Continuing DeeperBlue.com’s roaming of the exhibit hall, stopping to talk to a mix of different exhibitors showing off their wares:
Moana Waterman Carbon Freedive Fins
Moana Freediving spend its time at the Blue Wild Expo showing off its newest line of carbon fins. The company is in the midst of changing manufacturers, going form a sporting goods producer to an aerospace manufacturer. The newer models will have a better surface finish and “look a bit slicker; the rails are going to be sexier,” according to a company rep. Moana will also be introducing a new, different blade geared toward the entry-level freediver. “They are a much softer flex geared at people looking for that euro type of feel and will be a shorter overall length. They will be just as high quality as our current fins but will also be suitable for an entry level diver just like our current fin. We never compromise in quality and will continue to produce the highest quality product we can.”
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUuM2sdMTUI]
The folks at Dive Wise had a booth at Blue Wild, spreading their message of safe freediving. “Dive Wise is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing freediver accidents through safety education and awareness. Since its inception in 2008, Dive Wise has become a unifying force in the freediving and spearfishing communities generating awareness of shallow water blackout and the steps to prevent serious injury.”
Southeast Florida Coral Reef Initiative
The Southeast Florida Coral Reef Initiative is “a local action strategy for collaborative action among government and non-governmental partners to identify and implement priority actions needed to reduce key threats to coral reef resources in southeast Florida.” The area it seeks to protect runs from the northern boundary of Biscayne Bay National Park all the way to Port St. Lucie. In existence since 2003, SEFCRI’s latest work centers around a community planning process for its portion of the reef. Over the next year and a half, the community will be coming up with recommendations for managing that area. “We don’t have a federal mandate like the sanctuary did to create the sanitary so this is a grassroots [effort],” according to one of the volunteers. “The public has been knocking on our door so we’ve been managing the process.”
Florida Freedivers is a local shop in West Palm Beach that sells freediving gear and organizes trips to the Bahamas, does charters, and conducts freediving classes. The shop itself has been open for more than 15 years, and has been under new ownership for the past two years.
The AB Biller Company had a booth at Blue Wild for the first time this year. The speargun manufacturer’s Florida sales representative had walked the floor the past couple of years, and this year was able to convince the company owner to have a booth of its own.
 
