Underwater reporter
The world of the seas and oceans holds an important place in the work of Hergé. Tintin and his gruff friend Captain Haddock set sail on many an adventure, even diving beneath the surface of the water on the quest for shipwrecks and treasure.
Tintin's crowning maritime moment comes in the adventure Red Rackham's Treasure when the reader dives through Hergé's comic strips, deep into the fantastic underwater environment of the Caribbean Sea.
Hergé paid close attention to photographs and other archive material in his possession as he crafted the jaw-dropping beauty of the bottom of the sea. The author was also inspired by real-life adventurers and inventors such as Auguste Piccard and the notorious Henri de Monfreid, as he created his characters.
Readers of the Tintin.com journal are about to set off on an adventure with a man who is passionate about the sea, someone who has also been a world-champion free-diver. This Belgian Tintin fan has travelled the world with a camera and notepad to document his journey, as he explores the depths of the seas worldwide.
His name is Fred Buyle.
As far back as he can remember, books were always an important part of Buyle's life. He searched through the shelves at home for anything he could find on the sea, adventurers, ships and maritime exploration.
At the young age of 4 years old he already had his heart set on a life of adventure. Some boys dream of becoming policemen, pilots or firemen... Fred Buyle wanted to travel the oceans. The story of Red Rackham's Treasure helped to stoke this desire, and pushed him to become what he is today: a photographer and diver. He can remember poring over each detail of Hergé's drawings in wonder, before even being able to read. The words and sounds of the book were provided by his grandmother, who read the stories to him.
Tintin.com is setting off with Fred Buyle to discover the oceans all over the world. There will be many missions ahead and to help us on our quest we will be accompanied by Tintin and Snowy in Professor Calculus's shark submarine. The adventure begins at Nemo 33, which was the deepest diving pool in the world until the opening in February 2014 of the Y-40 pool in Italy. The first mission is to test Calculus's submarine at depth, to ensure that it can navigate without floating to the surface like a balloon or sinking to the bottom like a stone.
Log book:
Date: 11 March 2015
Location: Nemo 33, Uccle, Brussels, Belgium
Mission objective: first test of the submarine and visit of the underwater photogaphy exhibition.
Depth: 10m (pressure 2 atmospheres).
Duration: 1h dive
Notes: The submarine is ready for missions in the wild, to be undertaken in 2015!
Join us in a few weeks when we set off on saltwater adventures with Fred Buyle and the shark submarine!