Part 2 of 2.

Lights! Camera! Bubbles! Bubbles? Of course, as any scuba diving movie buff knows, underwater action sequences need to be accompanied by bubbles. And with today's savvy audiences, those bubbles need to look realistic. One of the key people responsible for increasing the technical accuracy of recent movies and television specials is Phil Nuytten.

Since the early '60s, Phil has designed, built and actually dove specialized underwater equipment before the cameras. He's personally been in more than one hundred productions. For greater continuity, contemporary actors are often trained to perform their own underwater sequences, such as Dustin Hoffman for Sphere. However Phil's input generates from over 30 years experi ence and his technical capabilities in the industry are in as much demand as ever.

Consider the underwater sequences in the Abyss, an earlier James Cameron movie. With Phil as technical advisor, an entirely realistic series of submersibles and diving helmets were used throughout the movie. Not only was he instrumental in their design and production, but his own experienced diving crews operated the equipment. Many of these futuristic-style underwater proto types are awaiting patents. Lifelike enough for you?

Now, picture legions of divers encased in the free-swimming exosuit. They move through the water in precision format. There are two different groups, each in their own colour of suit, and they are coming together underwater. It's a battle. It's ... the good guys and the bad guys. A little cliché? Possibly, but it's always grabbed the audiences' attention before. See what you think when the movie is released.

Other productions Phil has been involved with include the Beachcombers, Danger Bay, The Land That Devours Ships , Sea Hunt, Sea Quest, Titanic , Mysteries From the Sea, White Fang 2 , the X-Files, and many more.

Although many of these productions have been educational as well as entertaining, education has become a basic ingredient in Phil's overwhelming schedule. Divers are still the minority of the population. They are a small fraction of society that has wit nessed some different forms of life in this planet's vast oceans. A sea anemone feeding, an octopus changing colour and texture more quickly than a chameleon, the flamenco-style swimming movements of a giant nudibranch, the bioluminescence of the tiniest creatures like millions of fireflies, and so much more. The undersea world remains a mystery hidden to most people.

Imagine an underwater museum. A building large enough to exhibit over 200 tons of historically significant deep-diving hardware created through world class Canadian research and development. Yes, that's right, "Canadian". Canada's list of signifi cant contributions to the world's knowledge and undersea technology is extensive. It includes underwater sonar, survey, naviga tion and communication equipment, remotely-operated vehicles, Arctic diving systems, sea-floor oil production systems, one -atmosphere diving suits, deep research submersibles and even tourist submarines.

Place this technology in an interactive setting providing a series of dioramas enabling the public to see video footage and closely examine the equipment. Wouldn't it be interesting to see how sonar works, to watch bubbles under pressure, to wear a diving helmet, or take part in a "Sub Rescue" motion simulator?

Now take a walk outside on the deck of a liberty ship, another part of Canada's maritime heritage. It's now part of the building you entered overlooking a vast harbour. Ships and their construction form another piece of the ocean puzzle. They have been and will continue to provide work platforms for ongoing research and ocean exploration.

A series of video monitors allows you to "see" what's going on underwater at a variety of nearby sites. Want to see local marine life? Push a button. Want to see a local historic shipwreck? Push another button. Underwater video cameras mounted in a variety of strategic locations will provide real time vistas.

Care to get even closer to the underwater landscape? Stroll outside to the pier, down the staircase, and view this incredible world first-hand through plexiglass. Perhaps you'll observe ongoing dive research in addition to the array of local marine life. Or perhaps you'd care to get even closer in a submersible.

Are we dreaming? Add an underwater movie-theme restaurant complete with photos and props. Now you have the ground works for a facility approved by the North Vancouver City Council in June of 1998. This Deep Foundation project will become a reality, perhaps in a series of stages, but it will happen. After seeing a segment of the underwater world and it's potential through the eyes of Phil Nuytten, I believe he will accomplish this dream too. It will serve a number of functions for many generations reminders of man's start, his development underwater and his future role in the underwater world.

Among Phil's great accomplishments is his natural personal modesty present while relating his accomplishments, his current projects and his future ambitions. He displays the confidence and inspiration of a "doer", a man who stays focused on the overall purpose of the project without being sidelined by the negative details and delays suffered along the way. I, for one, look forward to yet another decade of diving interspersed with new ideas and input from Phil Nuytten, who truly is Canada's own diving renaissance man.