This year’s Blog Action Day topic is… Climate Change. You as a scuba diver may not think that it may directly affect you. But there are a lot of small factors involved, and as a whole, it may come to affect all of us in a big way.

We did some researches. We also borrowed ideas from this website, Center for American Progress. (Actual Article HERE) Based on the ideas, we put some thoughts out there.

You might wonder why the title of today’s post is “There’s an app for that.” Well, we’re sharing some “app” ideas and how scuba divers can utilize them to protect our environment. Why mobile application? We’re sure you might be aware of the decrease in the forest, pollution, carbon dioxide, climate change… Not-so preferable cycle.

Seafood Watch by Moterey Bay Aquarium

Seafood Watch by Monterey Bay Aquarium (iPhone/Mobile Web Application)
There have been many write-ups about Seafood Watch. We’ve read them all including app reviews on iTune App Store. We also know that there are handy pocket guides for Sushi available by other organizations. What’s so different about this? First, it’s a mobile application. It’ll go anywhere with you even if you are in another country on vacation, trying that popular seafood. Is it good for you? What you choose may make a big difference.

The Sushi guide nicely comes with the Japanese Name and the common market name (quoted from Seafood Watch website), easy to read, and color-code lets you know which sushi would be your best bet while dining at your favorite restaurant.

There are 2 things involved in this small change — protecting your ocean and beautiful sea creatures by being aware and practicing to select sustainable seafood.

Don’t have an iPhone? No problem. Visit: http://mobile.seafoodwatch.org

And all in all, there’s an app for Seafood Choices, for Free.

Where by Where.com (Android/iPhone/BlackBerry/Palm Pre Application)

One of the reasons why you might go away for a day or on a vacation is probably because of that unknown adventure. To explore the local town, shop at local stores, or just walk around is always interesting. But where can you go? Asking hotel employees may be one thing but knowing “where” to go is another.

Where can help you all that. On your next trip, take “Where” with you. You can find Local Weather, Gas Prices (and Gas Stations), Traffic Information, access to Yelp to find restaurants (with phone numbers and address) and reviews, and you can even find Starbucks near you when you need a warm cup of tea after the dive.

How is this going to help divers to be sustainable? Think of it this way. You can find the information you need right in your hand at all time, no reason to drive around for hours trying to find places even if you are on a short dive trip.

This application is a GPS mobile application. This means you’ll have to have a satellite enabled service to use.

DiveLocator (iPhone Application)

Originally found the post on Scubaboard.com, DiveLocator is an iPhone application that provides an information on Dive Sites with a visual map (Google Map). Not only that, you can find the current condition in surrounding area with 2 tide tables.

How is this going to help divers? No more Print-Out maps. This also would potentially decrease the amount of time you’d be driving to find that hidden dive site.

PS> They also are accepting dive site information to grow their database. Click on the title above to visit the post from Scubaboard.com for more info.

Rent Cycle by RentCycle.com (Web application)

The reason why we picked RentCycle.com is because of their idea — reduce.reuse.rent. Rent Cycle can be potentially great for dive operators in vacation destination. Why? Well… Rent Cycle allows your customers to reserve rental gears and pay before their tour begins right at their finger tips. This web application has easy 3 steps for setup. First, you register. Second, you put the link to your Rent Cycle store on your website. Third, let customer book their rental gears and pay. All administration is done over the web. You can technically manage it from anywhere.

One of the great things we discovered about this service is you can create the store today with up to 5 items for free of charge. Features include an inventory management, online confirmation, payment processing, reservation systems, reports, and SMS (Short Messaging Services) to list a few.

How is this helping your dive business? Because you don’t need papers to track everything. You are recycling other people’s ideas to a good use, and reducing the cost but still renting.

Scuba Diving Mobile Applications (Platform varies)

Some of the things we discovered during our research is that a lot of people are interested in mobile scuba diving applications, iPhone applications in particular. For instance, if you run a search for “scuba diving application iphone” on Google, you’ll probably see a lot of forum entries by fellow divers seeking “it” app.

The use of mobile application on your mobile device make small differences, like reducing the use of the paper, decreasing the driving time etc…

After all, we decided to put a list here. Our research went so far and some divers that actually use listed software are unable to get back to us on time. But here’s what we found:

• iScubaPlan (Originally posted on DiveVets.com) — Recreational Scuba Diving Application for iPhone/iPod
• DiveLog (Originally posted on DiveVets.com) — Full featured Scuba Diving Logbook for iPhone/iPod
• iDeco (Originally posted on DiveVets.com) — Multi-Level dives/Multiple Dive planner for Technical Diving for iPhone/iPod
• V-Planner — King of Technical Diving Planning Software for Windows Mobile Phones and iPhone/iPod
• Mix Blender — Full function Gas Blending (Nitrox/Trimix) Application for iPhone/iPod
• Dive Assistant — Dive Planning, Dive Equipment Management, Dive Table Reference for Pocket PC
• My Deco Plan — Full Function Decompression Dive Planning Application on the web

So, what else can you do to be a sustainable diver?

Note:
All rights for the software/application listed above are reserved by its creator/owner/developer/business.
The result of this list is solely based on our researches and other divers. If you have other applications that you’d like to share, feel free to use the comment area below.
We also will add more as we hear back from our fellow divers.
We also would like to thank those who helped us today (and during our research) to make this post happen.

Also… please visit New Scuba Marketing for another Blog Action Day:
http://newscubamarketing.com/blog-action-day-2009-climate-change/

We are not quite sure this is actually a deal but we ran into an interesting thing on this site and wanted to share this.

This website, bestbuysunglasses.com, is selling this mask with sunglasses. Yes, you read it correctly, Sunglasses. We know that there are masks out there that have some UV protection or even polarizer. But we are talking about “sunglasses.”

From what we gather from the page, it seems like this is for snorkeling as the material is plastic.

Check this out: http://www.bestbuyeyeglasses.com/product_details.asp?product=38233&mid=999&cse=3&srccode=cii_1038957&cpncode=23–55336783-2

What are your thoughts on this? Start commenting!

Updated: Comment section is now closed due to the enormous amount of spam we received and non-dive related advertisements in comment section.

First of all, we’d like to thank our readers because we’ve gotten many e-mails and @ & Direct Messages on Twitter in regards to our Dive T-shirts Runner Up posted this past weekend. Your kind words go a long way. You guys really rock. Please keep it coming!

First entry today is… Neutral Dive Gear. They kindly @replied us on Twitter letting us know that they are doing some specials earlier today. Most of the items are $10 — $15 off the regular price. Can you believe that?

Check out the Men’s Clearance: http://www.neutraldivegear.com/category-s/39.htm
Check out the Women’s Clearance: http://www.neutraldivegear.com/category-s/40.htm

Second entry is… Designated Diver. Another T-shirts company that we missed but reported by one of our readers. Their Manta Ray t-shirt is really fab… It’s on our shopping list.

Check out their store: http://www.designateddiver.com/

Although no coupon or discount code is reported as of today, you can check out their Weekly Specials. This week, they are running 10% off on Women’s Dive Ts.

http://www.designatedsports.com/weekly_special.htm

Last entry of the Day is… Wine. No, we don’t want you to mix diving and wine. But we want you to support them by purchasing the wines from Shark Trust Wine! The part of the profit is donated to Shark Conservation. So if you are a wine & shark lover, what’s the better way to purchase a bottle from Shark Trust Wine and have them donate a part of your purchase!

Check them out on the web: http://www.sharktrustwines.com/

Check out: Jobs in Palmrya Atoll (Hawaii)

Check this out: http://www.hotelsmag.com/article/CA6669658.html?industryid=47565

So… why not register your next scuba experience under your own gift registry?

And follow them on Twitter: @OceanPro

For more info, contact:

Underwater Phantaseas, South
6860 S. Clinton Ct.
Greenwood Village, CO 80112

Phone: 303–220-8282
Fax: 303–790-4658

Or visit them on the web: http://www.underwaterphantaseas.com/

Great opp to meet other divers and check out your gear and skills before your trip.

Check this article out:

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