A weekend of diving....

This Sunday we will be completing an Advanced Openwater diving course.  The last two dives will take place at Ft. Wetherill State Park in Jamestown, RI.  The PADI Advanced Course consists of five specialty dives and is designed to fine tune your abilities after completing your Open Water course.  Last Sunday in the pool, the students completed the Peak Performance Buoyancy workshop. We worked on proper weighting, specialized finning techniques and hovering.  We also spent time learning how to use lift bags and pony bottles.  These two pieces of equipment are frequently used on deep and wreck diving adventures.  Thursday, we completed the navigation and night diving specialty requirements.  On the night dive we saw lobsters and northern sculpin.  The objective of the navigation dive was to be able to do some underwater exploration without getting lost in low visabilty conditions.
This Sunday, we anticipate beautiful weather. It may even be........hot!!! This means that the ocean water is getting warmer and more suitable for long comfortable dives.  The deep dive is located on a wall and allows us to gradually reach a depth of 80 feet.  The wall is covered with gorgeous anemones and it is common to see skates, sea robins, and tube worms.  This is also a great dive for the underwater naturalist and photographer specialty courses. For more information on the Advanced Openwater Course, go to our website. http://www.seaviewscubact.com/

Sexy Saturday - Is there something in the water?

"What is all that stuff in the water?" This is a common question after completing a spring time dive.  The good news is, during the summer months you will see a lot more fish and lobsters.  The bad news is, right now you are swimming through their eggs and larvae!
Ichthyoplankton is the scientific term for the eggs and larvae of fish that are found near the surface of the oceans.  Most fish larvae drift along with the surface currents until they are developed enough to swim on their own. New England lobster larvae spend the whole summer as free-swimming plankton near the warmer surface layer. Horseshoe crabs produce thousands of eggs and there are many species of jellyfish floating through the water column at all depths.
So what are we swimming with? The list is amazing. Recent studies of Long Island Sound*, have found the larvae from different species of flounder, hake, mackeral, scup, butterfish, horseshoe crabs, lobsters and more. We also see hydromedusa, siphonophores, comb jellies and moon jellies. (all non-stinging)
So next time you go out to Stonington for a dive.......

*http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/projects/ct/mtapa/moheganefha.pdf

When animals (fish) attack!!!!

On our recent trip to Cozumel, I was bitten by a Damselfish!  No blood was drawn, but I am sure that if I had not been wearing a full 3mm wetsuit, I might be missing a tiny area of skin!  Notoriously territorial, the many species of Damselfish are not afraid to attack divers and chase away intruders. This is very impressive for a fish that is usually only 3 to 6 inches long. Their tiny mouths are lined with sharp teeth.
Damselfish are very aggressive and quickly attack anything within their proximity. After laying approximately 200,00 eggs the female swims away and the male takes over to guard the eggs, attacking everything in sight until they mature and hatch.
I feel special though.  The chance of being bitten by a fish underwater is slim.  Most fish rely on clever color changes to blend into the environment and avoid being seen by predators. Other species rely on speed and maneuverability to make a quick escape.  Pipefish and Seahorses are protected by thick scales and bony plates that make them hard to ingest.  The Porcupine fish inflates a spine covered body and Scorpion fish, stingrays and Stonefish have venomous spines to discourage predators.
Most fish are carnivores (meat eaters) that eat shellfish, worms and other fish. Oh, and the occasional diver!