On Saturday, September 17th, world renowned diver and environmental activist, Scott Cassell will face the biggest challenge of his life: completing a world-record breaking 30-mile dive in less than 24 hours from Catalina Island to Los Angeles.
Cassell’s mission is far bigger than world record shattering. Armed with state of the art equipment including a computer controlled Mixed Gas Rebreather, Luminox’s Essential Gear timepiece for divers and an acoustic shark attractor, Scott is putting his life on the line to help raise awareness around the detrimental state of the ocean along the Southern California coastline.
Scott Cassell
Scott has witnessed the shark population drastically drop to an estimated 3% of its natural population over the years. Just twenty-five years ago the Catalina Channel was filled with a thriving sea life where divers would encounter anywhere from 40 to 100 blue sharks in a single dive. Now, Scott will be lucky to encounter just one or two during his 30-mile underwater trek.
“This problem is very real and very relevant. The absence of sharks in our oceans is a major concern for keeping overall balance in marine life. As top predators are wiped out then we must be prepared to deal with the next in line,” warns Cassell. “If we lose an apex predator from the food chain it causes other species to then have population explosions. For example, Sharks and Tuna are the natural predators of the Humboldt squid. If you kill off all the sharks, the squid population (each female can potentially have 20 million “babies”) will begin to overpower the part of the food chain below them. They will eat anything and everything. As they swarm for food they exhaust feeding grounds and fisheries as they move.”
Scott’s journey will be recorded and filmed in 3D by Global Reef to relay the alarming state of our ocean, showcasing Scott’s findings along the way. One of Scott’s primary missions during the dive will be to attract as many sharks as possible in order to obtain an accurate estimate of how many (or rather, how few) sharks are present in the area today. Footage from Scott’s exhibition will be captured and streamed onwww.luminox.com/worldrecord-dive giving viewers a first hand experience of the dive during and after completion.
Through both the essential equipment on his wrist and the sales of Limited Edition Scott Cassell Luminox timepieces (a percentage of proceeds will support Cassell’s Sea Wolves Unlimited and Undersea Voyager Project) watchmaker Luminox is joining Scott to bring his message to the world.
“It’s been an honor teaming up with Scott Cassell. His devotion to the ocean and selflessness of sacrificing himself to bring awareness about the state of the ocean is a true inspiration,” said Barry Cohen Founder of Luminox. “We hope Scott’s dive will help open people’s eyes to just how serious this issue is before it’s too late.”
Scott Cassell and Luminox would like to thank others who are helping make this dive possible including: Global Reef, Ocean Technology Systems, DeepSea Power & Light, GoPro, Sea Magazine and InnerSpace Corporation.
Cassell is set to make his world record-breaking dive on Saturday, September 17th and will conclude his journey at the Cabrillo Aquarium Beach in San Pedro Harbor. Visit Luminox.com and underseavoyagerproject.org to learn more about Scott Cassell’s mission leading up to this historic dive.
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) September 08, 2011