Oceans of Opportunity

Tag: #mesophotic

the Hall of Ocean Life

Yesterday was a unique day in delving into the psychology of a more permanent presence in the sea. I departed New Haven Connecticut by train to Grand Central Station in New York City. From Grand Central, I made two short subway hops, eventually taking me to the American Museum of Natural History located on Central…

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defining the deep envelope

A recent December 5th dive in the Red Sea took steps to define the capacity of humans to foray into the deep. A team of 3 divers using rEvo rebreathers completed a dive to 211 meters depth (about 700 feet). The deep push team included Paul Raymaekers (Belgium), Marco Reis (Brasil), and Pim van der…

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MSNBC | thousands of new species found in deep sea

A recent AP release read on MSNBC goes on to describe ocean exploration at its finest moment – where 17,650 species have been discovered living below 656 feet, the point where sunlight ceases, according to a recent update on a 10-year census of marine life. Story can be found here. The process of biological discovery…

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rEvo CCR training complete

I have just returned home from a short visit to Dutch Springs, PA where I trained with Dave Sutton on the rEvo closed-circuit rebreather (www.revo-rebreathers.com). The unit performed flawlessly, and far exceeds my expectations. I am very much looking forward to integrating this into future Ocean Opportunity field events. This training was a marquee point…

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the last frontier for use and development

“The oceans are kind of the last frontier for use and development,” said Amanda Leland, Ocean Policy Director at the Environmental Defense Fund in a recent CNN article: CNN Article The article goes on to discuss the evolving concepts for ocean ‘development plans’, citing that human use and development without proper management will do more…

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settlement at scale

Just returned from a weekend of some easy camping in Northern Connecticut. The skies were clear, water was warm, fish were biting, and I’m one step closer to identifying a state of minimalism for some extended fieldwork. above image | view inside the hammock The big test this weekend was a trial run with my…

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Science of the Deep

A gauge of our capacity to conduct routine scientific investigations – and further exploit and manage resources – at nearshore depths extending across the global continental shelf, is the ability to execute more expeditious missions to areas that have yet to be explored. As I tend to do, being biased as a career diver (eh…

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Past to Present | first CCR dives on Lee Stocking Island

In 2004, Lombardi fights an uphill battle to gain approval to dive closed-circuit rebreathers under institutional auspices at NOAA’s Caribbean Marine Research Center. The effort results in new standards established for the organization, liability issues mitigated, and the first CCR dives conducted for science at this NURP facility.

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Past to Present | Technical Diving for Science

Lombardi and Drs. Marc Slattery of the University of Mississippi and Michael Lesser of the University of New Hampshire make the first mixed-gas dives for science at NOAA’s Caribbean Marine Research Center. This marked a significant milestone in US government supported diving for science programs, where new operational standards were drafted for this NURC center.…

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