Why rent when you can own your very own dive gear and still carry it on board with you? The new Travel Light package from Aqualung provides the perfect solution for the travel-savvy diver who understands the benefit of equipment ownership. Package includes the  Zuma BCD, Micron regulator, Micramask OR Look 2 mask, Flex Impluse snorkel and Hotshot fins. Ocean First Divers and Aqualung are also giving you a FREE Depature Travel Bag to put your new gear in AND a FREE iPod Nano! No way, you say? Yes, way! This special promotion is while supplies last so hurry in and score your ticket to dive today!

George will describe technical diving, what it is and why you might be interested. He will provide an introduction into Unified Team Diving and their technical and recreational programs. This will include a quick introduction into gas planning and decompression. George will also touch on rebreather diving and what UTD programs are offered through Ocean First Divers.

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Raja Ampat, in Eastern Indonesia, is the crown jewel of the Coral Triangle that boasts the greatest concentration of coral and fish species on earth. In May 2007, the Raja Ampat government declared seven Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) to protect these important ecosystems, together with the effort of The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International, and WWF Indonesia.

The Raja Ampat MPAs cover almost 3,474 square miles of coral reefs and mangroves. Perhaps 20% of that area comprises ‘No-Take’ Zones where fishing is prohibited. A new Marine Conservation Area has also been established in the Misool region of Raja Ampat by Misool Eco Resort (MER). Its entire 174 square miles is a No-Take Zone and a shark sanctuary that is constantly patrolled with the help of grants from WildAid and the Coral Reef Alliance. Within just two years of establishment, shark numbers have increased dramatically and sharks are already returning to, growing, and mating in this small shark sanctuary!

Based on initial discussions with the Fisheries and Tourism Departments in Raja Ampat by MER, it is a real possibility that we can help establish a shark sanctuary in Raja Ampat to cover all of the 40,000 square miles, providing legal protection to all shark, manta, and mobula species.

Shark Savers is supporting the effort with this petition. The Raja Ampat Fisheries and Tourism Departments needs to hear that there is great international interest in prohibiting shark fishing—especially among the eco-tourists and divers who are attracted to sharks.

Please sign the petition calling for a shark sanctuary throughout Raja Ampat!

Click HERE to proceed to the petition! Thank you for helping!

Aurora Reservoir Beach Clean Up! July 10 from 8am - 2pm

Join the Ocean First Divers crew at Aurora Reservoir on Saturday, July 10 as we do our part to spruce up the diving area. OFD has joined forces with several other Colorado dive centers to clean up the beach area and we need your help! Divers must be at least 18 years old. Lunch will be provided for all participants.

Information meeting July 8 at 5:30pm

Please register for this event by sending an Email to: info@oceanfirstdivers com

or call 303.444.7234

Equipment Rental Prices (special price for this event only)

2 tanks, weights, weight belt, 7mm full wetsuit, BCD & regulator: $38 plus tax

2 tanks, weights, weight belt & 7mm full wetsuit: $20 plus tax

2 tanks, weights & weight belt: $10 plus tax

Please indicate what equipment you will need when you register for this event.

We'll see you at the lake!

2010 Summer Kick Off Party & Summer Sale!

Party: June 12         Sale: June 12 & 13

It's that time of year again at OFD! Join us on Saturday, June 12 for an all day party and for the start of our Summer Sale! We'll have live music from ONDA, food from Illegal Pete's, beach volleyball, cornhole, gear demos, and the best raffle in OFD history!

This year's grand prize is a trip to Maluku Dive Resort in Ambon, Indonesia courtesy of our travel partner, Ultimate Dive Travel. There will be tons of other prizes from Aqualung, Atomic, Deep See, Henderson, Mares, and Scubapro so don't miss out! The raffle will be held at the end of the day on Saturday the 12th.

Everything in the store will be at least 10% off, with most items marked down even further. This is a great opportunity to gear up for summer diving fun and get yourself the dive equipment you've been after! Pick up the new Zuma travel BCD from Aqualung, or the snazzy D4 dive computer with a wrist strap to match your dive gear! The sale only lasts for 2 days so make sure you stop by!

David gave an informative and entertaining presentation at Ocean First Divers last week. He has a personable demeanor and wonderful storytelling ability. David read excerpts from his book "Saved by the Sea: A Love Story with Fish" and his accounts of body surfing in a war zone, getting bumped by a Minke whale in the Antarctic and the loss of his lifelong love gave everyone in the audience chills as we vicariously relived his most memorable experiences. 

David had a strong environmental message in his presentation and everyone left feeling empowered that each one of us can make the difference we wish to see in the world. The Dive Club was very grateful to have such an experienced and insightful presenter and we look forward to having him back again in the coming months.

Adopt-A-Highway Coordinator Gina Bussell congratulates Sacha Greene and all the highway cleanup volunteers for their terrific job cleaning Highway 119 mile marker 50-52. 

Click here to read the letter

Dr. Alex Antoniou's passion and dedication for sharks was clearly evident in his informative, compelling and sobering presentation on white sharks. Alex works at the Shark Research Institute and his knowledge and enthusiasm for white sharks created quite a buzz with the guests. Some were intrigued by their venerable history, others by their highly evolved senses, but everyone was inspired by the breath-taking footage of white sharks. The Dive Shop was a packed house, standing room only, and the presentation was exceptionally well received. Alex showed off a receiver that Ocean First Divers purchased for deployment this week in Socorro Island and discussed the amazing trip scheduled for this September where guests will have the opportunity to not only dive with white sharks, but also personally tag them with receivers throughout the week. We can't wait for this trip!!! Thanks again to Alex Antoniou ;) 

Click here to retrieve the Spring 2010 Newsletter

As always, Mel's presentation was informative and entertaining. The spiny skinned Echinoderms are often overlooked by divers and snorkelers alike, but they are truly remarkable creatures. And as Mel showed us with great humor, so much for their five-fold radial symmetry!

www.thecovemovie.com/

See it for yourself!  You can rent "The Cove" from the Video Station on 28th and Arapahoe or from Netflix.com.

Due to popular demand, we're extending this offer!  OFD's free wetsuit promotion is sure to get people excited about diving in 2010.  If you register for the Open Water Scuba Course AND purchase a mask, snorkel, fins, and booties, we'll throw in a Henderson Neosport 3/2mm full suit!  That's a $120 value!  Henderson's multi-thickness designs give added flexibility where divers need it most.  The thicker torso provides core body warmth while the thinner arms and legs allow for easier maneuvering.  Generously cut back zippers and adjustable collars make donning a snap and flexible knee pads protect the high wear areas of lower legs.  Don't miss this incredible opportunity to get into your own gear so make sure to take advantage and tell your friends, too!

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On Thursday, Feb. 11th, The Dive Club chalked up another wonderful event hosted at Ocean First Divers. Dr. Bill Clem of Colorado Hyperbaric Medicine gave a very entertaining and informative presentation on diving at altitude, the effects on a diver's physiology, hyperbaric medicine and recompression treatment. It was another great turnout and well-received. We were also excited to have Boulder Fire Rescue attend the event. Next month Professor Mel Cundiff from CU will be giving one of his brilliant presentations on Echinoderms. We hope to see you there!

The Dive Club kicked off 20 10 with one of, if not the largest, socials to date. Seventy-three people attended this presentation on Indonesia. Ocean First Divers' fearless leader, Graham Casden, began the evening with a recount of his five week trip to the Philippines and Indonesia this past October. Graham shared his photographs and most memorable experiences with an enthusiastic crowd. Amy Christopher followed with her best video production to date- a fifteen minute visual and auditory delight that highlighted her two week fam trip to Misool Resort in Raja Ampat. This was a fantastic start to the new year and a tremendous turn out for an event that has gained popularity month after month. We will see you next time!

Project AWARE Foundation honors dive operators around the world who display commitment and excellence in their efforts to protect underwater environments within business operations and their community.

"The Environment Achievement Award is about rewarding vision, excellence and pursuit of conservation. More importantly, this award ensures the enjoyment of underwater environments for future generations," states Dr. Drew Richardson, Chairman, Project AWARE Foundation.

2009 recipients operate in an environmentally responsible manner, take part in protection of local ecosystems and demonstrate an outstanding commitment to underwater conservation in three primary areas; education, advocacy and action.

www.projectaware.org/knowledgebase/details.php

We were very honored to close out 2009 with one of the best socials of the year. Louis Psihoyos came over to OFD from the Oceanic Preservation Society and talked for about an hour on his experiences leading up to, through the filming process and the post production of his award winning documentary THE COVE. Louis has a very natural story telling ability and kept the crowd enthralled with his tales of working for National Geographic, how he forged some of his more lasting relationships in the industry and the importance messages he hopes to convey through the film making process. Thanks to Louis and the rest of our presenters for 2009. What a fabulous year!!! We thank all Dive Club members for their continued support and look forward to a even more exciting year in 2010

Click here to retrieve the Winter 2009 Newsletter

On his last voyage to Antarctica, videographer Paul Nicklen quickly became companions with the largest leopard seal the dive team had ever seen. Over the course of four days, this often vicious predator attempted to feed Paul a number of penguins, only to find out that this unusual species wasn't there to eat bird. You have to see this to believe it!

An excerpt from Sacha Greene's 10 for Change statement...

"We are new to the program and I have yet to get as involved as I’d like to be. At Ocean First Divers, environmental responsibility is built into our business model.  We consider our impact on the environment with each action that we take and we have adopted a sustainability initiative to help us focus on progress.  The “Ten for Change” program is a great tool to help motivate us and to help us track our progress.
 
We began by scheduling an energy audit through Xcel’s energy assessment program.  This audit allowed us to identify the low hanging fruit and provided us a starting point. The first step was to start shutting down our computers every night rather than just shutting off the monitors.  We also implement a zero waste program, we now keep enough refuse out of the landfill to cover a football field each and every year.   Next we installed low flow aerators into all of our faucets and shower heads along with tank blocks in the toilet tanks to reduce our water use. This was a very simple task that involved one trip to McGuckin’s and an hour of work.  We then had motion sensors installed into all of the commonly used areas (bathrooms, break room, storage rooms, etc.) to reduce our electricity usage, and then continued that effort with a full lighting retrofit.

With lighting retrofit alone we’ve saved:
—  3390 kWh over the lifetime of the 68 bulbs replaced
—  $7,116 total savings

Which equals:
—  6475lbs  of carbon offset
—  14 trees planted
—  5763 gal. of river H2O kept free from mercury poisoning
 
We’ve been working extensively with Standard Renewable Energy who’ve been instrumental in helping us create a short and long term plan for greening our facility. We contracted them to tune our HVAC units quarterly and to install hail guards to ensure that they run as efficiently as possible.  They also helped us program our thermostats so that we’re not heating or cooling our building when no one is there! 
 
Our next step is to take advantage of the county’s ClimateSmart loan program. We have big plans in store to get our facility as off the grid as possible! Our key to success/improvement thus far is always to have the next few steps planned out and to look at the footprint of everything new (and old) that we do. We are very lucky to have a small and incredibly cooperative staff who are all fully committed to our sustainability plan. Without their full involvement we could never achieve our goals. 
 
We also have committed to offsetting the remainder of our carbon footprint, including all of the trips that we lead, through forestry and carbon credits done by Sustainable Travel International.  This commitment not only allows us to invest in new, greener technologies but also helps us quantify our impact.  Having the dollar numbers in our faces each month helps to keep our impact on the front burner and awareness alone helps us cut back."
 

Packed house! This might have been our biggest meetup yet. John Weller drew a crowd of about 80 people, evident by the fact that we had standing room only for over twenty guests. What an amazing presentation! John has an incredibly contagious passion for diving, Antarctica and preserving the last few precious resources our oceans possess. With stunning imagery and narrative eloquence, John put on one of the best received presentations ever. Join his campaign to preserve the last untouched wilderness area left, the Ross Sea, at http://www.lastoc.... Next month is customer appreciation on Dec. 11th and Louie Psihoyos on Dec. 15th. Let's go diving!

Ocean First Divers has the unique opportunity to share a special viewing of a new documentary film, A Sea Change, on October 24 here at Ocean First Divers. 

A Sea Change is also a touching portrait of Sven’s relationship with his grandchild Elias, as he mulls over the world that he is leaving for future generations. A disturbing and essential companion piece to An Inconvenient Truth, A Sea Change brings home the indisputable fact that our lifestyle is changing the earth, despite our rhetoric or wishful thinking. 

A Sea Change is the first documentary about ocean acidification. While emphasizing new scientific information, the feature-length film is also a beautiful paean to the ocean world and an intimate story of a Norwegian-American family whose heritage is bound up with the sea.

Please join Ocean First Divers on Saturday, October 24^th at 6pm for a special screening of this beautiful, poignant film and help us celebrate the International Day of Climate Action.

Date: Saturday, October 24
Time: 6 - 8 pm
Cost: FREE
Please RSVP by September 21 to 303-444-7234 or info@oceanfirstdivers.com
 

When: Thursday, September 10 at 6:30pm
Where: Ocean First Divers
What: A great presentation along with snacks and beverages and raffle giveaways
Cost:  FREE EVENT

Join us as we host Rich Woulfe with the Manthiri luxury liveaboard, which is based in the Maldives.  A chain of about 1200 islands just south of India, the average elevation of these spectacular islands is a mere 7 feet above sea level.  Rich will discuss diving with whale sharks, huge schools of manta rays, and hundreds of different species of fish which call the Maldives home.  Don't miss this great presentation!

When: Wednesday, September 16 at 6:30pm
Where: Ocean First Divers
What: A great presentation along with snacks and beverages and raffle giveaways
Cost:  FREE EVENT

For our second social in September, Ocean First Divers will host Dr. Alex Antoniou from the Shark Research Institute.  Alex has led SRI field expeditions and filmed whale sharks in the Bay Islands (Honduras), Galapagos Islands (Ecuador), LaPaz (Mexico) and Cocos Island (Costa Rica), and Thailand, conducting both visual ID and satellite tagging of whale sharks.  In October 1999, his presentation of SRI’s work in Honduras and quantifying the value of the species to the local economy directly resulted in protection of whale sharks in Honduran waters.  Alex will also discuss his work tagging Great White sharks off of Isla Guadelupe near the Mexican Baja.  Come find out how you can get involved in this important research project!
 

Want a preview?  Visit www.sharks.org today.

Our sales representative from Whites Drysuits will be in town on Sunday, September 20 and, in conjuction with Ocean First Divers, will host a demo day at Chatfield Reservoir from 10am-2pm.  This is a great opportunity to test out some of the newest drysuits available.  It isn't often that we have this opportunity; please join us for comfortable diving in cooler water!  Not dry suit certified?  No problem!  Our staff will be on hand to get you set up and in the water.

Tanks and weights will be provided out at the reservior, but if you need to rent other gear please stop by the shop on Saturday, Sept 19.  Don't forget your certification card, $7 for the park entrance fee, and undergarments to wear under the dry suit.

Please call or Email OFD to RSVP.
303.444.7234
info@oceanfirstdivers.com

Ocean First Divers is proud to invite Dan Goldan from South Metro Fire and the Boulder Emergency Squad to our August 13 social. OFD has a long history of working with our local rescue squads. Dan and his crew will be sharing information on Public Dive Safety and will have their rescue van and equipment on display. Kids are welcome to all OFD events!

Time: 6:30pm

Light refreshments will be served.

RSVP: info@oceanfirstdivers.com

For one dexterous octopus, an attempt at a great escape turned into a great flood Thursday at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium in California.

The female California two-spotted octopus swam to the top of her tank, disassembled a valve with her powerful arm, and released at least 200 gallons (757 liters) of seawater into nearby exhibits and offices.

The foot-long (0.3-meter) creature remained in her tank and survived her ordeal. But the aquarium's brand-new floors weren't so lucky.

Such high jinks are typical of the invertebrates' still unexplained smarts, experts say.

"Octopuses have a wonderful combination of intelligence, tremendous manipulative ability, curiosity, and strength," said Jennifer Mather, a psychology professor at Canada's University of Lethbridge who has studied cognition in octopuses.

"So the result is that everybody who has ever kept octopuses has a string of stories about how octopuses can go where they want in aquariums."

Unbelievably Brainy?

Many octopuses show behavior that suggests curiosity, consciousness, and even a sense of humor, said Eugene Linden, author of the 2002 book The Octopus and the Orangutan: More True Tales of Animal Intrigue, Intelligence, and Ingenuity.

In one instance, an octopus given a slightly spoiled shrimp stuffed it down the drain while maintaining eye contact with its keeper, Linden said.

Wild octopuses have also been found to maintain "homes" and can remember where they've been in their neighborhood, pointing to a sort of self-awareness, Lethbridge's Mather said.

But it's hard to directly prove that octopuses are intelligent.

A smart animal that has the lowly clam for a cousin already "flies in the face of conventional wisdom of where you look for intelligence," Linden said.

Also, many scientists believe that intelligent beings are social, learn from others, and need a long lifespan to accrue brainpower. Octopuses live only about a year and are solitary animals.

"It's enjoyable to think that nature doesn't always follow our rules [when] it decides to create an intelligent being," Linden said.

Fast Decisions

The University of Lethbridge's Mather suggests octopuses may have evolved braininess to cope with a highly complex environment—usually coral reefs—where they must make lightning-fast, life-or-death decisions.

For example, the animals are extremely flexible, able to fit their boneless bodies through tiny cracks. Some species can change color in a thirtieth of a second.

(Watch a video of an octopus squeezing through a one-inch hole.)

As for the crafty cephalopod in Santa Monica, aquarium staffers have rigged her tank with clamps and tape to thwart future getaways, the Los Angeles Times reported.

But, as Mather pointed out, there "isn't an awful lot [that will] stop them."

If you enjoyed this article, then come join us for our free monthly social on Wednesday, March 11 at 6:30pm at Ocean First Divers.  Dr. Mel Cundiff from the University of Colorado will be giving a presentation on the mollusk (i.e. octopus, squid, snails, etc.).  Refreshments will be served and prizes given away.

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/12/10/the-world-needed-to-see-what-i-was-witnessing/

I broke the surface having just completed the last day of diving on some of the most incredible reefs I had ever seen. Floating in the deep blue waters, I looked around and surveyed the dozens of forest covered limestone islands that surrounded me.

This was truly one of the most beautiful places on earth. I was filming the reefs in Raja Ampat off the western tip of Papua in Indonesia, one of the most remote and biologically diverse marine ecosystems on the planet.

Cruising back to our camp, we noticed a small fishing boat anchored in a shallow lagoon within the protected area. Curious, we decided to investigate. As we drew near, we made a grizzly discovery. On the blood soaked deck, covered with buzzing flies, were dozens and dozens of shark fins that had recently been sliced off of small reef sharks.

Looking into the water, an odd shape at the bottom caught our attention. Immediately we identified it as the body of a shark. It took all my willpower to control my feelings of anger and frustration. And then I recalled, where sharks should have been abundant on every protected reef, we had not seen sharks the entire week. Now it was clear why. It was also immediately clear what I had to do.

The world needed to see what I was witnessing.

Flipping my video camera on, I documented the gruesome reality of what lay strewn before me: the fins, the blood, the flies, grisly contradictions to these magnificent surroundings.

Loading my camera into my underwater housing, I threw on my snorkel gear and slipped into the water. Below me strewn across coral reef were a dozen, dead juvenile reef sharks rolling gently with the current. Descending down, my stomach turned as I saw the blood seeping from wounds where their fins had been. These beautiful sharks had been ruthlessly sliced and thrown overboard to drown, killed just for their fins.

After filming all I could stomach, I returned to the boat. Enraged, I wanted to do something. Certainly this reckless harvesting must be illegal. Our guide Andy then informed me that the fisherman had presented a legal shark fishing permit which for $30 granted him the right to fin sharks for 30 days. Quick math revealed 10 sharks per day times 30 days, or 300 sharks for $30.

Ten cents a shark!

This was the price for the life of each of the juvenile reef sharks below me on the reef. But what was the cost on the marine ecosystem and the local community that depended on it?

Something changed in me that day, something that would grow inside and drive me to dedicate my life to ending the short-sighted destruction of marine environments and first and foremost, by halting the shark fin trade.

So much of what I have learned about the oceans, I have learned while diving and filming. Much of what we watch, read and hear about marine life is only a shadow of the reality. For many people, the closest they come to this world is a seafood restaurant or sushi bar.
Take sharks for instance, one of my favorite subjects. We are taught to believe sharks are mindless killers, that even a drop of blood will send them into a feeding frenzy and that most species of sharks are “man-eaters”.

These myths couldn’t be farther from the truth. I have drifted with schools of over 500 hammerhead sharks and watched as 100 reef sharks formed hunting packs at night. I have knelt within touching distance while a dozen bull sharks, some more than 1000 pounds and 11-feet long, fed on fish. In all my dives with sharks, I never witnessed a deliberate attempt by a shark to injure or kill.

Sadly, however, I have also watched sharks disappear from the oceans. Sharks were once plentiful, but they have effectively vanished from all but a few remaining sanctuaries. And even within these “sanctuaries” they are being systematically targeted and killed for their fins. Fins!
Fins make up less than 3-5 percent of a sharks’ total mass, the other 95 percent is either thrown back in the ocean or used as a cheap by-product. Only small strands of cartilage from the fin are used, the rest discarded as trash. These cartilage strands are boiled and used as a flavorless thickener, like thin noodles, in a watery soup flavored by chicken stock. Shark Fin Soup.

Once popular on special occasions among the ultra-elite in Asia, the recent economic boom in China coupled with intense marketing by the shark fin trade, has fueled an explosion in demand for the soup.

More than 100 million sharks are killed every year primarily for their fins. In the past 20 years, many of the great shark species populations have been reduced by more than 90 percent. If nothing changes, sharks are hea
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Ocean First Divers partnered with Ecologic Designs to provide reclaimed wetsuits for the manufacturing of Eco-conscious products. Ecologic Designs uses the neoprene for their line of bags and soft goods. OFD initiated the partnership by creating a wetsuit trade-in program whereby customers could bring in old wetsuits and get a credit towards the purchase of a new suit. Ecologic Designs added their own incentive and is offering 15% off their product line for anyone participating in the trade-in program. Old suits are then collected and donated to Ecologic Designs for the manufacturing of Eco-conscious products. OFD recently expanded the program to include the other local dive shops, helping to ensure that almost all old neoprene in the Boulder diving market is reused. Have an old, worn out wetsuit? Thinking of upgrading to Thermaprene? Do your part and drop off your old suit at your local dive shop and keep neoprene out of landfills. For more information on Ecologic Designs and their Eco-conscious product line, visit http://www.ecologicdesigns.com.