{"id":1965,"date":"2019-03-21T22:32:43","date_gmt":"2019-03-22T02:32:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloomingtonsymphony.com\/?p=1965"},"modified":"2020-08-16T23:23:11","modified_gmt":"2020-08-17T03:23:11","slug":"interview-with-david-morgan-owner-of-deep-blue-gear-snorkel-mart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloomingtonsymphony.com\/staging\/6573\/2019\/03\/21\/interview-with-david-morgan-owner-of-deep-blue-gear-snorkel-mart\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with David Morgan, owner of Deep Blue Gear \/ Snorkel Mart"},"content":{"rendered":"

The BSO recently spoke with David Morgan, owner of Deep Blue Gear and Snorkel-Mart (our corporate sponsor for From the Depths<\/strong><\/a>). We wanted to know more about David and his love of the ocean.<\/p>\n

BSO:<\/strong> How long have you been doing SCUBA diving, and what got you interested in the first place?<\/p>\n

David:<\/strong> As a child back in the 50\u2019s watching Lloyd Bridges in Sea Hunt, I was fascinated at the thought of learning to SCUBA Dive.\u00a0\u00a0I became a certified SCUBA diver in 1981.\u00a0I was living on St Thomas (US Virgin Islands) working as a salesman for a company that distributed SCUBA diving equipment throughout the Caribbean. I was offered the opportunity to become a certified diver as part of my job and I dove (pun intended) into it.<\/p>\n

BSO<\/strong>: If someone was interested in getting into SCUBA diving, how would you recommend they start?<\/p>\n

David:<\/strong> I recommend they do an on line SCUBA certification course for the basic knowledge development and written testing and then travel to a Caribbean destination to develop the physical skill set (using the equipment) followed by their qualifying dives.<\/p>\n

BSO:<\/strong> What’s your favorite memory from a diving trip?<\/p>\n

David:<\/strong> Oh I have so many, it\u2019s hard to decide on a favorite. One humorous event occurred off a pier at Captain Don\u2019s Habitat on Bonaire. \u00a0There was a very friendly large Tarpon (nicknamed Charlie) that just basically hung around and interacted with divers. On one dive, I saw Charlie hovering down at around 100\u2019 seemingly attached to a large coral by a long, black line. I thought he was in trouble – might have gotten caught on a fishing line or something. I was trying to get to him to help when he gave me this look that clearly said \u201cCan\u2019t a fish get any privacy around here?\u201d and then I realized he was actually relieving himself by the coral.<\/p>\n

BSO:<\/strong> At least you know what tarpon poop looks like now.<\/p>\n

David:<\/strong> Well, yeah, that\u2019s not a lesson I\u2019m likely to forget.<\/p>\n

BSO:<\/strong> One of the pieces on our program, Aqua<\/em><\/strong>, touches on themes of pollution and environmental degradation. In your experience, what impact is this having on aquatic life?<\/p>\n

David:<\/strong> To me the greatest threat to our ocean ecosystems is climate change. Higher than normal ocean temperatures, stronger, more frequent storms causing increased runoff leading to sedimentation, altered ocean currents changing ocean temperatures – all of these lead to the death of coral.\u00a0 Some coral can be regrown, but some species just can\u2019t. There are other contributing factors too, like over-diving, too many visitors going to the same spots (especially from cruise ships), and invasion of non-native species like lionfish. So much of what humans do affects coral and the reefs, which are the building blocks of the aquatic ecosystem.<\/p>\n

BSO:<\/strong> Do you see any signs that we can undo or mitigate the damage that’s already been done?<\/p>\n

David:<\/strong> Some people are trying to help. Bonaire has programs to decrease the lionfish population, regrow coral, has banned gloves (so divers aren\u2019t tempted to touch\/break coral), and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The BSO recently spoke with David Morgan, owner of Deep Blue Gear and Snorkel-Mart (our corporate sponsor for From the Depths). We wanted to know more about David and his… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9cNEX-vH","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1388,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloomingtonsymphony.com\/staging\/6573\/2018\/05\/13\/ht-preview-of-masterpiece-intensity-and-passion\/","url_meta":{"origin":1965,"position":0},"title":"HT Preview of Masterpiece: Intensity and Passion","author":"Donna Lafferty","date":"May 13, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Bloomington Symphony closing book on 48th season By Peter Jacobi H-T columnist Once again, we come to a \u201cnext Sunday\u201d event you should know about ahead of time, not on the morning of the performance. So, I cast the spotlight on next Sunday evening\u2019s concert by the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Purchase Tickets"","block_context":{"text":"Purchase Tickets","link":"https:\/\/www.bloomingtonsymphony.com\/staging\/6573\/category\/purchase-tickets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4959,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloomingtonsymphony.com\/staging\/6573\/2024\/08\/02\/call-for-scores\/","url_meta":{"origin":1965,"position":1},"title":"Call for Scores","author":"Donna Lafferty","date":"August 2, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The Bloomington Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is thrilled to announce the first-ever Call for Scores for our annual holiday concert, \u201cCelebrate the Season\u201d. 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You've been part of the orchestra since when - the first rehearsal in 1969, right?Ed: Early Spring 1969, so I and the orchestra are both 56 years old.Donna:\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1296,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloomingtonsymphony.com\/staging\/6573\/2018\/03\/06\/to-cross-the-face-of-the-moon-meet-cecilia-duarte-mezzo-soprano\/","url_meta":{"origin":1965,"position":4},"title":"To Cross the Face of the Moon – Meet Cecilia Duarte, Mezzo-Soprano","author":"Donna Lafferty","date":"March 6, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"We recently interviewed Cecilia about her music, her passions, and what brings her to Bloomington for this Sunday's concert. How did you get started in music? Did you have any early influences, mentors, or teachers that inspired you? I grew up in Chihuahua, Mexico, in a family of musicians. 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