Dive the Vandenburg in Key West with ADA!

--by Rachel Davis

A special trip is planned for the weekend of August 22 and 23 this year in the lower Keys. Here are the details for the upcoming ADA Weekend Getaway: August 22 Looe Keyreef dive on famous Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary. This is a shallow reef with towering coral heads and numerous tropicals. The two tank boat dive is only $70 and includes tanks and weights. August 23  Vandenberg Wreck and Reef: This is a 522 foot former military missile tracking ship. It  sits upright in140 feet of water, rising up to within 50 feet of the surface.  The cost of the two tank wreck and reef dive is $70. This is an advanced dive, so ADA advanced diver criteria applies.

Weekend planning option 1: 
Saturday morning drive to Looe Key Reef Resort, about 3 hours from Miami. Check in time is noon for the two tank dive. Stay overnight at the resort or at one of several nearby hotels (hotel not included).

Sunday at 7:30 a.m.: Check in at the Lost Reef Adventures shop in Key West  for two dives. Thereafter, spend the remainder of the day in Key West and watch the sunset and the crazies at Mallory Square before heading home. 

Weekend planning option 2:
Dive Looe Key only, and return home Saturday night, or wreck dive only, and return Sunday night.

Space limited to 10 divers and it's filling up fast! Call Lon today to reserve your spot.

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Dive Cruise Update - November 14 -21

--by Daryl Johnson

The first annual ADA dive cruise is off to a great start with 8 cabins and 10 divers booked!! Our Cruise Planner, Karin Bradder at 1-800-901-1172 ext. 41643 has promised to get all of our group on the dives in Grand Cayman, Roatan and Cozumel and we could actually end up buying out the entire excursion if we continue to add members to the ADA group!! We have been promised to get the lowest advertised price for the cruise regardless of what you book it at, so book now and save later. Give Karin a call today-Looking forward to seeing you on board!

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Reversing Coral Reef Extinction

--by Nathalie Ricard

On Saturday, June 13th, I joined the Active Divers Association to volunteer with the Coral Restoration Foundation. It was one of my first events with the association, and I was very interested and curious about the action plan and achievements of the Foundation. Over the last 10 years, I have been diving mainly in the Red Sea, Guadeloupe, the Caribbean, but also in the Mediterranean Sea, and I can tell how healthy coral is necessary for a thriving sea life. Diving on a rocky, mineral setting is just not the same as on a reef with abundant, healthy corals inhabited by colorful fishes.

During one of my recent dives off Tavernier, I could observe firsthand the vast areas of dead coral. What used to be a vibrant reef is now covered in algae, grayish, and void of sea life. It looked to me like a faded old house, abandoned by its occupants in a hurry to leave, covered in cobwebs, whose splendor and life energy of its former guests you can only imagine. The Foundation’s objective is to restore the coral reefs where they used to flourish 30 years ago, by facilitating coral reproduction, growth and out-planting. Small fragments of coral are attached to a PVC “tree”, floating in the water column, where the coral growth is fostered by natural light and abundant nutrients. It is truly impressive to see how fast a small fragment can grow into a decent sized coral branch in only a matter of months. At that point corals can be out-planted on the reef, in select locations which used to host healthy corals and sea life.

The coral colonies are monitored for disease, and they can then reproduce naturally, during annual spawning events, to promote genetic diversity necessary for sustainable survival of the coral in their changing environment. I must admit that I walked in a bit skeptical about the real impact that a few passionate and dedicated coral lovers could have on coral extinction, widespread over hundreds of reef miles. Since the 1970s, corals have been under multiple threats, including degraded water quality, extreme water temperature episodes, sea urchin die-off, and a range of diseases. What a few volunteers could do to reverse this situation seemed to me literally like a drop in the ocean….., but I have reconsidered. There is hope! A proper sewage system is now operational in the Florida Keys, dramatically improving the water quality near densely populated areas.

The importance of the reefs as part of the ecosystem, but also for the economical and societal coastal development is more and more recognized. Over time, strategically located healthy coral colonies will genetically adapt on their own to their new environment. The coral will become naturally more resistant to the inevitable threats. The Foundation staff and volunteers are giving the initial effort necessary to balance the adverse impact humans have on the ecosystem. Nature is rapidly taking over to reverse the coral extinction. The day with the Coral Restoration Foundation was a unique opportunity to get to meet Active Divers Association members. It was also a true eye-opener about the critical environmental challenges of our modern lives on the one hand, and the long-lasting impact that we can have individually on the other hand.

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Diving in Turks and Caicos

Turks & Caicos has some of the best diving in the Caribbean!  Seeing the clear, turquoise water while landing in Provo from a direct 1 ½ hour flight from Miami, is spellbinding.  The white sandy beaches of Grace Bay rival any in the world.  Dive Provo provides everything you need for a complete dive vacation.  They have 3 comfortable dive boats for 2 tank am dives and 1 tank pm dives, along with longer excursions and night diving.  Diving in absolutely crystal clear water with a huge variety of marine life is an every day experience in Provo.  Dive Provo will pick you up at your hotel or you can stay at the Ports of Call Resort, where Dive Provo is based.  Morning dives go to such places as Pine Cay, Grace Bay, Northwest Point, West Caicos and beyond.  Each dive is geared towards the customer, whether a beginner or seasoned pro.  The staff of Dive Provo will set up your gear on the boat and break it down, rinse it and have it ready for diving the next day. No lugging heavy dive gear around!

A dive master will accompany any diver that does not have a buddy.  Divers are free to explore on their own or with a dive master if they wish. Afternoon dives are usually in Grace Bay, just a short boat ride from the Dive Provo dock.  They also offer a 3 tank Scuba Safari, usually on Wednesdays for more experienced divers that includes a tank of Nitrox, lunch and refreshments.  Night diving is also regularly scheduled.  Diving in Grace Bay at night with a full moon is one of the delights of diving!

Sample rates for a 6 night stay with 4 days of diving at Ports of Call Resort run around $1075.

A special is running during 2015 – pay for 4 nights, get the 5^th night free or pay for 5 nights, get the 6^th and 8^th nights free!  It's no wonder that after just one dive trip to Provo, divers return time after time.

Scuba History

The history of scuba diving is very well documented as far back as 1535. Jacques Cousteau was quoted as saying “It will happen my friends, surgery will affix a set of artificial gills to man’s circulatory system–right here at the neck–which will permit him to breathe oxygen from the water like a fish. Then the lungs will be by-passed and he will be able to live and breathe in any depth for any amount of time without harm. It will happen, I promise you.”

It appears as if Jacques Cousteau’s vision came true with the development of scuba diving. Actually, scuba diving or the idea of diving has been around for quite some time. In the 1500’s Leonardo Da Vinci designed the first known scuba diving apparatus. His drawings of a self-contained underwater breathing apparatus appears in his Codex Atlanticus. There is no record of Da Vinci ever following through with his design though.

However, you can go back even further into this history of scuba diving. Aristotle discussed the possibility of developing what eventually came to be known as a diving bell. A diving bell was a cable-suspended airtight chamber. It looked much like its name sake “the bell”. As the bell was lowered under the water the pressure of the water would keep the air trapped inside the bell. Hoses fed down from the surface would send in compressed gases. This not only allowed the person to breathe but compensated for the gases that were being released from the bottom of the bell. Without this compressed gas, the bell would partially fill with water. The diving bell was one of the earliest inventions for under water exploration. Around 1531, the Italian explorer Guglielmo de Loreno developed the first true diving bell which he used for exploring sunken ships.

S.C.U.B.A stands for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. So we can see why it is so much easier to say you’re going Scuba Diving.

People have been exploring the ocean since the beginning of time. Man ventured into the ocean for fish and other marine life. People have been practicing holding their breath underwater for as long as we can remember. The ocean and what it holds has always captivated us. Everything from a food source to simple curiosity over marine life and sunken ships, it’s all fascinating. In earlier days, reeds were use to breathe underwater. This however was limited since you could only go right below the surface. An attempt was also made to breathe from an air filled bag. The only problem was that divers were breathing back in carbon dioxide.

Advances were being slowly made in the diving world and during the 16th century, France and England had both created leather diving suits and with the aid of manual air pumps divers were able to go to depths of about 60 feet. The 19th century brought great advances in underwater exploration. With the research completed by Paul Bert from France and John Scott Haldane from Scotland we learned more about the effects of water pressure on the body. Their work also helped to define safe limits for compressed air diving.

Technological advancements in the areas of compressed air pumps, carbon dioxide scrubbers, regulators and more made it possible for divers to stay under the water for longer periods of time.
There are typically two types of scuba diving, open scuba diving and closed scuba diving. Open diving allows the diver to breathe air from a cylinder and the air blown out goes into the water and rises up to the surface. Closed diving is where the diver breathes in from a tank and then the blown air is released back into the tank where it is recycled to breathe again. This is also known as using a re-breather.

Scuba diving has been used for personal recreation and has been adopted by our U.S. Military for its teams like the U.S. Navy Seals. One thing is for sure, the world of scuba diving is an amazing adventure unlike any other you will ever experience.

The historical time line below will walk you through some of the advancements made in underwater exploration. Although there were many advancements throughout our time, this calendar highlights some of the historical moments.underwater explorations.

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Timeline of Scuba Development throughout History

• 1535 – Guglielmo de Loreno created the diving bell.
• 1650 – First air pump created by Guericke.
• 1691 – Edmund Halley created another form of the diving bell with weighted barrels. This was connected with an air pipe to the surface.
• 1715 – John Lethbridge developed an underwater cylinder. The cylinder was supplied via an air pipe from the surface with compressed air.
• 1837 – Augustus Siebe set the standard for many dive expeditions by sealing a diving helmet to a watertight diving suit.
• 1843 – The first diving school was established by the Royal Navy.
• 1865 – Benoit Rouquayrol and Auguste Denayrouse developed an underwater breathing apparatus. The tank connected to a mouth piece was strapped to the divers back. The diver was linked to the surface by a hose that pumped fresh air into tank.
• 1911 – Draeger of Germany introduced the re-breather to the world.
• 1933 - Yves Le Prieur created a demand valve that connected to a high pressure air tank. This allowed the diver to be independent from the hoses that connected them to the surface.
• 1943 – Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Emile Gagnan created the first Aqua-Lung.
• 1948 – The Aqua Lung regulator was imported to the United States.
• 1956 – At the University of California introduces the first wetsuit.
• 1959 – The first national Scuba Diver Certification program was presented by the YMCA. In this same year the Underwater Society of America was also formed.
• 1960 – National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI) was formed by Al Tillman and Neal Hess.
• 1961 – John Gaffney forms the National Association of Skin Diving Schools (NASDS).
• 1966 – John Cronin and Ralph Ericson found The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI).
• 1970 – Scuba Schools International (SSI) is created by Bob Clark.
• 1971 – The Stabilization Jacket is introduced by Scubapro.
• 1980 – Duke University presents a safe diving program known as the Divers Alert Network (DAN).
• 1985 – The sunken wreckage of the Titanic was found.
• 2001 – By diving to 308 meters, John Bennett breaks his own world record.

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Photography Part 5 - Editing Software

Getting the perfect shot takes many piece-parts: the right subject, proper framing, good lighting, optimal color balance, and suitable contrast. Although much easier with today’s computer-assisted SLRs, it is nevertheless a daunting task when shooting underwater subjects. Your subject won’t stand still, the lighting is not right, the color and contrast are washed out. Fortunately, snapping the photo is just the start of the process. Now with good editing software, you can improve the appearance of your photograph to rival those found in dive magazines and publications.

There are many high quality and free or inexpensive software applications for editing digital photographs. From the free Microsoft Photo Gallery bundled with Windows and Google’s Picasa as a free download, to Photoshop, the gold standard for photo editing. All good photo editors will contain the following must-have tools:

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