Ari Daniel Shapiro

Ari Daniel Shapiro

Reporter Ari Daniel Shapiro used to listen to seals and whales during his research training as an oceanographer. These days, he listens to people, and he uses radio and multimedia to tell stories about science and the environment.

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Cold-Water Diving

April 20, 2011 ⋅ Post a comment
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(flickr image: Ed Bierman)

We’re looking for the name of a large island in the Pacific northwest. The Queen Charlotte Strait separates this 300-mile long island from mainland British Columbia. At the northern end of the island is God’s Pocket Marine Provincial Park.

Scuba divers flock there as the cold-water diving season gets underway. You can see colorful Nudibranchs, rockfish, and the occasional Giant Pacific Octopus but for that you need a good supply of oxygen.

“I’m pumping these scuba tanks up to a pressure of 2800 psi and then I’m going to close the valves and release the pressure so that I can undo from the tank, that gives them a full tank for a good dive.”

The answer is British Colombia’s Vancouver Island, which has some of the best cold water scuba diving in the world. Producer Ari Daniel Shapiro recently visited a diving resort just off Vancouver Island and sent us an audio postcard.

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And if you want to play along with our new texting game, just text the word “geoquiz” to 69866 (normal texting rates apply).

God’s Pocket Resort

Discussion

2 comments for “Cold-Water Diving”

  • Anonymous

    When I was listening earlier this morning, you referred to this item as concerning the Queen Charlotte’s whereas:”On June 3, 2010, the Haida Gwaii Reconciliation Act officially renamed the islands Haida Gwaii as part of a reconciliation protocol between British Columbia and the Haida people”

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Kyle-Lerfald/100001746927594 Kyle Lerfald

    ..and a very minor point; scuba tanks are usually filled with compressed air, not oxygen- as pure oxygen is actually dangerous to breath at depth.