Ian Moore – The impact of perfume after 6 months at sea

We had a bunch of guys come down from some medical University, who wanted to take samples. They knew what we were going to undergo, so they wanted to take hair samples, skin samples, urine, blood samples …

Simon: Because of the lack of oxygen?

To see what sort of effect it would have on the human body for that sort of deprivation of no sunlight for 6-months, this type of thing. So, we did that and then when we came back, we had those same people come down the submarine.

They met us just south of the Isle of Wight, and they were told in no uncertain terms, whatever you do when you go, don’t wash for a couple of days, don’t wear any perfume, don’t wear any aftershave, because these guys haven’t had smells like that for 6-months and you’ll send their brain into overload.

And one of the women that came down, one of the Scientists, she didn’t listen.

She passed her bag down to one of the young lads that was at the bottom of the ladder waiting for her. She came down the bottom of the ladder, she turned round and faced him, and as she turned round and faced him, he got this sudden waft of her perfume al over him.

He threw up all over her. His brain just went in to overload and he immediately just ‘whoop, sorry’ (laughs).