welcome to my world! ( Music ) Recently, I got an e-mail from
Chris Whitlock the father one
of my biggest fans: Jake
Whitlock. He thought I might be
interested in this paper Jake
wrote as a homework assignment.
It turns out Jake's biggest dream is go
scuba diving with Jonathan
Bird. Well, you know sometimes dreams really do come true. Boy
do we have a surprise for Jake
today! But first the production team
has to find Jake's house.
You
would think someone would have brought a GPS! Kat: "It's right here " Jonathan: "You can throw a golf
ball across it." Jonathan: How can we be lost? With me is Kathryn Apse, a
scuba instructor who
specializes in certifying
younger divers. Jonathan: Hopefully he doesn't
see us coming. That would ruin
the whole thing. (Knock on door) ( knocking on door ) Jonathan:
"Hey hey" "Hey" "Hey Jake" "hi" Jonathan: "How are you doing
man?" Jake: "Good! What are you doing
here? Jonathan: "I got this from your
dad.
This paper that you wrote
about scuba diving with some guy name Jonathan Bird." Jake: "Oh my God" Jonathan: "Yeah. So here's the
thing..." Jake: "He sent that to you?" Jonathan: "Yeah. Here's the
thing. In order for you to go
scuba diving with me you
actually have to become a scuba diver.
"OH" Jonathan: "So guess what I have
here. I have a special person
to introduce you to." ( Jake gasps ) "This is Kat. She's going to be
your dive instructor." Kat: "Hi Jake" "Hi nice to meet you" Kat: "Alright to get started
with the certification here" "Umm" Kat: You're going to have a
little bit of reading. -"OK" Kat: "Here is your own dive
book.
We're going to get
started on that and once we
start doing dives. Your own dive log book." "Oh thank you. So cool." Kat: "You better start reading
right away mister." "Yeah" "We going to do classroom
portion and then jump into pool
and do some work with you in the pool." "OK" Kat: "Alright. When you're good
and ready you take an exam,
you'll pass flying colors no problem.
Then we'll hop into
the ocean" "OK" We meet Jake's parents, and
fill them in on Jake's
adventures to come. But we're
keeping a few things secret! Kat: "We're going to read
through that book. There's
going to be a bunch of questions your going have to answer." "OK" Jake has been dying to go scuba
diving since he was four years
old, when he did this drawing! Jake's mom: "Yeah he's wanted
to be under water for a very
very long time." What Jake doesn't know is that
the surprises are not over. But
first things first.
Jake has to learn to dive. In the classroom, Kat teaches
Jake about diving physics, the
basics of the gear and how to untangle a regulator. ...And then she takes him to
the pool where he must pass a
swimming test. You can't really be a scuba diver if you can't
swim.
Kat-'Twirl around" She checks to be sure he can
tread water... Kat: "Clap your hands" Jake: "What?" Kat: "Clap your hands" ...And he executes a perfect
cannonball. I'm not sure if a
perfect cannonball is part of
the class though. Once Kat knows Jake is
comfortable in the water, he's
ready for his first experience breathing from a scuba
regulator.
Kat: "So where's your hand
going to be? There you go, get
your feet in the water. Makes it a lot easier." But as he discovers, just
getting into the water with all
that gear is a bit of a
challenge! And then the big moment. Jake
breathes underwater for the
first time. Next Kat teaches him to control
his buoyancy using a small ring
through which Jake must swim without touching the edge.
It takes him a couple of tries,
but when he finally gets
it...Time for a little
underwater fun! Kat: "So how did you like it?" Jake: "It was amazing!" Kat: "Yeah?" Jake: "A dream come true" To prove he actually learned
something, Jake takes the
written final exam and aces it. With the classroom and pool
work behind him, now Jake must
prove his skills in open water. He and Kat will do two ocean
dives in the murky Atlantic,
off the coast of Massachusetts. The water is chilly, so Jake
needs a wetsuit.
He struggles a
bit with putting on a wetsuit for the first time. Kat and I are suiting up too. Jake: "I can't even get this
thing on!" With his dad watching in
amusement, Jake finally squirms
into the wetsuit and he is
ready to tackle the North Atlantic. I have made my way to the
water, ready to film Jake's
first open ocean dive.
Jake and Kat take a dive flag
to let boaters know where they
are. There's a last minute adjustment underwater, and then
Kat tests Jake with a series of
exercises and drills. She wants to make sure Jake
knows what to do in an
emergency. There's even a moment to
explore some wildlife--a rock
crab desperately trying to get
away.
And then his first of five
checkout dives is over. Kat: "The sharks were amazing!" There were no sharks. Jonathan: "So that was your
first real dive. What was it
like?" Jake: "It was amazing.
So much
fun being down there, swimming
around being able to breathe, seeing the rock formations.
Underwater with all the sea
weed on the was really cool
cause you can't real see them from up
here, but seeing them down
there was really cool." Jake's almost ready now, for
his adventure diving with me.
But we're not going to do it in the North Atlantic. No,
we are about to surprise Jake
again. We hop a plane to a tropical
island with crystal clear
waterGrand Cayman! Grand Cayman is a world-famous
diver's paradise in the heart
of the Caribbean. We stay at Sunset House,
world-renown as one of the
ultimate hotels for diving.
And later that day, yet another
surprise for Jake. Jonathan: "Jake! Just the guy
we're waiting for! Buddy! We
have a huge surprise for you. I. Want you to see something
humungous.
Check this out! Jake: "Oh my GOD!" Jonathan: "This is a gift for
you. This is from Subgear, and
Diver Supply and Sunset House. Jake: "Oh my GOD!" Jonathan: "I'm going to
introduce you to Adam who's
going to tell you about what
you have just won." Adam: "Mask, snorkel, fins,
with booties for you. We've got
suit so you're not cold for your dives.
A BCD and regulator
and a bag to carry it all in." Jake: "Thank you so much!" Adam: "You're very welcome!" Jonathan: "That is cool. You
know what. This is unfair. I'm
the host and I didn't get
anything." Jake: "I'm the lucky one." Jonathan: "You ARE the lucky
one." Jake: "I'm the star." Jonathan: "This is cool." Jake: "My show now." Jonathan: "WOW! I'm out of here
( laughs in the background ) Jake it turns out is also a
runway model.
Equipped with his new gear,
Jake goes with Kat for his
final checkout dives right off the dock at Sunset House. In the crystal clear water,
Jake practices his skills until
Kat believes he is ready to go exploring. Then Kat takes him on his first
tour of the amazing underwater
world of Grand Cayman Island. Kat: "Congratulations Jake you
are officially open water
certified!" Jake: "Thank you so much" Kat: "Now let's go diving!" Jake: "Yeah!" The next day, we head out to
the reef for a real dive, and
now that Jake is a certified diver, we can dive together.
First, a briefing about the
dive site, then you be able to
see top of reef there lots and lots
of fantastic coral.
Jonathan: "Are you ready?" "A huh" Jonathan: "Let's do it. GO!" Jonathan: "We're alive" Jake: "Yeah!" The Cayman Islands are built
from coral, which grows on top
of an underwater mountain range. I show Jake the drop off where
it gets really deep. Then we head into shallow water
to explore some fun passageways
through the reef.
As we get ready to return to
the surface, a little
celebration. What started as a
dream in a school paper came true.
Jake is having a blast! The next day, I have another
surprise for Jake, which I give
him on our way out to dive a shipwreck. Jonathan: "Jake you've been
through a lot this weekend so
we only have one more thing to
foist upon you. (Laughs) This is going to
be fun.
You get as your final
gift..." Jake: "OHHH" Jonathan: "...An authentic pair
of Force Fin Pros. That's the
exact same model I wear. These are a gift of Bob Evans and
Force Fin. He's the guy who
makes these things.
You'll
notice he even signed it for you." Jake: "OOOHH" Jonathan: "Yeah! Those are
authentic Force Fins" Jake: "OOOH. Thank you so much." Jonathan: "You're welcome." Jake: "You have to thank Bob
for me." Jonathan: "I will and you can
try on this dive if you feel
like it" Jake: "Yeah!" Jonathan: "Living dangerously!" Jake: "After all I heard how
much better these are." Jonathan: "They are!" Jake: "I think I have to
definitely have to try them." Jonathan: "Much better." Jonathan: "All right! Let's go
diving." Our next dive is on a
shipwreck. First Jake and I
listen to the dive briefing. Divemaster: "The Kittiwake was
a submarine rescue vessel it
was actually sunk this year.
In January it took form 10: 00
in the morning to 2:00 in the
afternoon for it to sink and here it lies." Jonathan: "All right, let's go
find this wreck. You ready
Jake?" "Yes" Jonathan: "Let's do it!" Jake and I hit the water and
can't believe how well we can
see the entire wreck! The water is extremely clear! The Kittiwake was sunk as an
artificial reef in January of
2010. It hasn't been down very long. The ship was thoroughly
cleaned, all toxic materials
were removed, and dangerous pieces detached before the ship
was sunk.
It's still like new
though. It hasn't been underwater long enough to build
up much encrusting sea life. There is one homesteader who
moved in immediately though.
This Goliath Grouper just hangs
out here on the sand by the
propeller. He must be used to
divers because he isn't bothered by us at all.
The Kittiwake rescued sailors
from damaged submarines, and
much of its history is still classified. It's in only 67 feet of water,
an ideal depth for recreational
divers. It's so shallow at the top that even snorkelers
can enjoy this wreck! Jake and I swim above the
decks, exploring the ship,
imagining her secret past, the
sailors who served here, and the
adventures she had in the
service of the U.S. Navy.
Shipwrecks are fun to explore! In the Kittiwake's wheel house
Jake takes control of the ship.
He may have a lot more trouble with getting a drivers'
license than he did with a
scuba certification! And these jacks aren't taking
any chances either.
They're
getting out of the way. Jake, newly certified and
diving in the Cayman Islands,
truly is king of the world. We have one last treat for Jake
we can't pass up while
here--diving with the stingrays. Now there's two stingray cities
on the island.
We've got the
dive site, which we're on at the moment and the sandbar
where they take all the cruise
shippers. OK. So the sandbar is about 3ft deep and you just
paddle about and they just
brush up against you and all that sort of stuff. You don't
get a chance to feed them like
you do here.
OK. We got some squid and feed them. Most Stingrays don't readily
approach humans. But here on
Grand Cayman, years of fishing waste thrown overboard has
attracted them.
Stingrays are related to
sharks, but as you can see
they're quite docile. The defend themselves with a
sharp venomous barb at the end
of their tail, but they are rarely aggressive. This is what divers feed them.
Little pieces of squid.
Appetizing, huh? Sometimes you can lead them
around with your hand, kind of
teasing them until you give them the food. Jake discovers the trick for
feeding the stingrays.
You have
to put the food in your palm and let them do the work. It does
take some practice. Eventually Jake and I have a
stingray mini-feeding frenzy on
our hands. One of them develops a crush on
Cameraman Tim and won't leave
him alone.
I think Tim likes her! And so after the dive at
Stingray City, we prepare to
leave the Cayman Islands. And
would you believe it? Jake's school
paper, in which he dreams about
diving with some guy named Jonathan Bird, magically came
true. ( Music ).
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