CALYPS3O
2007 Journal
Indiana
School for the Deaf
Indian Creek High School
Day
9, Thursday, June 21, 2007
Brad (ICHS)
The
day began as the previous three days had, breakfast in the teacher’s
room, load dive equipment, and jump in the vans for a quick ride to
the dive shop. We got there and we had to wait for one boat to load
so the other boat could be brought over to us. While we waited, I listened
into on a dive master conversation. The captain recommended the first
dive be at a really cool valley that most don’t get a chance to
dive, then the second would be at Davis’s Reef again so we could
become familiar with it for tonight’s night dive. The plan was
set and it was time to load the boat. At this point, our “crew”
have become quite good at loading the boat and setting up equipment
so we were off in no time.
We got to the dive site and the captain once again explained the 90-90-90
rule for this dive and he made it clear that it would be easy to navigate
as long as we went to 90 feet, made a 90 degree turn, and went 90 feet.
It seems pretty simple, but there is a dilemma. Both sides of the valley
shoot out past 90 feet so if we go past 90 feet or don’t quite
made a 90 degree turn, it is time for a swim in the deep blue see. Our
group talked it over and we were ready. We descended and immediately
saw a large sea turtle. Yes, that’s right! It was a real sea turtle!
There aren’t made up just for the "Finding Nemo"
movie! I saw one with my own eyes! It had a shell of at least three
feet. The group swam on and we finally found the valley. We started
swimming along on side and it gradually dropped. Before I knew it I
looked up and saw Gregg pull on Ben’s arm. I thought this was
odd because I didn’t see anything. Then, directly under Ben, I
catch a glimpse of a Sting Ray shooting out of the sand and swim off.
It had a diameter of at least 3 feet if not more. It was quite a thrill,
but we kicked on going deeper and deeper. We soon got to 90 feet but
we kept going. This was of course on purpose so we could say we made
it a 100 foot dive. Once 100 feet was accomplished, we turned around
and started heading back. When the depth gauge reached 90 feet, we made
a 90 degree turn but I soon realized something went wrong. It might
have been the fact that we were 5 feet off the bottom when we made the
turn which would make the depth 95 feet. It might be the fact that the
current caught us and pulled us out. Or it might just be bad luck. Really,
I followed Greg who is an experienced diver so I did not worry, even
when all I saw was sand and water. The problem with seeing just sand
and water was when we left the boat, the captain said that just seeing
sand and water means you made a mistake. Well, we weren’t going
to let this get us down, so we kept going. We were really deep for quite
a long time which means air seems to go a lot faster. I looked at my
gauge and Nyle looked at his and it was then we started to ascend. There
was not a line, but we were low on air. We made a 3 minute safety stop
at 15 feet with nothing to hold on to so of course the current got the
best of us. We came up and my air was low. Nyle's was lower and Greg's
was definitely not full. Ben is apparently a fish and had the most air
left. It was time to swim back to the boat. Let me tell you, that 46’
boat looks small from over 300 feet away!! The group swam a good 200
yards if not more, until we reached a rope from the boat. Then we got
to pull ourselves in nearly 100 yards. It was a good little workout
to wake us up for dive 2. But, I realized 2 things. Number 1, having
a camera in one hand, leaving only one hand free for an open water ocean
swim is not a good plan. Number 2, doing one armed backstroke drills
at swim practice actually helped me succeed in life. Oh yeah, a scuba
tank doesn’t help when you swim in the ocean for a long distance
either.
Dive 2 was at Davis Reef. It was a very cool dive. There was one huge
eel that caught many eyes. I saw a small statue of Buddha at the end
of Davis Reef. I got to rub Buddha’s belly for good luck, yet
I still haven’t found good luck. I think I might be accident prone
when it comes to my scuba equipment between ripping the boot off of
my gauges, springing a leak in my mask, and at some point losing the
bottom piece for my snorkel. I think Buda’s belly is a myth!
After the first 2 dives, it was nap time for me!. It seemed like a very
short nap even though it topped nearly an hour. It was then time to
head back to the dive center for a cook out and a night dive. I was
full of excitement. I couldn’t wait to be in the ocean at dark.
Dinner was eaten and the boat was once again loaded. We were prepped
for our night dive, given glow sticks and flashlights, and into the
water we went. It was dusk when I went in and dark when I came out.
It was one of the coolest dives I have experienced so far. I saw four
huge eels. I saw the Buddha statue, once again. There were lots of large
parrot fish and a few trumpet fish. When lights were shut off, I waved
my hand through the water and saw little sparks. It appeared as though
my hand had sparks coming off of it. Just the site of seeing all the
lights under water when I got on the boat was cool. It was quite a spectacular
way to end the day and prepare for one last day in Key Largo on this
CALYPSO 2007 trip.
Tyler
(ISD)
As
we got up this morning, some of us were tired and some weren't. We all
were excited about doing the night dive, but first we had to do two
morning dives. We all met in the teacher's room for breakfast before
leaving for the morning dives, then we went to the Florida Keys Diving
Center where they had a boat which was ready for all of us. After riding
the boat to the place called Crocker Valley, we all got ourselves ready
for the first dive of the day. We all we got in and completed our dive.
It was a different dive. It was deep, more than 90 feet, and there were
lots of huge barrel sponges. We got back on the boat and moved to another
place
called Davis Ledge. Most of us feel more experienced and comfortable,
since it was our 8th dive of the week in saltwater. Before we knew it,
the dive was finished and we went back to dock. We unloaded our things
from Bill's trailer, then, went to Subway for lunch. After the lunch,
we all went back to our rooms and took a nap so we can get ready for
the fun night dive. We all met each other and left for the night dive.
We ate hot dogs and hamburgers at the Dive Center before we left for
the night dive. During the cookout, we happened to see a couple that
were getting married on the boat at sundown. Finally, our fun began
when the boat left the dock and went to Davis Ledge, where we dived
at night. It was still light outside when we got in the water, but as
the sun went down, it became darker. I felt strange diving in the water
during night time. It was so dark, but we were able to see some shadows
underwater. I saw several lobsters, many large parrot fish and huge,
green, moray eels. Sadly, we couldn't stay underwater any longer because
we had limited air and we had to get to the surface before it ran out.
After we got on the boat, we all discussed how we felt about the night
dive. The funny thing is that all of the deaf kids sat around the place
with only the light in the boat above us and we could see each other
signing. We arrived the back at the dock safely and put all of our equipment
in the Bill's trailer. We went back to our suites and got ourselves
ready to go bed! :) My favorite thing today was the night dive. Even
though it was my first time diving at night, I loved it!
The NOAA Aquarius Lab
A blue angelfish and a gray angelfish
Diving the wreck of the Eagle
