Twelve Active Divers Association members, six Safety Officers and four Board members gathered at AD Barnes Park Pool in Miami for our eighth annual Scuba Skills Tune Up. 

Overcast skies kept things cool while the rain held off during our classroom portion. The pool was a very comfortable 89 degrees.

Skills refreshed included buddy breathing, mask skills, buoyancy exercises, giant strides into the pool and other activities to help our members feel comfortable in advance of their ocean dives this year. 

Many thanks to all who came out to help and who brought food and drinks. Thanks especially to all the members who participated and welcome to our new club members Frank, Lauren & Alejandro Alvaro, Lynda Melton, Thomas Rodrigues, Barbie Escobar and Shep Johnston. 

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A dozen Active Divers gathered in Key Largo on Saturday morning, May 19, excited to begin a two-day PADI Coral Restoration Specialty certification course at the Coral Restoration Foundation’s (“CRF”) Exploration Headquarters. This group included several new members of Active Divers, some who came from thousands of miles away to join our club and participate in rescuing the coral reefs of the Florida Keys. Although some of us have been working with CRF for more than ten years, this intensive program was the first of its kind we have offered, designed to further our expertise in restoring coral reef systems. The PADI Coral Restoration Distinctive Specialty program helps divers develop standardized skill sets and improve buoyancy skills in a close-quarters working diving setting.

The course was planned for two days, with both mornings focusing on classroom and laboratory education to advance our scientific understanding and hands-on skills, followed by two afternoons of restoration diving. The first part of the onshore education involves review of coral biology, environmental threats and general reef ecology, as well as in-depth review of the underwater tasks divers perform to clean coral “trees” in the underwater nursery, harvest transplant specimens, and out-plant baby corals on devastated reefs. The second day of education includes discussion of the different types of restoration that exist, the different types of methodology that have been tested, and where CRF is planning to go in the future.

Active Divers’ CRF program this year attracted participants from as far away as Colorado Springs, Colorado, Evanston, Illinois, and Leo, Indiana, each of whom joined our scuba club as part of the program package. We also recruited new members from right here in South Florida, whom we hope and expect will dive with us regularly after finding us through this CRF environmental program.

Roxane Boonstra, CRF’s Recreational Dive Program Manager led the classroom and laboratory training on Saturday morning, and in a give-and-take session our crowd of students displayed significant understanding of the threats to our reef system and the importance of rescuing the reefs from those threats. We all learned a lot the science of threats to marine life, and also about scuba skills including body positioning, buoyancy control, and other techniques to help make our time underwater more productive and environmentally-friendly.

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March for the Ocean in SE Florida

--by Patricia Widener

On June 9th people along the coastline will join together to celebrate the marine environment, raise awareness on the ocean and climate change, and rally against offshore oil drilling, plastic, and Styrofoam pollution. While others will gather in Washington DC for the national March for the Ocean, consider joining one of the regional celebrations, rallies, or marches in Key Largo, Miami, Hollywood, or West Palm Beach. These events are in the morning and early afternoon, and depending on the location, will feature speakers, music, informational booths, clean-ups, marches, dives, voter rallies, and/or kayak flotillas.

The regional coordinator is also organizing a summer-long, action-based contest in which contestants complete three environmental actions to be entered into a drawing for marine prizes. Among the prizes are a Belize package which includes a five-night stay in Ambergris Caye, one day of diving for two, and airfare from Belize City to Ambergris Caye. Other prizes include a snorkel trip for four with Dixie Divers in Deerfield Beach, a standup paddleboard package from Island Water Sports in Deerfield Beach, and Bee’s Wrap sustainable storage products. The prize drawing party will be on September 7 at Parrot’s Lounge in Fort Lauderdale. More information on the contest can be found on the group’s website: https://m4osefl.wixsite.com/m4o2018

For general information on the Southeast Florida events, see https://www.facebook.com/M4OSoutheastFlorida/

For specific information on the Hollywood event, see https://www.facebook.com/events/217740025641956/

For specific information on the West Palm Beach event, see https://www.facebook.com/events/1703214326430703/

For specific information on the Miami event, see https://www.facebook.com/events/217125102203869/

For specific information on Coralpalooza in the Keys, see https://coralrestoration.org/coralpalooza/

More information on the national event, can be found at www.marchfortheocean.org

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As divers we are being invited to be good citizens of the ocean. When we get certified we take on the responsibility of not only being safe to ourselves , but also watching out for the safety of other divers. We also take on the commitment of being good stewards of the ocean.

We as a society are learning that every action we take around and in the ocean makes a difference. There used to be a time when we thought it didn't matter what we did to our oceans. We thought it was so big that it could absorb any pollution that we might add to it. Those days (thankfully) are over. Enough people are beginning to take notice of the ill effects that society is having on our oceans.

Can we change the past, or what has been done to the oceans already? Obviously not. However, we absolutely can change our behavior going forward. There are so many positive actions that we can take to either prevent things from getting worse, and in many cases reverse the course of degradation. As divers we are responsible for doing our part to try and remedy this.

As we know the reefs are under a great deal of stress, due to many factors. Some of these are man-made, and some are a result of the natural course of nature. Organizations like Coral Restoration Foundation are making a difference. We can support them by signing up for dives with them. There are many wonderful people at CRF doing everything they can to help. We also see people at the local turtle hospitals and nature centers doing great work to rescue and restore the health of turtles and other sea life. When we support these organizations we are ultimately supporting the health of our oceans.

When I go on a dive boat I am extremely aware of what I do with my trash. The ocean is not a big trash can. It is simply never ok to throw anything overboard that did not come out of the ocean. Even things like orange peels or apple cores are not a part of the ocean. I always think about that turtle that will be swimming along under the boat that will eat what is thrown overboard. Again, it goes back to constantly thinking about how I am affecting all the creatures in the sea. On a dive it is not an unusual thing to see trash floating or laying on the bottom. It is absolutely my responsibility to remove that trash and bring back to the surface. It is not ok for me to say it is up to someone else to get it out.

And, finally let me remember that the ocean is what sustains all life on our planet. All life came out of the ocean, and without the health of our ocean life on land will not exist. As a diver I commit to doing my part to keep our world healthy for me, and for generations to come.

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