30mil underwater in 24hrs - can a famous diver do it?

This Saturday, 17 September 2011, world-renowned diver and environmental activist Scott Cassell will attempt to set an extraordinary record. He will attempt to swim 30 miles underwater between Los Angeles and Avalon, located on Santa Catalania Island.

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The desire to set a record is not the main motivation determining Scott’s actions. With his feat, he wants to draw attention to the constantly deteriorating state of the waters around the Southern California coast.

Scott intends to cover the route by swimming at a depth of 6m, using a rebreather and a special wing. In addition, he will be supported by one boat. During the dive, Cassell intends to conduct a number of scientific experiments, while several more will be carried out on him. The whole experience will be filmed in 3D. After completing the entire journey, Scott Cassell will go into hyperbaric chamber for 5 hours of decompression.

One of the aims of the whole campaign, is to draw attention to the disappearing shark population. “Just 25 years ago, I would have come across 40-100 blue sharks on a dive like this. Now I’ll be lucky if I come across 1-2” – says Cassell, before adding, “This is a very real and significant problem. The lack of sharks in the oceans is a serious threat to the sustainability of marine life. If the top of the food chain disappears, then the population of the links directly below it grows to enormous proportions and wipes out the lowest layers of the chain. This is a cataclysmic event that we cannot afford to allow to happen.

During his dive, Scott will use special lures to attract the attention of as many sharks as possible. This is to show how many (or rather few) of these beautiful creatures remain in Catalinas Channel.

Source: underseavoyagerproject.org