection for the core/trunk area of the body.

Be careful not to use cotton or wool undergarments next to the skin. These types of fabrics collect moisture and do not wick it away from the body, causing loss of thermal protection.

Your whole thermal system should be designed to wick moisture away from your body through the membrane of the undergarments to the outer layer so it condenses on the inner skin of the drysuit. The outer layers of high-quality undergarments are nylon taffeta outer coverings or GORE-TEX™-like materials that only breathe one way, keeping the diver dry and warm.

It cannot be stressed strongly enough that it is far better to have excellent undergarments and a moderately priced, well-fitting drysuit than to have an excellent drysuit that is rendered useless by poor undergarments. In the event of the loss of drysuit integrity, such as a torn seal, the undergarments should be up to the task of keeping the diver warm even when wet. Not thinking critically about the issue can undermine the proper choice of undergarments.

Socks made of the same material as the undergarment are an accessory that is nice to have and completes the diver’s thermal protection ensemble.

ELECTRIC HEATING SYSTEMS Read more about electric heating systems, the benefits, and the associated risks in InDepth here...

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DRYSUITS

Purpose: To create a resistant, thermal, waterproof outer barrier; to maintain an air-filled space; and to keep the undergarment’s loft at a level that provides comfort, flexibility, and warmth. Most importantly, it should stay dry, even when immersed.

Benefits • • • • •

Increased flexibility Reduced drag Increased comfort Easy donning and removal Warmth and balance provided with appropriate undergarments • Stable buoyancy characteristics • Custom-cut or well-fitting stock suits provide excellent mobility, flexibility, and balance

Pitfalls

• Can be restrictive if not cut or not fitted properly • Reduced flexibility if designed incorrectly • Increased risk if worn with inappropriate components (e.g., inappropriate undergarments)

NOTE: It is of paramount importance that all the undergarments the diver intends to use with the drysuit be worn when being measured and/or fitted for the drysuit.

Drysuits should be constructed from material that will not impact buoyancy. Neoprene drysuits (buoyancy-changing) should not be considered for diving at any level due to their bulkiness, variable buoyancy, and thermal protection characteristics.

DRYSUIT FEATURES TO LOOK FOR Front entry with zipper that begins slightly off shoulder and ends at the diver’s waist.

Constructed from materials that have no appreciable buoyancy characteristics.

Good design features, such as triple-glued seams and polymer sealant technology to ensure waterproofing.

Durable material that resists cuts and tears.

PHOTO JESPER KJØLLER

Inlet valves that allow standard connection low pressure (LP) hoses that come from the bottom.

Dump valves that dump faster than inlet valves inject gas.

Dump valve positioned to ensure the diver controls the dumping of the valve through body position rather than the valve dumping gas without the diver’s knowledge.

Left and right bellows/flat pockets glued and sewn in position in the appropriate place on the upper outside thigh just above the knee.

Boots that fit well and allow walking in the environment you will be diving.

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How to fit

You should use the following criteria as a guideline when test fitting a drysuit: • Streamlined cut • Longer in the arms; material should touch wrist bone while arms are to the side • Cut longer in the leg; legs come up higher in the crotch • Underarm panels free of seams, allowing

There are many types of drysuits available. In general, they are constructed out of two types of material: those that change a diver’s buoyancy, such as neoprene, and those that don’t change buoyancy, such as trilaminate or bilaminate.

Drysuits should be constructed from material that will not impact buoyancy.

Neoprene drysuits (buoyancy-changing) should not be considered for diving at any level due to their bulkiness, variable buoyancy, and thermal protection characteristics. Neoprene drysuits cause overweighting as well as loss of thermal protection during bottom time.

Being overweighted on the bottom forces a diver to have too much gas in the suit or buoyancy compensation device (BCD), which can cause trim, drag, and efficiency issues. Balanced suits, on the other hand, have minimal buoyancy characteristics.

The downside is that they also offer little in the way of thermal protection. To overcome this, an effective undergarment is necessary.

FITTING

When considering the purchase of a new drysuit, you should be careful to ensure that it fits correctly. Some divers are lucky enough to be born with a “stock body.” That is, their body shape conforms very closely to what manufacturers use for the sizing patterns of their drysuits. If this is the case, try on a stock suit of the type you wish to order at your local dive shop and check that it meets all the fitting criteria.

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you to reach back and touch the same position as well as with no suit; ability to reach the valves is of vital importance.

• A crotch area that is designed to allow a diver to spread their legs for frog kicks; avoid four-way seams.

• Slightly larger in the torso to accommodate arching while in the prone position

If you order a custom-made suit, you should first try on a stock suit of the type you wish to purchase to give you an idea about the general fit of the suit. As stated above, ensure you are wearing all the thermal protection you will require for your environment when test fitting suits or taking measurements. When you are measured for your suit, make sure that the fitter knows what they are doing. It can be a long, frustrating, and tedious process if the initial measurements are wrong. Typically, sending a suit back for alteration will add another six weeks to delivery considering the time needed to re-measure, ship, alter, and return. Try to get it right the first time.

It cannot be stressed strongly enough that it is far better to have excellent undergarments and a moderately priced, well-fitting drysuit than to have an excellent drysuit that is rendered useless by poor undergarments.

Mobility while being fully dressed is very important. You need to be able to reach your valves or bend your legs to climb the ladder on the boat.

PHOTO JESPER KJØLLER

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The fitting criteria are fairly simple:

• The diver should retain flexibility in their arms and legs, ensuring both manipulation of their valves and ability to easily frog kick.

• The torso should be long enough in front so the diver can arch without either pulling down on the neck seal (causing leaking) or having difficulty in arching (causing the knees to drop).

• The diver should be able to squat comfortably.

• There should be no longitudinal seams in areas that require great flexibility, such as under the arms and in the crotch area.

• Boots must be snug (wear Thinsulate™ booties or the socks with which you plan to dive when trying on the boots).

• When you move to the maximum stretch positions, there should be no excess material in the suit.

• As with the undergarment, the suit should be snug but not tight.

FACT FILE // GUE DRYSUIT PRIMER

Maximum range-of-motion positions:

WHO IS IT FOR? Anyone interested in the transition from wetsuit to drysuit to allow for longer dives in colder water will be interested in this course.

This training is available for non-GUE trained divers and can serve as a basic introduction to the GUE system.

WARNING: You should never use a drysuit without prior training, as drysuits can be dangerous. A reputable dive facility should provide orientation and training as part of the purchase of a drysuit.

WHAT WILL I LEARN? Course outcomes include, but are not limited to: buoyancy, trim practice and refinement; types, fitting, and use of drysuits, drysuit inflation systems, and undergarments; cold water diving specifics; and management of basic emergencies related to drysuit diving.

See more on GUE.com

• A complete squat into a ball • Standing fully erect with your arms extending to the sky • Arms reaching across each other in front of your chest with the elbows being able to sit one on top of the other • Bending down at the waist and touching your toes • Reaching your hands over and behind your head to touch the base of your neck and down your back as far as possible 

NEXT TIME Drysuit accessories

PHOTO COURTESY OF SANTI 50

Quest · November 2021

If you want to spend more time in-water by extending bottom times, increasing depth, or simply diving in colder climates (which calls for proper thermal protection, which can be provided by using a drysuit), this course is for you.

GUE’s Drysuit Primer is a non-certification course designed to prepare divers for drysuit diving using proper equipment and techniques.

In many diving situations, you will end up wearing the drysuit all day, so must also be comfortable to wear out of the water.

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CLEAN

THE BALTIC TEXT DAVID J. CORD PHOTOS TEAM BADEWANNE

The Baltic Sea contains so many shipwrecks that it has been called the world’s largest underwater museum.

While that is a pleasant way to describe the situation, it ignores the fact that some of the exhibits are time bombs. Many of these wrecks went down loaded with fuel. As the vessels erode over time, oil release becomes a major threat to the local environment.

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PHOTO BADEWANNE

NING

The Badewanne divers combine their joy of discovery with maritime protection.

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The volunteer divers work closely with authorities in planning and carrying out cleanup operations.

A shipwreck leaking oil is a headache anywhere, but it becomes a migraine in the Baltic. The coastlines are packed with narrow and shallow islands and seaways.

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Diving conditions can be challenging in the Baltic.

Divers must beware of ghost nets in the lowvisibility ocean.

The narrow and shallow sounds near Denmark are the Baltic’s only connections with the wider ocean, and water exchange is slow, meaning any pollution is slow to be dispersed.

PHOTO BADEWANNE

I

n Finland, a unique partnership has developed between the government, companies, and private individuals to find, categorize, and clean these wrecks. In the summer of 2020, one of these unlikely teams removed the oil from two sunken ships, adding to a growing list of environmental successes by this group.

Sunken wrecks leaking oil and toxic materials in the Baltic aren’t a newly discovered problem.

Finland began inventorying wrecks that were a potential hazard to the environment in 1987.

Soon after, Poland began classifying wrecks in their Exclusive Economic Zone according to how dangerous they were. When Sweden became concerned, they went to Finland and Poland for advice. It wasn’t long before every country around the Baltic was considering the problem and sharing potential solutions.

Baltic pollution is already high

A shipwreck leaking oil is a headache anywhere, but it becomes a migraine in the Baltic.

The coastlines are packed with narrow and shallow islands and seaways. This convoluted coast is a nightmare to clean up. For example, in 1984, a 200-tonne oil spill contaminated 2,000 km2/275 mi2 and 200 islands.

The narrow and shallow sounds near Denmark are the Baltic’s only connections with the wider ocean, and water exchange is slow, meaning any pollution is slow to be dispersed. The Mediterranean is another sea with a narrow connection with the Atlantic, but conditions here are much different. The Mediterranean evaporates much more water than it receives from its rivers, which causes a dynamic exchange of water via the straits of Gibraltar.

The high population density of the Baltic area coupled with the slow exchange of water with the Atlantic has made the Baltic one of the most polluted seas in the world. Heavy nutrient loads cause eutrophication, while overfishing and invasive species threaten the already fragile ecosystem. The last thing the Baltic Sea needs is old shipwrecks leaking heavy fuel oil.

“We have identified about 150 wrecks that we need to keep an eye on, and about 20 of them are considered critical,” says Jorma Rytkönen, Development Manager at the Finnish Environment Institute SYKE. “Many of these are war wrecks in sensitive areas. A good example is the Soviet destroyer Gordyi.”

Launched from the Leningrad shipyard, the Gordyi was only three years old in 1941 when she ran into a minefield and sank almost in November 2021 · Quest

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PHOTO BADEWANNE

the center of the Gulf of Finland. For 70 years, she has been out of sight but not out of mind.

Today, there is a mounting threat that the old fuel oil in her bunkers will leak into the sensitive Baltic, and she is just one of many troublesome wrecks.

There hasn’t been a great deal of research on oil escaping from shipwrecks. Finland’s first inventory of shipwrecks was a desk job, as researchers simply combed the available literature, yet they knew from the beginning that this method was flawed. Field work was essential.

Many vessels were known to have sunk, but their condition and precise locations on the sea floor were unknown. Surveying the sea floor was effective, and dives to the wrecks was even more so, but the resources needed for either are enormous.

Luckily, help was at hand, as certain concerned private individuals have joined with government authorities in a partnership to handle these leaky wrecks.

Volunteer divers lend a hand

Badewanne is a non-profit diving team that has been documenting shipwrecks in the Gulf of 56

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The diving community is small in Finland. Some of the professionals working on the research ship Aranda are also members of the Badewanne diving team.

Finland for more than two decades. They have unique experience with war wrecks but have also dived old sailing ships.

See the story about their amazing accidental discovery of a 400-year-old Dutch merchantman in Quest Vol. 22, No. 2.

“Badewanne makes brilliant videos of these wrecks, and they have a deep knowledge of them,” Rytkönen continues. “We really need those skills to be able to safely and efficiently manage these leaking wrecks.”

“We dive with a purpose,” says volunteer diver Sam Stäuber, Head of Directors and Production Specialists at YLE, Finnish National Television, and Badewanne member. “We know that resources are limited for authorities, so we are willing to help document these wrecks and participate in salvage operations.”

Surveying and visiting a wreck is valuable, but long-term monitoring is even better. The Wärtsilä Project Baseline team is working with Badewanne to survey wrecks for potential oil leakage and experimenting with the use of sensors to detect it.



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

Archives were scoured to determine the fuel tank arrangements on board and to look for clues as to how much fuel they might have been carrying when they sank.



The Baltic is one of the most polluted seas in the world. Agriculture runoff is one culprit, but fuel oil from sunken ships could also contribute to the problem.

PHOTO BADEWANNE

Their work was described in “Project Baseline in Finland Raises Awareness of Threats to the Baltic” in Quest Vol.21, No. 3.

All of this work to find and document wrecks that are leaking oil is only the first step. When necessary, they must remove the oil from the wrecks. In the summer of 2020, the Wärtsilä Project Baseline team removed the oil from two ships: the Hanna-Marjut and the Fortuna.

Two wrecks targeted for cleaning

The Åland Islands are a large archipelago between Finland and Sweden at the mouth of the Gulf of Bothnia in the Baltic Sea. The sea has been integral to life on the islands for generations, and even today the maritime industry makes up about 20 percent of the local GDP. Åland is part of Finland but is largely autonomous, and Åland authorities were worried about the historical artifacts lying on the seafloor.

On a windy October night in 1985, the 81.8 m/268 ft Hanna-Marjut was bringing a load of sugar beets from the Åland archipelago to 58

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mainland Finland. The cargo hatches were probably broken open in the rough seas, and the hold quickly filled with water, causing the ship to sink.

Remarkably, history repeated itself almost exactly two years later in October 1987, when the 52 m/170 ft Fortuna was shipping sugar beets from Åland to the mainland. Again, waves filled the hold through open cargo hatches. The Fortuna capsized and sank about 700 m/0.4 mi from the Hanna-Marjut.

These small coastal vessels were a priority.

There was a high probability they would leak fuel if they weren’t leaking already. They were in the Skiftet strait, a sensitive environmental area.

Fortunately, the Fortuna and Hanna-Marjut lay at a depth of about 30-40 m/100-130 ft, a reasonable depth for divers.

Archives were scoured to determine the fuel tank arrangements on board and to look for clues as to how much fuel they might have been carrying when they sank. Old records were incomplete, and there was a possibility that the last owner of the Fortuna had changed the location of the fuel tanks. If so, the salvage divers might accidently cut into bilge tanks instead.

Removing oil from a sunken ship is a delicate operation. They deployed oil booms on the surface just in case a leak occurred as they worked.

PHOTO BADEWANNE

“We had some bad information about the Fortuna, so the help from Badewanne was critical to locate the tanks,” says Rytkönen.

SYKE’s research vessel Aranda surveyed the wrecks with side-scanning sonar and multibeam echosounders, and the team put together detailed 3D images. Divers took samples of the seafloor and set up sensors while Badewanne divers took photos. Volunteer diver Mikko Gustafsson, Chief Project Engineer at Wärtsilä, helped remove ghost nets from the Fortuna.

“There were nets across the cargo bay, so we cut them loose and removed them so no one would get entangled,” Gustafsson explains. “This was on the dive to scout the route to the oil tanks. When we came to the surface they immediately sat down and started planning the next dive and next step of the operation.”

Many groups with one goal

The process to remove the oil from the wrecks was a significant job, involving

the Finnish EnviFACT FILE ronment Institute, Finland’s documented Navy, Border Guard, shipwrecks and their Heritage Agency, potential environmental Transport and Comimpact: munications Agen• 22 wrecks contain more cy, Ministry of the than 100 tonnes of oil Environment, priwith high certainty. vate corporations, • 24 wrecks contain more the Badewanne than 100 tonnes of oil diving team, and with lower certainty. individual volun• 68 wrecks contain teers. The goal was 10-100 tonnes of oil. not only to remove • 306 wrecks contain less the oil, but also to than 10 tonnes of oil. further develop cooperation between such a diverse group of public and private entities.

Navy salvage divers worked from the pollution control vessel Hylje when they removed the oil. Just to be safe, the Hylje also deployed floating booms on the surface in case oil escaped from the wreck during the operation.

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They did have an unexpected snag while working on the Fortuna. They discovered oil leaking from the bow and found the entire bow was filled with oil from a ruptured tank or breather tube. Consequently, the teams repositioned a suction hose and removed that oil, as well as some oil from the roof of the engine room.

“We removed about seven and a half tonnes of oil from the fuel tanks on each ship,” says Rytkönen. “We couldn’t get to the day tanks in the machine room because of debris, but we believe the amount of oil there is low.”

The operation was a major success. The team removed the oil from the old wrecks, protecting the environment from the risk of a leak.

Additionally, a diverse group of people and institutions learned how to collaborate. They have even more ambitious plans for the future and want to include international partners.

More joint work planned

Finnish authorities are eyeing two wrecks for 2021 expeditions, one of which they hope to re-

move the oil from themselves. The other wreck is in much deeper water and will probably need more international specialists who have ROV experience.

It isn’t just oil they want to recover. They are also planning on recovering two paravanes from war-era wrecks. These glider-like devices were towed underwater to cut cables anchoring mines. Each could contain about 9 kg/20 lb of mercury, which is especially hazardous to the environment.

“There are some wrecks closer to Russia that might give us an opportunity for trilateral cooperation,” says Rytkönen. “I would love to see Estonia, Russia, and Finland working together on these.”

Cooperation among different countries is a common theme in the crowded Baltic area. The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, better known as the Helsinki Commission or HELCOM, is an intergovernmental organization working to protect the Baltic Sea environment. Members include every country around the Baltic and the European Union.

PHOTO BADEWANNE

The operation was a major success. The team removed the oil from the old wrecks, protecting the environment from the risk of a leak. Additionally, a diverse group of people and institutions learned how to collaborate.

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The anoxic conditions of the Baltic Sea means that decay happens slowly. There are fewer microorganisms that break down materials than in warmer waters.

Protecting the maritime environment is everyone’s business. Corporations, volunteers, professionals, and authorities all work together to clean up the sunken wrecks of the Baltic.

PHOTO BADEWANNE

The group organizes an annual exercise to test the international response to a major accident. Each member of HELCOM hosts the exercises on a rotating basis. Finland is the host in 2021, and the plan is for divers to train on sunken shipping containers to simulate diving on wrecks.

Wet divers with dry wallets

everyone. We do it because we are passionate about it and are willing to sacrifice time and money to help. Your wallet gets dry when you get wet!”

“We do this for the love of diving,” says Stäuber. “We are very privileged to participate in these operations. Many of these divers do this as a profession, and we are just dedicated volunteers. We get to see diving done from a different perspective, and we admire how they work. It is awesome to see.”

“It is extremely expensive to carry out these operations,” says volunteer diver Mauro Sacchi, Director of Business Development at Wärtsilä, and Badewanne member. “The maritime environment is critical for everyone, so it is good that ordinary people can participate with citizen science and corporations can contribute talent or money.”

Sacchi and Gustaffson both work for the energy and marine company Wärtsilä and are volunteer David J. Cord is the author of four books, divers. Wärtsilä encourages including the autobiographical My Land and The Decline and Fall of Nokia. As a its employees to help environjournalist he covers Nordic innovations mental causes and also directly and public policy for an international supports this work. audience. David has been published in “At heart we are divers,” ten languages. says Gustaffson. “This work is important to us and benefits

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