Author Archives: Drew

About Drew

My passion for the underwater world started when I was very young. I have been swimming since I could walk but I never learned to scuba dive until my late 20’s. I have had an interest in exploration for as long as I can remember and I’ve spent a great deal of time outdoors. I am an avid rock climber, hiker, backpacker and outdoorsman. My passion for scuba diving grew from a week long trip in Puerto Rico where Tina and I camped on a beach called “Playa Flamenco” on the north side of Isle Culebra. There was a beautiful coral reef just a short walk from our camp and we spent hours and hours exploring the reef and the amazing creatures that live there. Once I got home from the trip, I promptly signed up for open water scuba with PADI. From there I have had many adventures learning to be a better diver while exploring the amazing underwater world in lakes, oceans and rivers. My current Certifications are: Tech 1, Cave DPV, GUE Cave 2, Gue Cave 1, GUE DPV 1, GUE-Fundamentals Tech, Padi Open Water, Padi Advanced Open Water

Home Made Go-Pro Camera Tray

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I needed a reliable way to film our underwater adventures and I stumbled across the above video that someone made, and it inspired me to make my own home made Go Pro camera tray.  I used 1″ pvc pipe, two elbows and  a junction box along with some plumbers pipe glue and came up with my own version.  I added some… Read more »

How We Became Divers

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Tina and I started diving mainly because of a trip to Puerto Rico.   But my passion for diving started long before that.  I have been in love with the underwater world since I was able to walk. My mom had me in swim lessons basically as a baby and as I got older,  I remember watching underwater documentaries and thinking how amazing it… Read more »

Trip Report- In Search of Santi: High Springs, Florida

  Wanting to eliminate weather as the main determining factor to where and when we could dive, we decided on making the jump from wet to dry. After weighing pros and cons of all available dry suits on the market we chose Santi. Since dry suits are a big financial commitment and involve a bit of a learning curve, we… Read more »

Trip Report: Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary

In August 2014, we were fortunate enough to dive in a hidden treasure within the Gulf of Mexico. The Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary is situated ~115 miles directly south of the Texas/Louisiana coast. Encompassing 56 sq. miles (36,000 acres), the sanctuary contains incredible reef systems that are absolutely teaming with life. After an overnight trip in calm seas… Read more »

5th Annual New Years Day Dive 2015

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The C.H.U.M Club AKA City of Houston Underwater Mariners (chumclub.org) does a yearly challenge called the Dive A Month (DAM) and the rules are pretty simple: Basically a member of the club needs to complete 1 dive per month for an entire year. Unfortunately for 2014 we only started our diving season in June because of some other commitments.  However… Read more »

Lionfish: Invasive Predators of the Deep

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  Native to reefs in the Indo-Pacific region, the lionfish is a member of the scorpion fish family. Growing upwards of 45 cm in length and 1.3 kg in weight, it is an aggressive, territorial species with very few predators likely due to the fact that they are venomous. Large spines located within the dorsal, anal, and pectoral fins are… Read more »

World Oceans Day: Why it Should Matter to All of Us

Did you know that 8 June is World Oceans Day? Like all days of designated observance, World Oceans Day was started to bring a yearly awareness, in this case to the state of our underwater world. Although water makes up ~70% of Earth’s surface, our seas remain one of the most unique, important, and yet unexplored parts of our world…. Read more »

Sea Otters: A Species Under Threat

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With the new challenges wildlife faces daily, it is no longer enough just to survive.  To ensure species longevity, individuals must learn to quickly adapt.  Although a lot of attention is given to the conservation of the large, iconic creatures of land and sea, it is often those species that reside in the middle of the food chain that play… Read more »

The Bottled Water Dilemma

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How many bottles of water do you drink every month?  What about in one week?  How much do you consume in a single day?  Did you know that in the United States alone, over 50 billion bottles of water are consumed annually?  And of those more than 50 billion bottles less than 20% are recycled?  But the bottled water dilemma… Read more »

The Ocean: Where Life Begins and Ends

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The ocean, for most, represents a great blue void.  It is sometimes hard to imagine that an incredible world, much larger than the space terrestrial beings inhabit, lies beyond the shoreline and below the surface.  The Censes of Marine Life, completed in 2010 by 2,700 scientists from 80 countries, identified more than 1 million species that call the ocean home. … Read more »

Shark Finning: The Global Attack on Sharks

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Used as a tasteless thickener in soup and an inconclusive cure all in Ancient Chinese Medicine, shark fin, or more specifically shark finning, claims the lives of more than 70 million sharks annually.  Think about that number for a moment; more than 70 million sharks.  Portrayed as mindless, blood-thirsty killers in Peter Benchley’s novel Jaws, sharks are persecuted not on… Read more »