The mysteries that lie in the depths of the underworld at sea have captivated mankind for centuries. Scientists, researchers and madcap human beings alike have recently attempted to master this foreign world with incredible, bizarre and whacky underwater inventions and feats. Let’s take a look at 7 of them.
Hug a Shark
It’s far from your average 9 to 5 day job — a film-maker has set out to convince the world that one of the planet’s most misunderstood creatures whom most live in fear of at sea is not the vicious, flesh eating killing machine we make them out to be.
Photo Metro
Rob Stewart is a dedicated shark hugger on a mission and says we need to stop fearing and start caring for sharks, or they’ll soon become extinct.
In his award-winning film ‘Sharkwater,’ the 28 year old biologist teamed up with Sea Shepherd’s renegade conservationist Paul Watson, travelling to 14 countries and locations such as the Galapagos Islands to challenge man’s fear of the ocean predator by getting up close and personal with the sharks as he swims, touches, and even hugs them.
Stewart says he has loved sharks since he was a child, seeing them as beautiful ocean creatures, and dedicated his career working to gain the trust of the creatures in attempt to prove that it won’t cost you an arm and a leg to get to know them — fearsome teeth and all.
Armed with nothing more than an underwater camera, Stewart has made an art of becoming accepted into their world by calmly entering their waters.
Photo Rob Stewart
Photo Rob Stewart
Photo Rob Stewart
“Sharks can see us with more than their eyes. They can sense our energy and they viewed me as a threat.” says Stewart.
The Canadian said nearly 90% of the world’s shark population has been wiped out from ‘finning’ – for making shark fin soup – and distrust of the creatures.
He insists they’re not nightmarish man eaters to be feared. “If sharks ate people I would have been killed a long time ago.” he said. “Most sharks have teeth that are ineffective cutting tools.”
Sailing aboard the Sea Shepherd’s Ocean Warrior, their 4-year journey brought them in conflict with poachers in Guatemala and the Taiwanese mafia. Early on, at the invitation of the Costa Rican government, the ship was rammed by a boat illegally fishing in Guatemalan waters off the coast of Costa Rica — and everything changed.
“We ended up getting charged with attempted murder in Costa Rica.” Stewart said, explaining that the Taiwanese mafia — which had connections with local officials — was illegally harvesting shark fins.
“There were millions of dollars in fins in dozens of illegal shark-finning operations that the authorities were ignoring.” he said. “After being chased and threatened by operators with guns, our guide admitted that the ‘shark-fin mafia’ was on the lookout and it would not be a good idea to be seen in town.”
After weeks of combating attempted murder charges in Costa Rica, Stewart and the crew fled to avoid arrest in an epic chase, wrapping barbed wire around their boat so the coast guard couldn’t leap onboard, and headed to international waters.
“This was supposed to be a shark film.” Stewart said. “We ended up running while the coast guard was chasing us with machine guns. It turned into a really different human drama with a shark movie intertwined in it.”
Photo Rob Stewart
Photo Rob Stewart
Photo Rob Stewart
Stewart now travels to schools, showing children footage of him swimming with and embracing sharks to educate kids about the importance of protecting them.
He says when sharks bite people, “It’s not a shark attack, it’s a shark mistake. When they bite, they realize they made a mistake, they got something they didn’t want, they let go. It’s really rare for flesh to actually be removed.”
Photo Life in the Fast Lane
In testament to how friendly some sharks may be to human advance, yours truly actually braved the shallow waters to ‘hug a shark’ once. While I don’t recommend being as brazen (or perhaps foolish) as I was, they are not always the fearsome creatures they’ve been made out to be.
What I found most surprising was the texture of the shark’s skin which was rough to the touch, with a very firm body — not fat, blubbery or slippery as I had imagined. The shark seemed to take my advance to pick it up without a hint of struggle or fear of humankind, in a sense, showing a trust.
Sharkwater
Drive Underwater James Bond Style
More than 30 years after the famous movie scene from the thriller ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ in which James Bond was seen driving a car that doubled as a boat, the Swiss company Rinspeed has come up with the world’s first real submersible car that can actually ‘fly’ under water — the sQuba — an open-topped sports car that can go over land, above the waves and even under the water to a depth of 33 feet (10 meters).
Photo Metro
Rinspeed replaced the engine of a sports car with 3 electric motors in the back of the vehicle –1 to provide propulsion on land with powerful torque to drive the rear wheels and the other 2 driving the screws for underwater motoring and designed a salt water-resistant interior.
The engines are supported by 2 powerful Seabob jet drives in the front, which ‘breathe’ through special rotating louvers from HS Genion for opening and closing the water intake. The rotating outlet jets were designed to be extremely light yet twist resistant using high-tech nano materials, so-called Carbon Nano Tubes.
When underwater, you’re enclosed in the vehicle thanks to light weight body components also made of Carbon Nano Tubes. Breathing air under water comes from a self-contained on-board system integrated tank of compressed air similar to those used by scuba divers.
Photo Rinspeed
Photo Rinspeed
Photo Rinspeed
The car is able to drive on roads autonomously with a push of a button, thus without a driver, passenger or further assistance.
The company claims that their revolutionary vehicle is extremely “green” with a zero-emission.
Photo Rinspeed
Photo Rinspeed
Photo Rinspeed
“For 3 decades I have tried to imagine how it might be possible to build a car that can fly under water. Now we have made this dream come true.” said the avid James Bond Fan and Rinspeed boss, Frank Rinderknecht.
“It is undoubtedly not an easy task to make a car watertight and pressure resistant enough to be manoeuvrable under water. The real challenge, however, was to create a submersible car that moves like a fish in water.”
Photo Rinspeed
Photo Rinspeed
Photo Rinspeed
“For safety reasons, we have built the vehicle as an open car so that the occupants can get out quickly in an emergency. With an enclosed cabin, opening the door might be impossible.” he added.
The sQuba made its public debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2008.
sQuba — Rinspeed’s First Underwater Car
Batman Boat Attempts World Record
This powerboat with its sleek futuristic look in the agent 007 style has been designed to break the world record for circumnavigating the globe on 100% renewable fuel with a net zero carbon footprint.
Photo Metro
The Earthrace project aims to shave 10 days off the near 75-day record while increasing awareness of environmentally-friendly biofuels, which set off from Sagunto, Spain on April 27 2008. The current record for a powerboat to circumnavigate the globe is currently 74 days, 23 hours and 53 minutes set by UK boat ‘Cable & Wireless Adventurer’ in 1998.
Photo Earthrace
Earthrace is also undertaking a 2 year promotional tour, visiting 100 cities around the globe to meet and connect with people about the need to get renewable fuels into our energy mix and to inspire them to do something themselves to minimize their impact on the environment.
‘It is quite radical. It is mostly described as the “Batman boat”. Kids and men’s eyes do light up when they see it.’ said John Allen, operations manager.
With functions that even James Bond would be impressed by, the craft can submarine through heavy seas and notch up a higher average speed than regular boats by going up to 7 meters under water.
Photo Earthrace
Photo Earthrace
Photo Earthrace
Photo Earthrace
Photo Earthrace
Photo Earthrace
Photo Earthrace
“The long pointed nose means it cuts through waves and it can go underwater for short periods of time. As well as looking cool, the horns at the back also let air in when the boat is underwater.” John said.
The sleek silver boat, worth about $2.9 million US (£1.5 million) will make a net zero carbon footprint during its trip by purchasing carbon offset to balance CO2 emissions. The B100 bio-diesel it uses emits around 20% of the CO2 given off by conventional diesel, but it’s equally efficient, allowing the boat to reach speeds of up to 40 knots.
The Earthrace uses a range of environmentally friendly technologies, such as a low-emissions engine, non-toxic underwater paint and an efficient hull design.
Photo Earthrace
Photo Earthrace
Photo Earthrace
The project attracted the attention of Sir Richard Branson who took a 45-minute trip on the craft on the River Thames in London last September.
“We’re certainly looking at this as a possible project to get involved in and fund — it’s extremely worthwhile.” said Sir Branson. “I’m a big supporter of biofuels and I think it’s important to raise awareness of how efficient they are.”
Photo Earthrace
Photo Earthrace
But John Allen said one thing very un-James Bond about the craft was the interior. “It looks cool from the outside but the interior is very bare. It is a race boat not a pleasure boat so it is not built for comfort.”
Earthrace
Man Survives Underwater by Peeing on Algae
With survival hinging upon a coil of green algae which provided air in return for marine biologist Lloyd Godson urinating on plants each day, the Australian aquanaut spent 13 days living underwater in a 6 foot (2 meter) high yellow biosub capsule, pedaling a bike for electricity at a depth of 15 feet (5 meters) in a freshwater lake near the southeastern town of Albury.
Photo Daily Mail
Godson received funding for the project after winning a “Live Your Dream” Wildest Adventure Competition run by nature journal Australian Geographic for the world’s first attempt of a self-sufficient, self-sustaining underwater habitat.
His partner and support crew member Carolina Sarasiti said he was not trying to break any underwater records. “It’s more of an experiment to use a few scientific concepts. He wanted to live his dream, which was to live underwater.” she said.
Photo BioSUB
Photo BioSUB
Photo BioSUB
A team of divers provided meals to the capsule through a manhole in its base, while electricity came from the bike he pedaled as well as through a bank of onshore solar cells.
A single daily blast of fresh air was also provided from above, after trial and error with levels provided by the algae “biocoil.”
Photo BioSUB
Photo BioSUB
Photo BioSUB
“It’s never been done before using air from the plants.” said Sarasiti, stating the experiment had been designed to prove whether an underwater environment could be self-sustaining.
Entertainment in the 2-metre by 3-metre capsule came from a drum kit which Godson could use at all hours without upsetting neighbors — other than the fish.
Photo BioSUB
Photo BioSUB
School kids from across the globe followed Godson’s underwater endeavor on his website. His physical and psychological state was measured daily and results were sent to the U.S. for evaluation.
“At times it [was] stressful, but more just exhausting from talking all day to [website] visitors and the press. I expected solitude and got the opposite.” Godson said.
Underwater Ironing World Record
Flattening the world record for ironing under water, 72 Australian scuba divers took the plunge off a pier near the southern city of Melbourne with ironing boards and irons, and their linen for a new rage in ‘extreme ironing.’
Photo Extreme Ironing
The Extreme Ironing website touts it as being the “latest danger sport that combines the thrills of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well pressed shirt.”
In attempt to gain entry to the Guinness book of world records after taking their linen into murky, 9.8 foot (3 meter) depth in the ocean, ironically on April Food’s day this year, event organizer Debbie Azzopardi said the group eclipsed a 2005 record set in a swimming pool at nearby Geelong, which in turn beat a world mark set in New Zealand.
Photo Extreme Ironing
Photo Extreme Ironing
Photo Extreme Ironing
“It was cold and I think they were bloody crazy.” said local councilor Tom O’Connor, who with police helped authenticate the new record.
The irons all had their electrical cords removed for the attempt, which took place in chilly pre-winter seas.
“I was having a chardonnay (wine) a few years ago with a girlfriend and I thought I’m going to beat that. We had a few fish going by and a sting ray. It was great.” Azzopardi said.
Photo Extreme Ironing
Photo Extreme Ironing
Photo Extreme Ironing
Photo Extreme Ironing
Photo Extreme Ironing
Photo Extreme Ironing
Extreme Ironing Underwater World Record
Underwater World Record for Holding Breath
U.S. magician David Blaine broke the world record for holding his breath for a whopping 17 minutes and 4 seconds live on the Oprah Winfrey Show in a water tank on April 30, 2008.
Photo AP
It was a feat few professional freedivers think is achievable with the best of conditions, let alone live on TV with the added pressure.
Known as ‘apnoea’ — the scientific term for breath-holding literally meaning “without air” — David attempted to slow his heart rate down to 46 beats per minute by relaxing in a meditative state as he had previously done in a test run, but was unable to get below 100 due to the anxiety of the live performance.
The higher the heart rate, the more quickly oxygen is consumed, and the more painful the carbon dioxide buildup. But his CO2 tolerance training (repeated breath holds every morning) was just enough to compensate.
What Blaine does have which is extremely important for apnoea is highly developed mind control.
“This discipline is a complete mind game.” says BFA chairwoman, Emma Farrell. “It is the most psychological of all the freediving disciplines as you have to have a clear mind and stay calm while you are just lying there.”
In the last minute his heart rate became erratic — he became concerned and rose from the bottom of the water-filled sphere, keeping his head underwater more than a half minute longer than the previous record of 16:32.
“I really thought I was not going to make it.” Blaine told NY Times afterwards. “At minute 12 I felt the pain coming, and by minute 14 it was overwhelming. This was a whole other level of pain. I still feel as if somebody hit me in the stomach with the hardest punch they could.”
Photo AP
Besides the pressure of performing on television, he said there were other unexpected distractions working in the sphere — a heart-rate monitor happened to be close enough to his ear so that he heard its beeping, and he had to keep his feet locked in holds at the bottom of the sphere.
Before the stunt, the 35-year-old breathed pure oxygen through a mask — which is allowed under Guinness World Records rules — to help him.
Blaine said afterwards it was a ‘lifelong dream’ to break the record.
David Blaine Risks His Life Part 1
David Blaine Risks His Life Part 2
David Blaine Holds Breath for 17 Minutes
World’s First Underwater Post Office
Rooted beneath 9 feet 10 inches of turquoise sea in the small Hideaway Island marine sanctuary near Port Vila in Vanuatu is a fiberglass kiosk manned by postal workers in diving gear that sells waterproof postcards — with claims to be the world’s first and only underwater post office.
Photo Roger & Celia
Situated about 165 feet (50 meters) offshore, The Vanuatu Post Office can receive mail delivered in person if you’re a visiting diver or snorkeler from this unique underwater paradise.
“When you’re out snorkeling it’s quite an easy duck dive and you’re there.” Hollins said from the tropical state of 80 islands and 190,000 people, 1,400 miles (2,254 kilometers) northeast of Sydney.
The submarine post office is open for 1 to 2 hours a day, depending on how busy it gets, and has a special underwater franking machine that embosses the plasticated postcards.
Photo Underwater Post
Photo Underwater Post
‘Marine life and water are very important to Vanuatu and tourism is pretty important so we just thought we’d see what we could do to boost tourism, do something different and have a bit of fun.’ said Ian Hollins, Vanuatu Post’s Chief Executive..
“The demand has been incredible. Visitors are excited by the prospect of visiting the site and sending a memento home to friends that is different to anything else they have come across.”
Photo Underwater Post
Photo Underwater Post
Photo Underwater Post
The Corporation is owned by the Government of Vanuatu and operates as a commercial enterprise but also has social obligations to provide improved access to services for the people of Vanuatu.
Sources, Metro, MSNBC, Rinspeed, Earthrace, Extreme Ironing, BBC, NY Times, Underwater Post, and Wikipedia
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