What do humpback whales, great white sharks and barracuda have in common with German U-Boats, tanks and steamboats? On the surface, they have absolutely nothing to do with each other. However, below the obvious observation of these two totally different subjects, lies a single theme that brings them together water.
No one knows this better than John Kiser, the scuba diving instructor of 19 Washington College students and one faculty wife. The class is held every Wednesday night from 6 to 10 p.m. and is divided into two sessions a two-hour classroom lesson and a two-hour pool lesson. The classroom lesson involves reading a chapter from a diving instructional manual and watching a video that talks about the chapter. Then there are review slides, where Kiser gives some personal experience on the subject matter, and finally a quiz. To prepare for the class, students must purchase some of their equipment that includes fins, snorkel, boots, a mask, and as one student commented, a "good attitude."
At the end of the course, students must complete a check-out dive in order to be certified. This check out dive is held in Rawlings, Virginia, at a flooded quarry. The quarry itself is only fifty feet deep, which is rather shallow. Some quarries can be 200 feet deep.
The students say they enjoy the class.
"I think it's great," Katie Cleary says of the class. Bridget Pucell gives a more detailed opinion. "It's kind of hard not to learn this stuff. They give the same information in different ways so that you know it."
Martha Hamilton, the wife of one of the Washington College faculty, looks at the class a little differently.
"It's a life ambition. This guy is awesome. He is world-renowned; he certified an 89-year-old. I guess I will do okay."
John Kiser has been diving since 1961, and was certified to dive at age 11. He has certified more men and women to dive than anyone else in the world, a goal he admits he never tried to reach intentionally. He has been teaching since 1968, and currently teaches at colleges such as Salisbury State University, Towson University and the Naval Academy.
He works with PADI, the Professional Association of Diving Instructors. PADI is the world's largest training organization that establishes training programs, materials, and high standards.Although he has been all over the world diving for the military to disarm explosives, and has dived in the Caribbean and Hawaii, he finds that the most interesting place to dive is Maryland. Kiser is very interested in archeological diving. In fact, shipwrecks and the process of finding them were part of the reason that Kiser began to dive in the first place.
He found a German 7C U-Boat during a dive, and when he approached the military, he was told that the wreck was still classified. So, he went through all the records, got the boat unclassified, and discovered that the boat was captured early on in World War II, and was sunk on purpose to test torpedoes. Kiser has also sunk over five ships, including a 324-foot submarine, tanks, and armored vehicles.
The purpose of sinking these boats? First, they provide sport divers things to look at during their dives. Second, they help the environment. Cars and ships that have been properly been cleaned out become home to entire ecosystems.
This area is known as the "Graveyard of the Atlantic" because during the first two years of World War II, over 50 percent of U.S. ships were sunk just twenty miles offshore. Some of the ships still contain explosives, but they aren't the only dangerous things in the ocean. What about undersea life?Great white sharks and hammerheads are really only dangerous if you are splashing around or are bleeding. Kiser has gone on shark dives which were perfectly safe. The largest hammerhead mating ground is in Maryland, around Fenwick Island.
As for moray eels, they only bite if you stick your hand into their homes. "Most sea life only attacks in order to defend themselves if they feel threatened," Kiser tells his class, as he describes the sea life they may eventually encounter. Really, the largest danger is jellyfish. They can't sting through a wet suit, but if they get in a diver's face, it can be very painful. The one thing not to do, Kiser explains, is rub sand on your sting.
The sand bursts the stinging cells and spreads the agony. Instead rub meat tenderizer and alcohol over the wound.With so much training and experience, it is no wonder that Kiser was sought to teach scuba diving to students here. Yet the learning does not have to end when the beginner's class does.
After the class is over, the students will be given a temporary certification card that is good for 90 days. The students are encouraged to take more advanced lessons in night swimming and rescue procedure. Not only does this provide them with more experience, but also a stronger foundation to continue to dive. So, from being passed by a humpback whale that misses you intentionally to finding a submarine that is still holding explosives, diving is a fun and generally safe activity in which to indulge.
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