By Dave Morton
The Boston Sea Rovers are known throughout the world as the Dive Club that can proudly boast ownership of “The Longest Running Underwater Show on Earth”. For nearly sixty years, the Sea Rovers have used their weekend dive show to help raise awareness of the marine environment, and they are presently busy getting ready for their 58th Annual International Clinic, scheduled for March 9-11, 2012. This year the show will be held once again at the Coco Keys Resort and Hotel, Danvers, MA (formerly the Crowne Plaza Hotel), a great destination hotel with a huge, 65,000 s.f. indoor water park that is a perfect place to bring the family to.
The overall theme of the show this year highlights exploration and conservation of the planet’s water and marine environments and its’ inhabitants, and as such you do not have to be a diver to truly enjoy yourself at the show. The weekend long event includes an exhibit hall featuring the largest display of exotic marine travel, local and national diving equipment and services in New England all year, and with a pool on site, they are also offering an opportunity for all non-divers to try scuba diving for free.
Throughout Saturday and Sunday, invited speakers from around the world will be sharing their latest photographs and film footage on topics covering all aspects of the ocean environment, including breathtaking footage from brand new dive destinations, new shipwreck discoveries, the latest developments in underwater photography and videography, the latest breakthroughs in science and dive medicine, ecological breakthroughs, and much more.
A cornerstone of each weekend event is the Saturday Evening Film Festival, long regarded as one of the most respected film festivals in the underwater world. In fact, it is believed that more speakers, projects, and important developments related to diving and undersea exploration and development have been premiered at a Sea Rover Film Festival, than in any other marine-related event in the world. In past years, some of these premier events included hearing US Navy scientist, and Sea Rover Diver of the Year, Dr. George Bond talk about the radical concept of saturation diving (Jacques Cousteau, himself a Sea Rover, came to Boston just to hear this talk).
During the 1957 Clinic, a young diver by the name of Peter Gimbel shared some of his images and related his experiences obtained just months earlier while being the first diver to ever visit the sunken remains of the luxury liner Andrea Doria.
Dr. Robert Ballard, himself a Sea Rover, has premiered footage from many of his legendary discoveries at a Clinic, including footage from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge Deep Sea Vents, and incredible images from the Titanic, the battleship Bismarck, the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown, and the wreck of John F. Kennedy’s PT-109. Just last year, Dr. Ballard premiered footage from one of his most recent expeditions to the Black Sea, where he and his team have discovered and excavated ancient shipwrecks in the highly-preserving bottom waters.
For this year’s film festival, the Sea Rovers are proud to announce that National Geographic photographer Brian Skerry will be hosting the event as Master of Ceremonies. In addition to sharing some of his breathtaking images, Brian will be introducing cinematographer Rick Rosenthal, BBC cameraman Michael Pitts, legendary cave explorer Jill Heinerth, and exotic travel expert Nancy McGee.
To find out more information regarding the legendary film festival, or any other aspect of the weekend full of education, exploration, and conservation, please visit our website, www.bostonsearovers.com ■
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