French TV to film historic diver at Living Coasts

A prime-time French TV show is filming an historic hard hat diver at Living Coasts in Torquay on Saturday.

Ray Ives, from Plymouth, is well-known in diving circles. The retired commercial diver, aged 77, previously went diving with the penguins to mark Living Coasts’ tenth birthday in 2013.

He will be using an old diving suit dating from the 1900s and a heavy brass helmet. Hand-driven pumps will feed air to him down a hose. He will clean the underwater viewing windows and hopefully interact with the penguins.

Thalassa is one of the long-running and most popular programmes on French TV. Shown every Friday on France 3, the French public channel, it is entirely focused on the sea – Thalassa is ancient Greek for sea.

On Saturday at Living Coasts from 10.00am Ray will be getting ready to dive and talking with the public. People will have the chance to ask him about his suit and about his undersea exploits.

He is likely to be in the water between 11.00 and midday. Visitors will be able to watch from the underwater viewing areas. For more information go to www.livingcoasts.org.uk or ring 0844 474 3366.