My first reaction was "why do we need a Hollywood director involved in an underwater project?" but now recall that Cameron is highly experienced underwater. Because of previous projects at extreme depths he also knows a number of people who have extensive engineering knowledge in depths beyond the current well leak. Looking for assistance beyond the halls of BP increasingly makes sense as this drags on. The problem now turns to the White House and whether they will allow outside views or if they will remain as stubborn and arrogant as BP. Let's hope they're open minded.
While acknowledging that his contacts in the deep-sea industry do not drill for oil, Cameron said that they are accustomed to operating various underwater vehicles and electronic optical fiber systems.
"Most importantly," he added, "they know the engineering that it requires to get something done at that depth."
Among the key issues that Cameron said he is interested in helping the government with are methods of monitoring the oil leak and investigating it.
"The government really needs to have its own independent ability to go down there and image the site, survey the site and do its own investigation," he said.
"Because if you're not monitoring it independently, you're asking the perpetrator to give you the video of the crime scene," Cameron added.
