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October 2016 Edition

In This Issue:

Annual Picnic
ADA Is Now a Non-Profit
Bahamas Out Islands: You Can Still Discover Rarely Dived Sites
Diving by the Numbers
ADA Creates New Conservation Projects Committee
The Duane and the Bibb
Some Visual Memories of Cayman Brac
Peanut Island
New Dive Operator in Boynton Beach
Surface Signals – Audibles
1st Annual ADA Youth CRF Scholarship
Extending Your Bottom Time Safely
Do Crabs Have Teeth?
Oldest Certified Diver on Record
Newsletter Delivery Options
Email or Address Change?
T-Shirts For Sale
ADA Guidelines and Policies

FREE BBQ, FREE DIVE !! PRIZES

New Park Name, Same Park!

--by Jerry Kosakowski

When: Saturday, Oct 8, 2016

Who: ADA members, prospective members, family and friends.

Where: Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park (formerly known as John U. Lloyd Beach 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!!

Call or email Lon at 305-251-4975 or lon@diverlon.com to sign up, deadline October 5th for RSVP. For beach diving, bring all your own gear and a dive flag if you have one. Bring lobster gear as this is a great lobster spot. Bring that license too, the FWC seem to find this as one of their favorite hang outs. Or if you made it to 65+, no license is needed. The reef is about 100 yards off shore. It’s a great surface swim out. That is your warning. Or dive 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, unless a hurricane threatens. BBQ will include burgers, dogs, chicken, extras and all drinks. A small fee is charged to enter the park ($4 for single occupancy vehicles, $6 for 2-8 persons per vehicle), free parking at the pavilion. 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

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Active Divers Association Is Now a Non-Profit

--by Lenora Bach, Esq.

We are pleased to announce that Active Divers Association is now a non-profit tax exempt 501(c)(3) organization. We were approved as a public charity by the IRS on June 15, 2016. We are excited about the opportunity that this brings for continued support of our organization. Our new Mission Statement is posted on the website.

Our Mission

The Active Divers Association is a non-profit corporation dedicated to ocean stewardship and the preservation of our underwater environment. Comprised primarily of scuba divers, the Active Divers Association educates the community, through outreach and programs, about the local underwater ecosystem.

The corporation provides a means by which divers can be more involved in scuba activities, while they also become attuned to the plight the ocean currently faces by:

Educating and promoting the sport and science of scuba and skin diving awareness in a safe environment.
Educating the general public about the importance of protection and preservation of coral reefs and the marine environment in South Florida.
Organizing scuba diving trips for members and other concerned persons, in order to study and learn about issues pertaining to ocean stewardship and preservation of the underwater environment.

Our interests focus toward the environment as we enjoy seeing, and interacting with, marine life while diving. As people who directly view the environment under the surface, Active Divers are uniquely situated to know the state of our oceans health....., and try to do something about it. As a group we advocate for the underwater ecosystem.

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Bahamas Out Islands: You Can Still Discover Rarely Dived Sites

--by Connie Crowther

As we submerged in the air-clear water off Cat Island in the eastern Bahamas, we spotted the divemaster beckoning for us to follow him. He disappeared headfirst down a yard-wide vertical hole in the top of the coral reef. We looked at one another, shrugged, and finally we all nervously followed him down. The tunnel through the reef was home to some of the most vivid colors and critters we had ever seen. Crabs and fish nestled in the crevices. Crinoids of many hues and textures curled out from the sides of the passage. We kept heading down, 70-80-90 feet. When we hit 100 feet, we swam straight ahead through a royal blue sea window in the wall, framed by a massive outcropping of black coral. We felt like pioneers, realizing that not many people, if any, had ever been there before us.

We were in the Bahamas Out Islands, doing what some call Discovery Diving. Some of the remote islands have so many healthy coral formations and so few dive operators that you can explore places that divers may have never before seen. You spend the hour between dives anchored on an otherwise deserted crescent beach, snorkeling and exploring.

A lifetime link with the Bahamas, including living and working in Nassau as a newspaper reporter and college journalism teacher for seven years, has afforded me the rare opportunity of having access to diving all over the Bahamas for the past 28 years. More recently, magazine assignments have drawn me back to the various dive resorts in the Out Islands to dive and relax.

I have drifted head over heels, roiling through the Current Cut off North Eleuthera, accompanied by an array of sea creatures; watched wide-eyed as divemasters fed ravenous Caribbean reef sharks near Stella Maris, Long Island; had a brief close encounter on the sand with a 12-foot hammerhead shark; and done a 125-foot bounce dive over-the-wall at Small Hope Bay, Andros.

We have been surrounded by silky sharks as we drifted, tethered to the boat, in currents high above the Tongue of the Ocean 6000-foot-deep trench between Andros and New Providence. A synchronized ballet of spotted eagle ray wings and dots played out beneath us as we dived along a deep ledge off Abaco.

I have dived in one of the most famous sites in all the Bahamas -- the awesome Dean’s Blue Hole near Clarence Town, Long Island. Cited as the deepest salt water marine blue hole in the world, at 663 feet, this is the place where many free-diving records have been set and broken. Unlike most marine blue holes, which are easy to spot out at sea, two-thirds of Dean’s Blue hole is surrounded by a rocky outcropping of the island, and melds into a dusty white-sand beach on the other side. The blue hole looks like a great unblinking bright blue eye from above. You can drive right up to it, walk down the beach and get in the water, then swim across it a couple of times, imagining what lies below you.

We dived down into the blue hole, exploring the wall and ledges down to about 100 feet, and were able to experience some of the spectacular cathedral-like formations. The blue hole is about 120 feet across at the surface. About 60 feet down it opens out into a cavern at least 300 feet wide. On the way down, you see many of the familiar fish, turtles and other large and small marine animals you see on any reef dive.

Dean’s Blue Hole is the place where freedivers train with Vertical Blue freediving school and compete for world records. In May 2016, William Trubridge broke the world freediving record there, going down to 122 meters/400.26 feet.

Next month: More remote diving experiences in the Bahamas Out Islands

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Diving by the Numbers

--by Dr. Dan Baeza

Scuba is a sport of numbers: How deep did you go, how long were you down, how much air do you have left, what’s your Nitrox percentage, what’s your compass setting? The list goes on and on. These are easy numbers to attain. A diver merely has to view his console to get a complete readout of almost any metric needed. Now, ask how many people scuba dive, and you are likely to get as many answers as people you ask.

Scuba as we know the sport today, has been around for nearly 65 years since Jacques Cousteau and Emil Gaugin invented the first demand regulator and took it underwater. Since then, the sport has grown in popularity thanks largely to TV shows like “Sea Hunt” and “The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau”. Yet, the number of divers actively pursuing the sport has remained static for many years.

The number of active divers is vitally important to the industry in many ways. Certifying agencies need to understand how many new divers can be brought into the fold, and how many of those new divers will progress beyond the Open Water certification. Manufacturers and retailers live and die by the number of new divers certified each year and the volume of replacement equipment existing divers purchase. Resort and dive boat operators depend on people actually going out to dive

Before we can tackle the question, we must first decide what defines an “active diver” as opposed to our own “Active Divers”. As one can imagine, there is a lot of ambiguity over what constitutes an “active diver”. I have researched several publications and the absolute minimum number available is three to five dives per year. Given most boat dives are typically two-tank dives, one can extrapolate the “active diver” goes 2 to 3 times per year. PADI, arguably the largest certifying agency in the world claims it issues over 900,000 certifications annually, and has issued over 24 million certifications since 1967 (Source: Worldwide Corporate Statistics 2016). Market share data is hard to come by, but a 2014 survey of scuba certification agencies published in DiveBuddy.com listed PADI as having 54.9% in the USA, and 60.6% outside the USA, for a melded total of 55.6%. So that means there have been approximately 43.2 million certifications handed out since 1967. This is the total of all certifications, including certifications beyond Open Water, specialty certifications, and cross-agency certifications. I personally hold 17 certifications, including Instructor, Master Scuba Diver Trainer, Equipment Repair Specialty, and Nitrox to name a few, so you can see how the numbers can be skewed. In the nearly fifty years since PADI has been issuing certifications, some number of these divers have dropped out of the pool (pun intended) due to changing interests, age, disability, and death. A 2007 report in Undercurrent puts the number of active divers, those diving 2 to 3 times per year five years after initial certification, at 22%. That leaves us with 5.2 million divers in the USA. However, Undercurrent is a bit more pessimistic and places the number at 1.2 million divers in the USA. If you average 5.2 and 1.2 million, you arrive at 3.2 million divers, a number very close to the Diving Equipment Manufacturing Association’s (DEMA) 2014 estimate of 2.7 and 3.5 million divers in the USA, and 6 million worldwide.

As expected, most divers live along a coastline, with the heaviest concentrations in California, Florida, Texas, Virginia/Maryland/D.C., and New York. In Florida, DEMA estimates there are approximately 129,000 divers.

So, what does this all mean? To put it in perspective, let’s create an example. Suppose you are at a party consisting of 155 random people somewhere in Florida. You are a scuba diver. What are the chances that you will engage a scuba diver at the party in conversation? The answer is, unless you talk to yourself in a mirror, (drum roll-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-) zero. You will be the only diver there. If you travel abroad, the numbers get even smaller, with less than one in one thousand people you meet identifying themselves as divers.

When you go on an ADA dive, the chance that you will meet another diver is 100 percent. We divers are truly special people.

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ADA Creates New Conservation Projects Committee

--by Roy D. Wasson

As the ADA’s Conservation Projects Director, it is my honor and pleasure to announce the creation of our club’s new “Conservation Projects Committee.” If you have an interest in preserving and restoring the marine environment, this committee will provide a framework for you to put your ideas into motion, with the assistance of other ADA members. As everyone should know, the ADA has been busy for several years with conservation-related programs and projects. We need your ideas and input to identify more such opportunities to clean up the ocean and have fun doing it. Some areas of possible action include trash removal from dive sites, deployment of mooring buoys to reduce anchor damage, and extraction of derelict lobster traps that entrap and kill marine life.

Coral Our club’s largest and most longstanding contribution to the marine ecosystem has been our work with the Coral Restoration Foundation. Since 2008, ADA has participated in numerous coral transplanting projects, tended the baby coral nursery developed by CRF, and attended classroom training to learn about the causes of coral degradation and how to reverse the damage to our Florida reefs. This year’s CRF divers were Ellen Siegel, Mary LeCraw, Don Moss and John Moss from St. Louis, Lenora Bach, Clark Stephens, and youth members Joshua Escalona and Juliana Bach. As an aside I will note that we have decided to make permanent an annual scholarship program to encourage youth participation in the CRF programs in future years.

Because we know that our CRF divers already have an interest in conservation projects, this article will serve to announce that all eight of our 2016 CRF participants are invited to be the Founding Members of the new Conservation Projects Committee. Unless you contact me to opt-out of membership, as the committee’s inaugural chair I will consider that you have accepted and include you on correspondence related to planning our agenda and developing our plans to submit to the ADA board for consideration.

Finally, all ADA members are invited to join the committee as regular members, and to submit your ideas for marine conservation projects. Please let me know of your interest and ideas by emailing me at roy@wassonandassociates.com Let’s all work together to preserve and restore our marine environment for ourselves and those who follow us beneath the waves.

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The Duane and the Bibb

--by Mo Smith

In the 1930’s the Duane & Bibb formed part of the Coast Guard seven vessel fleet. The vessels were assigned to the new and elite “Search and Rescue Coast Guard Unit.”

The Duane - Circa 1968

When the ships’ end of duty approached, they captured the attention of “Keys Association of Dive Operators” that were searching for historical ships to be used as artificial reefs off Key Largo. On November 27, 1987, after $160,000 and two years of preparation the Duane was sunk, followed by the Bibb a day later. The ships final resting places are in close proximity to each other.

The deliberate sinking of the Duane and Bibb Vessels has been an ecological and recreational success. The 327-foot Duane rests on a sandy bottom at 120 foot depth, approximately one mile south of Molasses Reef (N2459.380 & W8022.920). The Duane was named after the Secretary of the Treasury Willian J. Duane who served under President Andrew Jackson. In 1937, the Duane was initially assigned to patrol the California coast and eventually was relocated to patrol the east coast. The Duane accomplished numerous WWII wartime rescues, including rescuing survivors from the merchant ship Tresillian, torpedoed by a German U-boat. She was also part of the Coastal Surveillance Force in Vietnam.

The Duane currently lies upright with a slight list to starboard. Her bow points southwest and her crow’s nest can be seen at 50 foot depth. Her deck starts at about 90 feet. The anchor lies on the sandy bottom near the vessel’s bow. A diver will need to make various dives on the Duane to visit its extensive holds and recesses.

The Bibb is identical in all features to the Duane and lies on her starboard side nearby on the sandy bottom within the maximum recreational 130 foot depth (N2459.710 & W8022.770). The Bibb was named after George Bibb, Secretary of the Treasury serving under President John Tyler. The Bibb’s first call of duty was patrolling the first weather station in the North Atlantic in January, 1937. During WWII the Bibb was assigned to patrol the Caribbean, Mediterranean, and the Atlantic. She was again deployed in foreign waters as part of the Navy’s contingent to Vietnam. The Bibb was involved in many rescue missions throughout her history but her most notable rescue occurred in the Atlantic when she battled gale-force winds and turbulent seas to successfully rescue all 69 survivors of the American flying boat Bermuda Sky Queen, a transatlantic airliner that crash-landed in 1947, and subsequently purposefully sank into the cold waters of the Atlantic.

The Duane and Bibb are both amazing dives with an abundance of coral growth and a multitude of sea life and are known to be favorite dive sites for local divers. The ships depth and frequent heavy currents require a minimum of an advance certification to experience the beauty of the sister ships.

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Some Visual Memories of the 2016 ADA Cayman Brac Trip

--by Daryl Johnson

I was lucky enough to get a gift of a GoPro Hero at my retirement party and it started a new hobby (like I need more!!) doing underwater videos. After many trial and error episodes I learned that if I did not leave the camera on at all times I would miss the most amazing parts of a dive. I also learned that no one would look at a ten-minute video so I simply started to do two minute videos.

How often do you get up close and personal with a Spotted Eagle Ray doing a rapid ascent trying to avoid a diver in pursuit? Take a look at this video: Eagle Ray and see if you can figure out who is chasing the ray. (Hint- he loves to play with marine life!)

Sometimes you get surprised by seemingly inanimate objects like a barrel sponge, but if you watched this video: Sponge. you would see what I have only seen twice in 25 years - a spawning sponge.

All of us would love to find a way to deal with the invasive lionfish. What if we simply got all the yellowtail Snappers to do what you will see in this video:Lionfish and then we would also have more snapper to eat - a true win win!!

And none of this would be possible if we did not have the support of a great staff at Reef Divers in Cayman Brac. They had their own version of service they call “Valet Diving” and quite honestly we were all spoiled after a few dives. Check out the video: Valet Diving . You may have to turn up the volume a bit on this one, but the visual says it all.

Happy viewing!!

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Peanut Island

--by Jerry Kosakowski

Have you even heard of this place? Well, maybe not, it is not well known and until lately very shabby. In fact it was just sitting there collecting garbage. That has been cleaned up and it is now a beautiful spot. Camping is available also, when it is not flooded.

The location is directly across from Phil Foster State park in Riviera beach off of Blue Heron Blvd. exit from I95. Just head east.

It is at the north tip of Palm Beach barrier Island. If you know your history you would know that the Kennedy’s had a place located there. Well, during the Cuban missile crises the Government built a nuclear bomb shelter on the island for Kennedy’s use. Just in case. The rest of ue would have to do for ourselves as usual. Yes, it is open for tours

It is 80 acres of pure Palm Beach beauty, now that it has been refurbished from the teenagers. It has a place for picnics, swimming, snorkeling and nature walks and the all important bathrooms. Since it is an island you do need to catch an independent ferry to get across to it.

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New Dive Operator in Boynton Beach … What a Great Day of Diving

--by Jay Abbazia

On Saturday September 3^rd, we checked out a new diver operator, Splashdown Divers in Boynton Beach. Take I-95 North, get off at Boynton Beach Blvd and go east a couple of miles just past Federal Highway and you’re there. Surrounded by a relatively new condominium complex, the marina is just behind it, with a restaurant at the end. You drop off your gear at the boat, slip 13, and the boatmate takes the gear and watches it while you park your car in the covered parking at the condo. He loaded it on the boat too. (at least that’s how it worked for me today). The first 2 floors at the condo parking are public free parking. Check-in at the Splashdown office, which is in a storefront just outside of the parking lot. There is some basic dive gear available, and you can get a bite to eat there too. The boat is a few steps away, at the marina. The boat is old, but reasonably comfortable. It’s not a Newton, but has a wide deck

and storage under the seating. For the most part, it worked just as well as a Newton. The crew was very accommodating, as well. They have been at it in the same location for over 20 years. The boat left on time too, with bottled water, soda and cracker snacks on board.

Dive #1

First stop was the Castor Wreck, a 258-foot ship sunk in 110 feet of water, with the top of the wreck at about 75 feet. The current was strong on the way down, with visibility between 35 and 40 feet. Sunk in 2001, it has beautiful blue coral all over it. There were sightings of several goliath groupers too. All agreed it was a great dive, and we were back on the surface in about 30-minutes. The water was nice at 84 degrees at the wreck. What’s there not to like?

Dive #2

The next stop was Briny Breezes Reef, which was a drift dive at 50 to 60 feet. The current was cooperative and kept us moving along on the reef. “Fly like an eagle, to the sea. Fly like an eagle let the current carry me”. Lon carried the flag, so we were never lost. With scrub coral and a lot of sponges, there was much to see. Coasting with the current we saw a couple of big green morays under the ledges, many fish, a family of squid, and I think I saw Dory, too. Some of the divers saw a shark as well. We concluded with a safety stop, went to the surface, and then the boat circled around and picked us up.

Back at the dock, the check-in process was reversed: Go get your car, drive it up in front of the boat, load your gear, and you’re on your way home. I can think of worse ways to spend a Saturday afternoon. Good company, a great dive operator and pleasant dives. If every dive day with Splashdown Divers is like today, then it looks like they’re a “keeper”. See y’all next time in Boynton Beach!

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Surface Signals – Audibles

-- by Lon Von Lintel

Divers on the surface need to be located quickly to avoid boat collisions and receive rescue and first aid. Audible signals, along with visual signals, are very effective under most sport diving conditions. There are several types of mechanical devices which product a loud alert. The first is named the Dive Alert, appropriately enough. It uses compressed air from the scuba tank and is for above water use only. The Dive Alert plus can be used above and below water to signal your buddy. Both attach to the BCD low pressure inflator hose. The effective distance is reportedly one mile.

DAN Surface Signal Kit - about $80

A low tech device, required by ADA, is the whistle. They come in many colors and types, but all require a healthy burst of air from the divers lungs. Effective distance is probably about 1/4 mile. And of course,

yelling and screaming would be the last resort. Effective range maybe about 100 yards. Very high-tech signaling devices include a waterproof VHF radio which allows voice communications with other radios on the same frequency, and some have a GPS locator beacon.

In summary, every diver needs some type of signal devise when on the surface. I carry the safety sausage, Dive Alert, whistle, and mirror. When I’m in the water, I want EVERYONE to know where I am.

First Annual ADA Youth Coral Restoration Foundation Scholarship Recipient
--by Lenora Bach

J_Escalona Meet Joshua Escalona. He is a 16 years old Senior attending Mast Academy. Joshua is an Advanced Open Water Diver with a Nitrox certification. He joined ADA this year as part of the Youth Program and plans to pursue a career in the medical field.

The ADA Youth Coral Restoration Foundation Scholarship is administered and funded by the Active Divers Association and is awarded to divers in our youth program interested in learning how they can make a difference to better our oceans.

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Extending Your Bottom Time Safely

--by John Davia

When we go diving we all want the longest bottom time possible. And, as members of ADA we are going to do this in the safest way possible. One does not have to sacrifice safety in order to increase bottom time. In fact, there are several ways that we can make our dives longer and not put ourselves at risk.

Nitrox is one of the best ways to extend our bottom time. Nitrox allows divers to have a higher concentration of oxygen in the tank, so that a diver can stay down longer. The only disadvantage to nitrox is that there are depth limits that are usually shallower than the typical diver who is on air. So, one has to be very careful to not exceed the depth limit that each percentage of oxygen allows. But, what nitrox DOES give is longer bottom time. And, frankly I am willing to sacrifice a little depth for a longer dive!

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Do Crabs Have Teeth?

--reprinted from: wiseGEEK

Crabs aren’t picky eaters. As an omnivore, a crab enjoys both plants and animals, but its main source of sustenance is algae. However, crabs don’t chew their food in their mouths. This chore is handled by the crab’s stomach, which contains exoskeleton materials shaped like teeth that grind together to mash up the food in a section of the stomach called the gastric mill.

A crab uses strong claws to tear apart its food, while its mandibles (or mouth parts) shred the food a bit more, before sending it all along to the digestive tract.

Down the hatch:

A typical crab diet includes worms, molluscs (such as snails and slugs), fungi, other crustaceans (including shrimp and barnacles), and often any dead organic matter that happens to float by.
Birds have a similar mechanism to process food; they use the gizzard to break up food. They also swallow stones and sand to help the gizzard do its grinding.
Examples of other animals that use a gastric mill or gizzard: earthworms, crocodiles, alligators, lobsters, crayfish, barnacles, and krill.

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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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Oldest Certified Diver on Record

The title of oldest certified diver goes to 93 year old Ray Wooley. He celebrated his 93rd birthday on August 28 by completing his 9th dive of the year. He completed 20 dives in his 92nd year, and has set a goal of 39 dives for his 93rd year. He is a member of the British Sub-Aqua Club has completed thousands of dives around the world since he took up the sport. Read more about his amazing life by clicking here.

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Newsletter Delivery Options

Want your newsletter delivered via snail-mail? Contact the webmaster and request a printed copy. Be sure to put "ADA Newsletter" in the subject.

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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.

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