Undersea Voyager Project: seeking ocean discoveries in Southern California's island playground

A precocious child at the age of, let's say, ten has his or her first encounter with the wonders of the sea, perhaps at a local aquarium; or a vacation at the beach, wandering about the tidepools; or simply by watching an underwater wildlife documentary. Suddenly a spark is ignited and a future marine scientist and explorer is born.

That spark becomes a fire that continues to burn to adulthood and now the freshly-minted ocean explorer enters the world of academia or corporate research in search of a living. And that's when things can change. The bureaucracy and politics of these new working environments - where papers must be regularly written, departments must have their spotlight of attention, or private companies must meet a corporate agenda - take the budding scientist further and further away from that original inspiration, that sense of pure research and exploration.

The Undersea Voyager Project (UVP), headed by Scott Cassell, has a mission to bring that original sense of exploration back to the marine scientist. Providing submersible platforms for research and study, UVP has a long-term goal of circumnavigating the world through the ocean's most vibrant depths, from near surface to 1,000 feet. It's an alternative approach in that scientists can make use of UVP with one caveat: the resulting data is open for the world to benefit from. Institutions may be reluctant to get on board with such a heretic approach, but scientists from a wide variety of marine fields have expressed interest; an interest to reconnect with that first motivating spark once again.

Through the month of October, the Undersea Voyager Project is operating at Catalina Island in Southern California. Working with the Antipodes, a five-passenger submersible owned by Seattle-based Oceangate, Cassell has been plumbing the depths of this local California island attraction, discovering wreckage from Cold War era listening stations to evidence of never-before-seen underwater landslides.



I had the opportunity to join the UVP and Oceangate team this past weekend to film the Antipodes underwater as it ran through some checkout dives and will be joining them again shortly to film Scott for a German television program and take more promotional video. There is a list of scientists and educators that plan to participate while the Antipodes is available through this month, hoping to discover what secrets might be lying just a few hundred feet below in the waters off bustling Southern California.

There are discoveries waiting to be made and secrets to be uncovered. But maybe the greatest discovery or secret is the moment when a researcher can once again connect with those youthful impulses that drove him or her to be an ocean explorer in the first place.

Visit the Undersea Voyager Project website.
Visit the Oceangate website.

The Mir Submersibles: a fascinating undersea history now in print

As a member of the Explorers Club, I have had the pleasure and honor of meeting many accomplished scientists and explorers covering a range of scientific disciplines, from oceanography to astrophysics. This past Friday, I attended the West Coast Annual Explorers Club Dinner and had the chance to meet Dr. Anatoly Sagalevich, the chief pilot and head of the Russian Deep Manned Submersible Laboratory, home of the Mir ("Peace") submersibles. He was being honored by the Explorers Club with their annual Ralph B. White Award for Oceanographic Exploration and Conservation of the Seas.

From discovery of deep ocean geothermal vents to sunken naval vessels, from multiple trips to the Titanic (including supporting director James Cameron in the filming of both Titanic and Ghosts of the Abyss) to a controversial planting of the Russian flag under the ice at the geographic north pole - for over 20 years the Russian submersibles Mir I and II have been dependable research platforms for scientific research organizations worldwide.

Now the exploits of these famous submersibles and their captain are available in print. The Deep: Voyages to Titanic and Beyond, written by Anatoly Sagalevich and Paul Isley III and available through Amazon.com, is a fascinating accounting of the Russian submersible program, beautifully illustrated and translated from Anatoly's original Russian edition.

Understanding the ocean's complexities and secrets is always fascinating. Understanding how this research is accomplished can be equally fascinating. A beautiful coffee table book, The Deep: Voyages to the Titanic and Beyond is a testament to man's need to explore and learn.

Undersea Voyager Project: success with its first mission

In December of 2008, I posted about a new research organization,the Undersea Voyager Project, headed up by Scott Cassell. The project intends to push marine education forward through the use of state-of-the-art submersibles. Having just completed some initial checkout dives in Lake Tahoe, here's Scott's latest report:

I am proud to announce that the first mission of the Undersea Voyager Project (TAHUV) was a success.

With Bob Oberto resigning from the UVP, the UVP Team pulled together and scrambled to put a new list of scientists and researchers together quickly. They were successful and integrated the new science team seamlessly into 11 submersible dives.

We achieved much, made several discoveries (i.e. 3 ‘new’ ancient trees were discovered, and potentially a new species of Protist) and we had a lot of fun. I am extremely proud of the UVP Team.

Dive targets successfully explored with scientists in situ ranged from:
• Two Earthquake Faults (Dr. Schwickert, UNR)
• River/Lake interface (Geoffrey Schladow, UCD)
• Volcanic Mud Flows and Tsunami Mega Ripples (Neil Rondorf, SAIC)
• 2,000-year-old ancient trees (Dr. Andrew Klesh, UM, Dr. Daniel Brothers, UCSD, Dr. Letti Ramirez, CSUEB)
• Possible discovery of a new species (or re-finding an old one) of Protist (Dr. Christopher Kitting, CSUEB, Scott Valentine, LTCC).

And from the original list of scientists the UVP Team was able to dive Dr. Graham Kent, SIO, UCSD on the ancient trees as well.

A total of 58 submersible dives were performed and 33 SCUBA dives.

The UVP team was also successful with performing two live broadcasts from the submersible underwater! One on Fox 40 Morning Show and one on Good Day Sacramento. In both live broadcast, the reporter was able to dive in the sub and talk to the Anchor team back at the broadcast stations whom watched in real time.

Media attention was amazing! I was on the following programs promoting the UVP mission:
• Australian Broadcasting Network News
• KTHO AM 590 with Tom Singerline
• Wave Magazine
• Fox 40
• Fox News
• KOWL Radio with Howie (twice)
• Good Day Sacramento (Twice)

I am writing 8 articles at the moment about the TAHUV for both printed and Internet magazines and several TV groups have approached us to be on their talk shows over the next month.

I also initiated the ‘Youth Undersea Ambassador’ program. Three teenage kids were selected based on scientific programs they are active in, personality and support from parents and their principals. These kids performed a series of dives in the submersible (including piloting it) and were involved in data collection and observations of targets. Each was also trained in being a ‘Submersible Support Swimmer’ which included venting the submersible’s ballast system for the beginning of each dive and blowing the ballast system for surfacing and recovery. They are obligated to deliver lectures to their student peers and/or community based on the UVP mission on “What it is like to be a young Explorer / Scientist” three times this year. The program has been highly successful and the community of Lake Tahoe has been greatly supportive of it.

The TAHUV was filmed in both High Definition and in 4K Red Camera. We will use this outstanding footage for promotion (including for the D.E.L.I.V.E.R. program if the Team wishes) of the UVP, the production of two documentaries and one short IMAX teaser.

The UVP team consisted of:
Scott Cassell, President, Founder and Chief Sub Pilot
Shawna Meyer, Co-Founder (not present)
Will Kohnen, President of SeaMagine Hydrospace & Interim Vice President
Peri Best, Expedition Manager
Reds Regan, Expedition Coordinator, Artist
Julie Regan, TRPA Liaison Officer
Professor Scott Valentine, South Lake Tahoe College, Science Liaison
Dr. Jeff Wachs, D.O. UVP Team Medical Doctor
Dr. Andrew Klesh, Team Engineer, Space & Sea Interface Officer
Jenna Whisenand-Palacio, Media & Public Relations
Tom Loomis, Local Tahoe Region Liaison
Greg Mikolesek, Photographer and Diver, Viking & VR Liaison
Ivo Kocherscheidt, UVP Historian and Photographer
Steffen Schultz, Film Maker, Producer, Strange Media Productions
Robert Alan Martin, Film Maker, Producer, California Academy of Arts, Sausalito, CA
Nathan Garofalos, Film Maker, Producer Red Camera (IMAX Teaser)
Ildiko Nemeth, Foreign Affairs Officer
Paul Wilton, Machinist
Leslie Wilton, Artist
Steve Blair, Icthyologist, Assistant Curator - Aquarium of the Pacific

Youth Ambassadors
Nichole Phelan, Marine Biology, Geology student
Sid Loomis, Marine Exploration, Geology student
Mattie Ordway, Marine Biology, Ecology student

Support Volunteers
Dr. Andrea Donnellan, Website Designer and Master
Jim Phelan, Tahoe City Marina General Manager and Nichole’s Father
Adam & Wendy Muskovitz, Best Rent Tahoe
Jeanne Merkelbach, Tahoe Keys Resort and Marina
Ed Roe, Fire Fighter - Engineer, City of South Lake Tahoe
Carey Loomis – Transportation, Logistics and Sid’s mother
Robert Ordway – Diver and Maddi’s father
Adam Compton, relief Sub Pilot – SeaMagine

I am currently still in Lake Tahoe assisting in the editing of a short ‘trailer’ for the UVP and writing the documentary with Nathan Garofolos (which he will edit over the next three months)

We are in the planning stages of the one-month-long California Undersea Voyage (CalUV) in which we will perform survey dives completely around the Channel Islands with scientists and teachers from local institutions. Many of these dives will be broadcast in real-time to educational institutions and classes. Estimated time for this expedition is late summer.

The UVP is now open for business and I am proud to be a part of the D.E.L.I.V.E.R. Proposal. This will be a good year!

Scott Cassell
Founder
Undersea Voyager Project
www.underseavoyager.org

Undersea Voyager Project: preserving the human experience in exploration and discovery

I had the pleasure of attending a press event for the Undersea Voyager Project that was held at one of my regular stomping grounds, the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA. It's great to attend these events as you get to meet new people with similar interests, concerns, and passions for marine conservation.

The Undersea Voyager Project is headed up by Scott Cassell, who has done considerable study and research on the Humboldt Squid - a particularly voracious predator typically found in deeper water but makes more local appearances from time to time. The primary thrust of the Project is an ambitious program involving submersibles and a variety of different marine science projects, culminating in the development of a larger submersible that will act as an undersea classroom bringing science to the general public in a very real and as-it-happens way.

I find this very exciting because throughout my involvement in marine conservation as a filmmaker and giving screenings and lectures, I have found that there is a tremendous amount of scientific data that does not get effectively translated into issues, implications and solutions for the general public to understand and appreciate. As an example, we have decades of data documenting climate change - and yet there are still many people who refuse to accept it.

Organizations like the Undersea Voyager Project can be of tremendous benefit in enlightening the public, young and old, to important issues regarding our oceans. Marine conservation must not be obscure or vague; it must be made real and tangible to all people: to the general public, to the decision-makers, and to the future generations of scientists-in-the-making.

Check out the Undersea Voyager Project web site and give it your support.