Cormorant to examine Toronto dive sites British Columbia has three. Atlantic Canada has one. And now, just maybe, Ontario may soon have it's own Canadian Navy destroyer to dive on. Diver Magazine has learned that one of the last science missions for the HMCS Cormorant-the Canada's Navy's soon-to-be-moth-balled dive research ship-is to use it's minisub to study the bottom of Lake Ontario near the City of Toronto early in June. Cormorant is going to see if there are suitable sites near the city where a warship can be put safely on the bottom. The June 4th expedition comes at the request of Project Aware (a PADI-Canada funded ecological foundation). It has asked Cormorant to use its mini sub and make two exploratory dives to examine the lake bottom near Ontario Place. The foundation would like to create an artificial reef near the government owned theme park so that divers in Canada's largest city will have easy access to a new dive site. Ontario Place has a full marina on site; as well there are restaurants, change rooms and ample parking close to the water. There are two shipwrecks off Toronto's shoreline, but both are badly broken up, are in deep dark waters and are considered difficult to dive. With an airport, a shipping harbour, a dozen or so yacht clubs and marinas located on the city's waterfront, traffic around the wrecks is also a problem. Project Aware wants to sink a decommissioned Canadian warship in a location out of the main shipping lanes where the water is clean and the visibility is good. Project Aware has already sunk three decommissioned warships-three in British Columbia waters and one off the coast of Nova Scotia. If a suitable site can be found (and if the Province of Ontario gives the project its blessings), this will be the first large scale sinking in the Great Lakes. "We will go down and take a look at their (Project Aware) proposed sites and see just what the conditions are," explained Steve Blasco, the science officer with the mission. "At the end of the day we might come back and say, 'No Way' but I am hopeful that we get the information Project Aware needs to make this work, and there could be a few surprises too!" Steve Blasco is an engineer with Natural Resources of Canada and has been involved in a number of deep water expeditions including a mission on the Titanic. He has also been involved in the study of the Great Lakes including expeditions to study underwater fissures. "It would be incredible if we could find a site close to a fissure. After looking at the ship, divers could drop down to the bottom and take a look at fascinating natural occurrences," said Mr. Blasco. The Cormorant has tentatively scheduled the Project Aware Dive for June 4th. The two proposed mini-sub dives will be one of the very last missions for the Navy ship. After leaving Lake Ontario the Cormorant and her mini-sub will head for her home port of Halifax where the aging dive tender will be taken out of active service. The Navy, at least in the short run, will not be replacing this ship.   WEBBED DIVERS The Internet continues to be a treasure trove of information about subjects that are of interest to sport divers. Whether it be on personal web sites, commercial spots or bulletin board chat areas, the cyber world is getting wet Big Time! Diver Magazine monitors the Internet on a regular basis to see what sport divers are talking-err-typing about. Of interest in recent weeks, in no particular order are the following items: · Archeologists based in Germany said that in November of last year their divers have discovered traces of the royal quarter of the ancient city of Alexandria, where Mark Anthony wooed Cleopatra. In a statement posted on the Internet, it was said that a team led by marine archeologist Franck Goddio found the quarter in the eastern harbor of the Egyptian city. The palace enclosure was built on al-Silsilah, a promontory that marks the eastern edge of the eastern harbor, but no remains are visible on land today. Alexandria was built for the Macedonian warrior Alexander the Great from the late 4th Century BC. · Visiting a dive agency is always a fascinating experience. NAUI has a web site and it can be reached at http://www.naui.org. · What shark has a skin that is reported to be toxic, grows to seven meters in length and is hunted by Inuit for it's teeth (to make knives) and its flesh (to make shoes)? If you answered Greenland Shark, then you probably want to visit Andrew's web page. Andrew (sorry no last name) has created a web page that is meant for shark lovers. There are pages for over 60 different sharks with information about their eating habits, reproduction information and details about where to find sharks. Despite Andrew's poor typing skills, this is a site worth visiting (especially for kids working on school project). The Shark can be reached at 10.org/http:~gwshark/species.html. · E-mail can be sent directly to Diver Magazine's Stephen Weir at s1weir@aol.com.