News
Nominations now open for 2018 DAN Rolex Diver of the Year Award
Nominations for the 2018 DAN Rolex Diver of the Year Award are now open until 31 December.
Bill Ziefle, President and CEO of DAN said:
“DAN’s mission is to help divers who need emergency medical assistance and to promote dive safety through research, education, products and services. But, we don’t do that in a vacuum. There are millions of divers safely enjoying the underwater world because of individuals who work tirelessly – and often thanklessly — behind the scenes every day to ensure they can. We want those individuals to know their work is appreciated. If you know a deserving individual, please take the time to show your appreciation by nominating them for this award.”
The DAN Rolex Diver of the Year Award began as a grant to DAN in the late 1980s to recognize its important work for dive safety. Over the years, it evolved into an annual award, complete with specially engraved Rolex watch, that acknowledges individual contributions to diving and dive safety.
The award is presented to “… an individual who has made significant contributions to dive safety and/or the DAN mission over the past year.”
As the 2018 DAN Rolex Diver of the Year, the recipient joins a veritable who’s who of dive physicians, educators, and scientists – men and women who are committed to ensuring divers safely continue to enjoy diving.
The 2018 DAN Rolex Diver of the Year award recipient is selected by a committee including DAN President and CEO Bill Ziefle, senior DAN staff, at-large DAN Board members, Rolex representatives, and past award winners. All qualified nominees will be notified on 12 January 2018. The winner of the 2018 DAN Rolex Diver of the Year Award will be notified of this honor by 2 February 2018.
The 2018 DAN Rolex Diver of the Year receives an all-expenses-paid trip to the 2018 Beneath the Sea Dive Show in Secaucus, New Jersey, March 23-25, and a custom-engraved Oyster Perpetual Rolex Dive Watch. Rolex will also generously donate $15,000 to DAN to fund this experience and to support the essential safety initiatives DAN provides through medical research, services, safety education and first-aid training.
Candidates can be nominated by completing an application that showcases their contributions to dive safety. Nominations can be submitted by email to Garrett Broyles at gbroyles@dan.org no later than 31 December 2017. Full details on the application process can be found here.
Source: www.divenewswire.com
Blogs
TRAVEL BLOG: Jeff Goodman Dives SOMABAY, Part 3
Today we are diving one of the outer reefs from an inflatable. As we reach the bottom, a reef octopus eases its way into the cover of a small crack in the coral while displaying it’s incredible ability to change colour. They are arguably one of the most charismatic of reef dwellers and it is always exciting for me to simply hover and watch. I would have spent longer and waited for it to come and investigate me, but as dive time is limited we wanted to move on and find a turtle.
The waters around Somabay are well protected and hold a rich variety of marine life. The reef edges are thriving colonies of coral and shoaling fish, while nearer the sea bed plenty of wildlife is still to be found.
Then we located the turtles. They are very used to divers and so show little concern when slowly approached. In fact occasionally one will come over to see what you are doing. There is always huge excitement when diving with a turtle. The shear thrill of sharing a moment with another species.
What a fantastic way to finish a wonderful few days diving and I would like to thank SOMABAY, ORCA DIVING and THE BREAKERS for making my stay such a good one.
I had a great time, with diving everyday either on the house reef or on one of the offshore reefs by inflatable or larger day boat. Orca diving provided high quality equipment and facilities while the staff were all very friendly and welcoming. The Breakers was right on the coast with nice rooms, good food and once again friendly staff making the whole trip a real pleasure.
Soma Bay covers an entire peninsula and is home to several resorts as well as residential compounds.
As well as scuba diving, Somabay caters for many other sports and activities, and so is perfect for families as well as individuals and/or groups. And of course there is always time to lay peacefully on the beach under the Egyptian sun.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
Blogs
TRAVEL BLOG: Jeff Goodman Dives SOMABAY, Part 2
Day three of my trip to Somabay and we were spending the day on the Lady Christina and diving on the wreck of the Salem Express.
Diving wrecks for me is always one of mixed emotions. The excitement of diving a wreck is more than often tempered by the thought of loss of life when she sank. The Salem Express was a passenger ship and a roll-on/roll-off ferry travelling from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Safaga, Egypt. Most passengers were of poor class travelling home from their holidays while around 150 people were returning home from their pilgrimage to Mecca.
The ship struck a reef and sank within 20 minutes. Passengers were trapped below deck and the ship was filled with fear and panic.
The wreck area is strewn with personal belongings from the crew and passengers such as a transistor radio and a flat iron for clothes. A diver at sometime has put them in a prominent place to be seen.
Tragically only one life boat was launched while the others went down with the ship. More than 600 men, women and children lost their lives here.
It’s a stark reminder that the sea can be unforgiving and so when we dive on such wrecks we should do so with humble regard.
Returning to the surface, shoals of fish are gathered under our boat and seem to be welcoming us back into the light.
Back at the Breakers I sat in the dining area with a beer and a very good meal while my thoughts still remained with the day’s dive on the Salem Express.
Check in for part 3 tomorrow for Jeff’s last day of diving with Somabay on the off-shore reefs looking for turtles.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
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