Ed helps Dive with Purpose to survey a ship wreck part 1

Hi all.


Well it takes a long time to write up all my experiences, check through all the photographs etc but at long last here is my first blog from my visit earlier in the year with dive with Purpose.

Well I have arrived in the USA to help out with two very important project. First I will be helping the youths from Dive with Purpose in an ongoing project to document a ship wreck and then I will be helping them, restore a coral reef. I can’t wait to get in the water again. My diving bell is too big to transport to the UK and so I only get to explore underwater properly when I am in the USA.

 

Sharing  a ginger beer with Ken Stewart Director of Dive with Purpose

This will all be new to the Youths so I will get to learn what we need to do at the same time. I did learn about protecting and monitoring shipwrecks back in 2012 when I visited South African Heritage Resource Agency http://adventuresofedthebear.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/learning-about-how-to-study-shipwrecks.html

Here I am with Ken Stewart and the superintendent at Biscayne National Park Brian Carlstrom

 Charles Lawson who is the park archeologist 

Justine Benanty another archeologist

Dave Conlin the Submerger Office Chief


Before we can dive on the wreck we need to practice the necessary skills on land first. 
Everything will be much harder to do when we try to do it underwater.

Ed the Bear on the baseline. The base line  is used to measure the direction and location of an artifact or part of the ship structure.

The students will be using a survey method called trilateration which uses the Side-Side-Side (maths) Theorem to generate a map to scale of the shipwreck. Very complicated for a little bear like me, so I let the youths get started and I helped out where I was needed.

Ed trilsting with Joshua Harrison

Eric Solis

Madison Jack

Rachel Stewart

Julian Perez

Surveying wreck sites used to be done by laying a grid over the wreck and then recording the details in each square. The trilateration technique of mapping doesn’t require permanent grids

Everyone knew what they needed to do and the activity was accomplished with some great team work. 

 Ed and Olivia Ferenczy with insitu (onsite) drawings

 

Tomorrow we will do it all again, this time underwater on a real ship wreck.

I spent some time working with one of the youths Adrian Baptiste and he wrote the following blog entry.

Adrian Baptiste

Ed the bear here checking in. Just had another awesome day here at YDWP and I can't wait to tell you about it!. So I started my day off with some morning yoga taught by Mr.Kamau, the class was really helpful and loosened my muscles up and got me going. 

The class started at 6:00 and I got to watch the sun go up while I stretched. Later I had some breakfast and went to Biscayne National Park  to do some class work so that I know what to do tomorrow when I go on my first dive. The instructors taught us how to use the metric system and how to do trilaterations and much more. You would normally think that being in a classroom all day would be very boring, but It wasn't, the teachers were very engaging and really made sure that everyone knew the content. 

So as the day continued there were occurrences where a crab would walk into the classroom; now let me remind you that we are in Florida and there is aquatic life everywhere so I guess it's a normal thing down here. So every time a crab would come in there were always someone  who got up to catch them, it was so funny seeing kids run around the classroom getting pinched just to get it out of the classroom, these events only happened a couple of times and after the we continued.

After we listened to all the information the instructors taught us we went straight to practicing outside. 

Practicing was very fun but I couldn't stand getting bitten by all the Mosquitos that were out there today, They were everywhere and I couldn't stand them I basically bathed in bug spray and I needed to get away from them, once  it was time to leave I rushed to the car and was so grateful to get away. 

When I left the park it was around 6:00 the group had dinner at Denny's and I left most of the group to have and early night and to come back to write to all of you. I hope you enjoyed to my post and excited to tell you what happens tomorrow, so this is Ed the bear signing out.

Ed the Bear returns

Hi all


Well I have arrived safely back in the UK after a fantastic adventure with the Tennessee Aquatic Project and Dive with a Purpose.


I had a chance to try out my archaeology skills with a group of youths studying a shipwreck and also helped with a group of youths learning and helping to restore a damaged coral reef.

I have lots of pictures and information to sort through and also blogs written by some of the youths I paired up with.


Very exciting and very rewarding.


Come back soon to find out more about my recent adventure.


Bye for now


Ed the Bear

Ed travels back to USA

Exciting news. Ed the Bear is travelling out to the USA to join 'Dive with a Purpose' to visit a reef restoration programme help restore coral reef'


More from Ed the Bear when he returns to the UK

Dungeness Nature Reserve

Today we travelled with Steve to Dungeness with is about 60 miles east along the south coast. Steve was the main speaker in a science teacher’s conference about developing school grounds for wildlife conservation and as a resource to teaching.

Last year, Bella and I were one of the main presentations here as we shared our message about oceans and freshwater and fun ways children could learn about it in the classroom and by visiting sites.

This year I came along for the ride to show Abby the nature reserve.

While Steve was talking to the teachers I showed Abby around. I explained to Abby that the pebbles here are flint pebbles similar to my beach at Shoreham that we visited quickly yesterday.

Wave action, called long shore drift, moves the pebbles from west to east. Dungeness is where many the pebbles that the waves move along the beach eventually end up.

We took a close look at the yellow horned poppy a coastal plant that also grows at Shoreham.These yellow flowers become seed pods that look like horns. They are spring loaded so when the seeds are ready the pod splits open and catapults the seeds across the beach where some will grow into new plants.

We explored the two hides nearest the reserve center and saw lots of water birds, but I only identified a few because I did not bring my binoculars. 

As we walked around I heard a lot of noise coming from behind a mud bank. We peeked over teh top and saw a pair of oyster catchers nesting on the shingle.

Bye for now

 

Shoreham Beach

Hi All

Today I took Abby to my beach at Shoreham. I explained that the beach was a nature reserve because of the rare vegetated shingle habitat – special plants that grow in the pebbles. They can survive with little water, no soil and survive the strong winds, hot sun and salty sea spray.

Although Steve and the nature reserve team help to look after the plants and wildlife, they were concerned about how global issues such as climate change, sea level rise, increase in storms and other issues might affect this beach. This is why I started my global travels to visit scientists to find out what they know about the ocean and the damage humans are doing to the ocean. 

Off to Dungeness tomorrow to show Abby where some of the beach shingle travels to because of the sea and wave action. Sea defenses stop some the shingle moving so the beach doesn't get washed away

Eco Schools Summit

Here we are again at the EYE summit, EYE stands for Eco Young and Engaged.

The project shares sustainable living ideas be tween schools and they have the chance to show case what they are doing in their school to save energy, recycle or help wildlife in their school grounds. There are also exhibits from lots of organisations and also workshops that the children can take part in to learn more.

We had our stand set up in the main hall as usual and this year Steve ran workshops on dolphin rescue. During the workshops the children learned about dolphins and that sometimes they become stranded on the shore. The children learned about the first aid they could give a dolphin to keep it alive until the marine rescue team could arrive.

A stranded dolphin can easily die from heat exhaustion (gthey get to hot when not in water) from gravity - the dolphins own body weight when not supported by water can crush its organs such as its lungs and heart and other problems the children had top learn about before they could plan their rescue.

In the workshops the scenario was that a dolphin had become stranded on the beach entangled in plastic. 

The children, in two groups, had to use what they had learned to plan their rescue and then undertake their rescue.

All the children in the workshops did really well and it they found a dolphin in real life they should be able to keep it alive. After the rescue we did a debrief of their rescues to find out from the children how well they think their rescue we and discussed the problems of plastic pollution in the ocean

They also handled some whale bones, this is a vertebra from a dead stranded  killer whale backbone

While Steve was doing the workshops, Abby helped me and Bella on the display stand.

It was a great day and the children were very excited and interested to hear about the ocean and also about conservation. Thanks for the help Abby.

Adur World Oceans Day Event

Yesterday I took Abby along with me and Bella to our annual World Oceans Day Event.

 The display also explained why my beach at Shoreham is so special and was made a nature reserve because of the rare vegetated shingle plants.

 

We set up our stand as usual that told people about the oceans and why they are important, such as how the create our climate and weather, provide freshwater, food, oxygen and much more.

I also included some information about when I visited Abby in South Africa so everyone would know who she was.

Abby also helped me to explain about ocean acidification and how more than normal amounts of carbon dioxide from the air are entering the oceans and changing the water chemistry. This is making it harder for corals and shellfish to build those beautiful tough shells.

An experiment of the stand using vinegar and a sea shell shows the science behind ocean acidification.

Abby was a great help but I said she could go and look around the other displays to what other people are doing.

She checked out the stand by Friends of Shoreham Beach N

ature Reserve that had a display about the plants, wildlife but also the beach litter.

She checked out an aquarium tank...

 ...and also a lobster

She even met claws from the Sussex Wildlife Trust Stand

Abby then had a chat with Bell and helped on her part of the stand. As you know Bella is exploring why freshwater is the most valuable substance on the planet - which of course also comes from teh ocean.

Bella helps out at the Lewes Railway Land Nature Reserve where there is lots of fresh water and pond life. Bella is exploring freshwater in nature and how people use water and how in the UK people often waste water because it is so plentiful. But in some parts of the world its very scarce.

Bella will soon be traveling to the Amazon Rainforest with Amazon Rainforest Workshops to learn about this amazing place, the wildlife and how even here not everyone has clean drinking water.

The day went really quickly as there  was so much to do and so many people to talk to.

It wa sonly after the evnt that I got the chance to have a chat properly with Abby and find out what she had been doing since I visited her.