Members' Diving Activities
Northeast Working Equipment Group
MEMBERS OF THE NORTHEAST WORKING EQUIPMENT GROUP are engaged in all sorts of diving activities in addition to their historical diving gear intereste. Gene Ritter of Long Island is a member of Professional Diving Archaeology, which has been retrieving underwater artifacts around New York City for historical study and educational display. In the photo above, Gene was preparing for a dive in New York Harbor in front of the Statue of Liberty for a photo shoot for a feature in the Winter 1996 (Issue #4) of IMMERSED Magazine. During the Labor Day 1997 Working Equipment Rally (below), Gene was ready for a twilight dive in the MkV rig.
Diving the Baltimore Aquarium
NEWEG CO-ORDINATOR JIM FOLK is a volunteer diver at the
National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland, where he dives every other Tuesday
(in 1998: Jan. 27, Feb. and Mar. 10 & 24, Apr. 7 & 21, May 5 & 19, etc.).
In December 1997 he was photographed by Jim Boyd diving in the "Ray Tray" exhibit,
the Aquarium's huge central pool which contains a variety of fish and stingrays.
MOST OF THE RAY TRAY diving is involved with feeding
the rays. Here Jim is feeding -- and petting -- a pair of Cownose Rays,
which swim around him and maneuver for food like a litter of puppies.
His neoprene glove covers a chain-mail protective glove, because although the rays
won't intentionally bite, their mouths, which are on the underside of their bodies,
can't distinguish fingers from food!
The rays all have their stinger barbs intact but will never attack a diver,
because the stingers are used only defensively if the rays are stepped on.
To avoid the rays hiding in the bottom sand,
the floor of the Ray Tray is solid concrete as a safety precaution.
For this 1997 dive (above), Jim is wearing his personal AGA mask on scuba. The Aquarium also has
an AGA mask rigged with communication so that the diver can talk with the audience while underwater.
In 1994 (below) Jim was diving with a friend's Weidolf full face mask.
"PITA" THE GIANT SEA TURTLE can be a real pest when he gets hungry,
demanding the divers' attention. If the huge mammal is ignored, he has been known to "nip" at a diver,
which earned him his name PITA, which srands for Pain In The A..nkle.
These photos were made through the glass of the underwater public viewing area.
In the photo below, Jim was feeding the fish in the Atlantic Coral Reef exhibit,
diving this time with conventional mask & regulator.
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