sea swells february 2011
TRANSCRIPT
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Page 2 February 2011 Sea Swells Log
Comic book collecting is a hobbythat treats comic books as col-
lectibles or artwork to be sought after
and preserved. Though considerably
more recent than the collecting of
postage stamps (philately) or books
(bibliophile), it has a major followingaround the world today. I have a
huge collection that began with an
issue of Superboy in 1980. I stopped
counting my collection around the
1990's. My best guesstimate is some-
where around over thirty thousand
titles. It fills two closets now, andincludes personal treasures such as
Star Wars #1, copies of Sea Hunt andX-men. I am always adding to it. As
comic books are published around
the world, buying a local comic bookfrom an exotic destination while I
travel is one of my most favoritetravel souvenirs. Yet it was much
Continued Page 3
closer to home that I obtainedmy most recent treasure. It
was during a recent trip to
Manhattan. While browsing
in the Strand bookstore off Union Square, something on
one of the many wracks over-flowing with books the store is
famous for caught my
eye. Not only was it a comic
book I had never seen, but it
was about one of my heroes,
Captain Cousteau. The book
was titled L'Aventure del'équipe Cousteau en bandes dessinées,and it was a French hardcover comicbook. I had never seen anything quite
like it before. This was how I was first
introduced to the work of DominiqueSerafini and his long history of chroni-
cling the adventures of the Calypsocrew in comic form.
Dominique Serafini wasborn in Paris, France in
1946. He studied art atl'Ecole Nationale Su-
perieure des Beaux Artsde Paris from 1966-
68. His most important
body of work was createdaboard the Calypso as an
underwater illustratorand writer for l'Equipe
Cousteau. Dominique
Serafini was a true mem-ber of Jacques Cous-
teau's Calypso team. Heconvinced Captain Cous-
teau to create a series of
graphic albums recount-ing the adventures of the
Cousteau Society. Forabout the next 15 years,
from the drawing boardof the deck of the Ca-
lypso, he accompanied
the Calypso crew to cre-ate a visual drawn testi-
mony of their expeditionsand dives. He made a
SCUBA READER:Cousteau Comics
series of 17 graphic album
books entitled 'L'Aventure de
l'Equipe Cousteau en Bandes
Dessinées' between 1985 and1997. France has a long traditionin comics and comic books, where
they are known as BDs, an abbre-
viation of bande dessinée (literally
drawn strip). This genre is mostfamously identified with the iconicFrench characters of Lucky Luke
and Tintin. Carrying a strong eco-logical theme, these particular
books were inspired by Cousteau'sexpeditions on the Calypso. All
were written and illustrated by
Dominique Serafini.
As a long time comic book collector,I am not usually surprised. I have
seen most of the major genres. Yet
these publications are truly amaz-ing. Most depictions of the under-
sea world seen in American comics
tend to use a fantastic unrealisticstyle. The prime example of this
being Aquaman by DC comics, withadventures set in the lost city of
Atlantis and the characters ridinggiant seahorses. Yet what makes
these Cousteau comics trulyunique and wonderful is the real-
ism Mr. Serafini brings to the
pages. Most readers I imaginewould assume that these books
were created from photographs
By
Allan
Rios
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Page 3 February 2011 Sea Swells Log
taken aboard the Calypso. In order to
produce each of these works, Mr.Serafini actually spent time in the
field with the Calypso crew to make
his drawings as accurately as possi-ble. As part of the Calypso team, he
would arrive on deck in diving geartoting pencils and a plastic
bag. When the Calypso crew went tostudy great white sharks for example,
Mr. Serafini spent hours in the Ca-lypso anti shark cage sketching his
subjects underwater. As a result,
each graphic volume shows an almostobsessive attention in detailing the
adventures of the Calypso crew.
They all seem incredibly authen-tic. Each volume depicts a differentadventure of the Calypso Crew. In
"La Vague de feu" (the Wave of Fire)the Calypso explores Mediterranean
shipwrecks. In "La forest bles-see" (the Wounded Forest) the crew
explores the Amazon River. In
"L'Odyssee de la Calypso" (the Odys-sey of the Calypso), the volume de-
picts in comic form Captain Cous-teau's early history as well as the his-
tory of diving. My favorite is "Le dau-
phin de l'Amazone" (the dolphin of
the Amazon). It depicts the adven-tures of the Calypso crew as they gosearching for freshwater dolphins in
South America. Each volume is beau-
tifully drawn.
The real surpriseabout these books
was that they were
never published inEnglish. Which is
particularly surpris-ing as they were
made during thecomic book boom of
the 80 's and90's. They probably
would have sold
well. Anyone luckyenough to still have
them, can find Eng-lish translations in
old issues of DolphinLog , published bythe Cousteau society
during this pe-riod. Today Domi-
nique Serafini con-tinues to paint. He
is now in the process
of capturing the adventures of another famous captain and his
crew, those of Captain Paul Wat-son and the crew of Sea Shep-
herd. For any scuba diver and
vintage dive collector, each of
these graphic volumes serves asa unique visual testimony to thework of the Calypso crew and
Captain Cousteau.
For more information see http://www.dreamwrecks.com/DreamWrecks/
h o m e . h t m l a n d h t t p : / /www.dominiqueserafini.com/serafini-bd-
cousteau/Accueil.html
Allan Rios
SCUBA READERCousteau Comics,
Continued...
Sunday, February 20, 2011 from 9:00 Til 2:00
Inside the Toms River Intermediate School North
150 Intermediate North Way, Toms River, NJJOIN US AT THE BIGGEST AND THE BEST SCUBA FLEA MAR-
KET IN NEW JERSEY!NEW AND USED GEAR AND OTHER
DIVE-RELATED ITEMS!!!Food, Raffles and Door Prizes
Admission is $5.00 at the door Children under 12 yrs old Free with a Paid Adult!
Call 732-255-9304 to reserve a table now tosell your gear or for your business!
For more information, see our website atwww.oceanwreckdivers.com
Directions:From the North: Take Garden State Parkway to Exit 88 (Rte70). Take the ramp toward Lakewood/Manchester/Lakehurst. Merge onto Rte. 70 West. Follow Route 70 toNew Hampshire Ave. Take the jughandle to New HampshireAve. South. Cross over Rt. 70. Follow New Hampshire Ave.(which becomes Old Freehold Rd.) about 4.3 miles. Turnright onto Intermediate North Way.
To see a map of the area, go to our website atwww.oceanwreckdivers.com
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Page 4 February 2011 Sea Swells Log
F
riend of the Scuba Sports Club,
Dr. Richard Cooper passedaway on Friday, January
28th. TSSC members will remember
Dr. Cooper as a true undersea
explorer who spoke about the
possibilities of human beings
truly living under the sea. TSSC
members fortunate enough to
attend his presentation last Sep-
tember at our monthly meeting,
or later at the Sea Stories gath-
ering by the Explorers
Club, were regaled with per-
sonal experiences that includedadventures in undersea habi-
tats, the Manned Undersea Sci-
ence & Technology group,
Sealab, and the Ocean Technol-
ogy Foundation/SeaBase1 Corp.
On a personal note, Dr. Cooper
was a true gentleman who con-
veyed a real passion for undersea
exploration and discovery in every
conversation. He will be sorelymissed by the membership of TSSC,
this diver especially. In lieu of flow-
Dr. Richard Cooper
ers, the family has asked
that donations be sent to the
Uconn Foundation - Richard A.Cooper Scholarship Fund, Attn:
Janene Vandi, University of
Connecticut, Avery Point
Campus, 1080 Shennecos-
sett Road, Groton, CT
06340. For more informa-
tion regarding his achieve-
ments please see http://
www.legacy.com/obituaries/
t h e d a y / o b i t u a r y . a s p x ?
n = r i c h a r d - a -
cooper&pid=148286200
Allan Rios
Come to the February Membership Meeting to Vote For YourFavorite Photos Entered in The TSSC Photo Contest!
Here is your chance to view
and vote for the best photos
from the images entered in our
2011 photo contest.
The TSSC board of directors has
selected the finalists in the catego-
r i e s B E A U T Y , R A R E /
UNUSUAL, and FUNNY.
It was not an easy choice because
all of the images were very good
and deserved to be among the fi-
nalists. Alas, there can only be
three winners, and it is up to
you to select them!
Don’t miss this chance and come to
the February membership meeting
on Wednesday, February 9th at 7 pm
at Victor’s Restaurant in Hawthorne,
NY to view the finalists.
Many thanks to everyone who sub-
mitted photos to the contest.
On a related note: we are still collect-
ing photos for our “hometown” dis-
play for our exhibit booth at BTS
2011.
If you have a photo of yourself div-
ing (close-ups preferred), please sub-
mit it and the name of your home-
town to [email protected] by
March 1st, 2011. We will put to-
gether a display of diver photos
with their hometowns to show
where TSSC members hail
from—hoping to entice other peo-
ple from your town to join us!
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Page 5 February 2011 Sea Swells Log
Many of you know that I closely fol-low what is going on with the Sea
Shepherd Conservation Society and the
crew rallying around Capt. Paul Watson.
I was happy to see that Sea Shepherd was
able to snag a major billboard location
right in the heart of Manhattan! Here are
the details:
Next time you find yourself walking
through the heart of Times Square
on 42nd Street, look up at the ‘CBS
Spectacular’ big screen now boasting
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s
first outdoor advertising campaign.
The state-of-the-art, full motion digi-tal billboard highlights the marine
wildlife conservation organization’s
anti-whaling campaign for which
they are best known, partly due to
the success of the popular Animal
Planet television series Whale Wars,
which will debut in its fourth season
later this year. Whale Wars chroni-
cles Sea Shepherd’s activities to end
whaling in the Southern Ocean.
“Sea Shepherd wanted to do some-
thing completely unprecedented to
create awareness of our whale de-
fense campaign this year,” saidFounder and President Captain
Paul Watson. “We’ve long had a
strong support base in New York,
so when this opportunity came up
we decided to use it to share our
mission, raise funds for our Ant-
arctic campaign, and capture the
hearts of New Yorkers and inter-
national tourists alike. The image
of a breathtaking whale breach
followed by a harpoon exploding
into a whale’s back, sends a pow-erful message to passersby in a
visual language that we can all
understand.”
Sea Shepherd is the only non-
profit direct action conservation
organization that actively patrols
the planet’s oceans to defend ma-
rine wildlife and their habitats
and uphold international conser-
vation laws. Sea Shepherd is cur-
rently in the middle of their sev-
enth Antarctic Whale DefenseCampaign, appropriately titled
Operation No Compromise.
“We are officially halfway through
this year’s campaign, and funds
are more important now than
ever. We need to raise enough
money to purchase fuel and provi-
sions to keep our fleet of three
ships at sea, to ensure that we can
remain in the Southern Ocean
through the end of the whaling
season in March,” said Captain
Watson.
The goal is to stop illegal whaling
in the Southern Ocean Whale
Sanctuary, period. Operation No
Compromise has already been
deemed a success, as Captain
Watson believes Sea Shepherd’s
intervention will result in a dra-
matic decrease of whale deaths by
the illegal Japanese fleet, perhaps
by as much as 80 percent.
As Captain Watson often reminds
us, “If the oceans die, we die.”
The 'CBS Spectacular' is located
on W. 42nd Street, between 7th
and 8th Avenues.
You can see a video of the new ad
here:http://www.seashepherd.org/news-
and-media/news-110201-1.html
Also of interest: Sea Shepherd’s flag-
ship Steve Irwin needs your help to
refuel and continue protecting theSouthern Ocean’s whale sanctuary
against illegal whaling. Please go to
http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-110202-1.html to see
details.
Sea Shepherd Sails into Times Square withTheir First Outdoor Advertising Campaign
Environment
Foreword
By Ruth
Emblin
x Run for the Wild, April 30th
http://e.wcs.org/site/PageServer?pagename=RFTW_homepage
x Vintage Dive Film Festival May 14th (details TBA)
x First Annual Shark Dive Weekend Labor Day Weekend2011. Fisherman's State Park Rhode Island, details TBA
http://www.riparks.com/fisherma.htm
x TSSC on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/TheScubaSportsClub
x TSSC on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/
ScubaSportsClub
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2011 Dive Schedule
Date/Time: Location Description Contact/Organization
Labor Day WE Fisherman’s State Park, RI First Annual Shark Dive Weekend Allan Rios
Sept. 1-10, 2011 Fiji, Beqa Lagoon Resort A Taste of Fabulous Fiji
See details at http://
thescubasportsclub.org/dives/fiji-dive-trip-
2011.html
Ski & Scuba Connection *)
*) not organized by TSSC, however,
several members are booked on this
trip.
May 29th TBA Memorial Day Weekend
Picnic & Dive
TBA
July 17th Dutch Springs, PA TSSC Day TBA
All dates and programs are subject to change without prior notice. For more details and updates, either contact
Tom Butcher or the dive coordinator shown, or refer to our website at www.thescubasportsclub.org .
LOCAL DIVE SHOPS - AT YOUR SERVICEThe listing of local dive shops is provided to you as a reference and public service. For each shop’s specialty, dive t raining and trip programs, please call or visit their website.
Captain Saam’s Scuba
School
863 E Main St., Ste BStamford, CT 06902
Tel. 203-32 SCUBA www.capt-saam.com
The Dive Shop439 Federal Rd.
Brookfield, CT 06804Tel. 203-740-9166
www.TheDiveShoponline.com
Pan Aqua Diving (2 locations):460 W 43rd St., New York, NY 10036Tel. 212-736-3483
and461 Federal Rd., Brookfield, CT 06804
Tel. 203-775-3573
www.panaqua.com
Rex Dive Center
144 Water Street
Norwalk, CT 06854Tel. 203-853-4148
www.rexdive.com
Cougar Sports917 Saw Mill River Rd.
Ardsley, NY 10502Tel. 914-693-8877
Durland Scuba Committee
& School
Venture Crew #53
35 East Grassy Sprain Rd. Ste 204
Yonkers NY 10710Tel 914-961-1263
http://www.durlandscuba.org
Page 6 February 2011 Sea Swells Log
Aqua Visions Scuba118 West Boston Post Road
Mamaroneck, NY 10543
Tel. 914-381-1884
www.aquavisions.biz
Ski and Scuba Connection26 Saint Roch Ave
Greenwich, CT 06830Tel. 203-629-4766
www.skiandscubaconnection.com
2037 Central Park Ave
Yonkers, NY 10710
Tel. 914-779-2966
and
2672 Gerritsen Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11229
Tel. 718-769-0099www.scubany.com
Captain Mike’s
Diving School530 City Island Ave
City Island, NY 10464
Tel. 718-885-1588
www.captainmikesdiving.com
Abyss Scuba222 E Main Street
Mt. Kisco, NY 10549914-244-3483
www.abyss-scuba.net
Marsh Scuba Supply93 Lauer Rd.
Poughkeepsie, NY 12603
Tel. 845-452-8994
www.marshscuba.com
New trip posted!
NOTE: More dive plans to be announced at the membership meeting!!!
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Volunteers NeededFor BTS 2011
Page 7 February 2011 Sea Swells Log
Note:
Programs may change without prior notice. Seewww.thescubasportsclub.org for updates.
SOCIAL & EVENTS
2011
For details on individual events, please go to
www.thescubasportsclub.org
Date Description
March
25th-27th
BENEATH THE SEA Meadowlands Expo Center
Secaucus New Jersey
(1(:%227+/2&$7,21
May 1st Orchard BeachU/W Beach Clean-Up & Picnic
June
25th-26th
Camping/WW Rafting
Lehigh Valley, PA
April 9th TSSC OPEN HOUSELocation TBA
April
30th
RUN FOR THE WILDBronx Zoo
Directors Meeting:Wed, Feb. 2nd, 2011 at 7 pm, loc. TBA
General Meeting:
Wed. Feb. 9th, 2011, at 7.00 pm
Victor’s Restaurant, Hawthorne
Program Notes:
Daniel Azarian, ‘Saving Lolita, The Orca’www.saveloita.org/; danielazarian.com/
(See Page 8 for details)
February Program
Directors Meeting:March 2nd, 2011 at 7.00 pm, location TBA
General Meeting:Wed. March 9th, 2011 at 7:00 pm ?
Victor’s Restaurant, Hawthorne
Please Note:
Our March meeting may have to be
rescheduled for a different day due to
speaker availability. Stay tuned!
March Program
Official Dive
Club
of
BENEATH THE SEA
PRESIDENT: Nick Lappano
VICE PRESIDENT: Denise Kurz
TREASURER: Cindy Fisher
SECRETARY: Craig Thomae
PAST PRESIDENT: Jim Sacci
NEWSLETTER DIRECTOR: Ruth Emblin
PROGRAM DIRECTOR: Allen Rios
ENVIRO/LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR: Bianca Thomae
EDUCATION/SAFETY DIRECTOR: Ellen Lasser
MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR: Dennis Orlowski
DIVE PLANNING DIRECTOR: Tom Butcher
SOCIAL DIRECTOR: Tabby Constantino
DIRECTOR AT LARGE: Dan Levin
LEGAL ADVISOR: Robert SchragerFOUNDER: Armand Zigahn
CO-FOUNDER: Soliman Shenouda
LIST MAINTENANCE: Ann Judge
Email contact information is available at our website www.thescubasportsclub.org
35th AnniversaryBeneath The Sea
Join Us at Beneath The Sea 2011!
Now is the best time to get your ticket—the dis-count ends soon!http://beneaththesea.org/tickets.html
More programs are now on-line ... and more to fol-low! Take a look ....http://beneaththesea.org/ShowInformation.html
It’s that time of the year again when we are asking for your help. We need vol-unteers for BTS 2011, both for organizational activities at BTS as well as specifi-
cally for the TSSC booth.
Please email Denise Kurz at [email protected] if you can spare a few hours
of your time the weekend of March 25th—27th, 2011 in exchange for experienc-ing the exciting world of the BTS dive industry show and the interesting person-
alities and characters that go with it!
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Wildlife Film Festival this past fall
where Daniel spoke along with
third generation ocean explorerFabien Cousteau. Daniel is cur-
rently producing several Public Ser-
vice Announcements with Underdog
Entertainment, including an Anti-
Bullying PSA.
www.saveloita.org/
www.danielazarian.com/
Page 8 February 2011 Sea Swells Log
EDITOR’S NOTE:
This newsletter is a publication of The Scuba Sports Club of Westchester, NY—Issue 02/2011 Material may not be reprinted without explicit permission by TSSC.
Daniel Azarian is anaward-wining di-
rector and producer of
c o m m e r c i a l s a n dbranded entertainment.
As a director, Azarianhas helmed national
television spots for blue-
chip brands and enter-tainment programming
for major television net-works. Top-tier compa-
nies have licensed Azarian’s visually ar-resting commercial work for advertising
on mobile networks worldwide. Among
the global brands and channels whosecampaigns and programs have featured
Official
Dive Club
B
rrrrrr! Old Man Winter has had
his hands on the Northeast forquite some time, and it is beginning
to wear on me. I made myself feel bet-
ter by watching some of the dive vid-
eos we shot during our last few dive
trips, among them the footage from
our latest adventure on the Aqua Cat!
It was great to relive some of the fun
and excitement we had on our club
trip, and I can’t wait for the next one.
Sharing our passion for scuba diving
and experiencing some of what the
watery world has to offer, is twice as
much fun when you do it with like-minded people, who are fun to be with
to boot. Membership does have its
privileges! TSSC has grown into a
great group of people who not only
love diving but also care deeply about
the ocean environment we enjoy so
much. See you soon!
Ruth Editor
A New Wreck Site For Cayman Islands
For divers who have enjoyed div-ing in Cayman's waters before,
there is a new wreck to discover.
The Cayman Islands Tourism Asso-ciation, in conjunction with the Min-
istry and Department of Tourism,
recently sank the EX USS Kittiwake.
The ship marks the creation of a newMarine Park and a fascinating new
snorkeling and diving attraction justoff the west coast of Grand Cayman.
The ex-USS Kittiwake was a Subma-
rine Rescue vessel (ASR-13). She was
part of the 6th Submarine squadron(SUBRON 6) home ported at the De-
stroyer-Submarine piers in Norfolk, VA. She was built in 1945 and de-
commissioned in 1994.
The new location of the Kittiwake is atthe northern end of Seven Mile Beach,
on the West or lee side of Grand Cay-man, just off of the Sand Chute Dive
site. The bottom is flat and sandy. The
Kittiwake will rest 64 feet deep at the
bottom and be only 15 feet from thesurface, ideal for both divers and snor-
kelers.
The Kittiwake is situated in marine
park that is protected under law inCayman, with no touching or taking of
anything, no gloves allowed and nofishing allowed on the wreck/Kittiwake
site. It requires an entrance fee to visit
from a licensed operator, with the feesgoing towards the ongoing mainte-
nance and protection of the new artifi-
cial wreck/reef plus natural reefs. An
exception to taking fish is made forculling lion fish, an invasive species to
Cayman waters.
To see videos of the sinking of
the Kittiwake, follow this link:
www.kittiwakecayman.com/
Azarian’s work
are AT&T, Sprint,
MTV, Vh1, Hori-
zon Organic and3M.
Daniel recently
produced the Pub-
lic Service An-n o u n c e m e n t
(PSA) , “Save Lo-lita” which ad-
dresses the plight of Lolita the Orca,
who has been held captive for 40 yearsin an illegally-sized small concrete
pool. The PSA was an official selectionat the Hampton’s Conservation and
February Program Notes:Daniel Azarian