Get Ready for Lobster Season With the Equalizer Lobster Snare

For many divers, lobster hunting has become a favorite past time. These large crustaceans are quite difficult to catch, but are definitely worth it (just go to your local seafood restaurant and check out what the current market price of lobster is). The “bugs”, as divers like to call them, can make for a delicious dinner, especially after a day of diving. Lobstering has been a long-time hunting activity, traced back to the 1800s, when these creatures were first gathered by hand when they were washed up in tide pools or shorelines. These days, especially with the invention of scuba equipment, catching lobster has become a sport among divers. Much like fishing, it’s regulated, but common species of lobster are not endangered (having few natural predators). Of course, lobstering can be tricky - it usually involves chasing after the lobster and catching with a net and placing it into a bag.

A trouble-free way to catch lobster is with the “Equalizer Lobster Snare Kit” from Aquatic Specialties in Florida.

This kit has everything you need to catch those tricky crustaceans. The snare can be operated with one hand, and made of a light, sturdy PVC material. Unlike a traditional net, this device will allow you to secure your catch effortlessly. A 36″ inch fiberglas “tickle stick” allows you to coax the lobster out of its hiding place. The “ultimate” lobster bag has a unique design - a one way door, mesh and super-strong codura  body and a side zipper for easy removal of the lobsters, plus the lobster gauge will tell you if the bug you caught is within the legal limits.

See the snare in action here (requires flash video).

To order the kit, visit the Diveshops.com website here.

Video of the Week: Inverted Underwater Ice Skiing

You’ve got to see it to believe it! At first, you’ll think it’s just somebody skimming over ice. But as it turns out, the diver taking the video is actually skimming right under the frozen ice! Pretty cool!

Nature’s Scuba Divers: The Water Spider

Even before man attempted to conquer the ocean, nature already had its own scuba divers. The water spider, or argyroneta aquatica, is an arachnid that spends its entire life underwater. They don’t have gills, but rather, they use their silk to create an air bubble. The spider brings the bubble with them underwater, which acts as a “scuba tank”, though is quite similar to the aqua-lung. The oxygen is replenished via osmotic pressure, allowing for the exchange of gases (intake of oxygen and expelling of carbon dioxide) through the thin membrane.  Occasionally, the spider will go up to the surface to replenish their air supplies. The web spun air bubble often resembles a bell, thus earning the spider the nickname “diving bell spider”.

Aside from hiding from predators, the female spider also uses the bubble to catch prey (like a web), lay her eggs and even raise her young. Male spiders also create the air cocoons, though theirs tend to be smaller, allowing them to move faster and hunt.

Video of the Week: Don’t Mess with a Titan Triggerfish!

Triggerfish may be beautiful, but they are quite deadly! They may look harmless, but they have been known to attack divers, especially during mating season. The diver in this video got a little too close to the titan triggerfish during lunchtime and got to feel the wrath of this fish!

Featured Dive Group: Handicap Scuba Association

The Handicap Scuba Association is an international not-for-profit organization that specializes in bringing the sport of scuba diving to persons with disabilities. Since 1981, the group has been reaching out to the handicapped community, in hopes of “improving their physical and social well-being”.

What exactly is the difference when training people with disabilities? First, the standards of training have a higher degree of safety and must meet guidelines set by the HSA Physical Performance Standards. This training is extremely precise and specialized because it allows them to teach people with varying levels of disabilities.

There are also different levels of diving certifications. While the student gets an open water certification, he or she is given a “grade”, which designates how many people they must dive with. A level “C” diver, for example, must dive with 2 buddies, one of which must be certified as a rescue diver; a level “B” diver can dive with 2 able-bodied buddies; and an “A” level diver can dive with one buddy.

Scuba instructors and even buddies must also go through specialized training. Both receive almost the same type of training, though buddies are focused more on recreation, while instructors go through more rigorous training, including excercises which are designed to simulate disabilities, allowing the would-be instructors to experience what is would be like to dive as a person with disability.

The HSA has qualified instructors and trained dive buddies in over 45 countries around the world. There are about 4000 people in the network, half of which are qualified dive instructors. For more information, please visit their website.

Video of the Week: Bahamas Wreck Diving

This week’s featured videos is an awesome wreck diving video straight from the Bahamas!

Bizarre Scuba Activities

Every now and then it seems like some bored scuba diver will come up with new and wacky things to do while scuba diving. Whether it’s an underwater wedding, dinner party or even strapping a scuba device on their cat, these bizarre underwater activities seems to get crazier and weirder with each new stunt being thought up.

1) Will you be having the chicken or the fish? - Underwater Dinner Party

This one actually isn’t new, and many people have successfully pulled this one off.It is, however, pretty cool to see the lengths people will go to to make their own underwater dinner party as elaborate and complicated as they can.

2) I want to spend the rest of my life with you (hopefully, at least until my air runs out…) - Underwater Marriage Proposal…

Yawn…searching on YouTube, there are over 30 videos of underwater marriage proposals and countless of pictures on the web posted by happy brides. Sorry guys, if you thought that proposing to that special someone at 100 feet is an original idea…think again.

3) Is there a hand signal for “I do?” - Underwater Wedding

Of course, if your fiance proposed to you while scuba diving, then why not have the wedding under the sea as well?

4)  Does starch cost extra? - Underwater Ironing

This is just too bizarre for words…and yes, there is an entry in the Guinnes Book of World Records for this one.

5) Will they do certified mail too?  Underwater Post Office

Too bad there’s no video for this one, but it’s definitely a “you’ve got to see it to believe it” thing. Submerged off Hideaway Island in Vanuatu, the world’s only underwater post is manned for an hour a day and allows visitors to purchase specially made waterproof postcards and post them using a special embossing machine

Man-made Fins Propel Swimmers Through the Water

Ciamillo’s Lunocet fins will make you faster than Olympic Gold Medalist Michael Phelps. The fins promise to propel swimmers up to speeds of 8 miles/hr, almost twice as fast as Phelps’ fastest clocked time of 5 miles/hr. The fins mimic the more efficient fins of dolphins and whales and can even push a swimmer out of the water.

While pictures are worth a thousand words - videos are even better:

What’s a Scuba Doo?

Here’s one that’s straight from the pages of a science fiction novel: A moped-type scuba machine called the Scuba Doo:

The Scuba Doo allows would-be divers to sit back, relax and enjoy the underwater landscapes without having to get any certifications. The diver’s head is enclosed in a glass dome (allowing for maximum view) and the air is being replenished by the on-board tanks. It cruises at speeds of up to 2.5 knots and can go down to a max depth of 4 meters (about 13 feet).

Because of its limitations, the Scuba Doo would probably not have any appeal to experienced licensed scuba divers. This device is probably geared towards younger people, people with disabilities or those who may not be ready to take a full certification course, but would want to experience going underwater. The hefty, almost 20 grand price will probably make this only affordable to the independently wealthy, but some reorts all around the world are offering rentals, with average rates around $130 per 15 minutes.

A Lost World: Diver Returns to Childhood Home Underwater

Before it was Lake Jocassee, Debbie Fletcher remembered it as Jocassee Valley, an idyllic place where she used to spend her summers as a child at her uncle’s lodge. Sadly, because of development, the valley was flooded  and the beloved lodge was believed to have been lost forever.

When a group of divers found the lodge (in over 300 feet deep of water), Debbie was inspired to get her own PADI diving certification to be able to visit her long-lost childhood home. CNN follows her journey:

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