Michael Lombardi: inmerso en la ciencia

PESCAR Y ESTAR EN EL AGUA con la familia mientras crecía influyó en Michael Lombardi para estudiar biología marina. Él y un amigo obtuvieron el certificado de buceo durante su tercer año de instituto, pensando que sería una herramienta útil para el campo que deseaba. Lombardi no tenía ni idea de lo que significaba el buceo profesional ni de adónde le llevaría.

Michael Lombardi, Hábitats submarinos portátiles, tratar el buceo como una ciencia

Una-Una: un paraíso oculto

Everything changed for Una-Una on July 14, 1983, when a volcanic eruption destroyed the central hub of Indonesia’s Togean Islands in central Sulawesi. Lava covered 90 percent of the island, and thick, black smoke rose into the sky more than 9 miles high. The Indonesian Navy had evacuated all 7,100 inhabitants when the volcano gave signs of its impending eruption, preventing any loss of life. 

Massive Gorgonia soft corals dot the offshore pinnacles

Seguridad en el buceo comercial

FOUR SCUBA DIVERS BECAME TRAPPED and died while working in an offshore pipeline in 2022. This incident was a harsh reminder that commercial diving is a “hazardous occupation that presents many dangers that far exceed the risks in sport diving,” as highlighted in The Simple Guide to Commercial Diving. The typical risks in recreational diving, such as decompression sickness and pressure-related injuries to the ears and lungs, are still present, but commercial divers regularly face additional hazards — such as zero visibility, contaminated water, and pressure differentials — all while simultaneously operating industrial tools. 

Recuperación sin preocupaciones

AFTER I SPENT ALMOST 20 HOURS in a hyperbaric chamber over five days, life there had grown tedious. The last 15 minutes, however, were not only exciting but highly instructive. I learned that if you don’t know what you’re doing, don’t touch anything or do anything without first asking permission.

treatment in the hyperbaric chamber

Encuentro cercano en la isla de Komodo

SER PICADO POR UN PEZ LEÓN es como ser mordido por una serpiente venenosa. Esto lo descubrí de la manera más dura.

Pez León

Anguilas lobo

ASK DIVERS IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST what makes for a great dive, and most will agree that a wolf-eel (Anarrhichthys ocellatus) is involved. There is something about the face of an adult wolf-eel staring at you from its den that turns an ordinary dive into a great one. The specific conditions don’t matter. Cold temperatures, terrible visibility, or strong currents are easy to forget when a wolfie — as we call them locally — appears. 

wolf-eel out of its den

Connecticut: Desde la costa

BETWEEN NEW YORK AND BOSTON LIES HARTFORD, the heartbeat of Connecticut. Visitors there can tour the Mark Twain House, Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, and the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. Beyond the city, trees and hills make way for fresh and coastal waters teeming with macro life. 

dive entrance to Bigelow Pond