CAVE DIVERS ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA 40TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATING 40 YEARS IN 2013 AGM and Symposium 2013 This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Cave Divers Association of Australia (CDAA). To celebrate, we are holding an exciting two day event on the 9th and 10th of November in conjunction with this year’s Annual General Meeting (AGM). There will be a number of talks, demonstrations and displays, at which we will also be inviting public participation. Speakers will include notable Australian and international cave divers. We are also planning on inviting various dignitaries including representatives from local and state government, private land owners and the local media. The venue, the Main Corner, is conveniently located in the centre of town at 1 Bay Road, Mount Gambier. The Symposium will be held in the Dress Circle commencing at 9:00am. The AGM will follow at 6:00pm and dinner will be served in City Hall at 7:30pm. We hope that you can join us to celebrate 40 years of CDAA history. 2013 SYMPOSIUM AGENDA & GUEST SPEAKERS PAGE 1 ~ GUEST SPEAKER BIO’S ~ Peter Horne & Ian Lewis Peter Horne & Ian Lewis are two of the CDAA’s longest serving members and their contributions to the Association are themselves “historic”. Both have acted in official capacity as Office Bearers, both have been amongst the first to find, explore and map a multitude of sites and both have had to work hard to ensure that the CDAA has continued access to many sites that it retains today. Peter “Puddles” Horne became interested in Mount Gambier's underground realm in 1976 after a workmate introduced him to Ewen's Ponds. He joined the CDAA after learning about the awesome Cocklebiddy Cave explorations from Ian Lewis and Peter Stace (authors of the groundbreaking book "Cave Diving In Australia") in 1979. Peter discovered a rare new species of cave-adapted syncarid crustacean in 1981 and subsequently became interested in documenting the region's then largely-unknown underwater cave environments with the help of supportive speleologists, academics and scientists. He was a founding member of the CDAA’s Research Group in 1983 & also established the South Australian Underwater Speleological Society Inc. in 1986. Peter coordinated many of Australia's first underwater cave research projects and integrated traditional cave mapping protocols into the CDAA's mapping procedures. He also served in various Committee roles (including President and National Secretary) over many years and was instrumental in negotiating access to many sites such as The Shaft and Iddlebiddy Cave. Peter also first explored (and named) Tank Cave with Mark Nielsen in August 1983 and discovered Stinging Nettle Cave several years later. Peter has published numerous books and articles including the voluminous 'Lower South East Cave Reference Book', and he is proud to have contributed to the CDAA's many achievements during the past four decades. Ian Lewis has been caving and diving since his early teens. Being born in the Mount Gambier region he enjoyed exploring many of the local caves in his youth, and he joined the Cave Exploration Group of South Australia (CEGSA) in the early 1970s. He took up cave diving in 1971 after a trip to the Nullarbor Caves at a time when nothing was known of them and he initiated the first diving explorations there. He served as an advisor on the South Australian Government Advisory Committee established in 1973 when the whole sport was under review following a string of cave diving deaths which resulted in the creation of the CDAA and attended the Association’s first meetings in Mount Gambier. Ian has acted in many Committee roles including National and Standards Director as well as being a long-standing Examiner, and he has travelled widely to explore caves around Australia and in Florida and England. Ian has also authored many popular books and articles over the decades including Australia’s first cave diving manual, “Cave Diving In Australia”, with then-President Peter Stace (ed 1982), within which the first maps of Mount Gambier's categorized sinkholes were also published. Ian has represented Australia at the International Speleological Conference, has a degree in Geomorphology specialising in limestone hydrology and these days works as a Scientific Assessment Officer for SA’s Department for Water. He continues to enjoy sharing his experiences and knowledge with others.. Jason Mallinson Jason Mallinson is from West Yorkshire and started caving at 16 and diving soon after. A long term members of the UK’s CDG he has explored caves and cave diving sites around the world, including being part of the 1998 US Deep Cave Diving Team’s Wakulla2 Project with Dr. Bill Stone. pioneering CCR Cave Diving Explorations with an international team. He has explored the Emergence de Ressel in France, pushed Pozo Azul in Spain to over 9 kilometers and made Systema Huautla in Mexico the Western Hemisphere’s deepest cave at over 1545m. He is an experienced cave diving mentor within the CDG for many divers and has established himself as one the UK’s foremost CCR cave divers, using, amongst others, Inspirations, sidemount rebreathers and, most recently, a classic KISS to explore where few have dared (Photo Credit: Martyn Farr) to venture. And if all that is not enough he runs his own business as a rope access worker! Richard Harris (Harry) Richard Harris (Harry) is an Adelaide based medical practitioner who brings a wealth of experience in expedition diving, wilderness and diving medicine, advanced first aid and delivering medical care in austere environments. His work and training with the South Australian aeromedical retrieval service also gives him unique insights into the emergency services and disaster planning in Australia. His work with the South Australian Water Operations Unit has helped generate a new era of cooperation between volunteer cavers and the police in dealing with cave rescue and recovery in this state. 2013 SYMPOSIUM AGENDA & GUEST SPEAKERS PAGE 2 ~ GUEST SPEAKER BIO’S ~ Paul Heinerth Paul Heinerth made his first cave dive in 1971 and since that time he has logged over 8,000 cave dives and another 3,500 open water dives. His cave exploration and CCR cave diving credentials are outstanding. In 1973, he made his first major discovery when he explored and named the Twin Dees system in Florida and is credited with the discovery of the 380-foot-deep cave system “The Pit” under Sistema Dos Ojos in Akumal, Mexico in the 1990s, returning & extending the discovery there using a CIS Lunar Mk V CCR in 2000. He was a member of the original exploration team of Diepolder from the late 70's until 1990 and discovered Giant Cave in Belize in 1979, serving as expedition co-leader with Sheck Exley three years later and returning earlier this year as part of the 2013 Belize Giant Cave Project. He participated in the Wakulla Project with Dr. Bill Stone in 1987 and was the only returning explorer to take part in the 1998 US Deep Cave Diving Team Wakulla2 (W2) project. The W2 was a pioneering CCR Cave Diving Explorations with an international team such as U K’s Jason Mallinson and joined by Australians Andrew Poole & John Vanderleest (yes, now our very own National Director!). He was part of the early deep explorations into Eagles Nest and continued to explore the area as part of the 2007-2009 Weeki Wachee Karst Project reaching a depth of 407 feet using an O2ptima rebreather. Paul has also explored caves in Iceland, Bahamas, France, Bermuda, Mexico and swamps in Florida. He has also dived deep wrecks off South Africa’s wild Indian Ocean coast and Quebec’s St Lawrence Seaway. In addition to his explorations Paul has worked on numerous feature film and documentary projects including “Ice Island” in 2001 with long time friend Wes Skiles, the movie “Cave” in 2004 and “The Pirates of the Caribbean” movies 2 & 3 for Walt Disney Productions in 2005. He was involved in the “Ben’s Vortex” documentary produced by Heinerth Productions in 2011 and he has authored several articles on cave diving in periodicals and books. Paul has been teaching Cave Diving for over 34 years with both the NSS-CDS and NACD and is a CCR Cave, DPV, Stage and Sidemount Instructor, a Sponsor and member of the NSS-CDG Training Committee, a Past Office Bearer with the NACD and holds Instructor Trainer ratings with IANTD, DSAT & RAID. He owned Scuba West Inc on the west coast of Florida for 29 years and began teaching open water programs in 1977 and still teaches open water classes today! His hobbies, besides cave diving, are underwater photography, wreck diving, spear fishing, bottle and shell collecting and canoeing. On a darker side, since 1974, he has been repeatedly called upon by various Sheriffs’ Department to do body recoveries from inside underwater caves. John Dalla-Zuanna John Dalla-Zuanna began cave diving in 1973 in Mt. Gambier and is a 38 year active member of the CDAA. John has an interest in cave maps and cave surveying and is particularly keen in the development of 3D cave mapping technology. He is also a member of the Wetmules & the ASF - CDG and is a recipient of the NSS-CDS 2007 Exploration Award and a member of the CDAA Hall of Fame. Notable expeditions in which John has taken part include: Kija Blue, in the Kimberleys, a remote sinkhole in northern Western Australia, 2006; Tank Cave, Mt Gambier, SA, ongoing mapping & surveying of over 8 kms of underwater passage; Slug Lake, Jenolan Caves, NSW 2007; RMS Niagara, NZ Shipwreck Expedition 2007; Cocklebiddy Cave, WA in 2008 & 2009; Blue Lake, Mt Gambier, SA.