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Scuba certified since 2006, the Black Rock resident has made a side career of hunting through the dark depths of Long Island Sound, creating fascinating videos for a growing audience of landlubbers who want to know just what’s lurking offshore.
You can hear from Habza first-hand as he hosts the second Scuba Outreach Seminar on Saturday, March 4, at Bridgeport Holiday Inn. In addition to vendors and demonstrations, the day’s speakers include Evelyn Bartram Dudas, the first woman to dive the Andrea Doria, and Mark Munro, who will discuss shipwreck hunting and side scan sonar imagery.
Habza said tickets are selling fast for the event, which will not just focus on Long Island Sound diving, although that it is his first love.
“You can dive in the Sound for 100 years and not see everything that’s down there,” said Habza, who works for a wholesale seafood company by day. “And nobody knows about it.”
But that doesn’t include those who’ve taken the time to click on the myriad videos at squalusmarine.com, Habza’s team’s interactive repository for videos of ship and airplane wrecks and the flora and fauna of the briny deep.
Some estimate there are 500 to a whopping 1,000 wrecks in Long Island Sound, Habza said.
“That doesn’t mean they’re all schooners with treasure chests on them,” he said with a laugh.
Related story: Bridgeport man shines light on the sunken secrets of Long Island Sound
But there’s a wealth of maritime history under the waves. Habza’s team has documented everything from a Civil War blockade runner off Greenwich to a World War I ship just 50 feet down off Bridgeport and Fairfield.
They have also encountered tug boats, barges, fishing boats, steam vessels, even an airplane in the turbulent estuary, where 25-foot visibility is about as good as it gets.
Since 2012, the team has done about 20 videos a year, all augmented by a family-friendly audio to help orient viewers.
Squalus — Latin for “shark” — has provided its videos to schools to show youngsters what lies at the bottom of the Sound.
“Kids get much more engaged when it’s in their backyard,” Habza said.
In the coming year, the Squalus squad will be branching out to other bodies of water. Habza, who has dived in many other areas, would love to explore the Maine and New Hampshire coasts, Long Island’s Hamptons and New York’s Lake George, where boats that predate the country’s formation rest.
“There’s so much to cover,” he said of the sport. “You never know what you’re going to get.”
For information on Squalus, to watch videos and to register for the March event, visit www.squalusmarine.com.
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