Scuba Shack Radio #21 – 12-15-19



In this episode we discuss the Ikelite Olympus TG-6 package, stony coral tissue loss disease, and some history of New England diving.

The Ikelite Olympus TG-6 package comes with the Olympus TG-6 camera, the Ikelite housing, the action tray II with left handle, RC1 TTL (Through the Lens) receiver, a fiber optic cord, the Ikelite DS51 strobe and the compact ball arm for quick release. The camera features four underwater modes – normal, wide, macro, and microscope with 3 filter settings including shallow, mid and deep. You can add a 3 or 6 inch wide angle dome port. The camera shoots both JPEG and RAW formats. If you want to edit RAW images, you can download the Olympus Workspace application. You can edit JPEG in your favorite editing software.

Stony coral tissue loss disease was first detected in Florida in 2014 and has spread to Jamaica, the Mexican Caribbean, St. Martin, St. Thomas and the Dominican Republic. It is suspected to be caused by bacterium but still not definitive. You can get a great deal of detail on stony coral tissue loss disease on the Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment (AGRRA) program website https://www.agrra.org/coral-disease-outbreak/. This outbreak is different because of the number of coral species effected, its high prevalence, rapid mortality, the high rate of transmission, its large geographic area and the long duration of the outbreak. Interventions include topical application of chlorine and amoxicillin, epoxy, amputation or relocation.

Jim Cahill was a New England diver who is one of the pioneers of scuba diving in the United States. An original Navy Underwater Demolition Team member who started a salvage business after getting out of the Navy. He is credited with being a co-founder of NAUI, an original member of the Boston YMCA Sea Rovers and started New England Dive. Some of Jim’s adventures are recounted in a book written by his brother, Robert Ellis Cahill, titled “Diary of the Depths”. This book has some interesting stories. A couple of chapters are stories by Frank Sanger and double amputee diver who worked with Jim. You can read about the early days of salvage diving including a highly publicized murder case in MA, recovery efforts on a jet that crashed in Boston Harbor and the Texas Tower in the Atlantic.