HALLS IN GALAPAGOS:
CHRIS JEWELL Q&A:
BOY VERSUS SHARK:
MONTY HALLS TAKES HIS CLAN WITH HIM TO FILM IN THE WORLD-FAMOUS ARCHIPELAGO
THE THAI CAVE RESCUE HERO TALKS ABOUT GETTING STARTED IN CAVE DIVING
ZAC CUFF ROUNDS OUT HIS DIVING ODYSSEY WITH A GREAT WHITE SHARK DIVE
THE BIG
MICROPLASTIC SURVEY JOIN THE FIGHT AGAINST THE SCOURGE OF PLASTIC POLLUTION
ISSUE 19 | SEPT 18 | £3.25
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9
Cozumel, Mexico
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EDITOR’S NOTE Get ready to
GO DIVING IN 2019!
The team at Scuba Diver is very excited to be involved in a brand-new dive show for 2019, GO Diving, which will be held at the impressive Ricoh Arena in Coventry from 22-24 February. Together with online powerhouse DeeperBlue. com - which we already work closely with on our freediving section - we have teamed up with many of the major industry players to create the perfect start to the diving year. Comprising a trade day on the Friday, and then consumer days on the Saturday and Sunday, GO Diving seeks to both inspire and motivate existing divers, while also attracting the next generation of divers. Whether you are yet to take the plunge, did a trydive and now want to take it further, have got a few years of diving under your belt and ready to climb the next rung, or are a hardened veteran looking for your next fix, GO Diving is sure to have something for you. There will be plenty going on over the weekend, from a plethora of top-notch speakers, including the BBC’s Andy Torbet, Miranda Krestovnikoff and Monty Halls, Canadian explorer extraordinaire Jill Heinerth and freediving legend Umberto Pelizzari, over four stages (headliner stage, underwater photography stage, freediving/technical stage and an ‘inspiration’ stage aimed at those looking to get into diving), interactive exhibits and fun challenges, giant trydive pools for Discover Scuba Dives, try-tech dives and freediving workshops, exciting competitions, The Next Generation section for kids and teenagers, not to mention hundreds of booths showcasing the latest equipment, diving holidays, recreational, technical and freediving courses and much more. Early bird tickets, and the latest information on speakers and attractions (more are set to be announced over the coming months!), are available now from the website: www.godivingshow.com. It is going to be awesome and a fantastic way to see in 2019 - see you there!
MARK EVANS, Editor-in-Chief
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Mark Evans Tel: 0800 0 69 81 40 ext 700 Email: mark.evans@scubadivermag.com
DESIGN
Matt Griffiths Email: matt@griffital.co.uk
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ISSN 2514-2054
05
HALLS IN GALAPAGOS:
CHRIS JEWELL Q&A:
BOY VERSUS SHARK:
MONTY HALLS TAKES HIS CLAN WITH HIM TO FILM IN THE WORLD-FAMOUS ARCHIPELAGO
THE THAI CAVE RESCUE HERO TALKS ABOUT GETTING STARTED IN CAVE DIVING
ZAC CUFF ROUNDS OUT HIS DIVING ODYSSEY WITH A GREAT WHITE SHARK DIVE
ON THE COVER
THE BIG
MICROPLASTIC SURVEY JOIN THE FIGHT AGAINST THE SCOURGE OF PLASTIC POLLUTION
ISSUE 19 | SEPT 18 | £3.25
+
9
Cozumel, Mexico
p001_ScubaDiverSept18.indd 1
‣ Dive Like A Pro: Safety gear ‣ Egypt club trip WWW.SCUBADIVERMAG.COM
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF: iStock
24/08/2018 09:57
REGULAR COLUMNS
FEATURES
British divers honoured by SSI, Bite-Back targets the mainstream media, and the iconic Bluebird gets back on the water.
Byron Conroy swaps Iceland for warmer waters when he joins a British dive club for its annual liveaboard trip to the Egyptian Red Sea. He reckons the humble dive club is a vital asset of the UK diving scene.
8 News
22 Egypt
28 Dive like a Pro
32 The Big Microplastic Survey
46 Underwater Photography
38 The Galapagos
A panel of training agency experts offer advice on what safety gear you should always carry.
Mario Vitalini explains how researching and planning your dive holiday is vitally important.
66 Our-World UW Scholar
Eric Jorda explores the deep south of the Egyptian Red Sea and tries a spot of citizen science on the reefs, then gets down to Fundamentals with GUE’s John Kendall.
06
Pioneering ocean plastic conservationist David Jones discusses how this issue is viewed ten years on from when he first championed the fight back against it, and talks about The Big Microplastic Survey project.
Monty Halls and his daughter Isla wax lyrical about their recent adventures in and around this iconic archipelago, chronicled in the acclaimed three-part TV series My Family and the Galapagos.
50 Diving Museum, Gosport
Tech diver Andrew Tonge takes time out on a dive trip to the South Coast to visit the Diving Museum in Gosport, and is entranced by the eclectic mix of old and new diving equipment.
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CONTENTS
52 Q&A: Chris Jewell
Chris Jewell was thrust into the limelight when he was one of an elite group of UK divers who extricated the Thai children and their soccer coach from a vast flooded cave system. We asked him about this, and found out what got him into cave diving in the first place..
62 THE NEXT GENERATION
The fourth and final part of Zac Cuff’s odyssey from snorkeller to experienced teen diver, culminating in a dive with great white sharks.
68 Mexico
David Jones hosts a club trip to the island of Cozumel and Playa del Carmen on the Mexican mainland, and firmly believes this playground for American divers deserves to be on our radar as a dive destination.
76 TECHNICAL: Greece
Stuart Philpott dusts off his techical credentials to venture below 75m to explore the amazingly intact remains of a German World War Two bomber lying on the seabed off Greece.
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GEAR GUIDE 82 What’s New
New products recently released or coming soon, including Fourth Element’s Storm poncho, Mares’ Smart Apnea dive computer, and XDeep’s innovative NX Series bolt snaps.
84 Group Test
The Scuba Diver Test Team collates a series of Test Extras on the Atomic Aquatics BC1, Typhoon International DS1 and the Paralenz Dive Camera.
94 Long Term Test
The Scuba Diver Test Team gets to grips with a selection of products over a six-month period, including the Aqua Lung Rogue BCD, Mares Quad Air, Momentum Deep 6, and the Aquasketch Minno 1.
07
NEWS
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 social media. www.scubadivermag.com/news | .com/scubadivermag | @scubadivermag
TWO UK DIVERS RECEIVE SIGNIFICANT SSI AWARD
The Scuba Schools International Platinum 5000 awards recognise major diving milestones, and British diving stalwarts Sally Cartwright and Martin Sampson are the latest recipients REPORT BY ROSEMARY E LUNN
PHOTOGRAPHS BY ADAM BUTLER AND MARK EVANS
S
cuba Schools International (SSI) has a rather neat diver recognition award. What makes it special is that it acknowledges major diving milestones and a sustained and prolific contribution to the scuba diving industry, irrespective of the diver’s training agency. Two UK diving instructors - Sally Cartwright and Martin Sampson - have respectively received the SSI Platinum 5000 Diver and SSI Platinum 5000 Pro award for their endeavours in British diving, education and safety. SALLY CARTWRIGHT Sally Cartwright learned to dive in 1993. She had been on a climbing trip in the Canadian Rockies and was looking at her photographs in her local pub when an SAA dive club came in and one of the divers promptly stole her photos. She was told she would get them back if she did a trydive with the club. Needless to say, she fell in love with the sport, progressing up the ladder and passing her SAA Regional Instructor (CMAS 3 Star) ticket on 31 August 1998 and SAA Diver Rescue Examiner on June 1999. In 2003 she earned her SAA Diver Rescue Instructor Examiner qualification, and in the same year, became the SAA West Midlands Regional Representative and served on the SAA National Council. Sally was actively involved with the SAA for several years and held a number of roles, including Vice Chairman, Vulnerable / Child Protection Officer, National PR Officer and Chairman of the SAA. She served on the National Council and represented the SAA on the Scuba Industries Trade Association Board. Sally is one of the UK’s leading technical divers, beginning her tech training in 1998 and passing her open water trimix course in 1999. She was an early adopter of closed circuit rebreather diving, and bought her first Classic Inspiration in 1999 and is a deep 100m+ CCR diver. In 2000 Sally joined the Bluebird team when the project kicked off. She was a key member (and the only female diver)
08
on this project that searched for, located and then recovered Donald Campbell’s body and Bluebird K7. This took many months of extreme cold water, low visibility diving in Lake Coniston. The team successfully achieved their goals, and Sally recently rejoined the team to see the restored Bluebird make its first high-speed trial runs on the Isle of Bute. In 2006-2007 Sally worked with Mark Threadgold. Mark Threadgold is a blind CCR diver. Sally was Mark’s escort diver when he gained the world depth record (103m) for diving CCR by a blind person in Dahab, Egypt. Today Sally is a TDI Inspiration instructor and works with LP Diving in Staffordshire. She remains an ardent, passionate, very active temperate water wreck diver, is an inspiration to many, and a champion of British diving. She said: “I am excited to receive such a prestigious award that recognises individuals in the scuba diving industry. I will continue to encourage and inspire divers to follow their dreams and aspirations”
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True exploration in the heart of Bunaken Marine Park MARTIN SAMPSON Martin Sampson didn’t learn to swim until he was ten, but that didn’t stop him from being glued to Sunday night television watching the likes of Jacques Cousteau and David Attenborough explore the underwater world. So when he got the opportunity to try scuba while he was studying at Brunel University in 1983, he grabbed it. He was instantly hooked from his first breath, and went on to learn to dive at Brunel. After graduating from university with a degree in Polymer Technology, Martin pulled on his fins as often as he could, training and teaching diving for Bristol 3 (the third BSAC branch). In May 1989 he took a gap year, left his job as a design engineer in the aerospace industry and moved to Anglesey to work at Anglesey Diving Centre for Fred and Brenda Hughes (and he hasn’t gone back!). After two years (1991), he became a partner and the business was renamed Anglesey Divers. Martin worked his way up the BSAC curriculum and on 26 May 1992 he passed the rigorous BSAC National Instructor exam, and became NI #140. This is the highest British Sub Aqua Club instructor qualification and to date only 265 divers have achieved this highly respected qualification. Three years later Fred Hughes retired from the business at the end of 1995, and Martin, along with his wife Caroline, bought Anglesey Divers. Today Anglesey Divers is one of the longest-established diving centres in the UK and very well respected by the local community. On 23 April 2004, Martin was acknowledged and congratulated by Eurig Wyn MEP (Member of the European Parliament) for his work in promoting Wales as a diving destination. Back in 1996, when rebreather diving was very much in its infancy, Martin started diving the Dräger Atlantis rebreather, and he was a positive advocate of the German semi-closed rebreather. He was not only an early adopter of rebreathers, he was also ahead of the curve in the technical diving market. In 1994 he was teaching nitrox in the UK, and the following year was one of the first dive centres to provide nitrox fills. In 1997 he became a trimix diver, and in 1999 trained and received his BSAC Extended Range IT ticket, and taught for TDI and PSAI. Martin has made many contributions to the UK diving industry. In the mid/ late 1990s, he co-founded the Dive Schools Association. Although the DSA was short-lived, it was a one stop shop for the UK HSE to consult the industry from approximately 1997-2000, when the Diving At Work regulations came into force. In 2013 Martin received an award from PADI for Excellence in Rescue Diver Training after he rescued and successfully resuscitated a diver on Newry Beach, Holyhead, and he continues to contribute to UK diving - in 2015, he provided advice on the European Parliament consultation on restricted substances hazardous to heath, in order that lead diving weights were allowed to continue to be publicly used for diving (There was potential for lead to be banned by the EU). He said: “I feel privileged to be recognised by the diving industry. It has taken a long time for diving to mature, and it has been wonderful to help the industry where I have been able to”. n
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09
INDUSTRY NEWS DONALD CAMPBELL’S BLUEBIRD RETURNS TO THE WATER AFTER 51 YEARS Back in March 2001, a team of divers lead by Bill Smith found and recovered Bluebird from 40m in Coniston Water, Cumbria. She had been lying there for 34 years after a fatal crash attempting a 300 mph world water speed record, killing Donald Campbell CBE. Donald’s body was also recovered and buried in Coniston graveyard, much to Gina Campbell’s relief after challenging the team to find her dad. After 17 years of restoration by the Bluebird project team, based in North Shields, Newcastle upon Tyne, she was taken to Loch Fad on the Isle of Bute for two weeks of crew training and trials. Coniston was originally planned but due to village and museum politics, it was felt Loch Fad had what it needed to PHOTO CREDIT: BLUEBIRD PROJECT TEAM run the trials at this stage. Bluebird arrived in Rothesay Friday 3 August and rolled off the ferry to the sound of a local pipe band. The following morning the team assembled and started to prepare to launch her. After the third attempt to get Bluebird down the slipway, she floated for the first time in 51 years - the crowd cheered as she sat even on her keel looking very much at home. Diver and safety boat teams got together with the two pilots Ted Walsh and Stewart Campbell to discuss safety drills and the removal of the pilot from the cockpit if she should flood or, their worst nightmare, should crash again! Ted is a powerboat record holder while Stewart’s only boat experience was a rowing boat before he sat in Bluebird’s cockpit, however he is an ex-Red Arrow pilot and knows how to handle a jet engine or two. Stewart is of no relation to Donald Campbell, but fantastic to have another Campbell behind the wheel. On dry land Stewart fired up her engine for the first time outside the workshop to get her warmed up for Ted to take her for a taxi around the loch. The atmosphere at the loch was electric as Bluebird took herself under power for her first time since 1967 - the team and the crowds that had gathered cheered and gave Bluebird a round of applause. Over the next ten days Bluebird achieved several runs up to speeds of 157mph with both Ted and Stewart at the wheel, which way exceeded the team’s expectations. As the runs got faster and longer, more divers and another boat were drafted in to help with the safety. Bluebird only had a few minor issues to resolve, but other than that she performed effortlessly and wanted to give more, but without a longer stretch of water she was held back for now. The team will be stripping her down to assess how she has coped with the trials and start to plan her next outing. The Bluebird project has been done with private funding and donations of materials, equipment and time from their many volunteers, if you want to follow her progress or donate towards the restoration, visit: www.bluebirdproject.com
10
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INDUSTRY NEWS TRAIN WITH US
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12
TV PRESENTERS BACK SHARK CHARITY’S CALL FOR RESPONSIBLE JOURNALISM TV presenter Steve Backshall heads a growing list of highprofile individuals supporting a call for responsible shark journalism by Bite-Back Shark and Marine Conservation. The UK charity says that decades of news headlines labelling sharks as ‘monsters’, ‘killers’ and ‘beasts’ has created a climate of fear and loathing that is thwarting shark conservation initiatives. Bite-Back’s view is underpinned by a recent survey that revealed 46 percent of Brits think that sharks are more terrifying than spiders, snakes and rodents combined, and that 64 percent would prefer them not to exist. Steve Backshall, who is a patron of Bite-Back Shark and Marine Conservation, said: “It’s time that journalists understand how these sensational headlines and falsehoods are perpetrating a hatred of sharks that justifies their boundless slaughter. As such, I think the media is complicit in one of the greatest deliberate exterminations in our planet’s history.” An estimated 73 million sharks are slaughtered every year and Britain ranks in the top 25 shark-fishing nations in the world. As a result, populations of key shark species including the great white, hammerhead, oceanic whitetip and thresher have fallen by 90 percent in the past 60 years. In the past six weeks, most UK print, online and broadcast media outlets have run shark stories from around the world and closer to home. Many have used language including ‘ferocious’, ‘terrifying’, ‘killer’, ‘invasion’, ‘blood-thirsty’, ‘lurking’ and ‘deadly’ to describe sharks, despite the fact that typically only six people a year worldwide die from shark encounters, whereas dogs kill around 25,000. On average British cows kills more people each year than all the sharks in the world. www.bite-back.com
TIFFANY & CO FOUNDATION COMMITS $1.4M AUD TO GBR CONSERVATION The Tiffany & Co Foundation has announced that it has committed approximately $1.4m AUD ($1m USD) to help protect and restore Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. The reef is the world’s largest living organism, encompassing an area approximately the size of Italy and hosts some of the richest biodiversity on Earth. However, various threats - such as climate change, poor water quality and impacts from human activity have led to a widespread decline of coral cover in recent years. The Tiffany & Co Foundation has supported coral conservation worldwide for nearly two decades. This recent commitment in Australia focuses on recovering the reef by funding both short and long-term solutions, including Great Barrier Reef Foundation’s Out of the Blue Box Innovation Challenge and Reef Aid, a project of Greening Australia. “We believe there is reason for hope,” said Anisa Kamadoli Costa, chairman and president of The Tiffany & Co Foundation. “The Foundation is proud to support two of the leading organisations working to preserve the Great Barrier Reef, one of Earth’s most-significant natural assets.”
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BLUE SHARK SPOTTED SWIMMING AROUND ST IVES HARBOUR IN CORNWALL Blue sharks are a seasonal visitor to our shores in the summer, but they are not generally seen in shallow waters close to shore, so two teenagers were surprised to see a specimen measuring nearly three metres long cruising around St Ives harbour in July. Harry Hocking and Archie Pickin, who are both 16, managed to capture the majestic animal on film when they saw it swimming past them on Monday 16 July. Ali Hood from The Shark Trust saw the footage and confirmed it was a blue shark, saying ‘to see a free-swimming blue shark close to shore like this is a real privilege’. At the time, she added: “Blue sharks are predominantly an oceanic, openwater species, and not commonly found close to shore. This one could be injured or ill, or maybe disorientated, and if it remains in the harbour area, due to the confined nature of the location, we would strongly advise people not to get into the water with the shark.”
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A two-and-a-half-metre blue shark which swam into the shallows off a beach on the popular holiday island of Majorca on Thursday 2 August was euthanized by experts from Palma Aquarium when it was discovered to have been disorientated after being stung a stingray. Tabloid media gleefully reported of panicking tourists fleeing from Cala Domingos beach when the shark was first spotted seemingly swimming normally in shallow water, and police apparently closed the area off. Social Media later erupted as footage emerged of the shark being dragged up the beach by several men, and news broke that it had, not surprisingly, died. However, on Fridayv 3 August, news was released that the shark had been euthanized by staff from Palma Aquarium’s Recovery Centre after it was deemed its health meant it was beyond saving, and a subsequent autopsy showed it had been stung in the mouth by a stingray. Guillem Felix, a veterinary nurse with the Recovery Centre, explained that they had received a call to say a shark was swimming off the beach and appeared to be swimming normally. He said: “As part of standard protocol, we waited for an hour because such behaviour can be normal and doesn’t necessarily mean the animal is ill or distressed.” He continued: “Unfortunately, we got a second call an hour later to say the shark had ended up writhing on the sand and lifeguards had put it back in the water, but it had subsequently returned to the shoreline several times, even hitting submerged rocks. “When we got to the scene, the shark was lying about 15 metres off the coast in about 1.5m of water, not moving and hardly breathing, and so we made the decision to put it out of its misery.” An autopsy revealed it had been stung by a stingray in the mouth, where all the important nerve endings are, which had led it to stop eating and becoming disoriented.
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INDUSTRY NEWS EMPEROR OPENS FIRST RESORT DIVE CENTRE IN THE MALDIVES Emperor Maldives has opened its first Maldives resort dive centre at Reveries Diving Village on Gan, Laamu Atoll. Here guests can combine superb channel diving with a unique experience on a locally inhabited island. Perfectly located on the west coast of the locally inhabited island of Gan in Laamu Atoll, Reveries has full resort facilities and the chance to experience the ‘real Maldives’. With its own private ‘bikini’ beach in front of the hotel, great channel and drift diving, sharks, mantas and masses of big stuff, this is the way to get in touch with local Maldives living. Of course, it’s also the ideal way to combine a resort stay with one of Emperor’s liveaboard trips (cruise and stay) in the south of the Maldives. Diving from Laamu’s untouched and remote location rarely disappoints with its rich diversity of life offering something for divers, snorkellers and beach lovers. Emperor’s diving centre is located right on Reveries’ beach front with access to a shallow, sandy lagoon suitable for beginner divers and divers wanting to refresh their skills. For the more experienced, there’s the magical Maldives adrenalincharged current diving. Daily diving boats built in traditional style, known as dhonis, take guests to dive the nearby sites where a myriad of marine life awaits; hard corals, magical macro life and turtles swimming around the inner reef. Then there are the big pelagics, which can be enjoyed by divers with experience; eagle rays, snapper, nurse sharks, grey reef sharks, mantas and more. www.emperormaldives.com/laamu-diving.php
AGEING, OVERWEIGHT SCUBA DIVERS AT RISK OF UNDERWATER HEART ATTACK To find out more, why not visit us for Aptitude Day? Experience a Surface Supplied Dive, view the Facilities and meet the Training Team Please visit the website for more details 2017 / 2018 Course Dates available www.commercialdivertraining.co.uk info@commercialdivertraining.co.uk 01726 817128 | 07900 844141
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Older, overweight scuba divers are being urged to shed pounds to avoid an underwater heart attack. That’s the advice from a large study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. “Cardiac issues are now a leading factor in diving fatalities,” said study author Dr Peter Buzzacott, of the University of Western Australia, in Crawley, Australia. “Divers who learned to dive years ago and who are now old and overweight, with high blood pressure and high cholesterol, are at increased risk of dying.” It is estimated that around 3.3 million Americans and 2.8 million Europeans will scuba dive this year. While recreational diving fatalities are rare (181 worldwide in 2015, including 35 in Europe) the number involving cardiac issues is climbing, according to these findings. From 1989 to 2015, the proportion of diving fatalities involving 50–59 year-olds increased steadily from 15% to 35%, while fatalities in the over-60s soared from 5% to 20%. Dr Buzzacott advised all divers to have routine fitness assessments with their doctor, and tackle risk factors that otherwise could lead to a fatal cardiac event while diving. The study was funded by Divers Alert Network.
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The
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Taken with SeaLife DC2000 & 0.5x Dome Lens Tobias Friedrich
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INDUSTRY NEWS ALL STAR LIVEABOARDS - NEW ITINERARY MINDORO STRAIT, PHILIPPINES The Philippines’ Mindoro Strait has it all, from whalesharks and mantas at Apo Reef to magnificent macro in Anilao, Puerto Galera and Verde Island. This region showcases some of the best diving the Philippines has to offer, and now you can access it from the luxurious All Star Philippines liveaboard. The All Star Philippines is a 36-metre yacht with ten spacious cabins that can accommodate a maximum of 21 people. The three levels feature the guest cabins, the main salon for indoor dining and socialising, the upper deck with sun and shade and a relaxation area. The bow has a hot tub, and diving is conducted from two hard-bottomed tenders. Book now on All Star Philippines to save $200 on the itinerary running from 1-8 December 2018. www.allstarliveaboards.com
MORRISONS FOUNDATION DONATES £20,000 TO CORNISH CONSERVATIONISTS
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The Morrisons Foundation, a charity set up by the supermarket, has donated £20,436 to help Cornish sea conservationists Fathoms Free to tackle the problem of lost fishing nets, lines and pots (or ‘Ghost Gear’), which kills and injures thousands of seals and other marine animals each year. The project will fund 12 clean-up dives at 12 known Ghost Gear hotspots, including caves and beaches around the South West coast. It will also work closely with the local fishing community to prevent fishing gear being discarded in local waters, creating a network to collect and store nets and develop economic opportunities to recycle, as well as acquiring a vehicle to transport them. It is hoped that the success of the project will be replicated around the UK. A cheque was presented to Fathoms Free at Morrisons’ Plymouth store, and this was followed by a beach clean supported by Morrisons’ staff on Tregantle Beach in Cornwall. More than 82 people took park, and over 50 bags of rubbish was collected. In April 2018, Morrisons joined the Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI), a group committed to tackling the problem of lost fishing equipment. The alliance aims to address the challenge of Ghost Gear, now recognised as the most-dangerous form of plastic pollution to marine animals. Around 640,000 tonnes of Ghost Gear is added to our oceans every year – over a tonne every minute – and comprises around ten percent of all marine debris. It is responsible for killing an estimated 136,000 whales, dolphins, turtles and seals globally each year. www.ghostgear.org/join-us
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Diving the Dream Islands of the
Seychelles Archipelago By GLYNN BURRIDGE
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wo divers slice the pristine, crystal waters off the north-west coast of Mahé, principal island of the jewel of the Indian Ocean: the stunningly beautiful Seychelles Archipelago. What they are seeking lies some 40 metres beneath the ocean - the hull of an old fishing trawler, deliberately scuppered to provide a diving site in what is arguably one of the best kept secrets among the international diving fraternity: the amazing Seychelles diving experience. One diver is Imran Ahmad, renowned Singapore-based photographer and educator and he is amazed by the world class diving he has found around these islands long celebrated for their world-beating beaches, warm, dappled, sapphire waters and the final word in laid-back island lifestyle but with all the trimmings. ‘At 40 metres she is fully intact and teeming with marine life and coral growth’, he enthuses, ‘and with visibility for as far as the eye can see, this is a definite ‘must’ dive for wreck lovers. Imran is one of an increasing number of divers all making the same discovery – the magnificent Seychelles Islands. Secluded from the world since the dawn of time, Seychelles is only now awakening to its true potential as a dream tourism destination and much of what you will find here is still wonderfully untouched, thanks to Seychelles’ strong conservation laws. With 115 granite and coral islands and an exclusive economic zone of 1 million square miles, this cyclone-free cluster of island gems offers year-round diving in a land of perpetual summer. Together, the islands offer awesome diversity for diving afi-
cionado and novice alike on both granite and coral reefs which can be nothing less than living aquariums for diverse and spectacular forms of coral and marine life. Myriad, dazzling coral reef fish, shark, moray eels, turtles, lobster, giant rays and even the odd migrating whale shark propose a kaleidoscope of diving entertainment in a host of unspoiled venues. On one dive alone, near Aride, no less than 800 species of marine life were spotted! Seychelles boasts a number of world-recognised dive sites, such as the famous Ennerdale Wreck and Brissare rocks as well as the lesser known, more remote but even more spectacular sites around Marianne, the Sisters, Aride, Trompeuse and several other islands. Some of the more remote locations are only accessible by live-aboard charter dive boats Diving in Seychelles is refreshingly unprocessed as well, with un-crowded dive boats and unhurried dive schedules, in keeping with the leisurely pace of life. Local dive centres and a range of liveaboards will provide access to great diving while offering a taste of the unique Seychellois lifestyle with beach BBQ’s and other island-style entertainment. All diver training is conducted by internationally qualified instructors, most of whom are members of PADI, the Professional Association of Diving Instructors, the world’s largest sport diver training organization. Now, more than ever, is the time to visit Seychelles and discover just how extraordinary - and affordable! - diving can be in one of the very last natural aquariums on our planet where pristine waters, leisurely diving schedules and an astonishing variety of marine life all conspire to offer one of the finest dive vacations on the planet. n
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MEDICAL Q&A Dr Oliver Firth has gained considerable experience in the field of diving and hyperbaric medicine since joining LDC in 2006. He is an Approved Medical Examiner of Divers for the UK HSE, and a medical referee for the UK Sport Diving Medical Committee. He is involved in the management of all types of diving-related illness, including recompression treatment, as well as providing hyperbaric oxygen therapy for non-diving conditions. He remains a passionate diver and has participated in various expeditions and conservation projects throughout the globe.
Q: As a paramedic who dives, I’ve heard that it’s important not to administer Entonox to a diver who might have DCS. Please could you clarify the medical/technical reasons for this? What about if the diver is not showing any signs of DCS, but just needs pain relief? A: Entonox, which goes by the more colloquial name of ‘laughing gas’, is a 50:50 mix of nitrous oxide and oxygen. Joseph Priestley, an English chemist, first synthesised it in 1775 and was so impressed with himself he wrote: “I have now discovered an air five or six times as good as common air... nothing I ever did has surprised me more, or is more satisfactory.” This was probably due to the fact that it smells and tastes sweet, and induces a pleasing euphoria together with ‘slight hallucinations’. It soon became the anaesthetic of choice for dentists, but nowadays its main proponents are (para)medics who use it for emergency on-site pain relief, and midwives who administer it to women in labour to stop them screaming. The reason Entonox is not given to divers with suspected DCS is that the nitrous oxide component is highly soluble and can increase bubble size, thereby worsening the condition. Also, it can cause expansion of trapped gas in the body and so should be avoided in anyone who has dived recently. If you have a diver in pain for another obvious reason and can exclude DCS and gas-trapping confidently (eg. they’ve just trodden on a sea urchin and not dived) then by all means it can be used. Its half-life is short, but general advice is you should not dive for 12-24 hours after using Entonox. Q: Can DCI result from freediving in 4-5m of water? I was lobstering for 10 days in Australia last August and only had a real issue after this
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first day of freediving. Upon return to the dock, I almost fell over from dizziness and sight difficulty, and had to lie down for a couple of hours before I could walk around again. The following nine days went mostly well, but on occasion some dizziness at the surface would occur whenever I failed to release a little of my held breath on the way up. A: This is an interesting one. In the 1950s, DCI after freediving was thought to be impossible, for two reasons: the amount of nitrogen contained in one breath was not considered sufficient to cause symptoms, and dives were too short to allow the nitrogen to dissolve into the blood. We now know that it is indeed possible. Studies were carried out in the 1960s on pearl divers in French Polynesia, who dive to 30m or more 40 to 60 times a day (each dive lasting about two minutes with a three-to-four minute surface interval). These divers showed a high rate of Taravana (literally meaning ‘to fall crazily’) – a range of symptoms varying from vertigo and impaired vision to loss of consciousness and paralysis, consistent with DCI. Your symptoms seem to have come on severely after the first day. US Navy tables at 10m on air give a bottom time of over six hours, so at maximum depths of 5m, you would have to be underwater for a huge amount of time, breathing compressed gas, to put you at risk of DCI. On single breaths you would not accumulate enough nitrogen after one day to induce DCI. I suspect that another issue may have been the culprit here, possibly an ear barotrauma from repetitive equalising. Do you have a question for Dr Firth? Email: divingdoctor@scubadivermag. com and we’ll pass it on.
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MIRANDA GOES TO GOZO
ABOVE 18M: BOURNEMOUTH
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TECHNICAL: CORNWALL
DIVE THE COSTA CALIDA
GEAR GUIDE: BUDGET FINS
Miranda Krestovnikoff and her family go diving off this Mediterranean favourite The British Sub-Aqua Club’s new National Diving Officer talks about the future Comprehensive 16-page guide to the diving in the Murcia region of Spain
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Jeremy Cuff gives this seaside town the Above 18m treatment Stuart Philpott explores the remains of a German U-boat lying off Padstow Entry-level fins are rated and reviewed by the Scuba Diver Test Team
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CLUB Diving:Egypt
Byron Conroy heads to Egypt on his first-ever ‘UK club trip’, and reckons the humble British dive club is one of the most-important elements of the country’s diving community PHOTOGRAPHS BY BYRON CONROY
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have been living and working in diving all over the world for the last five years, however after being on the road for such a long time, I have been considering returning to the UK. Diving and photography has become such an import part of my life, though, that I would not wish to lose that aspect if I returned to the UK. The UK is famed for its diving clubs and has a long history of local diving communities, so in order to see how a diving club ‘worked’, I decided to join a UK dive club’s trip to Egypt. I am originally from a small town on the English/Welsh border called Oswestry, so my club of choice was SevernTec Diving, a Shropshire-based RAID dive centre with a strong club atmosphere. The shop is headed up by Kevin Murphy, a RAID instructor who trains many of the divers and runs annual trips to Egypt, along with frequent UK-based trips to places such as Plymouth and the Farne Islands. SevernTec is a full RAID dive centre and has been open for almost two years. Over those two years it has grown steadily, but still offers a real ‘dive community’ feeling, and along with offering trips it also sells major brand dive equipment and helps all of its customers with good advice and low number ratio training. My partner Lena and I thought this would be a great way to meet the local dive club, integrate with them and get a feeling for the UK dive scene while still continuing the live in Iceland. Upon signing up for the trip, both my partner and I were added to a Facebook group for the trip, and a Messenger group, where trip information was shared - this was a great way to get to know the names of the people on the trip and get a feeling for everything before we would meet in Egypt.
The communication was clear and everyone felt part of the trip, team T-shirts were offered for people to buy pre-trip, and equipment advice was given to ensure everyone had the right gear for the type of diving we were doing. On arrival in Egypt we met the group at Hurghada airport, where we boarded a bus to the liveaboard, our home for the week. Introductions were made, and Lena and I immediately felt welcomed into the group - it’s always great to have a common interest, and everyone was warm, welcoming and excited for the week’s diving. After boarding the boat, we had a welcome dinner, and introductions were made more formally. It was great to find such a diverse range of different people in the group - on board the boat we had divers of all levels, from those completing the Open Water course during the week to Advanced Trimix divers. This gave the boat a great feeling and it became a real knowledge-sharing experience on board - conversations ranged across various subjects from photography, tech diving and wetsuit versus drysuit. The diving week began with check-out dives close to the port. Kevin, who was the group leader, ensured that everyone on the boat was prepared for the dives and assisted all of the guests with last-minute equipment adjustments and set-ups so they were ready and prepared for the day’s diving. After the check-out dives were complete, we headed further north to the more-challenging sites. Everyone was more relaxed after the check-out dives and opened up more in the evening about their diving experiences and expectations for the trip. Some of the group were desperate to see their first shark, and others to dive their first wreck. The itinerary we had planned was northern wrecks and reefs, a combination of the best wrecks and reefs in the north and south of the Egyptian Red Sea. Kevin took great care to ensure all of the divers within the group were catered for, and that we visited a combination of easy reefs, wrecks and moredemanding wall dives. For myself, a personal highlight of the trip was the opportunity to dive the SS Thistlegorm - I had been to the Red Sea before, but not visited that site.
It was great to find such a diverse range of different people in the group - on board the boat we had divers of all levels, from those completing the Open Water course during the week to Advanced Trimix divers
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The diving in the Red Sea is rich and diverse, and with each successful dive gave us more subjects to talk about. The wreck dives gave people the opportunity to reminisce about previous trips to wreck destinations, and this led to many different discussions about various destinations, with all members of the group throwing in their opinions and experiences, building a real excitement for future trips and more locations. Towards the end of the week, we headed further south to the Brothers - this site is famous in the Red Sea for oceanic whitetip encounters, and the excitement on board the vessel was running very high as we prepared for the dives. We planned a full day of diving there to give us the best chance of seeing them. On the first dive of the day, several people saw an oceanic whitetip from a distance - to hear everyone cheering and coming up on the boat screaming things such as ‘Did you see that!?’ was just great. We were able to conduct a couple more dives at the Brothers, and as the current had dropped off under the boat, the majority of the group spent the last dive hanging under the boat waiting for the sharks to appear. We were treated to a very close encounter, with one shark actually hitting the dome port of my camera. As an underwater photographer, I was also able to spend the evenings talking to people about the subject and helping them by reviewing their photos and showing them how to make minor adjustments in both camera set-up and postproduction. It was rewarding to spend time repeatedly talking to the same people and developing their knowledge through the week. By talking to the other members on the trip, I really began to understand what the UK dive club was all about it’s about building a community of like-minded individuals with similar interests and sharing knowledge for everyone’s benefit. The club/shop environment is all about ensuring
Masked butterflyish and Red Sea bannerfish
Oceanic whitetip
Spectacular corals at the Brothers
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diving remains interesting and creating new opportunities to dive to keep people within the sport. Despite the difference in knowledge and diving ability of the group, everyone bonded well together and were able to learn from each other’s experiences. After a day’s diving, the evenings were spent enjoying a beer and chatting about the day’s events, who saw what and which was the favourite dive. The sunsets in the Red Sea always bring the day to an epic end and are a signal for people to relax and unwind. Evening dinners on the liveaboard were delicious, and the dinner table was often a hive of action and conversation on all matters diving. The boat was spacious enough, and with all of the amenities needed to cater for a big group. Excellent boat staff and guides, along with a great attitude to safety
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Soldierfish hang out on the reef
Stern of the Thistlegorm
both on board and in the water. All briefings were conducted by the Trip Director, who shared with us his wealth of knowledge of the history and marine life of the Red Sea. It was great to see both Kevin and him meeting regularly to discuss which sites we should visit to accommodate the needs of the whole group. The boat was also able to lend out equipment of a good standard to those who needed it, and also twinsets, stages and various O2 mixes for those wishing to do a little deco. I personally had a twinset for the trip and it was great to be able to discuss tech diving with some of the slightly lessexperienced members of the group and to excite them for diving in the future. Kevin was always coming up with new ideas and advice for members on the trip, from offering them training on any advanced diving techniques, such as sidemount or nitrox, and continuing to keep the group interested in diving by offering next year’s Egypt trip, along with other UK-based trips over the coming year. By the end of a week on board, Lena and I felt we had made firm friends with many members of the group and were already planning trips with them both in our Vibrant soft corals
home country of Iceland and to other tropical destinations. If you have considered joining a club or local dive shop, then I would highly recommend it - the club environment is one of nurture and encouragement for all divers and exposes individuals to a vast range of knowledge and experience in diving. To be able to interact with so many different people with a similar interest is absolutely fantastic. It’s also great to be able to support your local centre, as the local dive shop is the number one place to go to get help and support for dive holidays, equipment and training. SevernTec is a fine example of a shop which takes time and care over creating a great atmosphere for knowledge sharing and diver development. If you had any doubts about trying a local club or shop, then put them to one side and give it a go - there are lifelong friends and endless dive adventures to be made within the UK club environment. n
If you had any doubts about trying a local club or shop, then put them to one side and give it a go - there are lifelong friends and endless dive adventures to be made within the UK club environment 26
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This issue, our panel of industry training gurus focus on safety gear, and discuss what safety equipment should be in every diver’s kit bag, regardless of experience PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF GARRY DALLAS, BSAC/JANE MORGAN AND NICK WATSON
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iving is generally not a dangerous sport, as long as you stick to the limits of your training, are mindful of weather conditions and complete all your buddy and equipment checks, but occasionally, the proverbial can hit the fan, and so it pays to have a suitable supply of safety kit to hand to deal with whatever emergency situation has shown its ugly face. We asked our panel what safety equipment should be in every diver’s kit bag, regardless of experience. Dai Atkins, National Diving Officer for BSAC, said: “I’ve cut my foot! It’s bleeding! My buddy said ‘You’ll die”, If only I had a plaster on that dive trip in July…’ “Sporting activities carry with them some inherent risks – and diving isn’t any different. But being prepared for any risky encounters or to enable a quick response to an incident helps maintain a good safety record for our hobby. “Now the usual refinements for more commonplace risks like cuts, burns, decompression illness, hypothermia and such like will be addressed by more significant items of kit (hopefully) put in place by the Dive Manager. First aid kits of all different sizes, and oxygen kits containing a variety of administration masks, will have been thought of, and a responsible person placed in charge of them. “But there are other things we can personally carry that give us a fighting chance of improving overall safety on a dive. Summoning assistance is one area to consider – beyond the yelling at the top of your voice, technological advances have been made by way of whistles, and air horns, that can audibly alert surface support you need some help. If you’re out of earshot, visible means of attracting attention instead of exhausting yourself by waving include things like dive
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flags, large, highly visible DSMBs and reflecting mirrors which can be put to good use. And for the more-discerning diver, EPIRBs (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons) and PLBs (Personal Locator Beacons) may be carried to report your location at the surface in an emergency, ensuring you have, of course, registered them, RTFM and activated them before you get in the water. Strobes are also a useful aid to be seen in low-light conditions – just don’t scrimp on the batteries, and check them regularly.
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“On the dive itself, tools to get out of a fix will be handy – so shears or a line-cutter will be of use if you find yourself trapped in that nasty monofilament stuff or even a bit of someone else’s line (do be sure it’s not someone’s guideline before you chop through it*). Simple incidents like losing your way back to the shot could be prevented if you took a bearing, or knew which general direction the shoreline was, so a compass could be useful, or a spare reel which may be used to line off and find your way back - assuming no one got tangled in it and has chopped through it with their aquasnips (*see above). A buddy line – or short piece of rope or webbing - may be useful to maintain contact with your buddy (although not as adaptable or reliable as your hands) if the visibility starts to get a bit murky, allowing some communication by rope pulls, but don’t fix it to you! A small waterproof notebook and pencil for writing messages could also be handy - attaching a note (or slate) to a DSMB can alert surface support of a problem and give more information to start making some early decisions. “Carefully locating all of these items on your kit, where they won’t foul up your dive – but are equally easily located and retrieved takes some fettling – but be innovative with the clips, bungee and elasticated pantyhose. And of course, get some tutelage and be practised in their use. “Don’t forget the more-benign risks that can still have an impact – being out on a boat all day in standard British sunshine can bring on effects of heatstroke, sunburn, and dehydration, so to stop the delirium associated with these remember to pack your sunscreen, floppy hat, sunglasses and take plenty of water.” Garry Dallas, Training Director for RAID UK and Malta, said: “Rocking up on a boat dive or driving a fair way to the dive site, we really don’t want to find out that a piece of our equipment isn’t working.
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“Covering all bases - what if your regs had a problem, do you have a spare working regulator, i.e. a stage regulator set, maybe some basic tools to deal with this scenario. If you’re not on a club-organised event, maybe a shared O2 set-up between friends. List of contact numbers for friends, family, coastguard, etc. All this just needs to be accessible after a dive, in the unlikely event it’s needed. “Then we can look at fixing something on a dive, or at the surface. Did anyone in your group bring an SMB for that shore dive to highlight a diver is underwater? Has EVERY member of the group got their own DSMB and spool/reel? A planned route or map for the underwater terrain, entry and egress. If it’s a night dive, then a flashing marker fixed to the SMB and one on each member of the team. These items are never needed when a dive goes perfectly to plan, it’s if someone gets separated from the group. “When you look at your personal kit, it’s very useful to have a cutting device, and I don’t mean a James Bond type, SAS 12inch blade, strapped to the outside of your ankle, but a morecompact and practical Eezycut Trilobite or Z-knife attached to your computer. A signalling device both audible and visual for attracting attention, compass, a spare cylinder valve wheel (I kid you not, I’ve seen them fall off), spare torch in case your primary fails, spare mask, nasal spray, wet notes or slate, even a spare double-ender boltsnap - one day I’ll explain why this will be a vital piece of kit every diver should have. “A great bit of useful equipment can be cable ties, bungee or line from say a reel or spool.” GUE’s John Kendall explained: “Since diving involves putting ourselves in a place where we cannot naturally survive, everything that enables us to exist there could be considered safety gear. As a cave and technical diver, I consider carefully every piece of equipment that I carry, and make sure I have adequate back-ups as well. A great
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example of this is lights. I carry a minimum of three lights on every dive, a primary light and two back-up lights. That way I have practised using my lights on every dive, and know that they work for when I need them to. My lights enable me to communicate with my team underwater, but can also be used to help signal to a boat from a distance. Another vital piece of communications equipment when boat diving is a decent DSMB. I personally like to use oral-inflate closed circuit ones, as these I find very easy and controllable to deploy, while maintaining their inflation even over a long decompression hang. Regular practice of deploying an SMB is key to making this safe rather than a risk. “In addition, for offshore dives I carry a portable, waterproof VHS/GPS radio. While this will only work over a short distance (VHS is line of sight, and with an antenna only a few centimetres from the surface of the water, that’s not very far), it can help a dive boat find us if we start drifting on the surface. “Underwater I always carry a minimum of two cutting devices, a knife in a sheath on the waist band of my harness, and a line cutter in my drysuit pocket. That way I can always get to one of them in the event of any kind of entanglement. I also carry a spare mask on every dive, and while many people consider this to be overkill, I have experienced mask failures on more than one occasion, and in one case it was during a particularly restricted bit of cave. Having my mask dismantle itself did not make the situation particularly enjoyable, but being able to simply reach into my pocket and pull out my spare made it a minor issue rather than a major incident. “The last things that I carry in my pocket are a pair of waterproof spanners. One is a stainless steel adjustable, and the other is a cunning quad spanner with allen key ends. Between these two tools I can repair most regulator issues.” PADI examiner, Course Director and TecRec IT Vikki Batten said: “A DSMB and reel/spool are one bit of kit I never dive in the sea without. Depending on the dive I may have a small back-up or, for a tec dive in the UK, I would have three of each – a primary, a back-up and one to signal the need for my emergency gas supply to be lowered from the boat. When I’m in cave, the DSMB stays at home but we still carry reels and spools. Always at least one safety spool, but
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often many different sizes and length for different jobs. In fact on dives with complex navigation, teams diving in caves often pass spools and reels to the person laying line, rather like passing a relay baton, to maintain the continuous line to the surface. Perfecting line laying and passing equipment through the team is lots of fun and a true test of working together.” PADI Instructor Examiner, Course Director and PADI Regional Training Consultant Emily Petley-Jones said: “While a good spares kit might not be considered as ‘safety gear’, having a complete spares kit available can help to prevent divers from making unsafe decisions. There is nothing more frustrating than travelling for hours to reach a dive site only to discover that one of your fin straps is broken. If you have a spare, this is a quick and easy fix and everyone gets to dive. Without a spare, the correct decision would be to abort the dive, however, the ‘summit fever’ aspect of getting so far and not wishing to disappoint anyone can take over. Unfortunately, it can happen that a diver will opt to botch together a quick fix so as not to disappoint their buddy. This is when poor judgement can potentially lead to an accident. To help prevent this sort of situation from arising, consider having a kit check list (on a slate or laminated) so you can thoroughly check all your kit before leaving home. “From a safety point of view, there are several considerations such as the risk assessment for the location you are diving in, and how you are going to communicate should an emergency situation arise. One major thing to consider is that while most people these days will carry a mobile phone round with them, there are some locations where getting a signal can be a challenge, in which case you should review other communication options such as a radio, or a personal locator beacon.” n
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Ocean plastic evangelist David Jones has spent the last ten years talking about plastic pollution to the diving community, and his latest venture, The Big Microplastic Survey, is a collaborative programme that he has developed between his own non-profit organisation, Just One Ocean and the University of Portsmouth PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAVID JONES
A
couple of weeks ago, I launched a global citizen-science project, The Big Microplastic Survey (www.microplasticsurvey.org). It is a collaboration with the University of Portsmouth aimed at gathering data about microplastics from around the world that we can use for further research. Within hours of the launch, volunteers were signing up from around the world. I have to admit to being slightly taken aback by the enthusiasm and passion of the individuals and organisations coming forward, because it hadn’t always been like that. I can still remember the conversation I had with my friend and inspirational film producer Jo Ruxton nearly ten years ago. Did I know about the plastic that was accumulating in the Pacific, she asked? At that moment in time, probably like the majority of readers, the answer was not really. I think I had ‘heard’ about it, but that was all. Equally fascinated and horrified, I decided to find out more. I joined forces with Jo and the Plastic Oceans Foundation and we spent nearly seven years making the film A Plastic Ocean. I had a variety of roles in the organisation and very quickly found myself becoming the organisation’s ‘expert’ on the issues, potential solutions and the not-quite-so-accurate facts that were being peddled by the media.
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Presentations, articles and campaigning followed. We first interviewed Sir David Attenborough for Plastic Oceans in 2009, years before the Blue Planet effect was even conceived, and I first spoke at a dive show about plastic pollution in 2010 to what can best be described as a ‘small’ audience. At that time, there were only a handful of NGOs dealing with the issue - for many, it was simply not something on their agenda. We were a lone voice, trying to spread the word, but invariably preaching to the already converted. Times have changed. Suddenly, plastic pollution has become the hot topic, but have they changed for the better?
In spite of the increase in awareness and the hundreds of initiatives to reduce our singleuse packaging, global plastic production has gone up by 35 million tonnes since we launched the film A Plastic Ocean three years ago WWW.SCUBADIVERMAG.COM
Even kids can get involved
There is no doubt that the increased awareness and publicity surrounding plastic pollution has made a difference. The supermarkets we wrote to all those years ago who never listened are now throwing themselves onto the plastic bandwagon along with just about everyone else. The number of organisations springing up to ban straws, ban microbeads, or encourage you to go ‘plastic free’ over the last couple of years is mind blowing. There is not a day goes by without there being something about plastic pollution in the press, and I am delighted to say that certain elements of the diving industry have finally woken up and realised that change is coming and they need to be a part of it. However, at the same time that we have reasons to be hopeful there are, in my view - which I’m sure some will disagree with - a number of issues that we need to address, or be cautious about if we are to succeed in resolving this ongoing crisis. One of those issues is that the growth of so many organisations means that already scarce resources are diluted even further. When I first started working for Plastic Oceans, I was staggered to discover that saving the planet, for some organisations at least, appeared to be a competition. I remember reluctance from certain NGOs to promote our film, or become ‘partners’ in what, after all, was a fight against a common enemy. I understand now that it was because we were all fighting for the same philanthropic pots of gold, but it made me uneasy. There seems to be a growth of partners, networks and coalitions, and with the growing awareness
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there will probably be a corresponding growth in donations and funding, so hopefully that will bode well for the future. Another uncomfortable change has been the growth of profit-making organisations that are making their living by appealing to environmental consciences of the masses. I have nothing against making profit, and raising funds for good causes is a good thing, but I do have an issue with a lack of transparency. When organisations claim to give a ‘proportion’ of their profits to environmental charities, but when they pretend to be charitable organisations, take cover behind the veil of limited liability partnership status, or simply don’t provide any company details at all, I wonder what they have to hide. Are the profits so enormous that it might be embarrassing? Raising money through this kind of sponsorship is not something new, but no matter how much they are desperate for funding, it is beholden on charities to ensure that donations they receive are ethically and morally sound. Timeframes are also a concern of mine. The governments ‘policy’ to tackle plastic pollution in the UK by 2042 is too little, too late. The French government announced a ban, not a 5p levy, on plastic bags in 2016. This was introduced this year and by 2020, all plastic cutlery, disposable plates Taking part in a survey session
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#GODiving Hear David Jones give the lowdown on plastic pollution and what you can do to combat this scourge at the brand-new interactive dive show GO Diving at the Ricoh Arena on 23-24 February 2019. Early bird tickets available now from: www.godivingshow.com
Microplastics in a sieve
and throwaway cups will either be removed, or replaced with compostable products. While I worry that there will be sufficient commercial composting plants available (let’s face it, we can’t manage our current waste streams effectively, never mind throwing in another one into the mix) at least they take action in a reasonable timeframe. I think the previous concern stems from what is at the heart of the issue for me, and that is a lack of strategic planning. Everything that seems to be being done to solve this problem is a piecemeal, kneejerk reaction. It’s almost as if the government realise that there is a problem, and look for the least-painful solution that won’t lose votes, but will make sure they are seen to be doing something. “Mr Gove, the people are up in arms about plastic” “Could we ban microbeads, it looks like they are on the way out anyway!” We desperately need some strategic thinking that examines the science, education, innovation, introduction of alternatives, public engagement and legislation. These are processes that are being undertaken by a variety of organisations, but in isolation. That is wrong. They are inter-related and planning needs to be developed that brings them together. My other concern is the belief that we can technology our way out of this. Barriers across the ocean, new ‘biological’ ways to make the same old stuff, or the development of plastic-eating bugs are not going to solve this problem alone. Waste management and innovation has a role to play, but fundamental has to be a change in our behaviour, attitudes and the valueless perception that we have of plastic. So what about the diving industry? The good news is that it comprises people who are already aware of the importance of our ocean ecosystems, its biodiversity and the services it provides. Environmental organisations are embedded into the institutional and social framework of the diving fraternity. People are spending their dive time collecting litter from the seabed, or recovering old nets. Some parts of the industry are changing their packaging while others are being truly innovative in the products they produce, and I have to say that having spent so long on this problem, I am encouraged.
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Explaining the problem with plastic to schoolchildren
Another uncomfortable change has been the growth of profitmaking organisations that are making their living by appealing to environmental consciences of the masses We must guard against complacency. In spite of the increase in awareness and the hundreds of initiatives to reduce our single-use packaging, global plastic production has gone up by 35 million tonnes since we launched the film A Plastic Ocean three years ago. Recycling capability continues to fall behind production rates, and waste management issues are getting even worse, especially in SE Asia. I have always said, and have truly believed, that the human race has the ability to resolve the plastic pollution problem if it puts its mind to it, so long as it acts quickly, while it is still a problem and not yet a predicament. The good news is that I am no longer talking to an empty room. n
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THERE ARE LOTS OF HAND SIGNALS IN DIVING WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR HEART, THIS SHOULDN’T BE ONE OF THEM Book an appointment with a healthcare professional or diving doctor and check that your heart is up to it.
FIND OUT MORE AT RNLI.ORG/SCUBADIVER The RNLI is the charity that saves lives at sea Royal National Lifeboat Institution, a charity registered in England and Wales (209603) and Scotland (SC037736). Registered charity number 20003326 in the Republic of Ireland.
Lighthearted profile of dive centres or clubs from all over the United Kingdom. This issue, it is the turn of 2DiVE4 Scuba School in Essex
Who is in
CHARGE?
Name: Steve Hills Rank: PADI Master Instructor Date of first certification: April 2001 Number of dives to date: 4,000+ WHAT’S YOUR STORY? I learnt to scuba dive in Essex after completing a Try Dive in Rhodes. I loved it so much I wanted to explore further. After completing my PADI Open Water Course I went straight through to Divemaster level in a year and went to Thailand to complete my instructor course. Came back to the UK and formed 2DiVE4. In the 16 years of operating, 2DiVE4 has evolved into one of the busiest PADI Dive Schools in the South East and certifies hundreds of happy customers each year, thanks to our fun, informative and professional dive team.
Q&A with Steve Q: How would you describe your team at your dive centre? A: Fun, knowledgeable, professional and very safe.
Q: Who is the worst air-guzzler in your team? A: Our guys are all pretty good, with our female team tending to be a lot better.
Q: What is your most-embarrassing teaching moment? A: Reel jam on an SMB Deployment course.
Q: Who is the biggest wimp out of the lot of you, and give a recent example? A: Axenia Petrova... Trying to get her in UK water!
Q: What is your favourite place to dive in the UK? A: Farne Islands with the seals.
Q: Who attracts the most attention, good or bad? A: Bobbie Marley... All for bad reasons unprintable!
Q: What is your favourite place to dive abroad? A: Galapagos Islands.
Q: If you could teach a celebrity to dive, who would it be and why? A: David Attenborough (I know he can dive, but what a top fella).
Q: If you could change one thing about diving, what would it be? A: Instructors giving poor/wrong advice.
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Q: What’s been the biggest fear factor in your diving career to date? A: The fear of giving our customers poor service.
Why you should
JOIN OUR CLUB CLUB NIGHTS 2DiVE4 runs regular dive club evenings with quiz nights, Indian meals and trips to the recompression chamber for dry dives. There is also the legendary 2DiVE4 BBQ, where it is wise to avoid Bobbie Marley with her drinking antics. Certainly worth coming to just for the ‘cakes’ though! BRITISH DIVING TRIPS 2DiVE4 regularly schedules UK scuba diving trips around the UK shoreline to various locations, such as the Farne Islands, Porthkerris, Plymouth for the wreck diving, St Abbs and Scapa Flow among other locations. Our dive team also organise regular day/weekend trips diving out of Swanage and Weymouth. FOREIGN DIVE TRIPS 2DiVE4 regularly schedules overseas scuba diving holidays to many top-end dive locations, such as the Maldives, Bonaire, Palau, the Galapagos Islands, the Bahamas, Red Sea, Malta, and the Philippines. On these dive holidays we always attract a fantastic crowd of like-minded divers who dive in a safe and responsible way. TRAINING FACILITIES 2DiVE4 has a well-stocked dive shop, a high-tech gas station offering air fills to 300 bar, and nitrox and trimix for the moreexperienced technical diver. On site 2DiVE4 has a classroom catering for up to a dozen students, and a widescreen TV showing all up-to-date diving footage. 2DiVE4 currently conducts courses at three pool locations in Herts and Essex and uses Stoney Cove for the bulk of its open water training.
DIVE CENTRE factfile Contact details 2DiVE4, 2, Block H, Peek Business Centre, Woodside, Dunmow Road, Bishops Stortford, CM23 5RG Tel: 01279 815559 Email: steve@2dive4.co.uk Website: www.2dive4.co.uk Opening hours Mon – Sat -8.30am – 6.30pm Courses available Full range of PADI and TDI courses
Rental kit and brand Full kit hire available. Apeks/Aqua Lung Shop Fully stocked shop Gas mixes Air/Nitrox/Trimix Servicing All brands catered for
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My family
Galapagos AND THE
Monty Halls landed a dream gig when he headed out to the iconic archipelago to film a new TV series, but as the title implies, it involved taking his wife and their two young children – and the latter due kept him on his toes the entire time PHOTOGRAPHS BY MONTY HALLS
#GODiving See Monty Halls at the brand-new interactive dive show GO Diving at the Ricoh Arena on 23-24 February 2019! Early bird tickets available now from: www.godivingshow.com
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I
f someone gave me a large and sleek horse as a gift, I’m not the sort of chap to immediately look in its mouth. And so I appreciate entirely that the chance to live and work in the Galapagos is a rare beast, something that is a lifetime’s ambition for so many - I’m the last bloke who’d complain about it. But it’s worth pointing out - just for the sake of clarity at this early stage - that fantasy and reality seldom match, and that actually the filming of My Family and the Galapagos was bloody hard work. I can almost hear the incredulity, the snorts of derision, the ‘you snowflake media softy’ comments, all of which are entirely justified. But the snag of the process of filming this series, and living this experience, was that Tam, the film crew, and myself, were accompanied throughout by two maniacs. The dynamic duo in question were our daughters Isla and Molly. Isla is five, has an opinion on most things, and is curious, chatty, and loves ‘the nature’ as she terms it. Molly is three, and also has strong opinions, most of which revolve around her numerous needs and my inability to deliver them promptly. They are both pale-skinned redheads, and as our ultimate destination was a volcanic archipelago bang on the equator, getting them to wear a hat was going to be the first challenge. This we discussed at length during the 36-hour trip from our home in Dartmouth to the Galapagos, arriving wildeyed, sweaty, and - miraculously - still married. Neither of the girls were wearing hats.
Planning the next adventure
The girls encountering a giant tortoise
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Home away from home in paradise Monty and family frolic on the beach
I was visiting the islands to explore the work being done in conservation, eco-tourism, and scientific research. This is a seminal time for the Galapagos, with greater visitor numbers than ever (over 200,000 at last count), and a growing population (an estimated 30,000). Such popularity brings undoubted benefits - income, prosperity, global profile - but also brings many, many challenges. In my role as President of the Galapagos Conservation Trust, I was keen to find out what those challenges were. A World Heritage Site since 1978, the home of evolutionary science, and one of the most-iconic and unique island groups on earth, it’s not unreasonable to think that the fight for the Galapagos is the fight for the collective environmental conscience of our generation. If we can’t get it right here, then we truly are entering a dark future for us as a species, and for the planet as a whole. And so here we were, walking down the steps of an aircraft as a warm equatorial wind raced unfettered across the tarmac. This ruffled Isla’s hair and carried with it the scent of tropical seas and sun-baked soil, causing her to lift her head and breathe deeply, the primal response of a young animal to an entirely new world. Tam followed at the rear in her role as ‘Tail-End Charlie’, watching warily for stragglers, or anyone attempting to make a break for it. We had arrived at Baltra Airport, in itself a highly significant spot in the history of the islands. The island of Baltra itself is singularly unimpressive - certainly by Galapagos standards - a flat-topped scattering of lava rocks, low scrub, and dusty tracks. But it was precisely the fact that it was a level landscape in a world of volcanic peaks that made it so attractive to the United States in World War Two. The US Government knew that the islands were strategically important - a stepping stone in the vast
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Galapagos Dive the diverse waters of the Galapagos Islands with the dive experts for some unique and awe-inspiring wildlife encounters. Great for experienced divers Whale sharks and schools of hammerheads Exclusive liveaboard departures Incredible topside wildlife Dive the Galapagos from ÂŁ4,275 Request our brochure
diveworldwide.com Contact the Dive team 01962 302 050 sales@diveworldwide.com
Marine iguana
Girls do Galapagos
blue wastes of the Pacific - and as such decided to create a base here. Little did they know that they were blazing a trail, creating a viable means of entering and leaving the Galapagos for people from around the world, and in doing so spawning a tourist industry that was to have a profound influence on the archipelago as a whole. Although the islands had been colonised for at least 100 years before the war, with the creation of the airstrip, the world suddenly opened its eyes to the Galapagos. Our first rendezvous at the airport - the same as every visitor to the islands - was biosecurity screening. The smiling customs official welcomed me warmly, then gestured that I should place my case on the desk in front of him. Unbeknown to me, as I hefted it on to the counter, it contained a few pieces of straw (Molly had decided to make a nest for her teddy bear just before we left the house). The equivalent of this might have been, for example, me proudly presenting the official with a bag of ferrets, or perhaps going ‘Ta-da!’ as I lifted a pair of vigorously mating racoons onto the table before him. The next hour displayed the complete range of emotions from my friend the customs official, from the brisk start of a warm welcome, accelerating through to furrowed concentration, galloping straight into mild concern, and then into the final furlong of ‘What were you thinking, you clown’ annoyance. Throughout I stood before him as a broken man, rumbled, busted, and then lavishly bollocked. Even if 12 condoms full of cocaine had shown up in the x-ray scanner of Molly’s tiny pink rucksack, the humiliation could not have been greater. I was eventually allowed in, chastened and
Whaleshark
Beach running race
…we spent an exhilarating week freediving over aggregations of silkies and hammerheads, attempting to attach tags using Hawaiian slings, which we used with questionable accuracy WWW.SCUBADIVERMAG.COM
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shuffling, which was preferable to being horsewhipped back onto the aircraft, which had seemed a distinct possibility at one point. Introduced and invasive plants and animals are probably the number one threat to the Galapagos (although external pressure and growing population are right up there as well). Although Herculaen efforts have been made to control the arrival of species from the mainland and the rest of the world, it is a constant battle. There are at least 30 species of vertebrates that have been introduced to the islands by people, either deliberately (goats, dogs, cats, cows, horses) or inadvertently (rats, mice). There are also a staggering 870 species of plants that have been introduced (there were only 600 native species here in the first place). This is a real challenge, and the first glimpse of the myriad threats facing life on the Galapagos in the 21st century.
Snorkelling expedition
Isla: Arrival – “It was amazing to arrive in a unknown place. You should of been there. I couldn’t believe my eye’s. I was in a magical place. It was amazing to take my first step. The first animal I saw was a bullseye pufferfish!” Our home was on the main island of Santa Cruz, a couple of miles outside the town of Puerto Ayora. Ironically, one of the main questions we’d been asked by our friends before leaving for the Galapagos was ‘How will you survive out there? Are you going to forage for driftwood and eat crabs?’. My answer was that we were essentially moving to a town (Puerto Ayora population 18,000) which is three times the size of Dartmouth (population 5,000), so we were reasonably confident we’d muddle through. The idea, though, was not to be entirely based in Santa Cruz, but to explore the archipelago, to push out into the four inhabited islands of the Galapagos, and indeed to visit where other research projects were taking place on the other nine islands. But first we had to buy some food, and where better than the local fish market in Pelican Bay - perhaps the most-photographed fish market in the world. This is an entire marine ecosystem in the area of a squash court, from scuttling lobster through to grouper and tuna (all about to be eaten), to sea lions, frigate birds, brown pelicans and people (all about to eat). It’s a swirling tornado of life, and at the epicentre of it sat a wide-eyed Isla and Molly.
Hammerhead shark
Isla: Fish market – “It’s never been so fun to go out and buy dinner. I saw a man feeding the pelicans, sea lions trying to get some food and great big lobster. And amazing frigate-birds swooping in they were huge and they are like pirates. I thought it was amazing.”
I enjoy the simplicity, the elemental nature of it, and freediving to staggering depths (I believe I smashed the 5m barrier on one giddy occasion) 42
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Fun on the beach
Filming playful sealions A small child in heaven
Marvelling at mobula
“Let’s got that way” Family jigsaw session
Sealion
In my latter years, I have become as much a fan of snorkelling as I have of diving. I enjoy the simplicity, the elemental nature of it, and freediving to staggering depths (I believe I smashed the 5m barrier on one giddy occasion). Snorkelling in the Galapagos is akin to a dive of some duration elsewhere in the world - on one memorable occasion on a previous visit, I saw sea lions, marine iguanas, white-tip reef sharks, stingrays, green turtles, mobula, silky sharks, and a bull shark (that was the point I got out), all within 100 metres of the beach. But the real joy of snorkelling is that I can take Isla along. The strategy here is a simple one - stick her in a 5mm wetsuit, thus turning her into the most-buoyant object in the Pacific, tell her not to touch anything, and let her use her dad as - ironically - a mothership. She would hang on to me as I sculled over lava rocks and green seaweed, periodically making forays into the blue before heading back to base. One of our first snorkels took place off Floreana Island, off a sugar-white crescent of sand named - encouragingly - Tortuga Bay (‘tortuga’ being Spanish for ‘turtle’). We clambered into our wetsuits, high-fived, Isla climbed aboard, and we pushed out into the blue.
Isla: Swimming with the turtle – “I felt like the queen of the sea. I was swimming. I saw turtles and once a stingray - and a penguin almost bit my nose ! (NB: Dad here - this penguin assault really did happen - a slightly surreal episode during one of our snorkels off Bartholome). I wasn’t scared one little bit! My snorkel was pink.” WWW.SCUBADIVERMAG.COM
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As well as the insidious impact of invasive species - which is the most-immediate threat to the Galapagos in the opinion of many scientists based in the islands - there are more obvious impacts. One of these is illegal fishing, and just after we arrived there was a vivid example of this, one that ignited a wave of outrage and indignation around the world. In mid-August, the Chinese-flagged factory ship Fu Yuan Yu Leng 999 was apprehended within the Galapagos marine reserve. In its hold were 6,600 sharks, including whalesharks, hammerheads and silkies. The harrowing images of this catch - 300 tonnes of endangered animals piled atop one another resulted in passionate demonstrations in Puerto Ayora, a fine of $5.7 million for the owners of the vessel, and jail sentences for the captain and crew. Incidents like this have an added poignancy when a parent has to explain it to a baffled child. Isla was bemused as to how this could have happened - Tam and I had gone to great lengths to explain how precious the animals were on the islands, and how we should be so careful not to disturb or hurt them. If one grown-up is saying this about the animals, then how come another grown-up thinks it’s okay to catch and kill thousands of them? I tried to explain this as philosophically as I could, but then ended up saying ‘Look sweetheart, some grown-ups are prats, I’m afraid’, which she seemed perfectly satisfied with as an explanation. She had her own context on sharks, having snorkelled with me in a narrow lava gulley on Islabella. Beneath us were many, many resting white-tips, most of them longer than her, and all of them looking beautiful, passive, and elegant on the white-sand floor a few feet beneath her. The final foray of our Galapagos adventure involved a trip to Darwin and Wolf. Sadly, the kids couldn’t come on this particular project, as ten days bobbing about in a small boat in a big sea is a bit much for your average three and five year old. For a 51 year old, it’s fine though, particularly if that 51 year old has dreamed of diving there his entire life. Wolf and Darwin are about 100 miles north of the main Galapagos Archipelago, and we rattled and puffed our way
Marine iguana Kids on camera
there on the rather splendid Queen Mabel, a working vessel if there ever was one. I was accompanying a tagging expedition with two scientists from the Galapagos National Park, and we spent an exhilarating week freediving over aggregations of silkies and hammerheads, attempting to attach tags using Hawaiian slings, which we used with questionable accuracy. Anyone who tells you that this is anything other than massive fun is a damn liar, although there is the added bonus of knowing that the tagging programme genuinely aids the gathering of data about the movements of these animals, which in turn could help establish protected corridors between islands. And it’s unbelievably good fun, did I mention that? But the culmination of the trip was an encounter with a huge whaleshark, a pregnant female that drifted regally past, a monarch of the sea on her way to give birth. I snapped some hasty identification shots, but the main image was the one burnt on my retina and seared into my sub-conscience. A fitting encounter to end my time in the Islas Enchantas. n
Isla: The future of the sea, what can we all do – “It’s all hurting the environment and other parts of the world. Stop throwing plastic in the sea and put everything in the bin! I want the sea to be crystal clear when I am older and I want the animals to be clean like they’ve just had a bath.” 44
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UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY
THE IDEAL PHOTO DIVE Mario Vitalini explains the difference between what makes a great dive site or destination and the perfect photo location, and how to get the best out of where you are PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARIO VITALINI / FISHINFOCUS.CO.UK
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onths of waiting have passed, your kit and camera are set and the alarm goes off. Briefing done. In you go. This is the dive you have been waiting for. All your diver chums love it here and the pictures will be amazing… won’t they? So why do you feel disappointed? Why doesn’t an amazing dive destination inevitably lead to amazing photography? I’ve pondered these questions many times. And my simple conclusion is that the same sites don’t always excite divers and underwater photographers equally. Photographers’ ideal dives are very different - and with good reason. Easy, shallow dives, no current, lots of light, lots to photograph. Sounds easy to find… right? Wrong! If you are serious about taking better photos, there’s more to planning your next holiday than just booking somewhere hot and exotic-sounding! There are key elements I look for when planning a photo trip, which concern me well before I worry about the ‘nice to have’ facilities. Tasty food and plenty of it? Critical. Spa, WiFi, a camera room? I can probably manage without. But without the right elements in play underwater, photography can feel unrewarding in even the most mindblowing location. Sleeping whitetip reef sharks
Moray eel portrait
THE CURSE OF BUCKET AND WISH LISTS Ask yourself, are you picking the destination because it really offers great photos opportunities underwater, or because you feel it is somewhere you ‘ought’ to have dived? I’ve been lucky enough to dive much of my bucket list, and been very happy with the shots at the time. Yet, looking back at my Lightroom catalogue, I have come to realise that some of my best pics, and most successful images, were shot closer to home. The Red Sea is a workhorse of a photo destination, and the reefs arguably as good as places that take a lot longer to get to. Wish lists are usually focused around particular sightings. Now, it’s good to have a clear goal from a trip, but Mother Nature can be capricious. It’s exciting to never quite know
Anemonefish
Manta ray
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Macro crab
Want to take your own shark shots? Join Mario on an escorted photo workshop, with award-winning tour operator Scuba Travel. Learn the secrets of shark photography on the exciting new Shark Quest photography itinerary this May, or master your macro skills in the Far East. There’s something for everyone. Mario’s workshops are open to all experience levels, but in particular anyone using a compact camera or mirrorless set-up. His prize-winning images prove it’s not the kit that makes the shot, but the photographer! If you need some help getting to grips with your camera underwater, Mario’s your man. His calm, patient approach is just what you need to improve your photos. Mario tailors the tips and techniques to your needs, both on the surface and underwater. Improve your skills in a relaxed, non-competitive environment. Dive, eat, sleep and shoot! Workshops in 2018 and 2019 are running in classic destinations such as the Red Sea, as well as farflung photo hotspots like the Philippines, Caymans and Indonesia. www.scubatravel.com
what you will find underwater, but as a photographer, you need a plan for the ‘no show’ eventuality. Can you still be productive if your desired beastie is nowhere to be found? Successful photographers can take this in their stride and make something out of the subjects that are in front of their lens, rather than obsess about what they wished was there. Prepare to be flexible in your expectations. The ideal photo dive may be with a very commonplace animal indeed. It’s about what you can do with the it, not simply how rare or hard it is to find.
TIMING IS EVERYTHING Years ago, I was excited to shoot blue-ring octopus on my first holiday to Manado. Sadly, when we got there, there was not a single tantalising tentacle in sight. I was reminded that - bar anthias - most marine life has seasons. A year later in Dumaguete, and I was falling over blue-rings and flamboyant cuttlefish. Timing really matters. Luckily in Manado, there was plenty else to photograph. Time with a humble goby more
than made up for my initial disappointment, and I’m careful now to adjust my expectations to the season, as well as the destination. I often hear photographers saying they have ‘done’ the Red Sea/Philippines/Bali, etc. And yes, there are plenty of other tempting locations out there. But these destinations endure with photographers because they are reliable, with an undeniable variety all year around. The subjects change with the seasons, but you never come home empty-handed. Consider the Red Sea. During May in the South, plankton blooms increase the chances of encountering mantas, and the calm sea conditions are perfect for the shallow and luxurious reefs of Fury Shoals. The end of June brings the best of the northern reefs, with big schools of fish gathering around the Ras Mohammed area to spawn. The winter brings face-toface, shallow water shark encounters on the offshore reefs. I plan my photo workshops in the Red Sea to the right areas at the right time of the year. Understanding the seasonality of sightings also really helps with lens selection and packing!
UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY CONDITIONS MATTER The sea is a living and dynamic environment and the conditions can change dramatically during a year. Variation in water temperature can affect the visibility, as well as the creatures you can encounter. Different moon phase can affect the currents. Some of the very conditions we crave, and that make photography easier, will inherently limit the subjects you find. This is especially true of some sharks and schooling fish. I’m not a big fan of dragging a camera round a reef in a howling current – it can make your life underwater difficult and severely limit your photo opportunities. On a trip to Socorro, I was blessed with non-existent currents and blue water. The reefs sharks and manta were easy to shoot. Hammerheads, though, were entirely absent. These guys have a tendency to hang where the current is strong and were far, far out into the blue. We have to understand the habits of the marine life we are Goby
Snapper off Ras Mohammed
shooting and respect that, for particular encounters, certain conditions are necessary… whether we like them or not!
CONCLUSION For many photographers, a great destination is determined by how good their pictures are and not actually the diving itself. There are some fantastic destinations out there and every day we are tempted by new and alluring-sounding places. However, I have to remind myself that, as amazing as those places can be to dive, they may be difficult from the photographic point of view. For this reason, I always try to go back to familiar sites at least once a year. We are lucky to have a passion that takes us to some of the most-incredible places on this globe. Not every location will offer the ideal photo dive. Understanding this will help you to choose where and when to dive with your camera, or if it is time to just relax and enjoy the show underwater. n Spinner dolphins
BIOGRAPHY: MARIO VITALINI
For nearly 30 years, Mario has sailed the globe and dived the seas, working as a PADI instructor and dive guide. Today, he shares his passion for underwater photography. His students love his real-world expertise and patient approach. He has an extensive working knowledge of all underwater camera systems, having spent several years at the UK’s largest photo retailer. Mario’s images have won several awards and he has featured not once, but twice, among the top categories at the prestigious Underwater Photographer of the Year, including Most Promising British Underwater Photographer in 2015.
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DIVE INTO
History
While technological advances now allow divers to see and do more than ever before, we mustn’t lose sight of diving’s magnificent history. And what better place to remind ourselves of what led to our great modern sport than the Diving Museum, in Gosport, near Portsmouth. Tech diver Andrew Tonge went to take a look
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osport was once home to the Royal Navy Submarine Service and can also be said to be the place where diving began. Having been through submarine escape training when I was in the navy, at what was HMS Dolphin, just down the road from the Diving Museum, I was especially excited to be back where it all began. Housed in a former Victorian military battery in Stokes Bay, even the approach to the Diving Museum is steeped in history. The entrance is reached by crossing open ground which according to local legend was the site of the last fatal duel in England in 1845. As if standing guard outside the door to the museum is a diver in admiralty pattern diving rig. Passing that point is like passing through a time portal to the past. Owned by the Historical Diving Society, the Diving Museum, opened in 2011, houses many superb collections covering all aspects of diving - sport diving, commercial diving, scientific diving and military diving. Straight away, from stepping through the door, the visitor is immersed in the development of diving equipment and techniques, through early cylinders and regulators, masks and helmets, diving suits and rebreathers. The museum has an air of authenticity and authority about it. I could almost feel the history as I stepped inside. Larger than life and twice as heavy (about 12 stone, actually), in the lead boots and the brass helmet of the early days, air sent down to the suit from hand-operated surface pump, divers in suits from the turn of the previous century greeted me, rooting me the spot, a reminder of how our predecessors did things - how the underwater world is not for the faint-hearted; that its beauty is hard won, and that in the early days it yielded only to the very bravest of souls. The equipment is in excellent condition. It looks like the suits could be put immediately into use. It left me a little surprised and humbled. The museum is laid out on one level, with every nook and cranny holding a piece of history, with stories that will make your toes curl. For me, one of the highlights is undoubtedly the set of three military rebreathers, including, as the piece de resistance, the DSSCCD (Diving Set Self Contained Clearance
Diving), which was in use in the Royal Navy over 30 years ago. The navy has no doubt operated in the face of danger in every imaginable situation, but just to see the kit that might be put on by a diver facing the task of placing limpet mines on the hull of an enemy ship, or disposing of a mine, is aweinspiring. I had visions of the divers in this kit in the early days of the mission to retake the Falkland Islands in 1982, preparing to swim ahead of the landing force, making safe the way to the landing grounds. Commercial diving also features heavily in the museum. It’s fascinating to follow the progression from the earlier hard-hat diving through the modern helmet display and the range of suits and harnesses used in everything from air diving to wet bells and on to deep saturation diving, at mind-boggling depths. And standing there, silent, forbidding, so heavy that it has to be mechanically lifted into the water, is the one-atmosphere suit, into which a diver climbs, like a suit of armour, in effect a mini-submersible, complete with manoeuvring propulsion system. In the same room is the one-man decompression chamber. It is eyewateringly small – certainly not for the claustrophobic! This is testament to the search for safety in diving which while being important always seemed somehow to lag behind the derring-do of those that actually got in the water. The communications devices on display range from early radio to underwater comms of the modern day. Of course, some of the pioneers of the underwater world never had the luxury of communication, but were out on a limb, risking all at the cutting edge. It’s amazing just how much the world of diving has changed; how far it’s come from say the World War Two charioteers, riding what were really piloted torpedoes - and yes, there is a charioteer on display too! Fantastic. The history of sport diving is plotted through a number of displays, showing kit from the early adjustable buoyancy lifejacket used by the pioneers of the sport, to the modern BCD; from early to modern regulators, suits, fins and masks.There is no doubt that things have changed massively through the years. Of course, while technology has advanced making the sport safer, and our understanding of the science of diving and the way that gases behave has allowed us to venture
Straight away, from stepping through the door of the museum, the visitor is immersed in the development of diving equipment and techniques
deeper and deeper, the sensation of being below the waves, experiencing the underwater world as a modern human, remains the same as it did all those years ago. And then, as I rounded the corner, there it was. A tri-set and demand valve from the 1950s, which is described as being used by Jaques Cousteau himself, diving from his vessel Calypso, which featured on TV screens around the world, as Cousteau’s floating headquarters, from which he pursued his adventures. I wondered whether this was the tri-set that he used to dive the hospital ship Britannic, lost in the Aegean Sea in 1916. And it doesn’t end there. The set seems to taken on a life of its own, ending up in the museum via Lord Louis Mountbatten (Cousteau is said to have given the set to him) and a number of other divers along the way. After buying an Historical Diving Society mug and cuff links - I couldn’t resist - I was then treated to a guided tour of the garden, which contains a number of bells and chambers, some of which were used in record-breaking dives by various scientists and Royal Navy divers. The chambers, from sealed capsules to open bells, to deep dry experimental chambers, all seemed to have a cold, solemn feel. To have climbed inside when those chambers were in use would
have taken a great deal of courage and determination. To stand as I did, on the grass, in the sunshine, looking inside, still gave me a feeling of dread. It is a sobering thought that our predecessors in diving were willing to risk everything to venture into the unknown, with maybe just the spirt of adventure to accompany them. And what was truly amazing was that John, the man that took me on the tour, had actually taken part in some of those early dives in those very chambers! I was absolutely overwhelmed by what I was seeing. Diving is truly holistic. Of course, it’s about being underwater, but it’s also about what takes us there. What drives us to put the cylinders on again, to make that next descent. The Diving Museum represents the pioneers that pushed the boundaries; the engineers that refused to take no for an answer; the scientists that literally lived and breathed underwater exploration. These are the people that made diving what it is today. Without them, we just wouldn’t be doing what we do. Whether you’re blown out from a trip, just happen to be in the area or are thinking about making a special trip, a visit to the Diving Museum will not disappoint. n
Cave diver extraordinaire Chris Jewell was thrust into the limelight when he was one of an elite group of UK divers who found – and then extricated - the Thai children and their soccer coach who were trapped in a vast flooded cave system. We asked him about this unprecedented operation, and found out what got him into cave diving in the first place PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF CHRIS JEWELL AND STU GARDINER
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Q: Let’s get Thailand out of the way first. What was your first thought when you got the call to fly out to assist in the rescue operation? A: I’m the diving liaison officer for the British Cave Rescue Council, so I was following events closely and receiving updates. When asked to also go out to Thailand, I just wanted to be useful to the rescue operation. My first thought, however, was making sure I got myself and all the equipment I needed to Heathrow that night. Packing kit for an expedition often takes me several days, but I only had hours to get ready. Luckily, two of my cave-diving friends came over to help. Q: When you first got on the scene, how did you and your fellow divers come up with a plan to start scouring the cave system for the boys and their coach? A: The boys were already found when Jason and I arrived. When Rick Stanton, John Volanthen and Rob Harper got to the site on Wednesday 27 June, the boys had been underground for four days, and while they donned their gear and went had a look at the cave, the outflow was strong, and there was no visibility – they were diving muddy water. They couldn’t actually proceed as far as the rescue workers had been two or three days earlier, so they were battling to get as far as people had walked. As the days progressed, thankfully the water conditions in the cave began to ease a bit, the flow out of the cave reduced, the vis improved and they made better progress into the cave. They were laying line and the dives were very tiring, but eventually they found the boys and their coach. Q: This operation featured a lot of ‘firsts’, can you describe how the decision to use full-face masks on the children came into fruition?
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A: Chris handed over the answer for this one to fellow diver Rick Stanton - We had no choice but to dive the boys and their coach out. They would not have survived in the cave until the end of the monsoon season. It was either bring them out, or nothing. We knew it was going to be an extremely difficult and risky operation, with not a high probability of total success. Once we knew we were diving them out, the only way we could do this was to sedate them, so that they were not conscious during the rescue. We had to protect ourselves and we had to stop them from panicking underwater – we knew this would be a major threat to the survival of each boy. Sedation ensured that no one panicked, potentially lost their mask and drowned, or endangered a rescuer. This was the kindest, safest method and none of the boys or their coach remember the 90-minute journey out of the cave. They have no trauma of being rescued. The ethical protocol was followed, and the parents were told. Ethically, we had to tell the group the day before the first rescue mission that we were going to sedate them, and they had to agree to that. Dr Richard Harris wrote up the full procedure and it was translated into written Thai and read out to the group. We opted to use positive-pressure full-face masks because it was the best solution to protect the airway of the unconscious boy. We didn’t want the stress of a regulator falling out or getting dislodged from a boy’s mouth, hence we used full-face masks. Probably the most-challenging thing with the full-face masks was to get them to fit properly because the boys’ faces were very small. Back in the UK, Gavin Newman, Neil Brock and Richard Major worked on solutions to get full-face masks to fit small faces using only what we would have to hand in Thailand, and
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they relayed this information across to Thailand and Chris Jewell. We made sure that everything was on properly and that there was a very good seal on the mask. The boys were not breathing straight air, i.e. 21 percent. We used a high oxygen mix to help keep their saturation levels high, even if they weren’t breathing too well. During the dive we held each boy very closely to protect them, so that it was our head that hit a rock, not theirs, so that the full-face mask stayed in place. If that mask had got dislodged then the seal would have been broken and water would have got into the mask, and there would have been nothing we could do. We wanted to see and hear the bubbles coming from the mask. Until we got the feeling for the boys’ breathing rhythm, it was an anxious time. What we did was unprecedented. We are used to transporting all sorts of things underwater, but to transport another human life is perhaps the ultimate responsibility. Q: You and your fellow UK cave divers who brought the children and their coach out of the cave have been extremely humble and say that you are not ‘heroes’, but I would say what you did embodied the very essence of what a ‘hero’ is. Many are calling for you all to be suitably honoured in some way. What do you make of all this media furore? A: We have a set of skills developed over many years of pursuing cave diving as a hobby. Normally our goal is to explore and map new caves. It just so happened that we could use these skills to do something positive in this rescue. During the rescue, we tried to keep ourselves away from the media as much as possible, and our BCRC colleague at home did a great job of fielding questions. Q: You have been grilled on your Thailand exploits enough since you returned home, so let’s move on from there and get back to the beginning. So how did you first get into a) diving, and b) cave diving? A: I started diving in 2001 when part of the OTC (officer training corps) at university. We were given the chance to complete our BSAC Ocean Diver course at Fort Bovisand. The next year I decided to give caving a try and joined the Southampton University Caving Club. I was hooked on caving and progressed very quickly by taking part in several expeditions to Austria. During this time my diving took a back seat, however, in 2005 I spent the summer working as a diving intern on the Costa del Sol and progressed to becoming a PADI
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instructor. Finally, in 2006, I decided to combine the two sports and joined the cave-diving group. Q: Diving is one thing, cave diving is a completely different animal. Were you already a dry caver, or did the desire to ferret around in subterranean passageways only manifest itself once you were a diver? A: I’m a dry caver first and foremost. I was hooked on caving by the thrill of exploration and I see cave diving as a tool to further that goal. As a cave explorer, most people have a specialism. That might be surveying (mapping), digging, bolt climbing, photography, etc - mine is cave diving. Q: What is your most-memorable moment in your diving career? A: Cave diving isn’t normally about a single personal ‘moment’, but rather a sense of satisfaction over many weeks of a well-organised expedition. However, I’ve had a few personal moments - in 2010, we found the connection between a deep vertical cave in the Picos de Europa called Xitu, and the resurgence cave Culiembro, which we were diving. I happened to be in front that day and I knew I’d made the connection because when I looked at the cave wall, I could see the letters OUCC stencilled there from their expeditions in 1979-1981. Seeing those letters was a very special feeling. Q: Cave diving has probably never been so high profile. If anyone is tempted to get into cave diving, what would be your most sage advice? A: For the kind of cave diving we do, join a caving club first. Understand caves, learn dry caving skills and meet the kind of people who can help you on this journey. Cave diving doesn’t need to be about expensive kit, lots of qualifications and courses – it can simply be about the love of caves and cave exploration. Q: One final question, and this does link back to the Thailand rescue mission. There are supposedly a couple of films in the works already, and it is only a matter of time before some big Hollywood studio snaps up the rights to produce a movie. I saw on Social Media someone had identified Jason Statham as the perfect actor to portray Jason Mallinson. Who do you think would be the best actor to play you? A: No idea! (Ed – I reckon Tom Hiddleston might be a good shout). n
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FREEDIVING REPORT
VERTICAL BLUE 2018
The Vertical Blue competition in the Bahamas is known as the ‘Wimbledon of Freediving’, and DeeperBlue’s Stephan Whelan and Francesca Koe report on this tenth anniversary event PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAAN VERHOEVEN
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arlier in the summer, Wimbledon tennis was just coming off our TV screens, the UK was scorching in the start of a heatwave and for the freediving world, it was time to turn their eyes to the Bahamas, where the tenth edition of the elite freediving competition Vertical Blue was kicking off. Dubbed the ‘Wimbledon of Freediving’ and sponsored this year by Australian Financial Services company OriginECN, the competition saw 46 contenders from 23 different nations push the limits of the human spirit and physiology as far as they can go when they dived (without tanks) into one of the deepest blue holes in the world. The tenth anniversary of Vertical Blue was a spectacle, the likes of which we have never seen before. Not only was the 2018 edition epic in terms of the sheer number of world records being set, day after day - it was unparalleled in terms of the highest level of competition among a ridiculously talented field of athletes. To cap it all off, it was simply mind-blowing to be able to share the premiere freediving event around the world, broadcasting all of the astounding underwater action, via the underwater camera drone Diveye, in real-time, sharing the phenomenal performances with folks from Australia, Japan, Italy, the UK, the US and beyond.
The view upwards towards the dive HQ
The king and queen of this prom were 31-year-old Alexey Molchanov (Russia) and 26-year-old Alessia Zecchini (Italy). Their dives were both superhuman and magnificent - 130m Constant Weight (CWT) for him and 107m Constant Weight (CWT) for her. So clean in their protocols at the surface, it makes you wonder how is it at all possible? What pleases us even more than how each of them truly ‘owned’ their dives, is the fact that Alessia beat out her male counterpart in the total number of points earned over the whole competition - a first for Vertical Blue. Let’s hear it for the ladies!
Messing in the shallows
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VERTICAL BLUE – RECORD-BREAKING! The competition also saw an unprecedented number of records set – never before in the history of freediving competitions have a total of ten World Records and 42 National Records been set in a single competition. The judges had to bring so many anti-doping test kits that they had their own baggage allowance on the flight over!
Heading down into Deans Blue Hole
Silver medals went to William Trubridge (New Zealand) and Sayuri Kinoshita (Japan), while Bronze medals for Homar Leuci (Italy) and Alenka Artnik (Slovenia). And while winning the overall competition and garnering prizes along with adoration is swell, what’s even more remarkable is the vast inventory of other personal successes that were revealed in Deans Blue Hole. Success stories like Denis Grosmaire of French Polynesia. Grosmaire had never been to the Bahamas before, had never even met his French country-mates, but left with a personal best free immersion (FIM) dive to 93m. Or the heroic efforts of athletes like Martiz Zajac (Slovakia) and Aolin Wang (China). The former being the official training partner and coach for Zecchini (no pressure!), who was also trying to set his own national records for Slovakia. We are pleased to report he succeeded multiple times. And the latter (Aolin Wang) didn’t have any pressure on his shoulders, merely just over three million Chinese people back home tuning in to see him dive every day! Thankfully, Aolin achieved a new personal best and National Record for China of 110m Constant Weight (CWT). As for the women, one of our favourite moments was when Misuzu Okamoto of Japan realised a personal best of 95m Constant Weight (CWT) on the very last day of the competition. The ‘OG’ (slang for Original Gangster) of the
WORLD RECORDS Alexey Molchanov (Russia) – Day 3 – Constant Weight (CWT) – 130m Alessia Zecchini (Italy) – Day 4 – Free Immersion (FIM) – 93m Alenka Artnik (Slovenia) – Day 5 – Constant Weight (CWT) – 105m Alessia Zecchini (Italy) – Day 6 – Constant Weight No-Fins (CNF) – 73m Sayuri Kinoshita (Japan) – Day 7 – Free Immersion (FIM) – 94m Alexey Molchanov (Russia) – Day 7 – Free Immersion (FIM) – 125m Alessia Zecchini (Italy) – Day 8 – Free Immersion (FIM) – 96m Hanako Hirose (Japan) – Day 8 – Constant Weight (CWT) – 106m Sayuri Kinoshita (Japan) – Day 9 – Free Immersion (FIM) – 97m Alessia Zecchini (Italy) – Day 9 – Constant Weight (CWT) – 107m Walking on water?
Returning from a dive
A competitor finning down
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FREEDIVING REPORT female freedivers in Japan was beaming upon surfacing - her joy was contagious. World record holders Sayuri Kinoshita and Hanako Hirose attest to both her demeanour and legacy of discipline as an inspiration to them. Another inspiring diver was Alice Modolo of France. The lithe and chic athlete had all but disappeared from the competitive scene over five years ago. Making a triumphant return to depth diving at her first Vertical Blue competition, Alice made everything look so effortless, including her new National Record to 88m Constant Weight (CWT). But then again, she is French. We know it’s corny to say, but the real stars of this prestigious event were not only the stellar athletes who stood atop the podium, (although their efforts were remarkable and well worth applauding). The real stars are the dedicated women and men who serve as safety divers, medics, judges and crew. Tirelessly working behind the scenes and taking on every task imaginable - there would be no event without you, so we thank you from the bottom of our hearts with gratitude greater than the ocean can hold. In all seriousness, aside from the fantastic diving and the natural beauty of Deans Blue Hole, the joking and fun the community all have together are a predominant element present at this event that keeps so many going back, year
Preparing to dive
Freediver surfing - a new discipline?
Returning from a dive with safety divers alongside
Surface celebrations after a great dive!
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after year. The camaraderie and enduring friendships are magnetic. The silly moments indelible. The belly laughter invigorating. It never ceases to amaze us how each person plays a vital role in the fabric of this community. What’s even better is how our community and this sport is growing and expanding. The advances that the Diveye technology brings are exponential, and keep freedivers, fans, family and those just interested in these aquatic superhumans, glued to their screens for nearly two weeks. It’s over for another year but everyone is already eager for the 11th edition next year. n
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THE NEXT GENERATION
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GETTING THE URGE TO SUBMERGE (A BOY'S DIVING STORY) PART FOUR – USING HIS SKILLS TO THE MAX As Zac’s diving competence and experience grew, Jeremy and Amanda could involve him in more diving adventures. In no particular order, here’s some of the diving that he participated in up to age 14, which included coming face to face with great white sharks… PHOTOGRAPHS BY JEREMY AND AMANDA CUFF / WWW.JA-UNIVERSE.COM
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ac’s achievement of the PADI Junior Advanced Open Water certification really opened things up, allowing his experience of diving to grow as he encountered varying conditions, new underwater topography and the sheer diversity of marine life. Now, he would be mixing it with the grown-ups.
MORE BELOVED BANDOS In 2015, we discussed ‘doing something different’ at Christmas, such as going somewhere warm, perhaps to include some diving (it’s something we’ve done ever since). We needed Zac to ‘buy in’ in order to make it happen, as Christmas is more than anything else a time for kids. We chatted it through with him and were pleased with his reaction, but he asked if we could return to his beloved Bandos in the Maldives if that could be an option. Though we rarely do repeat visits to destinations, Bandos has been an exception. It has great memories for the three of us, connecting us with that ‘invisible elastic’that can draw you back to somewhere you’ve really enjoyed. It’s also been instrumental in Zac’s progress through diving, from his very first ‘proper’ dive in the sea as a Bubblemaker to our mostrecent visit as a PADI Junior Advanced Open Water Diver, able to dive most sites with the grown-ups. Zac’s diving history at Bandos has been enjoyable to witness – he’s encountered manta rays, turtles, schools of snapper, honeycomb morays, reef squid, blacktip reef sharks, leaf scorpionfish and much more. On our most recent trip, in December 2017, we had a rare encounter with a guitar shark at one of Zac’s favourite dive sites, Stingray City.
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MANTA MAGIC ON THE KONA AGGRESSOR As a family, we have some great memories of times on Aggressor Fleet boats with Zac, thanks to their ‘Family Week’ charters in the Cayman Islands, Belize and the Turks and Caicos Islands. This time though, as a fully qualified PADI Junior Advanced Open Water Diver, he would participate in the grown-up version of the liveaboard experience in Hawaii. The Aggressor Fleet has created the ‘Iron Diver’ award for divers who participate in all available dives on a trip. Zac had decided early on that we wanted to achieve this accolade, but the repeated diving was starting to seriously mash his ears. After some discussion, we decided it best to ‘sit him out’ for a day or two, to allow them to recover and give him a chance to do the manta night dive at the tail end of the itinerary. He was crestfallen, but accepted it was the right thing to do. And no sooner had he parked his diving, he got a gig as chef Kevin’s assistant! By the time we reached Garden Eel Cove (aka Mantaville), Zac was ready to get back in the water for Hawaii’s signature dive, even though his ears were still sore. As dusk descended, we surveyed the sea from the deck as a flotilla of other dive boats gathered around us. Occasionally, something would disturb the surface waters – it was the mantas. Pumped with anticipation, we were soon kitted up and in the water, finning excitedly towards the manta’s arena (known as the Campfire), a nondescript area of rubble and coral with submerged lights. Here, we enjoyed a fantastic experience as around 20 mantas swirled in a plankton feeding frenz, bumping and jostling for the best lit areas where the food was most concentrated. A truly stunning dive, which Zac filmed on his GoPro.
BLUE SHARKS IN CORNWALL Though not a dive, Charles Hood’s blue shark interaction trips from Penzance in Cornwall aren’t for those who struggle with confidence in the water. The shark site is a general area in which the sharks have been reliably encountered in the past, about 15 miles offshore. It requires the participant to snorkel with the sharks in deep, open water.
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While Zac enjoyed the shark action, I got horrendously seasick, even though I don’t normally suffer badly with it. I was so ill that I was in the water puking and retching while trying to shoot images. Thankfully, my vomit didn’t deter Zac from getting in.
CARIBBEAN CHRISTMAS IN GRENADA The idea of a Caribbean Christmas bubbled to the top our list for December 2016, with Grenada being our choice. Here, we could enjoy diverse diving, including reefs and wrecks, and also an underwater sculpture garden. We saw Zac’s diving move forward here as he passed the 100-dive mark. He delighted in exploring some of Grenada’s impressive wrecks, such as the Veronica, and especially the underwater sculpture garden, where he helped me with some underwater modelling. Perhaps less to his taste, Phil from Dive Grenada recruited him to help raking the sand at the rear of their newly opened dive centre!
BRILLIANT BALI In the summer of 2017, we settled on a two-centre dive trip in Bali staying firstly at Tulamben followed by a crack at seeing the mola mola at the more-challenging dive sites of Nusa Penida, based at Padangbai.
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OUR MISSION: Kids Sea Camp’s mission is to inspire families to dive, travel and explore environmentally and culturally diversified destinations, and thus we have created family-friendly resort packages, activities and tours designed to provide safe, fun and educational vacations to children and their families.
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CASE STUDY THOMAS RICH, 15, TODMORDEN, WEST YORKSHIRE
Tulamben gave Zac his first experience of muck diving, which he enjoyed, as well as visits to the enormous Liberty wreck. Our Tulamben highlight was a fantastic encounter with a mimic octopus lasting at least ten minutes. At Nusa Penida, on our second dive day, we cruised the reef while looking out into the blue, but nothing much was happening. As we got into the second half of the dive I was beginning to think that our luck was out until somewhere below us on the slope, there was a strange shape that jarred. It took a few moments to mentally process it, but when the penny dropped, I knew what it was. It was a mola mola, a big one. I signalled to Amanda and Zac, to make sure they’d seen it - they had. The encounter was fairly brief but brilliant, as it circled us before heading back into the blue. After the dive everyone was buzzing; a heady mix of relief, euphoria, smiles, punching the air and whoops. From what we heard, we had the only mola mola sighting that day, and possibly over the three days in which we dived the area. We felt happy and fortunate.
A KID IN A CAGE If a mola mola sighting was following Amanda’s ambition, then a great white shark encounter was following mine. There’s a very small number of realistic options for this, such as visiting Guadalupe Island off the Pacific coast of Mexico by liveaboard. This was the preferred option, so I
Sal Painter, from Below the Surface Dive Centre, flagged up another young diver for inclusion in The Next Generation. She said: “We met Thomas aged 13 after his dad booked him a discover scuba. He was hooked and very proficient from day one, moving straight onto his Junior Open Water Diver course, and dragging his dad along too. He passed with ease, showing great skills. This was becoming a family event, with his brother Jack now joining them. “In August 2017 they all joined
our L’Estartit trip, and with Junior Advanced Open Water now under his belt, this 14 year old had the skills and confidence to lead his family on non-guided dives - something many adults shy away from.” She concluded: “An impressive diver with his eye on Divemaster, we have no doubts he can achieve that and more.”
contacted the Solmar V to establish whether they accepted children onboard, which they confirmed. Prior to committing, we discussed it with Zac, who was initially a little reluctant, mostly about the idea of the ‘deep cage’ - both a surface cage and deep cage (lowered to approximately 10m) are offered to participants and afford very different perspectives on the sharks. We reassured him that it would be fine, and if he decided he didn’t want to do it, he wouldn’t have to. I needn’t have worried; he loved the deep cage, gesturing to me about how ‘mind blowing’ it was as several great whites cruised past us. The whole experience was brilliant for him, as we came face to face with these incredible apex predators. n
Kids Sea Camp 2018 Summer Break Family Vacations Kids Sea Camp Thanksgiving Family Vacation (NEW) BONAIRE: Buddy Dive Resort, November 17th – 24th
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New Years Trip 2018-19 Family Vacation (NEW) SOCORRO ISLAND: Rocio Del Mar Liveaboard, Dec 27th – Jan 4th 2019, discover the little Galapagos.
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CHECKING THE REEFS AND IMPROVING MY TRIM! PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOHN KENDALL AND STEPHAN MOLDZIO
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y background in marine science has allowed me to understand how big and complex the oceans can be. This makes studying the big blue challenging, for example due to the lack of resources and time to go sampling. But what if instead of having only a few scientists going out in the field to do the observations, we had thousands of divers around the world conducting observations every time they went into the water? Then the possibilities to make huge studies covering large areas would increase exponentially. I crossed the desert landscapes bordering the coast of the Red Sea from Hurghada to Marsa Shagra, passing by small villages and meeting the odd camel here and there. There, Sarah O’Gorman was waiting for me. Sarah is the marketing manager of Red Sea Diving Safari, an Egyptian company with three eco-friendly villages in the Southern Red Sea. After some days of diving at some of the region’s morepopular dive sites, I met with the participants of the Eco Diver Reef Check course that I was going to participate in and with the scientist leader, Stephan Moldzio. Reef Check is the largest reef-monitoring organisation, where volunteer divers led by marine scientists learn to collect scientific data about the health status of coral reefs. It was founded in 1997 by Dr Gregor Hodgson and the reef check protocol serves as a standardised method, especially designed to detect human impacts, including overfishing, coral damage, eutrophication, marine debris and coral bleaching, among others. Reef Check has an international database which includes more than 13,000 sets of survey data from more than 5,000 reefs all over the world. Many of these are surveyed on a regular basis, as in the case of the reef sites around the three villages of Red
Eric Jorda
Sea Diving Safari. In 2009, Stephan Moldzio together with Red Sea Diving Safari initiated a reefmonitoring programme to conduct annual surveys of its mostimportant dive sites. One of our goals during the Reef Check course was to conduct five full surveys, each along two depth contours in all three villages. During the first days of the course, Stephan introduced us to the methodology of Reef Check and showed us some global results obtained so far from this initiative. He presented the major human threats to coral reefs, and gave an overview of the last global coral-bleaching event, which was the longest and most-devastating in history so far. The philosophy behind this monitoring effort is driven by ‘citizen science’, where a scientist like Stephan trains volunteer divers in the methodology and procedures to collect the data, and then all surveys are conducted with the help of these divers. After conducting all surveys, I realised how important is to keep the coral reefs healthy as they are a key-stone element of the ecosystems, supporting extremely diverse forms of life. It was also clear, after diving in these formations, how experiencing them up close can inspire caring. Back in the UK by the end of July, I had the great opportunity to take a GUE Fundamentals course with the GUE Technical and Cave Instructor John Kendall. This course was a complete challenge for me, as it was the first time I was introduced to a twinset configuration and a technical set-up. Together with the rest of participants of the course, we went through intense dive sessions to improve our buoyancy and trim and we also learned how important it is to dive as a team. In fact, going through valve drills, regulator donations and many other skills, I soon realised how vital it was to have the support of your team mates! John stressed how important is to have a good buoyancy and trim to use as the platform to develop further skills in diving. n
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TALES FROM
THE TANK WHAT BEING A BIAZA AQUARIUM MEANS BY JOE CROSS, ASSISTANT DIVE OFFICER
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t Blue Planet Aquarium, we pride ourselves in being a BIAZA aquarium. BIAZA is the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquaria. They represent the best zoos and aquaria in the UK by supporting them in their commitment to being at the forefront of conservation, education and research. The role of zoos and aquaria have changed over the last 175 years; what started as a visual representation of something that was interesting has turned into a deep-rooted passion for many people. Now zoos and aquaria have a responsibility to the life they exhibit, and the people who come to enjoy them. Zoos and aquaria have become an ambassador of animal conservation, welfare and education. BIAZA members have a duty to share information and research with each other often in the form of conferences and regular meetings. This vital networking and exchange of information enables zoos and aquaria to improve all areas of animal husbandry such as; enclosure design, diet and nutrient, health, welfare and breeding. With the ocean making up two thirds of our planet and yet 80 percent has yet to be truly explored means there is still so much we do not know. By joining forces across BIAZA institutes, it enables the industry to continue to expand our knowledge and expertise. When animals are bred in captivity it is essential that populations within Aquaria and Zoos do not become overstocked, which would then have a negative impact on the animals housed. Some of the species housed in captivity belong to breeding programmes with a studbook co-ordinator managing the captive population of said species across multiple zoos and aquaria in terms of genetics and population dynamics. It is the role of the studbook co-ordinator along with BIAZA and its members to move surplus stock around, stocking new exhibits and preventing over-stocking. Another common goal of all Zoos and Aquaria is to educate the general public, the only way we can make
positive changes to our environment and look after it for future generations is to all work together to undo the problems caused since the industrial revolution. Zoos and aquaria are a place where people can come and learn about issues such as: plastic pollution, global warming, destruction of habitat and illegal pet trade. The primary aim of education is to modify behaviour of people resulting in a cultural change that will have a positive impact on the environment that as humans we are so dependent on. The best way to achieve this cultural change is through both formal and informal education. Formal education such as classroom sessions aimed at children through to people studying at higher education institutes such as Universities, and informal education through immersive exhibits, signs and interpretation, talks and displays and not to be underestimated; chance conversations with public, where a question asked about an animal on exhibit can open up an opportunity to educate. Connecting people with nature is the crux of what a zoo and aquarium wishes to achieve. Another area that zoos and aquaria contribute to is conservation. Community-led conservation projects have huge ecological and economical impacts. Examples of such a project would be a beach clean or a captive breeding programme to established a captive population as an insurance population should anything happen to the wild population. These projects wouldn’t be possible without the support and guidance of the BIAZA community. BIAZA as an organisation helps to set benchmarks for zoos and aquaria to adhere to, ensuring that standards of excellence are met for all three stake holders; animals, staff and public. Without such an organisation the standardisation awithin the UK would be compromised. BIAZA shapes the future of all good zoos and aquaria within the UK with its continued support, networking and guidance. n
If you would like more information on diving with our sharks, please call us on (0151) 357 8800, or send us an email to: info@blueplanetaquarium.co.uk WWW.SCUBADIVERMAG.COM
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COZUMEL Call-out
Popularised by Cousteau, Cozumel has long been a favourite among divers, though visitors tend to be those ‘popping down’ from North America. Is the island a worthy - and viable - holiday option for us Europeans? David Jones decided to give it a go PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAVID JONES
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exico has always been an exciting and popular holiday destination, particularly among nondivers. There are myriad opportunities for the adventurous traveller in particular. It is blessed with wonderful beaches, warm weather, jungles, and ancient Mayan ruins that appeal to more than 22 million visitors every year. These are predominantly from the US and Canada, but a significant number now travel from the UK. The Yucatan Peninsula on the east is the most-popular destination, and Cozumel, a 45-minute ferry journey from the popular holiday resort of Playa del Carmen, is probably the most-significant location for diving. Our North American cousins have enjoyed the underwater opportunities that Cozumel has to offer for many years and anyone who works within the industry and has been to the annual DEMA show in the US would be able to confirm the scale and popularity of diving there. The investment in marketing and advertising is enormous. But for some reason I have always had the impression that Mexico as a diving destination has had a tendency to sit just below the radar of the UK diver. I think that historically there have been a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, direct flight access was not readily available in the past, or cheap. This has been resolved with regular flights by Virgin and package operators like Thomson. It was also quite expensive; however, the growth in hotels and resorts has probably outstripped demand recently, with a resultant reduction in prices in many places. But I think the main reason for the lack of popularity, and the reason I didn’t go in the past, might well have been that it seemed a bit too far to go for a week, and I was not convinced there was enough to do on an island 28 miles by nine miles for two weeks. To get over this issue I decided to do a two-centre package: a week on Cozumel followed by another week seeing what the mainland had to offer. And for good measure, I took along some friends from the dive club.
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There are plenty of flights into Cancun, from where it is a one-hour transfer to the Playa del Carmen ferry. Options are private taxis (at around £45), ‘shared’ minibuses (£20), or the public bus. The shared bus option sounds like quite a good compromise, but actually is far from ideal. The drivers can wait for ages until they have an economically viable payload, which is not unreasonable, but then there is a tortuous journey via several hotels along the way in order to drop off passengers. Many of these are around ten minutes off the beaten track so, if you go this way, do not be surprised if you add a good 30 minutes to the journey time. The bus, which I used on the return journey, was not only the cheapest at just over £5, but also the most-direct and most-comfortable option as it turned out. The 45-minute ferry journey to Cozumel costs about £8. There are two companies operating and ferries depart every hour, except on Sundays, but the last one leaves at 10pm, so make sure your flights give you the time to get there. On the far side there is a ready supply of taxis, but don’t expect the hotel to pick you up. The taxi drivers’ syndicate have a strong union and they have effectively prevented hotels from doing pick-ups. Hey, this is Mexico! The journey to the south of the island takes around 20 minutes and costs around £10. Be aware that even though you might have an eightseater taxi, that fare only covers the first four passengers. Put in five passengers and you pay an additional £10. I was staying at the Allegro resort (www.allegrocozumelresort. com), an all-inclusive hotel with a dive centre on site, Pro Dive International (www.prodiveinternational.com). They are a professionally run organisation with a concession to operate in around ten hotels across the region, including Cozumel. Cozumel originally came to light as a diving destination after Jacques Cousteau had been for a visit in 1961. He declared it as one of the most-beautiful diving destinations in the world and the scene was set. The area was designated as a marine park to protect the fragile ecosystem, and diving it you do get the impression that the reef is healthy.
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There was virtually no pollution to be found anywhere underwater, which I found really encouraging. Chatting with ‘regulars’ who have dived the island for many years, the discussion came around to the damage caused by hurricanes. In the past some severe hurricanes have pummelled the island and its reefs and quite clearly have caused damage. But it is clear that it is extremely resilient and regeneration seems to be rapid. The diving is all on the western side of the island, the east side being susceptible to big wave action and the constant Atlantic surge, so to some extent they are protected from the elements. Cozumel, like all of the Yucatan Peninsula, is a limestone slab and coupled with amazing coral formations this has led to some really dramatic underwater topography. The marine life is also significant, with a wide variety of Caribbean fish flourishing. The reef system has two distinct channels, running between a shallow and a deeper line of reef, both of which continue up the whole coast. Between these two ribbons of coral is a sandy stretch, home to feeding turtles, stingrays and loitering barracuda waiting for the opportunity
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to pounce. The whole island’s marine life is driven by the constant northerly current bringing nutrients from the south, so if you don’t like drift diving, this is not for you. In the far south, and a 25-minute boat journey from the hotel, we arrived at a dive site known as Punta Sur. Here waters coming from the south are divided by the island. This is where the currents can be particularly strong and it is here that the pelagics are found. From October to early March, shoals of eagle rays hover by the drop-off in about 25-30m, and sightings are guaranteed. However, even out of season, solitary rays can still be found. At the point where the reef drops away into the depths of the channel between the island and the mainland, it is always worth a glance upwards where you might spot cruising marlin gliding effortlessly against the currents. The two main dive sites at Punta Sur are Cathedral and the Devil’s Throat. The latter is a tunnel system through the reef that has three entrances and eventually
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emerges at 40m, a really thrilling dive. Heading north is the very-impressive Columbia Deep, a series of enormous coral pinnacles that stretch upwards, often in excess of 20m, from the bottom. Some have swim-throughs but the main feature is the collection of magnificent sponges, fans and corals that cover them. They are on the edge of the drop-off and schooling trevally and jacks are always there. Further north still and the dominant feature is the famous Palancar reef system, which includes Palancar Caves, Palancar Deep, and Palancar Gardens. All of these sites blend into one and when the current is at its peak it is not unusual to cover two or even three sites on the same dive. On days like this photographers need to be prepared for a ‘snap shot’. For turtles and other marine life, this was the most-productive site. Turtles are in abundance throughout the year, but particularly from March and into the summer. They are used to divers so photography opportunities are good. Hawksbills are common but there are also regular sightings of huge loggerheads.
Between these two ribbons of coral is a sandy stretch, home to feeding turtles, stingrays, and loitering barracuda waiting for the opportunity to pounce Turtle and grey angelfish
The reefs are bright and vivid
I was pleasantly surprised by the diving here. It wasn’t the Red Sea, but there was an incredible amount of life and the coral formations were just breathtaking. However, as I suspected, after a week I had pretty much ‘done’ Cozumel. There were one or two dive sites that I hadn’t managed to visit, but I had got to the stage that I knew what to expect. Big coral, plenty of life, big currents, big swim-throughs… just big everything really! What was impressive was the knowledge of the dive guides from a variety of countries, all of whom exuded an enthusiasm that was infectious. It was time to move on and on the mainland we moved into the sister hotel of the one we had been in, the Allegro Playacar (www.allegroplayacar.com) - particularly handy from the perspective that we knew where everything was. The diving here was different. The boats launched from
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Inside a cenote
the surf so it was a walk into the sea from the beach, rather than a jetty. And it was clear that without the protection of a marine park, the marine life had not fared as well and there was a proliferation of lionfish that had clearly disrupted the natural balance of the reefs. The currents were less strong and the emphasis was definitely on the smaller critters on the reef. There was a reasonable wreck dive, the Mama Mina, which is well worth a visit, and offers some great photo opportunities. During February and March, it is well worth going further south towards Tulum, where bull sharks are regular visitors. A few days was just about right diving around Playa del Carmen. However, being on the mainland also provided the wonderful opportunity to dive the cenotes. These cavern dives do not require any cave training and add something really special to the trip. The cenotes are a short bus ride from Playa del Carman and while you can do the trip from Cozumel, it does make it a long day. I dived three while I was there and each one was individually spectacular. I visited in June, which also happens to be peak time for whalesharks, which arrive in huge numbers of the northern tip of the Yucatan to feed in the rich waters. The dive company organises trips to snorkel with the sharks through a third party who provide transportation, boats and guides so I decided to join the trip. I was expecting to see a couple whalesharks, so as we were going along in the boat towards the site and I picked up the words ‘cien peces’ coming over the VHF radio I naturally assumed my Spanglish was not as good as I thought it was. Actually, there was nothing wrong with my interpretation of the conversation and we arrived to what can best be described as a melee of whalesharks. When we arrived there were four other boats on station and we were literally surrounded by well over 100 animals feeding on the surface; certainly an experience to tick off the bucket list. The whalesharks are normally found until the end of September, but June is normally seen as the peak season. And those last few sentences sort of sum up the main thing about Mexico and the Yucatan. The fact is, there is a huge variety of things to do both in the water and out of it, and as such Yucatan is an exciting location not only for divers but also non-divers making it an ideal club and group holiday destination - and the price is excellent. I still believe that Cozumel is perfect for a week of diving, and probably further than I would want to go for that length of time, given my proximity to the Red Sea. But when combined with mainland diving, cenotes and excursions it is a very viable proposition. n
Pursuing a massive spiny lobster
Invasive lionfish
I had got to the stage that I knew what to expect - big coral, big currents, big swim-throughs… just big everything really! 72
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Dive Agency News Each month, we invite all the main dive training agencies to showcase new courses, forthcoming events, staff changes and promotions, and so on. scubadivermag.com/agencynews
This summer, British Sub-Aqua Club members, family and friends have been making the most of BSAC’s free downloadable beachcombing course materials. The course has been a great opportunity for parents, teachers and scout leaders to get kids beachcombing and rock pooling safely on Britain’s beaches this summer. The materials are free to all (not just BSAC members) and with an Indian summer on the horizon, why not make the most of this free, fun and educational activity to do with kids. The move by the National Governing Body for scuba diving and snorkelling has been made to encourage families and other carers for young children to enjoy our British coastline this summer. Beachcombing is a fun and free activity to do with kids this summer The BSAC Beachcomber course is designed to introduce young people (and those young at heart!) to the British seaside and to help them discover all the wonderful and weird creatures that can be found in rock pools. Beachcomber is a huge amount of fun for little ones and is suitable for any age. It teaches young people (and those young at heart!):
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• How to enjoy and respect beaches and the seashore environment • About the marine life you can find at the beach • How to stay safe on the seashore Enjoy the beach safely this summer Through this guided activity, children can learn safety elements including a little about tides, weather, silt sands and to understand which species should not be touched to help them have a better understanding of how to have fun safely. Beachcomber can easily be taught by parents while enjoying spending quality time with their children at the seaside. It can also be used by schools, Scouts or Brownies. Or our very own BSAC scuba diving and snorkelling clubs to create more family-friendly group activities. Responsible adults need to read the guide (available via the link below). They can then use the Beachcomber course to have free, safe and informative fun on the beach with their little ones. www.bsac.com/training/childrens-courses/beachcomber
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GUE is proud to announce three new classes. All three have been developed over a number of years of research and development, and dovetail well into GUE’s exploration and conservation aims. The first is the GUE Scientific Diver class. This course is designed to create divers who are capable of becoming members of a scientific diving team using proper equipment and techniques. The Scientific Diver course targets all individuals who are actively involved with projects (e.g. Project Baseline, Ghost Fishing), students with an academic or scientific background, environmentalists, and any passionate diver who would like to participate in science-oriented initiatives. The Second is the GUE Photogrammetry class. Over the last four years, photogrammetry has become a core part of exploring dive sites on GUE projects. From documenting the Roman-era wrecks off the coast of Sicily to working with NOAA to map wrecks of World War Two battles in the US, photogrammetry can help the public understand what is going on underwater better than any other medium that we have available today. Many of you will have seen the incredible imagery that Ingemar Lundgren has created of the Mars wreck, and we want to share with you how to do it yourselves. The Photogrammetry class duration is four days, and requires a minimum of three dives. The final new class is GUE Cave Sidemount. A group of GUE cave instructors has been actively working to develop the GUE Cave Sidemount Diver class. This class was created to meet the challenges of the ever-changing landscape of cave exploration that requires dry caving, vertical rope work, and/or access to areas of the cave hidden behind restricted passages. This class is open to experienced GUE Cave 2 divers with at least 50 logged non-training GUE Cave 2 dives. The class duration is five days and requires the completion of ten overhead dives, including at least four in restrictive areas and at least three true sidemount restrictions. www.gue.com
The Women’s Dive Day tradition began in 2015 out of the PADI organisation’s commitment to fostering a global dive community that encourages and empowers females of all ages to safely and confidently explore the underwater world. Each year since, PADI Women’s Dive Day has seen increasing adoption and support from every sector of the dive industry, growing from 335 events in 65 countries in 2015 to 1,066 events in 104 countries in 2018. Year over year, the dive community has rallied together around PADI Women’s Dive Day to reduce the gender gap in diving, strengthen bonds, get more people actively diving and create more stewards for the ocean. PADI would like to thank all who took part in this year’s celebration to inspire new divers and build a stronger, more active dive community. AWARE Week 15 – 23 September 2018 Empower your local community to take positive action for the ocean, and join PADI and Project AWARE in a celebration for a clean and healthy ocean. We — PADI Dive Centres, instructors and divers — are a powerful worldwide voice. Together we can encourage local action for global change. By focusing your efforts during AWARE Week on AWARE Week initiatives—including teaching Project AWARE conservation-minded specialty courses - you and your fellow PADI Instructors and Dive Centres will empower and motivate divers everywhere to care for our oceans. www.padi.com/aware-week/host
ILKESTON AND KIMBERLEY SUB AQUA CLUB Congratulations to members of IKSAC on raising over £1,000 for the St Abbs Lifeboat appeal, and they handed over the cheque during a recent dive weekend. DIVE 2018 The SAA will be attending the dive show in October, where we look forward to talking all things diving with fellow divers and SAA members. Come and visit us on stand 446 and chat with some of our regional representatives, who will be at the show over the course of the weekend. NORTH WALES SUB AQUA CLUB Congratulations to Martin Williams Geraint Jackson, Max Petterson and Simon Vicary of North Wales Sub Aqua Club on passing the Club Diver Exam. We hope your practical assessments go well too. AMAZING DISCOUNTS AT AP DIVING SAA members can benefit from great savings at AP Diving. For more details, visit the SAA website. CHELTENHAM SUB AQUA CLUB Members of this active dive club were invited to take part in scenarios with Plymouth Lifeboat Station, helping them with their rescue drills. ARNEWOOD DIVERS SUB AQUA CLUB Congratulations to Mark Florida-James of Arnewood Divers Sub Aqua Club on an amazing achievement. This month he has completed his Diver Rescue, Dive Supervisor and Open Water Instructor qualifications. An amazing achievement we’re sure you’ll all agree. WAPSAC Congratulations to Mark Salem on passing his Elementary Diver exam and welcome to the amazing underwater world. www.saa.org.uk
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reece is often disregarded as a tech-diving destination (apart from HMHS Britannic), but the recent discovery of a new wreck site may well change this misconception. My story begins in Malta, where I briefly met Athens-based Marinos Giourgas during a visit to Techwise at St Julian’s. Marinos was working for the busy dive centre while I was writing a feature on the World War Two German Schnellboot. A year later, out of the blue, Marinos contacted me regarding a project off Rhodes. Alan Whitehead, the owner of Techwise, was also supposed to join us, but work obligations - and a few choice words from his other half, Viv - reduced the ‘three amigos’ to the more aptly named ‘desperate duo’. With help from locals, Marinos had discovered a new plane wreck near Lindos lying at a depth of around 70m. Although the plane had been seen via a video link, no one had physically been underwater to check out the site. Being the first divers to explore a new wreck definitely perked up my interest, as did the fact it was a plane, and probably of German World War Two origin. Marinos picked me up from Rhodes airport via a local flight from my hometown Bournemouth. Marinos had recently set up the tech wing of Waterhoppers, the most-established dive PADI IDC centre on the island, run by CD Lee O’Flynn. This was the first-ever trimix facility to open on Rhodes. We made plans for two dives at the new wreck site. Dive one would be a recce mission just to find the plane, see what was there, orientate ourselves and check out the best picture opportunities. Then we would return several days later for Dive two, take the pictures including possible front covers and look for a way inside the fuselage to see what the plane was carrying. I had visions of finding a Luger pistol or a German helmet, but there could also be grenades and other explosive ordinance lying about, so we had to be extremely careful. Altogether we were using four cylinders each. This comprised of a 17/45 back gas with a transition mix of 30/20 and a 72 percent deco. For a 20-minute bottom time, our total in-water time would be around one hour and ten minutes. The planned max depth of 70m turned out to be about 75m due to the tail lying slightly deeper than anticipated. Full tech kit hire is available from Marinos. The Apeks regs, wing and twinset I borrowed were in almost-new condition. The plane wreck is located in Vlicha Bay, close to Lindos. If I was booking hotel accommodation, this area would probably be my first choice, as it’s central to all the best dive spots. Lindos seemed to be 3 or 4 degrees C hotter than Rhodes
Town. Maybe the steep-sided cliffs somehow retained the heat? Someone had the bright idea of opening an ice bar close by, which I thought was a very shrewd business move. Marinos drove the van down to the water’s edge. The sweat was pouring off me as we unloaded the cylinders. The wooden boat jetty doubled up as a venue for weddings and they were making arrangements for a ceremony that very afternoon. The horseshoe-shaped bay overlooked by the Temple of Athena made a very picturesque outlook, but giving vows in 40 degree C heat didn’t seem like fun to me. Marinos had already mounted three expeditions to find the wreck. The first, with a side-scan sonar, gave him a number of possible targets. His second venture was the first diving attempt with Alan from Techwise, but they didn’t find the plane. The third outing was using a remote camera operated from the surface. The video footage at least confirmed the plane was down there, and it looked to be a German World War Two Junkers Ju-52. I would be try number four. Although we had dived the previous day at a nearby cave site, Marinos still didn’t really know my capabilities or how I would react. For extra safety, he had brought along three extra divers to wait for us at certain depths carrying spare cylinders. Goran and Colin worked for Waterhoppers, and Thomas was a friend from the port police. The shotline had been prepared slightly too short, so bounced over the seabed. When we eventually made our descent, the wreck was right at the limit of our visibility. I could just make out a dark shadow lying on the sand about 15-20 metres away. I looked at Marinos and gave him a high five - we had found the wreck. As we got closer, the plane’s distinctive corrugated outer skin confirmed it was a Junkers Ju-52 three-engined transport plane. The Ju-52 played
Our Ju-52 didn’t have any bullet holes on the wings or on the fuselage, so it’s unlikely that the plane was shot down by Allied fighters
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TO BOLDLY GO… WORLD EXCLUSIVE!
Stuart Philpott dusted off his tech-diving kit to venture 75m down off the coast of Rhodes in Greece to investigate the sunken remains of a German World War Two airplane PHOTOGRAPHS BY STUART PHILPOTT
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a variety of roles in the German Luftwaffe from medium-range bomber to carrying equipment and paratroopers. Hitler even had his own personal VIP Ju-52. The cockpit and front radial BMW 132 engine had sheared off, otherwise the 19-metre-long plane with a 29-metre wingspan was fully intact, lying upright and undisturbed. The plane most probably ditched nose first. The force of impact must have ripped the front engine from its mountings and smashed out the cockpit glass. I’m not sure if the crew would have survived? All of the rectangular windows in the fuselage bar one were completely blown out. The doors and roof escape hatch were still closed, so if anyone had been inside the fuselage it’s unlikely they got out alive. The plane lies nose facing towards the airfield, which would imply the plane was coming in to land when it crash landed. The massive tail section was completely intact. There had to be a swastika on the tail fin, but 70 year’s worth of algae growth had obliterated any signs. We tried to scrub off the algae with a cloth but the stuff wouldn’t budge. In hindsight, we probably should have used a wire brush, but I was worried that this would damage the underlying paintwork. Both of the wing-mounted engines were in good condition. The twin-bladed props were completely intact and in the vertical position. Again, it’s only guesswork but maybe they weren’t rotating when the plane crashed, so could the plane have run out of fuel? The centre engine was missing. I could see a lump of twisted metal lying on the seabed 15-20 metres away on the starboard side, which may well have been the engine, but I didn’t have time to investigate further. The deco clock was ticking, so we made our way to the shotline and began the long haul back to the surface. The World War Two airstrip situated close by at Kalathos, also known as Gadura (the name of the river) or Calador, was originally occupied by the Italians until 1943 when they switched allegiance to the Allies. This provoked an assault from overwhelming German forces who regained control until the end of the war. There were no concrete aeroplane hangars visible, they had mainly used portable tents. When the airfield was bombed by the Allies, there was very little damage to repair so they could become operational again very quickly. Over the years, the old airfield had reverted back to an olive grove. On the long drive back from Lindos, we made a detour to explore the remains. I could just about see the outline of a concrete runway. We found a few of the old buildings, the most prominent being the control tower (there was a compass rose still visible in the roof), a sentry box, bunkers, air vents and a number of ladders leading down to an underground complex. During the war there was a daring British Commando raid mounted on the airfield codenamed Operation Chopper. The elite squad blew up a number of planes and escaped unseen without a single casualty.
Checking out the cockpit
I was so intent on looking around for the wreck I didn’t think to look below me and nearly put my feet straight into the cockpit! I split my seven-day trip between Mango Rooms and the four-star Semiramis Hotel. With regards to age and character, they were total opposites. The Semiramis was ultra-modern, 120 rooms, swimming pool, bar and restaurant located along the seafront, whereas Mango Rooms turned out to be a small family run B&B owned by PADI Divemaster Dimitris, with bar and restaurant in the middle of Rhodes Old Town. Both rooms were clean and tidy with modern bathrooms and air-con. The only negative with Rhodes Old Town was the labyrinth of cobbled streets, all with Greek names, which meant I got lost every day. But this was definitely the place to visit in the evenings, with a huge variety of bars, restaurants and shops to mooch around. I searched the internet looking for more information on Ju-52 squadrons operating from Rhodes. Records indicated that a Ju-52 crashed landed on Rhodes in January 1941, killing Major Helmut Frohne and three others. But the information didn’t exactly pin down Kalathos as the crash site. I found another mention of two Ju-52s shot down by Blenheims as they were coming in to land sometime during 1944. One of the Blenheims was also shot down by a Messerschmitt BF109, so there may well be other plane wrecks lying close to our Ju-52. Marinos said the seabed
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The fuselage is in incredibly good condition
The tailfin is adorned with marine growth
dropped way below 100m close to the crash site, so if there were any other planes wrecks in the area, they would probably be much deeper. Our Ju-52 didn’t have any bullet holes on the wings or on the fuselage, so it’s unlikely that the plane was shot down by Allied fighters. A Facebook post from Greek historian Dimitris Galon listed more possibilities from a number of different operational units. Tying down the exact plane was not going to be easy. There was supposedly an identification plate fixed underneath the cockpit, but this area had been completely trashed in the crash. After experiencing more than 20 metre plus visibility on
our first outing, I didn’t expect such a dramatic contrast on dive number two. The shotline had been dragged closer to the plane before we made our descent, so this may well have disturbed the fine silt. I was so intent on looking around for the wreck I didn’t think to look below me and nearly put my feet straight into the cockpit! Visibility was two/three metres. This completely threw my plans for wide-angle images. I tried to get some close-up shots of the cockpit instrumentation, including throttle levers, control columns and gauges, but it was as though a thick fog had totally consumed us. The engine and propeller would have made a nice portrait front cover shot with the wing and fuselage looming in the background, but this opportunity had disappeared along with the visibility. The open hatchway we had seen on the tail section turned out to be the rear gunner position. This was completely covered with a ghost fishing net and had hidden the machine guns from us on the first dive. The Ju-52 carried two 7.62mm MG15 machine guns in the aft fuselage. There was no time for me to get photographs, but it proved the plane was military, which narrowed down our search window to the years between 1939 and 1945. Unfortunately, my time on Rhodes had come to an end, but we had successfully found the plane, now confirmed as a German World War Two Ju-52, and it was a real privilege to take the first-ever pictures. Historical finds like this are quite rare and in hindsight, I should have extended my stay to explore the wreck more thoroughly. We didn’t remove any items from the site, but I’m sure other tech divers won’t be as respectful. Marinos is the only person who has the plane’s exact co-ordinates, but with the Greek national media now taking an interest, who knows what will happen. n
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Fourth Element’s Storm is an all-weather poncho that is warm, fast-drying and packs down small, enabling you to take it anywhere. Throw it on to get changed into your wetsuit at the beach or on the boat. Use it to warm up after a session in the water, or to cover up between dives. The waterproof, fleece-lined fabric is lightweight, cosy and manufactured using an environmentally friendly fluorine-free waterproofing treatment. With side vents secured by poppers, getting changed is simple, with generous hand-warmer pockets adding to the comfort factor when warming up. The adjustable hood features a peak, providing excellent protection even in the worst of weather, making this a piece of gear you’ll never want to be without. Available in XS, S, S/M, L/XL, and XL/XXL sizes. This product is also part of Fourth Element’s OceanPositive range. Using fabric manufactured according to the Bluesign® standard, the Storm Poncho is produced using innovative, resource-conserving and environmentally friendly techniques. The fleece backing contains 37 percent recycled yarn with S.Café® technology, derived from post-consumer plastic bottles. S.Café® process embeds coffee grounds into the recycled yarn surface, changing the characteristics of the filament and provides faster drying times, along with increased odour resistance and enhanced reflection of UV rays. www.fourthelement.com 82
FRANGIPANI THE BIG BLUE (SRP: £75)
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XDEEP NX SERIES BOLT SNAPS (SRP: £9.95) The humble bolt snap has been given a makeover by the team at XDeep. The NX Series small bolt snap has a large, smooth anti-tangle trigger, a curved finger support, a 14mm opening in an evenly rounded hook (for easy clipping) and a compact eye. The large bolt snap features all of this, but instead of a dinky eye, it has a large ring with an off-centre swivel to provide more space. www.nautilusdiving.co.uk
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MARES SMART APNEA (SRP: £279)
FINNSUB ULTRALITE (SRP: £495) The Finnsub Ultralite is an extremely light and compact set of twolayer wing made from Cordura and nylon with dual tank bands and an ultralight harness and aluminium backplate – perfect for travelling! Even with solid metal components and stainless steel D-rings, the weight of the complete set – including the weight pockets (set with weight pockets is £549) – is less then 3kg. There are two versions available – the Ultralite 13, and the Ultralite 10. www.finnsub.com
NO GRAVITY GLOVES (POLARTEC POWER STRETCH) (SRP: £25) The name ‘Smart’ truly defines Mares’ approach to creating a sophisticated, highly functional, and stylish freediving computer for use in and out of the water. The Smart Apnea boasts many improved features and functions, including a max operating depth of 150m. Both its firmware and software are easily updatable using your PC. The Dive Link USB interface is the conduit to update Firmware, as well as download your diving history into a log book App provided by Mares. The LCD segmented display provides a sharp and crystalclear platform for easy-to-read diving information. Depth information, dive time, descent/ascent speeds and present water temperature can all be instantly accessed and displayed during every dive. An intuitive interface is navigated by two easy push buttons located on the side, so scrolling through all parameters and diving information has never been easier. Smart Apnea offers users a wide range of information that is helpful in managing freedives more efficiently, while maintaining control over challenging situations and specific data (speed control, surface interval, hydration alarms) in order to help prevent symptoms caused by syncope, taravana syndrome, or hemoptysis. The new micro-processor in the Smart Apnea is a high performer, combined with the latest-generation pressure sensor; optimising power consumption for a longer-lasting battery life. All of this functionality is not left without attention to style. Dive in comfort with an ergonomic design – a unique dual-material strap available in two colour combinations; black/grey and black/orange, matched to a handsome case, make this the watch to wear every day. www.mares.com
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The Polartec Power Stretch Gloves are great if you’re looking for an additional thermal layer. Perfect for autumn and spring while diving with a drysuit. Keep your hands warm and dry, with added protection against the cold. www.fathomdiving.com
ZEAGLE RECON (SRP: £114.95) The Zeagle Recon fins have been developed for optimal responsiveness, and provide stability for technical dives and alternative kicking styles, like frogkick and helicopter turns. Aerodynamic surfaces, four strategic strakes on the top and underside, and thick side ribs combine to generate optimal thrust and performance across the entire fin. Made from compression-moulded rubber, the fins are negatively buoyant and have a quick-fastening stainless steel buckle system. For those who want to add a spot of colour to their kit, there are colour-accent kits for the buckles and soft pad. www.zeagle.com
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ATOMIC AQUATICS BC1 | SRP: £1,099.95
Mark Evans: Atomic Aquatics have built up an enviable reputation for their diving equipment. Their ultra-highend regulators were the first to put them on the market, followed by fins, knives, computers, snorkels and masks, and now this line-up has been joined by the BC1. As with all of their other products, the BC1 is a very highend piece of equipment, topping out at over £1,000 (and that doesn’t include an inflator, but more about that later), but for your hard-earned cash you do get a BCD that really stands out from the crowd and has several innovative features. The double-laminated and coated waterproof polyurethane fabric has a custom matte finish and has a truly bizarre look and feel. As well as being very tough, when you exit the water, you can visibly see it shedding water, much like a waterproof raincoat. This means that while it is a pretty chunky unit, because it doesn’t really absorb or hold any water, it dries out very quickly - handy when you are in a dive location where dive kit seems to take an eon to dry! Another innovative feature is the ratcheting CAM-LOK Tank Band, which works much the same as a ski binding. It can be quickly adjusted to fit a wide variety of tank sizes, and once secured properly, it is truly rigid (in part due to the non-skid tank pad), so no more threading cambands or prewetting them to prevent slippage. I have to say, I did find it a bit fiddly to start with, but once I got my head around how it worked, it was a simple affair to tighten and then lock into place. The EZ-LOK weight-release system for the integrated weights is nice and easy to use. The grab handle for release is chunky and simple to get hold of even with thick neoprene gloves on, and when you slot them into place pre-dive, there is a clear ‘click’ as it goes into place. The system is remarkably similar to the clips on the Atomic Aquatic fins, which have been lauded in the past by the Scuba Diver Test Team. Each pocket can hold over 5kg of lead, and there are streamlined non-dumpable trim weight pockets on the back on either side of the cylinder that each hold around 2.5kg.
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The BC1 is extremely comfortable, and being quite a ‘big’ jacket-style BCD, it wraps around you and gives you a comforting ‘hug’. It holds you nice and upright on the surface, and is very supportive underwater, but despite its bulk, it doesn’t feel cumbersome as you dive. The adjustable lumbar pad and quilted backpad allow for a degree of personalisation, and there is a handy carrying handle concealed behind the backpad. When it comes to accessories, there is plenty of room on the BC1. The two pockets, which close with sand-resistant zippers that have large tabs, are spacious, able to swallow torches, DSMBs, reels and spools with ease, while on the outside, the custom 316 stainless steel D-rings with corrosionresistant titanium PVD coating are strategically placed for convenience. These nifty D-rings are uniquely shaped and a work of art in themselves! Venting gas from the BC1 is a simple matter thanks to the ‘Dry Glide’ pull dumps, which use low-friction 316 stainlesssteel in two locations, paired up with patent-pending antifloating knobs that are simple to locate and operate even with gloves on. These will vent rapidly when you need them to, but it is also easy to just release tiny amounts of gas for fine buoyancy adjustment.
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As mentioned above, the BC1 doesn’t come with a power inflator, but this is to give the buyer the opportunity to customise the jacket to their configuration. So, they can select either an ergonomically shaped AI inflator in titanium (£174.95) or stainless steel (£134.95), or opt for an Atomic SS1 octo-inflator (which means you can ditch your normal octopus) in titanium (£309.95) or stainless steel (£229.95). NB: Instructors interested in a BC1 should seek information and pricing on a special key-man deal being offered by Atomic Aquatics. www.atomicaquatics.com
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Test Extra
TYPHOON DS1 | SRP: £895
Mark Evans: Typhoon have been making drysuits for a very long time, so they know what works and what doesn’t. The Typhoon DS1 was at one time going to be an anniversary suit to celebrate their long run in the industry, but it now just headlines their line-up of sturdy drysuits. The DS1 weighs in at just over 3kg, and is made from TX6 quadply fabric throughout, which means it is robust and durable, but also light enough for you to take away on holiday with you without losing half of your precious hold baggage allowance. The DS1 is built to last, with two-layer rubber-taped seams and heavy-duty latex neck and wrist seals (the latter are KUBI dryglove compatible). It is also fitted with neoprene socks that can be paired up with rockboots of your choice, and a neoprene neck collar for additional warmth. The YKK cross-torso plastic zip increases flexibility but also helps to reduce the weight of the suit, and there are two large Velcro-closing thigh pockets with zippered compartments, an internal D-ring and attachment bungee loops. Inside there is a suspender system to support the suit. The DS1 is very comfortable and easy to get on and off, but I do find non-telescopic cross-torso-zipped drysuits a little more awkward than those with a telescopic portion which gives you several inches of extra room for getting your head in and out of the neck seal. It is a very subtle suit when it comes to styling - it is techie-black with just a few silver logo highlights, which means it doesn’t set the world alight when it comes to looks, but on the flipside it won’t date and will still be just as much en-vogue in ten years time. On land and in the water, it worked fine. Underwater, it kept me nice and dry, and was streamlined enough to not cause too many issues with air migration, though the legs were a little loose and so I had to be careful that they didn’t attract too much gas during the dive.
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TYPHOON DS1 | SRP: £895
Mark Evans: I used my Otter Watersports Rockboots, which were comfortable over the neoprene socks, but you could use whatever rockboots or dive booties you wanted to. The seals at the neck and wrists are comfortable. With the neoprene collar, there is no ‘cold ring’, and the hood can tuck into this securely. The latex neck seal is quite thick but still comfortable. The wrist seals are similarly comfortable, and I paired them with 3mm neoprene gloves for this test - with it being summer time, the water temperatures were high teens centigrade. However, they could easily be fitted with after-market dryglove systems such as the KUBI Drygloves, which would be ideal for winter use. The thigh pockets are plenty spacious, with lots of room for spools, DSMBs, reels, back-up torches and slates in the main compartments, which close with a slab of Velcro, and there are small zippered pockets on the ‘flaps’ for smaller items. The suit comes with a handy changing mat bag, and can also be made-to-measure for an additional cost, but there are a vast array of sizes off the peg. www.typhoon-int.co.uk
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OVERVIEW In conjunction with Techwise and PADI , Nautilus will be offering instructor training on the Suex ADV range of scooters. Specific training for the Suex range will use the Suex ADV Speciality Outline and is a comprehensive overview of the range including basic operations, care and handling.
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PARALENZ DIVE CAMERA | SRP: £659
David Diley: There are a lot of action-style cameras on the market at the moment, a revolution spearheaded by GoPro who, it would be fair to say, revolutionised the concept of a small, portable camera that could deliver both decentquality photos and videos, while providing seemingly endless mounting possibilities. In a short space of time, numerous copycat cameras from the likes of Sony, Nikon, Garmin, TomTom and others were flooding the market, many of which came with, or at least offered, housing options for use underwater. So where does the Paralenz Dive Camera fit into this already-saturated market? Describing their product as a camera ‘made by divers, for divers’, you’d expect the Denmark-based company to have addressed some of the niggles and annoyances with products from their competitors when it comes to underwater use, and they certainly have, but is it any good? I was given the opportunity to find out for myself on a recent three-week shoot in the Red Sea. It would be my first opportunity to use my brand-new Panasonic EVA1 in the field, but part of my set up for these jobs is always a housing-mounted action camera for cutaways, mounting and anything else I wouldn’t use my main rig for. For the past few years, I’ve used a GoPro Hero 3 Black Edition, but as I’m now finally in the land of 4K, the Paralenz replaced the GoPro. It was with me on most dives, so here are my thoughts, starting with the good!
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Build Quality – The build quality is very, very good, it’s rugged - far more rugged than a GoPro - and its aluminium body means you could drop it (which, let’s face it, happens!) and still be confident it could handle it without any serious damage. The selection switch is solid and locks reassuringly in place, and it’s also pretty light, weighing only 155 grams. Depth Rating – The Paralenz is rated to 250m, so for all you tech guys and girls, the Paralenz can certainly handle what you throw at it. Vibration Alert – No barely audible beeps and lights here, when you turn it on or off, hit record or stop, it vibrates to let you know. Gone are the days of not being able to hear a beep through 5mm of hood. When you hit record, you know you’ve hit record. No Filters Required! - The automatic depth colour correction, or DCC, would, on the face of it anyway, make me think that the camera comes with a gimmick which probably doesn’t work very well. I hate auto-anything on cameras, I do everything manually and besides, as a Colourist also, I understand the science of colour and have generally found that simply ‘auto-ing’ anything is usually nothing more than an insufficient mask over something which looks bad ‘out of the box’. With all that being said, I was actually pleasantly surprised by the DCC, it really does work rather well! Is it as good as someone who knows what they’re doing, manually adjusting white balance using RGB Parades, scopes and histograms? No, it’s never going to be, but it does do a good job of handling depth changes, at least in my experience of using the ‘Blue’ setting in good visibility. Speaking of colour, the Paralenz also has quite a nice image in regards to saturation and colour. Is it too saturated and contrasty? Well, yes, but then I always shoot log profiles and handle the grade in post. Your average Paralenz user probably doesn’t want to go through that hassle and wants something that looks nice out of the box, and the Paralenz delivers that. 4K – Yep, it shoots 4K, very compressed 4K but still 4K. It’s not too sharp, which is good, and the file sizes are also easily manageable - recording onto Micro-SD cards means 4K on cheap media, and that is always a positive!
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AN EVOLUTION IN PERFORMANCE AND WARMTH Kieran Hatton
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PARALENZ DIVE CAMERA | SRP: £659
David Diley: The Ball Mount – Easily the best mounting option Paralenz offers. Well made, incredibly light and rock solid. Battery Life – Charged via USB, the Paralenz has good battery life, about the same as my GoPro Hero 3, but with the Paralenz I’m shooting 4K as opposed to HD, so at around one hour 45 minutes, I’m getting more than enough time from the camera. Now time for the not so good... The Third Person Viewer – It feels a bit cheap, I know it has to be light and it does work as a ‘selfie stick’, but when I tested it with the floaties for that rear view, trailing POV which I thought could be interesting, the floaties would be more accurately described as ‘sinkies’. I think water must have somehow made its way in because testing this out was a bit of a disaster, but I have a spare set so will be trying again. I also struggled to extend it to its full length (stop giggling at the back...) as it seemed to tighten up too much and became very fiddly to use. Maybe I just got unlucky? As a selfie stick, it’s fine, but in my limited experience, the rear-view option wasn’t actually an option. No 25 or 50fps – There’s no PAL options and only 30 fps in 4K. I’m hoping this can be addressed in a firmware update. No Option To Check Viewpoint On The App – The GoPro app allows users to mount a camera then check what the viewpoint is via the app, the Paralenz doesn’t so it’s a bit of a guessing game. I do understand that it might be a little early in the day for this and I’m certain Paralenz will look at suggestions like this, so I’m absolutely going to cut them a little slack but it would be really, really helpful if this happened one day. Hard To Frame A Shot – This is a little harsh of me to include because adding some form of monitor to the
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Paralenz would be totally counter-intuitive to what it’s designed for. Obviously, you can’t see what you’re filming which, for a novice, is going to result in lots of badly framed and wobbly footage. The solution is to practice, attach the ball mount as a kind of pistol grip and don’t get too close to your subject. If your dive chops are up to par, then there’s no reason you can’t get some nice footage. Including this is a little harsh on the Paralenz, but I’m trying to be as objective as possible. So, my overall thoughts? As I point out in my video review on my YouTube channel The Scarlet View (go subscribe and hit the notification bell), I wouldn’t use the Paralenz as a main camera for a professional shoot, but then again, I wouldn’t use a GoPro either. The Paralenz is just not designed for that, but if you’re a diver looking for a good underwater camera in a neat package that’s reliable (three weeks of solid diving, zero failures or corrupted files) and doesn’t require a load of additional gadgets, then the Paralenz is definitely a good option. I found the majority of the footage we shot with the Paralenz more pleasing on the eye than that coming from the GoPro we had with us, both shooting 4K, but then again, that’s just my personal opinion. In short, the Paralenz shoots a decent 4K image in small file sizes to cheap media with good battery life, it colourcorrects for you and it’s really well built. The pluses far outweigh the cons, so much so, it has now become my housing-mounted action camera of choice. www.paralenz.com
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Long Term Test ZEAGLE SCOPE MONO
AQUA LUNG ROGUE
Mark Evans: The Zeagle Scope Mono is a low-volume, over-moulded single-lens frameless design mask which benefits from a large nose pocket and a wide field of vision. It has a soft-touch silicone face seal for optimal comfort, and a thumb-operated buckle for simple and easy adjustment. What makes the mask INFORMATION Arrival date: September 2018 stand out from the crowd Suggested retail price: £59.95 is the elastic ‘ski-maskNumber of dives: 0 style’ strap. Time in water: 0 hrs 0 mins www.zeagle.com
MARES QUAD AIR Mark Evans: The Mares Quad Air is the ideal computer for warm-water divers, as despite its large size, it is very lightweight thanks to the construction of the body. However, that large screen and display also makes it great for diving in colder waters with less-thanperfect visibility. The thick rubber strap is also pretty chunky, and will strap around a drysuited forearm with no issues. www.mares.com 94
Mark Evans: I like the Aqua Lung Outlaw, but found that with only the single mounting points on the back for integrated weight pockets or trim weights, it could not handle both at the same time, whereas the Aqua Lung Rogue can mount two integrated weight pockets and two trim pockets, opening up a multitude of weighting options for cold and warm water usage. www.aqualung.com/uk
INFORMATION Arrival date: August 2018 Suggested retail price: £455 Number of dives: 14 Time in water: 13 hrs 20 mins
AQUASKETCH MINNO 1
INFORMATION Arrival date: May 2018 Suggested retail price: £318 Number of dives: 17 Time in water: 16 hrs 25 mins
Mark Evans: The Aquasketch Minno 1 is a regular fixture on my right arm now - it is handy having a slate and pencil right there when I need it, instead of having to fish around in my thigh pocket for a separate one. In Dive Like A Pro this month, having a slate to write messages on INFORMATION Arrival date: February 2018 was flagged up as a great Suggested retail price: £35 safety tool, and the Minno Number of dives: 16 1 certainly fits the bill. Time in water: 14 hrs 50 mins www.apeksdiving.com/uk WWW.SCUBADIVERMAG.COM
MOMENTUM DEEP 6
Mark Evans: While the Momentum Deep 6 is more than capable of accompanying you on your dives, it is also very at home adorning your wrist while topside. I have said before that it is a good-looking unit, especially in this colour combo, but surely one of the highest compliments that could be paid to it was from a friend who spotted it on my wrist and asked if it was an Omega or Citizen! Now being mistaken for a watch that commands a far-higher price tag has to be the ultimate accolade. He INFORMATION Arrival date: June 2018 couldn’t believe it when I Suggested retail price: £195 told him it retails for under Number of dives: 5 £200! Time in water: 4 hrs 50 mins www.nautilusdiving.co.uk
APEKS RK3 HD Mark Evans: Few more dives under my belt with the RK3 HDs, and they are settling in well. They are very comfortable, and don’t feel too heavy on your feet, but when you need to apply some get up and go, the power is right there at your disposal. They work well with a frogkick, but also generate plenty of power with a normal finning action, and thanks to their shape, they are adept at backfinning and helicopter turns, and all the other movements you find INFORMATION Arrival date: April 2018 yourself making while Suggested retail price: £120 trying to get in position for Number of dives: 8 a photograph! Time in water: 7 hrs 15 mins www.apeksdiving.com/uk WWW.SCUBADIVERMAG.COM
FINNSUB 20D AND COMFORT HARNESS Mark Evans: With the unexpected departure of the Shearwater Research from Long Term Test, the Finnsub 20D and Comfort Harness has stepped into the breach. The 20D is designed to work with single or twin tanks (up to a maximum of two 12-litre cylinders), and is made from Cordura 500 TPU-coated for the inner material, and Cordura 2000 for the outer material. It features a high-quality power inflator, and has two exhaust valves. The Comfort Harness can be fitted with either an aluminium or stainless-steel polished backplate, and features anatomically shaped and padded shoulder straps (in two sizes – S-XL, and XXL), stainless steel D-rings, stainless-steel slides, a rear SMB sleeve, an adjustable crotch-strap with D-ring, and an integrated weight system INFORMATION Arrival date: September 2018 that has a D-ring on the Suggested retail price: £599 left pocket and a Finn Light Number of dives: 0 holder on the right pocket. Time in water: 0 hrs 0 mins www.finnsub.com
SUUNTO EON CORE Mark Evans: The Suunto EON Core has been a worthy addition to the Long Term Test stable. Suunto have long been a computer of choice for many, and with the advent of the Core - and its big brother the Steel - users have now got a vivid full-colour display, intuitive push-button menu and a userrechargable battery. The Core is compact but robust, easy to use even with thick neoprene gloves or even drygloves on, and wouldn’t look out of place on a smaller wrist, say a woman or a child. Well priced, incredibly wellINFORMATION Arrival date: March 2018 specced and air-integrated Suggested retail price: £599 - what more do you want Number of dives: 42 from a dive computer? Time in water: 41 hrs 35 mins www.suunto.com 95
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brand-new dive exhibition is being launched in underwater photography, freediving and technical diving, February 2019 which aims to inspire and enthuse with hosts of dynamic speakers discussing a wide range existing divers as well as attract newcomers to of subjects in talks, Q&A sessions, masterclass workshops the sport. and presentations. GO Diving, which runs from Friday 22 February to There’s even an area for The Next Generation of scuba Sunday 24 February, is being co-ordinated by the divers, all those keen kids and talented teens team behind Scuba Diver and DeeperBlue. already attracted to the underwater realm. com. The event is being well supported by There will also be competitions, treasure many of the major players in the dive hunts, interactive exhibits, two massive industry and is set to be an exciting pools for trydives, technical sessions and way to see in the New Year’s diving freediving workshops, not to mention exploits. It will be hosted at the hundreds of booths showcasing Follow us on social media Ricoh Arena in Coventry, an exciting training agencies, equipment at /godivingshow to get venue with good transport links and manufacturers and distributors, and the latest updates on the centrally located for ease of access, many other dive-related businesses. wherever you live. For those who have harboured an show – use the hashtag innate desire to give diving a go, they BBC stars Andy Torbet (Beyond #GODiving can come and experience diving for the Bionic, The One Show, Operation first time at GO Diving - and find a host of Iceberg) and Miranda Krestovnikoff (The experts on hand to answer those questions One Show, Coast) are the comperes on they were perhaps afraid to ask. The Inspiration the main stage and will also be talking about Stage will host talks aimed at dispelling some of the their adventures, while joining them as keynote myths around diving, giving even more reasons why you would speakers are the likes of freediving legend Umberto Pelizzari, want to learn to scuba dive. Early bird tickets are £9.50 + P&P, TV favourite Monty Halls, technical and cave diving icon Jill Heinerth and underwater photography guru Alex Mustard MBE. available from www.godivingshow.com/tickets (booking fee applies). n There will also be dedicated stages in the disciplines of
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