SeaBase1 habitat in Belize put on Kingston director's to-do listBesides co-producing a documentary on the War of 1812, Kenn M. Feigelman, director of operations for Deep/Quest 2 Expeditions, is gearing up for another project.
He serves as a consulting scientific partner for SeaBase 1, a shallow-water undersea habitat scheduled for launch, or sinking, in 2013 off Ambergris Caye, Belize, in northern Central America.
Mr. Feigelman also will serve as an occasional aquanaut aboard SeaBase1.
"I'm very pleased to be the only Canadian scientist onboard the project at this time," he said.
SeaBase 1, an nonprofit endeavor, is designed for "scientific researchers and anyone who yearns to know what it's like to actually live in the ocean for an extended period of time," according to the description on its website. Its design can hold 25 aquanauts.
"It will not be elitist," Mr. Feigelman said. "The Joe Public will be invited to work with scientists as lab rats, or assistants. The diving public will be able to take part in eco-tourism."
The project sustained a setback last winter when its founder, Richard Cooper, a retired University of Connecticut professor emeritus of marine science, died.
"That's a major setback emotionally, but it's not going to set back the development of the habitat," said Mr. Feigelman. "It's still planned to be built at a major shipyard in Louisiana and then sunk off Belize, hopefully by the summer of 2013."
Mr. Feigelman and Jose Jones, the vice president of SeaBase 1, spoke about the project in March at the Beneath the Sea seminar in Secaucus, N.J.
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