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St. Croix Science Diving – Day 3 – 3/10/2024

Sunday (Day 3) – Miles Rosania

This morning we got to sleep in, as we didn’t need to be at the marina until 10. We had a fabulous time navigating with google maps, which likes to take us on long, winding routes for some reason. Today we were diving out of the Sweet Bottom dive shop in Cane Bay, with a group of people who dive once a month to apply antibiotics to corals and clean up the corals by removing snails that prey on corals and overgrowing algae.

We were missing some of our divers on this day, as they took the Lord’s day off, so we had a smaller group than usual. Today we learned about how to apply antibiotics to corals, as well as more details on Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease and its spread to St. Croix. We even got to hang out with some turtles!!!

St. Croix Science Diving – Day 2 – 3/9/2024

Saturday (Day 2) by AQUAneer Adler G!

There was no sleeping-in for the AQUAneers this morning! Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed by 07:00 they prepared, organized, and packed their gear into the “NEERmobile”. Today was not all fun and games… They had a job to do! The evil and invasive lionfish population (stretching far and wide from the shipwrecks of the Atlantic to the reefs of the Caribbean and far beyond) was destroying the reefs and the local food chain! Something had to be done! So, the AQUAneers prepared their gear for battle and brought their spears with them. The NEERmobile rolled out of the compound at 07:25 (locked and loaded, ready for war). 

The AQUAneers arrived at the scheduled harbor site to meet the crew of the Ibis, the boat that would charge them into battle! The vessel was loaded, checked, and double-checked before departure to the battlefield which was the North Shore. 

They began the voyage with a dive with “The Battle of Wiz Bang” and ended it with “The Battle of The Test Site”! They dropped one by one, each after the other until they were ready to descend altogether. Throughout these dives, they came across many allies such as Nurse Sharks, Turtles, and LOTS of Fish. 

However, there was no lack of enemies to fight. When all the violence was over and the boat was headed back to the harbor, They had slayed a total of 22 Lionfish! The warriors celebrated their victory by fileting and taking data from every single fish back at the compound.

Soon after, they were joined by another AQUAneer, Alex, who had just flown in.

With the daylight dawning and the water still clear, the AQUAneers could not pass up the opportunity to enjoy their very first night dive in the Virgin Islands. The AQUAneers filed into the NEERmobile (gear and all) one by one until they had COMPLETELY filled it. Some MOGs had to sit on the floor (for lack of seatbelts available), but no matter! Safety has never stopped the AQUAneers before!

They prepped their gear and swam out to the dive site as the sun set like a fire in the sky! They had a glorious night dive to finish the day. They saw even more turtles and got a couple more lionfish too! To finish the night they feasted on burgers and lionfish with a bottle of Ting. WHAT A DAY!!

• Adler

Science Diving in St. Croix 3/8/2024

Friday (Day 1) – AQUAneer Lauren

Today was bright and sunny in St. Croix for the check-out dives at the Frederiksted Pier. This first day of dives allowed the Aquaneers to adjust weights, fine-tune their buoyancy, and awaken their muscle memory of diving altogether since these were the first dives of the year.

Once acclimated, there was much to explore. The pilings were adorned with various sponges, corals, and anemones. Schools of fish weaved in and out of the pilings, careful not to stray too far from the shadow of the pier. 

Though there were some lulls in the two hour-long dives, they did not last long. Amongst the empty valleys of seagrass and sand were green sea turtles! There were several scattered throughout the dives in small groups. They were either napping or munching on the grass as if they were the cattle of the sea.

Needless to say, the trip is off to a great start and the Aquaneers are more than thrilled for the next week in the beautiful Virgin Islands!

• Lauren

FL Trip – Coral Focus – BORs August 2022

by Adler Guirgues

Monday Aug.8th

Today we had the great chance to go diving with sharks through emerald charters. On the first dive, we dove down to 80 feet, chumming the whole way. We got to see four  different types of sharks, and they include: Sandbar sharks, Silkie sharks, and a single bull shark at the beginning of the dive. After a short trip up and a small interval, we switched tanks and headed down again. Some of us didn’t have the opportunity, because of the toss and rock of the waves. So we helped from where we could and chummed the waters from above. Throughout the second dive, the rest of our group hopped from wreck to wreck, and saw huge crowds of Goliath groupers. Those of us who were still on deck, most gratefully enjoyed a pleasant and nice nap, while the others fought the current below. Soon all were up and ready again with replenished air. We were down again for the 3rd and last dive, many of us were going up and down grabbing sand dollars that number the floor, or others like Morgan relaxed, kocked back and did the the dive upside down. Coming up hands full of Sand dollars, we packed up and headed back for a wonderful dinner and a hard time trying to find the air bnb. Lastly we hit the rack.

Tuesday Aug. 9th

This morning the MOGs woke up early at 6:00 A.M.! After getting dressed, we all either ate breakfast or loaded gear into the back of Mrs. Byrns Van. We began driving to Key Largo, where we would be making our first dive and then soon realized that Morgan and I forget things. After returning to the Airbnb and getting back on the road we made our way down to Key Largo. We arrived at Quiescence Dive Shop and realized that it was too rough to go off shore that morning and that it might be better that afternoon. We then changed our plans to dive offshore that afternoon. Since we had time to spare we went to the Coral Restoration Foundation information center and learned all about what they do in Coral Restoration and they learned about what we do in Coral Restoration!                       

After spending an hour at the information center. We went to the History of Diving Museum and did a scavenger hunt race while we went through the museum. After that we went to a huge dive shop called Divers Direct and bought some gear. By then it was time to go diving. 

We had a great ride out through a canal, some mangroves, and then out into the ocean!

We worked on our coral watch slates on the first dive and saw a huge Elkhorn coral. Then we did fish surveys on the second dive and saw a Caribbean Reef Shark and a Nurse Shark. We also had a great boat captain, Captain Steve. We then finished the day with Key Lime ice cream at a local ice cream shop!

FL trip Day One- August 2022

Day One

Merrow Aquaneers Blog: Day 2

August 8, 2022

By Lauren Overall

Divers accustomed to the diminished visibility found at other sites often envy Florida diving. The Merrow Aquaneers are no exception. Although North Carolina offers a variety of diving locations and is commonly referred to as the Graveyard of the Atlantic, Florida’s waters offer increased visibility which can extend up to 100 feet.

Today’s dives took place just off the coast of Florida with a group of nine Aquaneers including myself, Lauren Overall. Personally, this was my first dive outside of North Carolina. We headed out early on our three-tank dive filled with anticipation. By the time we arrived at the dive site and began donning our gear though, many divers were sweating profusely due to both the balmy weather and the hoods required by the boat staff. A few of the Aquaneers quickly succumbed to seasickness and the tight, unsteady deck was not helping. However, when the divers entered the water – one after the other in rapid succession – the divers uncomfort eased and was replaced with awe. Florida’s famous clear waters did not disappoint. As soon as the surrounding bubbles cleared from my giant stride entry into the water, I could make out each diver that had entered before me. There was no eye-straining or frantically looking around for my dive buddy. I easily found my dive partner, Jyvana, and we followed the others as they began their descent.

The most interesting aspect of this dive for me was the dive staff’s way of communicating with the Aquaneers underwater. Since divers cannot communicate by speaking, they must find another avenue to reach their fellow divers. This dive staff used a buzzer. As they were briefing us on the dive, the crew informed the Aquaneers that while they would sometimes use the buzzer noise to attract sharks, they would also use it to seize our attention under the surface. As someone who has trouble relaying information without the use of words, I found this simple yet effective buzzer system extremely interesting.

While each of the dives today went smoothly, there is always room for improvement regarding fundamental diving skills. A skill I believe I could improve on that was highlighted by this dive is spatial awareness. Unaccustomed to the clearness of the water, I often found myself drifting farther and farther away from my dive buddy, Jyvana. When the visibility is optimal, it is easy for divers to misjudge their depth or their distance from surrounding objects. This misjudgment can prove dangerous if your dive buddy needs emergency assistance and you are too far away to reach them quickly. 

Overall, the day was filled with plenty of new experiences. Each of the three dives varied slightly in their mission. This allowed us to capture footage of both sharks and Goliath groupers. The third dive provided many of the Aquaneers with stacks of sand dollars as we mainly scoured the seafloor for the entirety of the dive. 

Day one in Bonaire…or rather…travel to Bonaire!

The Flemings and Neves trip to Bonaire – 3/11/2022.
I now have new respect for the people who sleep overnight at the airport. The original plan for the flights was from New Bern to Charlotte at 7:00 PM, and then Charlotte to Miami at 10:30 PM and then we would sleep in the airport and take the 10:00 AM flight to Bonaire. But unfortunately, the trip from New Bern to Charlotte was delayed and pushed back to 9:30 PM. Because of that, we could not make our trip from Charlotte to Miami. A flight attendant informed us that there was a flight at 7:00 AM from Charlotte to Miami, but when we approached Customer service to get us on the 7:00 AM flight, the 7:00 AM flight was booked full, and the next flight from Charlotte to Miami was on Saturday, and we would have to get new covid tests, which would cost us another 400 dollars. So we were placed on the waiting list. We had to sleep in the Charlotte airport, which was a harrowing experience. We awoke at 5:30 AM to see if we were getting spaces on the plane. We had to wait until a few minutes before the plane left to get space. Thankfully, all four of us did get spaces on the plane. After that, everything was smooth sailing. OR WAS IT? It was not. When we got to the Miami airport, we had to sprint over to where the Bonaire flights were located. When we got on the Bonaire flight, they had a ‘minor’ technical issue which kept us in the airport for almost an hour and a half. Apparently, the ‘minor’ technical issue was actually an issue that caused that plane to not be able to fly. So we had to transfer to ANOTHER plane. Then we had to wait an hour for the luggage and catering to get on the other plane. After that, we had no problems and had to spend two hours at night, in the rain, driving around Bonaire to find our AirBnB.

New Opportunities

We are pleased to announce that we are now the MERROW Aquaneers! Great training and more flexibility to participate in upcoming projects! Our science divers are participating in coral tree maintenance, outplanting, and monitoring. We are also submitting our images to the Spot-a-Shark project and working with local scientists on a plastics project to see what organisms settle.

Mexico Coral Reef Restoration

We are partnering with Discovery Diving to help a new coral nursery in Mexico. We are heading out in December, 2018 to measure our May outplantings! Come out with us in May to clean, outplant, and measure!

Gallery

AAUS training

Earn AAUS credentials from our pairing institution.