Receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from Bonaire

(Please also read the next post down the page for the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame ceremonies on Grand Cayman on November 9th).

In an earlier post I described a wonderful week on the island of Bonaire in August, where I was given a humbling honor for my work in urging reef conservation forty years ago.

Those who know the story have heard that the actual award was in a piece of luggage the airline lost for the entire week. So, the actual statuette was presented at the Diving and Equipment Marketing Association trade show in Orlando in early November.

Here, Ms. Lara Chirino, Director of Tourism, is presenting the award, flanked by two young people dressed as a trademark flamingo and an iguana, animals found in profusion on Bonaire.

In the next shot, Ms. Chirino, the flamingo lady and the iguana fellow are joined by Leslie Leaney of the Historical Diving Society (second from left) and the famed marine artist Wyland (second from right).

My new friend the Flamingo Lady joins me in the picture. Note that I kept my cold hand off her bare skin for fear she would let out a squeal and get me in trouble!

 My thanks to the government and the people of Bonaire for extending this unique honor.

 It will always have a special place in my heart, bringing back those precious memories from 40 years ago  http://www.divexprt.com/index_pics/Bonaire/BonaireAchievementAward.html

International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame induction ceremonies

I have just returned from the Cayman Islands, where the weather was gorgeous. The visit was for the annual ceremonies of the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame, on whose Board I serve.

We had gathered for the induction of a distinguished roster of those who helped diving become what we know today. About two hundred people attended the banquet, a gala sponsored and underwritten
by the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism. We gathered at the Grand Old House as the Sun was disappearing, and our inductees had their rendezvous with history.

 

Among our honorees was Andre Laban, one of Jacques Cousteau's very first employees, as he colorfully tells us here:

Another inductee was Clement Lee, who brought famed Sipadan Island off the coast of Borneo in Malaysia to the attention of the diving world.

I had a camera problem when my friend Allan Power, long-time guardian of the S.S. President Coolidge in Vanuatu (28,000 dives!!) was speaking, So, here is one of Tom Ingram's stills to show Allan as he made his remarks. My trip to Vanuatu in the early 1970s was one of the great adventures of my early career.

Howard and Michelle Hall, the makers of 100 films, most in recent years in IMax 3D, remembered their very first visit to the Caymans:

All in all, some extraordinarily accomplished contributors to our sport were honored by the Hall and the audience. Welcome to the new Hall of Famers! There will be much information and media more posted on the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame web site soon  http://www.scubahalloffame.com/