Learning to Fly

Hello again out there scuba world.  I, your humble webmaster, am taking this opportunity to discuss Drift Diving.  Allegedly, it's so great and so easy and relaxing. I, however, have failed to master this type of dive, despite repeated attempts.  I understand the concepts and theories and all that. My issues come from control.  In a current, in my experience, it's hard to stop and look at things, and maneuver around other divers.  I prefer to be control of my speed, direction and start/stop at all times. I recognize that i just need practice. Currently, I tend to flail around with my arms in an embarrassing yet humerus manner. But the closest body of water to me is the Mighty Mississippi, and there is no way I'm learning on that current.  :)  So for now, enjoy an article about drift diving.

Drift Diving

 How to Use Current to Your Advantage

 Story and Photos By Lynn Laymon

 

Current is not an issue when diving quarries and most lakes, but elsewhere, rivers, oceans and large lakes, like the Great Lakes, divers can expect water movement to range anywhere from mild to wild. Unless carefully calculated, monitored and accounted for, current, even in its mildest form, can cause difficulties for unsuspecting divers. It sweeps them away from the boat, causes shore divers to miss the planned exit location and when strong, it physically taxes divers as they labor to swim against it.

When to Go With the Flow — and When Not To

In most cases, divers are taught to “begin the dive into the current.” This is done for two reasons. First, swimming into the current can be tiring, so divers are told to spend the first part of the dive, when they are fresh, swimming against it. Then they complete the dive by drifting with the current back to the exit location. Theoretically this is a sound concept, however, divers occasionally still miss the boat on the way back or overshoot the exit location. The stronger the current, the greater the chance of slipping up.

Second, unless the dive is a planned drift dive, a diver who begins the dive swimming with the current is asking for trouble. Aided by the current, he will cover a lot of seascape in less time than he thinks. When he reverses course to return to the exit location, he will find the going much slower because he now is battling the current. Unless the current is very mild and the diver reverses course well before the halfway point of the dive, it is unlikely that he will make it back to the planned exit location before depleting his air supply or exceeding the planned bottom time. This will require him to ascend sooner than planned, resulting in a long surface swim. In some cases it could result in a rescue situation.

When circumstances permit, experienced divers often prefer to drift dive. They go with the flow for the entire dive, intentionally allowing the current to carry them along. Their dive plan is built around entering the water at one location and exiting at another.

Drift diving offers many advantages over diving from an anchored boat or entering and exiting at the same location on shore. First, drifting with the water movement is less physically demanding than struggling against current for half the dive. Drift diving generally results in less air being consumed, which could allow many divers to stay down longer.

For those who have experienced the ease of drift diving, especially from a boat, it often quickly becomes their favorite style of diving. Drift diving, when done correctly, eliminates any concern about finding the boat at the end of the dive. When the planned bottom time is up or the air supply runs low the diver simply performs a drifting safety stop and surfaces. The boat comes to the diver as opposed to the diver having to find and swim to the boat.

Drift diving from shore requires additional planning and is a bit more complicated, but it still eliminates the need to fight the current. Divers enter at an upcurrent location and exit at a predetermined spot farther downcurrent.

The drift diving technique can be used anywhere that has consistent water movement, even in areas with slight to moderate current. However, it is used more often in areas that are known for having mild to brisk, or even ripping, currents.

On the extreme end of the spectrum, some places offer drift diving that resembles a water park adventure. In areas like Deception Pass on Washington’s Northwest coast, the Current Cut in the Bahamas and the Komodo Islands in Indonesia, drift diving is as much a thrill ride as a diving technique. At these and a handful of other similar spots around the world divers drop into the water purposely overweighted by a few pounds, descend quickly and ride currents of six or more knots. Generally such novelty dives are shorter in bottom time than a normal recreational dive since these types of currents are associated with tidal change in places where the incoming or outgoing tide funnels through a narrow passage. This type of drift diving experience is a thrill one does not soon forget.

The majority of drift diving is performed in areas that experience moderate longshore current on a consistent basis. In some cases the direction of a diver’s drift changes depending on the time of day or the tidal flow. Deciding when, where and how to conduct a drift dive is a decision not to be taken lightly. Drift divers should be trained in the technique and be familiar with the area and water conditions of the site they plan to drift.

Drift Diving From a Boat

Drift diving can be done from a boat or from shore; although the techniques and planning required for each vary greatly. Drift diving from a boat, especially a dive charter boat, is less involved than drift diving from shore. On a dive charter boat the captain and crew have done most of the work for you in advance. In addition to having already addressed the planning and safety considerations, they are familiar with the area and possess the necessary boating knowledge and skills. Simply follow their directions and employ a few basic diving skills and you’ll have a fun, enjoyable and safe drift diving experience.

Boat drift diving is commonly done using one of two techniques: float line drifting or live boating. Float line drift diving involves the use of a surface marker. One of the divers tows a line and float, which often includes a dive flag that trails along on the surface above the dive group. The captain and crew keep track of the divers’ whereabouts by watching and following the marker.

Live boat drift diving is conducted in the same fashion as float drifting but without the line and float. The captain and crew keep track of the group by observing their bubbles breaking the surface. The boat stands off a safe distance but near enough that the divers’ bubbles are clearly visible. This works fine in calm water, but is not as reliable in rough seas. The choppier the water the more difficult the bubbles are to see.

Using a float line is the easiest and safest method of drift diving. It is the surest way for the boat captain to know the location of the divers. Underwater the line serves as a reference for the group and during the safety stop it is helpful in maintaining a consistent depth. On the surface the float provides a staging area for divers waiting to exit the water.

On the downside, float diving is more restrictive than live boating since one of the divers in the group has to be responsible for tending the line and towing the float. On a guided dive this is usually the guide’s job, but not always.

If you happen to be the diver responsible for the float, as the group descends you must pay out the line. During the dive you must adjust the line scope (the length of line from you to the float) to account for significant changes in depth and to keep it from becoming snagged. Upon ascent the line must be retracted to prevent anyone from becoming tangled in the excess.

Some float line divers carry the excess line coiled in their hand; however, most use a reel. For safety’s sake, when towing a float the coil of line or reel should be held in the diver’s hand and never secured to his equipment or body. As unlikely as it might sound, if a passing boat were to run over the float and snag the line a diver with the reel secured to his buoyancy compensator (BC) or the line wrapped around his arm could be dragged to the surface, resulting in a decompression injury.

When drift diving, whether the technique used is float line or live boating, it is important that all divers stay together as a group. This requires that everyone be geared up and ready to enter the water before the first diver enters; the others follow close behind.

If using a float, divers can remain on the surface near the float until everyone is in, and then descend together. When live boating, depending on the type and velocity of the current, it often is important that divers enter in rapid succession, descend immediately and regroup at the bottom. When diving from a charter boat the technique to be followed will be included in the predive briefing.

Once at depth the group must not stray too far from the diver towing the float or the designated leader, if live boating. This is important because the boat captain and crew are concentrating on following the float or the group’s bubbles.

Generally, as individual members of the group run low on air they notify the guide that they are ascending, proceed to safety-stop depth, complete the stop while drifting above the group, and then surface. They will quickly be spotted since this technique places them either adjacent to the float or near where the group’s bubbles are breaking the surface. If they surface elsewhere they run the chance of not being seen and may end up waiting at the surface until the remainder of the group has reboarded the boat.

Depending on the charter operation, water conditions and the destination, when participating in a guided drift dive the entire group may be required to surface when the first diver begins to run low on air. Generally, however, individual divers or buddy teams who run low on air before reaching the planned maximum bottom time are permitted to proceed to safety-stop depth and complete the dive as described above.

The technique used for reboarding the boat varies from vessel to vessel and will be addressed during the predive briefing. When drift diving from a boat, exiting the water always involves the boat coming to the diver rather than the diver having to surface, find and swim to the boat. When diving from a large vessel, entering and exiting the water often is done from a smaller tender boat that is used to shuttle divers to and from the drift dive location.

Reboarding the boat is the most critical part of drift diving. First, keep in mind that both the boat and any divers on the surface waiting to reboard are drifting with the current, but not necessarily at the same speed. If the boat is drifting faster than the divers, divers positioned on the downcurrent side of the boat face the risk of being overrun by the vessel.

Second, most dive boats are driven by one or more propellers, which are underwater at the stern of the vessel. When engaged, these propellers turn at a dangerously high speed. Divers waiting to reboard are near the propeller, creating a potentially dangerous situation.

Whenever in the water near the stern of a boat, especially when the engine is running, be aware of your position in relation to the propeller. If the engine suddenly starts or an idling boat’s propeller begins turning, immediately move away from the boat.

When drift diving it is important that each diver closely follow the instructions of the crew, exit quickly and efficiently, and immediately clear the exit area so other divers can reboard.

It is recommended that any boat involved in drift diving leave two people on board; one to operate the boat and the other to act as a spotter, helping follow the divers’ movement and controlling the entry and exit processes.

The easiest and safest way to experience drift diving, especially for the first time, is on a guided dive from a dive charter boat; the planning and safety considerations have been addressed by the charter crew. All the diver has to do is enter the water when instructed, stay with the group, keep the guide informed of remaining air supply and surface when directed to do so. In between, the diver simply floats along at depth, enjoying the sights.

Read the rest of the article here.  http://www.dtmag.com/Stories/Dive%20Equipment/02-05-2feature.htm

Nice to Meet You....Lionfish

You know they are bad, and don't touch 'em whatsoever, but here are a few things you may not have known.

Fast Facts

Type:

Fish

Diet:

Carnivore

Average life span in the wild:

Up to 15 years

Size:

11.8 to 15 in (30 to 38 cm)

Weight:

Up to 2.6 lbs (1.2 kg)

Group name:

School

Did you know?

A lionfish will often spread its feathery pectoral fins and herd small fish into a confined space where it can more easily swallow them.

Size relative to a tea cup:

 

Pretty much everything about the venomous lionfish—its red-and-white zebra stripes, long, showy pectoral fins, and generally cantankerous demeanor—says, "Don't touch!"
The venom of the lionfish, delivered via an array of up to 18 needle-like dorsal fins, is purely defensive. It relies on camouflage and lightning-fast reflexes to capture prey, mainly fish and shrimp. A sting from a lionfish is extremely painful to humans and can cause nausea and breathing difficulties, but is rarely fatal.
Lionfish, also called turkey fish, dragon fish and scorpion fish, are native to the reefs and rocky crevices of the Indo-Pacific, although they've found their way to warm ocean habitats worldwide.
The largest of lionfish can grow to about 15 inches (0.4 meters) in length, but the average is closer to 1 foot (0.3 meters).
Lionfish are popular in some parts of the world as food, but are far more prized in the aquarium trade. Their population numbers are healthy and their distribution is growing, causing some concerned in the United States, where some feel the success of this non-indigenous species presents human and environmental dangers.

(Thanks National Geographic for the above information)

Lionfish are:
1) Voracious predators being shown to eat native fish and crustaceans in large quantities, including both ecologically and economically important species like grunts, snapper, nassau grouper, and cleaner shrimp
2) Not known to have any native predators
3) Equipped with venomous dorsal, ventral and anal spines, which deter predators and can cause painful wounds to humans
4) Capable of reproducing year-round with unique reproduction mechanisms not commonly found in native fishes (females can reproduce every 4 days!)
5) Relatively resistant to parasites, giving them another advantage over native species
6) Fast in their growth, able to outgrow native species with whom they compete for food and space

Some recent articles regarding LionFish

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/18/tech/innovation/lionfish-infestation-atlantic-linendoll/

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2013/1021/Lionfish-invasion-An-unabated-siege-of-the-Atlantic

Any more questions or curiosity, or looking for a Lionfish cookbook, let us know in the shop and we can take care of you.

All About Nurse Sharks

All About Nurse Sharks

The origin of the name "nurse shark" is unclear. It may come from the sucking sound they make when hunting for prey in the sand, which vaguely resembles that of a nursing baby. Or it may derive from an archaic word, nusse, meaning cat shark. The most likely theory though is that the name comes from the Old English word for sea-floor shark: hurse.

Nurse sharks are slow-moving bottom-dwellers and are, for the most part, harmless to humans. However, they can be huge—up to 14 feet (4.3 meters)—and have very strong jaws filled with thousands of tiny, serrated teeth, and will bite defensively if stepped on or bothered by divers who assume they’re docile.

They use their strong jaws to crush and eat shellfish and even coral, but prefer to dine on fish, shrimp, and squid. They are gray-brown and have distinctive tail fins that can be up to one-fourth their total length. Some nurse sharks, especially the young, have spots.Unlike most other sharks, nurses are smooth to the touch.

Nurse sharks are found in the warm, shallow waters of the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific oceans. They are abundant throughout their range and have no special conservation status, although the closeness of their habit to human activities is putting pressure on the species.

Nurse reproduce via aplacental viviparity. In aplacental viviparity, the eggs develop inside the body after internal fertilization and hatch within the body of the mother. Litters consist of 20-30 pups that are tiny replicas of the adult.

Nurse sharks reach maturity at about 15 to 20 years old.

(Thanks National Geographic for the info!!)

All about Jellyfish

well, a quick 'about jellyfish' actually.  The first in a series of 'getting to know you' posts, so we can learn a little more about the underwater life we are swimming with.

A stinging Cauliflower Jelly

 

 

Jellyfish or jellies^[1] are the major non-polyp form of individuals of the phylum Cnidaria. They are typified as free-swimming marine animals consisting of a gelatinous umbrella-shaped bell and trailing tentacles. The bell can pulsate for locomotion, while stinging tentacles can be used to capture prey.
Jellyfish are found in every ocean, from the surface to the deep sea. A few jellyfish inhabit freshwater. Large, often colorful, jellyfish are common in coastal zones worldwide. Jellyfish have roamed the seas for at least 500 million years,^[2] and possibly 700 million years or more, making them the oldest multi-organ animal.^[3]

 

a moon jelly

Feeding

Jellies are carnivorous, feeding on plankton, crustaceans, fish eggs, small fish and other jellyfish, ingesting and voiding through the same hole in the middle of the bell. Jellies hunt passively using their tentacles as drift nets.

Predation

Other species of jellyfish are among the most common and important jellyfish predators, some of which specialize in jellies. Other predators include tuna, shark, swordfish, sea turtles, and at least one species of Pacific salmon. Sea birds sometimes pick symbiotic crustaceans from the jellyfish bells near the sea's surface, inevitably feeding also on the jellyfish hosts of these amphipods or young crabs and shrimp.

 

a man-of-war jelly

 

Culinary

In some countries, such as Japan and Korea, jellyfish are known as a delicacy. "Dried jellyfish" has become increasingly popular throughout the world. The jellyfish is dried to prevent spoiling; if not dried they can spoil within a matter of hours. Once dried, they can be stored for weeks at a time. Only scyphozoan jellyfish belonging to the order Rhizostomeae are harvested for food; about 12 of the approximately 85 species. Most of the harvest takes place in southeast Asia.^[59] Rhizostomes, especially Rhopilema esculentum in China (海蜇 hǎizhē, "sea stings") and Stomolophus meleagris (cannonball jellyfish) in the United States, are favored because of their larger and more rigid bodies and because their toxins are harmless to humans.^[60]

 

Traditional processing methods, carried out by a Jellyfish Master, involve a 20- to 40-day multi-phase procedure in which after removing the gonads and mucous membranes, the umbrella and oral arms are treated with a mixture of table salt and alum, and compressed. Processing reduces liquefaction, odor, the growth of spoilage organisms, and makes the jellyfish drier and more acidic, producing a "crunchy and crispy texture." Jellyfish prepared this way retain 7–10% of their original weight, and the processed product contains approximately 94% water and 6% protein. Freshly processed jellyfish has a white, creamy color and turns yellow or brown during prolonged storage.
In China, processed jellyfish are desalted by soaking in water overnight and eaten cooked or raw. The dish is often served shredded with a dressing of oil, soy sauce, vinegar and sugar, or as a salad with vegetables. In Japan, cured jellyfish are rinsed, cut into strips and served with vinegar as an appetizer.^[60][61] Desalted, ready-to-eat products are also available.<sup>[60]

(Thanks Wikipedia for the above information.)</sup>

 

 

^{HOW TO TREAT JELLYFISH STINGS}

^{(From webMD: http://firstaid.webmd.com/jellyfish-stings-treatment)}

Call 911 if:

• The person displays signs of a severe allergic reaction.
• The sting is from a box jellyfish.
• The sting covers more than half an arm or leg.

 

1. Get the Person Out of the Water

2. Stop Stinging

For a jellyfish sting in non-tropical waters:

• Wash the area with seawater to deactivate stinging cells.

For a sting in tropical waters -- especially from box jellyfish:

• Rinse immediately with vinegar. Do not use fresh or tap water, which can reactivate stinging cells.

Continue reading below...

Continue until you can get medical help.

3. Decontaminate and Remove Tentacles

For stings not from a box jellyfish:

• Apply vinegar for 30 minutes.

• If vinegar is not available, apply shaving cream, soap lather, or paste of sand or mud and seawater.

• Scrape with razor or credit card to remove stinging cells.

• Reapply vinegar.

4. Treat Discomfort

• Use mild hydrocortisone cream or oral antihistamine to relieve itching and swelling.

5. Follow Up

For less severe sting:

• Use ice packs or over-the-counter pain relievers for welts.

• Clean open sores 3 times a day and apply antibiotic ointment. Bandage if needed.

For a severe reaction:

• The person may be hospitalized for several days.

• Anti-venom will be administered for box jellyfish stings

Why Do You Dive ?

From Webmaster Erin:  Diving for me is a hobby. It's something I so enjoy doing, and I am lucky enough to have stumbled upon Jenn and Chris at Sail Fish Scuba. The complete awe of the experience is very hard to put into words. Describing the wonder of a dive, the excitement of your first swimthrough in a wreck, or the first time you play chicken with a nurse shark, well it just loses something when put into words.  I love reading articles and will often post some of my favorite scuba articles to share. This one asks, 'Why do you dive'.  I have many reasons, but this author did a particularly fantasic job of putting it into words.

From a post here:  http://scubadiverlife.com/2012/09/05/why-we-dive/

By Divemaster DennisWriter

Dennis Jacobson is a full-time lawyer and part-time divemaster who lives in Colorado but escapes to the tropics for diving whenever he can. He and his wife Debbie, who has been diving for ten years herself, are the authors of The Scuba Snobs Guide to Diving Etiquette, and The Scuba Snobs Guide to Diving Etiquette BOOK 2. Both are available in paperback or as an e-book on amazon.com and many other on-line book sellers. Dennis is a popular blogger on scubaboard.com, and has written articles for several scuba publications in addition to the two books he and his wife have published.

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"Has anyone ever asked you why you scuba? I was reflecting on diving recently from the beach of one our favorite Caribbean dive destinations. Earlier in the day a passer-by noticed Debbie and me gearing up for a dive, and asked why we liked to dive. Assuming the questioner didn’t have an hour to listen to the full answer, and because we did not want to delay our planned morning dives, we gave a quick “because it’s so beautiful and interesting” response. But with the asking of the question, and a couple of dives to give clarity to the answer, I was reminded exactly why we dive.
Debbie and I dive because it is a beautiful experience to share. It is adventure that everyone (or almost everyone) can engage, and there are no cell phones 80 feet beneath the world of land and sky. The beauty and solitude of the sea is uninterrupted by outside distractions, and that is unique and that is a very good thing. Off gassing with a cold local brew after a morning of diving, while watching a tennis match on the condo courts nearby, I observed an interruption as a cell phone rang, was answered, and a business matter in LA was attended to. How sad for those who think they are on a vacation get away, but have gotten away from, well, nothing.
I enjoy our local diving in Colorado, even when it is a work day with new and continuing students, but to GET AWAY and relax, enjoy family and friends, and the beauty and solitude of the reef is, frankly, infinitely better. For example, on day two of that Caribbean dive trip, our small group of divers (5) danced with stingrays for a while at the end of a 60 minute dive, something we just can't do back home. In fact, we have done lots of things during dives that can be done nowhere else. We have listened to whale song in Hawaii, done a dance with turtles in the Pacific and the Caribbean, watched interesting fish behavior, played with sea lions off the California coast, and so much more. Here is a poem about I wrote after my first ocean dives, many years ago, trying to capture the experience:

UNDERWATER MEMORY

Beneath the world of land and sky

Is another world; a world that I

Have visited for a time, but could not stay

As long as I wanted. This world of ray

And shark, of fish and whale, of wonderful creatures

Of strange colors, shapes, and features

Lies beneath the foam and waves of the sea.

Ancient reefs call to me

To come and share in their beauty,

To bathe in their serenity.

This deep blue world of perfection

Massages my soul, and relieves the tension

Of living on the noisy land,

For here no noise disturbs the sand

Or coral or walls or caves,

Nor are they disturbed by waves

Which crash around the land world's rim.

This deep blue world remains calm in dim

Subdued light, filtered and made gentle by the depths.

I feel a part, but am only a guest

In this undersea Eden

From which I must depart for a season,

Left to remember, and to anticipate the day

When I may return.

Some divers will tell you they dive because they can. I’d like to be able to say that, but the truth is, after all these years, I dive because I must. It’s not really an addiction, despite what some of my friends might tell you. Debbie knows, she dives too and feels like I do. Not an addiction, just necessary therapy that keeps me sane. That is why we dive. Happy diving, everyone. "
Divemaster Dennis

SEAC Dive Gear Dealer

Great news!  We are now a factory authorized SEAC Dive Gear Dealer.  They have great dive gear for great prices.

Here is the link to their offical facebook page.https://www.facebook.com/SeacOfficialPage

Here is their website:  http://www.seacsub.com/index.php

Check out all their great stuff and  just let us know what you are interested in. 

Sail Fish Scuba Into the Blog World

Hey thanks for stopping by our blog today. It's beautiful and sunny here in Key Largo, and we are ready for another great day of diving.
Here is our unofficial photo of the day from this past Saturday. Guide Chris Kerr got this great shot of a stinging cauliflower jelly.