News
Free program introduces Riviera Beach kids to undersea wonders at top Florida dive site
In years of diving at the Blue Heron Bridge, Jim Abernethy and Dan Volker often surfaced to find kids running to the edge of the water, asking what they’d seen and begging to try on their masks.
The divers wanted a way for the children to see it themselves. So they started Project Seahorse, a program that offers free swimming, snorkeling and scuba diving lessons at the bridge to youngsters who live in Riviera Beach.
“Instead of coming up to us and asking what we saw, they’ll have diving in their hearts and souls,” Volker said.
After months of planning, Project Seahorse launched last week. It has the backing of several city and county agencies, but was paid for by Jim Abernethy’s Scuba Adventures and a few donors.
Approximately 50 school-age kids turned up Thursday and Friday to explore the wonders beneath the Blue Heron Bridge, in Phil Foster Park. They were amazed by what they found: seahorses, jellyfish, octopus, starfish and barracudas.
“It was awesome,” said Paul Robinson, 8.
Although the diving spot under the Blue Heron Bridge is considered one of the best in the world, most of the kids had never experienced it. That seemed wrong to the organizers of Project Seahorse.
“Most of these kids have never put a snorkel in their mouth,” said Jonathan Dickinson, owner of West Palm Beach-based Florida Freedivers, which provided snorkeling lessons. “A lot of them were excited about just being able to experience this new world that they see from the surface but never underwater.”
“It’s like you’re living in Vail, Colorado and you’re not skiing,” said Volker.
Volker wants every kid in Riviera Beach to get the chance to see what’s below the surface, and develop a connection with the ocean. That way, maybe they’ll care about conserving it.
“We’ll have this army of little kids looking after this area,” Volker said.
He and other organizers are hoping to expand the program and offer the snorkel and scuba lessons at least twice a year, at the beginning and end of summer. The event was also filmed for a planned documentary aimed at raising awareness of the diving spot.
Volker and others said the first set of lessons was a success. As the day wrapped up Friday, they joked that it was tough to get the kids out of the water.
“The main thing I wanted,” 11-year-old Jamarri Brown said, “was a little more time.”
To find out more about Project Seahorse, visit www.projectseahorse-bhb.org.
Source: www.sun-sentinel.com
Over the next 12 months, specialist scuba holiday company Dive Worldwide will be supporting Bite-Back Shark & Marine Conservation with donations collected from client bookings to any one of its stunning dive destinations around the world. The independently-owned operator expects to raise £3000 for the UK charity.
Manager at Dive Worldwide, Phil North, said: “We’re especially excited to work with Bite-Back and support its intelligent, creative and results-driven campaigns to end the UK trade in shark products and prompt a change in attitudes to the ocean’s most maligned inhabitant.”
Bite-Back is running campaigns to hold the media to account on the way it reports shark news along with a brand new nationwide education programme. Last year the charity was credited for spearheading a UK ban on the import and export of shark fins.
Campaign director at Bite-Back, Graham Buckingham, said: “We’re enormously grateful to Dive Worldwide for choosing to support Bite-Back. The company’s commitment to conservation helps set it apart from other tour operators and we’re certain its clients admire and respect that policy. For us, the affiliation is huge and helps us look to the future with confidence we can deliver against key conservation programmes.”
To launch the fundraising initiative, Phil North presented Graham Buckingham with a cheque for £1,000.
Visit Dive Worldwide to discover its diverse range of international scuba adventures and visit Bite-Back to learn more about the charity’s campaigns.
MORE INFORMATION
Call Graham Buckingham on 07810 454 266 or email graham@bite-back.com
Free Octopus with every purchase of a SCUBAPRO regulator system
Just in time for the spring season, divers can save money with the FREE OCTOPUS SPRING PROMOTION! Until July 31st SCUBAPRO offers an Octopus for free
with every purchase of a regulator system!
Get a free S270 OCTOPUS with purchase of these combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with A700
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with S620Ti
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with D420
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MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with G260
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SCUBAPRO offers a 30-year first owner warranty on all regulators, with a revision period of two years or 100 dives. All SCUBAPRO regulators are of course certified according to the new European test standard EN250-2014.
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More information available on www.scubapro.com.
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