Diver invents underwater communicator

Mark Ribble - 

Former Sarnia resident Trevor Theriault has managed to take a near tragedy and parlay it into a nifty new invention for divers.

In 2003, while scuba diving in Cuba, Theriault was partnered with a diver who had a panic attack when the pair descended together as part of a larger group.

The diving partner took off for the surface and Trevor followed to offer assistance. The rest of the group continued with the dive. By the time they got straightened around, the rest of the group was gone, as well as the boat from which they dove.

Without any way to tell the other divers they were in trouble, all they could do was wait. The others eventually noticed and the boat did a turnaround to search for the missing pair. After some time, they were found and rescued.

The mishap prompted Theriault to think about a better way to communicate with fellow divers under water. Normally, divers communicate by tapping on their air tanks with a knife or something else, but Theriault thought there must be a better way.

One morning, he woke from a dream with a vision in his head of a device that would allow better communication with fellow divers. He drew it on paper and started asking around, doing research and surfing the net to find out if such a thing existed.

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