sea swells february 2011

8/7/2019 Sea Swells February 2011

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February 2011 Sea Swells Log

Comic book collecting is a hobbythat treats comic books as col-

lectibles or artwork to be sought after

and preserved. Though considerably

more recent than the collecting of

postage stamps (philately) or books

(bibliophile), it has a major followingaround the world today. I have a

huge collection that began with an

issue of Superboy in 1980. I stopped

counting my collection around the

1990's. My best guesstimate is some-

where around over thirty thousand

titles. It fills two closets now, andincludes personal treasures such as

Star Wars #1, copies of Sea Hunt andX-men. I am always adding to it. As

comic books are published around

the world, buying a local comic bookfrom an exotic destination while I

travel is one of my most favoritetravel souvenirs. Yet it was much

Continued Page 3

closer to home that I obtainedmy most recent treasure. It

was during a recent trip to

Manhattan. While browsing

in the Strand bookstore off Union Square, something on

one of the many wracks over-flowing with books the store is

famous for caught my

eye. Not only was it a comic

book I had never seen, but it

was about one of my heroes,

Captain Cousteau. The book

was titled L'Aventure del'équipe Cousteau en bandes dessinées,and it was a French hardcover comicbook. I had never seen anything quite

like it before. This was how I was first

introduced to the work of DominiqueSerafini and his long history of chroni-

cling the adventures of the Calypsocrew in comic form.

Dominique Serafini wasborn in Paris, France in

1946. He studied art atl'Ecole Nationale Su-

perieure des Beaux Artsde Paris from 1966-

68. His most important

body of work was createdaboard the Calypso as an

underwater illustratorand writer for l'Equipe

Cousteau. Dominique

Serafini was a true mem-ber of Jacques Cous-

teau's Calypso team. Heconvinced Captain Cous-

teau to create a series of

graphic albums recount-ing the adventures of the

Cousteau Society. Forabout the next 15 years,

from the drawing boardof the deck of the Ca-

lypso, he accompanied

the Calypso crew to cre-ate a visual drawn testi-

mony of their expeditionsand dives. He made a

SCUBA READER:Cousteau Comics

series of 17 graphic album

books entitled 'L'Aventure de

l'Equipe Cousteau en Bandes

Dessinées' between 1985 and1997. France has a long traditionin comics and comic books, where

they are known as BDs, an abbre-

viation of bande dessinée (literally

drawn strip). This genre is mostfamously identified with the iconicFrench characters of Lucky Luke

and Tintin. Carrying a strong eco-logical theme, these particular

books were inspired by Cousteau'sexpeditions on the Calypso. All

were written and illustrated by

Dominique Serafini.

As a long time comic book collector,I am not usually surprised. I have

seen most of the major genres. Yet

these publications are truly amaz-ing. Most depictions of the under-

sea world seen in American comics

tend to use a fantastic unrealisticstyle. The prime example of this

being Aquaman by DC comics, withadventures set in the lost city of

Atlantis and the characters ridinggiant seahorses. Yet what makes

these Cousteau comics trulyunique and wonderful is the real-

ism Mr. Serafini brings to the

pages. Most readers I imaginewould assume that these books

were created from photographs

By

Allan

Rios




taken aboard the Calypso. In order to

produce each of these works, Mr.Serafini actually spent time in the

field with the Calypso crew to make

his drawings as accurately as possi-ble. As part of the Calypso team, he

would arrive on deck in diving geartoting pencils and a plastic

bag. When the Calypso crew went tostudy great white sharks for example,

Mr. Serafini spent hours in the Ca-lypso anti shark cage sketching his

subjects underwater. As a result,

each graphic volume shows an almostobsessive attention in detailing the

adventures of the Calypso crew.

They all seem incredibly authen-tic. Each volume depicts a differentadventure of the Calypso Crew. In

"La Vague de feu" (the Wave of Fire)the Calypso explores Mediterranean

shipwrecks. In "La forest bles-see" (the Wounded Forest) the crew

explores the Amazon River. In

"L'Odyssee de la Calypso" (the Odys-sey of the Calypso), the volume de-

picts in comic form Captain Cous-teau's early history as well as the his-

tory of diving. My favorite is "Le dau-

phin de l'Amazone" (the dolphin of

the Amazon). It depicts the adven-tures of the Calypso crew as they gosearching for freshwater dolphins in

South America. Each volume is beau-

tifully drawn.

The real surpriseabout these books

was that they were

never published inEnglish. Which is

particularly surpris-ing as they were

made during thecomic book boom of

the 80 's and90's. They probably

would have sold

well. Anyone luckyenough to still have

them, can find Eng-lish translations in

old issues of DolphinLog , published bythe Cousteau society

during this pe-riod. Today Domi-

nique Serafini con-tinues to paint. He

is now in the process

of capturing the adventures of another famous captain and his

crew, those of Captain Paul Wat-son and the crew of Sea Shep-

herd. For any scuba diver and

vintage dive collector, each of

these graphic volumes serves asa unique visual testimony to thework of the Calypso crew and

Captain Cousteau.

For more information see http://www.dreamwrecks.com/DreamWrecks/

h o m e . h t m l a n d h t t p : / /www.dominiqueserafini.com/serafini-bd-

cousteau/Accueil.html

Allan Rios

SCUBA READERCousteau Comics,

Continued...

Sunday, February 20, 2011 from 9:00 Til 2:00

Inside the Toms River Intermediate School North

150 Intermediate North Way, Toms River, NJJOIN US AT THE BIGGEST AND THE BEST SCUBA FLEA MAR-

KET IN NEW JERSEY!NEW AND USED GEAR AND OTHER

DIVE-RELATED ITEMS!!!Food, Raffles and Door Prizes

Admission is $5.00 at the door Children under 12 yrs old Free with a Paid Adult!

Call 732-255-9304 to reserve a table now tosell your gear or for your business!

For more information, see our website atwww.oceanwreckdivers.com

Directions:From the North: Take Garden State Parkway to Exit 88 (Rte70). Take the ramp toward Lakewood/Manchester/Lakehurst. Merge onto Rte. 70 West. Follow Route 70 toNew Hampshire Ave. Take the jughandle to New HampshireAve. South. Cross over Rt. 70. Follow New Hampshire Ave.(which becomes Old Freehold Rd.) about 4.3 miles. Turnright onto Intermediate North Way.

To see a map of the area, go to our website atwww.oceanwreckdivers.com

http://www.dreamwrecks.com/DreamWrecks/home.html



http://www.dominiqueserafini.com/serafini-bd-cousteau/Accueil.html








F

riend of the Scuba Sports Club,

Dr. Richard Cooper passedaway on Friday, January

28th. TSSC members will remember

Dr. Cooper as a true undersea

explorer who spoke about the

possibilities of human beings

truly living under the sea. TSSC

members fortunate enough to

attend his presentation last Sep-

tember at our monthly meeting,

or later at the Sea Stories gath-

ering by the Explorers

Club, were regaled with per-

sonal experiences that includedadventures in undersea habi-

tats, the Manned Undersea Sci-

ence & Technology group,

Sealab, and the Ocean Technol-

ogy Foundation/SeaBase1 Corp.

On a personal note, Dr. Cooper

was a true gentleman who con-

veyed a real passion for undersea

exploration and discovery in every

conversation. He will be sorelymissed by the membership of TSSC,

this diver especially. In lieu of flow-

Dr. Richard Cooper

ers, the family has asked

that donations be sent to the

Uconn Foundation - Richard A.Cooper Scholarship Fund, Attn:

Janene Vandi, University of

Connecticut, Avery Point

Campus, 1080 Shennecos-

sett Road, Groton, CT

06340. For more informa-

tion regarding his achieve-

ments please see http://

www.legacy.com/obituaries/

t h e d a y / o b i t u a r y . a s p x ?

n = r i c h a r d - a -

cooper&pid=148286200

Allan Rios

Come to the February Membership Meeting to Vote For YourFavorite Photos Entered in The TSSC Photo Contest!

Here is your chance to view

and vote for the best photos

from the images entered in our

2011 photo contest.

The TSSC board of directors has

selected the finalists in the catego-

r i e s B E A U T Y , R A R E /

UNUSUAL, and FUNNY.

It was not an easy choice because

all of the images were very good

and deserved to be among the fi-

nalists. Alas, there can only be

three winners, and it is up to

you to select them!

Don’t miss this chance and come to

the February membership meeting

on Wednesday, February 9th at 7 pm

at Victor’s Restaurant in Hawthorne,

NY to view the finalists.

Many thanks to everyone who sub-

mitted photos to the contest.

On a related note: we are still collect-

ing photos for our “hometown” dis-

play for our exhibit booth at BTS

2011.

If you have a photo of yourself div-

ing (close-ups preferred), please sub-

mit it and the name of your home-

town to [email protected] by

March 1st, 2011. We will put to-

gether a display of diver photos

with their hometowns to show

where TSSC members hail

from—hoping to entice other peo-

ple from your town to join us!

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/theday/obituary.aspx?n=richard-a-cooper&pid=148286200









Many of you know that I closely fol-low what is going on with the Sea

Shepherd Conservation Society and the

crew rallying around Capt. Paul Watson.

I was happy to see that Sea Shepherd was

able to snag a major billboard location

right in the heart of Manhattan! Here are

the details:

Next time you find yourself walking

through the heart of Times Square

on 42nd Street, look up at the ‘CBS

Spectacular’ big screen now boasting

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s

first outdoor advertising campaign.

The state-of-the-art, full motion digi-tal billboard highlights the marine

wildlife conservation organization’s

anti-whaling campaign for which

they are best known, partly due to

the success of the popular Animal

Planet television series Whale Wars,

which will debut in its fourth season

later this year. Whale Wars chroni-

cles Sea Shepherd’s activities to end

whaling in the Southern Ocean.

“Sea Shepherd wanted to do some-

thing completely unprecedented to

create awareness of our whale de-

fense campaign this year,” saidFounder and President Captain

Paul Watson. “We’ve long had a

strong support base in New York,

so when this opportunity came up

we decided to use it to share our

mission, raise funds for our Ant-

arctic campaign, and capture the

hearts of New Yorkers and inter-

national tourists alike. The image

of a breathtaking whale breach

followed by a harpoon exploding

into a whale’s back, sends a pow-erful message to passersby in a

visual language that we can all

understand.”

Sea Shepherd is the only non-

profit direct action conservation

organization that actively patrols

the planet’s oceans to defend ma-

rine wildlife and their habitats

and uphold international conser-

vation laws. Sea Shepherd is cur-

rently in the middle of their sev-

enth Antarctic Whale DefenseCampaign, appropriately titled

Operation No Compromise.

“We are officially halfway through

this year’s campaign, and funds

are more important now than

ever. We need to raise enough

money to purchase fuel and provi-

sions to keep our fleet of three

ships at sea, to ensure that we can

remain in the Southern Ocean

through the end of the whaling

season in March,” said Captain

Watson.

The goal is to stop illegal whaling

in the Southern Ocean Whale

Sanctuary, period. Operation No

Compromise has already been

deemed a success, as Captain

Watson believes Sea Shepherd’s

intervention will result in a dra-

matic decrease of whale deaths by

the illegal Japanese fleet, perhaps

by as much as 80 percent.

As Captain Watson often reminds

us, “If the oceans die, we die.”

The 'CBS Spectacular' is located

on W. 42nd Street, between 7th

and 8th Avenues.

You can see a video of the new ad

here:http://www.seashepherd.org/news-

and-media/news-110201-1.html

Also of interest: Sea Shepherd’s flag-

ship Steve Irwin needs your help to

refuel and continue protecting theSouthern Ocean’s whale sanctuary

against illegal whaling. Please go to

http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-110202-1.html to see

details.

Sea Shepherd Sails into Times Square withTheir First Outdoor Advertising Campaign

Environment

Foreword

By Ruth

Emblin

x Run for the Wild, April 30th

http://e.wcs.org/site/PageServer?pagename=RFTW_homepage

x Vintage Dive Film Festival May 14th (details TBA)

x First Annual Shark Dive Weekend Labor Day Weekend2011. Fisherman's State Park Rhode Island, details TBA

http://www.riparks.com/fisherma.htm

x TSSC on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/TheScubaSportsClub

x TSSC on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/

ScubaSportsClub

http://www.facebook.com/TheScubaSportsClub


http://twitter.com/#!/ScubaSportsClub




http://www.seashepherd.org/



2011 Dive Schedule

Date/Time: Location Description Contact/Organization

Labor Day WE Fisherman’s State Park, RI First Annual Shark Dive Weekend Allan Rios

Sept. 1-10, 2011 Fiji, Beqa Lagoon Resort A Taste of Fabulous Fiji

See details at http://

thescubasportsclub.org/dives/fiji-dive-trip-

2011.html

Ski & Scuba Connection *)

*) not organized by TSSC, however,

several members are booked on this

trip.

May 29th TBA Memorial Day Weekend

Picnic & Dive

TBA

July 17th Dutch Springs, PA TSSC Day TBA

All dates and programs are subject to change without prior notice. For more details and updates, either contact

Tom Butcher or the dive coordinator shown, or refer to our website at www.thescubasportsclub.org .

LOCAL DIVE SHOPS - AT YOUR SERVICEThe listing of local dive shops is provided to you as a reference and public service. For each shop’s specialty, dive t raining and trip programs, please call or visit their website.

Captain Saam’s Scuba

School

863 E Main St., Ste BStamford, CT 06902

Tel. 203-32 SCUBA www.capt-saam.com

The Dive Shop439 Federal Rd.

Brookfield, CT 06804Tel. 203-740-9166

www.TheDiveShoponline.com

Pan Aqua Diving (2 locations):460 W 43rd St., New York, NY 10036Tel. 212-736-3483

and461 Federal Rd., Brookfield, CT 06804

Tel. 203-775-3573

www.panaqua.com

Rex Dive Center

144 Water Street

Norwalk, CT 06854Tel. 203-853-4148

www.rexdive.com

Cougar Sports917 Saw Mill River Rd.

Ardsley, NY 10502Tel. 914-693-8877

Durland Scuba Committee

& School

Venture Crew #53

35 East Grassy Sprain Rd. Ste 204

Yonkers NY 10710Tel 914-961-1263

http://www.durlandscuba.org


Aqua Visions Scuba118 West Boston Post Road

Mamaroneck, NY 10543

Tel. 914-381-1884

www.aquavisions.biz

Ski and Scuba Connection26 Saint Roch Ave

Greenwich, CT 06830Tel. 203-629-4766

www.skiandscubaconnection.com

2037 Central Park Ave

Yonkers, NY 10710

Tel. 914-779-2966

and

2672 Gerritsen Ave

Brooklyn, NY 11229

Tel. 718-769-0099www.scubany.com

Captain Mike’s

Diving School530 City Island Ave

City Island, NY 10464

Tel. 718-885-1588

www.captainmikesdiving.com

Abyss Scuba222 E Main Street

Mt. Kisco, NY 10549914-244-3483

www.abyss-scuba.net

Marsh Scuba Supply93 Lauer Rd.

Poughkeepsie, NY 12603

Tel. 845-452-8994

www.marshscuba.com

New trip posted!

NOTE: More dive plans to be announced at the membership meeting!!!

http://www.marshscuba.com/Pages/TRIPS/SPRING%20TRIP/new_page_1.htm





Volunteers NeededFor BTS 2011


Note:

Programs may change without prior notice. Seewww.thescubasportsclub.org for updates.

SOCIAL & EVENTS

2011

For details on individual events, please go to

www.thescubasportsclub.org

Date Description

March

25th-27th

BENEATH THE SEA Meadowlands Expo Center

Secaucus New Jersey

(1(:%227+/2&$7,21

May 1st Orchard BeachU/W Beach Clean-Up & Picnic

June

25th-26th

Camping/WW Rafting

Lehigh Valley, PA

April 9th TSSC OPEN HOUSELocation TBA

April

30th

RUN FOR THE WILDBronx Zoo

Directors Meeting:Wed, Feb. 2nd, 2011 at 7 pm, loc. TBA

General Meeting:

Wed. Feb. 9th, 2011, at 7.00 pm

Victor’s Restaurant, Hawthorne

Program Notes:

Daniel Azarian, ‘Saving Lolita, The Orca’www.saveloita.org/; danielazarian.com/

(See Page 8 for details)

February Program

Directors Meeting:March 2nd, 2011 at 7.00 pm, location TBA

General Meeting:Wed. March 9th, 2011 at 7:00 pm ?

Victor’s Restaurant, Hawthorne

Please Note:

Our March meeting may have to be

rescheduled for a different day due to

speaker availability. Stay tuned!

March Program

Official Dive

Club

of

BENEATH THE SEA

PRESIDENT: Nick Lappano

VICE PRESIDENT: Denise Kurz

TREASURER: Cindy Fisher

SECRETARY: Craig Thomae

PAST PRESIDENT: Jim Sacci

NEWSLETTER DIRECTOR: Ruth Emblin

PROGRAM DIRECTOR: Allen Rios

ENVIRO/LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR: Bianca Thomae

EDUCATION/SAFETY DIRECTOR: Ellen Lasser

MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR: Dennis Orlowski

DIVE PLANNING DIRECTOR: Tom Butcher

SOCIAL DIRECTOR: Tabby Constantino

DIRECTOR AT LARGE: Dan Levin

LEGAL ADVISOR: Robert SchragerFOUNDER: Armand Zigahn

CO-FOUNDER: Soliman Shenouda

LIST MAINTENANCE: Ann Judge

Email contact information is available at our website www.thescubasportsclub.org

35th AnniversaryBeneath The Sea

Join Us at Beneath The Sea 2011!

Now is the best time to get your ticket—the dis-count ends soon!http://beneaththesea.org/tickets.html

More programs are now on-line ... and more to fol-low! Take a look ....http://beneaththesea.org/ShowInformation.html

It’s that time of the year again when we are asking for your help. We need vol-unteers for BTS 2011, both for organizational activities at BTS as well as specifi-

cally for the TSSC booth.

Please email Denise Kurz at [email protected] if you can spare a few hours

of your time the weekend of March 25th—27th, 2011 in exchange for experienc-ing the exciting world of the BTS dive industry show and the interesting person-

alities and characters that go with it!



Wildlife Film Festival this past fall

where Daniel spoke along with

third generation ocean explorerFabien Cousteau. Daniel is cur-

rently producing several Public Ser-

vice Announcements with Underdog

Entertainment, including an Anti-

Bullying PSA.

www.saveloita.org/

www.danielazarian.com/


EDITOR’S NOTE:

This newsletter is a publication of The Scuba Sports Club of Westchester, NY—Issue 02/2011 Material may not be reprinted without explicit permission by TSSC.

Daniel Azarian is anaward-wining di-

rector and producer of

c o m m e r c i a l s a n dbranded entertainment.

As a director, Azarianhas helmed national

television spots for blue-

chip brands and enter-tainment programming

for major television net-works. Top-tier compa-

nies have licensed Azarian’s visually ar-resting commercial work for advertising

on mobile networks worldwide. Among

the global brands and channels whosecampaigns and programs have featured

Official

Dive Club

B

rrrrrr! Old Man Winter has had

his hands on the Northeast forquite some time, and it is beginning

to wear on me. I made myself feel bet-

ter by watching some of the dive vid-

eos we shot during our last few dive

trips, among them the footage from

our latest adventure on the Aqua Cat!

It was great to relive some of the fun

and excitement we had on our club

trip, and I can’t wait for the next one.

Sharing our passion for scuba diving

and experiencing some of what the

watery world has to offer, is twice as

much fun when you do it with like-minded people, who are fun to be with

to boot. Membership does have its

privileges! TSSC has grown into a

great group of people who not only

love diving but also care deeply about

the ocean environment we enjoy so

much. See you soon!

Ruth Editor

A New Wreck Site For Cayman Islands

For divers who have enjoyed div-ing in Cayman's waters before,

there is a new wreck to discover.

The Cayman Islands Tourism Asso-ciation, in conjunction with the Min-

istry and Department of Tourism,

recently sank the EX USS Kittiwake.

The ship marks the creation of a newMarine Park and a fascinating new

snorkeling and diving attraction justoff the west coast of Grand Cayman.

The ex-USS Kittiwake was a Subma-

rine Rescue vessel (ASR-13). She was

part of the 6th Submarine squadron(SUBRON 6) home ported at the De-

stroyer-Submarine piers in Norfolk, VA. She was built in 1945 and de-

commissioned in 1994.

The new location of the Kittiwake is atthe northern end of Seven Mile Beach,

on the West or lee side of Grand Cay-man, just off of the Sand Chute Dive

site. The bottom is flat and sandy. The

Kittiwake will rest 64 feet deep at the

bottom and be only 15 feet from thesurface, ideal for both divers and snor-

kelers.

The Kittiwake is situated in marine

park that is protected under law inCayman, with no touching or taking of

anything, no gloves allowed and nofishing allowed on the wreck/Kittiwake

site. It requires an entrance fee to visit

from a licensed operator, with the feesgoing towards the ongoing mainte-

nance and protection of the new artifi-

cial wreck/reef plus natural reefs. An

exception to taking fish is made forculling lion fish, an invasive species to

Cayman waters.

To see videos of the sinking of

the Kittiwake, follow this link:

www.kittiwakecayman.com/

Azarian’s work

are AT&T, Sprint,

MTV, Vh1, Hori-

zon Organic and3M.

Daniel recently

produced the Pub-

lic Service An-n o u n c e m e n t

(PSA) , “Save Lo-lita” which ad-

dresses the plight of Lolita the Orca,

who has been held captive for 40 yearsin an illegally-sized small concrete

pool. The PSA was an official selectionat the Hampton’s Conservation and

February Program Notes:Daniel Azarian

http://www.caymanislands.ky/

sea swells february 2011

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