| 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 in bermuda one of the most popular diversions of the summer is amateur helmet diving made possible si through the government ac quartum on harrington sound although not a new idea this Is the best opportunity the public has been given to enjoy this un unique ique sport and hundreds 0 f sightseers including many women and children are taking advantage of the privilege says a bulletin from the national geographic society heavy helmet becomes light after visiting the aquarium one of the finest in the world more adventurous ichthyologists add to their acquaintances among bermudas fish families by descending sc beneath the clear calm waters of harrington sound t to 0 view them in their natural surroundings roun dings it is an alice in wonderland experience feeling fish frisk about you from your touch by a tanks glass walls divers on their first descents are apt to be nervous clad only in bathing suit and sneakers the novice novice may eye with apprehension the strange looking metal helmet 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 ventures to descend the gently sloping sea floor and lower ones head under the surface the air filled 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 pressure holds it at about chin level and one soon relaxes again should the diver feel ear pressure as in elevators it can be alleviated by swallowing wini once he becomes accustomed to the silvery 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 neptunus Nep tunes re realm alm is ready to look out of the glass window in the front of the helmet and benj enjoy oy the strange spectacle of being at home with the fish underwater view of fish ideal wandering through this twilight world one has the queer feeling of being a disembodied spirit of pressing ag against ainest warm wind of wading not up to ones ankles only but with ones whole body distances under water are strangely deceiving the diver progresses through sunlit water for what seems a city block only to be told on his ascent that lie he has covered no more than a score of feet those who think all fish are silvery and torpedo shaped are surprised ed by the variety of beautiful colors and the strange shapes of bermudas fish while one gets some slight idea of them by gazing down through a glass bot tomed boat towed slowly over the reefs one can see them still better without distortion or foreshortening 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 bermudas markets appear full of brilliant coloring that flashes and changes when seen alive under the water red squirrelfish striped yellow grunts sergeant majors angelfish and many others dart past the helmets window many forms of sea life other than fish 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 wave pastel colored tentacles to and fro like the languid arms of odalisques odalis ques 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 tha sea frequently break off in ones foot bermuda is an ideal place placa in which to observe fish by means of helmets for two reasons the gulf stream which flows like a warm sapphire river through the atlantic north of bermuda protects the islands from cold and insures a teeming supply of semitropical 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 |
