NPS National Maintenance Dive Team

09/23/2024

In May and August of 2024, the NMDT embarked on a new role in supporting our parks with water holding tank inspections. Its not as glamourous as some of our other projects but it is equally as vital to park operations as our other work. Our NMDT team is getting more certifications including surface supplied commercial work, confined space certification. These inspections take us to unexpected dive sites including Little Bighorn Battle National Monument in Montana and Agate Fossil Beds National Monument in Nebraska.

09/01/2024

Its been a pretty busy summer, as we head into a fall and winter that is filling with project request, from parks new to our program and parks that have used our services in the past. We will be highlighting the summer projects in the next few posts but here are some interesting pics from projects in the past.

06/25/2024

Looking forward to our next project in DRTO doing a ATON and buoy installation project later this year…please standby

Did you know that Dry Tortugas National Park has a coral team, dedicated to protecting and preserving the park's coral?

Before the moat wall became an active construction zone to repair damage from hurricanes Irma and Ian, members of the park’s coral team relocated the corals that would have been damaged during construction. They did this with support from the National Park Service’s National Maintenance Dive Team.

By using hand tools, as well as mechanical equipment, they were able to carefully remove the corals from the moat wall. The corals were then relocated to a nearby reef where it is hoped that they will survive and thrive.

Reminder: Corals are a delicate, protected species and should not be touched or moved. The corals relocated in this effort were only those that would be harmed during construction. This relocation was done in authorized coordination with Florida Department of Enviromental Protection, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

A big thank you to the coral and dive teams for their efforts in preserving our ocean’s beauty!

NPS Photo by Kailee Brown Dow

07/27/2023

In May 2023 the National Maintenace Dive Team was invited to Isle Royale National Park (ISRO) to replace all the fixed mooring systems serving their various cultural resource sites (shipwrecks). In the project 6 divers completed 21 dives for a total of 17+ hours underwater. In the process the NMDT replaced 9 of the 12 mooring sites in the park as well as inspected and repaired two dock structures. It was a great task considering the water temp was between 32-34 degrees. For our reward the dive team was offered a magnificent night light show compliments of the aurora borealis...which we all slept through.

04/26/2023

04/26/2023

Last week the NMDT completed a project in coral repositioning at Dry Tortugas National Park. The team moved 51 coral structures ranging in size from 100lbs to 3000lbs. In addition to our scheduled work the team also assisted park staff in floating three boats that ran aground during a storm, lifted a Cuban "chug" engine stranded on a reef and trained divers in O2/CPR/FA administration. The project team consisted of divers from the Submerged Resources Center, Biscayne National Park, Lake Mead NRA, Southeast Archeological Center, NPS National Dive Program, Virgin Islands National Park, and Dry Tortugas National Park. Dry Tortugas National Park National Park Service Submerged Resources Center Biscayne National Park Lake Mead National Recreation Area - National Park Service Southeast Archeological Center Virgin Islands National Park

03/22/2023

This past week the NMDT has assisted Dry Tortugas National Park in Hurrican Ian Recovery operations. Coral destruction in recent years culminated with the direct hit of hurricane Ian. The park has begun an effort to relocate vital coral colonies while park structures are rebuilt from recent storm damage. The NMDT has begun a multiphase coral reposition plan by installing various small craft mooring anchors into shallow water protection areas that are suitable for future coral nursery sites. Additionally, the team collected marine debris from recently sunk Cuban immigrant boats. Divers from Biscayne National Park, Submerged Resources Program and Dry Tortugas National Park composed a team of maintenance divers in completing this coral relocation phase.

03/05/2023

Last week, divers from the National Maintenance Dive Team were in San Francisco assisting the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park in continuing a cycle of inspection dives to ensure that the park’s mooring systems were up to the task of protecting these historic ships. We would like to thank the park for their continued support, and the divers from National Park Service Submerged Resources Center, Southeast Archeological Center , and Lake Meredith National Recreation Area for their hard work in protecting these resources.

10/28/2022

The National Maintenance Dive Team just returned from being mobilized under the Eastern Incident Management Team in support of the National Park Service’s efforts to assess damages done by Hurricane Ian.

Divers from the Southeast Archeological Center, Submerged Resource Center, Lake Meredith National Recreation Area, Channel Islands National Park, and Dry Tortugas National Park came together and dived on intact, damaged, and missing aids to navigation throughout the 100 square mile Dry Tortugas National Park.

This mission proved to be highly successful, even as these divers dealt with strong currents, limited visibility, record numbers of Cuban migrant landings, and challenging weather and wave conditions. The team would like to once again thank the hardworking members of Dry Tortugas National Park supporting them in their mission.

07/15/2022

June marked the completion of the third stage in the four stage project of repair and replacement of navigation and regulation buoys in Dry Tortugas National Park. Twelve divers from throughout the service assembled as NMDT divers to complete the task. Divers conducted 81 dives totaling 41 hours underwater to repair/replace 28 buoys in the park. In the first stage, the National Park Service Submerged Resources Center used survey methods to locate and mark derelict anchors from removed buoys. The fourth stage will be to set five dead weight anchors and attach required buoys, expected to be completed in 2023.