New Technology Underwater Text Messaging Device

Trust me, I know what you’re thinking having just read the headline but believe me, your boss won’t be able to send you “data calls” and your partner won’t be sending you any grocery lists while you’re using this piece of equipment underwater.

While attending the 2008 Diving Equipment and Marketing Association’s (DEMA) show in Las Vegas, I spoke with representatives of the Underwater Technologies Center (www.utc-digital.com ) about their Underwater Digital Interface (UDI).  This device was touted as being able to send text messages through the water to other divers or to a surface vessel.  The distance that it could send messages was reported to be up to 500 meters.  Being involved in technical diving, my first thought was that it would be ideal for communication between tech divers and the surface support vessel but as you might imagine there are many other uses for a device such as this. 

The system is comprised of a boat unit and one or more wrist-mounted diver units.  Some salient features are that the system:

• allows for two way communication via thirteen pre-configured text messages;
• provides both a diver SOS and a boat SOS that can be sent in the event of an emergency;
• has the capacity to be able to locate a “lost” diver via a homing beacon;
• incorporates a gyro-compensated digital compass for use underwater;
• includes a fully functional RGBM NITROX diving computer;
• can be configured using a PC interface;
• can be configured to allow up to 14 different divers on 4 different networks to communicate with the surface or with each other;
• increases the safety and decreases response time to deal with in-water emergencies;

I contacted HTI Special Operations Equipment (www.htiops.com), the US distributor for UTC and asked to evaluate the system for use in technical diving operations.  The distributor agreed and I was provided with a boat unit and three diver units for a period of three months.

Evaluation Procedures

NOAA technical divers used the system on a technical diving mission in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.  Additional tests were conducted on the units during dive operations at Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary in Savannah, Georgia.

The UTC UDI boat unit which communicates to divers wearing the transceivers through a transducer suspended from the side of the support vessel

All Divers,
NDC's Diving Medical Officer, LCDR Dulaigh, has returned from the field! Please update your DAMP and Dive Plan contact information to reflect his return:

NMAO Medical Contact Name and Number: NDC DMO cell (206) 300-2098

Thank you and dive safe!

Scuba Diving Buoyancy Compensators Recalled by Ocean Management Systems Due to Drowning Hazard

Buoyancy compensators provide buoyancy control for scuba divers by allowing them to inflate or deflate the devices. The compensators were sold in black or red. “OMS” is printed on the front inside of the compensators. Item and serial numbers are printed on the warning label located in the non-inflation area of the buoyancy compensator. A list of serial numbers included in this recall is available from the firm.
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10208.html 

NOAA Diving Center celebrates Earth Day!

On Thursday, April 22^nd, in conjunction with the WRC Campus clean up, NDC Staff participated in an underwater shoreline cleanup.  Divers wore a buddyline to keep track of each other during their treasure-hunt style quest for trash in the mud and silt of Lake Washington.

Some mysterious and unusual objects were gathered, including a GPS, safety cone, plenty of beer cans and bottles, and one very familiar sticker.

CPT Mark Picket and Pacific Marine Environment Lab Diver Noah Lawrence-Slava show off the catch of the day.
~Photo by LTjg Caryn Arnold

NDC hopes to make the Earth Day Underwater Clean Up an annual event. Kudos to CPT Mark Pickett for getting the ball rolling and a ‘Thank You’ goes out to and Noah Lawrence-Slavas and LTjg Caryn Arnold for their participation.

A NOAA diver takes video of the steamer Grecian, resting in 100 feet of water in the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary. April makes for great visibility in Lake Huron. The trade off is with water temps in the high 30s.

Credit: Tane Casserley, NOAA Thunder Bay NMS
http://thunderbay.noaa.gov/ 

MOC-P Divers help NDC prepare for the May Working Diver Class

There is always a lot of behind-the-scenes work required to prepare for Working Diver class. One of the less glamorous, albeit critical tasks, is to scrub the Dive Tower into shape. On Friday, April 23^rd, a brave trio of divers from MOC-P arrived at NDC ready to take on the challenge.

Although appropriately armed, on descent LCDR Demian Bailey, LT Keith Golden, and LT Kate Peet could see that they had their work cut out for them.

With a little bit of elbow grease, the team sent months of accumulated scum flying.

Several tanks and almost two hours later, the Lead Diver signals his approval.

.

 

GO TEAM!!! NDC thanks you for a job well done!

~ Article submitted by LT Natasha Davis

Towboarding seminar for the American Academy of Underwater Sciences

March 24, 2010

Ray Boland, Unit Dive Supervisor for NMFS in Hawaii conducted a towboarding seminar for the American Academy of Underwater Sciences symposium being held in Honolulu Hawaii. With the coordination of University of Hawaii Divemaster and Graduate Student Derek Smith, 11 Dive Safety Officers from around the US and Tasmania participated in the one day seminar.

Towboarding is a survey technique utilized by NMFS Honolulu. Towboarding started in the late 60s with the Australian Institute for Marine Sciences. In 1990, Frank Parrish, former LODO of NMFS, applied it to surveys for abandoned lobster trap strings and benthic habitat surveys in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Towboarding is done either on SCUBA or snorkeling and is effective when surveying large areas for largish targets. The diver hangs onto a board that acts as an underwater wing and is connected to a small boat via a bridle and towline. Pointing the board down causes the diver to submerge and “fly” through the water.

NMFS Honolulu uses SCUBA towboarding for benthic surveys, large invertebrate surveys and large fish surveys. Snorkel towboarding is used to survey for marine debris and to occasionally stumble across a historic wreck site. NMFS Honolulu added many innovations to SCUBA towboarding, the first being a telegraph that allowed the divers to communicate with the towboat. Today, the SCUBA towboards mount bot1h still and video cameras as well as a temperature and depth recorder. As of April 2010, NMFS Honolulu has conducted over 2,300 SCUBA towboard dives that cover nearly 5,000 kilometers.

Boland gave a brief powerpoint on the history of towboarding at NMFS Honolulu and how it had changed over the years. After dryland instruction and lunch, the 11 DSOs tried towboarding while snorkeling behind small boats off of the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology in Kaneohe Bay. All were positive about their experience and inwater time on the towboard. Some said it was the best seminar of the symposium.

~Photo courtesy of Shawn Harper                                                                          

AFSC Scientist Bill Heard Marks 50 Years of Service!

Bill Heard of the AFSC's Auke Bay Laboratories

On March 29, 2010, NOAA diver and scientist Bill Heard of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center's Auke Bay Laboratories in Juneau, Alaska, marked 50 years in Federal fisheries research mostly in the National Marine Fisheries Service. Read more > http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/ABL/Bill_Heard.htm

NOAA Diver Ben Waltenberger recieves the NOS Safety Pro Award

NOAA Diver Ben Waltenberger

~ Photo taken by Robert Schwemmer

NOAA diver Ben Waltenberger recently received the NOS Safety Pro Award. Waltenberger, Operations Manager at the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, organized an annual vessel and SCUBA dive safety training day aboard the R/V SHEARWATER. He has cultivated an important working partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), which made possible aunique safety training opportunity in 2009. Ben organized a joint rescue training session with USCG Air Station Los Angeles in which a USCG helicopter was deployed to the SHEARWATER, and a rescue swimmer was lowered by hoist to the vessel. Crew and staff were able to practice multiple iterations of receiving and releasing the recovery basket, which would be used to airlift severely injured personnel. Many critical lessons were learned, and CINMS staff have modified practices and implemented new procedures to allow for efficient and safe response should it become necessary to call for a helicopter medical evacuation.

FKNMS Damage Assessment and Restoration (DARP) coral reef resiliency project.

Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Damage Assessment and Restoration Program (DARP) Staff Bill Goodwin and LT(jg) Ryan Wattam identified areas of significant coral mortality from the recent cold-water event in the Sanctuary's Upper Region.  NOAA divers from the FKNMS DARP are joined by FKNMS Maritime Heritage Program staff Brenda Altmeier to complete visual documentation of selected coral reefs and record and document effects.  As with earlier observations made by the team, most of the areas of significant mortality appear to be confined to nearshore and mid-shelf patch reefs.  Recent cold water events and reports of coral mortality will drive FKNMS Damage Assessment, Restoration and Resource Protection operations as monitoring the health of coral reefs allows resource managers to document impacts to the resource from both natural and anthropogenic events. For more information, contact Bill.Precht@noaa.gov.

March 23, 2010 Bleached Elkhorn
Coral. Horseshoe Reef, Key Largo
Photographer: B. Altmeier/FKNMS

March 23, 2010 Bleached Elkhorn
Coral. Horseshoe Reef, Key Largo.
Photographed Bill Goodwin/FKNMS
Damage Assessment and Restoration (DARP) staff
Photographer: B. Altmeier/FKNMS

March 23, 2010 Bleached Pillar
Coral. Pillar Coral Site, Key Largo.
Photographed Bill Goodwin/FKNMS
Damage Assessment and Restoration staff
Photographer: B. Altmeier/FKNMS

 

Dive Computers Recalled by Mares Due to Drowning Hazard

Dive Computers Recalled by Mares Due to Drowning Hazard (Wed, 14 Apr 2010 18:45:00 GMT) An O-ring in the high pressure air connector can fail and leak air, causing a continuous but slow loss of breathing gas, which could require a diver to surface quickly, posing a drowning hazard to divers.

Tabata USA Recalls Scuba Regulators Due to Drowning Hazard

Tabata USA Recalls Scuba Regulators Due to Drowning Hazard 
Name of Product: TUSA RS-670 Regulators
 (Tue, 13 Apr 2010 19:00:00 GMT) The first stage balance chamber plug can loosen from the scuba regulator causing a high-pressure leak and creating unstable pressure. This poses a drowning hazard to divers.

Many units have purchased their own AGA masks, spare regulators, line-tended diving and communications equipment and other assorted non-SEP diving equipment. Although this gear belongs to the units it is not exempt from NDP’s annual servicing requirement even if the equipment has never been used and appears in excellent condition. An AGA mask, for example, that may have only been used once but not rinsed properly can be contaminated by petroleum or chemicals inside the mask that will cause components to deteriorated resulting in potential failures.

While proper rinsing by the diver after each use is the first step to keeping your gear in good working order many other factors can contribute to the breakdown of your life-support equipment’s performance and reliability.

Storing your gear near ozone-generating equipment (such as electric motors) and other atmospheric contaminants can cause o-rings and other elastomeric components in your equipment to degrade. Although many manufacturers use materials that are less susceptible to chemical contaminants, these materials only limit degradation but will not eliminate it.

Factory recalls and safety upgrades are another important reason not to skip annual service. Using equipment beyond the factory recommended repair period puts divers, as well as the entire program at risk.

The bottom line – If a unit cannot provide annual and current proof of service by a factory certified repair technician, the equipment cannot be used.