INTRODUCTION 



A new and fascinating pursuit has developed in recent years which 

 lovers of nature, especially aquatic life, are only beginning to appreciate. 

 This is amateur submarine diving. Some interesting motion pictures and 

 books devoted to submarine research or adventure have appeared during 

 the past decade, but the equipment, technique and danger described as 

 seemingly necessary to this pursuit must have discouraged the majority 

 of people who have a desire to feel the thrill of wandering on the sea 

 bottom. It appears that the authors of these books have recounted their 

 activities and accomplishments primarily for the edification and enter- 

 tainment of people who enjoy descriptions of unusual and dangerous 

 experiences. The matter of encouraging others to enjoy a similar pursuit 

 was not part of their purpose. The writer, since boyhood, has had a deep 

 interest in this subject. He has pursued his investigations in an amateurish 

 manner but with thrilling results. A narrative of these experiences, with 

 a description of the equipment and technique employed, would seem to 

 have a place in undersea literature, hence this book. The most interesting 

 subjects represented by the illustrations are reproduced from sixteen- 

 millimetre motion pictures; the result is necessarily poor, although the 

 pictures when projected in motion are satisfactory. Furthermore, when 

 the photographs were being taken, there was no thought that they would 

 be published in a book. The considerate reader will perhaps bear these 

 points in mind when criticizing the illustrations. 



The opportunity to begin submarine diving came to this author 

 through a fortunate and unlooked for circumstance. Books that had been 

 published describing undersea photography had escaped his attention, but 



