The League of Extraordinary Divers Podcast

Retrieved from ScubaGuru - Expert Advice & Best Practices for Scuba Diving Professionals Joe Dituri – Hyperbaric Medicine Researcher & Exploration Legend In this episode of The League of Extraordinary Divers I chat with legendary hyperbaric medicine researcher and diving explorer Joe Dituri. Bio Commander Joseph Dituri enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1985. He served continuously on active service upon various ships and shore stations where he was involved in every aspect of diving and special operations work from saturation diving and deep submergence to submersible design and clearance diving. Now that he is retired from 28 years of active service to the United States, he is the president of the International Board of Undersea Medicine. He also volunteers his time as the CEO of the Association for Marine Exploration. He is an invited speaker on motivational, sea and space related topics. Joseph earned a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of South Carolina as well as a masters degree in Astronautical Engineering from Naval Post Graduate School in California. Additionally, he is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business and earned a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of South Florida. Joseph is the author of numerous diver-training manuals, a co-author of the book “Tao of Survival Underwater”, a contributing author to the Navy Diving Manual, and has been published in several journals including those produced by the American Society of Naval Engineers and American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. CDR Dituri was also a member of the prestigious special operations parachute demonstration team. He is a class “D” Licensed Sky Diver, a one atmosphere suit Pilot and a Level three certified Systems Engineer and Program Manager for the Department of Defense. Commander Dituri’s personal awards include: three Navy Achievement Medals, a Joint Service Achievement Medal, an Army Commendation Medal, four Navy Commendation Medals, a Joint Service Commendation Medal and a Joint Meritorious Service Medal. He is also a member of the American Bureau of Shipping Special Committee on Building and Classing Undersea Vehicles and Hyperbaric Systems and the National Offshore Advisor Committee for Commercial Diving Safety. Joseph enjoys writing books, skydiving and has a long-term goal of being a civilian astronaut. Items In This Podcast First scuba dive while changing zinc plates at the age of 10Career in US Navy divingFinding a new species of fishHyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and traumatic brain injuriesDrdeepsea.comUndersea Oxygen ClinicJoe’s new book Secrets In Depth Sponsor Special thanks to our episode sponsor Aggressor Adventures Thanks For Listening! Thank you for joining me again. Do you want to give a shout out to our guest on this podcast? Leave a note in the comments section below! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Please leave an honest review for The League of Extraordinary Divers podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! And, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. The post LXD062 : Joe Dituri appeared first on ScubaGuru.

Retrieved from ScubaGuru - Expert Advice & Best Practices for Scuba Diving Professionals Jeff Bozanic – Scientific Diving Legend In this episode of The League of Extraordinary Divers I chat with legendary scientific diver and explorer Jeff Bozanic. Today’s guest is one of the premiere scientific divers and explorers on the planet. Bio Jeffrey Bozanic is the president of Next Generation Services, where he provides consulting and training services in the diving market. Clients include rebreather manufacturers, training agencies and legal agencies. Bozanic has participated in or led more than 70 diving expeditions in the past 30 years, to places like Palau, the Canary Islands and Antarctica. He was certified as a NAUI Instructor in 1978 and is active in teaching cave diving, rebreather, nitrox, decompression and trimix diving courses. He has published extensively on diving education topics, with a heavy emphasis on diving safety. Bozanic has edited and reviewed many diving textbooks and is the author of Mastering Rebreathers, as well as the senior Technical Editor of the NOAA Diving Manual. He has served on several boards of directors in the diving community, including as Chairman of the NSS-CDS, Vice Chairman of NAUI and Treasurer of the AAUS. He currently serves on the TDI Technical Advisory Committee and on multiple diving control boards.In 2007, he was honored as the DAN/Rolex Diver of the Year, and in 2015, he was the recipient of the AAUS Conrad Limbaugh Award for Scientific Diving Leadership. In 2018 Beneath the Sea selected him as the Diver of the Year Science. Items In This Podcast Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea InspirationHigh school scuba classScuba dredging for gold camping tripScouting helped with diving successUnderwater gold mining in the Bolivian jungleRebreathers in the industryMexican cave adventure with a speedo, machete and poison ivyAntartica naked ice dive photo shootFavorite diving locationsJeffery.Bozanic facebook“Mastering Rebreathers” Best PublishingExpeditions Sponsor Special thanks to our episode sponsor Aggressor Adventures Thanks For Listening! Thank you for joining me again. Do you want to give a shout out to our guest on this podcast? Leave a note in the comments section below! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Please leave an honest review for The League of Extraordinary Divers podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! And, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. The post LXD061 : Jeff Bozanic appeared first on ScubaGuru.

Retrieved from ScubaGuru - Expert Advice & Best Practices for Scuba Diving Professionals Nadia Aly – Underwater Photographer and Expedition Legend In this episode of The League of Extraordinary Divers I chat with legendary photographer and expedition leader Nadia Aly. Today’s guest is the founder and creative talent behind diving’s largest social media brand – I’m sure you’ve heard of it – ScubaDiverLife Bio Nadia Aly is an award winning wildlife photographer, with a focus on underwater marine life. Her primary goal is to educate people globally, about the diverse populations of sea creatures that exist in our oceans. She captures their beauty and uniqueness with her camera and then publishes these photographs and videos. She does this in an effort to raise awareness and interest in supporting efforts to conserve our oceans and their inhabitants. As she continues to master the art of underwater photography, she takes interested clients on numerous underwater expeditions every year, through her company Scuba Diver Life Expeditions. Her specialties are the sardine run out of South Africa and the humpback swims out of Tonga, where she takes guests to swim up close and personal with the whales. Nadia is also the owner of scubadiverlife.com an online news portal for scuba diving and ocean conservation enthusiast. She holds a masters degree in digital media from the center for digital media in Vancouver BC. This program is a result of joint collaboration between university of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, Emily Carr Institute and private industry sponsors. Items In This Podcast Discover Scuba at age 12Masters in Fine ArtsHow entering a video contest started her professional diving journeyTraveling 10 months of the yearFavorite diving destinationsScuba Diver LifeNadiaAly.com Sponsor Special thanks to our episode sponsor Aggressor Adventures Thanks For Listening! Thank you for joining me again. Do you want to give a shout out to our guest on this podcast? Leave a note in the comments section below! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Please leave an honest review for The League of Extraordinary Divers podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! And, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. The post LXD060 : Nadia Aly appeared first on ScubaGuru.

Retrieved from ScubaGuru - Expert Advice & Best Practices for Scuba Diving Professionals Bret Gilliam – Diving Industry Legend In this episode of The League of Extraordinary Divers I chat with legendary diving industry professional Bret Gilliam. Todays guest has done just about everything in diving. Bio Bret Gilliam has been professionally involved in the diving industry since 1971, a career now spanning over 50 years. Since beginning diving in 1959, he has logged over 19,000 dives around the world. His background includes scientific expeditions, military/commercial projects, operating hyperbaric diving treatment facilities, liveaboard dive vessels and luxury yachts, retail dive store & Caribbean resort operation and ownership, as well as filming projects for movies, television series, and documentaries. He was founder and President of six multi-national diving companies including V. I. Divers Ltd., AMF Yacht Charters, Ocean Quest Cruise Line, TDI/SDI, UWATEC, DiveSafe Insurance, and four diving magazines. He is President of the consulting corporation, OCEAN TECH, since founding that company in 1971. Items In This Podcast Meeting Ernest HemingwayWorked bring fish to aquariums at 11 years of ageNavy divingFilming The DeepOnboard The CalypsoCreating a diving cruise lineStarting IANTDStarting TDIDiving with Lauren HuttonDiving Pioneers and InnovatorsDeep Diving RevisedMixed Gas Diving Book Sponsor Special thanks to our episode sponsor Aggressor Adventures Thanks For Listening! Thank you for joining me again. Do you want to give a shout out to our guest on this podcast? Leave a note in the comments section below! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Please leave an honest review for The League of Extraordinary Divers podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! And, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. The post LXD059 : Bret Gilliam appeared first on ScubaGuru.

Retrieved from ScubaGuru - Expert Advice & Best Practices for Scuba Diving Professionals Becky Kagan Schott – Underwater Director of Photography, Photographer and Technical Diving Instructor In this episode of The League of Extraordinary Divers I chat with legendary underwater photographer and technical diving instructor Becky Kagan Schott. Today we interview another young gun legend in the diving industry. And that is Underwater Director of Photography, Photographer and Technical Diving Instructor Becky Kagan Schott. Bio Becky is a 5-time Emmy award winning underwater cameraman and photographer who’s work appears on major networks including National Geographic, Discovery Channel and Red Bull. She specializes in capturing images in extreme underwater environments including caves, under ice and deep shipwrecks. Her projects have taken her all over the world from the Arctic to Antarctic and many exciting locations in between. She’s filmed new wrecks, discoveries to cave exploration and even diving cage-less with great white sharks. She’s earned a reputation for being able to bring back quality imagery from harsh conditions. Her biggest passion is shooting haunting images of deep shipwrecks in the Great Lakes. She combines her artistic style with powerful stories of tragedy, mystery and survival to ignite the viewers imagination. She’s constantly pushing the limits of technology and trying new creative techniques to capture the beauty of the underwater world. She’s a frequent contributor to several Dive Magazines and her photography has been used in books, museums, and advertising. Becky has been actively diving for 26 years and technical diving for 22 of them. She has been an Instructor for 2 decades and is currently an active TDI Mixed Gas CCR Instructor. Becky leads expeditions all over the world to capture unique images that inspire others to explore our planet! Items In This Podcast Try Scuba at 12Great Lakes at 13Cavern Diver at 14Instructor at 18Florida AquariumIsle Royale National ParkAndy TorbetWheat WreckDiving glaciersAbaco’s Crystal CavesLiquid ProductionsMEG Diver Sponsor Special thanks to our episode sponsor Aggressor Adventures Thanks For Listening! Thank you for joining me again. Do you want to give a shout out to our guest on this podcast? Leave a note in the comments section below! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Please leave an honest review for The League of Extraordinary Divers podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! And, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. The post LXD058 : Becky Kagan Schott appeared first on ScubaGuru.

Retrieved from ScubaGuru - Expert Advice & Best Practices for Scuba Diving Professionals Tom Leaird – Legendary Underwater Educator In this episode of The League of Extraordinary Divers I chat with legendary diving educator Tom Leaird. Well, today’s guest has been in my professional and personal life for 25 years. And today I’m delighted to introduce him to you. Why do I say introduce him to you? Well, because he’s one of the most humble and unassuming dive professionals in our industry, one who has done amazing things, and I’m proud to call him a mentor of mine. Well, this is Tom Leaird. Bio Tom Leaird had an occupation in photography with Prestige Portraits and Lifetouch from 1957 to 1988, 31 years in professional photography. Then in the US Army 1961 through 1964, he was a photo lab specialist. And then came diving. He has been a certified diver with the YMCA Scuba program since 1961. He also became a YMCA Scuba instructor in June of 1969. He is charter president of Delaware. Dive scuba club did that in 1968 and continues to sponsor it today. He is the owner of Leaird’s Underwater Service in Muncie, Indiana. And that has been around since 1971. He was also the YMCA Scuba regional commissioner, which is also known as field coordinator from 1974 to 1986. He was a member of the YMCA Scuba advisory committee from 1980. And he was chair of the advisory committee from 1999 to 2003. Tom is also director of education and standards for Scuba Educators International. That was started after the YMCA of the USA retired its program. Tom continued that through SEI, Tom is also the CEO of PDIC international, which was purchased in 2010. Tom is also on the board of directors of the WRSTC. That’s the World Recreational Scuba Training Council from 1996 to present and he’s been president. And he’s also member of the board of directors of DEMA, the Diving Equipment Market Association. And that’s from 2011 to present, he’s a member of the board of directors of the Muncie family YMCA, treasurer of the Muncie family YMCA, and has served as interim president C E O of Muncie Family YMCA Associations – six branches with over 125 employees. Tom has authored several books and manuals, including many of them for the YMCA the YMCA slam manual that scuba life saving and management also Institute director, manual leadership, preparation, manual crossover preparation, manual standards and procedures manual the YMCA Scuba sport diving tables, search and recovery manual. Let’s go ice diving Divemaster assistant instructor, manual diving fundamentals for leadership, and this thing called scuba diving comfort, advanced diver instructor guide learn scuba diving and learn advanced scuba diving. He has also won the Bernard E. Empleton award for service to the YMCA of the USA. Tom has held YMCA Scuba leadership institutes at Ball State University, Oregon, Hawaii, Texas, Florida, Connecticut, Missouri, Germany, and Greece. As of December, 2021, Tom has completed over 3,750 dives that include 2000 hours underwater. And as of 2016, Tom’s local instructor group is working on class 1100. This has included over 5,000 certified student divers at the basic and advanced levels. Tom is CEO and president of Phillips Outdoor Center purchased April 1st, 2010 as a nonprofit environmental education center. That includes scuba diving scouting, public safety, and other water training. His son, Dan Leaird is a PhD in research scientist at Eglan Air Force base, and also has four grandchildren. His daughter Tamara is the store manager at Underwater Service and his wife, Bobbi, he’s been married to since 1963. Items In This Podcast Early YMCA – no swimsuits allowed!Inspired by Sea Hunt – Zale ParryFirst YMCA Scuba Instructor courseVolunteering for YMCA Scuba ProgramWriting training and standards manualsYMCA Scuba becomes Scuba Educators InternationalAcquiring PDICFavorite diving destinationsThe dark side of public safety divingDiving a Mark V diving helmetTips for diversLeaird’s Underwater Service Sponsor Special thanks to our episode sponsor Aggressor Adventures Thanks For Listening! Thank you for joining me again. Do you want to give a shout out to our guest on this podcast? Leave a note in the comments section below! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Please leave an honest review for The League of Extraordinary Divers podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! And, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. The post LXD057 : Tom Leaird appeared first on ScubaGuru.

Retrieved from ScubaGuru - Expert Advice & Best Practices for Scuba Diving Professionals Michael Lang, Ph.D. – Legendary Scientific Diver and Underwater Researcher In this episode of The League of Extraordinary Divers I chat with legendary scientific diver and underwater researcher Michael Lang. Hey everybody welcome to another episode of the League of Extraordinary Divers. It’s so great to have you here with me today. Today special guest is an absolute icon in not only the scientific community but in the diving industry as well. Bio Michael A. Lang, Ph.D., is an environmental physiologist, marine biologist, author, and international lecturer with experience as a scientific, recreational (NAUI 5879) and commercial diver trainer. Michael’s long-term interests in marine science, hyperbaric medicine and diving physiology allowed him to serve as Senior Vice President of OxyHeal Health Group, Senior Research Fellow at The Ocean Foundation, and currently as Co-Director of the San Diego Center of Excellence in Diving and Research Faculty in the UC San Diego Emergency Medicine Department. Lang served as director for nonprofit organizations, including the American Academy of Underwater Sciences, Divers Alert Network, the Academy of Underwater Arts & Sciences/NOGI, chaired Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society committees, and advised as expert consultant the National Science Foundation, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Geological Survey, The Nature Conservancy, and Conservation International. Former service as Marine Collector/Curator at San Diego State University, Director of the Smithsonian Marine Science Network, Smithsonian Scientific Diving Officer, and National Science Foundation Polar Diving Safety Officer, Lang holds a B.Sc. in Marine Biology from San Diego State University, and a Doctor Philosophiae in Environmental Physiology from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology School of Medicine in Trondheim. He is fluent in five languages, has published over 60 scientific papers, popular articles and presented 350 seminars/papers on current marine science and diving safety topics. Lang is the chair and chief editor of 24 international, interdisciplinary symposia and workshop proceedings. His research concerns marine science with special reference to the development and use of new technologies for working safely under water in extreme and remote environments. Dr. Lang’s 2013 Smithsonian book is titled “Research and Discoveries: The Revolution of Science through Scuba.” His honors include DAN/Rolex Diver of the Year, U.S. Antarctica Service Medal, NAUI Outstanding Instructor Award, Smithsonian Special Act Award, UHMS Excellence in Diving Medicine Award, AAUS Conrad Limbaugh Scientific Diving Leadership Award, DEMA Reaching Out Award, and the AUAS NOGI Award for Science. Items In This Podcast Certified to dive in 1978Early AAUSFirst diving computer workshopFirst ascent rate workshopFirst repetitive diving workshopFirst Nitrox diving symposiumPolar divingScience diving programsReverse diving profiles workshopSmithsonian diving safety officerBreatholding workshopAntarctic diving McMurdo StationA missing dive boat at Clipperton AtolTip for divers Sponsor Special thanks to our episode sponsor Aggressor Adventures Thanks For Listening! Thank you for joining me again. Do you want to give a shout out to our guest on this podcast? Leave a note in the comments section below! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Please leave an honest review for The League of Extraordinary Divers podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! And, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. The post LXD056 : Michael Lang appeared first on ScubaGuru.

Retrieved from ScubaGuru - Expert Advice & Best Practices for Scuba Diving Professionals Cathryn Castle Garcia & Capt. Gui Garcia – Legendary Underwater Creatives In this episode of The League of Extraordinary Divers I chat with legendary underwater creatives Cathryn Castle Garcia and Capt. Gui Garcia. Hey everybody welcome to another episode of the League of Extraordinary Divers. It’s so great to have you here with me today. There is a duo in our industry who has impacted the arts, and the creative side of our underwater world, through photo, video, art and writing. Bio Cathryn Castle Garcia and Gui Garcia are veteran scuba instructors and owners of C2G2 Productions, a multimedia company specializing in underwater and wildlife 8k film production, photography, editing and publishing. Cathryn has served as a magazine editor for more than 20 years and edits/publishes books for indie authors. She recently launched DeeplyDesigns.com, an apparel and accessory company that creates designs for ocean lovers, scuba divers and mermaids. Gui is an award-winning filmmaker and photographer and is also a US Coast Guard-licensed master mariner with decades of experience as a superyacht captain. He and Cathryn serve as crew on expedition yachts. The couple also leads adventure tours and photo expeditions to remote dive destinations worldwide. Their first book, Ocean Metaphor: Unexpected Life Lessons from the Sea is available in select retail outlets and on Amazon.com. Items In This Podcast Published marine science author at 16Archeology diving on a pepper wreckLooking into the eye of a baby whaleYou have a baby octopus stuck where?Diving lava tubesFavorite diving destinationsDeeplyDesigns.comC2G2Productions.com *As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualified purchases Sponsor Special thanks to our episode sponsor Aggressor Adventures Thanks For Listening! Thank you for joining me again. Do you want to give a shout out to our guest on this podcast? Leave a note in the comments section below! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Please leave an honest review for The League of Extraordinary Divers podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! And, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. The post LXD055 : Cathryn Castle Garcia & Capt. Gui Garcia appeared first on ScubaGuru.

Retrieved from ScubaGuru - Expert Advice & Best Practices for Scuba Diving Professionals Margo Peyton – Legendary Kids & Family Diving Pro In this episode of The League of Extraordinary Divers I chat with kids and family diving legend Margo Peyton. Hey everybody welcome to another episode of the League of Extraordinary Divers. It’s so great to have you here with me today. If you’re a parent or grandparent and you’re a diver, today’s guest is really gonna inspire you in how to dive as a family. Bio A pioneer in the family dive training and travel market Margo Peyton is a leader in this field. As the owner and founder of Family Dive Adventures & Kids Sea Camp and (501c) Ocean Wishes, Peyton’s efforts to connect and educate families through diving around the world has done much to help grow the diving industry. Since its inception in 2000, Kids Sea Camp is responsible for more than 7,000 youth diver certifications including some high functioning special needs adults and children. With 24 weeks a year, spanning 13 countries, it’s common to have 3 generations of divers on any given week. Her mission is to help families to disconnect from their virtual worlds and reconnect with each other through diving and travel. Margo is a member of the Women Diver Hall of Fame, and the Family Travel Association’s (FTA) board of advisors and was initially the sole representative for the diving industry. She is also a PADI Amasadiver and member of the PADI Youth Advisory Committee. She is recognized as an industry authority on youth diver education. Nearly every industry dive publication seeks Peyton’s expertise for family travel and youth-related articles, including DAN, Sport Diver, Diver UK, Scuba Diving, Dive News Group, Undersea Journal, Diver and Dive Training. Margo has also won 2019 Beneath The Sea Diver of the year, 2018 DEMA Reaching Out Award, two very prestigious awards in the diving industry. Peyton also works to make a difference by providing scholarships, training grants, and internships for the next generation of divers. She financially contributes to and sponsors a variety of conservation programs that address issues like marine habitat conservation and shark protection. Peyton inspires people of all ages and has been instrumental in growing the dive industry by inspiring younger generations and their families. Items In This Podcast Growing up with a father fishermanSingle mom raising two diversA lesson learned about feeding marine lifeGetting over fearsFavorite dive destinationsFamilyDivers.com Sponsor Special thanks to our episode sponsor Aggressor Adventures Thanks For Listening! Thank you for joining me again. Do you want to give a shout out to our guest on this podcast? Leave a note in the comments section below! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Please leave an honest review for The League of Extraordinary Divers podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! And, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. The post LXD054 : Margo Peyton appeared first on ScubaGuru.

Retrieved from ScubaGuru - Expert Advice & Best Practices for Scuba Diving Professionals Paul Toomer – Legendary Technical Diving Instructor In this episode of The League of Extraordinary Divers I chat with technical diving legend Paul Toomer. Hey everybody welcome to another episode of the League of Extraordinary Divers. It’s so great to have you here with me today. Today’s guest is one of the most stand out, iconic figures in our industry. Paul Toomer looks more like a rockstar than an accomplished technical diving instructor trainer. His wit and his fun-loving nature are balanced by his dedication to his craft. Bio Paul is the President of training agency RAID, he is a working instructor trainer and expedition diver. After living in South Africa for 23 years it’s odd that Paul discovered diving in the cold waters of Southern England. It is this kind of behavior that defines Paul and his passion for doing things differently. Within months of learning to dive he had his own center in London and rapidly progressed to Course Director before finding his passion for technical diving in 2002. Paul is an avid wreck, cave, sidemount and rebreather diver. In 2002 Paul began pursuing his technical diving interests and rebreather diving became his main focus. In 2007, he decided to concentrate purely on technical diver training and expeditions, and Diving Matrix Tec Lab was born. Tec Lab was innovative in its design and philosophy and set the benchmark for advanced diver training. In 2011 Paul was offered the position as Director of Technical Training for SSI (Scuba Schools International) and was responsible for writing diver and instructor manuals and training standards as well as training future technical instructors and trainers. In 2014 Paul became a co-owner of RAID International. Initially he held the position of Training Director but in 2019 he accepted the position as President for the company. Paul has dived wrecks and caves all over the world and also safely planned and executed many deep ocean wreck dives. He has participated in multiple expeditions including the HMS Hampshire, Vanguard and Royal Oak in Scapa Flow. In Malta and Italy, he has worked on ancient Italian and Phoenician amphora wrecks and has participated in exploratory dives on the Polish destroyer L-72, the British submarine HMS Olympus, an American WWII B-24 bomber, and many others. Paul regularly contributes to various dive magazines including Submerged, Diver, Sport Diver and Tanked Up. He has worked with Film and TV Companies as a diver, supplier and advisor. He has given many diving related presentations at training agency member events, OZTek, DEMA, TekDive USA, BalticTech, ADEX, EuroTek, TekCamp, the British Scuba Industry Trade Association, the London International Dive Show and global dealer Seminars. A little boy called Sebastian, motorcycles, tattoos and playing drums are the other major influences in Paul’s life. Items In This Podcast BSAC dive trainingFrom terrified of marine animals to dive proOpened a dive shop the week he became a scuba instructorWorst PADI Course Director application in historyWorking for SSIWorking for RAIDGetting through COVIDThe DEMA hotel barSardine run excitementFlooded rebreather loop at 110 metersPanic diver at 100 metersPee valve practical joke Sponsor Special thanks to our episode sponsor Aggressor Adventures Thanks For Listening! Thank you for joining me again. Do you want to give a shout out to our guest on this podcast? Leave a note in the comments section below! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Please leave an honest review for The League of Extraordinary Divers podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! And, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. The post LXD053 : Paul Toomer appeared first on ScubaGuru.

Retrieved from ScubaGuru - Expert Advice & Best Practices for Scuba Diving Professionals Jarrod Jablonski – Legendary Technical Diving Instructor In this episode of The League of Extraordinary Divers I chat with technical diving legend Jarrod Jablonski. Hey everybody welcome to another episode of the League of Extraordinary Divers. It’s so great to have you here with me today. If you’re a diver and you’re on social media, then I’m sure you’ve heard about Deep Dive Dubai. Yep, the largest indoor diving pool in the world. That name doesn’t even do it justice, the most EPIC indoor dive site in the world is actually more accurate. Folks this is designed as a flooded sunken city sinkhole that is – are you ready for this 60 meters or 196 feet deep. It is awesome! Well today we talk with Deep Dive Dubai’s director Jarrod Jablonski about this new project he’s been working on. But also, JJ is the founder and CEO of Global Underwater Explorers aka GUE, and of Halcyon Diving Equipment and Extreme Exposure. Bio Jarrod Jablonski is the founder of GUE and chairman of the board. JJ is an avid explorer, researcher, author, and instructor who teaches and dives in oceans and caves around the world. Trained as a geologist, Jarrod is the founder and president of GUE and CEO of Halcyon and Extreme Exposure while remaining active in conservation, exploration, and filming projects worldwide. His explorations regularly place him in the most remote locations in the world, including several world record excursions at 300ft to cave penetrations in excess of 24,000feet/7km; these dives include bottom times of 12 hours with total immersions near 30 hours. Jarrod is also an author with dozens of publications, including three books and several forthcoming. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing JJ since he was a college student just learning about cave diving, and it is such a treat to see all that he’s accomplished all these years. You’re going to love this interview, especially if you’re a technical diver. Items In This Podcast Global Underwater ExplorersHalcyon ManufacturingExtreme ExposureUniversity of Florida Academic Diving ProgramGinnie SpringsWoodville Karst Plains ProjectDeep Dive Dubai Sponsor Special thanks to our episode sponsor Aggressor Adventures Thanks For Listening! Thank you for joining me again. Do you want to give a shout out to our guest on this podcast? Leave a note in the comments section below! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Please leave an honest review for The League of Extraordinary Divers podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! And, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. The post LXD052 : Jarrod Jablonski appeared first on ScubaGuru.

Retrieved from ScubaGuru - Expert Advice & Best Practices for Scuba Diving Professionals James Blackman – Founder & Host of Divers Ready! In this episode of The League of Extraordinary Divers I chat with founder and host of Divers Ready! YouTube channel. Hey everybody welcome to another episode of the League of Extraordinary Divers. It’s so great to have you here with me today. Okay, when we want to learn something quick – like a tip or some good advice, how many of you YouTube it? I certainly do. And when it comes to diving, one of the hottest, and in my opinion, best of the YouTubers in diving is today’s guest James Blackman. Check this out James’ YouTube channel is called Diver’s Ready and it at the time of this recording has over 47,000 subscribers! And one of his episodes on the future of diving has over 900,000 views! That’s huge! James and I live just a short drive from each other so he had me on his My Dive Buddies Episode #2 where we drank beer and had a great conversation about diving. And so here in this episode I returned the favor, and again we are drinking beer at the Funky Buddha Brewery in Fort Lauderdale and having fun with him telling dive stories. Hmmm. There might be a pattern here, beer and diving stories. Here’s a bit about James Blackman: Bio With a career in diving spanning twenty years, James has seen a thing or two in the dive industry. James grew up on the Southwest coast of Britain and learned to dive in the frigid waters of the English Channel. If your first dives were like being placed in a cocktail shaker full of cabbage soup and you come away with a love for the sport, then you know it’s going to be a life-long pursuit. James spent his twenties in the British merchant marine which afforded him the opportunity to travel to and dive in far flung locales… 177 countries and counting. Between stints onboard a variety of vessels, James used his shore leaves to level up his scuba training… Rescue diver in Tanzania, DM in Indonesia, Instructor in Honduras, Tec Instructor in the French West Indies. His last ship before moving to a shore-based life style was an expedition ship where he notched up some of his most impressive dives, including briefly holding the world record for most northerly scuba dive… 82 degrees north in the Russian arctic; diving the Amazon river; the Antarctic; and virgin reef systems in Papua New Guinea and Melanesia. Moving ashore in his early thirties, James took on the role of General Manager for a luxury dive operator in St Martin and never had a dull moment! Hollywood visited the island and called upon James’ underwater skills for on-set safety. When Cat-3 hurricane Gonzalo devastated the area, James switched hats to salvage and public safety diver to help with the recovery. Scuba Diving has given so much to James in his life… and first on that list is his brilliant wife Karina whom he met while teaching her AOW class! Yes, that old cliché! James and Karina are also business partners and co-owners of two power-house scuba brands. Miami Technical Diving has become the premiere scuba training facility in South Florida. Tired of seeing other dive shops compete in a ‘race to the bottom,’ James decided his model for teaching scuba would focus on keeping the quality as high as possible; using the best gear possible; teaching beyond the minimum standards on a 1-to-1 student-to-instructor ratio. The fullness of the MTD training calendar shows that people – student divers – will pay more for quality tuition. James is the personality and knowledge broker behind ‘Divers Ready!’ a super influential Scuba Diving YouTube channel, website and brand. In its first year, Divers Ready! was the fastest growing You Tube channel in the Scuba Diving niche, and now has over 47 000 subscribers. Their weekly videos range from Mouthpiece Mondays – where James shares his insider knowledge and opinions about controversial topics in the dive industry – to practical ‘hints & tutorial’ style videos, all with one simple goal in mind – to make you a better diver! James and Karina started small group luxury dive trips for the Divers Ready! audience. The 2021 line up includes Truk Lagoon, Palau, the Sardine Run in South Africa, Roatan and Curacao. James and Karina live in Miami, FL with their rambunctious Husky; Ziggy and their two Maine Coon cats; Thumper and Foxy who remain unimpressed. Items In This Podcast Learning to dive in the BSAC club modelTruk LagoonCaught in a down currentThe mystery of whale sharks Tec Clark in the Divers Ready Studio!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YCSmSHI6Lc Divers Ready Travel Offerings: https://www.diversready.com/travel.html Epic Sardine Run Adventure!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmPcSGpuzl0 YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/diversready?sub_confirmation=1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/diversready Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diversready/ Divers Ready Swag Shop: https://teespring.com/stores/divers-ready-3 Miami Technical Diving: www.miamitechnicaldiving.com <http://www.miamitechnicaldiving.com>  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MiamiTechnicalDiving Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/miamitechnicaldiving/ Sponsor Special thanks to our episode sponsor Aggressor Adventures Thanks For Listening! Thank you for joining me again. Do you want to give a shout out to our guest on this podcast? Leave a note in the comments section below! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Please leave an honest review for The League of Extraordinary Divers podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! And, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. The post LXD051 : James Blackman appeared first on ScubaGuru.

Retrieved from ScubaGuru - Expert Advice & Best Practices for Scuba Diving Professionals Wayne Brown – Liveaboards Icon In this episode of The League of Extraordinary Divers I chat with legendary philanthropist and industry liveaboards icon Wayne Brown. Bio Hey everybody welcome to another episode of the League of Extraordinary Divers. It’s so great to have you here with me today on the momentous occasion. It’s the 50th episode of The League of Extraordinary Divers Podcast. That means we have had 50 of the diving world’s top legends. And just as the show was originated imagine you were sitting down having a beverage with these legends and they were just telling you their diving history and stories and throwing in a tip or two. The inspiration for this show was Bob Croft. I had the pleasure of being his roommate at the Pacific Cup of Freediving in 2004. And every night, over copious amounts of Scotch he told story after story of his Navy diving days and the early days of freediving records in the 1960’s. I was amazed. So, Bob Croft became episode one of The League of Extraordinary Divers and that’s what we’ve been doing for 50 episodes and it could not be possible without today’s guest, that’s why Ive reserved this 50th episode for him. Wayne Brown’s passion for adventure can be traced back throughout his childhood, adolescence and early adulthood. Whether as a member of the U.S. Air Force or as a boy growing up on a small farm in an even smaller town in Florida, Wayne has thrived off an experience-driven lifestyle. Upon being honorably discharged from the USAF, Wayne went to work at Taco Bell Corporate and eventually worked his way up to owning more than 60 Taco Bells. Wayne has always been an enthusiast of service-oriented businesses and after two trips as a customer on Aggressor Fleet, he was hooked on Liveaboard diving and the company’s commitment to service. Wayne purchased Aggressor Fleet from the Haines family in April of 2007 and subsequently purchased the next largest fleet, Dancer Fleet, in March of 2008. Expanding the scuba diving business each year, he rebranded the company to Aggressor Adventures in 2018 when he added River Cruises and Safari Lodges to the offerings. Aggressor Adventures has become the largest adventure travel company in the world offering 5-star adventures and has earned its spot on prestigious lists such as the Inc. 5000, 5 Telly Awards, recognized with multiple Magellan awards and SCUBA Diving Readers Choice Awards. Despite his demanding schedule, Wayne is still an avid adventurer and makes it his mission to travel the world with his customers. He has earned prestigious distinctions as a Platinum Pro 5000 Diver, Nikon Professional Services Member and SSI Instructor Trainer and a PADI Staff Instructor. When he’s not traveling or diving, Wayne is in Augusta, Georgia spending time with his family. Items In This Podcast Learning diving with his sonBuying Aggressor LiveaboardsChanging a culture and selecting yachtsDiscovering locations around the worldSawfish encounterCleaner shrimp encounterSea of Change FoundationInspired By Adventure Podcast Sponsor Special thanks to our episode sponsor Aggressor Adventures Thanks For Listening! Thank you for joining me again. Do you want to give a shout out to our guest on this podcast? Leave a note in the comments section below! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Please leave an honest review for The League of Extraordinary Divers podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! And, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. The post LXD050 : Wayne Brown appeared first on ScubaGuru.

Retrieved from ScubaGuru - Expert Advice & Best Practices for Scuba Diving Professionals Amos Nachoum – Underwater Big Animal Photographer In this episode of The League of Extraordinary Divers I chat with legendary underwater big animal photographer Amos Nachoum. Bio You have seen the images of today’s legend in one way or another, because his images of big and or dangerous underwater animals have graced printed works from diving magazines to advertising agencies. Amos Nachoum is a master of photographing with purpose the BEHAVIOR of Big Animals worldwide, the threatened and endangered. He freedives with blue whales off the Eastern Pacific, scuba dives in the Okavango delta with crocodiles and goes face to face with the great white shark. One of only five people ever to swim and photograph Polar bear underwater… More people were on the moon …12. Since 1980, he has explored every significant body of water from the North Pole to Antarctica. Amos’s photographic vision is to raise awareness of ocean giants in their habitats. His images reflect respect and compassion for animals and wilderness. His photographs strive to dispel the myth of “dangerous” wildlife and show harmonious interactions between man and animal. Also, Amos is an explorer. He leads wildlife photography expeditions with his company BigAnimals.com. Amos’s photos and essays have appeared in publications including National Geographic, Time, Life, The New York Times, Condé Nast Traveler, Le Figaro, Terra Sauvage, Airone, Der Spiegel, Unterwasser, Fifty Fathoms and the cover of the Explorers Club Journal, in February 2020. Amos’s photography won the prestigious Nikon contest. Awards He is a two-time winner in the animal behavioral category of the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award. In 2012 he placed first in the American Photography Artist competition. In 2014 he shared his vision “There is no demons in the sea” at the prestigious Ted Talk to a standing ovation. Amos won in 2018, First place at the SIPA award, animals behavior category. In 2019 he was nominated to be the SeaKeepers man of the year, alongside James Cameron, David Attenborough, Walter Cronkite, Jacques Cousteau and Mikael Gorbachev. The movie “Picture of his Life”, about Amos’s career and ultimate adventure diving with the Polar bear, has been released after ten years in the making, to great review in both Europe and in the USA. Amos lives in Pacific Grove CA, USA. He photographs with Nikon camera, Seacam housing and strobes. His cinema camera is the RED, Monstro and Nauticam housing. Items In This Podcast War photographer1978 Red Sea Trip with cameraStarts liveaboard companyStarts big animal expeditionsPhotography and Fine Art – amosphotography.comBig Animal Expeditions – biganimals.com“Picture of His Life” Film Trailer Sponsor Special thanks to our episode sponsor Aggressor Adventures Thanks For Listening! Thank you for joining me again. Do you want to give a shout out to our guest on this podcast? Leave a note in the comments section below! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Please leave an honest review for The League of Extraordinary Divers podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! And, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. The post LXD049 : Amos Nachoum appeared first on ScubaGuru.

Retrieved from ScubaGuru - Expert Advice & Best Practices for Scuba Diving Professionals Dick Long – Diving Industry Veteran & Exposure Protection Legend In this episode of The League of Extraordinary Divers I chat with thermal protection legend Dick Long. Bio If you’ve ever worn a wetsuit or drysuit – and most of you have – then you can thank today’s legend for the improved designs of thermal insulation on your dives! Dick Long is the Founder, owner and chairman of the board, of Diving Unlimited International, Inc, San Diego, CA DUI is currently considered the leader in drysuit design, manufacturing, dive procedures and buoyancy control. Dick Began diving in 1958. Became a diving instructor in 1960 – NAUI #49. After that he became certified as PADI and YMCA instructor. He worked as a contract diver with the U.S. Navy in the Arctic in 1965 and was an equipment designer for Sea Lab II; worked on early saturation dives. Dick participated in the first dives to over 1000 feet and eventually open sea, working dives to 1400 feet. He lectures and writes extensively for recreational publications and retail shows. Dick started his own diving equipment business in 1959 and started developing wetsuits which ultimately became dry suits in the early 1980s. In 1965 developed the hot water suit which is in use to this day. Dick has served major marketplaces including the Military, Search and Rescue and Scientific, Recreational diver and Commercial/Industrial markets. Equipment Development And when it comes to equipment development, he has developed helmets, gas manifold systems, backpack harnesses, weight and trim systems, buoyancy control systems, zip seals, breathing bag assemblies, and various thermal protection equipment, bell survival systems, rebreather systems, a to-fro CO2 scrubber system, wide variety of thermal support equipment Patents Dick had developed an amazing 12 patents including: Air Inlet Valve for Underwater Diver’s Dry SuitLow Friction means to Facilitate Putting on an Underwater SuitUnderwater Diver’s Drysuit & Method of Sealing (Seam Sealing)Easy Access Underwater Diving SuitMethod of Treating an Underwater Diver’s DrysuitNonreturn Hot Water Diving SuitMethod of Forming Crushed FoamHot Water SuitHot Water SystemBreathing Gas HeaterWeight and Trim SystemBuoyancy Compensator Awards 1965 – U.S. Navy Superior Accomplishment Award1991 – NOGI award for education1994 – NAUI Lenny Greenstone award for safety1994 – L.A. County Underwater Instructors’ Assn. – honoree for diving safety and education1995 – Diver of the Year award from Beneath the Sea Show1996 – DAN Diver of the Year Award1997 – California Scuba Service Award2000 – NAUI Hall of Fame2003 – Diver of the Year, Our World Underwater2004 – DEMA Reaching Out Award for lifetime achievement2016 – California Divers Hall of Fame2017- NAUI life time achievement award Author of Training and Educational Material DrySuit Diving – Book Board of Advisors Historical Diving Society USAIANTD – Int’l Association of Nitrox and Tech DiversFlorida Institute of TechnologySanta Barbara City College – Commercial Diving SchoolCalifornia Ships to ReefsDiver’s Alert Network (DAN)San Diego Oceans FoundationCalifornia Certified Reef EnhancementDEMA European DevelopmentDEMA Board – Education CommitteeScuba Diving Resource GroupAnd many others Of his many diving organization professional membership, Dick is also a fellow in The Explorers Club Items In This Podcast Began diving in California when there were no scuba training agenciesStarted his first diving business in 1959Went through the first NAUI Instructor course in Texas in 1960Worked on Sea Lab II projectHelping the US Navy with exposure suit protectionThe first hot water suitChasing black sea bassThe wonderful operations at DUI Sponsor Special thanks to our episode sponsor Aggressor Adventures Thanks For Listening! Thank you for joining me again. Do you want to give a shout out to our guest on this podcast? Leave a note in the comments section below! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Please leave an honest review for The League of Extraordinary Divers podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! And, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. The post LXD048 : Dick Long appeared first on ScubaGuru.

Retrieved from ScubaGuru - Expert Advice & Best Practices for Scuba Diving Professionals Willie Cline – Diving Industry Veteran & Marketing Pro In this episode of The League of Extraordinary Divers I chat with diving industry legend William Cline. Bio William Cline, who goes by Willie, is president and owner of Cline Group Advertising, Marketing & Research. The company was founded in 1990 as an international consultancy, specializing in the recreational scuba diving industry. Willie has been fortunate to represent and consult on a variety of matters from technical consulting, management operations, tourism development and economic impact projects with some of the world’s leading companies, governments and destinations within the scuba diving industry. Past and current clients include The Governments and Tourism boards of:Bonaire, The Bahamas Diving Association, Barbados, Hawaiian Islands Dive Association, Broward County, FL/Greater Ft. Lauderdale Visitors and Convention Bureau, Grenada Other private-sector clients include Divers Alert Network (DAN), Rodale Press, Bob Soto’s in Cayman, Dive Provo in Turks & Caicos, Stuart Cove’s Dive Bahamas, Peter Hughes Dive Liveaboards, Sand Dollar Dive Resort in Bonaire, the Cayman Islands Watersports, Hotel and Restaurant Associations, DeepBlu.com, Fort Young Hotel Dominica, Explorer Ventures Dive Liveaboards, and DEMA, the diving industry trade association, among others. Willie has also recently served as the past Vice-Chairman of the DEMA Board of Directors and currently serving as the Chair of DEMA’s Research Committee as well as committee member of DEMA’s Consumer Marketing committee. Cline Group is highly respected in the specialized field of scuba diving consulting, operations, and marketing, within the USA, Europe, South America and Asia. Willie Cline and his company are the only diving industry marketing entity to be recognized as a dive business experts by The Wall Street Journal, Fortune and Entrepreneur magazines, and numerous newspapers including the Orange County Register (CA). Diving press includes interviews/articles in Dive Training, Scuba Diving, Sport Diver, PADI’s Undersea Journal, Dive Center Business Magazine, and Skin Diver magazines to name a few. Willie Cline, founder and president, is a diving veteran, with over 5,000 dives, holds an active PADI Course Director certification, and currently working on his MBA. William is also passionate about flying and holds a private pilot’s license and lives on a small airport in a suburb of Dallas, Texas. Items In This Podcast Learning to dive at an early ageCalifornia to FloridaPro Dive’s Early DaysFort Lauderdale Reef Named After Him – Willie’s WayLosing a WreckHis Dive Buddy Stuffed His BCD Pockets with Food to Attract SharksCline GroupOh Captain, My Captain by Jean Michel Cousteau Sponsor Special thanks to our episode sponsor Aggressor Adventures Thanks For Listening! Thank you for joining me again. Do you want to give a shout out to our guest on this podcast? Leave a note in the comments section below! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Please leave an honest review for The League of Extraordinary Divers podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! And, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. The post LXD047 : William Cline appeared first on ScubaGuru.

Retrieved from ScubaGuru - Expert Advice & Best Practices for Scuba Diving Professionals Dawn Kernagis – Extreme Environment & Technical Diving Legend In this episode of The League of Extraordinary Divers I chat with legendary extreme environment expert Dawn Kernagis. Bio Dawn Kernagis is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill where she studies ways to protect the brain and nervous system of individuals who will be exposed to high physiological stress, from divers and astronauts to patients undergoing surgery or radiation. Her current research is funded by federal agencies including the US Navy and NASA. Dawn completed her Ph.D. and postdoctoral training at Duke University. She completed her Ph.D. as ONR Undersea Medicine’s first Predoctoral Award recipient. As a graduate student, Dawn also assisted with numerous DoD and NASA-funded projects focused on extreme environmental physiology. In 2016, Dawn was selected as a crew member of the NASA NEEMO XXI undersea mission. Based on her background in underwater exploration, including a team member of the Woodville Karst Plain Project for over a decade, and her diving medicine research, Dawn was inducted as a member of the Women Divers Hall of Fame and as a Fellow of the Explorers Club. Outside of research, she is a co-host of a science and technology podcast, STEM-Talk. Also, Dawn is a board member of the Robert E. Mitchell Center for POW Health, and the Duskin & Stephens Foundation, a non-profit focused on health and family support for Special Operations military personnel. Items In This Podcast Certified at 15Wookville Karst Plain Project (WKPP)UNC Chapel HillNASA’s NEEMO21IHHC Speech about NEEMO21Stem Talk Podcast Sponsor Special thanks to our episode sponsor Aggressor Adventures Thanks For Listening! Thank you for joining me again. Do you want to give a shout out to our guest on this podcast? Leave a note in the comments section below! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Please leave an honest review for The League of Extraordinary Divers podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! And, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. The post LXD046 : Dawn Kernagis – Extreme Environment Legend appeared first on ScubaGuru.

Retrieved from ScubaGuru - Expert Advice & Best Practices for Scuba Diving Professionals Lamar Hires – Cave Diving Pioneer, Explorer and Manufacturer In this episode of The League of Extraordinary Divers I chat with legendary cave diving explorer and manufacturer Lamar Hires. Early Days Lamar Hires started diving in 1979 after moving to Jacksonville, FL. The springs of North Florida were the closest dive sites to Jacksonville that didn’t require getting on a boat. After diving all of the springs countless times, he was naturally drawn to the caves. He earned his NAUI open water instructor rating in August 1984. And in November 1984, after cave diving for five years and logging over 1000 dives, he earned his cave instructor rating with the NSS-CDS. He has gone on to explore and map many cave systems in North Florida and around the world with a small group of dive buddies. The motivation to explore and challenge himself led to the design of many new Dive Rite products and diving styles. Lamar was one of the first to use sidemount techniques to push caves beyond the range of back mounted cylinders. In 1985 he used this knowledge and experience to write the first sidemount specialty program for cave divers for the NSS-CDS. Over the years Lamar has tested and experimented with various cylinder configurations to evolve sidemount diving into the specialty that it has become. Exploration He has tested gear and explored caves and wrecks around the world, including caves/mines in Finland, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Australia, Japan, Italy, Russia, and numerous sites in the USA. He was part of the team that connected Telford Springs and Luraville Springs, two cave systems in North Florida. This dive set a short-lived world record for sidemount traverse in 1989, with a distance of 7600 ft. He has been in the icebergs of Antarctica and under the ice in sub-freezing water temperatures. He also dives plenty of wrecks, having been on wrecks in the Dry Tortugas, Egypt, Israel, UAE, Norway, Antarctica, and the Great Lakes. Lamar is passionate about cave rescue and recovery. He has traveled around the world for the International Cave Rescue/Recovery team, training divers for this specialty, including Australian and Italian teams. Lamar is still a very active instructor. He has trained more than 650 people to cave dive since 1984, and continues to train rebreather, sidemount, cave, and other technical divers. Dive Rite After joining Dive Rite in 1984, he developed the first back mounted wing specifically for diving heavy double cylinders that would later become known as the Classic Wing. An updated version of the Classic Wing continues to be a popular wing today. He brought the backplate that is widely used by technical divers into mass production in 1984. He also worked with SEIKO EPSON to develop the first user programmable nitrox computer, the “Bridge”, in 1992. After being with the company from the start, in 1997 Lamar bought Dive Rite from his friend and co-founder Mark Leonard. Lamar continues to actively dive in caves and wrecks around the world. This provides the inspiration for developing and improving the Dive Rite product line by testing it in any environment imaginable. Items In This Podcast Inspired by Sea HuntUsed Ned Deloach’s Underwater FloridaWes SkilesWoody JasperLloyd BaileyRescue 911 Show – Cave RescueCave Rescues and RecoveriesThe invention of the Classic WingThe invention of Sidemount diving for US cave systemsMapping 14 cave systemsDive Rite ManufacturingNSS-CDS Sponsor Special thanks to our episode sponsor Aggressor Adventures Thanks For Listening! Thank you for joining me again. Do you want to give a shout out to our guest on this podcast? Leave a note in the comments section below! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Please leave an honest review for The League of Extraordinary Divers podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! And, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. The post LXD045 : Lamar Hires – Cave Diving Pioneer appeared first on ScubaGuru.

Retrieved from ScubaGuru - Expert Advice & Best Practices for Scuba Diving Professionals Rosemary Lunn – Diving Industry Author and Marketing Expert Today’s legend hails from the UK and she surely has a grasp on not only diving in the UK but also being a dive professional there as well. Rosemary E Lunn (Roz) is the Business Development Director at The Underwater Marketing Company. This British firm specializes in providing marketing, communications, social media and event management for the Recreational and Technical Diving Industry. Born in Essex, England Rosemary fulfilled her long-held desire to learn to scuba dive in 1992, after being left a legacy by her late Grandfather. She spent every moment she could exploring Britain’s magnificent coastal waters and wrecks. In what was to be a pivotal moment in 1996 she was handed a copy of aquaCORPS magazine, and she was soon planning her underwater excursions with a different mindset and discipline utilizing Nitrox and twinsets. By 1997 Rosemary turned Pro and proudly achieved her PADI Instructor rating. She taught for a season in Turkey before turning her hand to diving journalism. Her articles in Dive Girl opened doors at 9>90, a British technical diving magazine. After a spell with DrägerDive, (Dräger Ray European Tour staff), Roz was headhunted to open a dive centre on the English South Coast. Two years later, the warmer waters of the Red Sea and a Dive Guide / Instructor job beckoned, enticing her to teach in Egypt. Rosemary has worked as a professional instructor / dive guide, on History Channel and National Geographic documentaries, modeled underwater for training agency shots, as a safety diver for underwater shoots, and scuba relayed the English Channel for charity. She has trained an OWUSS Rolex Scholar to dive. In Sept 2003 Rosemary worked on Carl Spencer’s HMHS Britannic expedition and saw the industry needed specialist PR support. Thus TUMC was born. She has worked with most of the major diving agencies, and blue chip brands including Dive Rite, Fourth Element and Poseidon. From a young age Rosemary was brought up to recycle and respect the environment, hence she is the catalyst behind Fourth Element’s Ocean Positive range. Roz teamed up again with the late Carl Spencer (and Leigh Bishop) in 2008, when the three Brits founded EUROTEK. She has subsequently organized the last six events; Rosemary was responsible for organizing this century’s most significant CCR symposium to date – Rebreather Forum 3 – on behalf of the AAUS, DAN and PADI. In 2014 she established TEKDiveUSA. Rosemary E Lunn is a respected, prolific diving author, and a staff writer for X-Ray Mag. She is an Associate Member of the Women Divers Hall of Fame, a SSI Platinum Diver, and takes an active role in the diving industry. She sits on the SITA Board (Scuba Industry Trade Association), and the British Diving Safety Group. Items In This Podcast Eating cheese sandwiches to save up for divingTouring Rebreather Demo’sWreck of Mary RoseDiving Scapa FlowRosemary’s Facebook Page http://www.facebook.com/tumc.co.ukTwitter Roz_UWMarketingInstagram MsRozLunnXray Magazine http://www.xray-mag.comThe Underwater Marketing Company http://www.tumc.co.ukKyarra Wreck Turns 100 Years Old | X-Ray Mag (xray-mag.com) https://xray-mag.com/content/kyarra-wreck-turns-100-years-oldScapa 100: Centenary Anniversary Event | X-Ray Mag (xray-mag.com) https://xray-mag.com/content/scapa-100-centenary-anniversary-eventHSE – Diving: How we work https://www.hse.gov.uk/diving/how.htm Sponsor Special thanks to our episode sponsor Aggressor Adventures Thanks For Listening! Thank you for joining me again. Do you want to give a shout out to our guest on this podcast? Leave a note in the comments section below! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Please leave an honest review for The League of Extraordinary Divers podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! And, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. The post LXD044 : Rosemary Lunn – Diving Industry Author appeared first on ScubaGuru.

Retrieved from ScubaGuru - Expert Advice & Best Practices for Scuba Diving Professionals Bob Talbot – Iconic Nature Photographer & Underwater Filmmaker As always, today we have another legend in the diving industry – actually he’s a legend in photography and film industries as well. I’m talking about the one and only Bob Talbot. It’s always a treat to interview these legends, but Bob is really special for me because I had his prints in my room before I ever became a dive professional. I have always loved his work and that’s why I still have three of his prints to this day! Bob was drawn to the sea as a child. He got his first glimpse beneath the surface when he was eight years old and began diving when he was 13. A year later he was given a Nikono‘s camera as a gift and his creative fuse was lit. His iconic photographs were first published as fine Art lithographs when he was in his early 20s and soon became the best selling line of marine artwork in the world. His images have also appeared in a wide range of publications from Time magazine to National Geographic. At the age of 19 Bob began shooting motion picture film with a wind up Bowlex 16 mm camera. Since then his motion picture work has been featured in television productions that have taken him from Antarctica with his childhood hero Jacques Cousteau, to the arctic seal hunting grounds with Paul Watson, from the caverns of Grand Cayman with David Blaine to his beloved Monterey Bay for the BBC/PBS production of Big Blue Live. Bobs feature film credits include Free Willy, Flipper, Into the Blue and Dolphin Tale Two. He directed and photographed the award-winning IMAX film Ocean Men Extreme Dive and acted as a director and cinematographer for sequences in the Academy award nominated IMAX film Dolphins. He recently completed work on his production Being Dolphin 4D and is currently working on his featured documentary film Fin. Bob specializes in creating unique, highly immersive special venue media that speaks to his mission of connecting people to the sea. His clients include IMAX, Simex Iwerks, California Academy of Sciences, Smithsonian Institution, California Science Center, the National Aquarium and National Marine Sanctuaries. For his advocacy work Bob has been presented with the environmental hero award by vice president Al Gore, the prestigious Sea Keeper award by HSH Prince Albert of Monaco, and the Ark Trust Genesis award. He has served on the boards of the American Ocean Campaign, Earth Communications Office and on the board of governors for Oceana. He served nearly a decade on the board of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and was chairman of the board of trustees of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation from 2008 through 2016 When asked why he is so passionate about ocean conservation Bob’s answer is simple, “the sea has given us life, it’s time we returned the favor.” Items In This Podcast Nikonos camera at age 14Early photographs and filmsEncounter with Gray WhaleOceanmen filming goes wrongBeing connectedLanding on a sharkHow to be an ocean ambassadortalbotoceangallery.comtalbotfilms.com Sponsor Special thanks to our episode sponsor Aggressor Adventures Thanks For Listening! Thank you for joining me again. Do you want to give a shout out to our guest on this podcast? Leave a note in the comments section below! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Please leave an honest review for The League of Extraordinary Divers podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! And, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. The post LXD 043 : Bob Talbot – Nature Cinematographer appeared first on ScubaGuru.