Presentation by Bonnie Barnes

Bonnie Barnes currently serves as Development Manager at Reef Environmental Education Foundation, an International Marine Conservation organization headquartered in the Florida Keys. Bonnie’s heart is in conservation, whether scuba diving, traipsing through a forest, or swooshing down a mountain, she loves and cares about our environment. Having started her first business at 17 in her hometown of Las Vegas, she eventually found her way to Florida where she owned a marketing company for another 14 years in Jacksonville, FL. After earning her MBA in 2006, she jumped head-first into the nonprofit world, as Executive Director of a land conservation organization, North Florida Land Trust. Through this relationship, she was instrumental in the donation of a critical oceanfront property to the Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research at UF, to preserve this land in perpetuity as a prime turtle nesting site.

As an avid diver, she volunteered regularly to monitor the offshore environment with the Jacksonville Reef Research Team. For her environmental work, Bonnie was awarded Florida’s Sea Grant Volunteer of the Year Award in 1991. With over 10 years in nonprofit management and cultivation of donors, Bonnie has found her way to the Florida Keys, where she can combine her love of diving with protection of our ocean life by actively engaging and inspiring the public in its care.

Bonnie will provide an overview of the 30-year-old organization, updates on special projects and a preview of upcoming work underway regarding Lionfish, Nassau Grouper, Exotic and Invasive Species, Diadema and other marine-related projects.

John Chatterton

Speaking about his search for a Spanish treasure ship

John Chatterton is one of the world’s most accomplished and well known wreck divers. He was one of the co-hosts for 57 episodes of the History Channel’s Deep Sea Detectives television series, and has worked as a consultant to 20^th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios, and CBS. Prior to his career in television, John spent twenty years working as a commercial diver in and around New York City, and on September 11, 2001, was actually working on a project in the water underneath the World Financial Center, across the street from the Tower #1.

His passion has always been researching, locating, and diving the world’s shipwrecks. In 1991, the discovery and subsequent identification of the German submarine U-869, off the coast of New Jersey, was the subject of a television documentary, Hitler’s Lost Sub, a two hour special for the popular NOVA series on PBS. This same story was the subject of a Random House bestselling book by Rob Kurson, Shadow Divers. It has been published in more than 23 languages, as well as an audio book  The movie rights to the international bestseller have been purchased by a major studio.

There is much more to his biography here.
https://www.johnchatterton.com/john-chatterton-biography/

Hammerheads and Shore-Based Shark Fishing

Presentation by Hannah Medd

Hannah Medd, founder of the American Shark Conservancy and marine biologist, has more than 10 years’ experience conducting applied research and conservation outreach for global and local shark and ray initiatives. She earned her Bachelors of Science in Marine Biology and Ecology at Florida Tech in Melbourne, Florida. She traveled to South Africa to complete her Masters of Science in Marine Biodiversity from the University of Cape Town, where she learned about many aspects of marine resource management, including research and academia, government and policy, socioeconomics and ecotourism.

Endangered great hammerheads are popular species among divers and fishermen alike. This species is prohibited from landing in Florida waters and yet seem to be facing a poorly-understood threat, shore-based shark fishing. As part of American Shark Conservancy's research program, this project will describe the impact of this activity on the species and use these data to help inform policy.

The diversity of shark body shape, function, and habitat use

Presentation by Sarah Hoffmann

Sarah is a fifth (and final!) year PhD student at Florida Atlantic University. She is interested the diversity of body and fin shape among shark species and how these may relate to habitat use. To study these questions, she has adapted a technique to capture 3D video with underwater cameras. Her research on movement in different environments will hopefully one day inspire ocean monitoring vehicle design to be customized for different parts of the ocean. She also regularly collaborates with the Apex Predators Tagging Program (National Marine Fisheries Service), the Florida Fish Kill Hotline (FWC), the Florida Manta Project (Marine Megafauna Foundation), and Loggerhead Marinelife Center. In addition to her research, Sarah is an avid outdoor enthusiast and spends as much time on or in the water as possible. She has spent time living and diving in the Florida Keys, the San Juan Islands (WA), and 250 miles off the Eastern coast of Nova Scotia (the Grand Banks, Canada).

Madeline Kaufman Speaking about Coral Reefs

Coral reefs have been on the decline for the past couple decades, yet millions of people depend on these ecosystems for food, jobs, tourism, recreation, medicinal compounds and coastline protection. With recent global bleaching events, severe disease outbreaks and increasing anthropogenic pressures, reefs have suffered to the point that active human intervention has become necessary. About ten years ago, the Lirman Benthic Ecology Lab at the University of Miami began to actively propagate corals in offshore nurseries and plant them onto the reef. They have planted over 10,000 corals onto the Florida Reef Tract to date. About 3 years ago, they expanded their restoration efforts to a citizen science program, known as Rescue a Reef. As a part of this program, they bring recreational divers out on coral gardening excursions in which divers help maintain the nurseries, collect corals and plant them onto the reef. To date, citizen scientists have helped plant about 3,000 corals. During her presentation, she will talk about the importance of coral reefs, the threats they are facing and what we can do to help.

She is originally from Baltimore, Maryland but came to Miami 6 years ago to pursue a Bachelor of Science in marine science and biology. After graduating in 2016, she took a gap year and became a divemaster with South Beach Divers, began volunteering as outreach coordinator for the nonprofit Debris Free Oceans and worked as a research assistant in two coral research labs at UM. She just returned to school this past January and is pursuing a Master of Science in marine biology, focusing on coral conservation genetics and restoration ecology.

Presentation by Ben Hicks - Wildlife Photographer

South-Florida based photographer Ben Hicks has journeyed across the Americas and ventured to exotic locales spanning the globe to compose a profoundly diverse collection of fine-art photography that truly captures the majectic beauty of the natural world. This self-proclaimed "adventure-boy" not only strives to portray the familiar in extraordinarily original ways, but also takes big risks to capture the most complex, often dangerous situations including big waves and precarious animal encounters all to share his admiration for Mother Nature's creations. Whether shooting tropical beachscapes in the South Pacific, vast sandstone buttes in the American Southwest or the first few open water strides of a leatherback sea turtle hatchling, Ben's distinctive vision and inimitable approach to photography renders intricately detailed images that captivate viewers and server as a testament to his enjoyment and reverence of nature.

Environmental Mission

Through his photography, Ben aspires to raise environmental awareness by depicting the natural world in a relevant and endearing manner that everyone can connect with. Ben is particularly focused on using his photography to communicate the importance of conserving the world's oceans and follows key species, such as see turtle, that serve as important indicators of the health of the world's marine and coastal ecosystems. Ben shares the Sea Turtle Conservancy's belief that "whether sea turtles ultimately vanish from the planet or whether they remain a wild and thriving part of the natural world, will speak volumes about both the general health of the planet and the ability of humans to sustainably coexist with the diversity of life on Earth." Ben strives to serve the global community by using his art to inspire others to value conservation and preservation so that we can work towards a more sustainable future.

History of the Hillsboro Lighthouse

by Ralph Krugler

Mr. Krugler is the Historian and on the Board of Directors of the Hillsboro Lighthouse Preservation Society. He is also on the Board of the Florida Keys Reef Lights Foundation, which is trying to save offshore lighthouses and restore them. He is also a member of the United States Lighthouse Society and a member of the Florida Lighthouse Association.

Mr. Krugler assists with tours of the Hillsboro lighthouse. He is also part of the Fresnel lens cleaning crew, and assists with some tower maintenance. His book, titled "The (Almost) Complete History of the Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse," is nearing publication.

Last Minute Change of Speakers -

Craig Jenni was called away due to a diving accident and had to reschedule. Perhaps we can hear what happened at a meeting later this year.

Our speaker will be David Kaplan, Director of the South Florida Reef Research Team, Inc. (SFRRT) He will be talking about the organization and the equipment they use to collect data at three sites off Broward County they visit four times each year. The next dive is May 27th and he is looking for volunteers to fill four spots for advanced divers.

Click here for a link to a video that shows the kinds of things they do.

Google Photos:

How to store, edit, organize and share the memories of your life

You’ve taken hundreds of pictures with your smartphone. Now what?! The geeks at GeeksOnTour recommend Google Photos. It works automatically, and it’s FREE.

• Gathers pictures from all your digital devices
• Provides unlimited online storage
• Frees up space on your phone
• Searches and sorts by date
• Lets you create albums, edit and enhance pictures
• Makes it easy to create collages, animations, and movies with music

Longtime USA Dive Club members Jim and Chris Guld are professional technology trainers. As ‘Geeks on Tour’, they present many fun and educational seminars at computer clubs, RV Rallies, senior centers, and even people’s homes all over the country. Chris is recognized by Google as a Platinum Level Top Contributor to the Google Photos Forum.

BugFest-By-The-Sea

The speaker for our March meeting is Steve d'Oliveira. He will give a presentation about BugFest-By-The-Sea.

Steve is the Public Information Officer for Lauderdale-By-The-Sea. He runs the town's annual BugFest-By-The-Sea mini-season Lobster Festival. He is a certified scuba diver and has lived in Florida since 1980. Prior to working for the town, he was a staff writer for the Fort Lauderdale News & Sun-Sentinel, where he covered diving and marine environmental issues.