October on the Great Barrier Reef 2013

At One with Nature
By Captain Trevor Jackson

Tech divers will often rave about the advantages of Closed Circuit Rebreathers over traditional open circuit scuba, and there are a few of them. They shorten deco times on deep dives, they save bucket loads on the use of expensive gas and they generally look spacey and cool. One other, often neglected advantage is that they don’t produce bubbles.

This in itself is no big deal but the consequences of it can be. You see bubbles create a right royal racket underwater and the fishes don’t really like it much. Sure they get USED to it after a while, but if you want them to treat you like an equal, then you’ve got to play nice in the sandpit, and that means not announcing your presence like a road train crash. Open circuit gear is noisy, rebreathers are not; and nobody likes a noisy neighbor.

The other advantage of no bubbles is that bubbles create visual confusion in the water and that makes fishes nervous. In a world where everyone wants you for dinner, it’s better to not be confused. Those chrome domes heading noisily to the top of the known universe are bound to create uncertainty in the mind of the cleverest of marine creatures, so it stands to reason that without the racket and fuss, a diver is sure to be welcome more cordially into the inner domain of those that we seek out in the depths……….to cut a long story short……….no bubbles = closer interactions.

Photographers are beginning to realise this. Not just from a perspective of they themselves getting closer to their subjects, but also their dive buddies being able to get right up into the midst of it and really show what it is like to be accepted into the gang so to speak. Whether it’s down on the shark feed at Osprey Reef, or up close and personal with turtles and snakes inside the Great Barrier Reef, the use of rebreather technology really does allow us to get nose to nose and toe to toe. Nobody gets frightened, nobody gets hurt. It’s a win win situation all round to be able to get right up close …and at one with nature.

Rogues Gallery