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Boy goes on deep-sea adventure

While with his explorer father, the Belleair 13-year-old breaks a world record as youngest to venture to the Titanic.

By LORRI HELFAND
Published August 16, 2005

	[Photo by Werner Mayes]
	Sebastian Harris, left, and his father, G. Michael Harris, pose inside the Mir 2.

Sebastian Harris topped all of his classmates with his summer adventure.

The 13-year-old Belleair boy and his father dived 21/2 miles to explore the wreckage of the Titanic.

Sebastian also set a world record for being the youngest and for diving the deepest to visit the ill-fated ship, according to Laura Barrett, U.S. marketing manager for Guinness World Records.

Last Friday, his exploits were featured on Good Morning America.

"I was more nervous going on TV than going on the Titanic," said Sebastian, a ninth-grader at Calvary Christian High School.

His father, G. Michael Harris, runs an exhibit called "Titanic - The Experience" in Orlando. He had promised to bring his son along on one of his expeditions when Sebastian turned 13. The elder Harris planned the trip to shoot a documentary and explore his theories about the wreck.

Harris said his own father, also a Titanic researcher, lectured him about bringing Sebastian, saying it was unsafe.

But Harris, a Christian who had made the dive seven times before, said he wanted his son to have the once-in-a-lifetime experience.

"We feel we can die just as easily being hit by a bus as we can diving to the Titanic. We believe it's out of the body in the presence of the Lord. That's how we roll," Harris said.

Sebastian's mother, Amy, said she was worried a bit. "You worry to a certain degree," she said. "But it's not a paralyzing fear."

Shelley Dawicki, an expert familiar with submersible vehicles like the Mir, said there are risks, but those risks are not age-related.

"It's certainly risky. Going down that deep is as dangerous as going up in a space shuttle. In those depths, there are not many other vehicles that can save you," said Dawicki, director of media relations for Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. A 1985 expedition by her institution was the first to locate the Titanic.

Harris and his son were joined by curators, historians, exhibit employees and a camera crew.

On July 31, Sebastian, Harris and the crew took off from St. John's, Newfoundland, on a research vessel called the Akademik Mstislav Keldysh.It took two days to steam to the Titanic site in the Atlantic.

On Aug. 4, Sebastian, Harris and pilot Anatoly Sagalevitch climbed into the Mir 2, a submersible deep-sea vessel . Its three-man crew area was basically a 61/2-foot sphere, which they shared with underwater equipment.

After donning fire-retardant suits made of a material called Nomex, it didn't take long for the three to swelter in the capsule's 110-degree heat. The suits are necessary because the interior is a highly flammable, high oxygen environment.

The Mir 2 was rocking and rolling before it started to descend.

Then it started a smooth spiral to the depths.

At about 45 minutes, Sebastian was dazzled by neon fireworks, speckles of light from marine bioluminescent organisms.

It would take more than two hours to reach the Titanic. While they descended, Harris listened to Christian music, while Sebastian watched a movie.

The best part, Sebastian said, was when they finally positioned themselves above the bow of the ship. He peered out the porthole to see a surreal image.

"It was like looking at a picture. It was like you're watching TV," he said.

About six hours into the dive, the oxygen levels started to dip.

Sebastian got a headache from the lack of oxygen and lay down.

"Without knowing it, I was out," Sebastian said.

Harris quickly unscrewed a lever on the oxygen bottle and Sebastian came to.

On the expedition, Harris said, he was able to find evidence that confirmed his theory that the ship broke apart farther south than where it currently sits. As evidence, he said he saw a field of debris about 900 meters south of the ship.

Sebastian said he's still digesting his adventure and trying to fathom the fact that he broke a world record.

"Wow! I did that. That hasn't even hit me yet," Sebastian said.

--Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report. Lorri Helfand can be reached at 445-4155 or at lorri@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 16, 2005, 16:43:44]