A Short History of Scuba Diving

The first known instances of people breathing stored air under water can actually be found on the walls of caves. Cave paintings can be found depicting people using goat bladders to breath under water. Of course, there were many steps along the way the took us from goat bladders to today’s Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus.

The demand valve was the starting point for the scuba regulator we know today. Benoît Rouquayrol, a frenchman, first concepted and patented the demand valve back in 1860. It was initially developed for people to use when entering an area where it was difficult or unsafe to breath, such as a smoke filled room or a poisonous mine. The demand valve wasn’t thought to be used underwater until Rouquayrol met French Navy Lieutenant Auguste Denayrouze. Together, they designed a “regulator” for divers to use underwater with surface-supplied air. It was their regulator that inspired the diving rigs in Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, published in 1870.

More than 80 years later, Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Emile Gagnan created the first scuba system.

Compressed air cylinder systems had been developed prior to 1943, but Cousteau and Gagnan’s design was the first free flowed or hand controlled. In 1943, the Aqua Lung system was the first to successfully use a demand valve to deliver a diver compressed air from a cylinder. The single-stage, double-hosed “scuba-set” placed the demand valve and exhaust valve behind the head, able to deliver high-pressure stored air at a pressure divers could breathe.

This was an amazing innovation at the time. For the first time ever, divers could swim without having a direct connection to the surface.

In 1951, E.R. Cross invented the “Sport Diver,” thought of today as the first modern two-stage, single-hose regulator. Although at about the same time in Australia, Ted Eldred designed a similar system called the “Porpoise,” which leads many to debate who deserves the real credit.

Companies everywhere started to independently produce single-hose scuba regulators.

In 1958, engineers from Sherwood Manufacturing modified the piston regulator for underwater. Several other manufacturers adopted the piston design over the other widely used diaphragm design.

Then in 1985, Sam Le Cocq, in partnership with Sportsways, made the “Waterlung,” the first popular single-hose regulator.

Today, materials and size of scuba regulators differ from brand to brand, but the mechanics are actually surprisingly similar to the regulators made some 60 years ago.

Diving bells, hard hat, and surface supplied air laid the foundation for the equipment recreational scuba divers use today. Scuba diving couldn’t exist today without the regulator or self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (where “scuba” get’s it’s name) and compressed air.

This post was originally published on Kurt Kucera's scuba diving blog.

Saving our Earth’s reefs: Is lab-grown coral the answer?

Our planets coral reef’s are not only beautiful to experience for divers, but they are integral to our underwater ecosystem. They may occupy less than 0.1% of the world’s ocean surface, but they provide a home for at least 25% of all marine species.

Unfortunately, the planet’s coral reefs are diminishing. Coral reef’s are incredibly delicate, and they are currently under threat from a variety of sources including climate change, oceanic acidification, blast fishing, coral mining, overuse of reef resources, and urban/agricultural runoff and water pollution. The world’s reefs are diminishing so fast in fact that some scientists say they could be gone by the middle of this century. In the Caribbean specifically, coral populations have declined an estimated 80 percent over the past forty years.

Scientists around the world are looking to new ways to save our reefs. Their latest effort is in vitro fertilization.

After years of captive breeding, scientists from SECORE have reported that for the first time, they have successfully raised laboratory-bred colonies of coral to sexual maturity in the wild.

Specimens of Elkhorn — a highly endangered reef-building species common to the Caribbean — were reared from gametes collected in the wild, fertilized in vitro, and planted back into the ocean. For marine conservationists, this is a big deal, but certainly not the end of our efforts to save the coral reefs.

Unlike similar reproductive efforts of the past, SECORE's latest experiment doesn’t rely on asexual reproduction, which means that in the process of creating new coral, they are also giving these coral their own unique genetic type, increasing genetic diversity. Previously, fragments of adult coral were collected, spawned asexually in nurseries, and then returned to their reef. SECORE’s technique involves catching male and female gametes in the wild and then fertilizing them in the laboratory to raise larger numbers of genetically unique corals. Genetic diversity will be vital to these new corals ability to weather changing environmental challenges.

The process requires some patience, as Elkhorn corals only reproduce once a year in the wild, following the full moon in August. Over the past several breeding cycles, SECORE biologists have used nets to gently collect sperm and eggs as they’re released. The gametes are then brought to a lab and mixed in vitro to produce embryos. After a short period of time in their nursery, thee embryos are then settled into a reef. It isn’t until four years later that these embryos mature enough to reproduce again.

Successes like these are important, but even SECORE is aware that lab-grown coral aren’t going to save the reef’s over night.

“Our techniques can only support natural recovery, which means that conditions have to be appropriate to allow long term survival of outplanted corals,” said SECORE director Dirk Petersen in a statement.

One of the biggest challenges then is making sure conditions can sustain these new coral. Warmer ocean temperatures have been causing massive coral bleaching. Rising acidity levels in the ocean make it harder for corals to secrete and maintain their calcium carbonate exoskeletons. And the addition of chemicals such as oxybenzone (a common compound in sunscreen ) poison them.

If we really want to save our reefs, it’s going to require a lot more than re-populating. We need to be able to give these corals a safe environment to call home.

This post was originally published on Kurt Kucera's scuba diving blog.

Best Spots to Scuba Dive in Florida

Florida has some of the best places to scuba dive in the world. With an abundant coast line surrounding most of the state, there are amazing spots to see from Amelia Island to the Florida keys. All you have to figure out is what you want to see.

I want to see manatees.

You’ll have to stick to snorkeling, but you’ll definitely want to head to Crystal River where the sea cows are a plenty. They congregate in herds in the warm waters from November through about April. You won’t realize how impressive these animals are until you’re seeing one of these 10 feet, 1,000 pound gentle giants in person. Remember, they are protected and endangered, so don’t do anything that could harm them or their environment. Harassing or chasing them is strictly prohibited.

If you leave the posted manatee area and go for a dive, you can experience dozens of freshwater springs that boil from the underground aquifer, and you might spot tarpon, snapper, redfish, large mouth bass, and garfish.

I want to cave dive.

Head to Blue Grotto, a large clear-water cavern open to divers of all skill levels. The cavern reaches depths of 100 ft, but there is a compressed air-supplied bell at 30 ft where you can enter and take the regulator out of your mouth mid-dive and even have a quick conversation.

I want to swim with sea turtles.

Head to West Palm Beach for some gulf stream drift diving. Cast moving water will take you past beautiful coral reefs filled with marine life. The current will take you effortlessly across miles of habitat, with your best chance of catching some sea turtles during the season between May and September. Groups as big as a dozen will happily drift alongside you.

I want to find shark teeth.

Venice has an ancient riverbed about a mile off the beach known as the “Shark Tooth Capital of the World.” Divers from around the world come to look for shark teeth big and small.

I want to see artificial reefs.

Of the shores of Miami/Fort Lauderdale are a string of wrecks, including three retired oil platforms called Tenneco Towers. The rigs are covered in corals and sponges and populated with a variety of schools of fish. Miami’s “Wreck Trek” includes an 85-foot steel tug, two M60 tanks, the 110-foot Billy’s Barge, Ben’s Antenna Reef and dozens of 100-foot plus freighters.

Conclusion

There are plenty of beginners lessons and easy sites for those just getting started. And if you’re really nervous, there’s still a ton of nature you can discover sticking to your basic snorkel and flippers. I’d recommend looking up a tour or lessons with an instructor who can lead you to the best spots if you’re a beginner or just not sure where to go.

There’s plenty to discover off the shores of Florida if you’re adventurous enough to get out there. From living reefs and marine animals to ship wrecks and historical sites, you’re just an air tank away from exploring them up close and personal.

This post was originally published on Kurt Kucera's scuba diving blog.