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Take Action to Help Save Manta Rays with the Manta Trust

Manta Ray Underwater

In search of a worthy cause? Here’s how you can help save manta rays.

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THE MANTA TRUST

Mission: Creating a sustainable future for manta rays through conservation research, awareness and education

HQ: Dorchester, United Kingdom

Founded: 2011

Contact: info@mantatrust.org

Project: The Manta Trust uses a multidisciplinary approach to conduct worldwide research of manta rays and their habitat to make conservation practices more effective and to educate the public and community.

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

IDtheManta

Using a program called IDtheManta, researchers can identify mantas using the spots on their undersides, which are as unique as fingerprints. You can submit your own images via the Manta Trust website or by emailing them to idthemanta@mantatrust.org.

Get Your Fins Wet

The Manta Trust has ongoing projects around the globe, including in the Maldives, Palau, Fiji, Thailand, Hawaii and Mexico. Field volunteers collect vital ID information and environmental data but also engage with the community. Field volunteers must be 21 years or older and have an advanced open water certification. Positions are posted on the Manta Trust page.

Get Volun-Techy

Want to get involved, but can’t make the travel happen? You can also volunteer online and help ID rays from the Manta Trust’s database.

Take Action to Help Save Manta Rays with the Manta Trust Read More »

2015 Holiday Guide: Gifts Divers Love

Wondering what to get your special scuba someone for the holidays? No worries, we’ve got you covered with our 2015 holiday gift guide! From dive-flag jewelry to floating speakers, there’s sure to be something for anyone who loves the water.

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Kurt Lieber Named Sea Hero Of The Year 2015

Kurt Lieber, Scuba Diving‘s 2015 Sea Hero of the Year.

Ocean Defenders Alliance

When Kurt Lieber started California’s Ocean Defenders Alliance in 2000, he could barely find anyone who knew about “ghost gear” — equipment lost or abandoned by commercial fishermen — and its hazardous effects on marine life and divers.

“The Internet still wasn’t a tool widely used to gather or share information,” says Lieber, recipient of Scuba Diving’s November/December Sea Hero award, sponsored by Oris Watches USA. “Marine debris is a dismaying example of the old saying, ‘Out of sight, out of mind,’ as far as public
consciousness goes.”

“Fast forward 15 years, and the tide is changing,” Lieber says. “There is now a great deal of scientific information available. The problem is that every year the commercial fishing industry loses a staggering amount of gearlines, nets and traps. Consequently, our work is never done.”

Sea Hero of the Year Kurt Lieber pulls abandoned lobster traps from waters off Palos Verdes, California. Ocean Defenders Alliance divers and deckhands celebrate after removing 2,200 pounds of debris from Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard, California.

Ocean Defenders Alliance

Never done, perhaps, but now maybe just a little bit easier. As Sea Hero of the Year, Lieber will receive a $5,000 cash award on behalf of ODA from Oris, which also awards each of Scuba Diving’s Sea Heroes an Aquis Date watch.

“This is very exciting for me because I’ve grown up reading Scuba Diving,” Lieber says. “It has always inspired me not only to get into diving but also turn that energy into a positive force for change. I’m in awe of each of this year’s Sea Heroes — it humbles me to think that I was selected out of such a dedicated group of individuals.”

ODA combines the efforts of hundreds of dedicated volunteers — more than 200 divers working underwater along with hundreds of topside deckhands — to pull 21,000 pounds of nets from the seas around California to date, along with 290 traps, 28,000 feet of trap lines, and 10,000 pounds of debris. “Computers, batteries, boat masts, rudders, space heaters, metal stairs, refrigerators, the list goes on and on,” Lieber says.

Last year, ODA purchased a used boat and has been working on upgrades and repairs to that vessel, berthed in San Pedro. “As anyone who has ever owned or been around a boat knows: Things are always needing maintenance, repair or replacement,” says Lieber. “We have the manpower and know-how, but we are constantly working to keep our boats running well and fueled up.”

Lieber intends to put the Oris cash award directly into the recently acquired boat in order to launch additional debris-removal expeditions. “This award allows us to travel farther from our home port and get to sites we haven’t been able to reach because of the high costs of fuel, oil and boat maintenance,” he says.

Why does the work of ODA matter so much? “Scientists have estimated that nylon nets can last 650 years in the ocean,” Lieber explains. “A net that is in the water for that long does no one any good. Animals are dying continuously — needlessly — and divers are losing what we all want to see: live fish! The fishing community loses as well because of decreased populations. I’ve been diving since the mid-’70s, and have seen a drastic decline in biodiversity, water quality and wildlife sightings and interactions. Having witnessed this loss firsthand is what drives me to do what I can, in my lifetime, to defend ocean life
and habitats.”

Celebrating and encouraging engaged, committed communities like Ocean Defenders Alliance is at the heart of the Sea Hero awards.

“We are excited to present this award to Ocean Defenders Alliance and its founder, Kurt Lieber,” says V.J. Geronimo, CEO, North America, at Oris Watches USA. “Each year, it’s difficult to single out just one Sea Hero of the Year, when all are doing such important work, from educators who have led the way for decades in assessing worldwide fish populations to videographers shining a spotlight on the work of scientists and volunteers alike to rangers defending the integrity of marine-protected areas and shark habitats. These heroes are real people who inspire everyday divers to get involved in protecting the marine environment, and for that we salute them all.”

Kurt Lieber Named Sea Hero Of The Year 2015 Read More »

Become a 2016 Rolex Scholar and Dive Into Your Full Potential

In just six months, Danny Copeland traveled to Egypt and became an open-water scuba instructor, filmed the world’s largest aggregation of manta rays in the Maldives, and explored freshwater wrecks in Canada. How, you ask? As the 2015 European Rolex Scholar, Copeland was afforded a year of fully funded travel, giving him not just one experience of a lifetime, but an entire year of bucket-list diving adventures.

Copeland says he has had an unbelievable year as the 2015 European Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society Rolex Scholar— who wouldn’t enjoy swimming with bottlenose dolphins in the wild? — and it’s not over yet. Copeland doesn’t shy in sharing his excitement about plans to work with the BBC, National Geographic and a potential excursion to Antarctica in the future. The opportunities that come with the title of Rolex Scholar are nothing short of spectacular, and Copeland proudly proclaimed he wouldn’t change it for the world.

Recipients of the Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society Rolex Scholarship are immersed in experiential education centered on marine environments and are able to tailor their scholarship year to their personal interests. In Copeland’s case, that meant taking advantage of underwater-photography workshops and being mentored by some of the industry’s finest photographers. Copeland recalls a trip to the Red Sea as one of his favorite experiences so far: “ I learned so much being surrounded by other underwater photographers that my own abilities increased substantially — it would have potentially taken years to learn the same amount off of my own back.”

Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society and Rolex have been working together for more than 40 years on a shared mission: Identifying and developing the next generation of dive leaders and underwater researchers. During that time, the Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society and Rolex have fostered the development of future leaders of the underwater environment like Copeland. OWUSS and Rolex are currently seeking applicants for the 2016 Scholarships. Rolex Scholarships are awarded to a single applicant from each region: North America, Europe and Australasia. During the scholarship year, the three winners travel internationally and learn from the world’s leading experts in conservation, underwater photography, maritime archaeology, marine engineering and other related fields.

If you or somebody you know are between the ages of 21 and 26, have high academic standing and have achieved Rescue Diver or equivalent certification, continue reading at OWUScholarship.org to learn why being the next Rolex Scholar is a life-changing experience. Application deadlines for the 2016 Scholarship year are as follows: North American and European applications are due Dec. 31, 2015. Deadline for 2016 Australasian Scholarship application is Jan. 31, 2016. The organization also offers numerous internships, which can be viewed here. Application deadline for internships is Jan.31, 2016.

Keep up with Copeland’s adventures as the European Rolex Scholar on his blog.

Become a 2016 Rolex Scholar and Dive Into Your Full Potential Read More »

Prehistoric Whale Skull Discovered in Virginia Swamp

Fossilized whale tooth

The giant tooth of the prehistoric whale skull found by Jason Osborne.

Courtesy of Jason Osborne

In the murky waters of Virginia’s Great Dismal Swamp, a monstrous and prehistoric creature rested, just waiting to be discovered.

OK, so it isn’t Swamp Thing. But an ancient whale skull is almost as cool.

The fossilized whale skull is estimated to be more than 5 million years old, and is riddled with massive teeth marks thought to be from the famed megalodon shark. The best part: It could be an entirely new whale species.

Diver and paleontologist Jason Osborne discovered the skull in June 2013, despite the swamp’s zero-visibility conditions, but it took two more years of careful planning before the fragile fossil came to the surface.

“I was nervous I wouldn’t find the skull again, and that flooding may have destroyed it,” says Osborne. “Luckily I did find it, and it was in great condition.”

To retrieve the skull, Osborne needed a large boat, and most importantly, something to lift the skull without breaking it or losing any important pieces of bone that could detach during the transition. His solution: a body bag.

“It took our team of four people two days to get it out, in 25 feet of water with low visibility. We were basically night diving,” says Osborne.

The whale fossil was then donated to the Calvert Marine Museum for scientific research, where whale expert Stephen Godfrey will test the skull for signs of a new species.

Osborne is the co-founder of Paleo Quest, a non-profit that works to locate and retrieve ancient artifacts and fossils founded in 2010. Since then, the Paleo Quest team has found many other fossils in the past four years of diving in and around the Great Dismal Swamp near Newport News, Virginia, including porpoise whale bones and detached megalodon teeth.

“I’ve been startled many times while diving for fossils,” says Osborne, who has never dived in clear water except for the pool he was certified in 11 years ago. “I can’t emphasize how amazing it is to see the skull of a whale, to touch it for the first time … the discovery of it all motivates me to keep diving.”

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