Scuba Shack Radio

A week onboard the Rocio del Mar liveaboard dive boat in the Sea of Cortez is an adventure. It is an adventure that starts from Phoenix, AZ through the Sonoran Desert through Gila Bend, Ajo, Sonoyta before entering Puerto Penasco and starting your journey south on Rocio del Mar. Listen for more details where we talk about the boat, the diving, and interesting aspects to that truly make this a scub...

The wreck of Omani Bay (CVE 79) a WW II Escort Carrier was discovered in the Sulu Sea in July. It was sunk by a kamikaze strike on January 4, 1945 with the loss of 95 sailors. The wreck is in over 100 m of water. WestJet has announced that it will be implementing a non-stop flight from Toronto to Bonaire starting on December 12, 2023 and that it will run through April 2024. The flight will run onc...

Registration for the DEMA Show is now open. DEMA members can register for early bird pricing of $55 until October 16th. After that the price jumps to $75. Non-DEMA members rate is $180 for the full package. The show is open to all dive professionals, dive shops, resorts, manufacturers and travel agents. This year the show is in New Orleans and runs from November 14 - 17. The 39th annual Lower Keys...

Joe Dituri recently completed a 100 day mission underwater with Project Neptune 100 sponsored by the Marine Resource Development Foundation. He smashed the old record of 73 days. Find out more at mrdf/project-neptune. Mark and Sherry Grishom of PSI/PCI (Professional Scuba Inspectors / Professional Cylinder Inspectors) were recently honored by NASA for their work on the Resupply Air Tank Team for t...

PADI Club has two trips planned for 2023. The first trip is to Belize running July 29 to August 5 and the second trip is in October to Bonaire. That trip will run from October 7 - 14. The History of Diving Museum has a new exhibit - Aquanauts to Astronauts. This exhibit opened on May 20, 2023 and runs through December 31, 2023 and will educate folks on the unique relationship between diving and sp...

The Great Shark Snapshot is back for its second year. Divers and snorkelers are asked to record all their sightings of sharks and rays in the Shark Trust Shark Log. This event runs from July 22 -30, 2023. Last year over 200 divers from 14 countries provided 1800 entries into the log. It has been 50 years since scientist first discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch 600 miles northeast of Hawaii...

Black Spot Syndrome (BSS) is impacting the Tropical Western Atlantic. BSS is caused by a parasite that gets under the skin or on fins of fish. The parasite comes from marine snails, settle on the fish and then end up in osprey who eat the fish. Aquarium fishers are threatening Kaneohe Bay on the island of Oahu. These fishers are not very well regulated and the trade is pretty lucrative. An aquariu...

There is a new die off of sea urchins in the Caribbean. This latest event impacting diadema antillarum started in February in the Virgin Islands and has since spread as far west as Jamaica. Efforts are ongoing to find the cause and try to restore these gardeners of the sea. Shearwater Research has recently announced the release of two new editions of their Peregrine recreational dive computer. The...

If you like the Florida Keys, then check out floridakeystv.com. You will get your fix of the Keys with globally streamed videos about all aspects of the Conch Republic. The Q4 2022 new diver certification statistics are out. The downward trend continues. We still are trying to understand the long-term impacts of the pandemic. Stoney Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) continues to spread. It is now...

In this special episode, I reconnect with Dr. Alex Brylske for a discussion about his new book - Beneath the Blue Planet - A Diver's Guide to the Ocean. Alex tells us about his inspiration for writing this guide to the ocean, its ecosystems and its conservation. He takes us through the book and gives us some insights into the various chapters and what he hopes the readers take away from Beneath th...

Beneath the Sea scuba show made its return after a four year hiatus in Secaucus, NJ on March 25 and 26. The show brought together divers from around the northeast. The show featured training agencies, dive equipment providers and dive travel opportunities. A bill was recently introduced in the Florida house to ban the release of balloons. If passed it would eliminate the release of all balloons an...

Members of the United Nations recently approved the High Seas Treaty. This treaty if successful will protect two-thirds of our oceans. Norway and Japan continue to hunt whales. Norway killed 560 whales in 2022, the highest in six years. This at a time when the demand for whale meat continues to drop around the world. The University of Miami recently deployed two new artificial reef structures off...

The Boston Sea Rovers are transitioning back to the traditional March timeframe for their show. 2023 is the transition year and will be a one-night only film festival at the New England Aquarium on March 18, 2023. The 70th annual Boston Sea Rovers clinic is planned for March 2024 in Danvers, MA. Beneath the Sea is making its return after four years. The show is being held at the Meadowlands Exposi...

William Cline recently released Q4 statistics regarding the scuba industry. It would seem that overall certifications are flat when compared to 2021 as is equipment sales. Scuba related travel is up however. We will see how things progress in 2023. Nature Communications recently published a study that indicates 59% of coral reef sharks, rays and skates are threatened with extinction due to overfis...

Dr. Alex Brylske has teamed up with Divestures to deliver a series of six presentations called Oceans Update. The first presentation was on January 25, 2023 - Secrets of the Coral Reefs. Next up is Understanding Coral Reef Fishes and it will be held on February 22, 2023. Find out more and register at https://www.diventures.com/oceans-update/ Over the holidays a cruise ship from Australia, the Cora...

The Driftnet Modernization and Bi-catch Reduction Act was included in the 2023 spending bill and signed into law by President Biden. This law will help protect marine life from this destructive fishing method. If you want to see the boat used in Sea Hunt, then head out to the Long Beach Scuba Show in June. The Argonaut (Five Sea Sons) is the Trojan Sea Breeze boat built for the final season of Sea...

The Professional Association of Diving Instructor's Recreational Dive Planner (RDP) was a revolutionary development promoting safe dive planning for recreational divers. Up until this time, most dive planning centered around Navy dive tables that really didn't fit what recreational divers were doing. In the early 1980s Dr. Alex Brylske was on the PADI staff and right in the middle of the developme...

Scuba Shack Maui is for sale. If you want to own a dive shop and live on Maui, you might consider the turn-key operation in Kihei. Find out more about Scuba Shack Maui. Lake Hydra (the former Dutch Springs) is scheduled to re-open in 2023. The original plan was to open in April 2023 but it looks like that might be delayed. Ken Kraft is hoping to have part of the quarry open by June. The Small Pass...

The Coral Restoration Foundation recently did a webinar on their accomplishments in 2022. It was a record year for them where they out planted about 44K corals, plus so much more. Divers in North Jersey are in search of Old Bergen - an 1812 cannon stolen in 1980. They were diving in the Hackensack River. They think they heard metallic noise when probing. They will need to head back later to attemp...

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) recently agreed to strict new import and export regulations on over 50 species of sharks. Great news for these apex predators. The scent is back in Sink the Stink. The new 40% stronger version is our go-to wetsuit and neoprene cleaner with the clean, fresh scent. Oceanic has released their dive computer app...

Coral Restoration Foundation's Coralpalooza 2023 is set for June. You can get a jump on early registration by signing up on their website. Did you know that there are four grades of oxygen. Listen for a brief update on O2 grades. Oceana has had some big wins in 2022. Here are a few quick updates. The Nation's Attic next vintage dive gear auction is set for December 10, 2022. There are some interes...

The Emperor penguin is now on the US endangered species list due to habitat loss and could be extinct by 2100 if we don't curb greenhouse gas. According to the latest statistics from DEMA - new diver certifications for Q3 2022 are down by about 4.8% from Q3 2023 and the trend continues to go down. There was a new shipwreck discovered in Lake Superior. The whaleback barge 129 was found off Whitefis...

Halycon now has a new color to customize your wing - Tie Dye. You can check it out on their website. Divers Alert Network is having the DAN Party at the DEMA Show this year. It will be on Tuesday November 1 at 6:30 at the Rosen Center. Erik Petkovic on M/V Explorer recently found a World War I German U-boat off the coast of Virginia. The Travel and Leisure Show is introducing a Dive and Water Spor...

The PADI Club trip to Key Largo in Florida was a great success with about 30 divers making three great stops in Key Largo, Islamorada, and Key West. The Florida Keys Tourism Council has put out a new video - "Dive Safely in the Florida Keys featuring Steven Frink and Dan Dawson. There is a new dive operator in South Maui - Island Style Diving. Javier and Christina Cantellops have purchased Mike Se...

The Beaufort Gyre is a whirlpool in the Arctic that stores fresh water, sea ice and heat as it rotates. Every five to ten years the current changes direction and releases this sea ice and fresh water into the North Atlantic. There is an issue. It hasn't reversed in over twenty years. When it finally does release, there will be greater impacts to Europe and the North Atlantic fisheries. NOAA's Flor...