Instructors notes

Wednesday 11th February

After a week down Mango Bay, all in the name of work, it is good to be back at Rydges Hideaway with Mere to keep me in line. Mango has some awesome dive sites (well the three I saw anyway!), but Stingray at Hideaway has quickly become one of my favourites as the life is so abundant and diverse. Lucky really, as I get to see a whole lot of it!

Mango Bay was a lot of fun, with Anthony completing his Scuba Diver course and, I suspect, beginning a serious addiction to bubbles, and John completing his Open Water course and off to meet the fishes in Hawaii – well done guys, you made my first dives at Mango! It was also great to find plenty of Europeans to chat to over a happy hour draught Fiji Bitter at Beachouse.

Back at Hideaway things are fairly quiet, with the boat going out most days, but not too full, less people to laugh at surprise entries. The lion fish at Stingray are still out hunting through the sea grass bed every day, and the white tips certainly know I am back, and can’t be found anywhere... The cleaner wrasse have decided that I am in good need of a clean, and can regularly be found chowing on my legs.

I had my first encounter with a seriously territorial titan triggerfish yesterday. I was showing Rachel the moray eels hanging out in the rocks, only to look up and see one pelting towards us with teeth bared. A quick swoosh with my fin just managed to deflect it, but not for long, and she was back for more. The titans have a conical shaped territory extending up from their egg sites, so you are never too sure when you are no longer trespassing. I am thinking of doing The Edge tomorrow with the DSDs, just in case... Far, far scarier than the sharks, and I understand why Alex calls them evil bastard fish!

Mere has promised to take me to Bordello soon, not a site I have done yet. She has promised me a huge and friendly Napoleon Wrasse, so I am really excited. These beautiful fish are under threat of extinction as a steak of their flesh fetches a high price in Chinese restaurants. They can live to be 100, and don’t start breeding until they are 20 years old, so it’s all about sensible fishing practices, as they are commonly caught using cyanide poisoning, fatal for all of the reef creatures within the vicinity. They live in groups, with one dominant male and a harem of females. If the male leaves the harem, and there are no other real men to take over, the top female changes sex and rules the pack – neat trick, but I think I’ll leave it to the fish!

So, fingers crossed for light rains and flat seas all in the name of good visibility! The Edge and Bordello, here we come...

Nurses Notes

Bula (Hello), and welcome to the autumn edition of Nurses Notes.

From the greeting in the opening line, you may or may not have guessed that I am in Fiji mode and will endeavour to stay that way as long as I possibly can. I have just returned home after a marvellous (and much needed) 10 day holiday at the fabulous Hideaway Resort on the coral coast of Fiji.

While at Hideaway, I refreshed my scuba diving skills with Diveaway Fiji, and went on to complete my Advanced Open Water Scuba Diver course. My passion for scuba diving was well and truly re-ignited and I plan on returning to Hideaway next year and completing my Rescue Diver course with them. The diving team at the resort were spectacular and are very passionate about showing you the magnificent treasures that await you in the underwater world. I know it sounds odd but some of the diving spots are just like they are from the movie ‘Finding Nemo’.

One site known as ‘Casbah’ was particularly like it. The diving was just wonderful and the water so lovely and warm. The lowest temperature was 29 degrees at a depth of 30 metres (diving here in Port Phillip Bay, although good, is never warm, and you are lucky to get a water temperature above 20 degrees during summer). It was lovely to come back from my dives each day and share my wonderful adventures with my family and friends who were excited to listen to my tales.

A picture from Alan Walton's dive!


The staff at Hideaway are just so beautiful and warm that they quickly become like family and you never want to leave. To give you a small glimpse of paradise, I have uploaded a link to some photos I took of the trip and the websites for Hideaway Resort and Diveaway.

DAN Funds Major New Research Study

DAN , through its partnership with subsidiary AGI, has contributed $100,000 to fund a study of the causes of immersion pulmonary edema, a lung injury identified in water enthusiasts. Richard E. Moon, M.D., DAN senior medical consultant, will conduct the study, which is targeted for completion in late 2008.

Moon is also professor of anesthesiology and medicine at Duke University Medical Center and medical director of the DUMC’s Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Environmental Physiology

IPE, an accumulation of water in the lungs of swimmers and divers, causes cough, shortness of breath and reduced blood oxygen levels. It occurs in both military and civilian swimmers and divers during heavy exertion, most often in cold water.

DAN President and CEO Dan Orr and DAN Board Chairman Dennis Liberson presented the check to Moon on Aug. 30. "We are very proud to support Dr. Moon's important research project,” Orr said. “This is just one of many projects that DAN will support in the future, expanding the body of knowledge in dive medicine and improving diving safety."

Moon said studying divers or swimmers with IPE to understand the causes has been difficult, because once the subjects have been removed from the water and given first aid treatment, the conditions that precipitated the condition are no longer present. “For the study, we will recruit recreational divers who have experienced IPE, test them in the experimental apparatus that we have constructed and look for specific genetic anomalies,” Moon said.

Formerly believed to be rare, IPE has been reported to DAN with increasing frequency over the past three years. Typically it resolves completely in less than a day, but it has been fatal; in other cases, immersion pulmonary edema has recurred. Its exact cause is not known, although scientists believe IPE may be caused by high blood pressure within the vessels of the lung, specifically in the pulmonary artery and capillaries.

The study will supplement a Navy-funded study presently being conducted at Duke.

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For more information on this release contact DAN Communications at editors@DiversAlertNetwork.org or call +1-919-684-2948 ext. 626 or 629.

Scuba Books

Thank you!

Bula, Alex & Alice!

I just wanted to send you a quick "hello" from Chicago. We had a great time in Fiji, and really enjoyed our stay at the Hideaway.

One of the absolute, unexpected highlights of our vacation was scuba diving with Diveaway Fiji. As you know, we (myself, Ashley and Kyra) had never before been scuba diving in our lives, and we never even imagined that we would be able to scuba dive while we were in Fiji in March 2007.

Thanks to your positive encouragement and comprehensive instructions, we found ourselves about 30 feet deep in the Pacific Ocean before we knew it. The entire experience was truly amazing. I'll always remember the absolute calm and beauty of being immersed in the fascinating under water world for the very first time!

We can't wait to get back into the water. I'm sure we will plan many of our future vacations with scuba diving opportunities in mind. You have definitely infected the three of us with scuba-fever.

Best of luck to you, and we wish you continued success with your diving business and experiences.

Thanks,

Larry, Judy, Ashley & Kyra

Diving in your later years……

Today I had a great experience! I took Helen and her daughter on a PADI Discover Scuba Dive! Helen is a 72 year old lady who suffers from post viral fatigue syndrome. We had to make a few adjustments of our dive plan, rather than doing a backwards roll entry into the water we made a slow shore start, and then during the dive we would swim a few meters then stop kneel down and look at the fish and coral.

It was so refreshing to take our time, we were able to look at the different colours and textures of the corals, fish who dwell in different areas, a turtle who was resting in a hole came out and gently cruised around us. After a study of a sleeping puffer fish, and a small cray in a hole we came across 2 resting white tip sharks, Helen was anxious to move on but we sat quietly then moved forward (to her dismay) until we were kneeling a meter away from them! Helen couldn’t believe she was sitting with the sharks!

Moving on we passed 2 more sharks, a large school of snappers, forty minutes had passed and Helen signalled she was tyred, so we slowly moved our way up on top of the reef before surfacing. On surfacing I checked her air gauge she still had 110 bar left not bad for a beginner!!

Helen's scuba dive was the highlight of her holiday and an eye opener to me, a dive I have done 100’s times, this is one I will defiantly remember.

Ten Delicious Ways to Dip into Diving

On Away.com By Paul McMenamin

"The conditions that make for great diving—warm, translucent water, good weather, and tropical locales—also make for a terrific getaway vacation. You'll find great bargains at the big Carribean resorts, while exotic destinations such as Borneo and Micronesia promise true underwater adventure.

Fiji: South Pacific Paradise
Ask divers who have sampled most of the world's leading dive spots where they would go for a perfect dive vacation, and more often than not, Fiji is the answer. Topside, Fiji is Polynesia at its best—unspoiled and uncrowded. The water is warm and clear, and there is every imaginable shape and variety of coral in all colors of the rainbow. The variety of dive sites is staggering—from the air, Fiji appears as a vast patchwork of coral, covering hundreds of square miles.

Fiji is one destination where there is no clear choice between live-aboard and land-based options. Both offer advantages and disadvantages. On a live-aboard you will be able to explore the more remote dive sites, and log the most dives per day. On the other hand, you will miss the experience of living on a tropical island, which is one of the best reasons to visit Fiji in the first place. The outer islands are quiet, idyllic retreats where civilization truly slips from your consciousness. The Fijians are a wonderful people, fun-loving and warm-hearted."

Read the whole article on Away.com...

PADI Media Relations Program Produces HUGE Results

Recent high-profile story placement on Away.com viewed by millions of potential scuba divers.

PADI is not only the leader in quality scuba diver training, it’s also the leader in quality scuba diving promotion. PADI’s media relations team recently orchestrated a major “learn to dive” feature story in Away.com, a sister website to Outside Magazine and Orbitz.com. This comprehensive feature story is available to more than 1.6 million unique visitors every day. Since being posted Feb. 2, the story remains one of the most viewed stories on the site.

PADI remains the only entity in the dive industry to employ a full-time in-house media relations staff. The result of this tangible commitment to new diver acquisition and scuba diving promotion is resulting in recent media placements in such diverse places as Outdoor Photographer magazine, Men’s Health/Best Life, and the Boston Globe.

According to PADI Marketing Director Kristin Vallette, “We understand that our industry needs more promotion. Our stores are asking us to help better publicize scuba diving and we’re responding. These stories not only help promote the scuba diving lifestyle, they also underscore PADI’s leadership position in the industry and direct potential new divers to PADI retailers across the country.”

Potential new divers are attracted to the informative pieces, colorful photos and exciting topics. In addition, the articles become long-term resource pieces for individuals seeking dive-related information through internet searches.

The latest feature story placement (located at http://away.com/practical-advice/learn-to-scuba-dive-1.html) include details on getting started in scuba, equipment overviews, links to PADI’s worldwide Dive Center and Resort directory and other highly relevant information.

PADI will continue to seek out feature story opportunities in coming months. Stay tuned for more exciting media exposure that PADI is bringing to the industry.

Others promise … PADI delivers.

LONDON HOSTS FIRST FESTIVAL OF DIVING ON SUNDAY 3RD DECEMBER 2006

Divers in and around London were invited to the London Festival of Diving on Sunday 3 December at the London Welsh Centre, 157-163 Gray's Inn Rd, WC1

“ a full-on day of kit, speakers, workshops and socialising. The centre is a ten minute walk from King's Cross or Russell Square, and a whole day's entertainment can be had for £6, or £5 for London-based members of the BSAC.

Speakers: Martyn Farr, Tim Ecott, Mark Ellyatt, Teresa Telus, Kevin Pickering.

Workshops: Instructor networking, Underwater photography, capturing the wreck, Membership and recruitment for dive clubs, decompression theory and practice, International diving projects.

London Festival of DivingThe Festival kicks off with a big divers' social on Saturday evening 2 December, at the Novotel Hotel on Euston Rd.

Tickets, map and further information available on www.londondivers.com

Principal sponsor: London Diving Chamber.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006"

http://www.bsac.org