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So, I picked up a used reef tank about a month ago. It’s still sitting in the garage, but I’m starting to gather parts for it.

• 65 gallon tall AGA Reef Ready aquarium (36″W X 18″ W X 24″ H)
• 4 light T5 retrofitted hood and 1 Workhorse ballast
• Sump (old wet/dry, but I’ll probably try to turn it into a refugium)
• T1 velocity Pump
• Seio pump

I’m trying to take my time and plan this one out. It will be replacing my current 29G Truvu tank.

In contract with efforts to turn ships into reefs, where planning and environmental studies are taken into account, there are still ship wrecks formed the old fashion way, by accident.  A recent article Wrecks harming reefs, warn environmentalists from the Taipei Times (via UnderwaterTimes) highlights the dangers of ships as well as their cargo and fuel causing long-term damage to reefs when abandoned or not cleaned up in a timely manner.

The Oriskany is probably already on the bottom off Florida’s coast. At 10:24 AM EDT, the first explosions went off to start its journey to the bottom below. The Pensecola News Journal provides a live update:
11 a.m.: The bow is sticking up, straining the heavy metal anchor lines. The port side bow line apears to be submerged. Clouds of debris can be seen moving out of the hangar deck. The stern is totally submerged. Large bubbling frothy water at the stern. The bow is heavily inclined upward. Clouds of smoke and debris. The ship is halfway submerged. Towlines are straining at the bow. Stern totally submerged. Air is rushing to the surfance. Oriskany is almost three quarters submerged…

A one mile safety perimeter is set up for the onlooking boats which include many Korean War veterans that served aboard ship. Also, as an interesting side note, Twelve Oriskany pilots were taken a POWs during the Korean War. One of them was Senator John McCain.

Recreational divers will not be allowed to dive the wreck for 48 hours, which I assume is for safety reasons to let it settle. Navy Divers will check the wreck and its final resting location tomorrow.

Ghost Pipe Fish

Originally uploaded by cq275.

Can you guess which way this fish is facing? The Ghost Pipe Fish (Solenostomus paradoxus) is in the bony fish class and Syngnathiformes order (for those of you rusty on biology - kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species). Here is some more information on Pipe Fishes.

The Oriskany is an ongoing project to turn the former aircraft carrier into the largest man-made reef in the world. The Oriskany will be sunk about 22 miles off the Pensecola coast in Florida in 212′ of water. No worries for those of you that do not deep dive. The top of the structure, will be in 55′ of water and the flight deck at 130′, which lies within recreational dive limits. Read more about the project here.

Cangrejo de Porcelana

Originally uploaded by festeban.

Felix Esteban, from Spain has some amazing pictures, many of which include dive-related photography such as this Porcelain Crab and anemone.

The WSJ had the headline on its Pursuits section “The Navy’s Unlikely Role in Underwater Tourism”. I expected to turn to a retrospective on the Navy dive tables and research that are used as the basis for much of diving theory today. However, it was actually an article “You Sank My Tourist Attraction” (subscription required). It details the number of ships that have been sunk to become articificial reefs and the financial benefit many towns are seeing by attracting divers who spend as muc as $200 a day (yes, that even sounds a little low for some of the trips I’ve taken). It sounds like the economics are coming closer on pure costs in terms of scrapping costs verses cleaning the ships for use as artificial reefs. The issues include past ships not properly cleaned of leaking fluids, shifting of wrecks during storms, and problems while sinking.

As a Canon owner, I came across the Canon Underwater Photography Guide. This site offers great tips for photo techiques, pre and post-dive equipment care, as well as touching up prints. It is actually a good place to get started when looking for tips on underwater photography.

Each vacation that includes diving is an excuse to purchase one new piece of gear. The last time around, we decided to finally buy our own wetsuits. After a lot of browsing, we decided to get the Henderson Premium 3mm shorties. They had a comfortable fit, easy to get in and out of, and we got a great deal through ScubaToys. We decided on the Premium line because it was the best value for the money. Our diving consists of one or two vacation trips a year. Therefore, we did not feel we needed to shell out the two or three hundred that you can spend on the high-end lines of wetsuits. The choice would probably be different for divers who go on a more regular basis.

We’re getting for a trip to Hawaii this year. It’s mostly a topside vacation to Maui. However, we’re hoping to squeeze in some scuba diving and hitting Molokini Crater. For the dive portion of the trip, I started with my usual, which is hitting ScubaBoard, and in this case, the Hawai’i O’Hana forum to do a little research.

Here is some useful information on Maui shore diving information. There are basic pictures, directions, and most important - comments and reviews from other divers.

The Dive Operators that discussed often are:

• Ed Robinsons out of Kihei has gotten good reviews. There are two 30-foot boats that hold up to 12 divers max with trips out to Molokini. They have gotten excellent remarks about the marine briefings.
• B&B Scuba, owned by Brad & Blesi Varney, out of Kihei, seems to get great reviews for personal and spectacular service.
• Lahaina Divers runs a large operation out of Lahaina (of course). They take over 20 people per trip, which I would consider a cattle boat. However, the reviews say that their 46-foot boats do not feel crowded and offer the most comfortable rides on Maui. They also offer the most trips to Lanai diving sport from Maui.