Technology is great, says “OceanXplorers’” Aldo Kane, but “the human factor can make or break a mission.”
“It just takes a few nights of not sleeping well or rough seas and then you have a recipe for potential disaster,” he says.
Knowing how close experts dare get to a polar bear could mean the difference between getting valuable information or saving a life.
Three-person submarines can go 3,000 feet deep, bringing them to “parts of the ocean that humans basically never go to,” says Eric Stackpole, the mission’s technology innovator. “Both Aldo and I scuba dive but when you’re able to go deep into the ocean, you’re really seeing part of the planet that humans never get to lay eyes on. That acrylic sphere is similar to the index of refraction of the water. So, when you go down, you don’t even see the sphere around you. It just seems like you’re in this bubble of water. It’s an incredible feeling.”
Because he’s able to “MacGyver” equipment on the spot, Stackpole is often called on to spring into action when the costlier equipment doesn’t work. “When all you have is some electrical tape that was in your backpack, that’s what you’ve got to use,” he says. “It’s about improvising. You’ve got to be able to pivot when the moment comes.”
In the National Geographic series, Stackpole takes those risks and helps determine where change is necessary.
