Bering Sea Gold: Under the Ice

[AfterDark]

I really like this show. I do find it very amusing that the Lazy Gator guys seemed to have the worst equiptment, but are working together much better than the others and as a result finding alot more gold.

Do they have to get any kind of special permits, or is it just a free for all out there?

Could be, or they got lucky, got over a good spot and are working together because they're find gold! It is a very entertaing program. added to my DVR.

 

[CT-Rich]

It's a fun show. Unfortunately, a reality of this type of diving is that it is hard to make money if you try to do it following all appropriate safety guidelines. If you are only working one siphon and you have the extra people hanging around topside, you are only getting gold from one hose....

I am sure that a lot of the situations are manufactured, so I will assume that very little of dangerous the practises that were shown (walking away from the com, letting compressors run dry etc....) didn't occur in reality. I know very little about ice diving, but I do know that 27 degree water on the face can on its own cause a fatal reflex. How much good would a bail out bottle be if you had to pull off your face mask and start breathing off a reg filled with sub freezing water? My understanding an involuntary gasp and sudden hyperventilation frequently follow rapid facial exposure to extremely cold water. My expectation is that you might be safer being pulled up promptly by attentive surface personnel.

Like I said, I have know training in ice diving, so these are just guesses. Does anyone with marine enviroment ice diving experience have any thoughts?

I am also curious how they found the cast. Did the production crew help recruit divers or were these people already gold dredging under the ice?

 

[AfterDark]

It's a fun show. Unfortunately, a reality of this type of diving is that it is hard to make money if you try to do it following all appropriate safety guidelines. If you are only working one siphon and you have the extra people hanging around topside, you are only getting gold from one hose....

I am sure that a lot of the situations are manufactured, so I will assume that very little of dangerous the practises that were shown (walking away from the com, letting compressors run dry etc....) didn't occur in reality. I know very little about ice diving, but I do know that 27 degree water on the face can on its own cause a fatal reflex. How much good would a bail out bottle be if you had to pull off your face mask and start breathing off a reg filled with sub freezing water? My understanding an involuntary gasp and sudden hyperventilation frequently follow rapid facial exposure to extremely cold water. My expectation is that you might be safer being pulled up promptly by attentive surface personnel.

Like I said, I have know training in ice diving, so these are just guesses. Does anyone with marine enviroment ice diving experience have any thoughts?

I am also curious how they found the cast. Did the production crew help recruit divers or were these people already gold dredging under the ice?

When one diver stopped getting air he pulled off his mask and surfaced. Betcha he would have liked a bailout bottle!

 

[CT-Rich]

When one diver stopped getting air he pulled off his mask and surfaced. Betcha he would have liked a bailout bottle!

As the old saying goes, "you can't sell stupid" they are ice diving in the Bering Sea under ice. They are using crap for equipment, may well have crap for brains... It might be interesting if the they have a post season episode where they discuss why they made the descissions they did. Some of the choices were clearly economic, some practical and some plain stupid/ignorant. I am curious about the training (through an agency or otherwise) they did to feel like this was either safe or worth the risk.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I don't know if I would describe their equipment as crap. It not like you need a rocket ship to dive 20' down. I think they had the proper gear to dive safe, not the will, discipline or the training to use it properly.

Most of the problems I say were sloppy use and care of the gear by the tenders, running the gas/diesel tank dry, overloading power lines, tenders wander away from the comm box or falling asleep at the box . I don't imagine sucking dirt is exciting and watching someone suck dirt hour on hour is worse. The IQ of some of the folks is apparent when they tried to use a block of wood as a weight or push a diver down to the bottom with a 2x4 to retrieve a lost weight belt. Add to this the loss of IQ from gold fever and you have some exciting entertainment.

 

[Mike]

I am also curious how they found the cast. Did the production crew help recruit divers or were these people already gold dredging under the ice?

This is basically the same show as ran last year but with a different name, it was dredging the same area in the summer on barges, same people are in this 'version'.

The IQ of some of the folks is apparent when they tried to use a block of wood as a weight or push a diver down to the bottom with a 2x4 to retrieve a lost weight belt. Add to this the loss of IQ from gold fever and you have some exciting entertainment.

I just saw that episode, it was like - you're surrounded by crap, something laying around must be heavy, just pick it up and hand it to the guy so he can go down. LOL

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

This is basically the same show as ran last year but with a different name, it was dredging the same area in the summer on barges, same people are in this 'version'.

My wife keeps telling me they have one really long show on Alaska, repeated daily. One night is dredging under the ice, another on the water, another mining on the surface, next truckers, then road plow crews, then families living off the land, then trappers and hunters, then fishermen, then crabbers, then the Coast Guard saving everybody.....

Its like crack, once you start watching its hard to stop even though you know it serves no good purpose....

 

[CT-Rich]

The IQ of some of the folks is apparent when they tried to use a block of wood as a weight or push a diver down to the bottom with a 2x4 to retrieve a lost weight belt. Add to this the loss of IQ from gold fever and you have some exciting entertainment.

Okay I am going to have to consede this one they do seem to be dumb as stumps, I forgot about the ballasting with wood and the pushing them under with the stick.... rather like to see Sarah Palin join the cast (this does seem to give some credibility as to how she managed to be elected governor ). Wouldn'nt mind seeing her pushed under freezing cold water with a stick.....

My sad truth is I try to see the best in people... This just goes to show that is a bad idea.

P.S. Is it just me or didn't it seem weird that they were rotating divers in the water and they only had one weight belt? I realize that they massively overweight so they get some purchase on the bottom but even so, weight isn't that expensive and they should have a leasted had the gear to get an emergency diver in the water...

 

[Mike]

P.S. Is it just me or didn't it seem weird that they were rotating divers in the water and they only had one weight belt? I realize that they massively overweight so they get some purchase on the bottom but even so, weight isn't that expensive and they should have a leasted had the gear to get an emergency diver in the water...

That's what the diver with the camera is for.

Not only are the miners rather dumb, but you have to dumb yourself down to in order to watch it. Whenever they have a dramatic emergency, it's best if you want to enjoy the drama to forget there is another person 3 feet away from them at all times, they just happen to be holding a camera.

Kinda like watching a reality show where a hunter gets pinned under a rock and a grizzley is approaching and the hunter's gun is just inches out of reach of his finger tips... at what point is he really in danger? I guess it would be if the guy holding the camera just keeps filming instead of sliding the gun over with his toe.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Wouldn'nt mind seeing her pushed under freezing cold water with a stick.....

H'mm, I have yet to understand why people hare Sarah Palin so much. I mean, I understand why liberal / progressive folks disagree with her views. That's fine and expected, but there are a lot of men with the same views that don't catch half the flack she does.