Deeper, Longer, Safer...

As a kid, I used to love watching movies like 'Tora Tora Tora" and "Battle of Midway". I spent hours reading up on the naval battles of Leyte Gulf and Guadalcanal. My pocket money was spent buying Air-fix models of battleships and aircraft carriers.



I was ecstatic when I learnt that there were the Advance Nitrox and Decompression Procedure courses being held, with an expedition to the HMS Repulse planned in mid October. I was on my way to the realisation of a long time dream to dive some sunken World War II wreck!







The tech courses turned out to be one of the most physically and mentally challenging courses I have ever taken. Wearing twin tanks together with stage bottles for the first time, I felt so clumsy in the water. In the pool sessions, we were taught drills to familiarise us with our new equipment, whilst emphasizing on maintaining your bouyancy and knowing what to do under extreme scenarios (like out-of-air and blackout). During the two open water trips, we had to be constantly alert, running through all the possible scenarios and the course of action to keep us 'alive' (the instructor would declare you 'dead' if you could not react safely to the scenarios). Added to this was the feeling of narcosis for those of us who have never dived so deep before. All in all, although the learning curve was steep, it was a really rewarding course because of the sense of achievement you get from completing it.







My diver friends have asked me: 'Why did you do it? Are you crazy? The tanks are so heavy!'. Ok, looking at wrecks may be my thing but it doesn't really do it for everyone. It is a common misconception that tech diving is just for people who want to dive wrecks and caves. This is not true. Just imagine how much more you could see with a bottom time of 40min at your fouvourite 30m dive site? Or safely descending to 50m and staying for 20min on the drop-off to wait for the whalesharks and catch those mantas resting on the ledges. Instead of blind luck and hoping you have enough air to last you until your Mosquito will let you ascend, isn't it much better to plan and know for certain? It need not mean having to carry twin-tanks every time - sometimes just a deco bottle is enough.



In the just-concluded Olympics, athletes sought to go 'Higher, Faster, Stronger'. I guess for the group of us, we are constantly seeking to push our own diving limits, safely. So, if you too share our passion of 'Deeper, Longer, Safer', why not consider joining us in the next tech course?





chewbacca

PADI Divemaster #481069

eXpLoReRs

In our quest to grow gills, our interim solution is scuba..ok beaver quit the bullshit!



A new group of Seahounds have progressed to donning more tanks to admire historical wrecks, stay with their favourite animal longer and to visit sites deeper than the recreational limit!



Whatever the reason may be, they are ALL well trained in decompression procedures.







They spent the last 3 weeks conditioning themselves to their new configuration of twin tanks on their backs and stage bottles by their sides, training in emergency and contingency procedures and drills and most importantly getting back to BASIC scuba skills!



It was a good reminder of how vital mastering basic skills are to progress to any level.

The team never thought they would be finning in so many directions for so long, clearing their masks so often and removing and replacing their regulators so much!!



Then it was out to Open Water where the team visited their favourite sites only this time below 50m! Chronicles of their Narcossis will follow this post...i think.



Animal action on the trip:

At the depths we were at, we were able to observe a myriad of heart urchins(lovenia elongata) moving quickly around the sand as other urchins would move under the cover of night. Urchins(echinoidea) are one of 5 classes of phylum echinodermata (meaning spiny skinned)including holothurians(sea cucumbers), crinoids, sea stars, and brittle stars. Other observations included peacock flounders and flatheads.

On the surface, we had the priviledge of watching a 2.5m black marlin tail-walking just off the salang jetty, right before our morning dive on Sunday!







Expanding their diving knowledge is something the whole tec team has taken away from both the Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures courses. We trust the theory sessions on technical diving have provided new perspectives on recreational diving.



Welcome S e a H o u n d s T e c T e a m :

Team 1: Ken Wong, Vincent Chew, Glenn Wong, Jacki Ng (Gill Divers)

Team 2: Sabine Henkel, Christina Goh, Jonathan Lam, Michelle Tan

Trainers: Eugene Sim (Dive Atlantis), Stephen Beng



Ken and Glenn are also trained Semi-closed Rebreather divers and are able to silently get closer to the animals...woohoo!!







will now wait silently for the team members personal accounts. . . .



Beaver

Open Water Movie

The movie Open Water hits the cinemas today and many divers have already caught the previews over the last week. A select group of dive operators who are corporate members of the Singapore Underwater Federation (S.U.F.) were also exclusively invited to a preview last month by the Shaw Organization.



It has been a hot point of discussion between dive industry professionals concerning the movie prior to its launch to ensure that the public is aware of the risks involved with diving and how to avoid them.



scuba-doc



All divers are encouraged to view the movie and let it serve as a reminder of the importance of thorough dive training for both the recreational diver and more importantly the dive professional. Every entry level course, be it Open Water Diver for the recreational diver or Divemaster for the dive pro, is vital to ensure basic skills are mastered because only then can continuing education make sense.



Both the recreational diver and the dive pro have responsibilites.

The diver must be responsible for and confident enough to consider his/her own safety, and responsible for selecting a dive operator wisely and not just based on price.

The dive pro must follow through every area of responsibility required of a dive professional (these roles and responsibilities are set in black and white in the professional manuals), follow internal standard operating procedures, as well as adhere to local practises.



It's best for the divemaster or instructor to watch the movie and relate to the very real situation depicted in the movie instead of mocking what was done wrong. Learning from every case only makes our risk management better.



The group of dive operators, currently totalling 16, who are corporate members of the S.U.F. have also signed a pledge to adhere to a National Operational Code of Practise(NOCOP). The Code ensures standard operating procedures amongst the participating operators amongst other practices, checks and balances. It is exciting times for us with improvements finally taking shape. There will be many changes for the better, for example, operators will be required to submit and be checked on their standard operating procedures.







With these changes ahead of us, there are obvious costs involved and we sincerely hope the dive community will support the operators who are trying very hard to step up the standard of dive operations in Singapore. These operators will be listed on screen before the movie or you can check them out on the link below.



Singapore Underwater Federation



Beaver

PADI Master Instructor 99087

Status of the Coral Reefs Report 2002

While most of us surface from a dive excitedly discussing the fish that we have seen , how many of us actually come up and discuss the corals that we saw (apart from cursing getting grazed by a staghorn)? Are we really taking notice of the coral life, and celebrating its diversity? Recently, I joined Debby on one of her increasingly popular Hantu Bloggers Dives. Viz averaged about 1m, and while this does not afford you much opportunity for spotting fish, it really allows you to change your focus to the coral, and take the opportunity to learn and understand more about coral life. Thanks to Debby for putting a lot of effort into sharing her knowledge about coral life, and making these Hantu Blogger dives fun, educational and memorable for all the divers. Since then, I have become increasingly interested in learning more about the coral reef itself, and this has enriched my dive experiences, making them far more interesting and fulfilling....Good or bad viz, with this added knowledge and interest, there will always be something of interest on the dive, and to celebrate upon surfacing.



I have attached a link to the Status of Coral Reef 2002 report, published by the Australian Institute of Marine Science, with support, in part, by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) . The chapter I have attached is with reference to SE Asia. This report warns that our reefs are under threat primarily from the activities of humans on and around the reefs, but provides some hope by highlighting isolated successes of reef rejuvenation through effective efforts in reef monitoring and management.



http://www.aims.gov.au/pages/research/coral-bleaching/scr2002/pdf/scr2002-07.pdf



Do take time out to read this report, and learn more about the state of the reefs in our region and elsewhere. I promise that next time you descend, you will see so much more, and your experience will be enriched by a better appreciation for the diversity and fragility of our seas.



Cheers!

Johari

Patience

6 days of diving off the walls of Manado last week served a pleasant reminder of why we are in the business of sharing the sea with everyone! Being over Singapore's National Day weekend, many other patriotic Singaporean groups were out there as well. They came over to chat with us and left us comments that they didn't see much....(was followed by blank looks from all of us)



Owning one of the widest spectrums of marine biodiversity in the world, it's hard to believe that one does not see much on any one dive there. It is also one of the best places to observe animals in their natural environment. Divers should value the opportunity to observe the behaviour of even 1 animal on a dive for as long as it allows us to.



These are the animals which accompanied us during our dives there..

view Photo Album

Pelagics off and around the walls of Montehage, Manado Tua and Bunaken: Eagle Rays, Black tips, Dogtooth Tunas, Spanish Mackerels, Schools of HorseEye & Giant Trevallies, Chevron and Great Barracudas, and a Dugong swimming up the wall at 14m....oh and did we mention DUGONG!! Apparently they have taken to diving deeper there as well, and for a chubby animal it can sure haul some major a**! If you want a second-hand example, we have a couple of divemasters who do good impressions.

On the surface, Common and Bottlenose Dolphins, Black Marlins.

Critter encounters include Yellow Rhinopias, Robust Ghostpipefish, Pygmy Seahorses, Jawfish, Kuda Hippocampus, Leafy Scorpiofish, Cockatoo Waspfish, Flying Gurnards, Demon Stingers, Squatlobsters...hey we could go on and on but best if you experience it for yourself!

Some of our mistakes(even though we tried not to commit them) you can learn from:



1. Be Patient. Good things come to good people so dont keep swimming aimlessly if you dont see anything. Remember most animals move as well! It would be like a carousel, everything moving around in circles but never meeting. Once you do meet an animal, like..did we mention Dugong..don't freak out, don't aim your camera too quickly and don't blow big bubbles (guilty on all 3 counts)



2. Be Mindful. Dolphins, like women,are one of the most misunderstood mammals.(we're kidding..not really). Always looking friendly may not always mean that they want to play! Always keep a safe distance from a pod of dolphins, observe if there are young in the pod as adults may then be defensive, keep the noise level of the boat engine constant, if you enter the water(don't), do it quietly without splashing and keep the boat close to you!! Lastly, smile when they eyeball you!



3. Be Safe. It's easy when we are overwhelmed with nature to forget that we have limits underwater. Never let it leave your mind to check your dive computer or depth/time devices to stay within recreational diving limits. Negligence is a common reason for accidents. And btw, don't even get used to overstaying your limits and simply following deco time your computer gives you..remember it is an Emergency Decompression not a planned one if it does happen and it is best to stay off diving for 24hrs after. Using air on continuous repetitive dives leaves you loaded with nitrogen in no time so really, do what you learnt during your Open Water Diver course..drink lots of water, limit your alcohol and tobacco intake and stay out of the sun!



* Be a passive observer, remember we are all visitors under the sea. You wouldn't like it if someone came into your home lifted you off the sofa, chased you round the living room, jiggled you around then dropped you off at your neighbours house, either.



Every dive site or location should be selected objectively to enjoy the experience fully and expectations must be managed.

Our next Manado adventure will be in October 2004 and we hope to plan for 1-2 days out at sea to find the larger mammals and a dawn dive for the Great Hammerheads. Email us scuba@seahounds.com if you want to share the experience.



Beaver

PADI 99087