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Show Call ing Upon Bermuda's Varicolored Finny Tribe Trip Undcrseas in Diving Helmet Lends Thrill to Visitors. Summer visitors nnd budding Bcientifits have found a new thrill In Bermuda. One of the most popular pop-ular diversions of the summer is omntcur helmet diving, made possible pos-sible through the government nc-qunrium nc-qunrium on Harrington sound. "Although not a new idea, this Is the best opportunity the public hns been given to enjoy this unique sport, nnd hundreds o f sightseers, including many women wom-en nnd children, ore taking advantage ad-vantage of the privilege," says a bulletin' from the National Geographic Geo-graphic society. Heavy Helmet Hccomes Light "After visiting the aquarium, one of the finest in the world, more adventurous ichthyologists odd to their acquaintances among Bermuda's fish families by descending de-scending beneath the clear, calm waters of Harrington sound t o view them in their natural surroundings. sur-roundings. It Is an Alice in Wonderland Won-derland experience feeling fish frisk nbout you unseparated from your touch by a 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 apprehen-I apprehen-I sion the strange-looking metal hcl-! hcl-! met with its snnkelike air hose, j The helmet, flanked with lead I weights, rests heavily on the ; shoulders, but as soon as one ven-! ven-! turcs to descend the gently sloping ' sea-floor, nnd lower one's head , under the surface, the air-filled I helmet seems much lighter. In I fact, its weight i3 scarcely felt. "Water rushing in under the j open helmet almost to the mouth I may cause alarm, but air pres-! pres-! sure holds it at about chin level, ' nnd one soon relaxes again. ! Should the diver feel ear pres-j pres-j sure, as in elevators, it can be j alleviated by swallowing. Once he i becomes accustomed to the sil- very bubbles, and the gentle j gurgling of the air as the pump : forces it out under the bottom of 1 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 li.sh Ideal. "Wandering through this twilight, twi-light, underseas world one has the queer feeling of being a disembodied disem-bodied spirit, of pressing against warm wind, of wading, not up to one's ankles only, but with one's whole body. Distances under water wat-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 all fish are silvery and torpedo shaped are surprised by the variety of beautiful beauti-ful colors and the strange shapes of Bermuda's fish. While one gets some slight idea of them by gazing gaz-ing down through a glass-bottomed boat towed slowly over the reefs, one can see them still better, bet-ter, without distortion or foreshortening, fore-shortening, through the helmet. Colors of birds and butterflies are lasting, but the radiant, iridescent Colors of fish fade at death. Many fish, pale and uninteresting looking on ice in Bermuda's markets, appear full of brilliant coloring that flashes and changes when seen alive under the water. |