During the summer the Federal Government announced that two researchers from the Defence and Civil Institute of Environ mental Medicine (DCIEM) were awarded the Federal Partners in Technology Transfer Award. David Eaton and Ron Nishi re ceived the award for their development of advanced diving life-support equipment.
The state-of-the-art diving technology was conceived at the DCIEM facility in Toronto in partnership with Fullerton Sher wood Engineering, a Mississauga based company.
Working together the company and the Forces have built the next generation of diving gear for the military which allows Navy divers to reach a depth of 90 metres without risk of carbon dioxide poisoning, oxygen toxicity and nitrogen narcosis. And, since the rebreathers will be used for mine countermeasures work underwater, the units have been made magnetically and acoustically "clean"in other words, when the Navy divers are in the water wearing this new gear, enemy ships and submarines will not be able to detect their presence.
The technology took five years to develop and has had hundreds of hours of operation trials diving with Canadian Forces Fleet Diving Units. Most recently the technology was used in support of diving operations on the Swiss Air disaster recovery operation in Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia.
As a result of this development and the technology transfer to the Fullerton Sherwood Engineering, Canada has become a leader in selling military diving sets around the world. These sets, marketed under the trade name STVA are now in active service in eight navies (Canada, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia. Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Thailand and the US). The sets are being evaluated in navies of nine other allied countries.
This porthole is believed to have come from the first-class dining room of the galley, located on D deck.
This hand mirror and brush set are made of Bakelite, an early form of plastic.
Titanic passenger Thomas Brown, who lost his life in the sinking, wore this watch.
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Wreck show hasn't sunk in Toronto yet
Can Toronto ever get enough of the Titanic? It doesn't appear so. The world's largest travelling exhibition of salvaged Titanic artifacts rolled into Toronto September 23 and the exhibition continues to draw large audiences. Titanic: The Exhibition, is a private show owned by RMS Titanic Limited, a French company which has recovered approxi mately 5,000 artifacts from the Titanic wreck site in five expeditions dating back to 1987. The travelling show is housed in the Better Living Centrea large empty building on the grounds of the city's Canadian National Exhibition park. Because the building is so large, RMS Titanic has had the freedom to create a spectacular multimedia exhibition built around 200 artifacts from the famed wreck. The world's largest steam whistle. A bronze cherub from the ship's grand staircase. A 1,000 pound davit from which life boats were lowered. Love letters from a long dead Canadian. Eyeglasses in their case. Titanic: The Exhibition brings back to life the unforgettable tale of the world's most famous marine disaster, from the grandeur and spectacle of her design, to the personal stories of her passengers, to the tragic night of April 14, 1912, and her subsequent deep water discovery and recovery of her artifacts. This is the fourth large scale Titanic event to play in Toronto in the past five years. However, the size and scope of this exhibition makes it the largest Titanic event to be staged in Canada. Variations of this exhibition have been seen by more than four million people worldwide. And while the exhibition has drawn criticism in some citiesbecause many people consider the removal of artifacts from the Titanic to be akin to robbing a grave sitethere has been no such protest in Toronto. The only note of concern was sounded in one of the city's daily newspapers who raised eyebrows at the large and expensive gift shop that all exhibit goers must pass through to exit the show. The high priced sweat shirts and pieces of recovered coal are in keeping with the exhibit itself. In a town where most museums and art galleries charge less than $10 to enter, an adult ticket to see Titanic: The Exhibition is a $19.95 (plus taxes) expenditure. |
New wreck gear from Nova Scotia
Aurora Underwater Metal Detectors Limited, a Sackville, Nova Scotia company, has developed a miniature ultra-low fre quency wrist mounted underwater metal detector. This new metal detector hasat least according to Jim Camano, the president of Aurora Detectors"significant advantage over the competition by virtue of its size. Strapped to the diver's wrist, this stable, sensitive detector frees both hands for digging."
Production of this Canadian product has already begun and the company says that it is ready to begin shipping orders. The retail price of the detector is under $800 and should be available soon in scuba stores across the country.
Jim Camano and Aurora Underwater Metal Detectors Ltd. can be reached at 902-865-6728 by phone or by mail at 14 Cavalier Drive, Lower Sackville, NS. B4C 3K3.
Dive Notes
The Windsor Skin and Scuba Club held its twenty-fifth anniversary party and reunion on Saturday, October 16 at the Royal Canadian Legion Hall in Windsor, Ontario. The party brought together members and former members of one of Ontario's longest established scuba clubs.
Looking for dive clubs and associations on the web? You can try three sites for extensive lists. Although for the most part the websites and addresses listed are American, there still are a number of Canadian listings on all three sites. Those sites are: http://www.delphi.com/WOWIE, http://www.scubamom.com/river-rat/ and http://www.owuscholarship.org/. From December 20th to April 24th. Canada 3000 airlines will once again offer direct flights from Toronto to Bonaire and Curacao. For many years Ontario divers have not been able to easily reach the two dive destination islands. However, with the Canada 3000 service a number of dive travel companies, including London based Scuba Holidays, are offering affordable dive/fly packages to Bonaire and Curacao.