Underwater House

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Operation of a cheap underwater houseJ O H N R . H E A T H

The Marine Station, Millport, ScotlandandDepartment of Appl ied Microbiology and Biology, University of Strathclyde, Scotland

K U R Z F A S S U N G : Der Betrieb eines billigen Unterwasserhauses. Unterwasserh~iuser w urdenw~ihrend der letzten Jahre angewendet, um lange Arbeitszeiten im Tiefwasser zu erm/Sglichen.Sie erwiesen sich aber aIs sehr kostspielig. Vor kurzem hat eine Gru ppe Am ateurtau cher einUnterwa sserhaus gebaut un d gepriift, urn zu beweisen, dat~ ein l~.ngerer Au fen thalt unterWasser mSglich und zudem nicht kostspielig ist. Das Ha us (,,GL AU CU S"), ein zylindrische rStahlb au yon 3,5 m L~inge und 2 m Durchmesser, blieb w~ihrend einer Woche mit zwei M annBesatzung in einer Wassertiefe yon 10,7 m (35 Fut~). Es hatte eine LukenSffnung an der U nter-seite und konnte zum Ablassen oder zur Dekompression nicht abgedichtet werden. ElektrischerStrom wurde durch einen Stromerzeuger an Land geliefert, den elne Oberfl~.chenmannschattbetreute, die auch Mahlzeiten z ubereitete und ins Haus brachte. Das Ha us besaf~ ein selb-st~indiges Liittungsk ontrollsystem mit eine r Mischung yo n 15 bis 18 /0 02 in N2. Sehr sta rkeWind e hatten d ie Sicht unter W asser verrin gert und d ie Arbe it erschwert, das Leben im Hausjedoch nicht beeintr~ichtlgt. Am Ende der Woche wurde die Dekompression durch eine Er-hShung des Sauerstoffanteils der Luflc vorgenornmen. Beim A ufheb en des Hauses gab es einigeSchwierigkeiten, dah er schwamrn die M annschatt nach oben und liet~ das H aus fiir sp~iteresEmp orheben zuriick. Es w ird die Ansicht ge~iut~ert, daf~ die w eitere Entwick lung billiger undeinfacher Unterwasserh~.user fiir manche A rbeitsgeb iete unte r Wasser y on grof~ern We ft seinkSnnte.

I N T R O D U C T I O NDiving t echniques a re now wide ly accep ted as a usefu l r esearch too l . Th i s i s

l a rge l y due to the dev e lop men t o f s imple and r e l i ab le fr ee d iv ing t echniques , thoughi t should no t be fo rgo t t en tha t much work has been done us ing o lder methods .

The s t an dar d d iv ing dres s o f the typ e inven ted b y SIEBz in 1837 has been usedfor biolo gica l work , for exa mp le by MInN,-EDwARDS ( D r Q~3ATI~EFAGES 1857), wh ou s ed an ap p a r a t u s o f s i m i l a r d es i gn i n S i c i l y, m a i n l y f o r co l l e c t i o n o f m a t e r i a l f o rl abora tory s tud ies . The r evo lu t ionary a i r l ine /demand va lve appara tus o f ROUQUAYROI .an d DrNAYROUZE (see DU~AN 1960 fo r a sh or t d escr ip t ion) seems, howe ver , to ha vebeen l a rge ly neg lec ted by b io log is t s , and mos t ear ly worke r s used the s imple d iv inghelmet which i s s t i l l in use a t the p resen t day . KITCmNG, work ing on the eco logy ofthe sha llo w su bl itt or al in ro cky area s (KITCHING, MACAN & G ILSON 1934, KITCHINO1941) , ment ions the main d i s advantages o f th i s method . These a re co ld , which severe lyl imi t s the t ime spen t unde rwa ter , and the use o f a pump which r equ i res an ope ra tor ,


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400 J . R . HEATHand the efficiency of which limits the working depth. In certain circumstances the needfor an airline to the surface can also be a hindrance.

The ready avai labi l i ty of a self-contained open-circui t apparatus in the 1950'sand its use for pleasure diving resulted in a great increase in biological research usingdiving metho ds. As was earlier poi nted out (KITcrtlNG, MACAN & GII~SON 1934,DRACH 1952), this allow ed investiga tions into the eco logy of the rocky sublittoral, anarea notoriously diff icul t to s tudy by other methods, and much work has been done inthis f ield in many areas. Diving methods have also been brought to bear on otherproblems, however, such as behaviour, part icular ly that of f ish, and the ecology ofcaves.

Much of this wo rk has involve d a large amo unt of diving - that o f HIAT &STRASBURG (1960), LABOREL & VACELET (1958, 1961) and GOSLINE (1965), for in-stance. Long periods of diving pose serious problems, one of them, as KITCHINGnoted,being cold. Although good protect ive clothing is avai lable, this is ot ten only effect ivein shallow water, since pressure reduces the thickness of insulating gas layers, and theconductivi ty of the gas is increased with i ts increasing densi ty. The reduction ininsulat ion is qui te not iceable in wet sui ts below about 12 m. Most protect ive clothingalso makes the diver clumsy, but one civi l engineering com pan y uses t radi t ional helmetdiving sui ts for long jobs largely because of their greater warmth, and in spi te oftheir added cost and inconvenience, while most amateur divers in Bri tain prefer theclumsier 1/4"neoprene wet suits to those made f rom thinner m aterial .

A second problem is the provision of an adequate oxygen supply. Divers usingse l f-conta ined appara tus , p ar t icu lar ly w hen d iv ing deep , may have to car ry ve ry la rgeand inconvenient blocks of cyl inders in order to s tay down long enough to completea task. I n som e cases, but no t all, a surface s upp ly can be used.

Both these problems are aggravated by a third: decompression. Decompressioncan not only lengthen the t ime of a dive, but because of the cold and the l imitat ionsof the air supply, may also shorten working t ime. Several techniques for makingdecompression less inconvenient have been suggested. Before the w ar the Roy al N av yused submersible decompression chambers (S. D. C.) to enable the diver to com pletehis decompression in more comfortable surroundings. Even more comfort and eff i-ciency can be gained by the use of a surface decompression chamber used in con-junct ion with an S. D. C. , and such chambers have also been used fo r m aintainingdivers at pressure between dives in order to shorten the total t ime spent in decom-pression, since the decompression required after a few weeks at depth is no longer thanthat for 10 hours or so.

Surve ys of a w ide area such as tha t of HIAT & STRASBURG (1960) are mos t con-veniently carr ied out by numerous short dives which rarely require decompression.Many invest igat ions requir ing considerable working t ime at depth are, however, con-cerned with small areas of the sea bed. The use of more or less fixed underwater houseshas the refore b een suggested (e. g. DAVIS 1935) a nd a num ber have been built. Acommon feature of these has been their high cost, and although it is difficult to obtaindetails , the cost per d iver-hou r mu st of ten have been very high - in the region of$ 6,000 for Sealab I, for instance (Skin Diver Magazine, 1964). In addition to thehigh cost of most underwater houses, few have been very flexible, most being used in


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O p e r a t i o n o f a c h e a p u n d e r w a t e r h o u s e 4 01s h e l te r e d a r e a s o f w a r m , c l e a r w a t e r . T h e o n l y e x p e r i e n c e in c o l d w a t e r i s t h a t o f t h eAm er ican SEALAB I I , an d h ere the co ld caused some inconven ience , pa r t i cu la r ly as thecrew sp en t an avera ge o f 2 h r s /d ay d iv ing (PLATT 1965).The cos t o f such houses has , however , been the main f ac to r p l ac ing them ou t o ft h e re a c h o f m o s t m a r i n e s c ie ntis ts . A n a m a t e u r o r g a n i z a t i o n r e c e n t l y a t t e m p t e d t os h o w t h a t l i v i n g u n d e r w a t e r f o r s h o r t p e r i o d s c o u l d b e d o n e c h e a p l y a n d s i m p l y , a n ds i n c e , a p a r t f r o m a d u p l i c a t e d r e p o r t p u b l i s h e d p r i v a t e l y , n o d e t a i l s h a v e y e t b e e npub l i shed , t he fo l lowing accou n t is p r esen ted .

I n t h e s p r i n g o f 1 9 6 5 a s m a l l g r o u p o f a m a t e u r d i v e r s f r o m t h e B o u r n e m o u t hbranch o f the B r i ti sh Sub -Aqu a Club , l ed by the Branch Sc ien t i fi c Of f i ce r , M r . C . I rw in ,p u t f o r w a r d p l a n s f o r a p r o j e c t w h i c h i n v o l v e d m a i n t a i n i n g t w o d i v e r s a t a d e p t h o f1 0 m e t r e s f o r a w e e k . T h e C l u b c o m m i t t e e a p p r o v e d t h e p l a n s , a n d t h e h o u s e , n a m e dGLAUCI3S a fLe r the l eg end ary Gr eek f i sherman , w as bu i l t i n a loca l s h ipy ard(Bol son ' s o f Poo le ) . T he o r ig ina l r eason fo r the GLAUCUS pro jec t was s im ply anin te r es t i n the p rob lems invo lved in l i v ing underwate r , and a des i r e to show tha t suchpro jec t s need no t necessa r i ly invo lve enormous expend i tu r e . As the p ro jec t p rogressed ,however , i t r eached a s i ze a t wh ich our ou t look changed , and more def in i t e a ims werefo rmula ted . These were essen t i a l ly th r ee fo ld . F i r s t , t o demons t r a t e tha t l i v ing under -w a t e r c o u l d b e d o n e c h e a p l y a n d s i m p l y w h i l e r e m a i n i n g t o a l a r g e d e g r ee i n d e p e n d e n to f the su r f ace ; second ly , t o show tha t use fu l sc i en t i f i c work cou ld be done by suchmeans ; and th i rd ly , t o ga in p rac t i ca l exper i ence in the des ign and opera t ion o f sucha h ou se . T h e c o s t o f th e e x p e r i m e n t w a s m e t t h r o u g h d o n a t i o n s b y m e m b e r s o f t h eC l u b a n d t h e C l u b i ts e lf , a n d f r o m m o n e y r a i s e d b y p u b l i c i ty . T h e f i n a l c o s t w a s o f t h eorder of 1 ,000.I n t h e f o l l o w i n g , t h e t e r m " d i v e " d e n o t e s a n e x c u r s i o n u n d e r w a t e r , e i t h e r f r o mt h e s u r f a c e o r f r o m a n u n d e r w a t e r h o u s e , w h i l e " s u b m e r s i o n " i s u s e d t o m e a n t h ep e r i o d d u r i n g w h i c h a n u n d e r w a t e r h o u s e is s u b m e r g ed .

C O N S T R U C T I O N A N D D E S I G N O F G L A U C U SI t i s much more conven ien t t o have a house which can be comple te ly sea led , s ince

b u o y a n c y c a n t h e n b e k e p t c o n s t a n t , m a k i n g s u r f a c i n g a n d s u b m e r g i n g e a s i e r , a n da l lowing decompress ion to be ca r r i ed ou t i n the house i t se l f . SEALAB , w h i c h w a s n o tp ressu r i sed , f looded par t i a l ly whi l e be ing lowered , and the r esu l t an t i nc rease in weigh tm a d e i t s i n k t o o r a p i d l y , c a u s in g s o m e d a m a g e . S EA tA B I I , o n t h e o t h e r h a n d , w a spressu r i sed and lowered under p r essu re . P ressu re - t igh t vesse l s a r e no t on ly more ex -pens ive to cons t ruc t , bu t a l so need to be p ressu re - t es t ed , and th i s , t oo , i s expens ive , soi t w a s d e c i d e d t o l e a v e a h a t & w a y a t t h e b o t t o m o f G L AU CU S w h i c h w o u l d b ep e r m a n e n t l y o p e n t o t h e s e a . T h e s i z e a n d s h a p e w e r e a l s o i n f l u e n c e d a g r e a t d e a l b yeconomic cons idera t ions . The bas i c shape o f the house was a f l a t ended cy l inder , t h i sshape g iv ing s t r eng th and be ing eas i ly cons t ruc ted (F igure 1 ) . I t was 2 m in d i amete rand 3 ,5 m long (7 ~ X 12 ~ ) . I t was cons idered tha t t h i s wou ld a l low enough roomf o r c o m f o r t , w i t h o u t m a k i n g t o w i n g d i f f i c u l t o r n e c e s s i t a t i n g t o o m u c h b a l l a s t . O n ec o r n e r o f t h e h o u s e w a s s e p a r a t e d o f f b y a p a i r o f b u l k h e a d s t o p r o v i d e a s e p a r a t e


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402 J . R . HEATHlavatory, the ai r in which could be drained out by means of a pai r of turncocks coupledby a polythene hose, aEer which f resh ai r could be blown in f rom the main chamber .This prevented foul ing the ai r in the main chamber , and made i t poss ible to use thelavatory as a bal las t tank. Entry into both sect ions of the house was by a pai r of openhatchways in the f loor at the lavatory end of the house, the water being kept out byair pressure as in a diving bel l . As a safety precaut ion a por thole was placed in one of

Gas analysis apparatusCO Absorbant Vent valve / TV cameraPort hol s ' ____ ____ ._kif t ing point~ r ~ internalPivoting tabl ~_ .~ ~p or t - hotbulkhead

Bu n k ~ ~ / T e l e p h n e/ Air oxyge n an d

Pivoting ?.~ ~ .~ /m ix tu re cyl inders~ W C and buoyancy~- -~ ! I compar tmentTV. lighting, telephone i ]lX~ . . . . / li~_~l ~ P i v o t i n g seatcabes and radio a e r i a ~ r . . J ~ ~ ~ B i l g e drain point

To shore ~1 I1 - ~ IV ~1 If '%l ~ _ ~ J X I It I ~oubl e entry skirt

Entrynt ladder :::: / all'~st, tray. . : SCIENTIFICSECTION, BOURNEMOUTHSUB-AQUA CLUB

Fig. 1 : Diagram of GLA UCU S

the bulkheads separa t ing the l avatory f rom the main chamber to a l low observat ion ofa crew member in the lavatory, and was also useful for checking the amount of ai r inthe lavatory. Two more por tholes were placed in the wal l at the other end of thehouse to al low o bservat ion of the surroundings .

There were two bunks; one f ixed across the end of the cyl inder , leaving about1,4 X 2 m of free floor space (4 it 6 ins X 6 fie 6 ins), while the o the r fold ed a gain stone s ide wal l . Along the opposi te wal l were shelves and a large table which folded upagains t them when not in use. Oxygen and ai r cyl inders were s tored under the shelves ,and the top shelf held a teJephone for communicat ion wi th the surface crew. Thetelephone and pow er cables ( for light ing) entered the house throu gh a steel pipe weldedinto the bot tom of the house under the end bunk. A closed-ci rcui t televis ion camera,provided by Marconi , was mounted over the ent ry ha tch , and was connected wi th thesurface by a mul t i -core cable enter ing the house through the hatchway. Power wassuppl i ed by a pe t ro l genera tor and an emergency bat t ery supply cont ro l l ed and main-tained at the surface. A ballast tray was attached to the house by eight steel legs. The


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Ope ration of a cheap unde rwate r house 403ballast, pig iron and sections of railway line weighing roughly 14,000 kg (13 tons),was adjusted to the correct weight with short sect ions of rai lway l ine and rai lwaysleeper chairs, which weighed about 38 kg each and were, therefore, light enough tobe handled fairly easily by divers. At each end of the house there was a lug for li~ingand towing.

C O N T R O L O F T H E A T M O S P H E R EIn the fo llow ing account, the gas inside GLAUCUS will b e term ed the atmo-.

~phere; the term air refers to a mixture of roughly 21 /0 oxygen and 79 /0 nitrogen.It w as intende d tha t GLAUCUS should re ma in as indepe nden t of the surface as

possible; for this reason the atmosphere was controlled by a closed-circuit technique.Though sl ightly more complicated than the open-circuit method, the closed-circuittechnique has several advantages, namely: the house crew can al ter oxygen levels atwill; ventilation can be increased or decreased as required; the continual noise ofexhaust bubbles is largely avoided; the system is more economical and largely in-dependent of the surface. Potential hazards are, however, greater than with opencircuit systems, s ince the atmosphere must be monitored continuously, and toxic sub-stances m ay build up to a level which would not be reached using an open -circu it system.Our system consisted of four soda-l ime trays containing 4-10 mesh Bri t ish DrugHouses indicator soda-l ime ("Carbosorb") . The trays were si tuated near the roof totake advantage of convection currents of warm, expired air , but no circulat ion pumpswere used. O xyg en was introduced through a pair of bleed valves connected to 3,000 1(110 cu. ~) British Oxygen steel cylinders. Air cylinders were also carried for ad-just ing the volume of the atmosphere, f lushing the house out , or adding nitrogen tothe atmosphere, the oxygen being consumed by the crew. Carbon dioxide and oxygenlevels were mo nitored by LLOYD'S (1958) modificat ion o f H ald ane 's apparatu s. Visi tingdivers were instructed to note any odours in the atmosphere on entering, and act ivatedcharcoal was mixed with the soda-l ime in one of the trays to absorb impuri t ies otherthan carbon dioxide.

During a preliminary test on land, hereaflcer called the dry run, which started atabout 10.00 p.m. and lasted for about 18 hours, the carbon dioxide content of theatmosphere rose overnight to about 2,3 %. I t was successfully lowered to, and main-tained at, abo ut 1,2 /0. Ab out 800 g/hr so da-lim e was used, s oda-lim e changes beingcarried out ne arly every l l /2 hours, except during the night .

One of the crew of two, who was mainly responsible for the soda-l ime changes,developed chest pains, and aflcerwards showed a slight bronchial murmur on medicalexamination. M oistened cotton gauze smog masks were, therefore, used when changingsoda-l ime during the submersion, and greater care was taken to avoid raising dust .Although both of the crew experienced sl ight discomfort on breathing deeply at someperiods during the submersion, at no time was this sufficient to cause anxiety.

The carbon dioxide absorption during the experiment was barely adequate.Although carbon dioxide levels dropped slowly when the crew were asleep (Figure 2) ,exercise, cold, or other divers entering the house rapidly raised the levels, which on


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4 0 4 J . R . H E AT Hone occas ion r eached 2 ,2 %, i . e . abou t 36 mm Hg. I t was an t i c ipa ted tha t f a i r ly h ighl e v e l s m i g h t b e r e a c h e d , a n d a w a t c h w a s k e p t f o r s u b j e c t i v e s y m p t o m s . O n e o b s e r -va t io n o f pa r t i cu la r i n t e r es t was m ade : i t was no t i ced t ha t a lce r a f ew d ays b rea th ingap pe are d to b ecom e easier . This agrees wi t h the o bse rvat io ns o f SCHAEFER et a l . (1963a)on submar ine per sonne l sub jec ted to h igh ca rbon d iox ide p ressu res . On the o ther hand ,b rea th ing seemed much more d i f f i cu l t on r e tu rn ing to the house aEer a 15 minu te d ive

2 .0%

CO 2I-0-

0 "0 THURSDAY

START DIVE

oo

0 0 0 0

FRIDAY

00

0 0

SATURDAY

tTOPCOCKG R E A S Eo

OOo

S U N D ~ M O N D ~ TUESD~

DIVE END

0

0 O0

WEDNESD~

0

00

THURSDAY

Fig. 2: Carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere

w h e n b r e a t h i n g a i r , a n d t h i s d y s p n o e a a p p e a r e d t o c o n t i n u e f o r s e v e r a l h o u r s a E e rthe d ive . As a l r eady no ted , however , ca rbon d iox ide l eve l s t ended to inc rease aEerd ives , when the d iver was co ld , and i t i s t he re fo re imposs ib le to comment fu r ther ont h is w i t h o u t e v i d e n c e f r o m q u a n t i t a t i v e v e n t i l a t i o n m e a s u r e m e n t s .

Oxygen consumpt ion canno t be d i scussed wi thou t r e f e r ence to t i da l p r essu rechanges . S ince the t i da l r a nge r esu l t ed in a p r essu re change o f abo u t 10 % , i t is c l ea rtha t i n o rder to p r even t f lood ing a t h igh t ide , l a rge amount s o f gas were needed , t h i sgas be ing subsequen t ly los t a t l ow t ide . Gas loss was min imised by a l lowing the b i lgesto f lood a t h igh t ide , bu t never the less , abo u t 230 1 (80 cu . E ) we re los t eve ry day . S incet h e g a s le a v i n g t h e h o u s e c o n t a i n e d a p p r o x i m a t e l y ~ 7 0/0 o x y g e n , a n d t h a t e n t e ri n gcon ta in ed 21 0 /0 , some o f our oxyg en r equ i r em ent w as m et by these t i da l ad jus tmen t s .One some occas ions oxygen was used to b low back the t i de , r a ther than b leed ing i t i ncon t inuous ly .

O n t h e d r y r u n t h e g r e a t d i f f e r e n c e b e t w e e n n i g h t t i m e ( i n a c t i v e ) a n d d a y t i m e( a c t i v e ) o x y g e n c o n s u m p t i o n w a s n o t a p p r e c i a t e d , a n d b e c a u s e o f t h i s t h e o x y g e nleve l d roppe d to 17 ,9 /o on one occas ion . Du r ing the submers ion , howe ver , r egu la t iono f o x y g e n l e v el s p r o v e d d e l i g h t f u l ly s i m p l e , a n d n e e d e d v e r y l i t t le a t t e n ti o n .

Abou t 1 ,5 kg o f ac t iva ted charcoa l was used dur ing the submers ion . Vi s i to r soccas iona l ly no ted a s l igh t "pa in ty" smel l , o r o ther l e ss wel l -def ined odour s , bu t bo ths u b je c ts r e m a i n e d i n g o o d h e a l t h t h r o u g h o u t t h e e x p e r i m e n t . W e c o n f i rm e d C o u s T E a u ' s(1963) observa t ion tha t sk in in f ec t ions Can occur when l iv ing underwate r bu t con-s ider tha t i n our case th i s may have been due to the l ack o f ho t wa te r fo r wash ing ,r a t h e r t h a n t o t h e a b s e n c e o f u l t r a - v i o l e t l ig h t .


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O p e r a t i o n o f a c h e ap u n d e r w a t e r h o u s e 4 05D I E T

Some though t was g iven to the p rov i s ion o f a su i t ab le d i e t f o r t he c r ew. Becauseo f t h e c o l d a n t i c i p a t e d , a h i g h - e n e r g y d i e t w a s r e q u i r e d a n d l a r g e a m o u n t s o f c a r b o -h y d r a t e w e r e p r o v i d e d , g i v i n g a t o t a l e n e r g y s u p p l y o f a b o u t 3 , 0 0 0 k c a l / d a y . I t w a sr e a l i z e d t h a t t h e l a c k o f u l t r a - v i o l e t r a d i a t i o n m i g h t g i v e ri se t o a s h o r t a g e o f v i t a m i nD w h i c h c o u l d a g g r a v a t e a n y c h a n g e s i n c a l c i u m o r p h o s p h a t e m e t a b o l i s m c a u s e d b yhigh en viro nm en tal c arb on dioxid e pressures ( see SCHAEFER et a l . 1963b) , bu t s ince thes u b m e r s i o n w o u l d o n l y l a s t a w e e k , n o v i t a m i n D w a s a d d e d t o t h e d i e t . I t h a s b e e nest im ated (BELL, DAVm SON & SCAr(BOROUG~ 1963) th at the av era ge m an el imin atesabou t 500 ml o f f l a tus da i ly . Th i s wou ld no t be too unp leasan t , a s the sense o f smel la d a p t s r a p i d l y , b u t c o u l d b e d a n g e r o u s i f t o x i c c o n c e n t r a t i o n s o f s o m e c o m p o u n d sbu i l t up . To coun te r ac t t h i s , i n add i t ion to the use o f ac t iva ted charcoa l and thep r o v i s i o n o f a s e p a r a t e l a v a t o r y , t h e d i e t w a s l o w i n t r y p t o p h a n a n d s u l p h u r c o m -pounds to d i scourage in t es t ina l f e rmen ta t ion . F r i ed food has been r epor t ed (BOND,q u o t e d i n Skin Diver Magazine 1964) to l i be ra t e ac ro le in . Al though th i s was no tc o n s i d e r e d i m p o r t a n t f o r t h e d e p t h a n d d u r a t i o n o f t h e s u b m e r s i o n , f r i e d f o o d i s n o tp a r t i c u l a r l y d i g e s t i b l e , a n d s o w a s a v o i d e d . T h e f o o d w a s c o o k e d o n t h e s u r f a c e b yt h e g r o u n d c r e w , a n d d e l i v e re d t o t h e h o u se in w a t e r t i g h t f o o d c o n t a i n e r s b y d i v e r s.

S I T I N G A N D S I N K I N G

T h e h o us e w a s tr a n s p o r t e d b y r o a d f r o m t h e s h i p y a r d a t P o o l e t o P l y m o u t h , w h e r et h e R o y a l N a v y h a d a l l o w e d u s t o u s e t h e B r e a k w a t e r F o r t , 1 0 0 m f r o m t h e B r e a k -w a t e r a n d a b o u t 3 k m f r o m P l y m o u t h , a s a b a s e f o r t h e s u r f a c e c r e w . T h i s s i t e i ss h e l te r e d f r o m a l l w i n d s e x c e p t w e s t - so u t h - w e s t , a n d is in t e l e p h o n e c o n t a c t w i t h t h em a i n l a n d . G LA t3 CU S w a s l o w e r e d i n t o t h e w a t e r a t P l y m o u t h , a n d t h e b a l l a s tad jus t ed to g ive abou t 30 cm f r eeboard . She was then towed ou t to the s i t e by a tug( i t was l a t e r shown tha t t he towing cou ld be done sa t i s f ac to r i ly by a 25 ~ f i sh ing boa t )a n d s u n k b y t w o d i v e r s i n s i d e , w h o v e n t e d a i r o u t t h r o u g h t h e r o o f . T h e r a t e o fdescen t was con t ro l l ed by the tug ' s caps tan , t he s t r a in never exceed ing 6 tons . Ad-d i t i o n a l s m a l l b a l l a s t w a s t h e n a d d e d t o t h e b a l l a s t t r a y , a n d , s i n c e t h e t w o d i v e r swork ing ins ide had fou led the a i r , t he house was f lushed ou t wi th c l ean a i r f rom asur f ace a i rl i ne . The tw o house c r ew en te r ed the house th r ee days l a t e r .

D E C O M P R E S S I O ND r . H EM VL E~IA N, o f t h e R o y a l N a v a l P h y s i o l o g i c a l L a b o r a t o r y , h a d e x p r e s s e d

h i s p e r s o n a l o p i n i o n t h a t n o d e c o m p r e s s i o n w o u l d b e r e q u i r e d f o r a d i v e o f a w e e k ' sd u r a t i o n a t 9 m , a n d t h i s w a s , t h e r e f o r e , t h e p l a n n e d d e p t h o f t h e h a t c h w a y w a t e rl e v e l , w h i c h w o u l d b e a b o u t 1 m a b o v e t h e b o t t o m . U n f o r t u n a t e l y , t h e h o u s e h a d b e e nsunk in deeper wate r t han had been an t i c ipa ted , g iv ing a mean dep th o f 10 ,7 m (35 f i ) ,so a somewhat a rb i t r a ry decompress ion schedu le was evo lved to coun te r the e f f ec t s o f


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4 0 6 J . R . H E AT Hthe inc reased dep th . F i r st , t he oxyg en con ten t o f t he a tm osph ere was to be r a i sed to28 /0 on the day befo re su r f ac ing , and to abou t 40 0 /0 on the day o f su r f ac ing . A~erabo u t 8 hour s in an a tm osph ere o f 35 to 40 % oxyg en , t he house was to be r a i sed tothe su r f ace , when the ha tchway would be 1 ,7 m be low the su r f ace , a l lowing a de-com pression stop a t a dep th o f 1 .7 m (51/~ i t ) for 3 hours. A ssum ing tha t th is scheduleal low ed a l l ti ssues to reach a ni t ro gen tension e qu ivale nt to a 35 /0 oxy gen , 63.5 %ni t rogen a tm osph ere a t 10 ,7 m, then the t is sue n i t rogen t ens ion wou ld b e 1 ,31 a t s ; ther a t io be tween the n i t rogen par t i a l p r essu re and the su r f ace a i r p r essu re wou ld thus be1 ,31 :1 , and be tween the n i t rogen par t i a l p r essu re and the abso lu te p r essu re a t t hein tended decom press ion s top 1 ,31:1,17 , o r 1 ,1 :1 . I t i s no r m al ly cons idered tha t t hem axi m um permiss ib l e va lue fo r th i s r a t io is 1 ,6 :1 , an d i t was the re fo re co ns idered tha teven i f a l l ti ssues ha d no t de sa tu ra t ed to a l eve l co r r esp ond ing to a 63 % n i t rogena tmosphere , t he re wou ld be a wide sa f e ty marg in . I n sp i t e o f t h i s , one o f the housec r e w p l a n n e d t o s u p p l e m e n t th i s r o u t i n e b y b r e a t h i n g t h e 8 0 % o x y g e n , 2 0 % n i t r o g e nm ixtu re used b y COUSVEAU (1963) in a s im i lar exper im ent .

To r a i se the house , t he b i lges and l ava to ry were f looded , and some o f the smal lb a l l a s t r e m o v e d f r o m t h e b a l l a s t t r a y . U n f o r t u n a t e l y , t o o m u c h w a s r e m o v e d , a n dwh en the excess wa te r w as b lo wn ou t o f t he house , GLAUCUS rose too r ap id ly ,a c c e l e r a t e d a s t h e r e m a i n i n g w a t e r w a s f o r c e d o u t b y t h e e x p a n d i n g a i r , a n d s h o t o u to f t h e s u r f a c e b e f o r e s i n k in g b a c k t o h e r n o r m a l f l o a ti n g p o s i t io n , w i t h t h e h a t c h w a y1 .7 m be low the wate r l ine . S ince some o f the a i r had been los t a t t he su r f ace , whenthe ha tch sank to th i s r es t ing l eve l wa te r was fo rced in a t a p r essu re o f 1 ,7 m, and thehouse los t buoyancy , s ink ing fu r ther . The a i r i n s ide was then fu r ther compressed , moreb u o y a n c y l os t, a n d t h e h o u se a c c e l e ra t e d r a p i d l y d o w n w a r d s . A s e c o n d a t t e m p t w a smade , du r ing which a i r was r e l eased in to the house f rom cy l inder s dur ing su r f ac ing ,bu t a l thoug h th is d e layed the subsequen t descen t s l igh t ly , i t was unsuccessful . TheR o y a l N a v y h a d a g r e e d t o h e l p i n a n e m e r g e n c y , s o t h e g r o u n d c r e w c o n t a c t e dH . M . S . D r a k e , t h e P l y m o u t h N a v a l H o s p i t a l , w h o p r o v i d e d a m o t o r f i s h i n g v e s s e lt o p i c k u p t h e h o u s e c r e w , w h o w e r e t h e n k e p t u n d e r o b s e r v a t i o n f o r 2 4 h o u r s . N osym ptom s o f decom press ion s ickness appeare d . Th e house was l a t e r r a i sed by l ash ingboard s ac ross the en t r ance to h inder the escape o f a i r du r ing su r f ac ing .

T H E S U B M E R S IO N : R ES U L TS A N D R E C O M M E N D A T I O N ST h e g r o u n d c r e w m a i n t a i n e d a 2 4 h o u r w a t c h f o r t h e d u r a t i o n o f t h e s u b m e r si o n,

wo rk ing s ix -hour sh i t , s . I n ad d i t ion to ma nn in g the t e l eph one and t e l ev is ion , t heyc o o k e d t h r e e h o t m e a l s a d a y a n d b r o u g h t t h e s e d o w n t o t h e h o u s e t o g e t h e r w i t h a n yo t h e r s u p p l i e s , a n d m a i n t a i n e d t h e g e n e r a t o r s u p p l y i n g t h e h o u s e w i t h p o w e r . T h e yw o r k e d u n d e r u n p l e a s a n t c o n d i t io n s , w h i c h w e r e f u r t h e r a g g r a v a t e d b y a d e t e r io r a t io nin the wea ther .

On the second day o f the submers ion a wes t - sou th -wes t f o r ce 11 ga le s t ruck theP lymouth a r ea . I t w i l l be r eca l l ed tha t t he s i t e was no t she l t e r ed f rom winds in th i squar t e r . The oxygen con ten t o f t he a tmosphere was inc reased to in i t i a t e decompress ionbefo re a poss ib le emergency ex i t, and the l av a to ry an d b i lges were par t i a l ly f looded


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O p e r a t i o n o f a c h ea p u n d e r w a t e r h o u s e 4 0 7t o g i v e e x t r a b a l l a s t . T h e h o u s e d i d n o t m o v e a t a l l d u r i n g t h e s t o r m , b u t t h e l a r g ew a v e s a b o v e t h e h o u s e p r o d u c e d p r e s s u r e c h a n g e s i n s i d e t h e h o u s e w h i c h c a u s e d s o m ed i s c o m f o r t t o th e e a r d r u m s a n d m a d e s l e e p i ng d i f fi c u lt . O n e o f th e b o a t s b r o k e l o os e ,b u t w a s r e c o v e r e d t h e f o l l o w i n g d a y . T h e s t o r m m a d e t h e w a t e r e x t r e m e l y m u d d y ,r e d u c i n g t h e v i s i b i li t y t o a b o u t 3 0 cm , a n d s t r o n g w i n d s d u r i n g t h e r e s t o f t h e w e e kp r e v e n t e d t h e d i r t f r o m s e t t l i n g a p p r e c i a b l y . T h e v i s i b i l i t y o n t h e l a s t d a y w a s a b o u t2 m . T h i s m a d e d i v i n g f r o m t h e h o u s e m o r e d i f f i c u l t , s i n c e g u i d e l i n e s w e r e n e e d e d t op r e v e n t t h e d i v e r s g e t t i n g l o s t , a n d t h e b i o l o g i c a l i n v e s t i g a t i o n s w h i c h h a d b e e np l a n n e d h a d t o b e a b a n d o n e d .

T h e c l o s e d - c i r c u i t t e l e v i s i o n g a v e c o n s i d e r a b l e t r o u b l e d u r i n g t h e f i r s t f e w d a y sb e c a u s e o f s e a w a t e r i n t h e c a b l e a n d c o n n e c t i n g p l u g s . A n e w c a b l e w a s b r o u g h t d o w ns u c c e s s f u l l y o n t h e f o u r t h d a y , a n d a p a r t f r o m o c c a s i o n a l c o n d e n s a t i o n o n t h e f r o n to f t h e l en s , t h e e q u i p m e n t o p e r a t e d s a t i s f a c t o r i l y f o r t h e r e st o f th e w e e k . A r a d i o w a sf i t t e d u p i n t h e h o u s e l a t e r i n t h e w e e k , p u r e l y f o r t h e e n t e r t a i n m e n t o f t h e c r e w , w h op e r f o r m e d s e v e r a l d i v es , b u t d i d n o w o r k b e c a u s e o f t h e u n s a t i s f a c t o r y c o n d i t i o n s .S i n c e t h e y c o u l d n o t s u r f a c e d u r i n g a d i v e b e c a u s e o f t h e r i s k o f d e c o m p r e s s i o n s i c k -n e s s , n o l i f e j a c k e t s o r s n o r k e l s w e r e c a r r i e d b y t h e h o u s e c r e w . A l t h o u g h t h e t e m p e r -a t u r e o f t h e h o u s e r e m a i n e d b e t w e e n 1 5 a n d 1 60 C , t h e c r e w f e l t c o l d a l l w e e k ,l a r g e l y b e c a u s e o f t h e d i f f i c u l t y o f a c t i v e e x e r c i s e i n t h e h o u s e : t h i s m a d e d i v i n gu n p l e a s a n t .

C o n t r o l o f t h e a t m o s p h e r e p r e s e n t e d s e v e r a l p ro b l e m s . T h e g a s a n a l y s e r w a sd e s i g n ed f o r u s e w i t h le ss t h a n 2 5 /0 o f o x y g e n , a n d w h e n t h e o x y g e n c o n t e n t w a sr a i s e d o v e r t h e l a s t t w o d a y s f o r d e c o m p r e s s i o n , t h e t e c h n i q u e o f d i l u t i n g t h e g a s t ob e a n a l y s e d w i t h n i t r o g e n t o o k a l i t t l e w h i l e t o g r a s p . O n c e t h e c o r r e c t t e c h n i q u e h a db e e n a c q u ir e d , a n a c c u r a c y o f a b o u t + 1 ,5 /0 t o t a l v o l u m e w a s p o s si b le . T h e a c c u r a c yo b t a i n e d w i t h l o w e r o x y g e n c o n c e n t r a t i o n s w a s a b o u t 0 , 0 5 0 /~ . T h r e e o t h e r p r o b l e m swe r e en co u n te r ed d u r in g g as an a ly s i s . F i r s t, o n so me o ccas io n s p r e ssu r e ch an g es , b o t ht h o s e c a u s e d b y w a v e s a n d t h o s e c a u s ed b y t h e t i d e , m a d e ' l e v e ll i n g o f f ' v e r y d i f fi c u l t,a n d w i t h t h e s t a n d a r d H a l d a n e , w h i c h h a s o n e m o r e m e n i s c u s t o a d j u s t , a n a l y s i s c o u l de a s i ly h a v e b e e n m a d e i m p o s s i bl e . S e c o n d l y , t h e l ig h t w a s p o o r , a n d t h is m a d e a c c u r a t ew o r k d i f f i c u l t . F o r t u n a t e l y a l a r g e l i g h t h a d b e e n f i t t e d f o r u s e w i t h t h e t e l e v i s i o nc a m e r a , a n d t h i s a m e l i o r a t e d t h e d i f f i c u l t y t o a l a r g e e x t e n t . T h i r d l y , t h e r e w e r ea c c i d e n ts . S i n c e th e a u t h o r i s o f a p es s im i s ti c t u r n o f m i n d , s p a r e r e a g e n t s a n d m e r c u r yw e r e a v a i l a b l e , a n d a l s o f l o w e r s o f s u l p h u r t o s p r i n k l e o n s p i l t m e r c u r y w h i c h w a sc l e a n e d u p a s s o o n a s p o s s i b l e , b u t a n a d e q u a t e s u p p l y o f s t o p c o c k g r e a s e w a s n o tb r o u g h t , a n d t h is c a u s e d s o m e i n c o n v e n i e n c e .

T h e m a i n d e f e c t i n t he s y s t em w a s u n d o u b t e d l y c a r b o n d i o x i d e a b s o r p t i o n .A l t h o u g h c o n s i d e r a b l e c i r c u l a t i o n w a s s u p p l i e d b y c o n v e c t i o n c u r r e n t s ( a s w a s s h o w nb y t h e f a c t t h a t s o d a - l i m e i n a t r a y p l a c e d a t f l o o r l e v e l c h a n g e d c o l o u r v e r y s l o w l y )t h i s w a s i n s u f f i c i e n t . I n a n y f u t u r e w o r k a c i r c u l a t i n g p u m p i s r e c o m m e n d e d . Ac o u n t e r f l o w s y s t e m , w i t h t h e o l d e r s o d a - l i m e a b s o r b e r s a t t h e i n l e t e n d w o u l d c o n s e r v es o d a - l i m e , w h i c h a p p e a r s t o a b s o r b m o r e s l u g g i s h l y a ~ e r a t i m e . O t h e r m e t h o d s h a v eb e e n u s e d t o r e m o v e c a r b o n d i o x i d e , i n c l u d i n g t h e u s e o f a s o l v e n t w h i c h c a n b er e g e n e r a t e d , a n d f r e e z i n g . B o t h o f t h e s e a r e t o o c o m p l i c a t e d f o r a c h e a p u n d e r w a t e rh o u s e . I t w o u l d b e u s e f u l , h o w e v e r , t o h a v e a s m a l l r e f r i g e r a t i o n u n i t f o r a i r d r y i n g ,


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408 J . R . HEATHrefrigerat ion being the most sui table method for the enormous quanti t ies of waterinvolved. The heat exchanger of the refr igerat ion unit could be placed in the exits tream of the air purif icat ion unit to w arm the air s l ightly.Some form of insulat ion would be a great advantage, but a heating system, atleast for houses in shallow water using a ni trogen atmosphere, is probably an un-necessary luxu ry.

A sem i-automatic atmosphere co ntrol system must include rel iable and simple safetydevices. To guard against pump fai lure, soda-l ime trays or respirators should beavailable, as should a chemical gas analyser, not only for emergencies, but also forperiodic checks of the auto ma tic system. The LLOYD or SCHOLANDER analysers areprobably the most sui table. Care must be taken to avoid reagents being blown intothe wrong places by the considerable pressure changes which will be experienced; forinstance, with the LLOYD,contrary to normal pract ice, the ground glass cone closingthe thermometer space should only be closed during analyses, to avoid sucking back ofreagents or mercury. Since power supplies would be needed both for operat ing theair purif iers and i l luminating the gas analyser , an emergency power supply should beavailable, and a ba t tery- ope rated l ight could be f i t ted to the gas analyser .

The diet also presented difficulties, most of them affecting the surface crew, whohad to cook the meals under primit ive and unpleasant condit ions, and deliver themunder equally unpleasant diving condit ions. Meals were, therefore, often late, some-times cold, and occasionally mixed with sea water. In spite of this, the food wasadequate and usually hot . No pollut ion problems were encountered, the air s tayingsweet for the entire week. In a less experim ental project , al l food should be cooked,or at least heated, in the house itself. This demands adequate storage space for foodand fresh water , and addit ional power for heating.

Other experiments in l iving underwater have put some emphasis on psychologicalchanges in the subjects. We are inclined to consider that these reports have, perhaps,been coloured by the presence on the experimental teams of psychologists anxious toobserve any changes. Although we experienced some differences of opinion with somemembers of the surface crew at times, these differences were perhaps less than thoseoccuring between some of the surface crew themselves, and certainly no more thanwould have been expected under the somewhat arduous condit ions. We did, ad-mittedly, get some exhilarat ion, as from a ny no vel experience. There m ay be two otherreasons for the lack of any mental react ion. Both of us have been diving together forabout 5 years, and both were more pre-occupied with the immediate discomforts ofcold and damp than with any mental react ions to them. I t is possible, however, thatin longer submersion, or with harder work or more crew members, mental disturbancemight be noted, though we consider this unlikely.

The house design was found wanting on several points . A minor improvementalready mentioned would be insulat ion. In fair ly shallow water , expanded polystyreneor similar material might be suitable, but as many of the foaming agents used arehighly toxic, extensive tests are indicated. If the house is to be non-pressurized, as acheap house must be, then provision should be made for t idal adjustments, ei ther byprovid ing air cylinders for blowing back the wat er - a t i resome procedure in the earlyhours of the morning - or by incorporat ing a large 'wettable volume' into the hatch-


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O p e r a t i o n o f a c h e ap u n d e r w a t e r h o u s e 4 09w a y a n d s u r r o u n d i n g a r e a t o a l l o w t h e t i d e t o m o v e u p a n d d o w n w i t h o u t i n t e r f e r i n gwi th the r es t o f t he house . A vo lum e change o f abo u t 15 /0 mig h t be a r eason ab lef i g u r e t o a i m a t . B u o y a n c y p r o b l e m s e x p e r i e n c e d w i t h a n o n - p r e s s u r i z e d h o u s e a r emore d i f f i cu l t t o so lve . A poss ib le compromise migh t be a house which i s no rmal ly( i . e . when fu l l o f a i r ) a f ew hundred k i iogrammes nega t ive , bu t wh ich cou ld be madeh e a v i e r w h e n o n t h e b o t t o m b y a d d i t i o n a l a n c h o r i n g b a l l a s t , a n d m a d e l i g h t e r o n t h es u r f a c e , p e r h a p s b y f l o t a t i o n b a g s o r a b a l l a s t t a n k . T h e h o u s e w o u l d b e l o w e r e ds lowly by a su r f ace vesse l , g iv ing the house c r ew ample t ime to inc rease the in t e rna lp ressu re to keep ou t wa te r , and would be l i f t ed by the same su r f ace vesse l a~err emoval o f t he excess ba l l as t . Decompress ion i s ano ther d i f f i cu l ty wi th a non-p ressu r i zed house , and migh t be done bes t by the use o f a submers ib le decompress ionchamber , and perhaps a l so a su r f ace chamber .

Power supp l i es pose ano ther d i f f i cu l t p rob lem. A su r f ace genera to r , t hough cheapand s imple , cou ld be unsu i t ab le in many cases , and invo lves e i the r a shore s t a t ion , asin the p r esen t case , o r a su r f ace vesse l supp ly ing power . A power supp ly in the housem u s t n o t c o n t a m i n a t e t h e a t m o s p h e r e , h o w e v e r , a n d m u s t n o t b e t o o b u l k y . F o r v e r ys h o r t s u b m e r s i o n s , l e a d / a c i d a c c u m u l a t o r s m i g h t d o , b u t t h e y w o u l d h a v e t o b e i n ac o m p a r t m e n t i s o l a t e d f r o m t h e l i v i n g q u a r t e r s t o a v o i d c o n t a m i n a t i o n o f t h e a t m o s -p h e r e, a n d , f o r l o n g e r p e r i o d s t h a n a f o r t n i g h t , w o u l d p r o b a b l y b e t o o b u l k y . F u e lc e l l s o r o t h e r t y p e s o f a c c u m u l a t o r s m i g h t b e a n a l t e r n a t i v e , b u t c o u l d b e t o o e x p e n -s ive . As f a r as the au thor i s aware , no underwate r house used a t t he p r esen t t ime hasa bu i l t - in po we r supp ly . A l though the in t e r io r o f GLAiaCUS app eare d r e l a t ive lyc r a m p e d , i t w a s q u i t e a d e q u a t e f o r t w o p e o p l e , a n d t h r e e c o u l d w o r k i n i t w i t h o u tu n d u e r e s t r i c t i o n . N e v e r t h e l e s s , a s e p a r a t e ' w e t c h a m b e r ' , p r e f e r a b l y w i t h a h o ts h o w e r f o r d i v e r s , w o u l d m a k e d i v i n g m o r e c o m f o r t a b l e a n d e f f i c i e n t . T h e f l o o r o fs uc h a w e t c h a m b e r c o u l d p r o v i d e s o m e o f t h e ' w e t t a b l e v o l u m e ' n ee d e d f o r a c c o m m o -dat ing t idal pressure changes.

I t i s d if f i cu lt t o com pare GLAVCUS wi th any o ther un de rwa te r house , w i th theposs ib le excep t ion o f COUSTEAU's ea r ly 'DIoGENE ', bu t a f ew po in t s a r e w or th no t ing .F i r s t , w e s h o w e d t h a t l i v i n g u n d e r w a t e r c o u l d b e c h e a p e r a n d m o r e s i m p l e t h a n m o s to t h e r e x p e r i e n c e h a s i n d i c a t e d . H o w e v e r , e x p e n s i v e d e v e l o p m e n t i s n e e d e d b e f o r e ac h e a p h o u s e o f p r a c t i c a l v a l u e c a n b e p r o d u c e d . S e c o n d l y , w e s h o w e d t h a t e v e n i nsha l low wate r , underwate r houses a r e neg l ig ib ly a f f ec t ed by heavy seas , and so cou ldperhaps be used in more exposed s i t es than has been the p rac t i ce in the pas t . Th i rd ly ,the c losed-c i r cu i t a tmosphere con t ro l sys t em, be l i eved to be the f i r s t u sed in an under -w a t e r h o u s e , w o r k e d a d e q u a t e l y , i n d i c a t i n g t h a t a t m o s p h e r e c o n t r o l , e v e n u s i n g ac losed-c i r cu i t sys tem presen ts no p rob lem s in sha l low wa te r .

I t i s hoped tha t t he sugges ted improvement s ( insu la t ion , a 'we t chamber ' , e t c . )and r esu l ts acqu i r ed d ur ing the GLAUCUS pro jec t wi l l be t es t ed an d e l abo ra ted byf u r t h e r w o r k . W e f e e l t h a t t h e u n d e r w a t e r h o u s e , p a r t i c u l a r l y i f i t c a n b e m a d e s e l f -c o n t a i n e d w i t h o u t b e c o m i n g u n d u l y c o m p l e x o r e x p en s i v e , w i l l b e c o m e a n i m p o r t a n ttool for d ivers of many discipl ines.


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410 J . R , H E A T HS U M M A R Y

1 . T w o d i v e r s h a v e b e e n m a i n t a i n e d s a t i s f a c t o r i l y a t a d e p t h o f 1 0 , 7 m f o r a w e e kb y m e a n s o f a c h ea p a n d s i m p l e u n d e r w a t e r h o u s e .2 . T h e h o u se w a s u n a f f e c t e d b y h e a v y s ea s, i n d i c a t i n g t h a t u n d e r w a t e r h o u se s c an b e

use d i n e x pose d s it es .3 . A s imple c lose d- c i r c u i t sys t e m of a i r pu r i f i c a t i on w a s use d f o r t he f i r s t t ime i n a n

u n d e r w a t e r h o u s e .

L I T E R A T U R E C I T E DBARAt)A, W., 1964. Se ala b 2. Skin Diver Mag. 1964 (Aug.).BELL, G,, Da vm so N, J. & SCAItBOROtmH,H., 1963. A textbo ok of physiolog y and biochemistry.5th ed. Will iams & Wilkins, Balt imore, Md ([1961] Lond on 1963), 1117 pp.COUSTEAU, J.-Y. , 1963. The era of " H om o aquaric us". In: The undersea challenge. A reportof the proceedings of the 2nd World Congress of underwater activit ies, London 1962. Ed.by B. Eaton. Brit ish Sub-aqua Club, Kingston-on-Thames, Surrey, 182 pp.DAvis, R. H., 1935. Deep l iving and submarine o perations. A manu al for deep sea divers andcompressed air workers. St Cather ine pr . , London, 509 pp,DRACH, P., 1952. Lacunes dans la connaissance de peuple me nt des mers et utilisation desscaphandres autonomes. Revu e scient., Paris 90, 58-72.DUGAN, J. , 1960. Man explores the sea. Penguin Books, Harmo nds wort h, Middlesex, 416 pp.GosLINE, W. A., 1965. Vertical zonation of inshore fishes in the upper water layers of theHaw ai ian i s lands. Ecology 48, 823-831.HIAT, R. W. & STRASBUiiG D. W ., 1960. Eco logic al relationships of the fish faun a on c oral

reefs of the M arshall Islands. Ecol. Monogr. a0, 65-127.KcrcmNG, J. A., 1941. Studies in subli t toral ecology. I I I . Laminaria forest on the west coast ofScotland: A study in zonation in relat ion to wave action and i l lumination. Biol. Bull. mar.biol. Lab., Woods Hole 80, 324-337.- - MACAN, T. T. & GILsoN, H. C ., 1934. Studies in sub littorai ecolog y. 1. A subm arine g ullyin Wembury Bay, S . Devon. J. mar. biol. Ass. U. K. 19, 677-705.LABOREL, J. & VACELrT, J., 1958. Et ude des peuplem ents d'un e grott e so us-marin e du Go lfede MarseilIe. Bull. Inst. oceanogr. Monaco 55 (1120), 1-20.- - - - 1961. Repar t i t ion bionomique de Corall ium rubrum LMK. darts les grot tes et falaise ssousmarines. Rapp. P.-v. R~un. Commn int. Explor. scient. Mer M~diterr. 16, 465-470.LLOYD, B. B., 1958. Dev elo pm en t of Ha lda ne 's gas analysis appara tus. J. Physiol. Lond. 143,58 68.PLaTT, R. G., 1965. Pioneering "Inner space"- Sealab II . Geo-mar, Technol. 1 (8), 7-13.

QATREFAGES I)E BR~AIS, J. L . A., 1857. T he ramb les of a na tur ali st on the coasts o f F ran ce,Spain and Sicily (Souvenirs d 'un naturaliste) . Transl . f rom the French by E. C. Otte .H. Bohn, London, Voh 1.2.SCHArFE~, K. E ., HaSTINaS, B. J., CAt~EY, C. R . & NICHOLS, Jr, G., 1963a. Re sp ira to ry accl i-matization to carbon dioxide. J. appl. Physiol. 18, 1071-1078.- - NICHOLS, G. & CAREY, C. R., 1963b. C alcium and ph osphorus metabolism in man duringacclimatization to carbon dioxide. J. appl. Physiol. 18, 1079-1084.

D i s cu s s io n f o l l o w i n g t h e p a p e r b y H E A T HBArVES: Can you give any estimate of the increased expense necessary to make the apparatusadequa te for "ordinary" people?


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O p e r a t i o n o f a c h e ap u n d e r w a t e r h o u s e 4 1 1H E A TH : T h i s is a v e r y d i f f i c u l t q u e s ti o n t o a n s w e r . V a r i o u s c o m m e r c i a l i n t e r e st s a r e p r o d u c i n gs y s t e m s f o r i n d i v i d u a l u se . T h e c o s t o f t h e s e i s o f t h e o r d e r o f 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 . H o w e v e r , I t h i n kt h a t b y u s i n g s i m p l e r m e t h o d s , f o r i n s t a n c e , i n s t e a d o f e m p l o y i n g a u t o m a t i c a t m o s p h e r ec o n t r o l s y s te m s , u si n g t h e d i v e r t o d o t h e w o r k o f g a s a n a l y si s , m u c h c h e ap e r s y s te m s c o u l d b ep r o d u c e d .HARTNO~L: D o y o u c o n s i d e r t h a t a t d e p t h s b e l o w 9 m i t w i l l b e s a f e t o u s e s u c h e q u i p m e n ti f t h e c h a m b e r i s n o t p r e s s u r a b l e , o r i f a s u b m e r s i b l e d e c o m p r e s s i o n c h a m b e r i s n o t a v a i l a b l e ?H E A TH : T h i s d e p e n d s o n t h e d e p t h . F o r s u b m e r s i o n s t o 1 1 m a d e q u a t e o x y g e n - r e b r e a t h i n gm e t h o d s a r e av a i l a b l e . H o w e v e r , f o r d e e p e r w o r k , a n d I f e e l t h a t y o u m u s t g o to a t l e a s t1 8 m t o m a k e a n u n d e r w a t e r h o u s e w o r t h w h i l e , a s u b m e r s i b l e d e c o m p r e s s i o n c h a m b e r , a t l e a s t ,w i l l b e r e q u i r e d , a n d p r e f e r a b l y a l s o a s u rf a c e c h a m b e r .

Underwater House

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