seaswells october 2010 newsletter

8/8/2019 SeaSwells October 2010 Newsletter

1/8

On eptember 26th The

cuba ports Club par-ticipated in roject Awares

celebration of nternationalBeach Cleanup ay for 2010,

by cleaning avenport ark in

New ochelle. This caps a yearthat was devoted to Clean up

our ound, that started in

April with a massive cleanupof rchard Beach in the

Bronx. That event brought a

couple of hundred divers andenvironmentally consciRXV

supporters together frommany surrounding counties

and states.

ur next project in August

was hase ne of a combinedeffort with Captain

Mikes iving er-

vices to rid ong

sland ound ofabandoned lobster

pots. e are hopingto continue with this

project next spring

by gaining more sup-port from the diving

and fishing commu-nities for hase Two.

There are many

ANCHOR LINE

ENVIRONMENT:Saving The Oceans

2

CONTEST:Vrenis First Dive

4

DIVE IN:2010 Dive ScheduleLocal Dive Shops

6

CLUB NEWS:

ActivitiesSocial Events & ProgramList of 2010 Directors

7

BTS NEWS:Never Too Early to Think

About BTS 2011

7

ON-LINE:Inside A Sharks Mouth

8

PROGRAM NOTES:Rebreathers

8

In This Issue:more pots scattered all overthe ound that need to be re-moved. saw this again while

ack and were diving theshore line at avenport ark

when we came across a string

of abandoned lobster pots justa couple of yards off the shore.

This leads me to believe thereare miles of pots strewn

up and down the coast inthe ong sland ound.

At our avenport ark

cleanup we had a healthy

mix of new and oldermembers join together to

comb the shore above andbelow the water. e were

also joined once again byenise urzs sister and

brother-in-law, ue andou Caputo. ou was a big

help for us by provided sup-port for divers while in the

water with his kayak, trans-

porting the trash back to shorewhen our bags were full.

ome of the totals for the

types of waste that were

picked up include:

October 2010

Welcome to theOctober 2010 issue

of the Sea Swells Log!TSSC members were treated to

a very interesting presentation

about underwater habitats of

the future by Dr. Richard Coo-

per of Seabase I. Some of us

were very intrigued by the idea,

and we are looking forward to

hearing more.

Fall has arrived with a venge-

ance, and sunny days were

followed by rainy weather.

Though the fickle weather did

not deter TSSCers to clean up

Davenport Park in New Ro-

chelledetails on what divers

pulled out of the water and

beach and park-combers col-

lected in this issue.

For those of you interested in

learning more about rebreath-

ers, dont miss the October meet-

ing with Joe Radomski, re-

breather expert.

We hope you will join us at

the October meeting!

Visit Our Website At: www.thescubasportsclub.org

TSSC Pitches In OnInternational Beach

Cleanup Day

251 bags (paper and

plastic)21 balloons

339 plastic bottles

46 glass bottles138 caps and lids

25 pieces of clothing/shoes

356 cigarettes/filters

32 cigarette lighters112 cups, plates, forks,

knives, spoons

Continued Page 3


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Page 2 October 2010 Sea Swells Log

Environment

Sharks, whales, dolphins, tuna, tur-

tles are only a few of the ocean-

dwelling species that have been in thenews lately. And most of the news has

not been good. verfishing, pollution,profiteering, poaching, misinterpreted

outdated traditions and simple igno-

rance are among the many reasons

why these ocean dwellers are in dan-ger.

There are plenty of organizationsaround the world attempting to stop

the senseless destruction of our oceans.

ome of them do it with the writtenword, with marketing campaigns, ordemonstrations; some provide educa-

tional programs; some are activists in

the truest sense of the word and ac-

tively attempt to stop the slaughter.

Everywhere you look there are cam-

paigns and fundraisers for ocean con-servation. ollowers number in the

tens of thousands and we all have thesame goal protect our planet and its

oceans and waterways. t often getsoverwhelming we sign petition after

petition, contact legislators, write arti-cles and blogs, hold seminars and edu-cational events, discuss the issues

among our peers, etcetera, etcetera.

personally have been to a plethora of

events where like-minded conserva-tionists have come together trying to

find a way to get the worlds attentionto the fact that we are at a critical

turning point. At these events there is

often a certain degree of euphoria be-cause you realize that you are among

people who believe just as fiercely inthe cause as you do. hich makes it

even more difficult when you return tothe real world and you realize that

suddenly you are out there pretty muchby yourself, faced with the task of

spreading your message among thosewho have not had the privilege to ex-

perience the know-how, expertise and

passion of the people who drive thecause. have had the privilege to meet

some of the most passionate environ-mentalists and ocean conservationists

that are out there, and their willingness

to set aside personal gain and fightagainst the destruction of our planet has

taught me a lot.

n the past have always preferred tofight by writing and felt that my reluc-

tance to speak publicly made me less ofan asset to the cause, but repeated expo-

sure to these environmental heroes, as like to call them, has made me realize

that it really does not matter whether

you are a good public speaker or pre-senter, or have a certain level of cha-

risma or personality - as long as you areinvolved to your best ability and have a

means to reach your peers, you can be an

active part of the cause.

The condition of our environment affects

every single life form on our planet. have heard people say am not into that

kind of thing, when asked to considerthe current issues affecting our environ-

ment and the oceans in particular. eah,

right. Everyone is involved in that thing!That thing is our world, Mother Nature,

the reason for our existence. eople may

not like to hear about it, but sticking

ones head in the sand and hoping that

the problem will just go away is simplynot accomplishing anything. True, thereare almost too many opinions out there,

many of them conflicting, on what is go-ing to happen to our world, and why it is

happening but the fact remains that

somethingis happening to our ecosystem,and it is not good. et, there is still a

chance for us to stop certain harmful de-velopments, and we simply have to gener-

ate as much attention as possible to get

Saving The OceansOne Activist At A Time

even those who are sticking theirheads in the sand involved.

n Europe, the 18th century calleditself the Age of Enlightenment,

idealizing a system governed by rea-son, derived from science and natural

philosophy, aesthetics and ethics,and promoting the understanding of

nature and the destiny of humanity.This historical movement eroded due

to a lack of consensus and commit-ment, and major national upheavals

such as the rench evolution. hile

this period was not a single move-ment or school of thought, and many

of the philosophies attributed to this

era were actually contradictory, itdid spark a critical questioning of

traditional institutions, customs, and

morals, and a strong belief in ration-ality and science.

ont you think it is only rational towant to protect the planet we live on

for the generations to come? do. would like to see the dawn of a New

Age of Enlightenment concerningour environment. cience and our

understanding of nature have en-

joyed life- (and unfortunately also

planet-)changing development sincethe 18th century. e should take the

positive aspects of these advancesand use them to enlighten our

peers. Nature sustains us; we need toprotect nature. As a philosophy it

cannot get any simpler. But we haveto be committed to our efforts and

find a consensus, or we will not suc-

ceed.

The really tough part of the

enlightening process is making peo-

ple question traditional customs and

institutions, and finding alternateways of sustaining peoples liveli-

hoods. Traditions are often so in-

grained in a culture that they havebecome static and people derive a

sense of pride and even comfort fromtheir long history. t is not easy for

people to look at their traditions andrealize that they are outdated and no

longer applicable in our world. The

goal is to find a way to continue to

By

Ruth

Emblin

Cont. page 3


3/8


honor cultural traditions without nega-

tively impacting the environment. n-fortunately not every culture is willing

or able to do so many of them remainsheltered from seeing the true impacton our environment due to a lack of

outside communication or by being

blocked from the information by special

interest groups or even their govern-ments. Targeted education can

enlighten a group of people until theyrealize that our efforts are not directed

at their culture or personal history but

an attempt to save what is left of ouroceans for the next generations. t has

to be clear that we do not intend totrample on culture and the past, but

our foremost concern is with the future.ublic campaigns such as the anti-

shark-finning billboards throughout Asia have yielded the first, promising

results, and we need to continue aswell as expand these educational cam-

paigns to reach a broad audience all

over the world.

Mind you, lets not just pick on Asia

alone, though thanks to highly publi-cized activities by various ocean conser-

vation groups the public spotlight hasbeen on apan and China. hat sur-

prises most of the people speak with

is that there are similar situations inother regions of the world. Normallyyou would not think of enmark as a

nation to be concerned with, but thepilot whale and dolphin slaughter in

the aroe slands, which are DQLVK

territory, is of major concern as well.

Countries like Norway and celandstill actively hunt and kill whales.

will not go into further detail, justemphasize that we have to continue

to spread the message all over theworld that certain practices are no

longer sustainable, be it overfishing,catches for the dolphinarium trade,

senseless slaughter and traditionalhunting (other than true subsistence

hunting, though even in this sector

there are conflicting opinions andloopholes to deal with), so-called

scientific hunting, shark finning,and so on. udos to those groups and

individuals who are already working

hard to show the public that we have

to stop taking without thinking ofthe future.

hope you will join me in becoming

an environmental activist to thebest of your ability, and talk to your

peers about these concerns. nly byenlightening people can we ensure

that our oceans and waterways, andour entire planet will at least have a

chance to recover to a certain degree.

ou dont necessarily have to quit

Saving theOceans,continued

Environment

400 food wrappers/containers

135 straws/stirrersCountless pieces of tyrofoam (we

stopped counting after 180 pieces in

the first 30 minutes)

hat found interesting were the dis-

cussions that followed after we all sawthe trash aggregated in one spot. ne

person decided to quit smoking afterseeing all of the cigarette butts. There

was talk about how to introduce legis-lation to eliminate plastic stirrers and

TSSCCleans Up,

continued

your job and join the crew of a ship bat-

tling illegal whale hunting, but you canstart your activism small, on a local level,

by looking for groups in your area whocould benefit from your help, joining

TSSC in our efforts to keep our localbeaches clean, or by encouraging your kids

to join groups such as Ocean Pals,www.beneaththesea.org/ocean_pals.html.

urthermore, every East Coast tate hasconservation organizations you can join, asimple oogle search will reveal them, or

ask me to provide you with information.This is the only way to make certain that

future generations will be able to enjoy

nature as we have had the privilege to.

By the way, if you are ready to get up closeand personal with an ocean-conservation

group, check out the Blue Ocean Insti-tute, www.blueocean.org. Blue cean n-stitute is a conservation organization thatuses science, art, and literature to inspire

a closer bond with nature, especially the

sea. e translate scientific informationinto a language people can understand

and use to make better choices on behalf ofthe sea. hether youre a fisherman, sea-

food IDQ, GLYHUVDLORUstudent, parent, Fhef,RUVLPSO\ORYHWKHRFHDQVRXUSURJUDPVKHOS

you learn how and whyyou should protect

our planets life-giving oceanV.

e are holding a benefit honoring the

100th birthday of Jacques Cousteauand the Golf of Mexico in New ork onNovember 9th, 2010. or more informa-tion, please go to the Blue cean nsti-

tutes website at www.blueocean.org, andclick on Events, or contact me for more

information.Email: [email protected]

Ruth

straws. e discussed how mindlessly

we stir a cup of coffee to then discardit after one use. ow about manufac-

turing biodegradable straws and stir-

rers?

Awareness is the key and it begs the

question of how do we, as a scubagroup, influence our community to cut

back or eliminate consumption of thoseproducts that pollute our environment?

Jim SacciPresident


4/8


By Vreni Roduner

My first dive, well, it took a while to

get there, and without knowingwhere started and what difficulties

had gone through, one cant understand

that learning to dive is different for some-one more used to hiking in lofty moun-tains. That was way back, end of 1974,

when decided to expand my photogra-phy hobby to underwater photography,

because thought since could swim it

would be no big deal, as in my youngeryears once swam halfway across ake

Bienne and back.

oing the required lap swimming for thewater worthiness test revealed that a lot

of practice was needed, but passed the

test, extra time not included. Twice a

week was off to the to improve myswimming, which was not easy to fit in,

while working 70 + hour work weeks and

being constantly exhausted. And. wasafraid of water, because a school col-

league had pushed me into the deep endof the pool, when learned to swim as a

teenager and thought was drowning.o, with all that baggage opted for pri-

vate lessons to get all the attention

needed to learn all the skills.

My heavy work schedule didnt let metake a regular class anyhow. The training

became a real challenge, the biggest one ever encountered, with every lesson being

a struggle. No matter how big the obsta-cle, decided would not to give up.

Twice the head instructor asked me to

give it up and find another hobby, yet mypersonal instructor had long planted the

love of the sea in me and he always toldme how fabulous diving was. This gave

me strength to struggle on. e was will-

ing to give me a chance and he always

found a way for me to overcome each ob-stacle. The water in the pool was cold, the

instructor stayed out as much as hecould, but had to be in there, freezing

while doing my exercises. My adrenalinekept me going, as was trying to over-come my fear of water and lack of

talent. A couple of parallel classes madethe skills training look so easy, but the

heavy chlorine mix burned my eyes to

tears in every session.

The classroom lessons werent any easier;

the dive vocabulary was difficult to learn

for me and needed two dictionaries to

figure out the different dive laws, along

with much clarification from my instruc-tor-to-be, whose first student was. e

helped me to overcome the otherwisenon-existing language barrier. e was a

dive enthusiast and worked tirelessly to

help me succeed as well, even thought itall sounded Chinese to me for sometime. Back then, rescue training was

part of the basic class and added a majorhurdle for me to overcome. owever

made it, thanks to my instructors com-

passion, for which am forever grateful.

had inched along and finally it wastime for the test. t was difficult for me

to figure out the questions, as had a

terrible mental block and there was no-body to rephrase for it me. My instruc-

tor was a smart guy and he later asked

me to come to his office for a repeat and was happy to get a 2nd chance. ewrapped me into a heavy, lengthy dive

discussion on the classroom sessions, inwhich had no problem to communicate.

inally asked when the test wouldstart and he answered that just passed

it. e had found a different way to get

the correct answers out of me, as heknew that did indeed understand the

material after he had rephrased it.

Time for the quarry check-out dive, for

which was unfortunately assigned adifferent instructor. n the first dive

blew a blood vessel in my ear and when told the instructor about the terrible

pain, his answer was: Everybody gets apain in the ear sometimes. Talking

about early on to learn to be tough! ive

2, had to join two students just met

and one decided to descend along thewall he spotted, to hopefully make it

easier for my bad ear to get to 30 feet. t

was a slow descent, but got there

and had a good dive with the bud-dies - but never saw the instructor.

am sure he kept a good eye on each

student in the check-out class, as thevisibility was good. ell, passed that

one, but driving down the hill fromthe amburg quarry caused the major

pain in my ear to reappear and it keptbleeding a bit for three days. finally

called my instructor, who advised meto rush to an ear specialist. hat a

relief it was go get rid of that pressure

in my ear, which stopped the bleeding.

ne more hurdle left, an ocean check-out dive. ince was working week-

ends, it took a while to get a undayoff and was assigned to a boat out of

reeport. nfortunately, had to

work till midnight on aturday. narrival at 5:30 AM was told it wasgoing to be a wreck dive to the

Eureka, a 128 foot tug boat, which

was built in 1898. he had a 26 footbeam and weighed 353 gross tons and

sits in 110 feet of water, 16 milessouth of ones nlet, but they told me

it was at 95 ft.

The wreck divers did their first dive

and the instructor ended up having to

assist two divers in need of rescue in

the very rough water with six-footwaves, as they had missed the anchor

line. This was not encouraging for aweak check-out diver. Everybody ex-

cept one other diver besides myselfwas leaning over the side. hat an

exciting nasty day for a check-out

dive with a boatload of strangersthrowing up around me. Enough for

anyone to give up the sport, right be-fore really getting started - but

suited up anyway on the bouncingboat.

There was another student diver from

NC taking the ocean check-out dive,

so the two of us had to go togetherwith the instructor. was to jump in

first and made it to the anchor linein the choppy water and had time for

a quick rest before descending. t cer-tainly felt like the head instructor was

trying to get rid the diving scene of me

for good, but knew that weather

could play its part on any day. wasvery focused on my deep ordeal, on

surviving the diveContinued Page 5


5/8


and wanting to pass this rough test. ur-

prisingly, was not afraid of the miser-able circumstances and oddly enough,

was fine and able to clear my ears, whiledescending into the pitch black abyss.

n order not to lose his two students theinstructor leashed us one to each side, yet

was unable to see him after leaving thesurface. did see a spec of reddish once, a

lobster, as he hit it with his light. e did

not have to clear the mask or performany other skills, as the instructor could

not see us.ater the experienced divers said that it

was darker than a night dive. made itup the ladder in full gear despite the

rough water trying to pull me away.

hen everyone was safely back on theboat, the Captain announced that he can-

celled the second dive, because the waves

had grown to eight feet while we had

been submerged. That was just fine witheveryone. The other student was even

mad at me, because did not get seasickon this check-out dive, and he did, - or

was this considered the first dive?

This was truly a very different experience

than had ever expected, as my instruc-tor told me so many times that diving

was fun, but could not yet seeit..

ell, had passed the test. had over-

come so many obstacles against the odds.

even took an / photo class and didwell. learned how to take good care of

the old Nikonos 2 and 3 cameras. oesanyone remember those?

signed up for a trip to Cozumel to put

things to practice, way back in 1975. twas a whole new set of experiences. The

rental tanks were in poor shape. The

straps were wired together, rusted by the

saltwater, just waiting to give you teta-nus, should you accidentally scrape one.

hen mentioned that this was not a

safe situation, was told to shut up, since

knew nothing about dive gear (but knew about rusty wires, as had acciden-tally stepped on one as a teenager while

crossing a creek and losing my balance ona small moving rock; it penetrated my

foot and got a severe blood poisoning.

was very ill). iving in Cozumel was in

its infancy. eight belts were non-

existing. think there was only one,maybe two dive shops. t certainly was

completely different from what had en-

visioned. Almost every day the divershad to load the dive gear and tanks

across four old-style fishing boats with

very high gunnels, which could barelyreach over because of my shorter stat-

ure. came off a long stretch of 80-hourwork weeks and needed a vacation, not

a work-out! t was exhausting to liftsteel 72s over my head eight times and

not to drop them, in addition the divebag which had to be loaded as well.

Then finally came my first dive!

was assigned a buddy and given a

tank with straps far too short and toldto put my weights on that. was fairly

small, yet had to make it clear that could not close the buckle; no matter

how hard tried, knew it was not

going to stay closed. ne of the instruc-

tors closed the buckle on the very lastthread and was told to back roll into

the strong current and meet my buddy

on the bottom. e had told me that hewas experienced, but he always stayed

above and slightly behind me in thedead angle where could not see him,

unless completely rolled over, which had to do far too often. Back then, they

did not know about drift diving in Co-

zumel, nor did the instructor who ranthe trip, neither did he care to imple-

ment it. e had to fight against the

current. t was exhausting. had a

enzy horse-collar vest which had asmall bottle to add air to, so did not

have to remove the regulator, as there

were no inflator buttons back then.owever it did not have a crotch strap

and kept riding up to my throat, almost

strangling me. spent a lot of energytrying to pull it away, so could

breathe. did not know that my tankstrap had opened, but started to feel

freer. Nobody signaled to me that the

tank was floating above me. oon it

was time to ascend, but not before had picked up a small branch of coral,

wanting to find out what it was. didnot really see much, as besides fighting

the current, spent the time looking for

my concealed buddy, and pulling m

vest off my throat. got back to thboat and showed off my coral to fin

out what it was. ittle did know thit was fire coral! was yelled at an

had to throw it back at once. then sa

that my tank strap was open and to

the second instructor, who closed about it. he told me that she saw th

tank float above me for some time, bwas too afraid to tell me, since apeared ok with it that way. h

thought telling me might have causedbigger problem.

There was no water to drink on thboat, only Coke and beer and did n

like either. ne could not buy bottlewater in Cozumel at that time. As mo

of you know one should not drink thtap water there. ur hotel was qui

far out of town. The weather did nreally provide any comfort, as it w

cool and there was never a hot showor hot tea to drink at the hotel. Th

week went on in a similar way, pret

crummy. ome divers were yelled for small mistakes, including me, so

was not impressed with diving; thougmost of the others were not eithe

which gave me some comfort. t cofirmed that my judgment was not o

despite being a novice and very willinto learn. After the trip attached

crotch strap Wo my enzy vest, so

could give diving another try, as dspite all, was still looking for what m

first instructor had promised me - thdiving is fun.

As you can see, had a very roc

start. Most student divers who encou

ter many problems while learning, geerally never finish the training. The

miss out on the fun diving offers. ow

ever, opted not give up. finally m

some local divers through the old Cogars ports in the Bronx. They ran

dive trip to an alvador, Bahamawhere met Zig, on live and man

other great divers. Those people had

different, more social and fun mentaity. The diving was much easier the

and well organized. That was whenstarted to have my first good dive

inally, joined a scuba diving club Z

was starting, the cuba ports it

Club [the predecessor of TC]. rothen on diving became my passion.

Vreni


6/8

Club Dive Schedule

Date/Time: Location Description Contact/Organization

Nov. 27 to ec 4 Exumas, Bahamas Aquacat iveaboard im & oann acci

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

Jack Kurz or the dive coordinator shown, or refer to our website at www.thescubasportsclub.org .

LOCAL DIVE SHOPS - AT YOUR SERVICE

The listing of local dive shops is provided to you as a reference and public service.For each shops specialty, dive training and trip programs, please call or visit their website.

Captain Saams Scuba

School863 E Main t., te B

tamford, CT 06902

Tel. 203-32 CBAwww.capt-saam.com

The Dive Shop439 ederal d.

Brookfield, CT 06804Tel. 203-740-9166

www.Theivehoponline.com

Pan Aqua Diving (2 locations):

460 43rd t., New ork, N 10036Tel. 212-736-3483

and

461 ederal d., Brookfield, CT 06804

Tel. 203-775-3573www.panaqua.com

Rex Dive Center

144 ater treetNorwalk, CT 06854

Tel. 203-853-4148

www.rexdive.com

Cougar Sports

917 aw Mill iver d.Ardsley, N 10502Tel. 914-693-8877

Durland Scuba Committee

& School

enture Crew #53

35 East rassy prain d. te 204onkers N 10710

Tel 914-961-1263

http://www.durlandscuba.org


Aqua Visions Scuba118 est Boston ost oad

Mamaroneck, N 10543

Tel. 914-381-1884

www.aquavisions.biz

Ski and Scuba Connection26 aint och Ave

reenwich, CT 06830

Tel. 203-629-4766

www.skiandscubaconnection.com

2037 Central ark Aveonkers, N 10710

Tel. 914-779-2966

and

2672 erritsen AveBrooklyn, N 11229

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

Captain MikesDiving School530 City sland Ave

City sland, N 10464

Tel. 718-885-1588

www.captainmikesdiving.com

Abyss Scuba222 E Main treet

Mt. isco, N 10549

914-244-3483

www.abyss-scuba.net

Marsh Scuba Supply93 auer d.

oughkeepsie, N 12603

Tel. 845-452-8994

www.marshscuba.com


7/8

Whos Who at TSSCin 2010


Executive Director: Bill NoelDive Planning: ack urzEducation/Safety: Bob BakEnviro/Legislative: eter eale

President: im acci

Vice President: Nick appano

Treasurer: Cindy isher

Secretary: oann Bohannon

Director At Large: Michael Noel

Membership: enise urz

Newsletter: uth Emblin

Webmaster: im acci

Program: Allan ios

Social: udy imek

Legal Advisor: obert chrager

Founder: Armand Zigahn

Co-Founder: oliman henouda

List Maintenance: Anne udge

Note:

Programs may change without prior notice. Seewww.thescubasportsclub.orgfor updates.

SOCIAL &

EVENTS

2010

For details on the individual events,please go to

www.thescubasportsclub.org

Date Description

ec. 8th TSSC Holiday Party& General Meeting

ictors estaurant

Time TBA

Directors Meeting:Tue, ct. 5th, 2010 at 7 pm,

Petes Saloon in Elmsford

General Meeting:

ed. ct. 13th, 2010, at 7.00 pm

ictors estaurant, awthorne

Program Notes:

oe adomski, rebreather expert

October Program

Directors Meeting:

ed. Nov. 3rd, 2010 at 7.00 pmocation TBA

General Meeting:

ed. Nov. 10th, 2010 at 7:00pm

Victors Restaurant, Hawthorne

Program Notes:

Dr. JenFu Chengon diving with disabilities

www.stayfocused.org, jenfucheng.com

November Program

Beneath The Sea

The Largest Consumer Scuba & DiveTravel Show in America at the Mead-owlands Exposition Center in Secau-cus, New Jersey

Welcome to all who are interested inscuba diving and related environ-

mental issues! BTS is a not-for-profitcorporation dedicated to increasingawareness of the earth's oceans andthe sport of scuba diving.

As an award-winning organization,BTS helps promote environmentalconservation and the protection ofmarine wildlife through grants toother nonprofit groups. Through itsinternational poster contest for chil-dren, called Ocean Pals, BTS helpseducate children on the wonder and

delicate nature of our oceans.

Beneath The Sea's annual expositionin March will feature seminars andworkshops, lots of great door prizes,a film festival showcasing the workof world-renowned underwatervideographers, great parties, andexhibits and demonstrations by hun-dreds of manufacturers, dive clubs,dive shops, resorts, and much more!

Come and enjoy Beneath The Sea2011!

As always, TSSC will be part ofthis exciting event, by supplyingvolunteers for several areas of theshow, as well as at our own ex-hibit booth.

2010 was a very successful yearfor us, and we hope to repeat theexperience in 2011. Be a part ofthe largest Scuba & Dive TravelShow in America!

Keep checking our website at

www.thescubasportsclub.org

for details on TSSCs involvementat BTS 2011.

For details on Beneath The Sea

2011 go towww.beneaththesea.orgfor more information on the up-coming show, to be held fromMarch 25th to 27th, 2011.

See you in March2011!

It Is Never Too Soon

To Think AboutBeneath The Sea 2011

nly one entry in our FIRST DIVEtory Contest is left!

This means that $)7(5 the Novem-ber issue (and a story by Tom Cas-

cione), you need to vote for your favor-ite! f you cannot remember them all,

go back to the May/une 10 issue, andstart re-reading these stories!

otes are due by 11/20/10, please email

to [email protected], subject: FIRSTDIVE Contest 2010My Vote


8/8


EDITORS NOTE:

This newsletter is a publication of The Scuba Sports Club of Westchester, NYIssue 10/2010 Material may not be reprinted without explicit permission by TSSC.

What is a rebreather? Many of us haveseen them in use, but only few of us

have actually used them, as rebreather

diving requires additional training.

To quote from Wikipedia:

A rebreather is a type of breathing setthat provides a breathing gas containingoxygen and recycled exhaled gas. This recy-

cling reduces the volume of breathing gasused, making a rebreather lighter and more

compact than an open-circuit breathing setfor the same duration in environments

where humans cannot safely breathe from

the atmosphere. n the Armed orces it issometimes called "CCBA" (Closed Circuit

nderwater Breathing Apparatus).

OfficialDive Club

As mentioned in the September news-

letter, it is that time of year again

when you, the TSSC members need to puton your thinking caps to nominate new or

confirm existing TSSC directors. Speak-

ing from experience, being a director at

TSSC can be challenging at times, but it

is also extremely rewarding, because our

Board of Directors is not just the

operating business unit for the club, we

have all become good friends over the

years. And former directors also continue

to help us out, letting TSSC benefit from

their past experience.

We have come a long way in the last cou-

ple of years, reviving the club and stream-lining the bylaws and the Board of Direc-

tors. It has not always been easy, but our

shared passion for scuba diving has en-

abled us to push onward. To continue this

positive momentum, the board needs the

help of the members. There are several

positions up for renewal or awaiting new

blood, please get involved!

RuthEditor

Looking Out From Inside A Sharks Mouth

While updating my iod the

other day, surfed through the

available odCasts searching for new

video clips on sailing and diving.

usually dont go for the top-rated

stuff, but one clip in particular caught

my eye. ears ago was given a oro

camera to test, a small, easy-to-use

camera that comes with all kinds of

attachments and an underwater hous-

ing. played around with it on a dive

vacation in Bonaire and was pretty

impressed with the results, though

never used it again after purchasing

another camera at a subsequent BT.Maybe should revive it. n the od-

Cast, Eric Cheng, musician, software

engineer, scuba diver, photographer

(etpixel.com) stuck several oro

video cameras on the end of a long

stick and went diving with sharks.

The resulting video is nothing but

spectacular, and hark Bite oro

has become one of the top-rated

odCast downloads at iTunes. True to

my protectiveness of sharks in gen-

eral, first questioned whether stick-

ing a camera into a sharks mouth is

that clever or would be detrimental to

the shark, but after watching the footage

agreed that the experiment was a suc-

cess - and actually helped reinforce my

respect for and admiration of sharks.

They seemed quite gentle when probing

the cameras even though one of them

was baited to attract them. There is

even footage from inside a reef sharks

mouth, in which you can clearly see the

sunlight streaming in through its gills.

Most of the sharks in the video were

large lemon sharks, but the activity in

the water also attracted a number of

more inquisitive reef sharks. The factthat several sharks actually took the

camera, then let go of it realizing it was

inedible, again proves that sharks are

not just mindless eating machines.

The odCast features a lengthyMaking f ection, explaining how

the footage was obtained.

To view the free odCast, go to

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/

divefilm-hd-video-hd/id214353624, click

on hark Bite oro

(must have iTunes to view)

n our ctober presentation by Joe

Radomski, rebreather expert, wewill focus on the use of rebreathers

underwater - where it is sometimesknown as CC = "closed circuit re-

breather", "closed circuit scuba",

"semi closed scuba", C = "semi

closed rebreather", or CCBA ="closed circuit underwater breathing

apparatus", as opposed to Aqua-

ung-type equipment, which isknown as "open circuit scuba".

ebreather technology is a mystery

to many of us, but the possibility of a

completely quiet, almost self-sufficient dive is enticing. oe a-

domski will explain what is involved,and what open circuit divers need

to learn to safely use rebreatherequipment.

Oct. 13th, 2010

Meeting starts at 7 pm.

ebreather technology is used in manydifferent environments, from diving,

aerospace and outer space, in hospitals,

hyperbaric chambers, submarines,mountaineering, etc.

October Program Notes:Rebreathers
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/divefilm-hd-video-hd/id214353624http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/divefilm-hd-video-hd/id214353624http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/divefilm-hd-video-hd/id214353624http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/divefilm-hd-video-hd/id214353624http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/divefilm-hd-video-hd/id214353624

seaswells october 2010 newsletter

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