New Date. New Location. New Prices.
The first sign of spring! Canada’s biggest
underwater dive festival set to begin!
TORONTO, January 30, 1999 ... Whales. Sharks. Shipwrecks. Futuristic
mechanical dive suits. Everything underwater is coming to the Toronto
Congress Centre this February 26th, 27th and 28th at Underwater Canada ‘99.
New technologies. New uses for diving. New holiday destinations. Diving
Approaches the Millennium is the theme for the 27th annual show and the
exhibits, lectures and always popular Film Festival, are definitely of the
next century!
Canadian inventor and honourary Haidi tribal member, Phil Nuytten has just
developed a dive suit that is one part submarine and one part robot. When
Nuytten’s Newtsub Deep Worker 2000 goes into production, humans will be able
to walk freely on the ocean floor two thousand feet below the surface. The
British Columbia engineer is headlining Underwater Canada ‘99 and will be at
the exhibition throughout the weekend. Mr. Nuytten is premiering underwater
footage of his amazing new dive suit and acting as the master of ceremonies
at the exhibition’s gala Saturday Evening Film Show and Dance.
Mr. Nuyteen will be introducing a cast of giants in the field of diving. Cathy
Kinsman, a Canadian diver who has made her life’s work to swim with and
videotaope whales will be using Underwater Canada to debut a movie about a
whale named Wilma. Undersea Explorer (Outdoor Life Channel) producer Jim
Kozmik has just returned from Egypt’s Red Sea. Mr. Kozmik explored and filmed
the wreck of the Salem Express, a death ship still filled with the possessions
of over 500 dead pilgrims. Scuba diving in orbit? Canadian Space Agency’s Pat
Sullivan is presenting a film at Underwater Canada 99 that demonstrates that
the idea isn’t that farfetched! Michigan underwater explorer David Trotter
and Jim Willoughby, one of the country’s first subsurface film maker will also
be debuting movies at this popular film festival.
The 27th annual dive show continues to be the forum for all aspects of diving
in this country. In the exhibit hall the latest in scuba gear, travel
destinations and training programs will be on display. Industry leaders will
be giving free product lectures throughout the show and there will be a dive
tank where new gear will be demonstrated. For divers and for people
interested in in all things aquatic, Underwater Canada is the best place in
North America to attend world leading seminars, lectures and workshops.
Explorers, safety experts, historians, and photographers will take part in
giving over 40 lectures, seminars and workshop which are held daylong on both
Saturday and Sunday.
Other not-to-be missed Underwater Canda ‘99 events include: the Canadian
Festival of Underwater Images -- a national juried show of underwater
photographs, a Silent Auction and a display of the equipment and technology
used by the Canadian Navy to recover the remains of Swiss Flight 111 last year
in Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia!
"We have made some major changes in Underwater Canada." said show manager
Nancy Parton. "We have a new date for the show (it used to be held in late
March), we are in a new hall with new pricing in place. And, for the first
time in years exhibitors will be able to, albeit on a limited basis, allowed
to sell scuba gear to the public."
Show hours are:
Friday, February 26th. 6 pm - 10 pm,
Saturday, February 27th 9am - 7 pm,
Sunday February 28th 9 am - 4:00 pm.
General Admission is $12.00 and includes free parking, entrance to the hall and seats at all exhibitor’s
demonstrations and product launches.There are a variety of passes and tickets
available for the seminars, movies and workshops. The Toronto Congress Centre
is located on Dixon Road in the city’s airport district, just north of Highway
401. Underwater Canada is a non-profit show run completely by volunteers. The
show is owned and administered by the not-for-profit Ontario Underwater
Council. For show information call the Ontario Underwater Council at: (416)
426-7033 or visit their website at: www.underwatercanada.com.
Steven Weir
