Volunteer dive team accepting applications

The North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores has extended a final call for area divers interested in volunteering.

The volunteer dive team at the aquarium is accepting applications for next year through Monday.

Volunteer divers inside the 306,000-gallon Living Shipwreck talk with visitors about the exhibit and its animals. Volunteer divers also assist with other in-water programs, help care for animals and maintain exhibits...[Link]

Olympus E-P1 and Panasonic's GF-1 get underwater case

German company 10bar has developed an underwater housing for Panasonic's latest Micro Four Thirds camera, the Lumix DMC-GF1. Made of aluminum and acrylic, the 1.1kg case can dive to depths of 60m. As with most good housings, users can also employ zoom when underwater via a dedicated ring which clamps onto the lens of the shooter...[Link]

Happy Thanksgiving!

Trade expo unveils latest must-have innovations

The scuba diving industry's largest trade expo -- the Dive Equipment and Marketing Association -- was held earlier this month in Orlando. Exhibitors displayed the latest must-have dive gear and introduced vacation packages to such far-flung destinations as the Galapagos Islands and Palau. Here are some of the new diving innovations you can expect to see at retailers in the next few months..[Link]

BVI Wreck Week 2010 featured at largest dive show in North America

The British Virgin Islands Scuba Organization (BVISO) and the British Virgin Islands Tourist Board (BVI TB) once again partnered to promote the Territory’s exquisite diving at the annual Diving Equipment and Marketing Association (DEMA) Trade Show in Orlando, Florida, November 4 - 7.

BVI Wreck Week 2010 tops the list of several exciting and high-quality dive offerings for the coming season. This will be the first year that the Dive Operators and the Tourist Board have partnered to host divers at various functions throughout the week.

“We are so pleased to continue our close partnership with the Tourist Board on this most meaningful trade show,” said Randy Keil, President of the BVI Scuba Organization. “We in the BVI must compete with dive destinations throughout the Caribbean and beyond, so the Tourist Board’s support is critical in enabling us to promote all of our member dive operators as well as the overall destination.”

2010 is expected to be a banner year for the diving product in the BVI. The destination has been featured in diving and mainstream lifestyle publications since the Tourist Board hosted a group of international journalists in the Territory in June of 2009, which included writers from South America and Europe. John Bantin of Diver Magazine in the UK was heard telling divers at the DEMA show, “This is the BVI’s year.” Bantin has published two articles on diving in the BVI since June; touting the Wreck of the Chikuzen as one of his top ten lifetime dives in the November issue of Diver Magazine...[Link]

Book explores New Zealand shipwrecks

Retired underwater documentary maker Lynton Diggle has just launched his second book on shipwrecks.

The Titirangi resident says it will be an important insight for people interested in maritime history.

"Sort of like a bible," he says.

Shipwrecks of New Zealand includes many previously unpublished information and photos.

Lynton, a grandfather of two, filmed many sites while working for salvage companies during the 1980s.

He vividly recalls diving along stairwells and corridors of sunken ships – surrounded by floating carpet and bedding...[Link]

Upcoming iPhone Game: Mission: Deep Sea

Hiccup Studios has submitted a new game, Mission: Deep Sea, to the iTunes App Store. This iPhone and iPod touch game puts you in control of a sea turtle to complete various missions, swimming in beautifully shaded 3d underwater world, using multi-touch technology.

Mission: Deep Sea takes place in the near future, where a neural-chip that enables the humans, command and feel the nervous system of primitive animals. In 2015, Snapstronics Incorporation’s n-chip, succeeds on reptiles due to their primitive brain structure. This provides a way to benefit from the perks of these, otherwise wild animals. The fitted n-chips, transports the nerve commands between partners, without interfering the autonomous systems like breathing and digestion. This way, the human partner with the pairing n-chip, is able to command to the muscular system of the animal, and feel what it feels like his own...[Link]

Florida archaeological divers believe they've found Civil War-era steamer off Bayport

Considering the divers were looking for remains of an iron-hulled Civil War-era steamer, Tom Allyn's news was about as good as it could be.

"I found something — it's old and it's metallic,'' said Allyn, wearing a wet suit and standing in chest-deep water off Bayport Park on Thursday morning.

Then, moments later, marine archaeologist Billy Morris surfaced with an update that topped Allen's.

"It's a piece of steam pipe,'' Morris said.

That pipe, about 9 inches in diameter and 2 feet long — definitely iron and definitely consistent with the side-wheeler the divers were looking for — is some of the most solid evidence ever found of a dramatic and often overlooked chapter in Hernando history...[Link]

Palauan pioneer to be inducted into Scuba Diving Hall of Fame part 2

Here we continue from part 1 with more information on Francis.

In the mid 1980s, along with Carl Roessler and Avi Klapfer, Francis laid the foundation that opened up live-aboard diving in Palau.

When IMAX came to Palau in 1993 to document the underwater wonders of Palau into one of their feature films, the crew soon discovered that Francis was as interesting a story as was the destination’s natural attributes. Francis and his family became the stars of IMAX’s “The living sea.”

Francis retired from the diving industry in 1998 and sold Fish ‘n Fins dive shop to Tova and Navot Bornovski, he moved back to the United States to be with his kids during their education. However, Francis and Susan returned to Palau in 2004 to pursue new frontiers...[Link]

Volunteer divers pull debris from Oneida River

For Syracuse firefighters and recreational divers John Kane, Bill Elderbroom and Ed Kosakowski, the Oneida River near the Route 11 bridge in Brewerton is a great place to scuba dive in the winter.

But when the three started diving there about three years ago, they noticed the water was full of trash. On one dive, they even found a .38-caliber handgun.
So the three decided to organize a formal cleanup. They held the first one Saturday.
They secured as a sponsor the National Aquatic Service, a Syracuse scuba shop where Kane, of Camillus, and Kosakowski, of Brewerton, work part time.

In two weeks, the organizers put together a team of about 20 divers. That group included people associated with the shop, a scuba-diving student organization at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and local Boy Scout Troop 3112 of Brewerton. Members of the Brewerton Chamber of Commerce helped feed the volunteers and the town of Cicero provided a dump truck and offered to dispose of the debris. Tom Carroll, a local dentist and an instructor at National Aquatic Service, donated most of the food.

The volunteers dove into the 15-to 20-foot, 45-degree water to pick up zebra mussel-covered garbage from about 8:30 a.m. until they filled up the dump truck at about 1 p.m. Some divers collected trash along the bottom with mesh bags. Others worked in teams to bring larger items (bicycles and shopping carts) to the surface with inflated bags so a volunteer in a kayak could attach a rope and volunteers on the shore could hoist the items out of the water...[Link]

Tim Holding's scuba dive lands him in hot water

Victorian Premier John Brumby has defended his adventuresome Tourism Minister for diving on an off-limits sunken wreck, months after he was almost killed in an alpine hiking accident.

Tim Holding has come under fire for scuba diving on the recently scuttled HMAS Canberra, in Bass Strait, before the site is declared safe and opened to the public.

It comes less than three months after he was plucked from the wilderness after being lost, feared dead, on a solo ascent of Mt Feathertop.

Mr Holding, a certified diver, is believed to have dived with parliamentary Labor colleague Michael Crutchfield.

He said he was inspecting progress on preparations for the wreck to become a recreational dive site.

The Premier said the dive was within the scope of his duties as Tourism Minister...[Link]

YellowSub’s New Scuba Diving School Booking & Reservation Software System

YellowSub (PADI Scuba Diving School in Tarifa, Spain) has introduced their new online PADI and scuba diving course & lesson reservation and booking software system. Their new system is powered by www.WebReserv.eu, a breakthrough in online scuba diving school reservation processing. It includes an availability calendar that gives every customer the luxury of securing a scuba diving course booking with YellowSub with ease and convenience.

The recently launched service is available on YellowSub’s website at http://www.divingtarifa.com/. It brings customers to a simple and user-friendly interface that allows them to check the availability of PADI courses and diving lessons on desired dates and choose the type of diving course depending on their budget...[Link]

Israeli Underwater Photography Competition

Scores of underwater photographers and cameramen arrived from all over the world to participate in the annual “Epson Red Sea” competition. It's taken place here on the shore of the Red Sea in Eilat City.

The competitors dived into the Red Sea waters carrying special lighting equipment and cameras and documented corals, fish and other marine creatures.

There are several categories in the competition, including the best five images category and the best video-clip category...[Link]

Need Some Winter Dive Hours? Become a Volunteer Diver at North Carolina Aquarium

The volunteer dive team at the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores is accepting applications for next year through Nov. 30.

Volunteer divers inside the 306,000-gallon Living Shipwreck talk with visitors about the exhibit and its animals. Volunteer divers also assist with other in-water programs, help care for animals and maintain exhibits.

In addition to SCUBA certification, divers must be at least 18 years old, in good health and willing to make time and training commitments. Divers selected from the fall recruiting drive start their duties in January. See the Pine Knoll Shores volunteer section on the Aquarium’s website for more information and application forms.

The Aquarium is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily except closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Admission is $8 for ages 18-61; $7 for ages 62 and over and $6 for ages 6-17. Children 5 and under and North Carolina Aquarium Society members are admitted free. The Aquarium is five miles west of Atlantic Beach at 1 Roosevelt Blvd., Atlantic Beach, NC 28512. See www.ncaquariums.com or call 252-247-4003 for more information...[Link]

Boy Scouts of America Introduce new Scuba Diving Merit Badge

Looking for the perfect stocking stuffer for your water-loving Boy Scout? Here's one: the Scuba Diving merit badge pamphlet, hot off the presses.

The merit badge, the first new one in three years, will officially be released on Dec. 1 when it will be available in Scout Shops and online at scoutstuff.org.

It's the result of a newly announced partnership between the BSA and PADI, the Professional Association of Diving Instructors. Officials at the BSA determined that 84 percent of Scouts were interested in the merit badge, and so it was fast-tracked for adoption...[Link]

Diving in to help

Derek Harvey, clockwise from left, his son Garrett,15, James Herndon, 16, and Gabe Brull,15, play poker underwater Friday at High Plains Scuba Center during a benefit for Jesse Cottle, a Fort Collins Marine who lost his legs when he stepped on an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan. Scuba certification is not required and there was a silent auction at the center also to help raise money money for Cottle...[Link]

Sports Drink Developed for Divers

John Dooley is turning his passion for scuba diving into a business. Two weeks ago, Dooley won a $10,000 grant from the Mississippi Technology Alliance to develop Diver's D\Lyte, a performance drink that Dooley invented for scuba divers.

The drink, which Dooley intends to sell as a powder to be mixed with water, is a specially designed formula of electrolytes and natural antioxidants. Dooley calls the formula, which he devised himself, "high-tech and ancient," for its use of natural ingredients, especially Ayurvedic herbs like noni and curcumin, to reach specific biological needs.

Dooley, a master scuba diver, worked for several biotech companies before devoting himself full-time to Diver's D\Lyte in June. He can rattle off the scientific principles behind his product, peppering his explanation with terms like "ATPs per caloric burn," "metabolic pathways" and "mitochondrial energy."...[Link]

Invicta Russian Diver Black Watch On Sale For Only $89.99

Amazon has again a great deal on an Invicta watch. Today you can get the Invicta Men's Russian Diver Collection Black Watch for only $89.99 (MSRP: $575).

The Russian Diver Watch by Invicta is a powerful black timepiece done in a canteen style with a screw-cap crown and chain. The luminous hands and indexes make it easy to read the time, and the adjustable buckle on the comfy band make for a good fit...[Link]

Steampunk Underwater Explorer Helmet is a Sharp Attempt

If you ever fancied taking a dip in the ocean in an archaic, metal helmet, you certainly need to speak to Tom Banwell, who has managed to create this striking, Steampunk diver’s helmet. It is a masterpiece, alright, thanks to the intricacy in the leatherwork and the attention to detail. With a reflector headlamp and a seamlessly integrated goggle section, this Steampunk helmet does deserve a special place among the best Steampunk creations...[Link]