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Coral Reef Research on the West Coast of Bonaire

The past few months, a research team from Wageningen Marine Research (previously known as ‘IMARES’) from The Netherlands has been working together with STINAPA to survey the coral reefs along Bonaire’s leeward side. The team included Sarah, Yun, Roger and Sil.

At 115 dive sites, the team investigated the corals, fish, sea urchins and excavating sponges along transects at five and ten meters depth. If you are familiar with the present-day reefs of Bonaire, these two depths might seem a tad shallow: most fun dives are now often done at around twenty meters depth. However, in the past, Bonaire’s corals used to flourish at five meters, where light and other environmental conditions are optimal for maximum coral reef growth. Various hypotheses exist as to why the shallow reef areas have seen such a decline, but a combination of multiple factors is most likely the reason.

With the data that the team gathered on this trip, they will measure the reef health with multiple methods, such as the ReefBudget Method and the Reef Health Index. They will also create an overview of the coral and fish communities along the island, and look at the variation of these between different areas. With this information, they hope to determine the current state of Bonaire’s reefs and help prevent any further decline.

With weights, tanks and other support of Dive Friends Bonaire, we had a great time and successful survey!

 

Take the leap to using a full-face mask!

Now is the chance to try the Ocean Reef Integrated Dive Mask (Full-Face Mask)! We are offering a 15% discount on the Full-Face Mask Diver Specialty during our Fall Specials until November 30th!

After hearing many enthusiastic stories about diving with a Full-Face Mask from colleagues and friends, our instructors Nienke and Martijn got really curious and decided to try it for themselves. They joined a course given by our Dive Inn Location Manager and Ocean Reef Specialist Jeffrey in September.

A Full-Face Mask is exactly that: a mask that covers your entire face! They were previously only used by military and professional divers, but a recreational version is now available for all divers to enjoy the fun and advantages of having your whole face inside one mask (along with the integrated regulator). Say good-bye to fogged-up and leaking masks! Even the mouthpiece is gone, no more jaw fatigue! You can breathe naturally through your nose and experience a wider field of vision compared to regular masks. More than enough reasons to give it a try!

The course began with a morning coffee and some background information on the Ocean Reef Integrated Dive Mask. The first time you put on the mask, it feels a bit strange to start but once you adjust the straps and other features, it becomes very comfortable. You also want to ensure that you adjust the nose plugs correctly as you will use them to help you equalize (you can’t pinch your nose in the Full-Face Mask!).

Before the open water dive, they learned to perform some regular scuba skills with the Full-Face Mask. First, they practiced putting the mask on and taking it off a couple of times on the surface to get comfortable with it. After that, they practiced several skills underwater such as disconnecting/re-connecting the low-pressure hose that supplies air to the integrated regulator, clearing a flooded mask and finally taking the whole mask off underwater and putting it back on. Taking off a Full-Face Mask underwater is a bit more work than with a regular mask as without your mask on, you can’t breathe since the regulator is integrated into the mask. You have to make sure you switch to an alternate air source (either your own or you buddy’s) and put on a spare mask. Then you can actually see what you are doing again. However, with a bit of practice, it is easy to do!

After learning these new skills, the group headed out to test the mask in the open water. Diving with a Full-Face Mask is a lot of fun! You actually do see a lot more because of the wider field of vision compared to a regular mask. You can even see your buddy out of the corner of your eye when they are slightly behind you!

As an experienced diver, Nienke started out breathing through her mouth only (old habits…), until she realized it was also possible to breathe through her nose for the first time underwater! After the dive, Nienke said “I don’t know if it’s just me, but it took me a while to adjust to breathing out of my nose. However, it is quite comfortable to breathe through your nose and I can definitely see that it will be beneficial for some people who have trouble with breathing through a normal regulator.”

Surprisingly, the group was also able to communicate very well underwater. Although, they didn’t try out the add-on communication set yet, which can be fitted onto the side of the Full-Face Mask, they

were able to speak into the masks and hear each other when they were close by under water. Together they sang ‘we are the champions’ underwater to celebrate competing the course.

They really enjoyed diving with the Full-Face Mask and will definitely do it again. Take the leap and dare to try if for yourself; you might just love it and never go back to your regular dive mask! We offer Full-Face Masks for rental and sale at our Dive Inn location. Stop by anytime to find out more!

The great invasion

The Red Lionfish (Pterois volitans)

The red lionfish, Pterois volitans, is native to the Indo-Pacific region. Sometime in the 1980’s, these fish were introduced into the Atlantic waters off the coast of Florida sometime during the 1980s. Since the early 1990s, they have been spreading across the southern Atlantic and Caribbean waters as one of the fastest spreading invasive species.

 

An invasive species is a species that has been intentionally or unintentionally introduced into a habitat outside of its natural range, also known as introduced species or alien species. At the point of introduction, the introduced species will either perish or thrive depending on whether they can adapt to their new environment. In most cases, although the animal may live for a short time, the environment is not suitable for their long-term survival and the species cannot become established in the new area. However, occasionally species are able to overcome the barriers presented by the new environments and become abundant. Humans have contributed to the spread of several species by breaking down these barriers, particular through international flights and shipping. Humans have also introduced several species to serve as a food source or as exotic pets. Although not all invasive species have negative effects on ecosystems, the majority do including: reduction in ecosystem biodiversity through direct predation or competition with native species, introduction of new diseases/parasites or habitat alteration and degradation.

 

This post will examine the lionfish invasion of the Caribbean but first, what is a lionfish? Lionfish have distinctive brown or maroon, and white stripes or bands covering the head and body. They have fleshy tentacles above their eyes and below the mouth, fan-like pectoral fins, long, separated dorsal spines, 13 dorsal spines, 10-11 dorsal soft rays, 3 anal spines and 6-7 anal soft rays. Lionfish have cycloid scales (fish scales that are oval or elliptical in shape with a smooth edge). An adult lionfish can grow as large as 20 inches while juveniles may be as small as 1 inch or less. See photograph below:

Lionfish have several key traits that allow them to be a successful invasive species. They are a relatively hardy species which allows them to withstand a range of less than ideal conditions. They also reproduce very quickly; Lionfish breed every three to four days in the late afternoon/early evenings year-round! This courtship requires males to congregate in a group as the males pose to show off to expectant females and dart at their rivals, spirally upwards above the sea floor. Studies show that the females go on to lay approximately 30,000 eggs each time. Another trait is the ability to colonize and populate. According to the genetics of the Atlantic lionfish, it is possible that as few as three females could be responsible for the entire population. Furthermore. Lionfish are opportunistic and are able to spread quickly in a previously unexploited habitat. They can and will feed on any prey available.

Do to their rapid population expansion and their aggressive feeding behavior, lionfish have the potential to become the most disastrous invasive species in history by drastically reducing the abundance of coral reef fishes and leaving behind a devastated ecosystem. Around the Caribbean, lionfish act together with other stressors such as climate change, over fishing and pollution making this invasion of particular concern for the future of the Atlantic and Caribbean coral reefs. Predators in this region have no experience with the venomous spines of the lionfish resulting in limited predation attempts from groupers and sharks. In the pictures below, the rapid increase in the lionfish can be clearly seen starting with the first sighting in 1991 and continuing to 2013.

This information can be quite concerning so what can you do to help? The best tactics to fight this invasion are directly reducing the population, community outreach and education as well as further research. Efforts to reduce the densities of lionfish at key locations may help to lessen their ecological impacts. Recovering and maintaining healthy populations of potential native predators of lionfish, such as large grouper and sharks, may also help reduce the effects of these voracious invasive predators. By Educating people about health risk and effects to the environment and commercial fisheries, people may then become more inclined to eradicate the fish whilst spear fishing. This will also teach people that lionfish are a tasty source of food, especially with the dwindling supplies of many other fish stocks. They are not poisonous when cooked as the heat from cooking denatures the venom. The spines can also easily be removed by people who have been taught how to handle the lionfish correctly. In addition, lionfish could be used as an example to educate the aquarium industry and the general public about the dangers of intentional or unintentional aquarium releases.

There are multiple places in the Caribbean where you are able to eat lionfish at local restaurants and also learn how to cook lionfish yourself. You might find you recognize some restaurants on Bonaire!

For those who are visiting Bonaire, please drive demand of the fishery by ordering lionfish when you are out for dinner at a restaurant. You can also take the PADI Lionfish Hunter Specialty (2 dives) to learn how to hunt the fish yourself using an Eliminating Lionfish (ELF) Device. After the course, you can hunt with a local guide and then have a BBQ with the fish you “hunted” on the beautiful reefs of Bonaire.

Written by Zara

Take only pictures, Leave only Bubbles!

If you’re going to take a picture,
make it INSTA-WORTHY!

You’re on your dive vacation and you want to share the fantastic time you’re having underwater on Bonaire with all your dive buddies across the world. Perhaps you don’t necessarily want to spend the time trying to figure out a complicated camera system? Maybe you want to get a sharp close-up macro shot of that seahorse on Klein Bonaire, or a video of the eagle ray that’s hanging out on the house reef? Dive Friends Bonaire totally gets that, and we’re excited to announce the critically acclaimed Olympus TG-5 with housing as our new rental camera!

Olympus built the TG-5 with underwater photographers in mind in when they updated many features on their Tough camera series. For the active, rugged lifestyle: waterproof to 15m/50ft (150ft/50m with housing), crushproof to 220 lbf/100 kgf, shockproof from 7ft/2.1 m, freezeproof to 14⁰F/-10⁰C, dustproof and an anti-fog lens with sealed and dual-pane glass to prevent condensation. This camera can serve as a simple point and shoot for some but also offers the ability to manipulate several settings in manual mode.

The camera has been set up to do half the work for you (if you want it to) with 4 underwater modes: Underwater Wide, Underwater Macro, Underwater Snapshot, and Underwater HDR. Diving in the clear, shallower waters with this camera allows the user to use all available ambient light to obtain phenomenal photos. Furthermore, these underwater modes also feature a built-in digital red filter to aid photographers in the endless fight to colour correct. Shift to video mode and you have the chance to shoot in 4K!

Bonaire’s waters are a nursery for many species of juveniles and make a perfect home for a lot of macro subjects. Many cameras will struggle to obtain a quality image without the addition of a macro lens but this is where the Olympus TG-5 really set itself apart! The TG-5 has several macro and microscope modes in the underwater settings, allowing all users the opportunity to get that up close and personal shot. Besides the Underwater Macro mode, the camera has 4 additional macro modes: Microscope, Microscope Control, Focus Stacking and Focus Bracketing.

Any of this confusing you? Sign up for the PADI Digital Underwater Imaging course and we will help you take your skills and images to the next level! Camera rentals are available for $55 a day with an 8 GB Class 10 SD included. If interested, contact us today!

For additional help, Dive Friends Bonaire has teamed up with Backscatter Underwater Photo & Video for the new camera rental line, offering tech and shooting support to all our camera users. Check out their review here: http://www.backscatter.com/reviews/post/Olympus-TG-5-Underwater-Camera-and-Housing-Review

 

Turtley Addicted to You

Go baby turtle GOOO!

You can’t help but cheer these little guys on as they make their epic journey across the beach into the ocean. Watching their tiny flippers scamper across the sand, toppling and turning in the sand, and finally seeing those flippers push and pull them into the water! An exhilarating moment in nature for those lucky enough to witness it. Whether you commit the hours to sitting by a nest at night and waiting for the volcano of baby turtles to erupt or helping the remnants of the nest to make it to the ocean, it’s incredible to watch.

I’ve loved turtles from an early age. As a teenager, I visited the Outer Banks in North Carolina where I witnessed my first controlled turtle release. After that, I jumped at the chance to volunteer with sea turtles as a dive pro in Thailand but it was Little Cayman where I received my formal training and became co-leader of their volunteer turtle conservation program. From there, I was turtley addicted! When I moved to Bonaire, I immediately signed up to volunteer with the Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire (STCB) program.

During the nesting season (normally from April to January), STCB staff and trained volunteers patrol the beaches most used by turtles, recording signs of nesting and hatching, as well as monitoring the safety status of the nests. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays STCB also head to Klein Bonaire at 7 AM to patrol the beaches there. As Mondays are one of my days off, I try to attend every week! The first couple of trips, there was also a lot of walking and trash collecting; I’m always happy to do this as I know clearing beaches is good for ALL marine life. But it wasn’t long before turtle tracks and activity appeared and I was asked to pull my sleeves up and help verify nesting activity. It involves a lot of digging, I mean a lot! STCB even labelled one of the nest’s ‘Caitlin’s Nest’ You can only imagine my excitement (and social media posts!).

Only Sea Turtle females prepare the nest and they do this mostly at night. The female crawls out of the ocean to find a prime spot for her to lay the nest but, for unknown reasons, sometimes she decides not to nest and returns to the water. When this happens, it is marked as a “false crawl.” Most females nest at least twice during the nesting season, although individuals of some species may nest only once and others more than ten times. The average size of a clutch ranges from about 80 to 120 eggs, depending on the species. Incubation takes about 60 days; the temperature of the sand governs the maturation rate and sex of the eggs. Cooler sands tend to produce more males while warmer sands producing a higher ratio of females. Once the nest is ready to go, it’s like a volcano of baby turtles erupting to the surface and the hatchlings begin their climb out of the nest in a coordinated effort. Once near the surface, they will often remain there until the temperature of the sand cools, usually indicating night time when they are less likely to be eaten by predators or overheat. Once the baby turtles emerge from the nest, they use cues to find the water including the slope of the beach, the white crests of the waves and the natural light reflecting off of the ocean horizon (most often from the moon).

The obstacles are so numerous for baby turtles that only about one in 1,000 survives to adulthood. For example, sometimes turtles cannot get out of the nest, either because they hatched late or are buried under shells. Some turtles never even hatch out of their eggs. Other turtles hatch out of their eggs but die before making it out of the nest. Once on the surface, any light sources other than the moon can disorientate the turtles and cause them to crawl in the wrong direction. This includes beachfront lighting, street lights, lights from cars, campfires etc.

All sea turtle species are listed as either endangered or critically endangered,  so scientists try to help their populations whenever they can. One way Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire tries to help is by excavating, or digging up, a nest that has already hatched as a this can provide a lot of valuable data. For example, the number of eggshells left in the nest show how many of the turtles hatched successfully. Hopefully, most of these hatched turtles were able to get out of the nest. Some hatched turtles might still be hanging out in the nest, unable to get out. Others may have died before being able to get out of the nest. Scientists count empty egg shells, hatchlings left in the nest and unhatched eggs to determine the total number of eggs laid. This information is then used to help monitor sea turtle health on Bonaire and across the Caribbean. For me, collecting this scientific data makes me feel like I can put something a bit more tangible on the experience!

Turtle interactions are always a fan favourite amongst divers, whether it be a Hawksbill, Loggerhead, or Green: they all get us excited! Sometimes on Bonaire we are spoiled and take these interactions for granted considering the endangered status on all turtle species; some more vulnerable than others. So next time you see a turtle chomping, finning, or just chilling out – they deserve added respect for making it this far!

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Written by Caitlin

An interview with Christie Dovale

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Protect and Preserve: A Natural History of Bonaire, First Hand Witness.

An interview with Christie Dovale

Logbooks… don’t neglect them!

 

Christie Dovale spent family vacations visiting Bonaire from her birthplace on Curacao. It was like a home away from home for her. After trying out a few other spots, her love for Bonaire brought her back permanently to the island. It’s immediately clear to me that she has a serious passion for nature and for Bonaire; both above and below the water. She tells me it’s been a number of years since she went for a dive but still holds the ocean close to her heart.

 

The first thing Christie pulls out to show me is her logbook, which details only a portion of her diving history. For many years’ diving was just something that was done while she was on the islands. She flicks back through looking at the notes she wrote about each dive and reminisces about her time underwater. I was gripped listening to her descriptions of the various dives she did, what she experienced on the dive, what the dive site was like, and how she felt. It really showed the value of keeping an up-to-date logbook! Here we were, with detailed reports of what Bonaire’s reefs were like 15 or more years ago. She also described her dive on the Windjammer at 193 feet while she quickly flicks through and shows me the log. Christie also worked with Tom van t’ Hof and biologist Eric Newton who founded and designed the Bonaire Marine Park. Another memorable logbook page during this time: a black coral survey on the north coast.

 

Christie started her career with STINAPA as their Public Relations Director in 1979 In her short term there, sadly the government funding could not support her role after 6 months, she organized the rehabilitation of Karpata as a marine biology center. From there she went on to become the President of ‘The Friends of the Earth’. Christie fought hard for many things while in charge there, but shares her pride in gaining protection for the Brown-throated Parakeet Parakeets – locally called “Prikichi”. Although rewarding, this was a tough position to be in so Christie refocused her career towards children: teaching her own and others.

 

Christie set up an educational program at Plaza where she swam and snorkeled with the children. This was before many of the PADI Kid’s programs had been established. She taught them the names of fishes and coral and guided them in discovering the sea. She had the kids making art out of driftwood, cleaning up the reefs and shorelines and participating in fun and educational activities. This was so much fun that the adults even got involved! Christie starts to share stories with me about the children she taught, in particular when some of them have reached out to contact Christie later in life. I can see from her face that she cared a lot for each and every person she worked with and that she touched a lot of people along the way.

 

In my short time with Christie we’ve covered a lot and I’m in awe of her persistent effort in the betterment of Bonaire. Once again, I’ve been inspired.

 

Courtyard by Marriott Grand Opening

DFB @Courtyard by Marriott Grand Opening

On Friday, July 21, 2017, Dive Friends Bonaire and the Courtyard by Marriott celebrated the official grand opening of our newest location – DFB @Courtyard by Marriott. Local business owners, residents, and staff from both companies were on site to witness the ribbon cutting ceremony and celebrate the opening of our 6th dive shop. Dive Friends general manager Pascal De Meyer and financial controller Aleksander Tveit from the Courtyard by Marriott shared the scissor cutting duties that evening.

 

DFB @Courtyard by Marriott is a full-service dive shop where you can pick up and drop off air and nitrox tanks, rent equipment and join a two-tank boat dive. We also offer personal lockers with 24-hour access and you can sign up for courses at all levels from Discover Scuba Dive to Dive Master! This is the first Courtyard by Marriott in the world with an on-site dive shop and we are thrilled to have the honour. Read the full release in Dive News Wire here!

https://www.divenewswire.com/courtyard-marriott-bonaire-dive-friends-bonaire-unveil-brand-new-dive-facility/

An interview with Caren Eckrich

 

Education. Inspiration. Change. What’s the formula?

An interview with Caren Eckrich.

Caren arrives at the Dive Friends Yellow Submarine location straight from a dive, she’s beaming with that after dive glow. Which immediately makes us connect, having come from working on the boat that morning! If I’m honest my first thoughts were: I want her t-shirt; I even told her that!

She remarked, “You’ll have to volunteer with the shark programme,” well I’m now signed up!

Caren currently works with STINAPA AND DCNA as the Shark Pride Programme Director, but she has had a variety of roles during her time here on Bonaire. We begin to explore Caren’s diverse background, her love for the ocean began at a very early age. It was this love that led her to travel and gain a Masters in Marine Biology at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaquez.

Her thirst for travel and the sea took her on a sailboat voyage, although it had to end it did bring her to meet her husband and on to Bonaire. Caren has enjoyed Bonaire as a home for the past 15+ years. (A brief move back to America affirmed that she belonged on this island). She first set up the highly successful “Sea and Discover NV” business offering unique classes and activities in combination with snorkelling and diving for youth and adults. For seven years, she gave customers lessons and guided them on snorkelling and diving trips. She then moved on to work as an instructor at CIEE, the marine research station on Bonaire, teaching marine biology to university students.

Her past and present roles are education and youth focused. Caren has an overwhelming passion for education directed through community and school outreach. But it’s not just education, it’s the way it’s presented: make it interactive! We agree that there is no better way, make the activity fun and you’ll get more people involved!

Changes within the community need to occur, she emphasizes youth need to be targeted in order for this to happen. As they say, knowledge is power; combine that with incentives and the impact could be huge. Hopeful that given this knowledge the youths can then teach their older family members important environmental lessons.

What about sharks on Bonaire? This ties right into her methods; while there may not be many here it is an invaluable lesson to teach protection of a species. Always hopeful that lessons learnt can be lessons passed along.

I cannot wait to volunteer with her!

 

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait. An Interview with Ellen Muller.

Pictured from left: Male Jawfish with eggs, Ellen Muller, and Gaudy Clown Crab.

Take one look at Ellen Muller’s website and instantly your jaw will drop from the beautiful images displayed on the screen. Your jaw will then drop a little farther when you discover how she achieves these images.(might be as wide as that male Jawfish at the end!) To get an idea of who Ellen is and what motivates her, we started at the beginning.

Ellen Muller moved from the US to Bonaire in 1980. With the purchase of her first underwater camera in 2001, she became instantly hooked on underwater photography. She explains that being able to dive almost daily provides many opportunities to document the amazing diversity of marine life in Bonaire’s waters. Her passion is being able to share with others, through underwater photography, some of the incredible underwater creatures she is fortunate enough to encounter on a regular basis.

Ellen absolutely loves night diving as well as late afternoon/sunset dives. She uses a Canon G16 camera in a Canon underwater housing with an add on macro lenses. Ellen always carries a magnifying glass with her when she dives to get a better look at the tiny creatures.  At night, she uses a red light to photograph and observe crustaceans, octopus and other nocturnal creatures that are highly sensitive to white light. This allows her to observe and photograph them without too much stress on the animals. Ellen’s favourite behaviour to photograph is spawning. Coral spawning, invertebrates spawning, fish spawning, any kind of spawning!

(Pictured from left: Lobed Star Coral Spawning, Pillar Coral Spawning, and Frogfish spawning)

Ellen has photographed many unusual, rare and unique creatures, and recorded previously unknown behaviors. In the process of looking for the strange she has discovered 2 new species! The latest made world headlines: The Candy Striped Hermit Crab named after her granddaughter with the hope that she will be inspired to protect the wonderful marine park that surrounds her home island. http://www.pbase.com/imagine/cshermit

Ellen hopes that she has made an invaluable contribution to our knowledge of the fascinating underwater world. Coral reefs around the world are under extreme stress. Programs like Bonaire’s Junior Rangers give hope that the younger generation will learn to cherish and care for the island’s natural treasures both on land and underwater.

Ellen’s explanation of how she handles herself underwater, approaches underwater imaging, and her respect for the underwater world has given me a whole new perspective. I can personally say that her photographs and skills are the envy of myself and many other dive professionals.

Empower Women: Influential Women in the Diving Industry

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Want or need help with your digital underwater imaging? Go. Ask. Erin!

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Within minutes of sitting down with Erin Quigley, I am compelled by her words and completely engaged. She exudes inspiration, excitement and passion. Erin is an Adobe ACE certified digital-imaging consultant and award winning underwater photographer and video editor. Her website: www.GoAskErin.com provides custom tutorials and one-on-one instruction for the underwater photographic community. She is the guru of post processing both image and video. If you are looking to take your underwater images to a new level; she has the answers and a way of expressing them that makes sense. Whether it’s inside of or out of the classroom; time spent with Erin will help you to transform your images or video and make them better.

Roughly 23 years ago, Erin was looking for a way to quiet her mind in her extremely busy and stressful life. She discovered scuba diving and was instantly addicted to the tranquillity of the underwater world Her first dives were off of the low-visibility shores of California in a 7 mm wetsuit. Underwater photography using film was the norm at that time. Digital photography changed everything. Erin realized shooting digital worked with her skill set and background in image processing. Most other digital shooters did not have this knowledge and were looking for answers. Erin soon found herself assisting her dive buddies and their dive buddies on the post processing of their images and video. And so began GoAskErin.

Erin set herself apart by becoming an ACE Adobe certified consultant with expertise in Lightroom and Photoshop. She has tricks up her sleeves that will blow your mind! It was a logical transition to become part of the staff at Backscatter Underwater Video and Photo and the Digital Shootouts. In her own words, she is “an educator. She likes to remove technology as a roadblock so divers can focus on creativity. Teaching divers to improve their photos in post-production eliminates stress while taking the photo. All you need to do is sit in on one of her Lightroom Bootcamps, hosted at various locations around the world, and you will understand why she commands such respect in her field.

In male dominated industries such as scuba diving, photography and software programming, Erin stands out as a leader in the profession. I’ve seen Erin deliver discerning critiques using just simple slider adjustments in Lightroom to to make her points. When I ask her how she overcomes the challenge of being a female and the treatment it sometimes entails, she cites age as her main advantage. She is of the same generation that many of her students are – those who were given this technology later in life. Special advice for her female students? Don’t shy away from big, serious camera gear, ladies! The camera and all of its accessories can be neutrally buoyanYou cannot help but come away as a more self-assured diver, photographer and all-around human being after spending time with Erin. From my perspective, it’s also her amazing attitude and presence. You don’t question Erin, she makes you question yourself!

Erin is a woman who inherently wants to help others improve, has a passion for providing inspiration and motivates all divers to be the best they can be in this beautiful art form. Unfortunately, through her travels Erin has also witnessed degradation of the underwater world. Conservation and photography are intertwined, in her view, and she promotes them passionately to her audiences. To be a part of her world, share her enthusiasm and have better images or videos you need only to Go Ask Erin.