Category Archives: Internship Journeys

Crater Lake National Park – The Jewel of the Northwest

After a few short hours of travel, my surroundings changed from 108 degree desert landscapes to evergreen forests and frosty, mountain lakes.  I spent a great five days in Crater Lake National Park in Oregon; a park with the diver-friendly distinction of having one of the clearest bodies of water on Earth among other tremendous natural resources.  The lake was formed over 7,000 years ago when a violent volcanic eruption created a massive container for the rains and snowmelts of the Pacific Northwest. All that water has also made Crater Lake the deepest lake in the United States, with a maximum depth of almost 2,000 feet!  The lake’s unique ecosystem and physical properties bring together all sorts of eager scientists, making Crater Lake a must-see for any Submerged Resources Center intern whose interests lie in diving and science.

The legendary underwater visibility at Crater Lake is routinely measured to be over 100 feet.  After hearing this fact I was expecting to see tropical waters, which often remind me of a fish tank or swimming pool because they’re both clear and fairly colorless.  As my rental car chugged up the narrow road leading to the lake, I was absolutely shocked to see an electric blue color blasting through the blanket of trees that coats the rest of the scenery. These waters looked much more like a tropical fish than a tropical ocean – I’ve never seen such an iridescent blue color coming from water before!

Still brimming with excitement, I headed over to Park Headquarters to meet my hosts for the week. The park’s buildings and roads are located on the “caldera,” which is the steep volcanic ridge that surrounds the lake and its handful of tiny islands.   I met aquatic ecologist Mark Buktenica, who offered even more excitement by telling me that I’d be spending my very first night at Crater Lake INSIDE the caldera!  There is a rustic boathouse located on Wizard Island (the largest island in the lake) and we would be camping there so we could start work early the next day!  The lake is only accessible by a steep two-mile hike from the top of the caldera to the water’s edge, so camping is a great way to avoid this morning “chore” (which is actually one of the best ways of seeing the lake from a variety of angles). 

I completed the short hike with Mark and I met the rest of the crew at the water’s edge. Throughout the trip I worked closely with Mark, Scott Girdner, an aquatic biologist, Bob Hoffman,  a USGS researcher, Drew Denlinger, Hilary Griffin, and Schannon Gehrke, the three biological science technicians, Sudeep Chandra, a visiting professor from University of Nevada Reno, and his inquisitive group of graduate and undergraduate students.  We headed towards Wizard Island in a Park Service boat, ate a quick dinner, and listened to a presentation given by Scott about the research conducted in Crater Lake. It was really encouraging to see the strong collaboration that occurs between government and university researchers, as I used to think of those two groups as very separate entities. Throughout the week, Sudeep and the NPS/USGS researchers bounced dozens of ideas off of each other while discussing unusual data, troubleshooting current experiments, and brainstorming future research plans, which clearly strengthens the efforts of both groups of researchers.  After the presentation and the following discussion, we all prepared for bed. We laid our cots and sleeping bags out on the dock and spent a brisk but beautiful night directly under the stars and moon.

We spent the next few days doing tons of different analyses on the unique water of Crater Lake.  The lake’s research vessel (which originally had to be lifted by helicopters down to the lake!) was loaded with dozens of Niskin bottles, which are used to collect water from different depths in order to measure chemical and biological qualities. We sent Niskin bottles all the way down to 1,800 feet, which allowed us to collect important water samples.  We were also able to drink the leftover water from each Niskin bottle – water from the depths of Crater Lake was definitely the purest and best-tasting water I have ever experienced! In addition to testing for the chemical properties of the lake, we also used fine-meshed nets to collect zooplankton samples.  Aquatic life is generally very low in Crater Lake, which is one of the main reasons why there is such incredible visibility. The low levels of life, nutrients, and organic debris keep the waters crystal clear. Maximum concentrations of aquatic life commonly occur in the first twenty feet of a lake, but at Crater Lake the highest concentrations of life may be found hundreds of feet below the surface due to the extreme penetration of damaging UV rays through the clear waters.

On my last day in Oregon, I finally got to do some clear-water diving! Drew has been spearheading a study on the newts that are endemic to Crater Lake. Due to the isolation that these newts experience, they’re thought to be a completely different species than populations located just a few miles from the lake. Since Crater Lake’s newt population is currently at risk due to invasive crayfish, we could be watching an entire species go extinct without even knowing it! To confirm that Crater Lake newts are a unique species and secure protection under the Endangered Species Act, Drew searches out newts from surrounding lakes for comparison.  On that particular day, we used SCUBA to go newt searching in Waldo Lake.  I was in luck because Waldo Lake also has some of the clearest waters in North America with recorded visibility of over 120 feet! We didn’t end up finding any newts, but we saw lots of salamanders, some dragonfly larvae, and a few stray leeches.

I owe Mark, Scott, Sudeep, and their teams a big thank you for showing me such a distinctive park and teaching me about what makes it so special! None of my pictures really do the water any justice; personally seeing that glowing blue color in the middle of a thick evergreen forest is something that should be on every diver’s or nature lover’s wish list!

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Ready, Set, Freeze

I can’t help but be draw to anything behind the scenes. I unwittingly gravitate toward promises of insider information and exclusive access.

That may be why I was so excited when Carrie Garcia and Elizabeth Fleener, Sport Diver‘s photo editor and art director, respectively, asked if I wanted to help in the photo studio. I couldn’t wait to see the process behind the glossy front-of-book photo.

On this day, we were shooting gear for Sport Diver‘s August issue. Carrie and Elizabeth had enlisted the help of Jon Whittle to get a perfect freeze frame of water splashing against a dive computer.

Here’s the scoop–

 

 

First, we set up the equipment, which included saran wrapping some of the photo gear to keep it safe from misaimed water drops. Above, Carrie adjusts the bar so the dive computer hangs optimally in the splash zone.

 

The external flashes were connected to a motion sensor, so the lights flashed as we poured the water. In the photo, Jon does a test run to make sure everything is in working order.

All set up and ready to go, we turned off the lights and began the shoot.

In order to freeze the moving water and get the clear, crisp shot you’ll see in the magazine, we needed a hyper fast shutter speed. Jon suggested using the fastest shutter speed possible. You can’t get any faster than the speed of light, he said.

So, the flash acted as our shutter speed. We turned off the lights. We tossed the cup of water at the computer console. This activated the motion sensor, which fired off the flash, which captured the image.

And then we filled the paper cup, and repeated the process.

We spent the afternoon making tiny adjustments and coming up with more effective ways to douse the console. In the photo above, you  can see the paper towel roll we switched to in order to more accurately aim the water spill.

By the time we were finished with the photo shoot, we could have played a decent game of Slip ‘N Slide on the photo studio floor.

Instead, we disassembled the setup and began the cleanup. Shown above: Elizabeth and Carrie untying the computer and unclamping the flashes.

 When a mop wasn’t available, we had to get creative with the cleanup.

A few paper towels though, and one effective fan later, the studio was as good as new.

Check out the August issue of Sport Diver to see how the shoot turned out.

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Goodbye SPMC!

The last few days at SPMC were filled with reviewing and editing the DNR footage, attending the SPMC Dive safety board meeting and doing some last minute clean up, at the dive sites, around the labs and in the dive locker. I also was able to go to the community Beach Seine put on by SPMC.  The Beach Seine is semiannual event which is both educational for the community and also provides data to gain insight to what fish (especially juvenile fish) are present.   The highlight of the day included finding a few wild juvenile salmon.  You can tell a salmon is from a hatchery because the adipose fin is clipped off.

 

Here is an article about the abalone project in the AAUS newsletter, enjoy!

http://www.aaus.org/uploads/protected/files/publications/e_slate/2012/e_slate_aaus_2012_6_9.pdf

Thank you AAUS and OWUSS and Shannon Point Marine Center for the great summer!

 

https://vimeo.com/47738880

 

 

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Glen Canyon National Recreation Area: Diving with the Glen Canyon Underwater Recovery Unit – Hitting the Ground Running!

“Imagine throwing a handful of random coins onto your front yard, blindfolding yourself, and then trying to find exactly fifty cents…Sometimes, that’s basically what you’ll be doing out here.”  A veteran member of the Glen Canyon Underwater Recovery Unit offered me this advice as I eagerly prepared for my first real dive of this internship.  Now that I’ve spent one week completing strenuous dives in visibilities that ranged from six feet to six centimeters, I can confidently say that he was telling the truth!

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area is located just east of the Grand Canyon and includes Lake Powell, parts of the Colorado River, and huge expanses of desert wilderness.  It’s a very popular vacation spot for boaters, as people come from all around to world to take advantage of the southwest sunshine, the warm waters, and the beautiful red rock canyons that the region has to offer. Unfortunately, a high concentration of so many boaters in one unfamiliar location often leads to accidents and boat fires.  If just one of the many rental houseboats goes down, acid-leaking batteries, gallons of gasoline, and tons of debris are suddenly added to the beautiful lake.  One of the Glen Canyon dive team’s many duties is to help keep these waters safe by scouring the lake for these hazardous materials.  

After a busy week in Denver, I flew to Page, Arizona with all the clothing and equipment that I would need for the next three or four months.  I felt very prepared in terms of my dive gear – for every t-shirt I stuffed into a small suitcase, I must have packed three pieces of awesome SCUBA equipment!  After taking a minute to get accustomed to the Arizona heat, I met Pat Horning, the Park Dive Officer and leader of the Dive Team, who showed me to the dive locker and helped me prepare for the week ahead.  I returned the next morning and met the rest of the team: Chris Weaver, the lead diver and former Navy Chief Diver, Matt Graden, Joe Dallemolle, and Dan Hovanec, who are all Law Enforcement Rangers in the area, Elias Jasso, a maintenance worker/diver, and Jeff Wilson, an electrician/firefighter/diver.  As I’m sure you can already see, this is a dive team with an incredibly diverse and useful skill set.  With that cast of characters, we could be fully prepared to encounter law-breakers, fires, electrical problems, or tricky dives (we ended up dealing with three of the four!).

We packed up our gear and piled onto the dive team’s 45 foot boat for a four-hour ride up Lake Powell to Bullfrog, Utah.  At my first sight of Lake Powell, I was actually very confused. The area surrounding the lake is as arid as I could possibly imagine (picture tumbleweed, cactuses, and giant red rocks), yet somehow there is a giant, 560-foot-deep lake defiantly located in the desert. By talking with the dive team, who patiently answered at least a thousand of my questions throughout the trip, I was able to pick up on the clues that the surrounding lands hide. As Pat pointed out landmarks along the way, it seemed like every single rock, canyon, or plateau had some incredible geological or cultural significance. Pat pointed out vertical rows of depressions in the rock faces, which I overlooked as another natural feature of the bizarre landscape. It turns out that they’re actually Moki steps, which were carved thousands of years ago by Native Americans in order to climb the steep rock faces! I also saw ancient rock art and even a dinosaur footprint!

We spent a quick night in a local lodge and headed out at sunrise the next morning to begin diving. Using forklifts, pickup trucks, and lots of elbow grease, we loaded the boat with stacks of giant metal baskets that the divers would be filling with trash from the lake floor. In order to cope with the low visibility of the lake, the Glen Canyon Underwater Recovery Unit came up with a pretty creative dive plan. First, giant metal baskets are pushed overboard with a surface buoy signaling their location. Then, divers descend along that buoy line, tie a rope of their own to the metal basket, and search the surrounding area for hazardous materials while holding that personal search line in order to find their way back to the basket.  In trash-filled areas it’s common for a diver to make many trips back to the basket to unload debris, though divers might not be able to find a single soda can in other areas.  Once the basket is full of trash or the divers clear the area, the boat’s crane is used to haul the basket up from the lake floor.

After learning this procedure and receiving lots of advice from the team, it was time for me to finally get wet! Although air temperatures were well over a hundred degrees, the water temperatures dipped into the 40s at the bottom of the lake, so we had to wiggle into thick wetsuits under the harsh sun.  I was very relieved when I first jumped into the water… but that’s probably because I still didn’t fully understand that I was about to complete one of the most challenging dives of my life!  As Pat and I descended along the buoy line with our personal search lines in hand, all was still going smoothly. My gear was working great, my ears had no problems adjusting to the changing pressure, and overall I was very comfortable. As we reached a depth of fifty feet, I felt like someone had suddenly blindfolded me! In a matter of seconds, visibility decreased from five feet to a just couple of inches and the water suddenly became pitch black. I couldn’t even see my hand in front of my face when I shined my light directly on it, so I had no idea how I was going to find any trash in those dark, murky waters!  The dive team warned me that their hands were their only way of searching on some dives, so I clumsily tied off my search line, left the relative security of the basket, and swam off into the black abyss that surrounded me.

I spent a few minutes searching in absolute darkness before I felt a strong tug on my search line – this meant that Pat was back at the basket and signaling for me to return. I met him at the basket and happily ascended on his command– I was ready for some sunlight again!  We returned to the boat and laughed about how terrible the conditions were. Apparently, those first few dives were completed in some of the worst conditions possible at Lake Powell – seasoned members of the dive team were calling it the worst dives of their lives!  Most people didn’t find much trash, although one pair of divers found the remnants of a burnt houseboat.

After the first day of diving, we settled into a routine of each diver completing three or four dives a day in slightly better conditions.  We would still occasionally dive in zero visibility conditions, but I became accustomed to using my hands instead of my eyes as my primary search organs. We found all sorts of unusual and dangerous materials, including a rifle, many old batteries, unopened bottles of beer, and a complete barbeque set. We worked every day from sunrise to sunset and were able to remove thousands of pounds of trash from Lake Powell!

Throughout the trip, the wide range of backgrounds of the group (which, as I mentioned, includes firefighters, maintenance workers, LE rangers, electricians, and ex-Navy divers) benefited the dive team time and time again. I was really impressed with how they seemed ready to handle any random challenge that Lake Powell could throw our way. When the wiring for a critical part of the boat started to fail, Jeff was able to rewire the device in no time. As we would observe park visitors doing blatantly dangerous things like speeding through narrow canyons, the rangers would take control and stop the reckless behavior (which meant my inner seven-year-old was able to get a thrill as the rangers turned on our boat’s sirens and chased down other boats!). I was able to pick up a bunch of different skills by learning from each member of the dive team. I owe Elias a special thanks for spending hours teaching me a bunch of useful new knots – thanks a lot!

All in all, I left Glen Canyon National Recreation area with some great experiences, a lot of new knowledge, and ton of respect for the Glen Canyon Underwater Recovery Unit. Even in tropical waters with great visibility, a good Recovery Unit requires a skilled dive team with lots of dedication, but this dive team does something really special.  Thanks so much to Pat for letting me join the group, and thanks to every member of the team for teaching me so much throughout the trip!

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Diving Blue Grotto and Other News from Winter Park

Well, it has stopped raining.

With Tropical Storm Debby in town, I was starting to wonder if the sunshine state was named ironically. It’s all bright and shiny here in Florida now though.

Enough about the weather, and on to more important things–like my internship at Bonnier. So far it has been great, even better than I expected, and in general, pretty amazing.

I learn something new about the dive world every day. I get to fact check articles about the latest and greatest gear, read proofs on incredible destinations and write about marine conservations efforts.

And then there’s the added bonus of diving during the work week.

Last Tuesday, I was invited to go diving with the test divers at Blue Grotto. I gladly acceptd, loaded my scuba gear in the white van and headed out to Williston, FL.

 

 

The Blue Grotto is a spring that stays 72 degrees all year long. We were there to test dive computers (read all about it in the September issue of Scuba Diving) and I was helping with some of the topside organization.

The water was clear–not at all like diving in Arizona, where you’re lucky to get 15 feet of visibility.

I did two quick dives and stayed out on the last dive to take some photos of the test divers.

 

 

 

See what I mean about loving this internship?

 

Special thanks to Patricia Wuest, senior editor of Sport Diver, and Eric Michael, editor of Scuba Diving, who have gone above and beyond to make me feel welcome here. From inviting me to dinner to pointing out the best beaches, from informing me about hurricane preparation to making sure I am working on projects I’m interested in, everyone at Bonnier has been just incredible. I’ve never been so far from home while feeling so at home.

I’ll stop there and save the rest of my thank you speech for the Academy.

In the meantime, I’m going to go enjoy that Florida sunshine.

Wishing everyone calm sees and plenty of shark sightings.

 

– Alec

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National Park Service Submerged Resources Center: an introduction to my internship

Although all mortgage-paying adults may laugh and disagree, college graduation can be a very stressful time!  In the months prior to graduation, college seniors are asked about their post-graduation plans several times a day.  Since so many students aren’t sure what their next step is, their answer is usually a heavily edited version of “I don’t have a clue so it feels like unemployment is bearing down on me like a freight train! Never ask me again!”  Then, students continue on in their scramble to maintain hard-earned GPAs, think about if graduate school is really right for them, and search the internet for their dream jobs (or at least for a way to survive without mooching off their parents for too long).

I found myself in that exact situation until last March, which is when I was overjoyed to learn that I was chosen to be the 2012 Our World Underwater Scholarship Society/National Park Service Submerged Resources Center Intern!  By opening an unassuming email, I suddenly learned that I was being given the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to live, work, and SCUBA dive in the nation’s most beautiful parks for several months.  The intern is free to travel to distant areas of the National Park system while working with some of the nation’s leading scientists, law enforcement rangers, and other diving experts. With my head still spinning from the possibilities that suddenly opened up to me, I quickly called Dave Conlin, Chief of the Submerged Resources Center (SRC), to accept this great offer and start arranging the internship!

On August 6, I flew to the SRC office in Denver, Colorado after months of excitement and anticipation – the internship finally began! The SRC team is made of underwater archaeologists, photographers, and anthropologists who identify, document, and study the underwater resources of the United States.  They have successfully executed a huge variety of projects, ranging from the recovery of the world’s first successful combat submarine (the H.L. Hunley) to the filming of thermal vents at Yellowstone National Park. Because the SRC works with so many different people all across the country, they are the perfect team to help me arrange months of my own travel. 

I spent the week eagerly meeting the members of the SRC, investigating prospective parks, and trying out the National Park Service dive gear that I get to use for the next few months. As I met the team on Monday, it was instantly obvious that they are deeply committed to the mission of the SRC and to the success of this internship. For an office that has already given me so much by creating this internship, they sure don’t act like it!  Everybody was so excited to help me in any way they could which included letting me stay in their homes, providing me with SCUBA training materials, showing me the beautiful city of Denver, and offering invaluable assistance with contacting and arranging travel to other parks. Thank you all so much for all your help and kindness!

At the end of the week, I undertook the Blue Card certification, which is a requirement to dive for the National Park Service. Requirements for receiving the certification involved timed swimming tests, demonstration of several SCUBA skills in a local pool, and a written exam covering diving principles, safety, and NPS diving protocol. Now that I have passed the Blue Card test, arranged most of my travel, and received great advice from the SRC, it’s time to continue this adventure.  I’ll be helping with projects ranging from recovery diving in the murky waters of Utah reservoirs at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area to coral reef research in the National Park of American Samoa, so check back here to see where I head off to next!

I am thrilled to join the SRC as the 2012 OWUSS/NPS Intern. Previously, I’ve worked in the field on a variety of research projects including this NSF funded project in Alaska studying trophic cascades in kelp forests in order to understand human impacts on the king crab fishery.

 

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Clean Up Week

On Monday and Tuesday we finished up the abalone surveys and packed up our sites. Packing up the site included rolling up tapes and lead lines which constructed the perimeter and lanes for the survey. On Tuesday we also got a chance to practice using the underwater video camera at one of our sites. Using the camera was a blast, but reviewing the footage was humbling. The video consisted of bubbles, green water, cheesy waving diver shots, a few colorful sea stars and some nice algae on rocks.  Anne and I walked away from the experience with a basic videography lesson; move very slowly and steadily.  We were able to apply what we had learned from our test run to the intake pipe surveys on Thursday.

Shannon Point has a big intake pipe out in front of the lab which pumps seawater back to the lab. Shannon Pt. land is leased from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR). When the pipes were upgraded, part of the agreement with DNR was that Shannon Pt. needed to carry out surveys on the intake twice a year.

It took two dives to complete the survey.  On the 1st dive we went out to lay 600ft of measuring tape from shore out to the end of the intake. We also retrieved and installed a new CTD and took water quality samples at the end of the intake.  On the second dive we took quadrat pictures periodically and also shot high definition video on the swim back in to the beach. Taking pictures was good buoyancy control practice and lots of fun!

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Diving the Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg

The Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg was sunk as an artificial reef on May 27th, 2009 and has since acted as a site for recreational divers and fishermen alike. The wreck lies at 140ft just off Key West with its decks sitting at about 100ft, providing nearly 45 vertical feet of habitat in an otherwise sandy bottom, open water area. As part of their monitoring programs REEF was contracted under a grant from the state of Florida to observe and monitor the fish assemblages associated with the wreck. The primary goal of REEF’s monitoring efforts are to describe and comparatively quantify fish assemblages found on the Vandenberg as well as neighboring sites (both reef and artificial). Since their first round of monitoring pre and post sinking of the Vandenberg (2009-2010 Summary Report) REEF has been sending members of the Advanced Assessment Team (AAT) to document changes in both the presence and absence, sighting frequency, and estimate abundance of reef fish over time.

The Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg prior to sinking. More images before and after click here.

Early July I was assigned the task of organizing the next round of AAT monitoring for this survey project. The first thing to do was contact Dive Key West, the dive company that has hosted past REEF monitoring trips, in order to set up a week of diving! On my first attempt I unknowingly had aimed for the trip to coincide with Lobster Mini-season… that wasn’t going to happen! Fortunately the staff at Dive Key West was very helpful and accommodating and eventually we settled on the week of July 30th– August 3rd. Once the dates and dive sites were set it was relatively smooth sailing from then on. I contacted the group of TWA AAT divers calling for volunteers and got a great response back over the course of a week or two. In the end, we had AAT members traveling from all over the US including South Carolina, N. Florida, Key Largo, and even one ventured all the way from San Francisco!

Jana (fellow intern and dive buddy extraordinaire) and I decided rather than driving from Key Largo to Key West every day for three days we decided to camp and make an adventure out of the survey trip. On Monday, the day of the first dive, we wake up circa 5am and hit the road. We arrive in Key West and at the dive shop at about 7:30 and low and behold there was already a small gathering of divers in front of the shop… we knew instantly that these had to be the first of the AAT members to arrive! While we made the rounds with introductions the rest of the AAT members started trickling in. Once we were all assembled we headed into the shop, checked in, loaded gear, then  headed off to the marina!!

Once we arrived at the Easy Diver we met our captain Steve and first mate Jeremy who were already familiar with REEF, our survey projects, and they were even kind enough to load all our gear! On the first day of diving we headed out to Western Sambos Deep (WSD) and Shallow. West Sambos Deep is a slopping low profile reef starting at about 60+ft in depth. The team and us interns giant stride into the water to kick off the survey trip! Unfortunately on the first dive (WSD) we did not have the best visibility so Jana and I just hung around the anchor line for fear of being those divers who get lost (not cool when you’re trying to hang with the big kids!). After a brief surface interval with a passing pod of dolphins we traveled to an adjacent site— Western Sambos Shallow aka the Haystacks. As the name implies this was a shallower dive of only about 15-30ft. This was quite an amazing dive with large coral formations and plenty of fish! On this one we decided to follow Obi-Wan (the master himself), Lad, around because lets face it, he knows his fish! Our plan worked and I think on this dive alone I learned how to spot a handful of new species including the Rough Head and Secretary Blenny and the Red Hind of the Grouper family. All in all not a bad day of diving… and that was only day one! After we wrapped up our dives Jana and I headed to Leo’s Camp Ground to make camp and bunker down for the evening!

The following day was an early one again but also the one we were looking forward to the most—The USS Vandenberg (aka the Vandy). Upon entering the water you could feel the ripping current, the kind of current that makes you look like a flag on a flag pole in a hurricane as you hold onto the anchor line! However, the visibility was amazing and we could see the wreck as we descended to its decks sitting around 100ft below the surface. The wreck is huge! Even without a current to swim against I don’t think you could see the whole thing on one tank. But before entering the water I had said that the only thing I really needed to see was the communications satellite and guess which mooring buoy we tied on to… Ball #3, sitting right on top of the satellite. Although we didn’t get to see much of the wreck we were able to make it towards the front to the helm, observation deck, and even spotted some of the images from the “Life Below The Surface” photography show by Andreas Frankes.

The second dive of the day was over at Joe’s Tug (a stone’s throw from the Vandy). Joe’s Tug sat at about 40-65ft and was actually a pretty sweet dive. If I sound surprised it is because I figured once you saw the 3rd largest artificial wreck in the world other ships might pale in comparison, but no, that is not the case here. Although a lot smaller and not as intact Joe’s Tug was a pretty sweet dive too!

After diving the Vandy and Joe’s Tug Jana and I actually had an afternoon off and what better way to spend that time then lounging around on a beach?! The only reason I bring this up is to tell the following story… At this beach, which was deserted, there was a small area marked off by a blue and white rope to warn people not to enter the marina waters with all the boat traffic. This mini-swim area was the perfect place to pop in for a quick dip to cool off. While standing about waist deep from the corner of my eye I catch a glimpse of a large shadow on the sand by my feet. Now, my mind instantly runs through a million ideas landing of course on the obvious, Shark, before I can even process what I’m seeing. After a beat (and the adrenalin rush subsides), I come to my senses and softly utter to Jana “Manatee”. The manatee was less than a foot away from us and continued to swim up the slope, circle around us, than back out to the marina. Never having seen a manatee in the wild I was shocked… then it came back! And did another circle. It was amazing!!

Now back to the diving…On our third day, and final day, we ventured out to Marker 32 Deep and Shallow. Marker 32 Deep, like Western Sambos Deep, is a low profile sloping reef with a starting depth of about 60ft. Here we got to see some cool things like a large, rather well camouflaged, Black Grouper and a Butter Hamlet which I love to find! After our 30min survey time we surfaced, spent our surface interval jumping off the observation deck of the Easy Diver, then it was back in the water at our final site of the trip, Marker 32 Shallow (locally known as Topino Buoy). This was a spur and grove reef site with a max depth of barely 25ft. I loved this dive! In fact, it may be one of my favorites since I’ve been in the Keys. There was so much diversity in both fish and coral species. Right off the bat I saw something I’ve never seen before which turned out to be a Slender Filefish! The rest of the dive was made that much more amazing by spotting about 5 Red-lipped Blennies, Nurse Sharks, juvenile Blue Tangs and Puddingwife Wrasses. In the end of this dive I had identified 54 species— my greatest count to date!

In the end, the trip was an amazing experience, both for the diving and for meeting some of the amazing AAT members. Jana and I left Wednesday evening but the other two interns, Joel and Jessi, joined the crew Thursday morning to complete the survey week. They too and an incredible time diving the Vandy and Joe’s Tug once again and a second site (Eastern Dry Rocks Deep and Shallow) that we never made it too. In addition to having a phenomenal time, the 6 survey dives I completed during this trip put me just at 25 survey mark which meant I was eligible to take the Level 3 exam. I’m happy to report I passed with flying colors and am now one step closer to joining the AAT ranks! So a big THANK YOU goes out to all our AATers who were able to join, REEF for allowing us low on the totem pole interns to join, and the staff of Dive Key West who were a great throughout the whole trip!

The AAT Members and Interns (L to R): Mary Jo, Jim, Jessi, Joel, Rob, Katie, Lad, Joe, Laureen, Peter, and Kreg.

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Rad Restoration

Anne B. is in the middle of her abalone weaning project.  She is looking at how the type and size of algae will affect growth rate.  In the hatchery juvenile abalone switch from feeding on biofilms to macro algae diets at around 6 months of age.  Her study has implications for the abalone hatchery to help them determine best the size and type of algae to feed the juveniles at this stage during weaning.  Anne is using Dulse (a Palmaria species) and Bull Kelp (Nereocystis leutkeana) for her project. It has been fun helping every three days punching out different sizes, weighing algae, and feeding the juvenile abalone.

Last week Dr. Dinnel, Anne and I went down to the abalone hatchery to pick up some more dulse for Anne’s feeding project. The abalone hatchery is located at the Mukilteo NOAA center, located north of Seattle.  Josh and Paul Pratt (a past Shannon Pt. REU abalone intern) showed us around the hatchery.  A few highlights included learning about the complexity of the spawning process and a seeing a few rockfish larvae.

 

Native Oyster restoration is another project Dr. Dinnel is working on. These oysters were once indigenous to Washington waters, but the population has declined severely and in many locations the Pacific Oyster now dominates.  In 2002 Native oysters seeds were introduced to a site in Fidalgo bay to reintroduce Native oyster beds.  The oysters were seeded along a bike path over the bay, known as the “Trestle”.   Dr. Dinnel and  Kailey Gabrian-Voorhees (the summer oyster intern) go out on the low tides to count native oysters and also to look at substrate characteristics of the surrounding areas.   They know where the native oysters seeds were planted so they can assume that any oysters found along the Trestle outside of the seeding site are from a successful spawn of the original seeds. The pilings for the Trestle are used as a reference points for gathering data on where the native oysters are found.  If you would like to learn more about Kailey’s project please check out her blog.

http://shecountsseashells.blogspot.com/

I have gone out with Dr. Dinnel and Kailey a few times on low tides to help out with tackling their huge sample area. Sliding around in the mud is fun but also hard work. Dr. Dinnel, Kailey and their volunteers are hardcore!

Fidalgo Bay is flat and muddy and like all estuaries has a channel system.  Dr. Dinnel has been curious about one of the channels for a while because even on very low tides it remains covered with water.  There are rumors that there is a native oysters bed in this channel so Dr. Dinnel invited Anne B. and I to do a dive to investigate.   The visibility was less than ½ a foot, but the depth was only 15 feet at max making the dive doable.  Anne and I would descend, feel the bottom with our flippers, and then swim side by side with our faces 5 inches from the very muddy bottom.  We did not find any native oysters, but Anne surfaced with a pretty awesome “chocolate silt mustache” around her reg.

 

Anne and I recently whet on a snorkel to do some free diving at favorite spot in a nearby Anacortes park.

 

 

 

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The Great Annual Fish Count- Key Largo Style!

July = GAFC Madness

In an earlier post (One fish, two fish, what’s that fish?!?) I mentioned REEF’s volunteer fish survey project… I wanted to re-visit this topic in a second post in honour of the completion of the Great Annual Fish Count (GAFC)!!! GAFC is a nation-wide month long event where various dive shops and Field Stations host fish ID survey dives and snorkel trips. Although you can do a survey any time of the year July is the month for one large push to get the word out and get a huge amount of surveys done anywhere. Although there were individual events all over the US, I’ll focus here on those that were in/around Key Largo.

Each fish ID and survey event begins with a Tropical Western Atlantic (TWA) presentation where we go over the basics in identification markers, behaviour and in general what to look for while you are in the water. The first event I got to go to was actually up in Miami with The Miami-Dade Reef Guard Association hosted at the Tarpoon Dive Center. Reef guard has been involved in REEF survey dives for years! Nick, their VP, invited myself and Jessi (another intern) to Miami for a presentation and dive on a site composed of several wrecks and rock piles (Dive tour). I don’t think I expected to meet such a lively group of people who simply loved diving and were just there to have a good time! They were hilarious and a super nice crew to meet and dive with! We arrived at the shop with ample time to set up, ran through the presentation with a very interactive audience (which is always the best), then we get our gear ready for the trip out there. The dive was awesome for a couple of reasons but mainly because it was nice to see a new site with crystal clear water (even at 60+ feet), and I think there was Miracle-Grow in the water because I have never seen Yellowhead Wrasse so big before! Any who, lots of fish which made for an excellent count! Thank you Reef Guard for having us up to Miami!

The second group we worked with was Venture Crew 3,000- a group made up of kids in middle to high school age plus the adults as trip leaders and chaperones. They blew me away at the ID presentation in the REEF Headquarters! Most people, both adults and youngins, know the very common, iconic fish in the TWA area; these guys knew nearly every one already on our powerpoint. Honestly, I almost busted out the Advanced ID presentation because clearly they had been studying. After the presentation, we also administered the Level 2 ID quiz which I’m happy to report they all passed with flying colors. This wrapped up our first event with them, the day after which I joined the crew again who was going out with Amoray Dive Resort for their first fish ID dives. Once again, these guys did a smashing job! I could tell the kids were really enjoying themselves on these dives (and they knew their fish) but I was more surprised with the long-time diving adults who really took to surveying. Here is what Mike (their leader and organizer of the trip) had to say about REEF…

Our trip was great!  We really enjoyed all aspects of it, including the REEF session Monday and the survey dives on Thursday.  I was really happy to see the youth participating  … … every time I saw a youth underwater they had the forms in hand.

Further at least one adult, who previously liked hovering above the reef and cruising along would get bored…when they learned the fish names – thought it was fun to do the surveys and hunt for different fish.”

So, with any luck we’ll see some more surveys coming from these guys!

They rest of the month was filled with other events hosted by dive shops such as Sail Fish Scuba and Horizon Divers, as well as public fish ID presentations and plenty of TWA Level Test administered. What better way to wrap up the month of July then the start of the Advanced Assessment Team survey trip for the official monitoring of the USS Vandenberg?! A trip so amazing it deserves its own post so stay tuned…

More from GAFC Events and Fish counts:

 

 

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