The final stop of my summer internship landed me in Lexington, Michigan where I stayed with Jim and Pat Stayer. Jim and Pat are diving and videography experts with lots of experience in these fields. I enjoyed diving with them in Lake Huron, exploring the wrecks that lie below. I dove on three of the…
Newfoundland also had lots of wreck diving to offer. I was lucky to make two dives on the PLM-27. Located off the coast of Bell Island, this ship was sunk in World War II and is one of four wrecks with a similar story. I loved exploring this wreck – the largest I had ever…
One of the highlights of my trip to Newfoundland was receiving my sidemount certification with OceanQuest instructor Mark McGowan. I had never before tried sidemount diving, but in the span of three days I discovered and practiced this style of diving. I enjoyed my five certification dives in locations where we saw interesting wildlife like…
From the warm waters of Bonaire, I made a quick transition to northeastern Canada where I spent a week in Newfoundland with Rick Stanley, his wife, Debbie, and OceanQuest Adventures. I had never before visited Canada, so I was thrilled to begin exploring right away with a snorkel around historic Bell Island. Rick took me…
The island of Bonaire had lots to offer as a unique destination to explore. In between dives, I had the opportunity to visit ‘downtown’ Bonaire a number of times. Lining the tight, colorful streets were lots of shops and restaurants. In one store, I found my favorite flavor of soda: bubblegum. Throughout the course of…
Alongside diving on my free time and with the adults, there was lots of time to be spent in the water with the stars of the week: the kids! Kids Sea Camp offered many different courses throughout the week for children of all ages. I was lucky enough to spend a bit of time with…
While in Bonaire, I was able to log a total of nine incredible dives, bringing my dive log up to its one hundred and fourth page. A few things are rather predictable in Bonaire: warm water (typically in the low 80s), great visibility, lots of tropical fish, and lively, spirited divers. Yet amidst these known…
My first two days at the National Aquarium were exciting and full of diving and getting involved with Aquarium operations. My first morning, Holly took me into the Atlantic Coral Reef (ACR) exhibit for a checkout dive. We practiced basic skills including buoyancy, mask removal, weight removal, and BCD removal. After this, I explored the…
My third day at the National Aquarium kicked off with an early dive in the Shark Alley exhibit which features sandbar, sand tigers, and nurse sharks as well as sawfish and crevalle jacks. Though the sharks were gated off while we completed our work, it was still lots of fun to be in the water…
In addition to the action packed days with Holly at the National Aquarium, my visit to Baltimore afforded me the opportunity to explore the city and the Inner Harbor region where the Aquarium is located. The Inner Harbor area is home to many interesting and historical buildings and landmarks. I spent some time walking through…
It was great to go back to Undersea Divers and volunteer at the shop for a few days. I enjoyed reconnecting with Whitney and Shaun and helping them out with an array of different tasks. By the end of my time at Undersea Divers, I knew the shop much better and gained a greater understanding…
I was excited to get in the water with Mike Lodise from Backscatter and try out my new GoPro rig. The setup that Backscatter has donated for my internship consists of a Hero 3+ camera in a dual-grip tray with two Sola 2000 video lights. Mike took me diving at Nubble Lighthouse in York, ME…
My second day with Rick we dove at familiar dive site, Fort Wetherill. This day was dedicated to practicing new skills such as fin maneuvers, properly using my new reel, and deploying surface marker buoys. I learned how to use my fins to frog kick and even move in reverse. These techniques can be useful…
I was lucky to spend two days with accomplished diver and former Frank Scalli Intern, Rick Simon. Rick has an incredible amount of dive experience especially in the fields of technical and commercial diving. He passed a number of tips along to me and certainly made me a better diver. I look forward to hopefully…
Today, I completed my DFA Pro course with instructor and friend Chris Millbern. Chris is an EMT, so there was no one better to teach me this hands on class; he had lots of personal insight to offer. This course provides divers with the knowledge and skills necessary to conduct primary care at the professional level….
I was excited to dive with Vin again. This time I was able to observe and take part in his work with the Department of Marine Fisheries to monitor the health of artificial reefs at Sculpin Ledge in Boston Harbor. Our day started bright and early at the State Pier in Gloucester, MA. We then…
Last Wednesday, I had the opportunity to dive with Ted Maney, a biology instructor and underwater researcher at Salem State University. I participated with two of his graduate students in an ongoing sea urchin survey project at Halfway Rock, a landmark roughly halfway between Gloucester and Boston. The urchin count began over 40 years ago…
I had a great time with Mike Lodise while visiting Backscatter East in Derry, New Hampshire. Backscatter is a company which specializes in underwater photo and video. They have another location in Monterey, California, which I hope to visit in the future. During my time with Mike, I learned quite a bit about the mechanics…
For our second day of diving, Vin took me (and Chris) to King’s Beach in Rhode Island. Our mission for the day was to acquaint me with my new Diving Unlimited International (DUI) drysuit and with some of the techniques and skills necessary to be a successful drysuit diver. (A big thanks goes out to…
When I heard Vin would be taking me out to dive in Rhode Island, I was really excited. Despite being born and raised in the Boston area, I had never actually been diving in the New England region. Having never scuba dived in water much colder than 75 degrees, I wasn’t sure what to expect….
Two of my days at the Aquarium were spent with the Animal Health Department and the Turtle Rehab Facility in Quincy. Both of these departments focused on the medical and veterinary aspects of animal care. During my time with the Animal Health Department, I assisted with the examination of four large anacondas. As part of…
During the heart of my time at the Aquarium, I spent one day each in some very distinct galleries. I first worked with the Penguins Department, responsible for the husbandry of the Rockhopper, African, and Little Blue penguins. In this gallery, I helped feed the birds after preparing their breakfast and lunch of silversides and…
I kicked off my time at the New England Aquarium (NEAq) by spending a day with my host, Dan Dolan, in the Dive department, which manages the Aquarium’s iconic Giant Ocean Tank. Working with Dan was tons of fun, and the Saturday volunteers and staff with whom I worked were truly a charismatic group of…
I recently visited Undersea Divers in Beverly, MA to get fitted for lots of new dive gear that I am excited to use during my internship! My new, Henderson 7 mm wetsuit fits like a glove — and so do my new gloves! I love my Aqua Lung fins which have a spring-loaded strap, making them very easy…