What I’m reading: Vol. 95.

Hello darlings,

If you follow me on IG, you already know I’ve had some personal stuff going on this week and it’s definitely been slooowwwwwingggg down my blog schedule. It’s frustrating, but such is life! I’m working on sorting myself out and then we’ll be back to business as usual.

For now, though, I’ve got some fun internets for you below and we’ll be back to the jewelry we all love to love soon.

Continue reading What I’m reading: Vol. 95. at Diamonds in the Library.

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The Big Five Dive

Begun in 2015, PADI Women’s Dive Day, held every July 15, has spawned 700 events in 77 countries. The Big Five Dive, held in the Great Lakes in 2016, was one such event.

PADI Women’s Dive Day and the Big Five Dive

PADI Women’s Dive Day began in order to strengthen and grow the female dive community. As a result of the initiative, both male and female divers take part in hundreds of events across the globe each year. Part of the second annual event in 2016, the Big Five Dive connected 14 female divers from all walks of life, intent on a mission: to dive an historic site in all five Great Lakes in less than 24 hours.

“We hope to inspire the next generation of female divers to explore both careers and recreational opportunities in our underwater world, whether it’s in the Great Lakes or the ocean,” says Nick Myers, Big Five Dive sponsor and owner of Michigan PADI Dive Center Great Lakes Divers.

The Big Five Dive team included a graphic designer, two underwater archaeologists, an environmental educator, and a college student. Joining this core group were eight women, all a part of the all-female Sedna Epic Expedition. Sedna plans to snorkel all 2,000 miles of the Northwest Passage to bring global attention to disappearing sea ice in the Arctic.

Choosing the Great Lakes

When putting together the dive plan, the Big Five Dive reconnaissance team reached out to Great Lakes dive networks to find suitable dive sites. With the short time frame, they needed to find locations shallow enough to allow for multiple dives and a range of abilities. By tapping into local knowledge, the team connected to different communities, all linked through the Great Lakes watershed. “We’ve been so impressed with how supportive the Great Lakes maritime heritage community has been,” says maritime archaeologist Stephanie Gandulla.

“Whether it’s shipwreck experts sharing their knowledge, or locals at each site helping out with logistics, everyone has been really interested in exploring our Great Lakes via the Big Five Dive.”

Known for its rich maritime history, the Great Lakes hold thousands of shipwrecks. With all of the incredible dive spots, the Big Five Dive crew initially struggled to select historic sites. The 24-hour timeline, however, helped to narrow options. The wrecks needed to be both shore-accessible and close to major roads. The sites that the group settled on included top tourist destinations in the Great Lakes, and many community members came to support the divers throughout their journey. They began at midnight in Lake Superior.

Dive No. 1: Lake Superior

12:00 am | Pendills Creek, Michigan | Unidentified wooden shipwreck

Two minutes before midnight on the southern shore of Lake Superior, 14 women stood on the beach in scuba gear ready for the first of five dives, one in each of the Great Lakes. As they awaited the go-ahead to plunge into the dark water, they contemplated what lay before them…the largest freshwater system on earth.

Buddy teams quickly entered the dark, 46-degree water, and fin-walked for about 100 feet through crashing waves before it was deep enough to submerge. The divers swam on the surface, focusing on two kayakers with lights stationed at the shipwreck site. After just a few minutes of swimming, most teams had reached the small, unidentified wooden wreck and descended to a maximum depth of 15 feet for the first dive of the night.

Dive No. 2: Lake Michigan

2:40 am | Headlands International Dark Sky Park, Michigan | Unidentified wooden shipwreck

Lake Superior’s rolling waves gave way to placid waters in Lake Michigan at the next site, an hour and 20 minutes south on the northern tip of mainland Michigan. A cloudless, starry night greeted the women at the Headlands Dark Sky Park as they geared up and gathered for a quick dive briefing before scrambling down a cobble beach to the entry point. One buddy team after another, they entered the water and set out for a lengthy surface swim. The divers navigated to the unmarked shipwreck with the aid of a full moon, and of course, their dive lights. Adding to the stress of limited visibility was the constant reminder of their timeline…the clock was ticking.

Lake Michigan’s water was calm compared to the crashing waves of the first dive, and although the dive would last only 10 minutes, the women enjoyed a peaceful exploration of another unidentified wooden shipwreck, about 17 feet deep. The water was warming up as the team dove and drove their way south — Lake Michigan was a balmy 52 degrees.

Dive No. 3: Lake Huron

5:30 am | 40-mile Point, Michigan | Joseph S. Fay, wooden freighter

The sun had not yet peeked over the horizon as the divers arrived at the third dive site, 40-mile Point, a picturesque spit of land nestled in the northeast corner of Michigan’s lower peninsula. The backdrop on land was as striking as the imminent sunrise: an 1896 lighthouse, a freighter’s wheelhouse, a fog-signal building, and even shipwreck remains littered the beach and surrounding grounds.

Encouraged by Lake Huron’s uncharacteristically calm waters, the group swam out into Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and enjoyed their dive on the largest and most intact shipwreck they would experience that day. The Joseph S. Fay went down in a gale in 1905, and is one of nearly 100 shipwrecks that the sanctuary protects. It’s a stunning example of the preservation possible due to the cold, fresh water of the Great Lakes. When the divers surfaced after a 10-minute dive, the morning sun brightened and warmed their return to shore. Enthusiastic supporters cheered as they emerged from the lake and prepared for the next, and longest, leg of the journey.

Dive No. 4: Lake Erie

4:42 pm | Private residence, Ohio | Penelope, wooden tugboat

The fourth dive was the greatest challenge for the team. The women had been monitoring the weather on Lake Erie as they got close, and conditions were not looking good.  Entry to the site was generously provided by shoreline homeowners, but a storm had recently washed out the access point. The waves were fierce, and unpredictably smashed into the damaged break wall.  The team decided to go for it with some careful planning for entry and exit. Churning waters made actually seeing the shipwreck difficult, with visibility ranging from 6 inches to a few feet.

When the dive was over, the homeowners and other supporters formed a “bucket-brigade” line to receive tanks, BCDs, and fins from divers before they helped haul them out of the water onto the break wall. After everyone survived, the women knew they could make it to Lake Ontario and complete their final dive in time.

Dive No. 5: Lake Ontario

10:17 pm | Niagara County Krull Park | dock remains at the site of the Olcott Beach Hotel

Dangerously close to the 24-hour deadline, the divers were anxious to don their gear one last time at the final site in Lake Ontario. Nervously glancing at dive watches, the women quickly entered warm, shallow waters along a sandy beach in downtown Olcott, New York. The site was the former location of a historic hotel and docks. Some divers searched the lake bottom looking for artifacts from the 19^th-century hotel, and spectators on shore saw what seemed to be a mysterious freshwater bioluminescence as 14 softly glowing lights crisscrossed the shallows in search of Great Lakes historic treasures.

Award-winning filmmakers Mad Law Media followed the divers to document the adventure. The film will premiere at the Thunder Bay International Film Festival in January 2018 in Alpena, Michigan. Click here for more information about the film. NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuaries’ Earth Is Blue Campaign also highlighted the Big Five Dive. Watch the video here:

The Big Five Dive brought together divers with varied experiences and backgrounds, many of them meeting for the first time. During the surface intervals — 993 miles on the road — they shared life stories and genuinely connected. Pushing one another outside of comfort zones, the divers not only saw new dive sites, but also experienced cold and exhaustion. They learned not only about themselves but gained a new diving network as well.

Great Lakes Divers, a PADI Dive Center in Alpena, Michigan, sponsored the Big Five Dive.

By guest authors Stephanie Gandulla, Meaghan Gass and Sarah Waters

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Listen up: are you ready for the audio revolution?

The rise of smart speakers and new ways to access and experience audio have potential to revolutionise the way information is delivered, says the Washington Post's new Audio Director Jessica Stahl. She gives some insight into the Post's fast-evolving audio strategy.

Read more ...

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Seychelles Islands Create Two New Marine Parks

The small nation of the Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean is creating two new marine parks with the Nature Conservancy’s help. In the first debt-swap deal of its kind, the Conservancy will pay off $21 million USD of the nation’s estimated $500 million debt in exchange for the marine-park designation. The deal will therefore cut the Seychelles’ debt load by around 4 percent.

The two parks will cover around 81,000 square miles (210,000 square kilometers), around the country’s Aldabra and Amirantes island groups. The government plans to heavily curtail both tourism and fishing within the area, which represents around 16 percent of the nation’s ocean territory. Even more promising, they plan to double the protected area by 2021. The protected total will ultimately include around 30 percent of the Seychelles ocean territory.

Seychelles Islands reefs facing environmental pressures 

The issues in the Seychelles are the same facing oceans and coral reefs across the world. Bleaching, warming waters, overfishing, marine debris and lack of conservation all plague the small country. The coral reef fringing Curieuse Island, once a leper colony and now a national park, suffered from severe bleaching in 2016 according to The Guardian.

David Rowat, a marine scientist and dive-school owner for 30 years says storms and bleaching events are becoming more frequent. “The biggest changes are climate change,” he told The Guardian.

“The ‘nemos’ all went,” he says. As the reef recovered, the 2016 bleaching was a “kick in the teeth.”

Two protected areas

The to-be-protected Aldabra atoll is one of the world’s most biodiverse marine environments, as well as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The islands and waters are home to spinner dolphins, mantas and humpback whales. Nurse, lemon and tiger sharks, as well as hawksbill and green turtles and endangered dugongs also share the waters. Around 100,000 rare giant tortoises roam the land of the atoll. The largest of the two protected areas will center on this island group, encompassing 28,500 square miles (74,000 square kilometers). It will prohibit all extractive uses, from fishing to oil exploitation and exploration.

The second protected area, much larger at almost 52,000 square miles (134,000 square kilometers) will center on the main island of Mahe. The government will allow controlled activities in this area, but will ban “fish aggregating devices,” which concentrate fish but increase bycatch.

How the deal works

These two new marine parks are the result of a deal wherein The Nature Conservancy purchased around $21 million of debt owed to the United Kingdom, France, Belgium and Italy at a discount. Conservancy donors also raised an additional $5 million to pay off part of the debt. The money raised will help cut the interest rate the Seychelles government is paying on the outstanding loan. Leonardo DiCaprio’s foundation also donated $1 million to the debt swap. Because of this, $12 million has been freed up over the next 20 years to help execute the new marine-park plan.

“The Seychelles is positioning itself as a world leader in ocean governance,” said environment minister, Didier Dogley to The Guardian. “But we are not doing this because we have such a great ego but because we truly believe these initiatives will create prosperity for our people, conserve critical biodiversity and build resilience against climate change.”

Other nations potentially following suit

Many conservationists will be anxiously watching the Seychelles deal take shape, hoping to replicate the effects in other island nations. Rob Weary of the Nature Conservancy spearheaded the deal. He hopes to close a $60 million debt-swap deal with Grenada this year, as well as others in the Caribbean. Mauritius could make a similar deal, reports The Guardian.

“In the next three to five years we could potentially do a billion dollars of these deals,” he said to The Guardian. “We have a sight line to that.”

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Dive Site: B-17F Black Jack Bomber Wreck, Papua New Guinea

Lying undisturbed in the deep water just off the fringing reef from the remote village of Boga Boga on the tip of Cape Vogel is one of the best aircraft wrecks in Papua New Guinea — and possibly the world. The wreck is the B-17F “Black Jack,” serial number 41-24521. It was one of the first B-17F Flying Fortress bombers built by Boeing during WWII, delivered to the U.S. Army in July 1942 for $314,109. These days, the Black Jack bomber makes for an incredible dive site.

Black Jack history

The Black Jack bomber arrived in Australia in September of 1942 to join the war efforts in Port Moresby under Captain Kenneth McCullar and his crew of nine. Avid gambler McCullar christened the plane “Black Jack,” based on the last two digits of its serial number – 21.

Captain McCullar was quite a pilot who, at the controls of Black Jack, developed the potentially dangerous but devastating technique of “skip bombing,” that sank the Japanese Kagero Class destroyer Hayashio in November 1942.

That attack left Black Jack so badly damaged that it was out of action for two months. When it returned to service, it was eventually assigned to its next — and what would turn out to be its last pilot — Lieutenant Ralph De Loach.

The final flight

Black Jack’s final flight was on July 10^th, 1943. That night, it left Port Moresby just before midnight on a mission to bomb the heavily fortified Japanese airfields at Rabaul in New Britain. Problems with both of the right-wing engines developed on the flight, but De Loach and his crew of nine reached Rabaul successfully and delivered their bombs on target.

On the way back to Port Moresby, De Loach ran into a violent storm, a situation he later described the situation as “the blackest of black nights…the worst flying weather I’d ever seen in my life.”

With two engines badly malfunctioning, it was impossible to hold the plane on course for Port Moresby. So, the captain turned the Black Jack southeast down the coast toward Milne Bay. They made it as far as Cape Vogel where, with virtually no fuel left, they decided to ditch Black Jack on the shallow reef that runs parallel to the sandy beach at Boga Boga.

DeLoach gave the controls to his co-pilot Joseph Moore, who had ditched a plane before. He managed to put the plane down but over-shot the reef flat, ending up over the deep water. The plane floated briefly before sinking to the seabed 164 feet (50 m) below.

There was just enough time for the 10-man crew to get out before Black Jack sank. They all managed to get to shore with the aid of local villagers, who had seen the plane come down.

An Australian Coastwatcher saw the crash landing and informed air-sea rescue to dispatch an RAAF seaplane to evacuate the wounded. A PT boat arrived two days later to take the uninjured crew to Goodenough Island and on to Port Moresby.

Both DeLoach and Moore received Silver Star medals, and other crew members received commendation as well for their parts in the overall mission and getting the plane down. Black Jack, however, lay largely forgotten on the sea floor and remained undisturbed there for another 43 years.

The discovery

Three Australians — Rodney Pearce, Bruce Johnson and David Pennefather — stumbled on the wreck almost by accident in late December 1986.

Pennefather had visited the Cape Vogel area earlier in 1986 and had heard from the villagers that a plane had crashed near their reef in WWII. Subsequently, he organized a Christmas dive trip with Pearce and Johnson to find what they believed was an Australian Beaufort A9.

Boga Boga villagers guided the three divers to the general location where the plane had gone down. When they entered the water, they planned to spread out and cover as much area as possible to try and find it.

Pearce found the wreck first, spotting the large tail-plane as he conducted his search. Over the next few days they dived the wreck as much as its depth of nearly 164 feet (50 m) would allow, entering the inside of the plane and finding the Radio Call Plate with the 24521-serial number. This later helped them positively identify it as the famous Black Jack.

Diving the Black Jack

Sitting as it does, nearly intact on the sandy seabed in clear, blue waters, makes diving the Black Jack almost like diving a set from a Hollywood movie. The nose is badly crumpled from the crash landing and the propellers on the four engines are somewhat twisted. But the rest of the plane is basically intact, which is quite remarkable after nearly 70 years underwater. Visibility on the site can easily exceed 130 feet (40 m).

According to the crew, the plane sank within 45 seconds of stopping and the crew only just had time to scramble out with the three wounded members. Apart from two waist guns and the radio transmitters, jettisoned prior to ditching, Black Jack took all its contents with it to the seafloor.

Pearce, Johnson and Pennefather found machine guns still in their turrets with hundreds of rounds of ammunition in the tracks. They were still able to move the twin tail guns freely in their mounts.

The main catch when it comes to diving the Black Jack bomber is depth. At nearly 164 feet (50 m), it is beyond the limits of recreational diving. Although it’s a straightforward dive in every other regard, decompression and bottom time are critical to a safe overall experience. There is a permanent guideline from the shallow reef that leads you down the slope. At around 49 feet (15 m) you will be able to see the wreck below you. The line goes all the way down and ends near the wreck’s huge tail. From there, head to the front of the plane to take in its full size.

How to visit the Black Jack bomber

Given Cape Vogel’s remote location, options are limited. Tufi Dive Resort will visit the wreck on special request, however. The trip involves a two-hour boat ride across Collingwood Bay from Cape Nelson to Boga Boga, but you need good weather to visit.

The Golden Dawn liveaboard includes Black Jack as part of its Milne Bay itinerary at certain times of the year as well.

Don Silcock is an Australian based in Bali who has dived many of the best locations across the Indo-Pacific. If you are interested in learning more about Black Jack, check out the complete guide on his website.

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Best Scuba Diving in San Diego

The image of Southern California evokes sun, surf, and stars. But it’s time to add another “s” to that list: scuba. The scuba diving in San Diego is world-class, and it’s the perfect base from which to explore all the offshore offerings.

Scuba diving in San Diego

San Diego is located about 20 miles (30 km) north of Tijuana, Mexico. The area is home to one of the largest U.S. naval bases, the 2,000-acre Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve. On land, there’s the 1,200-acre Balboa Park, which encompasses museums, theaters, music venues and a famous zoo. All of this — plus year-round mild weather and lively nightlife — combine to recommend San Diego to almost any traveler.

And then there’s the scuba diving in San Diego. The 6,000-acre Matlahuayl State Marine Reserve (more commonly called the La Jolla Underwater Park), just north of San Diego’s city center, features everything from kelp forests to an underwater canyon and wrecks. Beyond almost-guaranteed sightings of the endemic Garibaldi, visitors can dive with harbor seals and sea lions, leopard sharks, sevengill and horn sharks. There’s also a dizzying variety of crustaceans and nudibranchs.

The visibility is best from July to January. For the calmest seas, visit from August to October. Water temperatures range from 59 to 72 F (15 to 22 C) on the surface and from 50 to 56 F (10 to 13 C) at depth. Divers will want a 7-mm wetsuit, hood and gloves at the very minimum for exposure protection; dry suits are more comfortable year-round.

Conditions can get rough, especially in winter, so always check with a lifeguard station or local dive shops before planning a dive.

La Jolla Cove

San Diego diving is famous for its kelp forests, and one of the best such dives is La Jolla Cove, a shore dive. The site’s entry is at the bottom of a bluff, down two flights of stairs from the road to a small, sandy beach. It’s best to descend near an impishly meandering buoy, about 165 feet (50 m) from shore. If you’re in doubt about where to descend, just line yourself up with the San Andreas fault, as evidenced by a huge crack in the hillside.

Descend and swim away from shore, through the enchanted forest of kelp. Garibaldi glow in the dusky gloom of the forest like lightning bugs. Along the rocky bottom, step-like formations hide lobsters in congregations from three to dozens. A moving rock among the sea stars is probably an octopus. If conditions are murky — visibility can shrink to a foot or two — you might suddenly find yourself face-to-face with a 6-foot sevengill or less alarming 3-foot horn shark, depending on the time of year. Returning towards the shallows, playful sea lions and harbor seals might nip and your fins or your camera.

Because the Cove is relatively protected, you may be able to dive here even if other local sites are too rough. Check with the on-site lifeguard station or local dive shops for advice.

La Jolla Shores

North of downtown La Jolla, La Jolla Shores is a popular mile-long beach. For scuba divers, it’s the ideal entry point to explore La Jolla Canyon.

Beyond the break, descend and follow the sloping sand. Watch for rays, guitarfish and even angel sharks in the sand. If you visit from late July through September, you’re likely to see dozens of (mostly female) leopard sharks, which gather here every summer to incubate their young.

Eventually you’ll reach the edge of a drop-off, which plunges 600 feet (180 m) into the canyon. Along both the rim and the wall, rocks, hard coral, seagrass and strands of kelp host everything from octopus, crabs and sheepshead to pipefish, blennies, and a magical assortment of nudibranchs.

While the shallow beach entry is usually easy, during the winter months the waves can get a bit too rough. Check with a lifeguard station or other dive shops for advice.

Point Loma

La Jolla sits on land that juts into the Pacific, sheltering its dive sites from the cold waters of the open ocean. South of La Jolla, the Point Loma kelp beds enjoy no such protection. However, colder water and ocean exposure mean more nutrients, attracting and supporting a wider range of marine life than the sites further north.

A short boat ride from shore, the soaring kelp forests of Point Loma dive sites are home to bass, treefish, kelpfish, the ever-present Garibaldi and an astonishing variety of nudibranchs. Along the bottom, the rocky reef hides crabs, lobsters, moray eels, and even more nudis. An array of sponges, tunicates and gorgonians provide color.

Dives generally start around 45 feet and bottom out around and 120 feet (14 to 36 meters). Between the depth and abundant kelp, even mid-day dives can get dark. Don’t forget to bring along a dive torch.

Wreck Alley

Wreck Alley is an artificial reef that sits a few miles off the coast of Mission Beach, itself halfway between La Jolla and Point Loma. While the Alley features eight ships and other structures, the two most popular are the HCMS Yukon, a Canadian destroyer, and the Ruby E, a 165-foot (50 m) Coast Guard cutter.

Higher-than-expected seas sank the Yukon, formerly a Canadian destroyer, the night before planned. For this reason, it lies on its port side at 100 feet (30 meters) – not ideal for beginner wreck divers. That said, it does offer plenty of entry and exit holes cut specifically to allow safe access for wreck-certified divers. Surge and current are common, so it’s nice that there is plenty to explore along the 366-foot (112 m) exterior as well.

Both the forward and aft gun turrets are intact, and there are plenty of openings to peek into. Waving anemones cover every surface — colorful corynactis and poufy metridiums —both of which sound and look like they were pulled from a Dr. Seuss book. Even if you don’t penetrate the wreck, the average minimum depth is 75 feet (23 m). So watch your air and deco time.

By contrast, the Ruby E, purpose-sunk in 1989, is an easier dive. It’s a shallower (60 to 85 feet/18 to 26 m), smaller wreck, with an open bridge and wheelhouse suited to beginners. A gaping hole where the engine hatches used to be offers a clear view of the engines left in place when it sank. Any deeper penetration is slightly more hazardous. Sharp metal edges abound inside this old, deteriorating structure, now festooned with strawberry anemones. Greenlings, gobies, blacksmith, surf perch and California scorpionfish adorn its decks.

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About “The Shape of Water”: Reflections on Hope, Love, Endurance, and Direction

When the Directors Guild of America and the Producers Guild of America chose Guillermo del Toro as their top guy and “The Shape of Water” led the Oscar race with 13 nominations, it was time to see what I had missed. It turns out to be a great deal.

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Level up your photos with a clip on phone light.

I added a clip on phone light to my on-the-go  photography arsenal shortly before my VicenzaOro adventures last fall and ever since then, people have been chasing me down at trade shows to ask me where I found it. The happy truth is that it’s easy to find, easy to use, and super cheap!

Level up your jewelry photos with a clip on phone light.

If you’ve ever seen me in action at a trade show or jewelry store, you know I’ll do anything to find the right lighting.

Continue reading Level up your photos with a clip on phone light. at Diamonds in the Library.

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The Weedy Seadragon Research Project

A relative of the seahorse, the weedy seadragon is an iconic Australian species. With their vibrant patterns and unique, dragon-shaped bodies, they are on many divers’ bucket lists. Unfortunately, like many other marine species, they could soon become uncommon as their numbers decline due to habitat loss and human pollution. To help ensure this doesn’t happen, we must understand more about this unique animal. The Weedy Seadragon Project in Victoria, Australia, aims to do just that.

What is a weedy seadragon?

In the pipefish family, weedy seadragons are close relatives of the common seahorse. At almost 1 foot (30 centimeters) long, they are particularly striking. Weed-like appendages help camouflage their bodies. Additionally, a unique spotted pattern covers each seadragon’s torso. These spots function as the current method for identifying individuals. Reproduction is also unique thanks to their egg-carrying methods. When summer arrives, the female places the eggs on the underside of the male’s tail. He fertilizes and carries these vibrant purple eggs for approximately four weeks before tiny, independent seadragons hatch and disperse in the water column, totally self-sufficient. The young reach sexual maturity at just over two years old and the cycle continues.

Seadragon habitat

You’ll find seadragons anywhere between 6 feet (2m) and 160 feet (50 m). Weedies, as divers call them, live among patches of seaweed and seagrass. Here, they feed on small crustaceans and zooplankton. Invasive marine species, overfishing, dredging and pollution often threaten this habitat. Living conditions must be relatively calm, as these delicate-looking animals are not the strongest or fastest swimmers.

Getting involved

In Victoria, there’s a unique opportunity to see and photography weedies by the dozen. These seadragons live in shallow, 10-foot (3 m) seagrass beds year-round. This environment offers the perfect opportunity to study the movements of individuals and gather important data on female and male behavior throughout the year. The local dive shop, Diveline Australia, has started organizing regular weedy seadragon photo-competition days. These events encourage divers to shoot a whole collection of photographs that can help identify these amazing animals. One recent even attracted more than 30 enthusiastic divers who searched for and photographed these amazing animals in the chilly waters of Westernport Bay, Victoria, Australia.

The identification

As mentioned, weedies have unique patterns on their torso, similar to a human fingerprint. Photographers must get good shots of the animal side-on — both sides if possible — for identification. After the dive, the photographs are loaded into a special marine-identification program. The user divides groups of spots from the torso into small units, calculating the position and size of the spots in comparison to others nearby. This, again, resembles a fingerprint point-matching system. Once it’s been identified, the project gives the seadragon a name. This way, if a diver spots it again, researchers can use the sighting to catalogue its behavioral patterns. The more data the better, so if you’re visiting or live in Victoria, check out the Weedy Seadragon Project and help identify the local population so that we can better protect its survival.

By guest author Matt Testoni

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9 Features to Look For When Selecting Your Workstation on Wheels (WOW)

With years of being an industry leader in point-of-care products, Howard Medical is known for its mobile solutions that have flexible and durable designs tailored to fit multiple and varying work flows. 

With almost two decades of experience, Howard is working closely with several of the most elite health systems in the country to solve a variety of clinical, IT and biomed needs.  The feedback from these relationships helps our ongoing research and engineering efforts stay ahead of the ever-changing IT healthcare industry. 

Howard continues to develop industry-leading unique ergonomic features highlighted below that will help customers select the Workstation on Wheels (WOWs) that best meet your hospital’s needs. Howard has a wide variety of cart solutions that fit most needs in a healthcare setting.

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Florida’s Underwater Archaeological Preserves: Georges Valentine

If you’re interested in diving a wreck from the late 1800s off a stretch of beautiful beach near Stuart, Florida, it’s time dive the Georges Valentine. But first, visit the House of Refuge Museum at Gilbert’s Bar. Here you can learn about the shipwreck, which is one of Florida’s Underwater Archaeological Preserves. Tour the museum, formerly a “house of refuge” for shipwrecked sailors. Built as one of 10 along the then-sparsely populated Atlantic coast of Florida, the houses were used at the turn of the century. After your visit, load up your dive gear and walk south of the museum wall. Enter the water and swim east 100 yards to dive the wreck that sank in 1904 so close to the House of Refuge.

The history of Georges Valentine 

Built in 1869 in England as the Cape Clear,  the the iron-hulled screw steamer was  meant to carry goods and passengers to Australia from England. In 1889, its owners sold it to a French company. They rechristened it the Georges Valentine, and outfitted it as a three-masted barkentine. Italian purchasers bought it in 1895,  and used it to transport lumber from Pensacola, Florida to South America.

The Georges Valentine has a harrowing story concerning its ill-fated wrecking event. In October 1904, after returning from South America with a load of lumber, Captain Prosporo Martolo was working his way through the Straits of Florida. There, he and his crew of 11 encountered gale-force winds. Waves battered the ship for three days as the captain struggled to keep the ship away from shallow shoals. Torrents of rain and turbulent seas forced the crew to jettison some of the cargo. Unfortunately, in the evening the stern grounded and the ship veered toward shore. As waves broke apart the ship, the three masts fell, killing one crewman.

Five other crewmembers washed overboard and were never seen again. Two men struggled to reach the dangerously rocky shoreline and were able to rouse Captain William E. Rea, the keeper of the House of Refuge. Captain Rea helped the men and set out to rescue the others. Aided by a crewman who held a lantern onshore to guide the rest of the survivors, Captain Rea ultimately saved five more men. This brought the total rescued to seven. Without Captain Rea’s efforts, and the fact that the ship wrecked so close to the House of Refuge, none of the sailors would have survived.

Rescuing the crewmen

The Gilbert’s Bar House of Refuge played an important role in rescuing those washed ashore. It stands today as a testament to the dramatic events that took place in Stuart 113 years ago. Today, it serves as a museum and the only remaining House of Refuge. The museum features a pictorial history of the house over time, as well as naval and life-saving artifacts.

Diving the Georges Valentine 

Today, divers will find the Georges Valentine 100 yards offshore from the House of Refuge. Visitors can park at the museum and access the site from shore. The wreckage covers a massive area, approximately 270 by 280 feet, and lies in five prominent sections about 22 feet (7 m) deep. Watch for the boiler and large section of hull that protrudes 12 feet (4 m) off the seafloor. Depending on sand coverage, curious divers can traverse a few swim-throughs. The wreck is home to plentiful sea life, such as snook, angelfish, sheepshead, moray eels, wrasse and soft corals. Keep in mind, sand can migrate drastically, covering and exposing various sections of the site. This change is common and allows divers to experience a new adventure with every visit.

Local dive shops can provide information about sea conditions and brochures about the wreck. While visiting this monument to the past and final resting place of five crewmen, please be respectful, taking only pictures and leaving only bubbles. Learn about the 11 other Underwater Archaeological Preserves here. Photos are the result of a project funded in part by Visit Florida.

By guest author Melissa R. Price

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What to Do When You Can’t Dive

Whether due to injury, money, time, illness, or off-season, there’ll likely be some months you’re landlocked. However, your passion for scuba doesn’t need to be sidelined during this time. Here are 10 tips on what to do when you can’t dive.

Become an electronic whiz kid

Get your electronic game on and move your paper dive log to a digital format. Master all the minute details of your dive computer. Buy and then become proficient using a a combo carbon-monoxide and oxygen analyzer, a Nautilus Lifeline and/or a personal locator beacon.  Some electronics are entertaining, but many can save your life if you employ them correctly.

Plan your future trips and save cash

Daydreaming about a future vacation can help the days pass faster and if you plan ahead, can also save you some cash. Extensively planning your trip means you can figure out the best place to go, uncover a great deal and lock in today’s advertised price instead of paying next year’s price increase. Many group excursions also allow you to pay in increments, or you can spend the months socking away more money for that dream destination. Some resorts even offer a cheaper rate for a date in the far future to solidify their bookings — just ask for a discount.

Master marine life ID

Learning to identify fish and invertebrates can make your dives more fun and help you recognize when you’re encountering something rare underwater. You can study on your own or attend one of REEF’s free Fishinars.

Join fellow divers on social media

Connect with your fellow divers by chatting about scuba, the ocean and dream vacations online. There’s a group and a platform just right for you no matter what aspect of diving piques your interest. 

Post your previous trip photos

Re-live some great memories by finally reviewing, processing and posting all your photos from previous trips. Share those snaps with others through social media or a photography site. Better yet, create a blog or your own website to showcase all your gorgeous pics.

Improve your photography

Learning all your camera’s features, basic/advanced elements of photography and new post-processing techniques can make your pictures pop. Check out a book or self-paced online lesson to incorporate some advancements, or improve by leaps and bounds with a full-fledged course.

Take a dive-related class

Even without immediate access to open water, plenty of specialty classes remain. A drysuit course in a pool can extend your dive season and a tech class can generate some new excitement. You can also continue your education on dry land with diver-specific first aid or scuba-gear repair.

Practice in the pool

If you don’t want to take a class, advance your abilities by practicing in the pool. Perfect your buoyancy and fin kicks by watching videos or finding a mentor. Perform safety skills you learned during your Open Water certification and haven’t reviewed since. If you’re already experienced, you can still conquer advanced finning techniques such as helicopter turns (to turn around without stirring up the bottom) or reverse kicks (to back up without using your hands).

Upgrade and streamline your gear

Test out cool equipment from your local dive shop, a buddy or your dive club. Get your current gear into great repair and streamline everything you own by readying yourself for the next trip.

Attend marine-friendly events

Discover marine-friendly events and inspire your love of the ocean through your dive club, marine charities and groups on Meetup. We’ve recently enjoyed screening a new underwater film hosted at a hotel, a party to support penguins and a scuba-gear swap.

Bonus tip: If you haven’t yet tried local diving, you’re missing out. Indulge your scuba appetite even in cold weather, big cities and interior states. Whether local diving becomes your ideal environment or not, it offers a charm all its own.

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The gorgeous jewels of AGTA GemFair 2018.

Good morning, my darlings!! I’m home and caught up at last – which means it’s time for us to ogle all of the spectacular, sparkling specimens I met on my travels, beginning with my AGTA GemFair adventures in Tucson.

The gorgeous jewels of AGTA GemFair 2018.

How much do I love the AGTA GemFair?? Words alone cannot express. Which is why I brought home digital droves of photographic evidence to share with you.

Continue reading The gorgeous jewels of AGTA GemFair 2018. at Diamonds in the Library.

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CME Awarded Five-Year Contract with U.S. Department of Defense

Medical logistics company adds DLA ECAT to grow portfolio, secure approvals to supply federal, state and local entities   

WARWICK, R.I. (Feb. 20, 2018) – CME Corp (CME) is pleased to announce that the company has grown its portfolio of government contract offerings by securing a Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Department of Defense contract.

CME’s DLA ECAT contract increases company offerings to include military services including the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.

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Ocean Acidification is Dissolving Starfish

Most divers know that waters are warming around the world, and this is leading to all manner of negative impacts for the oceans. But ocean acidification could present just as large a threat.

Researchers from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh and Glasgow University have discovered that high levels of carbon dioxide in the water are literally dissolving sea creatures. The team of marine scientists conducted a four-day experiment in Loch Sween in Scotland to measure the effect of high levels of carbon dioxide in the water, which is the main driver of ocean acidification. The team pumped water that had been enriched with carbon dioxide into chambers placed over a coralline algal ecosystem and monitored the community’s response before, during and after exposure. The experiment proved that acute exposure led to “net dissolution,” which means calcified organisms, such as the coralline algae and starfish, were dissolving.

“We found that there was a rapid, community-level shift to net dissolution, meaning that within that community, the skeletons of calcifying organisms like starfish and coralline algae were dissolving,” said Heidi Burdett, Heriot-Watt University research fellow to Metro UK.

“If you think of pulses of carbon dioxide being carried on the tide to a particular site, it’s like a flash flood of carbon dioxide. Our continued monitoring of the site directly after the carbon dioxide exposure found recovery was comparably slow, which raises concern about the ability of these systems to ‘bounce back’ after repeated acute carbon dioxide events.”

Scientists around the world share this fear that sustained high levels of carbon dioxide in the water will cause irreparable damage to marine ecosystems. Burdett and the other researchers think more research is necessary, but that policymakers must take carbon dioxide levels into account when determining the future of the oceans. “If a local authority or government agency is deciding the location of a new fish farm, forestry or carbon capture site, we should be looking at what marine ecosystems are nearby, and the potential for those ecosystems to be impacted by the new activities as a whole, rather than focusing on the impact on individual organisms,” she said to Metro UK.

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Juveniles on the Reef at Wakatobi Dive Resort

The reefs around Wakatobi Dive Resort are home to a colorful menagerie of tropical fish. Although many seem quite vivid to our eyes, they actually match the reef environment quite well when another fish is looking at them. Rather than standing out, their colors serve as camouflage from both predators and potential prey. This colorful camouflage can offer divers hours of enjoyment as they seek to identify a particular species. And to add to the challenge, many fish change appearance dramatically as they mature. In the undersea world, stripes, spots and entire body colors will appear, fade or morph as these fish turn from juveniles to adults.

Juvenile frogfish like this one can be as small as a grape.

 

Why do fish change appearance as they age?

Fish change colors and patterns as they mature for several reasons. Juveniles growing up in one environment, such as a seagrass bed or mangrove estuary, may be perfectly camouflaged for their surroundings. But when they mature and move to a different environment, such as a reef, they may have to change color and pattern. The second reason for a color change with age may be to avoid conflict. As they grow up, juveniles will likely share space with adults of their own species. This could lead to territorial conflicts that the little guys would lose. So, by appearing to be an entirely different species, the chances of a turf war diminish.

The emperor angelfish

The juvenile emperor angelfish, for example, which ranges from the size of a dime to the diameter of your palm, looks like a child of the 1960s, with psychedelic electric blue swirls and alternating pale blue lines. Because these color patterns differ so wildly from an adult’s, even marine biologists previously thought the youngsters were a different species. But in reality, over a period of 24 to 30 months, a series of distinct blue and yellow stripes emerges and covers most of the fish’s body. To our eyes, these stripes stand out in vivid contrast, but at greater distances the stripes may help to disrupt the fish’s outline and camouflage it from ever-present predators. The dark band of color across the emperor’s nose helps obscure the fish’s eyes and confuses the predator as to which end is which. This misdirection might help the fish escape if the attacker guesses wrong.

The juvenile sweetlips

The colors and patterns of coral-reef fish are unexpectedly malleable. Some change color gradually with season or age. Others can alter their appearance almost instantaneously to blend into their surroundings, or to display their current emotional state. The striped sweetlips are among the slow changers, but they do undergo a startling transformation from juvenile to adult. As a juvenile, the sweetlips is a colorful gem, but as it matures, flamboyance gives way to stripes. These bold black and white markings, while attractive to divers and photographers, also serve as a defense mechanism. The stripes disrupt the fish’s outline, making it difficult for predators to isolate and attack an individual within a moving school.

The wrasse family

Members of the wrasse family undergo some of the most dramatic changes between their juvenile and adult stages. These changes can play an important role in social organization. Like many coral-reef fishes, wrasses change sex throughout their lives and their coloration usually changes when this occurs, signaling their gender to other members of their species. One example is the yellowtail coris. These small red-orange fish with bright white accents are common on reefs around Wakatobi, and when you spot one, you might think you’ve found Nemo. But any resemblance to the famous clownfish is purely coincidental.

With age, the yellowtail coris will come into its own, transforming not once, but twice, as it matures. As a teenager, the body coloration changes from red-orange to green. Blue spots running down the rear portion of the body and orange accents along the dorsal and bottom anal fins and across the face replace the white bands. When fully grown, the yellowtail coris can reach lengths of a foot or more. Fish close to this size are typically males, and thus begin their final transformation, developing a bright yellow to green mid-body bar that identifies the fish as a terminal male, meaning he’s a dominant spawner. Lesser males tend to have duller coloration and aren’t as likely to attract spawning partners. Proof, perhaps, of the benefits of being a sharp dresser.

For some fish on Wakatobi’s reefs, age represents a retreat from the flamboyance of youth to the more mundane hues of adulthood. But for others, maturity brings out new and brighter patterns. Let’s hope we can follow the ways of the latter group as we move into our well-earned golden years. 

By Karen Stearns

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