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Past Presentations
Bay Area Divers has had some very knowledgeable and
entertaining individuals come in and do presentations at the general
meetings. These presentations have covered a great range of subjects
ranging from sea turtle and whale shark conservation efforts to cave
diving to decompression illness research.
This is an effort to document the
presentations in order to give recognition to those individuals and
their organizations. These are listed from the most recent.
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Wednesday -
April 30, 2008
Social
starts at 7pm - General Meeting at 7:30pm
(click here
for directions)
Guest speaker is to be
announced
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Wednesday -
March 26, 2008
- General Meeting
Social
starts at 7pm - Meeting at 7:30pm
(click here
for directions)
Guest speaker is
Kyle Stephens
Divers Alert Network recently
released a DVD that talks about the indication and treatment of the
'bends' otherwise known as DCS. The DVD was viewed. It was
entertaining and informative.
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Wednesday - February 27, 2008
- General Meeting
Social
starts at 7pm - Meeting at 7:30pm
(click here
for directions)
Guest speaker is John
Thomas with H.E.A.R.T.
(Help Endangered Animals -Ridley Turtles)
The Ridley sea turtle nesting season on Galveston Island is
coming up. John is a long time sea turtle educator,
volunteer and
activist. He will let us know how the preservation
efforts of HEART are working
and what volunteers can do to
help.
www.ridleyturtles.org
carole@seaturtles.org
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Wednesday,
January 30, 2008
our guest speaker was
Elizabeth Himes
with the Cayman Islands -
Department of Tourism
The Cayman Islands are famous for the spectacular diving, the
beautiful islands and the wonderful people. We will learned about
the some of the wonderful things that the Cayman Islands have to
offer. We found out about the difference in the three islands and
what some of the resorts and dive operations are available. Also,
Elizabeth brought some rum cakes. Thanks Elizabeth!
www.caymanislslands.ky
www.divecayman.ky
ehimes@caymanislands.ky
Capt. Waldo - Dennis Camp did a great job of providing door prizes.
He provided some great prizes like masks, snorkels and all kinds of
cool stuff. If you were not there - you missed out.
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Wednesday, October 24,
2008
our guest
speaker was Larry McKenna with SOLO - Save Our
Leatherbacks Organization
Larry gave a great presentation about the dire situation
with the Pacific Leatherback Turtles. The leatherbacks
are quite prehistoric. Larry offers an expedition to
Indonesia a couple of times a year to observe the laying
and hatching of eggs. The Pacific leatherback turtle is
a very unique animal. Over eons, they have developed a
specific migratory pattern whereby they will migrate
from specific beaches to specific regions. The turtles
that Larry studies migrate to and from that specific
beach to the California coast. They are the California
Leatherbacks. They migrate to California and eat the
jellyfish along the coast before they go back to that
beach. On another beach on the island, the Australian
leatherbacks lay eggs. These are exclusive of each
other. Sadly, the population of California leatherbacks
have declined drastically. The most likely cause is the
extensive longline fishing that occurs along the
migratory route from Indonesia to California. At this
time, it is very likely that the California Leatherback
turtle will be extinct by 2020. Larry McKenna has lead
the effort to raise awareness about these magnificent
creatures plight. I encourage everyone to learn more and
to support Larry's conservation efforts. The excursions
that Larry offers are scientific expeditions and are tax
deductible. You are taken to a very remote and pristine
area. It is a spectacular trip. If you are interested in
details of the trip or would like to learn more about
the leatherback turtle - please contact Larry McKenna.
www.leatherbackturtles.com
(281) 361-4492
happycatproductions@earthlink.net
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September 26, 2007
Moody Gardens Aquarium of Galveston
did the
presentation. Jay Reynolds and
Yvette Schmidt
discussed what
opportunities there are for divers to volunteer at the
Moody Gardens Aquarium. Jay is in charge of the divers
and Yvette heads up the Volunteer operations there.
Moody Gardens has many tanks representing different
ecosystems around the world including the Caribbean, the
South Pacific, North Pacific, penguins and seals. This
is a good opportunity to learn about the internal
workings of the Moody Gardens Aquarium on Galveston,
Texas. Jay's presentation that went over the basics
of what is expected of dive volunteers. He will discuss
what a typical day might be like and what volunteers can
expect to do. He talked about the different exhibits
that volunteers may get to dive. Jay covered the
training program as it stands right now, and briefly
discussed what he would like to see developed in the near
future, i.e. a scientific diving course.
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August 29, 2007
Thanks to the
The Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network. Heidi Watts
did an excellent presentation on what TMMSN is all about
and what they do. We discussed what they have done to
help stranded mammals found along the coast. Heidi
repeated many times the phone number to call should you
find a stranded mammal - that is 1-800-9-MAMMAL.
Probably one of the most valuable things I learned that
if a stranded mammal is found, call them immediately,
and it it is alive, provide shade, keep it cool and dig
out sand from underneath to relieve stress on internal
organs. Also it is important to report dead mammals do
they can get out there quickly and determine the cause.
She talked about animals the have rescued. Recently they
had a pigmy sperm whale and it's baby. They also have
recovered bottlenose, sawtooth and spinner dolphins off
the Gulf Coast. This should be a
very informative and educational presentation. TMMSN
will be at the Annual Scuba flea market
info link
on October 13th, so you can stop by
and check them out.
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July
25, 2007
Jim Rosborough shared
his experience in volunturism on projects doing
marine research with Earthwatch over the past 11
years. Jim has worked on projects in Belize,
Aruba, Jamaica, Barbados, Exuma Cays, Puerto
Rico, Bonaire, San Salvador, Hawaii and St.
John. Earthwatch is currently organizing
research projects in the Seychelles, Belize,
Thailand and Truck Lagoon. Jim has been a diver
and explorer for over 50 years. He grew up on
the island of Aruba.
This was a good
opportunity to learn about the many ways that us
divers can participate in these types of
projects. It was a lot of fun finding out about
Jim’s adventures and experiences. He also plans
to get with BAD in the coming year to see about
getting a dive trip together to participate in
the Belize project. More on that later!! |
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June 27,
2007
We had Dennis Deavenport with the HUPS (Houston
Underwater Photographic Society) talked to us about
underwater photography shots from recent trips to
Indonesia and Cayman Brac. If you were at SeaSpace
2007, it was HUPS that had that gallery of beautiful
photos and Dennis was a primary contributor to the
collection. This was a fun presentation.
For more information
about HUPS go to
www.hups.org |
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