Bell Island mine an 'underwater museum' awaiting discovery

A diving company is getting ready to launch an unconventional trip in Newfoundland: an underwater adventure in the abandoned Bell Island mine in the middle of Conception Bay.

The mine, which closed in the mid-1960s, is a key part of the history of Bell Island, which isalso the site of severalSecond World War shipwrecks that have long fascinated divers.

During the war,a German U-boat sank the SSSaganagaand SS LordStrathconain 1942, and later thatyear sankthe SS Rose Castle and thefree French vesselPLM27.

Now the focus is on the abandoned mine itself.

"It is a dive into history because of course there [are]a lot of artifacts left down there and you've got that great sense of adventure, so you have that recipe that these divers are coming to look for," saidRick Stanley, owner of Ocean Quest, adding thatwork has been ongoing to get ready for the big dive in tunnel two, planned for mid-February.

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Ocean Quest's Rick Stanley on his company's plans for scuba diving in Bell Island's old mine tunnels

"It's not just a tunnel, it's an underwater museum. There's so many things to see down there."

"We're going tobe laying some more permanent lines down in the mineshafts. We're also going to be doing some scientific data on the human body in extreme environments, we're also going to be building a destination," he told CBC's On The Go.

It's not just a tunnel, it's an underwater museum.- Rick Stanley

Stanley said this kind of destination doesn't yet exist in Newfoundland and Labrador, and will hopefully appeal to history and diving buffs around the world.

The spot where the dive called Mine Quest will happen is a section of the mine closed in 1949, ahead of the mine's complete closure in 1966.

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Stanley said there are rails, an iron ore car and tools still in the mine.

Diver died in 2007

Stanley said plans for the mine have been underway for a long time, but the death of an American diver at the site in 2007 derailed them.

According to Stanley, his friend Joe Steffendied from an air embolism,caused by a tumour, that killed him during a dive at the mine.

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"Of course that slowed down the whole process of getting Mine Quest underway it was a sad day," said Stanley. "It could have happened anywhere, not necessarily in that mine."

Stanley said despite the loss, his friend was a big supporterof the project and would have wanted it to proceed.

Not for just anyone

While the group is hoping to attract professional divers from all over the globe, Stanley said it's not for just anyone.

"You go down there, you must be ready for it and of course you must meet our criteria before we're even going tolet you down there to begin with," he said.

"It's not like an opened dive site that you can jump in and take your chances ... There's a check and balance to it all."

The Mine Quest adventure's appeal is the abilityto dive in an abandoned mine and a shipwreckall in one place.

"They have that diversity to come here for a week's holidays," said Stanley.

"We're not expecting them to be coming in droves but we are expecting that this is going to be a great addition to what we've already been successful doing with the Bell Island shipwrecks."