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Members of our intrepid team!
Below you will see the members of NZTech07...champing at the bit and ready for action!
Craig Howell - Niagara Expedition leader (Pearse and Niagara)
 Craig lives in Melbourne and is well known in cave diving circles, but is best known for deep wreck diving with sites like the Andrea Doria, Empress of Ireland, Repulse and Prince of Wales under his belt. He is a veteran of a past Niagara expedition, and on most weekends can be found diving the rugged waters of Bass Strait in the ships' graveyard. In a recent expedition he was in the first group to successfully dive the SS William Dawes in New South Wales to a depth of 130m. With literally thousands of wreck dives logged around the world, it is unlikely there is a more experienced wreck diver in Australasia. Hence Craig is well qualified to lead the Niagara component of the expedition.
Dives - a Prism and a Prism sidemount.
Dave Apperley - Pearse Expedition Leader (Pearse and Niagara)
 Dave is one of the “old men” of Australian tech diving at the tender age of 39! His achievements are legendary and include the first expeditions to the RMS Niagara in 1999. He is responsible for most of the exploration of the Pearse Resurgence to date. A highly respected cave and wreck diver, he also teaches mixed gas and rebreather diving. As the inaugural recipient of the Australasian Technical Diver of the Year, there is no-one better qualified to lead the Pearse leg of the expedition.
Dives - the "Twinspiration"
Richard "Harry" Harris - Medic, photographer, website guy (Pearse and Niagara)
 Harry lives in Adelaide where he works as an anaesthetist and a physician in diving medicine. Diving since 1979, he is an experienced cave and deep wreck diver. His main contribution to the expedition will be underwater photography and video, as well as medical support. With over 30 articles published in the international diving and adventure literature including Australian Geographic, he will focus on covering the expedition in photographic and written form.
Dives - modified KISS and sidemount CCR
Craig Challen - Rebreather diver (Niagara)
 Craig is a Perth veterinary surgeon who has enormous experience in both cave and wreck diving. From the final sump of Cocklebiddy Cave, to the RMS Niagara, to numerous trips to the South China Sea and the deep wrecks of NSW, this experience make Craig a vital member of the team.
Dives - A Megalodon, sometimes a "Twin Meg"
Leigh Bishop - Still photographer, rebreather diver (Niagara)
 Regarded by many as Europe's foremost deep wreck photographer, Leigh Bishop has adopted mix gas to explore deep wrecks around the world since 1991. In 1997, his 'King Edward V11' expedition off North Scotland became the first of its kind to explore wrecks beyond 330ft depths in European waters.
Now concentrating more towards lost 20th Century Ocean liners, his passion for this calibre of vessel has steered him to some of history's most famous shipwrecks, photographically cataloguing each one as he explores them.
During several expeditions to the Lusitania he has accumulated almost ten hours of dive time physically on the wreck building the most extensive collection of images of the vessel to date. More recently he has photographed the WWII liner 'Transylvania' sunk in 445ft off the north Atlantic and was lead photographer for the recent 400ft deep 'Britannic 2003' expedition. During 2001 he brought back the first images of the lost gold treasure shipwreck 'Egypt' sunk in deep water in the Western Atlantic and, again in 2001, Leigh Bishop made the discovery of the famous shipwreck, 'Flying Enterprise' lost in 1952.
He believes that we are currently in the golden age of shipwreck exploration and even after a decade of specialized deep exploration himself, he is convinced that this has only just scraped the surface of what's to come. Now using rebreather technology, he has documented for the first time countless shipwrecks through collective time capsulated periods. Established as a leading researcher, Leigh has been responsible for much of the location work of notable shipwrecks. When not diving or researching a project he lectures and writes extensively, having successfully published on the subject of deep wreck exploration throughout the world since 1994.
Dives - a variety of rebreathers
Tim Cashman - Rebreather diver (Niagara)
 Another highly experienced technical diver, Tim lives in Wales but in the 1990’s spent time in NZ to work in the timber industry. In 1998 he approached Keith Gordon for assistance to dive the RMS Niagara; and so the modern history of the wreck’s exploration began. Now a veteran of both the Niagara and the Pearse Resurgence, Tim’s presence on the trip will mean a wealth of experience onboard when we get to the wreck. I just hope he doesn't bring that there nipper.
Dives - an Inspiration
Rick Stanton - British cave diver (Pearse)
 In cave diving there are two different styles; technical divers who dive in flooded caves but rarely leave the water and cavers who dive but treat the flooded section as a barrier to finding further dry cave. Rick Stanton is a rarity in that he is at the
top of both disciplines. Standing at the forefront of British cave diving for over twenty years, Rick Stanton has, in the last 8 years, been involved in more technical cave diving using rebreathers - often two at a time - for long penetration and depth.
In 2004 when six British soldiers were trapped in a Mexican cave by floodwater, Rick Stanton was one of two divers flown out by the British Government to accomplish the rescue. Constantly making and adapting equipment especially for the cave environment, Rick Stanton believed that small, lightweight rebreathers offered a way of furthering exploration at many sites. He has developed and manufactured two lightweight CCR units, most recently a unique side mount, fully closed circuit rebreather which has been instrumental in his achieving the British cave diving depth record of 90m in challenging circumstances at Wookey Hole, the birth place of UK cave diving.
Dives - all sorts of scary homemade kit!
John Dalla-Zuanna - Rebreather diver (Niagara)
 “JDZ” began cave diving in 1973 after a club trip to Mt. Gambier in South Australia. A 31-year member of the CDAA and current Penetration Diver Instructor, John has dived caves in Florida, Yugoslavia and Italy as well as caves in the Nullarbor, Jenolan and Lake Burrinjuck. As a PADI Master Instructor, John has served as a PADI Course Director for 15 years in Melbourne and is a TDI CCR rebreather (Prism & Dolphin) and TDI advanced trimix diver. He has been involved in the recent dives to the deep wrecks in NSW and has also dived the Victorian ships graveyard for many years.
Dives - a Prism and sidemount CCR
Keith Gordon - Niagara Access coordinator, ROV Operator
 A diver for 53 years now based in Tutukaka NZ, Keith is a member of the Explorers Club NY and various historical diver and underwater archeological groups. He is involved in deep water exploration using ROV and sonar technology and is the owner of SeaRov Technology Ltd which provides ROV and sonar services for shipwreck search and survey. He commenced exploration of the RMS Niagara in 1988 and holds salvage agreements for the wreck. He has provided ROV footage for various documentaries on the wreck. Author of "Deepwater Gold-The story of RMS Niagara" www.deepquest.co.nz
Niagara Support Divers
We are exceptionally privelliged to have 4 of New Zealand's finest offer their assistance during the Niagara dives! Good support on deep dives is invaluable to assist with kitting up, deploying the deco station, bringing gas or refreshments during prolonged stops and most importantly, to help a diver who finds him or herself in trouble for any reason. Thanks to the following divers who are coming to share our adventure:
Mary Carney David Moran Peter Snooks Dave Young | | | | |
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