Have you ever thought about being a dive master? For most folks just being certified is likely enough for them. It clears the way for some tropical vacation fun & some quick & easy local entertainment should the weather cooperate. Some of us get a little more addicted to our passion & just can’t stop there. I knew I  was in trouble last winter when the thermometer in my Explorer(aka “The Dive Rig”) dropped to minus 4F & I found myself giddy with excitement to get in the water & see how different things would look  in the frosty weather.

My name is Michael Johnstone II. aka dieseldude aka MJ for those of you who may encounter me either professionally or through a dive club. I requested that our host allow me to start this blog to journal my quest for Dive master status. I have completed all the prerequisites to get myself started & have just plunged headlong into a commitment that may yet prove to be more than I bargained for . Don’t get me wrong when I say that. The orientation for the class is noncommittal & very clear up front. You are not likely to make any money for your services & there is always a potential to find yourself being climbed & half drowned making a rescue. The cost of the class alone makes me queasy & there are insurance obligations to be met as well.

So why,you ask, would I even consider this. After all, I have plenty of cert’s to keep me diving in most places I would want to go. There is no real short answer for this so I’ll get my ego out of the way 1st. This friends, is a challenge. I know lots of divers that can do any of the things I will do as a dive master. The catch is how well they can do them. Have you ever stopped for a moment to think about how easy your instructor makes each demonstrated skill look? I know I never really did. I’d watch. Then I would think, “Piece of cake, I can do that”. Then I would fumble through the task with all the grace of a penguin on land & somehow manage to overcome the feat. So how does the instructor make it look so good? Ever wonder how many times they have had to demonstrate that same skill? We learn in our most basic training that repetition is everything. Then we get certified & most will never bother again. Think about it. On your last dive, what skill did you practice prior to dragging yourself out of the water? Did you even bother to make the optional safety stop even though your computer said you didn’t need to. It’s not enough for me to be able to say that I can do it. I want to be able to do it well, second nature, without struggle or thought, & with confidence. Right now I see this as the ultimate payoff for my services. While I assist other people with their learning, I will be learning & improving my own skills by repeating, under great scrutiny, basic skills over & over again.

There are other reasons to want to achieve Dive master status. Most shops have perks for the their DM’s & I have to say, I feel much more like a part of my LDS now than I ever have before. Sharing the joy of diving with others is another good one though, I believe I gain as much as the students do. Being able to help an instructor who has patiently nurtured my scuba abilities is also a very important reason for me. With that I’d also point out that in a class setting , dive buddies are pretty much built in so there is no worry about whether or not the only person you could get hold of will actually show up to dive. I can also see a potential for my list of dive buddies to grow exponentially.

As I go through the program I will stop here often to share my progress. Tonight  I will be in the classroom  and then the pool with rescue students learning my role in this environment. I am scheduled to do my tired diver tow tonight as well which is an endurance test I’m not especially looking forward to. 100 yards I believe & it is timed & requires a minimum completion time to gain a score. There are several swimming related skills that must be completed & I have already done my 800 yard mask, fins , snorkel swim.  The 400 freestyle & dreaded 15 minute tread are left. I’ll touch on the last 2 later.

This isnt your basic 2-3 week class that we are all used to. I’ve penciled in 6 months as an aggressive target time to go through all the books & complete all the tasks. If I did not have a wife, kids, mortgage, & a job, I would surely speed through it all but as most of us know, after the scuba fun is done, life must go on. Hope to see you follow me on this journey & welcome any comments along the way. Life is a journey that we all travel and the knowledge we gain is the fruit of our journey. Come share it with me.

MJ-11/18/09

So… your swimming along and you come across a wolf eel, cool stuff. You know one of their favorite foods is sea urchins, so you hunt one down and feed it to the eel. Great stuff right? You got to feed a wild animal in their own environment!

Although this scenario is tempting, please, please, please don’t do this!

There is a balance in nature, predator and prey, that exists in all the animal kingdoms.

This balance can and is usually thrown off by humans. Some of the cases are very innocent, but the impact can last a long time.

By feeding underwater sea life you could be putting yourself, the animals, or someone else at risk.

Here’s how and why:

Yourself –

An accidental bite can cause major damage to you and could lead to a panicked diver situation or a visit to a clinic, at the very least. In example, for years people have been baiting sharks so tourists can swim with them. When someone finally gets bit they are just amazed, sharks sure are dangerous, huh!? The bottom line is these are wild animals! They are not malicious, their goal is to fill their stomachs.

The underwater critter-

Feeding an underwater animal is not good for the animal, because they learn to trust humans. Part of the problem is, not all humans are so kind to animals. Some people hunt for food and you are teaching the animals to be easy targets. Others will harm an animal out of their own ignorance and fear because the animal approached them, simply looking for the handout they have become accustomed to.

By feeding them you are changing their natural habits, training the animal to come to you for food or come out of hiding when they know divers are around. Many of the foods that have been fed to fish are not healthy for them, pizza and frozen veggies are, I’m sure, not usually found on their menu.

As a result of feeding fish, the fish are not doing their jobs. People have been giving them easy snacks, so they can get a close up photo or show a buddy or maybe it is your “underwater pet”. This hurts their environment they live in because they should be finding their own food and eating what is natural to them. They are part of the clean up crew. When they don’t feed on natural diets, an imbalance occurs as their prey move toward destructive overpopulation.

Someone else-

What if the next person diving in that area doesn’t have that snack? The animal has learned from humans that they are a food source, and may be become aggressive.

Thinking back on my first dive in Mexico. While we were waiting for our dive master on the bottom we saw a school of blue fish. (WOW COOL!) They swam past, then a minute later they were back- except this time they were all over my head biting and pulling my hair. I had gotten my hair braided, and when they did the braids they put beads in the ends of them. I don’t know if this could have happened anywhere, or if I looked like a feeding station for fish, but we were in a common dive area where there are a lot of tourists. It makes me wonder if the fish in the area were used to human interaction by being fed? They obviously were not the least bit concerned by me being there!

Conclusion

Many areas around the world had been selling food to tourists to feed the fish. The adverse effects it has had on the fish and the ocean environment has taken many years to discover. In these areas the corals were suffering, the fish more aggressive and people had been bitten. Hopefully the effects of fish feeding can be reversed. Some of these areas have stopped selling bait food and have put up signs for no feed zones.

Everybody dives for their own reason, mine happens to be because I love the critters. I look forward to seeing them every time I go down. I want it to be in a natural way though, not where I’m baiting them to me. It took me two years to see my first eel while diving, but it was worth the wait.

I’ve been trying to remember an old environmental saying and relate it to diving-

Shoot only photos, don’t muck up the bottom, and take only memories or something to that effect.

If you love the animals and want to feed them, I would suggest volunteering at your local aquarium or a sea life rehab clinic where the animals need to be fed. This can be both rewarding and educational for you and others, and you will be making a positive impact!

Stay safe and Happy diving!
Christy Longdon

Here are a few web sites to check out for more information.

http://myfwc.com/RULESANDREGS/Saltwater_Regulations_FishFeed.htm

http://www.cdnn.info/special-report/sharkbyte/sharkbyte.html

http://www.coral.org/where_we_work/asia/pacific/hawaii/fish_feeding_campaign/more

I’d like to thank my friend, Christy, for sharing her thoughts on sharks. Originally she wanted to post this as a comment to my shark blog, but I believe this text merits it’s own space:

First I would like to thank you Sandra for sharing your knowledge about sharks.

Even with the information I have learned I can’t say that if during a dive I came across a shark that I wouldn’t be nervous, excited and even scared, but I know I’m going into there home as a guest and must be respectful, because it is me that doesn’t belong, otherwise I would have flippers instead of fins and gills instead of a big tank full of air on my back.

The movie SHARKWATER was incredible, the cinematography was beautiful, and the story came across very clearly.  It did a wonderful job showing all sides of the spectrum and not just coming across as a bunch of crazy nature radicals .  Before watching it I had no idea the problems sharks were facing.  My first thought was this is as bad as a drug trade.

We as humans always manage to throw off natures balance, the fact is when we enter the oceans we are entering a fourin and beautiful world, sharks and all.  Sharks are on the top of the food chain down below and are needed for many reasons.  Bottom line- we need sharks they don’t need us.

It’s sad to think that one day we may need to tell our children and generations to come that there used to be  this shark called the Great White, or the Tiger Shark.  How many animals have been driven to the point of endangered or even extinct during our life time?  Because of our greed and ignorance.

We also need to note all the other animals that are being destroyed during this horrific fishing process.

Animals like Sea turtles, Rays and many other fish that have been caught, killed and thrown overboard without a second thought because they weren’t the money maker.  This issue is beyond just helping the sharks it is about helping many other sea creatures and in the end helping our selves.

Education,Education, Education!

For more information about Oceana’s campaign to safeguard sharks, please visit www.oceana.org/sharks