In 1998, I started a two and a half year commitment working on the
Free Willy / Ocean Futures Society Keiko Project. It was an amazing
experience that will stay with me for many life times. This marine
education and marine mammal experiment took place in a little island
of the coast of Southern Iceland.
Fifty percent of the project efforts went to reintroducing the
captive Killer Whale "Keiko" (that was in the Warner Brothers film *Free
Willy*) to the wild and to his family. The other fifty percent went
towards documenting with video, Photo ID and sound the population of
the Killer Whales in the Northern Atlantic Ocean.
This project involved a lot of experiments in marine mammal behavior
and a huge amount of marine operation work around the clock. On this
job I performed more commercial diving duties than on any other job
in my 20 years as a professional diver.
The study and rehabilitation pen for Keiko was 250’ long by 100
wide. Its shape was two octagons connected by a straight run that was used
as a medical area for working with the Killer Whale in a more
controlled environment. The floating pen had a netted bottom that
extended fifty feet below the surface and was held at depth by a
weighted octagon. This bay pen was secured in place by 18 different
dynamic mooring points using Seaflex. Some of these anchors were
10-ton blocks chained to another 10-ton cement block and these were
moved and turned over during certain storms. Conditions in the bay
were at times simply put - hurricane weather. We experienced over 120
MPH wind and up to six knots of current at times.
Needless to say the marine operations crew did a lot of diving in all
kinds of conditions. I can recall one storm that ripped apart the bay
pen and took 40% of the pen from the rest of the structure, leaving
the crew on round the clock shifts for over a month. I did 100 dives
in 28 days and every dive was made using Force Fin Pros. During this
time I was lifting, sinking and replacing anchors and mooring lines
for up to 16 hours a day. Once we started working we had to repair
the pen before the next storm came in and everyday we were thankful when
the wind was below 30 miles an hour.
They really are the best fins for close quarters and for working all
day long. They were incredibly useful as working in tight areas
around nets and mooring lines and they let my legs work with out getting
tried and giving up. When I do commercial diving I love wearing my
Force Fin Pros because I can get out of the water walk across the
deck of a boat or platform and get back into the water with little fuss
and even less wasted energy. Swimming chain and line across the bay,
using the hydraulic underwater driver, underwater jack hammer, rigging nets
and just getting out of the way of four tons of Killer Whale my Force
Fin Pros proforce_product were the right choice for the job!
Free Willy / Ocean Futures Society Keiko Project. It was an amazing
experience that will stay with me for many life times. This marine
education and marine mammal experiment took place in a little island
of the coast of Southern Iceland.
Fifty percent of the project efforts went to reintroducing the
captive Killer Whale "Keiko" (that was in the Warner Brothers film *Free
Willy*) to the wild and to his family. The other fifty percent went
towards documenting with video, Photo ID and sound the population of
the Killer Whales in the Northern Atlantic Ocean.
This project involved a lot of experiments in marine mammal behavior
and a huge amount of marine operation work around the clock. On this
job I performed more commercial diving duties than on any other job
in my 20 years as a professional diver.
The study and rehabilitation pen for Keiko was 250’ long by 100
wide. Its shape was two octagons connected by a straight run that was used
as a medical area for working with the Killer Whale in a more
controlled environment. The floating pen had a netted bottom that
extended fifty feet below the surface and was held at depth by a
weighted octagon. This bay pen was secured in place by 18 different
dynamic mooring points using Seaflex. Some of these anchors were
10-ton blocks chained to another 10-ton cement block and these were
moved and turned over during certain storms. Conditions in the bay
were at times simply put - hurricane weather. We experienced over 120
MPH wind and up to six knots of current at times.
Needless to say the marine operations crew did a lot of diving in all
kinds of conditions. I can recall one storm that ripped apart the bay
pen and took 40% of the pen from the rest of the structure, leaving
the crew on round the clock shifts for over a month. I did 100 dives
in 28 days and every dive was made using Force Fin Pros. During this
time I was lifting, sinking and replacing anchors and mooring lines
for up to 16 hours a day. Once we started working we had to repair
the pen before the next storm came in and everyday we were thankful when
the wind was below 30 miles an hour.
They really are the best fins for close quarters and for working all
day long. They were incredibly useful as working in tight areas
around nets and mooring lines and they let my legs work with out getting
tried and giving up. When I do commercial diving I love wearing my
Force Fin Pros because I can get out of the water walk across the
deck of a boat or platform and get back into the water with little fuss
and even less wasted energy. Swimming chain and line across the bay,
using the hydraulic underwater driver, underwater jack hammer, rigging nets
and just getting out of the way of four tons of Killer Whale my Force
Fin Pros proforce_product were the right choice for the job!
