The Northeastern Mission 31 Team! So excited to work with these guys!
Well, Mission 31 officially kicked off on Sunday. The first half of the mission is underway with Fabian, Andy, Adam, Kip, Otter, and Ryan living in Aquarius, and happily diving away. While they were shoving off the dock at Reef Base, I was watching the live feed at home in Massachusetts!
Alli and I getting out of the water- a bit colder than Florida water!
My half of the mission begins on June 17. In the meantime, I've got LOTS to do!! The main objective of my time back home is to get all of Northeastern's surface support divers trained up to become AAUS Scientific Divers before we fly to Florida. This involves many dives, more lectures, an exam, and long days of training. We are 3 days in to AAUS Scientific Diver training, and it has been going great!
Day #1 involved a lengthy checkout dive, and an even longer First Aid/CPR/Automated External Defibrillator/Emergency Oxygen Administration class. Today we did another orientation dive, a really great navigation dive, and lectures on dive planning, decompression sickness, the history of AAUS, and rescue diving. Tomorrow we will practice rescue diving skills in the water! Divers are always so impressed with themselves when they are able to rescue a diver and carry them safely to shore. I'm excited!
I only teach Scientific Diver class about 2 times a year, but it is one of my favorite parts of my job. I get to introduce new divers to the world of doing science underwater. These divers go from being underwater visitors to underwater explorers and observers, it is magical transition. It is truly a unique experience to finally reach a level of comfort in the water that lets you be a scientist and a safe diver. I love the moment when new scientific divers exclaim "I'm so much better at this than the first time!"
Day #1 involved a lengthy checkout dive, and an even longer First Aid/CPR/Automated External Defibrillator/Emergency Oxygen Administration class. Today we did another orientation dive, a really great navigation dive, and lectures on dive planning, decompression sickness, the history of AAUS, and rescue diving. Tomorrow we will practice rescue diving skills in the water! Divers are always so impressed with themselves when they are able to rescue a diver and carry them safely to shore. I'm excited!
I only teach Scientific Diver class about 2 times a year, but it is one of my favorite parts of my job. I get to introduce new divers to the world of doing science underwater. These divers go from being underwater visitors to underwater explorers and observers, it is magical transition. It is truly a unique experience to finally reach a level of comfort in the water that lets you be a scientist and a safe diver. I love the moment when new scientific divers exclaim "I'm so much better at this than the first time!"
