The beginning of my scholarship year, I had planned around attending DEMA in Orlando. The other two scholars, Christian and Erin did the same, which meant we were able to spend time traveling together before hand. After our trip to the Dominican Republic with Professor Charlie Beeker, we visited Captain Slate in Key Largo for a weekend of diving. Slate was incredibly welcoming and took us out for his ‘Critter Dive’ where he feeds nurse sharks, barracuda and goliath grouper. It was fascinating to watch him and the fish as they came flying past our masks. We were also lucky enough to dive on the Christ of the Deep statue that was placed in the National Park in the 60’s as a memorial to those lost at sea during war. The sun every so often appeared from behind the clouds, and the shallow water was lit up with an impressive scene; divers playing around Christ.
After our visit with Captain Slate we drove to Orlando for DEMA. I was a little nervous about the week as I was anticipating an overwhelming scramble to meet people, learn as much as I can about what is going on and catching up with old friends, all in the space of a few short days. But my worries were gone as soon as I walked into the conference centre. Friends and supporters of the scholarship welcomed us with greetings.
Dan Orr of Divers Alert Network took us under his wing for the course of the show and introduced us to the people throughout the industry. I was able to meet people who inspired my love of the ocean, such as Marty Snyderman and Stan Waterman, people who are working hard to conserve the marine environment and organisations that are making diving accessible for everyone, including disabled and those that live in cosmopolitan areas, such as Dive Heart and Bronx Scuba.
The show also allowed me to thank in person the generous sponsors of the Australasia Our World Underwater Scholarship including TUSA and Waterproof for the gear they have provided for my year, Light and Motion and Olympus. DEMA brings together people from all over the world so it was a great opportunity to meet people who are working in areas I am interested in and make contacts for future projects.
In the end it was a mad scramble to meet people and thank sponsors, but it was an incredible and fun scramble indeed. The generosity of strangers and sponsors alike was a wonderful thing to experience. I have made some great friends in the short time in Orlando, and connected with others who I have met on my travels.
Many thanks to the DEMA board for their support of the scholarship, to Dan and Betty Orr for their generosity and time, to all the sponsors and supporters that I was able to meet during the course of the show, and of course to the Our World Underwater Scholarship Society members for their help during the week.
