TECH: Truk Lagoon

We design, manufacture and retail scuba and rebreather equipment. We have fully equipped test and certification labs, and can pressure test large items in our vacuum chambers, as well as run fully automated leak test and dive simulations down to 400m. Our EMC and EMF lab is filled with state-ofthe-art equipment for testing electromagnetic compatibility and electromagnetic fields. We also have a large in-house laser for cutting and engraving on plastics and metals. www.narkedat90.com

Over the past three months, we have been showcasing the incredible photogrammetry from Truk Lagoon’s Project Baseline. Here we chat to Marcus Blatchford and Pete Mesley about the challenges of such an epic operation

A (MB): When Pete first put his idea to me, it was a complete surprise - the scale of the job is simply huge! I pointed out that there are two basic forms of 3D model, the first is a 3D representation that looks similar to the scanned object, the second is a scaled and potentially geo-referenced model of survey quality, the latter requiring a huge amount more work to be put in than the former. Pete’s initial project plan is more for more visual representation and comparison than being survey quality. Although survey quality would be great, the additional time, labour and equipment involved are simply out of our direct financial reach. Before committing I put a plan together of what I thought to be achievable on the first trip to try to ensure it was within Pete’s vision.

A (PM): This is going back quite a few years, I always remember thinking how cool it would be to be able to see the wreck in its entirety. Feeble attempts at photo collages about 15 years ago was the first attempts at this massive task. The results were average at best, then I kind of lost interest. Until recently. Over the last five or so years, photogrammetry has come into its own. I have wanted to create baseline models of these wrecks for so many reasons and just had to make a start. But I knew very little about it. This is where Marcus and I started getting into conversation about mapping these wrecks. Personally, at the time, my thoughts were ‘3D modelling isn’t really my thing. I am more of an ‘arty-farty’ photographer and modelling a wreck doesn’t really take any artistic skill, it’s just sit there and click away’. But what I learnt the more I got into it was how honed in my observation skills got. I have dived these wrecks many, many times, yet when I started modelling these wrecks my understanding of the wrecks in their entirety increased a thousand-fold. The more I get into this, the more invested I am in learning more about these rusting hulks. There is a definite need for this sort of thing and my excitement grows every time I work on another wreck.

A (MB): Organic photography consists of two parts: 1) Creating an image that is exposed and focussed correctly; 2) Creating an image that is composed in a way to be appealing to the viewer. Once again, the latter is far more difficult to achieve than the former. Thankfully photogrammetry requires the images to be exposed well, in focus and have overlap with previous exposure – and, of course, a shed load of them! Composing the image is passed on from the photographer to the viewer. The viewer can rotate and zoom the model in the way they wish to see it.

A (PM): Being an ‘arty-farty’ photographer I really wasn’t looking forward to taking the thousands of images needed to capture the data needed to create these models. But it’s really quite challenging in its own right. We use techniques where the camera is mounted onto the scooter and we then set the camera up beforehand and off we go. So if you get the settings wrong, then all of the images won’t come out. So it has its own challenges. Once the camera is set up, then it becomes more of a ‘hoover’ the information up not missing any areas!

A (MB): Thankfully I had been doing long, deep photogrammetry dives for a good few years previous to the project starting, over this time I have been able to buy the correct equipment for the job and make sure it all interacts together in the simplest of ways - this goes for not only the camera equipment but my life support equipment too. Pete’s equipment is very similar to mine - although I shoot Canon and he shoots Nikon - we both have JJ rebreathers which are pretty bombproof, we both use almost identical decompression gradient factors, our scooters (although different makes) have similar burn times and speeds - the biggest challenge is travelling with it all!

A (PM): It’s like most things, if you have complex tasks to complete, add depth to that equation, then you need to be on top of your game. I have spent many a dive getting absolutely nothing simply because I wasn’t properly prepared before the dive. So most of the bottom time would be eaten up getting the rig sorted out. I guess we learn the best through experience (learning the hard way!), so when there are tasks to do, and the wreck is in deep water, it’s really important to get things sorted before you get down. Or things just aren’t going to work out for the dive!

A (MB): A number of training agencies are either in the process of or have released photogrammetry courses, I know that GUE and IANTD (UK only at the moment) already offer courses. I believe BSAC have a course, as do the Nautical Archaeology Society. There are also, of course, Facebook groups with many members who are more than happy to pass on their knowledge and experiences. The beauty of photogrammetry is that pretty much any camera can be used for scanning, so it truly is accessible to folks with action cameras right up to professional camera systems - even images from traditional film cameras can be used (although the cost of film and processing would probably far outweigh a the cost of a simple digital camera). A (PM): My best advice. You need to do a course. You don’t need fancy gear, use what gear you already have. Start on small, digestible projects (don’t try and map a 500-foot ocean liner for your first project). It’s best to take too much footage than too little. Understand that it’s not just gathering the image information, it’s also learning how to use the software. This all takes time. Be patient. Be persistent. And keep at it.

A (MB): The Micronesian borders are still closed due to COVID. Their roadmap suggests that once they have completed their vaccine programme, they will start opening up again. When this happens, the project plans to continue.

A (PM): Why stop there right? Then I start thinking ‘How cool would it be if I mapped all the diveable wrecks in New Zealand?’ Then, I started talking to various people round the world who are doing their own thing with the 3D modelling. What if we could have a centre location site for everyone to be able to access these amazing models? A portal that people all round the world could share their work. The wrecks would be linked to their respective sites for information about them etc. All this, in turn, gave birth to the ‘World Wide Wreck Baseline Project’. This is a non-profit project so it will expand when more data comes available. There is a definite need for these models of wrecks for many reasons. The technology will only get better and the more people are partaking in documenting their local wrecks, before you know it we will have thousands of wrecks for all to enjoy in one place! n

Each year, the Ocean Film Festival World Tour offers a three-hour smorgasbord of ocean-themed films celebrated by a like-minded community of theatre-goers. PT Hirschfield went along to soak up the atmosphere

Photographs by Jemima Robinson, Max Romey, Pierre Frechou, Sam Riley, Adam Hamerlik, Jem Cresswell, Clayton Conn & the film Mar

The Ocean Film Festival 2022 features fabulous

The seven films featured in 2022 hail from around the globe (with two produced in Australia). All are inspirational, some through their conservation messages, others through their testament to the power of the human spirit in the face of raw nature, challenge and adversity.

Most attendees are already excited for the 2023 World Tour dates to be announced, commencing again in March. Join the film festival mailing list here – www. oceanfilmfestivalaustralia.com.au - for details of all current and future screenings and bookings.

Below is a sneak peak at the films selected for this year’s mostly sold-out tour which delivers the festival into over 50 cinema screenings across Australia, plus events in New Zealand and beyond.

From the film’s lingering opening shots of diver Jim Abernathy caressing the snout of a tiger shark while narrating his discovery of the ‘affectionate side of sharks’, the tranquil imagery and pace of ‘The Tiger (Shark) King’ quietly counters the Spielberg-induced ’man-eating’ stereotype. Abernathy’s approach demonstrates a unique rationale and model for shark conservation through ecotourism. Tiger sharks, lemon sharks and Caribbean reef sharks are depicted calmly against a delicate soundtrack that underscores their natural role in the harmonious ecosystem of the Caribbean’s Tiger Beach, 25 miles from land. Abernathy shares a profound relationship with a four-metre tiger shark called Emma, and his passion to ‘change fear into love’ is beautifully conveyed in this gentle, awe-inspiring film.

Hailing from Alaska, Max Romey’s film on the ubiquitous topic of marine debris takes a visually arresting, multi-media approach, sustaining audience engagement from start to finish. Well-worn and oft-times removed pleas to remedy the scourge of microplastics and ghost nets are given a fresh and vibrant sense of immediacy and concreteness. This short film is like the ‘concentrated cordial’ version of feature film A Plastic Ocean, each frame breathing new life into the call for individual and collective responsibility and action.

The imagery and editing are bright, fast-paced and innovative, coupled with narration that makes expansive issues personal. The soundtrack is at times comedic, while at other moments serving like another delicate watercolour in the film-maker’s painterly vision. The film puts the enormity of the problems caused by our modern, consumerist lifestyles into perspective yet again, highlighting the concerted efforts needed from us all in response.

From the first wild, sweeping images of director Jem Creswell’s film, we are gently drawn into the intimate encounters and deep personal connections that narrator Alan Payne has with a range of marine fauna at Baird Bay (with its population of three) on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula. Payne hosts snorkelling tours focused on extended interactions with dolphins and the country’s reportedly sole growing population of Australian sea lions (the rarest sea lion on Earth) in their natural, shallow water environments.

There is a simplicity and purity about Payne’s approach and message: we need to ‘care for our neighbours’, whether human or animal and to give, rather than just take, when it comes to our appreciation of the ocean and its inhabitants. This short film was a clear audience favourite, delivering an understated balance of tender recount and the ultimate ‘cute factor’ through beautifully captured and curated footage of adorable sea lions alongside those who are privileged to interact with them.

Narrator Damien Castera joins the crew of ‘floating laboratory’ catamaran Nomade des Mers (featured in the 2018 TV series of the same name), sailing along the coast of Mexico to tell the story of ‘an adventure focused on simplicity’, combining two areas of expertise: board sports and resourcefulness. The unfolding adventure involves growing hydroponic produce with urine, salvaging and dehydrating unsold vegetables, upcycling broken surfboards using mushroom mycelium and substituting commercial products for more organic alternatives in the crew’s quest for a slower, more organic pace of life.

What might be regarded as ‘innovation’ on the boat often suggests a simple return to more manual processes of past eras. The adventures of the Low Tech crew are humble yet noble and culminate in days of sun-filled surfing. The film speaks to the potential of ordinary people to live more resourcefully towards self-reliance, irrespective of their immediate context: ‘a way of viewing the world based on need and the means available.’

Director Sam Riley’s depiction of Australian underwater photographer PT Hirschfield’s long journey of cancer and marine life advocacy is structured around recurring visual motifs and metaphors. Alongside beautiful and harrowing images of the hapless stingrays his subject strives to protect, the frequent presence of dazzling but deadly blue-ringed octopuses suggest the danger and mortality Hirschfield navigates, while soaring sea lions speak to the fullness of life she has determined to embrace, despite her prognosis.

The film (produced as part of the Ocean Media Institute’s ‘I Am Ocean’ series) ultimately calls on each viewer to discern what in their world needs their attention, and what active role they might play in helping to achieve better outcomes for the issues they are uniquely positioned to observe.

Each year the Ocean Film Festival World Tour will screen over two hours of the most inspirational, educational and entertaining films related to the ocean from independent film-makers both international and Australian.

Set along Portugal’s 1,800 miles of rugged coastline, offering some of the biggest ocean swells in the world, we ‘tag along’ with professional surfer Alex Botelho as he surfs enormous waves that beggar belief and (arguably) common sense. Meticulous preparation is required before paddle surfing the monstrous waves, some of which are most safely taken on by surfers towed by jet skis to scale and survive their enormity. A majestic soundtrack is married to spectacular footage of the epic thrills and significant risks of masterful board riding of waves that even a cinema screen will barely contain.

The ‘build a boat and sail against the odds’ feature at this year’s festival belongs to ‘Normalni Kolesie’ (‘Normal Guys’). When tragedy besets the grand plans of two ordinary men rom Warsaw to build a five-metre yacht and embark upon a trans-Atlantic race from Portugal with minimal prior experience, the remaining dreamer must recalibrate in order to stay the course.

Together he and his new travel companion battle boredom as they face the challenges of 3,000 nautical miles unsupported, a wave that destroys the laptop they are using for navigation, and more importantly (it seems) a shortage of cigarettes. The frequent humour of their predicaments are not lost on the audience. (Sub-titled) n