A divers chace of accidents decreses when they average 20 dives per year. Practice makes perfect.
Monday, October 10, 2005
Armed and dangerous - Flipper the firing dolphin let loose by Katrina
Mark Townsend in Houston
Sunday September 25, 2005
The Observer
Mark Townsend in Houston
Sunday September 25, 2005
The Observer
It may be the oddest tale to emerge from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Armed dolphins, trained by the US military to shoot terrorists and pinpoint spies underwater, may be missing in the Gulf of Mexico.
Experts who have studied the US navy's cetacean training exercises claim the 36 mammals could be carrying 'toxic dart' guns. Divers and surfers risk attack, they claim, from a species considered to be among the planet's smartest. The US navy admits it has been training dolphins for military purposes, but has refused to confirm that any are missing.
Dolphins have been trained in attack-and-kill missions since the Cold War. The US Atlantic bottlenose dolphins have apparently been taught to shoot terrorists attacking military vessels. Their coastal compound was breached during the storm, sweeping them out to sea. But those who have studied the controversial use of dolphins in the US defence programme claim it is vital they are caught quickly.
Leo Sheridan, 72, a respected accident investigator who has worked for government and industry, said he had received intelligence from sources close to the US government's marine fisheries service confirming dolphins had escaped.
'My concern is that they have learnt to shoot at divers in wetsuits who have simulated terrorists in exercises. If divers or windsurfers are mistaken for a spy or suicide bomber and if equipped with special harnesses carrying toxic darts, they could fire,' he said. 'The darts are designed to put the target to sleep so they can be interrogated later, but what happens if the victim is not found for hours?'
Usually dolphins were controlled via signals transmitted through a neck harness. 'The question is, were these dolphins made secure before Katrina struck?' said Sheridan.
The mystery surfaced when a separate group of dolphins was washed from a commercial oceanarium on the Mississippi coast during Katrina. Eight were found with the navy's help, but the dolphins were not returned until US navy scientists had examined them.
Sheridan is convinced the scientists were keen to ensure the dolphins were not the navy's, understood to be kept in training ponds in a sound in Louisiana, close to Lake Pontchartrain, whose waters devastated New Orleans.
The navy launched the classified Cetacean Intelligence Mission in San Diego in 1989, where dolphins, fitted with harnesses and small electrodes planted under their skin, were taught to patrol and protect Trident submarines in harbour and stationary warships at sea.
Criticism from animal rights groups ensured the use of dolphins became more secretive. But the project gained impetus after the Yemen terror attack on the USS Cole in 2000. Dolphins have also been used to detect mines near an Iraqi port.
After not booking a Tenneco trip fast enough with RJ, Ralph F. and I decided to finally go for the "Grand Traverse" at Lauderdale by the sea. We dropped all our gear at Palm Street in the portal. Lots of shade and sand free wall space to gear up. I parked the Escape at El Prado and walked back. We gear up with double AL 80s and headed out.
I"ll post more details later as I took notes, but the best areas to dive are Hibiscus to Palm and Datura to El Prado.
Heading North from Datura on the 2nd reef line, I always ended up turning at the "Big Dipper" a huge Star Coral with about a 10ft diameter base and several more colonies right next to it. That actually is the beginning of the BEST part. I found a Brain Coral of about equal size and very high coral density. It was incredible and I can't believe after 100 dives at LBTS I was missing the best part!
Once the portals are done I will write up some new shore dive plans for making the shorter transverse from Datura to El Prado out in front of the pier.
We saw about 10 lobster, caught several and only one was legal.
We didn't notice any concentrations of red algea!
We didn't notice any concentrations of red algea!
Good Stuff!
Dive time 180 minutes (3 hours) beating my previous record of 2 hours and 45 minutes. We averaged about 20 minutes per block for 6 blocks plus the 20 minute swim out and back in.
Distance: Approx 1 mile.
Gas: Ralph and I both had 500 psi left of 32% in dub 80s at the end of the dive.
Photos, Panoramics, and more to come.
Photos, Panoramics, and more to come.
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Underwater Photomerged Wrecks
I left this one of the Rio Miami raw so you could see how the pieces really come together. With the "stamp" tool I can fill in the water in the background.
Now I can't wait to try this on the reef or at datura, if the vis improves and seas calm!
Now I can't wait to try this on the reef or at datura, if the vis improves and seas calm!
Underwater Photomerged Wrecks
After 3 weeks of being dry, a new sad record for me, I finally got back in the water. I've been busy with photos from the Saint Louis trip, also posted to flickr. I have become addicted to photomerge in Photoshop Elements so I talked my team in to following me around a couple of the big wrecks off Miami and trying it out. This one had the best results
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
From: "Michael Barnette" <aocfishman@hotmail.com>
Subject: reality
Date: Tue, 27 Aug 2002 08:29:40 +0000
Subject: reality
Date: Tue, 27 Aug 2002 08:29:40 +0000
That is the "Tao of George" he is a monumental
asshole on the internet, but he honestly cares about diving and people's
safety, as evident to anyone that picks up a phone and talks to the guy. I
am a stroke and he is a dick, but we still care about improving diving, each
in our own charming way.
asshole on the internet, but he honestly cares about diving and people's
safety, as evident to anyone that picks up a phone and talks to the guy. I
am a stroke and he is a dick, but we still care about improving diving, each
in our own charming way.
Monday, September 19, 2005
Chicas - Pink Floyd
This picture gave me college flashbacks of how much I loved Pink Floyd. One guy in the dorm room had all the boot leg concerts.
Dean wrote an insightful essay to debate the other side of the artifact story.
----------------------------------------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
Putting aside maters of preservation/conservation vs commercial
salvage for personal gain issues ... it is unfortunate to see some of
the high handed tone on display here by otherwise intelligent members
of this list.
Can I remind you these artifacts are in Malta ? That's not a twee
town name like Rome GA, or Melbourne FLA but an actual country, you
know ... independent nation and all that...? This is a matter the
Maltese have full right to determine for themselves. Hysterical is
the only description of the unintended irony of Rob getting all riled
up because the author dared use the words "your country" in defence
of an attack against him for the temerity of the Maltese to implement
maritime law without consulting the cyberdivers here on the Uwex
list. LOL Look how quickly national pride was invoked in some
reactions here ... some of you need to take a good hard look at
yourselves.
Can you just picture this guy's eyebrows when he innocently opens his
inbox to find some guy called 'SeaJay' who is on his high horse with
a series of foaming-at-the-mouth, malaprop emails with instant expert
analysis on the situation ... all from a few thousand miles away ...
in 'another country' ... over the internet! Although it is amusing
to consider SeaJay debating Maritime Archaeological matters and
International Maritime Law in Malta ... which is roughly the
equivalent of sending Paris Hilton to broker peace in the Middle East.
When we behave like this we open ourselves up to charges of cultural
imperialism. Why should this guy give a toss what anyone in the US
(or Australia) thinks about protecting their own maritime assets ?
When was the last time you/we consulted the Maltese for their
thoughts or permission for anything regarding US or Australian
maritime matters ?
Also, it might help to use a little imagination, common sense and
benefit of the doubt ... often when the Greeks, or Italians (or in
the case of the Maltese) lose items from their underwater heritage it
doesn't get "put in some local museum" for all to view somewhere in
Valetta where little Maltese kiddies can "ooh and aahhh" at it and
rejoice in their cultural history... When it is recovered under
commercial imperative, it will go to the highest bidder and will end
up somewhere a looooong way from Malta and quite likely to be one of
the richest nation on the planet ... quite likely some place with a
'zip code' Once salvaged they are GONE and once gone the Maltese have
neither their own artefacts of the small fortune they bought the
salvers. so they lose twice over. Can you say "Elgin Marbles" ?
You guys DO understand where Malta is right ? It's been around since
the ancient Greeks, Romans, Phoenicians and Arabs ... We're not
talking 60 yr old Liberty ships rusting away and collapsing on the
bottom of the ocean here, the u/w heritage they are trying stop being
illegally exported all over the globe is thousands of years old.
Telling them that a two thousand year old wreck must be crowbarred
out next week before it it's 'ruined' must put them in stitches.
Seajay, unfortunately you clearly know nothing about artefact
preservation and it makes you appear a fool. Many objects underwater
reach a certain status of deterioration and then attain a point of
stasis. (accretion over metals for for example) The older the item,
the more likely and truer this is. Once an item reaches that point
the only way to accelerate it's demise or for it to become destroyed,
IS to actually recover it. The process of physical recovery and then
exposure to a new environment can be extremely and rapidly
destructive especially when done by amateurs.
Please do not misinterpret my use of the word 'amateur' to be a slur,
which it is not. The word comes from the French/Latin root 'love' and
means literally someone who does something "for love". My point
being that as amateurs we must recognise in same cases we risk
unintentionally killing the things we love ... killing by kindness
absent the skills and experience to properly care for the items we
value so highly.
We are also (generally speaking) not big on documenting our
recoveries before removal so critical clues of context are
irreplaceably lost. Sometimes the benefit of 'context' can outweigh
the benefit of what is learned through recovery ... but of course
there's no money in that is there ? ;-)
I am always suspicious in any aspect of my life about dogmatic,
fundamentalist reactions one way or another on any issue, and in the
case of salvage vs archaeology I think it fails to recognise what a
complex subject this is and how 'right' and 'wrong' vary from site to
site and case to case.
• There are many examples around the world where private involvement
of individuals or organisations has led to the discovery, recovery
and documentation of items that would otherwise indeed perish before
anyone 'professional' otherwise got their hands on them.
• It has to be said that many of the negative comments from the
archaeological community are open to charges of jealousy or envy that
we as private divers are going places and doing things they cannot
for lack of funds, budget, experience, depth, training or capabilities.
• In some cases only the prospect (not guarantee, 'prospect') of
commercial returns can justify the risk of prospective expenditure of
research, discovery and recovery in the first place, without which
the items would likely never be located at all.
• It is also well known that there is a burgeoning worldwide business
in what used to be the acceptable and exciting description of
"Treasure Hunters" morphing their public persona into pseudo-
archaeological recovery firms ... maybe with a maritime archaeologist
or two on board who maintain a front, but in reality pays lip service
to the real deal which is to salvage and sell the items for
millions .. in some cases billions of dollars. This reminds me of the
way Japanese commercial whaling becomes 'Scientific Research' LOL
I'm not sure how much I even care about a few hundred whales, but I
know for sure how much I detest hypocrites and liars who treat me
like a fool.
(Lest anyone form the wrong opinion, the above by the way is not a
sly dig at James Sinclair of Shipwrex, I have no idea as to the
disposition of his organisation on that matter)
In a diving/exploration/artefact future which due to an ever
shrinking world and intra-connected world will be inescapably more
legalistic, pan-national and complicated that it is today, such
simplistic uninformed and hysterical reactions are not going to get
us anywhere and indeed will likely harden the resolve of those that
make the rules under which we all must play.
Regards
Dean Laffan
Real World Productions
93 Lucerne Crescent
Alphington, 3078
Victoria, Australia
Studio 61-3-9443-1644
Mobile 0418-525-315
http://www.realworld.com.au
----------------------------------------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dean Laffan" <email@realworld.com.au>
To: <UWEX@uwex.us>
Sent: Friday, September 16, 2005 12:22 AM
Subject: Re: [UWEX] Scuba looters in Malta?
Putting aside maters of preservation/conservation vs commercial
salvage for personal gain issues ... it is unfortunate to see some of
the high handed tone on display here by otherwise intelligent members
of this list.
Can I remind you these artifacts are in Malta ? That's not a twee
town name like Rome GA, or Melbourne FLA but an actual country, you
know ... independent nation and all that...? This is a matter the
Maltese have full right to determine for themselves. Hysterical is
the only description of the unintended irony of Rob getting all riled
up because the author dared use the words "your country" in defence
of an attack against him for the temerity of the Maltese to implement
maritime law without consulting the cyberdivers here on the Uwex
list. LOL Look how quickly national pride was invoked in some
reactions here ... some of you need to take a good hard look at
yourselves.
Can you just picture this guy's eyebrows when he innocently opens his
inbox to find some guy called 'SeaJay' who is on his high horse with
a series of foaming-at-the-mouth, malaprop emails with instant expert
analysis on the situation ... all from a few thousand miles away ...
in 'another country' ... over the internet! Although it is amusing
to consider SeaJay debating Maritime Archaeological matters and
International Maritime Law in Malta ... which is roughly the
equivalent of sending Paris Hilton to broker peace in the Middle East.
When we behave like this we open ourselves up to charges of cultural
imperialism. Why should this guy give a toss what anyone in the US
(or Australia) thinks about protecting their own maritime assets ?
When was the last time you/we consulted the Maltese for their
thoughts or permission for anything regarding US or Australian
maritime matters ?
Also, it might help to use a little imagination, common sense and
benefit of the doubt ... often when the Greeks, or Italians (or in
the case of the Maltese) lose items from their underwater heritage it
doesn't get "put in some local museum" for all to view somewhere in
Valetta where little Maltese kiddies can "ooh and aahhh" at it and
rejoice in their cultural history... When it is recovered under
commercial imperative, it will go to the highest bidder and will end
up somewhere a looooong way from Malta and quite likely to be one of
the richest nation on the planet ... quite likely some place with a
'zip code' Once salvaged they are GONE and once gone the Maltese have
neither their own artefacts of the small fortune they bought the
salvers. so they lose twice over. Can you say "Elgin Marbles" ?
You guys DO understand where Malta is right ? It's been around since
the ancient Greeks, Romans, Phoenicians and Arabs ... We're not
talking 60 yr old Liberty ships rusting away and collapsing on the
bottom of the ocean here, the u/w heritage they are trying stop being
illegally exported all over the globe is thousands of years old.
Telling them that a two thousand year old wreck must be crowbarred
out next week before it it's 'ruined' must put them in stitches.
Seajay, unfortunately you clearly know nothing about artefact
preservation and it makes you appear a fool. Many objects underwater
reach a certain status of deterioration and then attain a point of
stasis. (accretion over metals for for example) The older the item,
the more likely and truer this is. Once an item reaches that point
the only way to accelerate it's demise or for it to become destroyed,
IS to actually recover it. The process of physical recovery and then
exposure to a new environment can be extremely and rapidly
destructive especially when done by amateurs.
Please do not misinterpret my use of the word 'amateur' to be a slur,
which it is not. The word comes from the French/Latin root 'love' and
means literally someone who does something "for love". My point
being that as amateurs we must recognise in same cases we risk
unintentionally killing the things we love ... killing by kindness
absent the skills and experience to properly care for the items we
value so highly.
We are also (generally speaking) not big on documenting our
recoveries before removal so critical clues of context are
irreplaceably lost. Sometimes the benefit of 'context' can outweigh
the benefit of what is learned through recovery ... but of course
there's no money in that is there ? ;-)
I am always suspicious in any aspect of my life about dogmatic,
fundamentalist reactions one way or another on any issue, and in the
case of salvage vs archaeology I think it fails to recognise what a
complex subject this is and how 'right' and 'wrong' vary from site to
site and case to case.
• There are many examples around the world where private involvement
of individuals or organisations has led to the discovery, recovery
and documentation of items that would otherwise indeed perish before
anyone 'professional' otherwise got their hands on them.
• It has to be said that many of the negative comments from the
archaeological community are open to charges of jealousy or envy that
we as private divers are going places and doing things they cannot
for lack of funds, budget, experience, depth, training or capabilities.
• In some cases only the prospect (not guarantee, 'prospect') of
commercial returns can justify the risk of prospective expenditure of
research, discovery and recovery in the first place, without which
the items would likely never be located at all.
• It is also well known that there is a burgeoning worldwide business
in what used to be the acceptable and exciting description of
"Treasure Hunters" morphing their public persona into pseudo-
archaeological recovery firms ... maybe with a maritime archaeologist
or two on board who maintain a front, but in reality pays lip service
to the real deal which is to salvage and sell the items for
millions .. in some cases billions of dollars. This reminds me of the
way Japanese commercial whaling becomes 'Scientific Research' LOL
I'm not sure how much I even care about a few hundred whales, but I
know for sure how much I detest hypocrites and liars who treat me
like a fool.
(Lest anyone form the wrong opinion, the above by the way is not a
sly dig at James Sinclair of Shipwrex, I have no idea as to the
disposition of his organisation on that matter)
In a diving/exploration/artefact future which due to an ever
shrinking world and intra-connected world will be inescapably more
legalistic, pan-national and complicated that it is today, such
simplistic uninformed and hysterical reactions are not going to get
us anywhere and indeed will likely harden the resolve of those that
make the rules under which we all must play.
Regards
Dean Laffan
Real World Productions
93 Lucerne Crescent
Alphington, 3078
Victoria, Australia
Studio 61-3-9443-1644
Mobile 0418-525-315
http://www.realworld.com.au
Thursday, September 15, 2005
A few days ago I posted this article to the Underwater Explorers list. Click the link to read the full aritcle. I was moved by Michael's responce below it.
--Matt
Powered by CDNN - CYBER DIVER News Network
From: <barney00@tampabay.rr.com>
--Matt
Scuba diving shipwreck looters to be prosecuted in Malta
Powered by CDNN - CYBER DIVER News Network
by KARL SCHEMBRI
MALTA (11 Sep 2005) -- Lying deep underwater off St Thomas Bay, the wreck SS Polynésien is considered "Malta's best kept secret" according to international wreck diving experts. But what has been happening upon the slick French ship also known as "the little Titanic" for the last decade amounts to omertà – criminal reticence.
Since it was sunk by a UC22 U-boat on 10 August 1918 while sailing in convoy towards Malta, the Polynésien has hidden priceless treasures for almost one hundred years, buried up to 70 metres under the sea, where only experienced scuba divers can reach.
The wreck is no site for amateurs. According to sources in the diving circles, it takes around an hour and a half of decompression, staggered on the way back up to the surface, for around 20 minutes of so-called technical deep diving at those depths.
It takes much more than 20 minutes to explore the entire 157-metre ship, and for the expert divers to reach the thousands of serving platters, ceiling fans and other artefacts inside.
And among these diving experts, groups of ruthless robbers have been looting these artefacts and others even older found in diverse diving sites around Malta, on paper protected by the Cultural Heritage Act as national treasures but effectively vulnerable to human predators armed with goggles and cylinders.
http://www.cdnn.info/news/industry/i050911.html
**Snip ** (click the link above to read the rest)
From: <barney00@tampabay.rr.com>
To: <UWEX@uwex.us>
Sent: Thursday, September 15, 2005 11:13 AM
Subject: Re: [UWEX] Scuba looters in Malta?
For those that think only archaeologists or "museums" should have the
right to recover artifacts, ponder over some of the following reading
material...
The Curation Crisis
S. Terry Childs
"Imagine you hear about an archeology project...that could lead to a
breakthrough in your research. Except that now, less than a decade
after [the material] was excavated, the federal agency that sponsored
the project has no idea where any of it went, nor the time or resources
to look."
http://www.cr.nps.gov/archeology/cg/fd_vol7_num4/crisis.htm
A Curation Crisis
Excerpts from American Archaeology
http://www.coloradoarchaeology.org/curation_crisis_in_archaeology.htm
The Crisis in Archeological Collection Management
Raymond H. Thompson
http://crm.cr.nps.gov/archive/23-05/23-05-2.pdf
The curation crisis: can we afford the future?
Cindy Stankowski
http://www.sfsu.edu/~museumst/minerva/stankow.html
Archeological Curation in the 21st Century
Or, Making Sure the Roof Doesn’t Blow Off
Wendy Bustard
http://crm.cr.nps.gov/archive/23-05/23-05-4.pdf
These are the federal regulations for how federal agencies are supposed
to manage cultural resources -- for the "public benefit."
Curation of Federally-Owned and Administered Archeological Collections
http://www.cr.nps.gov/archeology/tools/36cfr79.htm
Unfortunately, even after many years, many agencies do not comply with
these regulations. Note the 2005 Bureau of Land Management (BLM) memo
below, that cites: "A subsequent audit by the IG of the BLM’s
collections in 1999 (99-I-808) revealed that BLM still could not
account for the majority of its museum collections and made
recommendations."
http://www.blm.gov/nhp/efoia/wo/fy05/im2005-190.htm
Perhaps wreck divers that recover artifacts and put them in boxes
to "rot in their garage" (as critics are so apt to say) are no better
or worse than many archaeologists, universities, and museums.
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
From: George Irvine
Sent: Tuesday, September 13, 2005 8:30 PM
Subject: RE: [gavinscooters] Re: Updated GUE Instructor List
**snip**
Let's just boil this down to the simplest common denominator: dive instruction is a starting place from which it is the participant's own responsibility to progress, like every other form of instruction in life. I know nothing about effecting dive instruction, so I will defer to those who do, and fall back on the fact that anyone who wants to move on needs to make an effort to learn and leave the arguing to those whose position requires an argument.
I can teach you things beyond your wildest dreams, but to take a dive class from me is never going to happen, so take your classes and prepare yourself to be able to move on,and learn from the very best who are on this list, which means don't get too caught up in the bullshit or you will never get past it.
**snip**
**snip**
Sunday, September 11, 2005
2005-8-12 Hydro Atlantic with Mike Hageman
Mike, my best man from my wedding made the third dive trip on the Hydro with me. This is the port side crane.
2005-8-6 Ancient Mariner with Andrea, Stacey and Ken
This is the third time I've seen a juvenile Spotted Trunkfish. Its about the size of a ping pong ball.
Ancient Mariner in Black and White
After the Hydro we dropped on the Ancient Mariner with Andrea joining us. I've been wanting a Glassysweeper photo in the stairs shot for a while.
Click the photo to see all the photos from the Flickr set.
Click the photo to see all the photos from the Flickr set.
2005-8-6 Hydro Atlantic with Stacey and Ken
I knew to look for the Goliath that hangs out under the bridge of the Hydro. He was there and I had to point out the fish to Stacey and Ken who both gave me a "Blauufff" through the reg to acknoledge they actually saw the fish. Perhaps they were just trying to boom back at him?
Bentek Ar Pen
The Miami Project did some scooter dives in late August after Datrina. We hit the Bentek Ar pen, St. Henry, Tortuga, and Atlas Recycling Barge.
The Thursday night before we did a Barracuda night feeding dive. The surface was boiling over the Princess Britney as we geared up. On the way down Cuda, Jacks, and Tarpon were feeding on baitfish balls around the wreck.
Silve flashes off my HID in all directions. It was the highest anxiety dive I've done since my first tech dive after class!
We scootered to the Parasio and had to stop several times for freight trains of fish crossing in front of us. The thermocline of 82 and 70 degree water really mess up the vis.
We swam through the Parasio and I've never felt so safe inside a wreck!
After 32 minutes I was just as ready of Jody to thumb the dive.
On our safety stop 20 squid swarmed our lights and would "ink" us as we moved to check our guages. It was a crazy dive.
The Thursday night before we did a Barracuda night feeding dive. The surface was boiling over the Princess Britney as we geared up. On the way down Cuda, Jacks, and Tarpon were feeding on baitfish balls around the wreck.
Silve flashes off my HID in all directions. It was the highest anxiety dive I've done since my first tech dive after class!
We scootered to the Parasio and had to stop several times for freight trains of fish crossing in front of us. The thermocline of 82 and 70 degree water really mess up the vis.
We swam through the Parasio and I've never felt so safe inside a wreck!
After 32 minutes I was just as ready of Jody to thumb the dive.
On our safety stop 20 squid swarmed our lights and would "ink" us as we moved to check our guages. It was a crazy dive.
Avid Diver TGIF Dive
My first dive on the Hydro was Friday on the TGIF with Charlie. I've been trying to get this shot of the dive boat "pick up" for three years. It's very hard as the camera has "spots" on the lens that have to be cleaned with Albanian mask defogger, composition, sky, and subject have to be looking the right way, and then you have one shot before the boat moves out of position. I hope Oliver puts it up on his website!
Oh, the dive was awesome as well! After 7 dives, 3 with camera, I finally got some good water conditions on the Hydro for photography!
Oh, the dive was awesome as well! After 7 dives, 3 with camera, I finally got some good water conditions on the Hydro for photography!
2005-8-6 Hydro Atlantic with Stacey and Ken
I hit the Hydro Atlantic three times in August. This the Starboard side crane.
Click on the like to go to my Flickr account and see the rest of the photos.
If you are REALLY good, you can click on the global icon on the tag "Hydro Atlantic" and see the rest of the photos including some by Jan Sitchin.
Bathtub
Click on the photo to get a tour of a high and low end home in Missippi after Katrina. No one is sitting around begging, but they look like they could use a little help!
It was a code blue
There are 394 pages of photos with the tag "burningman". Some day, I must go to this before it becomes corporate. This pic made my day.
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