The Northeast curriculum for REEF (Reef Environmental Education Foundation) - including fish and invertebrates - is currently being revamped and updated. In February, Holly Bourbon and Suzanne Rose will introduce club members to REEF (Reef Environmental Education Foundation) and its citizen scientist fish monitoring program. They will update divers and snorkelers about the new fish ID curriculum and materials that will be incorporated into the Northeast program and also talk about the future invertebrate program. This is a great opportunity to for divers to become involved in an important marine environmental program.

Holly Martel Bourbon is the current Diving Safety Officer (DSO)/Biologist for the MA Division of Marine Fisheries (MADMF) based in New Bedford, MA. Holly is also REEF's Northeast Curriculum Coordinator, assisting in updating REEF's Northeast fish and invertebrate survey curriculum and manages the Great American Fish Count data as part of citizen scientist monitoring studies. Previously, Holly worked for the New England Aquarium (NEAq) as a Senior Aquarist/DSO where her jobs included managing the daily operations/husbandry of the NEAq's 200,000 gallon exhibit, the Giant Ocean Tank (GOT).

First certified in 1996, Suzanne Rose became a PADI instructor in 2002 and currently teaches at Mass Diving in Natick. A self-described fish geek, Suzanne is a former New England Aquarium volunteer and veteran of their fish collecting expeditions. She is also a REEF volunteer and citizen surveyor, and has completed more than 100 fish surveys in Caribbean and New England waters. In her day job, Suzanne is a health/science writer and editor, and currently works for the American Association for Cancer Research.

Vancouver Island is largely a wilderness area; especially as one ventures northward to the tip where Port Hardy is located. The culture is casual and geared for the sea, flavored by First Nation art. Things also tend to be really big in BC. Black bears and elk are common, along with a proliferation of marine mammals - it is home to the Pacific Giant Octopus and Alaska Salmon. It is a photographers dream. Jacque Cousteau pronounced it one of the world’s top diving destinations. Beneath the fog it is more colorful than one would imagine.

Janet MacCausland will discuss her travels to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada to dive Queen Island Straight from Port Hardy. She has dived with the live aboard, the Mamro, on three trips – including one back-to-back adventure with a weekend between, allowing for some land exploration as well as diving.

The Boston Harbor Islands have served as a recreational retreat to area residents for hundreds of years. Some islands served as fishing outposts, others as military fortifications, and others as farmland. Each island has its own distinctive history to explore along with beautiful vistas. But the islands also offers some great diving. Grave's Lighthouse, Outer Brewster Island, Martin's Ledge, Shag Rocks, The City of Salisbury and the Romance are just a few of the dives sites. Most of the dive sites are on rocky bottoms, with huge formations of rock craved by the ocean over thousands of years. Lobster dives, and scallop dives are available, as well as the opportunity to dive with some harbor seals. This month, Captain Jim Sullivan will discuss boat diving and his favorite diving sites in the Boston Harbor area.

Captain Jim Sullivan has been a certified diver for over 19 years. He has thousands of dives just in the Boston Harbor area alone. He is the owner of Boston Scuba located in East Boston, MA. Boston Scuba offers scuba diving charters and lessons from the dive boat Keep-Ah.

Many divers enjoy underwater photography – capturing rare and precious images of our moments beneath the surface, and then sharing those images with family, friends, and other divers. But what would happen if those images were more than just a flat, two dimensional picture? What if your subjects appeared to spring to life?

This month, Club member Ed Jameson will share his art of 3D underwater photography with a guided tour of life on the lush coral reefs of Bonaire and Curacao. Using his own unique underwater 3D close up and macro camera systems, Ed Jameson has spent hundreds of hours underwater, mainly at night, capturing the unique views for this current show.

Ed has been diving since 1960 and been designing and building underwater camera systems since 1962. Ed realized his dream of capturing very close-up ocean scenes in 3D macro by inventing and building his own 3D macro camera system in August of 1995. Wide angle 3D followed soon after, and underwater digital 3D has been the focus of Ed’s current projects.

Today, Ed's 3D underwater presentations have become an integral part of many New England school and college marine programs including those at Babson College and Harvard University.

A closed circuit rebreather (CCR) can dramatically extend a diver's bottom time while optimizing their breathing gas mix for a wide range of depths. This month, Captain Matt Marcoux will discuss his rebreather setup, explain its configuration for New England waters - and show us why the setup works for him. Matt will also discuss how diving a CCR while crewing on a charter boat offers diving advantages that would be impossible with open circuit scuba.

Matt started diving in St. Thomas at the age of six, with his first dives in New England at around 10 years old. Matt's father Fran bought Cape Ann Charters in 1997 and Matt crewed the Daybreaker with brother Ryan during the summer months. Nine years later, Matt has earned instructor ratings from NAUI and TDI, has become CCR certified on the rEvo rebreather, and has earned CCR Cave and Trimix diving credentials. Matt has also dived both coasts in the United States and much of the Caribbean and Australia, but New England is still Matt's favorite place to dive.

On June 23, 2000, a ship sank off the coast of South Africa, spilling 1,300 tons of oil, and threatening to kill 40,000 African penguins. Wildlife experts and 12,500 volunteers rushed to Cape Town to save this vulnerable species from potential extinction. After laboring for three grueling months, 95% of the penguins were saved in what has been hailed as the largest and most successful rescue of animals ever undertaken. This month, author Dyan deNapoli, shares the amazing story of this penguin rescue. Dyan served as a rehabilitation supervisor during this historic event.

Dyan deNapoli is a penguin expert and author of the award-winning book, The Great Penguin Rescue, which vividly chronicles the world's largest animal rescue. After working with penguins at Boston's New England Aquarium for nine years, she founded her educational company, The Penguin Lady, to teach adults and children about these unique seabirds. She has been the guest lecturer on nature cruises to Antarctica and the Galapagos Islands, and has shared her passion for penguins with approximately 250,000 people worldwide. In the summer of 2011, Dyan was featured as a TED speaker. She has appeared on numerous television and radio shows, including CNN's Situation Room, BBC Radio 5 Live, CBC Radio-Canada, and ABC Radio Australia. Dyan donates 20% of the proceeds from her book, and from every public appearance, to penguin rescue groups.

Dyan's book about the event, The Great Penguin Rescue was published by Simon & Schuster's Free Press imprint in October of 2010, and the paperback was released in August of 2011. It was selected as "One of the best sci-tech books of 2010" by Library Journal, was chosen as a "Must-Read" book in the 2011 Massachusetts Book Awards, and was a Silver award winner in the 2011 Nautilus Book Awards. To learn more about the book, the author and her work, visit www.thepenguinlady.com. Copies of the book will be available ($20 hardcover and $10 paperback), and Dyan will be happy to sign them.

A cenote is a sinkhole with exposed rocky edges which usually contains groundwater. They are found across the Yucatan Peninsula and some nearby Caribbean islands - and offer some of the most astounding natural water-filled cavern formations found anywhere in the world. This month, we're fortunate to host Deb Greenhalgh for a presentation on cavern diving in these amazing natural wonders.

We're fortunate to host scuba icon Deb Greenhalgh, owner of Scuba Made Easy LLC, and a respected NAUI professional. Diving since 1977, Deb is a NAUI Course Director/Instructor, International Handicap SCUBA Association Instructor, and an instructor for Handicap Scuba Association (HSA); AAUS. Deb is also the only woman to serve on NAUI Board of Directors, represents the Women Divers Hall of Fame on its BOD and as a Member, and is a CMU Professor of Graduate Studies. Deb also specializes in underwater photography / videography, technical diving, wreck diving, cold water diving, and international dive travel. Deb volunteers for a variety of efforts including Disabled SportsUSA, Wounded Warrior Program, Ocean Conservancy, Paralympics, Police / Fire, and is a cofounder of Divers for Hope. Deb has received the RI Community Service Award in 2010, a US House of Representatives, Citation for Community Service in 2009.

The New England Aquarium (NEAq) Rescue and Rehabilitation has been responding to stranded marine mammals and sea turtles for over 40 years. This presentation will provide information on the current activities and goals of NEAq stranding response on the New England coast, including information on field response and the rehabilitation of endangered sea turtles

Kerry McNally has been a biologist with the New England Aquarium Rescue and Rehabilitation Department for almost three years. She has a B.A. in Biology from Occidental College in Los Angeles, CA. After several years of working as a veterinary technician in small animal practices in the southeast, she transferred to the New England Aquarium to pursue interests in sea turtle rehabilitation and marine mammal rescue.

This month we're fortunate to host noted photographer and author, Andrew J. Martinez. In this presentation, Andy will show the beauty and color of this biologically rich region. You will see marine life from Cape Cod to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. These include beautiful creatures ranging from the tiny hydromedusas to goosefish and torpedeo rays. Learn about the biodiversity of this rich ecosystem with its indigenous and introduced species. Discover more about the interesting behaviors, interrelationships, and natural history of the native marine creatures.

For more than 40 years, Andrew Martinez has been diving in New England waters. His work has been published in most nature, travel, and dive magazines in this country and in many other countries. He has led Marine Biology or travel groups to the Galapagos Islands, Cayman Islands, and the Bay Islands of Honduras. His photos are used in books or displays in the New England Aquarium and many other aquaria and science centers. His book; "Marine Life of the North Atlantic" is considered the best guide to this region.

Mark will discuss and show video of a dive on the "Windjammer", a deep wreck in Bonaire where several firsts occurred for his dive group. Prior to the wreck becoming restricted, Bowers dove it regularly. The dive requires an approximate 260 yard swim before descending - a first with deco bottles for some. For some it was a first dive to 200 feet. Regardless of the firsts, little did Bowers' group know there was to be another first resulting in quite a bang! The video shows a play-by-play of what was to come. The one thing that makes the "Windjammer" dive so incredible is it is really 2 dives in one; a beautiful wreck dive followed by an equally beautiful reef dive doing deco.

Mark Bowers has been diving since 1979. Like many, his interests have varied and grown over the years. He has been an instructor since 1988, a technical instructor since 1998 and technical instructor trainer since 2000. His primary interests are wreck diving. But whether on a wreck or not, he's just happy to be under the water. Bowers has been part owner of Andy's Sport Shop in Fitchburg, Massachusetts for just over 2 years, specializing in scuba, ski and snow board sales, service, and equipment rentals.

While steaming from Portsmouth to Boston carrying a cargo of chains, anchors and search light equipment for the USS Missouri, the steam tug USS Nezinscot capsized and sank when a deck load shifted in heavy seas off Cape Ann on August 11, 1909. Of the nine-person crew, there were four fatalities. Join us as we describe the story of the USS Nezinscot – it’s sinking, the sensational aftermath following the tragedy, and one group’s discovery and exploration of the wreck nearly 98 years later.

Heather Knowles and David Caldwell are the co-founders of Northern Atlantic Dive Expeditions, Inc. They operate their Salem-based dive charter boat, GAUNTLET year-round focusing on wreck diving. Both are technical diving instructors through NAUI, and have had the privilege of exploring some of the world’s notable shipwrecks such as the Andrea Doria, Empress of Ireland, North American, and SS Republic among others.

Divers learn a bit about liability during open water and rescue training, but we rarely think about the potential legal implications of our sport until an incident leads to litigation. This month, Attorney Steve Coren will speak on the case of Lyon v. Ranger III, a Massachusetts case that established some liability between three divers on a recreational dive; rarely have courts been involved in such a situation so important. Steve will also speak about law and negligence in general and how it relates to scuba divers. Be sure to bring questions!

Steve Coren is an attorney specializing in civil litigation, and has been active and influential in fighting restrictive scuba laws passed by various towns. He has been very involved in the in the legal aspects of scuba diving as well as being an avid scuba diver - certified as a PADI instructor in 1976. He was on the YMCA Instructional Board and participated as an instructor in dive certification courses. Steve was employed by the New England Aquarium part-time as a diver for 17 years. He was a member of the Moray Wheels, a group founded and operated by Rusty and Dave Murray which taught scuba diving to partially paralyzed persons. Steve is currently the attorney for the Bay State Council of Divers and advises many scuba groups and scuba businesses such as dive shop owners and trip charterers. He is also the author of The Law and the Diving Professional, published by PADI in 1985.

Diving is our hobby - our passion - but have you ever thought about making a living at it? Our January speaker has done exactly that, and he'll tell us all about his rapid move through the dive industry. Forest Rothchild, when not teaching recreational or public safety diving, can often be found on a golf course anywhere from Maine to Maryland. But he's not there to play a round. Forest owns and oversees a company that retrieves golf balls from the water hazards of golf courses, so a bad day of golf is actually a good day of work for Forest and his team.

In 2007, Forest took the preverbal plunge and has never looked back. He sold his hospitality sales company and has committed his life 100% to the water. In less than 3 years, he has become an instructor for 3 different dive agencies (NAUI, ACUC, LSG, and a PADI DM) and has assisted in teaching no less 350 students last year. Although still relatively new to the diving industry, his passion has transformed him, and now he focuses on sharing that passion with others he meets. When not teaching or retrieving golf balls, he's a volunteer member of his local fire department in Charlton, MA.

Jay Ganson will share digital photography, video footage, and lively stories from his 11-day dive adventure in Antarctica. His tales from the South Pole include exciting encounters with icebergs, penguins, fur seals, penguins on icebergs, giant arthropods, leopard seals, more icebergs, ice formations, icy equipment, and oh yes, icy penguins... as well as a Russian crew who didn’t speak English. Don't be misled though! Jay's presentation is guaranteed to warm you to the prospect of adding a new and unconventional diving destination to your "bucket list." Or, if nothing else, his accounts of the Antarctic waters will make you feel like you might be able to squeeze in just one more dive up here after all, before the water gets "too cold".

Jay is an avid scuba diver who was first introduced to diving through his father and the Metro West Dive Club fifteen years ago. A true New Englander, Jay's underwater adventures have been exclusively in cold waters thus far -- the only exception being MWDC's delightful trips to the tropical paradise of Moorhead City. In his latest attempt to find a dive vacation destination even more impractical and frigid than Scapa Flow, Jay discovered and accompanied a DUI-led expedition to Antarctica last March.

Eelgrass is an important habitat that’s not only home to many animals, but also protects shorelines and improves water quality. Save The Bay has been restoring eelgrass to Narragansett Bay since 2000 with the help of volunteer divers. Marci Cole Ekberg will talk about the restoration program, results to date, and how volunteer divers can help in the future.

Marci Cole Ekberg has been a Coastal Ecologist with Save The Bay in Providence, RI for the past eight years, where she has worked on salt marsh, shellfish and eelgrass restoration projects.

Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary encompasses 842 square miles of offshore waters and seafloor between Cape Cod and Cape Ann. Surprisingly, 126 square miles of the sanctuary is shallower than 130 feet. Much of this area is unexplored and intrepid divers venturing to the sanctuary will likely encounter marine life not typically seen closer to shore. Several shipwrecks also lie within recreational diving limits providing glimpses into the past and structure for encrusting invertebrates and fish. Matthew Lawrence will describe the sanctuary’s inhabitants, underwater environment, and dive sites through photos and video.

Matthew Lawrence is a maritime archaeologist working for the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. He has worked on archaeological research projects around the United States and the Caribbean and enjoys underwater photography and videography.

Sometime during the mid-17th century, Nipmuc Indians living along the shores of Lake Quinsigamond constructed a dugout canoe, or mishoon. Soon after, that mishoon was then purposefully sunk in the lake. In 2000, nearly four hundred years later, a sport diver happened upon that sunken vessel. Subsequent dives led to the discovery of two additional mishoonash. All three vessels appear to purposefully sunk. One has been radio-carbon dated to 1640s. Previously, only one other dugout was archaeologically reported in Massachusetts. Since their discovery, these fragile mishoonash have been subjected to only limited in situ documentation. Volunteer divers working with the Nipmuc Nation and the Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources (BUAR) are creating photo-mosaics of these mishoonash. This presentation highlights their discovery, collaboration and documentation efforts, and future directions of this joint effort.

Victor T. Mastone is the director and chief archaeologist with the Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources. Vic has over 30 years of distinguished experience in terrestrial, underwater, prehistoric and historic archaeology concentrating mainly on eastern North America. He joined the state Board in 1987 as its first staff archaeologist and has served as its Director since 1990. In addition, Vic has served (and continues to serve) on numerous other archeological and maritime committees and organizations.

>Laura Madrano will speak about her efforts with Dive Kulture, the group's activities over the last year, and her plans for the future. Dive Kulture offers scuba diving training, environmental education, job/internship placement and social support services to inner city at-risk and proven-risk (with criminal records) youth in Boston. The program addresses the challenges that urban youth face related to poverty, violence, physical and mental health, unemployment and academic distress through a unique adventure that teaches them respect for people and the environment as well as life skills they need to be successful in this society.

Laura is a licensed mental health clinician and works as a clinical supervisor at the Latin American Health Institute (LHI), a public health agency, focused on providing services to the Latino community in the Boston, Brockton and Lowell areas. She is originally from Spain and her ideas formed Dive Kulture. Laura holds a M.A. in Family Therapy from the university of Salamanca (Spain), and a B.S. in Marine Biology from James Cook University (Australia).

Nudibranchs are among New England’s most beautiful sea creatures. Luminous colors, wild shapes, incredible variety – in other words, they pack an awful lot into an inch. Join Jerry Shine for a photographic look at more than 25 different species, with an emphasis on when, where and how to find them in New England waters.

Jerry Shine is the author of A Shore Diving Guide To New England. His writing and underwater photography have appeared in more than 100 publications worldwide.

Now that the dive season is in full swing, let's continue our exploration of destination diving with a close look at the islands of Fiji. Mark Potter of MASS Diving has just returned from another exciting trip to the islands and will be sharing his experience with us. His presentation will include travel details, information about the islands, observations about the people and accommodations…and of course a wealth of underwater photos.

Mark Potter is the owner of MASS Diving in Natick. He has been a certified scuba diver since 1980 and a PADI instructor since 1986. Mark has more than 3500 dives to his credit, and is also an avid destination diver leading about five exotic group trips each year. Fiji is certainly a popular destination for Mark. This most recent outing is Mark's sixth visit to this interesting Pacific archipelago.

We have a special treat this month. Club members Jim McKnight and Mike Walsh will discuss their personal dive trips to Indonesia and share their amazing photos. The Indonesian archipelago has great bio-diversity both on land and under the sea. Jim will make a photo presentation covering the marine life and the famous Komodo Dragon. It's a "dog eat dog world" -- or in a marine context it's "fish eat fish ocean". In the oceans of Indonesia, everything is taken to extremes. Indonesia possesses the greatest diversity of marine life species and in the many ways this diversity is expressed is the ability of species to use camouflage; either to remain hidden from prey or to ambush prey. This is a specialty presentation focusing on photographs of hidden creatures.

Jim, together with his wife Nancy and two children, took up scuba diving while living in Thailand in 1995. Since then, Jim has logged over 400 dives and has been taking digital underwater photos for the past five years. Some of Jim's most interesting dive trips include Truk Lagoon (2005), Bikini Atoll (2006), Lembeh Strait, Indonesia (2007) and Komodo Island, Indonesia (2009). In addition, Jim has been on a number of MWDC trips to North Carolina and Canada. Locally, Jim pursues the New England lobster most weekends throughout the summer. Jim is also a member of the Camera Club of Central New England and the Leominster Art Association.

Mike received his open water certification in 1980 and has since earned trimix and cave certifications. Mike took up underwater photography in 2000 and now spends his warm water dive time hunting down the most exotic photographic subjects as passionately as he spends his cold water dive time hunting down good old New England lobsters and scallops. Among a wide variety of diving experiences, Mike has searched for 20 million year old shark teeth fossils in the deep/dark rivers of the southeastern US, recovered artifacts from a sunken World War II German UBoat off Rhode Island and explored shipwrecks in Massachusetts Bay.

Scuba divers are trained on traditional breathing systems with limited gas supplies -- and limited bottom time. Rebreather technology overcomes many of the limitations found with traditional scuba setups. This promises a new era in diving as rebreather development continues and becomes more affordable. Tom Huff from Northeast Scuba will share a practical talk on rebreathers covering CCR (Closed Circuit Rebreather) history, nitrox issues, basic design and operation, setup and testing, diving considerations, tear down and cleaning, and common myths and misconceptions.

Tom Huff has owned Northeast Scuba since 1996. With almost 40 years as a diver, Tom was first certified in 1973, received his PADI Instructor rating in 1977, and began teaching instructors in 1980. Tom has also been a technical diving instructor and instructor trainer since 1999. Tom has dived notable wrecks including the Andrea Doria, U-869, the Carolina, and the Palmer/Crary. Today, Tom has over 600 hours diving on a closed circuit rebreather, and he teaches open circuit and closed circuit rebreaters to the advanced trimix level.

Invasive species have become a reality for the marine waters of New England. The Massachusetts Bays Program (MBP) is involved in protecting marine resources from the devastating affects of invasive species. Peter Phippen, MBP regional coordinator, will present a talk on marine invasives monitoring efforts. He will discuss the sites being observed from Cape Ann to New Hampshire, identify the invasive species that have been discovered so far, and show divers how they can help in the monitoring effort.

Peter Phippen is a hydrogeologist with 25 years of experience in the field of water resources management. He holds and B.S. in hydrology from Michigan State University, an M.S. in hydrogeology from Boston University, and an M.A.L.D. in environmental landscape design from the Conway School. Currently the Coordinator of the Eight Towns and the Bay Committee, a division of the MassBays National Estuary Program and the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission, Mr. Phippen has planned, coordinated, and implemented projects for upper north shore municipalities addressing coastal pollution and restoration issues for the passed five years. He has extensive experience coordinating with regional environmental organizations and managing a variety of projects including local Coastal Pollution Remediation grants, Greenscapes North Shore, Coastal Wetlands Restrictions remediation projects, Environmental Outreach Guides, and Smart Growth.