Stop for a moment, and think of others. Put the anger, the hardness, the walls of your life aside and be thankful for the grace that you have. . . . But don’t stop there, step outside of yourself.
Remember the parable, “I complained because I had no shoes. . . and then I met a man who had no feet”
Think how lucky you are to have your limbs, to be able to walk, to be able to see, to be able to stand upright.
The Scuba Diver Girls, in conjunction with K2 Scuba want to put the heart back into the scuba industry with charitable giving!
The Diveheart Foundation has a need for scuba gear to train disabled divers! These items are displayed on our special featured products page where you can purchase them and we will ship them directly to Diveheart.
Here are some examples of what Diveheart needs from you!
A K2 service specialist will be contacting you after you have made your purchase, however feel free to add any special instructions or comments upon checkout.
Buying Dive Gear for Yourself? You Can Still Help!!!
Receive 10% off most items purchased, plus 10% of any profits will then be donated to the Diveheart Foundation!
More About Diveheart
Diveheart is an incredible organization and it is the “CAN DO” spirit that Diveheart hopes to instill in all its participants by giving them the confidence and independence that allows them to face their own life challenges and overcome barriers that before might have seemed insurmountable.
Through SCUBA diving, the Diveheart Foundation supports and facilitates programs that teach children and adults with disabilities and the military wounded to fly. Thanks to the wonder of the water column, the oceans and lakes of the world become the forgiving weightless environment of outer space, giving perfect buoyancy to a child or adult who would otherwise struggle on land.
LET ME SAY THIS AGAIN: You are going to buy gear. . . buy your gear AND feel good about the fact that you are teaching a wheelchair bound child to dive, you are helping a wounded warrior to feel the freedom of weightlessness.
AND, we are going to give you a discount at that. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
I ask, no expect, no. . .demand your comments!
What other worthy charities should we know about?
What other causes are near and dear to your heart?
The Tribe K2, in conjunction with the ScubaDiverGirls know your heart. . . and it is good!
Savvy Dive Travelers and the TSA Rules and Regulations
DiverWire senior contributing editor John Flanders and boss man at Academy of Scuba did some research this week on scuba travel and related challenges. In the first of a three-part series, he looks at TSA restrictions and their impact on divers.
Traveling with Scuba gear offers many challenges. However, the thought of using rental gear on that “dive trip of a life-time” is enough to make an Open Water Diver cringe. The good news is you CAN bring scuba gear on-board an aircraft – however a savvy traveler understands the TSA rules and airline baggage restrictions.
First let’s look at the Transportation Security Authority (TSA) rules and restrictions. The TSA has nothing to do with weight considerations, but everything about what you can carry on to an aircraft and what you check in the cargo hold. Travelers may bring regulators, buoyancy compensators and masks, snorkels and fins as carry-on or checked baggage. In fact, it is quite surprising how easily these items pass through the TSA scanners without a wink of scrutiny from the TSA personnel. As a rule, all traveling divers should carry on their Scuba regulators, computers and submersible pressure gauges. These items are part of the life support system and shouldn’t be left to possible damage in the airplane’s cargo hold. If you wouldn’t check your laptop computer, why would you check your dive computer? For travelers who need their pony bottle, Spare Air™, or rebreather bottles at their destination, there is good news: Compressed Scuba cylinders are allowed in checked baggage or as a carry-on only if the regulator valve is completely disconnected from the cylinder and the cylinder is no longer sealed (i.e. the cylinder has an open end). The cylinder must have an opening to allow for a visual inspection inside. I tape the end of the Scuba cylinder with “painter’s tape” and attach a note to the TSA security officer to replace it after inspection. To date, I have not had an issue doing this. As a rule, TSA Security Officers will not remove the seal or regulator valve from the cylinder at the checkpoint. If the cylinder is sealed (i.e. the regulator valve is still attached), the cylinder is prohibited and not permitted through the security checkpoint, regardless of the reading on the pressure gauge indicator. TSA Security Officers must visibly ensure that the cylinder is completely empty and that there are no prohibited items inside.
Of course, it is no surprise, that dive tools (a.k.a knives) are prohibited from carry-on luggage. These items should be packed in checked luggage. If you travel with a small tool pouch or spare parts kit, you should check those items as well. Spear guns are prohibited from carry-on luggage. These items should be packed in checked luggage. A quick tip, knives and spear guns cannot be brought to a security checkpoint. Pack these items in your checked baggage. If you bring these items to a checkpoint, there it is almost guaranteed that the TSA will confiscate them and a fair chance that you may miss your flight while being detained by the TSA. Like any other baggage, Scuba bags will be scanned and probably hand searched by TSA officials. Do not pack anything suspicious. As always, safety being the highest priority, the TSA requests that all Scuba divers should sheath or securely wrap any sharp objects you pack in your checked luggage to prevent it from injuring baggage handlers and security officers.
The TSA has gone to great lengths to inform travelers and specifically traveling Scuba divers. To learn more about TSA rules, information and prohibited items please visit www.tsa.gov.
From 2003 to 2008, an international research team led by University of Alaska-Fairbanks scientists Natalia Shakhova and Igor Semiletov surveyed the waters of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf, which covers more than two million sq km of seafloor in the Arctic Ocean.
"This discovery reveals a large but overlooked source of methane gas escaping from permafrost underwater, rather than on land," the study says. "More widespread emissions could have dramatic effects on global warming."
Earlier studies in Siberia had focused on methane escaping from thawing permafrost on land.
Scientists have long thought the permafrost under the East Siberian Arctic Shelf acted as an impermeable barrier that sealed in methane, a powerful greenhouse gas 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
But the research team’s observations showed that the permafrost submerged on the shelf was perforated and leaking large amounts of methane.
More than 80 per cent of the deep water and more than half of the surface water had methane levels about eight times higher than found in normal seawater, according to the study published in the journal Science.
The release of even a fraction of the methane could trigger abrupt climate warming. Current average methane concentrations in the Arctic average about 1.85 parts per million, the highest in 400,000 years, said Dr Shakhova.
In Australia, where the danger of the deadly jellyfish is not ignored, beaches known to be infested have signs warning people when to swim and when not to.
The box jelly fish is clear as glass and prefers shallow water with sand bottoms – just like the millions of tourists coming to Thailand every year.
Nine year old Swedish girl Ida was nearly killed in yet another attack of the deadly box jellyfish in Thailand. Only the fast action of a Swedish fire-fighter likewise on vacation in Thailand, saved her life. The incident took place on Koh Mak near Koh Chang. This is significant, because previously all attacks and deaths by box jellyfish have been in the Andaman sea. With this incident, the Gulf of Siam can obviously no longer be considered box jellyfish free waters. The ordeal of Ida and her parents are described in detail in an article in Swedish language in Aftonbladet (http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article6723047.ab ) The Rosenberg family from Tyringe in the southern part of Sweden had just started their winter vacation in Thailand. Jenny, 36, and her husband Frederick Rosenberg, 35, were out snorkelling in the waters off Koh Mak Island. Their daughter Ida was splashing around in the water closer to the beach. Suddenly the parents heard her screaming in pain. “We started swimming like mad towards the shore," the mother told Aftonbladet. When they reached their daughter Ida, she was already unconscious on the beach. The fire fighter Anders Brunzell, 42, was fighting desperately to save her life. Ida’s heart had stopped beating by an allergic shock from the dangerous jellyfish. The Swedish fire-fighter explains: “I and my family were sunbathing a bit away. We ran to Ida and saw that her right leg was completely covered with long threads, like glass noodles. There was only one thing to do," says Anders who with his wife Marie began to rip off the tentacles with their bare hands. Anders, who works as a fire-fighter in Stockholm, began heart massage and mouth-to-mouth first aid. He then ordered staff at the nearby hotel to get vinegar which will stop the tentacles of jellyfish from stinging more. He also borrowed oxygen from the hotels scuba diving school. “The only problem was that the oxygen mask was made for diving, so it did not work, "says Anders. But little Ida woke up thanks to the fire-fighter and his professional skills. Then Ida was carried to a boat which brought her to the mainland, where an ambulance was waiting and brought her to a hospital.
Today, two days after the jellyfish attack, Ida is doing fine under the circumstances. She is conscious again, but is badly burned on the leg and other body parts. Over the next few days, she and her mother Jenny will stay at the hospital in Trat for observation. “Because she was unconscious for so long, the hospital staff is worried that she has had brain damage. She is a bit groggy and still has a fever. But, everything else seems okay”, says Jenny. Jenny is grateful for the Thai health care, and for Anders’s rapid action. "What do you say to a man who has saved the life of one’s daughter? There are no words to describe my emotions. But one thing is clear, were it not for him, Ida had been dead today.” But she is critical that the hotels did not warn tourists of the dangerous jellyfish, although several people have died earlier. “No signs, no information. The day after Ida was burnt I was told that people were down there in the water at the same place swimming again. This should not be allowed to go on”. “On the other hand, I myself have read in the newspaper back in Sweden about similar events in Thailand. But as with everything else one thinks that "it does not happen to me". Stupid really," Jenny admits.
What to do if you are attacked by the jellyfish? Somchai Bussarawit, Chief of Reference Collection at the PMBC’s Phuket Aquarium, is working with the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute in Australia to identify the collected specimens. His advice to victims of the jellyfish is: Any person who has suffered a possible box jellyfish sting should get out of the water as soon as possible, have his or her pulse rate monitored, and undergo cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in the event of heart failure. * The sting should immediately be treated with vinegar to stop further injection of the toxin, the PMBC advises. * Do not rub or scratch the site of the sting or apply fresh water or alcohol to it, the PMBC advises. * Dr Somchai reiterated that there have been no box jellyfish sightings on west coast beaches, where the seawater is generally too saline an environment for box jellies. However, he advises seaside resorts to keep many bottles of vinegar as a standard part of their first aid kits as it is effective in treating stings from other kinds of less venomous jellyfish. Not all attacks are deadly The pdf file in this link informs scientifically and in depth about the life cycle and precautions one should take in relations to the box jellyfish. Some beaches extends nets from the shore into the water which will hold the grown jellyfish out. Click to read the full report: http://scandasia.com/upload_files/cubo_brochure.pdf
Thanks Andrea from Kathy of www.kirkscubagear.com for her review and background information about the documentary “The Cove”.
There are some images that cannot be unseen, and some pain that cannot be healed. Ric O’Barry has spent the last 3 decades trying to right a wrong that led to the slaughter of tens of thousands of the world’s most loved cetaceans in a small cove tucked away in a remote corner of Japan. Following the death of Cathy, more commonly known to the rest of the world as Flipper, O’Barry, the trainer who helped capture and train the dolphins who took turns playing Flipper on the popular television series, has been arrested countless times in countries around the world trying to free captive dolphins. “I spent ten years building that industry up and I spent the last thirty five years trying to tear it down,” reflects O’Barry. After the series was cancelled, Cathy took up residence in the Miami Seaquarium, but the reality of living in captivity turned out to be more than she could bear. One day she swam into O’Barry’s arms, took a deep breath and died. From that day forward, O’Barry has been a thorn in the side of one of the largest industries in the world, and has worked tirelessly to put an end to it.
But none of that could compare to the horror that is taking place in Taiji Japan. Thousands of dolphins are driven into the small cove in Taiji, where dolphin trainers from around the world take their pick of dolphins to grace various aquariums and tourist attractions around the world. The rest are slaughtered by means of handheld harpoons and their meat is sold as whale meat. At first, the dolphin meat was being served to Japanese school children as part of their mandatory school lunch program. As dolphin meat contains dangerously high levels of mercury, it became clear why the Japanese government wanted to keep this quiet. When two local town councillors learned of this, they spoke out about it, and since then dolphin meat has been removed from school lunches.
When O’Barry learned what was happening in this remote cove, he immediately travelled to Japan, enlisting the help of the Oceanic Preservation Society. Working together, they brought together a team of filmmakers to capture the slaughter on film and in doing so inspire the world to put a stop to the senseless deaths of these inoffensive creatures.
This documentary is at times hair raising, following the team as they go into the cove under cover of night, deploying hidden cameras while trying to remain undetected by the nearby fishermen. The reason for their concern is obvious, a number of years ago a fellow activist of O’Barry was strangled to death after O’Barry was taken to hospital during a hunger strike. Fortunately, the team was successful in their endeavour, and the documentary was filmed.
While I found this film to be extremely difficult to watch, I am glad that I did. If I had not seen these images for myself, I am not sure I would have been able to believe that such an atrocity was taking place anyplace in the world, let alone in a country as advanced and civilized as Japan. When the filmmakers approached and spoke with the general Japanese public, none of the people they spoke with were aware of what was happening, and expressed disbelief, which was followed by shock and horror after being shown images from Taiji.
What makes the slaughter even more unbearable to comprehend, is when one considers the level of consciousness, intelligence and self awareness that dolphins possess. While they are pinned in this small cove, they are aware of what is happening around them, and what is about to happen to them. This elevates the slaughter to the degree of mass murder in the views of some. My best advice to you is to grab a very large box of tissue, watch the film, and decide for yourself. I cannot pretend that I have not seen this take place, and I cannot ignore that it is still taking place to this day, unless of course we take steps to stop it. It’s up to you. It’s up to us.
The Scuba Diver Girls, in conjunction with K2 Scuba want to put the heart back into the scuba industry with charitable giving!
Diveheart is an incredible organization and it is the “CAN DO” spirit that Diveheart hopes to instill in all its participants by giving them the confidence and independence that allows them to face their own life challenges and overcome barriers that before might have seemed insurmountable.
Through SCUBA diving, the Diveheart Foundation supports and facilitates programs that teach children and adults with disabilities and the military wounded to fly. Thanks to the wonder of the water column, the oceans and lakes of the world become the forgiving weightless environment of outer space, giving perfect buoyancy to a child or adult who would otherwise struggle on land.
Scientists have long thought the permafrost under the East Siberian Arctic Shelf acted as an impermeable barrier that sealed in methane, a powerful greenhouse gas 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
The ordeal of Ida and her parents are described in detail in an article in Swedish language in Aftonbladet (
only one thing to do," says Anders who with his wife Marie began to rip off the tentacles with their bare hands. 
“No signs, no information. The day after Ida was burnt I was told that people were down there in the water at the same place swimming again. This should not be allowed to go on”. 
