DEMA WORKS WITH FLORIDA FISH AND WILDLIFE COMMISSION (FWC) TO PLACE FAIR LICENSURE LANGUAGE IN FLORIDA BILL
Culmination of Effort That Began Last Year Clarifies Responsibility and Ensures Options for Divers and Dive Operators in Fishing and Lobster Licensing Law Following months of close collaboration with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), DEMA has succeeded in placing language regarding the licensure of dive charter vessels in Florida House Bill 7025. This Bill amends a previous law which would have forced dive charter operators to purchase a fishing and lobster license … Read entire article »
Filed under: Artificial Reefs, Boats, Conservation, Diver, Earth, Featured, ocean, Open Water, Reefs, Reference, Report
Underwater World Offshore Jacksonville Florida Event
Thursday March 29th, 2012 @ 7PM Intuition Ale Works 720 King Street, Jacksonville, Fl. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Artificial Reefs, Conservation, Diver, Earth, Events, Featured, ocean, Open Water, Photography, Promotions, Reefs, Reference, Report, Volunteer
Shark fin soup to blame for blue shark decline
by Tamera Jones hey discovered that the sharks feed in exactly the same places in the ocean that long-line fishing boats operate, which means they get caught along with other target fish. The researchers add that such regions are ideal places to implement so-called marine protected areas, where fishing is banned, to safeguard blue sharks and other vulnerable species. ‘These sharks aren’t simply by-catch; we think along with mako sharks they’re being targeted for the shark fin market … Read entire article »
Filed under: Conservation, Earth, Featured, Fish, ocean, Promotions, Reefs, Reference, Report, Sharks
Inshore reefs next for city artificial reef program
by Joe Wilhelm Jr., Staff Writer The City’s Waterways Commission was updated on the progress of the City’s Artificial Reef program Wednesday and learned of efforts to develop in-shore reefs. Dana Morton, City Aquatic Biologist and Artificial Reef Coordinator, was joined by City Planner Jody McDaniel in presenting an update requested by the commission City Waterways Coordinator Jim Suber also helps coordinate the program’s efforts. “Artificial and natural reefs are public resources that provide recreation benefits and income to local economies,” said McDaniel. “Fishing is a multibillion dollar industry in Florida and its estimated economic impact is $5.4 billion and 54,000 jobs associated with the fishing industry,” she said. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission administers a state artificial reef program created by the Florida Legislature in 1982. The program provides financial and technical assistance … Read entire article »
Filed under: Artificial Reefs, Conservation, Events, ocean, Reefs, Reference, Report
S.B. Filmmaker Mike DeGruy Killed in Helicopter Crash
Mike DeGruy, the internationally respected and unanimously liked documentarian of underwater nature films who called Santa Barbara home, died today in a helicopter crash in Australia just before 4 p.m. local time. He had just turned 60 years old at the end of December, and leaves behind his wife and two children. In charge of curating the “Reel Nature” sidebar of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival for the past decade, DeGruy was missing his first film fest in nine years, according to his Twitter page (twitter.com/mvdegruy). He was in Australia to work on his next project, and was slated to continue working sometime next week in Papau New Guinea. The crash, which also killed a pilot from Melbourne, occurred near the town of Nowra on the New South Wales coast, according … Read entire article »
Filed under: Diver, Events, Open Water, Photography, Reefs, Reference, Report
Our Living Ocean
Did you know these facts about our oceans? How important is our oceans to you? Please share the knowledge that our oceans are under our care. It is up to you and you to stand up for what is yours and yours. That we, the citizen of this planet are all responsible for the stewardship of this one and only planet that supports our life. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, ocean, Open Water, Reefs, Reference, Report
Proposed bill pushes more state scuba diving
A state representative from Northwest Michigan has proposed a bill that would allow for the creation of more scuba diving opportunities around the state. Rep. Greg MacMaster, R-Kewadin, said he hopes to give lakeshore tourism a boost by making it easier to intentionally sink decommissioned ships or other structures for scuba divers to explore. Currently, Michigan’s law states that vessels can be intentionally sunk only within underwater preserves, MacMaster said. His proposed bill would create a permitting process where an interested party would apply for a permit from the state Department of Environmental Quality. Any ship or other vehicle that would be sunk would need to be cleaned in accordance to federal environmental standards for decomissioned vessels used as artificial reefs, according to the proposed bill. MacMaster said it also would need … Read entire article »
Filed under: Artificial Reefs, Events, Reefs, Reference, Report
A Real-Life Treasure Hunt: Local Divers to Recover $3 Billion From Sunken World War II Ship off the Cape
by Lisa DeCanio In 1942, a British ship called the Port Nicholson, was traveling across the Atlantic from the Soviet Union to the United States. During its journey, the Port Nicholson sank at an unknown location after it was torpedoed by a German U-Boat. The clincher? The Port Nicholson was carrying $53 million in platinum when it sank. Today, that platinum is worth an estimated $3 billion, and a Boston-based crew plans on recovering the lost treasure, reports CBS Boston. The treasure-hunting crew of the Sea Hunter has spent the past three years locating the ship and planning the dive. The Port Nicholson lies about 50 miles off the coast of Provincetown, MA, 700 feet below sea level. The waters where the ship lies are incredibly choppy, so the dive will have to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Artificial Reefs, Boats, Reefs, Reference, Report, Wrecks
10 new artificial reefs coming to Panama City Beach, Fla.
FELICIA KITZMILLER / News Herald Writer PANAMA CITY BEACH — Bay County has committed to build at least 10 new artificial reefs by the end of the summer and more are in the works. At their last meeting, county commissioners voted to accept a $60,000 grant from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to construct 10 new artificial reefs in an area approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about 10 nautical miles from the entrance to St. Andrew Bay at a depth of about 88 feet, according to a board memo. The reefs will augment an existing reef formed when the remnants of the old DuPont Bridge were sunk in that area. Each reef will be composed of four premanufactured concrete and steel pods arranged in grid pattern about 600 feet … Read entire article »
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Beneath The Sea Meadownlands Exposition Center, New Jersey
.. And to You, A Special Invitation to Our New Dealers Day It’s our lead-in to the show where only you and our exhibitors – over 300 of them, can do business: Friday, March 23rd. Check it: our web site, www.BeneathTheSea.orgClick on ‘Exhibitors’, then ‘Dealer Day Registration’ ps: We do have exhibit space available for you. Zig Armand Zigahn, Executive Director Beneath The Sea Inc. 495 New Rochelle Rd., #2A Bronxville, NY 10708 (914) 664-4310 Zig@BeneathTheSea.org BTS Expo 2012 March 23, 24, 25 ©Beneath The Sea 2012 … Read entire article »
Filed under: Convention, Events, Promotions, Reefs, Reference
Administration unveils sweeping plan to protect the country’s oceans
By Andrew Restuccia The Obama administration unveiled on Thursday a federal strategy for protecting the country’s oceans that calls for improving oil-spill response capabilities in the Arctic and managing the effects of climate change. The draft plan outlines a series of steps that various federal agencies will take to meet the goals of a 2010 executive order that called for ensuring the “protection, maintenance, and restoration” of the oceans. “This action plan will help focus our resources on actions that will enhance the stewardship of coastal and marine resources on which so many communities, small businesses, and American jobs depend,” Nancy Sutley, the head of the Council on Environmental Quality and the co-chairwoman of the National Ocean Council, said in a statement. The plan outlines a strategy for improving federal agencies’ ability to respond … Read entire article »
Filed under: Events, Open Water, Promotions, Reefs, Reference, Report
Titanic Items To Be Sold 100 Years After Sinking
By STEVE SZKOTAK RICHMOND, Va. — Items as small as a hairpin and as big as a chunk of the Titanic’s hull are among 5,000 artifacts from the world’s most famous shipwreck that are to be auctioned in April, close to the 100th anniversary of the disaster. Nearly a century after the April 15, 1912, sinking of the ocean liner that hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic, a New York City auction is being readied by Guernsey’s Auctioneers & Brokers. That auction house has garnered headlines in the past by selling off such historical curiosities as prized Beatles photos, famous jewels of the late Princess Diana, beloved Jerry Garcia guitars and a police motorcycle used in the Texas motorcade when John F. Kennedy was slain. But nothing as titanic as the so-called … Read entire article »
Filed under: Artificial Reefs, Auction, Events, Promotions, Reefs, Reference
Meduza S3D Camera System
The Meduza digital imaging system is much more than just a camera; it’s a whole new way of seeing things differently. As a new piece of essential film making technology it aspires to provide more flexibility and control to the art of stereoscopic recording than any other system available. Light weight, compact and fully remote controllable the camera is designed to liberate the film maker and release the creative potential in this exciting new medium and across all areas film and television production. Sport, live action, drama, natural history both for the largest and smallest screens are all supported by Meduza. The Meduza is a completely new and original, built from the ground up camera system designed to provide the very specific tools needed to produce the highest level of matched stereoscopic … Read entire article »
Filed under: Promotions, Reefs, Report, Videography