As the Diving Safety Officer, the safety of the scientific dive team at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science is paramount. This entails a lot of work, training, shipboard missions, collaborations, record keeping, and, at times, diving in some very mucky, cold conditions. None of it is unbearably terrible, however, sometimes, like this summer, I manage to end up somewhere spectacular! We have divers all over the planet and in this case, I had bran new scientific divers in training, in Honolulu, Hawaii! It was extremely valuable to work with these DITs in their research environment, rather than some flooded quarry. There’s no substitute for the salt water, waves, currents, marine life and other realistic stressors during training. Because of this realistic training, they’re better divers and I’m a better instructor! In the course of our proficiency dives, I had a GoPro mounted on a PVC pole, which is an amazing way to get close-up videos of the critters underwater. Video below. Enjoy!