For the fourth consecutive year, the NPS has supported a Wounded Veterans In Parks Marine Debris Cleanup at Biscayne National Park. This all-women team from WAVES Project ,Adapt-Able Scuba , Women Divers Hall of Fame , University of Miami Scientific Diving, Biscayne National Park , and the SRC removed over 3,000 pounds of debris from park reefs, including a half mile of trap line and 80 bundles of monofilament fishing line. The project was documented by underwater cinematographer and 2023 recipient of the Our World Underwater Scholarship Society Schutt Photography Internship Rose Dalrymple. This project was made possible through generous funding by the National Park Foundation. U.S. Department of the Interior , National Park Service

The National Park Service Submerged Resources Center, Biscayne National Park, and Dry Tortugas National Park present Weightless, a film by Sound Off Productions of Miami, Florida. This film follows a group of women veteran volunteers as they complete underwater environmental and cultural restoration projects in South Florida National Parks during the summer of 2022. The all-women veteran volunteer team worked with all-women National Park Service staff at Biscayne National Park to remove almost two tons of marine debris from the coral reefs of Biscayne National Park. In August, women veteran volunteers traveled to Dry Tortugas National Park to participate in an underwater archaeology project that documented impacts on shipwreck sites in the park linked to climate change. Veteran participants also helped NPS underwater archaeologists document 24 previously located historic anchors. These projects were made possible in part by a grant from the National Park Foundation through generous funding provided by Publix Super Markets.

Follow a group of women veterans from the Wounded American Veterans Experience Scuba (WAVES) Project on a project to clean up marine debris within Biscayne National Park. The five member, all-women team of veterans and a WAVES instructor joined an all-female crew of women scientists from Biscayne National Park, the National Park Service Submerged Resources Center and the University of Miami, as well as an all-female boat crew from Horizon Divers. The project focused on the removal of debris from abandoned anchors, lobster traps, monofilament fishing line, and other miscellaneous trash and debris found on the seafloor. In total, the crew removed 587 pounds of marine debris and over three football fields of line. The largest amount of line (over 390 feet) was removed from the newly dubbed “WAVES Reef” at Biscayne National Park.

The NPS Wounded Veterans in Park program engages wounded service members in SCUBA diving for the scientific study, interpretation, and maintenance of NPS units system-wide, while assisting veterans in managing and recovering from service-connected disabilities.

Participants from the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) and Wounded American Veterans Experience Scuba (WAVES) joined the National Park Service to continue oil research on the USS Arizona in December 2018. A film by Shaun Wolfe in partnership with Pacific Historic Parks and the NPS Submerged Resources Center.

The WAVES Project is a 501 3 (c ) Non-Profit and has been established to provide an opportunity for American Veterans with service connected disabilities and their families to experience scuba diving. Each veteran and a dive companion of their choice can experience the freedom of scuba diving for free. Together with the NPS SRC we are building a sustainable program to bring disabled veteran divers into National Parks to assist with underwater resource management. (WAVES - Wounded American Veterans Experience Scuba Diving)

The Wounded Veterans In Park program engages wounded service members in the scientific study, interpretation, and maintenance of National Park Service areas system-wide and helps veterans recover from service connected disabilities. A film by Brent Sumner / InStudio *

The NPS SRC and our partner Pacific Historic Parks - USS Arizona Memorial have completed a pilot project that involves our wounded service members in the scientific study, interpretation, and protection of one of our nation’s most important memorials to military service and sacrifice—USS Arizona at World War II Valor In The Pacific National Monument. The program augments NPS underwater archeologists and photographers with disabled veterans trained in scientific diving to assist the NPS with its ongoing management responsibilities for this American icon. Running Time 9:30