News
Underwater Scooter League Race This Weekend in Ft. Lauderdale!
The Formula H2O circuit is cruising to Ft. Lauderdale for a pit stop at South Florida Diving Headquarters. On Sunday, August 22, racers will be doing laps on an underwater track circumnavigating the perimeter of the wreck Tracey. In depths of less than 65’, spectators can easily watch from the infield while hovering on the structure next to film crews from the Discovery Channel covering the event.
Research Ship Heads to Gulf for Oil Damage Assessment
More than a hundred days after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, it appears that BP has finally succeeded in controlling the blowout that spewed millions of gallons of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico. Yet to paraphrase Winston Churchill, this is just the end of the beginning. The creatures that live in, and the people that depend on the Gulf of Mexico will be affected by the oil spill for years, and we are just starting to comprehend the scope of this tragedy.
Coral Reef Program in Key Largo
Divers can work side-by-side with marine scientists to aid in reef restoration during a series of coral restoration dives set for October 19-22 at Amoray Dive Resort in Key Largo. Focused on environmental education, the group advocacy trips are to include educational lectures and dive programs to restore endangered staghorn and elkhorn corals. Hands-on activities are planned for both on land and offshore at Key Largo’s Coral Restoration Foundation nursery and surrounding reefs.
Sportswear Company Teams With SUDS, John Chatterton
Ocean Athlete recently formed a partnership with John Chatterton, the popular host of the History Channel’s hit series Deep Sea Detectives and one of the world’s preeminent wreck divers. A former Army combat medic and Vietnam Veteran, Chatterton helped coordinate Ocean Athlete’s partnership with Soldiers Undertaking Disabled Scuba (SUDS), a diving program for injured and disabled combat veterans. “We’re fortunate to have John Chatterton as part of the Ocean Athlete family, and equally proud to have a relationship with SUDS,” said Duane Willis, founder and president of Ocean Athlete.
Oil, Oil, Everywhere! (Well, Actually, No...)
August 11, 2010: Seas covered with a thick, oily sludge. Wrecks and reefs decimated by an onslaught of black goo. Divers lost in a sea of black, inky water. It’s a nightmare image — except that it never happened. As is so often the case, the greatest damage to Florida’s dive industry came not from the outpouring of oil from the Deepwater Horizon site, but rather from a misunderstanding of how this tragedy has affected the Sunshine State.
Give the Airlines the Finger. Drive and Dive Florida Instead.
First the airlines reduced the checked baggage allowance from 70 pounds per bag to 50. Then they started charging for that second bag. Then the first. Recently, one airline attempted to start charging for carry on bags. Could it get worse? Yes. In Europe, some airlines will charge you a whole euro if you want to go to the bathroom on flights under one hour. Then there is the hassle of having to check in hours early, and waiting in endless lines at security — while a TSA employee stands by menacingly with a machine that is all too reminiscent of one of those alien probes from science fiction.
Sunken Treasure Brings $1.6 Million
Daniel Frank Sedwick recently conducted a live, on-line auction of treasures recovered from sunken ships. Total bids amounted to more than $1.6 million. Some of the highest priced items, like a gold Escudo Mexican cob dated 1709, sold for $46,000. There were more than 70 other gold Escudos on the block along with hundreds of silver cobs and minted coins.
National Geographic Photo Contest Winner
Bill Goodwin and his wife, Donna, reside in Birmingham, Alabama, and have been frequent scuba diving visitors to Bonaire and the island’s reefs since 2004. Both enjoy underwater photography. Bill’s shot of a peppermint shrimp in a sponge, taken at Margate Bay, was entered into a photographic competition sponsored by National Geographic magazine, where it won top prize. There were 208,000 entries from 28 countries in 20 different language editions of the magazine. Bill placed first place in the Nature category in the English language National Geographic contest, but his image then went on to win first place in the worldwide competition.
NOAA Seeks Public Comment
NOAA seeks comment on a proposed rule prohibiting the discharge of sewage from vessels into Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary waters and to require vessel sewage tanks be locked to prevent discharges within sanctuary boundaries. Vessel sewage discharge has been prohibited in state waters of the sanctuary since their designation as a No Discharge Zone by the US Environmental Protection Agency in 2002. Although 65 percent of the sanctuary is within state waters, the remaining federal waters, with the exception of specially-protected zones, currently permit vessel sewage discharge.
HMS Victory Case Settled
Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc., pursuant to an agreement reached with the UK Government, filed a motion to dismiss and vacate the warrant for the arrest which was filed in the US District Court on Admiral Balchin’s HMS Victory, a 100 gun ship of the line lost in 1744 in the English Channel. The UK Government has agreed to pay Odyssey a salvage award of 80 percent as compensation for the artifacts which have been recovered from the site and submitted to the UK Receiver of Wreck. A valuation of approximately $200,000 has been agreed for the two cannon recovered from the site, providing for a salvage award of approximately $160,000.
