| We (Lexie, Ashley, Ryan, and Josh) recently returned from Bonaire, where we successfully completed mixed gas closed-circuit rebreather (CCR) training under the instruction of Jared Hires from Dive Rite and Zack Richardson from Technical Diving Services Bonaire. Over the course of a week in Bonaire we completed 18 CCR dives, with 8 Trimix dives, 5 dives deeper than 165’ and 2 dives to 200’. We were able to explore several different sites all along the west coast of the island including conservation areas, shipwrecks, the salt pier, and multiple unique mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs). Our last day of training included a deep dive on the secluded Windjammer wreck and a simulated bail-out ascent with decompression. |  |
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We had an excellent overall experience in Bonaire and hope to return soon for research on their extensive reef systems. We've been conducting open circuit trimix technical dives on mesophotic reefs for several years, but now our technical dive team has the capacity to conduct CCR dives down to a depth of 200’ using trimix diluent, extending our bottom times and overall flexibility. We'll also save time and cost not having to refill open circuit trimix doubles every day. Our CCR training will be a major advantage as we continue our research on MCEs in the northwest Gulf of Mexico during an expedition this coming summer in support of our collaborative Connectivity of Coral Ecosystems project funded by NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science and the Office of Ocean Exploration and Research in partnership with the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary.
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