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FBI combs dive shops for clues on terrorism
By ALEX LEARY, Times Staff Writer
CRYSTAL RIVER -- Business was slow that morning at Crystal Lodge Dive Center, so manager Darren Wilkes flipped through a stack of bills. Until the phone rang. "This is the FBI," the caller told a startled Wilkes last Tuesday. Days earlier in Clearwater, an agent dropped by Scuba Quest. "They just wanted to know if we taught any shady characters," manager Scott Barrett recalled. More than 1,300 U.S. dive shops, including dozens in Florida, are being contacted by FBI agents acting on intelligence that terrorists may try to use scuba divers to carry out attacks. The bureau is asking for names of anyone in the past three years who did not complete a dive course, specifically people of Middle Eastern descent. It also seeking information on people who have purchased technical diving equipment and is compiling a database of certified scuba divers. None of several Tampa Bay area dive shop workers interviewed Monday said they had anything suspicious to report. But most said they understood the heightened concern over domestic terrorism since the Sept. 11 attacks. "Terrorists went through the flight schools; what's next on the agenda?" wondered Fred Reed, dive shop manager at the Port Hotel & Marina in Crystal River. Dan Harvey, owner of Adventures Underwater in Tampa, said the concern over scuba divers is well-founded. "One or two scuba divers could take something out quickly," he said. "They can carry enough explosives to take down a ship, or get near a nuclear plant." Debbie Weierman, an FBI spokeswoman in Washington, said a warning issued on May 23 was not prompted by a specific threat. "It's very nebulous," she said. "Unfortunately we have nothing as far as time and location. We do know they are trying to pursue scuba diving capability." The Professional Association of Diving Instructors sent its members a message on May 24, telling them it was working with the FBI to centralize the information sought by agents. PADI, which counts nearly 65 percent of the nation's dive shops as its affiliates, warned dive shops that their lists of students could be subpoenaed. "I think it's a good idea," said Chuck Owen, manager at Bill Jackson Inc. scuba shop in Pinellas Park. He said the FBI visited his dive shop about a week ago. Owen has been in the diving business since the mid-1970s, and this was the first time the FBI has asked about diving in the context of potential attacks, he said. At Bird's Underwater in Crystal River, owner Bill Oestreich said an FBI agent stopped by last week and reviewed records, taking down about six names of people who had not completed classes. Another agent called to inquire whether the shop had trained anyone to use sophisticated breathing systems that do not produce bubbles. "No matter how far-fetched, they are going to be checking it out," Oestreich said. While saying they would do their bit to ensure the nation's safety, most dive shop operators said they did not think terrorists have passed through their doors. Some dismissed the FBI inquiry all together. "This is so ridiculous," said Sarah Buchheim of Odyssey Expeditions in Crystal River, which leads high school and college dive trips in the Virgin Islands. "They train for diving wherever in the world there is water," she said. "And you can buy scuba equipment on the Internet." Said Weierman:"The FBI has not stopped its exhaustive efforts to address any and all plans, plots and ideas we believe are being entertained by terrorist elements." -- Information from Times wires was used in this report.
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