Michigan Maritime Museum member and avid scuba diver Jim Scholz will host a free presentation at 2 p.m. Nov. 27 and share experiences in a look at life below the waterline.
The program, at the museum at the draw bridge in South Haven, will start with a basic introduction into scuba, including what gear is needed and why, types of dive gear for different types of diving, basic dive physics (air consumption and equipment configuration), then transition into what you can experience when diving.
This will lead to an examination of shipwrecks of the Great Lakes. Scholz will be announcing a newly discovered shipwreck he and two other divers discovered in the southwestern part of Lake Michigan, between St. Joseph and New Buffalo.
Video and photos of the shipwreck will be a featured part of the presentation.
Scholz started his diving explorations in the cold, dark and deep waters of “shipwreck alley” in the North Atlantic in 1980. His first scuba dive in open water was on a shipwreck in 60’ of water miles off the New Jersey coast. Since that time he has been diving on shipwrecks and other treasures of the deep in rivers, inland lakes, quarries, caverns, mines and his favorite spot, the Great Lakes. Jim is a crew member on the Tall Ship Friends Good Will and has used his sailing experience to study the wrecks he dives on with a different eye than most other divers. “After crewing on Friends Good Will, I can visualize the ships I am diving on, and can imagine them as working vessels on the lakes, not just wrecks on the bottom.” Jim is also a Public Service Rescue Diver who spends his spare time researching and searching for wrecks. He has assisted in the location of 3 wrecks off the Michigan shores and numerous small boats on inland lakes.
Admission to the presentation is free.
The Michigan Maritime Museum is a not for profit organization located at the draw bridge in South Haven.  For more information call (800) 747-3810 or visit www.michiganmaritmemuseum.org.