Scouts Oceanography Merit Badge

Sunday March 16, 2025 9:30 – 1PM

Merit Badge Councilors

Mark Fregeau PhD.

Woody Tinsley

Scouts should bring Blue Cards and printed out copy of Oceanography Merit Badge Workbook

Schedule:

9:30AM – 1PM:   Merit Badge Activities – Newburyport Room on 2^ndfloor of Hotel

Questions? Email Mark Fregeau

Register (where you purchase tickets under BSR Sponsored Workshops)

In this workshop, Tec will present the top ten mistakes that divers make. As a dive training agency director and a forensic dive accident investigator, he has seen the unfortunate outcomes of these mistakes. The consequences range from dropping out of the sport, all the way to serious injuries or even death. This workshop will present a selection of mistakes Tec has seen divers make over his 27-year career as a diving professional, and these are errors that he stresses to his students not to do. Some of the items you may think are cliché’d or something you do not do wrong – but keep reading. He will teach you how to avoid these mistakes and even improve in areas that you may not think you are doing wrong. He will go into detail in each area, bringing unconventional wisdom and rationale into each lesson to prevent these mistakes from occurring.

Tec Clark has held elite positions in the dive industry including managing director of the University of Florida’s Academic Diving Program and national director of the YMCA Scuba Program. He holds over 40 professional certifications with over 15 dive training agencies. He has also been a police officer, dive rescue team member, and forensic dive accident investigator. He has appeared as a diving expert on A&E, The Learning Channel, and Outdoor Life Network. Clark was captain of the U.S. freediving team and founder of Reef Ministries. He is the associate director for scuba diving at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Dive On It Scuba will be hosting the annual Try Scuba event at Boston Sea Rovers again this year.   We've been participating with the operations of the Try Scuba Diving events for the past 4 years with this being our 2nd year running it and they've been a lot of fun and great success!

Space for these events is limited and is first-come, first-served.

A shark, a fish and a turtle are just a few of the unique origami designs presented by world-renowned origami artist Michael G. LaFosse &  Richard Alexander at this workshop.  People of all ages and any level of skill will enjoy crafting these eye-catching origami models.

Includes Origami Aquarium Kit

Dive Computers - nearly all divers carry one, but does everyone really understand how they work and how to properly use them?  In this workshop, Dive Pro Monty Fitzpatrick will walk you through a brief history of the dive computer, and give an overview about how they "know" how much dive time you have left, and what your nitrogen loading is throughout your dive.  We won't dive too deep into the algorithms behind most dive computers, as that's more technical than this workshop intends to go.  But we will cover some of the basics:

• Why to use a computer vs. old-school dive tables
• How to decide which computer is best for the diving you plan to do
• Key features to look for in your computer
• Console-integrated units vs. wrist-mount options
• Air integration - its benefits and limitations
• Popular models that are available at most dive shops
• Understanding the important features and data shown on your computer
• Maintenance and care for your computer

Whether you're a brand new diver or have been salty for years, there's something to be learned about these little devices we've become so accustomed to wearing to dive.  Whether it's understanding how to simply use your computer, or interesting functions you didn't realize your unit included, you'll benefit from attending this workshop.  We will have an extensive Q&A session; feel free to bring your computer.  We may not be able to answer every question about every computer, but we'll do our best to make sure you're more confident and comfortable with yours before you leave.

This workshop is open to all Public Safety teams, team members, and anyone with an interest in Public Safety Diving. Speakers are dive industry representatives, public safety diver trainers, current, and former team members. The workshop offers a platform for the Public Safety community to share ideas and experiences.  The 2024 workshop will also include an underwater challenge course hosted by Tim Andro.
The program cost for the day is $100.00 which includes a 2025 Boston Sea Rovers tee-shirt.  Check out the Boston Sea Rovers Public Safety Group Facebook page for up to the minute information.

FREE ALL WEEKEND SEASHELL EXHIBIT
-second floor Mezzanine-Gloucester Room-

Saturday 9:00 a.m to 5:00 p.m.
Sunday 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Drop by and see educational exhibits of seashells from the world over and learn about their habitats, biodiversity and ecology and their use in food, science, medicine, on stamps, and in art and crafts.

Bring your own seashells and learn how to identify it with the help of experts on mollusks who will be available to assist you and teach you how to use some of the best seashell identification books.

Choose your own seashells from one of the world’s beaches at our 'seashell adoption table' provided by our members.

When you visit the exhibit be sure to sign up for an opportunity to take home the special Door Prize -- a collection of unique seashells and a book about mollusks

Sponsored by the Boston Malacological Club
Founded in 1910

Join one of the world's oldest active seashell groups for fun and educational monthly meetings in Cambridge, Mass.  For information contact:
George Buckley – gbuckley@fas.harvard.edu

Please note the contact information below is for informational purposes only - No registration is required!

Steve Bigelow ran the MetroWest Saturday Shore Dive Program for the past 10 years, and will offer some tips on  how he plans and decides where to dive and all that.

• Resources
• Safety - Overview
• Site Selection Options - where to dive
• Site Decision Criteria - which one to choose on a given day
• Tools 
• Day Of Evaluation - picking a site, but playing it by ear once you arrive there; making the "Cape Ann Loop" to find good conditions
• Gear - a brief overview of what's needed / required and "good to have" for diving New England
• Site Etiquette - Respect the Locals! Obey Parking Regulations. Keep Gear Organized and Out Of The Way; Share The Beach
• Calling The Dive - monitoring conditions to ensure safety; know YOUR limits. There's no shame in driving all the way to a dive site, only to bail out if it's a mess and go dive into breakfast somewhere...
• Other
  • Sharing Your Dive - take and post pictures
  • Blogging - doing write-ups for dive club newsletters or social media

Tom Easop has spent a lifetime photographing the underwater world. From this experience, he has developed Core Concepts and Cardinal Rules to optimize underwater image making. Using these concepts and rules led to unique, optimized practices, techniques and workflows. In this workshop I will teach you my concepts and rules as well as the resulting “hands-on” skills you can immediately put into practice. Organized chronologically before, during, and after a dive trip the topics include:    

• What to prioritize in your equipment budget    
• Preparing your equipment for travel and use    
• Best practices before and after the dive    
• Speed light vs. continuous light, tripods, backscatter tactics    
• White point(s)    
• Focus tactics – not wasting depth of field    
• Automatic vs. manual exposure tactics    
• Recognizing your luck, learning from ‘mistakes’    
• Making ‘mistakes’, making your own ‘luck’    
• Combining techniques    
• Safe capture storage    
• File types,
• Pixel Geography, color space & ‘The Color Dimension’    
• Lightroom vs. Photoshop, and other applications for post-processing    
• Combining digital tools    
• HDR, image masking    
• HRLA USM, sharpening    
• Non destructive workflow    
• Cataloguing images & session folders    

Plus planning, testing, and practicingThis is by far the most valuable workshop I have ever developed, imparting the most important information I’ve learned through photography and retouching schools, shooting and print making workshops, research, underwater camera building, and most of all – 45 years of experience of underwater photography. It will be time well spent for any underwater photographer or videographer regardless of skill level.

This  half-day workshop covers the most pressing legal issues in our industry.  Including areas such as waivers/releases, as well as professional liability insurance.  This will be an amazing workshop for diving professionals and up and coming dive pro’s alike.

Tec Clark has held elite positions in the dive industry including managing director of the University of Florida’s Academic Diving Program and national director of the YMCA Scuba Program. He holds over 40 professional certifications with over 15 dive training agencies. He has also been a police officer, dive rescue team member, and forensic dive accident investigator. He has appeared as a diving expert on A&E, The Learning Channel, and Outdoor Life Network. Clark was captain of the U.S. freediving team and founder of Reef Ministries. He is the associate director for scuba diving at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.