Environmental Stewardship
Dive sites are vulnerable to a variety of threats, including air and water pollution, invasive species such as zebra mussels and lionfish, destructive fishing practices like blast fishing, and even sunscreen.
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Dive sites are vulnerable to a variety of threats, including air and water pollution, invasive species such as zebra mussels and lionfish, destructive fishing practices like blast fishing, and even sunscreen.
The Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch (AMITW) had an exceptional summer in 2024. By July 31, AMITW patrollers had documented 683 nests on 9.6 miles (15.4 kilometers) of beach on Anna Maria Island, Florida. That was the most nests they had recorded in one season since they started monitoring 41 years ago.
Bonaire is known for continual trade winds, typically blowing in from the east and averaging 12 knots. All the diving on the west side of the island, including Klein Bonaire, is in the lee protection from the wind.
Alex Fogg is known in the dive community for creating the largest invasive lionfish collection and outreach event in the world, the Emerald Coast Open, with tens of thousands of lionfish removed each year during the two-day event. Over the past decade he has personally harvested an unquantifiable number of invasive lionfish from North American waters.
While staff from DAN’s Research, Safety Services, and Medical departments were attending the recent European Underwater and Baromedical Society conference in France to present their latest work, they were able to visit the nearby French naval submarine base and board an active-duty submarine carrying nuclear warhead payloads.
To advance DAN’s mission to help divers during emergencies and to make diving safer, DAN launched the Continuing Education for Dive Professionals program in 2024. The program’s second course, which focuses on boat diving safety, is now available.
Cruise ships have extensive safety protocols in place, focusing on passenger safety in areas such as overboard incidents, onboard fires, illness outbreaks, and large-scale ship disasters. Accidents and incidents can happen, however, and traveling on cruise ships is not without risk.
Sandbags are versatile training tools for a total body workout. These dynamic exercises incorporate nontraditional lifting methods that mimic real-life movements. This sandbag workout builds functional and grip strength, balance, endurance, and stability, making it ideal for divers of all levels.
Our group of six researchers back rolled off the vessel near Jupiter, Florida, and began our descent to the sandy bottom nearly 80 feet (24 meters) below. As the wreck became visible, our team streamlined into formation to begin our task: searching for goliath groupers.