To Hidden Depths

DUST JACKET Only a little more than ten years ago, the few men who went far under the sea were professional divers whose scope was strictly limited by their helmets, lead soles and the lines which bound them to the surface. Today, tens of thousands of men of all countries are forming not just a brotherhood but a race of underwater pioneers who have the mark of the sea on them and who have experienced the strange raptures of undersea adventure. To Hidden Depths is the fascinating and intimate account of an important group of such men. Philippe Tailliez, the leader of a group of daredevil divers which included Captain J. Y. Cousteau, graphically describes what it means to swim with aqualungs and rubber fins in twilight zones along with sharks, whales, morays, and octopi. He and his companions explored wrecks in the Mediterranean, made several underwater films, removed mines laid by Germans during the war off the coast of Marseilles and other French ports. They descended more than 200 feet into the Fountain of Vaucluse and nearly lost their lives. They brought up pillars from an ancient galley off Mahdia which had been sunk before the Christian era. One of the most exciting chapters of the book describes the descents of the French bathyscaphe in its record dive of more than 13,000 feet. Commander Tailliez was in charge of surface operations during these dives and, equipped with his aqualung, actually accompanied Houot and Willm on the first part of the bathyscaphe's descent. Illustrated with 12 full-color pages, 32 in black and white, map and charts.