好迷人！富豪「私人潛艇」拍到巨型烏賊 探索沈船

「擁有潛水艇之所以成為一種流行，部分是因為擁有一艘潛水艇是件很酷的事。」位於加利福尼亞的SEAmagine Hydrospace 潛水艇製造公司的老闆，查理斯•克內（Charles Kohnen）說，「這不僅是想要抵達人類從未到過的地方，而且到了以後還要回來把這件事告訴其他人。」
“Part of this trend is that it is cool to have a submarine and part of it is that a private person can support research with it,” said Charles Kohnen, owner of submarine builder SEAmagine Hydrospace Corp in California. “This is not just an effort to go where no man has gone before. This is going where no man has gone before — and come back to tell about it.”

2013年，研究員搭乘一艘私人潛艇在日本沿海，首次拍到一隻巨型烏賊在自然棲息地的生活狀態。2015年3月，微軟聯合創始人保羅•艾倫（Paul Allen）的潛水艇幫助一個團隊發現了二次世界大戰時，在菲律賓沿海被擊沉的日本武藏號戰艦。
In 2013, researchers travelling in a privately owned submarine off the coast of Japan filmed a giant squid in its natural habitat for the first time. And, in March of this year, a team using submarines owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen found the Japanese battleship Musashi, which had been sunk off the coast of the Philippines in World War II.

雖然私人潛艇造價昂貴，但富豪把海底當成新的遊樂場，願意砸大錢來買這種特別的新玩具。佛羅里達的潛水艇工程師約翰•拉姆瑟（John Ramsay）正在設計一款能抵達海底最深處的潛水艇：「2500萬美元的雙人潜水艇需要6個月時間設計。」
Some billionaires see the ocean depths as a new playground. “The $25m, two-man submarine will take six months to design” a Florida engineer, John Ramsay said.

這些私人潛水艇不僅是富豪探險的玩具，還可以推動專業的研究和探索，因為買得起潛水艇的研究機構極少，更不用說能夠承受潛水艇保養、維修的費用，或是把潛水艇運到海上的高昂運輸開支。所以研究員與私人艇主合作，可以幫助人類更了解海洋。
A new breed of billionaires is willing to pay big for a new holiday adventure, as well as to support research of new sea life. Not many people can afford to buy a submarine, let alone pay for upkeep and maintenance or cover the cost of the expensive ship that’s required to transport it out to sea. So, teaming up with a private owner has proven to be one promising strategy.

哥斯大黎加的研究人員和科學家，就用名為“DeepSee”的潛水艇，在離大陸350英里遠的科科島（Cocos Island ）探索附近海域。由於獨特的洋流交匯，那片水域蘊藏大量珍稀的珊瑚，它們隱藏在海底極深的地方，從未見過陽光，因而沒有顏色。
In Costa Rica, a submarine named DeepSee is being used by adventure travellers, researchers, and scientists for dives predominantly around Cocos Island, about 350 miles off the mainland. With its unique cross currents, the water surrounding the islands is rich with rare coral and marine life, from crustaceans to whale sharks.

DeepSee的主人是一家同名的私人公司。公司運營經理舒姆裡克•布魯姆（Shmulik Blum）說，公司讓哥斯大黎加大學研究人員免費使用潛水艇，因為他們有時會發現人類從未見過的新的海洋生物。
Deep See’s owner, an eponymous private company, allows researchers from the University of Costa Rica to take the sub down for free, said operations manager Shmulik Blum, and they sometimes find new sea life never seen before.

大多數私人潛水艇的下潛深度不到1000米。因為水下高壓，會對客艙造成很大壓力。因此Triton潛水艇公司在德國斥資100萬美元建造了一個外壁6.5英寸厚的丙烯球體客艙。
Most private subs reach depths of 1,000m or less. The biggest construction challenge remains the compartment that holds passengers, which become compromised when under pressure at depth. Triton’s subs include a 6.5-inch-thick acrylic passenger bubble made in Germany at a cost of about $1m.
德克薩斯州農工大學海洋考古學專案名譽教授喬治•巴斯（George Bass），是全世界，特別是地中海地區，發現最多沉船的探險者之一。他曾在土耳其沿海用SEAmagine公司的潛水艇一個月內發現了14艘沉船。SEAmagine老闆克內說，私人潛水艇行業還在萌芽階段。目前全世界一共有四家公司、20到30艘私人載人潛水艇。
George Bass, professor emeritus at the Texas A&M University Nautical Archaeology Program. Bass is one of the world’s most prolific hunters of shipwrecks, especially in the Mediterranean. Using a SEAmagine submarine off the coast of Turkey, he once found 14 wrecks in a month. According to Kohnen, the personal submarine industry is still nascent, which only comprises four companies that account for just 20 to 30 privately owned and manned subs across the globe.

資料來源///www.bbc.com/capital/story/20150717-the-latest-billionaire-toy