Diving the World's Most Iconic Wreck - The Titanic with David Concannon and Mehgan Heany-Grier with Maybe the World's Most Important Dive Buddy Tip

SPEAKER_01 0:13

Welcome to the Deeper Blue Podcast, your weekly guide to everything that is happening around the world underwater. My name is Stephen Wheeler. I'm the founder of Deeperblue.com, the world's most popular diving website. Every week, the Deeper Blue Podcast covers everything that's happening in the scuba diving, freediving, diving travel, and ocean advocates world. So join us as we explore the Deeper Blue. Hi everyone. Welcome to episode 8 of the Deeper Blue Podcast. Coming up in this episode, we'll have the latest weekly news from around the world underwater. We'll then have an interview with David Kinkanan, a dive lawyer, former general counsel of the Explorers Club, and he now owns a company that specializes in the business of exploration. He's dived with some of the most famous wrecks in the world, recovered the Apollo space mission rockets, counts legendary astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Scott Carpenter as his dive buddies. And although he doesn't know it yet, he's also my new best friend. He talks to us about one of the four dives he's done on the iconic wreck that is the Titanic. Then we hear from Megan Heaney Greer, the pioneering free diver, ocean explorer, longtime marine conservationist, and co-host here on the Deep Blue podcast, who gives us what may be the world's most important dive buddy tip. And then finally, we hear from Bethany Miller on her best dive ever. So let's catch up with what's going on around the world underwater this week. Last week, the New York Times published a major feature about the often misunderstood sport of spearfishing. Their reporter who's based in Sydney kept seeing people heading to the ocean carrying spear guns and really want to understand why. Spearfishing is very much a polarizing sport, as is most hunting activities. Although it is an ancient and elemental activity that puts food in our stomachs since our first ancestors picked up sticks and used them to hunt in the water. Apparently in Sydney, during the rise of unemployment and the restrictions around COVID-19, group sport has been restricted as well as love activities, and spearfishing has become a popular escape for people seeking calm control and sustenance far from the anxieties of the land. Spearfishing gear has been selling out up and down the east coast of Australia as people are seeking to live off the oceans. As I've said, spearfishing is hugely polarizing in a diving world. But spearfishing whilst free diving is probably the most sustainable way we can catch food to eat. If you've ever seen what a commercial fishing crawler does to the ecosystem and how much death and destruction it causes, you will understand that going out and carefully selecting one or two fish to eat after a few hours of being in the water really has to be the best way to go and catch fish. In fact, during the height of the lockdown in Sydney, those with spearfishing skills became a community service. Going out and catching fish, lobster, and abalone to distribute to 3,000 people, especially many elderly, who are needing meals during the crisis. I personally applaud the efforts of the local spearfishing community in Sydney and wish more people would learn about free diving and free dive spearfishing and see how you can not only learn more about the oceans, but engage in the most sustainable and environmentally friendly way of obtaining food to eat. Staying on topic of freediving, one of the most prolific innovators in freediving equipment, a Swiss diver called Pascal Berger, has launched his latest invention. It's the first affordable fluid goggles under his octopus brand. Fluid goggles, for those that don't know, are designed to help freedivers not worry about equalizing the airspace that's usually in their mask. Typically, these are swim goggles that you fill with water, either saline or seawater, depending on your preference. And there are little lenses that are inserted into the goggles to help correct your vision to be able to see perfectly underwater. Although in most cases this does make you look a little bit like an alien. Pascal has launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for his new goggles and has brought unique design for the goggles that doesn't rely on typically commercially bought goggles, drilling little holes in them and doing a lot of custom design on it. And instead he'll be producing the goggles himself and he's ordered a large quantity of the lenses that need to go into the goggles. Take a look on deeper loo.com, you'll find out more about this really fantastic Kickstarter campaign. Ocean advocate Fabien Cousteau, who is the grandson of probably the most famous underwater explorer that ever lived, Jacques Cousteau, wants to take the idea of living in an underwater habitat to a whole new level. The younger Cousteau recently unveiled plans for Project Proteus, a venture to build the world's largest underwater laboratory. In 2014, Cousteau's Mission 31 team spent a month living in Aquarius, the world's only underwater research lab and the longest duration mission in the lab's history. You may remember about the lab when we heard about it in episode three, when we talked to Aquinaut and Dive Medicher Dawn Conergus. One of the biggest lessons from Mission 31 gave Custeau and his team a first-hand understanding of saturation diving and a luxury that affords scientists who want to do long-term experiments and studies while being able to spend the most amount of time underwater. Whilst the idea of this base is not unique or first of its kind, this one certainly is ambitious and its work will be vital. Although concept art we've seen does make it look a little bit like something from a TV series The Thunderbirds, the critical thing here is that the oceans are integral to our Earth's system of climate and weather, and our habitat for at least half of the species. Yet our scientific knowledge of these depths is limited by their inaccessibility. By giving experts a base in the seas, this will not only expand our knowledge of the Blue Planet, but also help preserve it. Although large events like dive shows and freediving competitions are being cancelled, postponed everywhere we look, we have heard from USA Free Diving, the governing body for ADA International Freediving in the United States. They've announced Team USA for the rest of 2020 and 2021. Every year, countries around the world put together a team to represent them at various international competitions. USA Freediving felt it was important to establish a Team USA, even though there's plenty of obstacles to competing this year. Nine women and eight men have been listed, including national record holders such as Ashley Chapman, Claire Parris, and Daniel Coval, who are amongst the team. We're going to wish them the best, very best of luck for any of the future competitions they attend once we're allowed to gather at these sorts of events. One thing I've been struggling with as I'm getting prepared to do some local diving other summer is getting a new dry suit fitted. Traditionally, this will be done in a similar way to getting a custom work suit fitted. Lots of tape measures and people measuring you in all sorts of places you rather they weren't so close to you on. And manufacturers are recognising that there are concerns about how to do this safely. Bear Sports, part of Hewish, have been working with their retailers to offer a COVID-safe fitting session at selected dive shops this last weekend. And if you go along and get fitted, there are some offers on additional extras to sweeten the deal as well. The shops themselves will have enhanced cleaning and safety protocols, along with only having 12 appointments per store. This is probably going to end up being the future of how we get kids stuck for diving, and we're bound to see more and more innovation in this space. Finally, something that very much reminded me of my early days of diving. I was very, very lucky to have my first diving experience on holiday with my parents when I was eight years old. I also became a certified scuba diver whilst at school at 13, and when I got to university, I was heavily involved in encouraging young people into the sport. All that does seem like a lifetime ago, but this week we've seen some news about a new online community that sprung up on Facebook called Young Divers International. The idea of this group is to help encourage and support young divers around the world and has an aim of getting those young divers to get more involved in the diving community worldwide. The group creator is a young guy at 20 years old called Robert Thomas, who was very lucky that his father helped sponsor his diving from a very young age, and he's been very fortunate to have been trained by some remarkable educators such as Christina Zenato around the world during his young career. And the key thing here is he wants to pay it forward. So created a group. I am a member of the group, although I'm very much not a young person, but really encouraging to see in there all these young divers and really applaud the efforts. Go and check out the group on Facebook and let's encourage more and more young divers to go and get involved in this amazing sport around the world. That's it for the news this week. Remember, you can catch up on all the latest news and happenings around the world underwater by heading to deeperblue.com or checking us out on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. And finally, if you like what you've heard, please subscribe, like, and comment wherever you hear your podcasts. These comments and subscribes really do make a difference.

SPEAKER_05 9:13

The world underwater every week. I'm Frida Lara, a shark researcher from La Paz, Mexico. And you are listening to the Deeper Blue Podcast.

SPEAKER_02 9:27

Yeah, welcome to the Deeper Blue Podcast. This is Jason Elias, producer. Today we heard an interview that Steven did with David Kankan, a dive lawyer, former general counselor for the Explorers Club, who now owns a company which specializes in the business of exploration.

SPEAKER_04 9:51

David, why don't you tell us who you are and where you are? Hi Stephen, my name is David Kinkanon. I'm a rec diver, I'm a lawyer, and I'm an explorer. And I'm talking to you today from the high up in the Rocky Mountains in Sun Valley, Idaho.

SPEAKER_01 10:05

The rec diving stuff, I think most people would understand, but what do you do as an explorer? What does that mean?

SPEAKER_04 10:10

I started a separate company almost 20 years ago called Explorer Consulting, where I handle the business of exploration. I was continuously being asked to help with expeditions when I was the general counsel of the Explorers Club. And same way I got into legal cases involving diving, I got into organizing expeditions. So now I pick my projects and I and I'm they're generally big expeditions, big projects, multi-year with dozens of people, but sometimes smaller, which I prefer to the big ones.

SPEAKER_00 10:38

Any expeditions to anything famous some of our listeners may have heard of?

SPEAKER_04 10:42

Well, yes. I've been on three expeditions to the Titanic. I've made four dives to explore the wreck site. I've been on an expedition to the Britannic. I've sailed the Beagle Channel. I've recovered the Apollo rocket engines that launched men to the moon. I've been in a lot of hurricanes at sea. I've spent a month on board a vessel with Jeff Bezos and a gale, 60 knot winds and 60 foot seas. We had a dart throwing contest, throwing sharp objects in small spaces in a rolling boat because that was the fun thing to do. I dive with a lot of astronauts. That's my fun thing. I've been diving with Scott Carpenter and Buzz Aldrin all over the world. I've got some some pretty epic buzz stories that probably would scare you. I've been very fortunate in my life, and I've known some wonderful people, and I've had an opportunity to dive and to travel with wonderful people.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

So, David, with all these epic exploration and expeditions you've done, you must have some fantastic stories. Tell us the story.

SPEAKER_04 11:45

I described it as a 12-hour-long blind date where you experience every single emotion: fear, anxiety, elation, curiosity, wonder. And when you dive, the currents turn from south to north, and the bow is pointing north. So you you normally drop down and you come in from the north and you hit the mud. And that's all you see. You're 4,000 meters deep, and you see just mud and some small marine life. And as you come up and you head south into the current, you come up to the bow of the Titanic, you don't see it in your lights. You see it on the sonar. And you see the shape of this iconic wreck as a sonar image that's pixelated in different colors. It's pretty fascinating to see it. And then suddenly there it is appearing out of the gloom. And normally, if you've done it right, you're right at the peak of the bow. You go to the quarter starboard side to one of the anchors, and then you'll come up the bow and then see the lettering Titanic, and then come over the railing to that place where Jack was saying he was the king of the world, and the crane is there, and the and the anchor is still in its place. And and you're uh you're normally I was amazed at the condition of the wreck. This was 20 years ago when I did my first dive, how recognizable it was, and how it looked like a shipwreck from a bygone era. And that's what the bow looks like, but the stern looks like the scene of a disaster. That's another place. And you'll be down on the on the wreck for normally six hours. It's a 12-hour dive, but it's three down, three up, and six on the bottom. And as you explore, you just find things appearing out of the gloom all the time, continuously, and you're always trying to orient yourself and figure out where am I and what am I looking at? And we we sat down on the decking next to on this on the port side next to the first lifeboat davids. And I thought to myself, if I had been here on that night in April 1912, seeing this scene, lifeboat Davits swung out, lifeboat gone, I would have a few moments left to contemplate what the value of my life had been. And it just kind of hits you. And at the same time, on that dive, I looked through a porthole and there was a mirror on the other side. And I was startled to see my reflection and see myself looking back at me from inside the Titanic. That's a scene I'll never forget.

SPEAKER_08 14:17

My name is Mary Lamal Fay. I'm a Girls at Scuba ambassador and one of the first women to pursue a career in the dive industry in Kuwait. And you're listening to the Deeper Blue Podcast.

SPEAKER_07 14:38

Hey guys, this is Megan Haney Greer, free diver and co-host for Deeper Blue Podcast. And I have an important top tip to share with you today. And really, I feel like it has baseline importance for any diver. It applies to both free divers and scuba divers and can also improve your likability and reliability ranking as a dive buddy. You know, it really lets your buddy know that even in the worst of scenarios, that they can really count on you. And I mean, as a dive buddy, that is extremely important. So my top tip for today is to always let your dive buddy know when they have snot hanging on their face. Now, we've all been there, whether you want to admit it or not, on both sides of this one. And I mean, let's face it, something really serious happens with your sinuses underwater as a diver, free diver or scuba diver. And the sheer amount of snot that can come out of a diver's nose is remarkable. And frankly, it is your job as a dive buddy to let your buddy know when there is a bat in the cave, which in diver terms really translates to look more like that green sliming that happens on Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards. You know what I'm talking about? So my top tip is really just to make sure you're doing what you can to be a good dive buddy. And a good dive buddy does not let their buddy swim around, or worse yet, start sharing the stories about the dive you guys just were on with other divers on the surface with that kind of thing going on on their face. So be a good dive buddy and let your dive buddy know when they have snot on their face. I'm just saying. Is this what you had in mind for top tips?

SPEAKER_03 16:52

The world underwater. Every week. I'm Michael Menduno. And this is the Deeper Blue Podcast.

SPEAKER_01 17:04

Finally, every episode, we share a story from you, the dive community, where we ask you to tell us about your best dive ever.

SPEAKER_06 17:12

Hello. My name is Bethany Miller, and I live in Port Orange, Florida. And my best dive ever would be back in June 2011 at Little River Springs. I was doing my final dives towards my full cave diver certification. And my instructor and I were the only ones there. And as I led him into the cave, I finally felt like a cave diver. I trusted myself. I trusted him. And I trusted this line leading us further in. And I finally got to let my imagination just play. And as we were swimming, I was laughing to myself because I was looking at this one tunnel that was leading us down to 90 feet and thinking, man, this reminds me of a staircase. And I'm looking at something called table rock and thinking, oh, this kind of looks like a park bench where you might see like trolls having lunch or something. I realized at one point that it was the furthest that I'd been on a cave dive. And it was also the most relaxed that I'd ever been. I was at a good point to turn and we let the flow carry us out of the cave. And then after our decompression stops, I look up and what was initially like this calm cave entrance was like complete chaos, like with like legs kicking around and kids diving down with their swim goggles on and messing with touching people's stage bottles. And then I look over at my instructor as we're trying to scoot our way out, and he just takes his second stage regulator and just purges it. And everybody just starts hooting and hollering. And he cleared the way so we could exit. And it was it was awesome.

SPEAKER_01 19:00

We'd love to hear your story about diving. So at the end of the show, you'll find out all the info you need to submit your best dive ever. Thanks for listening to the Deeperblue podcast. Find out more on all the stories you've heard this week, plus connect to the world's largest online dive community at deeperblue.com. And if you like what you've heard, please subscribe, like, and comment wherever you hear your podcasts. These comments and subscribes really make a difference. Before we go, I want to give a big shout out to Jason Elias, our producer. In case you didn't know, he has an amazing podcast about people who have a deep connection to our world's oceans. Connections strong enough that they've dedicated some part of their lives to being in or working on behalf of the water. Take a listen when you get a moment to Jason's show, the Big Deep Podcast. Every week, we want to hear your stories and share them with the world. So please record and send in your short story of your best dive ever. Keep it brief, no longer than two minutes, please. And in it, tell us your name and location, where you were on the dive, what happened that make it so great, and why it's meant so much to you. You can get that over to us at best dive ever at deeper blue dot com. Or head to our website podcast.deeperblue dot com forward slash best dive ever. Join us again next week and explore much more of the deeper blue.