Diving Discovery
To tell stories about coastal science, we need jaw-dropping footage of life in the ocean. For our team of experts, that means bone-chilling winter dives and tricky, sometimes dangerous, conditions—and a few adventures along the way. Join us as we go behind the scenes on one of these epic trips.
Executive produced by Meigan Henry
Produced, written, and edited by Kristina Blanchflower
Videography by Kristina Blanchflower, Grant Callegari, Tavish Campbell, Markus Thompson, and Bennett Whitnell
Maps and illustrations by Mercedes Minck
Meet the Team
Diving on the British Columbia coast in the winter isn’t just cold, it’s also dangerous. So if we’re going to get the footage we want and get everyone home safely, we need a team that knows what they’re doing. Meet the team of experts joining us on this adventure in Discovery Passage.
Teacher cheat sheet of what’s included in this episode of Diving Discovery:
– Underwater videography
– Scuba diving: dive tender, tides and currents, environmental conditions
Gearing Up
Outdoor adventures require a lot of prep and planning—especially when they’re underwater, where conditions aren’t hospitable to humans. Like astronauts traveling to another planet, divers need a literal boatload of specialized gear to keep them alive and get the job done. Find out what our team couldn’t live or film without while diving Discovery Passage.
Teacher cheat sheet of what’s included in this episode of Diving Discovery:
– Underwater videography: specialized equipment (camera housing, lights, monitor)
– Scuba diving: equipment needed (drysuit, gloves, hood, fins, dive computer, buoyancy compensator, regulator, weights)
Epic Dive Sites
When air is limited, weather is unpredictable, and tides are ever changing, picking the right dive sites for filming is critical to mission success. See what goes into choosing locations in Discovery Passage when the goal is to capture the biggest variety of underwater life possible.
Teacher cheat sheet of what’s included in this episode of Diving Discovery:
– Currents, upwelling, and ocean productivity
– What goes into selecting the dive sites
– How tides and slack tides affect dives
– Different types of dive sites: boat wreck, pier, rocky shoreline, steep cliff
Getting the Shot
After so much prep, the divers face the challenge of putting plans into action. Will all that work pay off? Get in the water with the underwater videographers to find out and explore life below the surface in Discovery Passage.
Teacher cheat sheet of what’s included in this episode of Diving Discovery:
– Communicating underwater
– Technical issues underwater
– Range of dives: boulder field, wharf, wreck (artificial reef), night
– Variety of wildlife encountered: greenling, tunicate, king crab, grunt sculpin (and eggs), buffalo sculpin, strawberry anemone, sponge, coral, sunflower star, rockfish, lingcod, crustacean
The Payoff
Between all the planning, the danger, and the expense, there’s a lot that goes into underwater filming—so why do it? Hear why our divers keep getting back in the water and how we use their footage to showcase our corner of the ocean to the rest of the world.
Teacher cheat sheet of what’s included in this episode of Diving Discovery:
– How much work goes into collecting footage underwater
– Highlighting the biodiversity of life underwater in British Columbia
– Why filming underwater is important and how the footage can be used
Q&A
Get your questions answered by the team of experts behind the series!