ZOOM SEEKERS (SPEAKERS)  

Jeff Bozanic has been diving for nearly 50 years. A prolific writer, adventurer and scientist, he has participated in over 70 scuba diving expeditions to countries scattered around the globe. Cumulatively he has spent more than a year living and diving in Antarctica on multiple expeditions, recently returning from a collecting expedition to South Georgia Island and the Antarctic Peninsula. He is the recipient of many awards, including being honored as the DAN/Rolex Diver of the Year and the recipient of NAUI's Lifetime Achievement Award.

DIVING IN ANTARCTICA
Antarctica... just the name sends shivers down the spines of most people. Stories of heroic journeys, howling winds, bitter cold, and epic tragedies come to mind... but so do visions of penguins, whales, and majestic landscapes unsullied by the activities of mankind. Unknown to most, the underwater vistas are equally majestic! Under the surface swarm dense schools of krill, leopard and fur seals, colorful invertebrates, and wild and wonderful animals totally unlike those found anywhere else on the planet.  Come visit this spectacular location through the images of Jeff Bozanic, and see what it is like both above and below the surface.

Michael N. Emmerman leads an interesting life. He's a money manager at a large NYC investment firm, he's a Board-Certified Forensic Examiner, serves as a Government Liaison Officer for the American Red Cross, and is an Honorary Deputy Chief of both the New York City Police Department  and the Fire Department of New York. He's also a longtime diver with an impressive list of credentials. which include being the former president of the NE chapter of the Undersea & Hyperbaric Medical Society. Mike has a broad base of self-driven research, he has become an authority on dive safety, physiology and technology. Throughout his career, he has delved into topics from the safety of flying after diving, to the implementation of the first dive computers. His research has served as a foundation for modern safety protocols. In 2017, Mike was named the DAN/Rolex Diver-of-the-Year recipient.  Over the past 40+ years, Mike has taught diving safety and emergency response courses to thousands of law enforcement and civilian divers across the United States. Mike has carved out some time to speak with us about diving safety issues he has researched over the years.

LIFE IN THE FAST LANE
While researching a series of diving fatalities in the 1990s, Mike found a correlation between a particular set of personality traits that the divers exhibited that may have contributed to actions they took on the dives that cost them their lives.  Mike will discuss these traits and how all of us can take steps to understand our own personal risk profiles.

Douglas Ebersole, MD, is an interventional cardiologist at the Watson Clinic LLP in Lakeland, Florida and is the Director of the Structural Heart Program at Lakeland Regional Health, an 850-bed tertiary referral hospital in Lakeland.  He has been diving since 1974 and is an avid recreational diver, technical diver, rebreather diver, and cave diver.  He is also a recreational, technical, rebreather, and cave diving instructor for several training agencies, and is a cardiology consultant to Divers Alert Network. In other words, Doug's experience and interest touch all aspects of the diving community.

 

DIVING IN THE ERA OF COVID-19 

The world is currently dealing with a generation-defining pandemic in COVID-19 that has affected all aspects of our lives.  This includes both our ability to enjoy the sport we love and the diving industry as a whole.  Doug speaks not only from his medical background, but also from personal knowledge, as he contracted and has recovered from COVID-19. He'll provide an overview of the presentation and pathophysiology of the virus and its complications as well as discussing ways the diving industry has changed and will need to keep changing in terms of disinfecting gear, providing safe dive training, and assuring a safe environment for crew and customers on dive charters. Finally, the presentation will provide a framework for divers who have contracted the virus to safely return to diving.

Danny & Angelique are the owners of Murex Dive Resort in Manado, Sulawesi (Indonesia), a frequent Reef Seekers destination. Danny holds a BS in Tourism Studies and worked in corporate America for several years before venturing to Indonesia. A one-year contract evolved into meeting and marrying Angelique and a permanent expatriate life. In 2002, Danny and Murex expanded their operations and opened the dive concession at Lembeh Resort (in the Lembeh Strait). Murex also owns a resort on Banka Island and the three properties combine to offer some unique diving opportunities.

Angelique's father, the late Dr. Han Batuna, was a diving pioneer in Sulawesi. So Angelique grew up with Murex and along the way, acquired a degree in Financial Management. Although she assisted her parents in the Murex operations all of her life, in 2003 she began an NGO career; first with USAID, then as Program Coordinator for the World Wildlife Foundation in North Sulawesi. Angelique has passionately spearheaded several legal cases which have successfully thwarted illegal activities aimed at degrading the local environment and decaying the social fabric of local communities. Angelique has a deep passion for diving and providing opportunities for tourists to experience all that Murex and Sulawesi have to offer, while still maintaining respect for the environment and health of the reefs in the area.

DIVING INDONESIA WITH MUREX DIVE RESORTS
Danny & Angelique will give a joint talk about all that the area has to offer in terms of diving and will also touch on their unique "Passport to Paradise" program, which allows you to spend time at all three Murex properties: Murex Manado, Murex Bangka, and Lembeh Resort.

Born in landlocked Little Rock, Arkansas, decided to pursue his dream of chasing fish with a camera during his college years at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. (Prior to that chapter of his life Marty had hoped to play professional baseball. Although he made his Little League All-Star team as a shortstop and pitcher when he was only eleven years old, he later discovered that he lacked the power, speed, and coordination to realize his dream.) He got his scuba industry start working at the legendary Dive Locker in San Diego, which was home to many other famous shooters including Chuck Nicklin, Jack McKenney, and Howard Hall. Mary was honored with the 2018 NOGI Award in the Arts by the Underwater Academy of Arts and Sciences, won an EMMY Award for cinematography, is the 2008 recipient of DEMA’s prestigious Reaching Out Award, is widely published, and is the Marine Life Editor for Dive Training magazine as well as serving as Senior Editor for California Diving News. Marty’s still photography has also been used by the National Geographic Society, Nature Conservancy, National Wildlife Federation, Sport Diver, and more. His cinematography has been used by National Geographic, Howard Hall Productions, the PBS series Nature, BBC, Discovery Channel, and Audubon, to name a few. Marty's also the author of ten books that delve into a variety ocean-related topics. Marty feels certain that he has blown more magical opportunities and dinged or drowned more expensive camera equipment than most folks do but over time, he has managed to capture enough nice images and film sequences to enable his editors to create a persona that allowed him to also be named the recipient of the California Diving News 2020 Scuba Service Award. Ain’t life the strangest thing ever!

FINDING & PHOTOGRAPHING FISHES & THEIR BEHAVIORS
No doubt about it, the amazing diversity in the world of fishes is a feature that brings many people to diving. But there is a lot more to enjoying the world of fishes than just seeing them and moving on. Learning where and when to look for different species, watching fishes go about their daily lives, gaining some understanding of their nuanced behaviors, and photographing them can add a lot of fun to your diving. Certainly, photographing fishes well is an endeavor filled with challenges. But it is also very educational in terms of getting to know Mother Ocean, and it is lot of fun and extremely rewarding when you capture the images you have in mind. In this “Zoominar,” Marty will share insights into how to find various fish species in the reef communities and in the muck at the Atlantis resorts at Dumaguete and Puerto Galera in the Philippines, into behaviors, and his thoughts and techniques about what he does to try to capture his fish photographs. He has been trying to get those perfect shots for almost 50 years. There will be some Q & A. In addition, Marty will tell us about his latest endeavor, teaching one-on-one, customized classes in underwater photography using Zoom software.

Bill Macdonald is an independent filmmaker and speaker. From 1975 to 1980, he was a member of the Cousteau dive and film team and had the opportunity to work with Philippe Cousteau on a number of projects. Scuba diving and physical disability became a focal point for this independent film production house in 1984. Macdonald was a producer of “Freedom in Depth.” Hosted by co-producer Jean-Michel Cousteau, this film explored the relationship between physically disabled individuals and the freedom that they found while they were in the water. Environmental awareness has always been a key element that’s incorporated into Macdonald’s films. Another contribution by this independent filmmaking enterprise was the film “Synthetic Sea” which focused on making individuals aware of the enormous amounts of debris that are accumulating in the ocean. In 1996, while working with his wife Susan, they produced the “Secrets of California Waters.” One of the exciting aspects of the underwater world is that you never know what you will find. In this film, many secrets were revealed as the couple discovered many types of rare encounters with aquatic life such as elephant seal harems and basking sharks. Macdonald also created “More Secrets of California Waters,” which highlighted the kelp environment. In 2016, Bill was inducted into the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame.

BILL'S TALK
As you can see from his bio, Bill's lead an interesting life and had a varied career within the diving industry. I've given him caret blanche to talk about whatever he wants but as of this writing (12/29), he hasn't yet let me know what that is. However, I assume whatever he chooses will be of much interest and well worth your time to invest in front of your computer listening to what he has to say. (I do hope to get a better picture from him though . . .)

Bill is constantly asked “What brought you to Yap?” and invariably answers with tales of reading Mitchner, Conrad and Kipling plus watching anything produced about the South Pacific. The lure of the tropics has been in Bill’s blood since his early childhood days. Bill first came to Yap as a Peace Corps Volunteer in 1976. After two years in the Peace Corps and then some time in Hawaii, Bill got a call to return to Yap to become the manager of the WAAB Transportation Company, which is when he took up scuba diving. Bill conceived the idea of opening Yap’s first dive shop and by the summer of 1986, Yap Divers opened for business. As they say, “The rest is history.” Bill discovered and developed the manta dives have culminated in Yap being one of the top international dive destinations in the world. With very few exceptions, all of the dive sites in Yap were found, explored and named by Bill. With over 9,000 dives in the waters of Yap, Bill remains active in exploring new dive sites and teaching the sport to people interested in sharing his love for the ocean environment. Along the way, Bill met and married Patricia Mangthin of Yap and they have 4 wonderful children (Numie, Nathan, Valerie and Opie) who are all active in the sport of diving and share in their father’s commitment to safety and preservation of this natural resource. Bill was inducted into the International Diving Hall of Fame in 2014. These days, as a new retiree, Bill is found at his cleaning station at the back deck of the Mnuw (the sailing ship/restaurant at manta Ray Bay Resort & Yap Divers), ready to help with suggestions on diving, fishing or just to swap stories, some of which he'll tell in this talk.

DIVING YAP - MORE THAN JUST MANTAS
Yap has some of the most interesting and diverse dive sites, from the well-known Manta cleaning stations to the lesser-known Mandarinfish mating spot only five minutes from Manta Ray Bay Resort. In this talk, Bill will share with you some of his favorite Yap diving spots, delve into dive stories (he's been known to have a few), and explain why this remote island in the middle of the Pacific has so grabbed his heart for all of these years. He's may be known as "The Manta Man" but Bill is also quite happy to be yapping about all things Yap.

Pete grew up in Orlando and took his first breath underwater under the watchful eye of a Navy Master Chief and family friend in 1969 at the age of  12. That encounter changed his life. Since that time, he’s logged over 3,000 dives and remains very active living in Suwannee County Florida in Cave Country. Frustrated by what he considered a gap in the quality of scuba instruction, he became an instructor in 2001. He enjoys introducing people to scuba and the joys of being in  trim & neutral from their first pool encounter. The growth of the internet and online communities was intriguing to Pete, who worked as a network consultant in the late 1990s. He signed up for a small site called “Scubaboard” and became the owner in 2002. At that time, there were less than 3,000 members but the site has consistently grown and today, there are more than 300,000 registered members on ScubaBoard. Pete estimates that there are more than 1000 entries posted on the ScubaBoard site on any given day. “A key element of diving is having a buddy. ScubaBoard is a way for divers to have thousands of virtual dive buddies in almost every area of the world. A certified rebreather diver for over ten years, Murray enjoys testing new ideas and equipment and frequently receives “care packages” from friends in the industry looking for his opinions as a “beta tester.”

SECRETS OF SCUBABOARD
When Pete joined ScubaBoard back in 2002, the Internet certainly was not then what it is today. Neither is ScubaBoard. Pete will tell you how and why ScubaBoard into the valuable diver resource that it is today as well as take you through the trials and tribulations of that growth, which included a very nasty legal battle. But you'll get a feel how, through his guidance and stewardship, ScubaBoard persevered and survived. And if we're lucky, he may even tell you how his nickname of "NetDoc" came to be.

Originally from Seattle, Washington, Capt. Jon began underwater exploration at the age of eighteen, while diving in Dutch Harbor, Alaska in 1974. His diving experience spans forty-seven years with the past thirty-three of it as a scientific research diver, submersible pilot/instructor and Aquanaut. His career has taken him around the globe from the arctic to the tropics with projects ranging from collecting subsea biological data beneath arctic ice for the EPA and NOAA, to searching out ancient shipwrecks in the Aegean Sea with Dr. George F. Bass for the Institute of Nautical Archaeology and the National Geographic Society. Expeditions he has been a member of have been featured through Nat-Geo, the Discovery Channel, the BBC, the History Channel and others. He has worked directly with NASA to help train astronauts underwater in preparation for future space missions to sitting down with school children to teach them about the mysteries and majesty of marine organisms. Jon has been blessed by working with, and being influenced by the very best within the oceanographic, deep submergence and diving industries. Because of it, he was inspired to become an avid diving historian and now operates the “Avalon Diving History Exhibit” museum in southern California’s Catalina Island where he resides. In 2018 his works involved with historical preservation were recognized and honored by the Historical Diving Society when he was presented with the Nick Icorn Diving Heritage Award. In January of 2020 he was elected President of the Historical Diving Society USA where he is able to utilize his years of experience to promote and further the mission to preserve and educate future generations about the unique and important contributions to science, exploration, medicine, and the human condition made possible through the diving industry.

CIRCUMNAVIGATING CATALINA ON A SINGLE DIVE
How long can you make a tank last and, more to the point, how far could you get? Could you possibly make it around . . . an entire island? Jon Council did just that (though admittedly not on a single tank). Jon holds the single-dive world-record for completing a 52-mile circumnavigation around Catalina in 23½ hours in 2004. And this is what this cha is all about. He'll go over the reason behind the dive, how it came to be, what the logistical challenges were, and other aspects of this remarkable feat.

Renee is a Southern California native who started scuba diving in 2004 and is now known throughout the world for her award-winning split-level and wide-angle images. Her work is an intriguing combination of artistic talent honed through oil painting during her youth and a professional background in biology. In just the past five years, her pictures have been awarded over forty prestigious international accolades including “USA Photographer of the Year” from the 2019 World Shootout and the “David Doubilet Award of Excellence” in the Portfolio category from the 2020 Ocean Geographic Pictures of the Year. Likewise, her work has appeared throughout the world in numerous print and online dive publications. Renee’s passion for underwater photography and appreciation of marine animals complements her love of travel and adventure. When she is not in the water with her camera, Renee teaches biology and educates her students about the challenges facing our oceans and the importance of conserving marine ecosystems.

FROM POINT-AND-SHOOT TO PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER
Everyone starts somewhere. It wasn't too long ago that Renee didn't know her f-stop from her ISO, not to mention DOF and POV. But through hard work, trial and error, and dedication, she has gone from pushing the shutter button and hoping for the best to being an acclaimed award-winning published and sought-after shooter. In this talk, she'll share the story of her journey, share the triumphs and hurdles, and perhaps even inspire you to pursue a similar path (or at least take better pictures).

Doug and Lorenza Sloss have worked in the tourism and hospitality business for several years aboard the Aggressor liveaboards in Kona, Hawaii and Palau, Micronesia. There, they have taught hundreds of people how to dive and shoot photography. Their passion for teaching translated into the creation of a successful series of video tutorials that help photographers of all levels to effectively and professionally post-process their images. Their award-winning photography has appeared in Sport Diver, Scuba Diving, Scuba Diver Australasia, Islands, Asia Diver and many other magazines and books worldwide. Doug has been Field Editor and regular columnist for Scuba Diver Australasia magazine. They also lead photo workshops teaching photography and digital editing, both above and below the waterline.

TAKE BETTER PICTURES - IF SAM CAN DO IT, WHY NOT YOU?
Everyone who has ever held a camera in their hand wants to take better pictures than they currently do. And for those who are on that quest to be the next underwater Ansel Adams, Doug & Lorenza can help point you there. In this talk, they'll go through some of the basics and will share with you how they got their son, Sam, interested and involved in underwater photography.