By Gene Muchanski & Dana Polites
Southeast News Correspondents
Southeast Dive News &
Dive News Network

Something very exciting is happening in Deerfield Beach, Florida on Sunday, June 7, 2015. A barge with fifteen concrete Moai Heads will be sunk ½ mile off shore in seventy feet of water.  This elaborate public art project may be one of the most interesting dive sites ever created.

The Rapa Nui Reef Project is the vision of Margaret Blume, Founder and Benefactor.  Margaret wanted to do something BIG in environmental conservation using art.  She had an idea about creating an underwater park and marine habitat using fifteen Moai figures.  Her inspiration came from Easter Island, off the coast of Chile, famous for the Rapa Nui civilization that created 887 giant stone statues (Moai) over hundreds of years.  After consulting with Arilton Pavan, owner of Dixie Divers, Margret brought the project idea to the Women’s Club of Deerfiled Beach and funded it with a $500,000 grant.  The planning committee then commissioned Artist Dennis MacDonald from Zibitz Studioz to create the Rapa Nui Reef.

In the spring of 2014, discussion took place among members of the diving community regarding a January 6, 2014 Federal Register notice (beginning on page 620; 32 CFR Part 767; RIN 0703-AA90) pertaining to the ability of divers to access "sunken military vessels."  At that time, and on behalf of the industry, DEMA reached out to the Department of Navy (DoN) to determine the extent to which the provisions of this Federal Register would impact routine recreational scuba diving activities in or about sunken vessels/wrecks.  A copy of the request for clarification can be accessed here.  In response to DEMA's request for clarification, DEMA received a favorable response from the DoN.

A diver in the Cayman Islands was swimming along the ocean floor holding a plastic baggie with a small lionfish he’d captured when out of nowhere he was confronted by an aggressive grouper that really wanted the lionfish.A wrestling match ensued and, well, guess who won?

If you have dived in the Red Sea, Indian or Eastern Pacific Ocean, you will probably have seen shoals of these small black fish. They live on coral and rocky reefs at depths of 1 to 55 m.

Do not rely on the name for identification. When young, the threespot dascyllus does indeed have three white spots: one on each side and one on the forehead. Adult fish lose the forehead spot, the side spots become less distinct and the black colour of the fish becoming less intense.

Youngsters often live in large sea anemones, alongside the instantly recognisable Clownfish. Adults, though, leave the anemone to congregate in small groups around prominant rocks or coral outcrops.

The groups of adult Dascyllus trimaculatus comprise around 10 individuals with one male to several females. When approached by an intruder, the male assumes a higher defensive position, while the females rest betwen the tentacles of the anemone. During spawning the male dances to attract females. They deposit eggs on coral branches which are watched and guarded by the male until they hatch.

Dascyllus trimaculatus is part of a complex of four species that vary in geographical ranges and colour patterns. Of these D. trimaculatus is the most widely distributed,