Twin Dolphins Diving
Jill and Scott Knapp
515 So Miller Street
Lakewood, CO 80226-2662
303-942-0399-messages
Trips
MV SPREE
August 7-10, 2008 board the MV Spree the evening of August 6, 2008
Cost $980.00 not including transportation or hotel stay prior to returnin home, tips, alcoholic beverages, dive certifications.
Nitrox Certification and Diving is HIGHLY recommended.
Trip Travel Insurance is also HIGHLY recommended.
Professional Escorts: Chris and Holly Marr
call for details: 303-942-0399
Coming soon: Cozumel Summer 2008 with Whale Shark Snorkeling trip to Holbox
email twindolphinsdiving@q.com if you are interested or would like more information!
DISCOVER DIVING THE FLOWER GARDENS AND THE STETSON
BANKS
SOME OF THE BEST DIVING IN THE UNITED STATES
Turtles, Manta Rays, Sharks, Lots of Fish and Coral …
Dates: August 7,8,9, & 10, 2008--this means it departs the evening of August 6th!
to sign up, please click on this link to complete the registration with Spree Expeditions:
http:// (will update soon)
Included in this package: 3.5 +days diving, 12-14possible dives including night
dives including possible oil rig dives (at Captain's discretion and weather
permitting); all snacks, meals, non-carbonated beverages. Sodas and beer
are available for purchase. Also includes Pre-trip party (for those in Denver
area);Port Tax, Professional group escort, weights and tanks.
Does not include: personal transportation to Freeport Texas; your accommodations
pre and post trip (don't forget the fly-dive rules); any continuing education
fees and certification cards; personal dive gear and equipment; dinner the
evenings of August 6th and the 28th, Nitrox diving or certification or dive
insurance or travel insurance, or tips to their staff or ours.
Nitrox is FREE and is highly recommended due to the amount and depth of diving. If you need to be Nitrox Certified, we will run a course it takes about 4 hours. Diving with persoal dive computers is also highly recommended due to the number off dives you will be participating in.
The Flower Garden National Marine Sanctuary
Mention the Flower Gardens to most people and their first thoughts are of
hot houses and neatly trimmed marigold beds. This is not surprising when
you consider where these entrancing coral reefs got their name. Turn of
the century snapper fishermen could actually see the "gardens"
of corals and sponges 50 to 100 feet below the surface. They occasionally
snagged brightly colored bits of these animals on their lines as they fished.
They likened them to the more familiar common flowers, hence the name, Flower
Gardens!
The Flower Gardens are actually the northernmost coral reefs in the United
States. Located about 105 miles directly south of the Texas/Louisiana border
(click to see map), they are perched atop two salt domes rising above the
sea floor. Salt formation began 160 to 170 million years ago when salt layers
were deposited in what was then a shallow sea subject to evaporation. In
subsequent years, miles of sediments were deposited over the salt layers.
Eventually, internal pressures became great enough to push isolated pockets
of salt up through the sediments, forcing the seafloor to bulge upward in
distinct domes. The Flower Gardens coral reef community probably began developing
on top of the domes 10,000 to 15,000 years ago. The community has thrived
sufficiently to obscure all trace of the deformed bedrock on which it developed,
forming coral reefs.
The nearest tropical coral reefs to the Flower Gardens are 400 miles away
off Tampico, Mexico. Scientists believe that corals at the Flower Gardens
probably originated from Mexican reefs when currents in the western Gulf
of Mexico carried the young corals (planulae), other animal larvae, and
plant spores northward. A few of these planulae were lucky enough to settle
on the hard substrate of the Flower Garden Banks.
Amazingly, this location in the northwestern Gulf provided all the comforts
of home for hard corals: a hard surface for attachment, clear sunlit water,
warm water temperatures, and a steady food supply. The corals now form the
basis for a complex, yet balanced ecosystem, providing a regional oasis
for shallow-water Caribbean reef species.
It was this wonderful biological diversity and breathtaking beauty that
prompted researchers and recreational divers to seek protection for the
Flower Gardens. In the 1970's they launched what would become a 20 year
effort, culminating in 1992, to designate the Flower Garden Banks National
Marine Sanctuary.
In October, 1996, Congress expanded the Sanctuary by adding a small third
bank. Stetson Bank is also a salt dome, located about 70 miles south of
Galveston, Texas. Because of its location, average temperatures during the
winter are several degrees cooler than at the Flower Gardens. Consequently,
the corals do not thrive and build into reefs. Instead, this bank supports
a coral/sponge habitat and rich assemblages of associated animals and plants
where the siltstone bedrock can still be seen in many places.
300 varietys of fish, 21 species of corals, 3 species of turtles (loggerhead,
hawksbill and leatherback); lobsters, crabs and other crustaceans, sponges,
sharks, skates and rays.
Coral Spawning near the full moon in August!
Website: cut and paste
www.sanctuaries.nos.noaa.gov/
oms/omsflower/omsflower.html
The MV Spree:
The MV Spree is a 100 foot, live-aboard, air-conditioned diving boat operating in the Gulf of Mexico. The boat is equipped with a triple screw and the ability to cruise at 18 knots. For diving ease, the boat has been customized for diving with a large dive platform, gear donning benches and a huge sun deck. There are two fresh-water tanks for computers and cameras and outlets for recharging batteries. There are 24 single bunks. Sheets, pillows and blankets are provided. There are three heads and one private shower as well as a clean water rinse and shower on the deck available to guests. The full galley serves three meals of home-style food a day, snacks and beverages
The MV Spree is staffed by 2 US Coast Guard Certified Captains , 2 cooks, and a boat divemaster .
FOR INFORMATION OR TO RESERVE YOUR SPOT:
CALL TWIN DOLPHINS DIVING
JILL OR SCOTT KNAPP
303-942-0399
Email: twindolphinsdiving@q.com
Or
adm@twindolphinsdiving.com