NEWSLETTER December 31, 2004, Issue 46
Members are encouraged to submit articles, dive plans and dive reports.
Visit club web site at https://www.angelfire.com/nj4/divers/
DA Dive Log
DA Dive Plan
Movie report
December meeting minutes
“Happy New Year 2005
May everyone get to do as many good dives as they would like this coming year!”
Next Meeting Notice
Next club meeting is Monday, January 31, 2005.
We will have our regular business meeting at 730PM
2005 Divers Anonymous Holiday Party
Date: Saturday, January 08, 2005
Time: 7:30 to 11: 30 PM
Location: San Carlo
620 Stuyvesant Avenue
Directions to San Carlo
From New Jersey Turnpike, Lincoln Tunnel and Route 17 South:
Take Route 3 West, exit at Ridge Road/Park Avenue exit; continue straight to second stop sign (Park Avenue) and turn left. Cross over Route 3 and bear left onto Stuyvesant Avenue (between the Bank of New York and gas station) then proceed one mile to 620 Stuyvesant Avenue.
From Garden State Parkway:
Take Route 3 East, exit at Park Avenue/River Road exit (first exit past Route 21 North exit); turn left to intersection and make second right onto Stuyvesant Avenue (between the Bank of New York and gas station) then proceed one mile to 620 Stuyvesant Avenue
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Peggy’s News
1) The http://www.scubanj.org/ webpage is up again.
Today, we have changed servers to Net Access http://nac.net/
I will be working on the website over the next few weeks.
Please check any links I have for your websites (clubs, shops, boats, groups) and let me know if they have to be changed.
Right now, some of the old information is no longer on the website but it is still available if you need it by asking.
Peggy Bowen, Director ....... New: pegdiver@earthlink.net
New Jersey Council of Diving Clubs
2) Global
Assessment of Corals Finds Bad News, Good News, Looming Threats
December 07, 2004 — By WWF-US
Washington - About 20 percent of the world's coral reefs
are so damaged they are beyond repair, finds a new global assessment of the
state of coral reefs released today at the WWF headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The damaged reefs no longer provide fish for people or attractions for
tourists. At the same time the percentage of reefs recovering from past damage
has risen but half of the world's reefs are threatened with destruction, the
assessment found. All told, 70 percent of the world's reefs are threatened or
destroyed, up from 59 percent four years ago. Climate change, runoff pollution
and destructive fishing methods pose the greatest threats to reefs. The Status
of Coral Reefs of the World: 2004 involved 240 scientists from 96 countries
in the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network.
"The news is mixed for the world's coral reefs,"
said Clive Wilkinson, coordinator of the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network
and lead author of the assessment. "We're happy to report that almost half
of the reefs severely damaged by coral bleaching in 1998 are recovering, but
other reefs are so badly damaged that they are unrecognizable as coral
reefs."
The report found that 20 percent of the world's coral reefs
"have been effectively destroyed and show few prospects of recovery."
The most damaged reefs are in the Persian Gulf where 65 percent have been
destroyed, followed by reefs in South and Southeast Asia where 45 and 38
percent, respectively, are considered destroyed. There are also recent reports
that many reefs in the wider Caribbean have lost 80% of their corals.
The percentage of recovering reefs has increased compared
to the last global assessment. Many of these reefs were damaged in 1998 during
an unprecedented "bleaching" when unusually warm water effectively destroyed
16 percent of the world's coral reefs. Most of the recovered reefs are in the
Indian Ocean, part of the Great Barrier Reef off the cost of Australia and in
the western Pacific, especially in Palau. Earlier this year, Australia
increased protection for the Great Barrier Reef from 4 percent to 33 percent.
"This report is a reality check for coral reefs and a
helpful guide for the work of WWF and many other organizations dedicated to
coral conservation," said Brooks Yeager, vice-president for global threats
at World Wildlife Fund. "This report shows that good management can help
these amazing reef communities to survive the many stresses they currently
face."
The report says the main causes of reef decline are poor
land management practices which damage the reefs with sediments, nutrients and
other pollutants, over fishing and destructive fishing practices, and coastal
development. Other threats loom, especially climate change. Increased water
temperatures have already been blamed for the single most destructive event for
corals, the 1998 bleaching.
The report includes satellite data from the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Coral Reef Watch project which
measures stress to reefs from temperature. The data show that more bleaching events
caused by unusually warm water can be expected in the future.
"It is critical that we develop the ability to monitor
and assess the condition of resources, as well as the effectiveness of
management actions. The United States, through NOAA, in partnership with global
oceans and the marine science community, is committed to the development of an
integrated global ocean observing system that will provide resource managers
the information they need," said Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher Jr,
under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator.
"Working with international, federal, state, academic and private sector
partners we have begun to better integrate existing and new coral reef
monitoring, mapping and research efforts in the development of coral reef
observing systems to provide the type of effective stewardship of our marine
resources called for in this report."
The assessment also includes detailed recommendations to
preserve and better manage reefs. Some are fairly obvious such as reducing
pollution and barring damaging fishing practices such as dynamite fishing which
can turn a productive coral reef into a lifeless ocean wasteland. Other
recommendations include expanding the use of no-take Marine Protected Areas which
cover important spawning grounds. Protecting these "fish nurseries,"
for example, has shown to increase fishing yields.
The Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network receives support
from governmental and non-governmental organizations including the U.S. State
Department, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the World Bank,
and WWF to publish this survey of the health of the world's coral reefs and
diagnoses solutions for halting and reversing their decline.
# # # #
For more information, contact:
Tom Lalley Email: tom.lalley@wwfus.org
WWF-US
Telephone: 202/778-9544
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Peggy Bowen, Director ....... New: pegdiver@earthlink.net
New Jersey Council of Diving Clubs
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DA Dive Log
DA Dive Plan
(Any sales of gear are subject to terms agreed upon by sellers and buyers.)
E-mail: Tom Gormley 50 cuft low pressure steel tank, Nitrox ready, new condition, Mercury 20 HP outboard motor, 2003 model.
Meeting Minutes
Divers Anonymous Scuba Dive Club
Mario’s Restaurant / 710 Van Houten Avenue, Clifton, NJ
December 13, 2004
Members Present:
Greg Collucci
Maurizia Corrao
Mike Dox
Edith Farmer
Ian Fryer
Tom & Norva Gormley
Mike Granado
Leo and Connie Mazur
Richard Mullen
Al Nesterok
Don Van Dyk
Brian Maglio
The meeting began at 7:30 p.m. with 21 of 42 active members present.
Executive Committee Reports
Treasurer Report / Lara Padula
These funds are used to pay for expenses occurred running our club and to help offset expenses for various club offered activities.
Secretary Report / Richard Mullen
Last
months minutes were accepted unread. Rich collected magazines and other
articles to be sent to soldiers serving in
Vice President’s Report / Al Nesterok
Al reported updated progress for Christmas Party to be held on January 8th with cost to run about $35 per person. At last month’s meeting it was approved the club’s treasury would pay $10 per club member to help off-set cost. Reserve this date and bring along your significant other as this night promises to be full of awards and lots of fun.
President’s Report / Thomas Gormley
Weather conditions permitting, we are planning to do some Thursday and Sunday shore dives in January. Tom has already reserved Sea Lion for Jul 31 and Aug 28 for 2 tank dives. One dive will be a near shore shipwreck and the other will be some other local shipwreck in the 80 foot deep range.
Sat
/ Jan 8: Christmas Party at San Carlos Restaurant,
Tom outlines his program for meeting speakers and the members gave a unanimous show of approval for the club to spend some of its budget for some well known and costly speakers. Discussion was general in support of this program.
Other Activities
Local Dives
Contact Tom, Ben, Mike or Rich for possible Thursday and Sunday shore dives.
Remote Dives
Members
are requested to consider and propose dive trips for the 2005 dive
season. Preliminary plans may include trips to
Membership
Welcome to new member Brian Maglio.
Web Site
We have a new webmaster Mike Dox to support the improvement and maintenance of our club’s web site. Visit club web site at https://www.angelfire.com/nj4/divers/. If members want to post club or scuba related activities they are encouraged to use email group mailing. If you have any club related photographs you wish to have posted on the web, send to Mike or Larry.
Old Business
Ian still has some club hats and shirts available for $20 and $24.
New Business
Discussion was held about club paying for special invited guest speakers. Dive industry legions and authors, such as Kevin McMurray and Gary Gentile offer presentations for $150 fee. After some lively discussion, it was voted to authorize Tom to contact both these potential guess speakers to arrange for possible future club presentation. It was also suggested that these guest speakers be asked if they could donate one of their books to be held for auction to help offset the expense to the club.
It
may be of interest to hear Kevin McMurray talk about his new book “Empress of
Minutes submitted by Secretary, Richard Mullen
2004 - 05
Divers Anonymous Calendar
Updated 12-31-04
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Jan 2005
· 01/05: DA Planning meeting 7:30 p.m. at 6 Bros Diner Rt. 46
·
01/08:
DA Holiday
Party
7:30 p.m.
· 01/31: DA Club Meeting 7:30 p.m |
Feb 2005
· 02/01: Bottle Show,
· 02/14: 4th Annual DA Ski Day
·
02/29:
· 02/28: DA Club Meeting 7:30 p.m. Tom and Ben’s Boat Charters, Payment and Sign-Up, and Kevin Mc Murray presenting “The Empress of Ireland” |
Mar 2005
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Apr 2005
· 04/03: Manasquan RR Bridge Dive, 8AM · 04/06: Pool Dive for gear check and warm-up 9:15 p.m. Clifton YMYWHA · 04/17 Sunday shore dive in Belmar SRI · 04/26: DA Club Meeting 7:30 p.m. Annual Dues and Officer Elections, Gary Gentile presents “U-boats of eastern US” |
May 2004
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June 2004
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Jul 2004
·
· 07/11 Tom-Spring Tide Boat Dive · 7/17 & 18 DA Weekend at Dutch Springs ·
07/26: DA Club
Meeting, Topic, “Vincent Sarullo & John Bandstra “The |
Aug 2004
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Sep 2004
· 09/06: Labor Day · 9/16 Thursday Night Dive, 9pm,
Shark River Inlet, · 9/19 DA 2nd Crab Dive, 10AM, Back Bay, Belmar · 09/27: DA Club Meeting 7:30 p.m. “Passaic River Sediment” by Walt Jaslanek
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Oct 2004
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Nov 2004
· Local Shore Dives 11/21
· 11/22: DA Club Meeting 7:30 p.m. 2004 Artifact & Story Contest
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Dec 2004
· 12/13: DA Club Meeting 7:30 p.m. · 12/18: Lizzie H Brayton 100 year anniversary dive, 2PM · “Happy Holidays” · Friday, 12/31: Last Dive of Year 10AM
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Pink highlighted events are subsidized by DA dues