gasoline compressors blasted the air with sound on the 

 LCP boat, and another labored on board Blue Heron. Red 

 and green air hoses trailed from the boats and streaked the 

 placid blue-green waters. Circles of white bubbles rose 

 from the bottom in geyserhke shafts as the divers worked 

 below, dimly glimpsed from the surface, colorful in yellow 

 jerseys and black knit tights. 



Swimmers splashed about on the surface with face 

 masks, snorkels and fins as they viewed the bottom from 

 above, seeking clues to new discoveries. Everyone was 

 fully clothed. The veteran divers in the party wore black 

 ballet tights or long ski underwear with bright-colored 

 long-sleeved jerseys. The novices wore long-sleeved shirts, 

 dungarees and shoes. 



There were several good reasons for donning these 

 costumes, I soon discovered. In the first place, the quiet 

 waters of early summer had produced quantities of jelly- 

 fish, which, pale, ephemeral and ghostly, clouded the 

 tepid waters. In spite of their protective clothing, many of 

 the divers had come in contact with these jellyfish and 

 were covered with a livid rash which looked and itched 

 like measles. Also, the extra clothing acted as padding for 

 the heavy lead weights which were worn across the chest 

 or around the waist. And when the diver reached the bot- 

 tom, he needed protection from the sharp coral rocks, 

 which often caused poisonous infections, and from the 

 many porcupine-like sea urchins which dotted the bot- 

 tom. 



I watched while two divers completed attaching lines 

 from the winches to the cannon below. At last everything 

 was ready. Two men manned the hand anchor winch; 

 two others worked aft. They could make only a few turns 

 at a time, for the pull of the heavy cannon was tremen- 

 dous. At last they had it off the bottom. Long, lazy 

 swells rolled in from the ocean. The swells, combined with 



12 Sea Diver 



