Last month starting on the 22nd of August I was fortunate enough to work as the camera assistant and Underwater Lighting Supervisor for the
British Broadcasting Corporation. We were filming a segment for one of their series on the natural history of the Earth. Director of Photography for the shoot was Simon Wagen.
Me with the little underwater camera we were using
We were filming for three days off the coast of California,offshore from the city of Goleta. The dive site was called
Shane Seep.
Shane Seep is a natural gas seep that has been active since the 1960’s. It has been the most intensively studied Seep in the area. We had Ira Leifer,the scientist who among other things specializes
bubbleology on board and a full group of
University of California Santa Barbara Research Divers including the Man himself who the Seep is named after –
Shane Anderson, who has been the Chief Collector and Naturalist for the University of California at Santa Barbara since 1975. It was great having him on board as I have known and respected Shane and his work since 1992. He is also an old friend of Bobs. Eric Hessel was the
Dive Safety Officer. Another great surprise as I have begun training with Eric and have great respect for all the work he is accomplishing at UCSB as the Diving Safety Officer.
Eric clears us for the next dive off the back off the
Conception dive platform.
Natural oil seep can be seen at the surface of the water at the dive site.
The dive site was at 65 FSW, flat sandy bottom where some areas of tar usually covered by a thin layer of sand. Small streams of bubbles blanket the site estimated at 2- 50 bubble streams per square meter and part of the dive briefing includes being aware of the disorientation that you will experience diving through the methane bubbles. I did not believe this would affect me, but on every dive I had experienced the disorientation. Some of the Bubble seeps are very intense and we were always warned to listen.
Listen for the rumble as once in awhile a gas pocket will concentrate under the sand and erupt into a massive bubble with a meter or more in diameter.
The crew was great and I have always enjoyed working with blokes from the British Broadcasting Corporation. I chose my XXL
Excellerating Tan Delta Sapphire Blue,
Diamond Clear whiskers,
Comfort instep and
Bungie Heel strap for this shoot.
My foot is
10.5 US and I was wearing my Gates Drysuit with a Flexible boot and the fit was great. Pushing and using the
lights for Simon underwater was made easy with my
Force Fins. Thanks again Bob for making a Smart Fin!
