Teaching diving is something that I don’t often get a chance to do in this day and age, with the exception of the occasional Nitrox course. Then again, that is more theoretical- than practical application and doesn’t really include any “in water skill training”. Hence the smile on my face when I received the news that I was to teach the Rescue Diver Course and the Dive Master Course to an English girl called Ashleigh. My only concern was how I would manage to fit in the training parallel to guiding certified divers on liveaboard trips.

Fortunately we had a week on land due to lack of bookings, so the theory and confined water training was easily completed with help from Theresa (my colleague on the boat) acting as a victim. We had a great time and since Ashleigh worked as a life guard at a swimming pool, prior to coming out to Egypt, she also had some interesting input for us to pick up.

The next week we were taking a group of 13 divers from a Dutch Harley Davidson bikers club to dive the wrecks north of Hurghada plus a few days spent on Brothers Islands and Elphinstone. I thought to my self: “How difficult can it be to get these people to act as victims for an 18 year old, very cute, English girl and get the final scenarios acted out?” And as I expected every one was happy to help out. The first day on Abu Nuhas the group was diving with Theresa on all the four wrecks while Ashleigh and I was finishing the preparation training. As I had planed the whole thing we could after this have some divers go “missing” and divers popping up “unconscious”.

First dive went excellent and I have to say that Ashleigh is a dream-student who is really keen on learning this stuff as well as clever enough to understand what’s going on. We exit the water and as we are climbing up the ladder to the dive deck I see three Zodiacs on top of the reef. This is worrying because when the wind is strong from the North the waves are breaking over the reef right next to the wrecks and this to get swept over the reef is potentially very dangerous.

Due to the distance I couldn’t make out if it was our Zodiacs or if they were from some of the other liveaboards moored up next to us. This question was answered within minutes when Imad, one of our crew members, and Ian one of our guests, came speeding towards the boat. As it turns out, a massive random wave had taken, not only our Zodiac drivers; Imad and Montassar with surprise but also one from the next boat, and sent the three inflatables over the edge of the reef and landed them in a big pile. Imad was swept overboard in the pandemonium and had cut a piece of flesh out of the bottom of his foot when trying to regain his balance in addition to the control over his bumping vessel.

Ian had been the first one out of the water and had managed to stay onboard. Montassar stayed to wait for the remaining guests to resurface while Imad and the guest now were back on the boat. To be served this kind of action on a silver plate while teaching a Rescue Diver course is not common. Consequently Ashleigh got some really good hand-on experience taking care of Imad’s wounded foot. Even if you never wish for things like this to happen I have to admit I give fate at least 10 points for the timing… Excellent!

Having put this behind us together with our lunch break, it was now time for the second dive. The group headed out in the Zodiac (after a fairly explicit briefing on the subject of avoiding getting swept on top of the reef) to make the second dive for the day, this time on the wreck of the steam-sailor Carnatic.

At the same time Ashleigh and I kitted up and this time we were going to practice “Respond to Unconscious Diver on the Surface”, “Exiting the Water with an Unconscious Diver” plus “Treating Decompression Illness – Administration of Oxygen”. Everything goes according to plans with the in-water skill practicing but as we’re hanging on the surface, debriefing the dive, one of our Zodiacs are back with only one guest (Ian again) onboard… Hmmm… I look up and Montassar, who is driving the Zodiac, gives me a look that in a nano-second tells me:

“Hey Mr. Samaka, Can you come back to the boat please. We have a problem”.

I’m thinking “Huston, forget that other thing”! Ashleigh and I are both back on the platform in 20 seconds. It turns out that the poor guy (read clumsy guy) got entangled in the line while deploying his Surface Marker Buoy and got dragged to the surface from 5-6 metres with a speed way quicker than the recommended 18 metres/min. This is not a life-threatening situation but tagging along the modus operandi “better safe than sorry” we administrate oxygen. Ashleigh gets to participate in a sharp situation that we otherwise would have to act out. Even if you never wish for things like this to happen I have to admit I give fate at least 10 points for the timing… Awesome!

Diving is not a forgiving sport and we do enter a hostile environment every time we jump in the water. There is also an infinite well of more or less likely problems to scoop from.

This can include easily handled situations as cramp, badly trimmed buoyancy or simple equipment failure. The more serious problems can embrace passive- or active panic or out-of-air-situations. While Theresa took our guests for the third dive of the day, on the wreck of Giannis D, Ashleigh and I had planned a dive with a combination of skills to practice such circumstances as malfunctioning equipment and out-of-air. We jump into the water and start our descent. After a few seconds I turn to look at Ashleigh and notice a vast amount of bubbles surrounding her. She still acts unruffled and aware of the fact that her alternate air source is free flowing. Normally this problem is solved simply by turning the mouth piece down and let the membrane fall back in to the right position but this is clearly not working. Hmmm… Slightly discombobulating…

Tapping the regulator with her hand she still gets no result and as I look at her pressure gauge I see that she already lost about half of the air in her cylinder. This is not yet a life-threatening situation but tagging along the modus operandi “better safe than sorry” we start our ascent. I am holding my alternate air source up in front of her face as to say “No worries Ash. I’ve got plenty of air… for sale…” We turn her air off and practice the use of the alternate air source. To get this action during your Rescue course is of course not usual and even if you never wish for things like this to happen I have to admit I give fate at least 10 points for the timing… Blinding!

We move on to Brothers, sailing over night. The weather is not too bad and we have a smooth ride. 05:30 we wake the guest up and Theresa goes out in the Zodiac to make a current check. Considering the conditions we decide to go for a dive on the wreck of Numidia on the north tip of Big Brother. On this dive I ask Ashleigh to observe my behavior and spot small problems that might grow into bigger problems and that she take actions accordingly. Just as we reach the point to roll in and I’m asking the group: “Everybody ready?” I feel my tank fall out of the strap that’s holding it to my BCD but there is no time to fix it now so I continue: “Roll in on three then… One… Two… Three” and we all roll in simultaneously. We make a negative entry, swim down, and regroup on 5-6 metres… Before I even get a chance to turn around and see if Ashleigh has noticed my tank swinging above me she’s on it and has reattached it to my BCD. Normally I would have just taken my BCD off and fixed this myself but this time it fitted quite well with what was planned for the Rescue Course. Of course you never wish for things like this to happen, but I have to admit I give fate at least 10 points for the timing… Brilliant!

In the early morning hour the next day we move to Little Brother where we look forward to to dive with sharks. Two Oceanic Whitetip Sharks, size 180 cm, had been playing around the boat most of the night and the enthusiasm amongst the guests to get in the water was obvious. We wake up at 05:30 to beat the other boats to the north plateau, where most of the shark action normally goes on at a depth of about 40 metres.

However, the wind has now picked up to the point where the north plateau is no longer an option and the current will give us no option than to drift the north east side where the waves are breaking over the reef with such ferocity that it would be very difficult, if not impossible to get back in the Zodiac. I decide to cancel the first dive, tagging along the modus operandi “better safe than sorry”. All guests agree with me after I explain the situation and we sit down for breakfast. The wind keeps picking up and after serious consideration involving a discussion with the guests Captain Mustafa and the crew let the moorings slide and we head towards more merciful dive sites closer to land. I feel that there is no need to push our luck. The scenario that might be the outcome of diving in these conditions could be a little bit more than we desire for the Rescue Course. It’s time to leave The Brother Islands, 10 points to me for good timing.

Situations like this are exactly why the rescue course is so important. To know that you can handle potentially dangerous circumstances and make decisions according to conditions. This will make your diving safe and more relaxed. Ashleigh completed her Rescue Course with flying colours. There is no doubt in my mind that she is capable of handling a sharp situation. Maybe it’s not 100% according to PADI Standards to give credit for real incidents as oppose to acted scenarios but hey… What happens in Egypt stays in Egypt… It’s like Las Vegas… It’s like the bloody Bermuda Triangle!

You can run out of air… and die.
You can go to deep… and die.
You can ascend too fast… and die.
You can slouch on your couch… and die.
Get off the couch!!!

Samaka
Dive Instructor/Philosopher/Dirty Old Man

Popularity: 80% [?]

Cano island is  on the south pacific coast of  Costa Rica. From my base in Manual Antonio it is around a 2 hour boat ride south, but that is going to reduced soon, thanks to the arrival of speedier transport.  Cano island is a national park in itself so is subject to certain rules and regulations when visiting. You have to make reservations to start with , no rocking up the day of, and even when you are there you have to check before you dive, as there are limits to only 10 divers per sight. The north side of the island is the side that is open to the public and home to a ranger station and some very basic facilities. The reef runs all around the island but there are 7 specific dive spots that are drop points for diving. Saying that, most of the diving seems to focus around 4 of the sites, specifically, Bajo, Barco, Ankla and La cueva (yes the cave but nothing like the movie!).

The south side of the island is out of bounds to visitors , but supposedly open to study etc. The idea being that the island can remain as much as possible a marine sanctuary. The rangers that live on the island are very vigilant and an excellent job, tough as it is.

Apart from Bajo, the dive sites at Cano are between 30 and 60 ft (9 and 18m) , rock reef ridges with sand patches and coral spread out as far as you can see. One thing you are pretty much guaranteed to see when visiting Cano island is sharks. At almost every dive site you will find white tip reef sites lounging around on the sand patches.  This is what draws so many people to the island. They are always photogenic and as long as you practice good buoyancy, (which is a must rule for any diver in general) they will allow you a slow approach and snapshot.  One of the best memories to keep I think….you and one of the most beautiful creatures underwater.

One of the most popular snorkel spots  is a lesser visited dive spot, El Jardin. Translated as the garden, which when you visit it you will see why. The general depth of this dive sit is 25 – 45 ft hence the popularity for snorkelers. Spread out as far as you can see is some of the most beautiful hard coral formations that I have seen.   Whilst Costa Rica does not have the soft coral forests of the indo-pacific and caribbean the garden of hard coral, different yellows and browns does look impressive. It is also home to many cleaning stations for all the different species of fish. WIth the dive being so shallow we can extend our dive time and just cruise through the garden, watching all the interactions between different creatures and fish, fascinating. On my trip there last week as we came up for our safety stop, we were given the extra treat of coming across three green turtles, checking out the bottom and feeding. The safety stop extended to around 10 minutes as we hovered above them watching. Another rare treat from Cano Island!

Thank you!

Popularity: 11% [?]

Lionfish photo taken 2006 in Bimini, Bahamas

For those divers who spend most of our bottom time in the Caribbean, Bahamas, and Southeast coast of the US, the word Lionfish might make you cringe a little. Seeing them underwater tears you apart – half of you wants to run over and stab it to death, while the other half whips out a camera to take a picture of those elegant fins.

I’ve spent about a year and a half listening to people rave about this problem – from experts in the field to passionate divers – and I’m going to try to set the record straight about how the problem started, what’s being done to try to curb the invasion, and if we have any hope for the future. And I’m open to arguments – I’m no expert, just a good listener.

I forget that some people have no idea what I’m talking about, so let me start over. In the early 1990s a handful of sightings of Pacific Lionfish were reported off the coast of Florida. No one thought much of it, aquarium releases, ballast water, they’ll just go away. Until they didn’t.

I spent from 2003-2006 diving daily in Bimini, Bahamas and didn’t see one – out of sights out of mind. In May of 2006 I was DM’ing on a liveaboard in Nassau and my divers came up talking about this crazy fish they saw and showed me a picture. From that day on it seemed like they were everywhere. Bahamas, Florida, even down to the Turks and Caicos. But it’s just a fish, right? No big deal.

In the last two years I’ve learned differently. I’ve spoken extensively with officials at Reef.org, corresponded with some folks at NOAA, and done some of my own research and the truth is scary. According to research and DNA testing, most of the Lionfish that are found all over the Caribbean now can be traced back to about 9 individuals, probably released in the early 1990s (possibly destroyed personal aquariums from Hurricane Andrew in ‘92). The first few years, they’d been reproducing quietly, amassing an army.Then as the years went by they began to appear in greater numbers, firmly establishing themselves on the other side of the world from where they belong. Nothing on this side of the world knows to eat them, and they have quite an appetite – a recipe for disaster in the delicate balance of the marine food chain.

Even in their larval stage, nothing eats these guys. Most fish spawn close to the reef, spewing their gametes a few feet up in the water column, easy meals for egg-eating predators. Lionfish actually spawn almost at the surface of the water, far from where these think to look for tasty treats like fertilized eggs. Females produce 2,000-30,000 eggs in a set of mucus-sealed sacs which guarantee high fertilization rates, and of those fertilized eggs about 80% survive due to low predation of the eggs at the surface.

Post-larval, there are anecdotal reports of specimens found in the stomachs of a handful of Nassau and Tiger groupers, and rumored Lemon sharks, but compared to the Lionfish’s insatiable appetite, that’s not keeping up. In the Pacific there is the species diversity and abundance to support their voracious appetite, but not in the Atlantic. To boot, the Lionfish are quite fond of the taste of our own reef predators in juvenile form: the same groupers and snappers that could potentially prey on the Lionfish later in life.

Their range is quite astounding. Since 1994 Lionfish have been reported as far north as Rhode Island and only a few months ago there were first-time sightings in Bonaire, Curacao and St. Croix. In the Bahamas there are reefs where you’re seeing dozens of lionfish in one small area – and little else in the way of other fish! According to this map from REEF and NOAA there’s not a whole lot of Lionfish-free Caribbean left.

Ok, great, so they’re taking over. Now what? We can’t undo what’s been done; eradicating this species from the Atlantic is at this point impossible. But can we get the invasion under control? Maybe.

1) Report all Lionfish sightings. At REEF.org or NOAA or both. If collection is possible in the area you’re diving, make it happen.

2) Support legislation limiting the import of non-native species to your environment. US residents see HR 669

3) Spread the word. Lots of divers know nothing about this and the more you talk about it the bigger the response will be.

4) I’ve heard one suggestion that exploits the irony of the human-environment interaction and makes me giggle. We’re pretty good at driving species to extinction, right? So why not use that ability to our advantage for once. Promote Lionfish as a delicacy in restaurants, make up some story that the venomous spines enhance fertility (once the venom is removed of course…), something that will encourage the overfishing of Lionfish. Of course this is dependent on finding an efficient fishing method that only catches Lionfish.

For more information, visit REEF.org, read this article by Hare and Whitfield, or use your google-fu.

Resources:

Hare and Whitfield 2003. An integrated assessment of the introduction of lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles complex) to the western Atlantic Ocean. NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS NCCOS 2. 21 pp.

Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce: http://www.sms.si.edu/IRLSpec/Pterois_volitans.htm

NCCOS/NOAA

REEF.org Lionfish Invasion Program

Popularity: 18% [?]

Ok guys. Congratulations on becoming PADI Instructors. Give yourself a standing ovation. You have done exceptionally well to get to this level. Now you can give people a life changing experience as you introduce them and guide them through the world of scuba diving. Get out there and start teaching as much as you can. But what other options are also available to you now? Is this the end of the road? Does you experience stop after the IE? No way!

Don’t let this be the end of your diving education. There are still more things that you can learn and also more things that you can offer people as a diving educator. For instance have you ever thought about being able to teach the things that interest you? Do you have a particular passion for wreck diving or perhaps underwater photography? Would you like to be able to teach other divers these things so they can join you in your interests? Maybe you just want to be able to teach something that you have real enthusiasm for or something particular to your local environment. It also means that there is less repetition for you. Let’s face it teaching the same courses day-in-day-out might become a little tedious so the ability to be able to go and teach something else once in a while can provide a nice break plus adding different teaching experiences for you. Either way you might want to think about becoming a PADI Specialty Instructor.

Look at all the options that are available to you. There are over 25 PADI Specialties and that is not including the Distinctive specialties written by instructors that apply to interests of theirs. There is so much more that you can offer your students and your potential dive centre employers.

This is also not something to be sniffed at. If you can teach more then you can offer a potential employer more value as they can obviously utilize you more. The more things you can add to your ‘Instructors Quiver’ then the more valuable you can be to a dive operation. It can also help you to move up the PADI Instructor ladder to Master Scuba Diver Trainer and beyond.

These ratings past the Open Water Scuba Instructor rating denote instructors with a lot of experience and thus give you a large amount of credibility. Once you move onto ratings such as IDC Staff Instructor as well you are starting to help in the PADI Instructor Development process assisting Course Directors in shaping the future diving instructors. Wouldn’t you like to be a part of this process in changing people from divers into guys who can teach diving? Be a part of that life changing experience for someone else. Continue your diving education and this is certainly possible plus it again makes you even more useful within the dive industry. My own experience as a Staff Instructor took me to a whole new perception in the way I looked at teaching diving and the way that I could work with people. This was pretty much the best transition I made in diving and only encouraged me to go further up the ladder to Course Director.

This might all; be quite a lot to take in just following your gradation from the IDC/ IE which obviously was such a great achievement in itself. But why not build on what you have learned and thus make yourself a more rounded dive professional. Going through the Continuing Education process will also allow you to carry on working with experienced instructors and seeing their methods of teaching which will allow you to build your own style by working with and observing many others. Even now I still learn from watching other diving instructors at work as no one has completely the same way of teaching and working with people.

This is not to say just focus on your con-ed but still get on with teaching the ‘bread and butter’ PADI courses. Just recognize what con-ed can offer you and what you can use it for. Teach those things that really interest you and your enthusiasm for your subject can rub off on your students. There are also little things like teaching certain Specialties can enhance you knowledge to make teaching other courses better such as the PADI Divemaster course.

The point that I am trying to make is that you shouldn’t just think that now you have passed your IE that that is the end of your education. There is so much more that you can learn and so much more that you can offer in the dive industry both to the benefit of your students, and yourself. The PADI system offers so much more for you as an instructor and you should take the opportunity to use it to its full potential and realize your full potential.

Popularity: 10% [?]

By now most of you must have heard of, if not yet tried a rebreather unit of some type. They fall into two main types Semi Closed units and Fully Closed units, to me in this present day and age the semi closed units (SCR’s) have out lasted there use and are pretty well obsolete except for specialised shallow diving, they were and are a stepping stone away from Open Circuit diving (SCUBA toward the world of true Closed Circuit Rebreather diving (CCR).

Most rebreathers fall under the CCR category which in its self can be split further into two sub categories – Mechanical Closed Circuit Rebreathers (MCCR) or Electronic Closed Circuit Rebreathers (ECCR). The reason for these two sub-categories is mainly due to the fact that some people do not trust their life to a unit controlled by an electrical technology well underwater, others like me “trust the technology” and use an ECCR.

MCCR’s uses a mechanical valve of some type to feed a set controlled amount of O2 into the unit, such units as the KISS and the rEvo use this method. The ECCR has a solenoid that controls the exact amount of O2 required to maintain a preselected amount of O2 in the unit, such units as the Inspiration and the Optima use this method. The objective is to match the amount of O2 being supplied to roughly the amount the diver will or metabolise during a dive and both methods roughly attempt to do this.

The newer models of CCR units now come with a built in dive computer that will dynamical sample the O2 in the breathing loop of the unit and adjust the decompression obligation of the dive to reflect this amount, giving what is basically the optimum Nitrox mix for the entire dive.
CCR units are quiet and give the diver an unprecedented look at the wild life, no bubbles to scare them away, they also offer a much longer bottom time and a shorter decompression time for the dive. The units do though require advance training in their use and require a higher level of basic maintenance to be carried out. They also are more expensive to buy than OC gear and do have a higher cost per dive due to the consumables like CO2 sorbent and O2 sensor cells.

Given all the above I am still firmly of the view that a walk on the dark side will convert you to this new technology fully and unless you wish to spoil your OC diving for ever you should be avoid the temptation at all cost, once you cross the line there is no return.

Popularity: 7% [?]