Stepan and I finally arranged to take the Scientific Certification Course at Aquarena Springs. The course was very interesting and informative. The lecture series discussed the various endangered species (flora and fauna) that depend on the Edward's Aquifer such as the Texas Blind Salamander, San Marcos Salamander, and Texas Wild Rice. We learned about the archeological significance of the area as well as a little bit about the various habitat recovery plans.
The diving was lots of fun though I was completely apprehensive about the obstacle course and skills we would need to display. It was especially nerve-racking because when Stepan and I did our practice dives on Friday, I was uncomfortable with the dive conditions on our second dive which started so late that it turned into a night dive. In any event, the first dive on Saturday was an obstacle course practice dive. The main concern is that all divers have superb bouyancy control to avoid silting up the water and disturbing the native inhabitants. The obstacle course started with three 48" hoops we had to pass through without touching or moving the hoops(which is pretty difficult when you have a tank on your back and various hoses and instruments hanging around your body), then to a faux archeology grid where we had to transport a 14# "artifact" (in this case a motor rotar) from one side of the grid to the other without silting up the water or suffering an uncontrolled or unintended ascent to the surface (which in deeper waters would be extemely hazerdous), next was bouyancy control at a pair of large clam shells left over from the Mermaid show when Auquarena Springs was a theme park, followed by my personal favorite (and the last element of the course), a 48" table you had to finger-walk under without silting up the water or bumping the table.
After the practice dive, we got an hour break before having to do the course for a grade. Out of a possible 10 points you had to score 7 to pass. I got thoroughly chilled waiting in the 72 degree water for my turn, but at last it came. I made a conscious effort to take it slow and easy which paid off big time because I passed the course with a 9 (I believe I hit the first loop). Stepan also passed (with a 7) - I think he may have been overweighted (for those non-divers out there, divers were weight belts with anywhere from 8 to 30 pounds of extra weight on them to help them sink - the amount of weight depends on the environment (you're more bouyant in ocean water than sea water and need more weight) and your equipment (wet suits are very bouyant and require additional weights)).
After dinner, we finally got to explore the Spring Lake. The dive started around 7:30pm so it was starting to get dark. The visibility is much better than it is at Lake Travis (where we did our Friday practice dives) so I didn't have the problems/concerns I had then. Our tour began with 15 minute snorkle and took us to Deep Hole (the deepest part of the lake at roughly 28' deep), to the archeology grid, then through what seemed like miles of hydrenea to an area called Cream of Wheat. From Cream of Wheat we went to Diversion - a diverter cap over the artesian spring that supplies Spring Lake with water. At Diversion we were able to remove our regulators and drink fresh water directly from the springs - Mom would have loved this; you can't get fresher, cleaner water anywhere! We left Diversion, traveled underneath a sunken submarine and returned to the training area where we surfaced. During the dive we saw some turtles, some white channel catfish that were HUGE!!!!, some fountain darters, sunfish, and perch.
Our Sunday morning dive followed the path of the Saturday evening dive. This time we saw some snails and a San Marcos salander was pointed out to us, but I was looking at the wrong thing and didn't get to see it. I'm looking forward to volunteering for the various research and clean-up projects that I now qualify for though I believe I could use some more practice with my bouyancy. I would like to actually see the San Marcos salamander as well as some gar (which I'm told are quite abundant in Spring Lake).
Posted by jfer at August 6, 2001 4:33 PM