Divers Give Back

This is the season of giving, as they say. I've found myself wondering lately about what contribution divers make to their local environments and to the sites they dive on vacations. I've heard some critical people claim the divers do a lot of damage to the ocean and reefs by their own carelessness, but can it be true? Does the occasional kicked coral and dropped weight belt counteract the good that divers can do?

To find out, we have to see the kind of impact that volunteer and vacation divers have had on their favorite dive sites. I discovered some pretty cool stuff...

• Volunteer research divers assist in the identification of shipwrecks. In Florida, a group recently contributed to the closing of an open chapter in maritime history when they identified the Hannah M. Bell in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary in November. Read more here!
• Traveling divers everywhere pumped millions of dollars into the economies of popular dive destinations, encouraging the creation and growth of marine sanctuaries and moratoriums on shark finning and other unsustainable fishing practices that threaten the health of our oceans. In the last two years, Australia, Palau, Raja Ampat, and several other island nations have declared new marine sanctuaries, thanks in part to the growth of their own economies through tourism.
• Divers everywhere have volunteered to be data collectors for research programs like SharksCount, which uses the data collected to close information gaps regarding shark movement and population. These volunteers are used in many applications in dive sites across the world to survey the health of reefs and fish populations.
• Here in Chicago, the 12th annual Burnham Harbor Cleanup Dive was a huge success. Local divers from shops all over the Chicagoland area removed 8oo pounds of debris from Lake Michigan via the harbor.

While we still have to work to achieve our goal to "take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but bubbles," I believe the good that divers do by investing their time and money in diving contributes to the health of the oceans and lakes in a unique way. So, keep diving and have a happy holiday season!

EN 250: What is it and Why is it Stamped on my Regulator?

If you're not sure what EN 250 means, you're not alone. You may never have noticed the unobtrusive lettering on your first stage, except to point out that it isn't the serial number and move on.

So, what is it and what does it say about your regulator?

Manufacturers and consumers alike expect regulators to perform to certain specifications. If you purchase a travel regulator, you expect it to deliver a good performance under the conditions it was created for- in warmer water. However, most travel regulators are not designed to dive in all conditions; there are temperature limitations on many of them that would keep you from using them in Great Lake diving or under ice. Conversely, there are regulators that are diveable in more difficult situations such as high current or ice diving. But what exists to objectively test these regulators to ensure that they all perform under these specifications and conditions?

Enter the EN 250 rating. This exists to ensure that your regulator will perform well in every environment and condition for which it is advertised. It is given by a third-party testing facility (also designated on the regulator). EN 250 is an assurance that your regulator can deliver quality breathing performance beyond the recreational depth limit. In 2013, they plan to release a new rating requirement: EN250A. This rating ensures that your primary and your octo will simultaneously breathe easily under the same testing conditions. So, here are a few markings to reference on your regulator if you're not sure what yours is meant to do.

1. <10 degrees C/50 Degrees F: Regulators marked with that designation should not be used in cold water. In other words, your local quarry during the summer may be fine, but don't take it in Lake Michigan

2. EN250: Your regulator is designed to operate to 165 ft and below 50 degrees F with unchanged breathing performance in the first and second stage. The octo will not perform to the same specifications and its use is not recommended below 100 ft.

3. EN250A: Your regulator is designed to operate to 165 ft and below 50 degrees F with unchanged breathing performance in the first and second stage as well as the octo.

4. CE0078 (or some variation) is the stamp of the center that tested the regulator.

You can read more here, at Apeks UK's website.

Slowest Shark ever Still Manages to Hunt Seals... Somehow

Swimming at speeds that have been compared to "crawling babies," the Greenland Shark is not exactly the image of deadly speed. Their approach appears slow and a little bumbling due to their blindness; if you don't believe me, check it out:

Yet, scientists have discovered that, somehow, they've been eating seals. Seals swim at twice their speed; they've been known to evade even Great White sharks, who often have to blast them from below in order to hunt healthy adults. So, how are the Greenland sharks getting fresh, live seal?

Though the theory has yet to be proven, there is a strong belief within the scientific community that the sharks have learned to ambush Arctic seals that are asleep in the water. Seals sleep in the water in the Arctic; the leader of the study suggests that the shark takes advantage of that and ambushes them from below when asleep. While it seems surprising that a slow, blind shark could accomplish anything resembling an ambush, we should keep in mind that encounters with this shark are rare, as it is a cold water, deep-sea animal that only swims to the surface at night to feed. We don't even know how they continue on as a species, let alone how they hunt.

Check out the complete article from National Geographic at this link!

The Fate of the HMS Bounty's Replica

We've all seen pictures and heard news stories about the damage of our Eastern seaboard by Superstorm Sandy. Apparently, it also claimed a ship of historical interest: a sailing vessel named HMS Bounty, which was a complete replica ship built in 1960 for a film about the original.

Pictured in Chicago for the Tall Ships Festival 2003

The story of the original Bounty is a story from 1789, when part of the crew mutinied against its captain and sent him and half the crew out to sea in a lifeboat. The lifeboat and some crewmen survived a 3600 nautical-mile journey; the ship, however, was intentionally set on fire after the crew landed on an island to avoid attracting the attention of the British Royal Navy.

The replica ship was built in 1960 as a complete, functional sailing ship for the movie "Mutiny on the Bounty" and also made an appearance in "Pirates of the Caribbean." Only days before Hurricane Sandy hit the eastern seaboard, the captain decided to sail the ship back to port to wait out the storm; unfortunately, it was caught in the middle when a generator blew. Fourteen crew members were rescued by Coast Guard helicopter; however, the captain and a crew member were washed overboard. The captain is still missing.

Take a walk through some distant and recent nautical history, and check out National Geographic's photo gallery about the ship's sinking, crew rescue, and original mutiny here.

Questions about Becoming a Professional Diver?

Is becoming a scuba diver one of those things that sat on your bucket list for years before you decided to take the leap and get certified? You may feel the same way about becoming a PADI pro now. Everyone asks themselves the same questions:

1. Can I handle the stress of a pro class?
2. Are my dive skills good enough to be a pro diver?
3. Am I ready to be responsible for other divers?
4. Can I afford to take the Divemaster or Instructor course?

1. Pro classes can be stressful, but the PADI Divemaster course (the first level of professional certification) is completed at your own pace. It gives you the time you need to tackle the skills and knowledge development at a pace you can handle while you still work your regular job or go to school. That way, by the time you are ready to tackle a PADI Instructor Development Course you've had plenty of time to prepare your skills.

2. Dive skill development is a top priority for every professional course. Practical exercises will dominate your course time, both in the pool and in open water. Current dive professionals will be there every step of the way to mentor you and help you practice your skills until you are comfortable demonstrating them to students.

3. Ultimately, you are the only one who can decide if you're ready to be responsible for newer divers. However, a good way to gauge your readiness is to evaluate how you felt once you completed your Rescue course. Did it feel good to accomplish the skills in the course, knowing that they will help you be a better buddy? If you haven't completed Rescue yet, that course is a great start because it gives you the tools to critically evaluate other divers and help them avoid potential problems (it's also really, really fun).

4. If you're concerned about the cost of the courses, you should come to Sea and Discover at Scuba Emporium on Wednesday, October 24 at 6:30pm. That night, not only will we have manufacturer representatives from both Aqualung and Sealife Cameras, we will also have Gary Joyce from PADI here to respond to any questions or concerns you have that didn't get addressed here. We'll also offer special, one-night-only deals on course packages for recreational and professional divers that will feature interest-free financing! These courses have never been more affordable, and the costs can be managed over a period of time instead of paying for everything up front.

Call us today to register; we'll make sure we have food for you!

Dive the Great Barrier Reef... From Your Computer!

Is it the same as putting your equipment on and descending to the Great Barrier Reef? Maybe not, but it will bring everyone who hasn't tried scuba a little closer to the ocean.

Google Maps released a new extension of its panoramic "street view" feature. You can now get a turtles-eye view of a few amazing dive spots, like Australia's Great Barrier Reef or Maui's Molokini Crater. They've partnered with Catlin Seaview Survey, a company whose ambitions include mapping the world's reefs using panoramic imaging systems. Their belief is that the Google images will bring people closer to the oceans, since many people do not have access to beautiful reefs or scuba equipment. They also hope to track the effects of climate change over years using the images, as they will be able to compare them with the state of the reefs in the future.

Check out their photo gallery by clicking here! You can also see what they've done so far by clicking the link to Catlin Seaview Survey's website above or checking it out on Google's street view feature.

So, Why Can't Customers Buy Regulator Parts Kits?

Now that many dive shops and manufacturers are moving their sales online, the question I've seen posed by many is, why won't manufacturers sell the parts kits for their regulators directly to the consumer? It seems like a natural conclusion to online sales; the customer purchases a regulator online. Why shouldn't they be able to purchase the kits to repair it as well?

The answer to that question actually begins at the manufacturer's responsibility to the consumer. The reason manufacturers generally require yearly service on their regulators is to ensure that the regulators are in good working condition. So, they train technicians through local dive shops to take them apart properly and examine the regulators' moving parts. Though regulators themselves are generally very durable, the o-rings and diaphragm are made of parts that degrade, much like the belts in your car's motor. Thus, the regulators require new parts from the manufacturer periodically. Even if you only dive once or twice a year, these parts will harden with age like any other rubber product.

Enter the Local Dive Shop. As a shop with a Repair Department, I've seen what it takes to properly disassemble and reassemble a regulator, and to tune it. I can safely say that you probably don't have one in your basement. The regulators have to be tested at a testing station with air pressure to ensure proper function, and many regulators have face plates that require special tools to remove. Manufacturers do not direct-sell their parts kits because it becomes a huge liability to both the dive center and the manufacturer if someone takes their reg apart, pulls out the o-rings, puts it back together and misses something or cracks the housing in a way that causes it to malfunction. It's the same reason you can't fill your tank from the tire compressor in your garage; you breathe off it. If we sell you a parts kit, you install it and your regulator free-flows at fifty feet, whose fault is it? Was it your installation, or was it a faulty kit? The list goes on.

At the end of the day, the repair kit policy is the only means by which a manufacturer can ensure proper function and maintenance of the products they stand by. And keep in mind, these units are designed to keep you alive in a foreign environment. Wouldn't you want someone who checks them for a living to make sure it's in good condition, inside and out?