2014's Reef Alliance Day is Saturday, September 20th

Reef Alliance is an ocean conservancy program founded by Sub Sea Systems. Reef Alliance promotes education and conservation efforts by incorporating the message of sustainable diving into Sea TREK guided tours. The health of our business relies on the health of our oceans; we require that every Sea TREK operator and Sea TREK Guide take the Reef Alliance pledge.

The Reef Alliance Pledge says:

•  Reef Alliance members will be committed to educating others, sharing their knowledge of eco systems and the importance of reef conservation


• Reef Alliance members will protect the reef and its creatures from harm


• Reef Alliance members will be aware of all equipment being used to explore the underwater world, making certain that no physical contact between nature and apparatus can cause any harm


• Reef Alliance members will recover trash from the sea and recycle whenever possible


• Reef Alliance members will use proper measures to maintain a healthy reef


• Reef Alliance members will educate every guest about endangered species, reef conservation, and responsible diving practices

And finally Reef Alliance members pledge:

“It is my responsibility to respect and share the privilege of exploring our ocean realm with each and every guest. I pledge to take only photos and leave only bubbles. I am committed to behavior that assures the least amount of impact on our ecosystem.” 

 In addition to pledging our commitment to the health of the oceans, Reef Alliance members also proactively participate in cleanup programs and educational events around the world.

In 2009 Reef Alliance began hosting and taking part in an annual cleanup and awareness event. Originally, Reef Alliance would stage the event on Earth Day, which falls in April, however in 2011 we began to host our annual cleanup on Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup Day, which falls in September. Our Sea TREK operators recover trash and debris from their local beach and reefs, while Sub Sea Systems’ corporate headquarters (located in Northern California – hours away from the beach) takes part in cleaning up local parks, rivers and waterways — preventing some trash from ever reaching the sea. We have even hosted an educational project for 5th graders and implemented a conservancy poster design contest.

Being a part of the International Coastal Cleanup has given Reef Alliance a measurable idea of the efforts our members make annually. The trash that is cleaned up is recorded onto data cards by each volunteer, and then collected by Ocean Conservancy. Each year Ocean Conservancy uses the data to create an annual report on the trash in our marine environments. This information is used to educate the public about the problems with waste, and the ways we can prevent trash from entering the sea.

This Saturday, September 20th, marks the 29th annual International Coastal Cleanup. Sea TREK operators worldwide will be participating in local beach and reef cleanup projects. As a thank you to our volunteers, Reef Alliance recognizes the operator who puts forth the best cleanup effort and honors them with the Reef Alliance Award. The criteria for the award includes: the efforts to promote the project, how many people attended, the amount of trash collected and the dedication of the operator and Guides. The last 2 years the award has gone to St. Lucia’s Sea Adventures for outstanding care and effort. Last year, 21 Sea Adventures staff members, friends and volunteers worked from 5am until 6pm collecting more than 1,000 lbs of trash, including: 4 car alternators, 250 oil bottles, and 627 plastic beverage containers. We look forward to seeing this year’s efforts and selecting the 2014 Reef Alliance Award winner.

If you have not signed up for the International Coastal Cleanup — please do. It is happening this Saturday, September 20th. You can find clean up locations here. Or create your own clean up here. Be sure to collect your data and send it into Ocean Conservancy! (Download the form here). If you wish to join Sub Sea Systems' corporate office team in our clean up efforts please email hannah@subseasystems.com ASAP, or meet us at Marshall Gold Discovery State  Park in Coloma at 9am this Saturday.

Send in your project stories and photos to reefalliance@subseasystems.com for a chance to be nominated for this year’s Reef Alliance Award. Watch for the results of the cleanup in an upcoming blog post!
To learn more about Sub Sea Systems and our product divisions please visit www.subseasystems.com

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Radar Takes Over the Blog — Part Two

Recently Radar, the Sea TREK guru, took over our blog and talked about his experiences in Sea TREK training, set up and his travels throughout the last 15 years — ending with his trip to Grand Cayman to set up Dolphin Discovery’s new Dolphin TREK program. If you missed it, read the post here.

Radar is our resident comedian, and we miss his office antics when he’s traveling abroad— but we love to hear his stories when he returns, and now we are sharing them with you!

Most recently Radar set up Dolphin TREK at Geoje Sea World on Geoje Island, South Korea. He shares…

“After I arrived in Busan, South Korea I was taken by car to my hotel. I accidentally dozed off in the car because I had been flying for 24hrs and it was 10 o’clock at night. I woke up to laughter and my driver joking that ‘Nicolas Cage’ fell asleep… My nickname was ‘Nicolas Cage’ the rest of the trip.”      

Radar is on the left

“Busan, South Korea looks very western — the roads and the buildings — but the landscape is more extreme. Cliffs, tunnels, bridges and mountains are more dramatic. Geoje Island used to be a small village, and retained that feel even with Geoje Sea World.”

“The craziest thing about the cultural differences was that I could not get any beef! If I wanted beef I would have to travel very far and pay a LOT! Even the nearest McDonalds was 45 minutes away, and I do not know if they even serve beef!”

“We mostly ate rice, vegetables, and fish, and when we ate we took our shoes off, and sat on the floor.”

“The trainees were very successful, motivated, well-traveled, young people. In Korea they count ages differently, adding on a year — counting the time before they were born— and another year when the ‘New Year’ starts. The trainees were telling me they were between 21 and 23 years old, but in relation to the way we think in the U.S. they are between 19 and 21.”

“Geoje Sea World is a unique location for Sea TREK because it is not in an aquarium. The Dolphin TREK is an experience offered in addition to the shows and encounters. The dolphins and trainers are very relaxed. The pace is different.”

“The biggest challenge was the language barrier. We used a lot of hand signals, drawings, and it took time and patience to make sure that everyone understood exactly what they were meant to do.”

“My favorite part of the trip to Geoje was the belugas. I would walk over to their enclosure and they always came up to say ‘Hi’ to me. I eventually figured out that they didn’t really like me they just thought I had food for them, but they were really cool!”

“On the last day, as my driver was taking me back to the airport, we almost ran out of fuel. We stopped to fill up, and realized the car took propane. We had to drive way out of the way to find a station that had propane, and I was going to miss my flight... Somehow that driver took some tricky back roads, and I was 20 minutes early to the airport!”

“The trip was really quick; I usually get to spend more time with the trainees, but I got sick. I look forward to getting to spend more time next time I visit Korea.”

I hope you enjoyed reading about Radar’s adventures as much as we love hearing about them. Look for the next in the series as Radar sets up Sea TREK in Sanya, China at WuZhiZhou.

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The Story Behind FunCat® Electric Catamaran

What is a FunCat?

FunCats are chaise-lounge style, electric catamaran boats.  They are designed for side-by-side seating, additional space for small children and an overall capacity of up to 500 pounds. The unique hull design and simple-to-use push button controls allow for expert maneuvering within only a few minutes of use. Dry storage compartments, armrests with cup holders and 3 seat-back positions offer the finest in cruising comfort. FunCat is the ultimate leisure watercraft.  The open view of the horizon past your feet — as you sit next to your loved ones and cruise over rolling waves — is a view you will never forget.  For more information please visit www.funcats.com or call (530) 626-0100.

The History of FunCat

The original design of the FunCat went by the name of “SunCat” and was manufactured by Rave Sports, who primarily produces inflatable water toys. The concept of SunCat was very popular, unfortunately Rave Sports lacked the expertise to build the product for marine environments.  Rental operations loved the product, and it was well received by customers, but ongoing motor and wiring problems resulted in a reputation of unreliability – the SunCats were more known for breaking down.

In 1999 Sub Sea Systems purchased the SunCat product line from Rave Sports and began to redesign the product using the company's extensive knowledge of marine vessel construction. The design was entirely revamped, and the name was changed to “FunCat.” The product was a perfect fit for Sub Sea Systems due to the company’s reach into the aquatic resort market. Not long after acquiring the product line, FunCats began to gradually sell to private owners and rental locations around the world. Although the boats were popular with private customers and commercial rental operators, FunCats remained a very small part of Sub Sea Systems’ business. Remaining in the shadow of semi-submersibles, submersibles, Sea TREK and SNUBA business.

In 2013, Sub Sea Systems embarked on a focused effort to re-design, re-engineer and re-tool FunCat production to meet the market potential. FunCats are proudly manufactured in the USA. The boat’s look, reliability and overall quality continue to be fine tuned with new wiring and control systems, custom-made Mercury Marine motors, grained aluminum frames, a new hull design, a new logo, a number of aesthetic finishes, and a full line of accessories.  Sub Sea Systems’ marketing efforts, which began in 2013 include: a redesigned website, expanded social media presence, direct mailing campaigns, print ads, a new line of promotional materials and a Joint Venture revenue share program. This has resulted in the dramatic expansion of FunCat rental locations, and overall sales. 2014 is already a record-performing year.

FunCats are a unique and innovative product, and 2014 has strengthened the relevance of these boats in the market. As FunCats continue to expand, we’ve broadened our target markets, representatives and distribution network. Below are examples of some of the newer FunCat markets.

The Real Estate Connection 

FunCat has partnered with real estate agents and agencies to promote home sales on the water. FunCat’s are a perfect selling tool for waterfront homes. The FunCat allows interested homebuyers to drive themselves around the water— on the living, social side of the community— giving the potential homeowner the feeling of what it would be like to live in a waterfront neighborhood. The FunCat can also incentivize home sales by being included with the purchase of a new home. Contact Sub Sea Systems if you are a real estate agent interested in FunCats as a selling tool.

Business Opportunities — Joint Ventures & Dealers

FunCat business opportunities are just a phone call away. We offer opportunities for businesses to conduct FunCat rentals under a low-cost joint venture with Sub Sea Systems— for more details click here. We are also looking for FunCat resellers (click here for details), and we are open to FunCat sales representatives in select areas and communities. Please contact Sub Sea Systems if you are interested in these opportunities at info@funcats.com or (530) 626-0100.

You can expect to see FunCats at commercial operations, resorts, and homes worldwide.

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Myth busters #1 — Sharks & Stingrays

Sharks and Stingrays have pretty bad reputations. People fear them for many reasons, but are any of these reasons based on fact? Read on for interesting myth busters about these misunderstood creatures of the sea.

SHARKS

Movies like Jaws have instilled fear into the hearts of people around the world. The idea of a giant, intelligent, man-eating shark with 3 rows of razor sharp teeth and a quest for vengeance is quite daunting, but the reality is that sharks need our help. We need to quell these myths in order to protect these magnificent creatures.

Myth:

Sharks are man-eaters.

Fact:

Sharks are being hunted to the brink of extinction in part because of their reputation as man-eaters. Generally when a shark ‘attack’ happens (which is very rare) it is a case of mistaken identity. When sharks bite humans they think they are getting a nice bite of seal (one of their favorite sources of food), and usually they swim away when they realize their mistake.

Myth:

Sharks are not threatened.

Fact:

Many species of sharks are threatened because they tend to grow slowly and produce few young, which leaves them vulnerable to overfishing. Sharks are very important to the eco systems within which they exist. Not only is it very sad to lose any species to extinction, but it affects other populations, and causes imbalance and further extinction. The key cause of this sad state of affairs is shark finning. Shark finning is the horrible fishing practice where fishermen catch sharks, slice off all of their fins, and throw their still living bodies back into the sea. The mutilated sharks (still alive) sink to the bottom, and being unable to swim they are slowly eaten alive by other fish. The multi billion-dollar industry is estimated to kill 100 million sharks annually.  To spread awareness of this cruel practice a very graphic and disturbing video was created by www.sharkproject.org.

Watch it here! 

Myth:

Sharks do not have predators.

Fact:

Humans are the scariest predators to ever exist.

  

Sub Sea Systems^® has helped to develop SHARKS! Interactive^® — A Hands-On Shark Adventure. This interactive program puts guests face-to-face with the feared animal! The program uses trained nurse sharks, and allows visitors to touch, pet, feed, and swim with sharks! This interaction educates people about sharks, alleviates fears, and promotes deep personal connections to the misunderstood creatures. Education is the key to saving these animals from overfishing.

Visit www.sharksinteractive.com for locations and information.

STINGRAYS

The stingrays’ already shady reputation was exacerbated when Steve Irwin — ‘The Crocodile Hunter’ — was killed by a stingray in 2006. A stingray’s venomous barb stabbed Irwin’s heart and caused his death while he was filming a series called “Ocean’s Deadliest,” in the waters of the Great Barrier Reef. The story is tragic, but the late Steve Irwin would never want his death to create animosity toward the stingray. He spent his life trying to quash fears about ‘so-called’ dangerous creatures. It is important that fear does not take away our desire to protect the diversity of life that exists on our planet.

Myth:

Stingrays attack humans.

Fact:

Stingrays are very gentle creatures and generally only use their venomous barb when they feel threatened in some way. To avoid coming into contact with a stingray, experts recommend you do the ‘stingray shuffle’ when you are walking in the ocean. This means you walk and drag your feet through the sand. Because stingrays burrow into the sand, this motion will warn them of your presence. The stingrays will swim away — no harm done.

Myth:

Stingrays do not give live birth.

Fact:

Stingrays give birth to live babies that look exactly like miniatures of their mother. They usually have between 2–6 pups each year. Watch this amazing video of a live birth. 

Myth:

Stingrays are not threatened species.

Fact:

Many species of stingrays are threatened and some are even endangered due primarily to overfishing, habitat destruction and climate change. The beautiful creatures need people to work to preserve their species. Learn more at the Save Our Seas’ website. 

Stingray Bay^® is a program founded by Sub Sea Systems. It allows people to interact with stingrays in the water, petting, touching, and feeding them. These stingrays are trained by knowledgeable trainers, and they love to be pet. The program helps to dispel fears about stingrays, and inspires desire to help protect the friendly docile creatures. Visit www.stingray-bay.com to sign up for news about the program. Currently the program is offered at Xcaret in Mexico. 

Additionally, if you ever want to interact with stingrays or sharks under the sea — we offer SeaTREK^® with Stingrays and SeaTREK with sharks in a few select locations.

Check out the website at www.sea-trek.com

Do you know any myths about stingrays or sharks that you would like to dispel? Write them in the comments below.

Resources:

http://www.sharkwater.com/education.htm

http://www.iucnredlist.org/news/a-quarter-of-sharks-and-rays-threatened-with-extinction

http://oceana.org/en/our-work/protect-marine-wildlife/sharks/learn-act/shark-myths-vs-facts

http://www.stopsharkfinning.net/think-all-sharks-are-maneaters-you-might-be-a-sharkist/

http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2014/01/24/shark-ray-biodiversity-oceans-conservation-endangered/

http://www.iucnredlist.org/search

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Inspirational Animal Rescue Stories

Sub Sea Systems and Sea TREK are committed to ocean conservancy. We are members of AMMPA, co-founders of Reef Alliance, and participate in Ocean Conservancy’s annual International Coastal Cleanup. Eco-tourism is one of the best ways to reach people’s hearts and inspire them to make positive changes toward protecting and conserving our world’s oceans and its amazing creatures.

There are many remarkable ocean animal rescue stories, and we are proud that Sea TREK is associated with some incredible programs, parks and aquariums that make great efforts to protect and rehabilitate injured and displaced sea creatures. From giant green sea turtles, to pregnant manatees — our world’s creatures need help. Education, passion, and action are the answers to the plight of our world’s oceans. We would like to share some inspiring stories about animal rescue efforts, and we hope you will be motivated to make a difference, too.

At SEA LIFE Manchester (the first European location to offer Sea TREK) Ernie the giant green sea turtle is a star, and the mascot for the aquarium’s ‘Breed, Rescue and Protect Program.’ Ernie was rescued from a farm in the Cayman Islands that raises turtles for turtle soup. He is addicted to sprouts, and furthermore only enjoys a particular brand of sprouts. Recently, Ernie has even been put on a diet because he is getting a little bit too fat! He is famous at SEA LIFE Manchester and has become known for ‘photobombing’ during Sea TREK tours. Thanks to all of the efforts that SEA LIFE has made, they have been able to fund a turtle hospital in Greece where 90% of loggerhead turtles nest. Ernie is unable to be released back into the wild, so he spends his days gliding through the gorgeous aquarium, eating his favorite brand of sprouts, and posing in photo shoots. Read more about the ‘Breed, Rescue, and Protect Program’ here. Learn more about Ernie here.

Another amazing animal that frequents a Sea TREK dive site is ‘Sharky’ the stingray at Xcaret Park in Mexico. ‘Sharky’ is missing his tail, and it is assumed it was bitten off by a shark, hence his nickname. ‘Sharky’ is not captive, but he is never far from the Sea TREK dive site. He loves to be fed, pet and play in the bubbles from the Sea TREK helmets. “He is happy living around Sea TREKKERS,“ says Jim Mayfield — owner and co-founder of Sub Sea Systems and Sea TREK, “it is amazing to see.” Learn about Xcaret’s protection programs here.

As you know, SeaWorld has been helping to rescue and rehabilitate animals for more than 50 years. From dolphins and pregnant manatees, to sea lions and pelicans, over 23,000 animals have been rescued. The majority of them are released back into the wild, while the small percentages that cannot return to nature are provided homes. SeaWorld has an amazing Pinterest board called ‘365 days of rescue’ that outlines many of their miraculous rescue stories.

Discovery Cove in Orlando (a SeaWorld Park) also offers an amazing educational Sea TREK helmet dive, and the education does not stop at the park; Discovery Cove offers hundreds of educational community outreach programs each year, finding and filling “eager hearts with an appreciation of the natural world.”

Sea TREK of Cabo Expeditions in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico is owned and operated by a very talented photographer — Oscar Ortiz. His passion for the ocean is apparent in his photography, but it does not stop there. In 2010 Oscar, the staff at Cabo Expeditions, and the Mexican Navy helped to free a humpback whale from the clutches of fishnet that was wrapped around its fins. The team worked for 2 hours, meticulously and carefully cutting away the knotted net. One staff member was almost knocked out after a swift ‘whack’ from the whale’s tail. Seth Romans, Cabo Expeditions’ Director of Marketing, shares “I’m really proud to be associated with a team that saved this and many other whales. The entire team at Cabo Expeditions is absolutely passionate about the preservation and protection of the natural environment… they are true heroes.” Read the full story here or watch the video here.

Coral World Ocean Park, another location that also offers Sea TREK, is on St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. The Virgin Islands are nesting sites for hawksbill sea turtles. Every year an incredible hatching takes place and thousands of tiny turtles make their way out to the sea, but when things go wrong Coral World is there to help. Any of these little guys who lose their way have a home at Coral World until they are ready to be released into deep waters where they will grow up to 150 pounds. Coral World reminds us that we can help protect these wonderful creatures by keeping plastic out of the sea and out of the bellies of these beautiful babies! For more information click here.

We know you have some amazing stories you would love to share with us, and we would love it, too. Comment below, and remember our world’s oceans need us, as much as we need them. Pick up trash, reduce, reuse, recycle, and help conserve the home of our friendly sea creatures.

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FunCat Franky Comic Strip No.2

A few weeks ago we introduced FunCat Franky & Friends with our debut comic strip. In that issue we introduced Olly the motorboat Cockapoo. Today we get a little sneak peak into FunCat Franky's romance with Cali the sassy beach Boxer. FunCat Franky is always leaving behind a great impression; his chill attitude and charming demeanor had Cali taking to the Personals to seek her knight on shining FunCat.




Want to be as cool as Franky and ride into the sunset on your own FunCat? Visit our website at www.funcats.com 

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Things you may not know about Sea TREK

Sea TREK is known for offering astounding underwater tours. With the space-age technology and design of the Sea TREK helmet, and the specially designed redundant safety systems, Sea TREK is cutting edge in shallow water helmet diving equipment. Additionally, the tours offered are unparalleled, and the Guides are incomparable in the industry. The high standards of the Sea TREK program extend themselves to every aspect of the tour. Sea TREK is the whole package: technology, wonder, customer service, eco-tourism, respect, and passion for the ocean.

When our guests participate in the Sea TREK tour we want to make sure they come away from the experience with a complete sense of awe. We hope to inspire ocean conservancy by creating memories that offer emotional connection to our world’s oceans and its creatures. We offer an amazing underwater adventure to people who don’t have dive certifications or may not even be able to swim. The Sea TREK experience provides guests with memories that last a lifetime.

Did you know?

Sub Sea Systems contracted a leading innovator in high performance, after-market vehicle manufacturing to assist in the design of the Sea TREK helmet. The same designers who work to make sleek high performance cars collaborated with us to create the mold, look and shape of the Sea TREK helmet.

Did you know?

The first location to offer Sea TREK was at Xcaret park (outside of Cancun, Mexico) in July of 1999. 582 people experienced Sea TREK that month. To date Xcaret has hosted the largest number of Sea TREK guests in the world. In July of 2013 they took 12,798 people under the sea on a Sea TREK. In total, 89,217 people participated in Sea TREK at Xcaret in 2013! Xcaret is also where Sub Sea Systems does all of its beta testing on new equipment, innovations and technologies.

Did you know? 

Sea TREK was at Sea World Orlando? Originally, the Sea TREK experience there was uniquely different than other Sea TREK tours. In a 660,000 gallon tank teeming with bull sharks, saw tooth sharks, lemon sharks, and sandbar sharks — to name a few — guests would don a Sea TREK helmet and climb into a large shark cage that ran on a track. TREKKERS would have the opportunity to stare through the bars as massive sharks checked them out!

After the success of this program, Sea World incorporated Sea TREK into the design of its newest park, Discovery Cove Orlando (DCO). DCO’s ‘Grand Reef’ (a man-made ocean lagoon) was customized to include a specialized Sea TREK path.  Sub Sea Systems was involved in the planning process: laying out the trail, handrails, and specific stops, as well as features, and entry and exit designs. Discovery Cove calls their program Sea Venture, and it features a large acrylic panel that looks into the neighboring shark tank, and an enclosed lionfish tank where guests can get face-to-face with the poisonous and invasive (yet beautiful) fish.

Did you know?

Sea TREK in Cabo San Lucas has had some pretty amazing wild sea life visitors, including: gliding devil rays, beautiful sea horses, sassy sea lions, and even a whale shark!

Likewise, recently Sea TREK at Coral World filmed a wild dolphin as he passed through the Sea TREK dive site!

Did you know?

Sea TREK Guides can do some pretty amazing stunts with their helmets? From creating bubble rings and standing on their helmets, to front flips and human pyramids — our guides are part of the entertainment!

Did you know?
Two 93-year-olds have participated in Sea TREK?... making them the oldest participants to have joined us on a Sea TREK tour.

Did you know?
Sea TREK has introduced more than 2.5 million non-swimmers and non-divers from the ages of 8 to 93 to the beauty of the underwater world.

Did you know?

Sea TREK is in the process of developing a completely new experience? The next level of underwater interaction is about to be introduced. Check back often for more information.

Hint: Clear. Social. Fun.


Have any questions or comments? Post below or visit the website at www.sea-trek.com


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