Final Call
The University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science is accepting entries for its annual Underwater Photography Contest. Since its inception in 2005, the contest has drawn several thousand entrants from across the globe and a collection of beautiful images.
In a region already woefully short of adequate hyperbaric emergency services for divers, chambers from Mississippi to Northwest Florida are reportedly now filling up with Covid-19 patients fighting for their lives.
As reported earlier on this site, the closest decompression chambers to the popular Oriskany dive site and Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail are in Mobile, Alabama which is out of state—or in Fort Myers, more than 600 miles away.
Dutch Springs has been the location for sport, technical, and public safety divers to gather for the last 41 years. Divers travel to Dutch from all over the Northeast for training, socializing, or underwater fun.
Dutch Springs is crowded with open water students, technical divers trying new gear, and photographers practicing their art every summer weekend. Owner Stu Schooley and his staff have done a remarkable job filling the lake with attractions, including various boats, trucks, airplanes, a school bus, and helicopters.
Drawing on profound experiences underwater, as well as shark and reef conservation work in Belize, Hawaii, Puget Sound, Bahamas and Australia, American artist and James Madison University professor Lisa Tubach creates exuberant, dynamic and compelling paintings inspired by underwater forms, creatures and ecosystems, as well as the perils facing the ocean’s fragile reefs.
