Michael Lang

Ten Questions with Michael Lang, Smithsonian Institution
Q. When / where did you start diving? A. My first diving experiences were free diving the Italian Riviera (Imperia) in 1972 where our family owned a vacation home in olive groves overlooking the Mediterranean. Growing up in Belgium, it was the perfect weather-escape destination to combine sunshine and ocean. Scuba diving started in 1978 through scientific diving training programs while in college in California. Q. What motivated you to become a diver? A. The Monaco Oceanographic Museum and Aquarium in Monte Carlo was but a 45 minute drive from our home in Italy. It was a very captivating place to learn about life beneath the waves with live sea life and inspiring exhibits of the exploratory exploits of H. R H. Prince Albert 1, monarch of Monaco, founder of the Oceanographic Museum. Q. Where have you been? A. The bulk of over 5,400 logged dives were made in California from 1978-1989, primarily in San Diego, the Channel Islands, Baja California and up and down the West Coast. Since being recruited by the Smithsonian Institution as Scientific Diving Officer in 1990, I've worked in most of the underwater world: the Arctic (Alaska and Svalbard) and Antarctica (Palmer and McMurdo Stations), Mediterranean (Italy, Corsica, France, Spain), throughout the South Pacific, Papua New Guinea, Great Barrier Reef, Tonga, Fiji, New Zealand, Indonesia, Japan, Hawaii, Palmyra and Kingman Reef, Maldives, Red Sea and throughout the Caribbean at Smithsonian labs (Florida, Belize and Panama), Mexico, Honduras, Netherlands Antilles, Bahamas. Q. What diving accomplishment are you most proud of? A. Bridging the gap between science and diving through research, education, and public outreach. Results from leading a 20-year active diving safety research program have transferred interdisciplinary knowledge to the benefit of the scientific and recreational diving communities (e.g., dive computers, ascent rates and safety stops, repetitive diving, polar diving, nitrox, reverse dive profiles, advanced diving and decompression techniques). Through the use of scuba as a research methodology, scientific results have been published extensively on ocean topics that concern us all as divers and have a major impact on our lives: coral reefs and polar regions. Q. What will the sport of diving be like 20 years from now? A.There will be continued advances in scuba equipment and training procedures and better means of sharing our experiences with others (IMAX, digital u/w photography and video). More segments of our population will be encouraged to participate in diving activities. All divers should be cognizant of the need to turn around the current decline in the state of health of coral reefs and underwater environments to ensure that there will be places left where generations to come will want to dive in the future. The advent of dive computers, nitrox, drysuits, and single-hose regulators has made the underwater environment a better place to explore. We can only anticipate that these technologies will improve even further in the next 20 years. Q. Who do you admire in the diving community? A. The many people in the diving community who tirelessly apply engineering and training know-how to enhance the attractiveness of this sport, and those who bring the underwater world to us in film, photo and print. From a physiological perspective, the free divers who explore the ocean depths, not for the sake of attaining new depths records, but for the physical and mental training they invest and the expansion of the envelope of what the body and mind are capable of. I do not believe admiration should be reserved for the exclusive domain of those who climb the highest peaks without oxygen. Q. Do you have any pre-dive, dive, or deco rituals? A. My diver training background has been in diver safety and my professional responsibilities have entailed responsibility for the safety and health of the diving scientists I am accountable for. Safety starts before jumping in the water. The most important part of the dive is the pre-dive buddy check and dive plan because it alleviates most equipment-, air supply, and operational problems that can lead to mishaps. This aspect is even more important in extreme environment diving such as under ice. As Roald Amundsen, noted Norwegian explorer, best put it: "Adventure is just bad planning". Q. Do you have any advice for a new drysuit diver? A. JUST DO IT. There are divers in the world who learn to dive in drysuits right out of the gate. It does not appear out of the ordinary to them. They learn how to manage the air bubble in their drysuit and control their buoyancy and ascent rates. The new drysuit diver must acknowledge that a run-away ascent can be as hazardous to their health as a runaway descent due to significant overweighting, both of which can become unrecoverable situations if not trained and prepared. Whenever thermal protection is required in temperate or cold waters, they must also accept that routine practice in their drysuit cannot be overemphasized. Once proficient, drysuit diving is probably the most comfortable way to dive with the least wear and tear on their body. I would offer that a shell-type, trilaminate drysuit is the preferred material with the greatest range of motion and best all-around characteristics. A dry glove- and weight and trim system complete the optimal package. Q. Do you know any good dive / fish jokes? A. "It's better to finish your dive before you finish your gas". Words of deep wisdom contributed by Roberto "Bob" Palozzi during the International Polar Diving Workshop, Svalbard, March 2007. Q. Where can people find out more about you, your courses, and products? A. www.si.edu/dive; www.si.edu/marinescience; www.si.edu/ipy; Validating scuba as research methodology - May 2010 Michael Lang Michael Lang diving in the Polar Ice Cap Michael Lang Manta Ray and Michael Lang Safety stop in his DUI drysuit Michael Lang on the surface - nice DUI hood Michael Lang in the Keys
DUI DOG Michael Lang, the Scientific Diving Officer for the Smithsonian Institution, insists on using only the best equipment for his research divers when Polar diving. Of course, this means DUI drysuits! Check out this short interview with Michael Lang.
x

1
Free Gift

Powered by Salepify App