Art Pinder

Rodney Barreto
Rodney Barreto is currently serving his second five-year term on the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, appointed first by then-Gov. Bush and re-appointed by Gov. Crist. Barreto is serving his sixth term as chairman, having been elected by his fellow commissioners in 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. Barreto is a successful businessman, sits on several board, has headed many committees (including several Super Bowl Host Committee), and has received numerous awards and accolades. The Miami native also finds time to protect wildlife in the Sunshine State. As a youngster in the 1960s, Barreto fished Biscayne Bay and hunted the Everglades, activities he now enjoys with his wife and children.



 

Dan Crowell
Dan is a respected figure in the world of deep diving and known as operator of the boat, Seeker, which embodied the spirit of exploration and discovery amid a motley crew of seemingly reckless zealots. Seeker evolved into one of the most advanced dive operations in the region, linked to a number of shipwrecks including U-869, USS Murphy, and The Andrea Doria (known as the Mt. Everest of diving). Their exploits inspired books ("The Last Dive" and "Shadow Divers"), as well as television documentaries. Dan developed skills from commercial hard-hat diving to pioneering mixed-gas diving in the Northeast US. He is a technical dive instructor, Master-licensed captain, and a now a deep diving videographer for several award-winning television shows. deepexplorers.com




Hank Juntunen and Gauge
Hank and Gauge work for the FWC Law Enforcement. They have been working together for 1 ½ years and completed an intense 480-hour police K-9 training academy.  Gauge, a 2 ½ year old black lab, is certified by the United Police Canine Association in tracking and game detection. Hank is a dedicated FWC employee and also an accomplished freediving spearfisherman. He has placed high enough at Nationals to attend the last Worlds competition as an alternate on the US men's team. Hank and Gauge will perform a special K-9 demonstration on game detection.





Vasilis Zonomesis
Vasilis is a passionate spearo from Athens and one of the first Greek bluewater hunters. He won many target shooting and spearfishing competitions and loves to design spearguns. He likes enclosing himself in his workshop and
creating new speargun designs. He is known for his use of exotic materials, and he designed some of the first all-carbon
spearguns. He has written articles for several magazines and produced very successful DVDs of spearfishing in the Mediterranean. He is a CMAS and AIDA freediving instructor and judge. He feels strongly about selectivity, and loves to share spearfishing stories while eating tuna sashimi. www.bleutec.eu




Dr. Neal Pollock
Dr. Pollock is a Research Associate in the Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Environmental Physiology at Duke University Medical Center. Trained in exercise and environmental physiology, his research interests focus on human health and safety in extreme environments. The lab group is funded to conduct a variety of studies of decompression and diving safety. He has participated in breath-hold research funded by the U.S. Navy and currently collects and reviews breath-hold incident data for the Divers Alert Network. www.dan.org.
 

Ray Powell  
Ray has represented Australia as a member of the National team and has won many tournaments, including the prestigious Blue Water Classic.  He lives on the NSW and Queensland border "goldcoast".  He hunts in the east Australian current and deep reefs for Jew Fish " Mulloway " , Spanish Mackeral , Wahoo , Yellowtail King , emperors and snappers.  He's dove the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea and now enjoys teaching. His DiveR business incorperates education , expeditions, and equipment developement (DiverR blades).  Ray offers  guided trips to the Coral Sea and New Zealand. He loves big cray fish!

Gary Lawson
Gary Lawson has spent many years in South Florida and made multiple crossings to the Bahamas. He is a skilled fisherman, diver, boater, and mechanic. He owns Boat Center Miami which sells name-brand boats including Contender and Grady White. Boat Center also sells and services Yamaha Outboards and Mercury engines. Boat Center specialize in re-powers and repairs on most makes and models of outboard-powered boats. Gary's years of experience have built his reputation for being one of the foremost authorities on boat servicing, maintenance, and repairs, and he will be sharing tips and tricks that every boat owner should know. www.boatctr.com




Bill Kyser
Bill Kyser's assignments as a firefighter/paramedic, commercial deep sea diver, and as a USAF combat rescue team member gave him an appreciation for sound health and fitness. Fitness is more than looking good; it's being able to engage life at a higher level. For divers, that means safer more enjoyable dives, whether on scuba or a single breath. The purpose of Diving into Fitness Workshop is to reveal the best elements of strength, endurance, leanness, and flexibility, and to help you create the right training regimen for your style of diving. www.professionalfitnesstrainer.com


 

Mark Laboccetta
Mark Laboccetta of Technosport Inc. and his father distribute OMER and C4 products in the US. www.omerdiving.com. Mark's been spearfishing since 1987 and has written articles for Hawaii Skin Diver, Spearfishing Magazine, International Freediving and Spearfishing, and Pesca Sub. He has eight IUSA world records and helps Omer Italy with development of spearguns and products for the US market.






Julie Richardson
Julie is the founder of Dive Wise, a non-profit freedive education initiative.  After nearly losing her two oldest sons to freediver blackout, she was compelled to become a voice for change with her education outreach program, www.divewise.org. 
Julie is a sixth generation Miamian and an active volunteer in her community and is a published author.  She and her family are closely connected to the sea as boaters, spearfishers, navigators, and survivors.



 

Richard (Sonny) Tanabe
Born in Hawaii, Sonny became a high school swimming star, attended Indiana University, and was selected for the US Olympic Team in 1956. He got his Masters in P.E. and served in the Army for two years. Sonny had a teaching career that extended over 33 great years, coaching swimming and water polo. He was an American Red Cross Water Safety Instructor, NAUI Skin and SCUBA instructor, and is an International Swimming Hall of Fame member. His hobbies
are freedive spearfishing, board surfing, body surfing, fin swimming, SCUBA diving, deep-sea fishing and karate. In 2007, he published "Spearfishing on the Island of Hawai'i: A Pictorial History by Sonny Tanabe".




Captain Greg Logue  
Capt. Greg Logue started in EMS while serving as a combat medic in the US Army's elite 10th Mountain Division and as a critical care flight medic with LifeFlight at Miami Children's Hospital.  Capt. Logue is certified as an Air Deployable Rescue Diver, HazMat Technician, and Haz-Tox Paramedic.  He is a Paramedic instructor at Miami-Dade College, as well as, the Lead Haz-Tox instructor at MDFR.  He has most recently been involved in working with the NFL and NCAA, advancing emergency care for injured atheletes.  Greg holds a 50-ton captain's license and is an active sailor and boat owner.

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Dr. Daryl Wong
Dr. Daryl Wong is a dentist from Hawaii and is one of the premier builders of custom-made spearguns used around the world. He is also an accomplished spearo and world record holder, constantly experimenting with different designs and techniques.  He enjoys reef and bluewater hunting and loves traveling to meet new friends or hosting them in his own back yard.  He is known for his generosity, often sponsoring women and juniors, and for his kind spirit of aloha. www.wongspearguns.com.





Del Wren
Del Wren, of Southern California, was born in 1925 in Rochester, NY.  Del ran away from home at the age of 13 and into a colorful life, beginning as a hired hand on a "widow's farm".  As a logger in Oregon, he lost his leg in an accident.  He never allowed this to become a handicap, known for his deep diving skills and going on to win several major tournaments. Competitors were fond of saying he needed another handicap in order for them to have a chance against him.  He was bestowed the Athlete of the Year award in 1958.





Joseph Dituri
CDR Dituri enlisted in the US Navy in 1985 and is still an active duty Naval Officer. He has a B.S. in Computer Science, a Masters in Astronautical Engineering, and has won many awards and commendations for his work in deep submergence. Joseph will chronicle his use of rebreathers and special equipment to help the Association for Marine Exploration (www.marineexploration.org) and the U.S. Navy attain depths of 2000 fsw. This session illustrates the need for specialized equipment and team building while exploring the deep oceans. This session reflects Joseph's views and not necessarily those of the US Navy.


 

Alexander Sarasitis
Alexander is the founder of Trygons, a sports equipment design and production company based in Greece. His main objective is "making only innovative equipment that fulfills the needs of top athletes, enabled by the latest in technology and engineering." Fulfilling that mission, Trygons designed the sled for Herbert Nitsch's record-breaking 700 foot dive on one breath. His company also designs camera housing, spearguns, and freediving nose clips. He is a second-generation spearfisherman and likes hunting Mediterranean groupers. www.trygons.com

 

Dan MacMahon  
Dan MacMahon is one of the most respected spearfishermen in the state of Florida, due to his skill and character.  He has won major tournaments multiple times and has speared the state’s largest Warsaw grouper at 403 pounds.  He is Spearfishing Magazine’s 2006 Spearo of the Year.  He is an accomplished freediver, scuba diver, and technical diver, sometimes going to depths exceeding 400 feet. His passion for spearing comes through in his story-telling and he continues to be a role model and a guiding influence on many other spearos.




Tom Mount  
Tom Mount is the Chairman of the Board for IANTD. www.iantd.com. His career includes military, research, and saturation diving.  Tom has logged in excess of 11,000 dives including caves, wrecks, and dives deeper than 200 ft. Tom developed standards and training programs for technical and rebreather diving and is one of the most all around experienced divers in the world. Tom is also a photographer, Master in Martial Arts, licensed CG Captain, and airplane pilot. Tom has received dozens of awards for his contributions, including diving's most presigious NOGI award.
 



Jon Cooper
Jon is an accomplished fisherman, spearfisherman, captain and a shark-bite survivor. As a spearfisherman, his team won the National Championship twice, in 1986 and 1988, and Jon was voted ISUA Athlete of the Year in 1988. As a fisherman, he is part of the Get Lit team from Miami, famous for being top contenders and winning many prestigious billfish tournaments. As a licensed captain, Jon is very familiar with South Florida and Bahamian waters and takes fishing and spearfishing charters on his boat, the Diversion. diversion@bellsouth.net




Rob Murphy
Rob has always had a passion for the ocean -- fishing since he was a young child, wake-boarding competitively in high school, and lobstering while in college at UCF. In 2007, Rob discovered spearfishing, and his passion for the water grew. In his own words, "On January 9th, 2009, we were diving offshore of Stuart when I was struck by another boat. I had to be trauma-hawked to St Mary's Trauma Center where I almost died, and they were forced to amputate both my legs below the knees. It has been the most difficult challenge I have ever faced in my life...I feel a calling to help others now, and have focused my time into raising dive flag awareness, working with handicapped scuba programs, and just trying to give back and help those less fortunate than I." Rob's courageous battle, and his fight to get back into the water so quickly after the accident has inspired the entire dive community.




Chip Bissell
Chip Bissell, a Southern California native, is a federally registered patent attorney with a background in chemistry, oceanography, and engineering.  A diver since age 5, he is an accomplished scuba diver, freediver, and co-inventor of the Freediver’s Recovery Vest. www.oceanicss.com. Chip currently divides his work between intellectual property law and fisheries & seafood consulting.  He represents fisheries clients at state, federal and international levels, including seeking certification of sustainable fishery status by the Marine Stewardship Council.  He also advises clients in connection with seafood quality and processing, and has over two decades of seafood experience stretching across Alaska, the West Coast, and Japan.  




Lt. Dave Bingham
Lt. Dave Bingham has been a Florida conservation law enforcement officer for twenty-one years. He started his profession with the Florida Marine Patrol during the mid 80's and was a dive team leader in the early 90's, conducting underwater crime scene investigations and assisting with reef damage assessments. His agency deals with inland and marine related conservation issues and enforcement, as well as all types of boating safety regulations. He is especially good at clarifying any questions regarding spearfishing regulations in Florida. www.myfwc.com.







Dave Earp
Dave Earp, of South Florida, was a commercial lobsterman for over ten years.  He is also an accomplished tech diver and one of the first divers to be Trimix certified in the state of Florida. He brings his vast lobstering experience to help explain effective catching and handling techniques.  He will also share a wealth of information regarding a typical lobster’s life and some of their mysterious habits: what they consume, how they reproduce, where they move to. He will also educate about all the native species in Florida and what the applicable laws are.




Kevin Bruington
Kevin Bruington is a respected commercial spearfisherman and speargun builder from the west coast of Florida. Kevin retired from commercial spearfishing to become a full time speargun manufacturer. Kevin owns and operates Spearfishing Specialties which manufactures Ocean Rhino Spearguns. Kevin is well known for his innovative speargun designs and unique accessories. His spearfishing seminars have been a hot ticket in Florida and considered by many to be one of the most comprehensive, entertaining, and educational presentations in the industry. www.oceanrhino.com





Chad Carney
Chad is a veteran diving instructor & captain. He has trained thousands of scuba divers,  instructors, freedivers & spearfishermen since 1977, from beginners to advanced, and technical. He has won multiple  spearfishing tournaments and trained dozens of winners as well. A column writer for the St. Petersburg Times and dive publications, many are archived on his website. His web-book, The Wild West Coast of Florida, is also on  www.floridaskindiver.com.





Cathy Sisco
Cathy, an author of marine life books for children, has six books for ages 5 to 8 and ages 8+ published with many more waiting in the wings. Formerly a teacher and now a writer, Cathy looks under the sea for characters and backdrops that provide the greatest entertainment. Several years ago, Cathy moved to Austin, Texas from South Florida for work. She didn’t know then that she had sand in her shoes. Feeling “landlocked”, she quickly moved back to South Florida and started her writing affair with the sea and the magnificent creatures living in it.






Rob Myers
Rob's passion for marine life led him to take up diving when he was 15 and pursue a career as a biologist. After earning a BA in zoology from University of Hawaii, he moved to Guam where he earned his MS in Biology, worked as a fisheries biologist for the the government, and founded Coral Graphics. He retired to pursue photography, writing, research, and consulting. Rob has published numerous scientific papers and books including "Dangerous Marine Animals". www.seaclicks.com





Guy Skinner
Prior to pyrchasing JBL International in 2004, Guy spent 18 years in the shooting sports industry as both executive and competitor. Mr Skinner worked with military and law enforcement, developing specialized ammunition and duty gear. Taking a break from the corporate world, he operated a leading Advertising agency that specialized in outdoor recreation with clients like Yamaha marine, Abu Garcia, ATK motorcycles, Gregory Backpacks until he sold the agency. Since purchasing JBL, Guy has been active in underwater hunting, practising both disciplines: freediving and scuba and is an avid hunter on land as well. www.jblspearguns.com