DIVE THE AZORES
TECHNICAL: MALTA
SCUBA.DIGITAL
DON SILCOCK HEADS OFF IN SEARCH OF BIGANIMAL ENCOUNTERS
BYRON CONROY EXPLORES A SUPERLATIVE SELECTION OF WRECKS BEYOND RECREATIONAL DEPTHS
LOWDOWN ON WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM THE NEW ONLINE DIVE SHOW
WHISTLESTOP TOUR OF SOME OF THE MOST-POPULAR WRECK DIVE SITES ALONG THE SOUTH COAST #42 | £1
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EDITOR’S NOTE LOOKING FORWARD TO A POSITIVE 2021
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MAGAZINE
CONTRIBUTORS
Pete Mesley, Stuart Philpott, Don Silcock, Byron Conroy
Sadly, COVID-19 is still a clear and present danger as I write this editorial, with the threat of increased lockdown regulations across the country looming on the horizon. Travel is still very much up in the air, with countries being added to the ‘quarantine-free’ list all the time - but alas, others being put on the ‘14-day quarantine’ list as well! On a more-upbeat note, UK diving, both coastal and at inland sites, appears to be thriving in the current climate, with hardcore Brit divers being joined by those who perhaps normally would be jetting off to warmer climates, but are itching to get their diving fix and thus have been tempted to take the plunge in slightly colder conditions. As we roll into October, it is time to look to the future and fully intend for 2021 to see everything start to get back to some semblance of ‘normal’. Many dive hotspots around the world have moved bookings from this year to next, and you’d like to think as we move through 2021, things continue to improve and pick up. We live in hope... To inspire you for all things dive-related, over the course of this issue, there is much to enjoy. Stuart Philpott rounds out his whistlestop tour of the South Coast’s most-popular wrecks, new contributor Don Silcock goes in search of big animals in the deep blue waters off the Azores, Bryon Conroy explores some of the deeper wrecks lying off the coast of Malta and Gozo, and we kick off a two-part Q&A with technical diving guru and expedition leader Pete Mesley, which is sure to inspire and amuse in equal measure!
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DIVE THE AZORES
TECHNICAL: MALTA
SCUBA.DIGITAL
DON SILCOCK HEADS OFF IN SEARCH OF BIGANIMAL ENCOUNTERS
BYRON CONROY EXPLORES A SUPERLATIVE SELECTION OF WRECKS BEYOND RECREATIONAL DEPTHS
LOWDOWN ON WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM THE NEW ONLINE DIVE SHOW
WHISTLESTOP TOUR OF SOME OF THE MOST-POPULAR WRECK DIVE SITES ALONG THE SOUTH COAST #42 | £1
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Q&A: PETE MESLEY
‣ UW PHOTOGRAPHY ‣ CONSERVATION
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PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF: STUART PHILPOTT
25/09/2020 07:22
REGULAR COLUMNS
FEATURES...
10 News
20 United Kingdom
The 3 Lakes challenge, a petition to ban shark-fin imports into the UK, crab shells vs COVID-19, a new form of recyclable plastic, seaweed used in laundry, a blue whale sighted off Sydney, Cromhall Quarry reopens to divers, and the passing of Dr Erich Ritter.
20 Medical Q&A
Dr Oliver Firth from Hyperdive answers more questions from readers.
48 Divers Alert Network
The DAN Europe team looks at various considerations regarding dive insurance.
66 Conservation Corner
The Ocean Conservation Trust launches a curriculum learning programme.
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In the concluding article of a two-part series, dedicated British-waters fan Stuart Philpott continues his a whistlestop tour of some of the most-popular South Coast of England wrecks, from the well-known SS Kyarra to the SS Borgny, and from the gigantic Aeolian Sky to the tragic submarine M2.
28 The Azores
New contributor Don Silcock showcases some impressive images from his trip to the islands of the Azores. He made the long haul from Australia to the blue waters of the Azores in search of some big-animal encounters - and he was not disappointed.
34 Underwater Photography
Underwater photography guru Martyn Guest offers some sage advice on how to best capture larger subjects, such as sharks and other pelagic species, on camera.
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CONTENTS
...CONTINUED
GEAR GUIDE
38 Scuba.Digital
54 What’s New
Scuba.Digital is a new online dive show for diving, freediving and snorkelling. We asked co-founder Jason Haiselden about what you can expect to find as a ‘visitor’ to this innovative event.
42 Q&A: Pete Mesley
In the first of a two-part special, we talk to Pete Mesley, a hugely charismatic figure on the international diving scene, who has carved a niche for himself in the world of technical diving and expeditions.
48 TECHNICAL: Malta
Byron Conroy was going a little stir-crazy from a lack of warm-water tech-diving as he was stuck in his home base of Iceland during the COVID-19 lockdown, so as soon as he was able, he packed his bags and headed for Malta, where he explored wrecks and dive sites which are on the limits of, or beyond, recreational diving.
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New products, including the Fourth Element Surface wetsuit, Mares 28XR-HR sidemount set of regulators, the Retra Supercharger for their strobe, Aqua Lung’s DS mask range, and Scubapro’s A2 wristwatch dive computer.
58 Test Extra
This issue we present a selection of Test Extras by Editor-in-Chief Mark Evans, and Walt Stearns, the Editor-at-Large (North America), including in-depth reviews of the Santi E.Lite+ trilaminate drysuit, the Dive Rite Hydro Lite wing BCD, and the unique xDeep NX700/LS200 regulator.
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Each month, we bring together the latest industry news from right here in the UK, as well as all over our water planet. To find out the most up-to-date news and views, check out the website or follow us on our various social media (@scubadivermag) www.scubadivermag.com/news
THE 3 LAKES The objective – to dive the three highest lakes in the UK in 24 hours - and former Royal Marines Commando Simon Reed was definitely up for the challenge
A
fter seeing a YouTube video of Andy Torbet and Monty Halls doing ‘the Three Lakes’ a few years ago, I’d always harboured a desire to crack the challenge myself. It was a tall order – dive the three highest lakes in the UK in 24 hours – Loch Coire, in the Cairngorms, Scotland; Red Tarn in the Lake District in England; and Ffynnon Lloer in Snowdonia, Wales. With the COVID-19 lockdown and travel bans in place, I hadn’t got my normal fix of doing any challenges or diving, so a UK dive – and a challenge thrown together – seemed to be a good plan. Our hardy bunch consisted of myself, my buddy Stu Leach, and Rachel Symns, our driver (and all-round ‘good egg’). We had had the best spell of weather possible, right up until the weekend we went to do the challenge... Sod’s law! However, because of busy diaries, we made the most of it!
LAKE ONE, SCOTLAND This is the longest walk in by far, 11km each way. This is where you really realise that dive kit is not at all light... What a stunning walk in, the views are sublime. The last 2km, however, are straight up with 500 metres of height gain. As we ascended the weather changed, as it often does in the Cairngorms. By the top it was windy and the temperature significantly colder. This was going to be a motivational test... I don’t mind admitting that when I did a temp check, I wondered if this was such a good idea! After a brave pill, we got suited up and gingerly got in... Holy s***, it was cold! In the loch itself, underwater visibility was superb, a beautiful blue with a pretty boulder bottom. Post dive was possibly the quickest I have ever got changed (with some help from Rachel). It would have been inappropriate had I still had any genitalia to display... The wind was now bitingly cold, and there was a real danger of hypothermia. Typically, as we descended the sun came out and we were in T-shirts 20 minutes later - it made the dive seem very surreal and like we had gone to Narnia for it. Back at the truck we had a quick footwear change, grabbed some snacks and hit the road.
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LAKE TWO, ENGLAND On arrival, I was concerned. The weather was not pleasant at all - windy, raining and cold! According to the mountain forecast, it was not any better on the top. The tarn sits just below Helvelyn, the second highest peak in the Lake District - the MET office said the temp at the top was 6 degrees C, with a windchill of 1 degrees C. We had a discussion as to whether we wait until first light to dive; the decision was made that we would hike up to the lake and review our options. A relatively short sharp walk up, this time as we ascended the weather improved, the rain passing and the wind dropping. As it was dark, the scenery was limited but I feel that wasn’t a bad thing as we couldn’t see the top! As we walked, I was constantly running through go/no go options - the last thing I wanted was to become a casualty on the mountain and need rescuing. When we arrived at the lakes, the call was made to dive, the plan being to stay in the water the minimum time. The dive was actually pretty enjoyable, definitely warmer than Scotland. We didn’t venture too far, simply contouring the bank and coming back the same way. It was a pretty surreal dive, feeling a bit like we were in a sci-fi movie. A far-less-emotional change followed and we slipped off of the mountain the same way. After a small kit explosion and repack, we were on the road to Wales.
LAKE THREE, WALES Arriving at the start in the dark, we kitted up with far less banter than previously, slightly preoccupied by the steep gloom in front of us. We reached the Lynn and had a few minutes to watch the sunrise pop in and out of the clouds, as moody and mysterious as it can be in the Welsh mountains. It was imposing and atmospheric in the huge natural amphitheatre. Slipping into the water, we descended to the dizzy depths of 2m. On Monty and Andy’s YouTube video, they said it was a shallow, yet strangely enjoyable dive. I would have to agree. Exiting the water, we now had to get a wriggle on if we were to get down in the allotted 24 hours. The path down in daylight was significantly easier, we whizzed down in no time at all, and arrived back with 20 minutes to spare. Our celebrations were elaborate - a sturdy handshake and well done, followed by a massive fried breakfast.
CONCLUSION I must admit, I thought this challenge would be relatively easy, assuming Monty and Andy had added some TV theatre. This turns out not to be the case. It is a hard task, and throw in some poor weather, it does make it a real challenge. But one that is well worth it.
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WANT SHARK-FIN IMPORTS BANNED? WRITE TO YOUR MP! Dive industry stalwart Rosemary E Lunn is calling on British divers to write to their MP, to encourage them to support banning the import of shark fins into the UK. “There has been a sustained lobbying over many years by the likes of Bite-Back Shark & Marine Conservation and Shark Guardian to ban shark-fin imports.” she said. “Parliament has been petitioned many times. In September, we saw a petition to ban the importation of shark fins hit critical mass – at the time of writing this, 113,219 people have signed calling for a debate in Parliament. Because over 100,000 have signed, this will now be considered. “This is not a time to celebrate. It is just one step in the journey to ban shark-fin imports. We now need divers to lobby their local MP to support this Early Day Motion so that it gains traction. EDM can fail if high profile and senior MPs from both sides of the house don’t back it.” Take five minutes out of your day to write to your MP and ask them to support the Early Day Motion to completely ban the UK import of shark fins. You can find the address of your MP by going to: https://members.parliament.uk/members/ commons When writing your email, please consider the following: 1) Be polite and to-the-point 2) Include your name and address so that your MP knows you are a local constituent. Unfortunately, it seems that identical messages being sent to MP can be blocked, so it is very important that you use your own words. As guidance, here are some points you can include when writing your message: · Say that you are supporting the campaign to ban shark fins being imported in the UK. · We need a healthy shark population because it helps maintain the balance of our ocean ecosystems. The World Wildlife Fund states that around 100 million sharks may be killed annually · Shark finning poses a threat to local economies who rely on eco-tourism. · While the practice of finning is banned in the EU, there is nothing to stop fins being chopped off in waters around the world, and then brought into Britain. · At present anyone can carry in 20kg of shark fins into the UK – you don’t need to declare it. A blanket ban would assist our overstretched border agents. · Canada is the first G20 country to ban the import of shark fins. Great Britain could be the first European country to ban the import of shark fins. · This would be a very positive piece of legislation and Parliament now have the power to pass it. The British Government has previously said its hands were tied – it couldn’t unilaterally ban the import of shark fins while tied to Brussels. Once the Brexit transition period passes at the end of this year Parliament will be able to vote to ban the import of shark fins into Great Britain. · DEFRA has already given its blessing for this to happen. DEFRA stated on 29 June 2020 ‘the UK Government is strongly opposed to shark finning. Shark finning is already banned in UK waters. Having left the EU, the UK can champion conservation measures much more forcefully’. Rosemary concluded: “We could all use some positive news in this extraordinary year. If we can get our politicians to pass the legislation needed to ban the import of shark fins into the UK, that would be something to celebrate.”
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NHS staff battling against COVID-19 could soon have a new tool in the fight with coronavirus – made from crab shells! Chemists at Bangor University’s BioComposites Centre are working with experts from the North Wales-based company Pennotec to develop a coating with virus-destroying properties from chitosan, a chemical that is naturally found in crab shells. It is envisaged that the coating can be applied to medical equipment, and even the masks and other protective clothing worn by NHS staff, thus killing any virus it encounters. The project, which received funding from a UK government scheme, is still in the early stages, and once the coatings have been further developed, they will be tested for effectiveness in the laboratory. Pennotec managing director Jonathan Hughes said: “Our business is focused on developing natural products from wastes that have benefits to health, society and the environment. Medical materials are a new departure for us.” Chitosan is seen as one of the world’s most-important polymers available to chemists, but crucially, it is a natural resource. The chitosan comes from crab shells, which are a by-product left over from producing cooked crab, and Pennotec and Bangor University get their shells from local firm Selective Seafoods.
26/08/2020 18:22
Hope for the environment as scientists develop a new plastic material that can be recycled repeatedly without losing quality. Of the 350 tons of plastic produced each year, only some 20 percent is recycled. One reason for this is that not all plastic is that easy to recycle, and even when it is, the process involved degrades it, which means it can only be remoulded into lower-quality, less in-demand items, such as carpet fibre. However, scientists from Colorado State University have developed a material called PBTL, which maintains all of its original qualities even after being recycled. According to them, when the PBTL is heated to 100 degrees C for 24 hours, in the presence of a chemical catalyst, it breaks down into its original ‘building blocks’ – molecular units known as bicyclic thiolactones – which can then be reassembled into new high-quality PBTL. The downside? PBTL cannot be recycled with other plastics, which could cause issues at recycling plants, unless it is widely adopted and used by manufacturers.
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WRAYSBURY GAINS 737 FUSELAGE DIVE ATTRACTION Wraysbury Dive Centre has a new dive attraction – a 737 fuselage! In a post on their Facebook page, the 15-acre inland dive site – located close to Heathrow Airport – announced the ‘landing’ of the aircraft section. They stated: ‘Its finally landed! The 737 fuselage is in the water ready for you to explore. Please be careful around it as with any wreck there are snags and hazards.’ They also thanked Lee Lifting for craning the fuselage into place, Air Salvage International for supplying the 737 in the first place, and Scuba Schools International (SSI) for sponsoring the shiny new dive attraction. www.wraysbury.ws
WASH LAUNDRY AT LOWER TEMPERATURES – WITH SEAWEED Scientists have discovered an enzyme made by bacteria living on seaweed that can be used to help wash laundry at lower temperatures. The research team from Newcastle University were looking into cleaning the hulls of ships when they discovered that the seaweed kept itself clean using an enzyme called phosphodiesterase. Working with Procter & Gamble, they found that by adding these enzymes into detergent, it would do a thorough wash but at a lower temperature. Another added bonus of washing at cooler temperatures is that it could also reduce the amount of microfibres that enter the water supply.
SHARK EXPERT DR ERICH RITTER HAS DIED The world of shark conservation is in mourning after hearing the passing of Dr Erich Ritter. Dr Ritter was a sometimes controversial figure in the world of shark research and conservation, especially after he was badly bitten in the calf by a bull shark while filming Bull Sharks: World’s Deadliest Sharks with Nigel Marven in the Bahamas in 2004, but through his work with the Florida-based Erich Ritter Shark School, he did much to further our knowledge of these much-maligned creatures. According to the Shark School Facebook page, Dr Ritter passed away in his sleep peacefully at his Florida home. No more details are known at the present time.
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INLAND DIVE SITE CROMHALL QUARRY IS BACK OPEN FOR DIVERS Good news for divers – Cromhall Quarry is back open for divers and openwater swimmers! As we reported back in May, Cromhall – located in South Gloucestershire – had seemingly closed for good. The inland site, which has a maximum depth of 17m, featured a floating pontoon for easy entry/exit and various sunken attractions, including an exRoyal Navy gun shield, two shipping containers, an aircraft cockpit, several cabin cruisers and even a couple of red phone boxes. Now it is back on the diving map, but due to COVID-19, there are restrictions in place – you have to book your slot in advance, and these are strictly limited. At the moment, it is open for general diving on a weekend, but dive centres and schools can contact Cromhall direct to organize to come use the facilities mid-week. www.cromhallquarry.com Cromhall-based Southwest Maritime Academy offers a wide range of specialized training courses, but their RYA certifications, which include Powerboat 1 and 2, and VHF short range radio, could be of interest for those who have access to, or own, a RIB. www.southwestmaritimeacademy.com
BLUE WHALE SPOTTED OFF SYDNEY
A huge blue whale has been sighted off Sydney – only the third time in some 100 years that one has been seen. The gigantic mammal, estimated to be more than 25 metres long and weighing more than 100 tons, was seen in the waters off Maroubra last month. According to the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), it is an extremely rare sighting as the massive animals do not normally come so close to shore. NPWS Project Officer Andrew Marshall commented: “The blue whale is the largest animal on the planet, yet it could have easily slipped by Sydney’s coast unnoticed. “They are not often seen because they tend to live very far out at sea, their populations are widely dispersed, and we have very limited data regarding migration and critical habitat.” He concluded: “We have unofficial records of blue whales off Sydney from observers at Cape Solander in 2002 and 2013, but this recent sighting is the first verified record of this species off our coast.”
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Dr Oliver Firth is a diving doctor with over 22 years of diving experience. He is an Approved Medical Examiner of Divers for the UK HSE and a medical referee for the UK Diving Medical Committee, performing many hundreds of diving medicals a year. As the senior doctor at London Diving Chamber for the last 13 years, he has supervised the treatment of hundreds of cases of decompression illness. He has now set up Hyperdive (www.hyperdive.co.uk) to continue his diving medical work with a global audience. With his accumulated experience, he has seen most things a diver might come across, but remains eager to hear from anyone with a medical conundrum they need a solution to! divingdoctor@scubadivermag.com Q: Following some bad headaches, high temperatures and confusion I was recently admitted into hospital, and ended up being diagnosed with unspecified viral encephalitis. I had a lot of tests and was in the hospital for four days. Two weeks after discharge I had to go back for results and was told that all the tests came back as negative. I went to go on a dive with my club last week and was told that I would not be able to dive until I have a certificate of fitness to dive. I have also got a liveaboard booked that I would hate to miss out on. What are the chances of me getting wet again? A: To explain: encephalitis is an inflammation of the brain itself, usually viral in origin. It is a very serious illness, potentially life-threatening, and often leaves survivors with variable degrees of brain damage. Being viral, antibiotics are ineffective, but sometimes aciclovir is used, particularly as herpes simplex (the cold sore virus) is the commonest cause of viral encephalitis in the UK. Otherwise treatment is supportive: oxygen, fluids, anticonvulsants and keeping the temperature down while the immune system does its best. I think fitness to dive would very much depend on the presence and extent of any complications following recovery. These can include problems with balance, co-ordination, dexterity, speech, swallowing, movement, concentration, mood, behaviour, memory, seizures… the list is seemingly endless. Each case would therefore have to be considered carefully and individually, but if there is no evidence of any complications, then I don’t see why diving should not be possible. When you are fully recovered, pop in for a ‘fit to dive’ medical and we’ll give you the complete assessment.
Q: I would like to get information about diving after pneumothorax. I fell off a bike and got injured, I broke my collar bone and had partial pneumothorax. It was almost 90 days ago. Since I like snorkelling, apnea and scuba diving (only on amateur level), I would like to know how safe would it be to go underwater, let’s say in the next few days? A: A pneumothorax is a collapsed lung. They come in two types: spontaneous (out of the blue) and traumatic, where the cause of the lung injury is known (in this case, most likely a sharp spicule of bone, courtesy of your broken clavicle, popping the lung like a balloon). So there is no reason to suspect that the underlying lung tissue is more susceptible to barotrauma or another puncture. If your lung tissue is otherwise fine, then these types of injuries heal up by themselves and all that is required is some confirmation that the repair is complete, usually a CT scan and some lung function tests. Now you say your lung collapse was ‘partial’, but you don’t mention how it was treated. In mild cases, where the collapse is small, the lung will heal itself spontaneously; more major injuries require the insertion of a chest drain, to help the lung re-inflate. I’m assuming in your case that no intervention was required. Given it’s been three months since your fall, an uncomplicated traumatic pneumothorax should have fully healed up by now. Don’t be tempted to skip the checks, however; healing can be incomplete and give you no symptoms whatsoever, until you’re at depth and suddenly the lung pops again at pressure. But, as long as the CT scan and lung function tests raise no concerns, then snorkelling and diving (of any sort) should be okay.
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KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY
Editor-in-Chief Mark Evans heads to Capernwray with his son Luke in tow for some ‘lad-and-dad’ diving adventures.
Q&A: PETE MESLEY
Part two of our in-depth chat with Pete Mesley, creator of the epic Lust4Rust and Shock and Awe diving expeditions.
KICKING BACK IN KOMODO
Adrian Stacey is blown away by the rich diversity in the nutrient-rich waters around the Indonesian island of Komodo.
TOP CARIBBEAN WRECKS
Stuart Philpott dives into his back-catalogue to collate a list of his favourite shipwreck dives throughout the Caribbean.
TECH: HOLE-IN-THE-WALL
Walt Stearns heads into deeper water off the coast of Florida to explore a dive site frequented by big animals.
GEAR GUIDE: BUDGET MASKS The Test Team has been busy rating and reviewing masks priced under £35 from all the major manufacturers.
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Her mixed cargo includes trucks, tractors, Land Rovers, perfume and sweets as well as several million pounds worth of Seychelles Rupees locked away in the sick bay
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wanage is a good starting point for the deeper wrecks. These days, 30m seems to be a comfortable depth limit for most recreational divers. Although some individuals will still use twinsets at this depth, most divers can get away with a single 12- or 15-litre nitrox mix and possibly a 50 percent stage for added safety. Anything deeper usually warrants twinsets and 40m-plus is entering into the realms of mixed-gas diving. The 126-metre-long, 6,953-ton luxury passenger liner SS Kyarra is without doubt the most-popular South Coast wreck of them all. Boat journey time from Swanage is roughly 15-20 minutes depending on tides. On 26 May 1918, she was torpedoed by a U-boat one mile off Anvil Point. The Kyarra now lies on her starboard side at a max depth of 30m, although some sections are as shallow as 23m. This wreck is a ‘trophy hunters’ dream, although this is not considered acceptable these days. Not only was the ship carrying 2,600 tons of general cargo, including medical supplies, she sank fully loaded with brass fittings including hundreds of portholes. Some of the cargo finds include false teeth, perfume bottles, silver pocket watches, crockery, ceramic tiles, fabrics, champagne bottles, silverware, brass pen torches, pipes and cut glass tumblers. The list of treasure is endless! The wreck has been heavily salvaged since its discovery back in the late 1960s. There is no defined ship shape left, just a massive debris field of steel plates, bollards and support beams. But the wreck is still an exciting dive with plenty of overhead sections and swimthroughs. Some of the pollock patrolling the wreck are gigantic.
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Stuart Philpott continues his whistlestop tour of some of the mostpopular wreck dive sites along the South Coast PHOTOGRAPHS BY STUART PHILPOTT
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Dives can turn up some coveted finds
Marine growth festoons most wrecks
Conger eels peer out from every nook and cranny, and there are usually an abundance of lobster and edible crabs, although by the end of the season most of these have been taken home for dinner. Along with SS Kyarra, HMS Carantan and the SS Firth Fisher complete the Swanage triangle. All three wrecks are located in close proximity to each other. The 51.7-metre-long, 443-ton Firth Fisher sits at a max depth of 37m, which is slightly deeper and not so popular. The 37-metre-long, 107-ton Carentan, aka submarine chaser chasseur No.5, had a tragic ending. The ship’s shallow 1.95m draft made her extremely vulnerable in heavy seas. A huge wave hit the starboard side and rolled her over. Submarine HMS Rorqual fired distress flares and the Swanage lifeboat was scrambled into action. When they arrived on the scene, three of Carentan’s crew had clambered onto the upturned hull and another three were rescued from the sea. The remaining 17 crew, including the British commander, were trapped inside and could not be saved. They were last heard screaming from the portholes as the ship sank beneath the waves. The Carentan is quite a small wreck, so it’s possible to complete a full exploration on a single dive. She lies on her port side at a max depth of 31m, which is perfect for nitrox. The list of armaments include a huge 75mm World War One artillery gun, a pom-pom gun, two Vickers .303 machine guns
South Coast wreck divers
and two Browning machine guns, which is probably why there is so much ammunition scattered over the seabed. The minesweeping sonar housing, shaped like a huge all-seeingeye, is quite an unusual feature. Marine life includes a shoal of pouting, some big pollock, a few lobster and watch out for the conger eel peering from the bow gun mounting plate. The 70-metre-long, 1,149-ton cargo steamer SS Borgny lies mostly upside down at a maximum depth of 32m some nine miles (45-minute boat journey) off Swanage. She was either sunk by a torpedo or hit a mine on 26 February 1918 while carrying 1,466 tons of coal. Bizarrely, quite a few divers don’t see the four-bladed prop and rudder (which is the mostphotogenic area) as it sits above the seabed at 26m. Although the superstructure is well broken up, there are still a few interesting overhead areas to explore. The twisted prop shaft leads to the remains of a triple-expansion engine, the pistons and rods are easily recognisable. Moving towards the bow
Due to depth and tidal constraints this wreck is rarely dived and so is in remarkable condition considering her demise more than a century ago WWW.SCUBADIVERMAG.COM
there are a number of winches and the base of a broken mast. Marine life includes pollock, pout, good-sized lobster and edible crabs and congers. It’s strange that the prop has never been salvaged, which can only mean it’s made of iron, not bronze. The 148-metre-long, 10,715-ton Aeolian Sky is another firm favourite among divers. This is a huge modern wreck – it sank in late-1979 - that needs at least two to three dives to explore thoroughly. The Greek freighter was just a year old and had been valued at £3 million pounds sterling when in heavy seas and thick fog she collided with the 80-metrelong, 2,526-ton German-built cargo ship, Anna Knuppel. She started taking on water and one-day later, sank five miles from St Aldhelm’s Head (12 miles from Portland). She now lies on her port side at a maximum depth of 30m. The bow was blown off during salvage/clearance operations and the four vast cargo holds and square-looking masts/derricks have collapsed. Her mixed cargo includes trucks, tractors, Land Rovers, perfume and sweets as well as several million pounds worth of Seychelles Rupees locked away in the sick bay. The manifest also listed a consignment of chemicalbased products, including paint, thinners, chlorine, butane, ammonia and aerosols. The bridge and crew’s quarters located at the stern are the best areas for exploration. There are plenty of overhead areas, but beware in low visibility it’s very easy to get disorientated and trapped inside. The Land Rovers and trucks strewn inside and outside of the cargo holds are also worth looking at. Not much of the bodywork is left but the wheels, tyres and axles make great pictures. There are at least four submarine wrecks offered by Portland’s charter boats, HMS Safari, HMS Sidon, P555 and the infamous M2, which is by far the most popular. The M2 lies approximately five miles North West of Portland Bill
Some wrecks are so big they are more-suited to CCRs...
... or twinsets
Not all the wrecks are deep
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The wrecks are home to a multitude of marine life
Not only was the ship carrying 2,600 tons of general cargo, including medical supplies, she sank fully loaded with brass fittings including hundreds of portholes Watch out for errant fishing nets and line
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in Lyme Bay (roughly an hour boat journey). She was the Navy’s first-ever submarine aircraft carrier. Tragically on 26 January 1932, the M2 was lost with all hands during an exercise. The 90-metre-long submarine now sits upright on a relatively flat seabed at a maximum depth of 31m around the bow and 35m by the stern. There are some signs of corrosion to the outer skin, but otherwise she’s in pretty good shape considering her age. The best areas to explore are the conning tower and the aircraft hangar plus catapult. The stern is also nice although the twin three-bladed bronze props were salvaged decades ago. I’m going to end on a high with a shipwreck lying about two miles off Portland Bill. The 55-metre-long SS Apache is a three-masted steel-hulled barque lying at a max depth of 40m. She must have been an impressive sight under full sail flying along at 20 knots, Due to depth and tidal constraints this wreck is rarely dived and so is in remarkable condition considering her demise more than a century ago. We had chosen a clear, calm sunny day and a high-water slack with above average visibility when we dived her. Just to round it all off there was plenty of marine life activity including a rare sunfish sighting. When conditions are favourable, there aren’t many places in the world that can better the UK for adventurous, heart-thumpingly good wreck diving. The Apache is just one of thousands steeped in history just waiting to be explored. I admit, these near-perfect conditions don’t happen very often, but that just makes me appreciate the good days even more! n
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It’s what’s underneath that counts
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ike the tips of icebergs, the islands of the Azores archipelago are just the visible peaks of a remarkable chain of underwater mountains that rank among some of the highest in the world. They rise up from the Azores Platform, a huge area of nearly 6 million km2, which in itself is just a small part of the incredible Mid-Atlantic Ridge, that runs the complete length of the Atlantic Ocean - from the far north and the Arctic Ocean, to the deep south and the Southern Ocean. The Azores Platform is some 2,000m below the ocean surface, but the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is grounded on to the seabed another 2,000m below that, while the tip of Pico (the tallest island of the archipelago) is 2,350 metres above sealevel, making the mountain that is Pico about 6,500 metres high in total elevation.
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Sat as they are, roughly halfway between the edge of southern Europe and the tip of North America, the nine islands of the oceanic archipelago of the Azores offer the only shelter from the notorious seas of the North East Atlantic. Underwater, that archipelago sustains an incredible ecosystem because those nine visible peaks are just a fraction of the 100-plus underwater mountains and seamounts that are both a beacon to marine life and a catalyst for the interaction between the many pelagic species that aggregate there.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION‌
Swept by the warm tendrils of the southern Gulf Stream, rich in tropical nutrients and dissolved organic nitrogen, the Azores archipelago is far enough south from the frigid
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Don Silcock made the long haul from Australia to the Azores in search of some big-animal encounters – and he was not disappointed PHOTOGRAPHS BY DON SILCOCK
winter waters of the Arctic that even in midwinter the area can support the food-webs necessary to sustain a complete marine ecosystem. So, while the rest of the North Atlantic is practically barren at that time of the year, the Gulf Stream creates rich upwellings around the mountains and seamounts of the Azores that become fertile oases to which the large pelagic animals of the region aggregate. Come spring and rising temperatures, the Azorean waters burst into life with huge planktonic blooms and krill spawning events, creating the perfect feeding conditions for the hungry great whales of the northern hemisphere as they migrate to their Arctic summer feeding grounds.
THE GREAT WHALES OF THE AZORES
The deep waters, undersea mountains and overall ecosystem of the Azores make it an almost perfect location for sperm whales - deep-diving animals that hunt and feed on the giant squid that abound in the depths around the archipelago.
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It is also one of the few places in the world where, under a special permit from the Regional Environment Directorate, it is possible to be in the water with those sperm whales – which is what convinced me to undertake the marathon journey from Sydney! September is the optimum month as it has the best visibility, reasonable water temperature, most tourists have departed and it’s the end of the calving season, with the highest chance of curious juvenile sperm whale encounters. I based myself in Madalena, the main town of the picturesque island of Pico in the central Azores, which is dominated by the Mount Pico volcano - the highest point in the archipelago and in all of Portugal. Thankfully dormant since its last eruption in 1718, a drive up to the flanks of Mount Pico affords a view that seems to stretch to eternity and puts into perspective the sheer isolation of these islands. It is that very view, combined with the nature and tenacity of the Azorean people, that allowed a shore-based sperm
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Blue shark
…face to face with a quite-aggressive false killer whale who proceeded to charge me several times and then ominously circled one of the other swimmers whaling industry to succeed, because an experienced whalespotter can only see the ‘blow’ of a whale up to 50km out at sea and tell what type of whale it is. The whale lookouts are called ‘vigias’ and they are distributed around the islands at strategic locations to provide almost complete panoramic coverage. Somewhat ironically, the same methodology is used to this day to spot the whales and guide the whale-watching boats to them – although mobile phones have long replaced the elaborate small rocket firing and white sheet signalling originally used! But it’s not just sperm whales that frequent the Azores. Other great whales can be seen, with the leviathans of the ocean, the blue whale, appearing in March and followed by fin, sei and humpback whales! The rich waters of the Azores are also one of the best places to see blue sharks, pilot whales, false killer whales, mobula rays and multiple species of dolphins!
WHALING IN THE AZORES
The people of the Azores are known for their quiet, peaceful but industrious nature, characteristics the American whaling ship captains noticed when visiting the islands at the end of the 18th century. Those ships were almost the precursors of the infamous ‘factory ships’ of the early 20th century, which devastated the global whale population. These highly evolved vessels could catch whales using small open boats launched from the main ship and then process the whales using an on-board brick furnace called a ‘try works’ to boil the blubber. Designed to pursue the deep-water whales out in the open ocean, they targeted the sperm whale because of the highly
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Divers on Princess Alice dive site
prized spermaceti wax-like liquid in the whale’s head - used to make expensive candles, which burned with a clear, brilliant light and were in great demand among the wealthy. Many Azorean men signed on with the American ships, quickly earning reputations as good ‘whalemen’ who excelled as lookouts, boatmen and harpooners, but did not complain about the low pay, poor conditions and extended two- to three-year trips! When the American whalers went into terminal decline, the Azoreans came home and established land-based whaling, with the first-known whalery being built on the island of Faial in the 1850s. By the early-1900s, Azorean whaling was well established and at its peak there were 21 stations in operation, which at one point accounted for 40 percent of the world’s take of sperm whales.
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False killer whales
Rugged views topside
The only concessions made to modern technology was the introduction of motor tow boats in the early 1900s so that the open whaler boats could get to the whales much quicker – but the hunt itself was conducted by oar power. Then radio telephones were introduced in the 1940s for direct communication between the whale boats and the spotter in their vigias. I have always viewed whaling as a greedy and evil thing, I still do… but seeing it from the perspective of the Azoreans, who were basically doing what they had to do in the only nonagricultural industry available, allowed me to come to terms with what happened to the sperm whales of the Azores.
PHOTOGRAPHING SPERM WHALES IN THE AZORES
The total number of sperm whales in and around the Azores archipelago is unclear, but a reasonable estimate is about 2,500. So, in an overall area of just under 2,400 km², that’s roughly one per km². ????????????? ?????????
However, sperm whales are gregarious animals that often gather in social groups at the surface, which is estimated to happen about 25 percent of the time. The other 75 percent is spent foraging in the depths for food – so when a group is encountered, the chances of spending much time with them is limited to say the least… Add to that the fact that whaling only ended in the Azores less than 30 years ago and the average age of a sperm whale is believed to be at least 50 years, so you can understand their reluctance to linger at the surface when they hear boat engines! So, while we had many sperm whale encounters, there was virtually no close interaction or intimate moments of connectivity, as they typically would move away at best, or dive as we got close.
OTHER BIG ANIMAL ENCOUNTERS IN THE AZORES
The big positive of being out on the open waters is that you are just a phone call away from the spotters up on high in their vigias. One day we were out to the far north-west of Faial, looking for a group of sperm whales that had been spotted earlier, when a call came through that there were three pods of false killer whales to the south-east of the island. Cameras were quickly secured and we took off at full speed in the RIB that normally carries a full load of whale watchers instead of four whale-swimming photographers – fast! Within 40 minutes we were dropped in the water with the first pod, which were below us in the blue hunting tuna at an incredible pace! No Kodak moments were forthcoming, so we got back on the boat and tried the second pod, quickly coming face to face with a quite-aggressive false killer whale who proceeded to charge me several times and then ominously circled one of the other swimmers.
DON SILCOCK
In more normal times, Don is based from Bali in Indonesia, but is currently hunkered down in Sydney… His website www.indopacificimages.com has extensive location guides, articles and images on some of the best diving locations in the Indo-Pacific region and ‘big animal’ experiences globally.
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They were a tense and quite exciting few minutes, but the false killer apparently decided against any further moves towards us and returned to the tuna hunt. Similarly, another day we were just north of Pico and the call came through that there was a pod of pilot whales about 10km south of our current position and we were able to get in the water with them within minutes.
Sperm whales
PRINCESS ALICE
This large submerged seamount is probably the most-famous dive in the whole of the Azorean archipelago because of its remote location, depth, challenging conditions and the potential encounters that can happen there! The area was discovered in 1896 by Prince Alfred of Monaco, an accomplished oceanographer and explorer. He named the area the Princess Alice Bank, after his American wife Marie Alice Heine. What makes the location special from the many other underwater mountains and seamounts of the Azores is that its tip is just 35m below the surface, so it is possible to dive it – just… It is a large area covering about 100 km², but the seamount is located just over 90km southwest of Pico Island - which means a round-trip journey of six hours in the open ocean. Good conditions are essential for the trip. The boats anchor on the tip of the seamount, with the mooring line used for both the descent and ascent – essential to avoid being swept off into the blue! A typical dive will allow you to spend a few minutes exploring around the seamount peak, with the rest spent on the anchor line waiting for pelagics to come and strut their stuff. Manta and mobula rays are commonly sighted but many other large creatures like tuna, barracuda and marlin often put in an appearance! False killer whales
Blue shark
BLUE SHARKS
No visit to the Azores would really be complete without experiencing the blue sharks that frequent the deep waters around the islands. Large and slender-bodied pelagics, mature blue sharks grow to about 3.5 metres in length, are found in multiple locations across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans and are known to go as deep as 600m below the surface. In the Azores they are enticed to the surface by chumming, which creates some great photo-opportunities as their size, intense curiosity and apparently fearless nature makes for some interesting and very close encounters!
THE AZORES IN SUMMARY
The Azores is a special location… the islands are incredibly scenic, there is a strong local culture and there is a lot to see both above and below the water. Relatively easy to get to from both Europe and North America, it is a bit of a nobrainer really. Less so if you are traveling all the way from Asia or Australia though… But my three weeks there was truly memorable, and I was really glad I did it! n
All images taken under a special permit granted by the Regiao Autonoma Dos Acores, Secretaria Regional do Mar, Ciencia e Tecnologia Direcao Regional dos Assuntos do Mar under the authorization number 12-0RAC-2016 issued by the Government, on 25-07-2016.
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UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTOGRAPHING SHARKS AND OTHER LARGER SUBJECTS Following his last article on opening the aperture, Martyn Guess provides some insight into, and also tips on, shooting sharks and other larger subjects PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARTYN GUESS
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lthough this is a huge subject, you can break photographing larger animals underwater into two approaches – available light, where you will not be using strobes (Image 1) and balanced light, where you are generally very close to the subject (Image 2) and will be using strobes to light the subject and ambient light for the background. These days we often tend to know what we are going to try and photograph before we get in the water. Diving at Manta Sandy in Raja Ampat, for example, photographers will have been briefed that the site is a manta cleaning station and the presence of subjects is in the title! However, there are rules about how close you can get. It would be absolutely pointless using your strobes to light these large subjects in the distance. More on available light shooting later. Similarly, if you are going to do a baited shark dive or dive in the middle of a seal colony, you will know what to expect and will be briefed that the subjects will likely get very close to you, making strobe lighting ideal and helping greatly in capturing detail. Of course, there are also chance encounters with large subjects, and you have to be ready to shoot with very little time. Often in these instances, the subjects are not very close, so it is worthwhile knowing how to turn your strobes off quickly – my Nikon D5 has a single button to press for
Image 1 - Manta and diver Ambient light
Image 2 - Blue shark Balanced light
this purpose. If the strobe light has little chance of reaching the subject, you will get a much-cleaner image without any potential backscatter if the strobes are turned off quickly. One of the main things to emphasize with larger subjects is that you might well have travelled a long way and spent a large sum to get the opportunity and when it comes you don’t want to leave anything to chance. The best images of these types of subjects are created by photographers who have
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BIOGRAPHY: MARTYN GUESS
Martyn has been diving for over 30 years and taking underwater images for nearly as long. He has been very successful in national and international competitions and regularly makes presentations to camera and photography clubs and diving shows as well as The British Society of Underwater Photographers (BSOUP) and other underwater photography groups. Today he shares his passion and knowledge - as well as teaching underwater photography courses, he leads overseas workshop trips for Scuba Travel, and his articles regularly appear in Scuba Diver magazine.
Image 3 - Whaleshark Ambient light
planned well and thought about the techniques that they are going to apply and the equipment, lens choices, etc, and leave little for chance. On a recent workshop that I ran in the Azores, where we were photographing blue sharks in the open Atlantic, I advised everyone to have their cameras turned on and strobes turned on and positioned with safe mid-power and approximate camera settings before we got in the water. The sharks were very skittish and there was likely to be a brief chance to get some images. Of course, the only diver close enough to have a great chance of getting a good image on that particular dive had his head in his camera selecting settings to use as the shark passed behind and was totally unaware of the opportunity which was completely missed!
Image 4 - Dolphins Ambient light
GETTING READY FOR A DIVE WITH A LARGE SUBJECT
It is a good idea to assess before you get in the water, what you believe you are likely to see, how close you will likely get, how quickly the subjects will move past you and what the sunlight conditions are, as well as the depth you will be diving. All of these factors will enable you to come up with a plan. I tend to use manual settings for my photography but with larger and sometimes erratically moving subjects, I will use Shutter Priority - this gives me one less thing to think about. If you set to a minimum speed of, say, 1/30th Sec or higher, then most, if not all, of your shots will be sharp unless the subject is moving very quickly, when you will need to increase the speed. With dolphins for example, which move very quickly, you will need a far faster speed - if using available light, then speeds of around 500th of a second will work well. I also like to use auto ISO as this will compensate for under exposure when shooting with fast speeds. When you get the chance, check your shots in your LCD in order to know whether you should be adjusting things to get a good water colour or whether the sun is too strong, particularly if you are shooting slightly upwards or are very shallow and blowing out the top of the frame. This is easy to do particularly when shooting verticals. Make sure also from the image reviews that the camera hasn’t adjusted the aperture too open, as your images might become a little soft with reduced depth of field. With focus, I tend to use Nikon’s full auto with the maximum number of focus points. You can use 3D tracking, but it is difficult when things are moving quickly to move the focus point to say the eye of the subject. Full auto focus tends to give me the best results. If there are lots of particles in the water,
you might need to focus on say your fin and then lock focus. As long as you are not using a relatively open aperture, the depth of field will be good enough to take a crisp shot of the subject. I quite often also set the camera up for continuous shooting, so that I can keep shooting as the subject gets closer, simply by holding the shutter down. Ambient light shooting can be very liberating not to have cumbersome strobes attached to your rig. If you know that the subjects won’t be close enough for strobe light to reach them, then dive without strobes – you will also be able to move through the water quicker (image 3). You won’t be restricted by the cameras/strobes sync speed and this will enable you to shoot at high speeds if you need to. This is the perfect set up to snorkel with dolphins (Image 4) or even bigger subjects moving quickly. It is amazing how fast a whale or whaleshark moves!
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UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY Image 5 Hammerhead taken with Magic Filter
If you have time when you first get into position, make a point of knowing where the sun is in relation to where the subjects will likely appear. Get into a position with the sun on your back, then take some test shots shooting into the blue, adjusting speed to get a good background water colour, but keeping it fast enough to freeze the action. Remember that if you move position when following a subject and turn into the sun, and thus shoot into the light, it is likely that the subject will become quite dark and exposure becomes quite difficult. However, if done well shooting into the light with sun beams, for example, can add to a picture and make it more dynamic. If you are diving in shallow and sunny conditions, it is worth considering using Magic Filters. These will give a very natural look to the subject (image 5). With the sun behind you it is possible to get a very nice blue background.
BALANCED LIGHT
Depending on the conditions and the subject and of course how close you will get, strobe lighting is great for getting definition and detail in your pictures and also make the subject stand out. If the weather is over-cast or if it is late or very early in the day or you will be diving at depth, then you will need massively high ISOs to get a reasonable shot. Using strobes and getting close is best. Even when diving in bright Bahamas sunlight with hammerhead sharks, I opt to use strobes to make the subjects ‘pop’ in the image, in the knowledge that these sharks will get close. Image 7 - Grey seal with strobes The best position very close in for your strobes is to have them at 10 and 2 on an imaginary clock dial. If the subject is low to the bottom, as is often the case with hammerheads, for example, then having the strobes in a high
Image 6 - Hammerhead with strobes positioned high
position relative to the housing will help you to avoid burning out the light Bahamian sand (Image 6). Remember also that the width that the strobes are from the housing needs to be adjusted the closer the subject is to you. When shooting grey seals in the UK they will come right up to the dome port and you need to quickly bring the strobes closer together. In the case of the seals if you don’t bring the strobes tight to the housing and dome port, you will have a very characterful, but underlit and dark face in your image! (Image 7). Sharks are creatures of habit and they tend to swim in the same pattern. You will have time after they pass to review some images and check settings and composition before they come around again. You will see them in the distance coming in for a pass, so you should have time to get ready. As they get closer, wait until they are filling the frame and then shoot. For shooting in darker conditions, consider using very slow shutter speeds for some motion blur, but when using this technique use plenty of strobe light to freeze the subject. Use speeds of 1/8 or 1/10th sec and if panning the camera through the frame aim for the area just behind the head of the subject and you should get the whole subject in the frame. Remember to set your camera to front curtain if panning with a moving subject or rear curtain if holding the camera still (FC or RC controls when the strobe is actually fired in the exposure either the beginning or the end) (Image 8). When you next get the opportunity to photograph a large subject, plan how best to shoot it beforehand and set up accordingly and then when you get in the water you can enjoy the rare experience and think less about the camera. n
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Image 8 - Caribbean reef shark with slow shutter blur
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HEADING BACK
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ARE YOU READY TO ENTER…
SCUBA.DIGITAL? Scuba.Digital is a new online dive show for diving, freediving and snorkelling – and we asked co-founder Jason Haiselden for the lowdown on what you can expect
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irtual dive shows have been attempted before, but have suffered from glitchy connections and other technical issues, but Scuba.Digital is set to break the mould. The brainchild of Jason Haiselden, April Fung, and brothers Stefan and Boris Glumpler, who know a thing or two about digital being as they were also behind the creation of ScubaClick (a well-received liveaboard management, reservation and booking system), Scuba.Digital had been around in concept form for a few years, with the team even investing in a platform on which to run the event while attending the DEMA trade show in November 2019. The advent of COVID-19 gave them the impetus they needed, and so Scuba.Digital was truly ‘born’.
WHEN IS IT?
Scuba.Digital will run for a full 72 hours from 12 noon (GMT) on 23 October until 12 noon (GMT) on 26 October. Unlike a traditional show, Scuba.Digital will not close at night, but instead will remain open and thus catch audiences and exhibitors in all time zones. It is envisaged that Scuba.Digital will ‘follow the sun’, covering the following areas – EU and Africa, then the Americas, followed by the Pacific, and then Asia and Australia.
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WHAT’S FEATURED AT SCUBA.DIGITAL?
Scuba.Digital is seeking to be a true show in every sense of the word, covering scuba diving, freediving and snorkelling. There will be a main stage where most presentations will be, and there will be ‘break out’ rooms (known as sessions), where further discussions and smaller-scale presentations will take place. Live presentations currently scheduled include a focus on liveaboards and resorts, an insight into the latest dive equipment, hints and advice on underwater photography, informative talks about coral and pelagics (sharks), and a call-to-arms on conservation. There is even a ‘Networking’ area – a bit like bumping into people at café tables or in the halls of a traditional show. Exhibitors are able to ‘man’ their expo areas throughout the entire 72 hours, so whenever you ‘tune in’ as a visitor, you will be able to find out the information you need through videos, links to websites and special offers, or even interact with these dive industry experts live via an ‘in-person’ session, much as you would chat to an exhibitor at a true show. For visitors, this section will be like a virtual version of wandering the aisles at a traditional dive show.
A NEW DAWN?
The concept of Scuba.Digital appears to have been well received. Jason explained: “We put the website together, started setting up the show on the platform, and on Saturday 16 May we launched. “We had 40 people sign up to take part as speakers and exhibitors in the first ten days, and fully expect to have nearly 200 exhibitors as we approach the end of September.” Jason added: “The multi-lingual event may have an even broader reach, in that we can envision surfers/kite surfers also being a target audience, as there is quite a crossover for resorts and liveaboards that also cater to these audiences.” Scuba.Digital will be free to exhibitors and speakers, and Jason explained why. “Quite simply, without exhibitors and speakers, there is no show for visitors, and we want to make Scuba.Digital the biggest online dive show there have ever been, with plenty to keep people attending occupied for extended, or even multiple, visits. “The important thing to stress about Scuba.Digital is that it is a truly ‘live’ event, and visitors will be able to speak directly to exhibitors right there and then, as well as take part in fully interactive presentations and talks.”
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WHO IS SPEAKING?
There are a selection of speakers already lined up, including the likes of shark expert Cristina Zenato, underwater photographer Ellen Cuylaerts, Georgienne Bradley from Sea Safe Foundation, Atlantis Dive Resort’s Brent Durand and Roni Ben-Aharon, Christopher Bartlett from Indigo Safaris, Deborah DicksonSmith from Diveplanit Travel, Beneath British Waters’ Mark Barrow, Bryan Horne from Dive Curacao, Yan Cai from Navatics Technology, Thalassa Dive Resort’s Simone Gerritsen, Bernardo van Hoof from Goby Divers and Watersports, Oceans Below’s Elisabeth Lauwerys, Alain Tiggelaar from Tec Diving Curacao, the International Scuba Divers Club’s Alejandro Dutto, Lance Higgs about Truk Lagoon, The Wanukaka Corporation’s Freddy Jousset, Scott Gietler from Bluewater Travel, Reef-World Foundation’s Sam Craven and Chloe Harvey, Madeline St Clair Baker from Adelaar Cruises, Dr Martin Stelfox of the Olive Ridley Project, The Smiling Seahorses’ Camille and Franck Fogarolo, Cozumel Marine World’s Jorge Marin Moreno, Jorge Hauser from Baha My Love, Brendon Allen from Desert Reef Dive Systems, Scubapsyche’s Dr Laura Walton, Enrique Rubio from PT Innerseas Adventures, Stephen J Craig-Murray from ITDA Group International, Frank Lewis from DivewithFrank.com, and Susanna Lourenco about the psychology of freediving. More speakers are being announced all the time, so keep checking the website: scuba.digital/speakers
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EXHIBITORS
More exhibitors are signing on all the time, but as we went to press, the list included:
PRIZE DRAWS – BE IN IT TO WIN IT!
Each visitor that purchases a ticket for Scuba.Digital will automatically be entered into the prize draws. The draws will take place on the main stage, with the sponsors who provide the contribution being able to join the stage to present the prize to the winner. Names will be drawn electronically and read out to the audience. If the winner is in the audience, then they will be able to claim the prize, otherwise another name is drawn, so make sure you are there ‘in person’ when the draws are made. Prizes currently include offerings from Indigo Safaris, Fundiving Curacao, Diveplanit, Baja My Love, The Napoleon Divers, PT Innerseas Adventures, Snorklean, Nautilus Dive Adventures, and SG ScubaGaskets Ltd. These range from vouchers worth from $100s to $1,000s for equipment or to put towards travel, and trips to St Helena, the Philippines, Curacao, Indonesia and Socorro, Guadalupe or Sea of Cortez. More are being added all the time – check out: scuba.digital/ prize-draws for the latest.
WANT TO ATTEND?
Tickets covering all three days of the show are available now, with early bird specials! There are only 500 ‘Seahorse’ tickets available at the special discounted rate of $10 – normally $20. Head to https://div.ng/SDM
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D-Luxe Dive Gear, Tourism Fiji, Greenwood Beach Resort, Dewi Nusantara, Bunaken Oasis Dive and Spa Resort, Dive Tribe, MV Valhalla and MV Valkyrie, Undersea Hunter, Cocotinos Boutique Resort, Sea Save Foundation, Devocean Divers Malapascua, Emperor Divers, South Pacific Island Travel, Blue Ocean Dive Centre and Abu Dabbab Lodge, Walindi Plantation Resort, Galapagos Sky, Aggressor Adventures, Coral Guardian, UnBelizeable Travel, Fort Young Hotel and Dive Resort, Dominica, Quest Dive Adventures, Sand Dollar Condominiums, Manta Trust, Indux Media, Reef and Rainforest Dive and Adventure Travel, Scuba Libre Adventures, Bluewater Travel, Dive Travel Curacao, Dive Curacao, Pacific Dive and Travel, All Star Liveaboards, Goby Divers Curacao, Naboo Resort, Lighthouse Point Resort and Residences, Africa Tour, Cayuco Reef Divers SA, Cozumel Marine World, Belize Dive Haven, Dive Flag Jewellery, Divebooker.com, Fascination Maldives, Atlantis Dive Resort and Liveaboards, Ilios Dive Club, Solitude Liveaboards and Resorts, Fourth Element, Scuba Diplomacy, Professional Scuba Inspectors, Dutchcraft, YourBagTag.com, Freedive Cozumel, The Fifth Point, Cabrits Dive Centre, Red Sea Elite Diving, Dive Inspire, Bilikiki Cruises, Oceans Unlimited, The Diver Medic, Scuba Psyche, EVE Diving, Weelze Diving Services, Malapascua Exotic Island Dive Resort, Shark OFF, Maltaqua Dive Centre, Calico Jack Charters, Tambora Dive Cruises, Conor Culver Photography and Design, Scuba Gifts, Rabaul Dive Adventure, Best of Papua New Guinea, Indigo Safaris and Best of PNG, Olive Ridley Project, Manta Ray Bay Resort and Yap Divers, Roots Red Sea, Wetwear, St Croix Ultimate Bluewater Adventure, Baja My Love, Costa Rica Scuba Diving and Adventure Tours, Oasis Guesthouse Bonaire, Seafari International, Tec Diving Curacao, Pelagic Dive Travel, Asia Scuba Instructors, NAUI, The Reef-World Foundation, Kasai Village Dive Resort, Swanage Boat Charters, Liquid Diving Adventures, Fundiving Curacao, Damai Liveaboards, Sunset House, Magic Resorts Philippines, Go Dive Bali, Jungle Bay Hotel Dominica, Rafida Liveaboard, La Galigo Liveaboard, Asia Liveaboard, DivingPass, Thalassa Dive Resorts Indonesia, Lumbalumba Diving Manado, Pelagic Fleet, Dive in Culture, Finclip, Snorklean, C&R Testing, Ocean Geographic, Diving in Elba, Oyster Diving, Buceo Anilao Beach and Dive Resort, Diveplanit Travel, Nature Island Dive, Carpe Diem Maldives, WaterMate Boats, Underwater Tour, St Andrew’s Divers Cove, Navatics Technology, Diveshop, Infiniti Liveaboard, PT Inner Sea Adventures, Blue Force Fleet, The Smiling Seahorse, Heaven Saphir Liveaboard Red Sea, SG Scuba Gaskets, and Dive Patches International.
Keep checking the website for the most up-todate list of exhibitors: scuba.digital/exhibitors
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Q&A: PETE MESLEY In the first of a two-part feature, we talk to Pete Mesley, a hugely charismatic figure on the international diving scene, who has carved a niche for himself in the world of technical diving and expeditions PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF PETE MESLEY
Q: You are undoubtably one of the southern hemisphere’s most-experienced technical diving instructors and explorers, but how did you first get into diving in the first place, and what led you down the technical route? A: I have always had a love for the water and from a very young age I wanted to be underwater. I have memories of wearing this ‘fishbowl-style’ rubber mask whenever I went swimming and would strap empty pool chlorine bottles (twins) to my back with old rope I found in the garage. Thank heavens I didn’t try and breathe from them or this would have been a very short story! Like some kids (you know who you are), I also attempted to implode my lungs by trying to breathe from a hose pipe from the bottom of the pool while the hose was outside. That didn’t end well. But I just loved being underwater. I had converted this love for being in the water to becoming a marine biologist. This is what I associated diving with being in terms of a vocation, but once I hit senior school I realised that I needed to go to university in order to study marine biology.
That stopped me dead in the water, as I was no academic giant and knew that there was no way I would finish school, let alone go to university! This was quite disheartening for me. It wasn’t until I had left school (I did manage to finish my senior schooling with A-levels in English and Art!) and was living in London at the age of 20 with some ex-school mates that the underwater world reared its head again. One of my friends was heading out to do his pool session for his open water diver course one night. I asked if I could join him. After some negotiating at the pool, someone took me in for my first dive. It was then I knew, wholeheartedly, that this was for me. I just loved it. Now, I had a different route in order to make this passion a reality - to become a dive instructor! So I spent every waking hour, every weekend and every penny I had dedicated to pursue my goal of making diving my career.
Now, diving in the South of England was not for the faint-hearted. We would regularly be diving wrecks in the 30m-45m range, with a large-capacity steel tank with a three-litre pony bottle for redundancy strapped to the side of it being the norm
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Hammerheads in the Galapagos
Now, diving in the South of England was not for the fainthearted. We would regularly be diving wrecks in the 30m-45m range, with a large-capacity steel tank with a three-litre pony bottle for redundancy strapped to the side of it being the norm. This was in 1991. So I guess most of the diving I was doing was in the 30m and deeper range. It was an easy progression to get into technical diving. But it wasn’t until I moved to New Zealand in 1994 that I really started getting into mixed-gas diving. Up until then it was just deep air to 60m, with accelerated decompression with 50 percent and O2. Q: You started specialising in CCR and technical diving trips way back in 1998. What was the driving force for you beginning your own excursions and expeditions, and what makes them different to anything else out there? A: I planned a trip to Fiji in 1995 and I will never forget what a shocker of a trip I had. I was there with my wife and I had planned to do some diving while we were on holiday. I booked on the trip and we headed out on the boat. Most of the divers
A ‘cheeky shiraz’...
were ‘resort divers’, fairly new, inexperienced holiday makers wanting to get out for a dive, which was totally fine. We were all briefed and all 12 of us were told to stick with the guide. You can imagine what a spectacle that was. Arms and legs flying around everywhere, etc. About 15 minutes into the dive we were all given the ‘thumbs up’ and the dive was ended because one guy went through his gas really quickly. That was it. I vowed to never again be subjected to this madness and from that day onwards, I dedicated myself to planning diver trips focusing on experienced divers. There had to be more people out there who felt the same way as I did. From there onwards I started specialising in rebreather trips, logistics and gear. Q: Some of your Lust4Rust destinations include Bikini Atoll, Truk Lagoon, the Solomon Islands and the South Pacific. What are the high points and attractions of your chosen locations? A: Well, like most, I’m a diver and explorer first and foremost, so the biggest drive to go to these areas is the personal ambition to dive these world-class places. I remember when I was just learning to dive and my instructor in London was heading off to Truk Lagoon. I couldn’t believe it. He was so lucky to go to a place that I only dreamed of going. I remember thinking to myself that I would never be able to afford to go there… Thankfully, I was wrong! Highpoints? Wow, where do I start? For me, personally, it’s the whole culture of diving. It quite literally is all aspects that brings me such joy. I just love spending time with people, building friendships and sharing experiences which are special and lifelong memory builders. It’s also the historical aspects of diving these massively important monuments in time. So when I descend onto the stern section of Japanese battleship Nagato, bypassing the massive rudders, four screws and 16-inch guns to get to the bridge tower where none other than Marshal Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto stood, giving the order to attack Pearl Harbour, that is a humbling experience not soon forgotten. Other strong memories etched into my core emotions was
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swimming into hold four on an ocean liner converted into a passenger/cargo auxiliary raider for the Combined Fleet in Truk Lagoon. The Aikoku Maru. This hold was converted into troop accommodations and during Operation Hailstone in February 1944, Aikoku was one of the first ships to be bombed by the US during the attack. A number of 500lb bombs were dropped into the forward holds which triggered the ordinance which was stored there. This catastrophically blew the ship in half, totally destroying the first half of the ship. The intense shockwave and heat instantaneously killed all 400-odd troops in hold four, totalling over 700 deaths on one ship alone. You could see the buckling of the bulkheads as a result of this shock wave. Going into this hold was a very humbling experience for me and the overwhelming feeling of complete and utter loss was claustrophobic. I am constantly reminded when I dive in Truk (Chuuk) about the ravages of war and hopefully by not forgetting what happened there, this may never happen again in the future. Q: You are renowned for your Lust4Rust wreck-diving expeditions, but you are now getting up close and personal with some big critters with Shock & Awe Big Animal Diving. Tell us a bit more about that side of the business. A: It’s funny, I have built a career based on being a ‘Rust Head’ but what I really love is just being in the water. You could put me in a shit pond with no visibility and I would still be happy! I cut my teeth on the South Coast of England
where every waking hour we were talking about wrecks, finding them, diving them (and the possibility of locating and procuring a bit of spidge, too). I left the UK and went walkabout working as a dive instructor in the Red Sea, Cyprus, South Africa, Australia and finally making my way to New Zealand in 1994. I worked very hard to build the ‘Lust4Rust’ brand so I had to create another brand to furnish my absolute love for big animals, which I was subjected to while on my travels. That’s where ‘Shock&Awe’ Big Animal Diving was born. Somehow I don’t think that running a trip to the Galapagos on a Lust4Rust trip would wash? But, man-oh-man, what fun I am having. I think, in fact - I know - that I am the luckiest man alive (apart from having the most-understanding wife on the planet) I get to not only dive some of the best places on Earth and witness some pretty cool shit, but spend time with outstanding people. And if there is a ‘Cheeky Shiraz’ to be had at the end of the day, then that would finish it off perfectly. Shock&Awe has just really started kicking into gear in the last few years. I run trips to Galapagos specialising in tenday rebreather-only and experienced OC diver trips. Socorro Islands, Palau, great white experiences in New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Solomons. All the places with incredible experiences. Q: You were a pioneer in the world of technical diving, and rebreathers, particular in New Zealand. Tell us more about your progression into the deep. A: By trade I am a Course Director and have been teaching dive professionals since 2000. I have also been training
Inside an engine room in Truk Lagoon
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technical divers for even longer. I did my first tech instructor rating in 1994. When I got to New Zealand, man, that was an education. No-one had ever seen a DIN fitting before, let alone knew about technical diving. I had to conduct all my personal tech training in Australia, then come back to NZ and home grow some tech divers so I had someone to dive with. I was just looking back and having a laugh. Nitrox was the new kid on the block and I had a blending panel made for me from an engineer’s shop. We pumped the country’s first nitrox fill in late-1994. Too funny! From there we plodded along and the next few years I started reading all about these rebreather contraptions! Then, I think it was 1995 when Peter Ready did his world tour promoting his PRISM rebreather. Mesmerised by this technology I lapped up as much information as I could, did the try dive in the pool and was hooked, line and sinker!
Buckled bulkhead on the Aikoku Maru
Pete on ‘The Widowmaker’
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Pete’s love of water started early
But being a man of meagre means (I was a poor dive instructor!) I could not afford these amazing pieces of technology (The Inspiration had just come out) so I set about doing a Dolphin Rebreather course in Australia. Before the course had even finished I was already hard at work trying to figure out how to close the loop. That’s when I sought the council of the AARG (Australian Amateur Rebreather Group). This was brilliant. It was actually a bunch of like-minded (skint) diving enthusiasts who were totally and utterly crazy! Their motto was ‘Never test your unit in a pool’! So long story short – the birth of ‘The Widowmaker’ in 1996. I had converted a Dolphin semi-closed rebreather into this gigantic monstrosity. BUT it worked! In fact I completed over 500 hours on the Widowmaker and successfully dived the Niagara (125m deep ocean liner in NZ). The Widowmaker was 100 percent manual CCR, I push a button and O2 goes in. That’s it! What was I thinking? (Thank God my wife knew nothing about this except for the name and she really wanted me to call it something else). It was monitored by three independent cells. One Drager PO2 meter, an Aladin Pro AirZ and one of the first production ‘Brick’ VR computers from Kev Gurr. Anyway. The Widowmaker did me proud for a few years. I finally bought a Buddy Inspiration CCR in 1999 because I knew that I would never be able to teach people on my homebuild rebreather, so had to go legit! Much to the relief of my wife. I have been actively diving the Inspiration since then, just recently going over to the JJ in 2016. n
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DISCOVER
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ARE YOU COVERED?
CONSIDERATIONS ON DIVING INSURANCE Alert Diver.eu contributing editor Michael Menduno continues his article providing everything you wanted to know about diving insurance but were too busy diving to ask, this time looking at Silver and Gold level packages
P
riced at €87 per year - the cost of Sport Bronze plus a couple of nitrox fills - Sport Silver is a very complete insurance package which covers acute and follow-up care for both recreational and technical diving injuries for up to 30 days post-incident, along with any associated travel disruption. Coverage extends to a maximum of 90 days per year. This includes freediving injuries and injuries resulting from recognized freediving competitions. There are no depths limits, although for any dive exceeding 130m (arguably a big dive), a dive plan - including safety and support measures - will need to be submitted to and approved by DAN Europe. What happens if you are injured while purposely diving beyond recommended limits, for example, making that 70m air dive on scuba? Though it’s tricky to give straight answers to hypothetical questions like this, simply put, you could likely jeopardize your coverage. After all, the
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insurance conditions require that members should take all measures possible to prevent an accident. Unlike Bronze, which only covers limited medical evacuation and repatriation, Silver covers treatment for nondiving emergencies such as dengue fever or breaking your leg on the liveaboard stairs on the way to dinner, which would be considered a non-diving accident. Note that motorbike or quad bike accidents are excluded from coverage under DAN Europe’s insurance.
GO FOR THE GOLD?
DAN Europe’s Sport Gold, which is priced at €200, is nearly identical to Sport Silver, however it offers much more generous limits for both diving and non-diving emergencies, such as twice the daily allowance for a hospital stay during therapy. For example, Gold will pay up to €10,000 for the extra hotel and travel costs following an incident for both
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the injured member and travel companion. This compares to €5,000 for Silver for the injured diver only. Gold pays out €100,000 for permanent disability versus €50,000 with Silver. Limits for liability and legal expenses associated with a diving accident are also double or more with Gold. It also offers greater limits for non-diving emergency inpatient and outpatient care, along with much more generous travel assistance for the injured member’s travel companion. Sport Gold will cover the total cost versus a limit of €2,500 for Silver. Ever price out a last-minute round-trip cost from Europe to Fiji? In addition, Sport Gold extends coverage to 120 travelling days per year, compared to 90 for Silver. If you’re travelling for more than 90-120 days or living abroad, you might want to consider purchasing the optional ‘Travel No-Limits’ benefit for €300, which covers non-diving emergencies for the entire year, for Silver and Gold insurance holders. Additional options include a Death Extension, which extends the normal €6,000-12,000 by €25,000 or €50,000 in case of death due to a diving accident. There is also an additional Family Benefits option, which extends coverage for non-diving emergencies abroad to family members. The point of insurance after all is to protect yourself and your loved ones.
UNIQUELY DAN
Though the DAN organizations are the largest providers of diving insurance with an international network of 180+ diving doctors assisting over 400,000 members worldwide, they are not the only ones. However, they do offer some unique benefits. First of all, DAN Europe is the only organization that offers divers a 24/7 medical hotline that will connect you to diving medical officers who speak your own language. And because it provides insurance through its own insurance subsidiaries, it
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is able to authorize the best care from a medical perspective while managing claims efficiently and according to industry laws and regulations. In addition, a portion of the monies that DAN Europe collects for insurance goes to fund advancements in diving medical research, which serve as an important benchmark for the global scientific and diving communities. What’s more, members have the opportunity to contribute their diving data to help improve our collective knowledge. DAN Europe also develops and promotes safety campaigns which focus on increasing diving safety. These aspects are not true of other insurers. Hopefully, you now have a better understanding of your DAN Europe insurance options, which should help you in selecting the type of coverage best suited for your needs. Watch this space for further articles about DAN Europe’s Pro and Dive Centre insurance. Safe diving! n
NOTE ON DIVING INSURANCE
DAN Europe’s insurance packages were designed to address unexpected and acute emergencies, they are considered secondary insurance and are not meant to replace your primary health insurance, such as National Health Service insurance. In addition, they do not cover pre-existing conditions or injuries resulting from pre-existing conditions. The policies also exclude motorbike or quad bike accidents, along with mental illness, cancer and HIV. If you already have DAN Europe insurance, you can find out about the details of your coverage by logging into “My DAN” at https://daneurope.org
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BEYOND TECHNICAL
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Deep
Byron Conroy heads to the sun-drenched islands of Malta and Gozo to get his fix of technical diving on the superlative selection of wrecks and reefs that lie beyond recreational dive depths PHOTOGRAPHS BY BYRON CONROY
I
have been living in Iceland working in diving for five years - winters are long and sea temperatures are low, making deco diving quite difficult. Gas planning and bottom time are no issue, but thermal protection becomes the issue with longer dives. So, three to four times a year, I like to make a trip to the tropics for some tech diving in warmer waters. This spring though, brought us the corona lockdown, with my last trip being in January. So when the borders of Malta opened up on 1 July, I booked immediately to do some of the deeper wrecks around the island and enjoy some extended bottom times in warmer water. Malta is one of the most-accessible tech-diving places in Europe, easily reached from most countries, with warm clear water all year round, and a large array of wrecks from depths of 18m to over 100m. It’s also the perfect destination for technical dive training. My first trip to Malta was five years ago, where I completed my hypoxic trimix open circuit training with Techwise Malta. Since then I have bought a JJ CCR due to the high prices of trimix, and this trip was my first one to Malta with my JJ. Alan Whitehead is one of the most-experienced tech divers in Malta and able to teach on a variety of different rebreather units.
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The shop caters for all levels of tech divers, from intro to tech all the way to full MOD 3 courses, through multiple agencies. Techwise also offer trips to Gozo from their base in Malta - it’s a very nice way to travel to Gozo, and day trips are very easy by car using the regular ferry that crosses between the islands. For me, the variety on Malta is better if you are a serious techie than on Gozo, so I always prefer to stay on Malta itself, making day trips to Gozo. Also, the service for tech divers provided by Techwise Malta makes it the obvious choice to go with. They have a house reef on their doorstep which acts as a great place for training and practising skills, then a large array of trucks for day tours, along with two boats used for the offshore wrecks. Many people always ask ‘what’s the appeal of tech diving’ - for me, it’s only about what you can see and explore. As a photographer having the opportunity to reach new subjects that many photographers can’t get to is hugely appealing. But it’s also not just about the depth, many of the dives I do in Malta are no more than 45m in depth, however being able to have a bottom time of over two hours is where it really counts for the photographs - it gives you the chance to lay remote strobes and really absorb the wreck and execute moreambitious plans.
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BEYOND TECHNICAL
www.narkedat90.com Inside the Um El Faroud
I have dived many of the deeper wrecks and sites in Malta, so here’s a rundown of what to expect from the best deeper sites in Malta and Gozo. There are many more wrecks in the area and dive sites, everything from caves and islands to shallow wrecks. But for me these are the main deeper wreck sites or wrecks that require a really good bottom time for exploration, these are the must-do sites for technical divers.
P29 AND THE ROZI
The P29 and the Rozi are two purpose-sunk wrecks located in Cirkewwa near the ferry terminal to Gozo. They can be done as separate dives, which most recreational divers do. But for me, the way to dives these is with a longer run time and by exploring both wrecks on the same dive. Both wrecks are a shore entry, and are located around 150 metres apart. If you swim directly out from the shore and over the reef edge, you will come to the P29 around 100 metres offshore. It’s a former German minesweeper that was bought by the Maltese authorities in 2005 and sunk in 2007. The wreck has a nice external shape and is also in good, clear water. Maximum depth is around 35m for this wreck, it also has some great opportunities for some simple penetration. Inside there is a nice array of corridors and rooms, also keep
The MV Karwela
your eye out for the headless doll! It looks quite amusing when your torch lights it up! After completing the full circuit of the P29, which takes around one hour to do nicely, I then swim back towards the reef and then turn left, heading towards the Rozi. As you pass between the two wrecks, there is also an anchor lying on the sand which is roughly halfway between them. The Rozi is a former tugboat, it’s not very large, but it’s quite nice the way it sits almost upright in the water. The wreck is only around 35 metres long and has some penetration, and the views from the bow are particularly good.
UM EL FAROUD
Um El Faroud is one of the most-famous wrecks in Malta, for good reason. It’s a former Libyan-owned oil tanker which weighed in at a mighty 10,000 tons. It’s around 115 metres long and 16 metres wide. In 2005, the wreck was hit by quite a big storm that tore it in half - it looks like it has been in a battle, but it’s all thanks to Mother Nature. The wreck is a shore entry and approximately 150 metres from the entry point. The wreck has a maximum depth of 40m, but the real highlight is the engine room. You could literally spend hours inside exploring everything. The natural light also differs greatly between morning and afternoon dives and the position of the sun. The wreck is pretty popular with recreational divers, but it’s actually a tech divers’ paradise. Due to the distance from the shore, most recreational divers need to turn around pretty much once they get to the wreck, meaning they only explore the upper deck and bow. This means techies get the rest of the wreck all to themselves. This wreck has it all - it has the depth, the penetration, visual impact and also more marine life than most wrecks in Malta. John dory fish are quite common here along with some bigger species in the blue water occasionally swimming by, a mola mola was, in fact, recently photographed on the wreck.
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COMPUTERS • O2 CELLS • GAS ANALYSERS CABLES & CONNECTORS • REBREATHER PARTS PATHFINDER STROBES • SENSORS TOOLS • SOLENOIDS The stern of the Rozi Divers descend towards a deep wreck
HMS SOUTHWOLD (BOW AND STERN)
Many of the wrecks in Malta are purpose sunk, but for me the real wrecks are the ones that have been sunk by tragedy, either in war or by weather, for example. These are the wrecks with the history and the story to tell, and also the ones that cause your imagination to run wild underwater. HMS Southwold was a Type-II British Hunt-class destroyer which was completed in 1941 but ended up being sunk off the coast of Malta in 1942. She hit a British mine and an officer, along with four others, were killed. The engine room was flooded and it sustained large structural damage. The ship actually got a tow to help it return, but as it was towed the hull began to rip apart and it started to sink. The wreck is located 2.5km off the coast of Malta so requires a boat. The wreck is actually split up into two different sites, the bow and the stern. They are located around 300 metres away from each other, but because of the depth they are usually conducted as separate dives. The sites are both at around 73m maximum depth. They are in really nice condition as the depth stops many people diving them. The bow is my favourite. It lies on its side and is around 40 metres in length, while the stern is around 28 metres in length and is upright. The wreck has some amazing features such as the guns and some pottery and shells, etc.
HMS STUBBORN
This is personally my favourite wreck in Malta. It’s a sunken submarine which lies almost upright but with a slight list towards the starboard side. The whole of the wreck is completely intact as it was scuttled by the British Navy in order for them to use as sonar practice. Other submarines would try to locate her using their sonar as training activities. She is sunk off the coast of Malta, it’s a relatively short journey and is in a depth of 56m to the screw end. The most-iconic section of the submarine is the conning tower, where it’s fully in place, the hatches are open and still in place and the structure has not crumbled. Down at the stern, the torpedo tubes are in really nice condition. The reason this is my favourite wreck is the way it sits upright, and the clarity of the water. As you descend into the blue, you see the whole tube start to emerge in front of you.
Stairwell in the Karwela
LE POLYNESIAN
This ship lying in 65m was a French passenger ship that was sunk by a torpedo in 1918. It’s in amazing condition but offers some of the more-challenging diving in Malta. The deck and common area are in amazing condition, plus you can see the cannon on the front deck. The cargo bay is full of motorbike tyres and other parts. For technical wreck divers, I think this is the ultimate dive in Malta. The dive can be very challenging though. It is located in a shipping lane, so access is tricky with the boat, and there can also be very big currents on the wreck. I personally have only had the currents on the decent and accent, and never any at the bottom, so relatively easy to manage.
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Tech divers on HMS Southwold
Inside the Karwela
MV KARWELA (GOZO)
THE INLAND SEA/BLUE HOLE (GOZO)
The Inland Sea and the Blue Hole are separate dive sites that are common with recreational divers, but as a tech diver great to do together. My preferred method is to start at the Inland Sea, mainly because it’s a much easier entry for the tech equipment - the lagoon where the dive sites starts is also very nice, calm and easy. The Blue Hole entry requires a challenging 200 metre walk on tricky uneven terrain. From the Inland Sea you head straight out through the tunnel, here’s where you get two options. You can either do a deep dive off the shelf, which is very nice, or take a left turn and swim over the remains of the old Azure Window, which collapsed in 2017, and come up at the Blue Hole. I like the deep dive through the Inland Sea and off over the reef. The reef itself is quite nice and has some nice marine life, but the topography and visibility are what makes the site so spectacular for me. Or you can enjoy a dive all the way to the Blue Hole. Here you can exit, leave the equipment on the side and enjoy a nice surface interval before kitting back up and making the swim back and completing any deco along the reef edge.
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There are quite a few wrecks in Gozo, but most are shallow, over populated with recreational divers and not really offering much for technical divers. The MV Karwela though is pretty special and one of the mostphotogenic wrecks in all of Malta and Gozo. It’s located in a place known as the ‘Gozo wrecks’, where there are three wrecks all sunk in a line, the other two being the MV Cominoland and the MV Xlendi. The Karwela is by far the best. The wreck lies around 80 metres off the shore, and it has a maximum depth of 41m at the stern end. The wreck is actually a former passenger ferry built in 1957, and it has some amazing period features. The most-famous areas are the staircases, these are between the different decks of the ship, in perfect condition and easy to find and navigate. They also have a lot of natural light that pours in through the roof and behind the stairs, creating some dramatic effects.
SUMMARY
All in all, Malta and Gozo are the perfect tech-diving location from Europe, with amazing conditions all year around and a wide variety of wrecks, reefs and underwater topography and varying depths make it perfect for all levels of diver. Malta airport is easily accessed from most European countries and is only a short flight. For British divers, the island has a distinctly British feeling, with lots of home comforts available for the travelling diver, and English is the most-commonly spoken language on the island. Gas mixes for technical divers and rebreather support is very easy in the area, Techwise have a large selection of twinsets, sidemount, rebreather cylinders, etc, along with sofnolime, and customised trimix and O2 blends. n
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Aqua Lung ocean ambassador and National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year
Greg Lecoeur
True legends are born from respect. LEG3ND is for the passionate, the explorers, the ones for whom diving is more than a sport. Aqua Lung, the original pioneer of the scuba regulator, brings you the most capable, coveted and advanced line of regulators ever created: This is the new LEG3ND, a masterpiece of engineering, built for all conditions, all depths and all dives. After all, the ocean is the ultimate proving ground - a place where respect is given and earned equally, where true Legends belong. Available at better dive dealers worldwide. aqualung.com | @aqualungdivers
What’s New
FOURTH ELEMENT SURFACE (SRP: £399.95)
Designed for freediving, snorkelling and surface watersports, the Surface is the first diving wetsuit to be made with certified sustainable natural rubber and recycled inner and outer linings. The minimal design features a mini chest-zipper, eliminating the need for a back zip, radically improving mobility and minimizing the opportunity for water to enter the suit through the teeth of the zip. The flexible rubber of the suit provides freedom of movement and the inner ankle and wrist seals ensure that suit flush is minimized. Perfect for snorkelling and freediving, this suit is also suitable for other sports, including stand-up paddleboarding and open-water swimming due to the unrestricted nature of the design. Using Yulex Pure, a 100 percent plantbased alternative to neoprene, the Surface is lined with recycled polyester made from post-consumer plastic bottles. Seams have been blindstitched and bonded with waterbased glue, delivering comfort from a suit designed to have minimal impact on the ocean. www.fourthelement.com
RETRA SUPERCHARGER (SRP: €239 EXCL VAT) The new Retra Flash Pro and Prime are capable of much more with the new Supercharger. Recycle time is reduced by more than 50 percent, and the autonomy is doubled. Retra reckon you can get more than 700 flashes at 50 percent power using the Supercharger, and thanks to the shortened recycle time, you will never miss a shot during rapid photo sequences. The Supercharger works with additional four AA-cell batteries, giving you a total of eight AA-cell batteries to power your Prime or Pro. The voltage of the battery compartment is doubled, and the recycle time is reduced by more than 50 percent due to higher efficiency of energy transfer. The Supercharger featuees double O-ring sealing on all surfaces, and once mounted, it is very compact and robust. Another bonus - by purchasing the Supercharger, your warranty for the Retra Flash Prime or Pro will be extended by six months. www.retra-uwt.com
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MARES 28XR-HR FULL SM SET (SRP: £1,080)
This new Mares Extended Range complete set is for your most-challenging dives, both sidemount and backmount. The set comprises two 28XR first stages, two HR second stages, two Miflex XT-Tech hoses (60cm-210cm), two short Miflex XTTech sidemount inflator hoses, one metre of 4mm bungee, and two pressure gauges. The 28XR first stage uses a balanced diaphragm concept, controlled by a double piston (TBP - Twin Balanced Piston system) which is environmentally sealed using antiinfiltration technology (AST - Auto Sealing Technology) to avoid possible sand or particle entry, especially on cave dives or in polluted waters. This also guarantees the perfect seal against possible water entry when rinsing the first stage, and allows for the eventual removal of the first stage, even while diving. This model includes four LP ports on a swivel turret, all facing the diver for optimum use, one vertical LP port and two symmetrical HP ports at a 10° angle for perfect hose positioning. There is also natural DFC on all LP ports to guarantee superior performance. The first stage is completed with a shiny chrome metal body which is lightweight at 790g. The HR Second Stage is adapted for main and back-up backmount, sidemount, stage and ‘hard breathing’, offering simple breathing force adjustment by turning the large, side control knob, which is easily accessible, even when using thick neoprene gloves. It is possible to regulate the ‘hard’ second stage when it is not being used, and make it ‘softer’ when it is in use. The simple, ultralight technopolymer body provides excellent performance. It includes PAD Pneumatically Assisted Design to minimize breathing effort, an oversized purge button for easy use, even when wearing thick neoprene gloves, and a highly resistant Miflex XTTech hose made with 12 threads, reinforced in titanium and protected with a special, transparent PU to guarantee maximum durability and consistent performance over time. www.mares.com
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AQUA LUNG DS MASK RANGE (SRP: £86) Aqua Lung has launched three new diving masks – the Profile, the Horizon, and the Mistique. All three masks are fitted with Aqua Lung‘s easy-touse flexible joint buckles and silicone 3D strap, and all come packaged in a luxury zippered Aqua Lung-branded EVA case. The Profile is a super-comfortable frameless mask. It has superior vision due to the design of the lens in both vertical and horizontal angles. The Horizon is a hard-frame twin-lens mask that offers a great field of vision. It is low volume and has a stylish teardrop shape. The Mistique is a hard-frame single-lens mask that offers an uninterrupted field of vision. It is low volume and has a stylish dragonfly shape. Aqua Lung has two lens options for the new masks - the Plus and Blue HD Mirror lenses. Both technologies block out harmful HEV light that could damage your retina. The Plus HD lens allows a moderate level of light into the eye and provides some glare protection while enhancing warm colours underwater. It’s a practical lens technology for changing conditions. The Blue HD Mirrored lens provides excellent vision in both high and low light environments. In low level light, this lens technology offers a clearer vision, amplifies the light and provides higher contrast. In high light levels, it also reduces glare. www.aqualung.com/uk
SCUBAPRO ALADIN A2 (SRP: £495 COMPUTER ONLY / SRP: £765 WITH TRANSMITTER) The new A2 is designed for advanced divers and technical divers who appreciate the compactness and convenience of a wristwatch-style dive computer, but demand the kind of features and functions that enable them to excel in their sport. For daily topside use, the A2 offers full timekeeping functions and a Sport mode. When it’s time to go diving, the A2 offers everything an advanced recreational diver wants, and everything a technical diver needs. It has a high-resolution hybrid matrix display with large numbers that are easy to read under water, even in adverse conditions, wireless air integration that can monitor multiple tank pressures and provides true remaining bottom time, while the digital tilt-compensated compass provides easy navigation under water or on the surface. The A2 lets you choose from six Dive modes – scuba, gauge, apnea, sidemount, trimix and CCR - and the predictive Multi-Gas ZHL16 ADT MB algorithm accommodates eight gases (21-100 percent O2) and two in CCR mode. Plus, because it’s designed with Scubapro’s Human Factor Diving, it incorporates cutting-edge biometrics. Whatever type of diving you do, the A2 is ready to go there with you. www.scubapro.com
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SANTI DIVING E.LITE+ | SRP: £2,050 Mark Evans: Over the years, I have dived several Santi drysuits, including the E.Lite and the E.Motion, and so I was keen to get wet - and stay dry - in this E.Lite+. Polish company Santi are past-masters when it comes to exposure protection, and their drysuits and undersuits are used by technical and expedition divers worldwide in some of the harshest conditions imaginable. The E.Lite was a delight to dive, but what is new with the E.Lite+? Well, as the name suggests, the E.Lite+ is based on the E.Lite, but has been upgraded by the use of a new flexible and soft-to-the-touch fabric, which increases the comfort and fit of the suit, but critical areas that are prone to abrasion, are protected by the durable E.Lite material, which was created especially for Santi. I am lucky in that a standard Large fits me like a madeto-measure suit in most manufacturer ranges, but I have always been a fan of the cut of Santi’s drysuits. Most trilaminates these days have a more-tailored fit than the good old days, when the first trilaminates were akin to wearing a loose-fitting ‘bag’, and air migration and movement was a nightmare, but Santi are definitely in the top tier when it comes to fit. The E.Lite+ is a good-looking suit, that’s for sure, and it is extremely comfortable. I wore a Fourth Element Halo 3D undersuit beneath it, and I was able to freely bend and twist to my heart’s content with no restriction. The suit stays in place via comfortable braces inside, which are attached to a front zippered pocket that is ideally placed so that you can access it by pulling up the crosstorso dry zipper - a lightweight plastic version rather than a heavier metal type - just 8-10 inches and inserting your hand. So handy if you have got fully kitted up and then realised you left something in the car - you can gain access to this pocket easily even if you have your BCD or wing on. Very neat and effective. Talking of that plastic zip, you either love them or hate them. I know plenty of people who prefer the old-school metal zippers, but I do like the lightness of the plastic versions. I do find that they can be a bit finicky, though, so ensure you take the time to properly put some sealant on the end of the zipper where it pulls shut, otherwise you will get a bit wet. I was bone-dry after a dive of over 65 minutes in depths ranging from 18m up to an extended time in 5-6m. Despite its rugged construction, the suit is actually quite lightweight, so you could happily take this with you to the Med or the Red Sea in the winter and not use up too much of your valuable luggage allowance. It has a comfortable latex neck seal, with a 3mm neoprene collar for warmth, and to tuck your hood into. It is equipped with Santi’s SmartSeals ring system on the
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cuffs, which makes it a doddle for the user to swap out a split seal, change it for another material, or even add on drygloves. An Apeks inflation valve and shoulder-mounted outlet valve take care of filling and venting the air from the suit, and are tried-and-tested units. They are simple to operate even wearing thick neoprene gloves. The E.Lite+ is fitted with two spacious cargo pockets, which have a zippered pocket in the ‘flap’, and then offer plenty of room inside for slates, spare mask, DSMB and reel, etc. Dual bungees provide added security when needed. The knees and shins are given added protection with robust Kevlar pads, but these are not too thick that they feel cumbersome on your legs. The ankles have an extended Velcro strap around them, which means you can effectively ‘lock off’ your boots and seriously cut down on air migration into your feet. The Flexsole neoprene boots round out the suit. These are comfortable and fit well, but the sole is quite thin compared with some of the other drysuit boots on the market, and walking on sharp rocks to the water’s edge, I could feel them on the sole of my feet. The test suit was just black, but you can customise it with panels in grey, blue or a very eye-catching red. The E.Lite+ comes with a waterproof travel bag, and a neoprene hood. www.santidiving.com
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DIVE RITE HYDRO LITE | SRP: £569.95 Walt Stearns: Travelling divers know that small and light is good when it comes to packing the gear. Nowhere does this come to light faster than when flying internationally on airlines that may impose unrealistic baggage allowances. In many cases, BCDs are the heavyweight space hogs of the gear bag. The obvious solution is to choose something lighter and leaner in a BCD. But at the same time, you don’t want to sacrifice durability or function. As an avid underwater photographer accustom to doing a lot of diving both at home and abroad, I have some specific preferences in a travel BCD. I prefer a soft backplate design combined with a low-profile wing, as this combination is both lightweight and can be fitted or crammed into a gear bag in a number of ways to accommodate everything else that I need to carry. And because I dive often and year-round, the BCD needs to endure season after season of vigorous use. These were the criteria I had in mind when I had the recent opportunity to evaluate Dive Rite’s Hydro Lite BCD. The company describes this product as a ‘tech-inspired, lightweight BCD for discerning single tank divers’. Out of the box, the size large Hydro Lite Dive Rite was kind enough to loan me came complete with an integrated wing providing 30lb of lift and weight pockets. It tipped the scales at under 2.8kg dry. Playing around with how I could pack it into a gear bag, I found it worked best in one of two ways - lay it flat or fold it over to create a mass just under 17 x 10 x 7-inch in size. Cool, this one will be easy to pack for a trip somewhere.
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I give the Hydro Lite equally high marks for construction. Like its big brother, Dive Rite’s TransPac XP harness, the Hydro Lite features a load-bearing mountaineering backpack-style harness utilizing two-inch webbing backed with 2-3/4-inch-wide padding for the over the shoulder segments, coupled to an integrated chest strap. It is available in five harness sizes from S to XXL, with quick adjustability for in-between sizes. The shoulder pieces are designed to be both user-replaceable and adjustable for fine-tuning the fit and has the capability for adding extra D-rings for customizing the BCD. The weight pockets that came standard with Hydro Lite are user-removable and can be replaced by larger pockets that can hold 4.5kg or more each. Below the shoulder segments, the harness transitions to a low-profile quick release using 1-1/2inch wide webbing with anchor points on the soft backplate located near the kidneys to better help transfer the load to the hips. For added stability the harness features a 1.5-inch crotch strap. Four two-inch D-rings are located on the chest and waist belt. An integrated lumbar pad, hip pads, and shoulder pads are included for additional comfort. Where Hydro Lite differs from the TransPac XP is that it is not at all suited for use with a twinset or having the tanks slung off the sides as a sidemount rig. If that is what you intend to do, better go with the TransPac, otherwise keep reading. No gear review is complete without getting to the part where the rubber meets the road, or in this case the BCD meets the water. Taking the Hydro Lite for a couple of spins at my favourite shore diving site, the Blue Heron Bridge, allowed me to really get a feel for what it offered. I suited up at the car with a high-pressure steel 100 and 2.7kg of lead in each weight pocket —which is the max for the standard pockets. Walking some 36 metres across the parking area and beach to get to the water, I found the harness did a good job of distributing the load to my shoulders rather than my lower back. Underwater, my most-important criteria for a BCD is that it should not be constantly reminding you that it’s there by shifting or riding up your back when the tank is low or when the aircell is partially inflated.
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As mentioned earlier, the Hydro Lite features an integrated aircell providing 30lb of inwater lift, which is more than sufficient for single tank. The wing’s aircell is constructed with a 600-denier polyester material outer bag with a 210-denier nylon laminated inner bladder. The cell follows a continuous 360-degree oval configuration to prevent the aircell from wrapping around the tank like a taco or trapping air to one side. That last part can be annoying when there is the negative weight of a high-pressure steel tank on your back trying to roll you onto your side. The Hydro Lite scored high marks in both areas working fully with me instead of against me. I didn’t even think about it as I went about my hunt for subjects to photograph. To sum it up: The Hydro Lite is lightweight and relatively compact for travel; constructed with durable materials that should provide many years of use; very comfortable in water without any apparent annoying traits in regard to fit and trim. Overall, it delivers the convenience of an all-in-one streamlined system that is ideal for warm water diving and travel, all without sacrificing the features that advanced divers would demand most in a BCD. www.sea-sea.com
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XDEEP NX700 / LS200 | SRP: €580 SINGLE-TANK SET / €840 DOUBLE-TANK SET
Mark Evans: Polish company xDeep has really earned itself a solid reputation for its robust, well-made and stylish backplate-and-wings, and its no-nonsense fins and mask, and its forthcoming drysuit is sure to follow this tradition. But before we get our hands on the drysuit, xDeep is releasing its long-awaited regulator, the NX700 / LS200. I first saw a prototype of this at a dive show a couple of years ago, and at the time I was struck by the design, which is unlike anything else on the market, at least when you are talking first stages in particular. xDeep’s Piotr Czernik explained: “The goal for the design of all of our recent products was to set a completely new level of efficiency, streamlining and overall comfort of use. We hadn’t planned to launch the regulator, but over the years, we came to a conclusion that while with the NX Series BCDs we optimised the BCD design to the absolute limits, there was no regulator that could match the ‘configuration clean-ness’ of our NX Series wings in terms of hose routing and efficiency. “In 2017, we determined the perfect regulator should work great in any configuration, perform in any environment, be compact, robust, and easy to service with simple tools. The result was the NX700 / LS200.” Fast forward to now and I got hold of one of the first NX700 / LS200 regulators out of the Italian factory. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a slight upset, as I had lots of shiny new kit sat in my office that I was unable to testdive, but finally, as restrictions were lifted, I was able to get out and into the water with it all. Let’s talk about that first stage. The NX700 is the definite show-stopper when it comes to this regulator. It has two high-pressure ports and five low-pressure ports.
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XDEEP NX700 / LS200 The forged body is protected by a shiny chrome finish. It is an environmentally sealed overbalanced diaphragm design, and a heat exchanger ‘wrapped’ around the HP valve, so perfect for cold-water diving as well as warmwater adventures. So far, so normal. Where it all goes xDeep is in the design of the body. The two high-pressure ports and two of the low-pressure ports come straight out of the main body of the first stage, as per the norm, though they are routed at quite a steep angle, which sets the hoses to perfect flow under your arms - your drysuit hose, for example, and your SPG. This reminded me of the OMS regulator from a couple of years back. However, the NX700 then pulls its party piece. On the front of the first stage is a large circular addition, which has another three low-pressure ports. This is a unique swivel, mounted on the face of the first stage instead of on top, as with some other regulators, such as the Scubapro MK25 EVO. In another first, it can also be locked in place, or left to move freely. xDeep recommend it be locked in place for use as a single-cylinder regulator, or for the secondary first stage on a twinset. For other configurations, such as the primary first stage on twinsets, in sidemount, or on a stage, it should be unlocked. There are four grooves in the swivel, which dovetail with a small threaded pin, which has two locations to screw into the main first stage body. This offers up lots of customisation by the diver, and it is a very quick and straightforward operation to move or remove the pin. When it comes to the pneumatically balanced LS200 second stage, things get back to a more-traditional style. There is a large circular purge button on the front, and the primary has a large venturi lever and a chunky cracking resistance control. The secondary regulator just has the purge and venturi lever. All of these controls can be easily located and operated even when wearing gloves. The mouthpiece is quite large, but comfortable, the right blend of soft and firm. Interestingly, the cover can be removed with no tools, even during the dive, to remove sediments during cave diving, for instance. Connecting the second stages to the first stages are braided hoses which have a smooth covering. In use, I liked the routing of the hoses from both the main first stage and the swivel. I played around with different angles for the swivel and found one that nicely brought the primary reg over my right shoulder and fed the
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secondary under my right arm, while keeping the ‘bunny ear’ loop of hose to a minimum. I was expecting the xDeep regulator to be a decent performer, given the quality of all of their past products, and I was not disappointed. It provided a smooth and dry breath in all positions, and was not found wanting even when I upped my breathing rate considerably - it just kept delivering all of the gas I needed for minimal effort. The venturi and cracking resistance controls did make a difference to the breathe, and I had no problems using them even wearing thick neoprene gloves. You can buy the xDeep regulators are single stand-alone first and second stages, as a single-tank set, and as a set for a double-tank set. www.xdeep.eu
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There are many moments like this in the future.
EUROPEAN MADE
www.xdeep.eu
Ocean Conservation Trust launches curriculum learning project
Curriculum learning project
T
he Ocean Conservation Trust – which also runs the much-loved National Marine Aquarium – has launched an exciting curriculum learning project. The programme is co-created with teachers and comprises sessions and workshops that support curriculum-based learning at all key stages and abilities. The aim is to help people become ocean literate and #ThinkOcean. Teachers are able to download self-contained lessons featuring video and resources, which link to the primary science curriculum and uses the ocean as a tool for exploring the curriculum. The lessons are totally accessible and easy for teachers to use, and have been piloted through the Connect Academy Trust. In addition, the Ocean Conservation Trust is launching virtual tours, where visitors can virtually pass between the three distinct zones of the aquarium; the first covering local coasts and rockpool shallows and marine life that’s found slightly off shore; the second exhibits the inhabitants of the Atlantic Ocean, where some of the aquarium’s biggest animals live – such as the sharks and turtles; and the third region covering the tropical reefs – with familiar favourites Nemo and Dory – as well as follow-up science activities, there are follow-up art and literacy activities; all of which will be evaluated to see what learning has taken place. The tours will be given by marine biologists and scientists, working with trained teachers and youth workers who also have marine science qualifications.
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The Ocean Conservation Trust is offering these virtual tours so that pupils all over the UK have the chance to learn about the ocean. Living in the UK, no one is ever further than 70 miles from sea, but these virtual guides and lessons mean distance is not an issue. Next year sees the start of the UN Decade of the Ocean and the virtual tours and lesson plans are aimed to get the UK off to flying start. Alongside the tour, activities and lesson plans are offered as a package bundle giving users up to twoor three-days’ worth of activities and homework. The virtual tours will be bespoke – and the National Marine Aquarium is the only aquarium in the world offering this – where one class or potentially two will be taken on an hour and a half virtual tour, which is the same length as an in-person tour. The class will be taken around the aquarium, work interactively, and the children will have the opportunity to ask questions as if they were really in the aquarium. The resources will also be updated every term, so what is in place for the autumn term will be updated for the spring term, with the charity reinvesting the money into the project. Ahead of the launch, a teacher survey was conducted to see what was wanted from the learning packages and the tours and plans will be continually updated with any feedback. The only equipment needed at the schools’ end is a projector – and speakers ideally – basically what teachers would usually use to show a film to the class. The Ocean Conservation Trust is not only concerned with general conservation – the charity wants to help educate and is aware that teachers are looking for things to support them in the classroom; how to make the curriculum interesting – particularly over the coming months when travel and school trips will be limited. n
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