A statue honoring the history of deepwater diving development in Santa Barbara, California was unveiled this past weekend.
The Deepwater Diving Monument recognizes and celebrates Santa Barbara’s legacy as the birthplace of deepwater diving. This public art was gifted to the city by the local and international diving communities. The 10-foot/3-meter bronze sculpture is installed adjacent to the Santa Barbara harbor, depicting a circa-1982 professional working diver wearing the locally made and world standard Kirby Morgan Superlight 17 diving helmet.
Why Santa Barbara, California?
Santa Barbara is recognized by most international guiding historians as the birthplace of deepwater diving technology. During the 1960s, many of the Santa Barbara abalone divers began a rapid transition from air diving to deepwater, oxyhelium, commercial diving.
The mixed-gas breathing apparatus developed in Santa Barbara was used by divers to rapidly expand the safe depth range for offshore oil exploration.
This development of equipment, technology and training infrastructures, created by the pioneering divers in Santa Barbara, rapidly spread worldwide. It revolutionized the trades of both commercial and military divers.
The monument honors all the divers and support team members who pioneered deepwater, mixed-gas diving.
The Deepwater Diving Monument was partially funded by the sale of 300 limited-edition bronze statuettes designed and sculpted by Greg Polutanovich.
Check out a video about the monument below, or go to deepwaterdivingmonument.com.
