The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

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For a head start in exploring the underworld, here’s a look at what it takes to be a cavern diver.

Few diving experiences compare with finning to the mouth of an underwater cavern or cave, putting your hands on the lip and peering into an open chamber filled with formations, shafts of light streaming from holes in ceiling, illuminating sections and leaving others draped in shadow. The names of such places—the Cathedral, the Ball Room—barely do them justice in their attempts to capture these images. All dive-training agencies have limits in place regarding divers’ access to overhead environments—and for good reason. “Since the 1970s, more than 600 divers have died in overhead environments,” says Jeff Bauer, President of the National Association of Cave Diving (NACD). “And most of those deaths happened because the divers didn’t have the appropriate training.” But with the right training, you can add a whole new dimension to your diving adventures. The first step is a cavern-diver course; most recreational dive-training agencies offer this class in a form derived from the curriculum taught by cave-diving organizations NACD and the Cave Diving Section of the National Speleological Society (NSS-CDS). These classes provide the knowledge and techniques needed for limited penetration into overhead environments, they introduce you to new types of equipment, and they help fast track development of the most vital underwater skills—like buoyancy, trim, air consumption, swimming techniques and safety procedures.

Defining “Cavern,” and Course Prerequisites
Different training agencies have slightly different definitions for what constitutes a “cavern” dive, but generally, across all agencies, it is defined as a dive in an overhead environment—like the mouth of a cave—where two divers can easily swim side-by-side and remain within the natural light zone. “You have to stay within the daylight zone,” says John Jones, training director for NSS-CDS. “In our courses, we also specify a maximum depth of 100 feet, and cavern divers can’t go more than 200 linear feet from the surface.”

The experience level required to enroll in a cavern course also varies among agencies, but in most cases, an Advanced certification and/or 15 to 20 logged dives are a minimum. More important, students in a cavern course need to demonstrate above average  buoyancy control; cavern instructors will evaluate students during an open-water dive before going into the cavern to make sure each diver is ready to go inside. “A couple of times I’ve had to tell students, ‘you need to go practice buoyancy and come back,’” Jones says. “But probably 95 out of 100 divers make it through the class.”

The Gear
Because cavern dives are defined as within recreational diving limits, they can be made with recreational dive gear. “We try to give divers a taste of the methods we use as technical divers without them having to buy a whole lot of extra gear,” Bauer says. “In a cavern class, it’s OK for them to use their standard open-water BCs, single tanks, all the stuff they’re used to—obviously they don’t need their snorkels though, because you can’t come straight to the surface and it’s an added entanglement risk.”

Dive Lights
You stay within the sunlight zone, but to see every crack and crevice along the way, you need to throw some beams of your own. Bring at least two. For cavern diving, standard night-diving gear will do the trick, Jones says. “If you’re set up to night dive, with the standard primary and small secondary for backup, you’re alright for cavern diving,” he explains. However, cylinder-shaped lights, or lantern-grips, are the best choices because it’s easier to handle a reel and guideline with one of those than with a pistol-grip light. And if you really want to illuminate like a caver, pack a hand-mounted light attached to a large battery canister, which is generally mounted on the waistband of a harness or on your tank band. “I’ll usually let students borrow one of my canister lights,” Bauer says. “Just so they can get the feel for a brighter light that attaches to their hand.”

Reels
All recreational cavern courses include basic line-laying techniques. Even within the light zone, a misplaced fin kick or a bad-buoyancy crash on the bottom can blow out the vis. And when you can’t see, a reel literally acts as your lifeline back to the exit. At minimum, each diver in a cavern course needs a small safety reel, and each buddy team needs one primary reel.

Cavern Skills

Buoyancy
The first order of business in a cavern course is to figure out the ideal weight each diver should carry. “Most people come to us overweighted, so we help the students find the perfect amount of weight they need,” Jones says. “Generally, we take four or five pounds of weight off every student in a cavern class. I don’t even remember how much weight I had on when I took my cavern course, but from what I learned in that class, and after switching to steel tanks, I got rid of my weight belt entirely.” Ideally, cavern divers can hover motionless in the water and effortlessly maintain a proper swimming attitude.  This is critical because if you float too high, you ram into the ceiling; drift too low and you kick up the bottom. Either move can turn gin-clear water into silt-choked sludge in seconds.

Weight Redistribution
The problem with a normal recreational dive setup is that all your weights hang around your waist, and you compensate with air at your shoulders. This puts you in a poorly streamlined, head-up/feet-down position, requiring more energy (and air) to move through the water, and increasing your chances of kicking up silt along the bottom. Once you know how much (or little) weight you need, distributing it properly greatly improves your trim. In a cavern course, you get a chance to think outside the pouch. Integrated BCs have trim pockets in the back that help move some lead higher up on your body, and your cavern instructor may also attach small weights at your shoulders, Jones explains. Making the switch to steel tanks—which, unlike aluminum tanks, are negatively buoyant—helps you eliminate extra bricks all together. And though it’s not required in a cavern course, upgrading your BC to a tech-style backplate and wing also adds inherent weight along your torso, eliminating even more lead bricks.

Laying a Line
You’ll practice line techniques on land and in open water with your buddy before laying one out in a cavern. “They’ll learn how to tie off a reel to a fixed object and how to route the line on the bottom so it doesn’t get trapped or wrapped up easily,” Bauer says. This task is surprisingly difficult for the uninitiated. You have to run the reel with your buddy so it can be followed in zero visibility without getting tangled and while also holding a light and maintaining perfect buoyancy. You’ll also practice following a guideline—with your eyes closed to simulate blackout conditions—both as a normal buddy team and while donating and receiving an alternate air-source with your buddy to simulate a worst-case emergency scenario. “It really teaches you how to multitask,” Jones says. “It’s probably the most intense two- to three-day course you’ll ever take.”

Gear Configuration
Redistribute your weight, reroute hoses, reverse fin straps and make sure no accessories are dangling.  Why? Because anything that dangles can foul the guideline. “Everything should be secured,” Bauer says. “At the cavern level, I’ll make sure divers clip consoles across their chests, replace the lanyards on their lights with clips and duct tape fin straps down.” The end result is a streamlined package that not only minimizes tangles but that also helps you move smoothly through the water. “The nice thing about the cavern class is that the environment usually teaches this stuff for me,” Bauer adds. “I can point out things that need to be reconfigured, but when the divers go down and get tangled in the line, they quickly realize the importance of getting rid of any dangling equipment.”

The Kicks
Streamlined movements and strong, efficient fin strokes that don’t kick up the bottom are key in caverns. First up: The frog kick. Keep your knees bent, and start by spreading your feet apart with the narrow side of the fin cutting through the water. Then turn your ankles so the bottoms of your fins face each other, and bring the fins together like two hands clapping. This pushes the water between the blades and directly behind you, unlike a flutter kick, which forces water up and down, possibly stirring up the bottom. Next lesson: Mastering the fin turn. Instead of flapping your hands to turn your body, a few well-placed fin flicks can spin you in the right direction with less effort and less vis-destroying turbulence. To do this, float motionless in the water in a normal, face-down swimming position, but with the knees slightly bent. Imagine your navel as a pivot point, and turn your body with short, inward flicks of the foot opposite the side you want to turn to—i.e., use the right foot to turn left and vice versa.

Can’t-Miss Cavern Dives

Gran Cenote, Riviera Maya: The systems of cenotes that perforate the land along Mexico’s Yucatan coast comprise the largest underwater cave systems in the world, and cave divers flock from around the world to dive here. But you don’t need to be a full-fledged cave diver to experience some of the best Riviera Maya has to offer. Gran Cenote, one of the most popular, starts in an open chamber accessible even to snorkelers and the mouth of the cave provides perfect conditions for cavern diving.

Ginnie Springs, Fla.: Second only to the cave systems at Riviera Maya, the underwater rivers that make up Florida’s spring systems are an equally great place to get your cavern diving fix. Ginnie Springs features a wide-open chamber called the Ballroom, and metal grating blocks passage to the deeper, more dangerous parts of the cave.

The Cathedrals, Maui, Hawaii: For a cavern experience that’s totally different than those offered in Mexico and Florida, check out the lava formations of the Aloha State. Two of the most famous cavern dives here are Cathedral One and Two, off the island of Lanai. Both feature wide-open chambers, dramatic rock formations against a backdrop of blue water and multiple entry and exit points.

Big Blue Tech and the Mv Trident will be conducting a Liveaboard to the HTMS PANGAN for a 3 day 3 night liveaboard.

The technical liveaboard will depart on July 2nd (weather permitted) and steam overnight to the wreck site. The schedule allows for 2 dives a day completing on the 5th returning to Koh Tao in the evening of the 5th.

Included:
Equipment (Regs, back plate, harness, deco regs)
Oxygen
Nitrox
Accommodation (on board)
6 Dives
Food
Drinks (water, coffee tea)

Not Included:
Personal Dive Gear (available for rent)
Helium (available at 4baht/ liter)
Drinks (soda, beer)

CCR?
The Mv Trident is equipped to accommodate CCR divers on this trip.

Pre-Requisites:
Must be a certified technical diver able to conduct decompression with oxygen for acceleration. If you’re not, contact us to get trained up before the trip!

Price: You can book online with your credit card, contact us for more info.

Heeding customer feedback and finally bowing to market pressures, PADI’s DSAT technical diving arm is preparing an overhaul of its TecRec Deep and Trimix courses that will lower the entry barriers to the course and give instructors more flexibility.

Although final course outlines have not been finalized, the Tec Deep course will be broken into three parts, tentatively called “Tec 40,” “Tec 45″ and “Tec 50,” signifying the depth in meters students will be certified to dive. The current Tec Trimix course will be similarly broken into two parts, dubbed “Trimix 65″ and “Trimix 75.” DSAT hopes to introduce the courses by the end of the year.

Speaking at DSAT’s forum in Pattaya, Thailand June 21, PADI Instructor Examiner and TecRec Instructor Trainer George Wegmann stressed that the final look of the revamped TecRec program has not been finalized, but that DSAT now had a “strong direction” for 2009. The organization formed the basis for the tiered technical program from feedback at previous DSAT roundtables in Australia and the U.S. While still soliciting input from PADI professionals, the agency is now traveling around the world with its “Essential Change ‘09″ presentation…..Continued

Historically BSAC was based on a branch system. Unlike other diver certification agencies, BSAC members enter a local community of divers. This means BSAC members are more active divers, and have greater allegiance towards other BSAC Branches and Dive Centres.

There are large numbers of active BSAC Members in the UK, Middle East, Japan, Korea and Thailand. By becoming a BSAC professional you’ll have unrestricted access to market your training and trips to these tens of thousands of BSAC Members, through channels not available to non-BSAC schools.

BSAC Training is the choice of the UK Armed forces, plus universities in the UK and Thailand. By becoming a BSAC professional you’ll have access to large markets not available to non-BSAC schools.

Many hundreds of thousands of divers have trained with the BSAC over more than 50 years.

Diver training has evolved but BSAC philosophy has always been to produce highly competent self-reliant divers with excellent knowledge and practical skills and with safety considerations uppermost.

And BSAC doesn’t stop at diver training. BSAC has a rounded curriculum encompassing all activities of diving and seamanship, such as boat handling, chart work and navigation, oxygen administration, engine maintenance, compressor operation, technical diving and more. The breadth and scope of BSAC Training is unrivaled.

If you want to be the best, you’ll want to be with BSAC.

Course Overview

The requirement for attending the BSAC Instructor crossover course is that you are an Instructor from any agency other than BSAC and working in a centre where BSAC courses are to be offered.  Knowledge of other diving agencies and how they work is useful as it will give you a greater understanding of how elements fit in across the different agencies.

It must be emphasized that the crossover course Instructor examiner, is not there to assess your instructing ability but rather to acquaint you with BSAC methodology and knowledge so that you will have the tools to be able to deliver BSAC diving courses; mainly Ocean Diver, Sports Diver and Dive Leader.

The course duration is 2-days and covers the following elements

6 Theory lessons
2 Practical lessons

The course starts with a series of orientation lessons which introduces the Instructor to, the BSAC and how it operates, Diver grades, BSAC dive tables, BSAC teaching methodology etc.

In the latter, there will be a series of theory classroom lessons. In these lessons, the Course Instructor will demonstrate a typical classroom presentation; showing you how to breakdown the lesson contents into small manageable steps; making complex topics simple to understand. You  then will have a chance to present a 15 -20 minute classroom presentation using the prescribed method
Practical Sessions

The first practical session will be run by the course instructor, who will demonstrate a set of skills and how to progressively break them down.  You may not have seen some of these skills as they may not be in your agency’s training programme.

The second practical session, which will normally take place on day 2, is for you to have a go at a mini-teach of a skill you have seen previously.  It is not uncommon for some of the ‘students’ to have not been in the water for a while and so it is a good refresher and ‘hands-on’ approach.

Typical skills which will be demonstrated in ‘Sheltered Water’ include:

1    Control Buoyant Lift (CBL - some dive agencies do this skill completely differently so a good skill to learn)
2    AS (Alternative Source) using different applications
3    DSMB Deployment (Not taught in other dive agencies)
4    Distance Line Laying    (relocating the shot line)

There will be an emphasis on breakdown of skill, close proximity; double demos where necessary, surface control using SMB.

At the end of Day 1 you will be asked to plan and prepare 2 lessons to give on Day 2 as a confirmation of the course.  The lessons will be short; about 10 minutes.

The types of lesson are outlined below and all will have been taught or demonstrated on Day 1 by the Course Instructor.

1.    CBL (Covered in Ocean Diver training)
2.    PADI CBL (Good for everyone to see a different way of doing it)
3.    DSMB Deployment (Covered in Sports Diver training)
4.    Line Laying (Covered in Sports Diver training)
5.    AS (Covered in Ocean Diver Training)
6.    Rescue Breathing
Materials

Each student will receive their own comprehensive course support pack which will include,

• The Diving Instructor Manual
• Course Instructor Manual CD Rom
• A set of BSAC Nitrox and Air Decompression tables
• Qualification Card
• 1 year Instructor fee
• A set of Ocean Diver - lesson prompt cards
Course Entry Level

All candidates must produce proof of their instructor qualification from one of the following diving agencies

• CMAS
• PADI
• NAUI
• SSI
2009 Promotion

On all 2009 Instructor crossover courses candidates will also receive training and instructor qualifications in two of the BSAC Skill Development Courses. These courses are

• BSAC Oxygen Administrator
• BSAC Nitrox Instructor

The MV Trident usually operates out of Koh Tao and considering the distance we had to travel to get to these wreck sites the boys decided to take the boat to Koh Samui, so we all made our way there to join the boat.

That afternoon had us assembling our equipment pumping tanks and generally settling in for the week ahead. That evening around 7.00pm we slipped the lines and we were on our way and motored all night and into mid morning before we arrived at our first mark. We arrived on the position all very excited with most of us in the wheelhouse glued to the sounder looking for the big red lump protruding from the normally flat sandy bottom of the Gulf.

The shot went down and not long after a diver followed it to tie on and shoot a bag if it was a wreck worth diving or he would just surface if it was a pile of junk and we would move on. We all waited anxiously, some guys even got into their equipment hoping to be one of the first to dive this, hopefully, virgin wreck. After what seemed like hours the lift bag appeared and it was time to get kitted up and go take a look at it.

We had a full boat of divers, consisting of 6 Open Circuit divers and 5 Closed Circuit divers (1 Sentinel, 1 Inspo-Deep Pursuit Hybrid, 1 Meg, 1 Hammerhead Meg, 1 Pelagian). We were arranged into buddy teams and our team consisted of 3 CCR divers as we had all dived together previously on another wreck diving trip in the Philippines the year before and were comfortable diving with each other. We met up at the downline at 6 meters and went through our checks before descending down the wreck below. It was later identified as a Japanese Coastal Tanker the Kinrei Maru by the Japanese crockery, size and configuration and more importantly it was not far from the location where the US Submarine the USS Hammerhead had marked her as sunk… Continued

Big Blue Tech has a lot of compressors, in fact we have 8 in different places around thailand from a small portable gas powered one for expeditions to a compressor so big it takes 10 people to move it. Many would think they’re not all needed but when one breaks it causes panic and mayhem around the dive resort.

Recently one of our older compressors decided he had enough of his life pumping gas and committed suicide. It was touch and go as the compressor doctors debated about putting him out to pasture or fixing him. It was decided to let the compressor go and replace him with a new one. The compressor that passed on had been with the school for over 15 years and was the first compressor ever to be bought at Big Blue.

The new one is a Bauer 250 with the “state of the art” P41 filter (basically more filter for the air) and it’s one of the new toys added to the collection of bells and whistles.

Additionally Christos returned from Singapore with his Amphibico Underwater Housing which looks very serious indeed. Christos claims its the housing the BBC and National Geographic used before HD moved on the scene.

This Course examines theory, methods and procedures of planned stage decompression diving. The objective of the course is to train divers how to plan and conduct standard staged decompression dives not exceeding a maximum depth of 150 fsw / 45 msw. During the course students will look at the most common equipment requirements, gear set-ups, decompression techniques and dive planning. Students are able to use EAN and Oxygen for decompression provided the gas mix is within their current certification level.

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The objective of this course is to train the divers in the benefits, hazards and proper procedures for utilising EAN 21 through to 100 percent oxygen for dives not requiring staged decompression To a depth of 40 msw.

Brian Wilcox, a computer programmer from Oregon, US joined us recently for an Advanced Nitrox Course to acomplish 2 goals. Get certified in the use of basic technical diving gear and also get certified to 40 while allowed to use multiple amounts of nitrox. This was a great alternative to about 4 different PADI courses to get the same result.

This course allowed brian to get into the mix quickly and combine it with his decompression procedures course that he decided to join shortly after. With over 100 logged dives and many years of diving experience Brian adapted to technical diving very quickly and excelled through not only the academic aspects of the course but also the in water differences.

Below are some pictures from his course, accompanied by Cory Lewis and Christos Kardana who have opted to complete their Extended Range course after being certified as DSAT Tec Deep but missed some foundation skills. The extended range course gives them an additional 5m and much different skills.

Solo Diver

The Greatest Diving Taboo

The objective of this course is to train divers in the benefits, hazards and proper procedures for diving solo. Upon successful completion of this course, graduates may engage in solo diving activities.

Student Prerequisites:

• Minimum age of 21
• Have a Minimum certification of Advanced Diver
• Have a Minimum of one hundred (100) logged dives

Duration:
This course is run over two full days, the first day is academic and looks at the benefits, risks, operational planning and equipment consideration for solo diving. Day one also takes a closer look at pony bottles or redundant breathing supply (RBS) and correct wearing and assembly with 2 dives. Day 2 made up of two more dives with navigation, stamina and emergency drills.

Available?: 4 Spaces (2 taken already)

Cost: 10,000 THB, includes everything

Download the full course outline in PDF

A Portsmouth-based navy diver was given a surprise long service medal as he trained underwater.

Acting Petty Officer Andy Coulson received the award at the bottom of a Gibraltar swimming pool.

He was in the middle of a two-week exercise on the island, which included stints at the military outdoor swimming pool, when he found himself in the midst of the impromptu ceremony.

The 34-year-old Scot, who is based at Horsea Island, said: ‘I was not expecting it.

‘I mentioned it in passing several weeks ago that I thought it would be good to receive my medal underwater rather than on the parade ground, but I didn’t expect anyone to act on it.

‘I’d totally forgotten that I mentioned it, but it’s something that will live with me forever – certainly one of the highlights of my 15-year career in the navy.’

As well as a long service medal, the award recognises PO Coulson’s good conduct over the years as well.

His boss, Lieutenant Simon Leightley, the officer in charge Southern Diving Unit 2, said: ‘Andy’s been selected for promotion and will soon embark on his professional qualifying course, so it seemed an appropriate send-off to present his medal “in the office” so to speak. I gave a slightly shorter citation than normal – mostly through bubbles.’

Joining PO Coulson and Lt Leightley underwater for the presentation was Warrant Officer (Diver) Robin Rickard, representing the Southern Diving Group.

He joined the navy at 16 as an Air Engineer Mechanic, but transferred to the diving branch 11 years ago.

WO Rickard said: ‘I have already had a fulfilling career but am looking forward to continuing my progression.’

NATIONWIDE TEAM

The navy divers based at Horsea Island are part of a nationwide team.

The Northern and Southern Diving Groups are responsible for all diving, demolition and explosive ordnance (bomb) disposal carried out by the navy within UK waters.

They are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and can carry out underwater engineering for the surface and sub-surface fleet on a planned or emergency basis.

The two groups also do bomb disposal duties for the police and coastguard, with Portsmouth’s Unit 2 working from the Humber estuary to Devon.

No-one knows what future dive-gear will look like, but Poseidon is sure it will leave no bubbles. Its closed-circuit rebreather the Discovery VI is the breathing gear the Swedish manufacturer hopes will revolutionize diving.

IN THE 1990S, Audi developed a new small car model. It took a bold step in deciding to bolt the bonnet shut. It concluded that today’s car engines were too complicated for the owner to fiddle about with, and that there was little the driver could or should do.

So the A2 model was built with an openable front grille, so that the driver could check engine oil and brake and cooler fluid, and refill the screenwash. That’s it. The A2 was for those who wished to focus on driving - and nothing else.

Jonas Brandt and his crew in Poseidon’s R&D department followed similar principles when they developed their new rebreather. Discovery VI is a fully closed, fully automatic rebreather for sports divers who want to go to a maximum of 40m without decompression. The number of procedures to be performed by the diver has been minimised - to decrease the risk of “human error”. Poseidon believes that the typical Discovery diver will be a middle-aged gentleman who has been diving for some time and wants to “spice up” his diving, but is not interested in submersing himself into technical diving, great depths and prolonged decompressions.

Poseidon also wanted to design a breathing “machine” that could be handled by someone who had never even tried diving before. As long as the Discovery functions normally, the user should feel no need to pay more attention to it than he would to the pressure gauge with open-circuit scuba gear. An experienced diver should need to spend no more than 15 minutes assembling his Discovery, and preparing it for the dive.

CONTROL FREAKS
A closed-circuit rebreather is an advanced and complicated piece of equipment. Up to now the intended customer base has been relaxed about fiddling with settings, preparations and pre-dive tests. So how do you design a rebreather for those who are less relaxed?

According to Poseidon, the solution is called “Pre Dive”. The Discovery VI needs slightly more than two minutes to pass a self-test of approximately 30 items before you are allowed to start the dive. The test includes leak checks, oxygen sensors, gas pressure, battery condition, software and so on. Unless everything is OK, the message will be “Stop”.

We encountered this ourselves before we could splash into the Poseidon pool on our try-out dive. The Discovery needed three test runs before it was entirely satisfied with the set-up. Among other things, one of the O-rings in the gas loop turned out to have a tiny leak.

To minimise the risk of errors in refilling and packing of the scrubber, Discovery is supplied with ready-to-use scrubber canisters that last for three to six hours. The price of a scrubber canister is about £21. Add to this the cost of refilling the gas supply, and you have a running cost of around £8 per hour.
“We were pleasantly surprised when some interesting and unexpected customer groups started making requests. We didn’t have those in mind when we developed the Discovery - military units and rescue services. They have shown a keen interest in our ‘plug and play’ concept,” says Jens Sjöblom, Poseidon’s Sales Manager.

The Discovery has a unique design, in that it has only two oxygen sensors, but these are subject to constant recalibration while it is in use.

This is done using micro-valves that blow minute amounts of pure oxygen and air alternately across the face of the cells, so giving two calibration points. It was a system originally conceived by cave-diving veteran Bill Stone, the inventor and designer of the original and very complex CIS-Lunar rebreather.

Initially it had been intended that the Discovery would have a single sensor, so reliable was this concept thought to be. Market research since proved to Poseidon that the diving public had yet to be convinced that a solitary cell would be up to the job, and a second cell was therefore added to the design.

TEST DIVE

Finally it was time for the test dive…..Continued

The Navy’s been trying for years to improve the slow and plodding process of underwater mine detection. Now, they’re using the military’s affinity for all-things AI to create a mine detection system that minimizes errors through “adaptive learning.”

The Navy’s recent mine-hunting efforts have proved imperfect. In 2003, they credited the deployment of dolphins with clearing 100 underwater mines from the Persian Gulf. But the dolphins require lengthy training and a human handler at all times. And then there’s that constant harping from animal advocacy groups. In 2007, Lockheed Martin created a Remote Minehunting System, which got a test run on the Bainbridge destroyer. A 2008 report from the ship’s skipper, Commander Stephen Coughlin, cited  “growing pains” using the unwieldy ‘bot, which is lifted from the water using a giant hook, precision timing - and luck.

Now, the Navy is funding four projects that may not produce a sleeker system, but hope to produce one that learns from its mistakes. The idea is to program undersea ‘bots with sonar tools that are linked to adaptive algorithms. As the ‘bot accumulates new input from ocean-floor surveillance, the algorithms will improve accuracy according to correct and incorrect mine identification.

The automated feedback learning mechanisms proposed herein will provide a unique capability to adapt the feature extraction, selection and classification process that can lead to improved false alarm and target identification rates as the system is matured.

The ‘bots would be programmed with preliminary data, but they’d continue to train themselves once deployed. And no need to stockpile fish as rewards for a job well done.

But despite the shortcomings of dolphin mine-seekers, the proposed AI alternative has a lot to live up to. In 2003, Navy spokesperson Tom LaPuzza said it was “doubtful anything man-made will ever match the dolphins’ capabilities.”

Source

Level 1 - Tech Diver

Intro to Technical Diving

The TDI Intro to Tech course introduces students to the world of technical diving.The objective of this course is to familiarize students with technical gear configurations, to enhance open water diving skills (such as buoyancy, trim, and situational awareness), and to introduce students to advanced gas planning techniques within a no-decompression context. This course is strictly a no-decompression course; students are permitted to use Enriched Air Nitrox mixes, provided the gas mix is within their current level of certification.

Student Prerequisites:
• Minimum age of 18
• Minimum certification of Advanced Diver or equivalent
• Proof of 25 logged open water dives

Duration:
This course is taught over 2 days as a stand alone course. students wishing to continue their education can move on to Level 2.

Spaces: 6 (2 already Taken)

Cost: 14,000 THB - 4 dives, everything included.

Download the full course outline in PDF

The sun-bronzed man ambled toward the lapping waves, but unlike other visitors to this peaceful beach at the southeastern tip of Martha’s Vineyard, Erik Toews was not preparing to luxuriate in the surf.

The Navy veteran slipped on a deep-sea mask, attached a long, **oxygen-filled cord, and marched into the ocean to fish for something no tourist on this island would want to discover during an afternoon swim: bombs.

“It’s a good day when we find warheads,’’ Toews, 40, said after a recent dive, one of scores off the island’s South Beach in search of explosives. “It makes us feel like we’re getting something done.’’

Two years after a powerful storm opened a milewide breach along a nearby beach, the currents south of Martha’s Vineyard have changed and given rise to swirling eddies and white-capped riptides. They have also unearthed the remnants of a bombing range the Navy operated here during World War II.

The rusted, conical-shaped rockets that have turned up sporadically for years were mostly thought of as historical curiosities until their numbers started to increase over the past year. Then dozens of rockets and a succession of larger munitions washed ashore, specifically, three live 100-pound bombs, each of which looked like a beached seal.

When the last one appeared in April on a beach in West Tisbury, local bomb squads used shaped charges to detonate the large bombs built to destroy tanks and buildings, sending an ominous echo heard more than a mile away and sparking dozens of calls to island authorities.

“The thing that worries us is that there’s no rhyme or reason to where they’re coming from, no forewarning for when they’ll turn up,’’ said Chris Kennedy, the island’s regional director for the Trustees of Reservations, which oversees many local beaches. “People have a right to be concerned. These were some of the most sensitive explosive materials used in World War II munitions.’’

No one has been injured by any of the bombs, but Kennedy said there have been close calls. When a 100-pound bomb washed up near Wasque Point this year, one of Kennedy’s colleagues thought it was sea junk and was about to toss it in the back of his pickup truck before he reported it.

“There but for the grace of God,’’ Kennedy said. “We don’t know what would have happened, had he picked it up.’’

Since April, with the tourist season rapidly approaching, the US Army Corps of Engineers has tapped into a large pool of money set aside by the Defense Department to clean up former defense sites.

With more than $1 million, the Corps of Engineers has hired Toews and other veterans to comb the waters off Martha’s Vineyard for the vintage weaponry, which they believe come from an aerial machine-gun and rocket range on South Beach. They believe that the larger bombs have probably drifted from another old naval target range on Nomans Land island, 3 miles southwest of the Vineyard.

Over the past few months, the divers have used high-tech sensors and other tools to search 58 acres up to 110 feet offshore along Cape Poge and South Beach, where as many as 10,000 people come on a weekend day during the summer, local beach officials say. They have at least 6 acres left and hope to finish by July 2, when school ends and tourists flock to the island.
Graphic Ordnance recovery sites

In that time, they have found 124 MK-23 bombs, five MK-5 bombs, and nearly 2,000 pounds of other bomb parts off Cape Poge. Along South Beach, where the work continues, they have found about 115 similar bombs, many of them designed to destroy submarines. None of those weapons, nearly all covered in rust and barnacles, contained explosives or rocket propellant or posed any danger, aside from cuts to unsuspecting swimmers.

But the threat of an explosion is always there, making the work painstaking and tedious. The divers use waterproof magnetometers to detect metal buried in the ocean floor, and when they find it, they use a special pump to remove the surrounding sand.

Before they handle the bombs, they inspect them carefully, relying on a video feed to a trailer on the beach, where colleagues check to see whether the weapons have experienced high-speed flight or signs of impact. The divers do not touch the bombs until all agree that the old weapons appear inert.

“We don’t take any chances,’’ said Tom Rancich, chief executive of VRHabilis Co., the diving company doing the work. “They’re not moved until we’re sure.’’

Corps of Engineers officials say the search may have to be extended to other parts of the island, given the currents and the possibility many of the old bombs have drifted elsewhere.

For now, they are working with local officials to raise awareness of the potential danger. Warning signs have been posted in the area that say in bold type that “World War II munitions may be present’’ and advise visitors that the bombs “should be treated as live munitions that have the potential to detonate, causing serious injury or death.’’

“When it comes to munitions, you can never say they’re 100 percent clear,’’ said Carol Charette, the project manager overseeing the work for the Corps of Engineers. “There’s never a guarantee that more won’t show up. You clear the area as best as you can.’’

The stark language and persisting danger has rattled local officials, who are already coping with a dip in tourism as a result of the cold spring and the recession. The number of visitors traveling to Martha’s Vineyard by ferry has dropped more than 3 percent during the first six months of this year, compared with last year, according to the Steamship Authority, which operates the ferries.

But local officials hope potential visitors will be reassured by all the work being done.

“I’ve been swimming off South Beach my whole life, and I will continue to swim there,’’ said Pamela Dolby, town administrator of Edgartown. “The greater concern right now is the weather.’’

Nancy Gardella, executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber of Commerce, said she has confidence in the response by local, state, and federal officials, and she thinks tourists will understand that the risks of the bombs are remote.

“Most people are pretty smart,’’ she said. “They know folks are taking care of it.’’

On Friday afternoon, not far from where the divers were going about their work, Sara Herdman and her young family watched the waves crashing on shore.

The 33-year-old from Washington, D.C., and her young family have been coming to the Vineyard for years, braving the cold water despite reports of shark sightings and other threats. When she learned from a reporter what the divers were doing, she stopped to think about it. She looked at her baby, lying in her husband’s arms. “It does give me pause,’’ she said.

** Should say Air, oxygen is toxic beyond 6m.

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