Unusual Divers

[LobstaMan]

Anyone ever run across this before?

Off Nantasket Beach this afternoon I saw a group of four divers in a very small boat (15-18 feet if that) anchored only about 100 yds off the section of the beach where the private homes are located(not the old MDC area). I trained my binoculars on them and observed no tanks or BC's, but what appeared to be a compressor with long yellow hoses connected to it.

I observed them for some time and they did not pick up anchor or surface with anything. Also, it seemed that only two divers were in the water at one time. Someone was always fussing with the yellow hoses.

Ever seen this before and what are your thougths on what they were doing. I've never seen any divers here before in such shallow water and so close to the beach. I'm stumped.

LobstaMan

 

[warpig]

it sounds like they were using a dive hookah.

it's just a pump with hoses and lets people dive shallow without any gear.

there's even one for sale on ebay right now:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=16057&item=3692989621&rd=1

 

[Spectre]

http://www.browniesthirdlung.com/hooka/index.shtml

 

[Seabear70]

What you saw was probably either a military, police, or a very small scale commercial dive operation.

The guy fiddiling with the hoses also had an intercomm to talk to the divers in the water. The person tending to the hoses is known as a "Tender".

 

[LobstaMan]

It certainly wasn't military or police(no markings) and they were not trying to be covert about what they were doing. It was broad daylight in full view of everyone on the beach. One of the guys probably lost his car keys overboard...lol.

LobstaMan

 

[Seabear70]

At a guess, they all had identical black wetsuits, or possibly dry suits though I doubt that.

I am also guessing that that is an area of low visibility.

You said no markings, does that include the boat?

At a guess, you were looking at a training dive. Posibly for evidence retrieval, posibly for assisting a diver in distress. Possibly just a training dive for using surface supply.

 

[MSilvia]

I doubt it was the kind of surface-supply diving seabear70 is talking about. Probably nothing more some hookah-divers out for a fun dive on Strawberry Ledge. I doubt it was a a team dive so much as some folks out on their buddy's boat.

I'm curious though seabear70, from the description given, how can you tell what kind of exposure protection and communication devices were in use? It's New England (as you of course know, because it's a regional forum) so lo-visibility is a given.

 

[warpig]

if i had to guess, it sounds like it was an alien abduction gone terribly wrong and the aliens were just trying recover their vessel by posing as divers using a hookah.

 

[Seabear70]

I doubt it was the kind of surface-supply diving seabear70 is talking about. Probably nothing more some hookah-divers out for a fun dive on Strawberry Ledge. I doubt it was a a team dive so much as some folks out on their buddy's boat.

I'm curious though seabear70, from the description given, how can you tell what kind of exposure protection and communication devices were in use? It's New England (as you of course know, because it's a regional forum) so lo-visibility is a given.

The reason I'm making the guess that I am, is partially because of the low vis. If you've got the money for something like that, go somewhere nicer to dive. Sure, it's a small boat, but a hundred yards from shore ought to produce som majorly fmessed up vis. It sounds like they're diving on a spot that has nothing much to look at, and nothing much to do.

Then consider, it's a small boat, right? Why have one tender and another on watch? They were likely following some rather strict procedures. That's pretty anal even for DIR'ers.

If I've already come to these conclusions, then it's an easy guess to figure out he exposure protection, Military divers tend to wear wetsuits in my experience, unless there is a specific reason not to. The lack of marking say it wasn't police, but it could still be DEA. But I'm still betting on military (coast guard would be included in this)

Why a radio? The types of divers I described would be unlikely to go in the water with that gear without one.

 

[warpig]

you know... i did hear that cuban drug smugglers were using a new robot technology called 'lobsteroids' to smuggle drugs into new england. they pose as lobsterman fishing off the coast, and dump thousands of cocaine-filled robot lobsters into the ocean. then their clients (also posing as lobsterman) can use an encrypted frequency locator to find the lobsters and retrieve the cocaine or heroin.

this would lend credibility to you DEA theory... they were probably working on a hot tip from a local double agent.