52. Underwater Navigation, Turtles Fly Too and Sea Hunt – It’s Still Alive in a Flooded Mine



We all use our GPS devices to help us navigate. Great if we are driving our car or looking for a specific location, but right now using GPS to navigate underwater is a bit of a challenge. While there are technologies on the horizon that use GPS for underwater navigation, they are not yet practical. That is where you will need to depend on tried and true underwater navigation techniques. The compass is the primary tool for knowing where you are going and how to get back. We learn basic compass use in our first open water class and then get more in-depth training during advanced open water. If you are serious about becoming proficient in this capability, you can take an underwater navigation specialty course. Being able to navigate underwater gives you confidence and competence that makes your diving less stressful and more fun.

Turtles Fly Too is a 501(c)(3) organization that has a mission to coordinate and facilitate the use of general aviation to transport endangered species, critical response teams, and to educate the community on conservation of marine life. It started in 2014 in response to an unusual start of the cold stun season in the Northeast. That is when water temperature drops and turtles body temperatures fall below acceptable limits. With no capacity in the Northeast to care for them, Kate Sampson of NOAA turned to Leslie Weinstein who owned an aviation company and was also on the University of Florida Sea Turtle Research Development board. Leslie organized flights and it continued from there. Last year, they flew 536 cold-stunned sea turtle and other marine mammals. Turtles Fly Too is based out of Boise, ID and also has an office in Miami, FL.

Sea Hunt – It’s Still Alive takes you to season one, episode two titled Flooded Mine. This episode premiered on January 11, 1958. Mike is called to a mine where there has been an explosion that killed 20 men. Mike must find out the extent of the flooding. During this exploration, Mike finds two trapped miners in an air pocket and the air is running out. Mike can only bring one miner out. As they are buddy breathing, the miner panics and fights with Mike. Back to the air pocket, Mike decides to take the other miner out. This goes okay but Mike wants to go back for the other miner. Problem is that he doesn’t have any gas left. So Mike finds an oxygen tank from a welding torch. He uses the oxygen tank to go back and rescues the second minor. Only Mike Nelson can buddy breath, no mask swim through a flooded tunnel while carrying an oxygen tank.