March 2010 >> Archives
Caribbean Diving – No Passport Required
| In this issue... | MARCH |
Upcoming FUN!!
We're into our busy Winter season and there's plenty of things to do (besides snorkel and dive...)
MARATHON SEAFOOD FESTIVAL
March 13 - 14th at the Marathon Community ParkEnjoy delicious Fresh Local Seafood, ENTERTAINMENT, and a Children's Area. Check out the boat show and Vendors' booths.
More info
Sculpture Key West
January 16 to April 16
This stunning art exhibit showcases the work of leading contemporary sculptors at West Martello Tower, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park and the Key West Tropical Forest & Botanical Garden. Visit the Web site for more information.
Key West Cuban Cultural Exposition & Hot Havana Nights
March 7 to March 13Cuba and Key West histories were entwined from the beginning of our City, as old family names attest. To honor that connection, Key West Tropical Forest & Botanical Garden presents the Cuban Cultural Exposition, opening Sunday, March 7 at 2pm at the Toppino Nature Chapel.
Key West
50th Annual Key West House & Garden Tours
March 12 to March 13Tour five elegant and unique homes of Key West. Proceeds help benefit the Old Island Restoration Foundation. Presented by the Old Island Restoration Foundation, this house and garden tour offers a rare opportunity to see inside some of Key West's magnificent, charming and tropical residences. Info here.
Check out these links to even more MARCH events in Key West, Marathon, and Big Pine Key
REMEMBER - Sunday March 14th
SPRING FORWARD
Set your clocks 1 hour ahead for Daylight Savings Time which starts at 2:00 am on Sunday March 14th.
NEW!
Looe Key Dive Center on FACEBOOK
Photos, events, discussions. Are you a member yet? Join us and Dive in!
LOOKING...
for a dive buddy?
Join the Middle Keys Dive Buddies
Kokomo the Cat says... "Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone !! "
ATTENTION LOBSTER MOBSTERS
Sport Lobster season closes on March 31st at midnight. Only a few more weeks to get these tasty crustaceans. We have all of your hunting gear as well as rental tanks and dive gear.HAPPY HUNTING!
BEST Tiki Bar in the Florida Keys (maybe the entire world...)
Live music 7 days a week (band schedule.)We've added a steamed clam and a fried soft-shelled crab appetizer. Delicious!
see MORE...Food & Bar Specials
25% off our PADI Underwater Film Photography course. Includes book, classroom instruction, use of camera and two open water dives. Course fee: was $185 + tax . NOW $140 + tax. Course details
Learn to dive online
PADI now offers ONLINE instruction for:
- Open Water Diver
- Advanced Open Water NEW!!
- Enriched Air Nitrox NEW!!
That's right - do the classroom work at your convenience, from the comfort of your home.
Learn more
Gearmeister answers your gear questions...
Things to Do While Diving and
What You Need to Do Them
Why Do Anything?
After you’ve been diving for a while, the basics become natural and automatic. Then, you to start to really see and enjoy your new underwater environment (which I still find way cool even after 30 years of diving.) As you dive more, you start to notice other people doing a variety of things while they’re diving - like taking pictures - and you wonder “could I do that?” Or, your sunglasses fall overboard and you think “I wish I knew how to find them again!” While the freedom and relaxation of diving provides reward enough in itself, sometimes we want to do other things - new things that can make our diving more fun, challenging, and enjoyable.
Over the next few months, the Gearmeister is going look into some of these activities and discuss some of the gear that you’ll need or want in order to engage in them. Even though the Gearmeister has tried a lot of things underwater, he knows he’s not an expert at all of them. (Some people would argue he’s not an expert at any of them….) Therefore, we'll include links to experts that you can check out if you'd like.
So let’s dive into this month’s activity - one that every diver does on every dive – fish identification.
“One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish Blue Fish” – Dr. Seuss
As the name implies, fish identification is learning the names of the fish you see while diving. But there’s a lot more to it than just matching the finned creature you see in front of you to a photo in a book. You’ll also learn about fish behavior. For example, you'll learn to look for a porcupine fish hiding in deep holes in the reef, or that you probably won’t find tarpon on the local reef in December. You’ll learn why those little fish with the blue stripe voluntarily crawl inside that barracuda’s big toothy mouth. In short, simply learning the names of fish usually leads to understanding more about them.
Many people find themselves comparing notes with other divers on “who has seen what where”, as well as keeping their own “life list” of species they’ve seen. It can become your own personal treasure hunt to find a fish species you’ve never seen before. Fish ID is something you can enjoy on almost every dive.
Getting Started
There are a lot of fish out there (as many as 31,000 different species) so there is no way that any one diver can learn them all. The best way to get started is to concentrate on the most common fish in the area where you dive. Start by learning the twenty or so species that you are most likely to see on any dive in your area and learn to recognize them. Voila! - immediate gratification when you see them on the next dive and know what they are.
The “studying” is actually pretty easy and fun because you will already recognize many species from the dives you’ve done before. It’s no longer “a big black and blue fish”. It’s now a midnight parrotfish.
But how to learn them? Well, it does take a little studying. There are books, CD’s, DVD’s, and web sites with great fish ID photos. Most can be grouped according to geographic area so you can focus your search. That’s still a lot of fish, so we need to narrow that down to the most common suspects. REEF (Reef Education and Environmental Foundation, www.reef.org) has some great tools for this. You can query their databases to get results on what species have been seen on any scale from ocean-wide down to a specific dive site. They also have fish ID quizzes based on the most common fish in different geographic areas. For instance, even though most of my diving is in the Caribbean, I used all of the resources listed above to learn the most common fish that I would see during a recent dive trip to the Red Sea.
After you’ve done your homework, there are some tools that are helpful in the water. Unless your memory is much better than mine, you’ll need an underwater slate and pencil to list your finds on. When you first get started, you may also feel more comfortable taking along a waterproof ID chart or booklet with pictures or drawings of some of the local fish.
As Your Brain Gets Bigger
As you learn more fish and get more comfortable with your basic ID skills, there are some other tools to make it easier and more fun. Instead of a plain slate, you can get specialized slates and underwater paper, preprinted with the names of many of the local fish. Rather than having to hand write the name of each fish on your slate, you can simply check it off.
Since a lot of fish look very similar, especially when you get into the small
gobies and blennys, a magnifying glass can be handy to get a good look.
What if you come across a species you don’t know the name of? First, congratulate yourself on a new find! Then draw a picture of it on your slate, detailed enough to allow you to look it up in your book later. I often carry a small point-and-shoot underwater camera and snap a couple of quick shots that I can refer to later.
Making a Difference
You may ask yourself, “Self, does anyone else care about the fish I’ve seen, other than me?” I mentioned the organization, REEF, earlier, and that’s your answer.
REEF takes the sightings collected by regular divers like you and me, doing regular dive profiles (no special dive requirements), and enters it into their master database to look for trends on fish and reef health worldwide. It’s free to join and contribute your data as well as access their database of information. For instance, I just learned that there have been 196 different species spotted on our local reef, Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary.
REEF is also a good one-stop resource for the learning resources and fish ID tools I’ve mentioned. After you’ve submitted a few surveys, you can even visit a REEF Field Station (at select local dive shops), and take a quick quiz to gain recognition of your ID skills (three levels of novice and two expert levels). PADI’s AWARE Fish ID specialty incorporates the REEF survey method and skills in their dive program.
REEF does appreciate your help and they really do look at the data that individual divers submit. On several occasions, I have had their researcher email me to make sure that I really did see and properly identify a species that was not normally seen in that area. Using the photos I took, sometimes I was correct, and occasionally, they concluded it was a different species. In both cases, it was nice to know that they thought my data was important.
Conduct Your Own Census
With a little bit of self-study, a few simple tools, and an inquisitive mind, fish ID can add a rewarding aspect to your diving - for your own bragging rights or to help science learn. Either way, you’ll enjoy it!
Find out more about REEF and join at www.reef.org
Gearmeister Archives
Underwater Film Photography
Capture your underwater adventures on film. This course covers basic underwater film photography with special emphasis on practical photographic techniques. Do it this month and get a 25% discount.What You Learn:
- planning, organization, procedures, techniques, problems and hazards of underwater photography diving
- photographic principles, composition, film types
- flash/available light photography and camera-handling techniques
- preparation, care and maintenance of photographic equipment
What's included:
PADI Underwater Film Photography book, classroom instruction, use of camera and two open water dives. Course details.
Prerequisites:
Must be a PADI Open Water Diver or Junior Open Water Diver (or qualifying certification from another organization.
The Learning Materials You Need:
PADI Underwater Film Photography book.
Schedule your class now! Call Looe Key Dive Center 1-800-942-5397 or contact us by e-mail
Schoolmaster, Lutjanus apdous
This abundant Caribbean fish is part of the snapper family and can be found all over the reef in depths of 10 to 80 feet (3m – 25m). While its body color can range from silver to copper, it always has bright yellow fins and tail. That makes it easy to remember since school buses are yellow. Juveniles have the same yellow fins but a series of body bars on the back. Typical size ranges from 10-18 inches (25-45 cm) and max of 24 inches (61cm).
photo by Will Fox