Dive Team at Jenkinson's Aquarium in Point Pleasant...

Dive Team at Jenkinson's Aquarium in Point Pleasant...

2009 Point Pleasant Tube Race...

On Sunday, Sept. 20 the Dive Team covered the Tube Race. The race is sponsored by the local Lions club, as a fund raising event. The contestants race in inner tubes. Some people never get through the waves, some just get too tired to continue. That is where the Dive Team comes in. We had Rescue 34 set the buoys for the race, and assist any people who can not make it to the end. We had a few assists, but everyone had a good time and there where no injuries. Dave Margintino gets an award for the most patience. He helped the same young boy get in his tube 15 times.

"Maybe we will just head over to the Railroad Bridge"....

Seal update...

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The Marine Mammal Stranding Center sent the team an update regarding the seal that was recovered back in April on the beach near Brick and thus was named "Brick".

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"Stranded in Brick Township on April 12, this female grey seal was lethargic, breathing heavily and had discharge around her eyes. Our vet Dr. Paluch discovered she was missing teeth and - in place of the missing teeth - a piece of dead bone imbedded in her lower jaw. Removing the piece of bone allowed the infected gums to heal and prevented further tooth loss."

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"As one of the most active seals at the center, she enjoyed hauling out and diving back into her pool, all the while producing a low steady hum that could be heard throughout the day."

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"With both her mouth and respiratory infection healed, she was released in Rhode Island on June 24, 2009. "Brick" is wearing a satellite tag and can be tracked online at www.mmsc.org."

Deleware Wreck NJ Training Dive...

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On Sunday, June 28, 2009, the Dive Team was invited by Colleague member Bill Cleary, owner of the 46’ vessel Depth Charge, for a two-tank dive for Deep and Boat training. Bill clearly had this vessel designed for diving, so we couldn’t turn down the opportunity. Bill’s experience includes much offshore, deep water (200’+) wreck exploration and salvage operations, so he and Captain Tom ran an incredibly well-organized trip.

We loaded up around 7am, exited Manasquan Inlet, and made the quick trip to the wreck of the Delaware, about 3.5 miles southeast of the Inlet and 1.5 miles off the beach of BayHead. See http://njscuba.net/sites/site_delaware.html for details about the wreck site.

We anchored in close to the engine (which stands about 25 feet up off the bottom), with Bill first tying us in to the propeller shaft. He sent a lift bag to the surface, signaling to us on the boat that the anchor was secured and it was safe to dive. The boat crew set up a granny line to the anchor line to facilitate everyone’s safe descent, due to the strong surface current. Divers were assigned to buddy teams, and each team was assigned to locate the propeller shaft, swim down its length to the actual propeller, and return with a loaded sinker tube. This would then be brought to the surface in a controlled fashion with the aid of a lift bag. Flo & Tom C., Eric & Sue, and Chet & Tom T. (who was on his first deep boat dive) all encountered 2-3 foot surface chop, a mild temperature drop at 35 feet, and 10-15 foot of visibility on the bottom. All assigned tasks were accomplished, plus the unexpected recovery of a 20-lb. Danforth anchor with chain and 100’ of attached line.

Sue’s dive computer decided to freeze during her safety stop, but she had tracked and logged the first dive with a separate bottom timer and depth gauge, and so was able to plan the next one on the Recreational Dive Planner. (Remember when your Instructor said in Open Water that you’d need to be able to find a Missing Surface Interval on the dive tables? Well, we did today.)

The weather topside was in the 80s with a nice breeze, but this made the surface a little lumpy, and although Bill’s burgers smelled awesome, Eric did a little chumming with his. The second dive was a little more turbid and a lot darker. We still all had a nice dive and collected a bit more lead around the engine and boilers. These 6-10 oz. sinkers are popular items at our fundraiser sinker sale in the winter with the very same fishermen who lost them. Along the way, we met up with lots of blackfish, sea bass, ling, and at least one lobster that was poking around. With the initial mystery of the deep out of the way from the first dive, Tom T’s air consumption was much improved on dive #2.

Once back on land, even after we cleaned the boat, and washed and stowed the gear, the day was not over. Due to the fact that we finally had a weekend of nice weather after several rain-outs, the town and boardwalk were mobbed, and, as expected, a string of first calls followed. Dive team members jumped in to assist the First Aid Squad on numerous calls as EMTs, Ambulance Drivers, and First Responders. Welcome to summer in Point Pleasant Beach!

Many thanks go to Bill Cleary for volunteering use of his vessel and to Captain Tom for his expertise and attention to topside management. It was a great training experience for everyone involved.

Jenkinson's Seal Tank Dive...

This past Sunday, June 7, 2009, the Dive Team was once again invited to Jenkinson’s Aquarium to participate in its celebration of World Oceans Day. The history of this international event can be found at http://www.theoceanproject.org/wod/wod_about.php .
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Throughout the day, visitors to our display viewed marine “biofacts” (a.k.a. seashells) collected from our local waters, recovered artifacts, and videos of some of our underwater adventures and training dives. “SCUBA Steve” was also a popular photo op, suited up in his winter drysuit and full face mask, despite the fact that there wasn’t actually a person inside!
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Our headline presentations, though, were SCUBA diving demonstrations in the harbor seal tank. Three times during the day, a buddy team of our divers were allowed to enter the exhibit and, with the help of a tender, enter gently to show basic diving equipment and skills. The water temp in the tank was almost 70 degrees F (about 20 degrees warmer than anything we’ve been in since last year!), so everyone was quite comfortable to be back in wetsuits. One team member was outside the tank with visitors to explain the equipment, prompt the divers to perform different skills, and answer questions from the audience. The seals, still in THEIR tank during all of this, were a little frisky on occasion, coming right up to touch a diver’s head or swim around the bubble trails.
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Being in an aquarium tank really is a unique experience. Even though it was our divers on exhibit, visitors outside the tank were very happy to pose for pictures and video taken from the inside. How often does an exhibit ask to take YOUR picture?

Alex Mac

Footage of the Alex Mac wrecksite that the team responded to and assisted in victim removal back on July 2006...

The team did go back to the wreck and took photos as shown here in this post.

The above video footage was taken from You-Tube and not recorded by the team....

"Geese Away" lights...

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The Dive Team installed two more "Geese Away" lights to lakes in the community to keep Geese from nesting in populated areas. This day the team installed two lights at the "Lake of the Lilies" pond in Point Pleasant and in the past they installed three lights in Little Silver Lake...

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Divers Paul DeSalvo, Sue Lewicki, and Chief Diver Chet Nesley...

Museum of New Jersey Maritime History

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On a rainy Saturday about a month or so back I had the opportunity to take a ride South to the Museum of New Jersey Maritime History that is located in Beach Haven and found it to be an outstanding research asset for local divers...

The museum is located at Dock Road and West Avenue and maintains an impressive website...

The museum is the works of Deb Whitcraft and Jim Vogel and the result of over 33 years of collecting artifacts and research. The museum also offers an impressive library\research area with an incredible amount of photos, newspaper articles, books, and computer internet stations.

Some artifact restoration is done onsite and we had the opportunity to tour the back areas to see the progress being made on several items...

Well worth the ride and check the website often for events...

Dolphin Recovery Assist ~Marine Mammal Stranding Center~

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The Dive Team was about to conduct a training dive in the Manasquan inlet when they heard a call to the Coast Guard station from a private vessel reporting a dead Bottlenose Dolphin outside of the inlet.

The dive team responded to the reported location with the use of a TowBoat US unit that was donated by the local operator along with a boat captain. The dolphin was located 1/2 mile North of Manasquan Inlet and 1/2 mile offshore. Divers Tom Conroy and Tom Trafer entered the water and strapped the body onto a backboard. Chief Diver Nesley, Flo Melo, and TowBoat US Captain Rick then pulled the 350lb dolphin onto the boat.

The Dolphin was then taken to the Manasquan Coast Guard station where Coast Guard personnel assisted in loading the dolphin for transportation to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine, N.J.

MMSC personnel staff believed that the numerous scratches along the body could have been bite marks from other dolphins, but they were mostly superficial and unlikely the cause of death. The stranding center is still very busy but the dive team had the opportunity to visit the two Seals that were recoverd by the Dive Team back on Easter weekend...

Asbury Park Press article here...

"Easter Seals" Rescue Days...

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It's starting to become a annual tradition when it comes to Easter Sunday weekend regarding 'Seal Rescues" along the Jersey shore...

While driving back towards Point Pleasant after a very nice visit to the Museum of New Jersey Maritime History (http://www.museumofnjmh.com/) we were passed by the familiar red pick-up truck from the Marine Mammal Stranding Center head North...

Of course Chet could not let it go with a friendly wave or tip of the hat...

We stopped alongside the MMSC truck at a light in Toms River and found that they were on a call regarding a Seal on the beach in Seaside...

Asbury Park Press has the following story posted here...