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http://s.ngm.com/2011/02/artificial-...-diver-615.jpg

National Geographic has an article on Artificial Reefs this month including our own Vandenberg.

"Relics to Reefs
Why fish can't resist sunken ships, tanks, and subway cars.
By Stephen Harrigan
Photograph by David Doubilet

It took just over two minutes for the missile-tracking ship General Hoyt S. Vandenberg to sink to the bottom of the ocean. On a clear morning in May 2009, seven miles off Key West, a series of hollow booms erupted from inside the vessel’s hull, where 46 explosive charges had been buried deep below the waterline. The sharp smell of gunpowder drifted on the breeze, and an obscuring veil of black smoke began to rise, but for a long moment the ship didn’t seem to register the shock. She just hung there level in the water, 523 feet long, a rusting, decommissioned hulk with two useless radar dishes that towered above the ocean surface.

Then, as news helicopters circled above and thousands of onlookers watched from boats idling beyond the blast zone, the Vandenberg slowly hitched downward into the Atlantic, remaining perfectly horizontal until finally the bow dropped and the stern rose, leaving nothing but a roiling tract of white water. "There'll be fish living on that wreck this afternoon!" declared Joe Weatherby, the man who had spearheaded the massive project to sink the Vandenberg and turn it, over time, into an artificial reef that would lure divers and fishermen to Key West."

Continued at:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/20.../harrigan-text

There is also an intriguing time-lapse video shot from the deck of the Vandenberg when it was sunk at:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/vi...-reefs&catID=1

More images from the photographer at:
http://www.daviddoubilet.com/
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Herbert Nitsch has uploaded a video diary from a free diving visit to Palau. He provides some impressive dropoff imagery in the clip.

"Palau 2010 Part I is the first episode of a 5 part video diary series, which I hope you'll enjoy. The clips were filmed during my recent stay in Palau (Micronesia), a beautiful archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. We travelled around the islands on the liveaboard Ocean Hunter III. The footage was filmed with Canon EOS 5D MarkII and a Subal housing.
The music is from the album Funkungfusion. Great stuff! I love the album and strongly recommend it. The song in part I is 'The Lie-in King' by The Irresistible Force"

Just came across a collection of large higher resolution images of various artificial reefs in the world.

http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/in...2_17027565.jpg
The Oriskany, a decommissioned aircraft carrier, was towed 24 miles off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, Wednesday, May 17, 2006, to form an artificial reef.

http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/in...7_0RTXO3OZ.jpg
A different view of the Vandenberg off the Customs House in Key West.

http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/in...0_27014907.jpg
A view to the north to Key West over the resting place of the Vandenberg.

http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/in...3_73011725.jpg
Sending tanks to sea as reefs in the Gulf of Thailand.

http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/in...6_82102870.jpg
Subway cars to reefs from New York off Delaware. This reminds me of an early AR effort in the early 1960's with street cars in California.

http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/in...7_adee0f2a.jpg
Not sure what sort of charges they used to scuttle the frigate HMNZS Wellington off New Zealand but they do look impressive!

http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/in...9_0RTR68XE.jpg
The initial sinking of the Spiegel Grove off Key Largo in 2002.

There are quite a few more artificial reef images in this collection:

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/27U6KB...-world/100042/

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Neil Watson and Guy Harvey dive the Sapona south of Bimini.

Free Diving The Miracle of Life

The Miracle of Life is one of the newer wrecks to be dropped off this section of coast. It was acquired and sunk in large measure due to the efforts of Dixie Divers http://dixiediver.com/ of Deerfield Beach, FL.. This is a large and very complete dive shop. The most complete in this area in my estimation. I went out and free dove the wreck within a couple of hours of its sinking. Imagine trying to breathhold dive on a small wreck in moderately strong current in brown poor visibility of about 30 ft.?! It was a challenge finding it and then deciding which way to turn to see the front of the vessel. Anyway, the following video was shot in exceptional blue water visibility well in excess of 100 ft.!

More about the history of acquiring and sinking this wreck. It is costly and time consuming proposition. They pulled it off however.
http://www.dixiediver.com/Miracle%20...0Shipwreck.htm

Note: don't attempt scooter free diving without adequate pro training and careful experience development for the special area of free diving. It isn't that hard to get killed otherwise!

I started working on this yesterday afternoon, shark closeups. By strange coincidence Anthony Serich had his own unfortunate closeup shark experience off Riveira Beach yesterday. I wish him the best in recovery. http://fksa.org/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=10635

Anyway, on to the the caribbean reef sharks:

http://www.fksa.org/albums/album599/...1_IMG_6529.jpg

http://www.fksa.org/albums/album599/...3_IMG_6577.jpg

http://www.fksa.org/albums/album599/...2_IMG_6588.jpg

I think these may all be females, males are less common anyway. You can see the male love bites on two of these, tough love! Also, the heartbreak of remoras strikes again. You should see these shark suckers in the Red Sea, talk about piling on.

Here is a video of a single scooter free diving drop on the same trip off Port Lucaya, GBI at the Pygmy Caves. There were a few sharks in the area. I was curious to see how they would react to the noise, electric field, etc. of the scooter. They largely seemed to ignore it unless I turned away from them or came too close. They would turn and follow if I steered away and would try to evade if I came in too close.

By the way, don't attempt scooter free diving without proper training and skill development. Otherwise it is a pretty easy way to get killed.

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"We are taking a small group and heading out in search of the elusive and rare oceanic whitetip shark around the deep water drop offs near Cat Island in the Bahamas. This is a land based, off the beaten path adventure. The trip package includes 6 days of diving, transfers to and from airport, and our stay at the dive lodge during our time on Cat Island. Each morning we will head out in search of the sharks and return in the evenings back to the island. We are limiting this trip to six guests so if you interested in joining us, let us know. This is both a snorkel and scuba diving adventure, so scuba gear is needed. This trip is a guaranteed sell out so reserve your spot early!
Visit - http://www.sharkdivermag.com for details"

We were looking forward to checking oceanic white tips out during a free diving trip to the Red Sea a while back. Unfortunately, they weren't around that time. It is strange to see these sharks in the nearby Bahamas.

They are apparently quite wide spread but I have yet to see one off Florida.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...us_distmap.png

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...etip_Shark.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceanic_whitetip_shark

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"Grant Hogan breaks the US Men's Constant Weight No Fins National Record with a dive to 65m/213 feet!"

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/...48_964x229.jpg

A nice composite image of a former U-Boat sunk off North Carolina prepared by David Doubilet and Hal Silverman for National Geographic.

This is what The Mail has to say about it:

"The graveyard of the Atlantic: U-boats at the bottom of the ocean

By Live Reporter

These ghostly images, taken off the coast of North Carolina, show the first Nazi contribution to a region known by divers as 'the graveyard of the Atlantic'.

The panorama is made up of 33 individual images, all painstakingly aligned from 70ft underwater by dive photographers David Doubilet and Hal Silverman.

It reveals how U-352, the first U-boat sunk by the U.S., has become an artificial reef, home to a plethora of marine life.
The decay of U-352's aft section has exposed the stern torpedo tube. Type VIIC U-boats had five 21in torpedo tubes, four in the bow and one at the stern. It took four attempts to get the right conditions for the photo shoot

The decay of U-352's aft section has exposed the stern torpedo tube. Type VIIC U-boats had five 21in torpedo tubes, four in the bow and one at the stern. It took four attempts to get the right conditions for the photo shoot
The remains of the conning tower jut out from the hull. Underwater photographers David Doubilet and Hal Silverman shot the images in the mosaic with a Nikon D3 camera and a Seacam underwater housing

The remains of the conning tower jut out from the hull. Underwater photographers David Doubilet and Hal Silverman shot the images in the mosaic with a Nikon D3 camera and a Seacam underwater housing
The wreck is just one of several along the eastern seaboard of the U.S.. Many ships, including naval craft and cargo vessels, are deliberately sunk to create artificial reefs - as are more unusual objects such as trains and tanks

The wreck is just one of several along the eastern seaboard of the U.S.. Many ships, including naval craft and cargo vessels, are deliberately sunk to create artificial reefs - as are more unusual objects such as trains and tanks

On April 7, 1942, commanded by Kapitanleutnant Hellmut Rathke, U-352, a Type VIIC U-boat, departed the French port of St Nazaire on its second Atlantic patrol. It took four weeks to cross the ocean, and was one of the first U-boats to attack shipping off the east coast of the U.S.

None of its raids were successful, however, and on May 9, desperate for a victory, Rathke fired on a Coast Guard vessel, the cutter USS Icarus. His torpedoes missed and having detected his position via sonar, the Icarus engaged with depth charges and then surface guns. U-352 sank about 25 miles off the North Carolina coast, where it remains today.

The 220ft vessel came to rest in one piece, listing heavily to starboard. Its position in coastal Gulf Stream waters, only 110ft deep, has made it a popular dive spot - though would-be explorers must share the wreck with thousands of bait fish, not to mention barracuda and tiger sharks.

The outer hull has decayed to reveal the skeletal remains of the pressurised inner hull, but many notable features remain, including the conning tower and torpedo tubes.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/mosl...#ixzz1OdnBAXbs "

More from Wetpixel:

"Photographers David Doubilet and Hal Silverman have had a composite of thirty-three images showing the full hull of the German World War II U-boat, U352, published in the UK Daily Mail. The submarine was sunk off North Carolina on 9 May 1942, and was the first U-boat to be sunk by US forces. The images were all shot with Nikon D3 cameras in Seacam housings. The wreck sits at 110 feet (34 meters) and the pictures show the extent to which it has been colonized to provide a home for marine life over the past 67 years.
http://wetpixel.com/i.php/full/david...image-of-u352/

The National Geographic article which carried this image appears at:

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/20.../harrigan-text

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We went up to cave country over the 4th of July weekend and hit a number of springs. Here is a short video of a single scooter free diving drop in Troy Spring in Branford, Lafayette County, FL west of Ginnie Springs. It is a fascinating sinkhole dropping to about 80 ft. with rock exposures on three sides and a talus slope on the fourth. This first magnitude spring discharges a meandering stream over and through shallow limestone features into the Suwannee River. The video was shot with a GoPro HD camera in an Eyeofmine.com corrective housing.

Some history of the site appears below. Apparently this content was removed from the Internet some years back but thanks to the waybackmachine, it has been reproduced below:

"The History of Troy Springs,

Lafayette County, Florida

An Assessment of Cultural Resources at the Troy Springs Conservation and Recreation Area
Ryan J. Wheeler and Christine L. Newman
Bureau of Archaeological Research
C.A.R.L. Archaeological Survey
September 1996

Troy Springs Conservation and Recreation Area is located in Lafayette County, along the south side of the Suwannee River. The area takes its name from the 68 foot deep Troy spring, located approximately 200 feet up a short run from the river (Rosenau et al. 1978:210-213). The state has acquired approximately 80 acres that is being managed by the Office of Greenways and Trails, Department of Environmental Protection. Natural communities include high-quality sandhill, xeric hammock, upland pine forest, upland mixed forest, spring-run stream, aquatic cave, and blackwater stream (OES 1995:B42).

Three cultural resources have been located on the property; two prehistoric archaeological sites and one underwater historic shipwreck. The underwater site was known prior to the C.A.R.L. survey of the property, but the two prehistoric sites were previously unknown. Research was also conducted on the historic towns of Old and New Troy.

Prehistoric and Historic Background

Troy Springs is located at the juncture of three prehistoric culture areas: North, North Central, and North Peninsular Gulf Coast. Florida's culture areas, represented geographically, are reflections of different prehistoric adaptive strategies based, in large part, on ecological factors (Milanich and Fairbanks 1980). Beginning around 500 B.C. these factors played major roles in the development of regional cultures that are recognized archaeologically. Prior to this time period, there are more common cultural characteristics than differences and the culture periods are identified in broader terms.

Beginning around 12,000 years ago, sites identified as belonging to the PaleoIndian tradition appear in Florida. These sites are marked by the presence of particular types of stone tools--most commonly Suwannee and Simpson projectile points, unifacial and bifacial blades and knives. Because of lower sea levels, groundwater levels in the central upland regions of the state were much lower and the landmass of Florida was about twice what is today. Many of the known PaleoIndian sites are associated with water sources such as deep springs, shallow lakes or prairies with associated limestone strata (Milanich 1994:2).

Beginning around 9,000 B.C. water levels began to rise reducing the size of Florida. By around 7,500 B.C. environmental changes had sufficiently altered the lifestyles of inhabitants for a separate period to be recognized by archaeologists. The Archaic period is marked by an increase in population, a more settled lifestyle, and a larger variety of specialized tools. By around 2,000 B.C. pottery was in use, and by the end of the late Archaic period (500 B.C.) regional cultures are recognized.

As mentioned, Troy Springs is located at the juncture of three culture areas. By around 500 B.C. several separate manifestations of the Weeden Island culture were apparent in the region. The early Weeden Island ceramic assemblage is characterized by the presence of Swift Creek complicated-stamped pottery, punctated and incised Weeden Island types, and undecorated pottery. By later Weeden-Island times, the Swift Creek pottery disappears and is replaced by Wakulla Check Stamped pottery. Weeden Island is notable because of the distinction between secular and sacred pottery styles, with mortuary and ceremonial contexts containing animal and anthropomorphic effigy vessels.

By around A.D. 750 sufficient changes had occurred in the ceramic inventory for archaeologists to recognizes two new cultures in the region, the Suwannee Valley and Alachua cultures. These cultures appear to have developed out of, and perhaps overlapped, the late Weeden Island cultures of the area. The Suwannee Valley cultural assemblage consists of undecorated and decorated pottery. Types of decoration consist of surface-roughening, check-stamping, cord-marking, cob-marking, punctating, and brushing. The Alachua cultural assemblage is very similar, but is found slightly to the south of the Suwannee Valley region and exhibits differences in the proportions of cob-marked pottery (Milanich 1994:348-353; Johnson and Nelson 1990:48-61; Worth in Weisman 1992:188-205). Indian Pond, a more specific ceramic tradition within the Suwannee Valley culture, is recognized by the presence of cord and fabric-marked ceramics and a poorly understood linear-marked pottery type (Johnson and Nelson:1990:60).

Just before, during, and after contact with Europeans a cultural complex identified as Leon-Jefferson is recognized. Changes in surface decoration, rim modification, vessel form, and ceramic technology, as well as other cultural changes are associated with Leon-Jefferson. The addition of European goods and technology to the existing prehistoric lifestyles produced profound changes in the aboriginal populations.

Following the Spanish conquest of Florida a system of missions was established across North Florida and the panhandle. The Spanish missions were designed to control native populations, supply a labor source, and create a defensive line against the English. A number of mission sites have been identified and excavated by archaeologists in North Florida (Milanich 1995:167-183). Disease and English attacks on the mission Indians caused massive depopulation of the North Florida region. The absence of native populations combined with uneasy English-Indian relations lead to the immigration of Creek and related tribes in the mid-18th century. These Indians eventually became known as Seminoles.

Florida was ceded from Spain to the United States in 1821. At this time the Seminoles had become prosperous in the North and North Central Florida regions, raising cattle as the Spanish had done. American politics, pressure from settlers, and uneasiness towards the Indians lead to the 2nd and 3rd Seminole Wars, intended to subdue and remove the Seminoles from their Florida lands to Oklahoma.

History of Troy Springs and Environs

Lafayette County was created from the division of Madison County in 1856, at the time it also included what is today Dixie County (later removed in 1921). Settlement in this region of Florida was slow during the 1830s and 1840s due to the strong Seminole presence. Violence between Seminoles and Anglo settlers spurred the need for army forts, which were established along the Suwannee River, major roads, and other major drainages. The 2nd Seminole War saw the removal or flight of most Indians from the area of Lafayette County, and this is reflected by increasing Anglo populations in the 1840s and 1850s.
Town of Old Troy

The town of Troy, or Old Troy, "located about 8 or 9 miles up the Suwannee River from present-day Branford," served as the first county seat of Lafayette County. The exact date this community was settled is unclear, though Melton (1974) notes that a post office was established at Old Troy on 27 July, 1845. Postal records indicate that a post office was established at Troy (spelled "Tray" in the official records) on 22 July 1846 and discontinued 31 July, 1847 (Pickett et al. 1957:50). Some sources say the county courthouse, as well as other structures, burned in 1865, near the close of the Civil War, by Union sympathizers and deserters from the Confederate Army (Warnke 1971:30; undated article from the Gainesville Sun). Lafayette and neighboring counties were a haven for deserters and Union sympathizers; in 1864 Major Campfield and 300 Confederate calvary and 225 infantry swept through the region hunting deserters and burned the homes of many loyal citizens as well (Melton 1974). Melton (1974) reports that Old Troy burned in 1856, well before the beginning of the Civil War.

The exact location of Old Troy remains a mystery. Melton (1974) states that the settlement was built on the banks of Troy Springs. This, however, was not an ideal spot, since river flooding would fill the nearby sloughs and cut the settlement off from the river and nearby trails. Melton (1974) further states that the remains of old log houses were seen at Troy Springs, though no evidence remains today. When the town of Old Troy was burned it was comprised of a one-story log courthouse, five stores, two doctors, a saloon, and post office. Legend suggests that the county judge was warned of the impending disaster and was able to remove important papers from the town.

The survey plat of Township 5 South, Range 13 East, dated 1852, was examined for evidence of the location of Old Troy. No indication of the town was found; Troy Springs is simply labeled "lagoon." Some subdividing of sections around Troy Springs and New Troy is shown, perhaps providing us with some indication of settlement in this general area.

Town of New Troy

Once the town of Old Troy had been consumed by the fire, the settlers decided to relocate to a nearby site. This location is better established, and more information is available about New Troy. The date on which New Troy was established, however, presents a puzzle. Melton (1974) indicates that Old Troy was burned in 1856, and New Troy built shortly after, with a post office established in 1860. Postal records show that a post office was, in deed, established at New Troy on 25 August, 1860 (Bradbury and Hallock 1962:59). The situation is further confused because New Troy changed its name to McIntosh in 1861; this fact is confirmed by maps dating to the period, as well as the post office records. By 1871 the town name had reverted back to New Troy, though some map makers of the early 1880s show both New Troy and McIntosh--perhaps as a hedge to their own confusion. As noted above, however, Old Troy was to have burned in 1865 at the end of the Civil War, so if New Troy was established in 1860 it would mean both towns coexisted. The fact that the Madison was scuttled in the Troy Springs run in 1863 (Melton 1974) lends credence to the suggestion that Old Troy was abandoned sometime in the late 1850s, with New Troy built further from the spring in 1860.

New Troy had its share of problems following the end of the Civil War. Reconstruction attitudes and a high number of Union sympathizers in the county were confronted with increasing activity by the Ku-Klux-Klan. Friction between Republican and Democrat heightened the tension. Bell (1994) reports on the assassination of Judge John Krimminger in New Troy in 1871. Krimminger was active in local and state politics, and as a Republican and Confederate deserter was not well liked. Bell (1994) notes that a number of murders were committed, and there was a general consensus that the Klan was involved. Despite a number of witnesses, as well as the testimony of Krimminger's widow, the assassin managed to evade capture by moving from county to county, and by relying on sympathetic Democrat friends.

A rather interesting account of New Troy in the 1880s is presented by Eugene W. Sears in Romantic History of New Troy, Capital of Lafayette County, written in 1936 as part of the Federal Writers Program. Sears was apparently the descendant of one of New Troy's pioneers, and used their family stories and recollections as the basis for his essay. Bell (1990) has recently republished this fictionalized essay with some notes on the characters and settings. Sears (in Bell 1990) describes the community as a thriving one, with a grist mill; two general stores; hotels; log houses with stick and clay chimneys; a Baptist Church with sermons by circuit riding preachers of various denominations; and, of course, the two-story courthouse. New Troy was also serviced by a ferry.

An undated newspaper article on file at the Lafayette County courthouse lists other features of New Troy in the 1890s, including a cotton gin, sawmill, jail, boarding house, as well as Baptist and Methodist churches. Two newspapers were produced in New Troy-- The Lafayette County Messenger and The Lafayette County Enterprise, though neither is preserved in library collections today. The area was also a hub for steamboat traffic, and products like turpentine, cotton, vegetables, and oranges were shipped out.

The New Troy courthouse caught fire and burned down New Year's Eve, 1892. Shortly after this county residents voted to move the county seat to Mayo, where it is today. The removal of the courthouse spelled the end for the little community of New Troy, and business soon began to fade. The undated article from the Gainesville Sun states that houses were dismantled for their timber and bricks, hardwoods replaced the fields, steamboat traffic ended in 1899, and the ferry closed in 1917.

Survey Methods and Strategy

Prior to the C.A.R.L. Archaeological Survey investigations one underwater site (8LF5) had been recorded at Troy Springs, but the uplands around the spring had never been systematically examined for the presence of cultural resources. A combination of shovel testing and surface inspection in cleared areas was done across the property to determine if additional sites were present.

During the months of May, June, and July, twenty-one 50x50 centimeter shovel tests were dug on the property. All but three of the tests were tied into one of two datums and a grid system was used for the placement of the tests. The first datum was an electric pole and the second datum was a telephone riser. The remaining three shovel tests (numbers 19-21) were placed arbitrarily. Two sites (8LF55 and 8LF56) were identified as a result of the C.A.R.L. investigations.

Site 8LF55 was found during shovel testing. Little surface exposure was noted at the site. Sixteen shovel tests were excavated to determine the boundaries, both vertically and horizontally, and the cultural affiliation of the site.

Site 8LF56 was first identified through surface inspection. A scattering of lithic material was noted on the surface. Five shovel tests were placed in the area to determine cultural affiliation, size, and depth.

Site Descriptions and Discussion

Three cultural resources have been located on the Troy Spring Conservation and Recreation Area. Two of the sites (8LF55 and 8LF56) are prehistoric and one site (8LF5) is an historic shipwreck. A summary of the three sites follows: The Madison - 8LF5: The steamship Madison served as a general store on the Suwannee River in the 1850s [much of the oft cited information on the Madison comes from an article published in 1903 by John M. Caldwell, a contemporary of Capt. Tucker, and one of the locals who helped scuttle the boat in 1863]. Once a week the ship would make the round trip from Cedar Key to the shoals above Troy Springs (usually as high as "Grab," about 2 miles north of Troy) picking up produce from the isolated homesteads along the river. In 1861 the Madison served as an ad hoc warship in the Confederate "Navy" when it was used to investigate and eventually take control of four vessels transporting supplies to the Union naval base in Key West. The ship was scuttled in Troy Springs upon orders from her owner, James M. Tucker, when he and his men (later known as Company H, 8th Florida Infantry) went to fight in Virginia (Barker-Benfield 1995).

Through the years all but the hull has been salvaged. A detailed study of the remains of the Madison is being conducted by graduate student Richard Haiduven of East Carolina University and should be forthcoming.

Troy Springs 1 - 8LF55: The site was found during the C.A.R.L. testing of the property. 8LF55 measures approximately 245 meters by 90 meters and extends to a depth of one meter below present ground surface in some areas. The stratigraphy of the soil varies slightly, but in general the area consists of 0 to 18 cm of grey/brown humic soil, 18 to 45 cm of brown and tan mottled sandy soil, and 45 cm to bottom of mottled tan and light tan to an orange/tan clay.

Artifacts were recovered throughout all stratigraphic levels at the site and continued to be recovered at depths of one meter below surface. Often pottery recovered from such depths is explained as a mixing of upper levels with lower levels, a common problem in shovel testing, but at the Troy Springs 1 site, this occurred too often to be explained in such a way.

Artifacts recovered during the testing include lithics, prehistoric pottery, bone, modern debris, and assorted material such as pebbles and iron concretions (see appendix). The majority of the artifacts were chert--258 pieces out of a total of 310 total artifacts.

Analysis of the distribution of chert artifacts indicates that the heaviest concentration of material occurs in a roughly oblong area defined by shovel tests 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 12 (note that tests 1, 2, 3, 12 produced the majority of the pottery at the site). Of 258 chert artifacts, 201 (78%) came from these 6 tests. Analysis of the chert artifacts from this part of the site produces the following pattern: 140 (70%) complete flakes; 26 (13%) broken flakes; 26 (13%) fragmentary flakes; 7 (3.5%) debris; and 1 (.5%) core. In examining the complete flakes they were found to be larger than the broken and fragmentary flakes and they also retained cortex in 12 (8.5%) cases. The pattern observed here does not closely resemble the behavioral/technological groups defined in Sullivan and Rozen (1985:762-763). However, the high number of complete flakes would suggest core reduction, rather than tool production, as suggested by the Sullivan and Rozen (1985) model.

Thirty-three pieces of pottery were recovered from five shovel tests at the site. Depths ranged from just below the surface to 100 cm below surface. The majority of the recovered pottery was sand-tempered plain (78%)(Table 1). Assignment of this type to a specific period is difficult as it appears in many pottery-producing cultures. Sand-tempered check-stamped pottery (12% of total recovered) also is difficult to assign as it is common in several time periods. However, the linear-marked sherds (6% total) are representative of Indian Pond, a ceramic complex associated with the Utina Indians of North Florida. They occupied a territory lying roughly between the Santa Fe and Suwannee Rivers, extending northward into Georgia (Johnson and Nelson 1990:48). While commonly associated with the early 16th century, an early manifestation of Indian Pond (between A.D. 950 and 1250) is present at a site adjacent to the Ichetucknee River (Milanich 1994:349). One Weeden Island plain sherd was recovered from the 8LF55

. The Weeden Island period predates, and during the later periods was probably contemporaneous with, Indian Pond. Taken as a whole, the ceramic assemblage can be viewed as representative of early Indian Pond culture. Although many pottery types usually associated with Indian Pond, such as fabric and cord-marked pottery, were not recovered, the total assemblage supports assignment to this culture. The general location of some artifacts was noted during excavation of the shovel tests. The majority of the material recovered often came from the second zone of the shovel test, described as a brown/tan mottled soil in units 1, 2, 3, and 4. In many of the deeper units, sherds and chert flakes were recovered from the deepest zones, directly above the orange clay that underlies much of the area. This includes the Weeden Island Plain sherd, some of the sand-tempered check stamped sherds, as well as sand-tempered plain sherds.

Troy Springs 2 - 8LF56: This site was discovered during C.A.R.L. testing of the property. The site is approximately 96 meters by 90 meters, extending from the surface to a depth of approximately 50 cm. Material found on the surface and in subsurface tests is limited to undiagnostic chert flakes and no more than 5 flakes were found in a given shovel test (see appendix). Despite the sparse nature of the artifactual material, flakes were recovered from depths of 15 to 70 cmbs. A decorative brass(?) fitting was recovered in one shovel test to the north of 8LF56, and may be associated with the historic occupation of the Troy Springs area.

The Ghost Town of Old Troy

Old Troy - 8LF12: This site number was originally assigned to the towns of Old and New Troy by Mildred Fryman (1971) as part of the Historic Sites Inventory. Information was insufficient at the time to plot the location of either town. This update of 8LF12 is primarily to distinguish Old Troy from New Troy; the remains of Old Troy are still undetected. 8LF12 now applies only to Old Troy. Some information, noted above, places Old Troy on the banks of Troy Springs, though no evidence was found during the present survey.

Management Concerns and Recommendations

Three archaeological sites have been located on the Troy Springs Conservation and Recreation Area property. While the possibility exists, it is unlikely that additional sites will be found within the present boundaries. If additional property is acquired it should be subjected to testing by the C.A.R.L. Archaeological Survey (850/829-9100). No subsurface disturbance should occur, or be planned to take place, within the boundaries of the archaeological sites without prior consultation with the Florida Division of Historical Resources (DHR), Bureau of Historic Preservation (850/487-2333).

Most of the planned recreational activities on the property, such as boating, swimming, and picnicking, will take place in and around the spring. Two of the sites are located in this area, 8LF5-The Madison and 8LF55-Troy Springs 1, and it is likely that they will be impacted as a result of these activities. Careful planning in consultation with the DHR and the C.A.R.L. Archaeological Survey should be implemented to protect them.

It is likely that a program of restoration of the banks of the spring will be considered. Again, consultation with DHR is necessary for protection of the neighboring cultural sites.

Whenever possible the interpretation of cultural resources is encouraged. The setting at Troy Springs provides an excellent opportunity for the Office of Greenways and Trails to tell visitors about the prehistoric and historic occupation of the region. The C.A.R.L. Archaeological Survey can provide support and offer funding sources for an interpretative program at the site. Personnel are encouraged to call either 850/487-2299 or 850/829-9100.

Literature Cited

Barker-Benfield, Simon
1995 A Wellspring of Civil War Nautical History. The Florida Times Union, Jacksonville, Florida. September 17, 1995

Bell, Wilburn
1994 Murder in New Troy: The Assassination of Judge John Newton Krimminger, Based on the Testimony of Rebecca U. Krimminger, November 13, 1871. Printed by the author, Day, Florida.

Bradbury, Alford G., and E. Story Hallock
1962 A Chronology of Florida Post Offices. Florida Federation of Stamp Clubs, Palm Beach.

Caldwell, John M.
1937 The Steamboat Madison. Typescript of an article originally published in a 1903 Tallahassee newspaper. W.P.A. Federal Writer's Program.

Chance, Marsha A.
1992 An Assessment of Known Cultural Resources on Suwannee River Water Management District Properties in North Central Florida. Environmental
Services, Inc., Jacksonville.

Fryman, Mildred
1971 Notes on Lafayette County, accompanying site file for 8LF12, Florida Site File, Bureau of Archaeological Research, Tallahassee.

Johnson, Kenneth W. and Bruce C. Nelson
1990 The Utina: Seriations and Chronology. The Florida Anthropologist
43:48-62.

Melton, Holmes, Jr.
1974 Lafayette County History and Heritage: An Anthology [Collection of newspaper articles, primarily by Melton].

Milanich, Jerald T.
1994 Archaeology of Precolumbian Florida. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.

1995 Florida Indians and the Invasion from Europe. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.

Milanich, Jerald T., and Charles H. Fairbanks
1980 Florida Archaeology. Academic Press, New York.

Office of Environmental Services, Division of State Lands, Department of Environmental Protection.
1995 Conservation and Recreation Lands Annual Report 1995. Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund. In cooperation with Land Acquisition Advisory Council, Tallahassee.

Pickett, Lee N., Kenneth L. Rice, and Henry M. Spelman III
1957 Florida Postal History and Postal Markings During the Stampless Period. Florida Federation of Stamp Clubs, Palm Beach.

Rosenau, Jack C., Glen L. Faulkner, Charles W. Hendry, Jr., and Robert W. Hull
1978 Springs of Florida. Bulletin 31 (revised), Bureau of Geology, Tallahassee.

Sears, Eugene W.
1936 Romantic History of New Troy, Capital of Lafayette County, During the Early Eighties, edited and republished by Wilburn Bell [1990], Day, Florida.

Sullivan, Alan P. III, and Kenneth C. Rozen
1985 Debitage Analysis and Archaeological
Interpretation. American Antiquity 50(4):755-779.

Weisman, Brent R.
1992 Excavations on the Franciscan Frontier, Archaeology of the Fig Springs Mission. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.

I would like to thank Judge Harlow H. Land, Jr for providing me with the initial information regarding the Troy Springs Archaeological Survey."
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~fllafaye/troysprings.htm

More about Troy Spring at:

http://www.floridastateparks.org/troyspring/ (SCUBA C card required)
http://www.scubanews.com/node/405

A new fascinating book on cave diving out of Russia with some excellent underwater images, "Orda Cave Awarness Project." It was shot over 6 months, on about 150 dives by a cave diving team. The cave system is near the village of Orda in the Perm region of Russia. t can be ordered for $50. USD from the website:
http://ordacave.ru/en/

Here is a sampling of some of the still images in the book:

http://ordacave.ru/en/files/2011/03/LYG1307.jpg
The surface

http://ordacave.ru/en/files/2011/03/LYG1180.jpg
An interior above water view, talk about logistical staging issues, rough terrain and ice!

http://ordacave.ru/en/files/2011/03/LYG1221.jpg

http://ordacave.ru/en/files/2011/03/LYG1409.jpg
A blizzard of friable mineral platlettes.

http://ordacave.ru/en/files/2011/03/DSCF3869.jpg

http://ordacave.ru/en/files/2011/03/DSCF5178.jpg
Cubism meets Mars

http://ordacave.ru/en/files/2011/03/DSCF4023.jpg
A surreal underwater vista exquistly captured in still images.

and many more, 100 images I understand are presented in this unique book.

This looks like a must have for cavers, like minded folks or people like myself addicted to collecting unusual books dealing with the underwater world.

There is a website with more information about the cave system at:
http://bit.ly/nTwq5M

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A dramatic blue water sperm whale encounter shot by Howard Hall along with the other clips you see below.

"The Blue Ocean In Red

This video is my "best of" collection for the past year. Image capture was with the RED One camera using Nikon lenses. Locations include the Maldives, Alaska, California, Cocos Island Costa Rica, and Mexico. Music was composed by Shie Rozow."

Some impressive imagery of Mike Hall shooting shark footage for an IMAX feature with the "most impractical UW camera ever created."

"Sailfish Drama was captured at Isla Mujeres, Mexico in February 2010. The footage was captured with a RED One camera, using a Tokina 10-17mm lens, in a Deep RED Gates housing. The video was down-sampled to 720 24p from the original 4K RED files. The music was composed by Alan Williams for the IMAX feature, Island of the Sharks, which I directed in 1998. Howard Hall"

More about Howard and his underwater projects at:

http://howardhall.com/images/Header%202.jpg

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UW photographers heads up! Lack of attention to the obvious isn't much of an excuse if you end up in the alimentary tract of a plankton eater. Goes against nature after all! They say 600 whale sharks showed up to nosh on tuna spawn en masse.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/...32_964x540.jpg

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/...05_964x613.jpg

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/...08_964x627.jpg
More photos and story at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...haleshark.html

Apparently the photographer, Maurice Handler out of New England takes photo expeditions down to the Yucatan to photograph whale sharks. More at: http://handlerphoto.com/?pageID=400827

A new film on shark preservation including extensive closeups from "Tiger Beach" in the Bahamas. It was just premiered at the Ft. Pierce Harbor Branch campus of FAU.

http://www.fau.edu/hboi/images/SHARKS_HBOI_lores.jpg

"Three of the world's top artists shatter your perception of sharks. Emmy-award winning producer George C. Schellenger takes you into the world of sharks through the eyes of Wyland, Dr. Guy Harvey and Jim Abernethy. These amazing artists take you into the crystal clear waters of the Bahamas, one of the last shark sanctuaries on Earth. You'll learn why it's critical to protect the ocean's remaining sharks-and what will happen if we don't. You'll also meet Emma, a 14-foot tiger shark. With breathtaking footage shot on location around the world, and breakthrough discoveries, it's an adventure that will have you seeing sharks very differently"

The official trailer:

More at:
http://www.thisisyourocean.com/

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A nicely shot and edited GoPro video clip of a record, no-limits 100 m free dive in Israel. This is the first time I have seen a sled descent followed by a fin ascent in lieu of a liftbag. I see AIDA allows for ascent by a wide variety of means.

http://f.nanafiles.co.il/upload/Xter...c/20274636.jpg
Alon Rivkind heading up from another dive
http://f.nanafiles.co.il/

Hand feeding morays can have a serious downside. The milky dark stuff coming off the guy's hand later on is blood. Notice how the other fish get excited too hoping for some table scraps. The guy was lucky over all but could have been luckier still to have avoided the encounter and painful consequences.

Ok, brace yourselves, the "Way Back Machine" is going way back, well sort of way back to the early 1960's. Found these on Ebay?!

http://www.fksa.org/albums/album347/...93_o.sized.jpg
I love this shot brings back memories. For one it is a photo of a Rebikoff Pegasus with full camera and instrument compliment. Dimitri Rebikoff was a French inventor of things UW for decades. He was also a pilot. He decided to combine flying with travel underwater and conceived the Pegasus. It was about an eight foot long torpedo like wetsub that you lay on top of. There was a rudder bar for your fins and a joy stick for controlling the aerilons with your hand. The pressure housed instrument pod had artificial horizon, altitude uh depth, compass and other stuff out of aircraft. Looks like he had this one rigged with a cine camera with two UW arch lamps.

You would fly this thing, do power dives, and boost ascents and could fly pretty level for photogrammetric and video surveys. I used to fly its cheaper cousin, the Remora. The main difference was instead of a $25,000 payload (in mid 1970's dollars!) of silver zinc batteries in the case of the Pegasus, the Remora towed a Whaler with a 220 v, 40 A diesel generator by a several hundred foot power umbilical. We used it for all sorts of surveys back in the day. Fun stuff. Oh, and there is mention of Columbus' "Pinta." There was another time we kicked around off Cap Haitian, Haiti looking for the sister ship, "Santa Maria" entombed in the barrier reef using diver operated drilling equipment.

http://www.fksa.org/albums/album347/152172312_o.jpg
I had never even heard of this publication before. Nice that somethings are before my time! Regarding, To Kill A Shark (in) The Mediterranean, I think you first have to find one? They do have tiburons but I think they are more elusive. Here's an interesting factoid from the past. In the Caribbean macho divers back in the day strove to get some black coral often at substantial depth, at least for the larger trees. This was before the practice was heavily banned for non-residents most everywhere. In the Med, macho divers used to collect Cat Shark Egg Sacks at depth? True enough, I once swapped some black coral for one of these funky translucent eggs with a guy from Germany when I was a young spud. Neat cover shot, all that fancy high tech stuff! Is that guy holding a classic RolleiMarin housing, Hans Hass' creation or is it a door opener?

http://www.fksa.org/albums/album347/152168789_o.jpg
Ugh, weeds! Wait, what am I complaining about I'm trying to breath on a double hosed regulator! Deep Dive, wonder what a "deep dive" was considered to be at that time? I recall seeing an amazing account over in Small Hope Bay, Andros last summer of a guy that did 462 ft. in 1962! His partner stayed down there unfortunately. This was on AIR and in the small tanks available at that time, probably "Rhinohydes" or converted CO2 bottles or something. I think in general though a "deep dive" back then was substantially shallower.

http://www.fksa.org/albums/album347/152167014_o.jpg
A final oldie goldie. I've yet to make it over to Greece but recall something about SCUBA diving being forbidden off the entire country without permit or special arrangements. I think this decision had to do with too many historical cultural resources being poached. Free divers can do a lot, no doubt particularly in Greece where the practice goes back mellinia. Still, if you want to dredge some exploratory holes to pillage a trireme wreck in 300 ft. of water you'll be pushing it on just a breath? So, shame on the dude making off with the amphora for the options he has removed from future divers. Most of the damage that will happen to a wreck occurs in the first hundred years as is collapsed, spread around, attacked by corrosion and eventually covered up. After that it remains in sort of a low oxygen or anaerobic stasis. That is until you pop the top on the entombed wreck, let all that oxygenated water in and things can be royally trashed in a decade or so. That is for all time and all future generations, not a good way to treat a non-renewable cultural resource. Beach Temptress Contest? Oh, got a shot of that too, interesting fashions back then.

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They say this is a parody of the movie Sanctum. I have trouble seeing a lot of parallels, then again it is well shot with some interesting under ice imagery. So, check it out.

More about Sanctum at:
http://fksa.org/showthread.php?t=10392

Martin Stepanik is in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt training for a new world record free diving attempt to 130 m (428 ft.) CWT or with mask and monofin. He will also attempt to break world records in Free Immersion and Constant Weight with no fins.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net..._1275445_n.jpg

Chilling out on, over and beneath the ocean.

A dive into the Red Sea through some interesting cave features.

Some fuzzy standard GoPro imagery of a monofin lady with accommodating pairs of dolphins and rays.

"Extraordinary and beautiful examples of toroidal vortices produced by dolphins, beluga whales, humpback whales, volcanoes, hydrogen bombs, and man.

Thrive Movie (in depth look at the true power and relevance of the natural toroidal shape):
http://www.youtube.com/user/ThriveMovement
http://thrivemovement.com/ "

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...helicopter.jpg
Helicopters, microbursts, breaching cetaceans, lots of things cause toroidal vorticis flow in fluids
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vortex_ring

Imagery from a recent FII Free Diving Camp in Kona, Hawaii. Included is an overview of some free diving devices including:

- underwater synthesizer for human-dolphin communication
- GoPro HD/HD2 underwater housing rated 160 meters
- home made fluid goggles

An interesting video starring Guillaume Néry, in and out of the water.

"The Sportlife Saga is about three elements of nature; water, ice and snow.
The story of the element water is told by Guillaume Néry, world champion in freediving

https://www.facebook.com/sportlifechewinggum
http://www.sportlife.com

Video production: EyEFORcE
Agency: Indie Amsterdam
Sound design: Paraphrase

Songs:
Egadz -- Take your time
Splendid -- Nobody move"

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net...76481862_n.jpg

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Patrick Rynne sent me the link on this video prepared by Michael Buckmaster. It looks like a GoPro was clamped onto the leading edge of a shark's dorsal fin at Tiger Beach. Here is a good way to get a shark's eye view of the Beach and denizens therein.

An octopus grabs this guys camera while it is shooting video, then latches on to his speargun. True cephalopod drama worthy of a Lloyd Bridges episode. The octopus is pretty miffed judging from all that red in the clip.

"while trying to get video of a wild octopus, it suddenly dashed towards me and rips my shiny new camera from out of my hands, then swims off, all while the camera is recording! he swam away very quickly like a naughty shoplifter. after a 5 minute chase, I placed my speargun underneath him and he quickly and curiously grabbed hold of the gun as well, giving me enough time to reach in and grab the camera from out of his mouth. I didn't feel threatened at all during the whole ordeal. he seemed to be fixated on the shiny metallic blue digital camera. the only confusing behavior was how he dashed off with it like a thief haha. cheeky octopus.

songs by: Vincent Gillioz - Car Chase
Dalmatian Rex and the Eigentones - Octopus I Love You

thanks for watching, and remember life is too short to spend it in front of a tv or at the shopping mall......get out there and live it up! these moments of beauty exist every single second in nature.

love,
vic

2 excellent dive shops in Wellington, New Zealand:
http://www.ibdivers.co.nz
http://www.splashgordon.co.nz"

I hit the Spiegel Grove off Key Largo on Saturday. Visibility and light were a bit lower than I would have liked ranging from 30 to 60 ft. over the two dives. Still, using the GoPro HD2 I came out with some useable results.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net...65030796_n.jpg
The goliath grouper or jewfish is looking kind of testy and is about to bolt popping his swim bladder.

A short unprocessed clip free diving down to the grouper off one of the aft cranes on the Spiegel Grove.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net...24729224_n.jpg

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CNN goes free diving off Cayman, brings back photos ...

"One deep breath: Pushing the limits of freediving

Off the coast of the Cayman Islands this week, Logan Mock-Bunting photographed an international freediving competition and witnessed iron-lung athletes break breath-holding records. An experienced freediver, he shot the underwater event without an air tank."

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2012/im...ting/lg.01.jpg
Walking a fine (descent) line near the abyss.

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2012/im...ting/lg.02.jpg

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2012/im...ting/lg.05.jpg

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2012/im...ting/lg.06.jpg
Not sure what is going on here but it doesn't look too good unless it is a training exercise.

More images at: http://cnnphotos.blogs.cnn.com/2012/...of-freediving/

You can checkout still more images from Logan Mock-Bunting at his website:
http://loganmb.com/

The competition was "Grand Cayman 2012- Deja Blue III"

http://www.performancefreediving.com...TER_WEB-21.jpg

http://www.performancefreediving.com...deja-blue-iii/

Strange things from the undersea world of Jacques Cousteau ...

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...10353469_n.jpg

The natural reaction of people from the south of France after eating roast ortolan (sparrow-like birds) on an open fire, whole. I understand the bird has become endangered but you would think wolfing these little guys feathers, organs and all would have gone extinct a coons age back. Images from: Cousteau Divers on Facebook

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...40268147_n.jpg
Waiting to spend a penny at the loo or maybe just for the bus.

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...84223397_n.jpg
You can have any color wetsuit you would like, as long as it is silver?

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot..._5999705_n.jpg
Theater collides with functionality, which one won?

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...42530087_n.jpg
Thank you for all the great images over all those years Captain Cousteau.

* I made the mistake of linking these photos from Facebook. They develop broken photo links in less than two years at times. If it is important, I wouldn't rely solely on FB to keep track of your images. They have lost a ton linked to on here.
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https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...83690390_n.jpg
4sub FB Page

I have had dreams at night like this but never expected to see anything close to it in life. One of my favorites was something resembling the Matterhorn in what must be a few miles of visibility with incredible reef growth and rock forms. Improbable, still Norbert uses some exceptional vertical viz to capture an intriguing sea mount rock form with rays to boot.

"Roundabout by Norbert Probst

I’ve captured this photo at Roca Partida, an volcanic rock who comes up from 2000 meter of depth. Roca Partida (English: Broken Rock) is the smallest of the Revillagigedo Islands in Mexico. It is uninhabited, with an area of only 1.4 hectares (3.5 acres): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roca_Partida

This place is famous for extreme clear water and its Pacific Manta Rays (Manta hamiltony) cruising arround the extinct volcano.

Canon EOS 5D, 2.8/15mm Fisheye, SEACAM housing, f11, 1/125, ISO 200, no flash

This picture was published in several publications arround the world.

2002 Views, 07.07.2012"

You can buy print copies of this image at:
http://www.redbubble.com/people/kame...ographic-print

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...IslaDeRoca.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/

Great dive scooter free diving race in Grand Cayman!

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/image...ngemperors.jpg

"Bubble Jetting Emperors" by Canadian Paul Nicklen shot in Antarctica

The image won the Underwater Worlds category and the overall title in this year's Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

More background on this in http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/19980616

http://images.nationalgeographic.com...49_600x450.jpg

A remarkable polar bear image shot by Paul and published in National Geographic, more at: http://photography.nationalgeographi...-paul-nicklen/

http://images.nationalgeographic.com...48_200x150.jpg
A shot of Paul Nicklen in normal frozen climes.

You can see more of Paul's award winning images and even purchase some at:
http://www.paulnicklen.com/gallery.html

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"Published on Jan 9, 2013
Shot 100% on the new Dive Housing & HD HERO2® camera from http://GoPro.com

The Director's Cut dives deeper into the world of a bird and a fish, Roberta Mancino and Mark Healey. This story was collaboratively created on-site in the Bahamas over 5 days, capturing over 150 hours of footage.

Directed and Edited: Bradford Schmidt and Brandon Thompson

Camera: Andy Casagrande, Mark Healey, Roberta Mancino and Bradford Schimidt

Learn more about the new GoPro Dive Housing: http://gopro.com/hd-hero-accessories/dive-housing/"

http://www.enthuzed.com/wp-content/g...hark-shoot.jpg http://www.enthuzed.com/wp-content/g...cino-thong.jpg
From:
Exclusive interview with Roberta Mancino, http://www.enthuzed.com/exclusive-in...berta-mancino/

"Special Thanks-

Patriot3 Maritime for their amazing Jet Boot technology
http://www.p3maritime.com/

Stuart's Cove
http://www.stuartcove.com/

Andy and Emma Casagrande for their filming talents.

Music
Emancipator, "Ares"
Buy at: http://emancipator.bandcamp.com
http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/em...or/id209711341

American Dollar, "Flood"
http://www.facebook.com/theamericandollar
Download a free compilation of 9 of their best tracks here: http://tinyurl.com/freeAMD

Lorn, "Grandfather"
Buy at: http://goo.gl/nUKb1"

http://www.enthuzed.com/wp-content/u...ta-Mancino.jpg
http://www.enthuzed.com/

I did a dive on the Sea Emperor aka Aqua Zoo a week or so back. Here are some images that came out of it. Brian Gagas of Gold Coast Scuba had a graduating class of scuba divers out who show up below and in the video. Congratulations! There was nice blue water visibility this morning, around a hundred feet. Unfortunately the overhead light was a bit low challenging the shooting a bit despite the excellent viz.

Captain Aria does a cameo in the video clip while hauling my camera rig and dive scooter aboard, multifaceted! Thanks to the expert, congenial and helpful crew of South Florida Diving Headquarters as always.

http://fksa.org/gallery3/var/resizes...g?m=1408474885
Brian's students near the bow of the 171 ft. by 45 ft. barge. I put an inset of myself on there (from yet another dive) to tie things into scooter free diving. The inverted hopper barge has the nice twin slits in the bottom (top) of the hull allowing convenient egress should the need arise.

http://fksa.org/gallery3/var/resizes...g?m=1408474885
Brian works on some skills on the sand with the students.

Images shot with a GoPro Hero 3 Black camera.

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A Hellcat fighter found in 245 ft. of water off Miami Beach, FL.

http://www.marinelink.com/images/mar...tWEB-12567.jpg
http://www.marinelink.com/news/disco...aft351615.aspx

"F6F Hellcat WWII-Era Aircraft Discovered off Coast of Florida
Wednesday, February 13, 2013

OceanGate Inc. discovers Grumman F6F Hellcat off the coast of Miami using manned submersible, 2D and 3D sonar technologies.

OceanGate discovered a World War II-era Grumman F6F Hellcat plane off the coast of Miami Beach. The plane was found during one of an ongoing series of dives in which OceanGate has been using its Teledyne BlueView high-frequency sonar and high-definition photo and video equipment to gather data pertaining to the artificial reefs in Miami-Dade County waters. Recognizing the potential historical and military significance of the find, OceanGate contacted officials at both the Smithsonian Institution and the U.S. Navy, who identified the wreck as a Grumman F6F Hellcat fighter aircraft. “The discovery of this artifact is significant because it helps us reflect on and learn more about our country’s heritage, but also because it highlights the key role that direct observation plays in undersea exploration,” said Stockton Rush, co-founder and CEO of OceanGate. “Our sonar technology and ability to observe the undersea environment first-hand ultimately led to the discovery of this plane.”"

Continued at: http://www.marinelink.com/news/disco...aft351615.aspx

Some color video of the wreck in place on the bottom. There are a ton of lionfish on it.

http://www.oceangate.com/images/expe.../hellcat-3.jpg
http://www.oceangate.com/submarine-e...xpedition.html

http://www.oceangate.com/images/expe...d-lionfish.jpg
Wonder if this grouper has taken a liking to lionfish? Likely not but we can hope so.
http://www.oceangate.com/oceangate-p...ery-miami.html

http://www.oceangate.com/images/expe...ry/erika-m.jpg
A dry sub dive on the aircraft
http://www.oceangate.com/oceangate-p...ery-miami.html

http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/...ps351955c0.jpg
"A flight of four (4) F6F-5P Hellcat USNR aircraft of NARTU Columbus, OH, VF-695, are in flight over Miami, FL.1950"
http://www.warbirdinformationexchang...c.php?p=483724

http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4fdb3caa.jpg
"Four (4) Hellcat, F6F-3 aircraft of VF-1 are in flight over Hawaii."
http://www.warbirdinformationexchang...c.php?p=483724

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Just found this post from a few years back in another part of the site.

Here's a few more from the Wreck of the Poulson in Grand Cayman.

http://www.fksa.org/albums/album347/w_20.jpg
Simon drops down

http://www.fksa.org/albums/album347/w_16.jpg
Skating along by the bow

http://www.fksa.org/albums/album347/w_10.jpg
A look aft

http://www.fksa.org/albums/album347/w_12.jpg
Snapper n eels

http://www.fksa.org/albums/album347/w_14.jpg
Simon cruises on

https://vimeo.com/3093075

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