Veneziano, a USFSP graduate with a degree in environmental science, is a marine conservationist and avid spearfisherman. His love for the ocean led him to become a scuba instructor and dive shop owner.
How scuba diving shaped the life of a recent grad.
Eighty-five feet beneath the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, a spearfisherman entered the decrepit remains of Fin Barge, a shipwreck 25 miles off Sarasota’s Longboat Pass.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
A series of thunderous echoes resonated throughout the ship’s hollowed steel remains. The diver entered the wreck in pursuit of a gag grouper, but was met with far more than he had bargained for. He was surrounded.
“I quickly realized I was surrounded by six 400 to 600-pound goliath grouper.”
He could feel the rhythmic thuds in his chest.
When threatened, the protected fish contracts its swim bladder and smacks its gills, creating a deep, echoing vibration meant to fend off intruders. Goliath grouper can be quite aggressive at times, especially toward spearfishermen with stringers filled with fish. In 2006, a Florida freediver drowned after attempting to illegally spear a goliath grouper, becoming entangled in his own line.
Being aware of the dangers this scenario presented, the spearfisherman knew it was time to leave.
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USF St. Petersburg graduate John “Will” Veneziano, 33, found his passion for the ocean while growing up in Okinawa, Japan. Regardless of the close encounters he has faced, his love for the ocean hasn’t faded.
Shortly after entering the world of freediving, he relocated to northern Virginia, far from the ocean he had grown to love.
When Veneziano moved to Florida in 2012, he quickly found his way to the Gulf’s warm waters. This time, he decided to become scuba certified, enabling him to dive deeper and remain underwater far longer than freediving allows.
A self-proclaimed conservationist, Veneziano graduated from USFSP in summer 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in environmental science.
“It (scuba) was a lot more enjoyable than I thought it would be,” Veneziano said. “I decided to keep taking classes and increasing my dive knowledge. Now I’m a full-time scuba instructor.”
Veneziano is both Technical Diving Instructor (TDI) and Scuba Diving International (SDI) certified. He has taught over 50 students since becoming a certified instructor in May.
In October, he partnered with Infinite Descent, a dive shop at 15029 Madeira Way in Madeira Beach. He purchased partial ownership from the shop’s founders, husband and wife duo Nate and Memory Fosness, whom he met through diving.
Infinite Descent first opened as a T-shirt shop in February 2015, but expanded into a full-service dive shop four months ago. Memory, a tattooer, creates all of the store’s clothing designs.
According to Veneziano, Infinite Descent is the only beachfront dive shop on the west coast, and the only one in the immediate area with water access.
In addition to the Fin Barge encounter, Veneziano has been challenged by an agitated moray eel and chased by a 10-foot bull shark in pursuit of the fish on his line.
But that doesn’t mean he’s intimidated.
“I love seeing sharks while diving,” Veneziano said. “Now I wear a Shark Shield, because I don’t want to have to use force against an animal whose habitat I’m invading.” The Shark Shield is an electronic device that emits an electromagnetic field to fend off curious ocean predators. The waveform it omits creates an unpleasant sensation in the shark’s electrical receptors, causing them to flee the area.
The USFSP alum gives back by offering current students a $150 discount on the shop’s scuba certification classes, which regularly cost $350. The classes include rental gear, an online certification course, a preliminary pool session, and five dives over the course of two days.
Veneziano stressed the importance of certification for students looking to find careers in marine science fields.
“If two equally-qualified people apply for a job in the field, but one is scuba-certified and the other isn’t, the one with the certification will get the job every time,” he said. “Often times, having your certification can even be a required qualification.”
In addition to scuba classes and diving supplies, Infinite Descent also offers fishing and dive charters, as well as special group trips. So far, the store has taken groups on a lobstering trip in West Palm Beach, a coral reef exploration in the Florida Keys, and several shipwreck dives in the Gulf.
Veneziano hopes to expand the business soon, eventually branching out to snowboarding, surfing and skydiving.
