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041 Reopening Your Dive Business Amid COVID-19 Restrictions

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In this episode of The Dive Locker Podcast you’ll discover DEMA’s outstanding resources for re-opening dive businesses during and after COVID-19 restrictions.

Welcome To The Show!

Welcome to The Dive Locker Podcast, the podcast for dive professionals where we bring you the latest in diving industry resources that make you excellent at teaching techniques, risk management and dive business.

So things are changing with respect to COVID-19. Retail businesses are opening back up, restaurants are back to life, we’re getting there folks. And in our industry we have seen dive boats are running and scuba centers opening back up too. As you know training agencies and other organizations are stepping up to give guidance on how to do the “new normal” – again every time i hear that expression I picture the meme running around the internet which is a picture of Samuel L Jackson in his character in Pulp Fiction, where he has this intense disgusted expression on his face as he’s saying “Say New Normal One More Time”.

DEMA’s Retailer Resources

But no one has put as much research and development into resources for dive businesses as DEMA – the Diving Equipment and Marketing Association. They put together a committee called the 2020 Retailer Resource Committee. It includes:
•Robin Bostater, Kaizen SCUBA, Santa Fe, NM
•Bill Cole, Sea Experience, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
•Merial Currer, Patriot Scuba, Occoquan, VA (Chair)
•PatrickHammer, Dive Right In Scuba, Chicago, IL
•Joseph Letts, Letts Dive,St. Petersburg, FL
•Rich Thomas, International Scuba, Carrollton,TX

Also, Dan Orr of Dan Orr Consulting but I’ve got to include Betty Orr – because no matter what great stuff Dan does, Betty has her hand in it giving it excellence!

Now this committee has create three downloadable resources called the RE-LAUNCHING DIVE RETAIL POST COVID-19, they come in Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3. So I invited Tom Ingram, President and CEO of DEMA for an interview to talk about the items in these great resources.

But before that interview I want to let you know about our next week’s episode it is all about professional liability insurance. With all the options out there which one is the best for you? you want to listen to this episode as I’ll be going into some extreme detail so that you can make an informed decision about your professional liability insurance policy. Feel free to drop me a line at scubaguru.com if you have any questions you’d like answered on that episode.

Alright pro’s here’s my interview with Tom Ingram of DEMA.

Items In This Episode

Thanks For Listening!

That’s it for today, everyone. Thank you so much for listening. Remember to subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Google Play or Stitcher, that way you’ll be notified of new episodes as soon as they go live and please leave a rating. Items talked about in this episode can be found on the show notes Page at scubaguru.com and there you can also click the microphone and leave us a comment. Thanks again. We’ll see you in the next episode. Safe diving and take good care of my friends.

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040 Thirteen Ways A Dive Pro Can Be An Ocean Ambassador

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In this episode of The Dive Locker Podcast you’ll hear 13 ways how a dive professional can be an ocean ambassador.

Welcome To The Show!

Welcome to The Dive Locker Podcast, the podcast for dive professionals where we bring you the latest in diving industry resources that make you excellent at teaching techniques, risk management and dive business.

In today’s episode we give tribute to World Ocean Week by sharing 13 ways a dive professional can be an ocean ambassador.

Take a listen to the webinar called The Role of the Diving Industry in Marine Conservation, a panel discussion hosted by the Asia Dive Expo AKA ADEX. This is a fantastic webinar! The panelists include:

Jean-Claude Monachon (Switzerland), VP of SSI Blue Oceans
Jim Standing (UK), Co-Founder of Fourth Element, Mission 2020
Paul Strike (UK), Co-Founder of Fourth Element, Mission 2020
Chloe Harvey (UK), Co-Founder of The Reef Foundation/Green Fins
Jamie Piyada (Thailand), Project Leader of Manta Trust
Heidi Tait (Australia), Co-Founder and Managing Director of Tangaroa Blue
David McCann (Host) marine biologist with Scuba Junkies.

Items In This Episode

  1. Eliminate Plastic Bags at Your Dive Center – If you’re a dive center owner or manager focus on selling products that embrace sustainable packaging. Eliminate single use plastic packaging. Don’t give single use plastic bags to wrap repaired or rental regulators. Stop giving store bags. Pledge with Mission 2020 (episode 29)
  2. Reach Out to Manufacturers and Training Agencies – ask them to eliminate single use plastic packaging.
  3. Water Bottles – Promote the use of multi-use water bottles. Brand them and sell them.
  4. Use Coral Safe Sunscreens – make sure to use and promote coral safe sunscreens, shampoo, mask defog, etc. (episode 14)
  5. Disinfecting Dive Gear – when disinfecting dive gear be careful not to harm aquatic ecosystems with chemicals (episode 27)
  6. No Tank Tape
  7. Citizen Science – monitoring data collection with organizations like REEF, Reef Relief, Project Baseline, Project Aware, 4Oceans, Mission Blue, Force Blue (Episode 37), and Reef Check Foundation
  8. Conservation Education – teach Fish ID, Marine Life ID,Coral Reef Ecology, Underwater Naturalist, Alex Brylske’s Ocean Education International
  9. Get Involved in Government and Legislative Policy – the government is to represent the people, more marine protected areas, when there is a political issue please speak up, sign petitions, vote, write legislators, DEMA
  10. Proper Techniques – Finning techniques, no touch reef or harassing marine life, photo, spearing, lobstering
  11. Choose Sustainable Seafood – Monterey Bay Seafood Watch
  12. Clean Ups – reefs, lakes, rivers, springs, and beaches
  13. Trash Management – recycle, nets, fishing line receptacles, “leave the dive site cleaner than it was when you arrived”

You are an influencer. You are the front line warriors in conservation. Don’t neglect that privilege, embrace it and when you change others, you will change the world.

Thanks For Listening!

That’s it for today, everyone. Thank you so much for listening. Remember to subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Google Play or Stitcher, that way you’ll be notified of new episodes as soon as they go live and please leave a rating. Items talked about in this episode can be found on the show notes Page at scubaguru.com and there you can also click the microphone and leave us a comment. Thanks again. We’ll see you in the next episode. Safe diving and take good care of my friends.

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039 Joining The Sea of Change Movement

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In this episode of The Dive Locker Podcast we hear from Samantha Whitcraft to learn how the Sea of Change Foundation creates positive change in the dive industry.

Welcome To The Show!

Welcome to The Dive Locker Podcast, the podcast for dive professionals where we bring you the latest in diving industry resources that make you excellent at teaching techniques, risk management and dive business.

Today’s episode is about The Sea of Change Foundation. Now you’ve heard me describe before about our office and inventory as dive professionals is our reefs and fishes.

We really need to care about our inventory. We need to live it and be examples for it and be educators. Well The Sea of Change Foundation funds conservation and research initiatives that directly impact the natural world we all love to enjoy and explore. Their mission is to create positive change.

Their motto is leading through education and conservation. Each of us could have that motto tattooed on us as dive pro’s that’s what we need to remember as to how to lead. Wait till you hear how you can put some of these simple initiatives into your courses and briefings, and hear how Sea of Change can come to your aid if your dive site has an environmental issue associated with it.

Samantha Whitcraft

The Sea of Change Foundation has an amazing lineup of directors and advisors including industry legends. So today we speak with Samantha Whitcraft. Samantha is the Director of the Sea of Change Foundation. She is also the Director of Conservation & Outreach for Aggressor Adventures™. Over the past 20 years, as a marine conservation biologist, Samantha has worked from the field, lab, and office to protect the oceans’ ecosystems. Researching biodiversity, sustainable fisheries, and the illegal wildlife trade has taken her to the Amazon with National Geographic, to the Mesoamerican reef with NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program, and to some of the most remote islands of the Pacific to develop citizen science and sustainable ecotourism while promoting ocean literacy.

Samantha has served on the Water Resources Advisory Commission for the South Florida Water Management District, on the Sanctuary Advisory Council of the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, and the board of the New England Aquarium’s Beach Teach Program.

Samantha graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor’s in Natural Science with a concentration in marine conservation biology and earned her Master’s of Marine Affairs and Policy at the University of Miami. She has taught formally at Miami Dade College and the University of Hawaii on the subjects of environmental ethics, traditional ecological knowledge, and coral reef ecosystems. After the Gulf oil spill, she was recognized by the U.S. Department of Commerce/NOAA Fisheries with a national award for exceptional service in response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Samantha was also one of twenty women selected for the Women’s Environmental Leaders Forum – Miami with the White House Council on Environmental Quality, principal environmental advisor to the President. She has produced award-winning short environmental films, researched and reported on the impacts of the illegal wildlife trade, and is an avid photographer and published nature writer. She is a Platinum Pro 5000 Diver.

So here we go pro’s join my interview with Samantha Whitcraft about the Sea of Change Foundation

Items In This Episode

Thanks For Listening!

That’s it for today, everyone. Thank you so much for listening. Remember to subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Google Play or Stitcher, that way you’ll be notified of new episodes as soon as they go live and please leave a rating. Items talked about in this episode can be found on the show notes Page at scubaguru.com and there you can also click the microphone and leave us a comment. Thanks again. We’ll see you in the next episode. Safe diving and take good care of my friends.

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038 What Inspires You to be a Dive Pro?

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In this episode of The Dive Locker Podcast we examine what inspires a dive professional to be in the diving industry.

Welcome To The Show!

Welcome to the dive locker podcast, the podcast for dive professionals where we bring you the latest in diving industry resources that make you excellent at teaching techniques, risk management and dive business.

On today’s episode, Tec goes over the importance of being INSPIRED to be a dive professional. No interviews, no sponsors, no COVID-19 resources – just Tec talking with you about how to be inspired.

Items In This Episode

  • How diving can be morphed into “business” when you become a pro
  • The importance of being inspired
  • Sources of diving inspiration
  • Invitation to hear from you about what inspires you to be a dive pro

Thanks For Listening!

That’s it for today, everyone. Thank you so much for listening. Remember to subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Google Play or Stitcher, that way you’ll be notified of new episodes as soon as they go live and please leave a rating. Items talked about in this episode can be found on the show notes Page at scubaguru.com and there you can also click the microphone and leave us a comment. Thanks again. We’ll see you in the next episode. Safe diving and take good care of my friends.

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LXD 034 : Jonathan Bird – Underwater Producer, Cinematographer & Host

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Jonathan Bird, Producer, Cinematographer & Host of Jonathan Bird’s Blue World

Hey everyone welcome to another episode of the League of Extraordinary Divers. If you’ve been a listener of this podcast then you have heard that I (and many of my guests) grew up watching the Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau. Basically it was an underwater documentary and it has inspired countless divers to be underwater explorers.

Well my guest today is doing the same thing with his award-winning underwater series Jonathan Bird’s Blue World.

Jonathan Bird is an Emmy award-winning cinematographer specializing in underwater production. He is the host and producer of Jonathan Bird’s Blue World, an Emmy Award-winning educational family-friendly underwater adventure series airing on public television and YouTube, now in its 7th season. Jonathan has shot and directed over 50 films for broadcast and education.

His films have appeared all over the world, on networks such as National Geographic Channel, PBS, ABC, USA Network, Discovery and even the SciFi Channel. Jonathan is the president and founder of Oceanic Research Group, Inc., a non-profit environmental organization founded in 1990 to promote conservation of the world’s oceans. He is the author of seven books of underwater photography. He just released his first IMAX film Ancient Caves. And, he’s a really cool guy!

Items In This Podcast

  • Pilot Episode for Discovery Channel
  • National Geographic Shark Documentary
  • Early Days of YouTube
  • Getting Into Public Television
  • Guy Harvey at Stingray City
  • Winning Emmy Awards
  • Cave Diving
  • Life Insurance and diving
  • Getting Narked in Greenland
  • Gallapagos & Dominica
  • Tips for Divers
  • Blue World Webisodes

Sponsor

Special thanks to our episode sponsor Aggressor Adventures

Aggressor Adventures

Thanks For Listening!

Thank you for joining me again. Do you want to give a shout out to our guest on this podcast? Leave a note in the comments section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post.

Please leave an honest review for The League of Extraordinary Divers podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! And, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates.

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Welcome Dive Professionals

Welcome to ScubaGuru.com!  The ScubaGuru brand is dedicated to giving dive professionals tools and techniques to be GREAT LEADERS – leaders in the classroom, leaders underwater, and leaders in their diving businesses.  With unique leadership skill-sets, the dive professional can create:

  • Better divers
  • Loyal customers
  • A thriving dive center
  • A flourishing dive industry

See what we mean by Go Beyond the Standard and enjoy the rewards of being truly great at what you do!

Sincerely,

Tec Clark

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