Dolphin Dreams - Stingray Divers

Dolphin Dreams 

Bahamas Diving on the M/V Dolphin Dream 

DSMB: Delayed Surface Marker Buoy 

Red Demons Off The Gold Coast 

Fiji’s Shark Reef Marine Reserve 

Ice Diving in the Northeast 

Pg 1 

Curacao’s Christmas Wreck 

A Diving Adventure Magazine 

This publication is 

underwritten in part by: 

Issue 15 - 2010 

www.UnderwaterJournal.com Issue 15 - 2010

CONTENTS 

Pg 2 

Pg 5 Farnsworth Bank 

A snap shot of a truely great 

California dive, when Mother 

Nature lets you. 

Pg 8 DSMB’s 

A look into the types of Diver 

Surface Marker Buoys and why 

you should have one. 

Pg 16 Red Demons 

Sleek, fast, powerful & 

voracious. What you should 

know about Dosidicus gigas, the 

Humboldt Squid. 

Pg 28 Dolphin Dream 

Taking in the exciting reaches 

of the Little Bahama Banks on 

board the M/V Dolphin Dream. 

Pg 42 Fiji’s Shark Reef Reserve 

How Fiji maybe setting the 

new bench for both the 

protection of sharks and the 

continuation of shark dives. 

Explore, Discover, Challenge 

Pg 49 Frozen Fins 

Put down that glass of iced 

tea and jump into a form of diving 

under the ice that can really 

exhilarate the senses. 

Pg 55 Superior Producer 

Looking back on one of 

Curacao’s great wreck dives, the 

Superior Producer. 

Pg 61 Parting Shot 

Sometimes keeping it 

simple can land truely stunning 

underwater imagery. 

Editorial Disclaimer: 

The articles, positions and statements 

contained in this publication are not 

necessarily those of SDI, TDI or ERDI 

its BOD, officers or employees. Opinions, 

conclusions, and other information in this 

publication are solely those of the Editor / 

Writer and are neither given nor endorsed 

by the agencies mentioned. Total editorial 

freedom and expression is solely retained 

and the responsibility of the Editors / Writers. 

Cover: Group of Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) get friendly in the 

Little Bahama Banks. 

Photographer: Walt Stearns. Camera system - Nikon D300, Tokina 10-17mm 

lens at 11mm/f11, shutter 160 sec. 

Editor - Walt Stearns 

email: wstearns@uwjournal.com 

Associate Editor - Steve Lewis 

Assistant Editor - Karen Stearns 

Copy Editor - Angie Anderson 

Art Director - Cheri Craft 

Webmasters - Margaret Chatham 

Tony Isse 

Advertising - Ralph Viscusi 

email: rviscusi@uwjournal.com 

Contributors 

Scott Cassell 

Don DeMaria 

Lill Haugen 

Mike Neumann 

Alan Studley 

Micheal Salvarezza 

Christopher Weaver 

Aquafield Communications, LLC. 

The Underwater Journal is published by 

Aquafield Communications, LLC. All content 

in this publication is protected, copyright 

© 2010. No use may be made of material 

contained herein without written consent 

from Aquafield Communications, LLC. 

Inquiries: info@uwjournal.com 


Editor’s Page 

Pg 3 

Economics and Star Trek 

If you’re from the same generation as 

I am (late 40’s) you’ll likely recall “how 

cool it would” be to have one of those 

pocket size flip open communicators 

seen in the 1960’s Star Trek series. Then 

around the late 1980’s came Star Trek, The Next Generation. 

By this point, technology had advanced, with the advent of 

pocket size cell phones. Yet the sci-fi series was still a few paces 

ahead of us. Characters in the show wore their communicators 

on their breast like a brooch, the tricorder used for accessing 

data was pretty small, and activities like reading reports and 

books to writing letters was accomplished with small handheld 

electronic tablets. 

So here we are in the 21st century. While we don’t walk 

around with our communicators pinned to the shirt pocket, 

many of us do wear them hung around our ear. Cell phones 

have evolved into smart phones with abilities beyond basic 

communication, letting us access the web, store music, take 

photos and utilize apps designed to work out mathematical 

problems. Whew! 

But what happened to those electronic tablets that replaced 

paper books? Unless you have been living in a cave, you’ve 

undoubtedly seen plenty about devices like the Kindle, Sony 

Reader and Apple’s new iPad. 

Through the advancement of these e-readers, many 

companies, including book publishers, are predicting the use of 

these devices will eventually replace paper books. Look at what 

the Internet has done to traditional newspaper publishing? Even 

the favorite print magazine you received in the mail or used 

tp pick up at the news stand is feeling the pressure, between 

the constant rise in the cost of paper, printing, distribution 

and that of instant accessibility to information through forums, 


Pg 4 

Facebook, Twitter and more on the web. 

Thumbing through (with my keyboard scroll key) the 

February 18 edition of the Wall Street Journal’s (WSJ) Market 

section the feature “PC Makers Ready iPad Rivals” caught 

my eye. I had seen Apple’s new iPad and was pretty impressed 

by many of its features. The most notable providing a more 

friendlier platform than my smart phone for surfing the web, 

reading and responding to emails and reading pdf format 

materials like one of our issues of Underwater Journal, which 

looked damn good on the large LCD screen. Having played 

with both Amazon’s Kindle and Sony’s Reader, the two devices 

now seem almost obsolete. 

What was most interesting in the WSJ feature was how 

PC-based computer makers, following the lead on Apple’s 

innovative approach to e-readers, are soon to begin 

development of devices that will challenge Apple Inc.’s iPad. 

Currently the price point for Apple’s iPad is $499 to $699, 

not exactly an amount that will have the masses snapping 

them up off the shelves. But the day will be coming soon, as a 

new processor from Freescale Semiconductor, Inc., is said to 

take on the functions of other chips and thereby significantly 

reduce the production costs for e-readers. 

The implications are huge as both Amazon.com Inc. and 

Sony Corp. (both Freescale customers) currently dominate 

the market for electronic tablets with sales this year of 

downloadable book and magazine titles to double from 2009’s 

4 million units. 

Does this mean the end of paperback novels and magazines? 

Looking at the major indicators – rising paper and printing 

costs, continued growth and popularity of the web vs. print for 

information access, added by the rapid development of better, 

faster smart phones, notebooks and now e-readers - we are 

without a doubt moving closer to a paperless society. 

No, paper isn’t dead yet, but we will see a lot less of it. 

Just like we did with film in photography. Some of you do 

remember that stuff? 

Walt Stearns 

Editor-in-Chief 


Dive America: California 

Farnsworth Bank is one of California’s great dives, but surprising 

few get to visit or even know about it. 

That is because Farnsworth Bank is situated 5 miles off shore of 

Catalina Island’s western side. Due its location, this half-mile wide 

seamount consisting of several pinnacles is exposed to all weather 

Pg 5 

Farnsworth Bank 

Alan Studley © 2009 

conditions and strong currents, making it an advanced dive. But 

for those intrepid few that make it, Farnsworth is an underwater 

wonderland rich in a wide assortment of marine creatures and 

surprising amount of colors. 


Farnsworth is also an ecological reserve where rare 

Purple Hydrocoral is protected, reflected by its presence 

all over Farnsworth Bank along with a healthy collection of 

red gorgonians and small colonies of strawberry anemones 

covering its rocky precipices to octopus, cowrie shells, 

Pg 6 

Alan Studley © 2009 

nudibranchs, blacksmiths, torpedo rays and sheepshead 

living amongst the rocks. 

Looking out into blue, no telling what might pass by. 

After all, it is the open Pacific. 

www.UnderwaterJournal.com Issue 15 - 2010 

by 

True 2 the name; 

R U ready… 

03.30.10 

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Pg 7 

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Back To Basics 

DSMB: 

Delayed 

Surface 

Marker 

Buoy 

Pg 8 

by Steve Lewis 

story & photos 

by Walt Stearns 

Walt Stearns © 2009 

Most experienced instructors get to answer a steady 

stream of questions about dive gear selection 

and configuration. Based solely on the volume of 

questions on the topic, the category of dive gear that seems 

to be surrounded by the deepest mystery is floats, liftbags 

and marker buoys. The sort of questions I’m asked about once 

a week include things like: how to use a marker buoy; if a 

marker buoy is only for technical diving; what the difference 

is between a surface marker buoy and a safety sausage… or 

something similar along those lines. 

So in the interest of clarity, let’s answer the most common 

questions here and now – starting with a set of definitions that 

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The terms Diver Down Float, 

Surface Marker Buoy (SMB), 

Delayed Surface Marker Buoy 

(DSMB), Safety Sausage 

(sometimes called ScubaTubes), 

and Liftbags all essentially 

describe a similar piece of dive 

gear: an inflatable fabric balloon 

that is usually a bright color such 

as day-glo orange, yellow or red, 

used to signal that there is a diver 

close by. Many divers use these 

terms interchangeably without 

causing too much confusion or 

getting a midnight visit from the 

scuba police. But, just in case you 

want to be more careful, and would 

like your terminology to be exact, 

let’s take a few minutes to find out 

what are the differences, and what 

job each of these scuba tools is 

designed and intended to do. 

The most common member of 

this group of items and something 

that should be familiar to even the 

newest open-water diver is the 

Diver Down Float. 

This describes the ubiquitous 

surface “blob with a flag” that 

floats above sport divers, warning 

boaters and other watercraft users 

that there are divers below. It is 

often made from low-grade nylon 

or plastic, colored bright red and 

white, is decorated with the Diver 

Down Flag and slogan, and is 

attached to a thick line which is 

either fixed to a weight at depth 

or is held in a diver’s hand as they 

swim. A Diver Down Float sits on 

the surface throughout the dive and 

is a required piece of equipment at 

many dive locations. 

Now the confusion starts. The 

Surface Marker Buoy (SMB) is 

another name for a Diver Down 

Float, but it is made from more 

robust material, and has an 

overpressure valve as well as an 

inflation tube or valve. Again, 

in the strictest terms, an SMB 

remains on the surface for the 

duration of a dive. It is controlled 

by a line leading to the SMB from a 

hand-held reel. In a perfect world, 

an SMB should clearly indicate that 

there are divers below, and the part 

of it above the water should ideally 

include the international alpha flag 

and or diver down flag as part of 

their design. 

The next type of “buoys” are 

actually not really a surface buoys 

as they not really intended to float 

on the surface while the diver or 

dive team is below. The first one 

is the Safety Sausage. brightly- 


colored yellow or orange plastic or 

nylon tube seldom longer than four 

feet in length. 

Safety Sausages are a popular 

choice among recreational divers 

due to their ability rolled up into a 

small package that can be stowed in 

a BC pocket or clipped conspicuously 

on a D-ring. 

Unlike a DSMB (which I will get 

too in a minute) Safety Sausages 

are mainly one job tool as they can 

only be inflated orally when a diver is 

on the surface. Should one manage 

to get inflated at depth, having no 

dump valve they are incapable of 

handling over expansion during the 

ride to the surface. The results of 

which can be explosive. And last, as 

an emergency signaling device, they 

are a poor choice as their small size 

makes them a poor visual aid in most 

open ocean conditions. 

Safety Sausages are a popular choice 

among recreational divers due to their 

ability rolled up into a small package 

that can be stowed in a BC pocket or 

clipped conspicuously on a D-ring, and 

of course for their price, which is often 

a quarter the price of a moderately 

sized DSMB. But they are limited 

Pg 10 

At the other end of the spectrum 

are lift bags. Most experienced divers, 

especially those who spend weekends 

foraging among the casualties of war 

that litter the coastal waters of North 

America and Europe, own at least one 

lift bag; often several. 

This classic tool follows one 

simplistic design an open-ended sack 

made from tough, reinforced material 

and fitted with straps to attach it to 

something that needs lifting from the 

bottom up through the water column. 

No inflation tubes or automatic dump 

valves are needed; their open end 

underneath serves both functions well. 

I’ve also used them on numerous 

occasion, either singly or in groupings 

to float items as diverse as sunken 

outboard motors, snow mobiles, 

portholes, and on one occasion the 

prop and part of the drive shaft of 

a 35 metre (about 115 foot) motor 

yacht. Perhaps you remember this 

from your open water manual - one 

litre of water has a mass of one kilo 

and one cubic foot of sea water is 

about 64 pounds. 

In addition to a variety of sizes, lift 

bags come a variety of colors, yellow 

being the most common. As versatile 

as they are, keep in mind that the 

same physical trait that makes them 

easy to inflate underwater also makes 

them easy to deflate on the surface 

if there is not enough weight pulling 

down to keep the open end of the bag 

submerged, thus not making them 

the best choice as a diver’s surface 

marker. Which brings us to DSMB’s. 


A CCR diver deploying a DSMB from a depth of 60 feet. 

Once on the surface, the dive boat will be able to track his 

movements even during a series of staged stops. 



Pg 11 

DSMB’s are surface marker bouys 

that are deployed from a hand held reel 

or spool at the end of dive when the 

divers starts his or her ascent – which 

brings the “D” standing for Delayed. 

In North America, the term most 

often used to describe this tool is SMB; 

without the D. Like Safety Sausages 

and small lift bags, this particular 

tool is initially carried underwater in a 

deflated state - jammed into a pocket 

or pouch on conventional jacket style 

BCD, or attached to a backplate or 

butt-plate on a sidemount rig. 

One practices among tech divers 

wearing large off-board cylinders for 

decompression will strap one or more 

on the cylinders to make them more 

convenient to get too. Where they differ 

is the open end used to inflate them 

like lift bags feature a non-air spilling 

flapper valve so that air can easy 

enter, but not back out, even should 

the SMB lay sideways on surface. As 

well as other little features like an 

automatic over pressure relief manual 

dump valve to even oral inflation tube. 

I was first taught to use a DSMB 

in my advanced open water class. 

Our dives where often wrecks far off 

shore, deploying a DSMB at the end of 

our dives proved itself over and over 

again as a “highly sound practice” in 

diving applications where currents are 

strong, preventing the your return to 

the up line. The same is also true in 

drift diving, when you find yourself 

separated from the group. 

There are more than 20 manufacturers making and 

selling good quality marker buoys in a staggering variety 

of shapes, colors and sizes. Some even packaged with 

their own holster for mounting on a BCD or backplate. 

Local conditions and primary use will always dictate 

the niceties of design, but most divers opt for a sealed 

or self-sealing design with a total length of 180 cm 

(about six feet). This style of buoy (whether used as an 

SMB or DSMB) is more visible to surface support in big 

seas and will not dump its contents if it topples over 

on the surface. 


A diver’s head, covered in 

black neoprene bobbing in two to 

four foot seas is not a very visible 

target. Every minute the boat’s 

crew is unable to ascertain your 

whereabouts will factor against 

you at getting found. Throw in 

the need or desire to perform 

a short deco or safety stop in 

that same instance, further 

adds to the clock for a boat 

crew discovering your location 

creating the perfect recipe to 

not getting spotted at all! 

Pg 12 

In technical mixed gas and/or 

dives on rebreathers where DSMB’s 

are likely to be used, procedures 

should be thoroughly discussed with 

and understood by all team members, 

including boat crew, divemasters and 

other support personnel prior to 

dive operations. 

Which is why having a bright 

colored marker buoy waving 

around in the breeze almost full 

body length out of the water 

almost guarantees getting 

spotted by the boat’s crew, even 

if you should still happen to be 

10 to 20 feet underwater waiting 

out the last 2 to 3 minutes of 

your stop. 

DSMBs can also be used to 

indicate an emergency situation, 

most successfully when this 

protocol is discussed and explained 


with the surface support team 

as part of the pre-dive briefing. 

Some divers carry two DSMBs 

to prepare for this contingency. 

One is used routinely, and the 

other would only be deployed to 

indicate an emergency. 

In addition the buoy showing 

the support team the location of 

the diver(s) as well as indicating 

their decompression has begun, 

the line can be used as a visual 

aid for the diver(s) ascent. 

There are tones of published 

If DSMBs are to be deployed during the ascent or 

decompression phase of a dive, the surface support 

team should know approximately when to expect 

to see the buoy hit the surface. 

When a DSMB is used to signal a dive team’s 

position in the water, it should be fully inflated and 

“weighted” so it floats upright on the surface and is 

clearly visible. 

The European norm is that an orange or red buoy is 

deployed as a marker while a yellow buoy indicates 

assistance is needed or an emergency exists. To 

avoid confusion regarding color, some teams carry 

a DSMB with the word EMERGENCY on it, and 

some send a DSMB to the surface and then deploy 

a second on the same line with a message slate 

attached. 

When an emergency is signaled, the support team 

and or boat can then initiate the standard emergency 

protocols depending on the situation. These will be 

pre-arranged and practiced. 

procedures for using a DSMB, but 

they boil down to a few simple 

guidelines. First, be sure you 

have the right type of DSMB. Any 

marker buoy deployed from depth 

MUST be fitted with a means to 

vent gas as it expands on its way 

to the surface. On the majority 

of closed models, gas is vented 

via an automatic over-pressure 

dump valve. 

Perhaps the most important 

is that when deploying a DSMB 

from depth, the diver should not 


• 

• 

• 

•


Pg 13 

Tips on deploying a DSMB 

Following your investment in a DSMB with a 

spool or reel, take a weekend and practice first 

in shallow water at the local quarry or inshore 

site. Learning how to deploy it safely, will pay off 

many fold. Here are a couple of tips to get you 

started if you are not already masterful with a 

spool and bag. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Have control of your buoyancy before 

deploying a DSMB. 

Put enough gas in at depth for it to be fully 

inflated (or close to it) at the surface. Keep 

in mind Boyle’s Law, the deeper you are, the 

less gas in the bag to do the job. 

Before putting any gas into the bag, have 

your buddy check the line to insure it is not 

tangled or looped around your gear. 

When diving in cold water Do NOT fill 

bags or DSMBs by purging your primary 

regulator’s second stage. This is about 

guaranteed to start a free-flow. Use your 

powerinflator instead – pressing both the 

add and dump buttons at the same time. 

When the float is on the surface, dump a 

little gas from your wing or BCD so that 

you put some tension on the line. This will 

make the marker buoy stand up in the water. 

Have someone on the surface to observe 

and critic your technique. 

Treat it like a game, have fun with it. 


Which Color, 

Yellow or Orange? 

This is nother other debate 

larger on the topic of DSMB’s 

than color. Many will contend 

orange or red is better, others 

will contend that yellow 

should only used to notify 

the boat crew above that you 

may have an issue that may 

require assistance. 

For most advance 

recreational forms of diving 

offshore both would be a wise 

choice. Several model DSMB’s 

feature dual color patterns 

with red or orange up one 

side with bright yellow down 

the other. The reason is not 

every body sees color well. 

Furthermore under overcast 

sky, or day fading to dusk 

conditions, our visual acuity 

for distinguishing colors is 

further compromised. 

In low light objects with 

a red hue on the water will 

often take on an almost black 

appearance, where as bright 

yellow (the more iridescent 

the better) is more visible. Yet, 

under bright light conditions 

– high noon on a blue sea, 

and the order is reverse with 

bright orange coming in on 

top, hence the concept for 

DSMB’s with two colors. 

Pg 14 

attach the reel to their body, as they could 

be carried upward by the device if the reel 

jams. Number two is to be wary of getting 

the line looped around gear, especially during 

prep for sending the buoy skywards for the 

same reason. The third is to make sure the 

reel or spool has sufficient line on it to reach 

from the release point to the surface. Yes, 

you guessed it, same reason. 

Almost every diver who asks about Floats, 

Surface Marker Buoys or Liftbags either 

begins or ends with the same question: 

“when should I buy one?” 

Reviewing what has been discussed, which 

would you rather have; your own DSMB over 

A few recommendations to make 

your DSMB a more effective tool. 

Label buoy with your name. 

Place a knot in the line every 

10 feet/3 meters to indicate 

approximate depth during 

ascent – comes in handy should 

you lose your computer or 

depth gage. 

To help prevent the reel’s line 

from becoming to twisted 

during the DSMB’s accent, 

incorporate a heavy duty 

(200-lbs test) fishing swivel to 

the DSMB. 

heading marking your location, or trusting 

the safety sausage rolled up in your pocket 

will get the somebody’s attention once you 

are up on the surface? 

Perhaps I am biased about DSMB’s after 

years of using Surface Marker buoys and 

lift bags of one sort or another, but if you 

want my answer, it’s is always the same, 

“right now if you are willing to learn how to 

use it!” 


• 

• 

• 

- SL

Pg 15 


Eco Watch 

Pg 16 

RED ED DEMONS EMONS 

OFF THE 

GOLD OLD COAST OAST 

- Part 1 

Sleek, Fast, Powerful & Voracious. 

Meet Dosidicus gigas, the Humboldt Squid. 


The net’s fine mesh allowed the tiniest of 

plants and creatures to pass through while 

funneling anything larger to the collection jar 

at the back end. As I lifted the jar onto the 

aft deck of the vessel I could see it was full of 

red dots, tightly compacted together. 

Down in the cabin, I scooped up a couple 

of the wriggling red dots, each the size of 

sesame seed, and placed them into a drop 

of water on a microscope slide. As I focused 

the instrument’s eyepiece, the red dots took 

shape. My breathing stopped and my heart 

sank as I realized what I was looking at. 

“God… we are in trouble.” I thought. “They 

are breeding here…” 

Pg 17 

Warning: the following article 

may prove disturbing, and upsetting 

to your sense of status quo. I make 

no apologies, for these are the facts, 

pure and simple. 

- Scott Cassell 

Many bad news events in my life happened on days with clouds, rain and cold. 

And on a cold, overcast day in October 2007, twenty miles off the North- 

Central California coast near Tomales Bay, I pulled in a 200-foot long 

plankton net towline. 

I sat there attempting to embrace the 

magnitude of what was wriggling in the 

water drop. A creature more powerful, more 

adaptable, more destructive, more capable 

than any invasive species we Californians 

have ever encountered and they now live 

among us. This is a species that I have 

confirmed has killed and eaten humans. 

A species that has spawned legends in old 

world Baja, earning the title “Demonio Rojo” 

(Red Demon). I reflected on my 14 years and 

2,000-plus dives in Baja spent researching 

and encountering this species in its adult 

form, and quietly thought to myself, “It is 

now just a matter of time.” 


The Magic Forest 

The oceanic life that dwells within these 

Californian waters beckons humans to delve into her 

depths and experience the majesty of the kelp forest. 

Pg 18 

The California coast has long 

been a treasured place of beauty 

and spiritual connection. The Pacific 

Ocean offers a vast horizon that 

stretches across a great expanse 

of our Earth’s surface and reaches 

deep into the human imagination. San Diego. During a dive in 1991 

The oceanic life that dwells Walt within Stearns I counted © 2007 53 sharks swimming 

these Californian waters beckons around me within visibility and 

humans to delve into her depths there were many more coming in 

and experience the majesty of the and out. The Blue shark is one of 

kelp forest. 

the most beautiful fish in the sea. 

I remember the kelp forest at Their color is an amazing silvery- 

its best. Large sheephead were blue that shimmers as they swim 

everywhere, giant black sea bass past. Their eyes are large and black 

the size of ponies would circle just like a piece of onyx with a sweet 

a few feet away, gorgeous bright ‘feel’ to it and the teeth are tucked 

orange Garibaldi would swim boldly inside the jaws so they do not 

up to divers and Blacksmith would have the scary toothy-look often 

‘fly’ through the kelp forest like attributed to dangerous sharks. 

swallows in March. 

Don’t get me wrong, the species 

There were few creatures that was among those that killed and 

posed a potential threat to man, ate the hundreds of shipwreck 

and these seldom entered the survivors of the USS Indianapolis, 

kelp forest. These were the usual so they are potentially dangerous. 

suspects: the white shark leading, (The primary species involved in 

with rare but known human deaths those attacks was the Oceanic 

attributed, followed by the mako White Tip). 

shark and the blue shark, which The only ‘dangerous’ marine 

were rarely known to bite diver. life that inhabit the kelp forests in 

Unlike the preceding two species in significant numbers are stingrays 

most cases of blue shark ‘attack’ and spiny invertebrates such as 

when the divers bait them with sea urchins, along with the sharp- 

blood and fish bits, then as the edged barnacles on shore rocks. 

sharks come in to investigate The most dangerous thing I 

the chance of a meal, the divers encountered in the kelp forest was 

grabbed onto them in an effort a fiercely territorial and egotistical 

to ‘ride’ them, which elicited a male torpedo (electric) ray that 

defensive bite. I don’t know about was ‘in the rut’ during the month of 

you, but having some yahoo grab February. Ever accidentally crossed 

onto me would solicit a negative a hot wire while installing a light 

response… as it would from most switch? Damn thing almost killed 

life forms. 

me. But ultimately, there has been 

Over the last 30 years I have nothing in California waters that 

dove with the beautiful Blue shark would hunt and feed on humans as 

dozens of times off the coast of prey. That’s just silly...right? 


“One Stanford scientist 

published that Dosidicus 

gigas has a top speed 

of 1.4-knots, as well as 

stating on TV that they 

are not aggressive. 

I have filmed them 

swimming at over 

20-knots, as well as been 

attacked more times than 

I can keep count.” 

Pg 19 

In the waters off Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, locals call them “El Demonio Rojo” meaning Red Devil 

for both their deep red coloration and mean streak. Encountering this species in its adult form for 

research is dangerous work. Dosidicus gigas is the only species of squid confirmed to have attack 

and even killed people. So far all were unlucky fishermen who had fallon overboard fishing for them. 


Red Dawn 

As I departed the boat on 

that fateful day, and head home 

with my news, I wonder how 

to break the news that we are 

now the permanent neighbors 

of an ever-expanding population 

of Humboldt squid (Dosidicus 

gigas). My heart fills with dread 

as my imagination goes into 

the mode of potential impact 

this invasive species will bring. 

None of the scenarios are good. 

In my mind’s eye I see Pacific 

wild-salmon species going 

extinct, rockfish disappearing, 

reductions in reef fish and even 

attacks on divers and surfers. 

And it will happen soon. 

Very few people actually know 

much about this species. Several 

scientists in central California 

are now beginning to study the 

Dosidicus gigas because the squid 

are now in their back yard. These 

people have suddenly become 

‘experts’ but much of what they 

know is based on information 

they have collected in California 

and the few trips they have taken 

to Baja on science cruises. But 

the only way to understand the 

true nature of this creature is to 

dive with them in a non-invasive 

way. More on that later. 

About eight years ago, the 

Pg 20 

Humboldt squid began making 

cameo appearances in California. 

They would be caught by 

astonished fishermen who would 

inform the news, resulting in 

headlines such as “Giant Squid 

Caught by local Fishermen.” 

Every so often a dozen or more 

Humboldt squid would become 

beached and die in full view of TV 

cameras, giving life guards and 

scientists from disciplines such 

as Neurophysiology and Physical 

Oceanography the chance to 

become on-camera ‘experts’ 

about a creature of which they 

were completely ignorant, and 

to lecture on ‘fish tale facts’ 

Ten years ago, encounters with Humboldt squid by fishermen in 

California waters was very infrequent. Now specimens weighing 40 

to 60 pounds every so often wash up Southern California beaches 

and die in full view of TV cameras. 

about the enigmatic species’ 

natural history. Some of these 

maligned ‘facts’ are still found 

on Wikepedia for unsuspecting 

students to quote on science 

reports and perpetuate the 

misinformation. 

I have read published scientific 

works on Dosidicus gigas that 

have a myriad of incorrect data 

and opinions presented as facts. 

A Stanford scientist, for example, 

published that Dosidicus gigas 

has a top speed of 1.4 knots (I 

have filmed them swimming 

at over 20 knots), and he has 

even been on TV stating that 

they are not aggressive. I have 

been attacked more times than I 

can keep count of. Occupational 

hazard when you spend time in 

the water studying and filming 


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these creatures. So most of those 

attacks are solely my responsibility, 

but what about other people who 

don’t go looking for it. Well two 

divers in La Jolla California escaped 

with little-to-no injuries during an 

attack by three to four Humboldt 

squid this past summer. They were 

lucky. I have seen a sea lion with 

big bite wounds nearly the size of 

fist. The list of wrong information 

just keeps going. This article isn’t 

Also called the Jumbo Squid, 

the Humboldt name was 

derived from the region this 

large predatory squid was 

first captured and identified 

by Danish Biologist Japetus 

Steenstrup during a collection 

trip off shore of Peru, in 1857. 


GHOSTS OF THE BLUE DON’T EAT RED DEMONS 

long enough to express all the 

misinformation, which is not my 

intent here. 

So how did the Humboldt get 

here and why? Simple. 

Consider what happens to the 

rabbit population if you remove 

the hawks and coyotes? 

They multiply and spread. 

And in similar fashion, Humboldt 

squid have moved north because 

they can. We killed and ate their 

predators and they are now 

expanding their range to fill 

the vacated niche. There is an 

alarming trend. Man has pushed 

many species of sharks to the 

brink of extinction and we have 

reduced the populations of tuna, 

marlin, and swordfish to the 

Pg 22 

lowest recorded levels in history. 

These creatures eat Humboldt 

squid and as their numbers 

wane, the squid population is set 

to explode. 

It has been estimated that only 

3 percent of blue sharks still exist 

in the Southern Pacific region, 

and mako shark populations 

are estimated that less than 20 

percent of their historic numbers. 

Sport and commercial shark 

fishing has been effective. Even 

though the damaging effects are 

widely known, I still hear of folks 

catching mako sharks to eat. My 

friend (a spear fishing guide) told 

me he likes the taste of mako 

and tuna so he will continue to 

hunt them off kelp patties. His 

rationale? He eats what he kills 

and it is not against the law so 

what’s the big deal? 

Meanwhile, the squid are set 

to multiply in unprecedented 

numbers. A single female 

Dosidicus gigas has a fecundity 

of one to twenty million eggs. 

When nature is in balance, 

such numbers are needed, 

as only one in a million; two 

actually need survive to reach 

sexual maturity and spawn. 

That means that 999,998 to 

19,999,998 are expected to die, 

be eaten, or not find a mate. 

When nature’s balance is upset, 

and many more reach maturity 

and spawn, the species will 

begin to spread like locust. 

By all accounts, the Humboldt 

Squid population does seem to be 

increasing, or to be more correct, 

expanding. From September thru 

March, Humboldt Squid are being 

caught by sport fishermen and 

beaching themselves (sometimes 

numbering in the hundreds) along 

the Western coast of the USA all 

the way up to Sitka, Alaska. 

Mind you this is a new 

phenomenon. They haven’t been 

here before. But wait there’s 

more… 


Just how big do Humboldt’s Get? While most captured off both 

Mexico and US coast vary between 3 and 5 feet, weighting upwards 

to 60 pounds, some of the biggest landed have been down off the 

coast of Northern Chile, Peru and Ecuadorian coast with monsters 

measure more than 6 feet packing weights well over 100-pounds, 

two 150 specimens taken by Ron Schatman. 

Pg 23 

Most of us have read at least 

one of the legendary books by 

the honored John Steinbeck. Did 

you notice he never mentioned 

Humboldt Squid in any of his 

magnificent writings about the 

Sea of Cortez? Why? It is simple; 

they weren’t there in common 

numbers at that time in history. 

They are invasive to the Sea of 

Cortez as well. Once the shark 

and tuna population began to fall 

just after WWI, when focus on 

fisheries increased exponentially, 

the squid expanded their range 

into the Sea of Cortez and are 

now the dominant predator base 

in those waters. In fact Dosidicus 

gigas are very effective at killing 

off their predators by eating 

them when they are young. In 

other words, they eat baby tuna, 

sharks, marlin, Dorado, swordfish 

and a myriad of other species, 

preventing their return. 

This seems to be a recent 

phenomenon, linked to a 

simultaneous reduction of 

predators. They appear to be 

following food sources including 

rockfish, herring, smelt, sardines 

and others right up our coast. It 

is not Global Warming as local 

scientist blame; it’s your local 

sushi bar from California to 

Tokyo, Peking to New York and 

everywhere in between. In short, 

it is the demand for these ocean 

fish that is doing it. 

You have heard the term 

‘Tipping Point’ used in climate 

discussions and economic 

commentaries about budgetary 

collapses. In both biology and 

chemistry, the same term is used 

to describe when a chemical 

reaction or a population shift 

that is influenced by factors 

in such a way that it becomes 

inevitable, or simply put, cannot 

be stopped, much like an 

avalanche. The problem is this 

avalanche has no end. 

A fisherman with 30 consecutive 

years experience in California 

THE ‘TIPPING POINT’ IS TODAY, NOT TOMORROW 

waters has recently expressed 

concern to me, stating that when 

the squid began to show up 3 

years ago, the rockfish stocks 

fell and closed some fisheries. He 

thinks the squid eat the juvenile 

rockfish (and other species) and 

indeed a scientist from NOAA has 

video footage taken via ROV in 

2006 at about 1,000 fsw showing 

this exact event. In the veiled 

depths, the Humboldt Squid is 

already affecting our lives. 

So, the Humboldt squid are 

impacting fisheries already under 

stress by man. Now consider this, 

since man has nearly decimated 


Pg 24 

In the twilight depths of the Sea 

of Cortez, a jumbo size Humboldt 

squid gets close and personal with 

Scott Cassell. 

the native salmon stocks in many 

areas, what happens when shoals 

of hungry Humboldt Squid appear 

at the river mouths containing 

salmon schools that we have 

reduced to just hundreds of fish? 

Will the squid finish what we 

started? 

What I first predicted some 

ten years ago now appears to be 

fact. In 2008 the salmon fishery in 

California was shut down due to a 

‘mysterious’ drastic drop in salmon 


WHAT DID I FIND? 

populations (from over one million 

to 25,000 in one river alone in just 

two years). 

Ironically, I can foresee people 

getting mad at the Humboldt 

Squid and blaming it for “the 

extinction of a salmon species” 

or whatever stressed species of 

fish that wanders into the path of 

the marauding Squid. Much of our 

culture seems to have an inability 

to take responsibility. We are a 

world of ‘Blamers’. 

We have already reached the 

tipping point and we created 

the problem. Stand up and take 

responsibility. Scientifically, my 

decade of discovery with the 

Humboldt Squid has been laden 

with observation, data collection 

and video recordings of masterful 

predation, incredible adaptability, 

massive fecundity (1 to 20 

million eggs per female) and the 

transference of energy from one 

life form to another. Phytoplankton 

utilizes the nutrients in the water 

and harnesses the sun’s energy, 

zooplanktons consume them, 

sardines prey on zooplankton and 

the Humboldt squid prey on the 

sardines, as well as many of the 

sardine’s other predators. Now, 

the squid are spreading into new 

zones where they have never been 

reported and impacting fisheries 

on historic scales. 

Pg 25 

Ethically, I am profoundly 

disappointed. The Humboldt 

Squid are an indicator of yet 

another human failure occurring 

concurrent with what we perceive 

as success. The better man can 

successfully kill sea life to feed 

our ever-growing population 

(usually for economic gain, not the 

noble cause of helping our fellow 

human), the better we become at 

fabricating a perverted rationale 

to justify our actions. 

Go ahead; eat shark, tuna, 

marlin, swordfish, and sardine. 

But do you realize that this causes 

grizzlies to go without salmon, 

with cubs starving to death or 

being eaten by big male grizzlies? 

Yet, just this year, we (the 

California Department of Fish 

& Game) approved the legal 

harvesting of the endangered 

wild salmon, even at this critical 

time. How does that make you 

feel? An old fisherman told me 

that the Department of Fish & 

Game is extremely effective at 

regulating species into extinction 

for a buck. Historic evidence does 

support that. 

Spiritually, my studies 

revealed a performance of life 

art. The precious gift of life, 

taken by others for their own 

continuance. Stunning beauty, 

color, power, and grace, in an 

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Pg 26 

ancient dance of life and death to 

an ancient and otherworldly tempo, 

inaudible to human ears. Their place 

in this world transcends our own 

awareness. They belong to a world so 

much more than our own in beauty, 

hostility, inaccessibility and shear 

vastness in size. 

The Earth is our mother, and 

we are destroying her. We truly are 

the ungrateful child and we don’t 

have to be. We have but one choice; 

re-discover the Earth objectively and 

invent with empathy. 

For you see, the magnificent 

Humboldt Squid is really just an icon of 

something much bigger. What happens 

next is your choice. But if you see the 

Humboldt squid in person while diving 

off California… buddy up… and leave 

water ASAP. You are no longer in charge. 

Enjoy your Spicy Tuna Roll. 

-Scott Cassell 

Captain Scott Cassell 

President and Founder 

of the 

Undersea Voyager Project 

Scott Cassell is a man of the sea from 

commercial diver with over 12,000 hours of 

dive time to USCG Qualified Submersible Pilot/ 

Captain with over 800 dives on the SeaMagine 

SeaMobile submersibles with another 400 dives 

in various models. If his face seams familiar, it is 

because you likely had seen him as host/presenter 

for several documentaries broadcast on Disney, 

MTV Wildboyz, the Discovery Channel, Animal 

Planet, BBC and the History Channel. As an 

explorer-documentary undersea cameraman, 

Scott is credited with the production of nearly 

20 documentaries. Among his more recent 

developments, Scott developed a method to attach 

a camera to a Humboldt squid, which in November 

of 2006 captured for the first time footage of a 

40-foot long Giant Squid (Architeuthis dux) in 

predatory mode in its natural environment. 

To read more about Scott Cassell 

and the Undersea Voyager Project 

visit 

www.underseavoyagerproject.org 


Pg 27 


Live-Aboard Diving 

Pg 28 

Dolphin 

Dreams 

Little Bahamas Bank’s WILD WEST Experience Onboard The M/V Dolphin Dream 


Pg 29 

Dolphins Up Close and Personal 

“Get ready” Captain Scotty Smith’s 

voice trailed down from the deck high 

above us. 

Standing on the aft platform of the motor 

vessel M/V Dolphin Dream, we eagerly await the 

divemaster’s signal. At our feet, the morning sun 

illuminates the sugar-white sand bottom 30 feet 

below. The water is as calm and clear as a giant 

swimming pool and this pool comes with resident 

playmates, a pod of spotted dolphins (Stenella 

plagiodon) that are headed right for us. It was 

exactly what we had hoped for. 

There are two types of dolphin dives. The most 

common - interaction with trained captive animals 

inside marine parks and high end resorts with only 

very small few that are actually taken outside their 

pens for a free swim with snorkelers and scuba 

divers. 

Then there is the not so common where you 

need to go where they live and hope you get a close 

friendly interaction on their terms. These are special 

in that no food is offered. The encounter is entirely 

dictated by they’re own curiosity and amusement. 

One of the best places for divers to enjoy this type 

of wild encounters is on the expansive shallows of 

the Little Bahama Banks, at a site known as White 

Sand Ridge. 

Text & Photography 



For many years, captain Scotty 

Smith and the crew of the M/V 

Dolphin Dream have provided 

divers with a good chance of a 

human/dolphin rendezvous. 

Though encounters are never 

guaranteed in the same way a 

captive program would be, there 

is a very high probability the 

resident pod of spotted dolphin 

will make a showing at any given 

week. Getting the full interactive 

encounter however, will take a 

bit of effort on the diver’s part. 

Scotty advises, “When you hit the 

water, the trick is remembering 

to swim your butt off. The faster 

and crazier you swim, the more 

animated they become. Remain 

Pg 30 

still expecting them to come to 

you will only lead them to lose 

interest, leaving you in search 

of someone else more willing to 

play the game.” 

Scotty speaks from experience. 

His crew has been bringing 

divers to White Sand Ridge for 

more than 25 years, and the pod 

has become almost like family. 

Many are now third and fourth 

generation descendents to the 

first group to make contact with 

divers in the very early part of the 

1980’s. Scotty has kept records 

and can tell you that this one is 

Hali; her mother is Notocho who 

gave birth in 1993. The one over 

there is the grandmother of this 

over here. He has even written 

a book titled Dolphin Tales that 

chronicles his experiences with 

the pod. 

The Dolphin Dream’s engines 

drop a note as they are slipped 

into neutral. The call comes from 

above: Dive, dive, dive! 

Before you could clear your 

mask, several 5 to 6-foot grey 

specked torpedoes appear, wildly 

zigzagging their way around 

below us as they race alongside 

within touching distance. Based 

on Scotty’s advice, several divers 

have brought strips of cloth. 

Set one adrift in the water and 

the pod will usually join in for 

a spirited game of keep away, 

swiping and passing the cloth 

among themselves. 

Descending to the sandy 

bottom, I am joined by an 

entourage. I line up a group of 

five animals in my camera’s 

viewfinder, kicking wildly to keep 

them interested as I capture them 

frame after frame. They match my 

frantic pace with ease, their sleek 

forms gliding through the water 

with no apparent effort. Working 

to stay with them had me all over 

the map and god only knows 

how many shots I took. Coming 

back to surface, the Dream was 

a couple hundred yards away, but 

already on its way to retrieve the 

last of its brood. 


When it comes to 

live-aboards, my philosophy 

has always been, ‘If the boat can 

put me on the best sites in the 

region, and the food and service 

is good, everything else becomes 

incidental.’ Well, almost. The 

boat also needs to be reasonably 

comfortable and stable. 

The Dolphin Dream meets all 

my basic criteria and then some. 

It’s Scotty’s third vessel to bear 

a “Dream” name, succeeding the 

Impossible Dream (late 1970’s to 

early 80’s) and the subsequent 

Dream Too (early 1980’s to 

2005). This latest vessel is an 

85-foot steel-hulled dive yacht 

with a 26-foot beam – one of the 

widest in her class. As a result, 

she is a roomy vessel for her size, 

providing comfort, as you are 

not shoehorned in, constantly 

bumping into everything and 

everyone as you move about 

the boat. 

The other main component of 

a comfortable boat is stability. 

On our crossing of the Gulf 

Stream from Palm Beach Florida 

to the Little Bahama Banks, the 

boat easily handled the five to six 

foot waves we encountered, and 

provided a steady home afloat. 

Good thing, because once you 

clear Bahamian Customs in West 

End, Grand Bahama Island, the 

next land fall you are likely to 

Pg 31 

A Look at the Boat 

see will not be until the end of 

the trip when the Dream is back 

in home port. 

Before this vessel became the 

Dolphin Dream, she was a shrimp 

trawler called the "God's Will." 

Built and operated by the family 

that owned Patti Shipyard in 

Pensacola, Florida, she was built 

to higher standards than most 

shrimp trawlers 

© Walt 

working 

Stearns 

in the Gulf 

At 85 feet in length with a 26-foot beam, the Dolphin Dream 

is both roomy and stable for her size, and well suited for 

diving the open sea stretch of the Little Bahama Banks north 

of Grand Bahama Island’s West End. 


Pg 32 

of Mexico. When the price of shrimp 

fell, the bank took possession of her 

in 2003, and was willing to let go of 

her at a relatively low price. 

For Scotty, the timing could not 

have been better. He had been 

searching for a more suitable 

replacement of the Dream Too, and 

the Gods Will had the right look and 

build to meet the requirements of 

operation on the Bahamas West 

End region. First came a complete 

structural conversion, changing 

the below deck holds into cabins, 

adding an additional structure aft 

of the pilot house for the vessel’s 

saloon and galley, then welding in a 

six foot extension to serve as the 

dive platform. Once the conversion 

was complete, God’s Will was 

re-launched and christened in 2005 

as the Dolphin Dream. And no, it 

doesn’t smell like old shrimp. 

Guest sleeping quarters are 

below deck, separated into five 

moderate size cabins. Four are 

fitted with full-size upper and lower 

bunk beds, with the fifth set up as 

a quad with two of the same bunk 

arrangements. In all, there is room 

for 12 divers, which is the Dream’s 

maximum client list. The only feature 

some might find unusual is that each 

cabin uses a privacy curtain rather 

than an actual door. The boat’s 

three shower and heads are located 

on the main deck forward of the 

salon and galley. The Dream carries 

a generous amount of freshwater so 

rinsing each day is not a problem. 

Guest sleeping quarters are below 

deck, separated into five moderate size 

cabins. Four are fitted with full-size 

upper and lower bunk beds, with the 

fifth set up as a quad with two of the 

same bunk arrangements. 

Like the cabins below deck, 

the Dream’s galley and saloon are 

located between the center and 

aft quarter of the boat, which is 

generally the most stable point on a 

marine vessel. Visiting the Dolphin 

Dream’s website provides a 

detail drawing with pictures of the 

boats layout. 


Largely because of the 

Dream’s generous 26-foot 

beam, the salon is quite roomy, 

with two L-shape bench seating 

surrounding two tables for 

dining, and a entertainment 

center that includes a 27-inch 

TV, DVD/VCR, stereo, a book 

and video library. Separating 

the saloon from the galley is 

a large serving counter, where 

breakfast, lunch and dinner 

are prepared fresh daily in 

buffet fashion. From individual 

Pg 33 

to entire groups, if the Dream 

is notified in advance they 

will accommodate most 

any special dietary needs. 

Ample snacks including fruit, 

nuts and sweets are always 

available. Beverages from ice 

water, juice, soda, coffee, hot 

and cold tea to lemonade are 

self-served at the bar with a 

refrigerator, icemaker, coffee 

pots and a sink. If you want 

beer, wine, or something 

stronger, you will need to bring 

or purchase it from a nearby 

store before departure. 

Photographers, there is 

one set of shelves with electric 

outlets opposite the bar for 

a few small cameras, but it’s 

better suited as a charging 

station. It takes a bit of 

jockeying around to get the 

bigger DSLR rigs between the 

salon and dive deck, as there 

are no dedicated camera 

tables. There is however a 

large wooden picnic table on 

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the dive deck, a large plastic 

tub and an outside shower for 

rinsing. As long as it is not close 

to mealtime, it’s no problem to 

use towels to convert one of the 

salon’s tables to a camera station. 

Off the end of the back deck 

the Dream’s large built-in platform 

is where most of your scuba will 

live during diving days. A set of 

80-cubic foot aluminum 80’s (one 

per diver, air only) are set above a 

single bench that is nearly as wide 

as the platform. The one shortfall 

of this arrangement is that your 

BCD, regulator, mask and fins will 

bake in the sun between dives, 

Pg 34 

as there is no protection over this 

part of the boat. As a result, you 

might want to consider bringing a 

spare large white beach towel to 

drape over your gear when it is 

not in use. 

Two licensed captains, a cook 

and a mate, all of whom are 

divemasters, man the vessel. 

Not to be confused with being 

lax, the atmosphere on board 

is informal and unregimented. 

Unless you clarify you are a new 

diver, the crew will treat you as 

avid, responsible diving adult. 

Dive site briefings are brief: 

here’s the site, here’s where 

we are anchored (unless it’s a 

drift dive or snorkeling with the 

dolphins) and remember to dive 

responsively. From there, you do 

your own thing. For safety, there 

are always one divemaster in the 

water with a second standing 

watch on board should a diver 

surface to far from the boat. 


Pg 35 

Diving The Wild West 

Though not technically part of 

the Caribbean, the Bahamas offer 

similar underwater scenery and 

cover some 7,000 square miles of the 

adjoining Tropical Atlantic. Caped 

by 720 islands, cays and above 

water rock formations scattered 

across this wedge-shaped tract of 

ocean. The Bahama Banks subsea 

plateaus are vast expanses of sand 

and sea grass prairie, with depths 

ranging anywhere from 1 to 20 feet 

deep, leading to reef-lined shelves 

terminating in deep drop-offs. 

Within this vast underwater realm 

lie any number of good dive sites, 

but some of the best are found on 

the western rim of the Little Bahama 

Banks. A quick glance at a map of 

the region will reveal why. Just to the 

west, the Gulf Stream sweeps past 

on its journey northward, while the 

open Atlantic meets the banks just to 

the north and east. These two bodies 

of water have a marked influence on 

the underwater conditions along the 

edge of the banks, providing both 

stellar underwater clarity (habitually 

in the 100-foot range year round), 

and a profound variety of marine life, 

both small and large. 

For the Dolphin Dream this region 

is an easy overnight cruise from 

the boat’s homeport at the Riviera 

Beach Marina in West Palm Beach, 

Florida. After an overnight crossing 

of the Gulf Stream to West End, 

Smile for the Camera! 


Sharks are very much apart of the Bahamas underwater scene. At Tiger Beach, lemon’s 

are the dominant flavor, where these very large species of sharks provide underwater 

photographers up close, in your face imagery in clear shallow water. 


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a quick clearing of Bahamian 

customs and immigration, a filling 

breakfast, the first dive will begin 

by mid-morning. These first dives 

are usually conducted in an area 

between West End and Memory 

Rock, near Wood Cay Wall, on sites 

like Delaine's Reef and Sherwood 

Forest. Both are pleasant enough 

reefs, similar to ones found near 

Freeport and Nassau in 30 to 60 

feet of water. 

The following day, the real 

diving adventures begin as the 

Dream heads north to where the 

edge of the Little Bahama Banks 

meets the Gulf Stream. 

Fed continuously by the Gulf 

Stream’s northbound flow, reefs 

along the northwestern corner 

of the Bank are quite healthy, 

sporting a vibrant growth of 

gorgonians, corals and sponges, 

all matched by equally abundant 

collection of fish life. In addition 

to the “regulators” schools of 

jacks, snappers, grunts, and 

countless tropical fish, this part of 

the Bahamas still remains as one 

of the best places anywhere for 

“big animals” like sharks, turtles, 

rays and wild dolphins. 


Yes, this is the region 

where socially interactive pods 

of spotted and occasional 

bottlenose, dolphins swim and 

play with snorkelers. The place 

they are generally found is White 

Sand Ridge, a large expanse of 

sand bottom shallows in the 20 to 

30 foot depth range that extends 

to over 100 acres in size. White 

Sand Ridge is only obtainable by 

a live-aboard. 

Recently, there has been a 

lot of buzz about an area known 

as Tiger Beach, a place where 

Pg 37 

intrepid photographers and TV 

production crews get up close, in 

your face imagery in clear shallow 

water with large tiger and lemon 

sharks. Well, that’s up there too. 

If you want sharks, you have 

come to the right place for it. 

Sharks are very much apart of 

the Bahamas underwater scene, 

and the Caribbean reef shark 

(Carcharhinus perezi) is the 

region’s trademark animal in the 

many shark-feeding dives staged 

by operators thorough the 

area. But common or not, they 


are a creature well deserving a 

healthy dose of respect. A full 

adult female, which grows larger 

than the males, can exceed 8 

feet in length and weigh several 

hundred pounds. 

Depending on the location, 

there are other members of 

the “gray suit” fraternity that 

are likely to show up in the 

chow line: blacktips, bulls 

and if you are really lucky, a 

greater hammerhead. 

For those less inclined to 

dedicate a full week to the 

dolphins or the sharks, the 

Dolphin Dream can also do-split 

itineraries with sharks for half of 

the trip and dolphin encounters 

for the other. 


Pg 38 

Divers fly over one of the massive coral heads on Mt. Olympus. 

Contrary to its name, Mt. Olympus is not a mountain but rather a series of 20 to 35foot 

high coral formations situated in 90 to 120 foot depths. Running in tandem for three 

quarters of a mile, each house size head is crowned by thick colonies of soft corals, 

gorgonians, small black coral trees and sponges. 

In addition to sharks and 

dolphins, the western edge of 

the Little Bahama Banks north 

of Memory Rock serves up some 

impressive reef sites as well as 

one lone little wreck. The reefs 

line the very edge of the shelf, 

typically rising to 50 feet on top 

and sloping down to 90 or 100 

feet before rolling off into the 

deep oblivion below. 

Two of my personal favorites 

are Mt. Olympus and El Capitan. 

Contrary to its name, Mt. Olympus 

is not a mountain but rather a 

series of 20 to 35-foot high coral 

formations situated in 90 to 120 

foot depths, running in tandem for 

three quarters of a mile. Crowning 

each of these large heads are 

thick colonies of gorgonians, 

small black coral trees and orange 

elephant ear sponges that grow in 

thick profusions. 

El Capitan is similar in almost 

every way - save one. Instead of 

super-size coral heads running in a 

progressive line, the center piece 

of the site is a two-story house 

sized coral mountain beginning in 

100 feet and rising to 50 feet, along 

with several smaller formations to 

the south and west, all offering 

swim-through and overhangs 

begging for exploration. Along 

with schools of jacks, mangrove 

and mahogany snappers, El 

Capitan are often frequented by 

a large permit, reef sharks, and 

hawksbill turtles. 


For some, both sites should be 

viewed as advanced dives, as the 

currents generated by the Gulf 

Stream as it sweep over these reefs 

making the exercise of going up and 

down a mooring line difficult; the 

best option is do the dive as a drift. 

Addition sites in the area that are 

well worth the time include Garden 

of Eden (also known as El Dorado), 

Anna’s, Hogfish and Hammerhead. 

Few reefs are shallower than 50 

feet, and the ones that are there are 

typically small. 

Pg 39 

Along with schools of jacks, 

mangrove and mahogany 

snappers, and sharks, large 

permit are frequent visitors 

at El Capitan. 


Pg 40 

The area’s signature shallow dive is the Sugar 

Wreck, which lies in the 15 to 20-foot range. 

Most of the story on how this wreck came to 

be has been forgotten, other than the fact that it 

sank during a storm while in route with a load of 

sugar from the Caribbean. 

Beaten by nearly two centuries of storms, all 

that remains of the ship is a flattened-out steel 

hull with a few pieces of deck equipment. The 

attraction of the wreck is that it is fish magnet. 

By day, thick schools of grunts and small snappers 

stay plastered around every piece of structure 

provided by the wreck while large barracuda and 

roaming jacks prowl the perimeter for stragglers. 

At night, the wreck turns into a bedding-down 

spot for sea turtles like this large loggerhead. 


Conclusion 

The Dolphin Dream is not your 

typical luxury dive yacht experience. 

It’s certainly comfortable, but just a 

little bit more basic. But if your intention 

is to dive the western wilds of the 

Little Bahama Banks, experiencing all 

the excitement of up close encounters 

with big animals like sharks and 

dolphins, the Dolphin Dream is your 

ticket to adventure. The boat is quite 

solid and comfortable for a weeklong 

dive voyage. The crew will see to 

your needs, just don’t expect to find 

the same level of care, as one would 

expect with an Aggressor of Dancer 

boat. As for the diving, you might find 

better somewhere else in the world, 

but you’ll have to travel much farther 

afield at a greater expense. 

Pg 41 

- WS 

Riviera Beach Marina 

West Palm Beach, Florida 

Florida Straits 

& Gulf Stream 

TRAVEL INFORMATION 

The Dolphin Dream is based in the Riviera 

Beach Marina in West Palm Beach, Florida. The 

closest airport is Palm Beach International (PBI) 

with Ft. Lauderdale International (FLL) as the 

second closest. 

Contact Information 

Website: www.dolphindreamteam.com 

E-mail: info@dolphindreamteam.com 

Ph. 1-888-277-8181 

Little Bahama Banks 

West End, Grand Bahama Island 

Travel Documents: Passport 

Departure Taxes: included in the booking fee 

on the Dolphin Dream. 

Currency: Both cash (U.S. dollar) and major 

credit cards are widely accepted. 

Medical: Closes hyperbaric chamber is back 

in West Palm Beach. 


PERSPECTIVE 

Pg 42 

Fiji’s Shark Reef Marine Reserve 

- the Adventure contines 

Story by Mike Neumann 

Photography by Lill Haugen 


I 

remember vividly the day we 

all sat together and signed 

the papers establishing Fiji’s 

first Shark sanctuary, Shark Reef 

Marine Reserve. 

It was April 8, 2004 with the 

culmination of two years of frenetic 

planning, lobbying, negotiating, 

cajoling and fighting. Then finally, 

everybody was seated around 

the same table and ready to sign 

the relevant papers. The dueling 

village chiefs of Wainyabia, Galoa 

and their retinue as the trustees 

of Shark Reef, the Fijian Minister 

of Fisheries, Konisi Yabaki, his 

Research team under Aisake 

Batibasaga as the legal resource 

owners; the newly minted and 

purpose-built dive operator, 

Beqa Adventure Divers as the 

stewards and managers of the 

MPA as well as yours truly as 

the project manager; Swiss PhD 

candidate Juerg Brunnschweiler 

as the principal scientist and 

last but not least, our mentor 

and friend Gary Adkison in his 

incarnation as US Director of the 

Swiss Shark Foundation. 

Pg 43 

Gary had just come off a 

grueling flight from Florida and 

gave an impassioned blearyeyed 

speech. The chiefs finally 

shook hands, the minister gave a 

nod, there were more speeches 

with copious amounts of food 

and kava - and then, the deed 

was finally done, BAD (Beqa 

Adventure Divers) started 

operating for real. Let me tell 

you, the company name proved 

to be more than prophetic! 

They had a terrific dive site, 

a utopian project paper, an 

equally utopian business plan, 

five wonderful and loyal veteran 

staff, a compressor, some 

gear, two shareholders, plus a 

leased dive shop, manager and 

an equally leased dive boat. 

Absolutely no track record, 

Large bull shark swims off 

with a mouth full of fish at 

Beqa Lagoon’s shark dive. 


marketing, reputation, clients 

and consequently, no income. 

Three months later, one 

shareholder bailed, taking 

along the dive shop manager 

and the boat. Then life really 

started getting hard. But 

somehow, James Beazeley and 

the BAD boys never gave up 

hope and kept plugging away, 

gritting their teeth and doing 

what they do best, to introduce 

divers to Fiji’s unparalleled 

hospitality and fantastic diving. 

Somewhere on the way, I 

became the other shareholder 

and shortly thereafter, 

we were joined by Gary’s 

protégé Andrew Cumming, 

an accomplished shark diver 

and industry professional of 

Walker’s Cay fame. And finally, 

Pg 44 

under Andrew’s management, 

the situation started to improve. 

Success came slowly, client 

recommendation by client 

recommendation and magazine 

article by magazine article. 

Eventually, the operation 

morphed into what today is 

being considered as one of 

Fiji’s most unique and widely 

recognized tourism attractions, 

which in the process turned Fiji 

into one of the world’s premiere 

shark diving destinations. 

Five years on, we describe 

ourselves as a conservation 

project masquerading as a 

dive shop. Yes, we take people 

out to world famous reefs and 

wrecks of Beqa Lagoon. Above 

all, to our flagship product, 

the Fiji Shark Dive, where 


Pg 45 

Large tiger shark comes in to feed. 

divers can witness up to eight 

different species of sharks. 

Which include the impressive 

and equally notorious giant bull 

sharks and tiger sharks. But 

that and the related commercial 

activity are merely a means to 

our ultimate aim, which is to 

research and to protect Fiji’s 

fabulous shark population. 

The cornerstone of our efforts 

remains the hands-on protection 

of reef environments. 

Although our primary goal 

is to protect sharks, we know 

that species protection is only 

successful if coupled with 

Habitat Conservation. We also 

strongly believe in the ethical 

imperative that we need to 

assume the stewardship of the 

areas we dive in and from which 

we derive our sustenance, not 

only because we really do love 

the Ocean but also, because 

this is nothing more than good, 

sustainable business. 

We are lucky insofar as the 

indigenous Fijian population 

has a traditional cultural 

respect of sharks and that as 

a consequence, coastal shark 

populations are relatively intact. 

Our approach has been to 

involve and to compensate the 

local stakeholders (villages) and 

thus we very much enjoy the 

support of the local community 

and notably the support of 

the local fishermen who have 

witnessed a miraculous recovery 

of their fishing yields outside of 

the reserve. 

Despite the obvious 

challenges of dealing with various 

villages, different personalities 

and interests within, we have 

been able to expand the sharkprotected 

area to encompass all 

of the reefs along approximately 

30 miles of the southern coast of 

Viti Levu. Dubbed the Fiji Shark 

Corridor. This area comprises 

the MPAs of Shark Reef, Lake 

Reef and Combe Reef. 

In line with our ultimate 

goal, we are currently lobbying 

the Government of Fiji to have 

them enact wide-ranging 

Shark protection legislation 

and we cooperate with various 

international agencies aiming 

to achieve the same goals on a 

global scale. 

Obviously, declaring an area 

to be a no-fishing zone is just 

the start. 

What then has to happen 

is effective enforcement, 

obtaining the consensus and 

solidarity of the local community, 

which goes a long way toward 

achieving that aim. But with fish 

stocks increasing so does the 

temptation for poachers and, 

alas, also for game fishermen 

who want to bag a record giant 

trevally, of which we have many. 

As of this year, all of our staff has 

been certified as Fish Wardens 


Pg 46 

and we conduct regular patrols keeping any 

such activities within acceptable limits. 

All of what we do is based on sound 

scientific insights. We are fortunate that 

Juerg, now Dr. Juerg Brunnschweiler, one 

of the leading Bull Shark specialists has 

continued to support us with his invaluable 

know how. We also cooperate closely with 

Fish Taxonomists John Earle and Robert 

Whitton of Hawaii's Bishop Museum. 

Most of their research is sponsored by 

the Shark Foundation, the Save our Seas 

Foundation and PADI Project AWARE. 

CURRENT RESEARCH PROJETS 

All research we conduct and sponsor has 

to meet these two prerequisites: 

(1) The immediate aim of the project has 

to be Conservation-oriented. 

(2) Activities, research, etc. has to avail 

itself of the least invasive techniques. 


Projects underway include: 

• Maintaining an exhaustive database about 

the Shark dives. This is the backbone of 

our research into population dynamics, life 

cycles, inter and intra-specific interactions 

and questions pertaining to the Shark diving 

industry, namely the effects of our activities 

on the animals and the optimum procedures 

we ought to adopt in order to ensure a 

maximum of safety but also, of enjoyment 

for our clients 

• Operating the Fiji Bull Shark Tagging 

Program to investigate the large and small 

scale movements of the Bull Sharks, for 

which we employ satellite and acoustic 

telemetry. Whereas the large-scale 

movement studies are principally aimed at 

identifying and eventually protecting the Bull 

Shark nurseries in the rivers, the small-scale 

movement research is aimed at determining 

the optimum size and geographical extension 

of the Shark protected area. Our most 

recent tagging sequence has the specific 

aim of testing several hypotheses linking the 

periodic disappearance of the Bull Sharks in 

September/October with their birthing and 

mating cycles. 

• Exploring all of Fiji’s major rivers using 

both Traditional Ecological Knowledge 

(TEK) and Local Ecological Knowledge 

(LEK) formats. Then using this information 

to improve community-based coastal 

resource management (CBCRM) by providing 

baseline data such as information about the 

presence, behavior and ecology of species 

inhabiting their environment. Our major aim 

is to explore the potential of LEK and TEK 

to identify Shark river habitats in Fiji to 

learn how locals regard, use sharks and to 

Pg 47 

capture ancestral legends as well myths that 

shed light on the relationship between local 

people and these animals. 

• 

Collecting tissue samples with the aim of 

contributing to the mapping of the Bull Sharks' 

global genome and thus determines whether 

there are distinct local populations warranting 

distinct local Conservation measures. The 

tissue samples are also used in toxicological 

studies linking the consumption of Shark 

to dementia and mercury poisoning. We 

also collect discarded teeth which are being 

analyzed for exposure of the animals to fresh 

water as well as a tool for a DNA fingerprint. 

• 

Direct observation of the animals' 

behavior. This research is principally aimed 

at deciphering dominance and aggression 

patterns and determining whether Bull 

Sharks are territorial (probably not) or even 

social (maybe). It also plays a critical role in 

helping us better understand how to interact 

with the Sharks we feed. 

• Regular Fish counts aimed at recording 

any changes to the biodiversity within the 

Reserve and at improving our management 

of the area. Preliminary results indicate 

that as a consequence of changed feeding 

protocols, the Fish population of Shark 

Reef has evolved from being predator and 

scavenger dominated to one in line with what 

would be expected of a vibrant and rich reef 

ecosystem. We have also recorded several 

range extensions of various species some of 

which are spectacular and have identified 

a few Fishes that may well turn out to be 

new species. The Shark Reef Fish List can be 

viewed online and is likely to develop into a 

proper Fiji Fish List that will be set up as a 

wiki with scientific moderation from Hawaii. 

• And lastly, questionnaires: when filled out 

by our diving guests will continue to investigate 

different aspects of Ecotourism, the impressions 

and expectations of our customers. 

While not as impressive 

as a large bull or tiger 

shark, black-tip reef 

sharks with their highly 

distint markings still make 

great photo subjects. 


The data collected will hopefully 

enable us to achieve a more and 

better conservation, as well as to 

better manage the reserve and 

to develop an even better, more 

eco-friendly and safer procedures. 

They also greatly assist us in 

our educational efforts. We have 

developed a Shark Awareness 

Presentation as part of the 

Fiji Shark Conservation and 

Awareness Project which is Fiji's 

contribution to the International 

Year of the Shark. We regularly 

present it to our clients. Anybody 

can download it from the web 

together with all relevant notes 

and references. We will shortly 

roll it out to the local schools in 

order to complement our ongoing 

youth project whereby we 

train and hire local unemployed 

school graduates. 

We also regularly host Shark 

Conservation Studies for High 

School and College students that 

will soon be expanded into proper 

research internships. 

Our Outreach hinges on various 

initiatives, the first of which is 

the Fiji Shark Conservation and 

Awareness Project. This is where 

we act as coordinators and thus 

are able to motivate the relevant 

Government agencies along with 

the who's who of Fiji's Tourism 

industry and conservation NGOs 

to declare in favor of Sharks. 

This is the general vehicle under 

which we produced Fiji's first 

Pg 48 

ever pro-Shark PSA and helped 

Stuart Gow of Matava make a 

remarkable contribution to the 

Shark Free Marinas Initiative. 

As of October, 2009, twentyone 

marinas, resorts and game 

fishing operators have signed 

up to support the initiative 

which is more than three times 

the number of such operations 

certified in the USA. 

Our principal vehicle for 

outreach is however our Blog - 

fijisharkdiving.blogspot.com 

Apart from its obvious purpose 

to inform about our activities and 

initiatives in Fiji and to serve as 

a proper marketing tool, the Blog 

features regular opinion pieces 

and pursues several industry and 

conservation-related threads that 

are particularly important to us. 

We actively encourage and 

support any pro-Shark media, 

be it articles or film productions, 

by contributing to the story lines 

and enabling and even donating 

the required images whenever 

necessary, and much, much more. 

While very time consuming, 

and some frustration, it is 

also equally exciting and 

personally rewarding! 

But hey, that’s what we do and 

the Adventure continues! 

- MN 

Through fijisharkdiving.blogspot.com, we touch on many 

recurring topics. Many of which include: 

The sensationalistic portrayal of Sharks by the media and 

how we, the Shark diving industry need to address that by 

changing the image of Sharks and refusing to enable and take 

part in Shark porn. 

Commercial Shark diving procedures and the need for 

stringent safety protocols 

Our obligation to help preserve Sharks and their habitat. 

The global battle against the anti-industry movements that 

aim at shutting down shark diving operators. 

The need to pursue pragmatic and consensual Shark conservation 

that focuses on sustainability. 

The obligation of bringing new scientific insights to the table to 

• 

show the consequences when ethical fishing and conservation 

measures are not followed. 

• 

Reforming game fishing to practice catch, release and not 

the quest for records with dead sharks that inevitably turn out 

to be the brood stock in the form of pregnant females. 


• 

• 

• 

• 

•

Beyond The Basics 

Pg 49 

Frozen Fins 

Ice Diving in the Northeast 


By Michael Salvarezza 

& Christopher P. Weaver 


WWhen the temperatures 

dip below freezing, 

and the bitter winds 

of winter begin to blow, many 

Northeast divers retreat to the 

comfort of their living rooms. 

With gear stowed and log books 

closed; they begin to dream of 

warm summer days and the 

dives to come. Or, they may 

escape the grip of the ice and 

snow by traveling to far away 

destinations, leaving the winter 

behind for a brief time to get 

their diving fix. 

But for the adventurous 

diver who wishes to extend the 

local dive season and embrace 

the challenges of cold water 

diving, a different type of diving 

frontier awaits. 

So, let’s go diving…beneath 

the ice! 

Ice diving is one of the most 

exhilarating activities local 

divers can undertake. Despite 

its seeming dangers, ice diving 

can be conducted safely with 

the proper training, equipment 

and techniques. 

The rigors of diving below ice, 

with water temperatures at or 

near freezing and with surface 

conditions even worse at times, 

Pg 50 

Lighter weight motorized vehicles like this one are 

commonly used to transport dive gear across the ice. 

can be physically and mentally 

challenging. But the rewards 

are great. Besides the thrill of 

penetrating below ice-covered 

surfaces, and the sense of 

accomplishment of having 

conquered yet another hostile 

environment, divers will see an 

aquatic world that continues 

to exist and thrive despite the 

harsh conditions of the season. 

First, a word of caution…ice 

diving should never be conducted 

without proper training from a 

qualified dive instructor as part 

of a certification course. But, 

depending on were you live, 

you may find that your local 

dive shop does not offer an ice 

diver certification course. Don’t 

despair! With a little research, 

you should be able find a shop 

that does. In fact, we had to take 

our PADI Ice Diver Certification 

at a dive shop three hours away 

from home, but it was well worth 

the effort. 

Generally these courses 

consist of several hours of 

classroom work followed by 

a series of dives out on the 

ice. Because of the need for 

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ice-covered surfaces, these dives 

are often conducted on lakes and 

inland bodies of water where the 

surface has frozen completely 

over. There are numerous 

locations in the northeast where 

these dives are conducted. 

Two such locations are Lake 

Ronkonkoma on Long Island and 

Oneida Lake, near Syracuse, New 

York, but there are many others 

throughout the region. 

So, what’s involved? Besides 

training, ice divers must pay 

careful attention to preparing the 

dive site; they must be diligent 

about using the right equipment, 

Pg 51 

strictly adhere to 

established procedures and make 

sure that adequate protection 

from the elements is available. 

Before divers can enter the 

water a proper dive site must be 

created by first evaluating the ice 

conditions. First, the ice surface 

must be of sufficient thickness 

and strength to support the entire 

dive team, and any transport 

vehicles such as snowmobiles. 

It’s also a good idea to measure 

the bottom depth if you are not 

familiar with the area. Once the 

ice is determined to be safe for 

diving operations, the second 

step is to prepare the dive site. 

Creating the dive hole requires 

special cutting equipment; such as 

handsaws, breaker bars, chippers, 

augers and/or chain saws. There 

are several options regarding the 

shape of the dive hole, which can 

be circular, square, rectangular, 

or triangular. Triangular holes are 

often preferred because there 

is less ice to cut and the corner 

angles makes it easier to enter 

and exit the water. The size of 

the hole should be large enough 

to accommodate two divers and 

a safety diver at one time. On the 

surface, a visible marker should 

mark the dive site. Often, a tall 

branch is used which can be left 

behind to indicate that there was 

an opening here that is now being 

left to re-freeze. 

Once the hole has been 

created, additional markings are 

desired to help divers under the 

ice more easily find their way 

back to the opening. 

If there is a covering of snow, 

concentric circles are dug in the 

snow surrounding the site at 

predetermined intervals, along 

with intersecting lines and arrows 

that point towards the opening. 

In this manner, ambient light will 


penetrate below the surface in the shape of 

the markings, which can help a disoriented 

diver find their way out from under the ice. 

Sometimes this surface “design” takes the 

shape of a wagon wheel; the most commonly 

used surface marking system. 

With the site created and secured, 

preparation for the actual dives begins. 

Of critical importance to the divers is the 

proper functioning of the dive equipment, the 

adequacy of the diver’s thermal protection 

and, perhaps most important of all, the 

Pg 52 

securing of a safe and effective rope system. 

Regulators must be rated for use in 

cold-water environments. Divers exploring 

below the ice must guard against regulator 

freeze-ups, which will inevitably cause 

free-flowing conditions. Some divers employ 

special shunts on the hoses near their second 

stages to enable them to quickly turn off the 

flow of air in the event of a free-flow. 

Divers also must be careful not to exhale 

into the second stage while above the water 

in freezing conditions, as this will frequently 

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Pg 53 

For both safety and communication, color coded lines are 

tethered to each diver before going in under the ice. 

cause a freeze-up. Redundant 

air supplies are another 

important safety consideration 

in these situations. 

Divers should not underestimate 

the effect of cold water 

on their bodies. Even with dry 

suits, divers are advised to use 

under garments rated for these 

temperatures. Integrated glove 

systems, which allow for the 

easy flow of air to the hands, are 

also beneficial, as is an ice cap 

underneath the regular wet or 

dry hood. 

Because of the danger of diving 

in an overhead environment such 

as a frozen lake, ice diving is a 

team activity that is made up 

of support personnel, divers, 

tenders and safety divers. 

The line tender is responsible 

for playing out and taking in 

line so that the diver does not 

get tangled. 

Ropes are attached to the 

diver’s chest harness via a 

locking carbineer to minimize the 

likelihood of the rope disengaging. 

Safety ropes leading to the divers 

are secured to the ice surface 

using ice-screws, which prevent 

the rope from accidentally 

slipping into the water. 

A safety diver is always suited 

up and ready to enter the water 

at a moment’s notice to assist 

the primary diver in the event 

of a problem. Safety divers will 

always have their own line tender. 

Communication to the diver 

or to the surface is accomplished 

by simple line pulls. Each series 

of tugs on the line means a 

different thing. It is vitally 

important that divers and 

tenders agree and understand 

all rope “commands”. While 

there may be variations to these 

techniques employed in different 

locations, the general principles 

are the same. Because different 

techniques might be used, it is 

all the more reason to carefully 

rehearse with all the divers 

working the site what techniques 

will be used on the dive. 

While divers in the water are 

often comfortable, the surface 

conditions can be quite harsh. 

The flat surface of a lake affords 

little shelter from the wind and 

the temperatures may be far 

below freezing. Some form of 

protection from the elements 

should be brought onto the ice 


if at all possible to guard against 

hypothermia while donning and 

doffing equipment as well as 

keeping divers warm between 

dives. Even a small tent can serve 

as a windbreak, which can mean 

all the difference while waiting on 

the surface between dives. 

Diving beneath the ice, divers 

enter a completely alien and 

spellbinding world. Often, the 

winter water is clearer, affording 

exceptional visibility. While the 

winter temperatures have chilled 

the lake water, fish have nowhere 

to go…so they still thrive in 

these frigid waters. Divers can 

often observe aquatic life that is 

often difficult to approach in the 

summer months. 

Pg 54 

For those who are looking for 

activities beyond observing the 

underwater environment, ice 

divers often search for sunken 

equipment and other items of 

interest. For example, in many 

northern lakes, ice divers are 

sometimes approached to salvage 

sunken snowmobiles and other 

types of equipment that have fallen 

through the ice. 

So, the snow is falling outside. 

The temperatures are below zero. 

The wind is howling from the north. 

Seems like a good day for diving… 

- MS & CW 

Photo by Chris Sterritt© 


Dive Log: Curacao 

Pg 55 

Superior Producer 

- Curacao’s Christmas Wreck 




Pg 56 

One of the Curacao’s most 

cherished wrecks is also among 

the easiest to dive. It is not one 

of the island’s signature tugboats, but 

instead a freighter. Resting at a depth 

of 104 feet, the 250-foot-long Superior 

Producer is an impressive site. With 

her hull and superstructure intact, the 

3000-ton freighter virtually drips with 

color and life. From stem to stern, her 

steel skeleton has become a living, 

energetic biosphere for small varieties 

of corals, sponges and fish. 

When I first visited the Producer 

in 1997, the scene struck me as being 

strange. Here was a ship standing 

up right and completely intact on the 

bottom, with no sign of storm or humaninflicted 

damage. With true wrecks 

(not to be confused with artificial reef 

wrecks), there is typically some evidence 

to the nature of its death, be it a violent 

storm or sea battle in a time of war. 

With the Producer, there is nothing to 

indicate anything bad ever happened to 

her. If anything, she looks as if she was 

purposely placed there, but she wasn’t. 

The story of her demise is a tale of 

simple bad luck and human error, and 

then some. 


Pg 57 

Looking to make a hefty profit by 

transporting Christmas merchandise to the 

Venezuelan island of Margarita, a group of 

Curacao merchants hired a small freighter 

and loaded her far beyond her normal 

capacity with goods from clothing and 

alcohol to electronics. Despite the captain’s 

warnings, she set out from Willemstad harbor 

during an unremarkable sunny September 

morning in 1977. 

A short distance out, the overloaded cargo 

caused the ship to roll dangerously on her 

side and take on water. Accepting help from 

a passing boat, the Superior Producer tried 

to limp back to a port she was destined not 

to make. Instead she slid silently beneath 

the waves a mere breath away from the very 

pier from which she had departed. 

Freeport, 

Grand Bahama 

Departure 

$ 899 

$ 899 

per 

week 

Pirate’s Lady, Sea Explorer, and Morning Star leave from 

Freeport, Grand Bahama, sailing the crystal waters of the Bahamas 

on weekly dive cruise adventures. Dives include shark feed, 

wrecks, walls, and night diving. 

1-800-327-9600 

www.blackbeard-cruises.com 

ws@blackbeard-cruises.com 


Pg 58 

Although how she sunk may not have been comical, 

the events immediately following were. As news of the 

disaster echoed through the island, residents rushed to 

the scene to assist in the “rescue.” But this was not a 

rescue in a humanitarian sense, but one of salvage. For 

many of the locals, Christmas came early. 

In the following days, divers by the truckload set 

out to retrieve anything and everything of value. In the 

100-foot depths the elements of greed, and perhaps 

a little nitrogen narcosis, began to kick in. Numerous 

fights took place over salvage prizes - some of which 

actually on the bottom. While nobody died, the physical 

retorts often continued beyond the water’s edge. If 

there is one thing came out good from this conquest is 

that all the contents down in the Superior’s cargo holds 

were systematically stripped clean. Ready a ship to be 

ecologically clean before it goes down is a job. Doing it 

after the fact is down right impressive! 


Resting even keel on the bottom 

next to the shoreline’s adjacent 

reef slope, the Superior Producer 

today remains nearly intact and as 

tranquil as the day she went down. 

The only changes that have taken 

place is the encrusting orange 

cup corals and sponges now cover 

almost her entire structure, and 

the large mast that once towered 

high above the bridge has fallen 

over on port side. 

By night, diver’s lights bring 

out the fiery hues of the orange 

cup corals blanketing the 

Producer’s shrouded bulkheads. 

Adding to her nocturnal energy, 

blackbar soldierfish, squirrelfish 

and glasseye snappers emerge in 

force from the wreck’s countless 

dark spaces. 

Although she was neither a 

glorious military frigate, nor proud 

sailing vessel of yester-year, the 

Producer is inspiring, and a wreck 

where I could easily spend an 

entire day diving and not grow 

bored. It offers an abundance 

of colorful corals and fish life. 

Interior spaces can be penetrated 

safely and easily, at depths that 

allow for generous bottom times. 

In my book that’s the definition of 

an excellent wreck dive! 

Pg 59 

- WS 

Nitrox Friendly 

Although regarded by 

most recreational sport 

diving agencies as a deep 

dive, the Superior Producer 

has a high enough profile 

to allow divers to explore in 

mid-range depths that are 

also ideal for enriched nitrox 

mixtures. Except for her 

rudder, which is at 104 feet, 

most of the intact freighter 

sits above 90 feet, with 

the top of the wheelhouse 

at 65 feet. Several dive 

operations on the island 

offer Nitrox blends up to 

EAN 36, which can enable 

a diver to remain on the 

wreck for the better part 

of a 50 minute dive before 

going into decompression. 


Pg 60 

TRAVEL INFORMATION 

What To Expect: Like its neighbor island of Bonaire, Curacao 

offers a broad buffet of shore diving. Venture anywhere a 

road passes close to the ocean and there will likely be a site 

warranting investigation a short distance out. Be sure to have 

dive booties with moderate to thick soles for walking over 

course rocks to enter the water. Dive sites run close to shore, 

following a sloping profile from ten to 110-foot-plus. Underwater 

visibility averages between 60 and 100 feet year round 

and is generally void of strong currents. 

Preferred Seasons: Weather and sea conditions are typically 

the same year-round. Even threats of hurricanes are not a 

factor. Climate is normally breezy and dry, with little annual 

rainfall and air temps in the low to mid 80’s. Water temperatures 

rarely fluctuate above or below 78 to 82 degrees. 

Getting There: Currently Air Jamaica has become the 

primary airline servicing both Bonaire and Curacao from the 

United States, with stopovers in Montego Bay, Jamaica both 

ways of the journey. Other airlines servicing Curacao include 

American Airlines Eagle and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines 

Travel Documents: Valid passport, or proof of citizenship 

such as an original birth certificate, accompanied by photo ID 

and an onward or return ticket. 

Departure Taxes: Curacao collects a $20 U.S. departure 

tax for all persons leaving the island, or a $5.56 fee for those 

traveling on to Bonaire. 

For more information contact Curacao Tourism Authority, 

800-3-CURACAO (800-328-7222), or visit their web site at 

www.curacao-tourism.com. 


Parting Shot 

Pg 61 

Silver KingS 

Don DeMaria © 2008 

Every spring, large groups of Atlantic tarpon, most weighing in excess 

of 100 pounds, gather beneath several of the bridges that make up the 

Overseas Highway to the lower Florida Keys. This image was shot by 

Florida Keys resident Don DeMaria. 

Camera info: Nikon D100 with Nikon 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5 wide angle 

zoom inside an Ikelite housing with standard 6-inch dome port. 

The image was captured using available light with camera set to raw at 

400 ISO, shutter 125 sec, lens wide open at 18mm f/4.5

Dolphin Dreams - Stingray Divers

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