Show calling upon bermuda s varicolored finny tribe trip in diving helmet lends thrill to visitors summer visitors and budding scientists have found a new thrill 1 l in bermuda one of the most popular diversions of the summer is amateur helmet diving made pos sible through the government ac aquarium on harrington sound although not a new idea this is the best opportunity the public has been given to enjoy this unique sport and hundreds of f sightseers including many women and children are taking ad vantage of the privilege says a bulletin from the national geo graphic society heavy helmet becomes light after visiting the aquarium ore of the finest in the world more adventurous ichthyologists add to their acquaintances among bermuda bermudas s fish families by de beneath the clear calm waters of harrington sound to t view them in their natural sur soundings roun dings it is an alice in won derland experience feeling fish frisk about you 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 apprehend sion the strange looking metal hel met with its snakelike air hose the helmet flanked with I 1 lead e ad weights rests heavily on the shoulders but as soon as one ven ture to descend the gently sloping sea floor and lower one ones s head under the surface the air filled helmet seems much lighter in tact fact its weight is scarcely felt water rushing in under the open helmet almost to the mouth may cause alarm but air pres sure holds it at about chin level and one soon relaxes again should the diver feel ear pres sure as in elevators it can be alleviated by swallowing once he becomes accustomed to the sil 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 4 wandering through this twilight world one has the queer feeling of being a disembodied spirit of against warm wind of wading not up to one s ankles only but with one s whole body distances under 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 e of feet those who think all fish are silvery and torpedo shaped are surprised by the variety of beautiful colors and the strange shapes of bermuda bermudas s fish while one gets some slight idea of them by gazing down through a glass bottomed boat towed slowly over the reefs one can see them still better without distortion or fore shortening through the helmet colors of birds and butterflies are lasting but the radiant iride indecent cent colors of fish fade at death many fish pale and uninteresting looking on ice in bermudas markets appear full of brilliant ca coloring loring that flashes and changes when seen alive under the water red squirrelfish striped yellow grunts sergeant majors angelfish and many others dart past the helmet s window many forms of sea life other than fich attract the attention of the diver on the rocks are chi tons related to snails whose shells are arranged in overlapping plates pulled loose from a reef they curl up like miniature armadillos lovely sea anemone anemones wave pastel colored tentacles to and fro like the languid arms ot of odalisques on the sand are puffy black sea puddings tiny scuttling crabs crawling starfish and spiny sea urchins stepped on the spines of these so called hedgehogs of the sea frequently break off in ones foot bermuda is an ideal place in which to observe fish by means of helmets for two reasons tha the gulf stream which flows like a warm sapphire river through tha the atlantic north of bermuda protects the islands from cold and insures a teeming supply of semi tropical fish the islands are coral formations on the top of a submarine mountain and thus scientific dives may be made very near shore to observe both deep and shallow water species of fish |