Our
oceans are the last frontier to be explored and paradoxically
that part of our planet about which we know least. In fact we
have spent less time exploring our deepest oceans than we have
exploring space. It was, with this thought in mind that Kym
Murphy, who was rsponsible for the technical side of the underwater
sequences in 'The Deep', approached Disney World eleven years
ago with his dream project. It sent him an a roller coaster
of traumas, finding sponsors and gathering a team of specialists
together. In spite of all the planning the 'Living Seas' wasn't
ready when Epcot opened and only went into action 18 months
ago. A diver himself, Kym learnt at the age of 13 with the Abalone
Divers, and wants to share his enjoyment of the sport with everyone.
So 185,000 square feet of building houses information on Marine
Life, Diving, Earth Systems, Undersea Exploration and Ocean
Resources.
Twenty-two
months of building resulted in an ocean 203 feet in diameter
and 27 feet deep filled with 'designer water'. This is recirculated
at 35,000 gallons a minute, the entire 6 million gallons being
recycled every 160 minutes through 10,000 feet of underground
piping. Sixty-one acrylic viewing panels, each measuring 8ft
x 24ft and weighing 9,000 lbs, give the visitor a unique opportunity
to observe at first-hand living marine plants and animals
and technical and scientific research In action.
The
concept is an endeavour to educate and foster research as
well as to entertain. Everyone I spoke to was eager to point
this out and Bob Weisman, who is Diving Safety Officer, said
that for him that is was a dream come true,
Kym told me that collaboration with the Florida Institute
of Technology and with the Marine National Fisheries is a
common occurence. Work taking place or planned to date includes
a reef census, and research into dolphin physiology, nutrition,
ozone and decompression plus a dolphin breeding programme
which will hopefully start soon.
Initially
visitors enter the 'Living Seas' through a 'queue area' which
is filled with all kinds of interesting information and artifacts
from a model of a diving suit and the submarine 'Nautilus'
used in the filming of '20,000 leagues under the sea' to models
such as Sir Edmund Halley's first diving bell (1697) and the
18th century Klingert diving dress. This all serves to prevent
boredom in the event of having to wait to long - though they
reckon to shift 2,000 people an hour! Next, visitors progress
to a small pre-show presented by the sponsors followed by
a dramatic movie presentation depicting the origins of life
in the sea. Automatic doors open and you board a hydrolater
to 'Sea-Base Alpha', an ocean research centre of the future.
Moving walls and water viewed through acrylic panels give
the impression that you are descending to great depth. Thirty
seconds later the doors open and you board a sea-cab to take
you through the spacious tunnel on the ocean floor. It is
at this point you realise that this is a marine project quite
unlike any other!
Within
moments you are in the main concourse of 'Sea-Base Alpha',
the sheer size overwhelms. Directly in front of you and dominating
the concourse is the acrylic diver lock-out chamber. Overhead
is suspended a full scale model of a 'Deep Rover' one-man
submersible, capable of attaining depths of up to 3,500 feet.
Those
interested in 'Ocean Ecosysytess' can stop and admire the
Pacific kelp forest, so tall it extends up to the next level.
Wonderful displays of phytoplankton and zooplankton in acrylic
columns stand nearby tanks containing predators such as barracuda,
bonnet-head sharks, morays and groupers. Symbiotic relationships
are highlighted in a Pacific lagoon, home to numerous urchins,
starfish and small reef fish. Among all these live exhibits,
videos display up-to-the-minute information on marine life
and test your knowledge. Upstairs, where you can see the top
of the kelp forest, I met Jim Korzep who explained that experiments
were carried out at the 'Mariculture Hatchery' for the visiting
public to see and ask questions of the researchers, Everyone
I spoke to from diver to designer has this burning desire
to educate the public about our seas, and learning here is
so easy you can't fail.
Divers
amongst the visitors will be fascinated by the 'Undersea Exploration'
section. 'Jason' is there, along with 'Jim' and 'Alvin'. You
can test your manipulative skills in a out-away model of 'Jim'
and two absolutely first-class, highly acclaimed animated
films make the physics of diving so easy to understand I wish
I'd had access to it when I started diving. Still with exploration,
the 'Earth Systems' section has the most spectacular displays
of the earth's oceans from space. Again apart from all the
well-presented information there are more 'hands-on' features.
Kym and his team are justifiably proud of their dolphins.
A Dolphin and Sea-Lion Research Centre has been set up on
two levels. Communication experiments are conducted with the
dolphins and video monitors show visitors a slice of the action
above and below water.
Finally,
and by no means least, comes the 'big-one' - Sea-Base Alpha's
Coral Reef - home for nearly 6,000 sea creatures. Looking
like a design straight out of 'Jaws III' visitors view the
reef from an acrylic tunnel with a circular 'walk-round' at
one end, In the surrounding ocean you can see dolphins, sharks,
diamond rays, myriads of reef-fish, schools of butterfly and
angel fish, blue chromis, barracuda, snappers and parrot fish.
The environment outside the tunnel looks like an authentic
coral reef. It is here that not only are experiments, research
and observations being made on marine life, but man comes
under scrutiny as well.
Some
fourteen divers are currently engaged on Sea-Base Alpha, half
of then women! Kym said no exceptions or discriminations were
made for either sex - and added that in fact that in some
situations women divers were more suitable, particularly in
training dolphins and sea~lions. It looks very glamorous working
as a diver at 'Living Seas', but is in fact extremely hard
work - anything up to five hours underwater a day, not only
caring for the marine life and conducting experiments but
simulating such things as an archaeological dig on the ocean
floor for the visiting public! It is with this total immersion
in mind that extensive experiments are being carried out in
relation to decompression.
A
number of the divers are biologists holding college degrees
and most hold Divemaster or Instructor qualifications. Asked
if any particular qualities were essential for a diver working
at Sea-Base Alpha, Kym replid that an effervescence and sheer
joy for the job that came through to the visiting public,
even at the end of a long weeks diving, were iaportant ingredients;
and I must say that this was the overwhelming impression they
made on me. One diver told me that the day he no longer gets
a 'buzz' out of diving he will stop; and I think that Is what
its all about.
The Americans may envy our history and tradition, but I envy
their ability to produce such educational extravaganzas. If
you go to Florida make sure you don't miss this one.
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