The dates have been announced for the second annual Florida Dive Show. The show, open to the sport/recreational, technical, and professional diver (and to the general public!), will be held December 2nd and 3rd, 2006 at the Palm Beach County Convention Center (Florida). Show hours are Saturday 9:30am to 6:30pm, Sunday 10am to 5pm. Discount ticket to be distributed through dive shops in Florida.

DiveSpots.com had a booth at last year's show, and we'll do the same again this year. Stop by and say hello, learn more about DiveSpots and the many other great participating exhibitors.

From dive equipment manufacturers to exotic vacation destinations, more than 150 exhibitors are expected. Educational seminars, held daily from 12 noon until 3:30 pm, include safety and diving, underwater photography, fish identification, global travel, diving for kids, wreck diving, and more. Reef conservation groups will be offering tips and guidelines to protect local systems and regional dive boat operators will illustrate the differences between each county’s diving.

[Via Scuba PRWire]

DiveSpots: How did you get started blogging for divester?

Willy: Actually, I applied to write for one of Divester's sister blogs -- Gadling -- which is focused on travel. I didn't hear anything for a few weeks, and then one day, I got an email asking if I was interested in writing for Divester. Apparently, I had commented on a lot of Gadling's dive-related posts, and I was recruited by the editorial staff. I submitted a writing sample, and I got hired. That was 2400 posts, and 580,000 words ago. I'm happy it worked out the way it did, because I like the focus Divester provides. The wide-ranging theme of "travel" would drive me batty. I like the little spotlight I have to use.

DiveSpots: Based on the number of blog posts, you obviously have a passion for writing. How do you find the time?

Willy: I write whenever I get the chance: I wake up early each morning and write for an hour. I write on my days off. I write occasionally in the evenings, or as my wife is getting ready to go out. I like to think I'm motivated and budgeting my time carefully. My wife, however, thinks I'm freakishly obsessed and demented. She's right about most things.

DiveSpots: What's your secret? Where do you find all of the great material you uncover?

Willy: I started writing for Divester in March, 2005. At the time, I didn't really know where to find any information, and for a while, I just kept trolling the same sites and linking to them. Then, I started to explore the sites that the sites I was exploring linked to. And then I explored those sites, and so on.

In 2005, I had never used a feed reader before, and I didn't really know what RSS was. Now, I compulsively add feeds to my reader -- which has about 60+ dive, underwater, and science-related feeds in it today. I also read a lot of magazines and books, and when I discover something interesting, I mention it. That said, while I love both Scuba Diving and Sport Diver, generally-speaking, once something appears in magazines, the news is too old for Divester.

DiveSpots: Divester is owned by Weblogs, Inc., which was purchased by AOL one year ago this month (October 2005). Did the AOL purchase limit your creative license in any way?

Willy: Not at all. When Jason Calacanis -- the man behind Weblogs -- sold Weblogs to AOL, he made certain AOL wasn't going to tell us what to do. And they haven't. Not even once.

DiveSpots: Is there someone at Weblogs that edits or reviews your work before it's posted?

Willy: Never. Basically, they presume that they hire the best, most talented people they can to write about the stuff they love. In other words: I'm the expert, so why would they censor the expert? Moreover, blogging is supposed to be a "fast" medium, so reviewing my work only delays the process.

As long as you stick to the "theme" of your blog, you're never going to be censored or edited, which, of course, is the best part of working for Weblogs. For the most part, I can write whatever I like, how ever I like -- as long as it relates at least somewhat to diving or the marine environment. If I started bashing policy in Iraq routinely, then I might get a talking-to. In the meantime, I'm free. Log in. Write. Publish.

DiveSpots: You recently dabbled in Podcasting. I enjoyed the "Podcast Interview with Foots" you posted back in December. Did you find that to be a successful medium for your audience?

Willy: First, let me say that Foots may be the coolest guy on the planet. He's living his dream, despite appearing a little nutty.

Podcasts require a lot of coordination -- I have to be available at the same time as the interviewee. Then, I have to spend time editing the recording into a manageable length. While I think my podcasts were warmly received, they consume a lot of time and energy.

In the meantime, Divester is starting a new feature called "10 Questions for...", which involves simply using email to correspond with a dive personality. This is a far more manageable process for everyone involved -- although it may not be as "cutting edge." However, it doesn't require any of Divester's readers to use any kind of software to access the interview, or listen to something they'd prefer to skim for highlights. I think it's just easier.

DiveSpots: Do you foresee more Podcasts, or possibly a YouTube video or two?

Willy: I foresee more podcasts in the future -- but they'll probably only be a few minutes in length. In terms of vodcasting -- or video podcasting -- I plan on attending DEMA, and I may try to throw some videos up on YouTube from the event.

DiveSpots: You've submitted 76 stories to digg.com. I noticed that the one that got the most "diggs" was one provocatively titled "What about Shrinkage?" It got a whopping 727 diggs! Do findings such as this influence your writing style?

Willy: For websites interested in generating increased traffic numbers, not much beats having your content get linked to on Digg or Netscape. However, by and large, neither of these sites is geared towards the diving community, so hoping you're going to generate big traffic from these sites is somewhat pointless. After all, most people aren't divers. Frankly, the best way to increase your traffic over the long term is to provide interesting content or perspectives that no other sites provide.

DiveSpots: We both write and talk about diving. What about "actual" diving? Do you? How long have you been diving?

Willy: I started diving when I was 13. I have about 500 dives to my name now. Although I write about diving on a daily basis, I dive once or twice a quarter. About once a year, I go on a big trip. The last one was to Cayman.

Actually, I went diving this weekend, which was nice. I tried two different operators, much different in scale and scope. Both were great. Soon, I want to visit Foots in the Brac, and I'd really like to hit PNG. I want to see the walking sharks.

DiveSpots: Tell us about your most memorable dive.

Willy: It's always the last one I did. In this case, it was Palm Beach County's Captain Tony. A 167-foot-long freighter in about 85 feet of water, the Captain Tony is almost entirely covered with coral, including some gorgeous, delicate bluebell tunicates. The sun was out that morning, and the current was mild, so the wreck was brightly illuminated and easy to dive on. The highlight was the pair of Goliath grouper on the wreck -- one of which kept making that distinct "thunk"-ing sound. So cool.

DiveSpots: Are there any cool new technologies on the horizon for Divester or the blogging platform that you can share with us?

Willy: Soon, you'll be able to access Divester via mobile phone. Is that cool? I don't own a cell phone, so for me, it's not that cool.

DiveSpots: Somewhat off-topic, but extremely interesting... You volunteered for the Peace Corps for 3 years up until 2001. Fantastic! How cool of an experience was that?

Willy: It was a great experience, and one that will shape my life forever. I taught rural communities in Zambia, Africa, about safe water, sanitation, and hygiene practices. We also applied for some grant money and used it to have HIV/AIDS prevention workshops and build wells and latrines. For the first three months, I swore each day that I was leaving. Then, a few minutes later, something amazing would happen, and I'd be thrilled I was there. By the end of my two-year commitment, I realized I was in the middle of several projects, and if I left, I'd never see them through to the end. Consequently, I decided to stay for an extra year and finish the projects. I'm glad I did, but I was ready to come home after the third year.

DiveSpots: I read your article titled "An Exorcism in Zambia". The article tells a great story about a community communicating with dead relatives to solve a problem -- to "make something happen". Did the experience change the way you approach problems?

Willy: It reminds me that my way is not always the best way. Being an only child, I often forget this important concept.

What started out to be just a "night dive" on the World's largest artificial reef, the USS Oriskany, blossomed into the most magical and spiritual dive of my life. I had assembled a group of divers, who were part of an original dive team devoted to having a good time under the water when their off time would permit.

One member of the dive team, however, was missing. His name was Ray Jones and he had succumbed to a heart attack last year. We had vowed to make a memorial dive in his honor every year to mark the anniversary of his death. Ray's widow had donated one of his dive computers, an Edge Orca to be left on the site as a living memorial in his name. Each of us wrote Ray a small note on the face of the computer, and then placed a fresh battery in the housing.

A year had past, the sea was calm, the moon was full, the site had been chosen, the time was right! At 6pm we met at my boat, the "Y KNOT?", a 29' Catamaran with twin Yamaha 200's and loaded the gear.

We decided to make our first dive on the submerged Chevron oil rig 2.2 miles from the Oriskany. This would allow the Moon a chance to gain some altitude and provide a little more ambient light for the dive.

After our first dive, we arrived at 9:30 pm directly over the sub-surface buoy attached to the yardarm of the Oriskany 70 feet below. My brother jumped into the ink black water with mask, fins, and snorkel and secured our line to the buoy at 25 fsw.

We hit the water and made our descent through the darkness to the smokestack at 80 fsw. After forming a circle and all of us holding the computer directly over the dark abyss, we released it at the same time. It skipped off the sides of the smokestack and gathered speed and dust particles to its final resting place, deep within the bowels of the ship. We held the circle in prayer for a moment, and then dispersed to all points of the compass, each of us to reflect on the experience in our own way.

The wreck was alive with the fish and crustaceans not normally seen during daylight hours. The visibility was a good 80' and the ambient light provided by the full Moon overhead was sufficient enough to dive without a light! Baitfish and small squid swam nervously through the clear dark water with no current to alter their course. Small crabs scurried about in their search for food, you could almost hear them saying "hey!, hey!, hey!" as they jockeyed for position.

When our lights were on, the backlit surface of the wreck seemed alive with color. Soft corals and algae have already taken hold and continue to grow after only four months. A Peppermint Shrimp was surprised by one of our group, who quickly took his picture, no doubt blinding the little guy temporarily.

After forty minutes of exploring every nook and cranny, it was time to make our way back to the sub-surface buoy line. Making our stop at 25' we hovered, lights out, absorbing our surroundings and reflecting on the dive. It was truly a magical experience, one that will live on in each of us for the rest of our lives.

I have dove this magnificent wreck many times, but it was a totally different dive at night. One that everyone should experience at some point in his or her life.

Safe diving,
Capt. Dave Mucci

Are you looking for something different this Halloween? How about an Underwater Pumpkin Carving Contest, or a Haunted Dive?

If you're in the Key Largo Area, grab your dive knife and dive into Key Largo's annual Underwater Pumpkin Carving Contest, hosted by Amy Slate's Amoray Dive Resort, mile marker 104 bayside. The event is set for Sunday, Oct. 29th. Each participating buddy team is to receive a hollowed-out pumpkin, which is to be turned into a work of creative underwater art during the one-of-a-kind contest.

A bit further north, The Haunted Quarry (Bainbridge, PA) & Pumpkin Carving Contest will be held on Saturday, October 14th at the Bainbridge Scuba Center. The $40 fee benefits the National Ovarian Cancer Alliance and includes participation in the Underwater Pumpkin Carving Event and the Underwater Haunted Quarry Tour, an eerie night time tour of underwater ghosts and goblins.

[Via Divester.com]

Scubapro, in cooperation with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, has issued a safety recall for its MK 20 First Stage Regulators (recall details). The recall affects approximately 48,500 units worldwide. Over-tightening of the Yoke or Din retainer during annual servicing of these regulators could result in a stress crack and failure of the regulator. If this occurs during a dive, air supply could be interrupted, posing a drowning hazard. Consumers should bring MK 20 regulators to any authorized Scubapro dealer to have a service upgrade completed free of charge.

The shallow waters from Key Largo north to Arsenicker Keys have been clouded by a blue-green algal bloom spreading across 175 square miles of Florida and Biscayne bays since autumn. The bloom stretches into portions of Everglades and Biscayne national parks, threatening the fragile seagrass that supports the state's fishing industry, conservationists say.

Reports indicate that the cause may be due to road construction along the famous and scenic 18-mile stretch between Miami and the upper Keys. The algae is concentrated near the road construction in waters where such a bloom has never been recorded, according to the water management district report. The road widening and bridge construction began in April 2005 after a federal judge denied an attempt by environmental groups to block it. The road is the main route connecting the Keys and mainland Florida.

Reports also implicate last year's active hurricane season. Disturbances from last year's hurricanes likely stirred up phosphorus in the water, feeding the algae.

The algae bloom has drawn considerable attention in the Florida Keys, but it has been largely ignored in Miami. That will change fast as the bloom moves north into more heavily traveled sections of the bay. As the angler interviewed in the article points out, "It's not going to be important until it passes Black Point and it gets up into Cocoplum and the Coral Gables Waterway and starts turning the bottoms of Hatterases (a high-end yacht brand) purple."

So what's to be done? One source said that a hurricane or strong tropical storm could stir things up enough to knock the bloom back. Hmmm... Hurricane or algae bloom? I'll take the algae bloom!

[Via Miami Herald]

My kids are still too young to SCUBA, but they’re both itching to try. On a few occasions, I’ve rigged my tank and regulator, inflated the BC, and tossed the whole thing into the pool so that it floats on the surface. The kids love to swim next to the floating tank, each one with a regulator in his mouth, swimming along the surface and dipping down the two feet that the length of the air hoses will allow.

So recently I started thinking about purchasing a 40 or 60-foot hose (maybe longer) and creating my own Snuba rig -- both for the kids in the pool (after the proper training, of course), and for me on the boat. This sort of setup would be perfect for much of the shallow-water reefs and secret lobster spots in South Florida.

Has anyone else tried this?

Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snuba
http://www.keeneeng.com/pamphlets/introHooka.html
http://www.airlinebyjsink.com/scubagear.html