This week in tec… Our helium supply has been replenished so we have been out doing some amazing trimix wall dives around Bunaken! Of course, this means we talk a bit funny afterwards, but the helium in our gas mixture allows us to go beyond the 50 meter range to explore the life at these greater depths! This past few weeks, we had Pek from Singapore diving trimix to 60 meters on sidemount. He was accompanied by Hiro who was on his Megalodon rebreather.
You might be wondering, just what can you see at 60 meters? Well, to start off, Pek and Hiro encountered huge gorgonian sea fans and several dogtooth tuna as well as blue fin jacks beyond the 45 meter range up to 60 meters. In addition, they discovered a few really interesting overhang areas that possibly could lead into small caverns in the reef. We wouldn’t be surprised that on a future visit we’d encounter some sleeping white tip sharks around these depths.
So why use trimix instead of normal air? Trimix consists of a mixture of helium, oxygen and nitrogen. Adding helium into the mixture allows reduction of both nitrogen and oxygen. This in turn helps to reduce the amount of nitrogen narcosis the diver experiences as well as keep the diver within acceptably lower oxygen partial pressures. All in all the dive becomes safer because the diver is more alert and the risk of oxygen toxicity is greatly reduced.
Check out some of the stunning images Pek and Hiro made during their trimix wall dive to 60 meters!
