The Blue Manifesto, Grouper Moon Project is working, booking Key Largo

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Scuba Shack Weekly – Volume 3, Number 8

Hope everyone had a Happy Valentine’s Day. Wow, that came pretty quickly. Pitchers and catchers made it to spring training. I hear there is a ban on trash cans in ballparks.

Joel is off to Belize this week with our Scuba Shack contingent. They will be diving on Ambergris Caye at Sunbreeze Resort. We are looking forward to seeing Joel’s photos and hearing all about their diving adventure.

Can we save the ocean in 10 years? The Blue Manifesto is a roadmap to a healthy ocean by 2030. Here is the Project AWARE press release. Lot of great information here plus a great short video on the call to action

I just read an article on the REEF website about the success of the recovery efforts of the Nassau grouper in the Caymans. The protections that started in 2003 and with the aid of REEF’s Grouper Moon Project that includes research, monitoring, and outreach efforts, have resulted in the population increase of Nassau grouper from 1,200 in 2009 to 7,000 in 2018. Great news all around.

Believe it or not, we are less than two months away from our Key Largo adventure. There is still time to sign up. Check out last year’s video.

Thanks for tuning in,

Jeff

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Underwater Photography Open House March 21

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Project AWARE Specialty Course March 18

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Underwater Photography Open House, SLO active, Nassau videos

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Scuba Shack Weekly – Volume 3, Number 7

As we make our way to the mid-point of February, things are really starting to pick up. We have two Nitrox classes, a big practice pool session, a full open water class and a pool session for a public safety dry suit class. Plus Monty and I will be with the Boston Sea Rovers for one last meeting before the clinic.

If you are still interested in the PADI Emergency Oxygen Provider class on Feb. 29 you still have a few days to sign up. Registration ends Feb. 18.

Joel and I just put the finishing touches on a new event. We will be having our first Underwater Photography Open House here at the shop. The open house will be held on Saturday, March 21 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. We encourage everyone to bring their rig with them so we can all learn about the different configurations. Also, bring your photos or video clips for us to sample. You can then enter your favorite shot or video clip in our contest. If you are experience, novice or thinking about getting into underwater photography please give us a call or email us to let us know you will be coming. Refreshments will be served. 

I got a message from Amy at Slo active – a company that produces and sells active sustainable swimwear for women. Amy asked that I share this link that they produced. It is a great read on plastic pollution. More importantly, you can also take a tour around the Slo active website and see all that they are doing to help protect the oceans. Great job Slo active. Thanks for sharing Amy.

If you are still on the fence about joining us in Nassau this May, check out these two videos from past trips on our YouTube channel. We have had some awesome trips diving with Stuart Cove.

Thanks for tuning in,

Jeff

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PADI Emergency O2 Provider course, Stream2Sea certification

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Scuba Shack Weekly – Volume 3, Number 6

The Super Bowl is over and congratulations to the Kansas City (MO) Chiefs. Also the groundhog did not see his shadow which means spring is right around the corner,  so let’s see how right he is.

This edition marks another milestone for Scuba Shack Weekly. This is the 75th edition of the blog. This is a labor of love for me. I look forward to sitting down and writing about what is going on at the shop and provide some information about what is going on in the world of scuba diving or ocean health and sustainability. Thanks again for your continued support of Scuba Shack Weekly.

On the way up to a Boston Sea Rover’s meeting, Monty and I were talking about offering a PADI Emergency Oxygen Provider course. We talked about how important providing O2 is should there be a need and how we really only have offered that training during Rescue Diver. Well we want to do better. So we are offering the PADI Emergency Oxygen Provider course on Saturday, Feb. 29. The class will start at 10 a.m. and run for about three hours. Call by Feb. 18 to register. Cost is $150 for your manual, certification card and classroom instruction.

We knew when we talked to Autumn Blum, the founder of Stream2Sea sunscreen that we made the right choice of product to carry at Scuba Shack. Here is some great news from Stream2Sea. They were awarded a very special designation – Protect Land & Sea certification. That means that is does not contain ANY ingredients harmful coral, fish, turtles and sea life. Autumn did tell us this was in the works and now it is real. Read all about it here.

Thanks for tuning in,

Jeff

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Palau bans harmful sunscreen, Connecticut wind power, update on injured right whale calf

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Scuba Shack Weekly – Volume 3, Number 5

Here we are the end of January and the days are getting longer and brighter. We still have a fair amount of winter to go but hopefully we will be turning the corner and soon enough it will be Spring.

We finished Open Water class this weekend. Our three divers will complete their certification dives in places that are a lot warmer then Connecticut including Belize, Hawaii, and Bonaire – Sweet!

The latest episode of Scuba Shack Radio is out where I talk a little bit about travel insurance, what is going on with wind power, and a link in our diving history between early spaceflight and the underwater world.

Palau bans sunscreens harmful to coral reefs. While we have seen bans in different areas, this article states that Palau is the first country to ban the harmful substance.

Did you know that Connecticut only has 5MW of wind capacity – that ranks us 40th in state rankings and we only have three wind turbines. That would only power about 1,300 homes. According to AWEA we have the potential to generate 1679 MW on land and 2143 MW offshore. Something to consider as part of our energy policy here in Connecticut.

Here is a short article on the injured right whale calf off the Georgia coast. They reached the calf and administered antibiotics but things don’t look good. Very sad indeed.

Thanks for tuning in,

Jeff

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Ball Cap, Fla. Panhandle Underwater Museum, Coral Restoration Foundation results

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Scuba Shack Weekly – Volume 3, Number 4

We made it through a little bit of snow, the Super Bowl is all set, and we have started our diving here at Scuba Shack.

First, we had our 2020 kick off staff meeting last Thursday night and it was a great turn out as we took a look back at 2019 and had a great discussion on all that lays ahead this year. Monty, Julie, Donna and I also traveled to Burlington, MA in the snowstorm on Saturday night to attend the annual Boston Sea Rovers Holiday party. Great to see everyone as we gear up for the 66th clinic.

The busy week continues. Our monthly practice pool had several refreshers, a dry suit and full face mask orientation and some general practice. Additionally our first open water class of 2020 kicks off with Ron and Peter leading our three divers on their new adventure. Dive season has started!

We started another campaign for Scuba Shack logo gear. This time it is a ball cap. The cap is 100% cotton twill with an adjustable brass buckle. Order online by February 7 and you’ll have it in time for spring training. Order today!

Did you know there is an underwater museum off the Florida Panhandle. Here is a short article from Fodor’s that talks about the attraction.

If you want to see the difference that the Coral Restoration Foundation is making, check out this cool link. It shows the great results at Carysfort Reef. Scuba Shack is planning a visit to the Coral Restoration Foundation when we hit Key Largo in April. Still time to sign up for our trip.

Photos courtesy the Coral Restoration Foundation website.

Thanks for tuning in,

Jeff

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Bonaire, blobfish, our poll and the 2019 review video

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Scuba Shack Weekly – Volume 3, Number 3

Wow! Did everyone enjoy the warm weather last weekend? Wasn’t that amazing? We had the garage door open and it felt like spring in the repair shop. It’s still winter but spring is right around the corner.

The shop was quite busy on Saturday and we had a lot of great discussion with folks about learning to dive, going on trips and what gear they might need to further their diving adventures. We are also getting ready for our January practice pool session and first open water course of the year led by Ron and assisted by Peter.

Want to learn more about Bonaire? Scuba Diving Magazine has a great video and description of why Bonaire is one of the best places to dive in the Caribbean.

Is the blobfish really the world’s ugliest animal? You can read more about it from Madeline Black on the Ocean Conservancy blog.

The results of the poll are in from our Scuba Shack Radio poll asking if you’d rather see a clownfish or a shark underwater. It was neck and neck for the most of the polling period. After all that it was a dead heat – the clownfish and shark tied with 10 votes each. Thanks to all who voted. We will be conducting more poll in coming weeks. Keep an eye out on Scuba Shack Radio’s Facebook page. Please like us!

And here for your viewing pleasure is our year in review video. Enjoy!

Thanks for tuning in,

Jeff

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See us in Dive Training Mag, Group Trips, REEF Fishinars

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Scuba Shack Weekly – Volume 3, Number 2

The first full week of 2020 is behind us and the first weekend of the NFL playoffs are over. Patriots and Eagles are out – disappointment. We will now need to wait for training camps to open and that will be during the height of our dive season.

All the Christmas decorations are put away for another year and we implemented our winter hours this week. The shop is closed on Mondays for the months of January and February. The rest of the week is business as usual.

Well the Scuba Shack travel team made it into Dive Training Magazine again. It is great to see our photo in their section featuring people who travel all over the world to dive. It’s a great looking bunch of Scuba Shack divers if I may say so. If you want to get a copy of the magazine please stop by the shop and we can hook you up while supplies last.

If you haven’t checked out our travel section lately we now have all of our planned travel posted for 2020 and two major trips to Cuba and the Philippines in 2021 out there. We’re excited about the travel program we’ve put together and extending our reach. Hope you will be able to join us!

Finally, I recently go the REEF email newsletter. They featured two new Fishinars. If you haven’t done a REEF Fishinar, I encourage you to try. They are interesting, fun and a great way to learn. Check out the REEF Fishinars for 2020 online.

Thanks for tuning in,

Jeff

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David Doubilet and coral bleaching, Scuba Shack Radio on Instagram

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Scuba Shack Weekly – Volume 3, Number 1

Welcome to 2020 everyone and Happy New Year! After a little bit of wild weather in the first part of December, I hope you enjoyed the somewhat calm weather over the holiday season although it did get a little dicey over the weekend. With all of our year-end activities completed at the shop (like inventory, tank maintenance, book keeping and planning) we can now turn our full attention to the upcoming dive season and warmer weather in a couple of months. We have a lot planned, so stay tuned!

David Doubilet is a remarkable underwater photographer and has spent 50 years documenting the underwater world. Here is a short article with some incredible shots from Conde Nast Traveler. David reflects on his imaging and his sadness regarding coral bleaching. We can only hope that when we look back at this new decade we will see positive trends in our combat on climate change and reversing these declines.

With the new year comes some additional new stuff with Scuba Shack Radio. We are now on Instagram as well as Facebook. Please consider following Scuba Shack Radio on Instagram. I am hoping to be able to complement the show with some additional material for your enjoyment.

Thanks for tuning in,

Jeff

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