News
US Divers map submerged train wrecks in Delaware River
Two train wrecks submerged in the Delaware River are being mapped during a training exercise this week with the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area’s dive team.
In May 1948 and September 1975, train cars went off the track and into the river near Kittatinny Point. One was carrying a load of Miller beer, and old beer bottles can still be seen in one of the wrecks, said Michael Croll, park dive officer.
But don’t bother diving for beer, said Croll. The bottle caps rusted off long ago and many bottles are now filled with silt.
Every three years, the National Park Service requires divers to have 40 hours of refresher training. This week, the dive team’s six members are undergoing that training. The team will be expanded to 10 over the next few years as training continues, and four members are now certified in under-ice diving.
Joining the training session are two park service employees from Isle Royale National Park in Michigan. Isle Royale, in Lake Superior, is home to more than 10 shipwrecks and other submerged vessels.
In addition to search-and-rescue and recovery operations, park service scuba divers are also involved in natural and cultural resource inventory, such as mapping submerged cultural resources and monitoring aquatic invasive species. Divers also help public safety by installing navigational aids like buoys and channel markers, and perform maintenance like dam and pier inspections.
There are 27 park dive programs and about 225 park service divers in the US said Steve Sellers, the National Dive Safety Officer for the park service. Sellers works with the National Dive Control Board and oversees all safety aspects of diving in the NPS.
Most team members dive as a collateral duty and do other tasks for the NPS, said Sellers, who travels around the country training divers. The training team also includes Bert Ho, an archeologist with the NPS Submerged Resources Center.
Much of the training will take place in the classroom, where the science of scuba diving is covered, including physiology, physics, mathematics and medical treatment of diving illnesses and injuries.
The team will map the trains this week and learn how to use a portable decompression chamber to treat pressure-related injuries.
Paul Brown of Isle Royale said the river, at 57°F on Tuesday, seemed warm to him, compared to the chilly Great Lake where he usually dives. He also noted that visibility in Lake Superior is better than in the Delaware River.
Seller likened it to diving in iced tea or cola, with visibility up to 15 feet on good days. But at its deepest, about 60 feet, Delaware River divers will experience black-out conditions and must work by touch.
Source: www.poconorecord.com
Photos: Sue Beyer
News
Dive Worldwide Announces Bite-Back as its Charity of the Year
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
Gear News
Scubapro Free Octopus Promotion 2024
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