The Snorkel Keeper the official newsletter of the Rochester Scuba & Snorkel Club Rochester, Minnesota USA RochesterScuba.org

President: Tim Swanberg	Treasurer: Dan Lovik
Vice President: Ron Nelson	Editor: David Merbach
Junior Officer: Monica Merbach
Volume: 20 Issue: 4	May 2010

Next meeting: DAN Webinar
Tuesday June 15^th

Clarion Inn (formerly Holiday Inn South)

President’s Corner by Tim Swanberg

Well, its spring, and that means time to dive! Open water classes have started already and that means newly certified divers. I thought I'd take a minute to write about upcoming events for the club. First of all, as we all know, MDC sports is up and running again so we have a fully operational dive store in town again. They are having their grand opening June 12^th through the 19^th. The club is having a booth at the store on sat the 12^th and we will be serving food such as burgers and brats. We also plan to have a booth there on Tuesday and Thursday of that week. We need members to staff the booth on all of these days so let me know if you can help. Also, they have offered club members a discount on those days so make sure your membership dues are paid up so you can take advantage of this.

There is also the DUI dog day in Crosby on June 19^th. Some of us are planning to go up for a weekend of diving so let us know if you would like to come along and we'll reserve some campsites.

We also would like to plan a trip up to the north shore for some wreck diving so come to the next meeting and let's pick a date.

See you all in the water-Happy diving

Just Wacky by anonymous

I’m a little Nurse Shark

Short and stout.

Here is my dorsal fin

Here is my snout.

When I get all worn out

I sit and pout,

“I’m sleeping here…

and I won’t come out.”

My Trip to Bohol by Christina Campos

Part 2 of 3 – Touring Bohol

This is the continuation of Christina’s story of her trip to Bohol in the Philippines. If you haven’t already read it, see part 1 from last month.

Then Bohol. We stopped at this tiny, I mean tiny, airport, like one room. The drive to the resort was fun: palm trees, huts, and tropical way of life. When we finally got to the resort, I got to look around. The resort was sooooo cool! Bamboo huts for rooms, an awesome restaurant, a mile long beach, a pool, a gift shop, a dive shop and a perfect ocean. It was so clear, I could see schools of fish swimming along ways away. I still had jetlag, so at dinner I fell asleep on my plate. My parents say I do this often in tropical places.

Tita Pat had set up a touring day around Bohol for all of us. First stop was the Chocolate Hills of Bohol. Imagine seeing more than a 1000 little round hills. They sort of looked chocolaty because we were in the dry season, so everything was brownish. They reminded my Mom of the Candyland game hills. They just made me hungry.

Next came the hanging bridges. Bamboo cut into thirds was strung together into a scary bridge. It swayed and bounced up and down every time I walked. It felt like walking on Jell-O. You had to pay to get across. On the other side were people selling their food and handmade crafts. One thing about the Philippines, there is not an inch of ground without a vendor or store on it. I had to cross the bridge to get back, Dad told me if I jumped again, I would have to jump off the bridge. I don’t think Dad likes heights.

Back in the car, we found Lola sleeping. She gets tired easily. We got back in the car and drove to our lunch, a.k.a. our luncheon cruise. We ate our lunch on a boat on the Luboc river. While we ate, the boat toured the river and two sisters sang songs for us. One was only 8 years old and sang very well. All I ate on the dinner cruise was mangos and pineapple even though there was a lot of food. I am not a seafood lover like my Dad. After we left, I asked if we could do that again. It was fun.

Next came the largest python in captivity: Prony. Prony is over 23’ long. They actually let me go into her cage to get my picture take with her. I wanted her as a pet until I found out she ate three pigs a month.

Before we ended our trip, we made a stop to see the smallest primates in the world: Tarsiers. They look like little 5” Yoda’s with a long tail. They move really slow and their eyes are huge. I even got to feed one a cricket on a stick.

Back at the resort I helped Tita Pat learn how to snorkel. She was a little scared at first, but I calmed her down. I think the waves were too much for her. Even though the waves were a little seasicky, she thought it was fun. Funny thing is we didn’t see anything but rocks and tiny corals. I couldn’t see fish because of the waves.

A strange thing happened the next day. I couldn’t take a shower because seaweed was coming out of the shower. Yuck! I guess the water backed up so far, it pulled seaweed from the ocean.

Next Month…Diving Bohol.

Featured Fish – Nurse Shark

The Nurse Shark family name, Ginglymostaomatidea, derives from the Greek words for ‘hinge’ and ‘mouth’. The official name of the shark is ‘Ginglymostoma cirratum’. Cirratum also is derived from Greek and means ‘curl’.

Nurse sharks are nocturnal animals, hunting at night by searching through bottom sediments for crustaceans, mollusks, tunicates, snea snakes, other fish and stingray.

During the day, nurse sharks are inactive, resting hidden under ledges or in crevices in the reef. They will return to the same location day after day to hide and rest. The shark is able to breathe while stationary by pumping water through their mouths and out their gills.

Featured Recipe – Shark Bite

¾ oz Captain Morgan original spiced rum

¾ oz light rum

½ oz Blue Curacao liqueur

1½ oz sweet and sour mix

3 drops grenadine syrup

Sinking Contest – by The Gossip Girls

The gossip girls have just learned that the Scoober Doers are planning to make things a little more interesting in the local scoober site. They are working with the local DNR services to identify and actually ‘submerge’ items. There are several types of things that they are contemplating. There will be further discussions at the next club meeting – plan to attend if you have ideas or want to help out.

Pirate-y In keeping with the annual ‘Pirates Up the Wazee’ event, several of the items have a pirate or military theme	Cannon	Castle
Habitats Structures that will attract or provide shelters for the critters found in the lake.	‘Tree’ Fish Habitats	Stake Bed
Just Wacky Some things don’t need a description, they speak for themselves.	Wishing Well	Outhouse

You Gotta Wear Something – by The Gossip Girls

Now that warmer weather is upon us, the Scoober Doers have come up with the perfect summer look for the well dressed diver. Orders are now being taken for the newly redesigned Scuba Club T-Shirt. This classic yet stylish garment will not only let others know that you are part of the exciting world of scoober doers but also that you aren’t afraid to make a statement and be seen.

You can place orders at the Scuba Club meeting or by contacting Dan at:

Rochester Scuba and Snorkel Club

c/0 Dan Lovik

1504 7th St NE

Rochester, MN 55906

Oriskany Threatened by Oil Spill

Last year, several members of the Scuba Club went on an adventure to dive the Oriskany Aircraft Carrier off the Florida Coast. This is a trip that I’ll long remember for the camaraderie, adventure and sleepless nights driving down and back.

This very ship is now being threatened by the oil spilling from the oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Although separated by 100s of miles, the area around the ship is being monitored to determine if the water has been contaminated by the leakage from the rig. This is a grim reminder of how small the ocean ecosystem truly is and the drastic effect that man can have on this realm.

Read more at Oil Spill Threatens Artificial Reef. As a side note, the ship (H20 Below) and the Captain (Douglas Hammock) are the same that took us on our historic excursion.

Club Information

Meetings are on the third Tuesday evening of each month at Clarion Inn, 1630 South Broadway, Rochester MN.

Annual dues are due each January. Annual memberships are $25 for individuals or $50 for a family. Follow the directions on this form to renew.

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