Free BBQ, Free Dive !! Prizes

--by Jerry Kosakowski

When: Saturday, Oct 14, 2017

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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The third annual ADA dive cruise departs on November 13, 2017 on the Crown Princess for 5 nights and six days and goes to Cozumel and Costa Maya for Caribbean diving at its best. It is really easy to do when no flying is involved to get to your destination, and the ship repositions overnight to the next dive location while you are dining, being entertained, watching “Movies under the Stars”, or simply enjoying the voyage. Dan and I have taken several of these and enjoyed outstanding days of diving, gourmet meals, and a terrific cruise experience. It’s also a great way to experience international diving for the first time.

Double occupancy prices vary according to cabin from as low as $299 per person for an interior cabin to $499 for a balcony (on sale as of this writing,) not including the dive excursions. This year we will be booking our dives with an outside vendor so the dive in Costa Maya is $99 and $93 in Cozumel, per day, including all equipment rentals. Final payment for the cruise is due September 14^th, so if you book after that payment will be due in full at the time of booking. Oh, and by the way, prices are lower if you want to book more than two to a room (four maximum). I did one dive cruise with two other divers in an interior cabin with no problems.

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As divers, we strive for calm seas, warm waters, and 100-foot visability. Rarely do we get all three concurrently,but low visibility is probably the most taxing and dangerous of the three conditions. This is going to happen to you, unless of course, you just refuse the dive in advance. But, it can occur in a flash and there you are, hopefully not lost completely, and at least close to your buddy so contact can be made.

There lies the whole solution, staying in contact with your buddy. It can get so bad your buddy can almost be next to you and still not see him. Well, grab that dive flag rope and hold on. The diver with the flag is never lost. The others are....

This has happened to me quite a few times diving from shore. It usually has been windy the past few days, and although the water is a little better as far as calmness goes, the murkiness is very bad. For shore diving, there is the hope it clears up as you get further out, and maybe five feet of visibility is all there is going to be. Well, you may have to place this one as one of those training dives then. You won’t forget this lesson for a while.

Sometimes even on a boat dive this can’t be avoided, as the water just becomes a silt-out. Well, don’t despair. If you do get separated and and your attempts to locate anyone after one minute of searching haven’t been successful, surface and make contact with the boat. Give the appropriate "OK" signal if you are ok. They may be able to pair you up either with your partner, who also should have surfaced by now, or with another diver if your parter is back on the boat. You probably will not be alone, but if you are, you must abort the dive. Now the choice is either swimming on the surface or take a good compass heading and descend if the surface current is too strong. If the current is not bad, your best bet is to stay on the surface in an uncrowded area and make your way back to the boat if it is safe to do so.

May your next dive have unlimited visibility!

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The Effects of Hurricane Irma on Key Largo Reefs

Hurricane Irma made landfall at Cudjoe Key in the middle Keys at 9:10 a.m. the morning of Sunday, September 10th as a Category 4 storm with 130 mph winds. 78 miles to the north, 25 foot waves were reported at Molasses Reef off Key Largo. On Saturday, September 23rd, less than two weeks after the hurricane struck, 12 ADA divers made the trek out to Molasses Reef to survey the reefs post-Hurricane Irma onboard Rainbow Reef's Tropical Adventurer.

When we arrived, the most striking thing we noticed was the lack of boat traffic on the reef. White mooring balls dotted the landscape around the iconic Molasses Reef Tower from one end to the other, with no other boats in sight. The divemaster told us that many of the mooring balls were missing since the storm and most dive operators are not yet operational.

When we took the plunge onto the reef, the first thing we noticed is that the sand was gone. The 25 foot waves had apparently scooped up all the sand and placed it elsewhere. What was remaining was rubble rock from old buried coral skeletons, covered with a fine layer of green fuzzy algae that had grown over the past two weeks. The coarse white sand particles that made up the ground cover between the towering coral fingers was now replaced with a yellow-green bed of coral rocks. The towers of coral looked mostly fine with some sea fans and sponges missing. Atop the towers there was noticeable damage to stands of elkhorn. Fortunately, we did find a CRF staghorn coral transplant that survived the storm. In spite of the effects to coral there is still an abundance of marine life. Fish species of all kinds were represented with the characteristic large schools of yellowtails and grunts the Keys is famous for, plus we saw sharks, rays and numerous eels.

Hurricanes are natural phenomena, and coral reefs are part of the cycle of decline and renewal for the marine environment. This article from NOAA outlines the positive benefits hurricanes provide to reefs, as coral reefs have experienced these effects from hurricanes and survived for millions of years. Over time, Mother Nature will regenerate Molasses Reef and eventually restore it to the splendor that we all know and love.

For next month's newsletter, I will survey the deeper reefs (50 to 70 foot) of Boynton Beach and report on any damage there from Hurricane Irma.

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My travels have taken me to dive locations offshore of every continent except Antarctica. Along with the stunning colors of the Pacific, walls of the Caribbean, wrecks of Truk Lagoon, penguins of the Galapagos, schooling hammerheads of the Coco Islands, volcanic vents of Indonesia, cenotes of the Yucatan, blue holes of the Bahamas, and sea lions in the Sea of Cortez, the big animals I have dived with also include Minke whales of Australia.

We were aboard the Spoilsport on the Great Barrier Reef, anchored in a quiet lagoon, when one of the crew spotted a pod of Minke whales circling our boat. They were very active, diving and breaching in zig-zag trails. They somewhat resemble killer whales (a.k.a. orcas). The visibility was limited, so they were a bit shy, but this was my first encounter with what I consider "big animals". Wow!

Next on my list is the manta rays of Borneo. They can grow to be giants with a wing span of 20 feet, although these were smaller at about 12 - 15 feet. During tide changes through the islands around Borneo, mantas congregate, swimming slowly against the currents. The best shot of getting up close is when they break from feeding and hover at cleaning stations, a service provided by small reef fish. I was able to crawl on the sandy bottom and inch my way to within a few feet of these giants! Wow!

Of course, no list of big animals is complete without the whale shark. Off the west coast of Australia, Ningaloo reef is famous for its resident whale sharks. Using a spotter plane, the dive operators direct their boats to intercept the sharks on their anticipated direction of travel. It works. We were dropped off and then just waited. Then a form appears, just on the edge of visibility. It grows larger and then before you know it, it’s a whale shark. The shark glides by, the boat circles, picks you up, and hurries ahead to the next drop zone. Again and again, as long as you have strength, the boat drops you just ahead of these amazing animals. Wow!

Last, but biggest, are the humpback whales of the Dominican Republic. They grow to 60 feet, and weigh 40 tons. Taken by tender boats from the anchored mother ship, we searched in an area known as the Silver Banks. During their active periods, there is no chance to get close. We have to wait for their "siesta". Finally, we spot two adults and a calf resting on the bottom at about 80'. The adults can remain on the bottom for 20-40 minutes before they must surface to breath. But the youngsters must surface more often. We knew this and slipped into the water just above them, waiting for the calf..... It stirred, paused, and then shot up toward us. It was clearly curious and wanted to investigate. And like most young animals, it was a bit clumsy, excitable, and lost control. I was not quick enough to avoid a collision and it banged my left side with its flipper. My upper arm took the worst of the blow, but I felt no pain. It wasn't unti later after my adrenaline wore off that I was reminded of my best up-close encounter. Wow!!!

Here's wishing our members- calm seas, good visibility, warm water, and close-up encounters with big animals.

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