Dive Times May 2013

Dive Times

Issue 56 May 2013

THE DIVE TIMES News from below the surface at Dive Otago

Kia Ora, We are a hardy bunch of down under adventurers.

I have never been able to understand why diving has been considered seasonal by our northern counterparts. If you own a dive business then it cannot survive on six months’ trading so my philosophy has always been to embrace a twelve month “season”. After all, the creatures of the sea don’t disappear for half of the year they simply get up to different things. Why not commit to more winter diving this year? The visibility is often better, the sea calmer and you can harvest Foveaux Strait oysters up until the end of August. Several of our customers have recently ordered drysuits which is the perfect way to dress for the cooler water. If you feel the need for some warm water diving then you can join our overseas adventure to the fabulous Solomon Islands where the water temperature is around 28 degC in June. Also, look for opportunities to dive and make new friends with our dive club in the coming months.

Cheers Dave and Mary Dive Otago’s Jen Clent hard at work during her recent trip to Malaysia where she completed her PADI Course Director Candidate Training Course - and Passed! Well done and Congratulations from all the Team!

Have a Go

By Emma Young

Discover Scuba Diving With the warmer weather over the early months of the year and also with the students returning to Dunedin for University, we have had a lot of people complete this short course to give it a go.

A lot of these named below have been part of a birthday party group and other social groups, so remember we cater for all groups and can arrange a private course to suit your timetable. So a big congratulations to: Benedikt Schendel, Sandra Meissner,

Christian Fottner, Derek Marcelis, Clementine Marcelis, Laura Bennet, Shahan Verberne, Jacoba Maguire, Mila Aitken, Hayley Yates, Blaire Dobie, Susan Jackson, Peter Jackson, Penny Wood, Adam Samson-Witana, Patrick Mc Namara, Kerry Mcnamara, Carmen Lobb, Stuart Barr – Hamilton, Bene Stewart, Himang Mujoo, Olivia McPherson, Lana Young, Lisa Manson, Orion Carey-Clark, Aaron Fahey, Louis Mckay, Lisa Switalla, Sophie Gibson, John Brent, Michael Pinn, Sara Larcombe, Orion Carey-Clark, Bene Stewart, Karini Wallace, Nicole Jorgensen, Lara Frethey, Levi Dean, Joshua Dean, Mia Te Tana, Juliet Wallace, Wiremu Ratapu, Thomas Bridgman, Daniel Bridgman, Nicole Jorgensen, Vaike Ongoua, Kevin Phillips, Caitlin Robb, Karla Robb, Arwen Weir, Lacklan Foxton-Smith and Grace Apuwa-Bishop.

Discover Snorkelling We were lucky enough to have both Kings High School and Queens High School bring large groups of students through our doors and learn how to snorkel both

Have a Go PADI Discover Scuba Diving Only $25 12th June, 17th July PADI Discover Snorkelling$100 On Request Please note we do take private and group bookings for all of these courses.

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Issue 56 May 2013

in the pool and then out in the ocean. They also earned unit credits for NCEA as well. So well done to: Hanri De Bruin, Kim Gruenig, Tabea Schulze Pals, Chizuru Yamamoto, Antonia Anders, Mariel Blomeke, Laura Graf, Linn Rohland, Daniel Cornelius, Tyler Dickie, Jesse Pringle, Nicholas Marr-Livett, Raymond Hua, Jacob Hoekstra, Jesse Hubac, Reo Kawana, Ryunosuke Ogawa, Niclas Rutsch, Thanakrit Gujral, Genki Yamada, Ryota Takio, Niclas Becker, Lasse Bock, Moritz Brandt, Malte Krieger, Konstantin Moerke, Philipp Luehrs, Timm Fuerst, Ben Hotton, Heiner Langbehn, Max Niesel, Jake Bulger, Morritz Brondt, Felix Bethke, Janosch Landrogt and Benjamin Juenemann.

Jonathan Finnie, Barry Fraser, Tom Bliss, Sophie Gibson, Sara Larcombe, Brianna Ramsey, Georgia Roberts, Dave Smith, Toby Adams, Joseph Wright, Gavin Christey, Keith Mcnab, Stewart Affleck and Richard Hurring.

Advanced Open Water Divers Sandy Webb, Timothy Smith, Tiffany Banks, Boris Berkhout, Emma Kearney, Leigh Forbes, Logan Stewart, Sean Driver and Kristina McMillan .

Short Courses

Short Courses

By Emma Young New Certifications!

The warmer weather has also contributed to our Open Water Diving Courses being completely booked up until June. It has been excellent diving conditions and we have had to run extra courses in March, April and May along with a couple of private groups. Get in to book your space on these courses early as they are filling up quickly.

We are also running a lot of speciality courses in the coming months so if you need to brush up on your buoyancy, improve your underwater photography skills, enjoy night diving or want to be able to dive on nitrox, have a look at our timetable or enquire in store for the dates of these upcoming courses.

PADI Open Water Diver Course May 3rd (Full) 7th June (Full) 8th July (Places Available) PADI Advanced Open Water Diver Course 26th May, 27th June, 25 July PADI Rescue Diver Course 15 May, 25th Sept PADI Specialty Courses see opposite Please note we do take private and group bookings for all of these courses.

Private cost a little more and group bookings (5 or more) can save up to $150.

Congratulations to the following students on their recent certifications!

PADI Open Water Diver Course Alex Murray, Robert Swanson, Holly Lane, Joseph Welham, Hamish Darling, Michael McBeath, Georgia Moore, Huw Laver, Zeke King, Erin Garrick, Anna Fetterolf, Norah Flynn, Zane Hall,

Underwater Navigator Specialty Gordon McKendrick, John Williams, Sandy Webb, Kelyn Witehira.

Air Fillers Course Andrew Scott, Edward Jowett and Ross Funnell.

Our next Air Fillers Course is in September but if you have a group of 4 or more we can cater to your timetable.

This is an awesome course where you learn to fill tanks enabling you to fill from any compressor around the country.

Especially helpful if you want to hire our portable compressor if you are travelling to dive in remote locations. Enquire in store or give us a call.

School Programme STAR Open Water Course

In the April holidays we have had two fully booked weeks with keen and eager secondary school students. They ahave come from South Otago High School, Roxburgh Area School, Napier High School, Cromwell High School and Blue Mountain College, Queens High School, St Kevins and John McGlashan. A great spread. They all have nearly completed the first portion of the course which is the Knowledge Development online. Once finished they have a couple of assignments to complete, then they come to us for the next two sections which include pool skills and finally the ocean dives.

We cater for all schools and can block off a time to complete the course when it suits you and our timetable.

Our next STAR programme is in the school holidays from 15th to 19th of July and then from the 22nd to 26th of July, so let me know if you have anyone interested in completing the courses during this time.

PADI Open Water Course – Alice Buxton – Gateway Student

Congratulations to our latest Open Water Certified Divers... Well Done to all of you, Hope you enjoyed your course as much as the Sea Lion enjoyed tagging along with us during it! From Left.. Joseph, Tom, Georgia, Brianna, Sophie, Sara, Dave and Toby! Legends!

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I have been lucky enough to have Alice with us every fortnight for a 20 week period. Alice is to work in all the different areas that we have here at Dive Otago. She has tried her hand at Retail with working in the shop. And has also helped out with enquiries and follow up customers who were interested in completing a diving course with us.

As part of her placement she gets to complete her Open Water

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Dive Times

Issue 56 May 2013

Dive Times

PADI

MASTER SCUBA DIVER

Master Scuba Divers are people with the bug! They have the passion, experience and training to earn themselves the PADI Master Scuba Diver Rating. This rating is the highest non-professional level in the PADI System of diver education, and best of all it’s FREE as long as you meet all of the prerequisites!

Prerequisites

Specialties coming up

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14 years old

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PADI Digital Photography Specialty May 10th & 11th

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PADI Open Water Diver (or qualifying certification from another training organization)

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PADI Night Specialty May 15h

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PADI Advanced Open Water Diver (or qualifying certification from another training organization)

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PADI Enriched Air (Nitrox) Specialty May 18th

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PADI Deep Specialty May 19th

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PADI Rescue Diver or Junior Rescue Diver (or qualifying certification from another training organization)

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PADI Specialty July 6th

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PADI Search and Rescue Diver Sept 28th - 29th

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Minimum of five PADI Specialty Diver courses

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PADI Drysuit Specialty Oct 4th - 5th

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Minimum of 50 logged dives

To book your spot on any of these specialty courses call us on 03 466 4370 or email shortcourses@diveotago.co.nz

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Issue 56 May 2013

Diving Certificate. She did most of knowledge development on line at home and rocked through pool skills in one day!

Alice went to the dive site to do her first and second dive on April the 10th. It was an awesome day weather wise and she got through all her skills. I’m sure she did all her skills smiling; she was so excited to view the underwater world. She also got to experience a male sealion swimming around us on dive two. It was pretty good viz and we saw a lot of fish life, nudibranchs (apparently 45 were counted on one dive from other divers) and large sea hares.

I’m sure Alice can’t wait to get back into the water next time she is with us to complete her dives for the course.

us on the way home. With a half metre swell, pretty choppy surface conditions and a couple of green faces, we jumped in, minus our hoods and gloves (yes it was 21 degrees!) The dive itself was great with 15 metres visibility, lots of local fish life such as Blue Mao Mao, Two Spotted Demoiselles and Leatherjackets.

Everyone enjoyed the dive, although Kelly and myself thought they were going to leave us behind when the mooring line broke on our safety stop, but we were hauled aboard for the rough ride to the infamous Poor Knights. Our second dive of the day was at Cave Bay. Variable Nudibranches were seen, Eagle Rays and finally we had our safety stop amongst a bait ball of Kariou, with Kingfish circling them. Blue Mao Mao Arch was our third dive and the next highlight with the arch full of Blue Mao Mao, a large Eagle Ray, Ribbon Ctenophores, Snapper galore and many kinds of Wrasse. We headed into Riko Riko Cave to settle our stomachs and did our night dive in here, as well as anchoring up for the night. It was pretty rough and windy out of the cave and not much sleep was had on board due to sea sicknesses and the whistling wind.

Diving Day 2 We woke to a beautiful settled day and a positive forecast picked up our spirits and stomachs for the next few days. Cream Gardens, Fred’s Pinnacle, Northern Arch and back to The Gardens for our night dive were the sites investigated and in that order.

Beautiful fish life, in abundance especially, Northern Arch which was full of Pink Mao Mao as well as sponges such as Orange Sponge and the thinly encrusting Purple Sponge Chelonaplysilla violacea at the Gardens. You could spend hours looking at all the little life on the rocks and walls.

Diving Day 3

Trips and Events Northern NZ Trip 2013 Emma Young After a get-together and many emails, from Dunedin, I finally got my team of 11 customers together in Auckland in our 12 seater van and on our way to Tutukaka to spend our first night on the Pacific Hideaway Charter. They were bright eyed and bushy tailed and very eager to start our adventure.

In port for the first night we customized ourselves to the live aboard conditions of being very cosy for the next three days and at this point, the gentle rocking of sleeping in a boat.

Diving Day 1 First thing in the morning Mark (skipper) and Bruce (diver and deckie) arrived and gave us a run down of the do’s and don’ts on board. We only had one chance to dive the Waikato and this was to be our first dive, with the weather conditions not favouring

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After a settled night everyone had a better sleep and woke rearing to go. Middle Arch with Bernies Cave was dive 1, Big Eye Cave including The Great Wall was dive 2 and finally the amazing Red Barron Chimneys for our third dive. We witnessed a shag catching fish underwater – awesome! For me this dive was one of the highlights on day 3. Such variation at Poor Knights, with each dive site being so different, from the topography, to the marine life. We could have spent many more days with hundreds of other dive sites to dive. We spent our last night on the Pacific Hideaway in port to a welcome shower (some of us were certainly brewing after 3 days), and a bar meal at the local pizza restaurant with Mark, his wife Denise and Bruce.

Diving Day 4 After an early start we drove to Northland Dive run by Shane and Julia, whose operation is situated in the middle of the bush!

We followed them with their large IRB to the launching site to dive the Canterbury Wreck. Northland Dive actually won the tender to sink this ship (very interesting story) so they were very passionate about it and knew every nook and cranny. Some of our crew penetrated the wreck with Shane leading them.

Others of us investigated the outside of the wreck. There were some lovely Jewelled Anemones starting to adorn the intact and upright wreck. Our youngest member of our crew Finley (15) loved diving the wrecks and I can see him diving more of these in the future. Before our second dive we had a beautiful lunch on a secluded beach and a soak in the sun. For dive 2 we dove Kariparipa Point, which included an awesome cave filled to the brim with fish. Lots of Moray Eels, Short Tailed Stingrays, Toadstool Grouper and Big Eyed Fish were around this area. I was on the look out for Nudibranches but didn’t see any.

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Dive Times

We headed back to their lodge for a very welcome home cooked meal, shower and proper bed!

Diving Day 5 Unfortunately the weather gods weren’t on our side for our next day and we were unable to dive the colourful Rainbow Warrior, but the boys were pretty happy about that, as they wanted to go crayfish diving. With no success I might add! We were treated on our first dive to Big Eyes Liar, which was a 40 metre cave and Putahataha Point was our second dive. A few Clown Nudibranches were seen, Mosaic Moray and I patted the friendly Sanddaggers Wrasse, which was escorting us around the dive site. We all enjoyed the IRB, lodge and our hosts at Northland Dive, not to mention the relaxing atmosphere and home cooking.

They come highly recommended by our crew after this trip.

Diving Day 6 To our last destination – ouch! a very, very early morning, not welcomed by most of the guys, to the Mokohinau Islands. Our charter was Outer Golf Charters which was skippered by Brian, who also owned Goat Island Diving. I pretended to captain the boat from the upper deck, from where we saw a number of flying fish trying to escape the bow wash of the boat. The Canyon was our first dive and once again the boys were competing for crayfish, both numbers and sizes. Once again empty handed on this dive. We anchored up and dived our second dive at Burgess Cove, where there were huge numbers of fish including Blue Mao Mao, Leatherjackets, Kingfish and many Nudibranches, as well as lots of Yellow Moray Eels. A very colourful dive. Before our last dive, Ross and i snorkelled around Packie Lagoon where we saw a gorgeous Puffer (Porcupine Fish), with his big googly eyes and large smile amongst the kina mine field. Thinking

they had ditched us as we couldn’t see the boat, we kicked around the corner to find them gearing up for our last dive at this same site. I dived with Ross and Kelly and we had an awesome hour long dive searching for Nudibranches, and Kelly was very successful. Ross escorted a crayfish around for the dive, only to put it back once on board and measured, as it was a little small.

By the way I think Denis and Mike won the Crayfish count, but David and Bob came up with a Spanish Cray so they won for that as well – evened it out and a few beers were had!

We had a lovely meal with Brian and his family from Goat Island Diving as well as a few beers to finish off this busy but amazing dive tour. We stayed the night at Walton Park Motel and on our last day explored Goat Island Marine Reserve, (dry on land), before heading back to the airport and Dunedin later on that day.

I would like to thank the team of customers who came on the trip. Everyone improved with their diving skills and I was just amazed at how our mature couple, Helen and Charles (64), were so inspiring diving at this age!, keeping up with the younger guys and doing the majority of the dives. Our seasoned divers, Dennis, Kerin, David K, Bob, David S, Ross, Kelly and Mike, all had a great time and we had many laughs, giving our tummy muscles a good work out. And Finley at 15, well his diving just matured and got better over the week!

It was an awesome trip, a total of 18 dives for those that wanted to do them all. Lots of different experiences - all the dive operators were so different which provided a lot of variation to the trip, from their accommodation, boat, meals and to their personalities. With the dive sites, well we haven’t even touched the surface with many of the places, still heaps of exploring to do. A truly great memorable experience, make sure you make enquiries about our next trip as we would love for you to share

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SOLOMON ISLANDS 13 June to 25 June 2013 - 13 Days, 12 dive

A True Diver’s Paradise Honiara – 4 nights 4 Dive Package.

Gizo – 6 nights 8 Dive Package The Solomon Islands are comprised of more than 990 islands just south of the Equator. Virtually untouched by commercial development, the island group remains a natural paradise.

The Solomons are a diver’s paradise and an eco-tourism destination that is unspoiled, unhurried and totally unforgettable.

As beautiful below as it is above...the warm sparkling clear waters hold a visual feast to delight the most fastidious diving or snorkelling enthusiast.

The Solomon Islands is one of the top diving destinations in the World. Noted in particular as a great all round dive destination with wrecks, big fish, colorful corals, manta rays, a huge number of fish species and the list goes on. The attraction to divers is the vast diversity offered on each dive experience.

Diving Highlights Include: Extraordinary tropical reef dives, extreme wall diving, coral gardens and bommies, cruisy drift dives, the 140m Japanese Transport ship Toa Maru, two WWII aircraft, the Bonegi Beach wrecks I and II, Submarine IJN I - 1 and a Boeing B17 Flying Fortress.

TRIP PRICE

$4939

non-diver $3739

SOLOMON ISLANDS Our Personal Ratings Big Fish Action Drift Dives Small Colorful Fish Reefs Health Condition Soft Corals Manta Eagle Rays UW Photography Drop off Reef Shark Action Macro Life Wreck Diving

Price excludes meals, travel insurance, airport transfers from airport to Honiara accommodation and from airport to Brisbane accommodation both ways. A deposit of $2250.00 secures your spot on the trip. Final Payment needs to be made by 1st April 2013 and travel insurance is highly recommended to take out at this point also.

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Remoteness of Dive sites

Avg Visibility 24-27m

Avg Water . 28-30°C

Dive Times these experiences with us also!

Solomon Dive Times Islands information Evening Dive Otago on Wednesday 8th May at 6pm.

Dave Watson, Managing Director of Dive Otago will show a video and give a brief talk on his amazing experiences diving in the Solomons.

It will be a great time to get together for some drinks and nibbles and information will be available about the great trip we have coming up in June! We still have spaces available so if you have any friends or family who you think might be interested, bring them along, all divers and non-divers welcome.

All the best and we look forward to seeing you there!

We still have space available on this dream trip! Get in contact with Emma in the shop (info@diveotago.co.nz) and she can send you a more detailed itinerary.

Milford 6 - 9th September 2013 (Price TBC) Contact: Emma Young, Dive Otago Ltd: info@diveotago.co.nz, 03 466 4370

Dive Club Hola Amigos, Your beloved ‘El Presidente’ here!

Now in case you haven’t noticed the skies seem to be getting a darker grey, which means it’s almost winter time… But that doesn’t mean it’s time to hang up your fins and take a Siesta! We still have a spectacular growing interest in local diving and a lot of new faces signing up for the Dive Club since we last spoke! Recently there has been an influx of sightings of several juvenile Hooker Sea Lions (‘Whakahao’ in Maori) and some club members have already been treated with a good showing of their unique behaviour underwater. This usually involves the animal blowing bubbles at you (mimicking your regulator exhales), and grinning with those big teeth whilst mock biting down on fins with all the ferocity of a particularly large puppy. Most would agree seeing their grace underwater is an awesome and humbling experience but if you do find yourself diving with them remember that they are still wild creatures and should be treated accordingly with caution and respect. The instructors here at Dive Otago recommend you plant yourself firmly on

your knees and marvel at the amazing New Zealand native marine mammals (as well as your air gauge), but if they start being too daunting or intimidating we suggest you slowly swim your way back to your exit point and leave the water.

The next Club Boat dive we have scheduled is for Sunday the 5th of May, and the next Shore diving on Saturday 18th of May. That doesn’t mean that you can’t schedule your own dive days however. If you have a local dive spot that you enjoy exploring, let us know about it and we’d love to help you check it out. The aim is to get out there diving, keep it exciting, and make some awesome new dive buddies. There is just so much to see underwater around here in Otago. If you’re interested in any form of diving let us know here and we will do what we can to try make your diving wish come true (within the realms of possibility of course, just because there might be water on Mars doesn’t mean we can get you there...) Hope to see you all soon!

Adios Amigos!

Get Diving Regularly - We organise everything - You just turn up!

Join our Facebook Group or Email Database and keep updated with what’s going on in the dive community, find a dive buddy and join us for Club Dive Days!

Get in touch now!

Membership: $75 for 12 months OR $50 for 6 months Shore Dives $10 per dive Club Dives: These will be run as often as the weather allows. We will try to get out at least once a month. It’s really up to the group so if you’re keen we’ll do the organising and all you have to do is turn up and enjoy the scenery both above and underwater.

Boat Dives: $80 if you have your own gear $95 if you need to hire equipment. $115 for non-club members.

Gear: can be hired at a reduced rate of $20 on a first in, first served basis (usually costs $100).

Meet: Dive Otago at 8:30 sharp.

Transport: Carpool from Dive Otago

Spearfishing Trips

By Adam Illingworth We’ve had a couple of good trips since February, the weather has produced some great periods of calm seas and the local spearfishing has been great. Interestingly

Issue 56 May 2013

we have also had some large schools of Blue Warehou enter the harbour and hang around the entrance. The sighted fish haven’t been large, ranging around 20-30 cm, however there is no legal size limit for this fish so please use good judgement when selecting your catch, and remember to fish for tomorrow.

9th of February Trip After launching the boat from Moeraki we shot down to the northern coast of Shag Point. The boys rolled over the side of the boat and the hunt was on. An hour later they all came back reporting poor visibility but nonetheless Brian Mccormack and Simon Pigott put a couple of good sized Butterfish on the deck. Then the hammer went down in the direction of Fish Reef,

Trips Schedule Club Dive (Boat) 5th May 2013 Solomon Islands information Evening 13th June 2013 Solomon Islands 13th - 25th June 2013 Club Dive (Boat) 22nd June 2013 Club Dive (Boat) 7th July 2013 Club Dive (Shore) 20nd July 2013 Milford Sound Dive Trip 6-9th Sept 2013 Spearfishing Trip (Boat) 19th May 2013 Spearfishing Trip (Boat) 16th June 2013 Spearfishing Trip (Boat) 11 Days 14th - 25th June 2013 Spearfishing Milford Sound 4 Days 30th Oct - 2nd Sept 2013 FOR MORE INFORMATION ON:

Club Dives chris@diveotago.co.nz

General Trips emma@diveotago.co.nz Spearfishing Trips Contact adam@diveotago.co.nz

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and all the boys were in again for another swim. It was here that Jason Hall landed his trumpeter and Simon scored the fish of the day with a great sized Blue Moki and shot a Telescope Fish which was awaiting a new home inside a pie. We took shelter inside the Moeraki lighthouse point, where the team had the opportunity to swim with the local fur seals and target a few more butters before heading home.

Thanks to all Alex Mclellan, Brian Mccormack, Simon Pigott for coming along and special thanks to Jason Hall for sharing all his stories of targeting Snapper, Kingfish and all those other northern fish we are all waiting to have a crack at.

23rd of March Trip Report It was a smooth launch from the Harbour and once out of the entrance a straight line was made for the Karitane Peninsula. The team had a fin around some large rocks, and reported only seeing small butterfish and Moki about. So we headed south for a look at Brinns point a site being only accessible by boat. During their swim a few of the boys were teased by some very young seal pups. Once back on board grinning ear to ear was Andrew Springford who brought back a good haul of Butterfish with some nice sizes on his line. He said the number of them schooling down there was unreal.

Michael Pankhurst in true spearo fashion brought back only two butterfish taking just enough for a good feed, and having the patience to wait for his selection he snatched the fish of the day with his Butterfish measuring just under 50cm. On the way back to port we stopped in at Harington Point for a quick look. The boys said there were plenty of fish down there to have a look at but took nothing.

DIVE OTAGO TRIP RECORDS Recently we have purchased some scales to weigh in our greatest catch and possibly measure your new personal best, however due to all of our records being made before we had these our records are in length but we will transfer to weight after a longer fish has been shot, here is the current list.

The Record Books Butterfish: 51cm Ben Davidson (10-11-12)

Blue Moki: 63cm Jo Graham (10-11-12)

Thanks to Michael Pankhurst, Basem Andijani, Bassam Sobahi, Christian Morgan, Andrew Springford for an entertaining day.

Trumpeter: 44cm

Over these Trips we have had a wide range of abilities from first timers to well seasoned spearos. If you would like to come along and end up with your picture in the newsletter contact us here at the shop or come in for a good old fashioned yarn with one of our spearfishing staff.

Blue cod: 33cm

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Matthew Simpson (24-11-12) Jo Graham (24-11-12)

Dive Times

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WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST DIVE OTAGO TEAM MEMBER KELLY BOAL It is with great excitement that I introduce Kelly Boal to the Dive Otago Team.

She has travelled over 11,000 KM (from Los Angeles, California) to join our team.

In 2004, at the age of 14, she completed her Open Water Course in Jamaica and became hooked on diving. Last year she completed her Diploma in Professional SCUBA Instruction at Dive Otago. When I asked Kelly why she chose New Zealand and why a Diploma, she came back to me with the following: “I have always wanted to have a Profession in SCUBA Diving and found Dive Otago to have the best reputation in the world, and I have always wanted to visit New Zealand. ” Kelly has been working with us since February. She is a friendly outgoing individual who, just like the rest of us, shares a love for the Ocean and a passion for diving. We are very pleased to have her part of the team! Welcome on board Kelly Boal. (Celine Dufour)

ADAM’S SPEARFISHING TIP: #1 Use the right equipment : Weightbelts Using the right equipment will often lead to a longer, more comfortable and most importantly safer dive.

In this issue we are looking at the weight belt. A freediving weight belt is made of stretchable rubber (known as a marseille belt) compared to the traditional nylon belt made for scuba divers. The benefit of the rubber is it’s slightly stickier being able to grip onto your wetsuit, as well as being able to be stretched and sit tightly around the hips leaving the abdomen free for optimal breathing.

As you descend your lung volume and wetsuit size compresses causing your overall torso size to decrease. Often this results in a slipping weight belt as it was tightened to fit your largest size not your new compact size. A rubber belt is well stretched around you so when you dive and your size decreases the rubber belt should not slip or move but instead stil constrict and only result in a lighter stretch.

The belts still have a quick release mechanism but most have taken on the form of a pin buckle similar to what holds up your pants. The pin buckle allows you to gain that extra stretch and doesn’t get knocked open when it’s hit. However the belts do still come in a traditional closed buckle if that is your personal preference.

And lastly a handy tip to extend the life of your belt - when storing it remove the weights and lightly dust it in talcum powder.

Safe and happy hunting.

Come in and check out our full range of Spearfishing Products

Beuchat Marseille Belt

Beuchat Rubber Belt

►►Classic French Style ►►Quality rubber ►► Heavy duty - stainless steel buckle

►►Quality rubber ►► Standard Diving Buckle ►► Stainless Steel Buckle

$69 inc gst

$69 inc gst

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10 Great Reasons

to do a Diploma in Professional Scuba Instruction at Dive Otago 1. Ditch the 9 to 5 - we weren’t built to sit behind a desk - why not get paid to scuba dive? - make the ocean your office!

2. Get an Internationally recognised qualification in just one year - none of this 3 years plus a 2 years post grad business. Our course is just 36 Weeks.

3. The best job to travel with - Forget pulling pints in a smelly London pub and think sunset cruises in Mexico, Thailand, Egypt, the Pacific or the Caribbean.

4. Explore your creative side - Underwater Photographers and Videographers are needed in tourist areas around the world. Right here in Dunedin we have the world renowned Natural History New Zealand Film Unit producing amazing underwater content for the likes of the Discovery and National Geographic channels!

5. Make a difference in peoples lives - New divers are timid, yet excited and it is you who will introduce them to something that will change their life forever.

6. Promote Sustainable Eco-Tourism - Dive tourism helps to promote an awareness of our oceans’ health and creates sustainable jobs for locals

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7. Dunedin is a rad little city - We are known for a wicked student culture, great surf and mountain bike trails.

New Zealand’s best skiing and Snowboarding resorts Queenstown and Wanaka just 3 hrs away.

8. Train to the highest level - With our Diploma Programme you will graduate as a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor with Five Speciality Ratings. The highest qualification you can get without working in the industry.

9. Jobs - If you want one there are is loads of dream jobs out there for the taking. There are new jobs listed on the PADI Website every day and the dive industry has been steadily growing, worldwide certifications have almost doubled since 2006.

10. Train with the Professionals - Dive Otago has a reputation both here and abroad as producing great Instructors.

We often have companies approach us to employ our graduates as they know the quality of the training is top shelf.

We are now taking enrolments for this course all year round! Call or email Jen for more information gopro@diveotago.co.nz

Dive Times

Career Courses

Dive Times

Diploma in Professional Scuba Instruction February Group It’s holiday time! The team are currently enjoying their 2 week break getting some much needed rest after their first term with us. We have seen a huge improvement in dive skills over the 9 weeks progressing from Open Water divers, through Advanced Open Water and finishing their Rescue diver certifications.

During this time they have encountered some truly awesome marine life. One special encounter that probably stands out for them was the chance to snorkel with a SUNFISH! On our way to Aramoana one day we found one swimming in Deborah Bay, and we just couldn’t resist stripping off and getting in for an amazing up close view.

All the students have now had a run in with not just one but quite a few of our boisterous hooker sea lions. They all seem to love hanging out and being nibbled and nudged by the curious faces of the Sealions, and are noticing a difference in the personalities of the individuals.

Issue 56 May 2013

will be sitting their Instructors Examination with an Examiner from Australia. The exams take place over two days and they will be assessed on their dive theory knowledge, ability to instruct in a class, pool and ocean environment as well as their rescue abilities and general skills and professionalism. Hopefully by the time you are reading this we will have five newly certified Open Water Scuba Instructors!

National Certificate in Diving - Foundation It looks as though we are in for a good time over the next few months. We have 6 new recruits on our Foundation programme, and they seem like an extremely fun, and talkative bunch.

They have recently started their PADI Open Water Course, having completed their Knowledge development during which all students aced the 50 question multi choice quiz at the end.

Also completing their confined water dives these guys were a breeze all mastering the skills and tasks required of them with ease. The team is now more than ready to take on the Open Water and enjoy their first encounter with some of the amazing marine life we are so lucky to share our dive sites with, who knows perhaps they may even experience their first nibble on the head from our boisterous hooker Sea Lion friends.

Karitane was one of our dive sites visited, during which the underwater conditions weren’t in our favour, but nonetheless we managed to complete our Search and Recovery dives there.

Jonathan Speedy also managed to pull out a great sized crayfish to take home for the dinner plate.

If you are keen to join this crew DON’T PANIC there is still time.

Simply contact the store today for some more info or to make an appointment to have a chat about what works best for you

The term was not spent without a few days in the classroom, during which they received a lot of relevant information including, weather interpretation, risk management, and emergency oxygen use.

Our Newest Divemaster Interns have just started, we have 3 students Matt Potts, Mariana Pagan and April Brown.

The Team have also found heaps to look at and watch, very commonly finding multiple Octopus on a dive, encountering Seahorses, Conger Eels, learning of the different species of Nudibranch and all the other invertebrates covering our shoreline.

Next term they begin with their Medic First aid Instructor Qualifications, and Divemaster training. So it’s a real step up into the professional level, which should present a new challenge for the crew! If this sounds like a course you would be interested in we are currently taking enrolments for an immediate or August start.

August group The August Diploma group have been working extremely hard over the past 6 weeks training to be Scuba Instructors. They are down to the nitty gritty end of their course and next week they

National Certificate in Diving - Leadership & PADI Divemasters in Training

Their main focus thus far has been to develop their pool skills into demonstration quality. Providing the challenge of slowing everything right down and making them look easy, sometimes easier said than done.

They have completed their first Practical assessment assisting with Open Water divers in Confined Water. During this they spent 2 days in the pool helping out and organising the students, gaining the experience of what it’s like to deal with real world students in an assisting role. All the while gaining plenty of helpful tips and information from the Instructor as they worked together to get the task done.

A portion of their time so far has also been spent in the classroom. During this they have learnt about their role as a PADI professional, the knowledge of supervising and assisting divers, and much more dive theory to really give them the confidence they have professional level knowledge.

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Dive Times

Issue 56 May 2013

SHOP | DIVE OTAGO

Staff Pick

The Beuchat Mundial Spearfishing Backpack allows you to carry all your spearfishing gear and a pair of long fins all in the one backpack.

It’s been a long time coming and it’s finally here! The Mundial Spearfishing backpack is the perfect bag for all keen spearfishermen who endure a long walk from the car to the dive site and back. It fits all your spearfishing gear, including your long free diving fins in the main pocket and up to two spearguns which strap on either side of the bag. If you were ever worried about keeping your fish fresh, worry no more! The front pocket is a cool compartment where you can chuck your ice pack to keep your fish or beers fresh.

Carrying your spearfishing gear to the dive site no longer needs to be a mission with the Mundial backpack. Extra padding on the back panel also makes it comfortable to carry. Come on in and check it out for yourself today!

This versatile speargun bag features: • Main compartment with a ventilation mesh and a drain hole • Secondary cool compartment (outside pocket) for carrying cold drinks or fish • Side fastenings for two spearguns • External elastic zigzag strip for quick stowing, e.g. for a towel • Side straps for reducing the size of the pack • Double shoulder strap adjustment This is a must have spearfishing bag for any spearo no matter what level you enjoy the sport at.

$169 12

inc gst

Dive Times

Issue 56 May 2013

WINTER WARMERS

Dive Times

Photos: Jen Clent

INSTORE NOW Wet or dry, hot or cold, Lavacore helps control your core temperature longer and when wet maintains neutral buoyancy.

TOPSIDE SERIES | SAILING, BOATING, KAYAKING, WATERSKIING, WIND SURFING, WAKA AMA OR JET SKIING. The Elite series is the perfect multi-sport thermal garment for protection against wind chill and surface splash. The unique blend of Polytherm, Merino and Neoprene in the Elite Series eliminates constriction and allows for extreme movement and flexibility while protecting your inner core.

Merino lining for increased warmth and comfort Starting from

$199inc gst

BOTTOM SIDE SERIES | DIVING, SNORKELLING, SPEARFISHING, SURFING. Vests from

$139inc gst

Short-Sleeved Tops from

$149inc gst

Long-Sleeved Tops from

$179

inc gst

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Wind-proof layer provides anti-wind chill properties and ensures warmth in cold conditions

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Water resistant outer layer facilitates fast water run-off and quick drying

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Lightweight and 4-way stretch makes Lavacore incredibly comfortable to wear

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Breathable middle layer allows moisture to be drawn away from the body on the surface

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Lavacore is neutrally buoyant

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Anti-bacterial inner fleece minimizes odour and eliminates bacteria growth

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Dive Times

Issue 56 May 2013

Photography Tips by Tracey Channon Tip #6 Exposure Basics Exposure is defined as the amount of light your camera lets in for any given shot. Alternatively, you can say it’s the amount of light that hits your camera sensor. Exposure is one of the most important things for an underwater photographer to master. Generally people say that having good exposure means your photo is not too dark or too bright.

In the end, good exposure is defined only by your judgment. Using your automatic settings on your camera will not always expose a photo in the way that you were imagining the shot.

Expsoure is affected by different settings including: • • • • •

Shutter Speed Aperture ISO Strobe power Your EV controls

To make a picture brighter you can slow the shutter speed down, increase the aperture (smaller number) or increase the ISO. When the camera shutter is opened, light enters through the aperture of the lens. The resulting signals are then amplified electronically if your ISO is greater than 100.

Before we go into the different ways to change the exposure in more detail you need to understand about “stops”. A “stop” is a relative term. If you make a photo “one stop” brighter you are effectively letting in about twice as much light. Changing either the shutter speed, ISO, aperture or strobe power will change the “stop” Over the next five issues we will look at each method of changing the exposure. In the meantime checkout your instruction manual for your camera and learn where these setting can be adjusted in your system.

Happy shooting.

Photo: Kelly Boal

LEARN THE LINGO Shutter Speed - In photography, shutter speed is a common term used to discuss exposure time, the effective length of time a camera’s shutter is open letting in light.

Aperture - The space through which light enters a camera. Often this can be varied to let more or less light in.

ISO - The international standard measurement of a camera’s sensitivity to light. For analog film cameras, the ISO is the “film speed,” which is based on the chemical composition of the film. With digital cameras, it can be changed by selecting a speed from the ISO menu, reconfiguring an electronic circuit that emulates film speed.

Strobe power - Strobes often come with multiple power setting that allow you to adjust the amount of light it will produce.

Your EV controls - For cameras with internal light meters (all digital camera’s) EV Controls allow you to tell the camera to vealuate the light and then move the reading up or down by EV Units (or Stops)

Keen on Photography?

Have you ever thought about one of your favourite dives and then tried to explain why it was so good and what your saw to someone?

They say ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ and you can relive your favourite experiences by capturing the wonder and adventure of the aquatic realm with digital underwater photography.

The PADI Digital Underwater Photography Specialty Course will show you, under the guidance of a PADI Professional, how to develop your skills and easily obtain captivating underwater photos.

Our next course starts on May 10th & 11th Don’t miss out!

Photo: Adam Illingworth

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Dive Times

Check out the NEW Cannon G15 Now in store.

Dive Times

Camera

$689 inc gst

Housing

Issue 56 May 2013

Staff Pick

$449 inc gst

The Powershot G15 camera has finally arrived in store!

Don’t let its size fool you. Though it is small and sleek the camera features a 28mm wide angle lens, and a 5x Optical zoom with Image stabilisation, delivering a superior image quality when capturing photos and movies. Like the previous model (Canon G12) the G15 covers the same 28140mm focal length range, but it is a stop and a third faster, at F1.8-2.8 rather than F2.8-4.5. This permits background blur when shooting at the long end of the zoom.

You can find the Canon G15 and its corresponding housing for sale at the Dive Shop. Pop on down to check it out for yourself how small and light it is.

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Dive Times

Issue 56 May 2013

Adam’s Marine Identification Guide

Hi all, welcome to Adam’s Marine Identification Guide. This section is a quick way to learn about our local marine species. Every newsletter I will give you some basic information on one species from each section of vertebrate, invertebrate, and plant. I will add a photo of the particular species to aid in your Identification. I pride myself on my knowledge of being able to identify what I see during my dives, and love the challenge of finding out what the new species are I have seen. Hopefully this section is helpful for all you other passionate marine advocates, enjoy!

Juvenile Butterfish Photo: Adam Illingworth

Vertebrate Butterfish Photo: Adam Illingworth

Other Names: Marari, Matohe, Tarao, Kooaea (Maori) Greenbone (Japan)

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Butterfish (Odax pullus) Sometimes called Greenbone for its bones being green in colour, this fish is a herbivorous vertebrate eating only algae. Its habitats are generally dominated by its food source the brown algaes.

Order: Perciformes

Family: Odacidae

It grows up to 70cm in length with larger fish tending to be more common in southern New Zealand. Body colour varies depending upon sex and age with juveniles being golden brown with a horizontal thick white stripe down the middle of the body. As the fish grows the line breaks up and fades as the fish turns olive green. A sex change occurs later in the fish at an average of 4-6 years old and breeding males take on a dark blue/black colour with blue marbling through the face.

Genus: Odax

Fish numbers seem to decline over winter as it’s presumed larger fish head for deeper water, only to reappear again towards the summer months.

Species: O. pullus

They are commercially harvested with the use of nets and are also one of the most common fish shot by spearfishermen in southern New Zealand.

limit per Day

15 fish

Legal Length

35cm+

Dive Times

Dive Times

Sea Hare Eggs Photo: Adam illingworth

Issue 56 May 2013

DID YOU KNOW? The scientific name for the order in which Sea Hare used to be classified, the Anaspidea, is derived from the Greek for “without a shield”

Invertebrate Sea Hare Photo: Adam illingworth

Sea Hare This is the time of year the Sea Hares arrive in town, they are so named Sea Hares for their round shape and rhinophores resembling the ears of a hare, they coincidentally also eat sea lettuce. Multiple species are found in New Zealand and it can be hard to determine which is which due to their variable colour and appearance.

They have recently invaded Wellers Rock one of our local dive sites and can be found entangled in each other in an act of mating, eating copious amount of sea lettuce and laying egg masses. If you find a small pile of what looks to be two minute noodles this is a good indication that Sea Hares are nearby because these are the eggs. They move with great speed for a slug in a caterpillar like motion stretching out and in.

When disturbed or threatened they can release an ink like substance which acts to confuse the predator of its whereabouts and also has toxic properties affecting the sensory organs of predators.

Here is a great link to see it in action

Plant Bladder Kelp Photo: Adam Illingworth

Order: Laminariales Family: Laminariaceae Genus: Macrocystis Species: M. pyrifera

Bladder Kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) This is the species that makes our great kelp forest of the south, it provides great areas of shelter and food for other living organisms. It’s known as Giant Kelp in other areas as it is the largest and fastest growing algae in the world, growing at a rate of up to 60cm per day and to maximum length of 50m.

It attaches itself strongly to the ground using a root like system known as a holdfast.

As it grows it’s buoyed up by small cone shaped pockets of gas (the bladders). When the kelp dies the hold fast is detached and these bladders help to keep it buoyant as it floats away in the current until over time it washes upon the shoreline or the bladders deteriorate and it sinks to the ocean floor.

It is commercially harvested in New Zealand for its richness in minerals such as iodine and potassium

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Dive Times

Issue 56 May 2013

Don’t miss any of the fun Grab yourself a Free 2013 Dive Planner in store now.

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Dive Club Shore Dive Dive Club Boat Dive

Spearfishing Club Shore Dive Spearfishing Club Boat Dive

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Scheduled courses and trips are subject to change without notice - Dive Otago Ltd. is a delivery site of the Academy of Diving Trust, an audited and approved PTE under the Education Act 1989

2 Wharf St, 6049, P.O Box 11005, Dunedin, New Zealand Phone: 03 4664370 or 0800 DIVE OTAGO

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www.diveotago.co.nz

info@diveotago.co.nz Keep up to date, find us on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube

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nd Northern NZ Dive Trip

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Milford Sound Dive and Spearfishing Trip

Solomon Islands sol Dream Trip

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Milford Sound Dive Trip

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Foundation (Part-Time)

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Foundation (Full-Time)

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All our Career Courses are approved for Student Loan and Allowances.

Also available: National Certificate in Diving Leadership or Instruction and Summer School. Please Enquire.

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nv PADI Underwater Navigation Also available: First Aid, Scuba Review, PADI specialities, Divemaster and IDC programmes

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PADI Digital Photographer

Trips

dip Diploma in Professional Scuba Instruction Beginner to Instructor, Full-Time, 36 Weeks

Dive Planner

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Pre-assessment

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Short Courses

Discover Scuba Diving - Only $25 for a dive in our indoor heated pool, it’s the perfect way to introduce your friends and family to diving. We have Gift Vouchers available and groups can book for birthday parties, school or work functions. Discover Snorkelling also available Air Fillers Certificate

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Have a Go dsd