Carbon Footprint Diving?

Ok....I'll get to the subject of this posting in a minute....but before I do, I just wanted to get a shout-out to Will and George for storming through their Open Water class and pool two weekends ago; Chris for completing his e-Learning course this past Thursday; Lorne and Daniel for simply acing their class and pool this past weekend; and, Susan and Tom for showing me they already knew what they were doing! And on top of all, our Advanced weekends are filling up fast....six of the guys mentioned above are all in for the fun and games next summer!

Here's what we'll be having a look at!!

Ok.......so on to Helicopter Diving. I just read about this. Basically, you get to go diving like a navy SEAL would. You gear up (obviously not putting on your fins) and get in the chopper. Yup, fully geared, mask, snorkel, wetsuit, BCD, regs and air on. You clip your fins to your BCD and sit in the back of the helicopter. The chopper then ferries you out to a dive site, you hang of the step-rail on the bottom of the helicopter, held by a dude inside. On the opposite side your divebuddy is doing the same. Simultaneously, the guys in the chopper release you and your buddy about 7-10 feet from the water (it has to be simultaneously so that the chopper doesn't tip). You hit the water, fin up and off you go. When you finish your dive, a zodiak zips out and picks you up. I assume that either you are expected to be within a short distance of the dive site or they have some sort of GPS on you.

Sounds cool, right? Sounds very exciting. It also makes me shake my head in wonder and amazement, but from disgust, not from envy.

Now scuba diving isn't a massively environmentally impactful sport (except when divers attempt to take bits of coral, or smash into corals or generally act inappropriately), but it does have some impact. At the same time, scuba divers who believe in green diving and trying to promote a healthy reef system usually do more than anyone else on that conservation front. I know that I highly encourage diving clean-ups, whereby we pick up trash from boaters, fishermen or whoever else thinks that our oceans and waterways are handy refuse tips. And if I see sea life being damaged or injured by a man-made material (i.e. fishnets), I usually try to alleviate it if I can.

So, when I hear of helicopter diving, I can only shake my head. One helicopter, burning how much fuel, to take two scuba divers out to a dive site? And then a zodiak being sent out to pick them up? I can't even fathom how much bigger a carbon footprint a person is making by engaging in such sport. Sure, I think it sounds cool, but I'll not do it because of its impact!

I seriously hope other people think of it in the same way, but I have a nasty feeling most people will simply not care enough.

Ah well, enough of a rant for today....

One quick note, we're running a Rescue Diver Course on Dec. 19/20...if you're interested in getting your Rescue Diver, let us know!

Last but not least, congratulations to my 10 year old niece, Sarah, who just finished her Junior Open Water Diver certification!!! I'll come dive with you soon, Sarah!