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Another fascinating card collection on the history of Diving.

The following Information was taken from the Canadian Brooke Bond Picture Card Series |
1. HARDHAT DIVER
For a century the traditional ‘hard hat” diver has worked down to 200 feet, breathing compressed air fed from the surface. The air flushes his metal helmet and watertight suit, and heavy boots and weight belt help overcome his buoyancy. Breathing other gas mixtures and wearing advanced equipment he now works to 350 feet. Although somewhat restricted in movement he can work for long periods, Warmed and protected by his suit and communicating by phone with his support crew on the surface.
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2. SCUBA DIVING
Divers wearing face mask and fins don't usually venture below 50 feet without Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. The SCUBA diver breathing Compressed air can dive safely to about 120 feet. Some professionals have made air dives to over 200 feet. Special breathing gases permit deeper dives, and divers from underwater bases can attain depths of 1000 feet. The diver photographer pictured wears a protective "wet suit", weight belt, knife, divers' watch and depth gauge. Before attempting SCUBA a swimmer should take an instruction course.
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3. THE CHALLENGER VOYAGE
Modern oceanography began in 1872 with the 69,000 mile, 31/2 year voyage of H.M.S. Challenger, a converted steam corvette. Visiting all oceans except the Arctic, Challenger took thousands of soundings, current measurements and samples of marine life, sediment and seawater. Bringing back many unknown species, Challenger proved that the seas teemed with unknown life, some at great depths. The voyage established the size, shapes and depths of the ocean basins and initiated research methods for oceanography. |
4. DEEP SEA DRILLING
Once a single continent, Europe. Asia, Africa and the Americas are still drifting apart. This and other information about earths history was confirmed from cores of sediments recovered from holes drilled 3000 feet down into the ocean floor by Glomar Challenger.Signals from sonar beacons on the sea bottom feed into a computer which activates side thrusters to keep the 400 foot ship in position over the drill hole almost 4 miles below.
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5. THE OCEAN FLOOR
Sloping from land to depths of between 400 and 500 feet, the continental shelf is generally 20 to 150 miles wide. Light penetrates, plants grow, man fishes and drills for oil. Then the continental slope plunges 2 or 3 miles. Its dark gorges are the cold abode of nightmare creatures. Below the slope is the unexplored abyss, deep sea bottom scarred by earth's greatest canyons and ridges. A few peaks emerge as islands but some undersea mountains rival Everest. |
6. 7 MILES DOWN
A bathyscaph's main body is a float filled with lighter than water gasoline. Ballast of steel shot makes it sink. The crew are in the sphere below. In 1960 Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh in the bathyscaph Trieste reached the bottom at 35,800 feet in the Marianas Trench of the Pacific. At this record depth, where the pressure is 17,000 lbs. per square inch, they saw marine animals, including a flatfish, the first proof that life exists in the deepest ocean.
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7. LOCK OUT SUB
The first modern 'lock out' submersible (permitting divers to exit and reenter while submerged) was the highly manoeuvrable 22 foot Perry Link Deep Diver. Before the divers exit, their separate compartment is pressurized to match the water pressure. After reentry it serves as a decompression chamber. In the Bahamas in 1968 divers Cook and Breese made the deepest working dive to that date, exiting from Deep Diver to collect bottom specimens at 700 feet. |
8. AN ADVANCED LOCKOUT SUB
Pilot and observer sit in the 5½ foot transparent acrylic cockpit of this new research submersible designed by Edwin Link. In the aluminum body behind them are S divers, who can enter or leave the submarine while submerged. Interchangeable multiple motors of the main drive and vertical thrusters fore and aft provide manoeuvrability and reliability. Nonmagnetic, noncorrosive, and carrying sophisticated sonar equipment, the Johnson Sea Link is more advanced than Link's first lockout sub, Deep Diver. |
9. UNDERSEA ARCHAEOLOGY
Under the seas lie Greek and Roman shipwrecks,
Spanish treasure galleons - even parts of
ancient cities. Divers have recovered many antiquities of historical, artistic and monetary value. Asherah, a 24 foot 2 man sub built for archaeological research, is shown taking stereoscopic photographs of a 1400 year old Roman wreck lying under its cargo of wine jars in the Aegean Sea. This aerial survey technique enables Asherah to do in an hour what would take divers weeks. |
10. FINDING THE H BOMB
The world held its breath during the lengthy 1966 search by a U.S. task force for an FI bomb lost in the Mediterranean. On its 22nd deep dive Alvin, a small research craft, found the bomb half a mile down, partly hidden by its parachute. Alvin was joined at the bomb's resting place by much larger Aluminaut in a historic first deepsea rendezvous. Recovery of the precariously perched bomb required 3 more weeks.
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11. SALVAGE BY MINISUB
When a ship sinks it is important to know why, and deep diving submersibles are invaluable in finding and examining wrecks. Canadian 3man minisub Pisces I accomplished its deepest salvage job in 1969 after the 55 foot tug Emerald Straits went down in 670 ft. of water off British Columbia. The 16 foot Pisces found the wreck, cut its anchor and fastened cables from the surface so that a barge could raise the tug. |
12. DEEP SEA RESCUE VESSEL
Launched in 1970, DSRV-1 can rescue survivors of a disabled submarine regardless of weather or ice. Carrying a crew of 3, the 50 foot DSRV touches down as shown, sealing its "skirt" over the sub's hatch. The skirt is pumped dry and the hatch opened. 24 survivors can be taken aboard on each trip and carried to a nearby "mother sub" or surface ship. DSRV can be carried by land, air and sea, reaching any wreck within 24 hours. |
13. CONSHELF 3
Jacques Cousteau's diving saucer is seen approaching his third undersea base, Conshelf 3. In 1965 six French oceanauts were lowered 328 feet in this 2storey houseworkshop to the Mediterranean sea floor. They stayed for 3 weeks, breathing a mixture of helium and oxygen. Their work tasks, including 7 hours in one day on a nearby mock up of an oilwell head at 370 feet, confirmed that men could perform well at difficult jobs deep underwater.
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14. LIVING UNDERSEA
In 1970 teams of 5 diver scientists, including one all girl team, lived for 2 weeks or more 50 feet below the Caribbean. Inside and outside luxurious Tektite 2 they conducted ocean studies while learning to live and work on the ocean floor. Above the comfortable quarters (lower left) is a laboratory, joined by tunnel to the engine room (top right). A "wet room" (lower right) is open to the sea. The barred gate in the base protects against sharks.
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15. SUBLIMNOS
Sublirnnos has been in longer continuous use than any other under water habitat. Designed as a lowcost, shallowwater habitat for canada's Great Lakes, it gives scientists an observation post through all seasons. An "umbilical" line from the nearby shore provides air, heat, power and communications. The first habitat under ice, Sublimnos is shown in winter under Georgian Bay, where in its first year it was visited by over 1000 divers, including many high school and university students.
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16. UNDERWATER CLASSROOM
Igloo is a new type of underwater base, an 8 foot clear plastic bubble, open at the bottom for entry and set on an aluminum sub structure. It was designed by Dr. Joseph Maclnnis for installation as a shallow water habitat and research station in the Great Lakes and possibly under the ice of the Canadian Arctic. Igloo is shown here in night time use as a "classroom" for diving high school students beneath the waters of Georgian Say. |
17. UNDER THE NORTH POLE
In 1958 Nautilus, the first nuclear submarine, passed under the North Pole and opened a new north west passage, a possible route between Pacific and Atlantic for cargo subs of the future. In 4 days beneath the Arctic ice cap, where undersea mountains tower 9.000 feet and ice ridges may reach down 125 feet, Nautilus explored 1800 miles of unknown sea, recording temperatures, salinity, ice thickness and a water depth of 13,400 feet beneath the pole.
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18. ICE DIVING
The least known ocean floor is that of the ice filled Arctic. In the few summer weeks when the sea is not frozen over, icebergs drift into shallow bays. Not far from the magnetic pole, divers under ghostly bergs witnessed the gouging of the sea floor by great underwater masses of ice. Protected from 29' water by insulated suits, the divers found abundant plant and animal life. Some animals use underwater holes in the icebergs as habitats.
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19. A FLOATING OCEAN LABORATORY
The first sea voyage around both American continents was completed in 1970 by the Canadian scientific ship Hudson. During the yearlong trip through temperate, tropical, Antarctic and Arctic seas, scores of scientists from several countries conducted important studies, including the first successful measurement of currents in the Drake Passage north of Antarctica. The Hudson, shown here proceeding eastward through the Northwest Passage, also sought new information about the mineral rich Arctic sea floor. |
20. DIVING CHAMBER
Lowered from a ship, this 5½ foot submersible chamber, ADS4, transports 2 divers to and from worksites down 600 ft. With pressure inside raised to keep out the surrounding water, the hatch is opened and divers leave and reenter the warm chamber. When outside they obtain their breathing mixture through "umbilical cords" from the chamber While returning to the surface they begin decompression and then transfer to a roomier chamber on the surface vesssel. |
21. OFFSHORE OIL RIG
Great reserves of petroleum lie beneath our continental shelves. Offshore oil exploration is increasing as a result of growing energy demands. This semi-submerged floating rig is pictured off Canada's east coast, It has living quarters for 65 men and can drill down 20,000 feet in 600 feet of water. Held firmly by 9 anchors, it can withstand heavy storms. Strict precautions must be taken to avoid oil spills because of the severe pollution consequences.
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22. GIANT KELP (Macrocytis pyrifera)
Algae, the plants of the sea, range from microscopic plankton to giant kelp, a seaweed of the Pacific Coast which is probably the longest plant in the world, with lengths up to several hundred feet. Although it may be anchored in water 20 to 70 feet deep, its cable like stems and blade like leaves, two to four feet long, supported by eggshaped bladders, often float on the surface, forming beds almost impenetrable to small boats. |
23. VEGETABLE PLANKTON (Phytoplankton)
Plankton, the minute plants and animals that drift in the water, Is the "pasturage of the sea', providing food for all other ocean life - directly, or indirectly through the food chain. Plankton is further divided into phytoplankton (minute floating plants) and zooplankton (tiny animal forms, most of which feed on phytoplankton). The variety of phytoplankton is infinite and en-masse is said to equal the amount of all the vegetation growing on the continents of the earth. |
24. SEA ANEMONE (Corinactis sp.)
Almost flower like, sea anemones are, in reality, animals, There are more than 1,000 kinds in the seas of the world. Some are free swimming, but most are attached by a broad suckerlike "foot', on which they can slowly travel, When fully expanded a sea anemone's flowerlike appearance, with plumes of white, pink, orange or lavender, belies its èarnivorous habits, it eats small marine animals after stunning them with poison from its tentacles.
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25. CORALS (Astra eidae)
Coral reefs, restricted to warmer oceans, would seem almost like geological formations, yet are created by living animals of great beauty and variety. The corals shown here are the elkhorn (top); sea whip (upper right); stinging coral (left); gorgonia (left center); star coral (right center); and brain coral (bottom right). In warmer oceans stony coral jungles replace the seaweed forests of colder seas in sheltering and supporting a rich community of other animal life. |
26. STARFISH (Asteriidae & ophiodermatidae)
Starfish roam the ocean bottom in search of worms, mollusks and other prey, progressing on numerous tiny tubed feet lining each arm. In attaching itself to a bivalve, such as an oyster, the myriad little feet apply persistent pull and the mollusk's muscle simply does not hold out. The starfish then protrudes its stomach directly into the open bivalve. The animal shown at the top is a sunstar; the slender creature below is a brittlestar.
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27. PORTUGUESE MAN OF WAR (Phiiache pI.yaalis)
The Portuguese man-of-war may be encountered anywhere in the Gulf Stream from Florida to the Maritimes. It is not a single animal but a colony of specialized individuals. In the umbrella like part below the floating bladder individuals of one kind carry on reproduction and another kind digest food gathered by still another kind of individual - stinging tentacles up to 50 feet long. The inflatable bladder acts as a sort of sail, moving the 'community' along the sea surface.
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28. GIANT CLAM (Tridacna gigas)
In the great coral reefs of the Pacific and Indian Oceans lives this enormous bivalve with the deeply fluted shell. Large ones may attain a width of three feet. Legend says that divers are sometimes drowned by getting a foot or hand caught between the two halves of the open shell which then closes, but the danger of this happening is slight. The empty shells are sometimes used as lawn ornaments and birdbaths. |
29. SEA SLUG (Glossodoris sp.)
Glossodoris, a sea slug, is a nudibranch, which means 'naked gill. In the illustration you will notice the brightly coloured starlike cluster of respiratory gills on the posterior part of the animal. Sea slugs are mollusks, snails of the sea which, unlike their relatives the land snails, have no shells. Sea slugs live on the reefs, crawling about the coral heads where they graze on the living tissue, stripping it from the chitinous skeleton. |
30. ATLANTIC SQUID (LoIigo pealei)
Squids are amongst the fastest animals in the sea even though they have descended from ancient heavy shelled mollusks of the sea bottom. Rocket shaped, they swim backward by jet propulsion, drawing water in through the wide mantle and expelling it through the narrow funnel, When in danger squids expel an inky cloud to confuse the enemy. Squids. which travel in great schools, catch fish such as herring and are, in turn, eaten by many larger marine animals, including sperm whales. |
31. OCTOPUS (Cephalopoda octopus)
The eight arms of the octopus are lined with rows of suckers, each one of which acts like a rubber suction cup. Although fearsome looking, the octopus is rather timid, spending most of its time in crevices in the rocks and reefs where it hides from its enemy, the moray eel. As for the octopus, it too is a predator specializing in crabs and other crustaceans on in bivalves such as clams and scallops.
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32. BARNACLES (Cirripaedia)
Barnacles, though animals related to the lobster, become permanently attached to firm supports such as ships, piers or rocks, When under water they feed by opening their shells, extending a fan of feather like limbs and combing tiny food particles from the water. The chief damage by ship barnacles is not to the ship itself but to its speed. Many barnacles are small, about ¼"across, but the species shown here, the rosy acorn barnacle, reaches nearly 3" in width.
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33. FIDDLER CRAB (Uca sp.)
Male fiddler crabs have one claw (the fiddle) far larger than the other, where as females have small pincers of about equal size. The fiddling motion is part of courtship; the male makes elaborate motions with the large claw and leads the female into his tunnel. On some mudflats, fiddler crabs,which are scavengers, retreat before one in droves, popping into their burrows which may go down as much as two feet.
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34. ATLANTIC LOBSTER (Homarus americanus)
In life, the lobster, that armor-plated crustacean with the horny boxing gloves, is usually greenish. However, some may be a deep cobalt blue and occasional ones are nearly as red as cooked lobsters. Millions are taken each year in the North Atlantic by weather beaten men who trap them in 'lobster pots' baited with desiccated fish heads. The average lobster weighs two pounds but giants of over 30 pounds are on record.
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35. MANTA RAY (Manta borostris)
The manta, or sea bat, might measure 20 feet across and weigh 3,000 pounds. Feared by sailors who believe the legend that it can seize the anchor and run away with the boat it is really quite harmless, feeding on crustaceans and small surface fishes. Where as most rays live on the sea floor the manta wings close to the surface, sometimes leaping into the air, coming down with a thunderous whack. |
36. WHALE SHARK (Rhincodon typus)
Not a whale, which is a mammal, this Is the largest known fish. It ranges from 30 to 50 feet long and weighs as much as 30,000 pounds, yet it lives on the smallest food in the sea. Though fearsomelooking, it is a toothless plankton feeder and entirely harmless. Actually the only danger to man is when a boat crashes into one that has been idling on the ocean surface. A similar large species, the basking shark, is also a plankton feeder.
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37. COELACANTH (Latimeria chalumnae)
For many years the coelacanth was known only from fossil evidence. Then, in 1938, one was taken alive in deep water off South Africa. Since then it has been netted a number of times (as many as six or seven a year) mostly around the Cormono Islands. If creatures thought to be long extinct like the coelacanth can still be found, we may expect almost anything to come from the ocean depths, perhaps even 'sea monsters'. |
38. FISH OF THE DEPTHS (Ceratioidea & chiasmodon)
Although most fish life is found near shore or near the surface of the sea, strange, little known forms can also be found in the always dark extreme depths. Some have very long teeth. others have expandable stomachs and some have fishing apparatus that entices small creatures into their open mouths, Many are decorated with phosphorescent lights that suggest lighted portholes and which operate much like the light system of fireflies.
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39. FISH WITH LIGHTS (ArgyropeIecus)
Hatchetfish are among a group of relatively small fish that are believed by some oceanographers to school In large numbers at great depths during the day time and to scatter and rise toward the surface of the sea at night. The evidence is circumstantial, based on echosounding devices. The bright lights of the hatchetfish may be a defense, a lure or for identification to other hatchetfish, There is still much oceanographic work to be done to clear up deep sea mysteries.
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40. FLYING FISH (Cypselurus californicus)
Flyingfish, abundant in the warm oceans of the world, shoot over the waves like silvery ghost fish when boats or predacious fish such as tuna and mackerel bear down upon them. They do not actually fly, but glide up to 30 yards (some species are credited with 200 yards), often sculling with their tails to get an extra assist, At night they seem to go higher above the water and may land on decks. |
41. FRIGATE BIRD (Fregata magnificens)
When voyagers on tropical seas approach palm. fringed islands they may see great black binds with a wingspan of nearly eight feet soaring high over the blue water. Frigate birds, also called Mannwar birds, never rest on the sea but snatch up flying fish and other surface fish without wetting a feather. Natives of some tropical islands have actually trained these skilled aeronauts to carry messages between islands 60 to 80 miles apart.
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42. WANDERING ALBATROSS (Diomedea exulans)
The wandering albatross with a wingspread of up to 11½ feet has been called the worlds greatest avian sailplane, soaring best when the wind is strongest and weaving a pattern that is dynamically perfect in getting an assist from the updnafts, The bind spends the first six or seven years of its life roaming the southern oceans before attempting to breed on some sub Antarctic island. There are many kinds of albatross. Sailors consider it bad luck to shoot one. |
43. BLUE MARLIN (Makaira nigricans)
The 'speanfishes', which include the sailfishes, manlins and swordfish, are the giants among salt water game fish, inferior in size only to some of the larger shanks. They are the supreme test of the sport fisherman's skill, The blue marlin is the largest and is said to reach a length of 26 feet. Commercial fishermen off Havana, cuba, by drifting their lines deep, have taken them up to 1500 pounds.
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44. ATLANTIC HERRING (Clupia harengus)
The herring must surely be one of the most important fish in the world - a single school may number up to several billion individuals and is often betrayed by clouds of seabirds. The young fry. 3 to 4 inches in length, may be canned as sardines. Larger ones are sold fresh or cured. Red herring is hard from heavy salting and smoking. Just lightly salted and mildly smoked are kippered herring (split and cleaned) and bloaters (whole fish). |
45. LION FISH (Pterois sp.)
Skin divers and snorklers who investigate the coral reefs in the Pacific and Indian Oceans must beware of the lionfish (sometimes known as zebrafish or turkeyfish). Its brilliant colouring and bold pattern are a warning against the long bristling spines which conduct a venom as potent as that of a cobra, The lionfish may actually jab at a swimmer that takes liberties, The resulting pain is excruciating and agonizing death is possible.
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46. SPERM WHALE (Physeter catodon)
Many whales strain 'krill', the shrimp like creatures which swarm the ocean currents, through their comb like baleen. But unlike these, the toothed sperm whale, the whale of the novel Moby Dick, could have swallowed Jonah. Reaching a length of 60 feet, it devours cuttlefish and even giant squids, for which it dives down half a mile, as shown in this illustration. Ambergris, the precious substance used in perfumes, is formed inside sperm whales. |
47. KILLER WHALE (Grampus orca)
Killer whales are the wolves of the sea, smallish whales that go about in packs and may attack other whales larger than themselves. In the cold waters of the Bering Sea their chief prey for part of the year at least is the young fur seals who have recently taken to the sea. The first view of a killer whale is likely to be the long dorsal fin.
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48. BOTTLENOSED DOLPHIN OR PORPOISE (Tursiops truncatus)
Dolphins, better known to most people as porpoises, are highly intelligent airbreathing marine mammals, not fish, and should not be confused with the colourful tropical dolphin fish. The bottlenosed dolphin, the commonest porpoise along the Atlantic Coast south of Cape cod, often paces ships and is the one watched with such pleasure at aquarium performances. Scientists are studying the sounds made by porpoises, believed to be used both for communication and for sonar navigation. |
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