The best way to start this story is to say that the beauty of Tahiti is indescribable, and that pictures simply do not do it justice. It truly has to be experienced in person as the 13 individuals brought together by the Active Divers Association did on May 29 to June 17, 2019. Coming from various points in the USA, the first group met in the Papeete (Tahiti) airport early in the morning for a short flight to Moorea and transfer to the Intercontinental Resort and Spa.

For some, this was a place to rest and recover after a long flight but ,true to their diving spirit, Terry Longmore and Roger Bach were the first to go diving the next day (Thursday), while the rest of the club members waited until Friday morning. Pictured below is the area where we dove on Friday, just beyond the Paul Gauguin Cruise ship that we would be boarding on Saturday.

While some commented on the bleaching they saw in the corals, the dive guides said we were just coming into the cool season and they were expecting many of the corals to recover. Let’s be clear though, there is more live coral here than many of us had seen in a long time and plenty of marine life, including black tip sharks.

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On June 15th, eleven years after commencing our collaboration with the Coral Restoration Foundation, the Active Divers Association conducted our most successful CRF dive program yet. Fifteen Active Divers members, along with President & Safety Officer Lon Von Lintel, joined CRF staff for a full day program including classroom and onshore laboratory work, two working dives, and hours of fun and educational work in the Upper Keys. The best part of the story is that thirteen of our Active Divers members diving with us that day were on their first dive with our club, having found us through the CRF website listing the program, along with a first-ever link to our membership enrollment materials.

The day started at 9:00 a.m. at CRF’s “Exploration Center” next door to Pilot House Restaurant on Key Largo. After signing-in and completing final paperwork, our members attended morning classes to learn about the causes and effects of coral bleaching, conservation techniques, and received hands-on training to develop skills in maintaining coral nurseries and transplanting baby corals onto blighted reefs. CRF staffers and interns answered questions from our members, informed us about our plans for working in the water that day, and made everyone feel very welcome as part of their global effort to restore our reef system to its former glory.

After class, we broke for a hearty lunch at Pilot House, which works closely with CRF and provides the building where the Exploration Center is located. Pilot House made sure our group sat together at one long table, where our members exchanged ideas about reef conservation and got to know each other. Making new friends was easy with this dedicated group, two of whom had journeyed down from Connecticut and another new member had traveled all the way from his home in Milwaukee.

After enjoying fresh seafood and other menu favorites, our group made the short drive to Florida Keys Dive Center in Tavernier for the boat trip out to the reefs. After checking in and getting needed gear, our group headed out from the dock to do our work. The weather was nearly perfect for our dive program. Seas of only a foot or two made the trip to the site very comfortable, and cloudy skies kept the temperature down as we made our way to the first dive spot, CRF’s coral nursery. Our two CRF representatives, Jen and J.D., led our groups on the tour, having given us advance notice to watch out for the overly-friendly sea turtle who likes to approach dive groups at the nursery.

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This year the mini season falls on July 24th and 25th. Make sure to always verify dates and regulations at http://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/lobster/. It begins at 12:01 am on Wednesday and ends at 12:00 midnight on Thursday. The regular 8 month lobster season is always August 6 through March 31. Make sure and check with the dive shop that you are going into an area where lobster can be taken- most areas of the Florida Keys Marine Sanctuary are no-take zones.

Most Florida diver fatalities ( https://www.flkeysnews.com/news/local/article86984917.html) occur during the lobster mini season, where every unprepared diver goes out at midnight on overcrowded dive boats with many divers that have not been in the water for a year or more.

First things first, make sure that you get your equipment serviced soon since the dive shops will get overloaded the closer you get to lobster season, and you will pay more and get slower service. And there is always the possibility that someone in a hurry will not service your equipment properly. So, I recommend that you go diving at least once before the lobster season after your equipment has been serviced to make sure everything is working correctly.

There are a lot of ways to catch a lobster, but my favorite is with a lobster loop. Lobster instinctively walk backwards when they feel threatened, so you place the loop behind the tail and tickle them a bit to get them to move backwards. Once the tail is in the loop you pull back hard on the handle so that the loop contracts around the tail and captures the beast! Always make sure that you have a measuring device with you to check and make sure the lobster meets the minimum requirements between the shell and the carapace. You CANNOT bring only a lobster tail up from a dive! You must bring the entire lobster up in case the boat gets stopped by the Marine Patrol to verify your catch is legal. Furthermore, you cannot take egg bearing females, which are apparent by the bundle of red eggs (looks like carpeting) on their belly.

Iif you are under the age of 65, you must have a Florida saltwater fishing license and a Lobster stamp in order to hunt them. They can be obtained online at http://myfwc.com/fishing/ for a reasonable fee and you must have them with you.

Finally, once you get to the dock you need to clean them, and I will be glad to tell you how the next time I see you on a dive. If you can't wait, call me at 954-591-1161— it’s just a bit too graphic to put in a newsletter!!

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The mantis shrimp is known for its’ claw or claws which is more appropriate. They are some tough hardware to have. They can be used to smash snails and clams. Okay, I can do a snail but no way can I do a clam. That is quite a feat in and of itself. Another amazing fact is how quickly they can launch an attack It is estimated to be 50 times faster than your eye blink. Hmmm, that is pretty fast.

This type shrimp is usually not in a fish tank. Any guesses why? It is because they can punch through it. More importantly, they kill all the other sea creatures in the tank.Doesn't lay well with others. Not good pets for sure. Some other observations of these creatures reveal they groan to attract mates, hmmmmm, that’s a little like us humans. But we don’t create bubbles when we move to knock out the prey. We also don’t kick our feet about 75 times per second. And we definitely don’t have eyes bigger than our brains, at least most of us don’t.

Then, there is that hearing with the hair on its’ body. We, or at least I, don’t have that ability. Maybe Hollywood could take a couple hints here and add this to a super hero. Lately, they seem to be able to do anything. Finally, this creature sees more colors than any other animal. Now that ability I would love to have.

For a look at the Mantis Shrimp in action, click here to see this short National Geographic video.

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Dive season is in full swing, and there are some awesome upcoming dives featuring interesting experiences on the Active Divers schedule for 2019. Check out these upcoming dives:

Sea Turtle Dive - July 6: When we had the chance to check out Jupiter Scuba Diving And their boat the Kyalami I’m February we saw about a dozen turtles. The Divemaster on the boat told us that during the height of sea turtle nesting season from mid-June to mid-July you could see up to 50 turtles on a single dive. So we scheduled this dive for July 6 with that in mind. Plus the Kyalami is a great operation, docked at the famous Square Grouper tiki bar, to make a perfect end to a perfect dive day. See this video from February’s dive: https://youtu.be/VoYErREXPhw

Tenneco Towers - July 14: This series of sunken oil platforms near Fort Lauderdale makes for a very unusual and interesting deep Wreck dive. The platforms have been there for many years and are well encrusted with corals. This site also attracts many fish.

Looe Key And Key West - August 3-4: This is our annual excuse to get down to the lower Keys each year. The Looe Key National Marine sanctuary boasts incredible finger reefs, and the famous Looe Key Resort And Tiki Bar is a Florida Keys tradition offering modest accommodations at reasonable rates with easy access to all of Key West’s famous attractions. For Active Divers, this includes the Vandenburg, one of our best deep wrecks in the Florida Keys. This large wreck complete with swim-through satellite dishes is sure to be a highlight of your trip to Key West.

Islamorada Night Dive - August 17: If you’ve never experienced a night dive before, this is your chance. Many times critters we rarely see during the daylight hours come alive at night. Lobsters walking around in plain view, sleeping parrotfish, crabs, sea stars, large open basket stars and octopus are frequently observed on a night dive. Even if you’ve never tried night diving, our Safety Officers will guide you through.

Goliath Grouper dive - September 14: Last year I spoke to the legendary Jim Abernathy about the best time to see the annual Goliath Grouper aggregation that occurs in the waters off West Palm Beach. He said the aggregation peaks in the days around the full moon in September. This year the full moon is the day of our dive and we will witness their amazing aggregation. See for yourself in our video from last September’s dive: https://youtu.be/NUt6d8pn224

Spiegel Grove - September 22: This is one of the premier wrecks in South Florida. It’s so large it takes many dives to see it all. Eight down lines reach all parts of this massive wreck. Also check out the Duane (August 11) and the Eagle (October 6) if you like big wrecks.

Blue Heron Bridge - November 16: Lastly, we cap off the dive season with our end of season picnic at the bridge, offering unusual sightings such as a resident batfish, octopus and a plethora of large yellow cushion sea stars. See our video from the first kickoff picnic at the bridge on April 6 this year: https://youtu.be/kpeDAbWD16E

Whatever kind of diving your into, our dive schedule offers something for everyone. See you on the boat!!!

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Hello Active Divers Association members I am Franco Calvo and I’ve had the privilege of being a member of the association since 2014.

Since that time on I’ve had the privilege of diving with some of the most seasoned divers in south Florida. Not only have I enjoyed the start of the season BBQ’s held at Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park but multiple dives to the keys and elsewhere.

One of the most incredible experiences I had was of being one of the very few divers (less than 1500) to have had the opportunity to enter the Aquarius Reef Base and becoming an aquanaut.

The Aquarius Reef Base is an underwater habitat located 5.4 miles (9 kilometers) off Key Largo in the Florid  Keys National Marine Sanctuary. It is deployed on the ocean floor 62 feet (19 meters) below the surface and next to a deep coral reef named Conch Reef.

Aquarius is one of three undersea laboratories in the world dedicated to science and education. Two additional undersea facilities, also located in Key Largo, FL are owned and operated by Marine Resources Development Foundation. Aquarius was owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and operated by the University of North Carolina - Wilmington ^[1] until 2013 when Florida International University assumed operational control.^[2] Florida International University (FIU) took ownership of Aquarius in October 2014. As part of the FIU Marine Education and Research Initiative, the Medina Aquarius Program is dedicated to the study and preservation of marine ecosystems worldwide and is enhancing the scope and impact of FIU on research, educational outreach, technology development, and professional training. At the heart of the program is the Aquarius Reef Base.

This year as I came back home to Hallandale Beach from a work relocation to Los Angeles, CA for almost two years I received a call from one of our Board members, Roy Wasson, who asked me to be the chairman for the association to organize a new expedition for next year. Having said that I asked all of our members, specially those who have previously participated in the habitat experience, to reach out to me to assist us in making this new venture as successful as the one organized in 2016. Thank you.

Safe dives,

Franco

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_North_Carolina_at_Wilmington

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_International_University