Thursday, May 21, 2009

The world can watch the sinking of the Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg as an artificial reef live via the Internet on the aptly named Web site http://www.sinkthevandenberg.com.

A production team from Valeo Films will film the sinking from a nearby boat and transmit it live via satellite to the Internet.

David Ulloa, technical diver and underwater videographer, is president of Valeo Films and has been aware of the Vandenberg project for several years.

"As a diver, I've been keeping track of the project for a while," he said. "This has always been on my radar."

Ulloa has worked for Discovery's Military Channel on a documentary detailing the sinking of the USS Oriskany aircraft carrier off Pensacola, Fla., and has been an underwater camera operator for the show "Quest for Sunken Warships."

"My friend, Mike Ange, editor of Seaduction online magazine, invited me in as part of the technical dive team following the scuttling," he said. "I thought there may be something missing from all the plans -- possibly a live presentation of it on the Internet."

Ulloa's production team is working with renowned fisherman and television personality Jose Wejebe, and will be using Wejebe's well-known Spanish Fly boat for some of the work, Ulloa said.

"There are a lot of positive, forward-thinking people doing whatever they can do make this project happen," he said, also planning to feature some live footage of the Vandenberg being towed away from its current dock at Truman Waterfront on Tuesday "so the city can say goodbye."

The sinking is expected to take less than four minutes, but it will be captured live and seen by millions, including students, divers, anglers and ecologists, Ulloa said.

Most of the advertising revenue generated from the Web site, which ranges from $20 to $2,000 per month, will be donated to Artificial Reefs of the Keys, the nonprofit group founded by Capt. Joe Weatherby and Capt. Sheri Lohr in the late 1990s to sink their dream.

"It's wonderful to see that after 13 years, there is still so much energy and excitement left for this project," said Dee McHenry, production manager for Valeo Films.

After the sinking and the live broadcast, Ulloa plans to add monthly video updates of the wreck so divers and students can track the marine life and coral growth that will become part of the ecosystem. He said he also will accept contributed videos from other divers' underwater exploration of the Vandenberg.

Ulloa plans to maintain the site for at least a year, and will be tracking how many visitors it receives. He also is planning a local contest among bars, restaurants and coffee shops to see which can have the most viewers logged in during the sinking.

"We'll track it through their IP address and the place with the most viewers logged in will get a Vandenberg artifact they can display," he said, still finalizing the details, but amazed by all the public support.

The site is up and running now, and currently features a photo of the ship, along with a countdown timer to sink day, currently planned for Wednesday, weather permitting.

"There are so few communities like Key West," McHenry said. "This is really altruistic synergy at its best."

mbolen@keysnews.com