The three Pillars of diving...the Aim of the Project

Hi GUE Divers,
let's go through the title of this post to explore the Aim of the Lost Island project and what are its innovations.
For first we have to underline the GUE mission which is the base of everything, without that we couldn't imagine our work.

from GUE website:

About GUE

Mission Statement
Global Underwater Explorers emerged out of a shared desire to safely explore and protect the underwater world and to improve the quality of education and research in all things aquatic. In line with the original vision of its founding members, GUE is committed to:

Developing safe, skilled, and knowledgeable divers
Undertaking and promoting underwater research
Pursuing global underwater exploration
Safeguarding the integrity of the underwater world
Providing the public with a comprehensive resource on all things aquatic.

Working to redefine the ties binding the average underwater enthusiast to underwater explorers, conservationists and scientific researchers GUE is committed to the overall goal of promoting the interests of the underwater world and of those who seek to engage it.

GUE is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

This is our inspiration and why we are here!
Enjoy!

A Great talk by the extreme explorer Ben Saunders. After watchin' this video I hope you will open your door!

Join Us and start livin' the adventure.

Enjoy!

Our Bio Scientific Director Prof. Caludio Cerrano and our Marine Biologist Dott. Nicola Savi in Ancona University talkin' how to use the Horse Syringes...I wasn't their guinea pig!!!!
Long scientific meeting in Ancona University to fix all the procedures of collecting biological samples.
Dott. Nicola Savi will be our personal Marine Biologist who will follow and guide us during our dives...we will never dive alone!!!

Enjoy!

Hi All,
We have worked hard during the week to prepare all the scientific equipment. We are going to storage everything and ship it to Sicily. The equipment is mooving and the divers are coming...simply perfect!
[These Horse Syringes are for stroke divers!!!]

Enjoy!

Thank you for your support! In only two weeks we have reached more then 1000 views on direxplorers forum and more then 600 views on the Blog. We are very happy and proud about this. This is only the beginning...stay tuned!

Enjoy!

A great Talk made by Robert Ballard....one day we will be like him, not so far!

Explore!

What we want...What we need...What we are looking for...

If you look up at the sky during a clear night, away from the hustle of the city and between sloping plains or deep valleys, you’ll see something truly incredible.
You’ll see more void and unexplored vastness than humans will ever be able to explore.
It would do no good to put a number on the amount of planets and solar systems, entire galaxies, that could be explored, as the number is so astronomically high it can’t even register in your brain.
But still, the space remains.
Here, in your every day life, there are vast spaces that remain to be explored as well. You don’t have to take a rocket ride into the black night in order to explore and discover entirely new concepts, creatures, and most importantly: stories. But exploration is dangerous and all signs – internal or otherwise – will tempt you away from exploring the void right in front of you.
When new students of zen meditation sit down to meditate for the first time every part of them goes against the meditation.
Their body tells them “I’m restless, let’s go go go!” while their mind tells them “I can’t stop to focus when there’s so much to think about!” and their heart (most important of all) tells them “We can’t waste time sitting here when there’s things we could be doing!”
Yet the best students sit, patiently exploring their thoughts despite everything telling them not to. Do you know what they find in all that meditation?
Peace, mindfulness, understanding, new ideas, everything you usually have to struggle to find, students of meditation find by sitting still.
Similarly, to explore any new idea or experience around you, everything will be telling you not to. All signs will point to the opposite direction. Today you should ignore all the signs. Explore the void that remains to be explored in your own life and discover the limitless creative potential that lies just beyond what you know right now and what you will know after exploring.
Today, be an explorer of the unknown, especially when everything points you away from doing so. You’ll be glad you did. But you have to start right now.
[text from Tanner Christensen]

Enjoy!

The journey of man through his ego and the environment that surrounds it has stimulated the thinking of millions of travelers. To explore and to explore ourselves are human actions that belong to the same nature of man. The stimulus to life, to find food, to know what surrounds us and to understand ourselves, are actions that can combine, from different points of view, all living beings. We believe that the poetic form of these actions can somehow only belong to the human race, but if we look around us we can find that everywhere there is poetry. Through this paper I have tried to address the issue of exploration and its multiple meanings talking about philosophy, literature and science. The exploration’s arts, the man and the nature. The fire that burns within all seekers of knowledge is an eternal fire. It is the beat of their hearts, which never ceases and if it slows down it will be never canceled. I thought many times to my discoveries and I listened to the many comments that were made about them. I tried to see everything from different points of view, but in the end the result is always the same. I have discovered them because I desired them. This is the true nature of us explorers, Desire. We want, we want and we are not satisfied, we look beyond the horizon in perpetual motion, such as birds we take off to the unknown and ourselves. The heart and the sight, the seekers have a good view, but good is their sight because they know to look at things from life with a different point of view. Try to get on a table and watch from up the place where you were seated before. All will appear different.

Enjoy!

Download the Greenpeace project documentation file: GREENPEACE

You will find a complete report of the Graham Bank with lots of beautiful images of our next destination...WOW!

Enjoy!

Picture taken from Greenpeace in the Sicily Strait Banks.
Enjoy!

In 2012 Greenpeace did an exploration of the Avventura and the Graham banks. Draw attention to the great ecological value of these areas was their goal.
Here we have some nice images of the banks taken by ROV.

This is the Crew Lopez spot for summer 2013

Rowena is the Old Lady who will bring us to the Lost Island
Red Sails...heart of passion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3tCI4f0Anw

Enjoy!

The bathymetric surveys conducted in 1883 found, where before we had the island, a vast and low bottom 16, which rose up, up to -2.7 and -3.3 m, two pinnacles of hard rock (basalt), probably the remains of the fire power of the volcano, which were destroyed with explosives because of the danger it posed to navigation. Hydrographic Institute of the Navy, in 1914, reported a depth of 50 m, with two culminations deep - 34 (the West) and -8 m (the East). Measurements carried out by the National Research Council in 1972 indicated a shallow sub-level, between -20 and -30 m, with a central spire isolated basalt that rose up to a depth of -8.8 m. Hydrographic Institute of the Navy, in December 2002 and May 2003, revealed the highest point of the old volcano surface to -6.9 m. It appeared that the Ferdinandea is part of a large and composite building, elongated NW-SE (2,500 × 1,500 m), consisting of a common base on which stand two coalescing cones. The cone that erupted in 1831 and has built the ephemeral Island Ferdinandea 160 m high and has a base diameter of 500 m and is accompanied to the north-west by a cone larger (base 1500 m, height 200 m, height - 16). This second building is easily recognizable, the remains of a more ancient crater edge, 1.3 km wide, which is followed by NE (- 100 m) to SE (-80m) to SO (-120 m), from this crater and probably leaked out to O-SO a well-defined and stocky casting wides (1.5 km) long (0.8 km), which drops to about -110 m, invading the marine floor, to the depth of more than 200 m.

One of the most intriguing aspects of the project is that we know the benthic assemblages now present on the submerged cliffs of the Ferdinandea Island are about 200 years old. In the Sicilian Channel five volcanic seamounts have been described: Tetide, Anfitrite, Galatea, Cimotoe and Graham. These locations are of scientific interest because they appear to support unique biological communities such as those based upon the colonies of white coral (dominated by the scleractinians Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata). In particular the Adventure Bank and the Graham Bank was recently investigate with ROV technique between 8 to 160 m depth (Greenpeace, 2012). The superficial cliffs of the Graham Bank are characterised by the presence of different type of gorgonians, Paramuricea clavata and Eunicella cavolinii, and little cerianthus. More deep there are a dense population of several gorgonians, Callogorgia verticillata, Acanthogorgia hirsuta, Villogorgia bebrycoides, Swiftia pallida, Viminella flagellum and Bebryce mollis, and black corals, Antipathella subpinnata, Antipathes dichotoma, Leipathes glaberrima and Parantipathes larix.

Hi Divers,
I'd like to open this Monday' post with some informations about what we will find diving in the Ferdinandea Island...We are preparing also a big sourprise for you, you can't imagine what you will find in the middle of the Sicily Strait...something really unbeliveable!!!
Enjoy!

Today Ferdinandea is one of the best diving sites in the Mediterranean. Suitable for more experienced divers due to a constant presence of currents. Being able to dive at Graham is an opportunity not to be missed. In fact this pinnacle offers a remarkable biodiversity and it could be seen as an example of how the Mediterranean Sea was before the anthropization. When you get into the water you’ll notice the pinnacle of the hat with a wide plateau at about 6 feet from the surface. At the edge of the floor the walls drop straight into the blue, along which we can see between the nooks and dens multicolored sponges between gorgonian fans of considerable size. Often around the flat you can see large pelagics such as kingfish and tuna hunt. With a little 'luck, one can find the presence of the king of the sea, the shark. Thresher sharks and blue sharks are often found to share the banquet on the bench, but it is still quite rare to meet them although I have been several sightings were reported. Going down the wall between 25 and 30 meters you can still shoot branches of corals that escaped the raids of sea pirates. During the dive, the gaze is lost amid constant wonders: multi-colored nudibranchs, soft corals, cerianthus, moray eels, lobsters and many other jewels of the sea that offer a delightful sight.

Today we will work on these tubes. We need 150 tubes!!!

Enjoy the weekend!

The case of Ferdinand is an amazing example of the island as it contains in its short history all the features related to this category. In his five months of life, Ferdinand was first and foremost a privileged laboratory terrestrial geophysics. The expectations of its many suitors it complicated identity jackets was claimed by at least four states, and were buckled a dozen names. Ferdinandea it was nothing more than a mountain of volcanic ash and soot produced by one of the many volcanoes marine hidden under our eyes. Ferdinandea turned on fantasies and illusions of all. The question of who was the sovereignty of the new island raise a fuss in international relations between the powers who frequented the waters of the Strait of Sicily in the first half of the nineteenth century. Those gestures of flags planted bravely on soft volcanic soil of Ferdinandea remains an important symbol, as a strong symbolic value were the most famous in America and landings on the Moon. The landing of Ferdinand and was the highlight of the representation of the man of the nineteenth century: a mixture of science and gullibility.

Lost Island History: the end of the island

As we are not sure of the birthday of the Ferdinandea Island, the same way we do not know the exact day of its sinking. What’s true is that everyone was just waiting for the island to sink. It had been clear from the start, because it was composed of unstable material, mostly ash. The continuous break of the waves changed the inlands contours. Already after the first observations were made at a safe distance in July the island seemed mostly composed of volcanic ash and mud. The captain of the brig Achilles, Vincenzo Allotta, detected the disappearance of the island on December 8, but responded with the phenomena that characterized the emergence of columns of water rising into the air. The island will not return ever again to the surface but the volcanic activity on the water will manifest itself several times according to some people (in 1833, in June 1845, in the summer of 1863). The irony of Ferdinandea did not end with his dive. In the twentieth century, the ghost of Ferdinandea also suffered a military attack. It happened in 1986 following the international crisis of Sirte between United States and Libya. On this occasion the Americans bombed the waters of the Tour Graham mistaking him for a submarine enemy.

Lost Island History: Witnesses from the sea

Witnesses to the stage of emergence of Ferdinandea were basically two: the captains Trefiletti and Corrao. The first, Francesco Trefiletti was in command of the brig Sicilian "Gustavo", en route from Malta to Palermo. Party July 5, he declare that I have seen on 8 July hearty column of smoke rising from the sea, a fish kill and he got to the 'scene of the crime', Captain Trefiletti declare that "with God regularity raises a column of water high reeds twelve and fourteen palms, with a diameter greater than that of a vessel, the bubbled for ten minutes and drops, while at the same time raises the smoke".

The captain of the brig Neapolitan "Teresina," Giovanni Corrao, after finding out at the Gulf of Tre Fontane the usual fish kill and black pumice floating on the horizon and thunder, on July 9 the next day, at a distance of twenty miles by Subpart S. Marco saw "a quantity of water that rose above the surface of the sea with smoke, about 60 feet leading to almost 200 steps circumference [of three hundred and sixty meters], which carried a smoke smell sulfur "and yet the sound of thunder. On July 13, he reported to the captain Corrao Girgenti where port authorities to declare that in his opinion was being born a new volcano. Trefiletti and Corrao were the first witnesses of the volcanic activity on the surface of the sea.

The birth of the Island Ferdinandea was announced, between 22 and 26 June 1831, earthquakes alerted to Marsala, Trapani, Palermo and Sciacca with injury caused to homes from falling debris. "On 18 June 1945, the English fleet Victory at 36 ° 40'56'' E and lat 13 ° 44'36'' long. N, near the bank of coral, suffered a violent shock and two trees were suddenly overthrown as a result of a violent storm, although at that time the sea was perfectly calm. Suddenly spread sulphurous fumes in the air so strong that the ship could hardly breathe. The ship after suffering some damage, took off, and saw from afar the traveler to get out of the bosom of the sea three huge balls of fire." By the 2nd of July the water was boiling at the "Secca del Corallo" (now Banco Graham), where some sailors, who collected the fish killed by volcanic activity, fainted in their boats because of the fumes. On July 5 strong earthquakes were felt in Marsala, and finally on 7 July 1831, F. Trefiletti, commander of Gustavo, first saw the island, 33 miles south-west from Sciacca, High 30 palms on the surface of the sea, "spits ash and lapilli." At night the activity was clearly visible from Sciacca, Memphis, Mazzara and Marsala. The eruption, now subaerial, built an island, whose dominant color was black and he will see the the high end of 60 m, width less than 300 and a perimeter of almost 1 km.

The project is meant to represent a possible model for interdisciplinary action between the Scientific and diving communities. The diver in the project will not be 'just a diver', but, thanks to the support of the scientific institution, will take on the task of a Scientific Diving Operator in making diving, conservation and protection as well as training, whose sole purpose is the achievement od scientific, educational, informative and the protection of the environment and/or historical archeology. For example" through sampling, measurements, experiments, stratigraphic excavations, surveys and recoveries. This practice is now so widespread that one can say there is no great scientific institution in the world that does not have at least one sector using underwater divers to carry out their programs of study. Ultimately it comes to getting youe hands wet, not only to sample or perform other specific tasks, and eyes to see, but also, and above all, the intelligence and discernment of specially trained divers. This possibility has led to a maajor advancement in the knowledge of the underwater world to explore, measure, collect, observe and recognize, but above all to understand. The possibilities of dive science depends not only on the degree of preparation of the technical diver, but especially by his cultural background. The cultural background of the diver is the true innovation of the research project, which, thanks to the direct involvement of its scientific directors, will organize a specific documentation training course for divers involved in the project.

Here We Are!
It is with great pleasure and pride that we present the official underwater scientific research project
"the Lost Island: Graham bank the LabVolcano". The tireless effort of several people over the past 2 years now finally ready to see the light of day. We started with a clear concept: give a chance for our divers to put in practice in the real world skills and application of what they have worked hard to learn and why they chose the GUE. Conservation; Education; and Exploration are the basis of our association and are the pillars of our project. Divers will have a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in an unexplored location and participate as protagonists in an ambitious study of marine biology and geology. The project is a place to share emotions and culture all while building a winning team. A team within which they can learn and strive to reach a very ambitious goal: to build the first scientific study conducted by divers on the Ferdinandea island. We have put in all of our experience and our passion and we are confident that together we will live an experience you will never forget.
Join the project http://www.globalunderwaterexplorers.org/projects/lost-island

the Lost Island Project

Blog

The three Pillars of diving...the Aim of the Project

About GUE

Morning Inspiration

Bio Team

Scientific Equipment

Thank you! this is only the beginning

On exploring the oceans

Explore!

Today?...Take the risk, explore the unknown

Point of View

Greenpeace project documentation

PIC of the day

Greenpeace on the Graham Bank

Red Sails

Scientific Themes: Geo

Scientific Themes: Bio

Scientific Themes

Cool Stuff in the Researcher's BOX

Lost island History: Ferdinandea into the Legend

Lost Island History: the end of the island

Lost Island History: Witnesses from the sea

Lost Island History: the Birth

Scientific diver in a research project

Project Wallpaper

Here We Are!

Link