| Introduction The Artificial Reef Research Diver class is a modular course,
which allows for flexibility and thoroughness of education. The class is divided
into seven modules with one module being completed each month. Each module includes a 3-4
hour classroom session and a diving exercise. The classroom session is normally held
on Wednesday nights and the the diving exercise for the module is normally held the
following weekend at a lake, spring, quarry, or in the ocean. There are no diving
exercises scheduled during the middle of December to the middle of February do to the cold
weather. If the water is cold in Jacksonville, the class does it's diving exercises
in Fort Lauderdale and/or the Florida Keys.
Module One, Introduction to Research Diving and Team
Orientation, starts in September and is the entry point into the program. After
Module One is completed, Modules Two through Six may be completed in any
order. The Training Coordinator determines the order of the modules. The
students are expected to attend a regularly scheduled presentation of each module, which
includes a classroom/video and water skill sessions. All six modules have to be
completed prior to the Expedition module, which is scheduled in May. The Graduation
exercises are held at the Team meeting following the Expedition.
Click on the modules below to read the module overview
and objectives. The course consists of the following modules:
Course Information
- Through the support of the Florida Sea Grant Extension
Program and the not-for-profit status of the Jacksonville Reef Research Team, Inc.
The Jacksonville Reef Research Team and the taxpayers help pay for your training.
The course is provided to you at our actual cost. The Reef Research Team instructors
and Team members volunteer their time to help train you.
- The Artificial Reef Research Diver training course is
intended for experienced salt-water divers. It is NOT a course in basic diving
skills. The students are expected to be able to operate safely, proficiently and
comfortably offshore Jacksonville. Team dives are from a boat, and in 60 to 100 feet
of water under a variety of visibility and current conditions. The student is
expected to accurately use a compass and be able to plan safe, repetitive dives.
- This is a course in underwater science methods. The
emphasis will be on learning to safely collect accurate, reliable data about artificial
reefs in a variety of scientific disciplines. SCUBA diving equipment one of the
tools that the student uses to collect data.
- As each module is completed, the students are allowed to
dive with the Team and are assigned those tasks that have been taught in the training
modules. On Team dives, ALL diving offshore Jacksonville is FREE to Team members.
The only cost to the Team member is refilling their dive tanks at the end of the
dive. The Team covers the cost to charter dive boats and/or pays for the fuel of
Team member's boats for the monitoring and discovery dives.
- After completing the training course, the new Team
members are expected to volunteer their services to safely collect, document, and store
local reef information in the Team's public "reef data archive".
Prerequisites
- Advanced Open Water Certification
- Certification or documented equivalent training in:
- Deep Diver
- Wreck Diver
- U/W Photographer
- First Aid
- CPR
- Recommended Additional Courses:
- 21 years of age minimum
- At least 5 Logged dives offshore Jacksonville (or
equivalent, per Diving Control Board)
- Medical Release: physician's signed approval to dive
- Signed Statement of Understanding/Affirmation and
Liability Release
- Public Service Commitment Statement signed on application
form
Required SCUBA
Equipment
- "Full SCUBA" including full tank with
regulator, alternate air source, submersible pressure gauge, depth gauge, buoyancy control
device and timepiece
- Compass accurate to within 5 degrees
- Writing slate with lead pencil (no grease pencils,
please): An 8 x 11 slate will be provided by the Team
- Dive knife, gloves and light
- "Buddy line" 10 feet long with ring on one end
and brass clip on the other end
- Equipment lanyard with ring on one end and brass clip on
the other end, long enough to go around your waist
- Plastic bags, quart size, Ziploc heavy duty (freezer)
bags and indelible marker
- Signaling device such as a whistle, mirror, or cylume
- Dive log book
Required
Fish Identification Guides
Optional Equipment/Fish
Identification Guides
- Underwater camera (still or video)
- "NOAA Diving Manual" by J. Miller
- Field Guides (Peterson Field Guide Series) -
"Atlantic Sea Shore" by Gosner - "Atlantic Coast Fishes" by Robbins et
al
- "Seashore Life of Florida and the Caribbean" by
Gilbert L. Voss
- "Marine Plants of the Caribbean" by Littler,
Littler, Bucher and Norris
- "Fisheries Biology for Everyone" by Steve
Bortone (Sea Grant Extension Bulletin SGEB II)
Diving Information
- Be prepared to demonstrate your basic water skill
knowledge by the Module One dive. You will not be permitted to dive during the
training events until first completing an in-water safety checkout with a Team instructor.
- The buddy system is strictly enforced and all training
dives will be logged and controlled by a surface support team.
- All dives will be logged and signed. Log sheets are
to be submitted to the instructor and then to the Team Archivist. The same
procedures and equipment are mandated for ALL team dives.
- Dives are not planned during December and January due to
winter weather. Most of the dives during the colder months are schedule in Fort
Lauderdale or the upper Keys.
Training Provided
at Cost
- The Jacksonville Reef Research Team Training Class is
provided strictly at cost by the Team’s instructors and Team members, we volunteer
the time to help train you. We provide this training to you for free as a part of
our commitment to the Team.
A deposit of $250 is required by the start of Module One to cover the expense of the
textbooks, slates and trip deposits. Students are asked to pay for the other
expenses as they arise, mainly dive boats, and out-of-town travel, such as hotels, meals
and gas. We do not include these costs as part of the course cost, to allow for
individual preferences. The sharing of rooms and car-pooling arrangements are made
available to keep the cost of the class as low as possible. You should expect to spend
approximately $100 per month during the training, or a total of $600 and $900 total to pay
for air refills, dive boats, miscellaneous dive equipment, fish guides, lodging, and meals
during the seven month training course.
Dive for Free
- The Jacksonville Reef Research Team schedules
approximately 20 monitoring and discovery dives offshore Jacksonville every year.
Except for the air refills, the Team pays for all costs associated with the dive.
The Team charters dive boats and pays for the fuel when we use the Team member's
boats. Joining the Team is a GREAT way to reduce the cost of diving.
Contact Information
If you are interested in additional information
regarding the training class, contact our Training Coordinator, Mike Barnes, at
904-463-3590
or you can e-mail him at mbarnes109@gmail.com
We look forward to seeing you in our training class! |
