Daily Log Report for Submitted by Richard Pyle
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John's problem -- that of too much narcosis at depth -- is somewhat more perplexing. We discovered that the pressure gauge on the transfill hose we had been using to blend our gas mixtures was faulty, so at first we believed that to be the source of the problem. However, upon analyzing the trimix supply for oxygen content, we discovered that the mixture was indeed correct. We intended to blend a mixture of 66% helium, 10% oxygen, and 24% nitrogen. The measured oxygen content of John's trimix was 11%. Even if we had filled the cylinder with just helium and air, the most nitrogen we could have possibly had in the trimix would be about 41%. At an ambient pressure of 10 ATM, the highest possible nitrogen partial pressure would have been 4.1 ATM; roughly the equivalent of air at a depth of 140 feet. While this depth may induce narcosis in some individuals, for someone with as much deep diving experience as John, this level of narcosis would have been trivial. But the fact is, we had put some pure oxygen in the trimix during blending, which means the nitrogen fraction was even less than 41%, and probably was, in fact, only 24% (equivalent to narcosis experienced at less than 70 feet on air). We are still left wondering why John experienced such high levels of narcosis during his deep descent. There are several possible explanations, but none of them make much sense. Because it neither presented a problem, nor exacerbated any other problem during the dive, we decided to cautiously proceed with today's dive. Today's dive went very well. This time, John planned to stop his descent at 220 feet in order to collect more specimens of the wrasse we have referred to as Cirrhilabrus sp. 1 (which we now believe may be Cirrhilabrus rubromarginatus). Pat (using his home-built closed circuit rebreather, which he has described in a brief article on this web page) joined me to the terrace at 300 feet, and swam around towards a cave where I had seen some unusual invertebrates. My mission was to fill another mesh bag with rocks and send them to the surface, then try to collect more species. Pat's plan was to limit his time at depth to 10 minutes, and my plan was to stay only 15 or 20 minutes, to keep the decompression time relatively short. Before presenting today's dive log, I wanted to include a few photographs of the film crew saying "goodbye" to Carla Salii. Carla works here at CRRF, and has been an incredible help and source of encouragement. It has been extremely delightful working with her! |
Dive Number 1 of 1 |
Divers: | Richard Pyle, John Earle, Pat Colin |
![]() Solid line indicates depth, dashes ("-") indicate decompression ceilings, bar ("|") represents cleared to surface. |
Max. Depth: 300 feet (90 meters) | Time: 11:34pm | Duration: 2 hr, 22 min |
Location: | Augulpelu Reef; E side of reef; "D2" (07 16.41' N, 134 31.44' E). |
Marine Life: | I sent the rocks to the surface, then collected another specimen of the new Liopropoma with the yellow tail. I then collected another specimen of the damselfish Chromis sp. 1, followed by the Liopropoma with the black stripe. Lori had wanted me to look for the small red starfish we had previously found, but I didn't see any this dive. On the ascent, I spent some time between 210 feet and 175 feet collecting the first Cirrhilabrus wrasse and an unidentified species of Pseudanthias. John collected two males of that species, as well as a large female basslet Pseudanthias randalli. Pat collected and photographed an assortment of invertebrates, some of which are featured on the web page describing his "SL2" rebreather. |
Remarks: | The dive went exactly as planned. After sending the rocks to the surface with the lift bag, I explored around the ledges looking for various fishes. Pat was nearby for most of the dive, then departed after 10 minutes on the bottom. Conditions were beautiful, both at the surface, and at depth. The thermoclines were shallower today than on previous dives; the cold water coming up to 220 feet. |
Disclaimer: Several aspects of the dive profile(s) illustrated above deviate from conventional wisdom regarding appropriate decompression procedures. The dives referred to on these web pages are of an experimental nature, and all persons involved with these dives are fully cognizant of the associated risks. The decompression practices followed on these dives are derived from published information, in conjunction with the many years of extensive experience of the divers involved. These practices have not been tested under controlled conditions, and may not work equally well for all divers. Kids, don't try this at home!! |
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