How Did the Diver-Down Flag Come to Be?

Have you ever wondered how that red and white flag familiar to all divers came to be? As most know, flags are used in maritime operations as signals to communicate with other vessels. The International Signal Flag "A" (Alpha) is used by vessels to signal the danger of collision to other vessels in the area. More specifically to diving, the alpha flag is used to communicate "I have a diver down, keep well clear at slow speed". This flag is more commonly used in Europe and the British Commonwealth, including the UK, Ireland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and Kenya, as well as the Russian Navy, even though you may see it used on U.S. vessels. Generally this flag is used in situations where the diver is physically connected by means of life support or other system to the vessel itself.

But that doesn't answer how the red flag with the white diagonal stripe came to be. Back in the 40's the solid red "Baker" flag (later called the "Bravo" flag) was used by the U.S. Navy to signal DANGER a diver at work in the water nearby. In 1949, Denzel James Dockery, a Navy diver, was discharged from his military service. A tinkerer at heart, and eager to use the skills he trained for in the Navy, Denzel "Doc" Dockery followed instructions he found in a 1953 Popular Science magazine to build his own SCUBA unit.

While trying to make a living in Michigan with his scuba skills, "Doc" found that civilian marine operators did not recognize or acknowledge his use of the "Baker" flag to signal he was in the water. Working with his wife, Ruth, they tried to design a flag that would catch mariners attention. At first they designed a red flag with a horizontal white stripe across the middle, but it soon came to their attention that this was the national flag of Austria. They thought of using a red flag with a vertical white stripe, but this was a Navy numerical signal flag for the number 7. So after further research they arrived at the unique design you see today of the red flag with then diagonal stripe from the upper left to the lower right.

"Doc" began using this flag while he worked and promoting its use through the local dive club "Cuadro Pescadores" to which he belonged. In the early 50's the Dockerys opened a small scuba shop in Flint, Michigan, and sold the flag from their shop. In 1956, a U.S. Divers sales rep, Ted Nixon, came into the shop and offered to sell the flag nationally as he made calls to his other shops. (Thanks to his widespread efforts to adopt this flag, Nixon is often mistakenly credited with the creation of the flag.) In the meantime, "Doc" and his fellow club members worked to get the Michigan State Legislature to recognize the flag as a means by which to protect SCUBA divers from marine traffic. 

Another boost to the recognition of Dockery's flag came when it was mentioned in a September 1957 Skin Diver magazine article asking readers what they thought of the flag and if they had any other ideas. In February 1958, readers chose Doc's flag as their symbol of choice for a dive flag. In the meantime the newly formed Great Lakes Diving Council was also promoting  the use of the flag to legislators in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.

Thanks to the innovation and determination of Denzel and Ruth Dockery, the diver-down flag is recognized by the U.S. Federal Government and most of the states as the official warning sign for a diver's safety.

1. http://www.dive-flag.com/
2. http://www.diveworldaustin.com/historyofdiveflag2011.pdf
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diver_down_flag

Creature Feature: Loving the Creatures In My Own Backyard

Just a couple of weeks ago I participated in a "Vets & Newbies" dive event where veteran divers were buddied up with divers who hadn't logged many dives yet or were maybe a little rusty since their last dive. I had the pleasure of diving with a young gentleman visiting San Diego on a short-term stay before he returned to Alaska. He had recently obtained his open water certification in Maui and this was his first experience diving in San Diego.

I introduced him to the pleasures of shore diving from the beach of La Jolla Shores, and as can be typical for our waters, although the surf was not too difficult, the visibility was a little challenging (approximately 8-10' in the shallows to 60' depth). We had an enjoyable dive and got to see some of the usual suspects along the wall before it was time to head back in.

After the dive, while breaking down our gear, we talked about some of the challenges of the dive, like the surf entry, remembering to do the "stingray shuffle", San Diego's hit-or-miss visibility, and its cool waters. He asked me about other places I had dove, and of course "where was my favorite place to dive?", to which I answered, "It depends on what I'm looking for". He then continued on to ask that if I had gone to such beautiful warm-water destinations, why on earth would I still dive here? Well, let me tell you, THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME.

Don't get me wrong. I will admit I am a bit of a whoosie-diver. Anyone who knows me will tell you, I hate to be cold. I am not a big fan of all the gear we need to wear here. And, being that I stand a whole 5'2", I hate big surf knocking me over. But despite all that, there is so much sealife to see hear in San Diego, why would I not dive here!

San Diego has so much to offer in the way of diving. You have shore diving and boat diving. You can grab a charter boat to the Coronado Islands, or adventure a little further to the Channel Islands. And let's not forget our wrecks, like the Yukon and Ruby E in "wreck alley", or the NOSC Tower, the Hogan, Lazy Days, and more. 

Now of course you can find shore diving, boat diving, and wreck diving in tropical destinations, but I will tell you what you won't find in these destinations. You won't find kelp beds in warm tropical waters and I love our kelp beds. There is always something peeking out from those kelp fronds, wondering if you have spotted them. And if you are a fan of the sea slug, you can find a beautiful variety of nudibranchs in our waters without having to travel to far-off lands.

If you haven't jumped into San Diego's cool waters since your open water certification. Or, if you learned to dive somewhere else and have never dove our waters, you are missing out. To list all the sealife would be endless, but you can see angel sharks, horn sharks, leopard sharks, soup fins and seven-gills to name a few. And let's not forget kelp fish, rockfish, lizard fish, giant black sea bass, spinning bait balls, halibut, mola mola, stingrays, bat rays, electric rays, guitar fish and more. Then there are many types of shrimps and crabs, octopi and squid, and different types of jellies. I've even seen a green sea turtle while diving the Marine Room. Never mind having fun playing with our curious sea lions. I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea.

  

There is so much to see here, and every dive is different.

So why are you sitting on the shoreline? Brave our chilly waters and see what you will discover on your next dive.

Chris’ Dive Experiences: Travel......The Maldives & Mantas

Photo By: Damien Newton

Lesley and I have a routine before a trip starts and it goes something like this: pack gear, weigh it, take a few items out, reweigh it, repeat, repeat, repeat until we get our main bags to about 48 lbs. This is undoubtedly followed by a white knuckled (for Lesley) ride to a square piece of pavement near the airport which will be home to our car for a small fortune only to be followed by unloading, loading, and unloading again, bags and persons into an airport shuttle.  And then another white knuckled ride (this time for both of us) to the lovely...peaceful...slow paced sovereign nation known to all of us as LAX. It's no wonder why once you settle into your seat on the plane a collective sigh can be heard!

After settling in for your flight, you may start thinking about and anticipating certain types of diving that you will enjoy like drift dives, wreck dives, night dives or, if you're me, shark feed dives. Or you may be thinking of a certain species that this area is known for and what kind of dive experiences you may have with it. If you are a photographer or videographer you're definitely start anticipating certain dive sites with famous wrecks or reefs or the critters you expect to shoot on your dives. One thing is for sure if you're traveling to a place for the first time you just really don't know what that standout dive, encounter, or experience that you'll always remember will be.

Our trip to the Maldives was really no different. I expected to see the unbelievable beauty and feel the serenity that you get just by looking at pictures of the Maldives, mixed with an extremely healthy marine ecosystem with chances to see whale sharks, mantas and loads of fish.  What ended up standing out to me was something totally different.

Photo By: Lesley Alstrand



Prior to leaving for this trip, I arranged to take the PADI Manta Diver specialty course while sailing on our liveaboard. Little did I know at the time that I really couldn't have picked a better destination, or boat, anywhere in the world for this specialty. This would turn out to make my trip to the Maldives all about the manta.

After boarding the Sea Spirit, our home-away-from-home for this trip, we completed the usual paperwork and then listened to the briefing presented by our cruise directors and dive guides Matt and Anne-Marie Kitchen-Wheeler. During the briefing, among other things, it was announced that Lesley and I would be taking the Manta class and if anyone wanted to join the class, they were welcome to. Nobody at that point indicated much interest in joining us, so it looked like it would be just the two of us.

Photo By: Dr. Anne Marie Kitchen Wheeler

Fast forward through two full days of diving and it was time for our manta class orientation that evening. To our surprise, Lesley and I were joined by almost half the guests on board. Our cruise director, dive guide, and PADI manta class instructor was Dr. Anne-Marie Kitchen-Wheeler, who is also the project manager for The Manta Ecology Project in Maldives, and only the fourth person in the world to receive her PhD on mantas. In two days of diving, Anne-Marie's sharing of her knowledge and passion for mantas had obviously piqued the interest of the other guests on board and now they wanted to learn more. 

During our first manta class we learned about manta anatomy, feeding, cleaning, reproduction, conservation efforts, and proper techniques for diving with the mantas. Compared to other manta dives and conversations I had experienced with dive guides during previous trips to several different destinations, I was blown away by how much I learned during just the first class session with Anne. The species of mantas we were getting to dive

with in the Maldives were Manta Alfredi, also known as reef mantas, which is the species we also experienced while diving in Hawaii and Palau. Whereas in the Socorro Islands, we were diving with Manta Birostris, otherwise known as giant mantas.

Cleaning Reef Manta Photo By: Lesley Alstrand

After our first class session we where able to do a few dives with mantas and observe some of the the things we learned from Anne. The second class session a couple nights later was even better than the first. During this class we learned how to ID mantas. When identifying any animal, the more info you can gather, of course, the better, but key points to identifying a particular manta are sex, tail length, and spot patterns between the gills. This was another instance where I learned something new. You ID Reef Mantas using spot patterns located in between their gills. Whereas Giant Mantas are identified using the markings and patterns that are directly on and below their gills since the area between their gills will generally have no markings.

Swimming Giant Manta (Socorro Islands) Photo By: Lesley Alstrand

The next thing I learned totally blew my mind. Depending on how the manta holds its cephalic fins, you can tell what its planning to do next. For instance, you can tell if a manta is getting ready to feed, get cleaned, or swim off. I had noticed when diving with mantas in the past that different mantas had their cephalic fins in different positions and thought it was interesting, but I never knew it really meant anything.

Feeding Reef Manta Photo By: Dr. Anne Marie Kitchen Wheeler

There really isn't any other animal that I can think of where you can get an idea of what it is thinking of or about to do before they actually do it. Now, of course, you can see signs like possible aggression from a shark depending on their pectoral fin placement, but this can be hit or miss because they use these fins to swim and turn as well. Or maybe watching a lion hunt you obviously deduce that it is hungry and wants to eat, but this is different to me than the body language I was learning from the mantas.

Cleaning Reef Manta Photo By: Dr. Anne Marie Kitchen Wheeler

Seeing a manta swim toward the reef and relax it's cephalic fins way before it reaches the reef tells you it is thinking about getting cleaned which is exactly what I saw. That same manta, after getting cleaned for a few minutes, rolled it's cephalic fins up, telling us it was getting ready to swim and around 30 seconds latter it took off and didn't return. Most divers that see mantas see them while the mantas are feeding, so last but not least, a manta indicates it is time to feed by cupping its cephalic fins. This allows it to channel as much food as possible into it's mouth.

Swimming Reef Manta Photo By: Dr. Anne Marie Kitchen Wheeler

After absorbing all this new information, I was thrilled to test my knowledge, watch mantas, and use what I  had learned to ID them. Our next manta dive took place at night. We were split into two groups. Our instructor, Anne Marie, led the second group, while Lesley and I were assigned to the first group. My assigned task to pass the Manta Diver class was to take aqua paper (underwater paper) on our night dive and use it to record the sex and tail length of two mantas. In addition, I had to draw the spot markings of these mantas. This was a lot harder then I first thought it would be. Let's see, hold the pencil and clipboard underwater at night; shine your light at the manta swimming quickly overhead; set the light down on the clipboard and start drawing and recording info quickly. It took me about 30 minutes to get a small amount of info on each of these mantas. From the info I recorded on that first dive Anne was able to determine that two of the three mantas we had on our group's first dive were the same mantas she had on her group's second dive. All of this info was logged into the database where we learned we dove with a female manta named Wiggly and a male named Squiggly.

Photo By: Lesley Alstrand

The Maldives had the  healthiest reefs by far I have ever seen. The sheer amount of fish on these reefs was astounding. Mix that in with drift dives, wreck dives, the best night dive I've ever done, using reef hooks to watch dozens of grey sharks and white tips cruising by in current so strong we were all looking around to see what was making that loud noise we were hearing (which turned out to be nothing more than the water screaming past our ears), to secretly hand feeding some moray eels with scraps from our fish we were having for dinner that night (I WOULDN'T RECOMMEND IT but I had fun with it), and you might ask me what diving the Maldives is all about. For me, the Maldives will always be about the Manta!

For more information on mantas, check out Dr. Anne Marie Kitchen-Wheeler's

Manta Ecology Project Site 

http://mantaresearch.com/

Creature Feature: Flying Gurnard (Dactyloptena orientalis)

The first time I saw these guys was while critter diving in the Philippines. It was fascinating to watch them spread their wings and "take flight". I never got tired seeing them. I may have only spotted them in the Philippines, but the flying gurnard can be found from Hawaii to Japan, southward to central Polynesia, westward through Micronesia and Melanesia, through the East Indies, and across the Indian Ocean to the coast of Africa.  They prefer sandy bottoms and are generally found in shallow waters near the shore, but can be found at depths of up to 330 feet.

Flying Gurnards are classified in the scientific family Dactylopteridae, meaning "finger-fin". The word "gurnard" actually comes from an Old French word meaning "grunt". These fish get their name because of a special muscle in their bodies that pounds against their swim bladder when they are removed from the water, causing them to make a grunting sound. (Another common name for these fish is Sea Robin.)

These fish can actually grow up to 16 inches and are usually a grayish-brown color with dark markings and bright blue edges on their round pectoral fins. These pectoral fins are normally held tight to their bodies unless they feel threatened, then they expand their "wings" to increase their size and scare off predators. This also helps them to blend into their bottom surroundings.

As you know, flying gurnards don't actually fly. However, they can use their "wings" to help make short burst of "flight" through the water. To motor around, they generally use finger-like appendages on the front of their pelvic fins to walk on the ocean floor, hence their family classification. They search through the sand to munch on bony fish, crustaceans, and bi-valves.

These fish have been described as resembling frogs when you look at them from the side because of their large heads and eyes, and light-colored underbellies. Their body is covered in "armor" consisting of tough, prickly scales and two large hook-like spurs near the gills. So here's my question, how can these tough guys look so cute?

Chris’ Dive Experiences: And Now For Something Completely Different

One of the things Lesley and I were most anticipating when we were preparing for our recent trip to Mexico was a chance to dive in cenotes. Cenotes are openings to underground rivers with caves, rooms, and passage ways that form when an area of the roof over the underground river collapses.

Photo By: Lesley Alstrand

The cenote that I was most looking forward to diving was one called Angelita. This site is a sink hole with some very weird things going on which feel so surreal when diving it. After a drive out of town and a turn that lead us on a road through the jungle we pulled up to a dirt lot that had a wooden sign painted "Cenote Angilita". Part of the dive briefing included a walk to the dive site along a little trail cut through the jungle. During the walk the guide pointed out a oregano tree, gum tree, and lemon trees. The trail wound around to a flat rock that looked down over the sinkhole Angelita. After the site briefing we geared up to dive. We walked up to the same flat stone, held onto our fins, and did a 15 ft giant stride down into the water, grouped up and started our descent.

Photo By: Lesley Alstrand

Looking down from the surface you had the same perspective as you do with blue water diving - the light rays dancing through the clear blue water. As we descended down you could look around 360 degrees and see that you where diving in huge limestone cylinder. 



Photo By: Lesley Alstrand



What looked like the bottom came into view soon after we started our descent.  There was a pile of rotting leaves and tree limbs surrounded by a reddish brown liquid.  It gave me the sense that I was floating in the air above a river with  a shore made of trees and a dirt area with tree limbs, not that I was 100 ft. underwater diving around broken tree limbs and piles of leaves.  The red-brown area is actually a hydrogen sulphide acid layer that looks like a flowing river. 

Photo By: Anatoly Beloshchin

Once we got our bearings our guide signaled us over to the safe area for us to descend through the acid layer. We grouped up in a circle holding on to each other and descended through a yellow rust color layer where the vis dropped to zero and the smell of rotten eggs drifted into your mask. Once we dropped about 3 feet through that layer the vis opened up to 50 feet plus, just quite a bite darker. Below us were tangled broken tree limbs that we swam over, around and through.   Because of the lack of oxygen in this acid layer, leaves that have been here for many weeks are just as green as they were when they first fell into the water. This was also an eerie experience because of the great viz mixed with the low light and swimming around a wasteland of broken trees and limbs.

Photo By: Lesley Alstrand

Since we were now at 115 ft our no-deco time started to run out so with 5 mins left we grouped back up holding each others hands and forming a circle and ascended back up through the layer. Once back above the layer we swam around the tree limbs and watched as other diver's bubbles came up through the layer we just ascended through. This made it look like heat from a fire rising since the bubbles were disrupting the layers of water and acid. As more divers came up from the bottom the water and acid layers began to mix making it look even more like a flowing river.

Photo By: Lesley Alstrand

Once our no-deco hit 5 mins at this shallower area we started our slow ascent around the edge of the sink hole. The sink hole is made up of limestone so the walls were very porous with shades of black and white running through out.

On the way up you could turn on your back and look up to see the edges of the sink hole with trees hanging over and clouds in the sky above them from a depth of 80 feet. At 30 feet we grouped up in a line and did a short swim through in the wall that turned slowly and came back out. We ended our dive with a long safety stop, surfaced and headed over to the rope to climb out of the sinkhole.

Photo By: Lesley Alstrand

This was by far the most unique dive I've ever done. If you're looking for a new place to dive or a new type of diving, give cenote diving a try in the Riviera Maya. This dive at Angelita was followed by a dive at Cenote Carwash which had stalactites hanging from  the ceiling and stalagmites rising from the floor and visibility was in the 100's of feet!

Creature Feature: Shame-Faced Crab

The shame-faced crab (aka box crab) gets its name from the way its claws (or chelae) cover its face as if it were trying to hide in shame.  Classified in the genus calappa, what distinguishes these crabs from others is their distinctly bulky carapace (upper portion of the shell) which can reach lengths up to 3.5 inches and widths of nearly 5 inches. The calappa species became labeled box crabs because when threatened these crabs pull their large pincers tight around their bodies, hiding their legs under the canopy of their carapace, forming a well-armored “box”.

The shame-faced crab’s squat, rounded and convex shell may be a rosy or yellowish hue with grooves and/or spots on it. The triangular mouth, as well as its eyes, are generally hidden behind the large forceps of its first pair of walking legs. In some species the impression of shame is further enhanced by large reddish-pink spots on the pincers which make the crab look even further embarrassed. The other pairs of legs are rather skinny since they are rarely used.

The shame-faced crab generally remains in an inactive state, burrowed in the sand, eyes looking upward, waiting for potential prey to come by. It can remain in this position for several days, with only its eyes, antennae and upper carapace protruding from the sand. Its forceps also protrude to form a “breathing cave” behind them, preventing sand from blocking its air passages. On the occasion that it does choose to run, it puts its body completely upright and straightens its legs. To bury its self again, it simply pushes its forceps against the sand like planks which then forces its body backward into its burrow.

This crab’s favorite snacks are oysters, mollusks, snails, and other marine invertebrates. Its specially formed forceps and right pincer are well-adapted to pick its prey apart, and strong enough to crack their shells. There is a large accessory tooth at the base of the moveable finger and a corresponding flat plate on the fixed finger which act like a vice to crack through the shell. The left pincer is relatively longer and sharper and used to extract the gastropod’s body from the broken shell. This guy below in the video doesn't accomplish his task with lightening speed, but watch  as he goes about getting some dinner.

http://www.waza.org/en/zoo/choose-a-species/invertebrates/other-aquatic-invertebrates/calappa-granulata