- Time is NOT On Your Side
- About ADA 2017 Refunds and Credits
- Annual Season Kickoff BBQ
- ADA Grand Cayman Dive Trip
- Great Barrier Reef: Then and Now
- Sharks!
- Are You Due a Refund?
- Scuba Micro-Aggression
- How To Avoid Shark Attacks
- Why Are So Few Male Sea Turtles Being Born in Northern Australia?
- T-Shirts For Sale
- Email or Address Change?
- Winter Dive Fitness
- Newsletter Delivery Options
- ADA Guidelines and Policies
T-i-i-i-i-m-e
Is NOT On Your Side
--by Dr. Dan Baeza
In the words of that 60's band, the Chambers Brothers, the time has come....... for you to renew your membership. Renew now and membership is only $35 for a calendar year of discounts and diving news. After March 31, your annual membership renewal fee is $49.
Your membership includes periodic eNews emails about club activities as well as electronic access to The Mouthpiece monthly newsletter. You may pay online or by check. 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
Members who have a credit from 2017 have the option to either request a full refund or apply $35 of their refund toward the discounted rate for their 2017 membership. In the later case, the balance will be refunded and a check will be mailed to the address of record in our membership file. If you wish to request a full refund, contact Lon at lon@diverlon.com. No action is required if you want $35 applied to your 2018 membership or to extend your membership one year.
Please Note: If you think you purchased an extended membership sometime in the past, but unsure when it expires, drop us a note at ActiveDiversInfo@gmail.com, and we will let you know by return email. Please include your name and "Membership Expiration Date" in the subject line.
--by Jerry Kosakowski
When: Saturday, April 14, 2015
Who: ADA members, prospective members, family and friends.
Where: DR. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson (formerly: John U Lloyd State Park), Jetty Pavillion, 6503 N. Ocean Drive, Dania Beach, Florida 33004 1.5 miles north of Sheridan St. on A1A
Time: Park opens at 8:00 AM. Meet for beach dive at 9:00 AM, BBQ at noon.
MUST BE PRESENT TO WIN RAFFLE PRIZES.
MUST RSVP TO WIN PRIZES.
Bring Your Dive gear for Sale or Swap at our annual swap meet!!
Contact Lon at 305-251-4975 or lon@diverlon.com to sign up. Deadline is April 12th for RSVP. For beach diving, bring all your own gear and a dive flag if you have one. The reef is about 100 yards off shore. It’s a great surface swim out, or dve in close and enjoy the reef. The pavilion has covered shelter, very nice bathroom, showers, and changing room. We will have the BBQ and raffle, rain or shine. BBQ will include burgers, dogs, chicken, extras and all beverages. A small fee is charged to enter the park ($4 for single occupancy vehicles, $6 for 2 to 8 persons per vehicle), and parking at the pavilion is free .
ADA BBQ, Raffle, and Beach Dive: $10
For those who have never previously belonged to ADA and newly join ADA that day (at a highly discounted rate of $10 for the early season signup) the barbeque will be free! Current ADA members pay only $10 per person and includes the lunch, raffle, and optional beach diving. Non-ADA members and non-family members may attend but will be asked to contribute $10 for the BBQ. They may also dive, but are not part of the ADA dive group and not eligible for prizes. Purchase may be via the PayPal button at right.
ADA Grand Cayman Dive Trip is NOT SOLD OUT!!!
--by Daryl Johnson
You read the headline correctly. Although we originally reported the trip as being sold out, we were able to add another room for two divers from the hotel's inventory. So, although the trip sold out in record time, we can now add two more divers to this exciting trip to Grand Cayman at the Cobalt Coast Resort July 7-14. Don’t have a buddy to go with?? Not a problem. As usual, we will match up divers needing a roommate to get to double occupancy. Just email me at diverdaryl@bellsouth.net with an expression of interest and we will get an eNews blast out to find a roommate to share the adventure.
For
those of you that went to Cayman Brac with us, you will be happy to
know this resort is owned by the same company and has the same dive
operator, Reef Divers with their “Valet Diving” operation. This
property was built in 2000 and just won the Trip Advisor Certificate
of Excellence for 2016. Check out the rave reviews at TripAdvisor and
read what others have to say.
While ADA has gone to many exotic locations, this trip gets “back to basics” at a location known for blue water, marine life and wall diving. Click here to take a look at the 5 star ratings for North Wall diving on TripAdvisor. We will be doing a lot of diving since this trip includes six two tank morning dives, and 5 one tank afternoon dives. With all that diving, you are going to want to use nitrox, so guess what? Nitrox is included, as is the use of a dive computer if you need one!
Flights are very inexpensive with direct flights from Miami starting at $319 on Cayman Airways for a nonstop flight directly to Grand Cayman. As usual, we do NOT include flights so that you can use your favorite carrier or frequent flier points if you want.
Here's the package at a glance:
- 7 nights Garden View Room including breakfast, lunch, dinner daily,
- Free Wi-Fi, welcome rum punch, cocktail reception, fees, taxes and gratuities,
- 6 days of 2-tank morning boat dives, use of dive computer, tanks, nitrox,
- Weights and belts,
- 5 days of 1-tank afternoon boat dives, use of dive computer, tanks, nitrox,
- Roundtrip airport transfers
The total price is $1399 per person, double occupancy (a single occupancy requires a single supplement). A deposit of $100 is required at booking and final payment of $1299 is due by check by April 15, 2018. So get ready for another awesome ADA dive trip by using the “deposit button” at the end of this article or send a $100 check to:
Jerry
Kosakowski
298 NW 83 Lane
Coral Springs, FL 33071-7439
See you there!!
Australia's Great Barrier Reef: Then and Now
From
2007 to 2009 I spent two years working on Royal Caribbean cruise
ships traveling all over the world. In December 2008 I took a cruise
along the east coast of Australia from Sydney north to Cooktown.
Because I was on the ship, I was only able to make two dives on the
Great Barrier Reef on a day boat out of Cairns. Nonetheless, at the
time, it was without a doubt the most amazing diving I had done up
to that point. I remember the ocean floor being covered by fields of
healthy staghorn coral stretching out as far as the eye could see,
along with varied and resplendent marine life. It was truly a
feast
for the eyes and the senses, unlike anything I had ever experienced.
On the way home I made a promise to myself that someday I would go
back and do a liveaboard there. I asked the crew on the day boat
which operator they would recommend and they said, Mike Ball, hands
down.
Fast forward to 2017, when my dream of returning to Australia became a reality. We left on Christmas Day for one week on Mike Ball's SpoilSport liveaboard, followed by a couple of nights in Sydney to see the sights, including a show at the famous Sydney Opera House. Aside from tourism and pleasure, there was a secondary motive for my journey to the other side of the globe. I had read news reports of coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef due to global warming, with the two warmest years on record being 2015 and 2016, followed by further devastation to the reef from Category 4 Tropical Cyclone Debbie in March, 2017. What impact could nine years of rising sea temperatures caused by global warming have on the splendor this UNESCO World Heritage Site? Would the reef I visited in 2017 look anything like the one that impressed me so much in 2008?
The
answer is YES, and NO. There were parts of the reef like Steve's
Bommie that were alive and healthy, as
beautiful as I remember nine years ago. There were other sites,
however, such as the famous Cod Hole that were endless piles of
bleached and dead staghorn rubble, and only one giant potato cod to
greet us there.
The first four days of our journey we dove the Coral Sea, which is significantly east of the Great Barrier Reef. We sailed from Cairns to Lizard Island visiting such sites as the amazing caves and swimthroughs of Dungeons and Dragons at Bouganville Reef. After Lizard Island, we turned southward along Ribbon Reef #10 to the Cod Hole. The amount of devastation here caused by coral bleaching and the cyclone was really shocking. It actually looked significantly worse than post-Irma Key Largo. Pixie Wall was another staghorn graveyard. All that remained were grey skeletons of rubble rock where the majestic fields of staghorn once flourished. The baby fish were searching for habitat among the few healthy corals that remained amid the destruction. A fellow traveler who took the low-level flight over the reef from Carins to Lizard Island remarked that most of what she saw below was grey. Grey is the color of dead coral, a shadow of the beauty of my memories from nine years ago.
But it wasn't all bad. There were some really impressive sites along this leg of the journey such as Steve's Bommie on Ribbon Reef #5 and our final dive site Summer Bay, where I encountered a curious school of SweetLips. Of course I was completely obsessed with finding Nemo, and he was easy to find on most dive sites. The biodiversity of the Pacific is incredible, and I found myself having to learn a whole new set of fish. Plus, in the Pacific, for each type of fish there are about eight variations which makes precise identification a challenge. There were even several types of clownfish, each preferring a slightly different type of anemone.
I am so grateful to have had the chance to fulfill my dream of revisiting Australia and diving the Great Barrier Reef. Experiencing first-hand the devastating effects of climate change helps me to understand the seriousness and urgency of the problem and how it is impacting the world's reefs.
Now that's off the top of my diving bucket list, I think I need to add Palau and the Blue Corner!
First, we have to
realize that the sharks shown on TV are there to attract viewers. It
is not the whole story. Even shark week is to get viewers. There is
a lot more to them than the TV shows indicate, killers, beware.
You have all seen nurse sharks; do you know what they feed on? No, not humans. They eat conch and lobsters. That’s why when you spot one you can be pretty sure some lobsters are around if they haven’t already been eaten. The nurse shark then (like me), eats and takes a nap.
There are huge differences in shark sizes, contrary to what most believe. You know the huge ones, but do you know the 8-inch lanternshark? Probably not. Are you aware there are 465 species of sharks. 74 are in the threatened with extinction. That can’t be good. I know Darwin’s theory but Man is partly to blame, as well. Many sharks are caught just for their fins and many are killed by being caught in nets constructed to catch other fish. This is known as bycatch.
My favorite shark (which I still haven’t seen in the wild) is the hammerhead. It too, is on the endangered list. That reduces my chances of one of my dreams. In fact, there are over 100 million of sharks killed every year. For every human killed in a shark attack, there are an estimated 10 million sharks killed. No wonder they are becoming extinct.
Just how many humans are killed by sharks? Well, in 2015, a high year, there were a total of 6. Lightning kills more, for 2015 it was 27.
ADA members will be issued a refund for the 2017 dive season:
- If you paid for a dive with insurance and did not attend...or
- If you paid for a dive and ADA canceled that dive...or
- If you paid for a dive and then you canceled one week in advance
(If
you paid for a missed dive that did not include insurance or you did
not cancel one week in advance, we cannot issue any refund)
If you are due for a refund, you may choose one of the following options:
- Apply $35 (the cost of early renewals) to extend your membership one year. You need not act, ADA will automatically extend it for you. Your refund (less the $35) will be sent to your mailing address on record.
- Request a full refund, with no extension of yearly membership. Your request must be made by email to Lon before Feb.1, 2018 lon@diverlon.com
We anticipate that this process will be completed by Feb 1 and refunds will then be mailed to those opting for an extension. Those opting for a full refund can expect their refund at about the same time.
If you have not received your refund by the middle of February please contact me via email. If your records indicate I have made a mistake in calculating your refund, give me a call at 305-251-4975.
Thanks, and happy diving in 2018.
These
rules are all common sense and easy to follow. They guarantee you
will not be attacked. I know you are wondering how this can be since
there are attacks every year. But it is obvious these people have
NOT followed these rules. Here we go:
- Don’t leave Kansas.
- Roll in manure (available at Home Depot for reasonable price) before diving. It is common knowledge sharks hate anything breaded.
- Always dive with a buddy. If a shark is about to attack, get your knife out and give your buddy a quick slice. The flowing blood will attract the shark to him, not you. You should get some distance from your ex-buddy immediately after you do this.
This is a corollary on how to avoid bear attacks. Run faster than the slowest person in the group. But with shark attacks this is more effective since they love blood. You don’t have to be concerned about your swimming speed.
- Dive with a brief case. All the lawyers know this one. It is common knowledge (again it is so simple) at the Dive Bar association. It works because the shark thinks you are an attorney and will not attack you out of professional courtesy.
- Last but not least, you can minimize your risk by diving with a group. In the buddy system you have a 50% chance. In a group of ten, it now 10%.
Safe diving!
In the January 2018 issue, we covered the basics. Now let’s move on to the advanced serious micro-aggressions. That is the trash is the ocean. It didn’t get there by mistake. We made it and somehow, we placed it there. No excuses. Fish and other sea life had nothing to do with this.
The worst is that plastic water bottle. Do you need to bring plastic near the oceans? What ever happened to that metal canteen strapped to our waists with that web belt? I guess that isn’t cool anymore? IDK. But the bottles look like they are here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future, until another clever marketing strategy comes along. Actually, that canteen has morphed into an expensive fancy item and may make the water bottle blasé. Who wants to be seem with something like that? It used to be cool but not anymore. Not since micro-aggressions have been discovered and invaded the scuba world.
What is needed is never to have the plastic reach the oceans. Other things degrade quickly but not plastic. It turns into very small (yep, micro) pieces. Here is the sad truth. There are an estimated eight million metric tons of plastic that flow into the oceans every year. By 2025, not that far away anymore, there could be one ton of plastic for every three tons of fish.
But these pales compared to the big problem: microplastic. According to a 2015 study published in the National Geographic Society, there is an estimated 15 to 51 TRILLION pieces of this in the ocean, weighing between 93,000 and 236,000 metric tons. This is a piece that is less than 5 millimeters in size. Good Lord, we are probably ingesting some on every dive. How good can that be for the body? Any marine scientists working on this? How good can this be for the fish? Then we eat the fish that are saturated with it as well. We are slowly making ourselves extinct. Or some microbes will need to be invented to eat this in our system. Another disaster in the making.
Why Are So Few Male Sea Turtles Being Born in Northern Australia?
Scientists say that climate change is drastically altering the nature of the green sea turtle population near the Great Barrier Reef. This is because the sex of a turtle hatchling is determined not by chromosomes, but by the incubation temperature of sandy nests along the beach. At about 85 degrees Fahrenheit (29.4 degrees Celsius), turtle nests produce relatively equal numbers of male and female hatchlings. Cooler temperatures produce more males, while warmer sand causes the embryos to develop as females. Warmer nests in certain areas have caused more than 99 percent of green sea turtles to hatch female.
"She" needs a "he" to survive:
- A 2018 study in the journal Current Biology found that ongoing warming has led to an abundance of female turtles at a major nesting area called Raine Island. Sand temperatures have been climbing there since the 1960s.
- Determining a turtle’s sex is not easy. Without external genitalia, you can’t just flip over a turtle and take a look. You either have to make an incision to see the organs, or examine plasma or hormone levels.
- Australia isn’t the only place where female turtles are taking over. Researchers in Florida have noticed a preponderance of female loggerhead turtles in recent years.
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
If so, please email or call us with your current information. You may send an email to: Dr. Dan Baeza, Membership Chair at ActiveDiversInfo@gmail.com. You can also call Dan at 954-260-8225 and leave a message with your new contact information.
Who: ADA members, family and friends
What: Get in shape for the spring dive season, Instructor Lon Von Lintel will coach swimmers on best swim techniques, conditioning schedule, snorkel usage, underwater mobility. and free-diving skills.
Where: A.D. Barnes pool, 3401 SW 72 ave, Miami, Florida
When: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from noon to 1 pm.
Cost: Seniors $1.50, adults $2.50
Bring: swim suit, towel, mask, fins, snorkel, weights, and belt.
The Olympic size pool is heated to a toasty 85 degrees. Note, the only reason we cancel the program on a given day is for thunderstorms and lightning, Cold air temperatures do not deter us.
Contact Lon for more information at Lon@diverLon.com
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