Newsletter

September 2015 Edition

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In This Issue:

Still Time to Join the Coral Restoration Foundation Coral Planting Experience
Barbados: A Very Surprising Dive Destination
Our First Annual Cruise Dive Trip Just Keeps Getting Better!!!
Another Amazing Photo Encounter With ADA.....
Lionfish Resort To Cannibalism
ADA Weekend Getaway: Looe Key and Key West
The History of Scuba Diving - Part Two
A Dive Trip to the Abyss
A Once In A Lifetime Opportunity
Did You Know...???
Congratulations to ADA's Newest Family Member
Diving Attitude Part 3 - Yaw Axis
Buying a Dive Light 101
Newsletter Delivery Options
Email or Address Change?
T-Shirts For Sale
ADA Guidelines and Policies

Still Time To Join the Coral Restoration Foundation Coral Planting Experience

The Active Divers Association is hosting a joint coral restoration event on Saturday, September 19. Join us and the Coral Restoration Foundation (CRF) for an educational and fulfilling volunteer experience learning how to prepare, grow, harvest, and replant corals on our reef eco-system. This full day program includes classroom training in the morning, followed by a catered lunch, and a two-tank dive trip visiting the CRF coral nursery, and out-planting baby corals onto the reefs. Cost is $130 per diver which includes 2015 membership in the Active Divers Association (required), all diving, tanks/weights, lunch, CRF donation, boat fees, and materials.

Learn more about the experience and sign up today. For questions, contact Lon at lon@diverlon.com or 305-251-4975.

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Barbados: A Very Surprising Dive Destination

--by Daryl Johnson

ADA in Barbados Nine very lucky divers went on the ADA International Dive trip to Barbados this year. Check out the video on YouTube here for a short visual recap of the trip. It is just about as far east as you can go in the lesser Antilles and as we all know, the further from masses you are, the better the diving. Although I have never seen any pictures of Barbados diving on the cover of a scuba magazine, it was definitely world class diving. The visibility was typically 80 feet or more with that deep blue water that tells you that you are indeed in a special place.

Our package included 11 dives over 5 days and we opted to add one more afternoon dive for a total of 12. The dive shop was a 20 minute drive from our hotel, so we were picked up every morning from our resort in a very nice van and dropped off right at the shop.

Speaking of our resort, the Sugar Cane Club Resort and Spa, was fabulous!! All of the reviews that rated it number 2 on Trip Advisor in the Caribbean were dead on! Besides having lush tropical landscaping, an airy and open lobby, bar and restaurant, and a beautiful pool, all of the rooms were suites with small kitchens and balconies.

So here is what some of the divers thought about the trip:

“Fantastically beautiful resort secluded high on a hill complete with green monkeys in the trees, luxurious suites with full kitchens, great diving with friendly local guides who do all the schlepping for you, hawksbill turtles sighted on every dive, turtle researchers onboard tagging (see video) and measuring them, lovely deep reefs with unusual corals and abundant marine life, numerous lionfish caught on every dive and eaten every night.”- Rachel Davis

“Making great friends all week long….and, oh yeah….the diving was fabulous”- Randy Sonntag

“Blue water, great reefs, lots of sea life, good company and no stress. Please remind me why I needed to go back to my everyday life again?”- Jay Abbazia

“An undiscovered, not your typical, Caribbean land and sea paradise.”-Dr. Dan Baeza

There were plenty of tropical reef fish, abundant marine life (watch "playing with arrow crabs") and of course lion fish. One impressive thing was how aggressive the divemasters were towards removing the invasive lion fish which we then took back to the resort where Chef Randy Sonntag prepared them for the group. There were also some other ways of dealing with them as you will see in this YouTube video: watch "eel feeding". Speaking of chefs, Rachel and Cindy partnered to do a spaghetti dinner for the group served on the patio overlooking the water complete with salad and a lionfish appetizer!!

Our last dive was on the Cement Pier (so named for the Cement factory it was used for) and while we expected a good dive I think all of us were amazed by what we saw there. I have been diving on most of the piers that are famous for scuba diving but this was by far the best pier dive I have ever done. Check out the herehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vojkThhJ1dg&feature=youtu.be

The question we always ask at the end of an ADA trip is “What could we have done to make this trip better?” The unanimous answer- Make it longer!!!

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Our First Annual Cruise Dive Trip Just Keeps Getting Better!!!

--by Daryl Johnson

As I wrote in my first article on the ADA dive Cruise, I told you that our Cruise Planner, Karen Bradder (1-800-901-1172 ext. 41643 ) would re-rate the ADA Group at any lower prices that were advertised. I am happy to report that many of those that booked Ocean View or Interior cabins will see a reduction in your fare of $150 to $200 per cabin. The cruise just went on sale and is now an even better bargain!! If you were on the fence about this trip you can still book it: just call her and tell her you are part of the ADA group and want to go on the same dives and she will take care of all of the arrangements.

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Another Amazing Photo Encounter With ADA.....

--by Carol Cox

Dive photographers are always looking for that once in a lifetime shot.....when everything seems to go right, the light is good, the camera works, the strobes fire.....and a recent ADA dive had all those qualities! While diving on A and B Reef last month, we came across a loggerhead turtle resting in the sand on the bottom. Wow, what a photo op! The turtle allowed us to get close but not too close – and my camera worked like a charm (for once!).

He looked this way, that way, okay now over here, good now lift your head, great now angle your head over this way.....it was a classic turtle photo shoot. Eventually he had to head to the surface for some air and left us to high five each other with such an amazing encounter. Another great day in the 'office'.

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ADA Weekend Getaway: Looe Key and Key West

--by Rachel Davis

A total of 14 divers enjoyed diving in the lower Keys August 22-23. The adventure began at noon on Saturday at the Looe Key Reef Resort, a combination of huge tiki bar/restaurant with live music, dive shop and budget motel. The vibe was laid back and quintessential Keys, with friendly locals and their dogs hanging out enjoying the scene.

The ADA crowd did our briefing on picnic tables behind the dive shop and boarded the boat. The dreadlocked bikini-clad dive mistress gave her briefing, and the chilled-out captain offered fresh grilled hot dogs between dives. It was a long ride along a shallow canal to get out to the open ocean. Protected since 1981, Looe Key has a reputation for being pristine and beautiful, but for those of us spoiled by Key Largo the viz was a bit green. According to Lon’s state-of-the-art “viz-o-meter” it was 30’ on the first dive, and 40’ on the second. In spite of the tinge it was obvious that the reefs here are really beautiful with plentiful marine life including a sleeping nurse shark, the usual schooling snapper and interesting pillar corals. Dive #2 took us to a place called Shark Valley which lived up to its name. Here the water was clearer and we enjoyed a Caribbean reef shark, twin eagle rays, and a 200 lb. grouper hiding in the reef’s fingers.

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The History of Scuba Diving - Part Two

--by Roy D. Wasson

In an earlier edition of the Mouthpiece this year our readers learned that the history of scuba diving dates back literally thousands of years, starting with military frogmen and sponge divers using primitive snorkels made from reeds since the time of Alexander the Great. Since the time of Aristotle in the Fourth Century BC, starting with inverted barrels, humans have used forms of diving bells to maximize their time underwater. Divers started using hard helmets and hose-fed air pumped from the surface in the 1820s, when John Deane modified firefighting equipment and Augustus Siebe from Germany improved Deane’s system with integrated diving suits made of rubberized twill. The first navy submarine, the Holland, was accepted by the American Navy in 1900, powered by a gasoline engine on the surface and electric motor while submerged.

Although many divers credit Jacques Cousteau and Emile Gagnan as having invented scuba diving in 1943, earlier inventors developed primitive systems that would enable divers to sever the tether to the surface required by hard-hat diving. In 1918 a Japanese inventor, Ohgushi, developed a system that included an air supply cylinder carried on the diver’s back with a valve that could be opened by the diver using his or her teeth to start and stop air flow. In 1926 Frenchman Yves Le Prieur invented a system in which the diver carried a compressed air cylinder on his chest and could open a valve on the tank periodically to release air into the diver’s mask. These systems shared a common flaw. The diver would still have to manually (using teeth or fingers) open the valve to start the flow of air into his mask, then turn it off and on again and again in order to breathe. Then came the breakthrough that makes diving some much easier and efficient today: the demand regulator.

The first practical self-contained system was invented in 1939 by Christian Lambertsen, at the age of only twenty-one. Lambertsen as a youth was an expert swimmer who worked at seaside resorts in New Jersey, and experimented with homemade underwater breathing apparatus during his teenage years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree from Rutgers and went on to the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, where he continued to experiment with his invention using parts from anesthesia machines.

Dr. Lambertsen finished first in his medical class, and was commissioned an Army officer as World War II approached, working with the Army’s Office of Strategic Services where he trained soldiers called “frogmen” to use his gear for military missions. His diving system was originally called the ALambertsen Amphibious Respirator Unit.@ Unlike the “open system” that uses compressed air breathed only once, the “LARU” was a rebreather system that operated on pure oxygen. The military advantage to rebreather systems is that they generate few bubbles, helping conceal the frogmens’ activities underwater. A key disadvantage was the danger of oxygen toxicity at depth.

It was not until a paper Dr. Lambertsen wrote in 1952 for the National Academy of Sciences was the phrase “self-contained underwater breathing apparatus” used that led to him rejecting “LARU” and adopting the abbreviation ASCUBA@ for his invention. If it were not for that paper that used the phrase we all abbreviate in our conversations about our diving hobby/sport/profession today, we could well call our buddies and ask them to go “LARU” diving instead of “SCUBA.”

Although Dr. Lambertsen’s system was a big improvement over those of his predecessors, the use of pure oxygen in rebreather system resulted in some loss of lives due to oxygen toxicity. By the early 1940s the world was ready for something safer that would allow divers more bottom time. Along came Cousteau and Gagnan, who in 1943 invented the “open-circuit” compressed air system with a demand regulator. They called their system the “Aqua-Lung.” That name was later licensed to U.S. Divers, the American division of Air Liquide. The Cousteau-Gagnan Aqua-Lung used a dual hose regulator, known to those of us who watched the popular 1960s TV series “Sea Hunt” with Lloyd Bridges.

Early professional and recreational divers had no way to control their buoyancy, short of dropping their weights and breathing control. In the Sixties, early models of vests were developed, called “adjustable buoyancy life jackets.” Those jackets could be inflated only by divers adding air by mouth. In 1971 Scubapro developed the “stabilizer jacket” which had both a second air line from the first stage to allow easier inflation, and emergency inflation systems using CO2 cartridges. That type of jacket became known as a buoyancy compensator, or “BC.” In the Seventies, a complete set of dive gear included mask, fins, snorkel, weights, wetsuit, regulator, BC, tank, depth gauge and pressure gauge. Since that time, multiple technological developments have come about, with divers now using sophisticated computers, cameras, comfort systems, and more.

Diving equipment has evolved greatly over the forty-five years since the Active Divers Association’s older members have been enjoying the undersea environment. We have thousands of years of historical developments to thank for our current state of the art, which makes diving safe, fun, and easier than navigating around in the gravity of dry land. The pioneers of scuba were daring, innovative, and dreamers. In looking back and realizing how far things have come in the history of our sport, we can only imagine what the future will hold. Can bottom times be extended indefinitely without decompression problems? Will BCs automatically inflate and deflate to keep us neutrally buoyant at all times? One thing is for sure: as long as there are those of us who frequent the ocean environment, our equipment and procedures will continue to evolve.

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When Lionfish Turn To Cannibalism

--Sanctuary Friends Foundation of the Florida Keys

Efforts to tame Florida’s invasive lionfish haven’t worked. Now these venomous fish are eating each other. Cannibalism may seem like nature’s way of coping with Florida’s growing lionfish invasion, but it is unlikely to offer a cure.

Cannibalism does occur in some species of reef fish, but it is rare. DNA evidence has confirmed that lionfish in Caribbean waters are engaging in cannibalism, and researchers are trying to determine if it's because the fish is depleting its existing foods. A study of stomach contents discovered cannibalism in four of 130 lionfish collected in the Bahamas, with similar results from a study of 157 in Mexico. Due to a lack of research, it's unclear if lionfish cannibalism is holding steady or increasing.

Florida's lionfish threat began off the Atlantic coast in the late 1980s, probably when someone released aquarium lionfish into the wild. Ocean currents and hurricanes helped them spread from Florida’s Atlantic coast to the Bahamas, throughout the Caribbean Sea and into the Gulf of Mexico. Lionfish don’t throw marine ecosystems out of balance in their native Indo-Pacific region. But in the Atlantic, research shows the rapid increase in lionfish coincided with a 65-percent native fish decline during a two-year period.

Visually stunning with their maroon and white stripes and long, fanlike fins, lionfish are considered the most destructive exotic species in marine waters off Florida and the Caribbean. They have voracious appetites and consume dozens of organisms in one feeding, altering delicate reef ecosystems. In the northern Gulf of Mexico, lionfish feast regularly on more than 40 varieties of reef fish like wrasses, gobies, and commercially valuable vermilion snapper and flounder. They compete for food with snapper. In addition, lionfish can lay up to 30,000 eggs every four days, and their venomous spines leave them with no known predators in Florida waters.

The threat has prompted efforts to recruit the public to help fight the invasion. REEF Environmental Education Foundation published a lionfish cookbook and teaches divers how to spear lionfish. Florida lifted catch limits and size restrictions for anyone hunting them. The state agency also held its firstLionfish Removal and Awareness Day in the spring and launched the Reef Rangers program, which encourages divers to remove lionfish from reefs at least twice a year. Lionfish haven’t been known to pursue humans, but getting poked by a lionfish spine can cause pain and occasionally nausea or respiratory trouble.

Despite such efforts, spread of the species hasn't slowed. Lionfish populations are still growing in areas like the Gulf of Mexico and densities in parts of the Atlantic are five times greater than in the Indo-Pacific. It raises concern that lionfish could spread to the world's few unaffected areas, such as the Panama Canal and the Mediterranean.

One thing about lionfish is clear: They provide a lesson about how destructive invasive species can be in Florida.

Source: "This Beautiful But Destructive Fish Is Resorting to Cannibalism" By Katie Pyzyk, National Geographic, July 23, 2015.

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A Dive Trip to the Abyss

--by Evelyn Roisman and Helen Colby

On October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus spied a beautiful island with sandy beaches, the first sighting of the new world, which he called San Salvador. It is still unresolved that this was the same island currently known as San Salvador or Columbus Isle, but we think it was. After all, there is a monument to him on land and under water.

As intrepid explorers, we joined a group of divers to explore what this island had to offer. We took a charter flight to Club Med where we were greeted with warm hospitality and all the creature comforts imaginable, a lot more than Columbus probably encountered. It is an all-inclusive resort where all the food, drinks even alcohol, and most of the other activities are included.

We spent a wonderful week of eating, diving, eating, diving some more, drinking, resting, eating and sleeping. The buffet meals were great, with fabulous, seemingly unending quantities and quality and variety of food. Bottles of French table wine flowed at lunch and dinner, along with a typical assortment of yummy French pastries.

Oh, yeah, the diving! It was fabulous, with amazing weather conditions - sun, no wind, calm seas, great visibility. There is a 2000-foot deep wall that surrounds the island that takes off from a ledge of about 40 to 60 feet, accessible either over the reef or via numerous tunnels and swim-throughs. Beyond the reef was endless deep blue water - the mysterious, deep blue abyss. It was very picturesque, a lot of fun, easy to navigate.

We saw many sharks – reef, black tips, a tiger shark, rays, a huge turtle and many other species. There are hammerheads, but sadly, we didn’t see them.

We were most enchanted by the groupers, especially by the very friendly Frick and Frack, whose territory was near the underwater Columbus monument. When either of them spotted Susan, co-owner of the dive concession, swimming by with her spear gun, they knew what was up. They would swim to her and show her where the lionfish were hiding so she could spear them for their lunch. The amazing thing about this is that Frick and Frack were not taught how to do this, they figured it out for themselves. Think about that the next time you want to eat grouper. They also liked to be stroked under the chin, like cats! Their chins were soft and the groupers hung around for this treat. I’m not sure who was more thrilled – the groupers or us, for this incredible contact.

One of the groupers swam in and out of Helen’s legs, and the divers were all very amused, and Helen was completely unaware of this little performance until after the dive.

The dive boats were excellent, very spacious catamarans that could comfortably hold more than 30 divers. Under the boat they would drop a bar at 15 feet for the safety stop and a line with a regulator and mouthpiece for air if needed. With several divers hanging off the bar, one could easily picture an underwater trapeze performance about to occur.

The trip was all too short, and another week at this tropical paradise could easily have been tolerated. Frick and Frack await our return.

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A Once In A Lifetime Opportunity

--by Carol Cox

People pay a lot of money to swim with dolphins in captivity but I was one of the lucky ones that got to swim with a pod of wild dolphins.....or they swam with me, I'm not sure which. They love to play and are so curious!

Several of us had gone to Grand Turk in the mid-Caribbean for a long weekend of diving. We were sitting on the hotel terrace having breakfast when the dive master came running up the beach shouting for us to come....wild dolphins!

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Buying a Dive Light 101

If you are contemplating the purchase a dive light for the ADA Mini-night diving course Sept. 12, (see article in enews) the following information may be useful. There are dozens and dozens of choices, how to choose the right light? Below are some points to consider:

Price: From $10 up to $1000, it depends on your plans for night diving, how often, and what can you afford. For occasional recreational night diving, most find lights in the $30-$50 range will do fine. This price range offers lights of high quality, simplicity, and durability.

Light Output: Lights are rated by lumuns (lm) or watts. One watt is equal to about 100-150 lumens. 3-5 watts or 500 lumens is more than enough light for most night divers. Directly related to light output is the beam width. A flood beam will illuminate a larger area but less brightly than a spot beam, given both are rated the same in power.

Light Sources: Incandescent, halogen, xenon, and LED are used for dive lights. When considering light output, battery life, compactness, and durability, the LED is superior to all, but the xenon has some advantages.

Batteries: The disposables are less costly initially, but the rechargeables more cost effective if used frequently. Both are about equal in life expectancy for several dives.

On-Off Switches: Switches seem to be the weak link in the dive light. Assuming the replaceable O-rings are maintained properly, most light floodings are caused by faulty switches. The most problematic might be the head-rotation type. This type rotates the head (the housing for the light source) to turn on and off and also provides access to the battery housing.

For more details and much more useful and critical night diving info, call Lon at 305-251 4975 or email at lon@diverlon.com and sign up for the dive Sept. 12

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Did You Know...???

Nowadays, we know the term "skin diver" to be someone that uses a mask, fins, and snorkel in the ocean, but few people know its origins. When military personnel were required to bring mask, fins, and snorkel to water sessions, the acronym SKIN was posted on the roster mean "Swim Kit Is Needed".

--excerpted from Alert Diver Magazine, Summer, 2015

Congratulations to ADA's Newest Family Member!
--by Rachel Davis, PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer

Blaze Larcinese, the 15 year old grandson of ADA Board Member and avid shore diver Jerry Kosakowski, earned his PADI Open Water certification on July 11th. Hardly a stranger to diving, Jerry has been taking Blaze shore diving since age 10, but this summer he needed to make it official before an upcoming boat diving trip in the Dry Tortugas. Blaze completed his certification on two drift dives to 60 feet out of Boynton Beach Marina where he got up close and personal with a huge spotted eagle ray and numerous other creatures along Delray Ledges. It was the 19th dive in his logbook!

Congratulations Blaze, and welcome to the club. Here's to a long and happy life of diving!

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Diving Attitude Part 3 - Yaw Axis

--by Lon Von Lintel

We have seen how weight adjustments along the long axis (horizontal) of the diver will affect his performance. (see previous articles) Now, consider the vertical axis, (yaw) again assuming the diver is in a horizontal position relative to the surface. It bisects the horizontal axis at the center of gravity, usually near the middle of the chest. When swimming directly with the current, or directly into the current, it's importance is minimal. However when swimming across the current, we do need to make adjustments. Yaw is the movement of deviation from a direct course. Consider that a diver wishes to swim to a target or destination that is on a compass course of 90 degrees from his present location. But the current is running at a speed of 1 kt., right to left, or a course of due north, 360 degrees. If a diver sets his compass to 90 degrees and follows it, he will never reach his target. Why? The current will push him to the left and he will arrive at some point north of his target. Solution? The diver must set his compass to a heading, maybe 100 degrees, that will apparently make him arrive at a point somewhat south, to the right, of his target. In effect, the diver will yaw to the right, that is, rotate on his yaw axis to the right. The apparent heading maybe 100 degrees, but the actual compass heading achieved will be 90 degrees.

There are several variables that the diver must evaluate which will determine how much yaw, or compensation is needed. First is the distance to the target, second is the speed of the current, and third is the swimming speed of the diver. There are mathematical formulas that are used to determine the exact compensation needed. Pilots and boat captains used them routinely. Unfortunately, they are of little use to divers because of the difficulty, if not impossibility, of accurately determining the value of each of the variables. We have to rely on guestimation and experience to guide us.

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The Vandenburg Superstructure

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.

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

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Newsletter Delivery Options

Want your newsletter delivered via snail-mail? Contact Carol Cox at ccox911@att.netand request a printed copy. Be sure to put "ADA Newsletter" in the subject.