In Conversation with David Strike: From Carriers to Caves with Brian Kakuk

87

In Conversation with David Strike:
From Carriers to Caves with Brian Kakuk

Moderator:
David Strike [Australia] ADEX Ambassador for Technical Diving, Pioneer & Fellow of The Explorers Club

Speakers:
Brian Kakuk [USA / Bahamas] Founder/Director of the Bahamas Caves Research Foundation, Co-Owner/Operator of Bahamas Underground Cave and Technical Diving Facility Brian Kakuk
Brian is a former U.S. Navy Diver with over 30 years of professional diving experience. His work has taken him beneath nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers, to jumping from helicopters into 10- foot seas to recover million-dollar weapon systems, to record penetrations of underwater cave systems around the world. His research diving work with various governmental and scientific institutions has revealed new species of cave adapted marine life, as well as the discovery of fossils that are now repainting the picture of the Bahamas past environment.
His expertise in diving safety has been used widely in the feature film industry as a Diving Safety Officer and underwater stuntman. With more than 3000 exploration cave dives, Brian is considered one of the leading authorities on the underwater/underground environments of the Bahamas and is a veteran of multiple high-profile underwater cave expeditions in the Bahamas, Mexico, Belize, Bermuda, Dominican Republic, Australia, Christmas Island, Sardinia Italy, Kefalonia, Greece, Budapest, Hungary and the U.S.
Though a seasoned underwater explorer, photographer, author, cave diving instructor and conservationist, Brian’s primary efforts are in the pursuit of the protection of underwater caves in the Bahamas, with a current focus on the Crystal Caves of Abaco Island and the massive fracture caves of Andros Island. Brian is working hand in hand with the Bahamian Government and local NGOs to preserve the world’s most highly decorated and scientifically significant underwater cave systems.
On the side, Brian assists several equipment manufacturers with the development of new side mounted cave diving equipment and closed-circuit breathing apparatus.
Brian is an Advanced Cave and Technical Instructor Trainer for and serves on the International Advisory Board of the International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers (IANTD). He is a Cave Diving Instructor for the U.S. National Speleological Society – Cave Diving Section and Diving Consultant for the National Museum of the Bahamas (Antiquities Monuments and Museums Corporation) and is a Fellow of the Explorer’s Club of New York.