Ontario Underwater Archaeology

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Scott McWilliam

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This link takes you to a short film dealing with underwater archaeology and the diving regulation in Ontario.
 
Professional Underwater Archaeology in Ontario
“In any Democracy, the most difficult occupation is that of a responsible citizen.” Aristotle (384- 322BC)
Professional underwater archaeology is legislatively crippled in Ontario. This year at an archaeological conference there was only one paper by an archaeologist doing underwater work. It was an excellent paper. He went snorkelling because under the existing regulations that is all he can do.
Some time ago I authored a satirical paper, “The HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, the Curse of Arctic Madness.” An early draft is still floating around on Accademia if that type of thing interests you. The link appeared on the Canadian Archaeological Exchange and many of the diving web pages. It was censored and the link did not appear on the Ontario Archaeological Society web page, due to my well-earned and established reputation for a lack of political correctness. I write satire.
Fortunately, the Honorable Catherine McKenna who was then the Minister in charge of, among other things, Parks Canada does not suffer from this type of inappropriate bias and was kind enough to read the paper. I sent it to her. Subsequently, funds and time were found to have the Parks Canada Underwater Archaeologist take the Restricted Surface Supplied diving course at Seneca. As far as I know, they are now the only archaeologists who can now legally work underwater in Ontario. As you may have noted in the film, others are in training.
In my opinion, if you are interested in working underwater as a professional archaeologist you need to have either the professional SCUBA diver or Restricted surface supplied diver rating (or higher) before you even think about applying for an archaeological license. I have been very impressed with the program at Seneca College. As you will note from the video clip Seneca Rocks. The next course starts this December and finishes mid-February. The cost is around twenty-five hundred dollars, and you are diving legally and can get paid for your work next summer. Unfortunately, I see no hope of legislative relief for at least four or five years.
Alternatively, if you are a sport diver you can never really have enough stage bottles. Keep your eyes on eBay as many archaeologists now identify as consultants and as they are not diving anymore, they may be selling their gear.
If you are a sport diver your future might not be as rosy as you think, because guess who is next? CSA Z275.2:20 Occupational safety code for diving is available online and may come into legislation in a year or two and the situation Ontario is currently in will extend across Canada.
If you ask what Z275.2:20 is about you will be told that it is to ensure workplace safety and compel commercial divers to use four-man teams. There are four jobs to a commercial diving operation, diver, safety diver, dive tender and dive supervisor. Currently, it is possible for one person to do two jobs. Commonly, dive supervisor and safety diver. They then have an economic advantage in bidding on contracts as their operational costs are lower. Some argue that their diving operations are less safe due to the double tasking of jobs in the crew. It sounds reasonable to me, and I endorse it for commercial diving operations.
I noticed the paper is currently one hundred and fifty-three pages of legislation to express the thought, I have shared with you in one paragraph it appears that somebody is clearly doing something wrong or there is more to the story. Sceptic that I am, I have reviewed all relevant legislation including this paper. As you may suspect there is a great deal more than four-man diving teams at stake.
Governments only want one thing, “More.” More money, more taxes, more laws, more regulations, more jobs, more control etc., If you are at least sympathetic to the situation underwater archaeologists are in, get used to it because this legislation is going to have the same kind of negative impact on the sport diving community soon.
As an example of just how crazy this is consider the following:
You and your dive partner go on a recreational SCUBA dive and there is an equipment failure. I have experienced a couple. On one occasion I had just reached the thirty-foot decompression stop on the Gunilda site and a hose failed on a Poseidon Cyklon 300. I was diving a redundant system, so it was just a matter of shutting down that regulator and switching to a backup and waving goodbye to my Poseidon second stage that was on its way to the bottom in 260’ of water. These types of problems are rare, but they do happen. Let’s say something interesting like that happens and you film it, and the footage is placed on YouTube. Welcome to the world of commercial diving!
The same would apply to any other interesting footage. You sell it, you post it on YouTube you give a presentation on it, and someone buys you a beer and guess what. The diving regulations apply to you. The Ministry of Labour investigates, and you are charged due to your failure to comply.
Don’t blame me, don’t blame the Ministry of Labour if you want someone to blame start with Netflix. Up until 2006 broadcast images were produced on three-sensor cameras. Often big studio cameras made by Sony, Panasonic, RCA etc., That all changed in 2006. This is when the first 4k 35mm Super-sensor cameras came online, Reds, Ari, Blackmagic etc. Netflix said that is good enough for us and broadcast image standards changed to 4k. I filmed the Seneca Rocks video in a way to make a point. On any kind of professional shoot, I always default to my Blackmagic 4.6k camera. They have a tremendous dynamic range that you do not get with smaller, less expensive cameras.
The Seneca Rocks video is shot entirely on a GoPro Hero four black in 4k at 24 frames per second, so it is deficient in dynamic range. If you look at the clouds in the sky, they are white blobs with poor definition. The camera is mounted in a gimbal to improve image stabilization. Also, the camera has been customized with an anamorphic lens to produce the 2.39 to 1 aspect ratio (CinemaScope), but lens selection is a matter of artistic preference and your 4k+ camera will also produce a broadcast-quality image. Welcome to the club! You are now a commercial diver, and the dive regulations now apply to you. In addition to the new training, (approx. $2,500 and ten weeks) your yearly dues are $360.00 you will likely have to buy new gear.
Currently, there are about one hundred and fifty commercial divers in Ontario. Over half of these are part-timers. Past, present and this future legislation is all written to accommodate their needs. There has been little or no input from the archaeological community in any of it. That is why they are snorkelling.
Since 1960 there has only been one work-related diving fatality in underwater archaeology in the world. During the same period enough, commercial divers have died to start a hockey league. Commercial diving is not the same as underwater archaeology. Ninety-eight per cent of all the underwater archaeology done in the world has been done safely on SCUBA. The regulations are fundamentally unjust and in no way reflect the actual minimal risks faced by underwater archaeologists as opposed to the many hazards faced by commercial divers.
Organizations like SOS, OAS, as well as academics, and people who work in parks are the types of people we look towards to resolve problems or take the point in situations like this. But in a way, they are institutionally impotent. If you are receiving core funding from the Government or working for the government, you never want to bite the hand that feeds you.
I only know of a few remedies:
1. It may be possible, (but highly unlikely as the Ministry never grants variances) to negotiate a better arrangement by applying for yet another variance. If you want to bang your head against that wall it is all yours.
2. If enough people took interest, it is possible to move politically for new legislation that specifically excludes things like underwater photography, archaeology, marine biology from the regulations that cover Commercial diving.
3. A direct legal challenge in court to strike down the existing legislation.
4. Strong opposition in Parliament to strike down CSA Z275.2:20. If they cannot work with us why should we work with them? They are few, we are many, we live in a democracy it is supposed to be governed by the will of the majority. Not well-financed agenda-driven special interest groups.
There are a great many things to think about, but I will leave you with the opportunity to win valuable prizes for your time. For the first contestant who can answer the following skill-testing questions correctly:
a. How many commercial divers and personnel are required for,
b. and what certification must they have,
c. and what equipment are they required to have,
d. and how much does it cost,
To change a lightbulb in 120 feet of water.
I look forward to your answers.

 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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