Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Safety is the Choices We Make

Imagine you are 50 feet underwater, floating on your back, staring up at the surface. Is this something out of a dream, or a nightmare? The idea of being completely submerged is both thrilling and terrifying. It is amazing to envision being that far underwater and breathing with ease. It is frightening to think about the possibility of something going wrong and not knowing what to do if it did. The brave choose to face that fear by learning to avoid the risks and gaining an arsenal of solutions to possible issues that may arise.
I am lucky to have been introduced to an instructor, divemaster, and diving community who value safe diving practices. My instructor, Dave Babineau, and divemaster, Cheryl Babineau, who are both retired police officers, chose a dive certification program, NAUI, over other diver certifications because NAUI emphasizes rescue skills and allows divers more pool time to practice scuba diving skills. NAUI says that they have a “moral and ethical obligation” to teach fundamental rescue skills in their basic classes. These skills are invaluable. Through practice, divers get the chance to prepare for emergency situations. In both my Basic and Advanced dive certification classes and in Scuba Squad club meetings Dave and Cheryl emphasize the importance of listening to your gut and calling a dive if you ever feel uneasy about it. They have been known to say, “We don’t sell scuba certifications; we sell safety.” Scuba Squad, which was created by Cheryl Babineau, has two rules, and the first is to dive safe.
In my experience, safety in scuba diving comes down to the choices you make. As scuba divers we want nothing more than to be in the water, and it is extremely disappointing and therefore difficult to make the choice to call a dive. A few months ago a story was published about a man who went on a dive on Christmas Day in an unfamiliar and known-to-be-dangerous cave, despite lacking the necessary training to dive in overhead environments. He was diving with new gear and he tragically brought along his young son, who was not certified. They both went missing and were found a few days later deep in the caves. This is a horribly sad example of poor choices resulting in death. A lot of dive accidents occur because the diver, who was probably extremely excited and eager to dive, did not take a step back and ask if he or she was making safe decisions. Luckily, most divers do practice safe habits and they avoid devastating accidents. Scuba divers look out for each other and can sometimes give the necessary outside perspective when someone is about to make a poor choice. In the most recent Alert Diver magazine there is an article written by Ingrid Carlson about an experience she had trying to convince a diver to make the safe choice to cancel a dive. The diver was planning to dive alone; he was over-heated, out of practice, and using gear, including a rebreather, he had not used in five years. This man was resistant to Ingrid’s warnings, but after the confrontation he did end up canceling the dive. He found out later that his gear needed some maintenance and if he had dove he could have experienced serious and possibly life-threatening problems. Ingrid’s story is an excellent example of a good choice made and, possibly, a life saved.  


Carlson, I. (2014). Alert Diver | Easy Save. Retrieved February 25, 2014, from http://www.alertdiver.com/Easy-Save

Fieldstadt, E., & News, N. B. C. (2013, December 26). Father, son drown while attempting challenging cave dive in Florida. NBC News. Retrieved February 27, 2014, from http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/12/26/22062394-father-son-drown-while-attempting-challenging-cave-dive-in-florida


Thursday, February 20, 2014

900 Gallons of Sewage

On February 9th I got a news alert telling me that a devastating 900 gallons of sewage had been dumped into the Monterey Bay. This spill was reported to be the result of two human errors (Schmalz, 2014). The first error occurred when a plumber cut a sewage line while doing maintenance on a house, which is common protocol for diverting pressure from a residence. The problem was the sewage drained all the way out to the road and into a storm drain (Schmalz, 2014). The second error was the machinery used to divert the storm drain away from the ocean, in the event that toxic materials end up in the drain, was not functioning (Schmalz, 2014). This series of errors could have been avoided if more of a priority had been put on controlling the movement of the waste after it entered the drain. It is relieving to know that the city has a protocol to avoid toxic waste ending up in the ocean, but it does not do any good if the city does not regularly maintain and test it.
The section of the coast off of Pacific Grove was designated an Area of Biological Significance in the 1970’s, which means it is “biologically unique and has sensitive marine ecosystems” and, due to this, there is supposed to be zero pollution ("Pacific Grove Area of Biological Significance," 2009). Despite its coast being protected, the city of Pacific Grove has a history of ocean pollution, and in December of 2009 the State Water Board found storm runoff was putting polycyclic hydrocarbons, copper, lead, and zinc in the ocean ("Pacific Grove Area of Biological Significance," 2009). Techniques and tools were proposed to reduce polluted runoff from entering the ocean. It is disappointing to hear that these techniques and tools did not prevent the sewage spill last week.
           This most recent sewage spill is of particular concern to bay-area divers because it caused one of the most beautiful dive locations, Lovers Point, to be closed (Schmalz, 2014). Lovers Point is known for its ease of entry, impressive visibility, and beautiful reefs and pinnacles (Crisp, 2009). I have been diving at this location and it has a wealth of life on the reefs, including sea lemons, black eye goby, lion nudibranch, and blue rockfish. That amount of sewage could have a damaging effect on these creatures and the other marine life of that location. It pains me to imagine 900 gallons of sewage in this beautiful spot. When raw sewage enters the ocean it often serves as food for bacteria and algae, which can cause these organisms to multiply exponentially. The increase in bacteria and algae causes the concentration of oxygen in the water to decrease, which can cause fish and other marine animals to suffocate (Davie, 2008).
           There has been no attempt to clean the sewage out of the ocean. The city plans to do a water quality test after the first major rain but, being that California is in a drought, that could be a long way off (Schmalz, 2014). Lovers Point will be closed until this test can be carried out. It was reported that the test may have been done last week and that Lovers Point will be re-opened, but at this time no further reports have been published. Because the city and the ocean butt up against each other it is inevitable that every once in a while these errors will occur, but I believe strongly that we have a responsibility to protect the ocean from our garbage and waste. The ocean is a source of beauty and inspiration for many people and it is appalling when we fail to protect it. 

Photo by Skylar Merritt


Crisp, M. (2009). Monterey Dive Sites: Lover’s Point. Monterey Scuba Board. Retrieved February

Davie, T. (2008). Fundamentals of hydrology. London; New York: Routledge.


State Water Resources Control Board. (2009, December 31). Pacific Grove Area of Special Biological Significance. Coast Keeper. Retrieved from http://www.cacoastkeeper.org/document/factsheet_asbs19.pdf


Schmalz, D. (2014, February 10). Error after sewage spill leads to closure of Lover’s Point Beach. Monterey County Weekly. Retrieved from http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/blogs/news_blog/article_6cfe7628-92a6-11e3-9255-001a4bcf6878.html



Wednesday, February 12, 2014

The Princess

For as long as I can remember I have had a fascination with octopuses. I remember as a child pressing my face against the aquarium glass of the Giant Pacific Octopus exhibit. I wondered what this animal, that was as big as I was and that looked so strange, could be thinking; was he bored in such a confined space? I remember thinking, with my face smashed against the glass, I probably looked as weird to him as he looked to me. I thought it was so cool that these animals recognized different people they interacted with, and it seemed fun to me, as a child, that these creatures would play with toys. My interest continued as I got older. My boyfriend and dive buddy of two years, Sky, caught my attention during one of our first conversations when he explained his interest in octopuses. He talked about how octopus eyes are built the right way,” they do not have a blind spot like humans, and with that he had me hooked.
Summer of 2013, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Cozumel, a small Mexican island off the Yucatan Peninsula, for an 8-day diving adventure with Scuba Squad, my local dive club. Growing up my mom told me a story about doing a drift dive off Cozumel and having a little octopus climb up her arm as she went by, scramble over her tank, down her leg, and off the back of her fin.  An interaction like that sounded so fun to me; I hoped at some point I would have a dive like that. While in Cozumel, I did two night dives, and both were absolutely incredible. The first night dive was off of a boat. This was my first experience diving with octopuses and it was amazing. Each one had a different color and pattern, and they all seemed to have different personalities. Some would stay in my flashlight beam, as if showing off their colors as they changed to match the surroundings, and some would flee, moving smoothly and stealthily away from any more disturbances. I came up from that dive thrilled that I got to see my favorite creatures in the wild. 
The second dive was the last before we were heading home and it ended up being one of the best. It was on this dive that I saw squid and cuttlefish and became engulfed in a huge school of tiny blue fish. Toward the end of the dive, Sky and I came across a beautiful little white octopus. Sky had his light on her as he floated a ways above her and I moved off to the side and settled down onto the sand in the hopes that she would not be scared and would hang out for awhile. As I watched her she started moving toward me rather than away, which was a pleasant surprise. As she got closer I wondered if I should move, as I seemed to be in the way of where she was headed, but I thought that might scare her so I stayed. The closer she got the more excited I became. She was two feet from me, sitting there watching, her w-shaped eyes filled with curiosity. Remembering my mom’s story—I slowly put out my hand so that it was a foot or so from her. As I held it there, she reached out a lone tentacle and rested it on my hand, like a princess about to be escorted. I still get goose bumps thinking about it. She held it there for a few seconds and then moved off on around me, on her way to wherever she was headed. I have a hard time expressing what that experience has meant to me, but what I can say is I was honored and delighted that this sentient creature took the time to palpably say hello.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

“Ooooo, I want that!”

Walking through the dive shop or skimming through a newly-printed dive magazine always summons up the same thoughts in my mind. Those thoughts are some variation of, “Whoa, coooOOooool!” and “Ooooo, I want that!” Being a college student, the majority of those thoughts end in, “Ugh, I can’t wait until I have a real salary...” but, it also means I always have something to look forward to. One of those “Oooo, I want that” products caught my attention recently. It caught my eye because it brilliantly fixes an infuriating problem that I always have diving. Imagine this, you get out of the water from a stellar dive; you had an easy descent and ascent, you and your buddy were on the same wave length, your buoyancy was dialed, you saw schools of fish, multicolored nudibranch and huge anemone, you played with some harbor seals, and you even got a high five from an octopus!
Walking out of the water you feel like you are on top of the world. You get back to the car and pull off your gear, feeling more liberated with each piece that comes off. The shivers are warded off by the sunshine and a warm towel, and you spend your surface interval eating orange slices and chitchatting with fellow divers. Then, it’s time to start gearing up for the next dive. With all of your might you wrestle your cold wetsuit on over your pleasantly sun-warmed skin, you stick your feet into the puddles that have formed in your booties, you heave your BC onto your back and clip in your weights, and you put your mask on over your head so it is prepped and ready, sitting around your neck for when you need to put it on. Now, here comes the problem I mentioned earlier: gloves. You are weighed down and hot, and you want nothing more than to get down to the water, but those wet gloves block your way. You attempt to put one on but, being that it’s wet, the glove gets stuck on the widest part of your hand, from the joint of your thumb to the joint of your pinky. You pull as hard as you can but the glove just stretches and doesn’t budge. Your face is beginning to burn from the heat building up in your wetsuit, your other hand is cramping from the effort of pulling on the glove, your hand in the glove is painfully being squished, and you are pondering: how bad it could possibly be to just not wear gloves in the 50 degree water? Now, one of two things happens; you either burst into tears, defeated by this small piece of neoprene, or you get really mad, force your hand in as far as it will go, tearing a hole in the cuff of the glove, and, still having zero use of your fingers, you go stomping off, down the beach, leaving your poor buddy running after you, wondering what he possibly could have done to make you so furious.
If this scenario sounds even slightly familiar to you, you will understand why I was so thrilled to find these: EASY- DON gloves. These gloves slide on over your hand, seal with an elastic cuff, and keep your hands dry. No more battles with the wet and stretchy gloves that put you through hell in order to get them on. Can you hear the angels singing? I can! As you can probably tell from the detailed description, I have had many a battle with the gloves, and I cannot wait to get my hands on (or in?) these gloves.