Archive for the ‘Video Projects’ Category
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
Hello everyone.
This time we are off to Key Largo, FL to shoot some documentary footage for the Coral Restoration Foundation and the Florida Marine Aquarium Society as we visit the CRF coral nursery and project reef. The CRF has been working hard the past few years growing and re-introducing corals back onto damaged reefs and other areas where the corals had previously vanished. They are currently working with Staghorn and Elkhorn corals and judging from the project reef that I saw, they are really making a difference!
Corals are grown from cuttings or “frags” from other corals and “planted” in the nursery until they are large enough to either provide frags for future corals, or are placed on the project reef where the corals had previously died off. Volunteers and CRF staff tend the nursery, monitoring growth, scrubbing off algae (which inhibits coral growth), or placing new cuttings in the nursery. Several growing methods are used, including a “line nursery” which resembles a clothes line with coral pieces hanging from it. This keeps the algae off the coral and allows the coral to grow in multiple directions, resulting in larger corals.
It’s nice to see a group making our reefs a better place for fish, animals and divers! For more information on the Coral Restoration Foundation, CLICK HERE. Be sure to make a donation or adopt some coral!
Always finding new subjects to video for everyone,
The Video Dude
Tags: Coral Restoration Foundation, Elkhorn, Florida Marine Aquarium Society, Key Largo, Staghorn
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Wednesday, August 4th, 2010
Hello everyone.
Once again we take our cameras up to Blue Heron Bridge for some more footage of the lesser-seen animals that hang out between the pilings of the bridge. Ultra-Faboo Dive Buddy Joanie and I arrive around 2pm and get geared up for our dive (which ended up being 2 hours long) and head out off the beach to see what we can see. We start off over by the area where the houseboats are moored, looking for Seahorses and Octopi. We didn’t run into any of those, but we did find a Batfish, an extremely friendly Juvenile Filefish (it came right up to us and played with our fingers!) and a Pipefish. We also found the “Shopping Cart Reef” and the sunken boat with the mirror on it.
After exploring that area, we head over to the west bridge and navigate our way through the pilings. We encountered another Batfish, a Southern Stingray, several Scorpionfish, Banded Shrimp, a Stone Crab, and some Spadefish. We also found a Yellow Stingray, Arrow Crabs and several Cushion Sea Stars. We made our way through the pilings and over to the small fishing bridge to check out the small rubble reef (rubble from the old bridge demolition) and finally back to the beach and our exit point. It was a fabulous, relaxing dive and always a good time checking out which critters are “home” each time we go there.
Diving the days away here in Paradise,
The Video Dude
Tags: Arrow Crabs, Banded Shrimp, Blue Heron Bridge, Cushion Sea Stars, Joanie, Juvenile Filefish, Pipefish, Scorpionfish, Seahorses, Shopping Cart Reef, Spadefish, Stone Crab, Yellow Stingray
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Saturday, July 3rd, 2010
Hello everyone.
Friday, July 2nd finds the Video Dude and Ultra-Faboo dive buddy “Hall of Famous” Joanie out diving at Blue Heron Bridge with a group from the South Florida Divers Dive Club. Conditions were clear and currents were manageable as we got in and began our dive. Joanie was my “guide” for this trip as she had discovered a new area to dive in on her last trip here. We began our dive directly off the beach and over to the mooring balls where I experienced a whole new dive site for the first time.
There were lots of small coral heads with juvenile fish, Arrow Crabs and Banded Shrimp and there were larger reefs made up from everything from pipes to shopping carts to submerged boats. Along the way we came across a Batfish, Yellow Stingray, Barracuda, Juvenile Angelfish, Stonefish and even a small Octopus! Joanie also showed me a submerged boat that had a mirror placed on it to attract fish. She had gotten a photo of herself in the mirror the last time she was there, so I tried my hand at getting a shot of myself with the video camera.
After over 90 minutes under water, we reluctantly had to come up and end the dive. I am definitely going back to those spots again. It was nice to explore something new and look for cool new things!
Another great dive here in Paradise,
Doug the Video Dude
Tags: "Hall of Famous" Joanie, Arrow Crabs, Banded Shrimp, Barracuda, Batfish, Blue Heron Bridge, octopus, South Florida Divers Dive Club, Stonefish, Video Dude, Yellow Stingray
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Monday, June 21st, 2010
Hello everyone.
Today I had the opportunity to travel to Key Largo, FL to shoot video of a group of disabled divers from Diveheart Chicago. This group makes the trip down here every year to give their recently-certified divers a chance to dive in tropical waters and experience what we get to see every day.
I arrived in Key Largo around 9:30am with Worth O’Brien of AQUANAUTS Scuba Academy, a local SCUBA Instructor who works with Diveheart South Florida and is a Disabled Diver Buddy Trainer for the Handicapped Scuba Association. We drive over to our dive charter operator for the day, Rainbow Reef Dive Charters to check in and make sure the logistics for the day’s dives are squared away.
After a brief time to relax and grab a bite to eat, we start to meet up with the members of the Chicago group and make preparations to get aboard our boat for the afternoon, the “Tropical Adventure”. Captain Zack and Divemaster Amber welcomed us aboard and disabled diver buddy volunteers from both Chicago and South Florida helped get all the divers and their gear aboard the boat. After a couple of briefings from both the captain and Diveheart leaders, we get underway and headed out to our dive site for the afternoon. After a brief ride, we arrive at a dive site called “Grecian Rocks” and we get ready to dive in an area protected from wave action by the reef itself. Depths range from 5-10fsw and visibility is a bit murky due to surge action stirring up the sand and seagrass.
The buddy volunteers bring the disabled divers one-by-one to the dive platform and assist them in getting into their gear and, ultimately, into the water where their dive buddies are waiting for them to take them on their big adventure. While shooting video of all the activity, I got to see
how disabled diver buddies are crucial to the success of these dives, and I got to put some of my buddy training to good use as well. While underwater with the various buddy teams, I also got to see the excitement in the eyes of the divers as they got their first glimpse of the underwater world in the Florida Keys. It definitely made the trip worthwhile!
Another great video project completed here in Paradise!
Doug, the “Video Dude”
Tags: AQUANAUTS Scuba Academy, Chicago, Diveheart, Grecian Rocks, Handicapped Scuba Association, Key Largo, Rainbow Reef Dive Charters, South Florida, Worth O'Brien
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Friday, June 11th, 2010
Hello everyone!
Thursday, June 10th finds the Video Dude once again aboard “Scubatyme III” heading out for a video shoot on the “Captain Dan” and Lighthouse Ledge. Captain Bob, Divemaster Amanda and Owner Enzo are all aboard along with 8 other divers, out to have a great day on the water. The seas are almost flat, hardly any current and it’s a bright sunny morning as we head out of the Hillsboro Inlet.
Captain Bob gets us out to our first dive site - the “Captain Dan” in no time, and we all prepare to jump in after Amanda comes back up from tying off the descent/ascent line. I am first down the line and only encounter a mild current on the wreck while making my way from the stern towards the bow and back. Friendly Horse-eye Jacks and Spadefish watch me closely as I document the wreck on video. All too soon it’s time to head back to the ascent line and do my safety stops on the way back up to the surface.
After switching out gear for the next dive, Captain Bob heads over to the ever-popular Lighthouse Ledge Reef for our second dive. Once again I am in the water first and going solo on this dive to shoot more video of the reef. Almost immediately after reaching the reef, I encounter a large Porcupinefish, a Green Moray Eel, a Spotted Moray Eel, Arrow Crabs, Pufferfish, Squirrelfish and tons of Grunts and Snappers. With the sun being out the whole dive, the reef was really “poppin’” with color and was the prettiest I have seen in some time!
That’s about it for this video project report. If you’re interested, there’s a link below to purchase ($20) your own video copy of these dives to share with your friends.
Diving the days away here in Paradise,
The Video Dude
Tags: Arrow Crabs, Captain Dan, Divemaster Amanda, Enzo, Green Moray, Grunts, Hillsboro Inlet, Horse-eye Jacks, Lighthouse Ledge, Porcupinefish, Pufferfish, Scubatyme, Snappers, Spadefish, Spotted Eel, Squirrelfish, Video Dude
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Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
Hello everyone!
Sunday, 2.21.10 finds the Video Dude joined once again by Roberta, DJ and John LaFlair of Scuba Network at the Blue Grotto, located in Williston, FL. This is a natural spring that is large enough to be used as a dive facility. You can enter the Grotto by either a giant stride entry off of a platform, or walk down a set of stairs. There are dive platforms at various depths for students to practice skills, underwater lighting, and even a diving bell you can stick your head inside and breathe air! There were lots of students there working with their Instructors, and a few rebreather divers doing checkouts as well.
After getting our gear set up, we splash into the water and head down to one of the dive platforms so I can get some video of John and DJ pretending to be Instructor and student doing some skills. Then we head over to the diving bell and check it out a bit before heading down to about 65ft to an area known as “Peace Rock”. This is the final point for divers who are not Advanced Open Water certified to go. As we dropped over the side of Peace Rock and into the cave portion of the dive, we followed the guide line in a loop around the bottom of the grotto and back to the cavern area. It was really cool! I went back around a second time to get more video footage, then we all headed over to one of the dive platforms to do our safety stops and get ready to exit the Grotto. It was very cool experience and if you get the chance to go, you should definitely do it!
Another great first experience for me here in Paradise,
The Video Dude
Tags: Blue Grotto, cave dive, cavern dive, diving bell, guide line, Peace Rock, rebreather, SCUBA Network, Vide Dude, Williston
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Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
Hello everyone!
Saturday, 2.20.10 finds the Video Dude, along with Roberta, DJ and John LaFLair of Scuba Network on our rented boat headed out to King’s Bay in Crystal River to shoot video of the manatees. This area is a major congregation point for the manatees in the cold weather, as the water is warmer than the ocean and they can huddle together for warmth. Almost immediately upon setting out, we see signs of manatees swimming in the shallow water. We head over to a side canal that leads to Three Sisters Springs and I jump in to begin the adventure of capturing video of these amazing creatures. Visibility is a little murky here, but I was able to get close enough to most of the manatees to get good video. John was able to rub a few manatee backs and get them to play a bit before they swam away.
After staying in that spot for a while, we headed over to Three Sisters Springs, where we discovered the water was much clearer and there were probably close to 200 manatees in various areas around the springs. The water in the springs is only about 3-4ft deep in places, so getting nice “up-close and personal” video of the manatees was fairly easy. Most of the manatees here were sleeping on the bottom, huddled together for warmth, but there were a few that were swimming around and enjoying the attention they were getting. After staying in the springs for over an hour, we headed back to our boat (docked outside the channel into the springs) where I encountered a baby manatee (if you can call a 6ft-long manatee a “baby”) who was very happy to come over and check out my camera and give me some great video moments. Probably the best stuff I shot all day! After that encounter, we motored back to the marina and got some lunch before setting off towards King Spring for our afternoon dive.
Lunch all done and back on the boat, we head over to King Spring inside of King’s Bay just across from our hotel. Unlike our manatee encounters of the morning (which was all done on snorkels), we get to strap on our SCUBA gear and dive into the spring. The water in the top of the spring was a little brackish and green-tinted, but once we dropped down below the point where all the Open Water students were hanging out, it cleared up quite a bit. This was my first cavern/cave dive ever and it was awesome!! We found some Blue Crabs hanging out amid the rocks, John found a Mullet, and we dove around the perimeter of the spring until we came across an exit point and had to come up. What a great dive! After that, we get back on the boat to discover that the wind has picked up a bit, so we do our best to get out of our wet stuff and stay warm while we cruise around the bay a bit more before heading back to the marina.
Tomorrow it’s off to Blue Grotto for some more cavern and cave diving!
A great day of freshwater diving and having new adventures here in Paradise,
The Video Dude
Tags: baby manatee, Blue Crab, Blue Grotto, cave dive, cavern dive, Crystal River, King Spring, King's Bay, manatee, manatees, Mullet, SCUBA Network, Three Sisters Springs, Video Dude
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Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
Hello everyone!
Saturday, November 14th finds the Video Dude shooting video aboard South Florida Diving Headquarters‘ “Coral Princess” for an equipment demo day. JBL Spearguns, Oceanic Dive Computers and SCUBA Network (Deerfield and Fort Lauderdale) put the whole event together and divers got to pay a discounted rate for their seats on the boat in return for the opportunity to try out the various spearguns and computers (including Oceanic’s Datamask!).
After getting everyone set up with the gear they wanted to try, Captain Shane and DM Matt took us out to Hillsboro Ledge and turned everyone loose to play with the new toys. I swam along with the speargun group on the first dive getting some footage of them using the guns (and keeping my eyes open for stray shafts!). The dive went well and everyone who tried the guns enjoyed the experience.
After our surface interval was done, we headed over to Lighthouse Ledge for more playtime. Everyone was able to switch and try something else if they wanted. This time I dove with the divers trying out the Oceanic Datamasks and wrist-mounted computers. Lots of reef to see and everyone was thrilled with the various computers.
So, next time you’re on a boat and you see a JBL speargun or Oceanic dive computer, that might be someone who participated in the Demo Day!
Playing with new toys and friends in Paradise,
The Video Dude
Tags: Coral Princess, DataMask, Hillsboro Ledge, JBL Spearguns, Lighthouse Ledge, Oceanic Dive Computers, SCUBA Network, South Florida Diving Headquarters, speargun, Video Dude
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Wednesday, July 8th, 2009
Hello everyone!
Tuesday, July 7th finds the Video Dude cruising down the Intracoastal Waterway at about 4mph behind a boat towing the “Antipodes” Mini-Sub, heading out to “Touchdown Reef” off of Atlantic Blvd. Pier for some test runs. Pete Hoffman of Hoffman Marine had contacted me to shoot video of the test runs for his client who was purchasing the sub. Earlier this morning, a crane lifted the mini-sub and lowered it into a canal behind Hoffman Marine to begin the long trip from south of Atlantic Blvd., up the Intracoastal Waterway to Hillsboro Inlet and back south to the second reef off of Atlantic Blvd. In the movies it all looks so easy, but there is really quite a lot of work to get a sub ready for launching!
Once we arrive at our dive site - “Touchdown Reef” - the sub begins to run through it’s test paces, maneuvering here and there and giving the new owner and his son a chance to see everything in the area. I am maneuvering myself on the outside to not only get good shots of the sub, but to stay out of the way as well. The sub performed flawlessly, and I got some great video of it zooming around over the reefs and occasionally over my head!
At the end of the day, everyone else (including me!) got a chance to ride in the sub and see what it was like. It was an amazing experience and I am glad I got to be a part of the whole project. Thanks Pete!!
Another amazing dive day in Paradise!!
The Video Dude
Tags: Antipodes, Atlantic Blvd., Hillsboro Inlet, Hoffman Marine, Intracoastal Waterway, Mini-Sub, Pete Hoffman, Touchdown Reef, Video Dude
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Sunday, June 7th, 2009
Hello everyone.
The month of May was very busy for the Video Dude. Now that I am a NAUI Instructor, there have been a lot of teaching opportunities coming my way (more on THAT in another post). So now we are into June, and I can think of no better way to start the month than by watching the sinking of a new artificial reef right here in my hometown!!
Saturday, June 6th started with the promise of a beautiful day. Bright sunshine, very little wind and calm seas were on tap for today. I had reserved a seat aboard Scubatyme Charters’ “ScubaTyme III” and we left the marina @10:45 in the morning to get our position in the viewing area to watch the sinking. At @11:45, the hatches were opened below the waterline and the former “Miss Lourdies” began to take on water. It took about 9 minutes for her to submerge beneath the surface in full view of everyone.
After the safety divers had gone down to make sure the ship had landed in the proper spot (and upright too!), the all clear was given for dive boats to allow divers on the wreck. “ScubaTyme III” was the only commercial dive boat with divers ready to immediately get in, so at @1:30pm we all hit the water for our first look at the new “reef”. She is 170ft long, sits in 140ft (+-) of water with the tallest point (the wheelhouse) at @100ft. It is really strange to see an artificial reef in it’s beginning - all clean and painted pretty - but we all know that soon there will be growth on it, followed by fish and animal life adding to our rich reef system here!
Another great diving adventure in Paradise!!
The Video Dude
Tags: artificial reef, dive boat, divers, Miss Lourdies, NAUI Instructor, Scubatyme Charters, sinking, submerge, Video Dude, wheelhouse, wreck
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