Abel Valdivia

Aquarius Live Support Buoy

            We have been navigating for almost half hour off the coast of Key Largo, Florida Keys. In the distance a yellow platform is rocking with the waves surrounded by a series of black and yellow buoys. There is a 20 feet tall tower in the middle of the platform bearing antennas, radar like device, a red marker light and an anemometer that is spinning like crazy. On a side of the tower three letters: LSB. LSB or Live Support Buoy is a heavy metal structure that marks the surface position of the America’s inner space station: Aquarius.

The world’s only undersea laboratory, as proudly is named by its owner, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is deployed at 60 feet beneath the surface in an underwater canyon next to moderated deep coral reefs. Managed and maintained by the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNCW), Aquarius has been characterized as the inner space counterpart of the International Space Station that orbits earth and therefore aquanauts are those human creatures that explore, and study the watery environment around the “vessel”.

After a detailed briefing on the surface about our tasks, scenarios and emergency procedures, we, the aquanaut candidates, awkwardly get in the water. There is a set of two heavy aluminum tanks in my back (45 pounds each), a huge buoyancy control device with straps around my chest, a pressure and depth gauge on my left side clipped in one the metal rings, an emergency second stage regulator attached to a bungee cord around my neck, a buoyancy control device inflator hose at some place on the left side, a filling hose sticking out under my right arm and the main regulator in my mouth with a six feet long hose also around my neck. It is impossible to walk around with all that, or do a giant stride in the water or not even roll back. So we have to necessarily and awkwardly get in the water pushed by the captain and at the same time slapping your face in the surface.

            Today we are practicing looking for a lost excursion line underwater. Excursion lines are a network of ropes signaling the right direction to the Aquarius. Bright oranges arrows are placed every 20 feet and these lines are life saving for the aquanauts outside the underwater laboratory. The technique is swimming in circles aid by a thin line attached to a salient in the reef. Fair enough I said but this skill must be performed at 45 feet beneath the surface and the most exciting part: mask off. Salt water in your eyes is not a major problem even for those that wear contact lenses. But, salt water for a long time in your eyes could be irritating and even painful. Mask off, I start swimming with all my gear on top, line in hand and eyes open like a dead fish on deck. I can’t see anything, my eyes are burning, I push air out from my nose, salt water enters trough my nostrils and reaches my sinuses, irritating the interior of my head. The substrate passes below me and the images are recorded in my brain magnified, blurry, bright, far, close and out of focus. Dizziness attacks me and more water is coming in. So far, I have not seen the stupid orange arrow that marks the rope. My dive buddy is next to me and she is also with the mask off, I am in the leader but I have no clue where I am going. Suddenly, I spot a blurry orange….thing…. in the water column. I swim eagerly to the point and success I have found one of the depth limit lines that takes you to the excursion lines. These lines are marked with orange ribbons and delineated a 45 feet depth that aquanauts must remain below that threshold.

            Besides all the pain and irritation the drill was a success for all the aquanauts. Hopefully during the mission we are not going to lose our mask or the lines but we need to take in considerations every single possible scenario. Back in the surface we called the day and another day of training is over.