Biologist, rebreather diver, inventor profile of Pyle Stops or... database manager X-RAY MAG catches up with the ever-inventive and contemplative pioneer, Richard Pyle, to find out what makes him tick, insights into his theories, and the stories behind his accomplishments. Who is Richard Pyle really? A biol- all about it on my website—and hats. I have my fish hat and my ogist or a rebreather diver? then decided not to give up on rebreather hat. They are two very deep diving but to learn to do it different things to think about, Excellent question, many peo- properly. That led me to Bill Stone. as the topics are very different. I ple have asked me that. I am I read his article about trimix div- enjoy being able to think about definitely a biologist. My whole ing—this was before technical div- them both. life I have been interested in ing became a common term—in fishes, and I don’t know why but 1987. (See Interview with Bill Stone The reason I ask is that you seem it always has been that way. I’ve in X-RAY MAG #15). So, I wrote to have not just one, but two had an aquarium since I was a him a little letter and I asked,“How claims to fame. little kid, so fishes have always do you do this?” And he then come first. Scuba diving was wrote me back and told me, “We It is actually more, as I have four a tool to get access to fishes. do it this way…” So, I learned how worlds that I move in—and my The most exciting part for me is to do trimix diving from Bill Stone, family is my fifth world. The four finding new things that nobody and through him, I also learned worlds that I travel in are: The ever found before, and I quickly about rebreathers, as he was saltwater aquarium world—I am learned that the only way I already building rebreathers at actually more known to people could go where my Ph.D advisor that time. So, I got into rebreath- in the saltwater aquarium world P.H.Randall hadn’t already found ers through fishes, and if I had to than any of the other worlds— a fish was—and he has been all give one of them up, I would give and I always get invited to give over the world other than down— up rebreathers before fishes. keynote presentations at aquar- so I got into deep diving to try to ium meetings, but generally, I get into a new place and find I am definitely a biologist first have been too busy to do that. new kinds of new fishes nobody and a rebreather diver second. The second world is the fish world found before. There is a lot of his- But I will say that I get almost as where I know a lot of people and tory there, but I started off with much enjoyment out of thinking then, of course, the rebreather regular scuba, going deeper about the technical aspects of and tech world. But there is a and deeper and deeper. And the diving. I enjoy thinking about completely different world from I found out the hard way what rebreathers and technical diving which I get my pay check, and the problems were. I got a bad almost as much as thinking about that is for programming databas- case of the bends—you can read fishes, so every day I change es. Most of my travelling goes to RichardA talk with Pyle 62 X-RAY MAG : 21 : 2008 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY EDUCATION PROFILES PORTFOLIO CLASSIFIED profile Richard Pyle meetings to discuss standards for But you are the one that is widely What is the computer databases, so we can credited with coining the term—or “Twilight Zone”? exchange data about biological in some way being synonymous diversity from different computers with—“The Twilight Zone” around the world. I am chang- In this context, the ing between all these hats all It actually started out with Walter coral-reef Twilight Zone the time and between all these Starck who I think got credit for is roughly defined as cor- Divers on scuba different groups of people. A lot recognising that this depth zone, al-reef habitat at depths have mostly of times, I joke about…you know however we want to define it, say between about 200 feet explored reefs what a nerd or geek is, someone from 50 to 150 meters, is await- (60 meters) and 500 feet down to 60m who is too much into something ing to be explored. (Scubadivers (150 meters). … I have found that in those can rarely go beyond 40m and Dr. Walter Starck is one of the worlds there are geeks in every submersibles rarely operate shal- pioneers in the scientific investi- The upper limit repre- one of them. Some are science lower than 150m – ed.). Walter gation of coral reefs. He grew up sents the approximate nerds about the fish, and some Starck, aside from his fame as a in the Florida Keys and received maximum depth to are dive nerds. photographer, his most signifi- a PhD in marine science from which stony corals tend cant contribution was to build the the University of Miami in 1964. to dominate the reef There are different sorts of gen- very first electronically controlled He has over 40 years worldwide structure, and the lower iuses? rebreather, the Electrolung. He experience in reef studies, and limit represents the maxi- invented this rebreather to do his work has encompassed the mum depth at which The funny thing is that across what I do, to find new fishes on discovery of much of the basic significant photosynthe- the topics, they all have the the deeper coral reefs but this nature of reef biology. In this sis occurs (the maximum The “Twilight Zone” same characteristics, and I am was back in the 1960’s. Of all the process, over 100 species of fish- depth to which the living one of the nerds. In fact, I am a known technical divers, es, which were new to science, coral reef extends). We may know more about nerd in all four categories. I am the least pioneer were found as well as numerous, the ocean floor than we I can have the same sort because rebreather corals, shells, crustaceans and The reason the coral- know about the coral-reef of excited conversations diving. in the other new discoveries. reef Twilight Zone is Twilight Zone over dinners regardless sense of what shallower than the of whether it is about I use it for, was In the early 1960s, he began the open-ocean Twilight databases, fishes or already invent- first extensive exploration of coral Zone stems mostly from rebreathers. I am sur- ed by Walter reefs at night. the difference in water prised how similar it is. Starck when I clarity between the two came along. In In conjunction with this work, he habitats. In fact, I am a that was among the first to adapt nerd in all four and use SLR cameras and elec- In the open ocean, tronic flash underwater. This, in the crystal-clear water categories turn, enabled the first underwa- allows sunlight to pen- ter macro photography. In 1964, etrate considerably he developed the optical dome deeper than around Submersibles port now used universally for coral reefs, where the have mostly wide-angle underwater photog- water is often teeming explorerd raphy. with plankton. depths below 150m In 1968, he developed the Therefore, the biologi- Electrolung—the first electroni- cally important transition cally regulated, closed circuit, zone between light and mixed gas scuba. With the dark exists at somewhat Electrolung, Dr Starck began shallower depths around exploring the deep reefs beyond coral reefs. ■ the frontiers of compressed air diving, and many exciting new discoveries resulted. ■ SOURCE: WWW.GOLDENDOLPHIN.COM 63 X-RAY MAG : 21 : 2008 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY EDUCATION PROFILES PORTFOLIO CLASSIFIED respect, I am just a late he used the phrase about all it. One, is that we know so Bio comer. There was also anoth- the discoveries awaiting to little about it, about the spe- Deep Stops = Pyle Stops Dr. Richard Pyle was born and raised er guy, Pat Colin, who was a be done in the twilight zone. cies and about the interac- in Hawaii, where he caught an inter- bit later than Walter Starck He was probably the first, tions that go on there. The est for fish from a very early age. He and was also inspired by him. and then I started applying other thing is that it is a transi- set up his first aquarium when he was He also built his own rebreath- that term, and then I started tion zone. One environment Deep stops seems to This is an excerpt from an arti- five years old, and started scuba div- er to go down to the deep talking about it. But then where the coral reef meets cle Richard Pyle wrote 10 years ing when he was 13. By the age of 19, be the latest buzz-word reef zones, so I am not the biologists got angry with me, another environment, the ago: he lived in Palau where his passion for when it comes to promot- discovering new fishes lured him into first, by a long shot. because that term already open ocean, deep water, resulting in a crippling applies to something in the and this zone While you may ing the latest models of Back before the concept of case of decompression sickness while But I seem to be the lucky middle of the ocean, about is the bridge think that it dive computers.