Category: Advocacy

Being a Good Dive Buddy

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A dive buddy is always visible!
There is always that element of partnership in every dive.

In everything we do, there are always good practices that we must consistently uphold – whether in business, work or even practicing one’s profession. Ethics is even important in Diving, this is a good piece to reflect on if I am a good dive buddy every time I’m in the depths.   I am sharing this article written by DM Dennis Jacobson.

While there are some divers who have trained and are certified to dive alone, we have all been taught that safe diving means diving with a buddy.  Not only is it safer than diving alone, but sharing a dive with a partner multiplies the pleasure of the dive by having someone to share the experiences and verify the exciting encounters and sightings.  I am lucky to have my wife Debbie as my dive buddy.  She and I know each other’s dive habits, we work well together as a team, and we have become very adept at not only staying close together, but also being aware of each other’s position, activity, and, should they arise, issues throughout the dive.

Some people seem to think that getting in the water about the same time as your buddy, and staying in the same ocean as they are, constitutes buddy diving.  They are wrong.  To be a good dive buddy, someone with who other people enjoy diving  and look for to diving with in the future,  you should take being a buddy a bit more seriously.

A good dive buddy stays close to his or her dive partner all the time.  Just how close varies with conditions like visibility, current,  how well you know your buddy, whether you have dove together in the past,  and other relevant factors.  But on every dive, your should be close enough you can respond to your dive buddy in the event of any emergency or need for assistance arising.  Emergencies are not limited to air depletion. They can include entanglement, equipment malfunction, injury, or even coming under attack from an aggressive sea creature.  Stay close enough to help a buddy out.

A good dive buddy not only stays in close proximity to their dive partner, they are aware of their buddy’s location and activity,  direction of travel if moving, and can perceive any  problems, confusion, unease, or distress a buddy may exhibit as it occurs or just moments after. It doesn’t take long for buddies to become separated if they are not focused on and have an awareness of where each other is and what the other is doing and how they are moving. Buddy diving is kind of like going on a date.  If you take a date to a dance, it is bad manners to lose them on the dance floor.  Good manners require that you pay attention to them.  If you don’t, you might look up  to find they are no where around. It’s the same in buddy diving. Pay attention to your buddy. Look around and mark your buddy’s’ location and activity regularly, in fact, often, and better still, constantly.

Part of being a good dive buddy is being sensitive to your dive buddy’s feelings, including how he or she feels physically and whether they are feeling stressed or anxious about doing a dive.  Don’t pressure your buddy to do a dive that they don’t want to do.  Sometimes a diver is not comfortable doing a dive. Let it go.  Similarly, if a problem arises during a dive that leads to one buddy wanting to terminate, or “thumb” the dive, a good dive buddy will go with them.  Never leave a distressed, injured, confused, stressed out, or tired buddy to fend for themselves, even if they are surfacing and returning the boast or shore.

A good dive buddy will get acquainted with his diving partner before the dive.  Sometimes we get paired up with a stranger, what some call an “insta-buddy.”  When that happens, you need to get to know each other as divers.  Talk to each other. Learn about each other’s experience level and last dive.  Clarify the communications you will use and agree as to proximity and other buddy coordination.  Discuss your objectives for the dive.  Are you going to swim around like crazy people or focus on looking at the animals and their behaviors?  If one or both are going to take pictures or video, discuss expectations you each have for staying close.  When diving with a new buddy (or any buddy for that matter) a good dive buddy will be sure to sure to do a pre-dive safety check, familiarizing the team with each other’s equipment. Just like you learned to do in your basic scuba certification class.   There is no need to dive with a stranger if you take a few minutes to plan together, learn bout each other and communicate about the dive. 

Too often, divers who are paired up by the divemaster or boat captain, or even those who may have  selected each other as buddies,  will introduce themselves to each other, and then be oblivious to each other throughout the dive.  That is not a good idea.  A dive buddy who appreciates the importance of that role will stay close, be aware of what is going on, never have a problem with buddy separation, and be there to share air, help his buddy get untangled from the kelp, notice symptoms of narcosis, and otherwise assist as needed. If you want to have a good dive buddy, be a good dive buddy.  You can do it.  I know you can.

NB.

Dennis Jacobson is a full-time lawyer and part-time divemaster who lives in Colorado but escapes to the tropics for diving whenever he can. He and his wife Debbie, who has been diving for ten years herself, are the authors of The Scuba Snobs Guide to Diving Etiquette, and The Scuba Snobs Guide to Diving Etiquette BOOK 2. Both are available in paperback or as an e-book on amazon.com and many other on-line book sellers. DM Dennis is a popular blogger on scubaboard.com, and has written articles for several scuba publications in addition to the two books he and his wife have published.

Thresher Shark Research Conservation Project

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thresher-shark

Malapascua Island is almost synonymous to thresher sharks, not to mention the pristine white beaches, generally this pelagic drives the local dive and tourism industries, fuelling 80% of the regional economy.  Myself included was first drawn to this southernmost tip island of Cebu province almost three years now, aiming to catch glimpse of the phenomenal presence of the shark in shallow waters.

This pelagic thresher Shark (Alopias Pelagicus) is an oceanic species whose biology and behavioral ecology are largely unknown  due to study limitations.  Fisheries and by-catch data indicate that it is found in warm and temperate offshore waters, matures late, has low fecundity and is vulnerable to over-exploitation.  International conventions have recognized almost all shark species to be threatened, promoting nations to implement protection policies.  These listed species comprise those which have received comprehensive scientific investigation, and whose biology and behavioral ecology are well understood.  The fact that thresher sharks regularly visit a sea mount in the Philippines presents a unique opportunity to study this rarely observed oceanic shark.  Preliminary investigations of the site identified significant relationships between shark presence and cleaning activity conducted by resident Cleaner and Moon wrasses (Labriodes Dinidiatus and Thalassoma Lunare).  Cleaning activity relating to sharks has never been investigated in the wild before, but this observable interactions seen at this site explained why these mainly oceanic sharks venture into shallow coastal waters, where they are vulnerable to fishing and disturbance from dive tourism.  Understanding their behavioral ecology will provide important information to support the protection plan for the specie.

Monad Shoal is located within the Visayan Sea, 8.16 km due east from the southern beach of Malapascua Island.  The sea mount is an open water site rising 250 meters from the sea floor to 15=25 meter depths.  Early morning presence of thresher sharks on the shoal attracted local dive and tourism industries to Malapascua Island.

It is with these facts and reasons that the Thresher Shark Research Conservation Project initiated, it started in 2009.  The project aimed to investigate the behavior of thresher sharks  in response to resident cleaner fishes, the correlations between parasite presence, to improve established methods of observing the specie, to assess also the population dynamics of visit frequency, and to provide relevant information to conservation initiatives in relation to managing impacts of fishery and dive tourism.  The project is developing a model for managing Monad Shoal as a protected area for the thresher sharks.

Please visit www.threshersharkproject.org for more details. You could be  part of this research conservation project.

MASAFA: A Fishy Story

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Magoong and Samburon Fisherman Association (MASAFA) is a group of fisherfolk in the two coastal barangays of Linamon,Lanao del Norte taking responsibility in the management of the established marine protected area (MPA) of  LGU Linamon.  Community-based projects is a strategy  found to be effective in marine protection and preservation among coastal areas.

The group actively participated in the coral transplantation project that aimed to preserved and enhance the coral reefs in the area.  The six-hectare MPA is under the responsibility of MASAFA committing to protect its surrounding waters.  They are patrolling the the area to prevent unwanted intruders disturbing the waters which includes beach goers.

As recipient of NRM project, the group was provided assistance in terms of income generating activities as alternative source of livelihood for the fisherfolk. A start-up capital of PhP 250,000.00 for their proposed  bangus production through fish cages  which they will managed to improve their capacity and capability to implement economic activities for the community.  As on-ground investments to support for their livelihood and improve their incomes.

MASAFA is just one of the rural communities that receive funding and technical support to pursue the objectives of the Mindanao Rural Development Program 2 in pump-priming Mindanao’s rural economy.

What Our OCEANS Need

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By exploring this fantastic realm, we cannot help but become touched by the beauty and fragility of the diverse life it cradles.   ~Fabien Cousteau~

This rich marine world will soon come to extinction…

There is so much hype in the media about marine life conservation, ocean protection, ecotourism, climate change, global warming and so forth – all these come in tons of information that people I observed got so feed up, they hardly appreciated it.  I would say, the deluge of information was beyond what is necessary.  We all need to do something out there in the field, more than just the blabber. We need to ACT not later, not tomorrow but now and everyday. It must be our lifestyle.

Fate of the Ocean

We can hardly describe what the oceans are like in the olden times, but personally I would assume that it has been so rich in marine life and was a great source for food.  It’s biblical, Jesus and his disciples dwelt near the sea and their provisions include fish, some of his disciples were fishers themselves.  It has been rich, but now it dwindled so much that many of specie are nearing its extinction.  Scientists estimate that we have lost around 90% of the ocean’s larger specie already.  There is so much destruction what humans wrought on our ocean’s ecosystems, more than just for food but to satisfy greedy commercialism.

Such colorful paradise!

Our reefs are in trouble which is particularly vulnerable to human impact.  Overfishing and destructive fishing is damaging the sustainability of this resource.  There are many threats that confronted our coasts today: coastal development, tourist infrastructures, industrial run-offs and sedimentation. Global warming causing rise of temperature in sea waters destroying our corals and expected is to spread largely.  Indeed manmade disturbances multiplied so much the ecosystem could hardly cope up when coupled with weather disasters, diseases and predators. The bottom line is – our oceans are in trouble.

What Can I Do

Like any diver, the problem is very real and the need to do something is imperative.  There can be no diver who can not be touched by the underwater world’s beauty, over and over again I am amazed of the exquisiteness of the life beyond the depths.  How can one afford to destroy this fragile world or reflect to do something to protect and preserve it. Divers without doubt had a special role to play in relaying the message that the oceans are in trouble.  Divers are ambassadors for the oceans.

I came up with a list of some of the basic things that I can do for our oceans that need to be saved, a lifestyle that must be adopted.  I felt I owe a debt of gratitude to the liquid world.

a)      Beginning at home or office, trash will always be where it belongs in segregation. Kids shall be taught early about waste disposal right at home before they could even go to school.  Our niece Lian is responding positively and now getting conscious.
b)      Be an ecotourist, I am as guilty as anybody in taking advantage of cheap flights. Now, I learned that air travel is the only form of transport that pays no taxes or duties on fuel it consumes. Tons of CO2 is emitted on every flights which is great for air pollution.  Now, I’ll be limiting air travels and if I did, I’ll donate to WWF for this purpose.
c)      Every dive will be a clean-up activity.
d)     Conserve water and power – not only in the kitchen but also in the bath.
e)      Supporting marine protection and preservation programs – I am fortunate to be part of a project in my office where I had hands-on on many forms of preservation activities. I have spent time with coastal communities supporting for MPAs.
f)       Grow trees not just plant them. I need to go back with my tree planting in the farm.
g)      Perfecting my buoyancy skills and be sensitive every dive, I am not wearing gloves to resist the temptation to touch underwater.
h)      Patronize fair trade products as these are all produce environmentally friendly.
i)        Be selective with dive operators that adopt policies and practices that support marine life protection – I am most likely to have a DM who’s emphatic on diving responsibly.
j)        The plastic can not be totally eradicated as of now, but getting conscious is the key.  I have been recycling the bags I use for my dripping gears when I travel – for over two years now.  Whenever I eat out, I take meals in diners that don’t use plastics or styros.  If my purchase don’t need packaging, I politely declined the plastic bags from the counter.
k)        Fancy gift wrapping is always a no-no, now I learned to recycle and use innovative organic packaging. Simple yet elegant and not costly

The joy of discovery is worth sharing to the next generation

Everything that we do everyday have powerful ripple effects for our planet. It is not surprising to note that what we do in the surface has undeniable correlation in the water world. If each one will get our acts together, it can have a great impact in arresting the issue.  I pray that the next generation will experience the joy of discovery and experience the endless beauty of the underwater world.  There’s no reason why we should deprive them of all the marvelous creation we enjoyed so much. Most importantly, we are all stewards of this grand creation entrusted to us, accordingly we have the obligation to protect and care for the last planet that we have.  The Creator is watching us.