ADA's Grand Cayman Dive Trip is Ready to Book!
July 7 - 14, 2018

--by Daryl Johnson

The 2018 trip is to Grand Cayman at the Cobalt Coast Resort July 7-14. For those of you that went to Cayman Brac with us you will be happy to know this resort is owned by the same company and has the same dive operator, Reef Divers with their “Valet Diving”. This property was built in 2000 and just won the Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence for 2016.  Check out the rave reviews at Trip Advisor with mostly top ratings.

While ADA has gone to many exotic locations, this trip gets “back to basics” at a location known for blue water, marine life and wall diving. Take a look at the 5 star ratings for North Wall diving on Trip Advisor at Trip Advisor. And we will be doing a lot of diving since this trip includes six two tank morning dives and 5 one tank after noon dives. With all that diving you are going to want to use nitrox- so guess what?? That’s included as is the use of a dive computer if you need one!

If you have never been to the Cayman Islands before, the first thing you learn is that food is very expensive and you can easily spend $75-$100 per person a day eating out. That’s not going to be a problem for us as three meals a day are included! You can dine in the beautiful restaurant right next to the pool.

Flights are very inexpensive with direct flights from Miami starting at $319 on Cayman Airways for a nonstop flight directly to Grand Cayman. As usual, we do NOT include flights so that you can use your favorite carrier or frequent flier points if you want.

So, this is what is in the package:

• 7 nights Garden View Room including breakfast, lunch, dinner daily,
• free Wi-Fi, welcome rum punch, cocktail reception, fees, taxes and gratuities
• 6 days of 2-tank morning boat dives, use of dive computer, tanks, nitrox,
• weights and belts.
• 5 days of 1-tank afternoon boat dives, use of dive computer, tanks, nitrox,
• weights and belts.
• Roundtrip airport transfers

The total price is $1399 per person, double occupancy (a single occupancy requires a single supplement). A deposit of $100 is required at booking and final payment of $1299 is due by check by April 15, 2018.  As usual we will match up divers without a companion to get to double occupancy. So get ready for another awesome ADA dive trip by using the “deposit button” at the end of this article or send a $100 check to:

Jerry Kosakowski
298 NW 83 Lane
Coral Springs, FL 33071-7439

See you there!!

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Wine Cellar in the Ocean

--by Jerry Kosakowski

Edivo Vina (http://www.edivovina.hr/en) is a winery in Croatia. They have made a wine cellar in the ocean. Well, we can do that, can’t we? The person behind this is Ivo Segovic, and he states that the ocean is the perfect place for the wine to be stored. It took him seven years of tinkering around to get the process right. He had many difficulties to overcome.

He ages the wine above-ground for three months. It is then corked and placed into an amphora, which is strong enough to protect the bottles. It is then placed into the ocean at 20 meters (66 feet) for one to two years. The amphoras are locked into cages. No free pickings here.

Experts state this process provides a stress-free environment. This results in the wine having unique characteristics. Try this and let me know.

However, if this seems like too much of a project for you, the wine can be purchased online. A bottle of the Navis Mysterium goes for 309 Euros or about $365 US.

You can also dive this site when in Croatia.  It is in the Adriatic Sea. I bet it isn’t a cheap dive either. (Editor’s note: The current water temperature in Croatia is 64 degrees Fahrenheit. It ranges from a low of 55, to a high of 75 degrees).

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ADA’s 2017 Coral Restoration Program:

First Reef Responders” After Hurricane Irma

by Roy D. Wasson

Although we were delayed two months from originally-planned date—due to the ravages to the reefs of Hurricane Irma—on November 5 eleven ADA volunteers, plus Safety Officers Rachel Davis and Lee Wood (a co-founder of ADA), continued our longstanding collaboration with the Coral Restoration Foundation (“CRF”).  We worked to be “First Reef Responders” to address widespread destruction of large areas of CRF’s transplanted corals. For more than a decade ADA has supported the efforts of Ken Nedimyer and the entire CRF staff to repopulate Florida Keys reefs with staghorn and elkhorn corals that have been decimated by pollution, climate change, careless anchoring, and other threats.  Responding to the damage from the hurricane was a mission that thirteen ADA divers were eager to accomplish.

Once relegated to borrowed classroom and meeting facilities, CRF has for the last few years operated out of comfortable quarters at the Pilot House Marina in Key Largo, thanks in large part to the generosity of the Pilot House.  It was there our 2017 program met at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday morning.  We were checked-in by CRF intern Christina Mallica, who gave our group a briefing on the day’s scheduled activities, and assisted us in our completion of registration forms and other paperwork.

Christina Mallica is an intern at CRF, where she has worked following her graduation last year from the University of Florida, where she earned a degree in Marine Science.  Although in and around the ocean all of her life, Christina didn’t recognize her true passion for coral conservation until she learned to dive four years ago. After that, she changed her college major to marine science and says:  “I haven’t looked back since!”  When we asked Christina for her favorite memory so far at CRF, she replied: “That would be participating at Coralpalooza, an annual summer event thrown by CRF that introduces hundreds of recreational divers to what to we do and give them an opportunity to get involved and make a difference.”  Christina is a true professional and worked with us throughout our program that day.

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Thirty-five members gathered on October 14, 2017 at the Jetty Pavilion, Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park (formerly known as John U. Lloyd Beach State Park), for our annual BBQ, gear swap and raffle. This was right after Hurricane Irma hit the area. There was a lot of erosion and the entrance from the pavilion to beach (that is a loose term) was eroded badly (actually roped off). The water entrance just in front of the pavilion was very rocky and made an entrance and exit a little bit of a challenge (fell on my face getting out, thanks Jeff Roth for recuing me, Rachael, give Jeff a certification in Recue diving please).

Dives were still made despite the horrible visibility and crashing waves. We are truly a dedicated group of divers. The visibility was so bad, you couldn’t see your feet. There were maybe 15 of us who dove it anyway. Two were completing their check-out dives and received certifications from Rachael. My hat goes off to them because it was bad. They definitely got the best training regimen for low visibility diving. I really don’t know how Rachel did it.

Roy, our resident chef did the BBQ in a fantastic manner, including his signature chili, which everyone loved. Roy was BBQing in the rain with Lon holding an umbrella over him. Storms came suddenly and left suddenly.

Other members brought additional food dishes to the picnic, including various salads, fruits, and deserts. All members had a good time (I think) with plenty of good food. That’s what they told me anyway.

An auction was held with dive gear donated by Carol Cox. The auction included a complete Sealife professional camera and extras worth over $800.00 that went for a more then reasonable price. Thank you, Carol. The money raised will help ADA provide service to our members in 2018.

Once again, we held a raffle and numerous items were raffled off. Among the prizes, were wet suits, a BC, lion fish gun, and gift certificates from Austin’s. There were a few remaining raffle items that were not claimed, and they were offered as “come and grab what you need”. No arguments from anyone on this giveaway. Some members received as many as three items. Included in the giveaway were 50-yard line tickets for the Miami Hurricanes Football game donated by Roy.

An extremely informative presentation on the Aquarius Project was given by James W. Fourqurean, director of Marine Education at Florida International University. Among his many duties at FIU, Doctor Fourqurean heads up the management of the Aquarius  Project, an underwater habitat in the Florida Keys 63 feet below the ocean’s surface . In addition, he explained how the military was using the Aquarius Habitat for specialized training and described some of their processes. I hope that isn’t classified. It seemed so to me.

At around 2:00 PM, we broke up (the sun was finally out in force) and I offered the pavilion to another group, who just arrived.  Can’t wait until the next one. Hope to see you there, because the best part was meeting up with the people I haven’t seen in a while. A special Thanks to Rachael for staying to help clean up.

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The first most common reef fish you will encounter on a typical dive in the Florida Keys is the grunt.  Grunt are known to huddle around rocks and ledges. However, you usually find two different types of grunts hanging together in 60 feet of water or less. They are called grunts because they produce a grunting sound by grinding their teeth together, which is amplified by their swim bladders.

Here’s how to distinguish the French Grunt (Haemulon flavolineatum) from the Blue-Striped Grunt (Haemulon sciurus) (photos by : Humberto Ramirez / Getty Images):

The French Grunt on the left has a few rows of stripes running lengthwise down the fish’s body, but the lower stripes run diagonal.

The Blue-Striped Grunt on the right has visible blue stripes. Its stripes run lengthwise down the fish’s body throughout. But the easiest way to distinguish them is by their dark brown tail and dorsal fin.

A team of scientist from Belgium found that the distinctive grunting sounds the grunt makes are not related to communication among the species, but rather a second set of pharyngeal jaws which grinds and pulverizes food. They examined the enamel on the teeth and found evidence of wear and tear.

The second most common fish you will encounter are probably the Yellowtail Snapper Ocyurus chrysurus and the Yellow Goatfish Mulloidichthys martinicus

Many divers confuse the two because of their similar markings and coloration.  These two species often school together and hang on ledges similar to the French Grunt and Blue-Striped Grunt. (Photos by Stephen Frink / Getty Images):

The yellow goatfish on the left has whiskers or barbs underneath its chin, while the yellowtail snapper on the right has none. The purpose of the barb on the goatfish is to hunt for food hidden in the sand. Another distinguishing feature is that goatfish have two separate dorsal fins.   While Yellowtail Snapper are very tasty, don’t ever eat a Yellow Goatfish. They are known to carry the ciguatera toxin.

Reference- Gibb, Natalie. "Common Reef Fish of Florida and the Caribbean." ThoughtCo, Nov. 3, 2017, thoughtco.com/reef-fish-identification-guide-2963142.

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The Effects of Hurricane Irma on Boynton Beach Reefs

--by Rachel Davis

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. 200 miles to the north, strong waves battered the deep reefs (50-70 ft) at Boynton Beach. On Saturday, September 30th , John and I surveyed our neighborhood reef at Delray Ledges to assess the hurricane damage.

First of all, the hurricane effect was not nearly as dramatic as that of Key Largo. Boynton Beach dive sites are famous for their numerous large purple vase sponges, and the first thing we noticed is that many looked like they had been chewed on the top, obviously damaged from the heavy storm surge. Some were missing altogether, with just a wide white circle where the sponge once stood. Other effects include damage of soft corals and sea fans. However, the biomass of yellowtail and grunts was still there, along with numerous tropical reef fish.

At the end of the dive we recovered a large tarp and scrap aluminum rods that were part of a beach cabana. Hurricane Irma took the cabana and blew it a half-mile out to sea where it landed on the reef.

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

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