M 2 The Presidents Corner

Transcription

1 FAIRFIELD COUNTY DIVING ASSOCIATION July 2011 Volume 18 Issue 7 Inside this Issue Presidents Corner page 1 M 2 The Presidents Corner Events of Interest page 2 FCDA Donors I page 2 Captain Noel Featured Page 3 FCDA Donors II page 3 June Raffle Winners page 4 FCDA Donors III page 4 Shark Study page 5 FCDA Member Ads page 5 Next FCDA Meeting page 6 I was at the gym the other morning make some serious progress on the elliptical machine and in my own world listening to some rockin tunes and I look up at one of the TVs and see an ocean scene with sharks. Naturally it catches my attention. There are divers in the water in two separate cages with sharks in the water so now I am really intrigued. After a bit you realize it is a commercial for Gillette Shavers. Each diver, in his own cage, had a shaver and was doing his business that we all normally do in front of a mirror. The guy with the other brand nicks himself and starts to bleed. Of course now the sharks get all charged up and start to attack the cage that has the diver that cut himself. At first I thought this was a cool commercial; the video footage was good and SCUBA Diving gets some exposure on TV. Then it sinks in that what people will take away from this is to confirm their fears that sharks attack people, not really a good thing and kind of counter-productive to all of the promotion done to help save the sharks. Here is a link to the video footage on YouTube. What are your thoughts? v=knkpk4gixp8 The FCDA had its annual trip to Cape Ann for some diving, camping, eating and drinking not necessarily in that order. There was a small group of us and we got some really great dives in. We explored a couple of new sites and will definitely be back to dive them again. The next trip, in case you missed this one, is the third weekend of September. If you miss that one you are SOL because you will have to wait until July 2012 for the next trip up. I guess you could go on your own but what fun would that be? Member presents night is coming up fast. We are planning on it for our October or November meeting so get in the editing studio or in your living room, wherever you need to and start producing. We have had some members take some cool trips this year and we all expect to live vicariously through you. Contact Mike or me if you want to present so we can put you on the list. The July meeting will feature an original Paul Gacek production; Diving the Maldives. (See page 6 for a full discroption.) Bye for now. Safe Diving. See you in a couple of weeks.

2 Page 2 Events of Interest to FCDA Members August 13, Dive the Oregon aboard the RV Garloo - Contact Capt. Hank Garvin for your reservation at (914) or garlooent@aol.com. Contact Matt Rownin at (203) or matt@forsale2sold.com with any questions/details. September 15-18, Cape Ann Weekend - Diving and dining. Contact Mel Rich Jr. at (203) or nutechpest@mac.com. or Matt Rownin at (203) or matt@forsale2sold.com for further information. New England's Tech Diving Center! New England Dive Center 476 North Colony Street Wallingford, CT FCDA Donors The b usiness l isted o n t his page h as donated dive gear and dive services to help support the Fairfield County Diving Association Fax Dealer for OMS, UWATEC, O ceanic, Mares, Da cor, Cressi-Sub, P o s e i d o n, Scubapro, B are, O'Neill and Henderson. P.O. Box 3005, Fairfield, CT Internet mail: fcda@aol.com Presidents Vice- President Secretary G Treasurer 2011 Board Matt Rownin & Mike Cassetta Mark Shannon eorge Sharrard Paul J. Gacek The region's foremost source fo r sc uba a nd technical d iving g ear, training and everything f or the recreational o r serious tech diver. Draeger Atlantis I Rebreather training, certification and rental. New E ngland D ive C enter o ffers complete t raining for all le vels o f diving, f rom O pen Water t hrough t he m ost a dvanced t echnical courses. O ur in struction p rovides c ertification t hrough SSI, P DIC, TDI and IANTD. Visit us on the Web:

3 Page 3 Our own Captain Noel in Dan Berg s new edition of Wreck Valley. What a shock! Here I am, flipping through Dan s book on North- East shipwrecks and suddenly I m FCDA Donors The b usiness l isted o n t his page h as donated dive gear and dive services to help support the Fairfield County Diving Association. Continued on page 4

4 Page 4 June Raffle Winners After an excellent presentation by Tim Thomas on Cave Div ing in F lorida the club held its regular raffle to support our DAN Platinum sponsorship. FCDA Donors The b usiness l isted o n t his page h as donated dive gear and dive services to help support the Fairfield County Diving Association. The winners were: Wet/Dry Suit Shampoo donated by New England Dive Center - Mike Zaprzalka; Save A D ive Kit do - nated by N ew E ngland D ive Ce n ter - Kate Rickard; Fo ur Air Fi ll Gift Certificate donated by Rex Dive Center - Paul Gacek; Chrome SCUBA Auto Emblem donated by New England Dive Center - Mike Za przalka and a Safety Sausage donated by New England Dive Center - George Danielczuk. Thanks to New England Dive Center, Rex Dive Center and Orbit Marine Dive Center, for donating tonight s raffle prizes for our DAN raffle. Remember, you can't win if you don't buy tickets and you can't buy tickets if you don't get up and come out to FCDA events and meetings! Continued from page 3 reading about about a couple of wrecks in Long Island Sound. And the guy in the picture looks really familiar. Sure enough, it s Noel! And what a nice write-up on the China Schooner. Complete with color pictures. I certainly enjoy my dives with Capt. Noel, so it is nice to see the shipwrecks in our backyard get some recognition in a major publi- Rex Dive Center Offers Technical Diving Classes Interested in taking your training to the next level? TDI Instructor George Sharrard (# 10270) will be offering: Intro to Tech Advanced Nitrox Decompression Procedures New Class Starting in July 2011 The first class of 2011 is almost complete. If you re interested in learning new dive skills; send an to george.sharrard@gmail.com for our summer schedule.

5 Study Shows Loss of Large Predators Leads to Widespread Disruption By Joseph Tepper, Source: Scripps News A new study, compiled by an international team of scientists, shows that the decline of large apex predators has disrupted ecosystems all over the world. The study, which is due to be released in the July issue of Science magazine, features a look into the importance of sharks in coral reef systems. During a multi-year examination of shark populations in the central pacific, Dr. Stuart Sandin noticed great differences in ecosystems between islands. On one uninhabited island named Jarvis, a healthy shark population resided over a virtually pristine reef system. However, on a nearby island, Christmas Island, the increasing population and fishery has decrease shark populations, while also ruining the reef. "Practically and ethically, we cannot conduct large experiments to investigate the effects of predator removal," said Dr. Sandin. "But in the Line Islands we can rely on a natural experiment to follow what happens when sharks are removed. The abundance of prey changes, the way the energy flows through the ecosystem changes and even the way nutrients are cycled is altered. The importance of this paper is its recognition that predator removal is a global phenomenon, affecting reefs and almost every other ecosystem." Page 5 Sandin s work with sharks was combined with half a dozen other terrestrial, marine, and freshwater studies to assess the impact of losing predators on a worldwide scales. Other studies included the declination of wolves in Yellowstone, reduction of lions and leopards in Africa, decimation of wildibeasts, and the importance of sea otters in kelp forests. "Predators have a huge structuring influence," said Sandin. "When you remove them you change the biology, which is typically profound and complex. And in many cases it's not necessarily predictable." FCDA Member Ads Hey - ha ve you got a non retail-diving business tha t you d like to share with fellow members of FCDA? Get your business card size ad in the FCDA monthly newsletter Surface I nterval for only $50.00 for one year. Give y our bus iness a bo ost a nd he lp s upport the pr oduction o f o ur monthly ne wsletters. F or m ore information, write to FCDA, P.O. Box 3005, Fairfield, CT or to fcda@aol.com.

6 Page 6 Next FCDA Meeting Friday, July 29, :00 PM Coast Guard Cottage, South Benson Marina, Fairfield, CT "Diving the Maldives" an HD video presentation by Paul Gacek A recent trip to the Maldives Islands located southwest of India aboard the Maldives Aggressor. The odyssey begins in Dubai UAE where we see the Burj Khalifa - the world's tallest skyscraper - and the aquarium at the Atlantis Hotel which features a whale shark. Continuing on to the Maldives we find 1190 coral islands which form an archipelago of 26 major atolls. Traveling between the the North and South Ari Atolls one comes across large schools of colorful fish, cruising sharks, mantas and of course whale sharks. The reefs which provide homes to countless eels are covered in a plethora of soft corals. A unique diving destination which should be on everyone's "to do" list. Fairfield County Diving Association P.O. Box 3005 Fairfield, CT Address Service Requested