Our World – Underwater Scholarship Society in Australasia

Hi, I’m Stefan Andrews and It’s a huge honor to introduce myself as the Australasian Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society Rolex Scholar for 2013/14. I’ve just returned home to Australia after attending the Scholarship Society’s annual meeting weekend in New York where I was absolutely blown away as Megan Cook,  Oscar Svenson and Yolly Bosiger presented their inspirational end of year videos at the prestigious New York Yacht club (click their name to watch their videos).

I also had the privilege to meet the new North American scholar Jeff Hester and European scholar Chloé Maréchal who joined me in a visit to the Rolex headquarters on Fifth avenue. Rolex believe in the spirit of adventure and exploration and have been a supporter of the scholarship for almost forty years. I’m so thankful for their support into what is undoubtedly going to be a life changing year ahead.

Working in the diving industry has put me in touch with a wide variety of people who have strongly influenced the big decisions in my life. This year is undoubtedly going to take that to a whole new level by connecting me with some of the most influential, passionate and dedicated professionals in their underwater related field.  I have never been more ready to make the most of this unique opportunity that has been offered to me, and I look forward to sharing this life changing experience with you through my YouTube channel, instagram, twitter, and of course this blog.

After my whirlwind trip to the states, I visited the PADI headquarters in Sydney to meet the PADI Asia Pacific Director, Marketing & Business Development,  Danny Dwyer. We talked about the diving industry in general and I was shown around the different departments as I was introduced to the team, including the young guns in the social media department responsible for the PADI Facebook Page with over 600,000 followers. There are three head offices in the world and each take turns in 8 hour shifts to run the page 24/7. They share fascinating diving photos every day, so if you’re not a fan already they’re guaranteed to liven up your news feed.

It felt like a dream as I wandered around the Tabata Australia warehouse picking out all of my new diving gear. As I will be diving all over the world this year, I need to be prepared for all conditions so I ended up with a wide variety of gear including a D1 Hybrid wetsuit by Waterproof. Having grown up diving the cool temperate waters of Australia but having never tried a drysuit, I’m especially excited to try this out! Huge thanks to David Balsom and Tusa for kitting me up.

Sydney is best known for the iconic harbor bridge and opera house, but what most people don’t realise is the local waters offer some fantastic diving with a variety of tropical and temperate species and easily accessible dive sites. My first dive ever in New South Wales was at Chowder Bay near Manly, a muck dive loaded with a huge diversity of marine species including playful octopus, cute cuttlefish, stunning seahorses, morey eel’s and much more. This dive was a fantastic opportunity to start playing around with my new camera setup, a Sony NEX-5R in a Nauticam housing with twin Sola 1200 lights sponsored by Ryan Canon of Reef Photo & Video http://www.reefphoto.com

While I was in Sydney, I also had the opportunity to spend some time with Dave Thomas at Pro Dive Manly. Dave has been diving and servicing equipment for years and is an expert in the field. He was able to share with me valuable information about equipment servicing, maintenance and repair which may come in especially handy throughout my travels in the upcoming year.

Stay tuned as I head to Port Lincoln in South Australia to spend some time with film crews aboard the Princess II with Rodney Fox Shark Expeditions in search of what I consider one of the most majestic yet misunderstood animals on this planet, the great white shark.

Its pretty crazy to think that 10 days have already passed and we are about to reach Ushuaia again. As I only have a short time to upload this I’m going to keep it fairly short but hopefully I can make up for it with some cool pictures.

 

Antarctica is an incredibly beautiful place, with magnificent wildlife and I’m truly honoured to have had the chance to come down here. The crew on Oceanwide and the passengers were wonderful and I’ve learned more than I could have imagined about whales, penguins, seals albatrosses and various seabirds.

 

Of three most common penguins on the Antarctic Peninsula, gentoo penguins are the easygoing surfers of the group. They breed throughout the summer while chinstraps and adele penguins a restricted to breeding during certain time periods. This is thought to be a major contributor to their increased success on the Antarctic Peninsula.

 

 

All in all we had great weather, with a fairly calm crossing across the Drake Passage and even managed to get all the way down to the Polar Circle!!

 

Some formalities for going ashore in Antarctica. Vacuuming clothes and bags to ensure no alien species onto the continent.

 

So I’m almost finished my year and I think its been becoming plainer and plainer as the year has progressed that divers are a special breed.

 

This is no doubt amplified when it comes to polar divers. I mean what you have to be pretty crazy to do dig your dive kit out from under the snow!!

 

 

With the water temperature at -2°C, the most important part of polar diving is keeping warm. Divers need a dry suit, warm gloves, hood and some seriously toasty undergarments.

 

My record in my fabulous Arctic Fourth Element Undergarments and Waterproof dry suit was a stellar 35 min woohoo!!!

 

For most of us we know of Antarctica as the white continent but divers know that if you head underwater, Antarctica is full of colour.

 

On the rocky walls you can be treated to a diversity of sponges, tunicates, limpets, starfish, Antarctic isopods, benthic fish and polycheate worms.

 

Our trip was characterised by some absolutely fantastic predator-prey interactions. Leopard seals are apex predators in Antarctica and watching them hunt and eat penguins was one of the most fascinating and gruesome things I’ve had the opportunity to witness. From our zodiac we would watch the leopard seal position itself and wait for the penguins to make their dash to shore. Two meters from the leopard seal, the group would scatter and swim like crazy in all directions. Unfortunately for the penguins, they are no match for this supreme killing machine.

 

Leopard seals show their real magnificence and grace underwater. This is an animal that demands serious respect.

 

Killer whales hunting a Arnoux’s Beaked Whale.

 

At Port Charcot we did a dive next to an iceberg!! Most of us are aware that only 10% of icebergs are visible above water, leaving 90% of them ready to be explored by divers.

 

Icebergs are incredibly beautiful underwater, with the motion of the water creating shapes and textures similar to a golf ball. As the iceberg melts, trapped bubbles escape creating a haze of white mist and as you swim around the periphery a faint fizzing sound can be heard.  Buoyancy can also be challenging when diving next to icebergs as the freshwater released by the melting iceberg and surrounding salt water can create almost vertical haloclines.

 

A streak of good weather allowed us to dive at Detaille Island, our stopping point below the polar circle. As the non-divers visited the historic base/museum on the island itself, the divers explored a sloping rocky wall just outside the bounds of the harbour. To my knowledge we were the first divers ever to investigate this island underwater.

 

On our second last day in Antarctica we visited Vernadsky Station, a Ukrainian scientific base where tourists can buy gifts, send postcards and even play a game of pool with the friendly Ukrainians.

 

We also visited the historic Wordie Hut which is an example of an early British Scientific Research Station. Built in the January 1947, it is apparent that the hut was not meant for Scottish Expedition Leaders. Poor Kelvin Murray appears to be stuck.

 

Thanks to all the staff and passengers at Oceanwide Expeditions for making this great trip and particular thanks to Kelvin Murray, Erin McFadden and Johan Petersson for everything they have done.

 

 

The icy southern wind hits my face as I stare out over the Beagle Channel – a chilly reminder of where I’m headed. Having grown up most of my life in North Queensland Australia, you could say that I’m a little out of my comfort zone. Yet this is not new, and in fact it’s what my year as an OWUSS Rolex Scholar  has been all about. To experience a wide range of different marine careers, and in the process be catapulted out of the comfortable and typical and into the extraordinary.

 

I’m writing to you from Ushuaia, the most southern major city in the world and a chief taking off point to Antarctica. Ushuaia is situated just outside the Tierra Del Fuego National Park and is a beautiful town where mountain peaks, glaciers, temperate forests and seas converge.

 

Thanks to the Our World Underwater Scholarship Society and Kelvin Murray at Silvertip Expeditions and Dive Management, I was accepted to go to Antarctica with Oceanwide Expeditions, a company that has been operating in expedition cruising for 26 years. Offering unique, small group expeditions, Oceanwide allows passengers to experience the most remote, untouched and spectacular ecosystems just like the early explorers (except with a little more comfort of course!).

 

To get to Antarctica from Ushuaia will take 2 days of steaming across Drakes Passage. I’ll be aboard the Oceanwide vessel, M/V Plancius, which is a 89 m long and 14.5 m wide ice breaker with a maximum capacity of 114 passengers.

 

So what’s in store for Antarctica? Although all itineraries are subject to change due to weather, our first trip will most likely make its way through the Drakes Passage and passed Aitcho Island at the South Shetlands. We will then reach Antarctica and spend about four days exploring the Antarctic continent and associated islands. If weather permits, the expedition will head further south, crossing the Antarctic circle to Detaille Island. At 66°52’ South this is about the furthest south you can go with an expedition vessel.

 

 

Oceanwide has expert guides and naturalists on board and my job will be to absorb as much information about Antarctica’s wildlife, history, and conservation as I can. I’ll be helping out the expedition staff and learning about what it’s like to work in the expedition industry.

 

Containing the geographic South Pole, Antarctica is the earths southern most continent. It is notably, the highest driest, windiest, emptiest and coldest place on earth. A record of 89 °C (129 °F) was recorded at Vostok station on the 21 July 1983 (brrrr).

 

Antarctica has stunning natural wildlife and in the summer months the region truly comes alive. Seabirds such as petrols, skaus and penguin come to breed in the ice free areas and numerous species of Pinniped (fur seals, crab-eater seals, leopard seals and weddell seals) can be seen on the beaches and ice flows. Further out to sea, blue whales and humpback whales feed on giant aggregations of krill and albatross dive for squid and fish. To scientists knowledge there are no land mammals in Antarctica and no native people.

 

But what about Antarctica underwater? Indeed it is the sea, rather than the land which supports most creatures in this region.

Oceanwide Expeditions was the very first tour operator to offer polar diving and their experience is second to none. With the help of Kelvin Murray, Jerry Sutton, Johan Petersson and Erin McFadden (2011/2012 European OWUSS Rolex Scholar), I will be learning about polar diving and getting experience in the iciest continent in the world. Fact: Antartica contains 90 percent of all the world’s ice and 70 percent of all the world’s fresh water.

 

 

Diving in Antarctica will most certainly not be a walk in the park. It’s going to be very cold and this means remembering a couple of important no no’s: 1) don’t spit in your mask – it will freeze!! 2) don’t exhale into your regular on land – you might freeze the second stage with moisture from you exhaled breath, and 3) don’t forget to bring spare mask straps – they can become brittle and snap.

 

Given the remoteness of Antarctica, diving safety is of utmost importance.  There is no decompression chamber in Antarctica and all divers looking for dangerous stunts or wanting to make deep dives are asked to stay at home! Thanks to my sponsors, Waterproof, Tusa and Fourth Element, I have a drysuit, gloves, hood and a set of undergarments that will be keeping me warm in icy waters as cold as -1 °C. Okay maybe warm is an overstatement – warmish perhaps?

 

In Antarctica, divers have the opportunity to see penguins from under the surface, sea lions and even leopard seals (see: http://www.oceanwide-expeditions.com/stories/expert-review/diving-with-the-leopard/). Crabs, sea-snails, sea butterflies and various Antarctic fish can also be observed inhabiting the ice as well as shrubby horse-tails, jelly-fishes, sea-hedgehogs, starfishes, krill and giant isopods. Even without seeing any creatures, the combination of sunlight and ice creates magical white sculptures.

 

In 2009, Silvertip founder Kelvin Murray was invited to contribute stills and video content to the ‘Ocean layer’ of Google Earth. The project was initiated after legendary ocean researcher and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Dr Sylvia Earle, made a ‘wish’ for influential organisations and individuals to make an effort to protect the planet’s life support system – the oceans.

 

Kelvin has been kind enough to take me on as his assistant for this project and so ill be getting some more practice with my Olympus PEN E-PL3 and my Light and Motion Video Camera. I’m just hoping I can operate the buttons with such large gloves on.

 

Kelvin Murray has also included a number of high flying tasks for me including and not limited to – pull-starting an engine with frost-bitten fingers, scrubbing penguin poo and (only if I’m lucky) seasickness patrol on the way across Drakes passage. Ahh the life of a Scholar is exciting – the true Antarctica experience!!!

 

Updates coming soon and thanks again to Oceanwide Expeditions and Silvertip for having me – I am delighted and honoured to be coming on this trip.

 

 

“We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity. We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations”.

 

The inspirational words of newly elected President Barak Obama rang out clearly from the Presidential Place. While most were watching this historic moment from the comfort of their homes, Alison LaBronte, Bob Day and I were able to see it in person. We may have been a couple of km back but hey, it was pretty remarkable to watch even for a very out-of-place Aussie. I’ll never forget all the spirit and anticipation that was in the air that day!! See full speech here.

 

My main motivation for coming to Washington DC was to volunteer with different conservation organisations and get some experience with marine policy. With the help of North West Coordinator Alison LaBronte, Dave Colin and Robin Parish, I visited a huge range of government and non-government institutions and met with a diversity of leaders in marine conservation, policy and filmmaking.

 

The first week began with meeting some of the team at Oceana. Margot Stiles filled me in on the major departments at Oceana including Science, Law and Policy, Media, Marketing and Advertising and fundraising. One of unique campaigns I got to hear about at Oceana was seafood fraud. Recent studies have found that seafood may be mislabeled as often as 25 to 70 percent of the time in the US. Oceana is working to combat the problem by promoting traceability systems and preventing seafood mislabeling. For more information see: http://oceana.org/en/our-work/promote-responsible-fishing/seafood-fraud/learn-act. Thanks also to Beckie Zisser, Eric Bilsky, Amanda Keledjian, and Jessica Wisman for also having a chat to me.

 

National Geographic followed that week and I had the privilege of meeting some of the Ocean Initiative team, namely Valerie Craig, Enric Sala and Miguel Jeorge. Valerie and Miguel’s mission at National Geographic is to get people more connected to the ocean in their daily lives. Using a range of innovative ideas and techniques, National Geographic’s Ocean Initiative aims to raise awareness of the importance of marine protected areas and sustainable fisheries. For instance, National Geographic is collaborating with popular Chef Barton Seaver, an expert in cooking sustainably who will be helping to spread awareness of healthy and enviro-friendly meal options. The Oceans Initiative is also working to identify, support and reward individuals and organisations that are using creative approaches to promote greener and more sustainable seafood. See: http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/ocean-innovators/

 

 

One of the really amazing things I got to do in Washington DC was meet National Geographic Explorer in Residence and Chief Scientist on the Pristine Seas Expeditions, Enric Sala. Running since 2005, the Pristine Seas Project aims to raise awareness, provide key scientific data to inform policy, and inspire political leaders to preserve the worlds pristine places. So far their have been 6 expeditions with the 7th currently underway in the Desventuradas Islands, just off the coast of Chile aboard with the Undersea Hunter Group’s Argo and DeepSee Sub. Enric gave me two very good pieces of advice during my meeting with him. If you want to be an Explorer you need firstly gain the credibility that will make people listen to you. Second, learn to communicate!!!

 

At the end of the week I met with KerryLynn Miller at the Pew Charitable Trusts Shark Conservation Group. KerryLynn organised a meeting with everyone in the group and I got to hear all about how the team operates. As one of the few non profits with a dedicated shark conservation group, Pew has been heavily involved in setting up Shark Sanctuaries in many island nations, including the one in Palau which I visited earlier this year. As a primarily policy driven organisation, the Pew Shark Conservation Group sets up regional workshops to promote shark conservation and is active at both regional fisheries meetings and international conventions. Fingers crossed for CITES!

 

During my stay in Washington DC, Alison and Bob took me to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. We spent the afternoon exploring the Ocean Hall and I was amazed at the spectacular exhibits – I wish had have had more time to explore it!! While at the Museum I also got to meet with Nancy Knowlton who is currently the Sant Chair for Marine Science at the Natural History Museum. Having worked at Scripps, Yale and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Nancy had a truly amazing career as a biologist. Now largely based at the Museum, Nancy is heavily involved in raising awareness for the plight of the ocean and has been busy helping to set up and design the Smithsonian Oceans Portal - an incredibly informative site about the ocean. To here more from Nancy see: www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwdTnqGUn10

 

Thanks to Alison’s neighbor, Bernadette I was able to spend one week at Ocean Conservancy learning all about Marine Spatial Planning with Anna Zivian and Carmen Yeung. I got to do a range of different tasks at the Ocean Conservancy from conducting research on “potentially ecologically minded” congressmen to summarising research abstracts into plain and easy to understand language – an extremely useful skill if perfected!!

 

On the advice of KerryLynn Miller, I then went to meet Mr Steve Roady, a ocean lawyer for Earth Justice. Steve is literally what I always aspired to be – someone who stands up and fights for the ocean. For over 14 years, Steve has been litigating cases that have set important precedents for how the Federal Government manages ocean resources. Steve is currently working on a case which challenges the National Marine Fisheries Service and Secretary of Commerce decision to allow fishing of parrotfish in the Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands. By allowing the parrotfish to be overfished, the Plaintiffs are arguing that the NMFS and SOC failed to protect threatened corals, currently protected by the Endangered Species Act. Parrotfish play an important role in ensuring healthy coral reef ecosystems by removing fast growing algae. Without healthy numbers of herbivores like parrotfish, corals can become smothered eventually causing a Phase Shift from a coral to algal dominated state see: http://www.ted.com/talks/jeremy_jackson.html. Meeting Steve and hearing about how Earth Justice is using environmental laws to protect coral reefs was definitely a highlight of my Washington DC adventure. Photo courtesy of Earth Justice.

 

Thanks to David Conlin, I was then off to meet  NOAA employees, Valerie Grussing, Frank Cantelas and Ole Varmer. Valerie is the Cultural Resources Coordinator in the National MPA Centre and maintains partnerships between agencies, states and indigenous tribes regarding protection of cultural resources. Frank, on the other hand works as an employee at the NOAA Office of Exploration, which overseas the NOAA ship, Okeanos Explorer. This ship is well known for discovery and for using innovative telepresecnce to communicate to scientists (who are often land based) and the general public. See: http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/welcome.html. Ole Varmer then filled me in on his work as a international marine lawyer at NOAA. Ole work is diverse and has ranged from drafting US Marine World Heritage proposals to thinking of ways to protect the Sargasso Sea (a giant moving patch of Sargassum in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean). Not only is this sea in international waters but it also moves –a legal nightmare for some, but definitely an interesting and exciting challenge for Ole Varmer.

 

I’ve really enjoyed trying my hand at underwater videography this year and so when Chris Palmer, Director of the Centre for Environmental Film Making, offered me to come and join his class at the American University, I was thrilled. Chris is by far the most animated and excitable lecturer I have ever had and I enjoyed ever minute of the class. I also came away feeling like I knew a lot more about the production process.

 

Finally as my three weeks came to a close, I finished up with a Polar Punge into the chilly Potomac with Alison LaBronte. The Plunge is organised by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network and raises awareness for climate change.

 

 

Thanks so much to Alison and Bob for having me and particularly to Ally who did the most amazing job helping me organise my trip. Thanks also to Cathy and Abe (Alison’s neighbours who looked after me in the first couple of days). Finally, thank you so much to those people who did not yet get a mention and gave up their time to see me: Whitney Tome from the Environmental Defense Fund, Suzanne Garret from the IUCN, Arthur Binkowski, Director of Virtual Studios at National Geographic, Mr Jim and Pam Corry who had me for dinner, and all the people at the Women in Conservation Group that I met thanks to Rachel Keylon and Amanda Keledjian.

 

 

It’s crystal clear in here and I am trying my best to keep it that way. One foul kick into the silt could make diving in this submerged tunnel very difficult indeed. I try a couple of small flutter kicks and make a big circle with my light to indicate that I am okay. Cristina signals back and we dive further into the labyrinth of flooded caves that honeycomb the island of Grand Bahama.

 

Cave diving is probably one of the single most crazy sports you can ever do. Essentially, the overhead environment means that if something were to happen you cannot (even theoretically) make a controlled emergency ascent – the recreational diver’s greatest safety factor.

 

So why do people like to cave dive? Why in the heavens, do so many people go to Mexico and the Bahamas to dive in enclosed, often dark space of water where there can be huge haloclines and silt up to ½ a meter high on the bottom? And yes, this is exactly what my Mum asked me when I told her of my endeavors….

 

The answer is that diving caves opens you up to the most unique and stunningly beautiful environment. It’s like diving into the earth’s veins according to Cave Explorer Jill Heinerth (see: We Are Water). Caves are one of the least explored environments on earth and are home to an abundance of interesting species including blind fish.

 

Similar to the rebreather course I did earlier this year, it’s a matter of common sense, respecting the gear and making sure that you follow important safety rules. In the words of my Instructor Cristina Zenato, cave diving doesn’t suit the crazy explorer but rather the super analytical, anally retentive, control freak. If you act like this, cave diving is almost as safe as open water diving.

 

I was completely stoked when Cristina Zenato, member of the Women Divers Hall of Fame,  The Explorers Club,  NSS-CDS Instructor and cave explorer, invited me to come and do my Cavern and Intro to Cave course in the Bahamas. One thing that really struck me about Cristina was her infectious enthusiasm for all things cave diving. “Cristina Cave Fever” was pretty much an every day occurrence involving huge smiles, high pitched squeals and lots of jumping!

 

Cristina taught my dive buddy, Luka Demi and I all about the caves in the Bahamas and important safety requirements. One of the most crucial things we learned were five general rules adapted from the founder of cave diving Sheck Exley:

The  – Get adequate training

Good – Always run a continuous guideline to the exit

Alert – Save enough air to return safely – amount depends on level of training

Diver – Watch depth – don’t exceed the maximum operating depth of gas mix

Lives – Make sure your have adequate lighting

 

Learning how to lay the line around bushes – a treacherous and ominous task only meant for the select few that can handle evil prickles.

 

Before we could get into the cave I needed to learn how to use a backmount double cylinder configuration. This set up provides a backup regulator and cylinder to cave divers in the event that a failure should occur. I also needed to work on my buoyancy and kicking style so as not to damage the cave. Thanks to the wonderful help and tips of European Scholar Oscar Svensson, I can now complete helicopter turns, valve drills (in less then an hour!) and proper frog kicks. Importantly, I can also perform the backward fin technique without ending up in an inverted handstand. Proud as punch!

 

 

Christmas Eve and Christmas day was a fun and crazy affair in the Bahamas. Cristina did a fantastic decorating job on the Christmas tree and Oscar made tasty Pepparkakor (Swedish Ginger Cookies) in the shapes of cave diving markers. Thank you Cristina for all your lovely pressies!

 

 

With Christmas behind us, it was time to finally go cave diving! Cristina made sure to allow us plenty of time to simply familiarise ourselves with the cave environment. The first dive was not only physically demanding but also mentally challenging, as we wrestled with penetrating deeper into the confined environment and further and further from the light.

 

“We humans have no underwater instincts – only trained instincts,” said Cristina as we recapped the drills for the previous dive. We did share air drills and lights out scenarios, lost buddy drills – you name it if there was a drill we did it! Definitely the most challenging one was recovering the line in a lights out scenario. It made me realise that you really DO NOT want to ever get in this situation in reality. It’s extremely difficult to re find  the line but the most important thing is to NEVER GIVE UP!

 

 

One of my favourite sites was Owl Hole which involved getting down a ladder with over 30 rungs of steps. It was pretty good exercise that’s for sure! I also thoroughly enjoyed diving at Bens Cavern and Mermaid Pond.

 

During the times that I wasn’t cave diving, Cristina let me experience the world famous Shark and Dolphin Dive at UNEXCO. Cristina is one of the few people in the world to be able to perform a unique technique called tonic immobility on sharks. By rubbing and manipulating her fingers across the ampullae of Lorenzini, the visible dots [electro-receptive sensory organs] around a shark’s head, Cristina is able to induce what looks to the observer like shark sleep. I have truly never seen anything like this before and was blown away watching Cristina handle the sharks.

 

 

The Dolphin Dive was also a really interesting experience and I’m super glad that I got to see how it works. Dolphins are kept in a large coastal enclosure and are let out for the dolphin dive. The dolphins travel on their own accord with the boats out into the open ocean where they then interact with divers for an approximately 45 min dive. The dolphins then return to their enclosure completely on their own after the dive. Many of the dolphins are past movie dolphins and I was fortunate enough to swim with Kayla and Rabala who have stared in some of the following: Zues, Roxanne and Eye of the Dolphin.

 

On my last day in the Bahamas I got to do a bit of photography practice with Eddy Raphael. Eddy has been in the business all his life and has shot not only underwater, but also for the fashion industry. Eddy went though the basics of capturing light – F stop, shutter speed and ISO. While it was only for a short time, I really benefited from Eddy’s help and am very grateful for his generosity.

My time in the Bahamas flew by and I was sad to see it finish. I learned so much and came out feeling like a much much better diver. Perhaps most importantly though, I made great friendships on this trip. I’ve begun to discover that it is not really the places you go but the people you meet on this Scholarship that makes the experience so special.

After completing a successful underwater archeology project in the Dominican Republic (see blog) I headed to North Carolina with Megan Cook to visit Divers Alert Network (DAN). DAN has been operating for the last 30 years and is the diving industry’s largest association dedicated to Scuba diving safety. As you can see we Scholars travel light!

 

Based in North Carolina, DAN USA have been generously sponsoring the Scholarship for many years and it was here that we would complete our Divers Emergency Management Provider Program (DEMP) and learn more about the priorities of DAN. North Carolina was also a place where I received some of my typical ‘American’ food tutelage but more on that later.

 

Divers Alert Network has a three pronged mission:

• Medical support for:
  • questions about health and fitness to dive; and
  • assistance with dive emergencies
• Research about dive accidents, fitness for diving, and related issues; and
• Education on diving first aid and safety (courtesy of Patty Seery)

 

Megan and I were interested in gaining knowledge about all of these different priority areas and so we spent a bit of time with each. Patty Seery was kind enough to loan us her sweet Miada during our stay, allowing us a little independence. Unfortunately I was not the best help with driving (as I’m used to driving on the ‘correct side’ of the road hehe) and so Megan Cook who must be at least 183 cm tall had to do her best to curl herself into the drivers seat….

 

We firstly visited the Medical Department where we learned all about DAN’s emergency assistance and medical information services. Staffed by medically trained diving professionals, the team at DAN provides medical information, referrals and evacuation assistance to divers all around the world through their  Emergency Hotline, DAN Medical Information Line and Question and Answer page. Note that DAN does not have a call center to take phone calls so if you call the Emergency line by accident at 3:00 am , one of these guys at DAN is getting out of bed!

Taking a break to watch a Meteor Shower!

 

A tour of the Research Arm of DAN involved a visit to Dr Neal Pollock, a research director at DAN and a Research Associate in the Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Environmental Physiology at Duke University Medical Center. Dr Pollock gave us an introduction to the Extreme Diving Study which uses trans-thoracic echocardiography (or cardiac ultrasound) to detect nitrogen bubbles that pass through the heart. Technical divers are monitored with a portable echocardiogram unit after a dive to see whether the heart is pumping any nitrogen bubbles. With the help of Dr Pollock, Megan and I watched for bubbles and classified what we saw into categories of increasing severity (based on the number of bubbles and their location). Bubble bubble toil and trouble….

 

Bubbles are on the left side of the heart were of particular concern, because these can go into the body and lodge somewhere, causing decompression sickness. If you want to learn more about the research that DAN is currently involved with see: http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/research/studies/ and this article in Alert Diver Online: http://www.alertdiver.com/DAN_Research

 

Dr. Matías Nochetto, DAN medical coordinator for Latin America, gave Megan and I an in detail account of the plight of Harvesting Divers in Honduras, Mexico and Brazil. As a result of repeatedly long and intensive dives, harvesting divers experience a higher-than-average rate of decompression illness (DCI), which in many cases leave divers permanently injured. DAN is taking an active role in educating and assisting harvesting divers. Learn more here: http://www.alertdiver.com/Isla_Natividad_Divers_Better_Organized_but_Still_Diving_Dangerously, http://www.alertdiver.com/400, http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wolffjosh/my-village-my-lobster-a-documentary-film-project

We also visited Maureen Halsema and and Brian Harper at Alert Diver Magazine, the largest Dive Magazine in the world and helped provide cover feedback for the up and coming issue. This magazine has a distribution of 150 000 people and it was fascinating hearing about the design and content.

 

The rest of our trip was filled with learning about the Education Arm of DAN and completing our DEMP instructor course. One of DAN’s key missions is to educate the diving public and medical profession about appropriate care for divers injured in diving accidents. As new instructors in training we were excited to learn from the best, education extraordinaire Patty Seery who patiently took us through the modules of Basic Life Support, Emergency Oxygen, Neurological Assessment, and First Aid for Hazardous Marine Life Injuries. We had a great time playing with Jim our manikin. In fact I think Jim liked the attention because he kept having more incidents and more incidents…

 

At this point I feel it is fundamental to emphasise how truly great everyone at DAN was to Megan and I during our stay. Every detail was planned out for us including which department would take us for lunch and where we would have dinner. I also got to try food like Hamburgers with Mac and Cheese, Buffalo Chicken wings in three different flavours, and Cheer Wine. Mmm calories!

 

 

Dan and Betty Orr kindly hosted us for our last couple of days and it didn’t take us long to work out that Dan and Betty are pretty big Christmas fans. Yay for Muppet Christmas Carol and eating Christmas candies.

 

 

Thanks to everyone at Dan for providing such a great experience – we miss you.