Houston's Premier Scuba and Dive Shop Oceanic Ventures Inc.

(713) 523-3483 (dive)
5808 Newcastle Drive
Houston, TX 77401

Archives for December 2012

by

The 12 Days to a Scuba Christmas

As you may know, I just returned from a short visit to the Cayman Islands. Diving in December could not have been better and I did not have to wear a drysuit!  Today, while I was cleaning out my email inbox I stumbled upon a note from the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism – are you sensing a theme here?  It seems that they are having a Christmas contest for crafty and culinary divers. The prize is roundtrip airfare for two on Cayman Airways and they are giving away three sets of prizes.  The contest, “12 Days to a Cayman Christmas” seems like a fun way to get your entire family involved in diving without leaving home!  Of course, that is not the idea behind diving but the water is a little cold here right now even if the air temperature is not (I love living in the South!)
There are twelve different projects and you post your entry in a photograph to facebook by the 21st.  Then, from the 17th to the 24th t everyone votes for their favorite entry.  So you are asking what do I have to do?  Well, there are twelve challenges to complete.  You only have to do one to enter the contest but the more you do, the greater your chances of winning.  Here are the challenges (remember, you only have to do one to enter):

  • Challenge #1: Bake a Gingerbread House in the form of an old time Caymanian House
  • Challenge #2: Make a Cayman Catboat out of any craft items from your local craft store.
  • Challenge #3: Make a Christmas Ornament pertaining to anything in the Cayman Islands
  • Challenge #4: Make a Christmas Card representing the Cayman Islands
  • Challenge #5: Create a Christmas logo for Sir Turtle
  • Challenge #6: Create a Cayman Islands Christmas T-Shirt
  • Challenge #7: Bake a cake inspired by the Cayman Islands
  • Challenge #8: Use shells from your local craft store and design them to represent the Cayman Islands
  • Challenge #9: Make a Caymanian dish for dinner.
  • Challenge #10: Decorate a Christmas Tree inspired by the Cayman Islands
  • Challenge #11: Design a Cayman Islands Christmas Post Card
  • Challenge #12: Design a Stocking stuffer in a Cayman Islands Theme

So, if you can’t get wet right now, why not think about the islands and have some fun with your family?  You can enter the contest by visiting www.facebook.com/visitcaymanislands.  And, be sure to let us know you are entering so we can go out and vote for you.
And of course Dive Mom can help you set up the rest of your adventure in the Cayman Islands…
See you in the Islands!

by

Life Found in Extreme Antarctic Lake

Antarctica Mountain
Daytime in Antarctica
Copyright Eric Keibler

Most of us are familiar with Blue Lagoon in Texas, and subsequently with the excitement of seeing a fish in its vastly uninhabited waters. So imagine looking for life in a lake in Antarctica, lying 70 feet below the ice sheet, is six times saltier than sea water, has nitrous oxide levels higher than any body of water on Earth, and with an average temperature of 8 degrees Fahrenheit.  

This is the task that a team of researchers recently undertook in search of life in conditions that we did not believe could sustain life, as we know it. But when they looked in the microscope for bacteria, expecting to find none or possibly one species, they found many, an entire community living in these waters. This is an exciting discovery because it demonstrates that life can be sustained in other ways than we previously knew.  

Sunlight does not penetrate the ice to reach this lake, Lake Vida, and the bacteria do not get energy from oxygen or carbon either, as other life forms do. Although not certain, researchers believe that the organisms can harvest energy from chemical reactions between the saltwater and the rock below the lake, which is rich with iron. It is thought that the lake has been cut off from the Earth’s atmosphere for 3,000 years, which gives great clues to how life can develop especially under very extreme circumstances.

by

At the Office – Diving the Pathfinder Rebreather

Eric Keibler on a Pathfinder Rebreather in Grand Cayman
Eric Keibler on a Pathfinder Rebreather in Grand Cayman
Just another day at the office. at least that is what I tried to convince Ann was happening the past five days in Grand Cayman. One of our friends, Pam, even said that maybe they needed to “meet in our conference room.”
But really, I was in Grand Cayman to complete a training program on the Megalodon and Pathfinder rebreathers. You can ask Emma or Nancy, I was in class each morning and diving in the afternoon…you know skills, drills and well ok, some fish, corals and steel; one dive was on the Kittywake.
While I have a lot of experience diving the Megalodon rebreather, the real treat of this trip was to dive the Pathfinder in something other than the pool. Not that I mind the pool, but there is something more interesting about a vertical wall with fish, colourful corals and vibrant sponges. Remember, part of my training was swimming in the unit.
Eric Keibler and Leon Scamahorn diving Pathfinder Rebreathers in Grand Cayman
Eric Keibler and Leon Scamahorn diving Pathfinder Rebreathers in Grand Cayman
The Pathfinder is designed with a more recreational diver in mind. Underwater photographers will love this unit because it is small, easy to use and prneudes the advantage of not scaring the fish away with every breath. One of the things that appeals to me is its size and weight. The complete unit will fit in a carry on suitcase and will not require help from three of your diving buddies to put it in the overhead. For divers with camera, the unit is robust enough to go as checked luggage as well.
The unit can be configured with a standard over the shoulder set of counterlungs or with the new top of the shoulder counter lungs. One of the other configuration options is the diliuent bottle. You can configure it like a standard rebreather with the diliuent and oxygen supplies mounted to the canister or, alternatively, you can utilize the bailout cylinder as the diliuent thereby reducing the weight and simplifying the rig for the diver.
Unlike some of the other rebreather designs for more recreational divers which try to minimize any diver thought or input into the system, the Pathfinder is designed for a thinking diver. Since you can never fully factor out the human interface, Leon Scamahorn, designer of the system, believes that the diver should be included and involved in the system. This does not mean that the system is complicated but rather it needs some input from the diver during the set-up and initialization phases of the dive. Further, it offers the diver more options in dive parameters and uses.
While a purely “recreational” diver will love this unit, the Pathfinder is capable of mneung beyond what we normally consider to be recreational diving. Leon designed the unit to have enough scrubber media and system capabilities for a diver to do a typical normoxic trimix dive (using helium in the breathing mix.)
So you are probably asking what did I think about it? It was a real treat to dive a lightweight but capable rebreather. The work-of-breathing, a performance measurement, is similar to that found in the Megalodon rebreather. What this means is that it is easy to breath in the horizontal position as well as upside down and while facing up at the surface. The electronics are straight forward and easy to understand both on the surface and underwater and they do a good job of controlling the oxygen set-point or level. I found the unit trimmed well so it was easy to swim with in the water and because of its size and weight it was easy to exit the water. The scrubber packs easily and the assembly is easy and straight forward. It flushes easily and takes minimal amount of time to correct the oxygen levels.
Eric Keibler and Leon Scamahorn after Eric’ s Final Check-Out Dive for his Instructor Certification
If you are interested in rebreahers, I think this unit is a good alternative for more capable and expensive rebreathers. It prneudes a lot punch and is ideal for a photographer or any typical “recreational” diver as well a diver wanting to venture beyond the recreational limits sometime in the future. The Pathfinder is a very capable unit and may be the only unit you will need for the style of diving you have in mind.

by

Crustaceans Control Population With Cannibalism

Fisherman discovered long ago that lobsters practice cannibalism when many are put together in confined spaces. This is the reason that lobsters in tanks at grocery stores have rubber bands around their claws. This behavior was thought to be induced by the confining space in these tanks. But just recently this behavior has been observed in the wild as a natural behavior of lobsters. 

The lobster population on the east coast of the United States has been booming in the past few years due to overfishing of their natural predators, such as halibut. Warmer Ocean temperatures have also contributed to larger populations in the Gulf of Mexico. The lobster industry has been breaking catch records in recent years due to the unnaturally high amount of lobsters, but this imbalance is having effects on the lobster population. It seems that lobsters are being triggered to bring their population to a more balanced level and therefore prey on one another. It has been observed that at night eight of nine predatory attacks of small lobsters are from larger lobsters. This is an exceptional look at how some species adjust to overpopulation to restore balance.

by

Trip Report – Cozumel Birthday and Anniversary Trip!

First day in Cozumel was great! A little delay while they worked on the aircraft, but with some tailwinds we made it on time. We went out on the boat with Jose Luis and Danielle to Paradiso (Paradise Reef) for our shake down dive, and for Susan’s very first Open Water Dive! She did great! We saw a Spotted Moray, Yellow Stingray, Scorpionfish and more Arrowhead Crabs than I could count. After a great 70 min dive we all got back and we’re headed to Casa Mission to celebrate Stephen’s Birthday.