Newsletter

January 2016 Edition

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In This Issue:

It's Time To Renew For Discounted Rates
What's New for 2016...
Reminder: Maldives Trip Deposit Due
ADA Dive Trip to Cayman Brac
Coral: Plant, Animal, or Mineral?
Scuba Certifying Organizations
Large Whale Shark Makes Rare Appearance In Keys
Reef Shades??
Welcome New Officers and Board Members"
Carol Cox Moves to SC
Credits/Refunds for 2015 Cancelled Dives
Newsletter Delivery Options
Email or Address Change?
T-Shirts For Sale
ADA Guidelines and Policies

It's Time To Renew For Discounted Rates

The clock is counting down and we are nearing the last chance to renew at a reduced rate. Renew before March 31, 2016 and your membership fee is only $35 for a calendar year of discounts and diving news. After March 31, your annual membership renewal fee is $45.

Your membership includes periodic eNews emails about club activities as well as electronic access to The Mouthpiece monthly newsletter. You may pay by check or online. Go to http://activedivers.org/Membership-Renewal.html to renew your membership online. To pay by check, mail a check made out to "Active Divers Association" with the appropriate amount to:

Dr. Dan Baeza
Membership Chairman
Active Divers Association
7592 Parkview Way
Coral Springs, FL 33065

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What's New for 2016...

2016 is shaping up to be an exciting year for the Active Divers Association. Here are some of the important dates and events that will happen in 2016:

March 31 - Early-bird Membership Renewal Discount Ends
April 2 - ADA Season Kickoff and Volunteer Appreciation Day at the jetty pavilion
May 14 - Scuba Refresher/Tuneup
July 9 - International Dive Trip to Cayman Brac
September 17 - Coral Reef Restoration
November 13 - Second Annual Internatiional Dive-Cruise to Belize, Roatan, and Cozumel
January 28, 2017 - International Dive Trip to the Maldives
TBA - Blue Heron Inlet in Palm Beach Night Dive
TBA - Looe Key / Vandenberg Weekend

In addition, we will have an all-new dive schedule with dives planned for every weekend from April to November. New in 2016 will be the fully online signup for most of our dives (some speciality and advanced dives will still require a phone call booking). We are also planning some "members-only" exclusive dive charters as well as archeological dives on Spanish Galleons.

Exclusive ADA Charters

ADA will team up with Rainbow Reef Dive Center this summer to provide a unique ADA dive trip. A maximum of 10 divers will enjoy trips to special sites in the Key Largo area. Possibilities include drift dives on the deep Molasses Wall, French Deep, Starr Reef, and any other site WE choose. Our divers will be in command of the itinerary. There will be no other divers or snorkelers on board. Watch for our e-news and monthly newsletter for more information and dates.

Special ADA Barbeques

Now offered at the water view home of host Lee Wood. He has graciously welcomed us to his Tavernier home and will fire up his new mega-grill to prepare treats while we enjoy fabulous sunsets and sip margaritas. And as all ways, if you like to dive and eat free, just volunteer to help with purchase of food stuffs.

DID I MENTION DIVE AND EAT FREE?!! Call Lon at 305-251-4975 for more information

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REMINDER: 2017 Maldives Trip Deposit Due January 15

This is a 7-day live-aboard leaving Male, Maldives on January 28, 2017 on a NEW ship, the Carpe Novo (Latin for” Seize New”), the third ship in the fleet for this operator. Go to their website at Explorer Ventures and take a look at all of the amenities the ship has to offer, including free Wi-Fi, in-suite bathrooms, and all the latest you would expect in a new ship.

The 7 night ADA trip includes:

Free nitrox, Lower deck suites, includes transfers, all meals, free WIFI and up to 3 dives daily. Each lower deck suite has a queen size bed and a large single bed.

PACKAGE INCLUDES:

7 nights/8 days
3 meals daily, plus snacks
Up to 3 dives daily (weather and itinerary permitting)
Use of tanks (11.5L/80CF or 13.5L/100CF) with DIN & YOKE compatibilities
Air fills, weights and belts
Airport transfers on the days of embarkation/ disembarkation
Maldivian GST (General Service Tax-if increased this would be an additional charge)

For more information, or to place your deposit click here.

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Only 2 Spaces Left!!! Don't Miss Out!

ADA Dive Trip to Cayman Brac Beach Resort July 9-16, 2016

--by Daryl Johnson

It is said that Cayman Brac was originally named “Las Tortugas” by Christopher Columbus when he sighted them in 1503 for the many turtles ( “Tortugas”) spotted on the island. The island chain was later renamed by Sir Francis Drake in 1586 to “Caymanas” which is the Carib name for crocodiles. Sounds like there is an abundance of wildlife- I bet the diving back then would have been amazing!!!

As the map shows, the prominent feature of the island is a bluff that runs through the center of the island, which in Gaelic is called a “Brac” and thus the island was called “Cayman Brac”. Because of this unusual feature there are a number of interesting things to do such as hiking, cave exploring, rock climbing, etc. Check out the list of things to do on Trip Advisor by clicking here.

Of course, the best thing to do there is to go diving!! Did you know that the only sunken Russian ship wreck in the western hemisphere is off the coast of Cayman Brac? It is the MV Captain Keith Tibbetts and is rated the number 1 thing to do while on the island by Trip Advisor.

The ADA trip package includes the following:

7 nights Beach Room
Breakfast, lunch, dinner daily
Welcome Rum punch
Manager's cocktail reception
Hotel tax and service charges
Round trip airport transfers
6 days of 2-tank morning boat dives.
Use of tanks, weights, belt and dive computer (No diving the afternoon prior to departure)

There is a non-stop flight from Miami with fares below $400 currently available (not included, you must book your own airfare) which makes this super easy to get to. Ten lucky divers can join us for $1465 per person, double occupancy (single supplement is an additional charge). Just click the button below to put your deposit of $100 down now, with the final balance due April 15, 2016 (check only for final payment).

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Coral: Plant, Animal or Mineral?

--Juliana Bach, 9th grade Maritime student at MAST Academy

Corals are often mistaken for rocks or plants, but they are in fact, animals. There are 2 major types of corals: soft and hard. Hard corals have a skeleton of calcium carbonate. Soft corals do not have this skeleton, hence they are soft. Coal reefs are usually comprised of both types of coral. You will most likely find more hard corals then soft corals because hard corals make up the foundations of a reef. In part 1 of this article, we will discover different types of hard corals.

Hard Corals, also known as scleractinian or stony coral, produce a rigid skeleton made of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in a crystal form called aragonite. There are six groups of hard corals: branching & pillar corals; encrusting, mound & boulder corals; brain corals, leaf, plate & sheet corals, fleshy corals; and flower & cup corals.

Hard Corals are built by colonies of tiny animals. The colony consists of polyps that cluster in groups. The polyps belong to a group of animal known as Cnidaria, which also includes sea anemones and jellyfish. Most stony corals reproduce by broadcasting or spawning male and/or female gametes.

The most common types of hard corals include Great Star, Staghorn, Pillar, Table, Brain and Elkhorn coral.

Great Star coral colonies form massive boulders and domes over 5 feet. This coral occasionally has a fluorescent red or orange color during the daytime The Staghorn is a stony coral with cylindrical branches ranging from a few centimeters to over two meters in length and height. Staghorns reproduce by fragmentation i.e., branches break off and reattach to the ocean floor, thus making staghorns the easiest coral to restore by propagation.

Pillar corals form a base from which vertical cylindrical, round-ended columns grow. This coral can grow to a height of 10 ft. and10 cm wide.

Table corals, also known as acropora, (depending on the species and location) may grow as plates or broad branches.

The Brain coral is a common name given to corals in the family mussidae due to their generally spheroid shape and grooved surface which resembles a brain

e Elkhorn coral structure resembles elk antlers. Elkhorn coral colonies are incredibly fast growing with an average growth rate of 5 to 10cm per year. The color ranges from a brown to a yellowish brown because of the algae living inside it. The Elkhorn also reproduces by fragmentation.

What can you do to protect hard corals?

Avoid kicking up sand. Disturbed sediments kills the little animals that make a coral. “Take only pictures and leave only bubbles”

Source: http://coralreef.noaa.gov/aboutcorals/

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Scuba Certifying Organizations: PADI Is Not the Only Boat Afloat
This Month: NAUI, the National Association of Underwater Instructors

--by Roy D. Wasson

Although it seems as if most divers are certified by PADI, the Professional Association of Dive Instructors, many divers (this author included) are certified under different diving organizations. This is the first in a series of articles profiling some of the other major diving certifying agencies. First we will introduce one of the oldest scuba certifying organizations: the National Association of Underwater Instructors, or NAUI.

Formed in 1959, NAUI certifies divers at various levels and offers numerous specialty courses. It was the first to offer Nitrox training. The organization began with a training program for dive instructors led by Al Tillman, the Director of Sports for Los Angeles County, California Parks and Recreation, who saw a need from witnessing untrained divers in the early Fifties attempting to use scuba equipment in county park waters and formed a training program called the “National Diving Patrol.”

In 1959 the National Diving Patrol was renamed the National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI) and its founders planned a major instructor certification course the following year. In August 1960, a meeting of the Underwater Society of America was scheduled to be held in Houston, Texas. NAUI’s first Instructor Certification Course was held in connection with that meeting with 72 candidates.

After six days of training described as a “Hell Week,” 53 instructors graduated and became the first training members of the National Association of Underwater Instructors. In October 1961, NAUI was incorporated in the State of California as a non-profit educational organization.

NAUI grew throughout the 1960s by way of large instructor certification courses conducted throughout North America. NAUI relied primarily on volunteers and regional leaders. Al Tillman administered the Association’s business out of his home until Skin Diver magazine provided Al with office space and a salary. Skin Diver published the “NAUI Page” as a regular feature helping NAUI to continue to grow. The first International Conference on Underwater Education was held in 1969 at Santa Ana College. For many years this conference served as a venue where NAUI members from all over could meet and exchange ideas and as a forum in which papers were presented on diving skills and safety, teaching, diving physiology, physics, and other diving and marine sciences.

In the 1970s NAUI membership also began to expand internationally. A NAUI instructor certification course was held in Japan in 1970. NAUI Canada was organized in 1972. NAUI had certified over 5,000 instructors by 1979 and had increasing member populations in many countries around the world. By 1989 NAUI had certified over 12,000 instructors.

The 1990s were a time of challenge for NAUI. In 1995, executive director Sam Jackson left NAUI to head up the Diving Equipment and Marketing Association that had formed out of the Diving Equipment Manufacturers Association (retaining the acronym DEMA). In June of 1995, NAUI hired Jim Bram as President. Jim initiated a turnaround of NAUI, and reset NAUI to do business as NAUI Worldwide.

By 1998 NAUI Worldwide had established a network of twenty service centers supporting a growing membership population around the world. Along with this strategic shift in services delivery, the independent NAUI associations that had formed in the 1970s were retired and their members welcomed back into NAUI Worldwide, forming a single membership association teaching to one world-wide standard of training. In 1997, NAUI Worldwide headquarters was moved to Tampa, Florida. In the same year, the Board of Directors included members from Europe and Asia for the first time. In 2000 and 2001 the recovery and revitalization of the Association was complete as NAUI released award-winning, state-of-the-art, fully integrated educational systems for diver education and training, and posted record revenues in its 41st year since that first instructor course in Houston, Texas.

NAUI currently offers recreational certification levels including a certification as a snorkeler called “Skin Diver” certification. The basic open water diving certification is called “Scuba Diver/Junior Scuba Diver.” That course is open to healthy swimmers age 10 and older. The course includes 9 hours of classroom study in Diving Physics, Physiology, Dive Tables, Environment, Diving Safety and First Aid. Students must complete 6 hours of pool training with snorkle and scuba gear and then be checked-out in open water dives.

NAUI has an abbreviated certification course called “Experienced Scuba Diver,” which is open to commercial/military divers and others who have at least 25 logged open water dives, but who have no formal certification. That course dispenses with most of the pool training of the “Scuba Diver” course, but requires that same exam and open water check-out dives. The certification card is the same one that the basic “Scuba Diver” receives.

Other NAUI certifications include “Advanced Scuba, Master Scuba Diver, Deep Diver, Dry Suit Diver, Enriched Air/Nitrox Diver, Scuba Rescue Diver, Search and Recovery Diver, and Training Assistant. Leadership courses include Assistant Instructor, Skin Diving Instructor, Divemaster, and Instructor. Eighteen specialty courses are offered by NAUI, including Ice Diver, Propulsion Vehicle Diver, and two levels of Cave Diver.

Future editions of the Mouthpiece will feature other diver certification agencies, including Scuba Schools International, the National Society of Scuba Educators and others. We all can learn from the differences in each other’s diving training and experience, so stay tuned and strike up a conversation with your next dive buddy who may be certified by a different certifying organization than yours.

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Large Whale Shark Makes Rare Appearance In Keys

--by David Goodhue of keysinfonet.com

Reprinted for the December 30, 2015 Miami Herald

Instructors at Quiescence Diving Services in Key Largo aren’t used to seeing fish bigger than their boats. But that’s just what happened while taking a snorkel trip out to the sunken U.S. Coast Guard cutter Duane. Their boat is 25 feet long, but what was lurking just below the surface was even longer — a whale shark that instructor Caitlin Kelliher estimates was about 30 feet in length. “He was enormous,” Kelliher said. “It was insane.”

Bill May was on a separate boat fishing near the Duane, and he too was awestruck by the giant fish. “I have been fortunate to see some incredible sharks while out fishing, with this being the best,” May said. Whale shark sightings in the Keys are not an anomaly, but they don’t happen that often either. Several years ago one decided to hang out in Vaca Cut in Marathon for about a week, and became a tourist attraction.

Jerald Ault, a professor with the department of Marine Ecosystems and Society at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, said whale sharks, which filter feed on plankton and other microorganisms, show up when fish spawn. “They’re big fish, but feed low on the food chain,” Ault said. “They’re not a common sight here. In fact, I can count on one hand the amount of whale shark sightings in South Florida.” Not only did the Key Largo gentle giant make an appearance, it also stuck around the Duane for a few hours, Kelliher said. Kelliher and her colleagues, Quiescence owner Rob Blesser, staffer Mike Kanik and intern Cameron Burris swam with the shark and took photographs. “It’s just one of those reasons why diving in the Keys is so awesome,” she said. “You never know what you’re going to see.” Kelliher said the shark would swim the length of the 327-foot Duane and dive down deep once it reached the ship’s bow.

Whale sharks are the largest known fish, averaging 45 feet in length and weighing on average 15 tons. The largest whale shark on record was found in the Gulf of Thailand. The animal was 59 feet long and 75,000 pounds, Ault said. “They’re mammoth,” he said. Read more here: Miami Herald Sports

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Reef Shades??

--by Jerry Kosakowski

Shades are being used on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Squares seven by seven feet floating on pontoons over the reef indicate some success. The shades lower the light reaching the reef and lower the water temperature on the reef. The Australian government is considering using larger shades for more valuable areas. Now how they plan to cover the next 1,250 miles is going to be a problem. Let’s just hope this does not turn out to be like the great tire experiment in Broward. There in the 1970’s 2 million tires were dropped hoping to build an artificial reef. This supposedly made sense at the time also. Now there is a program by Coastal America, working with the U. S. Navy salvage divers to retrieve these tires during training. Well, get working because there is 34 acres with the tires. Now, back to Australia, isn’t that where the rabbits were brought in to solve a problem and the solution was worse?

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Welcome New Officers and Board Members

As a non-profit organization, the Active Divers Association depends on the participation of its member-volunteers to accomplish the club's goals. The Board of Directors serves to set policy and provide direction for the membership. Below are the newly elected members of the 2016 - 2017 Board of Directors.

Name	Position	Committees
Lon Von Lintel	President	Safety Officer
Lee Wood	Vice President	Safety Officer
Connie Crowther	Secretary
Jerry Kosakowski	Treasurer
Dan Baeza	Member-at-Large	Membership, Internet, Newsletter Editor, Safety Officer
Daryl Johnson	Member-at-Large	Safety Officer, Social Media
Chris Wood	Member-at-Large	Internet
Rachel Davis	Member-at-Large	Marketing, Training, eNews Editor, Safety Officer
Roy Wasson	Member-at-Large	Conservation
Mo Smith	Member-at-Large	Safety Officer
Lenora Bach	Member-at-Large	Youth Programs
Juliana Bach	Member-at-Large	Youth Programs
John Davis	Member-at-Large	U/W Archeology

Membership in the Board is open to all members of the Active Divers Association in good standing. Contact Lon Von Lintel for more information.

Carol Cox Moves to South Carolina

Many of you have had an opportunity to dive with longtime ADA member and Board member Carol Cox. Carol recently retired from the work-a-day world and moved to South Carolina.

"I'm going to miss y'all but I'll be on next year's dive cruise and whatever else I can manage. Long commute.....but I love South Carolina. I feel right at home here.....so many trees, the Spanish moss hanging down, it's like a wonderland. I'm loving it."

Let's all offer Carol best wishes on her "new job".

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Credits/Refunds for 2015 Cancelled Dives

All ADA members who have a credit due will automatically have their membership extended one year, ($35) and any balance will be refunded by check, sent to the address on file. If you have questions or do not want your membership automatically extended, call Lon at 305-251-4975.

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Have You Moved or Changed Email Addresses Lately?

If so, please email or call us with your current information. you may send an email to: Dr. Dan Baeza, Membership Chair at dmbaeza@bellsouth.net. You can also call Dan at 954-260-8225 and leave a message with your new contact information.

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ADA T-Shirts For Sale

Show your pride in the best dive club anywhere! Sizes small, medium, large, xlarge, xxlarge. Some tank tops available also. All shirts are $10 each. CALL LON AT 305-251-4975 AND PLACE YOUR ORDER TODAY!. Lon will deliver it to you on your next dive

Newsletter Delivery Options

Want your newsletter delivered via snail-mail? Contact the webmaster and request a printed copy. Be sure to put "ADA Newsletter" in the subject.