SCUBA pioneer Dr. Sylvia Earle to receive Bonaire lifetime achievement award

Dr. Sylvia Earle, known as the Ambassador to the world’s oceans, will add another accolade to her impressive array of honors when Bonaire’s first “Lifetime Achievement Award” is bestowed upon her. The award will be made during Celebrate Our Planet Week this summer, August 15-22, 2009, as a highlight week of the Bonaire Dive Into Summer festivities.

At a gala evening event at the Governor’s Residence on Wednesday, August 19, 2009, Dr. Earle will be honored and thanked for her lifetime of dedication to education and conservation of the world’s natural resources. The island’s “Lifetime Achievement Award” is granted to “acknowledge exceptional efforts throughout one’s lifetime to preserve and protect nature, both above and below the water’s surface.”

Also while on Bonaire, Dr. Earle will lead a series of themed dives and activities and will participate in several on-island events designed to highlight Bonaire’s continued leadership in sustainable tourism....[Link]

Black scuba divers win national award

A group of black scuba divers will receive a national award and a planned tour of the White House in Washington, D.C. next week for outstanding volunteer work in documenting historical shipwrecks.

Diving With a Purpose will be honored on July 17 at the 2009 Take Pride in America awards, scheduled to take place at the U.S. Department of the Interior’s main building in Washington, D.C.

DWP founder Kenneth Stewart, lead instructor Erik Denson and Dr. Jose Jones, chairman of the National Association of Black Scuba divers (NABS), will receive the award and personal congratulations from U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar at the annual ceremony.

DWP is the first African-American group to win the award. The group, whose members have worked with the National Park Service for the past five years, will be recognized under the public and partnership category for their work in researching and recording the history of shipwrecks found in Biscayne National Park...[Link]