Copyright PADI 2012

In this shot, my friend Kevin Gurr is using a Beta version of the soon-to-be-released Explorer rebreather (which he designed and developed). He and I are both wearing rebreathers, which is significant because this shot would have been impossible with conventional, open-circuit scuba that releases bubbles.

This shot required rebreathers because it took several minutes and more than 20 frames to get the balance between the exterior light streaming in and my strobes where I wanted it. During that time, Kevin and I had to remain completely still, or we would have stirred up sediment that would have obscured the shot and made it look like a snow storm. With open-circuit scuba, our bubbles would have scoured silt off the ceiling, causing the same problem as it rained down on us, no matter how still we remained. But, rebreathers put out few bubbles.

BTW, hardcore wreck divers will notice that Kevin doesn't have the guideline that you usually have inside a wreck, nor three dive lights. While that would normally violate safe diving practices for overhead environments, this particular wreck in Grand Cayman has been intentionally placed and "safed" for recreational divers. For general purposes (but not training purposes) most of its interiors are considered swim-throughs, not overhead environments, because they are wide open, have lots of light, and you are never more than a few feet from an exit, like you see here. Otherwise, we'd definitely be following light and line protocols!