Scuba Diver Magazine Issue 31 by scubadivermag

ANTHONY’S KEY RESORT

INDONESIA ADVENTURE

DIVING ON A BUDGET

STUART PHILPOTT VISITS THE AMERICAN DIVING FAVOURITE OF ROATAN

1,300-MILE LIVEABOARD VOYAGE FROM KOMODO TO RAJA AMPAT

THE SCUBA DIVER CREW GOES CAMPING ‘N’ DIVING IN DORSET

Something for EVERYONE WHY MALTA AND GOZO ARE GREAT FOR DIVERS OF ALL AGES AND LEVELS OF CERTIFICATION

#31 | £3.25

TECH: Truk Lagoon

‣ Shoot Like a Pro ‣ Regulator maintenance

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EDITOR’S NOTE CALLING ALL ASTRONAUTS! WELCOME TO SPACE CAMP I often compare diving to being in space, as it is one place where you can move in three-dimensions, the same as you can in zero gravity. I am not the only one with this opinion NASA and many other space agencies train their astronauts in gigantic tanks of water for just that reason. So it was very cool to be invited along to the annual Space Camp run by the Royal Air Force for children from all over the UK, which this year was being held at the exclusive Moreton Hall school, in North Shropshire. The children involved got to take part in all manner of projects and experiments, including launching a weather balloon laden with cameras and other technology into ‘nearspace’ - some of the photographs of the planet from that height were just astounding - building their own Mars Rovers, and much more. However, what turned out to be the undoubted highlight of their week was the two afternoons when they got to venture into the 3.7m deep Moreton Hall swimming pool for their first taste of scuba diving. Kevin Murphy from nearby RAID centre Severntec Diving had been tasked with providing the trydives, and with such a number of youngsters, he immediately roped in Oli van Overbeek from fellow RAID centre DiveLife, north of Manchester, to assist. This duo, together with a host of instructors and DMs, really stepped up to the mark and ensured that all of the children got a memorable taster. Even those who were struggling with the basics got one-on-one treatment to ensure they could still take part in the exercise. Kev had come up with an ingenious idea of having the children venture down to the deep end of the pool and then attempt to use liftbags to get a framework constructed out of plastic piping into neutral buoyancy and transport it back to the shallow end. Not as easy as it sounds!

Mark Evans Editor-in-Chief

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Mark Evans Tel: 0800 0 69 81 40 ext 700 Email: mark.evans@scubadivermag.com

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Matt Griffiths Email: matt@griffital.co.uk

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ISSN 2514-2054

ANTHONY’S KEY RESORT

INDONESIA ADVENTURE

DIVING ON A BUDGET

STUART PHILPOTT VISITS THE AMERICAN DIVING FAVOURITE OF ROATAN

1,300-MILE LIVEABOARD VOYAGE FROM KOMODO TO RAJA AMPAT

THE SCUBA DIVER CREW GOES CAMPING ‘N’ DIVING IN DORSET

ON THE COVER

Something for EVERYONE WHY MALTA AND GOZO ARE GREAT FOR DIVERS OF ALL AGES AND LEVELS OF CERTIFICATION

#31 | £3.25

TECH: Truk Lagoon

p001_ScubaDiver-31.indd 1

‣ Shoot Like a Pro ‣ Regulator maintenance

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PHOTOGRAPH BY: MARK EVANS

23/08/2019 16:14

REGULAR COLUMNS

FEATURES...

6 News

22 Honduras

30 Dive Like A Pro

34 Malta

64 Underwater Photography

40 BRITAIN ON A BUDGET: Dorset

98 OWUSS Scholarship

44 The Maldives

Whirlwind runs aground in Red Sea, Thames getting cleaner, a mass BSAC trip to Normandy, and underwater sculptures in the BVIs.

Martin Sampson explains why you should ensure that your regulators get plenty of care and attention - and maintenance.

Mario Vitalini explains how photographers can make best use of the ‘golden hour’, also known as ‘dappled light’.

Kim Hildebrandt has close encounters with turtles, manta rays and whalesharks during her trip to the Maldives.

Stuart Philpott heads to the island of Roatan off the coast of Honduras, and it doesn’t take him long to realise why it is such a popular diving destination for American divers.

First of a two-part article looking at how Malta fits the bill perfectly as a short-haul diving destination that is also ideal for families, non-divers and those ‘dry days’ when you can be tempted away from the water.

Mark Evans heads down to Dorset for a spot of ‘diving on the cheap’, staying in a tent on a campsite and checking out some of the shorediving sites in the area, namely Swanage Pier and Kimmeridge Bay.

That man Philpott again, this time out in the Maldives and cleaning windows - underwater... He visits the submerged restaurant 5.8 and sees how divers keep the view on to the reef clear of detritus.

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CONTENTS

...CONTINUED

GEAR GUIDE

48 THE NEW GENERATION

82 What’s New

The teams from Severntec Diving and Divelife take 40 non-diving children into ‘zero gravity’ for the RAF-sponsored Space Camp in Shropshire.

50 Q&A: Richard Smith

We talk to Richard Smith about his exciting new book release, and ask him about some of his Southeast Asia diving adventures.

56 Indonesia

Adrian Stacey embarks on an epic 1,300-mile liveaboard voyage from Komodo to Raja Ampat.

72 DAN Europe: Dealing with an octopus bite

This month, the DAN team looks at the case of a diver who was bitten by an octopus as she attempted to return it to the ocean.

74 TECHNICAL: Truk Lagoon

Byron Conroy waxes lyrical about some of the most-famous wrecks in the legendary Truk Lagoon.

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We take a look at new products to market, including the Beuchat Mundial One-50 fins, Aqua Lung’s CeramiQskin, KUBI’s limited-edition Red dryglove kit, and Fourth Element’s kid’s T-shirt range.

84 Test Extra Special

Editor-in-Chief Mark Evans dives in Wales, Egypt and Malta to focus on the Aqua Lung i200C dive computer, Beuchat Voyager XL dive bag, Aqua Lung Storm fins, and the SeaLife Sea Dragon Mini 1000F video/dive light.

94 Long Term Test

The Scuba Diver Test Team rate and review a selection of products over a six-month period, including the Otter Watersports Atlantic drysuit, and Apeks Tech Shorts.

Each month, we bring together the latest industry news from right here in the UK, as well as all over our water planet. To find out the most up-to-date news and views, check out the website or follow us on our various social media (@scubadivermag) www.scubadivermag.com/news

RED SEA LIVEABOARD WHIRLWIND HITS PINNACLE, ENDS UP ON SANDBANK IN LAGOON

he award-winning Red Sea liveaboard Whirlwind was left sitting at an angle on a shallow sandbank after hitting a pinnacle and causing damage to the hull as it left its moorings in late-August. Thankfully, no guests were injured in the incident, and the Tornado Marine Fleet vessel was towed to drydock in Safaga, where after having the damage assessed was due to be repaired and back on the seas again in September. According to Angela Nordin from UK representatives Scuba Travel, Whirlwind struck the pinnacle as it manoeuvred from her night moorings in the lagoon at Small Crack – a location that will be familiar to many who have been on northern safaris – and the captain promptly sailed the boat to a shallow sandbank, where it came to rest at an angle in approximately 2m of water. A mayday was not issued in this instance as it was quickly apparent that there was no immediate threat to life, but the Wind K and the Black Pearl – as the name suggests, a replica pirate ship – from the Tornado Marine Fleet were called to assist, and on their arrival, the crew and guests were transferred by RIB tender along with their dive kit and personal belongings. Angela confirmed that the initial assessment at this stage was that Whirlwind had taken on water, but was stable (resting on the shallow bottom) and the crew worked to patch the damage to the hull between the bow and mid-section, as well as begin pumping water out from the lower deck once the guests had left the vessel.

DS N E I R DIVING WITH F

MALDIVES

NEW: Faarufushi Maldives

INDONESIA THAILAND EGYPT S PA I N

NEW: Roses, Costa Brava Due to current UK FCO regulations for British Citizens and Sharm Airport, a decision was taken very early on in the morning that it would be best to return the customers to Hurghada, where they would be able to regroup. The initial plan was to deploy Tempest to sail to meet the customers (Sharm boats are not able to dock in Hurghada), but unfortunately, the coast guard offices were closed until 9am (Egyptian time) and by the time Tornado’s ground crew finally secured the necessary paperwork and permissions for Tempest to depart from Hurghada, it was around 12.30am. Later that afternoon, the guests were able to disembark from Black Pearl at Small Crack and begin the journey back to Hurghada on Tempest, which docked back in Hurghada around 8pm, from where they were transported to the Marriott. Angela said: “Our office maintained contact with those on board since the incident - both in person and by phone and email. We never want any diver to go through this kind of experience. Some divers opted to head back out for their final day’s diving on Friday. Others chose to rest up at the hotel until their return flight to the UK on 17 August (Saturday). “Whirlwind has welcomed over 10,000 divers over the years without any such incident, but we extend our sincere apologies to those on board this week whose experience was not one any of us would ever want to repeat.” She added: “Some people have asked about the reef. The main reef at Small Crack itself was not struck. Whirlwind made contact with a rocky outcrop inside the lagoon. She did not leak diesel or other such materials into the water.” She concluded: “Whirlwind is now in dry dock in Safaga and repair work is being carried out. We will release an update as soon as we can about her return to service, but it is expected to be in September. We would also like to thank the team at Tornado and Traveline on the ground in Hurghada. This has been a tough time for every person involved, and we recognise their efforts in achieving a safe outcome for all on board at the time. “If you are due to travel on Whirlwind in the upcoming weeks, rest assured we are doing everything we can to minimise the disruption to your holiday. We would like to reassure you that your holiday will still be going ahead, and for the coming weeks a replacement Tornado Marine Liveaboard has been made available to us, so we can guarantee the same itinerary, excellent crew and guides that you were expecting. We thank you in advance for your patience as we work through the scheduled trips in order of travel.” For more information, you are asked to contact Scuba Travel on (01483) 411590 or email: dive@scubatravel.com

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OMAN M AU R I T I U S JA PA N C R O AT I A

LET´S DO IT: DIVING WITH EURO-DIVERS! B O O K I N G A N D I N F O R M AT I O N :

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7 12:00 22.01.19

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BSAC’S NORMANDY 75 EXPEDITION MARKS D-DAY LANDINGS 75 years after the D-Day landings at Normandy, BSAC members came together to mark the historic events of 1944. Members of 24 BSAC clubs from around the UK recently embarked on a week-long commemorative diving event off the coast of Normandy to mark the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings. The BSAC-coordinated trip, which had been over two-and-ahalf years in the planning, came just six weeks after the 75thanniversary on 6 June, the day that saw the Allied landings on the coast of Normandy and the beginning of the liberation of France. Three hard boats full of BSAC divers, along with RIBs from four BSAC clubs, made the trip across the Channel and spent the week diving just some of the 125 historic war wrecks off Normandy’s beaches. BSAC’s Normandy 75 event also followed the recent news that D-Day wreck sites along the UK’s South Coast had been granted permanent protection under the Ancient Monuments Act – supported by the contribution of several BSAC clubs, including Southsea Sub-Aqua Club and the Isle of Purbeck Sub-Aqua Club. Led by Clidive’s Ben Jaffey, the planning team behind Normandy 75 included Southsea SAC’s Martin Davies and Alison Mayor as well as Dave Lock and Jane Maddocks. Speaking as Normandy 75 got underway, Alison Mayor said the project highlighted BSAC’s philosophy of ‘diving with a purpose’ at its very best. The week also provided BSAC divers with a chance to mark the sacrifice made by the Allied Forces, with many of the Normandy 75 participants attending a remembrance ceremony at the Royal Marine memorial above the Normandy coastal town of Port-en-Bessin. “It was great to be here at last with so many other BSAC divers to mark this very special anniversary. It was a privilege to dive the Normandy wrecks and to honour those who made the ultimate sacrifice,” Alison explained. “The wreck diving in Normandy is superb and the experience was enhanced by the stories of heroism and the sheer scale of the invasion campaign.” 2019 has certainly been a remarkable year for BSAC expeditions and ‘diving with a purpose’ projects – as well as the 75th anniversary of D-Day, BSAC also supported the Scapa 100 initiative, to mark the centenary of the scuttling of the Scapa Flow wrecks.

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THRIVING ECOSYSTEM SHOWS RIVER THAMES HAS NEVER BEEN CLEANER The River Thames, which was classed as ‘biologically dead’ just 50 years ago, is now home to a positively buoyant ecosystem, which includes grey and harbour seals, tope and smooth-hound, harbour porpoises, and even two species of seahorse. According to the Zoological Society of London, seal populations have more than doubled in just five years, with some 3,000 now dwelling along the river, and a survey due to be completed this week – and published next month - is expected to reveal that these numbers have swelled even more. In an effort to educate more people about the River Thames, the Zoological Society of London is set to run a ‘Mother Thames’ campaign, highlighting the importance of this vast waterway. They are going to launch a virtual reality exhibit on the South Bank in September that focuses on the animals living in the Thames, and this VR experience will allow users to venture ‘underwater’ and see the creatures in their natural habitat. Estuaries and wetlands project manager Annas Cucknell commented: “We want people to look at the green of the parks, but also at the blue. We have a river flowing through the city, the biggest wild space we have flowing through London, and often people don’t think about it that way. “The Thames is a silty estuary, it’s muddy all the way through, but it isn’t dirt. The Thames was polluted, dirty and dead in the past, and now people see the colour and put two and two together, but we are trying hard to change those perceptions so that people are inspired by and care for the river.”

REEF ART SCULPTURES NEW UNDERWATER EXPERIENCES As if a stunning reef was not enough to excite locals and tourists, two of Queensland’s iconic Great Barrier Reef destinations are gearing up for raft of new underwater art discoveries and the opening of Australia’s first underwater accommodation! In a Great Barrier Reef first, the Whitsundays has unveiled a series of underwater sculptures - a Maori wrasse at Blue Pearl Bay off Hayman Island, two different manta ray sculptures at Manta Ray Bay off Hook Island, and a turtle at Langford Spit. Six Australian artists were chosen to have their sculptures submerged and on display in various key locations throughout the marine park, with two more sculptures still to be revealed. The next instalment will be an enormous creation called Anthozoa, which is a four-metre-high concrete single coral polyp, to be installed at Blue Pearl Bay in late September. And in a first for the Southern Hemisphere, the announcement of the Museum of Underwater Art (MOUA) created by British sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor will be installed within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (near the coast of Townsville) aiming to drive awareness to the importance of the Great Barrier Reef. The works will be installed across numerous locations such as Magnetic Island and Palm Island, showcasing partially and fully submerged sculptures. The first of several artworks, Ocean Siren, will be revealed this December at the Strand in Townsville and is modelled on a local Aboriginal girl that will change colour in response to changing water temperatures. Furthermore, a Coral Greenhouse sculpture is planned for the John Brewer Reef site offering a worldclass dive and snorkel experience.

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AGGRESSOR ADVENTURES SET TO CELEBRATE 300,000TH TRAVELLER DISCOVERTECH

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Well-established adventure travel company Aggressor Adventures will celebrate their 300,000th traveller with over US$9,000 in prizes. And to commemorate this huge milestone, Aggressor Chairman and CEO Wayne Brown will surprise the lucky guest and shower them with gifts. “We are so excited to celebrate our 300,000th traveller,” notes Brown. “Aggressor Adventures has been a leader in adventure vacations since 1984, and we have loved exploring the world with each of the 300,000 travellers that have become part of our Aggressor family.” In celebration of the 300,000th milestone, the guest will receive a set of Aqua Lung dive equipment and a trip for two on Aggressor’s newest liveaboard yacht, the Arabian Aggressor. Aggressor will also debut their new theme song and video to mark its 300,000th explorer. The song, which vividly details the excitement of an Aggressor adventure and the passion with which the company serves, will also be enjoyed from YouTube and Vimeo, as well as www.aggressor.com Since 1984, Aggressor Adventures has offered travellers liveaboard scuba and snorkelling charters, luxury river cruises and exotic wildlife safaris. Worldwide locations are Bahamas, Belize, Cayman Islands, Cocos Island, Costa Rica, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Galapagos, Hawaii, Indonesia, Maldives, Mexico, Oman, Palau, Red Sea, Roatan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand and Turks and Caicos. www.aggressor.com

NEW FOUR-NIGHT KOMODO ITINERARY FROM EMPEROR DIVERS INDONESIA Komodo Dive and Explore is a new five-day, four-night itinerary available from July to September from Emperor Divers Indonesia. Designed to showcase some of the highlights of Komodo, including the chance to see the famous Komodo dragon in its natural habitat, it also offers beautiful Photograph courtesy of GoingEpicPlaces beaches, lookouts to climb, a range of water sports such as paddle boarding, kayaking and snorkelling and some easy diving to experience paradise both below and above the water. This itinerary allows for two dives a day for qualified divers while non-divers have the chance to experience an ‘Introductory Dive’. Emperor Divers’ experienced guides will select the best spots to dive, snorkel and swim in each location and to suit local conditions, marine life opportunities and your experience. Sailing on Emperor Raja Laut, this schooner-style liveaboard welcomes just 12 guests and offers all-inclusive prices (all park and port fees are included), free nitrox, free wine with dinner, confirmed, guaranteed sailings no matter the number of guests, ten percent discount for early bookings, all cabins are ensuite with air-conditioning, spacious teak deck for relaxing and dining out, and two large RIBs to get to the perfect dive spot. www.emperorindonesia.com

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Divers can now encounter skeletal pirates scrubbing the decks or planning their next plundering mission when they visit the BVIs. As reported by Scuba Diver back in July, after the devastating Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, the British Virgin Islands are now turning hurricanedestroyed vessels into very unique dive sites through the non-profit organisation Beyond The Reef. The legendary floating bar Willy T has been transformed into a pirate ship playground, complete with skeletal pirates going about their daily business, a crow’s nest and other pirate paraphernalia. It is a fun photo location for all levels of diver. The Willy T will be joined by three derelict airplanes from the airport that have been turned into half-airplane/half-sharks. In addition to creating new reefs for marine life and new dive sites for tourism, money generated by these wreck sites will go back to benefitting the local community through generating donations for children’s swim lessons. Members of Beyond the Reef were heavily involved in the sinking of the BVI’s now-famous Kodiak Queen ‘Art Reef’ a couple of years ago. www.bvitourism.com | www.1beyondthereef.com

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JAMIE HULL GOES BACK TO HIS ROOTS WITH EMPEROR DIVERS AFTER CATASTROPHIC INJURY

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Jamie Hull was fulfilling a lifelong ambition of becoming a pilot in 2007 when, on a routine solo flight, his engine caught fire. Jamie sustained 60 percent third-degree burns to his body, tissue scarring and internal injuries. He was given a five per cent chance of survival. Undergoing over 60 operations, he was able to pull through but, for Jamie, life as he knew it was over. Read how diving, one of Jamie’s first loves, helped him to get life back on track … Back in 1998, Jamie was a keen and ambitious scuba diver. Originally a fulltime officer in the Thames Valley Police, he decided to embark on his IDC with leading Course Director of the day, Theresa Simpson, who quickly took him under her wing and mentored him to success. A then-newly qualified PADI Open Water Instructor, Jamie couldn’t resist the pull of the ocean and soon afterwards took the plunge to take a sabbatical from UK policing and return to the Red Sea to work directly for Emperor Divers. Jamie’s life story, however, went on to take the guise of many twists and turns, including a comprehensive service with the British Army as a higher committed Reservist working all over the world before being subjected to the ultimate physiological and psychological downfall that a human being could possibly sustain. In the summer of 2007, little did Jamie realise that an epic lifechanging accident was on the horizon. A catastrophic injury, sustained during his training to be a pilot, left him with 60 percent third-degree burns to his body, severe tissue scarring and internal injuries; Jamie was given only a 5% chance of survival. Undergoing over 60 operations, he was able to pull through only by the skin of his teeth but, for Jamie, life as he knew it was over, “I couldn’t see a life beyond injury, I couldn’t see that road ahead. Physically, I felt I was done for.” Ultimately however, Jamie never gave up and after many years of pain and discomfort, he went on to further project himself in a range of challenging events and endeavours, always going a little further to achieve his goals. “Following on from the ethos of my former Regiment 21 SAS, I always try to continue to live by those values and, in particular, the ‘individual pursuit of excellence’. By way of example, I’ve continually followed my passion for scuba diving as a vehicle for benefitting my own recovery and rehabilitation from the burns injury. Over many years, I’ve worked very hard with the diving and recently certified as a PADI Course Director. It’s such an amazing sport, which has helped me enormously on the long road to a stronger recovery. One of my goals now is to continue working with others to enable them to fulfil their career ambitions.” Excitedly going back to his roots with Emperor Divers, Jamie recently delivered a diving expedition for several UK veterans, using the Blue Brothers’ Emperor Divers dive centre in the stunning marina at El Gouna. “Having previously used the efficient and reliable services of UK-based Diverse Travel, I was very impressed with the whole organisation of my recent dive trip to the Red Sea with Emperor Divers. In all sincerity, for anyone looking to organise any kind of dive trip around the world, the booking and administration of Diverse Travel always delivers as smoothly as a well-balanced regulator at 40m!” he said. “The expedition I ran was indeed a great success. As a Course Director, I genuinely recommend the top service Emperor provides for divers of all levels. www.emperordivers.com

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Dr Oliver Firth is a diving doctor with over 22 years of diving experience. He is an Approved Medical Examiner of Divers for the UK HSE and a medical referee for the UK Diving Medical Committee, performing many hundreds of diving medicals a year. As the senior doctor at London Diving Chamber for the last 13 years, he has supervised the treatment of hundreds of cases of decompression illness. He has now set up Hyperdive (www.hyperdive.co.uk) to continue his diving medical work with a global audience. With his accumulated experience, he has seen most things a diver might come across, but remains eager to hear from anyone with a medical conundrum they need a solution to! divingdoctor@scubadivermag.com Q: Can you please tell me if it is safe for my son to scuba dive? He is 15 years old and healthy. When he was born his lung was collapsed. His doctor assured me that he would be fine to play and partic-ipate in all things athletic. He has been in the junior lifeguard programme for the past six years - this year they will learn to scuba dive but there is a question in the paperwork asking if you’ve ever had a collapsed lung? A: Quite a two-pronged query, this one. Firstly, a word or two about collapsed lung, or ‘pneumotho-rax’, to give the condition its typically mysterious medical moniker. The lungs normally sit happily in the chest cavity, like balloons, with a negative pressure keeping them inflated. If the lung surface is damaged, then the air within can leak out into the chest cavity. As this air accumulates, the in-creasingly positive pressure crushes the lung down, until eventually it collapses – a pneumothorax. These are generally split into two types: spontaneous (out of the blue), and traumatic (due to an in-jury of some sort). Spontaneous ones can occur in young people (skinny tall male smokers being particularly prone), or in older individuals with underlying lung disease (again most commonly in heavy smokers). Sometimes even a hiccup is enough to rupture a small portion of lung and allow air to escape. Traumatic ones are usually due to an injury (accidental or planned), which can leave scars on the lung. Interestingly, before anti-tuberculous drugs were discovered, doctors used to puncture the lungs of TB patients deliberately, in an effort to collapse a lobe, or entire lung, around a cavitating lesion. This was known as ‘resting the lung’ – a more-inappropriate descriptive term for a medical procedure I have yet to discover. And so to diving. Both types of pneumothorax can predispose you to air trapping, with consequent overexpansion injury when you ascend from a dive. I’m not entirely clear from your query, which type your son suffered – this is important, as they are managed slightly differently. It sounds as though it was spontaneous, in which case there is a possibility that it will occur again, particularly in the first year after the episode. After six years this risk is clearly much reduced, but nevertheless higher than in the general population. Generally there are no warning signs of an imminent collapse, which makes each dive a bit of a gamble. The added complication of course (and the second prong of this question) is that he is only 15, and therefore there is an additional responsibility to play on the safe side. Personally I would counsel against diving, at least until he is (a) older, (b) able to make his own informed decisions, and (c) willing to go through the investigations and possible operations required to reduce the risk of a re-peat. These might include a highresolution CT scan of the lungs (involving a not-inconsiderable dose of radiation), and if a potential risk factor is found, a

pleurodesis or pleurectomy (scrubbing and glueing the lung surface to the chest wall, or removing the surface lining of the lungs altogeth-er). I suspect once he’s YouTube’d those particular procedures, he may want to stick to the XBox for a few more years… Q: I’ve been diving for a few years and am progressing to longer, more-technical dives with signifi-cant decompression obligations. I find that occasionally I get quite severe cramps in one or both calves. Although I can generally keep myself stable underwater, it’s painful and I would worry about my ability to respond to an emergency at the same time, or manage it through a stop of tens of minutes. I also find that soreness/tenderness in the calves can persist for several days afterwards, if the cramp was bad. Do you have any advice for things I can do to avoid it in the first place, or manage better underwa-ter? I’ve known of people taking quinine in the past - is that a potential option to discuss with a GP? A: These sudden, unpredictable and involuntary muscle contractions are a perennial problem and there isn’t an easy fix I’m afraid. Despite exhaustive research over many years, there is still no consensus on what causes muscle cramps in otherwise healthy adults. They are, however, particularly common in divers, and they can be quite difficult to manage underwater. The reasons they occur more frequently in divers are many, but are usually a combi-nation of dehydration, fatigue, electrolyte imbalances, and constriction of peripheral blood ves-sels due to immersion, which reduces the blood flow to the muscles of the legs and arms. Sometimes deficiencies of certain minerals and vitamins can contribute as well. It does seem as though cramps become more common with advancing age too. So, my top tips for preventing the onset of cramps would be: - don’t get old, or at least if you have to, age gracefully (and with tongue firmly in cheek); - keep yourself well hydrated prior to dives - this means making sure you are peeing clear 24 hours before the dives, not just necking a cup of tea before striding into the water; - do some leg stretches before the dive - a simple routine of a few minutes will warm up the muscles and get the blood flowing to the area, reducing the chances of cramp; - take some bananas with you (and eat them) - these supply most of the minerals that you need to avoid cramp. Quinine sulphate is usually used for night-time cramps and can be beneficial in this context, but doesn’t really tackle the underlying causes I’ve mentioned above. There’s also some data that suggests quinine may cause some rare but serious side-effects.

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BERMUDA’S WRECK GRAVEYARD

MALTA FAMILY DIVING, PART TWO

AIRLINER IN AQABA

TECHNICAL: HMS HERMES

Stuart Philpott explores the myriad ships which have come to grief in the waters off Bermuda over hundreds of years Mark Evans witnesses Jordan’s latest artificial reef being created - from a Tri-Star civilian airliner

INDONESIAN LIVEABOARD ADVENTURE Adrian Stacey continues his epic 1,300-mile journey travelling and diving through legendary hotspots enroute to Raja Ampat. This time, he visits the remote Banda Islands

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The Scuba Diver family teams continue their mixed diving itinerary in Malta, this time checking out the HMS Maori and the P31 patrol boat Mark Powell ventured to Sri Lanka to visit the remains of HMS Hermes, one of the world’s few diveable aircraft carriers

GEAR GUIDE: WRISTWATCH DIVE COMPUTERS

The Test Team heads to North Wales to rate and review wristwatch-style dive computers

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During the briefing, dive guide David showed me some pictures of a bright yellow frogfish the size of my little finger and another even smaller white froggie he had found at one of the pinnacles

Delights Roatan is a huge destination for US divers, and it didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take long for Stuart Philpott to see the attraction of this small Caribbean island PHOTOGRAPHS BY STUART PHILPOTT

Frogfish

oatan lies approximately 65km off the coast of Honduras and is the largest of the Bay Islands (Utila and Guanaja are the other two islands in the archipelago). A large portion of the coastline has been designated as a marine protected reserve, which makes it extremely attractive for visiting scuba divers. Sitting next door to the second largest barrier reef in the world should also boost my marine life sightings. With such a promising Caribbean pedigree, I had high expectations. Based in the Sandy Bay area at the west end of the island, Anthony’s Key (www.anthonyskey.com) is probably the mostestablished dive resort. There’s a courtesy bus that ferries guests to and from the airport. Journey times take around 15 minutes door to door. The resort opened in the late-1960s with just ten rooms and was mainly used as a stopover for passing sailboats. This has now expanded to 56 bungalows or ensuite rooms and been kept fairly ‘rustic’ by guest request. My hillside key standard bungalow was set back in the trees and connected by a series of raised wooden walkways and stairs. Most of the accommodation has been built on a picturesque little island located a few hundred metres from the main reception area, bar and restaurant. This is accessible via a free 24-hour shuttle boat service. There is a huge swimming pool at the centre of the complex, including a bar, BBQ area and sunbeds. Sandy beach frontage is limited. The best beach is located at Baileys Key via the shuttle boat route. Roatan is an extremely popular destination for American divers. During my stay there were at least three big groups visiting from Colorado, California and Georgia, as well as individuals and couples from other Caribbean islands and mainland Honduras, not forgetting the solitary Brit contingent. Everybody turned out to be really sociable, and we openly chatted about everything from gun laws to Donald Trump. I wandered down to the jetty which reminded me of the set up at Stuart Cove’s on Nassau. There were separate wooden buildings for the PADI training centre, underwater photography and video studio, snack shop, locker room, kit and compressor room as well as the all-important dive

Huge sponges on the wall

centre complete with a row of chalk boards telling everybody which boat they had been assigned to, as well as a huge airconditioned shop selling T-shirts, beach wear, local products, etc, with a new toilet block attached. Anthony’s Key Resort turned out to be an extremely welloiled diving machine. More than six dive boats went out every single day. Diving Manager Kevin said he was so busy organising logistics that he hadn’t been diving for nearly two years! There are three daily dives on offer. Dive boats usually depart at 8.30am, returning to the dock for a half hour’s break followed by a second dive at 11.30am. After a leisurely lunch

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Grey angelfish

and a short siesta, the boats leave again at 2pm for a third dive and return around 4pm. Night dives are also regularly offered twice a week – Tuesday and Thursday. For my initiation dive, I was taken to a site called Green Out House Wall. During the briefing, dive guide David showed me some pictures of a bright yellow frogfish the size of my little finger and another even smaller white froggie he had found at one of the pinnacles. It didn’t take him long to find the same yellow frogfish at the dive site. When the other divers had finished, I spent a good five minutes taking pictures. Unfortunately, the white froggie was nowhere to be seen, so for the rest of the dive I kept myself busy with French angels, green morays, barracuda, grouper, parrots and Creole wrasse. My day was turning out to be a complete macro fest. At the second dive site named Key Hole, David spotted three seahorses camouflaged in the soft corals. This was the first time he had ever found three on one dive. They were well camouflaged and not easy to photograph, but I eventually managed to get a passable shot. Once a week, the dive boats stop off for a BBQ lunch at Maya Key. The island, also owned by Anthony’s Key Resort, has been turned into a mini zoo come beach retreat for tourists. Roatan has up to five cruise ships passing through every

In the midst of the shark dive

Heading to Anthony’s Key

Turtle

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Cloud of silversides

day depending on the seaon. This brings more than 600 new visitors to Maya Key. When I spoke to Bruce Plunkett, the manager of the marine mammal complex, he said over the years they had rescued a number of nurse sharks, stingrays, sea lions and turtles from various defunct aquariums and marine parks. The green turtle had been found in a local restaurant kitchen. Bruce was convinced it would have been served up on the menu! I joined Bruce on the shark experience snorkel inside the pen. This was mainly offered to visiting cruise ship customers and gave them an opportunity to get close to the marine life. The visibility was a little murky, but we did see a number of sharks and rays, so the customers went away happy. The cost is US$35 for an hour-long tour. During the afternoon dive at Herbie’s Fantasy, I saw four hawksbill turtles munching on the corals. They were all totally relaxed and un-phased by the group. Unfortunately, I was using my macro lens, so had to make do with just a head shot. For the next few days, I was chopping and changing from one dive boat to another trying to make the most out of my brief stay. The dive staff didn’t seem to mind and the other divers weren’t too phased by my antics. Dive guide Sherwin jokingly said the hard-up locals would call my camera and housing a new car! Water temps hovered around the 28-29 degree C mark, so I ditched my 3mm shortie wetsuit and opted for rash vest and shorts. There were two purposely sunk wreck dives, El Aguila and the Odyssey, both lying Grouper at a depth of around 30m. I didn’t have time to do both wrecks, so opted for the 70 metre long cargo ship El Aguila, which was supposedly better for marine life. As soon as I jumped into the water, a grouper surrounded by a shoal of rainbow runners headed straight for me. I fired off a few shots and then made my way down to the wreck site. El Aguila was broken in two with her stern lying on the starboard side and her bow standing upright. I started exploring the bridge and accommodation block and then worked my way forwards. I was told that the propeller

Water temps hovered around the 28-29 degree C mark, so I ditched my 3mm shortie wetsuit and opted for rash vest and shorts

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Loading the dive boat

had been removed, so didn’t bother going to the seabed. There were plenty of penetrable areas to explore, but in the short time frame I didn’t venture too far. Julio Galindo acquired Anthony’s Key Resort in the early 1980s, and has developed it into a top dive resort. Even though his son Samir is now running the business, I could see that Julio was still very much an active participant. Julio said that he had set up the resort to be totally self-sufficient, providing everything from bus transfers to an in-house laundry service. There was even a medical clinic and a hyperbaric chamber (the resort asks for a minimum US$12 donation from each diving guest to help maintain the only chamber facility on the island). Julio told me that 80 percent of the business was repeaters. He said: “Some guests come back so often they start telling me how to do my job!” At Spooky Channel, David guided me to a deep canyon crammed with millions upon millions of glassfish. I went ahead and found a spot where I could take pictures of the divers passing through the shoal. There was a grouper waiting for us back at the wall. I’m sure there had been some sneaky lionfish feeding going on in the past, especially when a large green moray appeared next to the grouper. I tried to get a shot of them both swimming together, but it just didn’t work out. When we got back to the boat mooring two more grouper were waiting for us and they definitely weren’t camera shy. Anthony’s Key didn’t offer a shark feed dive. They recommended visiting the shark dive organised by Waihuka dive centre. Divers are normally picked up by boat from the resort and taken directly to the centre. The shark dive is run nearly every day and there seemed to be no shortage of interest. I usually choose my lens depending on how close I can get to the sharks. Anthony’s Key said the sharks don’t usually get much closer than three or four metres away, but when I spoke to Divemaster Robert, he said they get very

close, i.e. touching distance, so I had to quickly take my housing apart and change my 17-35mm lens to a 16mm fisheye before we left. After the briefing there was a short boat ride out to the 20m deep site called Cara a Cara (which translates as Face to Face) located close to Maya Key. The feed attracted around 10-15 female reef sharks and a number of grouper. Robert said that they also see hammerheads from time to time. Where’s the best place to be during a shark feed? Sitting on top of the bait bucket, of course! And yes, there were a few intense moments! I know shark feeds are a controversial subject, but they do guarantee ‘intimate’ encounters. The dive costs US$149 per person and lasts for about 40 minutes. Anthony’s Key Resort is 100 percent geared up for divers and Seahorse

Inside the El Aguila wreck

can easily handle large groups. There was a broad range of dives on offer from standard reefs and walls to wrecks, macro and shark encounters. I had booked up the seven-night dive package, which basically included everything except drinks. I thought the food was a very good standard. There was the usual selection of eggs, cereals, etc, for breakfast, with a fixed menu for lunch and dinner, which included a different meat, fish and vegetarian option daily. I especially liked the soups and the Mexican dishes. n

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Martin Sampson offers some sage advice on caring for your regulator – before, during and post dive PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARTIN SAMPSON

LOOKING AFTER YOUR REGULATOR

have previously described some tips to help you decide whether or not your regulator needs servicing. If you’re still not sure though, common sense makes it hard to argue against the concept of preventative maintenance, so you may as well take your regulator to the dive shop and get it checked out without further worry. And that’s the crux of it - you shouldn’t feel stressed about your gear or anything else when you’re about to get in the water. The exquisite feeling of belonging that you get as you descend into the unknown comes from knowing that everything is right with you and your gear. Keeping a regulator in tip-top condition after it’s been serviced is down to your diligence as well as knowing a few good tips that can save you money in the long run, so read on to look at the things you can do to preserve your expensive life-support equipment and protect it from the ravages of sea, salt, sand and sun (and slugs too!).

BEFORE YOU GET IN THE WATER

Early in our training most of us are taught to lie scuba equipment down before it falls down great advice where toes and pool

tiles are concerned. On the beach though, as much as I love being there, I hate sand because it gets into everything. Here are some better options: • Put your gear together in the luggage space of your car and put it onto your back from there so that it doesn’t have to lie anywhere near sand and grit. • When that’s not possible, have a mat or ground sheet on which to lie your gear. I keep a few old carpet tiles in the back of the car for just this reason. • Tuck your second stages, gauges and direct-feed hoses inside your BCD to keep them away from the ground. You can also use your fins like wedges on either side of your cylinder to prevent it from rolling and spilling your neatly stowed regulators onto the sand. • On boats, elastic bungee cord is often provided so that you can tie your aqualung into a cylinder rack. If you do have to lie it on the deck, make sure that it can’t roll when the boat rolls and damage plastic second stages or expensive dive computer transmitters. Again, wrapping your second stages inside the BCD can help protect them. • Check the routing of your hoses to make sure that they are not under stress, particularly near the ferrule at the end of the hose.

DURING THE DIVE

Secure your alternate air source close to your body within about 12 inches of your mouth so it’s not ploughing a furrow through the sand underneath you.

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Occasionally check that it is still attached to you. Some clips are far better than others and I have often seen divers swimming around unaware that they are trailing their alternate air sources through all sorts of debris. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a bad enough day when your buddy runs out of air, but to then expect them to breathe an aerosol of air, water and grit is certain to cause a sense of humour failure.

POST DIVE

As soon as you remove the first stage from the cylinder, dry the cap with a cloth or towel and fit it securely to the regulator. If you have a DIN regulator, check that the cap is actually waterproof - some are only dust caps. Waterproof caps are available from most dive shops. The key point is to prevent water (especially sea water) from entering the first stage via the filter. If you do accidentally flood your regulator, take your regulator to a service agent as soon as possible. A few minutes of expert care can prevent long-term corrosion damage. Pull back the hose protectors, especially those fitted to second stages. They may need hot water poured over them to soften and make it easier to move them. Use a hose pipe to wash of the worst of any muck. Immerse your regulator in warm fresh water. This is probably the most-important thing that you can do for your gear and, if you do it religiously after every dive, you will extend the life of your regulator almost indefinitely. Soak your regulator for at least 20 minutes, preferably for as long as you dived. It takes a while to dissolve the salt out of confined areas, such as inside the valve spindles of second stages. Resist the temptation to slosh the second stage around vigorously in the water because you may be opening the second stage valve and allowing water to flood the hoses leading back to the first stage. Better still, immerse the regulator while it is attached to a cylinder and pressurised. You can then purge the regulator to help flush out any debris.

Some clips are far better than others and I have often seen divers swimming around unaware that they are trailing their alternate air sources through all sorts of debris WWW.KUBISTORE.COM

Many places in the world don’t have access to lots of fresh water, so you may end up rinsing your kit in a tank of dilute sea water because it’s been in use all day. Having given my gear a cursory rinse, I often take my regulator (and computer and camera…) back to my accommodation to soak it in the bathroom sink; it’s usually still clean enough to shave with afterwards too! After a good soak, dry with a clean cloth and purge air through the regulator. Incidentally, it’s not a good idea to use compressed air to dry the first stage area. Water can be forced into the filter and hence into the first stage, causing internal corrosion. For some reason it became fashion to not only blow dry the dust cap, but the first stage too. A towel will do, it’s also quieter! At some point you will want to change a direct feed hose. Hose end fittings are made from plated brass and are easily damaged if you use the wrong size spanner or over-tighten them. Hose protectors have their uses, but don’t push them over the hose nuts. When you subsequently need to change a direct feed, pulling on the hose protector can cause unnecessary stress to the hose.

STORAGE

Padded regulator bags are surely a good idea, especially when you consider the expensive consoles and transmitters that may be attached to them, but don’t over-pack a regulator bag and forget about it, that is asking for cracked hoses. Regulators are best stored in the same way you would like to be; in dry conditions away from direct sources of heat and

For some reason it became fashion to not only blow dry the dust cap, but the first stage too. A towel will do, it’s also quieter!

light. Hoses (and all rubber parts) crack and degrade as a result of the combined action of UV light and naturally occurring ozone in the atmosphere, but stress accelerates the process considerably. However, damp and dingy sheds are often where dive kit gets stored - mind the spiders and slugs! n

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Something for EVERYONE Team Scuba Diver heads to the Med to dive the clear, warm waters off Malta and Gozo, showcasing how this archipelago is the ideal short-haul family holiday location PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARK EVANS

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ivers love diving. It’s what we do. But increasingly, you have mixed groups of divers and non-divers going on trips together, and the latter do not look kindly on the bubble-blowers heading off into the deep blue for hours on end every day when they are ashore with nothing to do. So you need to find a destination that has plenty of topside attractions as well as great diving to tick the box for everyone – and if the diving doesn’t require an entire day away from the family/friends, then that is an added bonus. Step to the fore, Malta and Gozo. The Maltese archipelago has a lot going for it for Brits. It is only a two-and-a-half to three-hour flight away from various regional airports, flights and accommodation are very costeffective, and they drive on the left (although a comment you will often hear is that they ‘drive in the shade’). The diving is also right up there with the best in the Med, with a plethora of shipwrecks, airplane remnants, swim-throughs, caverns, caves, and a decent amount of marine life, from tiny nudibranchs to shoals of barracuda. Team Scuba Diver ventured out enmasse to Malta at the beginning of the summer holidays to showcase its diversity as a holiday destination. Editor-in-Chief Mark Evans was accompanied by his wife Penney, and their son Luke – this was the first trip for the diving trio to just be going diving together, with no courses being conducted, and young Luke (freshly minted as a PADI Junior Advanced Open Water Diver in Egypt a couple of months ago) was raring to explore his first shipwrecks, and there were plenty in Malta that fell within his 21m depth limit. Publishing director Ross Arnold came with his wife Gemma, and their two sons, 13-year-old Ryan and fiveyear-old Ethan. Ross and Gemma would be taking it in turns to

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dive, with the one left on land looking after Ethan, while Ryan was completing his RAID Open Water 15 entry-level dive course (this story will appear in a future issue of The Next Generation). We were going to be diving with Divewise (www.divewise. com.mt), one of the most-established dive centres on the islands. Being located in St Julians, it is perfectly situated for trips out to dive sites all over Malta, with most being within 30-35 minutes drive in one of their fleet of pick-ups and vans. Long-time Divewise instructor Sarah Shaw was our guide and driver for the week, ably assisted on occasion by DMTs Jake and Jack. Dive one was conducted on the Divewise house reef, which consists of rocky boulders, gullies, sandy patches and areas of seagrass. It was great to be able to sort out weighting – several team members were in brand-new 5mm or 6.5mm wetsuits, and other unfamiliar kit – and it was a good introduction to Maltese waters for Luke, who had previously only dived in Egypt and the Florida Keys. Sarah pointed out some juvenile barracuda hovering in the grass, and found a couple of cute little octopus. In the afternoon we followed this up with a trip by RIB to Tug 2, a 30-metre-long shipwreck lying a short distance away from the dive centre. Sitting upright in 22m on a sandy seabed, this former tug from the Grand Harbour of Valletta was scuttled in June 2013 to form an artificial reef. Originally it was some 20 metres or so from the nearest reef, but storms in October 2016 ended up shifting her east, so her bow has now impacted into the reef. This was Luke’s first ‘wreck’ dive and he was spellbound to see the vessel appear beneath us as we dropped down from the surface. He handled the descent with aplomb,

Luke checking out the plaque on Tug 2

and enjoyed exploring areas of the reef, as well as making circuits of the tug itself before returning to the Divewise RIB. Day two we boarded a colourful traditional Luzzu boat though this one had been ‘pimped’ with a neat diver lift – to head to the island of Comino, which lies between Malta and Gozo. Our target dives were the P31 patrol boat, and the Santa Maria Caves, and it was the former that had Luke positively bouncing with excitement. He has seen above-water shots of this 52-metre-long former East German Kondor I-class patrol boat, which was used by the Armed Forces Malta until it was decommissioned in 2004 and subsequently sunk by the Malta Tourism Authority in 2009, and was awestruck by its size. The water was exceptionally clear as we giant-strided off the side of the Luzzu, and we could see half of the P31 immediately – I thought Luke’s eyes were going to pop out of his mask. He kept his cool, though, and remembered what I had said, which was to start out dive by checking out the deeper portions of the hull in 18m-19m, and then work our way up and around the superstructure. He found a large moray eel on the bow, and was intrigued by switch gear and other sections of machinery still left in-situ. We did not penetrate into the wreck fully, even though it is wide open for those suitably trained, but he did explore a couple of wide-open swim-throughs. He had his macro-eyes on, and found several nudibranchs perched on fine coral growth on the railings, and a lizardfish lounging on the deck. He also had a close encounter with a jellyfish during our safety stop! The famous Santa Maria Caves were our next dive, and after a relaxed surface interval, our group descended and followed Sarah into the caves. This system of large cathedrallike caves and interconnecting caverns is well lit by natural light, with only a couple of places where it momentarily is a bit dark, but it is well worth bringing a small torch with you to peer into nooks and crannies where you will find cleaner

shrimp and crabs. Most of the bigger caves are only semisubmerged, and boats often cruise in, so make sure you stay close to the bottom and aware of surface traffic during the dive. The topography of the site really holds your attention, and it is a safe introduction to this type of diving. Day three we headed to Cirkewwa, home to the Rozi and the P29 (sister ship of the P31), but these dive sites were too deep for Luke, so instead we first explored to the south of our entry point, and then for dive two we ventured to the north and the impressive arch. Again, Sarah found moray eels, octopus, various nudibranchs, scorpionfish, crabs and so on, and the topography ranged from sand patches and seagrass to huge boulders forming swim-throughs. Fake Roman amphora lying on the bottom intrigued Luke, and he was happy to rummage about in cracks and crevices looking for crabs, but when we surfaced from the second dive, I could tell he was hankering for more rusty metal – definitely going to be a wreck fanatic like his Dad! First we were having a day off, but there were plenty more sunken ships to come.

TOPSIDE ATTRACTIONS

Where Malta and Gozo come into their own is the vast array of activities and places to visit available above water. There are all the usual sandy beaches, rocky coves and such like, but Malta and Gozo have a rich and diverse history stretching back thousands of years. Excavations have shown that the islands’ first inhabitants showed up in 5900 BC, but it was then left

Swim-through on the Two Tugs Finding a lizardfish on the P31

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Moray eel on the P31

Exploring Valletta

Ethan snorkelling with Ross

The water was exceptionally clear as we giant-strided off the side of the Luzzu, and we could see half of the P31 immediately uninhabited until 3850 BC, when the civilisation that made the archipelago its home created the impressive megalithic temples, which register as some of the oldest buildings in the world. You then had periods where the islands were colonised by the Phoenicians, then the immense Roman Empire moved in, followed by the Byzantines, then the Arabs, before falling under Norman control. Around 1530 the islands were given over to the Order of St John, and they ruled the islands for more than two centuries. After the Order it was the French who took over Malta, before it became a British protectorate. It was a vastly important military base during World War Two, and was remorselessly bombed by the Axis powers, so much so that in

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1942, the entire island was awarded the George Cross, which today appears on Malta’s flag and coat of arms. We opted to dive for a few days, have a day out of the water, and then get back into the diving, before ending the trip with two ‘dry days’ prior to the flight home. For our first non-diving day, the Evans clan jumped on the bus from our apartment in St Julians to Valetta. In the old days, I remember Maltese buses being an experience in themselves, colourful but ancient vehicles spluttering and coughing their way around the roads, but now there is a fleet of modern, comfortable, air-conditioned buses continually threading their way around the island, and it is a cheap and efficient way to travel around. Valetta is the capital of Malta, and the walled citadel

Luke has now clocked up 26 dives

Most of the bigger caves are only semi-submerged, and boats often cruise in, so make sure you stay close to the bottom and aware of surface traffic during the dive

is certainly impressive, its sheer scale hitting you as soon as you begin walking towards the main entrance. It is now home to a wide collection of shops, restaurants, cafes and bars, as well as various museums. We checked out the Malta 5D Experience, which presented a potted history of the islands with the added funfactor of moving seats, blasts of water/air, and even smells. We also watched The Malta Experience, a more-traditional, but still well shot, film about the history of Malta, which you can get a combined ticket for along with the National War Museum in Fort St Elmo, which is right next door. This museum is well worth checking out, and it covers the history, and conflicts, affecting Malta and Gozo through the years, all presented in an interesting fashion, with some great exhibits. The Arnold family had a more-relaxed day, with some fiveyear-old-friendly fun on the beach close to the apartments, then hired a car and drove to Gozo, where they visited the Blue Hole and the Inland Sea, two signature dive sites in their own right, but also hugely popular tourist Penney and Gemma on hotspots. Tug 2

NEXT MONTH

We pay a second visit to the P31 on Comino, and explore the remains of the HMS Maori in Valletta Harbour, as well as consuming enormous slices of chocolate cake in Mdina and racing around the historic Three Cities in a talking electric car. n The view from the War Museum

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The Scuba Diver crew headed to the South Coast for a spot of diving on a budget and experienced the typical British summer mix of blue skies, bright sunshine, gale force winds and torrential rain PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARK EVANS

DIVERSIONS

uddled in the warmth of the caravan lounge, buffeted by strong gusts of wind, we looked out at the ominous grey skies and watched torrents of rain sloughing off the tent. It seemed hard to believe that just a day earlier, we’d been basking in glorious sunshine as we kitted up for a lovely evening dive at the iconic Swanage Pier. How things change overnight. But this is good old Blighty we’re talking about, so we should have known what to expect when we broke out the camping gear for a summer ‘Britain on a Budget’ trip.

THE PERFECT PLAN

It had all seemed a fantastic idea just a few weeks before. Sat in my office and looking out of the window at clear blue skies, it seemed like summer was well and truly here, which was the perfect excuse to get out and about for some cheeky British dives. I checked the wall planner, clocked the first available three-day stint, and then set about building a plan to head down to Dorset. I settled on an area close to Swanage and Kimmeridge, which would give me a variety of shore-diving options, and I duly booked a two-night stay at East Creech Farm caravan and camping site, handily located near Wareham. I dragged the tent, electric cool-box, table and chairs out of the lock-up, and I was all set. My planned foray to the South Coast came up in a discussion with underwater videographer Bryan Stanislas a few days later and he jumped on board – he was soon booked in next to me at East Creech Farm in his touring caravan. So that was it - the campsite was booked, the tent and caravan were ready to go, and the dive kit was packed, now all we needed was the weather to co-operate…

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My alarm clock went off at 6am on the Wednesday morning, and as I blearily stumbled into the bathroom for a shower and shave, I was pleased to note the sunlight streaming in through the half-open blinds. A quick peek outside confirmed blue skies, the odd fluffy white cloud and little wind - an excellent way to start any camping trip! I set off down the A5 from North Shropshire basking in the stunning weather, the sat nav showing an ETA of 11.20am. Alas, this is Britain, so I ended up in various roadworks and road closures enroute, the most frustrating of which around Bath that saw me knock off just one mile towards our final destination in 45 minutes! Some five and a half hours later, I rolled into the campsite. A few minutes later and Bryan drove up in his H20 Films Land Rover, fully laden caravan on the rear. With blue skies overhead and warming sunshine bathing the South Coast, we set about constructing our ‘base camp’. The tent was popped up in ten minutes flat, and then I assisted Bryan with levelling out the caravan and putting up the awning. An hour or so later and it was complete, and we were tucking into a well-deserved late lunch of barbecued burgers and contemplating where to head for our first dive. Bryan suggested the immensely popular shore dive under Swanage Pier, which would be a first for me, and so we set off the 11 miles to Swanage.

The highlight of the dive was coming across a large ammonite fossil embedded into one of the rock slabs

Showing true British grit and determination, we resisted the siren call of alcohol and decided to risk another shore dive, this time at nearby Kimmeridge

THE PIER

Swanage Pier is a truly iconic British dive, and best of all, you can park right next to the pier and the entry/exit point, so no long walks in full kit are required. It is a shallow dive at all states of the tide, and the dive itself comprises of venturing under the pier and then following the support struts. This makes navigation a doddle - as long as you can see pier legs, you are in the right place. No struts in sight, you’re lost! Looking over the side of the pier, we were greeted by the sight of a spider crab crawling in the seaweed some 2m below the water’s surface. The clarity was exceptional, and so we geared up with high expectations of the dive ahead. Sadly, vis under the pier in the initial stages was only a metre or so, but this grew to three or four metres once we reached 3-4m towards the end of the pier. There is a huge array of seaweeds, algae and kelp growing on the rocky seabed below the pier, and on the supports themselves. This provides a rich habitat for blennies, gobies and wrasse, as well as juvenile pollock and numerous invertebrates, including the afore-mentioned spider crabs, edible crabs and velvet swimming crabs. We even found a small flatfish hiding under a ledge. Despite the visibility not being fantastic, it was still an enjoyable dive and it is easy to see why this place is crawling

with divers most summer weekends. We clocked up over 60 minutes bimbling around the pier legs and had barely used half a tank of air. My favourite bit was right at our turning point, where bundles of dead man’s fingers adorned some of the pier supports in just a metre or so. The sunlight was streaming through the water, illuminating the vibrant white marine growth and making a visually stunning subject. The sun was still shining when we emerged from the water and de-kitted. As we got our cylinders filled at Divers Down dive centre, handily located right at the pier, it felt more like late afternoon than 7.45pm. Back at the campsite, we broke out the barbecue for more meaty treats, and enjoyed a few post-dive beers as the sun slowly set. Even through the temperature plummeted as soon as night fell, we just bundled up in a selection of fleeces, hoodies and dive undersuits to make the most of the eerily still evening. This for me is what makes a camping and diving trip - the apres-dive banter with your mates, mountains of good food washed down with cold beers, and all in the great outdoors.

ALL GONE PEAR-SHAPED

Alas, we knew it couldn’t last. The weather forecast for the Thursday had been looking particularly lousy, and sure enough I was woken up in the early hours by rain thundering onto the

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tent, which was also being battered by strong gusts of wind. The heavy rain turned positively torrential as we sat having breakfast in Bryan’s awning, and we despondently stared into our coffee mugs as we contemplated having the entire day blown out by the conditions. Lunch came and went, and still the rain poured down, but then, as we were close to writing off the day and breaking out the cold beers to drown our sorrows, the wind dropped, the downpours quit and the skies took on a less-ominous shade of grey. Showing true British grit and determination, we resisted the siren call of alcohol and decided to risk another shore dive, this time at nearby Kimmeridge, despite fears that the vis would be terrible given the conditions during the morning.

WORTH THE RISK

Arriving at the water’s edge in Kimmeridge, which is a large sheltered bay nestled close to the dramatic sheer cliffs of the Jurassic Coast, not to mention a military range which sounded like they were practicing for World War Three, the sea looked flat and calm. Looking down the concrete slipway, the vis in the shallows looked good, but from past experience, we knew that once we ventured into a couple of metres, it could all turn into plankton soup. Sticking close together as we expected a metre or so of

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visibility at best, we surface swam out a short distance and then after a quick round of ‘okay’ signals, dumped air and sank down to the seabed below. Well, what a turn up for the books! We were greeted with a good four metres plus of vis, and plenty of kelp and seaweed growth to mooch through as we headed out into the bay. As the depth increased slightly - and we mean slightly, as we never went deeper than 4m - the bottom composition changed from sand and shale to slabs of ancient rock, worn smooth by years of current action. I scared a large flatfish from its hiding place before I managed to snap a photograph, but a large spider crab was more accommodating, but despite a lack of prolific fish and invertebrate life, the interesting topography kept us bimbling around for nearly an hour. The highlight of the dive was coming across a large ammonite fossil embedded into one of the rock slabs. We surfaced into glorious sunshine and blue skies, the morning’s ‘perfect storm’ seemingly a distant memory, and as we trudged up the slipway back to the pick-up, we all agreed trying for the dive had been a risk well worth taking. The skies clouded over 30 minutes later, but the rain held off, meaning we could round off our final diving day with another barbecue and a few more well-deserved beers.

CONCLUSION

Packing up the tent and awning and stashing our dive kit away, we discussed the merits of camping and diving. Firstly, it is bloody good fun with your mates, but perhaps just as importantly when everyone is watching their pennies, it is a cheap and cheerful way to get some solid British diving in on a serious budget. The UK coastline is dotted with fabulous shore-diving sites, and with campsites costing from under a tenner, this means you can utilise some of that accommodation budget you’d set aside for B&Bs and hotels for gas fills, entry fees or even the odd boat charter if you want to hit a dive further offshore. As we went our separate ways and prepared for the gladiatorial battle that is the UK’s motorway system, I was already planning the next Britain on a Budget trip. What’s Pembrokeshire like in September, I wondered? n

his has to be the most-exotic window cleaning job in the world! Twice a day, every day, Prodivers dive staff fin out to the exclusive 5.8 underwater restaurant, situated at Hurawalhi five-star resort in the Maldives, and wipe clean the entire transparent dome. It takes just a few hours for the current to deposit a fine layer of sediment over the curved surface, obscuring the view from inside out. Having a completely clear view at this exclusive Swedish-owned restaurant is very important. Before the first lunchtime sitting begins, divers equipped with soft cloths carry out their cleaning duties, taking great care not to scratch the clear surfaces. I traced their route around the dome taking pictures from every angle. These are, in fact, the very first underwater images to be published by a magazine. Up until now, no one has ever looked at the scenery from the outside. The 18 metre long by five metre wide structure weighs more than 400 tons and is one of the largest underwater restaurants in the world. Accessed via a 40 step spiral stairway, it has a maximum seating capacity of ten tables (20 diners). The floor sits at a depth of 5.8m, hence the name ‘5.8’. Even though Hurawalhi’s house reef, called Aquarium, lies just a few fin kicks away, divers and snorkellers are discouraged from coming closer as this would affect the diner’s privacy. When I spoke to assistant marketing manager Karina Obanesyan, she said the restaurant is extremely popular and rarely has an empty seat, so advanced booking is recommended. There is a choice of three settings - two two-hour lunch settings starting at midday and at 2pm, and one dinner setting at 7pm. I was fortunate enough to visit Hurawalhi resort several years ago during the construction phase. Ray Van Eedden, Prodivers regional manager, gave me a sneak preview of the impressive-looking restaurant, but the project was so sensitive I couldn’t take pictures. A team of 13 engineers came up with the design and it took around ten months to build. In all there are eight pillars holding up the restaurant. Each pillar has been pile driven some 24m below the seabed. The semi-circular transparent tube is made from 12.7cm thick plexi-glass and was manufactured in Japan, assembled in New Zealand and then shipped to the northern Lhaviyani atoll in the Maldives for final placement. All of this work cost a cool US$10 million! Although not on such a grand scale, this wasn’t the first plexi-glass structure I had encountered. During a trip to South Africa I visited the WSRI (White Shark Research Institute) where the owner Craig Ferriera had been testing out a new state-of-theart two-man plexi-glass cage design. I’m more used to seeing thick aluminium bars so it was quite disconcerting to have a totally clear 360 degree view of the shark’s domain.

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WHEN Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;M

CLEANING

Stuart Philpott was left mesmerised by an underwater restaurant in the Maldives, both as a diner within, and outside with the dive staff ensuring the glass was nice and clean PHOTOGRAPHS BY STUART PHILPOTT

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At least I now knew the material was tough enough to withstand a white shark ‘bump’, so a 5.8 underwater mere parrotfish nibbling on the glass shouldn’t restaurant pose too much of a problem! With some help from Karina, I managed to secure a table at an afternoon sitting. The lunch and dinner menus are pre-set (a vegetarian option is also available). The Michelin-standard five-course meal mainly consists of fish dishes. It felt slightly bizarre eating fish while being surrounded by even more fish! The presentation of each course looked very classy and colourful, and the taste wasn’t disappointing. Even though the food was outstanding, I would have been quite happy to spend the whole two hours just gawking at the marine life. At least I didn’t have to worry about making conversation with my dinner date! We were both mesmerised by the display. Striped sweetlips, butterflyfish and snapper pottered around the corals, while a huge shoal of fusiliers passed overhead. Even after 30 years of scuba diving, I found the whole experience breath taking. For non-divers this has to be the perfect way There was a huge field of anemones inhabited by bright red to experience a thriving reef, complete with all the usual anthias and clownfish. I was basically having lunch inside trimmings. a giant natural aquarium. Marine life sightings are totally Prodivers have played a very active role in the project’s unpredictable. Anything can pass by. Placing fish ID cards on development. Dive staff spent months transplanting the every table was definitely a nice touch. surrounding coral garden. All of the corals and anemones Lunch time at 5.8 turned out to be one of the mostwere recovered from a broken reef after a storm had passed memorable dining experiences I have ever had. Combining the through. I was surprised to see how well they had flourished. outstanding view with quirky cuisine was definitely a crowd pleaser. Everybody on my sitting left the restaurant with beaming smiles. The walkway out to the But then again who wouldn’t enjoy restaurant eating posh nosh at an exclusive underwater restaurant on a tropical island paradise! I’m not sure it could get much better than this? Well, maybe an underwater hotel might just tip the scale. It wouldn’t surprise me if the astute Swedish owners had already made plans. n

EATING UNDERWATER

5.8 underwater restaurant attracts visitors from all of the surrounding resort islands. Hurawalhi can arrange a water taxi from Kuredu and Kudadoo private island. The cost per person for a five-course lunch is US$225, or US$280 for the seven-course dinner. Wine and beverages are extra. WWW.SCUBADIVERMAG.COM

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CHILDREN VENTURE

INTO ‘SPACE’ – IN SHROPSHIRE Severntec Diving and DiveLife join forces to transport 40 teenagers ‘into zero gravity’ at the inaugural RAF-sponsored Space Camp event PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARK EVANS

n event focused on all things to do with space is not something you’d expect to encounter in the wilds of Shropshire, but in August, a host of children from all over the UK descended on Moreton Hall School north of Oswestry to take part in Space Camp, a week-long residential trip sponsored by the Royal Air Force Youth Engagement Team and pulled together by HiImpact, one of the UK’s leading educational consultancies. The RAF had specific aims and objectives for Space Camp. Firstly, they wanted to broaden the future recruitment pool by ensuring school-age children become engaged in STEM subjects and appreciate the range of career opportunities that are available. They also wanted to ensure that the experience targeted 13 to 14 year old youngsters who wouldn’t typically get such opportunities. Hi-Impact’s network of school contacts helped the recruitment process achieve this, along with the fact that the event was fully sponsored by the RAF, meaning any potential financial barriers were removed for children wanting to apply. Lastly, encouraging girls to apply was a really important aim for the RAF. Hi-Impact acted as the delivery partner for Space Camp, meaning they designed the educational programme, selected the venue, recruited the children, chaperoned and managed the residential experience and employed third parties to deliver some additional activities. Constructing Mars rovers, sending up weather balloons laden with technology, and taking part in other space-related experiments is one thing, but how on Earth did diving come into the mix?

Getting a batch of kids into the pool

Building the structure

For more information on STEM activities and residential courses, follow the RAF on Twitter (@rafyouthengage) and Facebook (Royal Air Force Youth Engagement Team). WWW.SCUBADIVERMAG.COM

RECOGNISING AND CELEBRATING THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCUBA DIVERS The Next Generation section is aimed squarely at keen kids and talented teens, those youngsters who have embraced the underwater realm and are driving new blood into the diving fraternity. Tune in each month for Case Studies, reports, kit reviews and articles from our diving youth. Got a story to share about a young diver? - Email: mark@scubadivermag.com to be included in a future edition of The Next Generation!

Oli helps a participant inflate a DSMB Lifting the framework

Ready to head into the shallows

Simon Sloan, Hi-Impact’s Operations Manager and Space Camp’s Project Manager, was struck by the 3.7m depth of Moreton Hall’s indoor pool and, being a qualified diver himself, formulated an ambitious idea to involve a dive school in delivering something that replicated the training that real astronaut’s undertake to simulate weightlessness. Simon partnered with Kevin Murphy from nearby RAID dive centre Severntec Diving and quickly the two devised something that would eventually turn into the standout activity for the Space Camp cadets. Kevin understood that for the RAF to be convinced of the benefit of the activity, it would need to be more than a trydve - it had to tie in with the theme of the week. He put together a proposal for an underwater collaborative challenge to construct a large frame out of piping and joints in the deep end of the pool, and then attempt to achieve neutral buoyancy with the frame by partially inflating attached surface marker buoys and transporting it back to the shallow end.

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This in itself was going to be labour-intensive, and with so many children taking part over the two-day schedule, the majority of whom had never dived before, Kevin called in the assistance of fellow RAID centre DiveLife. Oliver van Overbeek duly arrived with staff and a van load of kit to ensure there were enough ‘bodies’ in the water to manage the activities. The RAF were on board with the idea and on days two and three of Space Camp, 40 children - only two of whom had ever done any diving before, and some that were extremely nervous swimmers - took to the pool and overcame their fears, experienced something they never thought possible and gave them a taste of what it’s like to be weightless in space. Kevin, Oli and their teams dealt admirably with the horde of excited children. Initial swim tests were completed before they were split into smaller groups and given a run through of the necessary basics – mask clear, reg retrieval, etc – before moving on to the exercise. Some of the children were very nervous, and in these cases instructors took them off for oneon-one sessions, but overall, the vast majority were able to get to grips with the pipe frame and neutral buoyancy exercise. Simon commented: “As much as the activity achieved educational relevance, it was the personal journeys that stood out. Shanice, one of the children who hadn’t initially wanted to take part, went from not wanting to even put her face in the water to fully completing the session - she was beaming with pride at her achievement and it’s moments like that which can spark something in a child that lead to them doing something special later in life.” Flight Lieutenant Michelle Randall said: It has been a privilege to provide exciting and challenging opportunities for the students and immensely satisfying to see them grow in knowledge and confidence as a result. “This was the inaugural Space Camp sponsored by the RAF Youth and STEM Team, with a mission to inspire the next generation of engineers. In partnership with Hi-Impact Consultancy, we developed a programme of activities all linked to space – and a particular highlight has been the scuba dive experience.” Kevin commented: “When I was first contacted in relation to this project, it all seemed a bit vague, but those words ‘neutral buoyancy’ and ‘deep pool’ sparked major interest in me. A site meeting was agreed and I became aware of how high profile the project was, being sponsored by the RAF. The team at Severntec Diving were very excited at the opportunity to give Space Camp students the feeling of neutral buoyancy.” It is hoped that this will become an annual event, and Kevin and Oli already have big plans for 2020, including a more-elaborate framework that will look more space-age… n

Richard Smith has been a long-time contributor to Scuba Diver, and he spends many months leading expeditions around the world. Now he has collated some of his most-memorable moments and encounters in a lavishly illustrated new book PHOTOGRAPHS BY RICHARD SMITH

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Q: This is your first book. How much time and effort goes into producing something of this nature? A: Whilst the book itself only took a few months to actually write, the experiences that fill its pages are taken from over 20 years of diving and observing marine life. I have been drafting the book in my head for a few years, so luckily when the publishers contacted me about writing a book, it came very quickly. The 300 or so images in the book have been taken over many years, and it’s great to share them with the intention in which I took them: to illustrate a fascinating species or behaviour. Q: What are some of the favourite sections of the book, and why? A: Of course, the chapter about my research on pygmy seahorse biology holds a very dear place in my heart. I’m also very passionate about chapters such as ‘New Discoveries of the 21st Century’, in which I talk about naming a new pygmy seahorse from Japan last year and the huge numbers of other new species that we as the diving community have both contributed to discovering, and many of which we can find ourselves with a little prior knowledge. However, to put all this into context, I think the final chapter ‘Coral Reefs in the 21st Century’ is one of the most important when we see how imperilled these very poorly known species actually are. Q: Who will the book appeal to, and what was your aim when you first started drafting together ideas and images? A: This isn’t intended as a book just for divers and certainly not aimed at a scientific audience. I see it as a popular science natural history book, but it’s next level underwater natural history; you won’t have seen these animals in any documentaries. Many images in the book are the only ones of a particular species, so there is certainly a feeling of discovery too. Denise’s pygmy seahorse on a gorgonian coral. Sulawesi, Indonesia.

An orangutan crab covered in filamented red algae. Great Barrier Reef, Australia.

Feeding whaleshark, the planet’s largest fish in West Papua, Indonesia.

Q: When did you first get into diving, and did you ever think you’d end up doing it for a living? A: As soon as I heard the term, I wanted to be a zoologist. Wildlife and natural history were undoubtedly always going to be in my life. After learning to dive at age 16 the shift certainly began towards the underwater realm. Having said that, after my Open Water dives at Stoney Cove in November with a frost on the ground, I certainly didn’t get feeling I would be doing this on a daily basis. We only saw one crayfish during the four dives, and it’s really the animals that get me in the water. Luckily, since then I’ve seen many amazing creatures. Q: You were awarded the world’s first PhD into pygmy seahorses. How on Earth did you end up doing a study focusing on these tiny little creatures? A: I had originally been planning to do a study on coral reef biodiversity, but that fell through and soon afterwards I was doing a dive and watching a group of three Denise’s pygmy seahorses living together on a gorgonian seafan. I knew that seahorses are monogamous (mating with only one partner at a time, often for life), so if two of these three were a mated pair then what was the third wheel doing? Without giving too much away, I became quite enraptured by the sordid private lives of these tiny fish. During that dive, watching the three pygmies, I came up with all the chapters that would go on to comprise my PhD thesis. I am fortunate to be able to continue

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A coral reef at the heart of the world’s highest marine biodiversity. West Papua, Indonesia.

An aggregation of sand tiger sharks sheltering in a cave. New South Wales, Australia.

BIOGRAPHY

Richard Smith, a British underwater photographer and writer, aspires to promote an appreciation for the ocean’s inhabitants and raise awareness of marine conservation issues through his images. A marine biologist by training, Richard’s pioneering research on the biology and conservation of pygmy seahorses, led to the first PhD on these enigmatic fishes. Richard organises and leads marine life expeditions where the aim is for participants to get more from their diving and photography by learning about the marine environment. www.OceanRealmImages.com A pair of golden pygmy gobies hiding in a soda can. Sulawesi, Indonesia.

my work with pygmy seahorses having been invited to join the IUCN Seahorse, Pipefish and Seadragon Specialist Group which work to conserve these enigmatic fishes around the world. Q: Where is your favourite place to dive, and why? A: If I had to choose only one destination that I could dive ever again, it would be Indonesia for sure. I have spent a lot of time there over the years and actually seen more of it than I have the UK. The constantly changing geology has fuelled the evolution of different species around the country, so each place you visit is different from the last. This year I am headed to the aptly named Forgotten Islands, just 300 miles directly north of Darwin. There is an undescribed species of dottyback that is firmly in my sights for that trip. Over recent years, I have really enjoyed exploring the subtropical waters of the Indo-Pacific. Japan, Australia and South Africa have been hugely fruitful. In each, I have been on the hunt for particular species whether new and undescribed, rarely seen or biologically unique.

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Giant barrel sponge, many decades old, spawning. Tubbataha Reef, Philippines.

Feeding reef manta ray in the Maldives.

Soft corals on a bustling reef in West Papua, Indonesia.

GET THE

BOOK!

Q: What is your best moment The World Beneath is underwater? available now from A: Undoubtedly witnessing the birth and Amazon and subsequent mating of Denise’s pygmy selected online seahorses on the house reef of Wakatobi Dive stores Resort in Indonesia was a lifetime highlight. I’m not sure there’s anyone else alive who has been this lucky. Well I say lucky, but it took months of watching and plotting their reproductive schedules to be able to time the moment of birth to an hour or so window. Watching the tiny male seahorse, just 1.8cm long, swim off his gorgonian home in strong current to release his brood, was both mesmerising and nerve wracking in equal measure. Q: On the flipside, what is your worst moment! A: Some of the most upsetting moments for me have been while witnessing our impacts on the oceans. I have come across huge ghost nets in marine parks that continue to trap unsuspecting fishes, I saw two sharks in the Galapagos Islands with their dorsal fins cut off. Probably the very worst though is seeing a coral reef bleaching. On a few occasions I have seen entire reefs bleached pure white thanks to climate change and resulting warmer ocean waters. This impacts not only the corals, but every other species that rely on them. Q: What is next for Richard Smith? What does the future hold in store? A: On 10 September, I’ll be doing a launch for the book at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC, which I’m very

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An anemonefish suffering from a tongue-biter parasite that has replaced its tongue. Sulawesi, Indonesia.

excited about. Then I’ll be getting back to working on naming a new species of pygmy seahorse from east Africa that I collected last year with colleagues from the Specialist Group and Knysna Basin Project. That will be the eighth species of pygmy that we know of and the first in the Indian Ocean. I have also organised plenty of group dive trips over the coming years, taking me through to 2021! The trip to the Solomon Islands next November/December is one I’m particularly excited about. Plus, I’ll be speaking at the GO Diving Show in February 2020! n

The reef gets much shallower here and the currents pick up - after hurtling through at a rate of knots we were finally spat out into a stunning coral garden where we were joined by several feeding mantas

Indonesian

EXPEDITION Komodo to Raja Ampat PART ONE

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Raja Ampat, Komodo, Alor, Banda Islands. No, this is not a bucket list of destinations I would like to dive over the next few years. It is, however, just some of the amazing places I visited during an epic 19 days on board a traditional phinisi-style Indonesian liveaboard PHOTOGRAPHS BY ADRIAN STACEY

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The reefs are spectacular and colourful

Dramatic topside scenery Scorpionfish

ur epic 1,300-mile journey began in Komodo and finished in Raja Ampat. Along the way was an erupting volcano, an island seething with sea snakes, dragons, hammerhead sharks, manta rays, huge pods of dolphins, dramatic wall dives, spectacular reefs, beautiful deserted beaches and historical colonial towns. The expedition is broken down into three legs; the first is from Komodo to Alor. The second section takes the boat across the Banda Sea from Alor to the beautiful Banda Islands. The final stage of the voyage took us from the Banda Islands to the legendary Raja Ampat. For the majority of the expedition, we were the only boat in the area, some of the sites had been visited on previous trips or by other liveaboards, while others had possibly never been dived before. It promised to be a once-in-a-lifetime trip. Cuttlefish cruises below huge fish shoals

Manta ray encounters were common

Komodo dragon

The rest of the dives in Komodo were equally spectacular. Manta Point lived up to its name, with a procession of mantas cruising along the rubble-strewn reef, feeding in the plankton-rich water, hovering over sporadic coral bommies to get cleaned or forming acrobatic mating trains. Castle Rock, a large undersea mount, was covered in a seemingly endless school of yellow-masked surgeonfish. Schooling batfish, fusiliers and yellow-lined snapper added some variety. Huge giant trevallies, schools of blue-finned trevallies and numerous whitetip reef sharks provided the adrenaline. The Cauldron, another of the areaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s signature dive sites, is both unique and beautiful. The strong currents that rage through a narrow channel between two islands have carved out a huge bowl, hence the name. Leading up to this bowl is a gentle sandy slope scattered with glassfish-covered bommies. Once in the Cauldron a brisk current pulled us across its length, past whitetip reef sharks and schooling snapper, to an area affectionately known as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;the shotgunâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. The reef gets much shallower here and the currents pick up - after hurtling through at a rate of knots we were finally spat out into a stunning coral garden where we were joined by several feeding mantas. Finally, no visit to the area would be complete without going to see the famous Komodo dragons, the largest lizard in the world and endemic to the area.

FIRST LEG: KOMODO TO ALOR

With so many places to visit and such vast distances to cover, we could only afford to spend two full days in the Komodo National Park. This is nowhere near long enough to fully appreciate this magnificent mecca of diving, so it was important to make the most of our time here. Komodo is renowned for its strong currents and a dive site called Batu Bolong is an excellent place to witness their ferocious force, especially when dived just after a full moon as we did. The sea took on the complexion of a raging river as our dingy battled to get to the drop point through the churning, boiling, onslaught of water. Beneath us, even the giant trevallies were experiencing some difficulties. This tiny rock pokes mere metres above sea level, its barren features giving no hint of the stunning coral gardens teeming with life that lay beneath the surface. As the falling tide hit the north side of the rock, it fanned out creating a lea side on the south - this is where we would be diving. Schools of sergeant majors inhabit the shallows and a blizzard of anthias sometimes made it hard to see the pristine hard coral gardens that cover every inch of the site. A huge school of fusiliers had also sought refuge out of the punishing current; they in turn had attracted the attention of whitetip and grey reef sharks. Giant trevallies and rainbow runners added to the melee.

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Massive sponges One of the dryland stints

Laying on the sun deck of the boat with a cold beer in hand and watching a volcano explode every 20 minutes was a mesmerising experience that I will never forget After an exhilarating start to the voyage, the fourth day was considerably more relaxed. We spent our time cruising along the north coast of Flores; with only two dives planned, we had plenty of time to enjoy the scenery. Unlike the savanna-like landscape of Komodo, northern Flores is covered in forest and lined with beautiful sandy beaches punctuated by the occasional small village. In the true spirit of exploration, two random places along the lush coastline were chosen for the dives; while not quite as spectacular as Komodo, the dives were very pleasant. Later that afternoon we made an impromptu visit to a small village. The hospitality was overwhelming, but this might have had something to do with the fact that this was where the shipâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cook Yunis was born, and where his parents still lived. Our next destination was Maumere, the largest town in Flores and an important port for the area. This is not really a pretty tourist town, but there are several picturesque resorts along the coast a short distance away. There is some great muck diving along the coast, but we opted for the nearby islands of Pulau Besar and Pulau Babi for our dives. Sheer walls covered in seafans and immense sponges fringe these two islands. One section of reef at Pulau Babi was particularly beautiful. A hole in the top of the reef created an overhang that hid a variety of seafans and soft corals, home to pygmy seahorses and frogfish. With beautiful topside scenery, a visit from a huge pod of dolphins and stunning reefs, which remain mostly unexplored, we could have easily spent a few days here. After a great day around Maumere, we sailed overnight to the tiny island of Serbete. Here we had an early morning dive

The reefs form a riot of colour

along yet another impressive wall studded with immense, elaborate sponges. Then it was time for one of, if not the, highlights of the expedition. Miles away from anywhere, sat in the middle of the sea of Flores, is Pulau Komba, a still veryactive volcano. After several hours travelling across glass-flat water, a small speck appeared on the horizon. As we drew closer a huge plume of smoke rose from the islandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s summit. Twenty minutes later the volcano erupted again, as it does every 20 minutes, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. One side of the island is covered in thick forest, the other side, where the vent of the volcano is situated, is almost completely barren. Frogfish

Pulau Komba volcano

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Octopus

Fish traps like man-made decorations

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Up close it is quite a sight, first came a huge cracking sound, then the mountain would belch out a huge pillar of smoke, large rocks would cascade down a rubble slope, sizzling and steaming as they plunged into the water below. It is not every day that you get to witness the awesome power of a volcano erupting; it is even rarer still to actually dive at its base. With health and safety in mind we made our drop point well away from where the rocks impacted the water. The dive was stunning, huge seafans and brightly coloured soft corals clung to ridges of black rock. The topography would then change to vast plains of dark volcanic sand populated with sea pens. Then it would then morph back to the coral-covered ridges and gullies that also hid a surprising amount of marine life, including some quitespectacular nudibranchs and various crustaceans. Once back on the boat, it was suggested we take a closer look at the volcano. It is perhaps not a good idea to play chicken with a volcano, but like a bunch of naughty school kids we did it anyway! We took the dinghies as close as we dare then as the as the smoke billowed into the sky and the rocks bounced down the side of the mountain, we would quickly drive away. It felt like we were only metres from been hit, but in reality we were a good distance from danger. The day so far had been terrific, but the best was yet to come. At night Pulau Komba is transformed from amazing to absolutely spectacular. The pitch black skies formed the perfect backdrop for a show that would put any New Year’s Eve firework display to shame. By day we witnessed large rocks bouncing down the mountain, by night we could see these bright orange, molten hot rocks explode into the sky sending showers of sparks everywhere as they hit land. Laying on the sun deck of the boat with a cold beer in hand and watching a volcano explode every 20 minutes was a mesmerising experience that I will never forget. I could have

Even the shallows are full of life

Batfish

Sunset over Pulau Komba

Diver dwarfed by sponge and coral growth

stayed there all night, but with a 12-hour journey to Alor ahead of us, the captain finally decided it was time to leave, ignoring our pleas to stay for just one more explosion. In his defence, we had been saying ‘just one more’ for the past two hours… On the seventh day of the expedition, we arrived in Alor for the first of our scheduled restock/dry days. We had travelled almost 400 miles, completed 14 dives and had some amazing experiences. The diving in Komodo was spectacular, the scenery of north Flores was beautiful, as was the diving in Maumere, and Pulau Komba was simple astounding. The next leg of the journey would take us island hopping across the Banda Sea, where there were plenty more amazing experiences in store for us, including an island teeming with sea snakes, submerged reefs and migrating whales. n

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08/04/2019 09:22

UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY

SUNBEAMS AT SUNSET

Mario Vitalini discusses how underwater photographers can make the most of their ‘golden hour’ – usually referred to as ‘dappled light’ PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARIO VITALINI

you are in the water at the right time. The sun in the tropics sets incredibly quickly, so you will only have a few minutes in which to capture the light shafts. Try to dive within an hour of either the sunset or the sunrise, otherwise the sun will be too high in the sky and the rays will hit the surface at a greater angle, or will be too low. Secondly, surface conditions are very important. Be realistic about your chances of capturing dappled light. You don’t want a very choppy surface because that will reflect almost all the light. Calmer water creates stronger sunbeams. But you don’t want it to be perfectly still either. In my experience, you get the best results when there are a few small ripples on the surface. The small waves on the surface disrupt and split the sunbeams creating a beautiful effect.

When too deep, you will have to shoot upwards, risking overexposing the background

hotography is all about light and how we ‘paint’ with it. For me, one of the most-striking forms of ambient light you can find in underwater photography is dappled light. Land photographers talk about the ‘golden hour’, a time for shooting pics early in the morning or at dusk, when the sun sits low in the horizon and creates a soft, alluring light with a beautiful warm tint. In underwater photography we have our own golden hour, but we tend to refer to it as ‘dappled light’. At sunrise or sunset, the sun’s rays hit the water’s surface at an acute angle. Most beams are reflected by the surface. However, a small portion penetrate through, creating visible sunbeams and striking shafts of light you can photograph. This is dappled light.

Clownfish and anemone on the top of Thomas Reef near Tiran Island, Red Sea. A late-afternoon dive gave me the opportunity to photograph it with the characteristic dappled light sunbeams in the background

FINDING THE SUNBEAMS

There are a few key elements you will need to plan for if you want to capture dappled light in your images. Firstly, timing is essential. To achieve a strong image, it is imperative that

Corals and Caves on

Hurricane 21st May 2020 £1425 inc flights from UK ESCORTED BY MARIO VITALINI

Holiday highlights... Mario Vitalini will teach you to work with natural light and wide angle photography, as well as the secrets of amazing fish portraits and using strobes. He will help you build a stunning selection of classic Red Sea images, from the decks of the stable steel hulled Hurricane. There are 18-21 dives over the workshop, as well as all park fees included, 12lt tank/weights and FREE Nitrox.

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A diver lining up a dappled light photo. In order to get the best results, he’s keeping a shallow depth and pointing the camera into the sun

Dive site selection is also essential. A deep dive site is no good. Pick instead a shallow reef, preferably if it almost reaches the surface. Ideally you want to be familiar with the area you intend to photograph, or at least try to dive it beforehand. Think foreground. You can get the mostperfect sunbeams in your shot, but if there is nothing in the foreground that catches our attention, your picture will be too simple and boring. Always look for an interesting subject to place close to the camera - it can be a nice coral formation, a fish or your dive buddy. The ‘what’ is not necessarily that critical, but you need something. Lastly, depth is essential. Dappled light works very well at very shallow depths, and I have had the best results in less than 2m. If you end up deeper you will struggle to get striking sunbeams. Either you are too deep to actually see the beams, or you have to shoot upwards at an angle that is too steep. Clearly you need to plan ahead a bit for these kind of shots. When diving reefs that I know are very shallow and have potential for dappled light shots, I aim to finish my dive when the sun position is at its best. Use the first part of the dive to locate the best spots on the reef and spend the last part of the dive in that area to be ready for the right moment. Position yourself in the right place. You will have to be on ‘the dark side of the reef’ because you will need to shoot into the sun in order to see the shafts of light. Ideally you want to shoot almost horizontally or fractionally upwards to avoid overexposing the background.

Corals in the shallow reefs are ideal for dappled light, offering interesting subjects for the foreground of your images

LENS SELECTION AND SETTINGS

One of the characteristics of dappled light is the beautiful warm tint the light exhibits. However, when using a macro lens, the light tends to lose this quality. A wide-angle lens is ideal for dappled light. A fisheye lens would be my

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11th Sept 2020 £1295 excluding flights

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 most 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.

Photo Finish

Malapascua

Holiday highlights... Join photo pro Mario Vitalini on this Philippines workshop to hone your images of the biggest sharks to the smallest critters. The workshop includes 20 nitrox boat dives plus daily presentations covering all aspects of underwater photography. Your holiday package includes 7 nights in a deluxe room on an full board basis – optional room grades available. Airport transfers are included.

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UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY A table and staghorn coral in the shallows of Indonesian Kalimantan. I found this particular formation during an early dive and considering the great position, made a point to go back to photograph it at the perfect time to capture the dappled light

Be prepared to change the settings as the sun goes down, because the light will be disappearing rapidly. Decreasing the shutter speed or increasing the ISO will help you compensate for the rapidly diminishing light. This is a type of shot that requires you to work quickly and adapt until the conditions mean you have to stop.

LIGHTING

preferred choice as long as I can get very close to the element Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m placing in the foreground. This will allow me to fill the frame with it as well as light it properly. As I have said many times, make sure you expose for the background. Point the camera to the surface, where the sunbeams are forming, and take test shots adjusting the shutter speed and aperture until you are happy with the way the image looks in your LCD. In most cases, you will get a relatively fast shutter speed and a mid-range aperture (around 1/60th F8).

Shooting into the sun means you will be shooting the dark side of the reef and the foreground will be very dark, almost black. Some sort of artificial lighting is essential to light any subject placed in front of the camera. Keep your strobes on either side of your dome port, and position for wide angle. How high or low you position them on the vertical will depend a bit on how high or low your subject is in the foreground. And donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forget to pull your strobes behind the front plane of the dome port to avoid backscatter. Loads of people love to dive at dusk, and many divers talk about the different critters they can see at that time of the day. For me it is not the animals, but the light that makes diving at dusk a great experience as a photographer. Next time you are in the water and the sun is setting, get to the shallows, face the sun and get ready to take dappled light shots, where the light is the real star of the picture. n When photographing reef scenes with dappled light, consider using a letterbox crop

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There is an almost endless amount of underwater photography gear out there, so we asked our panel of experts ‘What equipment do you use, and why?’ PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARIO VITALINI, MARTYN GUESS, PAUL DUXFIELD AND ANNE AND PHIL MEDCALF

For the last five years I have shot underwater (and on land) with a PAUL mirrorless micro four thirds system DUXFIELD camera. I was an initial early adopter, moving over from a DSLR, and despite some of my peers scepticism about the 4/3’s format, which has now matured, I could foresee the undoubted benefits of a smaller, lighter and less-expensive underwater camera rig. Mirrorless cameras save size and weight by dispensing with the bulky mirror box assembly of traditional DSLRs, whilst maintaining quality by utilising larger than compact camerasized image sensors. My current camera is quite old now, and is a Panasonic GX7, and I mostly use it with an Olympus 8mm f1.8 fisheye lens, or a Panasonic 45mm macro lens. I house this inside a Nauticam housing with the oh-so-reassuring vacuum leak detector sensor. I’ve used a variety of strobes recently, from my pair of trusty Inon s2000s, which have been incredibly reliable and have kept the travelling size down, to Sea and Sea YSD1s more powerful but bigger and bulkier - and also a pair of borrowed Retra strobes, which were my favourites for a combination of output power and simplicity, but were unfortunately quite big also. I also use a range of wet lens diopters that increase my macro capabilities when muck diving. And other cameras that I get to test like the Canon G series inside Fantasea housings, and Olympus TGs and, of course, the ubiquitous GoPro.

I controversially (among my peers) prefer to use a flexible strobe arm system made from Loc-Line with a 1” ball and clamps to terminate, giving me speed of adjustment while incorporating the solidity of a clamp. It’s essentially custom made, and is a difficult one for any retailers I work with to recommend over the much-more-widely adopted 1” ball, clamp and rigid arm systems in use out there, as it’s more difficult for them to sell it, as it’s fairly bespoke. However, I no longer have to faff about as much moving my strobe arms into position, and personally prefer the simplicity. But I’ve never been one to bow down to peer or commercial pressure, as I like to literally put my money where my mouth is.

Best of Manado

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29th Sept 2020 £2895 excluding flights

Holiday highlights... With an action packed 29 boat dives plus 9 unguided, house reef dives and free nitrox! Martyn Guess & Manado workshop will enable you to go hone and advance your key photographic skills at Murex Bangka and Lembeh resort. The workshop will spend 5 nights at Murex Bangka followed by 6 nights at Lembeh resort, both on a full board basis (2 people sharing).

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Am I a mug for carrying a huge amount of camera MARTYN equipment in my baggage and always GUESS struggling, with the meagre allowance you get these days from the airlines? I use a Nikon D5 DSLR in a Nauticam housing. The camera weighs in at 3.5kg on its own! Then there are the strobes, ports, lenses, arms and Snoot, plus a load of toys for my students to try out. The reason I persevere is that the image quality I get from my camera is superb. The tonal range that the camera’s sensor will allow means that in darker environments like caverns or at dusk, the images produced show so much more detail than lesser cameras. The focus system is second to none and is simply rapid. This means in difficult underwater situations the camera will find focus where many others won’t. I have this week been teaching students in Bali and being next to them taking the same subjects, I repeatedly see some of the mirrorless system cameras struggling to find focus. In addition, when using increased ISO settings, the camera will perform almost equally as well from 100 ISO to 2,000 plus without much, if any, deterioration in image quality/evident digital noise. This morning on the Liberty wreck in Bali I was shooting at 1,000 plus ISO without any issue. The camera’s battery will also last for two to three days diving, which is amazing. For lighting macro subjects, I use my trusty Inon 240s. I have quite a few of these which I take on workshops to provide back up when a student’s strobe fails – almost always

not an Inon. There is a newer model, the 330, but frankly it is too powerful for macro use without the ND filter attachment and even then, many of my fellow photographers complain about the brightness. I followed a recommendation by Alex Mustard some years ago and warm up the light produced by my Inons with a Gelcoat home-made filter, easily purchased online from stage lighting suppliers - it’s called Courtauld 444 and is very cheap for a sheet, which will last for many years. Check out the article Alex wrote on Wetpixel. I regularly use a Snoot with the Inon 240 and for me, the only choice is the one made by Retra. It simply works, where others let you down with bits going missing on a dive. I also use wet lenses made by Nauticam, the SMC 1 and 2 – amazing bits of glass. For wide angle I use Subtronic 270s with batteries in the float arms. They produce a nice warm light and are very powerful. They will light anything from large coral bommies to shark action in the Atlantic. I found my Inons good but not powerful enough. I will be interested to read the reports on the new Retra strobes when they emerge later this year as they might save me some of my valuable luggage allowance.

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30th November 2019 £1295 inc flights from UK

Relaxed Red Sea

Holiday highlights... Join Martyn Guess for a week focused on getting more out of your camera! Departing from Hurghada, you will spend 7 nights on board on a full board basis (twin share cabin). Based in Northern Red Sea with up to 21 dives over the week but the itinerary will vary, depending on the photo opportunities. All marine park fees, 12lt tank and weights are included in your package.

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Our underwater photography professionals have, between them, literally thousands of hours of dive time and countless hours spent travelling the world shooting underwater images and teaching workshops. If you have a question you’d like them to address, email: mark@scubadivermag.com

For the last seven years I have been using the mirrorless system, first with MARIO an Olympus EM5 VITALINI and more recently the EM1 and EM1 MkII. The image quality on mirrorless cameras is incredibly good and, in many cases, equal to what can be achieved with the more-expensive and heavier DSLR systems. Currently I use two different systems, the Olympus OMD EM1 MKII with a couple of macro lenses, a fisheye and my favourite, the Nauticam WWL1 wide wet lens. This is the setup I take on trips were baggage weight is an issue. Early this year, I went back to an SLR rig with Nikon D500, which I got after much consideration. It was not easy to go back to a system I abandoned many years back. However, the most-recent developments in the micro 4/3 range are more expensive and heavier than the equivalent DSLR option. Mad but true. In terms of lighting I use Inon strobes. Over the years they have proven some of the most-reliable units I have owned. For wide angle I use the Z330. They are incredibly powerful for their size, and the light beam guarantees a good coverage. However, they are too powerful for macro photography and for that reason, I use Z240s, which also have a slightly narrower beam. The light has sharper edges making them great for inward lighting. For macro photography I also carry a selection of accessories, such as Perspex colour backgrounds, snoot and a narrow beam torch for backlighting.

Master Macro 9th May 2020 £2895 excluding flights ESCORTED BY MARTYN GUESS

Holiday highlights... 10 nights in resort, full board divers plan & 24 boat dives – FREE Nitrox Join pro photographer Martyn Guess in the critter mecca Dumaguete. With 24 boat dives plus free nitrox (3 dives/day plus 1 day Apo reef) and Martyn’s workshop throughout, this workshop packs a real punch. Additional travel options available, ask for details.

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We both use the same basic set up, an Olympus OMD EM10 Mk II in a Nauticam housing. Using a mirrorless camera with the micro four-thirds sensor gives us the best of both worlds as it and the lenses are smaller and lighter than a DSLR or even another mirrorless camera with a larger sensor, while still having the benefits of having interchangeable lenses. As travelling underwater photographers, packing within weight limits is always fun but having a smaller camera means a smaller, lighter housing, which makes this more manageable. The big plus is being able to use interchangeable lenses and although you may have to make a decision between whether the next dive will be a wide-angle or macro shoot, the prime lenses we use are more suited to getting the shots we are looking for. We don’t use the 14-42mm kit lens that came with the cameras when we bought them at all underwater. Instead for wide angle, we use the Olympus 8mm fisheye lens with a small dome port so we can get very close to subjects when shooting wide angle, and for macro we have a choice of either 45mm Panasonic or 60mm Olympus macro lenses plus several different macro wet lenses. Even though we use quite small cameras once the whole rig is set up with tray, arms and two strobes it weighs in at over 5kg, so it is still quite heavy and bulky to carry around but once underwater it is easy to manoeuvre into smaller spaces that fellow divers with big DSLRs cannot get into. It is also easier to hold with one hand if you need to and if there is some current there is less drag with a smaller camera. We also get the opportunity to dive with cameras and housings provided by distributors and manufacturers for us to test. This means we get to play with all kinds of kit from action cameras through compacts up to interchangeable lens cameras. It’s always nice to take small cameras in the water and a compact camera can get into places our own cameras can’t get to, and it also means not having to carry a heavy weight around! We spend a good amount of time on most trips trying lighting set-ups and wet lenses with different cameras to get an idea of what suits which camera and learning how to optimise the settings. This makes it easier for us to teach and advise our customers from first-hand experience. We have four EM10 MkII camera bodies between the two

ANNE AND PHIL MEDCALF

of us, so we always have a spare in case the worst should happen and it is easy to take a spare in hand luggage as it takes up so little space. When on a dive trip it is also helpful to have the spare camera with a telephoto lens ready in case we see something topside, so we can still take pictures of birds or dolphins during the surface interval without having to take a camera out of the underwater housing. n

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11th July 2020 £1495 inc flights from Gatwick

Relaxed Red Sea

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DIVERS ALERT NETWORK: EUROPE DAN Europe is an international non-profit medical and research organisation dedicated to the safety and health of divers. WWW.DANEUROPE.ORG

INCIDENT INSIGHTS:

DEALING WITH AN OCTOPUS BITE Payal Razdan looks at a case where a female diver was bitten by an octopus as she tried to return it to the water after it was accidentally brought to the surface by her buddy THE DIVER

The diver was a generally healthy, 32-year-old woman with 130 lifetime dives. Her medical history included no allergies or other health problems. She had just completed her second dive on the second day of a dive series.Â

THE INCIDENT

During the dive, the diverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s buddy collected what he thought was an empty moon snail shell. The divers did not realise that a juvenile giant Pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini) had taken up residence in the shell. When the octopus crawled out after the dive, the diver picked it up with her bare hands to

return it to the water. Before she could put the octopus back in the water, it bit her on the back of her left hand three times in the same place. She described the bites as surprising, and feeling similar to bee stings. The wound bled moderately, and the diver rinsed it first with salt water and then 40 minutes later with soap and fresh water. Swelling appeared within 30 minutes, and became severe within about an hour. Approximately four hours later the diver made another dive. Upon surfacing she was nauseous and vomited (she had not previously experienced such symptoms after diving). The nausea resolved quickly, and the diver conducted five more

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During the dive, the diver’s buddy collected what he thought was an empty moon snail shell. The divers did not realise that a juvenile giant Pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini) had taken up residence in the shell dives over the next two days despite significant swelling and compromised mobility that lasted for about four days. The diver wore a drysuit and neoprene wet gloves on every dive. When not diving she kept the wound dry and applied an over-the-counter antibiotic ointment to it. She also took an over-the-counter antihistamine and applied crushed aspirin to the skin surrounding the puncture site (not directly on the wound), but none of these practices provided any relief. Significant itching and pain reached their peak five to six days after the incident.

COMPLICATIONS

About three days after the bite, the wound became infected and developed into a dark, quarter-inch lesion surrounded by a raised red area. Black-green discoloration surrounding the lesion appeared about nine days after the incident. Moderate pain and significant itching and swelling lasted for more than a month. The lesion took approximately seven weeks to heal, although pain, sensitivity to touch and itching lasted for three months, with minor flare ups still occurring four to five months after the incident, usually after exercise or early in the morning. Six months after the incident, a tissue nodule remained at the bite site.

DISCUSSION

Although blue-ringed octopus bites are known for being potentially deadly, bites by most octopus species are generally not problematic. Recently scientists have come to understand that all octopuses may be venomous to some degree. The medical literature indicates that bites by octopuses of the same class as the giant Pacific octopus have resulted in ulceration. The small puncture wound developed into what appeared to be an ulcerous lesion, similar to one that developed following a common octopus bite documented in a 2011 medical case report. The delay in proper wound care may have been a complicating factor. DAN recommends washing marine bites immediately with soap and clean water to minimise the risk of infection. Infection can impair healing and lead to significant tissue damage. Divers should not dive with open wounds because exposure to the aquatic environment can increase infection risk. Monitoring the wound site is important since signs of infection can appear from within hours to several weeks following an injury. The immediate swelling the diver experienced may have been a consequence of the initial trauma, the exposure to myriad antigens that followed and/or toxins.

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Prolonged symptoms were most likely a result of infection. The drysuit wrist seals may have been a secondary complicating factor. Although the swelling was probably the result of an acute inflammatory reaction, tight-fitting wrist seals may have compromised distal perfusion, further exacerbating symptoms. In addition to inflammation of the affected area, other symptoms of infection include pain, redness and immobilisation. These symptoms can be remembered using the acronym PRISH: pain, redness, immobilisation (impaired function), swelling and heat (elevated warmth of the infected area). The cause of the diver’s nausea upon completing the dive is unclear. A third complicating factor in this case may have been the delay in medical care. DAN advises divers to treat wounds caused by marine life like any other animal bite and seek prompt medical attention. In this case, the wound was evaluated ten days after the incident, delaying treatment that might have limited progression of the diver’s symptoms. Initially the physician prescribed a ten-day course of the antibiotic levofloxacin. Evolving symptoms and progressing discoloration, however, prompted the doctor to prescribe an additional antibiotic, amoxicillin and clavulanate (Augmentin), for ten days along with an antihistamine to manage itching. This incident should serve to emphasise that timely treatment of wounds can reduce the risk of serious infection. Whenever possible, divers should photograph wounds, because images can help medical staff provide more effective and efficient care. Divers should understand that handling marine life may lead to injuries, some of which can result in serious complications. In order to prevent marine life injuries, identify injuries caused by hazardous marine life and provide first aid, check out DAN’s HMLI course.

The wound bled moderately, and the diver rinsed it first with salt water and then 40 minutes later with soap and fresh water REFERENCES

1. Aigner BA, Ollert M, Seifert F, Ring J, Plötz SG. Pseduomonas oryzihabitans cutaneous ulceration from Octopus vulgaris bite. Arch Dermatol. 2011; 147(8): 963-66. 2. Campanelli A, Sanchez-Politta S, Saurat JH. Cutaneous ulceration after an octopus bite: infection due to Vibrio alginolyticus, an emerging pathogen. Ann Dermatol Venereol. 2008; 135(3): 225-27. 3. Fry BG, Roelants K, Norman JA. Tentacles of venom: toxic protein convergence in the kingdom animalia. J Mol Evol. 2009; 68(4): 311-21. 4. Taylor DM, Ashby K, Winkel KD. An analysis of marine animal injuries presenting to emergency departments in Victoria, Australia. Wilderness Environ Med. 2002; 13(2): 106-12.

DAN MEMBERSHIP

Before leaving for your next dive adventure, make sure your DAN membership is still active. If it isn’t, join DAN, or renew your membership at: www.daneurope.org 73

BEYOND TECHNICAL

www.narkedat90.com

Byron Conroy was able to sate his lust for rust during a ten-day liveaboard voyage diving the famous wartime wrecks of Truk Lagoon PHOTOGRAPHS BY BYRON CONROY

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We design, manufacture and retail scuba and rebreather equipment. We have fully equipped test and certification labs, and can pressure test large items in our vacuum chambers, as well as run fully automated leak test and dive simulations down to 400m. Our EMC and EMF lab is filled with state-ofthe-art equipment for testing electromagnetic compatibility andÂ electromagnetic fields. We also have a large in-house laser for cutting and engraving on plastics and metals. www.narkedat90.com

Fuji plane

Gosei drone shot

The remaining crew were unable to open the air valves to push the water out of the ballast tanks, leaving the submarine marooned on the bottom of the lagoon with its crew trapped inside

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ome 90 minutes before sunrise, on 17 February 1944, the people of the Truk islands (that is the westernised version, it is known as Chuuk) woke up to the sound of bombs falling from the sky. A total of 500 aircraft along with five fleet carriers and support ships descended on these small Pacific islands in an early morning surprise attack. The Japanese radar station on Truk was not capable of detecting the American’s lowflying planes, and therefore had no chance of responding to the attack until it was too late. Due to the lack of warning many of the Japanese ships were caught at anchor within the lagoon. The vessels trying to escape by steaming towards Japan were attacked and bombed by US submarines. Over the next two days, 250 Japanese aircraft were destroyed, over 50 ships sunk and more than 4,500 people killed. This military strike on the Imperial Japanese Navy become known as Operation Hailstorm, sometimes referred to as the United States’ answer to Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbour a few years earlier. The consequences of the attack have made Truk Lagoon the largest graveyard of ships and aircrafts in the world. For decades following the attack, the ghost fleet of Truk Lagoon remained untouched and unexplored deep down below the surface. It was not until 1969 that diving pioneer Jacques Cousteau and his team put together a two-month expedition with the goal to discover, explore and map the wrecks resting at the bottom of the lagoon. In his documentary Lagoon of Lost Ships, you can be seen how Cousteau and his team dived on dozens of the wrecks, discovering not only the position of the sunken ships and aircraft, but also an astonishing amount of artefacts, along with the human remains of hundreds of Japanese sailors.

TRUK TODAY

Situated in the heart of the Pacific Ocean, surrounded by nothing but ocean for 1,200 miles is the state of Chuuk. Together with Yap, Pohnpei and Kosrae, it creates the Federated States of Micronesia, an independent republic although associated with the United States. During World War One and World War Two, Chuuk served as Japan’s largest and most-important forward naval base, including five airstrips, seaplane bases, a torpedo boat station, submarine repair shops, a communications centre and a radar station. In the aftermath of Operation Hailstorm, the United States claimed the Micronesian islands and they remained under their administration until 1979. Chuuk is the chuukese word for ‘mountain’. It’s made up by an archipelago of mountainous islands with the area known as Truk Lagoon in the middle. Here rests warships, auxillary ships, merchant ships, aircraft, submarines, trucks, guns, torpedoes and artefacts at the sandy bottoms of a turquoise lagoon. Today, Truk Lagoon is a wreck diver´s Mecca. A place you, as a dedicated wreck diver, simply have to visit at least once in your lifetime.

Artefacts in the Shinkoku

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COMPUTERS • O2 CELLS • GAS ANALYSERS CABLES & CONNECTORS • REBREATHER PARTS PATHFINDER STROBES • SENSORS TOOLS • SOLENOIDS The stern on the Gosei

Inside the Betty Bomber

Today it’s open for any wreck diver to explore and experience the history and mystery of Truk Lagoon. Some items, like the ship’s bells, have been salvaged from the wrecks, and the remains of the lost sailors have been recovered and brought back to Japan. Yet, over 70 years after the attack, there are incredible amounts of artefacts, vehicles, guns, ammunition and personal belongings to observe on the wrecks today. Getting to Chuuk is a little bit of an adventure in itself, although nothing compared to the excitement of diving 50 of the best wrecks in the world once you get there. There are direct flights to Manila with various airlines, and from Manila you want to get yourself to the island of Guam, a US territory located in the Pacific Ocean 1,200 miles north of Papua New Guinea. From there you catch the island-hopper towards Honolulu, with Chuuk (luckily) as the first out of six stops.

DIVING ONBOARD THE TRUK MASTER

Prop on the Heian Maru

Bottles in the Heian Maru

Although Truk Lagoon is a relatively small area, a liveaboard is still the best option for your stay. While the resorts here typically offer two dives a day, you can from a liveaboard easily complete four dives each day, still with plenty of time to relax and eat in between. And trust me, in Truk you will have the urge to do as many dives as possible. Many of the wrecks here are huge, and it takes several dives on each one to explore the deck, holds, engine room, bridge and propellers. The Truk Master (www.blueotwo.com), run by British captain Martin Cridge, has many years of experience from cruising this lagoon. The vessel is fully equipped for recreational diving as well as technical OC/CCR divers, including redundant oxygen generators, supply of helium and Sofnolime, twinsets and allocated tanks for sidemount or rebreathers. Captain Martin is a dedicated wreck diver and skilled underwater photographer who knows all there is to

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BEYOND TECHNICAL

www.narkedat90.com The bow of the Fujikawa

The gun on the San Francisco

know about this place. Throughout the trip, Martin briefed us in detail about how to get the most out of each dive, along with the history and tech specs of each wreck we visited.

THE MANY MARUS

Most of the wrecks in the lagoon and on our dive itinerary were named ´Something´ Maru. In most cases, this means that the wreck was once a merchant ship. The Japanese suffix Maru is often applied to words representing something beloved, and so Japanese sailors often apply this to their ships. Warships on the other hand are never called Maru, but instead named after objects such as places, weather phenomena, months or animals.

Although it’s a relatively easy and shallow dive, we found it was a challenge to plan as there are just so many points of interest!

FUMIZUKI

On the second day of our ten-day trip onboard the Truk Master, we got the unique opportunity to dive one of Truk´s few warships. The IJN Fumizuki or ‘July’, is a 101-metrelong destroyer sitting intact and upright on the bottom in 27m-30m of water. It was spotted and sunk by a torpedo bomber on the second day of the attack. Apart from being a beautiful wreck, she is also home to quite a few turtles and many schooling fish, making her an amazing dive site.

BETTY BOMBER

Although many of the aircraft in Truk got badly destroyed during the attack, some are still more or less intact and dive-able. Just a short distance from the former airstrip of Eten island rests a Mitsubishi G4M3 Attack Bomber, a model known as the Betty Bomber or The Flying Cigar due to the shape and its tendency to catch fire. This specific aircraft is thought to have missed the airstrip, and instead landed in the water. It is unknown if this happened during the Operation Hailstorm attack or at another time. It´s a nice and easy dive

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Gas masks in the Nippo

THE MILLION DOLLAR WRECK

The deep wreck highlight of our trip is the San Francisco Maru. Also known as the Million Dollar Wreck, thanks to the worth of her cargo. She sits upright in 48m-60m of water. My partner and I planned this dive thoroughly and decided to make three stops on the wreck in order to fulfil our ‘most wanted’ sightings. The Truk Master was moored up just in front of the wreck and as we descended, we soon saw the iconic bow gun on the deck. We were saving this shot for later and continued towards Hold two, which was the deepest part of our dive at around 60m. In the hold are two huge tanker trucks, a staff car, fuel drums, ammunition and aircraft bombs. Back up on deck, we made our next stop at the three tanks, still intact with their guns. Our last photo stop before it was time to start our ascent and deco stops was the bow gun. The gun is in such good condition, it´s hard to imagine it has spent the last 70 years on the seabed.

providing some great photo opportunities while penetrating the aircraft. The engines were torn off during the crash and can now be found 55 metres from the body of the plane. Some great artefacts such as the pilot´s chair and other items and equipment from inside the aircraft can still be seen at the site.

FUJIKAWA MARU

By far the most popular and beloved wreck in Truk is the Fujikawa Maru, and after three dives here we totally get what the Fuji-hype is all about. Once an impressive merchant ship used for transporting armed aircraft, she now sits upright and intact at the bottom 30m below the surface. Although it´s a relatively easy and shallow dive, we found it was a challenge to plan as there are just so many points of interest! A sixinch gun and a telegraph in good condition are found on the bow. Gas mask, bottles and porcelain on the deck. A memorial stone on mid-ship deck. In hold two, there are several zero fighter airplanes plus lots of spare airplane parts. Directly above the engine room is the infamous workshop, home to a celebrity – the R2D2. If you only seen a couple of underwater photos from Truk, chances are that you´ve seen this robotlooking compressor in at least one of them.

TEC OR REC?

During our ten-day trip, the fellow guests onboard were a mix of recreational single tank divers, technical OC divers and CCR divers. My partner and I did most dives on a twinset with a 12-litre stage of 50 percent. For the deeper wrecks such as the San Francisco Maru, we used 20/20 Trimix, which with a conservative plan gave us 25 minutes of bottom time and 30 minutes of deco. While we were definitely jealous of CCR divers’ profiles, we still appreciated having the technical training and experience to be able to enjoy the deeper wrecks, although somehow limited in time. Many of the wrecks in Truk are within recreational limits and there is still a lot to see and explore even on a single-tank set up. It is however worth keeping in mind that when doing up to four dives a day, it is tempting to rack up some deco time. Although not required or mandatory, I would recommend recreational divers planning a trip to Truk to invest in a technical certification prior to the trip. It will give you the opportunity to dive a little bit deeper into the notorious history of Truk Lagoon. n Inside the wheelhouse of the Nippo

The Betty Bomber

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Wreck Diving Paradise

Truk Lagoon Dive an entire Japanese fleet frozen in time, for world-class wreck diving, colourful reefs and shark encounters. Fascinating WWII wrecks to explore Grey reef sharks, eagle rays & more Vibrant & colourful coral reefs Brilliant selection of resorts & liveaboards

Dive Truk Lagoon 12 days from ÂŁ2,795 Price includes return flights from the UK, transfers, accommodation & diving. See website for our full collection of trips.

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What’s New

KUBI SPECIAL EDITION RED DELUXE DRYGLOVES (SRP: £170-£180)

There is a new Special Edition version of the KUBI Drygloves available for a limited time only – the Red Deluxe. The Red Deluxe includes KUBI aluminium rings with specialedition red and white reflex labels on both the cuff and the glove sides, a choice of latex outer gloves (either red textured heavyweight latex gloves or black standard 1.6mm latex gloves), Sub Zero F2 thermal inner gloves, red KUBI carry bag, Narkox-Mini bottle of oil, KUBI-Card (to assist with removal of O-rings), KUBI meri-no wool hat, and a KUBI mask strap. www.kubistore.com

BEUCHAT MUNDIAL ONE-50 (SRP: £49)

The Mundial One-50s are a full-foot fin which is perfect for freediving, or just a spot of snorkel-ling. The reactive foot pocket design has a reinforced instep, and the stabilisers on either side of the blade are integrated into the foot pocket tips. There are also stabilisers integrated into the end of the blade itself, which ends with a fishtail shape designed to ensure more accurate direction control. www.beuchat-diving.com 82

FOURTH ELEMENT KIDS COLLECTION (SRP: £17.50)

The younger soon-to-be diving fraternity need to look as cool as their parents, and this limited-edition collection has a fun feel in bright colours. Each T-shirt is made from 100 percent organic cotton, traceable from farm to factory, GMO-free and grown without the use of chemicals. The design is printed in water-based inks, which are free from harmful chemicals and more gentle on the environment. Sizes are 5-6, 7-8, 9-11, and 12-14 years old. www.fourthelement.com

DIVELIFE CLUB T-SHIRT (SRP: £20)

Want a funky new dive T-shirt? Check out the eye-catching Divelife Club T-shirt, with its stylised skull-octopus in a weathered design. Available in black, grey or green – and it is only £15 if you are actually a member of Divelife. www.divelife.co.uk WWW.SCUBADIVERMAG.COM

AMMONITE DIVE LIGHT HEADS (SRP: £999-£2,095)

Ammonite have released three new dive light heads, and while they are so new that details are still sketchy, what we do know is that they are bloody bright! The Speleo is a cave-diving light pumping out 1,500 lumens. It comes with a 10aH battery. The Solaris Next Generation is designed as a wreck diving light and chucks out an impressive 4,500 lumens. The Nautilus is a focusable head with, according to Ammonite, market-leading output. It comes with a 24aH 200m-rated Accuthermo heated pack. www.nautilusdiving.co.uk

AQUA LUNG CERAMIQSKIN (SRP: £83-£100) The CeramiQskin first-layer range is the most-advanced Aqua Lung suit ever, and is designed to assist you in staying warm during dives – it can be worn along for warm-water dives, or un-der a drysuit or wetsuit for colder conditions. The material is an exclusive and highly technical fabric that gives a high level of thermal protec-tion, zero buoyancy and extreme comfort thanks to the Ceramic technology applied in the tri-laminated fabric. This technology uses a blend of 30 metallic oxides derived from volcanic rocks, heated at 1,600 degrees C and mixed with a PU binder. This ‘paste’ is then applied on a PU membrane, enabling it to capture the ‘far’ infrared rays emitted by the user’s body and re-turn them to the person, keeping them warm, activating blood micro-circulation, and providing a high level of comfort. CeramiQskin is a blend of Lycra exterior with a breathable Polyurethane membrane and polar fleece inside. The breathable PU facilitates the transfer of moisture from inside to outside, but is a watertight barrier from outside to inside. A silicone strip on the inside edge of the top helps keep it in place and prevent it ‘riding up’. The range is composed of tops (short and long sleeve) and pants, in male and female designs. www.aqualung.com/uk WWW.SCUBADIVERMAG.COM

Test Extra

AQUA LUNG STORM | SRP: £55

Mark Evans: When you are travelling abroad to dive, you are faced with that horrible battle to get all of your dive kit into a bag weighing less than the ever-decreasing baggage allowance from your chosen airline. There are cracking lightweight BCDs and wings, and regulators, on the market these days that can help keep the weight down, but fins are an awkward one. By their very nature they are generally heavy lumps, and if you did find something megalightweight, it often didn’t have the thrust and propulsion of chunkier fins used back home in the UK. The Storms could be exactly what you are looking for. The Storm is made from Monprene, and this single-material construction helps keep the weight down, while also giving the fin durability and strength. Available in black and white currently, it is a good-looking piece of kit, too. The ergonomically designed foot pocket comfortably surrounds your foot in the manner of a full-foot fin, but it has an open heel with a silicone bungee strap, so is dead easy to get on and off. Obviously, it is designed to be worn barefoot, but you can also wear Storms with a pair of booties, or at least neoprene socks. The bottom of the fins boasts superior grip built in, which works well on wet and slippery boat decks. The compact blade is plenty stiff enough to generate a surprising amount of propulsion, especially given their size, and the grooves running the length of the blade efficiently direct the flow off the end of the fin and reduce spillage off the sides. Don’t get me wrong, it is never going to be able to go toe-to-toe with your RK3 HDs, but it is light years ahead of the old Hotshot travel fins. The stumpy size not only helps keep the weight down, but it also makes them perfect for wreck diving and other confined areas. You can back-kick, frog-kick and helicopter turn with ease in these fins.

And before you all get excited about colour-coding your fins to match other bits of kit, you can’t. The coloured inserts into the fin itself in front of the foot pocket, and the protector covers on the bungee strap, signify the size of the fins, and are not interchangeable. Finally, that price! £55 for a pair of travel fins of this calibre is an absolute steal. www.aqualung.com/uk

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Test Extra

AQUA LUNG i200C | SRP: £299

Mark Evans: Dive computers from Aqua Lung just keep on coming, and the i200C represents fantastic value for money for a well-equipped and durable wristwatch-style unit. It uses the tried-and-tested Z+ algorithm, and has a segmented LCD display, which is easy to read – for low-light conditions, it has a push-button-activated back light, which is handy on night dives. It has got four operating modes – Air, Nitrox, Gauge (with run timer) and Free Dive. Handily, the latter tracks calculations to allow unrestricted switching between free and dive modes. In Nitrox mode, it can handle two gas mixes, up to 100 percent oxygen, so will cover the vast majority of divers for all of the diving they will ever want to do. It has a user-replaceable battery, so no sending it off to the manufacturer when it runs low, which is a bonus with a wristwatch unit, as many people will use this as a day-today watch. It comes in six funky colours, from the more-subtle Grey and Dark Grey to in-your-face Bright Pink, Aqua, Blue, and

Hot Lime, and in the box you get the unit itself, plus a lens protector and a battery compartment opening tool. We tried out the Hot Lime, and it certainly stands out as a daily wear watch, often eliciting comments from even nondivers. It feels solid on your wrist, but is not what I’d call heavy. The best thing about the i200C is how easy it is to use – it literally takes a couple of minutes to get your head around the menu and navigation and then you are away. I let several of the Depthera-py divers have a trial dive with it in Egypt a couple of months ago, and they were all happily using it within a short time. It was also brought out for Ryan Arnold to use when he was doing his entry-level RAID course. However, one of the i200C’s greatest attributes is down to how well it works with the Diver-Log+ app (which is available for iOS and Android). The i200C seamlessly interacts wirelessly via Bluetooth Smart technology, and you can control all aspects of the computer from your phone or computer. I found it easy to jump into DiverLog+ and adjust all the settings – gas mix, salt or fresh water,

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MTX-R

MILITARY GRADE ENGINEERING

BUILT TO PERFORM BUILT TO LAST Based on the Apeks MTX military cold water regulator, the MTX-R is designed to perform in the very coldest of conditions. With an innovative first stage design that helps to prevent ice build up around the diaphragm, the MTX-R is reliable, rugged and expedition ready.

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Test Extra

AQUA LUNG i200C | SRP: £299

alarms, etc – and then it is a simple matter to just fire that over to the i200C and, you are ready to dive. Far quicker and easier than doing it all manually on the com-puter itself, to be honest. On completing your dive, you can then throw over all your dive data from the i200C into your DiverLog+ app logbook. Your dive profile, time and date, water temperature, etc, are all brought over from the i200C, and you can then add additional information, such as what gear you were using, your location, buddy’s name, any photographs or videos you took, and so on. You can even get your buddy to digital ‘sign’ your logbook. Once complete, you just hit the ‘share’ but-ton and can send it out via all the usual channels – email, Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, etc. The DiverLog+ app has many features beyond those described above – you can build up a file of buddies, locations, ‘gear bags’ for different conditions, and much more. Like the i200C it-self, it is very intuitive and easy to use. With a decent range of capabilities, and coming in at just a shade under £300, it represents excellent value for money and is a nice user-friendly piece of kit, especially as it works so well with the DiverLog+ app. www.aqualung.com/uk

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BEUCHAT VOYAGER XL | SRP: £189

Mark Evans: All travelling divers need a good dive bag to transport all of their precious diving equipment – and a few clothes – but you don’t want something that screams ‘I have expensive dive kit in-side’, and you don’t want something that eats half your luggage allowance when empty. The Beuchat Voyager XL is a two-compartment roller bag with an adjustable telescopic handle that is ideal for transporting all of the dive kit needed for a warm or even temperate water loca-tion, along with clothes and essentials, but it is emblazoned with subtle logos, and it only weighs 3.5kg. It is made from ripstop 600 denier and 1000 denier nylon/ PVC – the light but tough ripstop material is coated with polyurethane to make it waterproof. It has a semi-rigid thermoformed EVA back shall, which is lightweight but provides an extra degree of protection for your equipment. The main compartment has a mesh side pocket and drainage vents, and it is more than capable of swallowing a whole host of kit. The secondary compartment is designed for your dry gear, and has a lower pouch and interior retaining strap. There is an outer compression strap to keep everything tight and in place, and a handy outer document holder with a coated zip and carry strap. There are foam-filled handles on the top and side to aid with lifting it in and out of your vehicle, etc, and there are even removeable rucksack-style straps if you really feel the

need to hoist something this size on to your back! We have used it on several trips now, and it rolls nice and easily on the red over-moulded wheels. It appears to be withstanding the rough and tumble treatment of the airlines very well, with no discernable marks or damage. www.beuchat-diving.com

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Test Extra

SEALIFE SEA DRAGON MINI 1000F | SRP: £165

Mark Evans: SeaLife describe this compact little unit as an LED photo/video/dive light, and it really is a Jack of all trades. It has a 130 degree wide beam (which equates to about 98 degrees un-derwater) from its Luxeon V LED, which makes it great for lighting up a pretty vast area. This is handy on a night dive in the tropics – though I’d knock the power down to a half, or even a quarter so as not to destroy the ‘night diving ambience’ – and when you use the Mini 1000F as a video light, when it lights up a decent amount of your subject matter despite how small it is. It also works as a photo light if you are doing close-up work, but once you start looking to wide-angle, as with most lights, it doesn’t have the punch of a powerful strobe to illuminate like that. However, most people who buy this will either be using it as a handy size back-up dive light, or as a video light. As the latter, it comes into its own, and is supplied with a YS adap-tor with mounts for AquaPod and GoPro cameras, as well as fitting nicely on to the SeaLife arms and cameras. This would be perfect to sit atop a mirrorless or DSLR system, giving you light when you want to shoot video, but being small enough to not get in the way when you are shooting wide-angle and using strobes on extended arms. As a dive light in the UK, perhaps a better option is the SeaLife Sea Dragon Mini 1300S – currently in Long Term Test – as this has a narrow beam which slices through the detritus often present in UK waters. The 1000F, due to its wide beam, lights up all of the floating particles, especially on full power.

The Mini 1000F is operated via a push-button, and you can cycle through the power settings (100 percent, 50 percent, 25 percent, blinking, SOS) by just pressing this button. There is a nifty battery indicator light around the push button – green for full power, yellow for half power, and red for when you are on low power. It is depth-rated to 100m, and is small enough to fit in a BCD pocket. The kit includes, as well as the aforementioned camera mounts, the light itself, a 18650 3.7-volt 2600 mAh Li-ion battery, charger and charging cable, a lanyard with BCD clip for when you are using it as a dive light, and two spare O-rings and O-ring lube. www.sealife-cameras.com

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Long Term Test APEKS VX1

SEALIFE SEA DRAGON MINI 1300S

Mark Evans: The VX1 is the new frameless mask from Apeks, available in black and white, and is designed to be comfortable, easy to clear thanks to its low volume, and it folds flat so it will fit in your pocket as a back-up if INFORMATION Arrival date: September 2019 necessary. It comes with a Suggested retail price: £69 spare neoprene strap and Number of dives: 13 nifty zippered case. Time in water: 12 hrs 30 mins www.apeksdiving.com/uk

SUUNTO D5 Mark Evans: The Suunto D5 has been on its travels again, this time accompanying Ross when we headed to Malta for our family diving adventures, and as I put this issue to bed, we will be visiting Aqaba in Jordan again. It is so user-friendly, you forget this is a test unit, and even after just a few trips, it just feels ‘normal’ to have it perched on your wrist. The fact that it is comfortable, not too chunky and makes a perfect watch as well just rounds out the package. www.suunto.com 94

Mark Evans: The Sea Dragon Mini 1300S had its first outing on our family diving trip to Malta, and it was soon commandeered by Luke. The compact size meant it fit his 12-year-old hand perfectly, and he was in his element shining the tight beam into nooks and crannies searching for crabs and the like. The light is impressively bright for its size. www.sealife-cameras.com

INFORMATION Arrival date: July 2019 Suggested retail price: £130 Number of dives: 9 Time in water: 8 hrs 50 mins

MARES GENIUS

INFORMATION Arrival date: April 2019 Suggested retail price: £545 Number of dives: 44 Time in water: 43 hrs 15 mins

Mark Evans: The Mares Genius has just arrived on my doorstep, which is perfect timing as in two days I am heading to Aqaba for the sinking of the TriStar airliner, so it will be getting its first dives in the Red Sea. I was impressed when I first saw the Genius at the BOOT INFORMATION Arrival date: August 2019 show, and am looking Suggested retail price: £711 forward to checking out all Number of dives: 0 of its many features. Time in water: 0 hrs 0 mins www.mares.com WWW.SCUBADIVERMAG.COM

OTTER WATERSPORTS ATLANTIC

Mark Evans: Guest tester Jason Brown has been logging plenty more full-on technical dives and inland bimble dives in his Otter Watersports Atlantic, and he is still INFORMATION Arrival date: February 2019 totally enamoured with Suggested retail price: £1,560 the cut, fit and comfort of Number of dives: 55 the suit. Time in water: 54 hrs 55 mins www.drysuits.co.uk

AQUA LUNG AQUAFLEX

Mark Evans: The Aquaflex wetsuits came to Malta on our family trip, and both Ross in his blue variant and Penney in her ‘Galaxy’ trim were nice and warm even on extended dives. They also benefitted from the ease of donning/doffing, which when it was high-30 degrees C temperatures in direct sunlight, they were very happy about. It is off to Jordan again now for Ross’, but INFORMATION Arrival date: April 2019 Penney will be using hers Suggested retail price: £260 in UK waters with an Number of dives: 54 undervest, it is that warm. Time in water: 53 hrs 55 mins www.aqualung.com/uk WWW.SCUBADIVERMAG.COM

APEKS XL4+

Mark Evans: Luke Evans is looking forward to using his Apeks XL4+ on our forthcoming trip to Malta. It is so easy and simple to swap mouthpieces out with the reuseable clip - simply flick back the locking clip, unhook and remove, then the mouthpiece can be pulled INFORMATION Arrival date: February 2019 off, a new one popped on Suggested retail price: £409 and you are good to go Number of dives: 53 again. Time in water: 51 hrs 55 mins www.apeksdiving.com/uk

APEKS TECH SHORTS Mark Evans: The Apeks Tech Shorts have come to the end of their stint in the Long Term Test stable, and I have to say, they have been an absolute godsend for diving abroad. Whether I was wearing a 3mm or 5mm fullsuit, these shorts fit snugly over the top and provided me with two full-size expandable pockets more than capable of swallowing a spool, DSMB, back-up torch and other essentials. I’m a bit lost without them, to be honest, and it is great to be able to avoid having to attach INFORMATION Arrival date: March 2019 all and sundry to your Suggested retail price: £94 wing D-rings. Well-made, Number of dives: 42 durable and efficient. Time in water: 40 hrs 55 mins www.apeksdiving.com/uk 95

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MARK EVANS RETURNS TO THE RED SEA IN SEARCH OF SHARK S, SHIPWRECKS AND MUCH MORE

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Dive Odyssey fused Atmospheric short film , diving and fantasy, elements of science-fiction a long run-time, the and while it didn’t have astounding. Stars work that went into it was a Smith take Andy Torbet and Gemm this us behind the scenes of epic production PHOTOGRAPHS BY JANNE

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TURTLES, MANTAS AND WHALESHARKS IN THE MALDIVES PHOTOGRAPHS BY KIM HILDEBRANDT

n exciting and diverse month of July lies behind me, which I have spent in the beautiful Maldives, working with the incredible megafauna that lives in the waters around these islands. At first, I had my first experience in Aquatic Wildlife Medicine at the Marine Turtle Rescue Centre of the Olive Ridley Project for two weeks, learning about the rescue and rehabilitation, as well as the conservation of sea turtles. As a veterinary student, it was a great opportunity for me caring for the stationary Olive Ridley turtle patients. All of them had been found entangled in ghost gear, a big threat to this species living in the open waters of the Indian Ocean. Many of them required a flipper amputation, whereas others suffer from the inability to dive due to air being trapped under the carapace after lung injuries that have occurred from the efforts to detangle themselves from the nets. Other tasks in the daily work with the ORP were to organise and run educational activities for the guests in the Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu Resort, as well as monitoring green turtle nests while hatching, another unforgettable experience. Following my time at ORP, I flew to Six Senses Resort in Laamu Atoll, where I was invited to join the Maldives Underwater Initiative, consisting of marine biologists from Six Senses, the Manta Trust, the ORP and Blue Marine Foundation, and got to assist them in their corresponding tasks. The main reason I visited the team at Six Senses Laamu was to learn more about contactless underwater ultrasound scans, which have been recorded here for the first time ever on wild reef manta rays by researchers of the Manta Trust and the Department of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Cambridge. The aim of their efforts is to study manta rayÂ´s reproductive ecology by scanning the reproductive tracts of the same manta in different stages of its gestational period, as well as to establish the factors that are causing annual fluctuations in breeding. Long-term, understanding this can hopefully help the conservation of manta ray populations. We went on daily research dives with the portable scanner to specifically look if there were mantas stopping by the cleaning station, which is the only time that the manta rays could and would be approached for a scan. Unfortunately, they did not have an opportunity to scan during my visit, but

Kim Hildebrandt

I, nevertheless, learned a lot from my time in Laamu Atoll. Next, I travelled to Dhigurah in South Ari Atoll, where I was able to join the Maldives Whaleshark Research Programme alongside other volunteers on their research vessel for a week. We went out everyday to look for whalesharks in the South Ari Marine Protected Area, where this iconic megafauna can be spotted all year round. Because every individual whaleshark has its own spot pattern, just like the fingerprint in humans, we were able to identify every encountered individual by taking photographs of the sides of their bodies while freediving. We also determined their sex, measured their size, and documented injuries, which are unfortunately the consequence of strikes with speeding boats. All this data has shown, that the whalesharks here are predominantly young males and that they stay in this region instead of migrating out of the Maldives, which is a very unique behaviour. This makes it even more important to conserve this resident population, and for this reason the MWSRP also focuses on educating young local students. The experiences I have had in the Maldives this past month were both eye-opening and inspiring. I was able to see the beauty of the Maldivian megafauna, and at the same time I witnessed the consequences of threats, that us humans are introducing to the marine environment. But the efforts of organisations like the ORP, the Manta Trust and the MWSRP are outstanding and make me hopeful for the future of these animals. n

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LETÂ´S EXPLORE. TOGETHER.

SUUNTO D5 The new Suunto D5 is designed to be so clear and easy-to-use that you can just enjoy and focus on exploring the wonderful underwater world. Play with style by changing the strap to match your looks. After diving, connect wirelessly to the Suunto app to re-live and share your adventures with friends. www.suunto.com

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