Global Underwater Explorers
Encyclopedia
Global Underwater Explorers (GUE) is a scuba diving
organization that provides education within recreational
, technical
and cave diving
. It is a not-for-profit, membership organization, based in High Springs, Florida
, United States
.
GUE was formed by Jarrod Jablonski and gained early prominence in association with the success of its well known Woodville Karst Plain Project (WKPP), which now has the status of a non-profit affiliate of GUE. Jarrod Jablonski
, President of GUE, promoted the ideas of "Hogarthian" gear configuration and the "Doing It Right
" (DIR) system of diving to a global audience. Following WKPP's introduction in 1995 of a standardized approach to gear configuration and diving procedures, there was a significant reduction in diving incidents within the Woodville Karst Plain cave system.
The standardized approach is the basis of the diver training
program of GUE, marking an important difference from the programs of other diver training organizations. GUE also focuses on protecting the maritime environment. The introductory course, GUE Fundamentals, allows any certified diver to learn the basic skills of GUE and DIR. Further courses are offered in recreational, technical and cave diving as well as instructor courses.
and research in all things aquatic. In line with the original vision of its founding members, GUE is committed to:
Working to redefine the ties binding the average underwater enthusiast
to underwater explorers, conservationists and scientific researchers, GUE is committed to the overall goal of promoting the interests of the underwater world and of those who seek to engage it.
includes two fellows of The Explorers Club—Jarrod Jablonski and Casey McKinlay—as well as cave diving instructor David Rhea, entrepreneur
Robert Carmichael and researcher Todd Kincaid.
(DIR) system which notably refines and extends the scope of standardized diving equipment and procedures.
GUE instructors regularly host "Introduction to DIR" workshops aimed at promoting the Doing It Right approach to diving.
Scuba diving
Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....
organization that provides education within recreational
Recreational diving
Recreational diving or sport diving is a type of diving that uses SCUBA equipment for the purpose of leisure and enjoyment. In some diving circles, the term "recreational diving" is used in contradistinction to "technical diving", a more demanding aspect of the sport which requires greater levels...
, technical
Technical diving
Technical diving is a form of scuba diving that exceeds the scope of recreational diving...
and cave diving
Cave diving
Cave diving is a type of technical diving in which specialized equipment is used to enable the exploration of caves which are at least partially filled with water. In the United Kingdom it is an extension of the more common sport of caving, and in the United States an extension of the more common...
. It is a not-for-profit, membership organization, based in High Springs, Florida
High Springs, Florida
High Springs is a city in Alachua County, Florida, United States. The population was 3,863 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 4,139 .-Geography:High Springs is located at ....
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
GUE was formed by Jarrod Jablonski and gained early prominence in association with the success of its well known Woodville Karst Plain Project (WKPP), which now has the status of a non-profit affiliate of GUE. Jarrod Jablonski
Jarrod Jablonski
Jarrod Jablonski is a pioneering technical diver and record setting cave diver. Jablonski is one of the main architects behind the 'Doing It Right' system of diving.-Background:...
, President of GUE, promoted the ideas of "Hogarthian" gear configuration and the "Doing It Right
Doing It Right
Doing It Right is a holistic approach to scuba diving. According to the DIR approach fundamental skills, teamwork, environmental and situational awareness, and the use of a highly optimized and streamlined equipment configuration are the fundamentals of DIR diving...
" (DIR) system of diving to a global audience. Following WKPP's introduction in 1995 of a standardized approach to gear configuration and diving procedures, there was a significant reduction in diving incidents within the Woodville Karst Plain cave system.
The standardized approach is the basis of the diver training
Diver training
Diver training is the process of developing skills and building experience in the use of diving equipment and techniques so that the diver is able to dive safely and have fun....
program of GUE, marking an important difference from the programs of other diver training organizations. GUE also focuses on protecting the maritime environment. The introductory course, GUE Fundamentals, allows any certified diver to learn the basic skills of GUE and DIR. Further courses are offered in recreational, technical and cave diving as well as instructor courses.
Foundation
GUE is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization formed to promote education, exploration and conservation of the aquatic realm. The organization was formed by Jarrod Jablonski and a small group of educators, explorers and diving instructors. The founding members sought to build upon the history of the Cousteau Society by creating a diverse network of satellite organizations. In this way local advocates help GUE establish detailed diver training, vibrant exploration and sustainable conservation initiatives. When GUE was formed it was co-located with Extreme Exposure dive store. However, Extreme Exposure has now changed locations, which has allowed for further growth of the organization.Mission statement
Global Underwater Explorers emerged out of a shared desire to safely explore and protect the underwater world and to improve the quality of educationEducation
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
and research in all things aquatic. In line with the original vision of its founding members, GUE is committed to:
- Developing safe, skilled, and knowledgeable divers
- Undertaking and promoting underwater researchResearchResearch can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
- Pursuing global underwater exploration
- Safeguarding the integrityIntegrityIntegrity is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations, and outcomes. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions...
of the underwater world - Providing the public with a comprehensive resource on all things aquatic.
Working to redefine the ties binding the average underwater enthusiast
Enthusiasm
Enthusiasm originally meant inspiration or possession by a divine afflatus or by the presence of a god. Johnson's Dictionary, the first comprehensive dictionary of the English language, defines enthusiasm as "a vain belief of private revelation; a vain confidence of divine favour or...
to underwater explorers, conservationists and scientific researchers, GUE is committed to the overall goal of promoting the interests of the underwater world and of those who seek to engage it.
Board of directors
The GUE board of directorsBoard of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
includes two fellows of The Explorers Club—Jarrod Jablonski and Casey McKinlay—as well as cave diving instructor David Rhea, entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
Robert Carmichael and researcher Todd Kincaid.
Training
Among the diving community GUE is best known for a rigorous style of training that diverges from other diver training organizations and seeks to establish high levels of diver proficiency by extending training time, establishing objective performance criteria and requiring requalification among its instructors and divers. GUE diver training started with technical cave and technical diving classes expanding into recreational training while refining its most popular class known as GUE Fundamentals. GUE also maintains adherence to a standardized equipment and procedural system which it claims enhances diver safety and efficiency by reducing confusion and helping divers act as a team. This latter training component is a controversial aspect of GUE training as it stipulates a fairly strict set of guiding principles. GUE’s founder Jarrod Jablonski was a long time proponent of a standardized system known as Hogarthian diving and also a key architect in the Doing It RightDoing It Right
Doing It Right is a holistic approach to scuba diving. According to the DIR approach fundamental skills, teamwork, environmental and situational awareness, and the use of a highly optimized and streamlined equipment configuration are the fundamentals of DIR diving...
(DIR) system which notably refines and extends the scope of standardized diving equipment and procedures.
Courses
In August 2009, GUE offered 17 courses in three subject areas:- Recreational:
- GUE Primer
- Recreational Diver Level 1 - Nitrox diver
- Doubles Course
- Drysuit Course
- Fundamentals
- Recreational Diver Level 3 - Trimix diver
- Diver Propulsion VehicleDiver Propulsion VehicleA diver propulsion vehicle is an item of diving equipment used by scuba and rebreather divers to increase range underwater...
Level 1 - Recreational Diver Instructor
- Technical:
- Tech 1
- Tech 2
- Tech 3
- RebreatherRebreatherA rebreather is a type of breathing set that provides a breathing gas containing oxygen and recycled exhaled gas. This recycling reduces the volume of breathing gas used, making a rebreather lighter and more compact than an open-circuit breathing set for the same duration in environments where...
- Technical Diver Instructor
- Cave:
- Cave 1
- Cave 2
- Cave 3
- Diver Propulsion VehicleDiver Propulsion VehicleA diver propulsion vehicle is an item of diving equipment used by scuba and rebreather divers to increase range underwater...
Level 2 - Cave DPV - Cave Diver Instructor
WKPP
The most renowned of GUE's satellite organizations is the Woodville Karst Plain Project (WKPP), which now has the status of a non-profit affiliate of GUE. Numerous GUE members are heavily engaged in the extensive science and exploration projects conducted by the WKPP. This collaboration helped encourage the state of Florida to budget more than 200 million dollars toward the development of enhanced wastewater treatment practices as means to enhance ground water protection and support the conservation of Wakulla Springs State Park. This success is the model under which GUE has launched a global conservation project known as Project Baseline which seeks to document the condition of our global aquatic environments.Outreach
Some of the organization's notable outreach projects have included:- GUE and Woodville Karst Plain ProjectWoodville Karst Plain ProjectThe Woodville Karst Plain Project or WKPP, grew out of a cave diving research and exploration group established in 1985 and incorporated in 1990 to map the underwater cave systems underlying the Woodville Karst Plain, a area...
(WKPP) members made a record 5.6 km (3.5 mi) cave penetrationCave divingCave diving is a type of technical diving in which specialized equipment is used to enable the exploration of caves which are at least partially filled with water. In the United Kingdom it is an extension of the more common sport of caving, and in the United States an extension of the more common...
in Wakulla SpringsWakulla SpringsWakulla Springs is located south of Tallahassee, Florida and east of Crawfordville in Wakulla County, Florida at the crossroads of State Road 61 and State Road 267...
in 1998, followed by new records in 2001 and 2006. - GUE and the WKPP provided video captured by documentary filmDocumentary filmDocumentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
maker Marc SingerMarc Singer (documentarian)Marc Singer is an English documentary filmmaker. He was born and raised in London, England and moved to Florida, United States, when he was 16. After graduating high school, he moved to New York City....
for Hazlett-Kincaid, Inc.'s interactive, multimedia exhibit Awesome Aquifer Adventure which highlighted various aspects of groundwaterAquiferAn aquifer is a wet underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials from which groundwater can be usefully extracted using a water well. The study of water flow in aquifers and the characterization of aquifers is called hydrogeology...
for the Reading Public MuseumReading Public MuseumThe Reading Public Museum, in West Reading, Pennsylvania, has displays featuring science and civilizations, a planetarium and a arboretum. It also offers educational programs for families, adults and children, and a yearly cultural festival....
. The sixth month exhibit ended March 24, 2002. - The Ocean ConservancyThe Ocean ConservancyThe Ocean Conservancy is a nonprofit advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., United States.-History:...
beachBeachA beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
clean-up at Hutchinson Island located in Martin County, FloridaMartin County, FloridaMartin County is a county in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 126,731. The U.S. Census Bureau 2008 estimate for the county is 138,660. Its county seat is Stuart, Florida.- History :...
in 2003. - The "Underwater Exploration and the DIR system" was held in ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. - The "GUE Conference 2005" was held in Gainesville, FloridaGainesville, FloridaGainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
. - GUE volunteers supported the scanning and archivingArchiveAn archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical SocietyUndersea and Hyperbaric Medical SocietyThe Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society is the primary source of information for diving and hyperbaric medicine physiology worldwide.-History:The Undersea Medical Society grew from the close associations of a small group of scientists...
journalsMedical journalA public health journal is a scientific journal devoted to the field of public health, including epidemiology, biostatistics, and health care . Public health journals, like most scientific journals, are peer-reviewed...
with the Rubicon FoundationRubicon FoundationRubicon Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit organization devoted to contributing to the interdependent dynamic between research, exploration, science and education. The foundation, started in 2002, is located in Durham, North Carolina and is primarily supported by donations and grants. Funding has...
. - The "GUE Conference 2006" was held in Gainesville, FloridaGainesville, FloridaGainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
. - The "GUE Conference 2007" was held in Budapest, Hungary.
- In 2008, GUE was a sponsor for the Divers Alert NetworkDivers Alert NetworkThe Divers Alert Network is a non-profit 501 organization devoted to assisting divers in need. The Research department conducts significant medical research on recreational scuba diving safety...
Technical DivingTechnical divingTechnical diving is a form of scuba diving that exceeds the scope of recreational diving...
Workshop held Durham, North CarolinaDurham, North CarolinaDurham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...
. - In 2011, three members of the GUE and Projecto Espeleológico de Tulum dive team, Alex Alvarez, Franco Attolini, and Alberto Nava, explored a section of cave known as Hoyo Negro for their work with the Quintana Roo Speleological SurveyQuintana Roo Speleological SurveyThe Quintana Roo Speleological Survey is a special project of the National Speleological Society. It supports safe exploration, survey and cartography of the underwater and dry caves and cenotes of Quintana Roo, Mexico...
. The divers located the remains of a mastodonMastodonMastodons were large tusked mammal species of the extinct genus Mammut which inhabited Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and Central America from the Oligocene through Pleistocene, 33.9 mya to 11,000 years ago. The American mastodon is the most recent and best known species of the group...
as well as a human skullHuman skullThe human skull is a bony structure, skeleton, that is in the human head and which supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.In humans, the adult skull is normally made up of 22 bones...
that may be the oldest evidence of early manHuman evolutionHuman evolution refers to the evolutionary history of the genus Homo, including the emergence of Homo sapiens as a distinct species and as a unique category of hominids and mammals...
in the area to date.
GUE instructors regularly host "Introduction to DIR" workshops aimed at promoting the Doing It Right approach to diving.