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Discover the fascinating world of sea cucumbers: a broad overview of their ecology, biology and exploitation. (In Person speaker) ** (In Person Speaker, Please join Josephine for dinner at 6:00 p.m. at the Aloft Hotel) ** Josephine Pierrat is passionate about marine biology since she Josephine holds a doctorate in marine biology, specialist in the ecology of sea cucumbers. She studied tropical species of sea cucumbers during her PhD studies on Reunion Island (a French island located in the Indian Ocean), where she focused her research on their diet, their reproductive modes, their relation with sedimentary factors and their spatio-temporal dynamics over more than two years on two coral reefs. She is now working as a postdoctoral fellow in the Mercier lab, where she mainly study the ecology of cold-water sea cucumbers in the Arctic Canadian in relation to commercial fishing initiatives and the creation of a marine protected area in this region. Josephine is a member of the Species Survival Commission (SSC) Young Professional group of the IUCN, and also a member of APECS, the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists. In parallel, Josephine enjoys recreational diving. She has a recreational licence up to 60 m depth and her professional licence to 30 m. The Mercier lab is based at the Ocean Sciences Centre of Memorial University (St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada). The head of the lab is the Professor Annie Mercier, a world-renowned specialist, particularly for her work on sea cucumbers. The research of the lab covers various fields in marine biology, with a primary focus on fundamental and applied aspects of benthic ecology (e.g. drivers of reproduction, larval ecology, population structure, species interactions, response to stress, aquaculture programs). Echinoderms (sea cucumbers, sea stars, sea urchins, etc.) and cnidarians (corals, sea anemones) are mainly studied in the cold waters of the Canadian Atlantic coasts and deep sea, and the Canadian Arctic with the collaboration of Indigenous organizations.
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Upcoming trips 2025: See details for all trips on: https://usadiveclub.org/Overseas
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Happy March, The year is progressing awfully fast, hard to believe it is time for St Patrick’s Day already and Spring will be here soon. The weather is nice and the water is warming up, this is why we are here in Florida. As always, we would love members that are interested in helping or getting to know the club better to join the Board of Directors. We would enjoy some new blood and the perspective of new members. Our schedule is filling up with new Local Dives and Social Events, please come out and join your fellow members. We all joined the club for these activities and the friends we have made through the years. Happy diving, Chris Hardham
Hospitality Hut Greetings From The Hospitality Hut, March, the Green month is here! Hope you all have a Happy Saint Patrick's Day. I always enjoyed making the kids Green Eggs, thanks to Doctor Suess, to celebrate. I was not in attendance at the February meeting, I was freezing in NC with my family. Thank you Julie for providing me with the names of guests as follows: Jill Pando and her son David came to see Lureen's photography. Rob Myers and Patrice Marker also enjoyed the presentation. Pat Schwab, the club's most frequent guest, drove up to join in. Acquaintances of Lureen, Connie, Cynthia, MaryAnn, Lynn and Cheryl, were in attendance. I encourage you to visit our home page www.usadiveclub.org. Please click on the calendar and keep up to date on all the diving and non-diving scheduled activities. You may also take a look at the photo gallery and take a peek at past events. I wish you all Happy Diving. Clare Anthon Hospitality Coordinator
Educational BlogThis article represents the views of the authors. The article has not been fact checked by myself, the Board of Directors or any member of the USA Dive Club. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Calculating the proper weight for diving lets you achieve neutral buoyancy By Karl Shreeves | Want to reduce your air consumption? Be able to fin faster and farther with less effort? Look relaxed and in perfect control? Finish the dive with less fatigue? The secret is to pinpoint buoyancy control, and it all begins with fine-tuning your weighting—that's how much lead you thread on your belt or put into your integrated weight system. When you have exactly as much as you need, you have the smallest amount of air in your BCD needed for neutral buoyancy at a given depth. That means less drag and more efficient finning. It also means there's less BCD volume change with depth change, so you'll make smaller adjustments. For the rest of this article, please use this link. Buoyancy Calculator—How Much You Need in Dive Weights | Scuba Diving | Membership![]() Green sea turtles are associated with St. Patrick's Day because of their green fat and because they are marine reptiles. To read all about these marvelous creatures, click the following link: Handing out USA Dive Club business cards is such a fantastic idea, especially when meeting other divers during a local dive. A huge shoutout to Laura, Ryan, and all the local divers for spreading the word while having fun underwater. What a great way to invite fellow divers into our Club. Join us at our in-person meetings to connect and socialize with fellow dive enthusiasts and be entertained and educatiod by our guest speakers. Feel free to bring along a friend or two. It's a great way to make new memories together. As always, we invite you to browse through our extensive Photo Gallery to take a look at our social and diving activities. Happy diving, everyone. Let’s keep the good vibes going! Local Diving
Overseas Dive Trips
Social Activities Here are a couple of pictures, not reports filed |
LOBSTER POT
USA's Lobster Pot drawings Include CASH prizes, and a variety of PRIZES donated by Sponsors or Club Members.
Funds from ticket donations help to support our many club activities. Congratulations to all our Lobster Pot participants. Be sure to visit our Local dive shops who support us and say 'Thanks'.
Member Photos |
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