Page 14 - AlertDiver_Winter2013

12 | WINTER 2013
FROM THE SAFETY STOP // L E T T E R S F R O M M E M B E R S
From Blue Sea to
Silver Screen
Loved the article on Pete Zuccarini.
What a talent and eye he has! I liked
the interview so much that my wife
and I went to see Life of Pi last night.
Amazing cinematography by Pete (at
least the parts I’m sure he had a hand
in). We chose not to see it in 3-D; I’m
sure it would have been awesome, but I
like to watch something like that for the
content and craft of the film itself.
— Andy Anderson, via email
I finally got a chance to look at the
recent Alert Diver and wanted to say
how much I enjoyed not only the Pete
Zuccarini story but also the article
on cave photography. It was great to
see one of Wes Skiles’ images in the
Bahamas article, and I found Evan
Kovacs’ wreck-searching story really
interesting. I think this is the most I’ve
enjoyed any AD issue.
— Gene Page, via email
DAN Was There
My wife and I have been diving
for 20 and 15 years, respectively,
and have been members of DAN®
almost from the start of our diving
activities. We have also had DAN’s
Preferred insurance package and have
always prized DAN’s availability for
consultation and medical assistance but
have never had occasion to require it.
All that changed Nov. 4, 2012, in
Roatan, Honduras. The night before we
were scheduled to do our first dive, I
forgot a three-step staircase leading into
our bedroom and stepped off into space.
When I landed with my legs tucked
under my thighs and my trunk thrown
backward, I completely avulsed the
quadriceps tendon from each kneecap.
In a remote location with no hospital,
DAN became our lifeline. My wife’s call
to DAN the following morning initiated
a period of active case management
by DAN and air evacuation first to
Miami and subsequently to Morristown,
N.J., were surgery was performed.
Throughout the period of initial
contact and second airlift — a period of
six days — DAN and DAN TravelAssist®
were proactive, constantly calling to
update us with progress reports and
reassurance. The insurance not only
relieved an enormous potential financial
burden ($30,000 of air evacuations) but
reaffirmed the wisdom of our decision to
be insured DAN members. Thank you,
DAN. You were truly there for me.
— Vic Bary, Cranford, N.J.
A Place for Marine Life
Thank you for the outstanding articles
and photos celebrating recreational
diving in our national marine sanctuaries
(Alert Diver, Fall 2012). These 14 special
underwater places truly are America’s
ocean and Great Lakes treasures — and
a national asset!
Your articles created quite a buzz
and sense of pride among the National
Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council
chairs, shown standing with me outside
the new Monterey Bay National Marine
Sanctuary Exploration Center. Each
year our advisory council chairs from
across the country meet to discuss
topics of interest and
share experiences and
information. Sanctuary
advisory councils are
community-based
advisory groups that
provide advice to the
sanctuary superintendent
on the operation of a
national marine sanctuary.
Individuals from
all walks of life serve
their communities and
sanctuaries as members
of advisory councils and
advisory council working
groups and subcommittees. Council
members include divers, fishers,
teachers, boaters, business people,
activists, protected-area managers,
scientists and elected officials. All 14
sites in the sanctuary system have an
advisory council.
Local citizen involvement in
management of national marine
sanctuaries is a hallmark of our
program, and public participation
helps coastal communities face change
while building a strong economy and
sustained prosperity.
The Alert Diver articles, highlighting
the voices, experience and passion of
local recreational divers, masterfully
convey the wonder and awe of national
marine sanctuaries. I invite everyone to
join our mission to preserve and protect
our natural and cultural ocean treasures
for future generations — and go dive in
a sanctuary!
—Daniel J. Basta, director, NOAA
Office of National Marine Sanctuaries
“Grassroots Marine Protected Areas”
by Shawn Heinrichs (Water Planet, Fall
2012) briefly describes four MPAs. I
have dived at the three in Indonesia
and am greatly encouraged that these
exist and have some measure of local
support. The longer-term challenges of
ocean warming and ocean acidification
Letters