Dive the wrecks of the St. Lawrence - $ 339
September 25th and 26th 

Scallops Galore!!

The Gang from Adventure Scuba headed out to the Resor on Saturday June 19th.  The Resor was a crude oil tanker that was torpedoed in February of 1942 while enroute to Massachusetts.  She sits on the bottom in 125 fsw and is always a great dive.  Saturday did not disappoint.  The sun was bright and the seas were flat.

Everybody on board the Independence II had scallops in their dive plan.  Divers suited up and splashed.  When they returned, the catch bags were full and the shucking began.  The falling debris entertained divers on their hang.  After a surface interval, round II began.  After everybody was safely on board, the lines were pulled and we headed for home. 

The water is warming up, don't miss your chance to dive these wrecks.  Call the shop for details.

After one too many snowstorms, a few of us local divers headed down to Florida for a week of diving.  The first stop was Crystal River to see the Manatees.   I joined the group, with my first dive with these gentle giants.  I must admit to being a bit intimidated at first.  Some of them are over 1200 lbs.   I’m a big guy, but that’s over 5 times my size!  Like Sea Lions and Seals, these creatures are much more agile in the water than we are.

There are procedures in place to protect the Manatees, and after spending only a few minutes with them, I understand why.  While they seem to be intelligent and curious, they also have stress in their lives.  In our attempt to interact with them, we should not add to this.

 The divers in our group were very experienced, and the Manatees seemed to enjoy interacting with us.  As with most animals, fast erratic movements frighten them.  If they are curious, a slow moving, calm diver is not threatening, and they readily interact.    By interact, I mean they swim right up to you, look you in the eye, and may even roll over to get their belly rubbed. Ok, so they are not as intimidating at this point.

The water in this area is only 3-10 ft deep, and apparently bubbles from SCUBA seem to scare them, so everyone is just snorkeling with them.  However, the Manatees don’t quite seem to understand this.  Often they will engage, then drop down to the bottom.  Obviously we can only stay there a few moments on snorkel, and they pop up again to see what happened.

If you have ever considered diving with the Manatees, I highly recommend it.  Winter is a great time, and the cold ocean water encourages them to congregate in the warm spring water.  I hope to run another trip down there next year, so keep watch the calendar for the dates.