Show Calling Upon Bermudas Bermuda's 1 Varicolored Finny I Iribe ribe Trip in Diving Helmet lends Thrill to Visitors Summer visitors and budding scientists have found a new thrill in Bermuda One of the most pop pop- ular popular diversions of the summer is amateur helmet diving made pos pos- possible possible sible through the government ac- ac on Harrington sound Although not a new idea this I is the best opportunity the public has been given to enjoy this unique sport and hundreds o 0 f sightseers including many wom- wom women women en and children are taking ad- ad advantage vantage of the privilege says saysa a bulletin from the National Geo- Geo Geographic Geographic graphic society Heavy Helmet Becomes Light Alter After visiting the aquarium one of the finest in the world more adventurous ichthyologists add to their acquaintances among Bermudas Bermuda's fish families by de- de descending descending beneath the clear calm waters of Harrington sound t o 0 view them in their natural sur- sur surroundings surroundings It is an Alice in Won Won- Wonderland Wonderland derland experience feeling fish frisk about you from your touch by a tanks tank's glass walls Divers on their first descents are apt to be nervous Clad only in bathing suit and sneakers the novice may eye with apprehension apprehension sion the strange looking metal hel- hel helmet helmet met with its snakelike air hose The helmet flanked with I 1 e a d weights rests heavily on the shoulders but as soon ns as one ventures ven- ven ventures tures to descend the gently sloping sea floor and lower ones one's head under the surface the filled air helmet seems much lighter In fact its weight is scarcely felt Water rushing in under the open helmet almost to the mouth may cause alarm but air pres- pres pressure pressure sure holds it at about chin level and one soon relaxes again Should the diver feel ear pres- pres pressure pressure sure as in elevators it can be alleviated by swallowing Once he becomes accustomed to the sil- sil silvery silvery very bubbles and the gentle gurgling of the air as the pump forces it out under the bottom of the helmet and assured that the water will not rise above his chin the newcomer in Neptune's realm is ready to look out of the glass window in the front of the helmet and enjoy the strange spectacle of being at home with the fish Underwater View of Fish Ideal Idea Wandering through this twi- twi twilight twilight light world one has the queer feeling of being a disembodied disembodied bodied spirit of pre pressing sing against warm wind of wading not up to toone's toone's ones one's ankles only but with ones one's whole body Distances under wat- wat water water er are strangely deceiving The diver progresses through sunlit water for what seems a city block only to be told on his ascent that he has covered no more than a score of feet Those who think aU all fish are silvery and torpedo shaped are surprised by the variety of beautiful beautiful ful colors and the strange shapes of Bermudas Bermuda's fish While one gets some slight idea of them by gaz- gaz ing gazing down through a glass glass-bot- tomed boat towed slowly over the reefs one can see them still bet bet- better better ter without distortion or foreshortening fore fore- foreshortening shortening through the helmet Colors of birds and butterflies are lasting but the radiant iride iridescent cent Colors of fish fade at death Many fish pale and uninteresting looking on ice in Bermudas Bermuda's markets appear full of brilliant coloring that flashes and changes when seen alive under the water Red Squirrelfish striped Yellow Angelfish Grunts Sergeant Majors Angel Angel- fish and many others dart past the helmets helmet's window Many 1 forms of sea life other than fish attract the attention of the diver On the rocks are related to snails whose shells are arranged in overlap overlap- overlapping ping plates Pulled loose from a areef areef reef they curl up like miniature armadillos Lovely sea anemones wave pastel colored tentacles to and fro like the languid arms of odalisques On the sand are puffy black blacksea blacksea sea puddings tiny scuttling crabs crawling starfish and spiny sea urchins Stepped on the spines of these called so-called hedgehogs of the sea frequently break off of in ones one's foot Bermuda is an ideal place in which to observe fish by means of helmets for two reasons The Gull Gulf stream which flows like a warm sapphire river through the Atlantic north of Bermuda pros pro pro- protects the islands from cold and insures a teeming supply of semi semi- semitropical tropical fish The islands are coral formations on the top of a sub sub- submarine submarine marine mountain and thus scientific scientific dives may be made very near shore to observe both deep and shallow water species of fIsh |