The mission of SCUBAnauts International is to educate teens in the marine sciences, enabling them to make a positive impact on the environment and empowering them to become tomorrow’s leaders.

When the weather gives you lemons…

When the weather gives you lemons...you work with coral at Mote! The past three days, five SCUBAnauts from different chapters in Florida embarked on a mission to assist Audrey B. on her Masternaut project. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had a different plan for us and...

Myrtle Beach Sherman Wreck Dives

Each dive SCUBAnauts conducts has a research or education mission. Recently, some members from the Savannah Chapter took a trip up to Myrtle Beach to dive the Sherman Wreck and practice archeology techniques as well as fish identification.

A Workout to Benefit the Ocean

Getting duckbill anchors 3ft into the sand is no easy feat and typically takes Mote’s team several days to complete small numbers. Enter… SCUBAnauts like Braydan K. from the Sarasota Chapter. This was Braydan’s first mission wtih SCUBAnauts. See what he has to say about his time in Mote’s field nurseries.

Coral Trees from the Anchor Up

SCUBAnauts has been diving in Key Largo for the past week. The Nauts and I have been given the opportunity to swim in coral reefs, see some snazzy sea creatures, and work with Mote Marine Laboratory and a few of their marine biologists. On Wednesday our day started at...

Coral Restoration Begins on Land

It was honestly a great experience to see the process on how MOTE outplants coral onto the reef. It certainly is a long process but is worth every second of it. Using all the tools really showed how much of a great experience working with MOTE is. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to do something like this. It definitely was a messy process from cleaning snail poop to working with concrete. After all this land work, the nauts are definitely prepared for tomorrow in the water!

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The World Below the Rig

The World Below the Rig

When I woke up the morning of the oil rig dive, I wasn’t expecting much. It’s an oil rig, not a reef, it should be pretty dead under the waves right? Wrong. Soon after my giant stride into the water, I was shocked to see the vast expanse beneath me. This was my first...

Paddling, Kayaking, and Saving Corals

Paddling, Kayaking, and Saving Corals

In November, a group of ten nauts traveled from around Florida to Summerland Key for four days of diving-- or at least of adventures! For our first day in the Keys, we spent the morning studying organism identifications. We were divided into two groups, one group did...

Marine Debris and Invasive Species Removal in the Florida Keys

Marine Debris and Invasive Species Removal in the Florida Keys

Nauts from the North Carolina Chapter traveled to the Florida Keys to directly tackle two of these in conjunction with the Florida National Park Service in Biscayne Bay National Park. These advanced Nauts removed hundreds of pounds of trash from the reefs as well as dozens of invasive lionfish AND still found time to blog about it!

Scientific Diver Training at Alexander Springs

Scientific Diver Training at Alexander Springs

Have you ever wondered what fantastic secrets lie beneath the surface of the water? I have!  SCUBAnauts is a great place to discover some of the answers!  With each trip and experience, more of the underwater world is uncovered for me.

“Like a Freshly Minted Astronaut”

“Like a Freshly Minted Astronaut”

Walking around on the seafloor like a freshly minted astronaut. The bubbles from my regulator reminiscent of a peaceful fountain in a meditation room.
Gabe and Sierra hang newly cut coral fragments in the Mote coral nursery. They will later be outplanted to a local reef. Coming eye to eye with a hogfish as I fragmented and hung corals- both of us in awe of one another. All these unbelievably unique experiences gifted to us on our trip to the Florida Keys over a weekend in September.

Scooping Whipped Cream Off Pudding and Other Tales of Microbe Collection

Scooping Whipped Cream Off Pudding and Other Tales of Microbe Collection

Once I found a patch, I would lower myself to hover directly over the bottom, which was many feet deep of silt, and try to catch the cyanobacteria in the bag. The team at Thunder Bay has tried many collection methods over the years, but the ziplock is simplest and has produced the best, usable results. The best description I heard was it being like trying to scoop whipped cream off pudding into a plastic bag. Each team did six or seven bags to have a total of fourteen collections.

Gaining Experience Rapidly in North Carolina

Gaining Experience Rapidly in North Carolina

“…dive buddy went off on our own and studied the fish in places where there were not many divers. Suddenly, I saw a shape moving from behind my dive buddy. As it came closer, I realized it was a sandbar shark! I shook my buddy’s arm…”

Coral Restoration With Help From Yellowtail Snapper

Coral Restoration With Help From Yellowtail Snapper

My favorite experience so far on the SCUBAnauts International Summerland Key Trip was the coral restoration work we did with the Mote Marine Lab. We dove down to a depth of around 25-30 feet into Mote’s coral nursey. The nursery is located close to Looe Key Special...