Why Do Divers Fall Off the Boat Backwards

And, from Iowa comes this joke about two Minnesotans, Ole and Sven, who are sitting in a boat watching fishery biologists from the University of Minnesota prepare to enter the water with scuba diving gear so they can conduct an underwater study of the lake's fish population.

After the divers plunge from the boat into the lake, Ole turns to Sven and asks, “Why do scuba divers always fall backwards off 'der boats?”

To which Sven replies, “Well, you know, if they fell forwards they'd still be in de boat!”

Sounds pretty logical to me.

OLD SCUBA PHOTOS

Check out some of these old Scuba Photos of Joe Little in Lake Michigan from the 60's. Very cool! Photos were sent in from his daughter, Robin Olufs. Thanks!

CAVERN DIVING

Interested in cavern diving? Want to learn more about it? Click on the following link to read "The beginners guide to Cavern Diving"

Don't forget Sea Lions will be offering a Cavern Diving class in October. Sign up today!

BAHAMAS BAN CATCH AND SALES OF SEA TURTLES

Soups, stews and pies flavored with chunks of sea turtle meat will soon be illegal across the 700 islands of the Bahamas.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

SEA LIONS PHOTO CONTEST ENTRIES

Here are the pictures that were submitted so far. Please vote for your favorite. Don't forget to send in yours!



GREEN MORAY EEL




JUVENILE SPOTTED DRUM FISH




BARREL SPONGE




FISH ON REEF


PADDLE FISH




DIVERS WITH BARRACUDA


TRUMPET FISH

HELP OUR PLANET!

Climate change is a serious threat to coral reefs. Please sign this petition from our friends at the Center for Biological Diversity and ask the U.S. Senate to pass a strong climate bill!

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2167/t/5243/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=2054

Which sunblock protects my skin - and the sea?

http://www.squidoo.com/sunblockandsea


Which sunblock protects my skin - and the sea? Click on the above link

MASK FOG?

Sick of that mask fogging up? Click on the following link for some great tips.
http://www.squidoo.com/MASKDEFOG

FANTASTIC DEAL FROM SCUBAPRO

Find out how you can get 100% credit back on your SCUBAPRO mask, fin, and snorkel purchase toward a SCUBAPRO UWATEC dive package (Buoyancy Compensator, Dive Computer and Regulator System) at the same Authorized Dealer. Act soon, this offer ends 10/15/09. Contact Sea Lion For more details.

Yellow Submarine in Lake Superior

Tom's notes: I love the hand rail.
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/128311/


Published August 21 2009

Duluth man will explore Lake Superior in his yellow submarine

Lifelong tinkerer Dean Ackman and a crew of friends and family slipped a one-man submarine into the Knife River Marina on Thursday for a test drive.

By: Janna Goerdt, Duluth News Tribune

Driver after driver craned their necks for a better look as the sleek steel machine passed by them on Highway 61 through Two Harbors.
Top hatch, rear propeller, bottom ballast tanks, bright daffodil color — could it be? Yep, it was a real-life home-built yellow submarine, on its way Thursday to the Knife River Marina for a test of its lake-worthiness.
Lifelong tinkerer Dean Ackman and a crew of friends and family slipped the submarine into the water and came up with some good news and some bad news. The good: The 6,000-pound submarine was nicely balanced in the water, bobbing steadily up and down and not side to side. The bad news: A new leak had sprung somewhere in one of the main ballast tanks. Oh well, Ackman said. It was no reason to be discouraged.
“If it was easy, everyone would want to do this,” he said as he and the crew secured the submarine on the trailer for the 30-mile trip home.
It’s taken Ackman nearly three years of cutting, rolling and welding sheets of high-density steel in his workshop in Brimson to get this far. Aside from a car headlight, the electronic equipment and some salvaged Trex decking, Ackman has had to hand-craft each part of the two-man sub.
“You have to enjoy doing that,” Ackman said. “There are no submarine stores.”
Ackman said he has long loved exploring beneath the surface of Lake Superior. But scuba diving in the lake’s 39 degree waters is cold and uncomfortable, and divers can spend only a limited time in the depths.
His solution: build a personal submarine. When all the bugs are worked out, Ackman said he will be able to spend up to six hours at a time tooling around the lake. With help and advice from other members of the worldwide Personal Submersibles Organization, he has brought his latest dream almost to the launching point.
Ackman’s son, Adam, said he wasn’t surprised when he learned his dad was building a submarine.
Years ago, “he started with a remote-controlled submarine,” Adam Ackman said. The six-foot-long sub dipped just a few feet below the water, but it worked.
Dean Ackman has piloted just one submarine in his life. Two years ago he took a spin in Lake Michigan in one — also painted yellow, like most personal subs, for high visibility — and he was hooked.
“You’re free and loose,” Ackman said. And safe, he said; personal submarines have multiple safety factors built in. The submarine runs on batteries, but doesn’t depend on the batteries to ascend and descend. And even if every other safety factor fails, a submarine pilot can always slip on a scuba mask and tank, open the hatch and swim for the surface. Once the leaks are all sealed, Ackman will start a series of up-and-down dips, called “tea bag tests,” he said, “until you get comfy.”
He needs to find a horn for the sub to be in full compliance with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resource’s watercraft registration guidelines.
Then he will spend the winter smoothing and polishing the yellow steel hull, waiting for spring and dreaming of hour after hour moving free and loose beneath a big, cold, exciting lake.

Untrained Divers, Surface Supplied Air and Lobsters

Tom's note: This article points out the dangers out there 1)diving on scuba OR surface supplied air without proper training. Note the Husband tried to pull her up by the airline that she was using to breath. 2) the danger of the lobster season where many divers with little or no experience loose concentration while looking for lobsters and do not return. Just look at all the deaths that occur during the short lobster season. The same thing can happen if a diver is distracted by other activities such as photography. Dive safe.

Scuba diving or hookah rigs carry equal risks, experts say
By Emily Nipps, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Wednesday, August 12, 2009
________________________________________
As authorities search for the body of a St. Petersburg woman who disappeared while lobster fishing in the Florida Keys, her family is left with many questions.
Before disappearing Saturday while diving near Big Pine Key, Louann Greene, 33, was using a hookah rig, an underwater breathing device that requires no certification and is commonly used by tourists or first-time divers.
"I've lived here for 20 years, and I've never heard of these hookah things," said CeCe Ingle, Greene's sister-in-law. "If people are putting their lives on the line, there need to be some kinds of precautions in place. Who regulates them, if anybody?"
No one regulates hookah rigs, which essentially do the same job as scuba diving tanks. Most diving experts agree that hookahs are no more dangerous than scuba gear, and that there is nothing illegal or wrong about hookah rigs.
Like most open-sea ventures, they say, it boils down to a simple rule: Proceed at your own risk.
"There are no state and federal laws governing diving," said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman Gabriella Ferraro. "I mean, you would think it's good common sense that you would need some training before doing something like that."
The commission does enforce some diver safety, such as requiring dive flags to be displayed and policing boater speeds in diving areas. And some self-regulation occurs in the diving world.
Many dive equipment shops, for example, will not fill a scuba tank or rent gear without seeing a diving certification card, obtained from a recognized training organization. For liability reasons, Bill Jackson's, a sporting goods store in Pinellas Park, won't sell its scuba gear or hookah rigs without seeing certification.
Most diving charter boats refuse to take out people who aren't certified, said Capt. Mike Miller, who runs a dive charter boat out of Seminole Marina. Some do crash "resort courses," involving a few hours of classroom and water instruction for noncertified divers.
Lobster season, especially the popular two-day miniseason that takes place a week before regular season, is known for accidents, Miller said.
Five people died in various diving mishaps last year. Four died in 2006. Miller couldn't recall a season in recent years without a death.
But generally, Miller said, "diving is safer than bowling."
"It's safer than tennis and golf," he said. "It's when people go outside the boundaries of training that injuries happen."
The hookah rig, while common for those who skip training, isn't necessarily the enemy, experts say.
Experienced and certified divers sometimes favor the device, which provides compressed air taken from the atmosphere. Advocates find it ideal for depths of 90 feet or less. They say it is less cumbersome to breathe through a tube connected to a compressor than it is to carry a heavy tank on one's back.
Hookahs have been blamed in lobster diving fatalities in the past. Last year, 32-year-old Carlos Urruchaga of Miami died using one during the two-day lobster season, and 66-year-old Joan Radford of Coconut Grove died during the 2006 mini¬season after using the hookah system.
It's still unclear exactly what happened in Greene's case. When her husband tried to pull her in by her air hose, it quickly became clear that it was no longer attached to his wife. The last time her family saw her, she was crying for air, and then she sank.
Times staff writer Jessica Vander Velde contributed to this report. Emily Nipps can be reached at nipps@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8452.

Mares Recall

Tom's note: I saw this on the internet. To the best of my knowledge no computers of this model have been sold through Sea Lions Dive Center.

MARES Diving issued the following announcement earlier today:

MARES DIVING URGENT SAFETY NOTICE NEMO AIR QUICK CONNECTOR 0-RING

Please be informed that we have discovered a quality issue on the O-ring assembled on the Nemo Air quick connector.

Under certain circumstances, the O-ring can fail and consequently Nemo Air may start leaking through the Quick Connector. As a result, there is a continuous, albeit slow, loss of breathing gas and Mares has decided to issue a voluntary product recall. After intense internal tests Mares has identified a new O-ring of different material, color and hardness that can be retrofitted onto the Quick Connector of any existing Nemo Air.

We take this matter very seriously, but we would also like to point out that this issue is covered by the EN250 norm, which requires a 0.3mm opening in the high- pressure hose fitting. As a result, the hose is designed to ensure a slow enough gas release; which should allow the diver to complete a safe emergency ascent.

NONETHELESS FOR THE PERSONAL SAFETY OF YOUR CUSTOMERS AND TO AVOID POSSIBLE DANGEROUS ACCIDENTS: STOP ANYONE FROM DIVING WITH A QUICK CONNECTOR SUBJECT TO THIS VOLUNTARY RECALL UNTIL THE EXISTING O-RING IS REMOVED AND SUBSTITUTED WITH THE NEW GREEN COLOR ONE.
THE CURRENT O-RING FROM THE NEMO AIR QUICK CONNECTOR (O-RING IS BLACK OR BROWN) MUST BE REPLACED ONLY WITH OUR NEW O-RING THAT IS A DIFFERENT MATERIAL, HARDNESS AND GREEN IN COLOR.

Affected products and codes are:
Finished goods
414158 – DIVE COMPUTER NEMO AIR
414159 - DIVE COMPUTER NEMO AIR W/COMPASS
Spare parts
44200771 – HP HOSE W/QUICK CONNECTOR NEMO AIR
44200770 – QUICK CONNECTOR ASSY. FEMALE NEMO AIR

Please contact an Authorized Mares dealer/Service Center in your area to schedule the retrofit of the O-Ring of your Nemo Air Quick Connector. If you do not want to perform the above service procedures, please contact our customer service department at 1-800-874-3236 for a return authorization number. You will need to provide the unit(s) serial number(s).
NEMO AIR QUICK CONNECTOR O-RING MUST BE REMOVED AND SUBSTITUTED WITH THE NEW O-RING.

For detailed information please go to: www.mares.com

AUGUST SPECIALTY CLASSES

DRY SUIT
Classroom, Friday August 7th at 6:30PM
2 Dives Sunday August 9th at Haigh Quarry at 11:00AM

WRECK DIVER
Classroom and Dives 1 and 2 at Haigh Quarry, August 29th or 30th at 8:00AM

PEAK PERFORMANCE BUOYANCY
Classroom and 2 Dives at Haigh Quarry, August 22 or 23rd at 8:00AM

DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHER
Classroom and 2 Dives at Haigh Quarry, August 22 or 23rd at 8:00AM

ENRICHED AIR NITROX
Classroom will be held on Wed, August 19th, 6:30PM.

UNDERWATER NAVIGATOR
Classroom and Dives 1, 2 and 3 at Haigh Quarry, August 29th or 30th at 8:00AM

EMERGENCY FIRST RESPONSE (CPR/FIRST AID)
Classroom will be held on Thursday, August 20th, 6:00PM.


Can't make the dates listed? looking for other specialties?
Contact Sea Lions Dive Center for more info.

SEA LIONS FIRST ANNUAL UNDERWATER PHOTO CONTEST!

Submit your best photo for Sea Lions Dive Center's annual photo contest! Send it by e-mail, or bring it into the store. All pics will be posted in the newsletter/blog and the winner will be determined by you! All you have to do is cast your vote.

One grand prize winner will receive a Padi Specialty course of their choice and picture will be hung in the Store! Send in your best Pic by September 10TH.

JAMAICA TRIP PICTURES

Divemaster candidate Tom Anderson took some nice shots in Jamaica. He was lucky enough to even see an extremely rare Blue Lobster!

SEA SICKNESS

What is it? Why do I get it? How can I prevent it? CLICK HERE

Jumbo flying squid attack scuba divers in San Diego

Just in case you thought Lake Michigan was rough. I found this on the web.

Tom

Jumbo flying squid attack scuba divers in San Diego

Jumbo flying squid with razor-sharp beaks and toothed tentacles have invaded shallow waters off San Diego, attacking scuba divers near tourist beaches.

Published: 5:47PM BST 17 Jul 2009

A beak of a Humboldt squid, also known as a jumbo flying squid, at the laboratory of the National Marine Fisheries Service in San Diego. Photo: AP

The aggressive 5ft-long sea creatures, which can weigh more than seven stone (45 kilograms), arrived off the city's shores last week.

Divers have reported being attacked by the Humboldt squid, with tentacles enveloping their masks and pulling at their cameras and gear.

Related Articles

The squid are more commonly found in the deep waters off Mexico, where they have been known to attack humans and are nicknamed "red devils" for their rust-red colouring and aggressive streak.

Those who dive with them there fill the water with bait and sometimes get in a metal cage or wear chain mail to avoid being lashed by tentacles. The squid hunt in schools of up to 1,200, can swim up to 15mph and skim over the water to escape predators.

The creatures stay too deep to bother swimmers and surfers, but many longtime divers in San Diego have said they will stay out of the surf until the sea creatures clear out.

Mike Bear, a local diver, said: "I wouldn't go into the water with them for the same reason I wouldn't walk into a pride of lions on the Serengeti, For all I know, I'm missing the experience of a lifetime."

Shanda Magill was surprised by a large squid which hit her from behind and grabbed at her with its arms, pulling her sideways in the water. It ripped her buoyancy hose away from her chest and knocked away her light.

"I just kicked like crazy. The first thing you think of is, 'Oh my gosh, I don't know if I'm going to survive this'. If that squid wanted to hurt me, it would have," she said.

Scientists are not sure why the squid have started appearing in the water off the Southern California coast and say they are concerned.

One theory is that their prey has moved to shallow waters due to changes in sea temperatures and the squid have followed. One biologist estimated there could be hundreds, or possibly thousands.

OCEAN LIFE IN TROUBLE BY POWERFUL EXTERMINATOR - US!

Earth is a beautiful planet. It is also small, fragile, crowded and ravaged by overpopulation and over development, primarily in coastal areas. Even if birth rates in developing countries rapidly decline, which seems unlikely, there will be twice as many of us by 2050. At the same time, rapid economic development around the world will further diminish our planet´s biodiversity. In this century 20-50% of earth's species will be wiped out by earth's most powerful exterminator--us

To read more click here

http://www.squidoo.com/OCEANLIFE

BLUE? YELLOW? WHITE?

Due to a rare genetic mutation, Lobsters can be found in many colors. It is extremely rare and depending on the color can be 1 in a hundred million.

SHARK FEEDING DIVE IN ST. MARTEEN

Sea Lions student Mike Wallenberg recently returned from a week long cruise and made a few stops to Scuba. One was a shark feeding dive in St. Marteen. Also check out the Octopus in the last pic! Great shot!


Check out some of the great photos Mike took. Send us your Scuba pics! We love to look at them and share them with all!

SCUBA DIVING AND TIPPING

Looking for some tipping scuba diving tips? Not sure how much, or even if, you should tip your divemaster and/or crew? Don't sweat it.

We'll give you some advice.
Your dive is supposed to be enjoyable and you don't want to be agonizing over how much to tip. So here are some tipping scuba diving tips you can use as a guide on your next dive: CLICK HERE

PINK DOLPHINS?

Charter boat captain Erik Rue, 42, photographed the animal, which is actually an albino, when he began studying it after the mammal first surfaced in Lake Calcasieu, an inland saltwater estuary, north of the Gulf of Mexico in southwestern USA.

Capt Rue originally saw the dolphin, which also has reddish eyes, swimming with a pod of four other dolphins, with one appearing to be its mother which never left its side.

He said: "I just happened to see a little pod of dolphins, and I noticed one that was a little lighter.

"It was absolutely stunningly pink.

"I had never seen anything like it. It's the same color throughout the whole body and it looks like it just came out of a paint booth.

"The dolphin appears to be healthy and normal other than its coloration, which is quite beautiful and stunningly pink.

"The mammal is entirely pink from tip to tail and has reddish eyes indicating its albinism. The skin appears smooth, glossy pink and without flaws.

"I have personally spotted the pink dolphin 40 to 50 times in the time since the original sighting as it has apparently taken up residence with its family in the Calcasieu ship channel.

"As time has passed the young mammal has grown and sometimes ventures away from its mother to feed and play but always remains in the vicinity of the pod.

"Surprisingly, it does not appear to be drastically affected by the environment or sunlight as might be expected considering its condition, although it tends to remain below the surface a little more than the others in the pod."

Regina Asmutis-Silvia, senior biologist with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, said: "I have never seen a dolphin coloured in this way in all my career.

"It is a truly beautiful dolphin but people should be careful, as with any dolphins, to respect it - observe from a distance, limit their time watching, don't chase or harass it

"While this animal looks pink, it is an albino which you can notice in the pink eyes.

"Albinism is a genetic trait and it unclear as to the type of albinism this animal inherited."

A close relation of dolphins, the Amazon River Botos, called pink dolphins, live in South America in the Amazon.

CPR / FIRST AID TRAINING WITH DEFIBRILLATOR CLASSES

Ever wondered what to do in an accident or medical emergency? Most people just do not know what to do or how to respond in those situations, and rely solely on the emergency medical services (EMS). What people do not realize is that it takes time for the EMS (ambulance, etc.) to arrive at the scene. In many cases, the victims died before the ambulance arrived. If the person who found the victim has training in EFR (Emergency First Response - CPR and First Aid), within those precious first few minutes he/she can start badly needed primary care on the victim which may mean the difference between life or death.

The EFR course is available and beneficial to everybody, not just divers...you never know when you will need to respond to an emergency situation!

Don't forget that Sea Lions Dive Center offers CPR / FIRST AID Training in our EMERGENCY FIRST RESPONSE COURSE (EFR) Learn how to properly perform CPR, helping a choking victim, bandaging, splinting, and many other skills. Even learn how to use a defibrillator! Child and infant classes are also offered.

Your training is good for 2 years, and is renewed with a refresher course.

Remember that CPR / FIRST AID is a prerequisite for the PADI Rescue Diver course but anyone can enroll in the course.

Contact Sea Lions for the next class date.

MASTER SCUBA DIVER DEAL! FIVE SPECIALTIES FOR THE PRICE OF FOUR!

Take the Master Scuba Diver challenge!

Complete your Advanced Open Water and Rescue Diver Course, earn 5 Specialties of your choice and achieve the highest non-professional rating a diver can earn!

For a limited time, Sea Lions is offering 5 Specialties for the price of 4!

Stop by Sea Lions Dive Center and choose the specialties of your choice.

It’s the PERFECT way to get MAXIMUM DIVING in this summer!

FREE DIVE TRAINING MAGAZINES

Stop in the shop every month to pick up your free issue of Dive Training Magazine.
A great Magazine filled with great Scuba Diving related articles.

DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY AND PEAK PERFORMANCE BUOYANCY COURSE

Sea Lions will be offering a Peak Performance Buoyancy and Digital Photography Course.
Add 2 more specialties to further enhance your dive experiences.

Both of these specialties can be used towards the Master Scuba Diver Rating.

To learn more about the Peak Performance Buoyancy Course click here.

To learn more about the Digital Photography Course click here.

Remember that the key to taking great pictures is having great buoyancy! Both of these classes will be held on the same weekend. Sign up for one or for both. The Classes will take place at Haigh Quarry on June 27th & 28th @ 8am

Peak Performance Buoyancy $80.00 which includes the DVD

Digital Photography $125.00 which includes the manual

JUNE SPECIAL: Purchase together for a special rate of $175.00!!!

FREE PROJECT AWARE/CORAL CONSERVATION CLASS

Once again Sea Lions Dive Center will be offering a free Project Aware / Coral Conservation Class (well, sort of…)

This time the class will be held on 2 nights. Wednesday and Thursday, June 24 and 25 from 6:30 to 9:00 PM.


Sea Lions Instructors John & Kim Zalewski is going to be conducting a Project Aware/Coral Conservation Course.

Learn all about the problems and issues facing our Aquatic world. You can even read or download the book online for free at:

http://www.projectaware.org/uploadedFiles/Home/Global_Initiatives/Specialty_Courses/70241_AWARE_OurWorldOurWater.pdf

It is highly recommended to read the book and fill out the knowledge review. It’s a great read.

So, the class is free, the books are free, what do you have to pay for?

Project Aware and Coral Conservation are also 2 separate PADI Specialty Courses. (which you can apply towards your Master Scuba Diver rating) If you are interested in receiving 2 specialty cards, there is a small processing fee of $20.00 per card. The fee goes directly to PADI. Sea Lions, John, and Kim do not make any money from this class. We are huge supporters of Project Aware and just want to spread the word. If you are not interested in specialty cards, then you pay nothing.

Sign up today, space is limited!!!

HELP! Stop Shark Finning in Palau

Diving the famed Blue Corner won't be the same if Palau's politicians approve Senate Bill SB8-44 to permit commercial fishing for sharks and shark finning. A follow-up punch is SB8-50, which would encourage commercial fisheries in Palau's waters by granting them a five-year tax exemption. This would gut the 2004 legislation that banned shark fishing by foreign fisheries, one of the most ironclad laws in the Asia-Pacific area.
To stop this nonsense, sign the petition sponsored by SharkSavers.org to keep the bills from becoming law at http://www.sharksavers.org/get-involved/sign-these-petitions/542-petition-to-palau-stop-senate-bill-8-44-on-shark-fishing.html

CONFISCATED DRUG SHIP BECOMES NEW ARTIFICIAL REEF

NEAR DEERFIELD BEACH, FL-- A mission nine years in the making is reality tonight.

Federal, state and local law enforcement teamed-up with water-lovers to turn a negative into a big positive.

"The project we've been working on finally came to fruition," said Craig Ash of Cepemar Environmental Services.

The "Lady Go Diver" headed across a canal in Deerfield Beach.

On-board the scuba ship were divers with their gear, journalists armed with a pen and paper and videographers shooting the beautiful landscape.

"It's good to see all of your efforts turning-up for something that will be beneficial," said Ash.

As the ship left the Boca Inlet, you got a feel for the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean and the land we left behind.

The boat's captain steered her to a spot about a mile out, along the Broward-Palm Beach County line.

This is where dozens of boaters gathered to witness the spectacular event.

Meanwhile, US Customs & Border Protection boats joined vessels from the sheriff's office to maintain safety.

"You see the flare, the smoke has got to go off," said one of the event organizers.

"Customs & Border Protection has donated a freighter for the artificial reef program," said agent Robert Del Toro. "We'll be sinking the vessel today."

Last June, the feds confiscated 165 kilos of cocaine from the Miss Lourdies.

The 165-foot ship was in Miami, picking-up cars, bicycles and mattresses to sell in Haiti, when the discovery was made.

Authorities actually had to take some bunk beds and walls out of the ship's crew cabins. They found the drugs inside a metal compartment.

Cameras rolled to capture the freighter's journey more than 100 feet to the bottom of the ocean.

"There's a lot of boats here, a lot of people" said "Lady Go Diver" scuba boat owner Arilton Pavan. "Everybody's watching. I think the idea worked out very well."

Within minutes, the Miss Lourdies disappeared into the big blue sea, to eventually become a part of nature's underwater landscape.

Sinking of the Vandenberg in the Keys

BY SUSAN COCKING
scocking@MiamiHerald.com

Out of the dusty, blue gloom, about 45 feet below the ocean's surface emerges a pedestal that once held a large telescope. Now, a gigantic radar dish that resembles a giant spider web appears in view. And you still haven't descended to the actual deck of the USS Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg.

The Keys' newest and largest artificial reef began welcoming fish and scuba divers last weekend following its May 27 sinking about 6 ½ miles south of Key West.

At 523 feet long and 10 stories high, the retired military ship is impossible to explore fully in one trip. But a group of scuba divers from several media outlets got a partial view of the bow and amidships during a one-tank dive last Friday with the crew of Dive Key West.

A day before the shipwreck was opened for public diving, media divers were sent down in teams of three, each escorted by a divemaster or instructor, with no one allowed to dive below 70 feet or to penetrate the interior. The ship rests perfectly upright in the sand, the bow at 140 feet deep and the stern at 150 feet.

With 60 feet of visibility, there was plenty to see on the outside of the ship -- especially the radar dishes, which dislodged from their pedestals during the sinking and had to be secured with cables.

''I think they look really cool the way they are,'' said dive boat operator Joe Weatherby, who launched the project 14 years ago.

The bow is decorated with plaques honoring various backers of the $8.6 million deployment, and a Conch Republic banner flaps in the current. There are barely hidden clues welded around the higher parts of the ship for divers to solve a puzzle revealing the ''mystery of the Vandenberg,'' according to Weatherby.

''We're trying to keep the whole community involved,'' he said.

Weatherby said his favorite part of the wreck is the engine room, with its giant turbines, reduction gear and six stories of catwalks. But exploring deep in the bowels of the ship is restricted to expert divers certified to enter overhead environments using guidelines and multiple lights.

Unlike older artificial reefs, the Vandenberg is not covered with sea life. But some highly desirable pelagics have paid a visit. Shortly after the ship went down, boaters observed a pod of sailfish leaping out of the water nearby.

And on the day of the media dive, a large dolphinfish appeared at the stern of the dive boat as it bobbed on one of seven mooring buoys secured to the wreck.

''It was a gaffer,'' publicist Andy Newman said, referring to the jumbo-sized mahi.

``I wish I had brought a fishing rod.''

The Vandenberg lived several lives before coming to its final resting place on the bottom of the ocean.

Commissioned in 1943 as the Gen. Harry Taylor, it carried troops during World War II and brought postwar refugees and Holocaust survivors to the United States. Renamed the Vandenberg during the Cold War, it served as an Air Force missile tracker -- hence the huge radar dishes. In 1999, it played a supporting role as a Russian scientific vessel in the movie Virus.

Now the Vandenberg is expected to serve a dual purpose: economic boon to the Keys' tourism-dependent economy and safety valve for the stressed natural reef nearby.

''Unbelievable,'' said Monroe County Commissioner Mario DiGennaro, who dived it last Friday. ``I've dived all over the world, and this is one of the most interesting dives I've been on. It'll take pressure off the natural reef. [It] will take 20-30 dives to see the whole ship. It's a win-win.''

HOT NEW GEAR FROM SCUBAPRO!

Scubapro has some really cool gear for 2009. Be the first to own the brand new A700 Regulator. Match this with the MK17 or MK25 First Stage. Looks really sharp in all chrome!

Also check out the new Seawing Nova fins. A new funky design that will surely be a conversation starter!



To learn all about both of these items and more checkout Scubapros website by clicking here.
Sea Lions will have these in Stock soon!

WHAT'S THE VIZ?

Ever wonder why the visibility is better in some places than others? What makes "good viz"? Want to learn a simple method how to measure the viz? Click here to learn all you ever wanted to know about visibility.

BECOME A MASTER SCUBA DIVER!

Take the Master Scuba Diver challenge!


Master Scuba Diver is the highest nonprofessional PADI recreational scuba diving certification and the dive possibilities are endless.

To become a PADI Master Scuba Diver, you must log 50 dives and complete the following PADI courses:

* PADI Open Water Diver course
* PADI Advanced Open Water Diver
* PADI Rescue Diver course
* Five PADI Specialty Diver Courses

One of the best ways to become an active diver is to experience new and exciting adventures. That, in essence, is what the PADI Master Scuba Diver program is about.

Complete your Master Scuba Diver certification in 2009 and your efforts will be rewarded. If you live in the Americas, you will receive:


* a customized wall certificate and embroidered Master Scuba Diver mesh bag (Delivery takes up to six weeks once you’ve submitted your PADI Master Scuba Diver application.)
* the highest non-professional PADI rating in recreational diving

With these in hand, you also will gain experience and explore new destinations with many new friends. With the new places you explore, you gain a higher lever of experience and become a more skilled diver. Most importantly, you can stay active, gain confidence and earn the respect of other divers around you.

In addition, you can join PADI Diving Society (click here to find out more) and earn free prizes with the Specialty of the Month program.

The next specialty of the month will be Peak Performance buoyancy. Dates to be announced.

SCUBA DIVING FITNESS

Here is a great link all about Fitness for Scuba Divers.

DIVEFITNESS.COM

MARES TRADE IN AND TRADE UP DEAL

Bring any DACOR Regulator (1st and 2nd Stage) produced in the US prior to the year 2000 and receive a special upgrade purchase price on a new MARES PRESTIGE 12 or VOLTREX 22 Regulator. Up to a $300 credit will be deducted, depending on the regulator you purchase!!!