PEARL SHELL DIVERS

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 July 1939, Page 12

PEARL SHELL DIVERS

WONDERFUL WORK OF JAPS

SYDNEY, June 30.

Japanese pearl-shell divers, in Torres Straits, are working at the tremendous depth of 300 feet wearing only helmets and corselets, according to officers of the Commonwealth Customs launch Vigilant, which has returned to Cairns, North Queensland, from a cruise of the Cape York Peninsula and Gulf of Carpentaria waters.

This depth is in excess of that regarded as possible by naval divers wearing full diving dress, '/and represents a pressure of about 1201 b. to the square inch on the diver’s naked body. The Japanese claim that they are able to descend to much greater depths than 300 feet, but the compressors on the luggers are not i owerful enough to supply air. Following a discovery made by Dr. Ninnno, Thursday Island medical officer, there have been few recent fatalities among the Japanese divers. Dr. Kimmo noticed that the blood of many dead divers brought up from great depths was an extremely bright red. After tests, which included sending down rats in a diving helmet, he discovered that carbon monoxide, poisoning was the cause of death. I

Th a luggers had inlet valves to the air compressors located in the bilges of the luggers, near the engines, and the divers were breathing the exhaust gases. Since this discovery, the air intakes have been moved and accidents have been reduced to a minimum.