Sea Hunt Real Life Reruns

The longest-established scuba diving magazine in North America Volume 36 Number 8

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08

FLORIDA CAVES

SEA HUNT

AZORES

DOLPHIN BOY

YUCATAN CENOTES

LOBSTERS

RED LIGHT DIVING

LOST ICE SHIP EXPLORED Under The Midnight Sun

SEA HUNT: REAL LIFE RERUNS

From the surface a little boy watches the scene, his mouth agape. He’s visibly exuberant. Next to him his mother sits with her eyes bulging out. I can’t tell if she’s horrifi ed or, like her child, excited by the unfolding drama. They are not the only witnesses to the underwater attack. There are many others, all have paid to see the spectacle, and they’re clamoring for more.

I’m in the Silver Springs basin near Ocala, Florida, where scenes such as this re-enactment were once played out – frequently – and for a considerably larger audience. Of course, I’m referring to the underwater adventure of Sea Hunt, the iconic black and white dive show of television’s early days. No one predicted the half hour episodic drama would leave such a lasting legacy on the public, and certainly no one imagined that 50 years later it would remain a cult classic.

Members of the National Association of Vintage Equipment Divers breathe new life into the heroes and villians of an iconic television show that was integral to the growth of sport diving in North America.

Text and Photography by Polina Reznikov The dive started peacefully enough. I was minding my own business meandering through tall eelgrass when a bright flash took me by surprise. Turning, I could see it was a long and lethal knife blade that had caught the sunlight and my attention. In a rapid downward swipe its razor edge handily sliced through the diver’s regulator hose. Instantly, a torrent of air burst from the slash as the hose swung wildly in the clear spring water. Eyes wide and fearful the victim gasped for the life sustaining air. Alas, his number was up. Clutching at his throat he spiraled forever into the depths.

Herman Mowery of Raleigh, North Carolina, and Henry Allan of Goldsboro, North Carolina, peform the indispensible hose-cutting scene for a glass-bottom boat audience. Photo: © Polina Reznikov

Becky Hendricks and Rick Green from Indiana, eventually subdue this aggressive aligator.

Photo: © Polina Reznikov

ABOVE: Eva Pennington, Tampa, Florida, wears Allan Klauda’s authentic recreation of a 1950s-60s tank harness. Photo: © Polina Reznikov BELOW: Sea Hunt memorabilia collector Alec Peirce adjudicated the ‘Most Authentically Dressed’ competition during the weekend ‘replays’. Photo: © Stephen Weir

36 DIVER Magazine

The show’s popularity frequently earned it a number one spot in national ratings. By way of comparison, it was as popular then as America’s Got Talent and Judge Judy is today. From a dive industry standpoint Sea Hunt was responsible for inspiring an untold number of divers since it first aired, signifi cantly influencing growth of the sport into the 1960s.

For the uninitiated, the syndicated show was broadcast from 1958 to 1961 and starred Lloyd Bridges as ex-Navy frogman Mike Nelson, who would become a highly regarded TV hero for decades to come. Silver Springs with its crystal clear water served as a desirable filming location, where approximately 100 sequences were shot, according to management. The Bahamas, California, and other Florida locations also were used to film series episodes.

Bridges was given a crash course in diving by the producer’s secretary, Zale Parry, who later appeared in a number of episodes as his co-star and stunt diver. It was only after the show ended that Bridges was formally certifi ed as a diver, and was even granted an honorary instructor rating by NAUI. Slinging his twin tanks around as if they were made out of silver painted balsa wood – which they were – Mike thrilled his audience every week duking it out with undersea villians, completing perilous salvage operations, fi nding lost treasure and, rescuing damsels in distress, always defying deadly consequences in every hair raising situation.

Over its short lifespan, Bridges became increasingly concerned for the health of the oceans, wanting to film episodes that focused more on environmental issues than on the underwater escapades of cops and robbers. Speaking out against ocean polluters, among them show sponsors, Bridges was primarlly responsible for the demise of Sea Hunt.

divermag.com 23

SEA HUNT: REAL LIFE RERUNS

From the surface a little boy watches the scene, his mouth agape. He’s visibly exuberant. Next to him his mother sits with her eyes bulging out. I can’t tell if she’s horrifi ed or, like her child, excited by the unfolding drama. They are not the only witnesses to the underwater attack. There are many others, all have paid to see the spectacle, and they’re clamoring for more.

I’m in the Silver Springs basin near Ocala, Florida, where scenes such as this re-enactment were once played out – frequently – and for a considerably larger audience. Of course, I’m referring to the underwater adventure of Sea Hunt, the iconic black and white dive show of television’s early days. No one predicted the half hour episodic drama would leave such a lasting legacy on the public, and certainly no one imagined that 50 years later it would remain a cult classic.

Members of the National Association of Vintage Equipment Divers breathe new life into the heroes and villians of an iconic television show that was integral to the growth of sport diving in North America.

Text and Photography by Polina Reznikov The dive started peacefully enough. I was minding my own business meandering through tall eelgrass when a bright flash took me by surprise. Turning, I could see it was a long and lethal knife blade that had caught the sunlight and my attention. In a rapid downward swipe its razor edge handily sliced through the diver’s regulator hose. Instantly, a torrent of air burst from the slash as the hose swung wildly in the clear spring water. Eyes wide and fearful the victim gasped for the life sustaining air. Alas, his number was up. Clutching at his throat he spiraled forever into the depths.

Herman Mowery of Raleigh, North Carolina, and Henry Allan of Goldsboro, North Carolina, peform the indispensible hose-cutting scene for a glass-bottom boat audience. Photo: © Polina Reznikov

Becky Hendricks and Rick Green from Indiana, eventually subdue this aggressive aligator.

Photo: © Polina Reznikov

ABOVE: Eva Pennington, Tampa, Florida, wears Allan Klauda’s authentic recreation of a 1950s-60s tank harness. Photo: © Polina Reznikov BELOW: Sea Hunt memorabilia collector Alec Peirce adjudicated the ‘Most Authentically Dressed’ competition during the weekend ‘replays’. Photo: © Stephen Weir

36 DIVER Magazine

The show’s popularity frequently earned it a number one spot in national ratings. By way of comparison, it was as popular then as America’s Got Talent and Judge Judy is today. From a dive industry standpoint Sea Hunt was responsible for inspiring an untold number of divers since it first aired, signifi cantly influencing growth of the sport into the 1960s.

For the uninitiated, the syndicated show was broadcast from 1958 to 1961 and starred Lloyd Bridges as ex-Navy frogman Mike Nelson, who would become a highly regarded TV hero for decades to come. Silver Springs with its crystal clear water served as a desirable filming location, where approximately 100 sequences were shot, according to management. The Bahamas, California, and other Florida locations also were used to film series episodes.

Bridges was given a crash course in diving by the producer’s secretary, Zale Parry, who later appeared in a number of episodes as his co-star and stunt diver. It was only after the show ended that Bridges was formally certifi ed as a diver, and was even granted an honorary instructor rating by NAUI. Slinging his twin tanks around as if they were made out of silver painted balsa wood – which they were – Mike thrilled his audience every week duking it out with undersea villians, completing perilous salvage operations, fi nding lost treasure and, rescuing damsels in distress, always defying deadly consequences in every hair raising situation.

Over its short lifespan, Bridges became increasingly concerned for the health of the oceans, wanting to film episodes that focused more on environmental issues than on the underwater escapades of cops and robbers. Speaking out against ocean polluters, among them show sponsors, Bridges was primarlly responsible for the demise of Sea Hunt.

divermag.com 23

SEA HUNT: REAL LIFE RERUNS

Five decades later members of the National Association of Vintage Equipment Divers (NAVED), led by Allan Klauda, were issued 20 rarely granted Silver Springs dive permits to commemorate the show’s 50th anniversary.

Because Silver Springs is a navigable body of water providing access to one of the most dangerous underwater cave systems in the state, and home to pristine fossils, it has been off-limits to recreational divers pretty much since the show ceased production. State issued permits have been granted only to a handful of cave-certified scientists conducting research on Florida’s aquifer. So getting permission to dive in these hallowed Sea Hunt waters made this a truly special event for everyone involved.

A retired high school science teacher from Rochester, New York, Klauda assembled his ‘cast’ from across the U.S. and Canada. Imposing strict equipment guidelines, he said, “If it wasn’t featured on the show and readily recognized and identifi ed with Sea Hunt, you can’t dive it, even if it’s the right era.” Authenticity was not to be messed with!

Asked why he organized the event, Klauda said, “Probably a selfi sh desire to relive my youth… but also for like-minded divers in the vintage world to dive in Silver Springs.” The broader goal of the event, he said, was to showcase Sea Hunt to younger generations so they could better appreciate its influence on his generation becoming lifelong scuba divers, affording the sport a real kick start in its formative years.

Gary Reece, Beavercreek, Ohio, winner of the ‘Most Authentically Dressed’ contest, poses for the public before a dive. Photo: © Polina Reznikov

SEA HUNT: REAL LIFE RERUNS

Gary Reece and Joe Musial are the ‘good guys’, identified by their silver-coated wetsuits. In the original series, it was a gray cement that created the silver look. Photo: © Polina Reznikov

Gary Reece of Beavercreek, Ohio, won the ‘most authentically dressed’ contest, supervised by Alec Peirce of Toronto, arguably the world’s foremost collector of Sea Hunt memorabilia. Said Gary: “I wanted to be like Mike Nelson, an expert diver always in demand. To actually be here and see all the familiar underwater scenery from show episodes is the opportunity of a lifetime.”

“Diving in Silver Springs is like being Mike Nelson for a few hours,” Mike Adams of Bear, Delaware, told me. “My parents got me mask, fi ns, and snorkel when I was seven and I’d look through that mask and breathe through my snorkel as I sat watching Mike Nelson take on the bad guys and right the world’s wrongs. At 59, Mike still thinks about Sea Hunt. “It takes me back to a simpler time in life… to simpler scuba gear too!”

There was plenty of reminiscing at Silver Springs. And the common thread through it all was just how much these divers longed to be diving in Mike Nelson’s fi n steps. And for that one unforgettable weekend their wishes came true: they became their hero, reliving the dramas of Sea Hunt for themselves and for the evident enjoyment of a local audience of park patrons.

But not every participant grew up watching Sea Hunt. Becky Hendricks of Laconia, Indiana, learned to dive on vintage equipment before she discovered the half century old TV show.

Among the younger cast members, she said, “I fell in love with diving vintage just because of the diving freedom it offers me.”

With broad smiles and infectious enthusiasm it was easy to see how these Sea Hunt fans, head to toe in their series authentic gear, readily attracted crowds. Everywhere there were troves of equipment neatly laid out and ready to be donned.

All around there was excited conversation, especially between the divers and younger people curious about all the old time gear and to hear stories of daring do… real and imagined.

On learning about Sea Hunt and the early days of underwater adventure they’d quickly enough dash off to stand in line for the glass-bottom boat tour.

ABOVE: Joe Musial of Minneapolis, Minnesota, lights an underwater flare before entering the Silver Springs cavern. BELOW: Allan Klauda of Rochester, New York, points to his quarry moments before ambush. Photo: © Polina Reznikov

The the vintage divers entered the water on a rotating schedule. Each cast member had their script to follow reenacting the well known and much loved Sea Hunt action scenes for the entertainment and edification of overhead spectators watching intently from glass-bottom boats.

As one of only two media photographers, my job was to get the shots as unobtrusively as possible. To achieve this I was using a closed ciruit rebreather that was was truly in stark contrast to my diver subjects in their decades old dive gear. Arrival of the spectator boat overhead was my cue to get ready… the action was about to begin.

Sure enough a diver soon finned onto the scene making threatening gestures at the audience with his speargun.

This is show biz after all. Immediately I was ‘in the moment’ as a knife-wielding diver – our hero – swam into the scene attacking the man armed with the speargun. To my amazement they were fighting away like it was the real thing. But of course it wasn’t and part way through their choreographed punch up, they broke apart long enough for the bad guy to shoot his spear into the leg of the good guy, who plummeted to the bottom, fake blood spewing from his thigh. But in true dramatic form he rallies and returns to fight the good fight against the underwater evil doer.

And in one of those Hollywood moments that we all cherish the villian is caught offguard by this heroic comeback and is almost immediately subdued… end of scene, exit stage left.

No sooner has this hair-raising confrontation ended when another begins. This time a defenceless damsel innocently admiring fish is accosted by an alligator. Her beau dashes to the rescue brandishing his sword-like knife. Into the fray he swims fighting tooth and nail to pry the slippery lizard free of his sweetheart. In a life and death dance with the rubber reptile, he manages to get the upper hand and a few fatal stab wounds later he emerges the victor as the beast’s lifeless corpse sinks to the bottom. Hand in hand the reunited couple swims off.

These entertaining scenes played out for me and the assembled audience throughout the Memorial Day weekend.

I was impressed considering the divers were average folks, not actors. The enthusiasm and energy expressed by them in this inspired presentation of underwater theatre sports can be attributed, I’m sure, to their collective passion for Sea Hunt and its cast of heroes and villians. Kids can give you a pretty good read on such things and these kids stepped off the boat bouncing with excitement as they dragged their parents over to see the ‘actors’.

I asked Becky about her performance. “It was immense fun,” she said, recalling audience reaction. “There was excitement in their eyes and smiles on their faces. They were really involved, they’d move to the edge of their seats watching us and waving.”

Whatever their history with Sea Hunt, the bond among these divers can be found in the reverence they have for the show, their love of ‘minimalist’ gear, and the fellowship they enjoy in these common interests. In the spirit of full disclosure I could not resist trying vintage gear diving during the weekend and truth be told, it was liberating.

And what of it all I asked Klauda at the end. So long as everyone had some fun, it was a success, he said. “If the public was entertained and learned a little and the cast has some memories to take home, then it was all worthwhile,” he said, noting that the show and its fans have had their day.

He said unless a similar nostalgia can be instilled in a new generation it’s not likely this kind of real life replay will recur.

“But Sea Hunt will live on in reruns and on DVD and certainly in our memories.”

And I can’t help thinking about the kids who were so pumped by the weekend show. It may not produce any new vintage diving enthusiasts but I have a good feeling that a few seeds were planted for a some new divers to emerge later on. And maybe when they’re certified and someone says to them, “So how’d you get into diving,” they’ll smile and say: “Sea Hunt.”

divermag.com 57

SEA HUNT: REAL LIFE RERUNS

Five decades later members of the National Association of Vintage Equipment Divers (NAVED), led by Allan Klauda, were issued 20 rarely granted Silver Springs dive permits to commemorate the show’s 50th anniversary.

Because Silver Springs is a navigable body of water providing access to one of the most dangerous underwater cave systems in the state, and home to pristine fossils, it has been off-limits to recreational divers pretty much since the show ceased production. State issued permits have been granted only to a handful of cave-certified scientists conducting research on Florida’s aquifer. So getting permission to dive in these hallowed Sea Hunt waters made this a truly special event for everyone involved.

A retired high school science teacher from Rochester, New York, Klauda assembled his ‘cast’ from across the U.S. and Canada. Imposing strict equipment guidelines, he said, “If it wasn’t featured on the show and readily recognized and identifi ed with Sea Hunt, you can’t dive it, even if it’s the right era.” Authenticity was not to be messed with!

Asked why he organized the event, Klauda said, “Probably a selfi sh desire to relive my youth… but also for like-minded divers in the vintage world to dive in Silver Springs.” The broader goal of the event, he said, was to showcase Sea Hunt to younger generations so they could better appreciate its influence on his generation becoming lifelong scuba divers, affording the sport a real kick start in its formative years.

Gary Reece, Beavercreek, Ohio, winner of the ‘Most Authentically Dressed’ contest, poses for the public before a dive. Photo: © Polina Reznikov

SEA HUNT: REAL LIFE RERUNS

ABOVE: Joe Musial of Minneapolis, Minnesota, lights an underwater flare before entering the Silver Springs cavern. BELOW: Allan Klauda of Rochester, New York, points to his quarry moments before ambush. Photo: © Polina Reznikov Gary Reece and Joe Musial are the ‘good guys’, identified by their silver-coated wetsuits. In the original series, it was a gray cement that created the silver look. Photo: © Polina Reznikov

Gary Reece of Beavercreek, Ohio, won the ‘most authentically dressed’ contest, supervised by Alec Peirce of Toronto, arguably the world’s foremost collector of Sea Hunt memorabilia. Said Gary: “I wanted to be like Mike Nelson, an expert diver always in demand. To actually be here and see all the familiar underwater scenery from show episodes is the opportunity of a lifetime.”

“Diving in Silver Springs is like being Mike Nelson for a few hours,” Mike Adams of Bear, Delaware, told me. “My parents got me mask, fi ns, and snorkel when I was seven and I’d look through that mask and breathe through my snorkel as I sat watching Mike Nelson take on the bad guys and right the world’s wrongs. At 59, Mike still thinks about Sea Hunt. “It takes me back to a simpler time in life… to simpler scuba gear too!”

There was plenty of reminiscing at Silver Springs. And the common thread through it all was just how much these divers longed to be diving in Mike Nelson’s fi n steps. And for that one unforgettable weekend their wishes came true: they became their hero, reliving the dramas of Sea Hunt for themselves and for the evident enjoyment of a local audience of park patrons.

But not every participant grew up watching Sea Hunt. Becky Hendricks of Laconia, Indiana, learned to dive on vintage equipment before she discovered the half century old TV show.

Among the younger cast members, she said, “I fell in love with diving vintage just because of the diving freedom it offers me.”

With broad smiles and infectious enthusiasm it was easy to see how these Sea Hunt fans, head to toe in their series authentic gear, readily attracted crowds. Everywhere there were troves of equipment neatly laid out and ready to be donned.

All around there was excited conversation, especially between the divers and younger people curious about all the old time gear and to hear stories of daring do… real and imagined.

On learning about Sea Hunt and the early days of underwater adventure they’d quickly enough dash off to stand in line for the glass-bottom boat tour.

The vintage divers entered the water on a rotating schedule.

Each cast member had their script to follow reenacting the well known and much loved Sea Hunt action scenes for the entertainment and edification of overhead spectators watching intently from glass-bottom boats.

As one of only two media photographers, my job was to get the shots as unobtrusively as possible. To achieve this I was using a closed ciruit rebreather that was truly in stark contrast to my diver subjects in their decades old dive gear.

Arrival of the spectator boat overhead was my cue to get ready … the action was about to begin.

Sure enough a diver soon finned onto the scene making threatening gestures at the audience with his speargun.

This is show biz after all. Immediately I was ‘in the moment’ as a knife-wielding diver – our hero – swam into the scene attacking the man armed with the speargun. To my amazement they were fighting away like it was the real thing. But of course it wasn’t and part way through their choreographed punch up, they broke apart long enough for the bad guy to shoot his spear into the leg of the good guy, who plummeted to the bottom, fake blood spewing from his thigh. But in true dramatic form he rallies and returns to fight the good fight against the underwater evil doer.

And in one of those Hollywood moments that we all cherish the villian is caught offguard by this heroic comeback and is almost immediately subdued… end of scene, exit stage left.

No sooner has this hair-raising confrontation ended when another begins. This time a defenceless damsel innocently admiring fish is accosted by an alligator. Her beau dashes to the rescue brandishing his sword-like knife. Into the fray he swims fighting tooth and nail to pry the slippery lizard free of his sweetheart. In a life and death dance with the rubber reptile, he manages to get the upper hand and a few fatal stab wounds later he emerges the victor as the beast’s lifeless corpse sinks to the bottom. Hand in hand the reunited couple swims off.

These entertaining scenes played out for me and the assembled audience throughout the Memorial Day weekend.

I was impressed considering the divers were average folks, not actors. The enthusiasm and energy expressed by them in this inspired presentation of underwater theatre sports can be attributed, I’m sure, to their collective passion for Sea Hunt and its cast of heroes and villians. Kids can give you a pretty good read on such things and these kids stepped off the boat bouncing with excitement as they dragged their parents over to see the ‘actors’.

I asked Becky about her performance. “It was immense fun,” she said, recalling audience reaction. “There was excitement in their eyes and smiles on their faces. They were really involved, they’d move to the edge of their seats watching us and waving.”

Whatever their history with Sea Hunt, the bond among these divers can be found in the reverence they have for the show, their love of ‘minimalist’ gear, and the fellowship they enjoy in these common interests. In the spirit of full disclosure I could not resist trying vintage gear diving during the weekend and truth be told, it was liberating.

Packing up, I asked Allan for his parting thoughts. "So long as everyone had fun, it was a success. If the public w as e n t e r t a i n e d a n d l e a r n e d a l i t t l e a n d t h e c a s t h a s some memories to take home, then it was all worthwhile,” he said, noting that the show and its fans have had their day. He added "Unless a similar nostalgia can be instilled in a new generation, Sea Hunt may only live in re-runs, DVDs, and in the memories of those who watched it.”

As I listen I can't help but t hink of scores of excited kids who were so pumped by the weekend show. It may not produc e any new vintage diving enthusiasts, but I have a good feel i ng that thi s event w i l l be responsible for inspiring a new generation of enthusiastic divers who, when asked, " S o, how di d you get i nto diving?" They would smile and say: "Sea Hunt".