Bonaire's Dee Scarr Receives Coveted Nogi Award At DEMA Show 2008
Kralendijk, Bonaire - (October 28, 2008) - Last Thursday evening at the 49th Annual NOGI Awards Gala, held in conjunction with DEMA Show 2008, Bonaire's Dee Scarr of Touch the Sea was honored with the presentation of the 2008 NOGI Award for Distinguished Service by the Academy of Underwater Arts and Sciences (AUAS). The "NOGI" is the oldest and most prestigious award in the diving industry, and is given to four divers and undersea luminaries who rank at the top of their fields in Arts, Science, Sports/Education, and Distinguished Service.
Accepting the Award from Bonaire's Director of Tourism, Ronella Tjin Asjoe-Croes and Cathy Church, a long time friend Scarr commented, "When I came to Bonaire as a dive instructor in 1980, I learned the joys of guiding divers on protected reefs. It's a real privilege for me to work in the Bonaire National Marine Park and to be able to discuss the wonderful residents of our Marine Park--and how they're protected--in my presentations."
Since her arrival in Bonaire in 1980 and founding of Touch the Sea in 1982, Scarr has logged thousands of dives and introduced hundreds of divers to dozens of marine animals. The significance of this is great: once introduced to Scarr's very personal perspective on marine animals, divers feel a sense of belonging in the sea rather than simply visiting. Their instinct to protect marine ecosystems is enhanced.
Scarr's current project is her first that is primarily educational rather than hands-on. She created Action in Behalf of Coral in 2005, when she realized that dive training agencies don't provide critical information about living coral to their students: the information that explains why coral is fragile. Dee's website, www.touchthesea.com, provides more information about the ABC Project, as well as the Living with a Razor Sharp Skeleton sticker.
Between 1988 and 1991, Scarr and her buddies tied more than 600 sponges back onto pilings beneath Bonaire's Old Pier (aka North or Town Pier) in Touch the Sea's Sponge Reattachment Project. In the mid-90's she surveyed Bonaire's harbor area (from the marina to the piers), removing recent trash, establishing which areas were being misused, and communicating this information to the Bonaire Marine Park for the education of the misusers. She promotes the carrying of a small net bag she calls a Pocket Cleaner Station, so on the occasions divers see trash, they can bring it up right away rather than waiting for a dedicated cleanup dive.
Scarr has written three books: Touch the Sea, about interactions with marine animals, The Gentle Sea, a personalized look at the undersea creatures divers are likely to encounter, and a children's book, Coral's Reef, about two children and what they learn from snorkeling - and from an octopus named Oliver. Dee wrote monthly articles about marine animals and their behaviors for Dive Training magazine for more than a decade, and currently writes about marine animals for The Bonaire Reporter. Dee was the photographer for the original Guide to the Bonaire Marine Park and contributed to the second edition of the guide. Her work has appeared in numerous publications.
The first major recognition of Scarr's work was in 1991, when she was the second recipient (after Jacques Yves Cousteau) of the PADI/SeaSpace Environmental Awareness Award. She's received the Boston Sea Rovers Diver of the Year Award, the Beneath the Sea Diver of the Year Award, and the Underwater Club of Boston's Paul Revere Spike (2007.) Dee was an inaugural member of the Women Divers Hall of Fame and SSI's Platinum Pro Divers (those with more than 5000 dives; Scarr has logged over 7000 dives). She received Captain Don Stewart's Accolade Award in 2006 for "making knowledge of the sea fun and spreading desire in others to learn and become themselves part of our sea."
Scarr's presentations teach about marine animals in an entertaining way. She speaks weekly on Bonaire at Captain Don's Habitat; she has spoken before dive clubs, dive symposia, and even non-diving audiences - including school groups - in the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Curacao, and Antigua, to name a few.
Scarr received Bachelor's and Master's degrees in English and Rhetoric and Public Address from the University of Florida. She taught high school English, public speaking, and debate before beginning her diving career on the Bahamian island of San Salvador. Dee became a SCUBA instructor in 1974. In 1985, she married David Batalsky; they adopted Sweetie Pie, a very special Bichon Frise, in 2005.
Located eighty-six miles east of Aruba, the Dutch Caribbean island of Bonaire offers year-round sunshine, low annual rainfall, pristine coral formations and the most thriving fish population in the Caribbean. Ideal for adventurers, explorers and sun-worshippers alike, Bonaire offers myriad eco-adventure activities including world renowned scuba diving and snorkeling, windsurfing, kiteboarding, mountain biking, sea and mangrove kayaking, horseback riding, nature tours, hiking, bird watching, sailing and deep sea and bone fishing. And with a selection of accommodations ranging from full-service oceanfront resorts and condominiums to guesthouses and small inns, Bonaire has something for every lifestyle and budget.
Bonaire is the recipient of the prestigious Islands Magazine/Caribbean Tourism Organization 2008 Sustainable Tourism Award and continues to be recognized as one of the top destinations worldwide for its sustainable tourism as reported by National Geographic Traveler magazine (March 2004) and Islands magazine (December 2007), and as one of the top diving destinations in the Atlantic/Caribbean for six years in a row in the Scuba Diving magazine's Readers' Choice Awards (2003-2008); and was designated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as having the healthiest reefs in the Caribbean (January 2008).
For more information on Bonaire contact the Tourism Corporation Bonaire in the U.S. at 1-800-BONAIRE or visit Bonaire's official web site at www.tourismbonaire.com.
Kralendijk, Bonaire - (October 28, 2008) - Last Thursday evening at the 49th Annual NOGI Awards Gala, held in conjunction with DEMA Show 2008, Bonaire's Dee Scarr of Touch the Sea was honored with the presentation of the 2008 NOGI Award for Distinguished Service by the Academy of Underwater Arts and Sciences (AUAS). The "NOGI" is the oldest and most prestigious award in the diving industry, and is given to four divers and undersea luminaries who rank at the top of their fields in Arts, Science, Sports/Education, and Distinguished Service.
Accepting the Award from Bonaire's Director of Tourism, Ronella Tjin Asjoe-Croes and Cathy Church, a long time friend Scarr commented, "When I came to Bonaire as a dive instructor in 1980, I learned the joys of guiding divers on protected reefs. It's a real privilege for me to work in the Bonaire National Marine Park and to be able to discuss the wonderful residents of our Marine Park--and how they're protected--in my presentations."
Since her arrival in Bonaire in 1980 and founding of Touch the Sea in 1982, Scarr has logged thousands of dives and introduced hundreds of divers to dozens of marine animals. The significance of this is great: once introduced to Scarr's very personal perspective on marine animals, divers feel a sense of belonging in the sea rather than simply visiting. Their instinct to protect marine ecosystems is enhanced.
Scarr's current project is her first that is primarily educational rather than hands-on. She created Action in Behalf of Coral in 2005, when she realized that dive training agencies don't provide critical information about living coral to their students: the information that explains why coral is fragile. Dee's website, www.touchthesea.com, provides more information about the ABC Project, as well as the Living with a Razor Sharp Skeleton sticker.
Between 1988 and 1991, Scarr and her buddies tied more than 600 sponges back onto pilings beneath Bonaire's Old Pier (aka North or Town Pier) in Touch the Sea's Sponge Reattachment Project. In the mid-90's she surveyed Bonaire's harbor area (from the marina to the piers), removing recent trash, establishing which areas were being misused, and communicating this information to the Bonaire Marine Park for the education of the misusers. She promotes the carrying of a small net bag she calls a Pocket Cleaner Station, so on the occasions divers see trash, they can bring it up right away rather than waiting for a dedicated cleanup dive.
Scarr has written three books: Touch the Sea, about interactions with marine animals, The Gentle Sea, a personalized look at the undersea creatures divers are likely to encounter, and a children's book, Coral's Reef, about two children and what they learn from snorkeling - and from an octopus named Oliver. Dee wrote monthly articles about marine animals and their behaviors for Dive Training magazine for more than a decade, and currently writes about marine animals for The Bonaire Reporter. Dee was the photographer for the original Guide to the Bonaire Marine Park and contributed to the second edition of the guide. Her work has appeared in numerous publications.
The first major recognition of Scarr's work was in 1991, when she was the second recipient (after Jacques Yves Cousteau) of the PADI/SeaSpace Environmental Awareness Award. She's received the Boston Sea Rovers Diver of the Year Award, the Beneath the Sea Diver of the Year Award, and the Underwater Club of Boston's Paul Revere Spike (2007.) Dee was an inaugural member of the Women Divers Hall of Fame and SSI's Platinum Pro Divers (those with more than 5000 dives; Scarr has logged over 7000 dives). She received Captain Don Stewart's Accolade Award in 2006 for "making knowledge of the sea fun and spreading desire in others to learn and become themselves part of our sea."
Scarr's presentations teach about marine animals in an entertaining way. She speaks weekly on Bonaire at Captain Don's Habitat; she has spoken before dive clubs, dive symposia, and even non-diving audiences - including school groups - in the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Curacao, and Antigua, to name a few.
Scarr received Bachelor's and Master's degrees in English and Rhetoric and Public Address from the University of Florida. She taught high school English, public speaking, and debate before beginning her diving career on the Bahamian island of San Salvador. Dee became a SCUBA instructor in 1974. In 1985, she married David Batalsky; they adopted Sweetie Pie, a very special Bichon Frise, in 2005.
Located eighty-six miles east of Aruba, the Dutch Caribbean island of Bonaire offers year-round sunshine, low annual rainfall, pristine coral formations and the most thriving fish population in the Caribbean. Ideal for adventurers, explorers and sun-worshippers alike, Bonaire offers myriad eco-adventure activities including world renowned scuba diving and snorkeling, windsurfing, kiteboarding, mountain biking, sea and mangrove kayaking, horseback riding, nature tours, hiking, bird watching, sailing and deep sea and bone fishing. And with a selection of accommodations ranging from full-service oceanfront resorts and condominiums to guesthouses and small inns, Bonaire has something for every lifestyle and budget.
Bonaire is the recipient of the prestigious Islands Magazine/Caribbean Tourism Organization 2008 Sustainable Tourism Award and continues to be recognized as one of the top destinations worldwide for its sustainable tourism as reported by National Geographic Traveler magazine (March 2004) and Islands magazine (December 2007), and as one of the top diving destinations in the Atlantic/Caribbean for six years in a row in the Scuba Diving magazine's Readers' Choice Awards (2003-2008); and was designated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as having the healthiest reefs in the Caribbean (January 2008).
For more information on Bonaire contact the Tourism Corporation Bonaire in the U.S. at 1-800-BONAIRE or visit Bonaire's official web site at www.tourismbonaire.com.
