Save Bluefin Tuna

Western Atlantic bluefin tuna are in deep peril. This amazing fish that can swim over 40 mph and weigh up to 1,500 pounds is in danger of becoming extinct within 10 years. Rampant commercial fishing has reduced the mature population of this fish by 80% since 1970. Despite this, the federal government is proposing to increase the catch in the Gulf of Mexico, the only known spawning area for bluefin tuna in the western Atlantic Ocean.

Fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico targeting swordfish and yellowfin tuna deploy up to 40 miles of long-lines in the water with hundreds of baited hooks attached. During the 10 hours a day these long-lines are fishing, species that are supposed to be protected in the Gulf of Mexico including bluefin tuna, marlins, and sea turtles are caught and killed. Instead of eliminating this wasteful fishing gear, the Federal government is proposing to allow commercial fishermen to kill and sell more bluefin tuna, despite the fact that their population is at the lowest levels on record.


Click Here to Read More and Sign the Petition

Its Shark Week!

Remember that this is Shark Week on the Discovery Channel. There is lots of great shark focused programming going on all week, so if you're into sharks, check it out!!


Click Here to Learn More About Shark Week



Click Here to Watch a Clip from the CBS Morning News on Shark Week



Check out Sharks After Dark on Thursday at 9pm, co-hosted by the National Aquarium in DC's Director of Biological Programs Andy Dehart

Scuba Diving Fun at Camp

We have been working with various camps in the area to do Discover Scuba Diving experiences with the kids, so that EVERYBODY gets a chance to experience Scuba Diving and how much fun it can be. The kids have been having a great time underwater, and we have been having even more fun giving them their first scuba diving experiences. Click the link below to see some of the photos from our most recent Discover Scuba Diving session.

Click Here to See Photos

Wounded soldiers take to diving (from carolina coast online)

MOREHEAD CITY — Four wounded soldiers boarded a dive boat at Olympus Dive Center and were under way Saturday to a sunken submarine about 30 miles off Atlantic Beach.

The four soldiers from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., are members of Soldiers Undertaking Disabled Scuba, a nonprofit organization developed to provide dive opportunities for the injured soldiers.

The program is part of the Wounded Warrior Project that caters to severely injured service members during the time between active duty and their transition to civilian life.

For two years, the SUDS have taught more than 100 injured veterans how to scuba dive. The program is designed to assist returning veterans injured in Afghanistan and Iraq with their rehabilitation at Walter Reed and is the brainchild of John Thompson, SUDS president and certified scuba instructor who worked several summers with Olympus and was volunteering at Walter Reed with the Red Cross when he asked the hospital about the possibility of teaching scuba diving.

Capt. Danny Facciola, assistant and coordinator for the dives, said Mr. Thompson approached him about helping with the program.

“I thought it was a wonderful idea, and I would do anything I can to help,” he said.

Capt. Facciola said after some planning to establish the nonprofit group, Mr. Thompson approached Walter Reed and the proposal was accepted with enthusiasm.

Click Here to Read Full Article
(photo by Helen Outland)

Top 10 Things You Can Do To Help the Bay

As part of the Smart, Green & Growing initiative, the Department of Natural Resources has released a Top 10 list of action items citizens can do to save the Chesapeake Bay. Recently, scientists environmental experts noted that some river systems may have reached a "tipping point," where self-reinforcing elements within the ecosystem are working to maintain either positive or negative trends. An increase in underwater bay grasses, for example, can promote the growth of more bay grasses, improving water clarity, increasing oxygen levels and providing better habitat for fish and crabs.

Click Here to See the List

Scuba Diving is Fun!

Taking the plunge and getting your scuba diving certification is fun, and it will open up all kinds of new opportunities for you.



One of the best things about scuba diving is that it can be whatever you want it to be - it can be a pulse pounding, adreneline rushing adventure; it can be a relaxing, calming, floating along the reef zen-like experience; it can be educational; you can do it with large groups or small groups; you can do it close to home, or you can travel the world..... Hopefully once you're certified you'll do all of the above. There are so many amazing opportunities to take advantage of, you could dive for a lifetime and not see everything. Don't wait - start today and start your scuba adventure!



In just the last couple of months, some of the things Atlantic Edge has done (that you could be doing too, once you're certified!):



We collected lobsters and flounders off of Ocean City (and had a GREAT dinner that night!)
We hunted for fossilized shark teeth in Venice, Florida
We dove with stingrays and sea turtles at the National Aquarium in Baltimore
We worked with the Coral Restoration Foundation in the Florida Keys to preserve and build new reef structure

And in the next couple of months.

We will be traveling to the Bahamas to collect and study the invasive Pacific Lionfish
We will be traveling to Yap and Palau to dive some of the most exotic and pristine dive sites in the world
We will be traveling to Bonaire to train Master Scuba Divers

Does any of that sound good to you? Once you're a diver, its all possible! There's still plenty of time to get certified this summer - we hope you will join us for a class!

Award-winning Marine Documentary Slated for Release this Summer

Sundance Award-Winning thriller The Cove will be released in theaters throughout the country beginning this summer. Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF) and Roadside Attractions have acquired all U.S. rights to the film, while The Works International, in conjunction with James Atherton's London-based Quickfire Films Fund, acquired distribution rights for all other territories outside North America.
Winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, The Cove is an astounding piece of investigative journalism with the heart of an action thriller. Led by Louie Psihoyos, co-founder of the Ocean Preservation Society, and Richard O'Barry, an internationally recognized authority on dolphin training who is best known for his work on the 1960's TV show "Flipper," the film follows a high-tech dive team on a mission to discover the truth about the international dolphin capture trade as practiced in Taji, Japan. Utilizing state-of-the-art techniques, including hidden microphones and cameras in fake rocks, the team uncovers how this small seaside village serves as a horrifying microcosm of massive ecological crimes happening worldwide.

A local premier of The Cove is scheduled in Washington, DC to take place on July 16th at the Landmark's E Street Cinema at 7:30pm. The film will be publicly released July 31st in New York and Los Angeles and will expand into additional markets the following week. Screenings are scheduled at the Bethesda Row Cinema and the Landmark Harbor East 7 Cinema during the first week of August. For more information on The Cove, visit the film's web site at: www.thecovemovie.com