Quest Volume 24, No. 3 August 2023 – free sample article

Quest The Journal of Global Underwater Explorers

Vol. 24, No. 3 – August 2023

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PHOTO GRAPH ER PORTF OLIO: MIKE R ALL

OFFSHORE IN EGYPT

LIMITED VISIBILITY

UNDESERVED DCI

LET THERE BE LIGHT

The deeper secrets of Brothers, Daedalus, and Elphinstone

Is it meaningful to use the label or is it escapism?

The techniques for safe diving in dark or murky waters

Lights are an essential element of the GUE configuration

EDUCATION · CONSERVATION · EXPLORATION · COMMUNITY

EDITOR’S LETTER AI – Authentic Immersion

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ometimes, I find myself yearning for a pause button or even the ability to halt the relentless march of technological progress. My current technology ecosystem, including my computers, smartphone, tablet, and cameras, already exceeds my needs, and I have no demand for more speed, features, or pixels.

As we reflect on the year 2023 in the future, I am confident that it will be remembered as the year when artificial intelligence truly began to permeate our lives. I appreciate the current possibilities AI offers, but I do not need further advancements. Stop. Freeze here, please! However, I am aware that we have only scratched the surface, and AI will undoubtedly have an enormous impact on our future.

Many industries will face challenges due to the disruption caused by these advancing technologies. There are plenty of examples from the last 20 years of market leaders that went out of business within a few years. Where are Blockbuster, Kodak, or Nokia these days?

With the increasing prevalence of AI and related technologies like augmented reality and spatial computing, I firmly believe that authentic and immersive experiences in nature, such as diving, will assume even greater importance in our quest for genuine experiences. It is my prediction that diving will be an even more sought-after experience in the future. I don’t think the diving industry, certifying agencies, or diving communities need to fear a disruptive wave from AI. While advanced technology enhances our capabilities and opens new horizons, it is through authentic experiences in nature that we can ground ourselves and find solace from the digital realm.

The allure of nature lies in its ability to transport us beyond the confines of screens and algorithms, to awaken our senses, and to remind us of our place in the vast tapestry of life. It offers a sanctuary for introspection, a space where we can unplug from the constant stream of information and reconnect with our surroundings.

Diving and exploration provide participants with authentic experiences by offering a unique and immersive encounter with the underwater world, fostering connections with nature, presenting physical and mental challenges, and allowing them to escape from the ordinary, all while building meaningful relationships with fellow divers.

Just to add a meta layer to this editor’s letter and to provide full transparency: it is partly written with the assistance of AI. Who knows?

Maybe AI will take over the editing of Quest one day? So be it. I will go diving instead.

Dive safe and have fun!

Jesper Kjøller Editor-in-Chief jk@gue.com

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THIS ISSUE Quest IN 6 The Journal of Global Underwater Explorers

Vol. 24, No. 3 · August 2023

Editor-in-chief // Jesper Kjøller

Editorial panel

// Michael Menduno // Amanda White

Design and layout // Jesper Kjøller

Copy editing

// Pat Jablonski // Kady Smith

Writers

// Dimitris Fifis // Neal W. Pollock // Brad Beskin // Jesper Kjøller // Kirill Egorov // Dan Mackay // Daniel Riordan // Fred Devos // Todd Kincaid // Chris Le Maillot // Jarrod Jablonski

Photographers

// Kirill Egorov // Jesper Kjøller // Julian Műhlenhaus // Peter Gaertner // Mike Rall // Derk Remmers // Katy Fraser // Rich Denmark // Fred Devos

Quest is published quarterly by Global Underwater Explorers 18487 High Springs Main Street, High Springs, Florida 32643 www.GUE.com

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QC CORNER // THE RITUAL OF THE DIVE A look at the benefits of the GUE EDGE sequence and other rituals that helps divers to perform at their best.

12 BDE // DEEP SECRETS OF THE RED SEA

One of the most popular liveaboard routes in the Egyptian part of the Red Sea has been the BDE itinerary—Brothers, Daedalus, and Elphinstone. But only a few divers realize that these spectacular offshore reefs are all hiding deeper secrets out of reach of recreational limits.

28 DIVING IN LIMITED VISIBILITY

Skilled divers can adapt using techniques and equipment to overcome visibility challenges. Additionally, specific procedures enable safe diving in limited visibility.

36 PORTFOLIO // MIKE RALL

Raised on Durban’s scenic coast in South Africa, Mike developed a deep connection with the ocean. To share its mesmerizing sights, he pursued underwater cinematography and photography. He collaborates with organizations, using his art to raise awareness about marine ecosystems’ beauty and vulnerability.

44 UNDESERVED DECOMPRESSION SICKNESS Divers often blame “undeserved” hits for decompression sickness. Diving physiologist Dr. Neal Pollock debunks this belief, pointing out that other factors impact decompression. Discarding this notion, divers can focus on responsible dive planning and safety.

52 DIVING LIGHTS

Diving lights, their integration into the configuration, and the protocols for their usage are essential elements deeply embedded in the philosophy of GUE. Diving lights are built upon two evolving technologies: batteries and light sources. We will shed some light on the subject.

60 CAVE DIVING // PLANNING PART 1

The rewards and hazards of every overhead venture require that dive teams develop a comprehensive yet flexible dive plan well in advance of the first tie-off. In contrast to what the term might suggest, dive planning entails much more than just establishing the intended path of a proposed dive.

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COVER PHOTO JESPER KJØLLER

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QC CORNER

GUE EDGE MANIFESTS SUCCESS

– THE RITUAL OF THE DIVE Rituals are a part of our lives, from the religious and ceremonial to the everyday and mundane. They can provide us with a sense of structure, comfort, and even safety. For divers, rituals can be especially important, as they can help to ensure a safe and successful dive.

One of the most important rituals for divers is the GUE EDGE pre-dive sequence. This standardized pre-dive check helps divers confirm they are prepared for the dive ahead. It is a valuable tool for reducing risk and preventing accidents. Let’s look at the benefits of the GUE EDGE sequence and other dive rituals. We will also look at the psychological impact of rituals and how they can help divers to perform at their best.

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TEXT BRAD BESKIN // PHOTOS JULIAN MŰHLENHAUS & KIRILL EGOROV

The pre-dive procedure is not only about repeating important information about the dive. It also serves as an important ritual that makes everyone ready.

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To this end, GUE EDGE is more than a simple acronym, and it has value beyond its obvious utility as a risk management and harm prevention tool.

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hen the anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski visited the Trobriand Islands in Papua New Guinea in the early 20th century, he noted the elaborate preparations fishermen would make before setting out to sea. They would carefully paint their canoes with black, red, and white paint, chanting spells as they did so. The vessel would be struck with wooden sticks, the bows stained with red ochre, and crew members would adorn their arms with shells.

Malinowski recorded a long list of ceremonies and rituals the islanders would perform before venturing out onto the open sea. But when the fishermen went out into the nearby calm lagoon, they did not use these rites. Malinowski concluded that the “magic” rituals performed by the islanders were a response to help them cope with the unpredictable might of the Pacific Ocean. Johnson, “The surprising power of daily rituals”, BBC (Sept. 14, 2021).

Rituals hold an important position in our lives. From religious and ceremonial to those daily (and often overlooked) practices that keep our lives on track, most of us regularly practice some kind of ritual.

GUE EDGE

GUE divers are no stranger to this, as they begin each dive with an important ritual: the GUE EDGE pre-dive sequence. For those unfamiliar: GUE EDGE is an acronym designed to help GUE divers follow a standardized pre-dive check.

This review ensures that all team members are ready for the dive, that they all confirm under8

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standing of the basic dive parameters, and that their equipment is ready and functioning as intended. It is usually performed prior to entering the water, but it can also be performed at the surface just prior to descent if conditions allow (manageable waves, weak current). The procedure is led by the team leader, with the team members confirming or stating all required parameters.

We can never dismiss the obvious practical utility of GUE EDGE: Each of us has found some key element of equipment out of place on the first “E” (it’s always my drysuit hose—always).

The safety that is the hallmark of GUE comes from (at least in great part) detailed attention to and management of the demands of each letter in the acronym, as applied broadly to our diving.

Added value

But even practices with substantial utility like GUE EDGE can have a secondary purpose echoing in ritual. To this end, GUE EDGE is more than a simple acronym, and it has value beyond its obvious utility as a risk management and harm prevention tool. This added value lies in how we use it: a requisite, repeated process before each and every dive. GUE EDGE thereby serves a secondary purpose as a series of shared acts, checks, commitments, and acknowledgements that emphasizes the team’s cohesion and readiness for the dive ahead. In this sense, GUE EDGE is an important ritual that GUE divers use to center themselves, inspire confidence, and manifest control. It signals the start of the dive, sets the divers’ minds to tasks at hand, and (at least for many) provides a familiar, calming, and centering routine to shake off anxiety and increase focus.

PHOTO KIRILL EGOROV

The modified S-drill is often the last ritual performed before the dive begins.

Formal and informal rituals

Now, before you go all “Eyes Wide Shut” on me, Quest reader, let’s agree on a few assumptions.

I’m not suggesting GUE EDGE holds the station of a “capital R” ritual. Each of us is likely familiar in some regard with some form of ritual, and this proper title is likely best reserved for those practices with, for example, a religious, spiritual, or ceremonial connection. Each major religion has an array of rituals that are keenly practiced by its followers. Governments have rituals like the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance or Coronation. Social organizations may conduct initiation rituals or other ceremonies for new members.

But more to my point here, each of us likely has a list of less formal rituals that we have weaved into certain regular activities. These “little r” rituals are the structure we add when none may be needed; the things we repeat because they bring us joy, reduce our stress, or make us feel part of something larger than ourselves.

Perhaps this is morning coffee and a crossword, a pre-work run, or simply listening to a favorite

podcast on a commute. Perhaps you close your day by reading a few chapters of a good book.

Whether you read for pleasure or more formative purposes, this nightly ritual helps to bring closure to your day and prepare your mind for rest. Perhaps it’s a bedtime story with a child or important questions around the dinner table. Each of these important acts has practical value (e.g., teaching a child to read), but our engagement with them has a meta-purpose that exceeds the act itself. It signals the start or the end of our day, it puts our mind in the mode we need for the tasks to come, it reduces stress, and/or it provides a sense of family, unity, or cohesion with others. These are invaluable, and we use rituals daily to achieve these important purposes.

Shared values

Divers are no strangers to rituals, and GUE has in its culture several rituals that prepare and guide us toward safe, goal-oriented diving. Even less critically, how we pack our gear, don our suits, and even when we use the bathroom beAugust 2023 · Quest

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fore the dive is often sequential, rehearsed, and repeated—not just for the practical utility, but because doing it that way makes us feel a certain way that we find valuable to our dive day.

“Ritualistic practices can help to bring a degree of predictability to an uncertain future. They convince our brains of constancy and predictability as ritual buffers against uncertainty and anxiety…” Johnson, supra.

GUE EDGE stands out as perhaps the most universal and consistent dive ritual GUE divers practice. When the team leader gets to the “G”, everyone knows it’s “go time”. Like many rituals, GUE EDGE is symbolic. The repetition of its component parts signals to each teammate the preparedness of the unified team. Shared rituals like GUE EDGE demonstrate the like-mindedness and common values between participants. It reminds the team that each component member is highly trained, practiced, safety-focused, and goal-oriented. Indeed, GUE facilitates the nearly immediate integration of a GUE diver into a GUE team through standardization of equipment, procedures, etc. Nothing signals this more clearly than the GUE EDGE check between divers diving together for the first time: It signals a deeper connectedness that welcomes trust. See Legare and Watson-Jones, “The Social Functions of Group Rituals”, Current Directions in Psychological Science (Jan. 2015).

Growing confidence

Scientists and researchers have attempted to measure the impact ritual has on our lives in various ways. “Take a look, for instance, at some of our most cherished cultural and religious rituals.

Brad Beskin 10

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You’ll notice just how much repetition and scripted rigidity are built into them. This isn’t happenstance; these behaviors fulfill a fundamental psychological need. They give us a sense of structure […]. They convince the brain that things in our world are predictable, ordered, and safe.”

Hobson, Ph.D., “The Anxiety-Busting Properties of Ritual”, Psychology Today (Sept. 25, 2017).

Dr. Hobson suggests rituals create certainty through their basic structure, which is compounded over time. “The more we do them, the more meaningful they become, both to us and to others with whom we might share them.” Indeed, the more we run through GUE EDGE, and the more we run through it with the same teammates, the faster our confidence in our abilities and skills grows.

Dr. Hobson’s work distills the power of rituals into three overlapping categories: regulation of (1) emotions, (2) performance goal states, and (3) social connection to others. Hobson, et al., “The Psychology of Rituals” (2017). This is fitting—and GUE EDGE seemingly satisfies all three of these metrics.

Athletic applications

The ritual of GUE EDGE isn’t novel. Rituals play an important role in sports and extreme athleticism. “In performance domains, most notably in sports athletics, there is some evidence showing rituals serve a regulatory function. For instance, performing rituals during athletic events, like right before shooting a free-throw in basketball, helps players perform better, especially in highstakes competition and stress. The thinking is that rituals help improve performance because

Brad Beskin has been diving actively for approximately twenty-eight years.

He first became involved with GUE by taking Fundamentals in 2002, and then Cave 1 with Tamara Kendal in 2003.

He is now a proud GUE DPV Cave diver and is looking forward to undertaking

the GUE technical curriculum in 2023.

When he is not diving, he earns his living as a civil litigator in Austin, Texas, and he also finds time to act as Director of Quality Control and the Chair of the Quality Control Board for Global Underwater Explorers.

they mobilize motivational and regulatory states, either through improving concentration, creating physical readiness, or boosting confidence.” Hobson, Ph.D. “Rituals decrease the neural response to performance failure” (2017). And it expands into dynamic corporate and start-up cultures. “In all the […] companies we studied we found leaders making extensive use of ritual. [W]e found that creating or reviving club rituals was almost the first thing that a new coach would do—especially in a team turnaround situation. Smart business leaders do the same…” Guenzi, “How Ritual Delivers Performance”, Harvard Business Review (Feb. 25, 2013).

What dive rituals do you practice to inspire confidence, reduce anxiety, or manifest focus? Does GUE EDGE have this secondary effect on you? 

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What dive rituals do you practice to inspire confidence, reduce anxiety, or manifest focus? Does GUE EDGE have this secondary effect on you?

Depending on the circumstances, GUE EDGE can be performed on land or at the surface before the dive.

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BDE BROTHERS

DAEDALUS

ELPHINSTO

THE DEEPER SE OF 12

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TEXT JESPER KJØLLER PHOTOS JESPER KJØLLER

For a few years now, one of the most popular liveaboard routes in the Egyptian part of the Red Sea has been the BDE itinerary—Brothers, Daedalus, and Elphinstone. But only a few divers realize that these spectacular offshore reefs are all hiding deeper secrets out of reach of recreational limits.

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Numidia is known for its spectacular marine life, including majestic lionfish.

It

has been 23 years since I first visited Brothers Islands. The reefs are situated so far from the mainland that diving from a liveaboard was—and still is— the only transportation option.

But much has happened since: The quality of the diving vessels that are operating in Egypt has changed, and my skills as a diver and underwater photographer have, too.

After my first visit in 2000, I wrote one of my earliest magazine articles, but I had to get images from other photographers, as I had yet to purchase my first Nikonos camera. The liveaboard was neither particularly seaworthy nor particularly comfortable, and it was quite windy during the whole trip, so it was not an

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entirely pleasant experience to be on board.

I was actually most comfortable underwater.

The relentless wind was so strong that the boat rocked violently 24/7, even in the shelter of the reef. Most of the passengers were permanently seasick during the three days at the Brothers Islands. But, to me, it was totally worth it!

I still remember the first dive on Numidia, where I saw my first hammerhead shark while we were holding on to the shallow parts of the wreck in a ripping current. Numidia drops down to 80 m/260 ft, but the region wasn’t yet equipped to supply technical divers. Nitrox was barely available, so it was good old-fashioned air diving on single cylinders. As I said, a lot has happened since.

PHOTO JONO ALLEN

The super dive at Big Brother’s North plateau involves scootering between the Aïda and the Numidia.

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Aïda & Numidia // BROTHERS ISLANDS THE LEGENDARY BROTHERS ISLANDS—or Al Akhawein in Arabic—are the northernmost of Egypt’s off-shore reefs. The two brothers are found about 200 km/125 mi south of Ras Mohammad or 150 km/90 mi southeast of Hurghada, which translates to an eight to ninehour cruise in good weather. The two brothers are situated just fifteen minutes apart and were formed by steep volcanic cones that rise up from the depths. Their position in otherwise-deep waters poses a danger to the shipping traffic through the Red Sea, as it has throughout the ages. Consequently, Big Brother features a 32 m/105 ft tall lighthouse. The British built the lighthouse in 1883 and renovated it in 1993. Today it is operated by the Egyptian Navy and, in the surface interval between dives, you can visit the lighthouse to enjoy the view or buy a Brothers Islands T-shirt.

The islands’ isolated location makes them an absolute delicacy, and many divers consider Brothers to be among the best dive sites in the Egyptian Red Sea. The remote position of the two islands, however, is also a disadvantage.

The British-built lighthouse, now operated by the Egyptian Navy, offers a scenic view and Brothers Islands T-shirts during the surface interval between dives.

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Conservative diving is advised, as help is far away; night diving is not permitted, and diving conditions can be challenging. Experience with diving in currents and competence in shooting an SMB is an absolute necessity.

Brothers today

Fast-forward to 2022: We make the cruise during the night in relatively rough weather (again, it is a bit of a rocky trip). I’m on the deck before the sun rises, curious about where we are and how the wind affects the conditions. If the wind is too strong, it may be too risky to visit the wrecks at the northern tip of Big Brother. In bad weather, it will become too dicey to get back in the zodiacs if something goes wrong. The weather looks alright, however.

Most divers—limited by nitrox’s operating depth of around 30 m/100 ft and the gas volume in a single cylinder—rarely explore anything other than the very topmost parts of the two wrecks located on the northern tip of Big Brother. But we are equipped with rebreathers, scooters, and trimix, so we can go deeper and stay longer.

The liveaboard operator, Red Sea Explorers, is a specialist in supporting technical diving, and one of the biggest highlights on their northern routes is the legendary four-wreck dive at Abu Nuhas, where the scooters make it is possible to visit Kimon M, Marcus, Carnatic, and Giannis D on the same dive. At Big Brother, you can make another super-dive with two wrecks on the menu. This is what we had planned.

Two-in-one

After exploring and photographing Aïda with an average depth of about 60 m/200 ft, we steer our scooters towards the Numidia. After approximately five minutes on the throttle, we pass the train wheel set that was lost from the deck of Numidia when she hit the reef. We drop down towards the impressive stern at 80 m/260 ft. Numidia presents itself from its best side today, where the visibility is almost infinite.

Michel and I let ourselves fall over the edge of the stern to get a good angle for the pictures of Faisal, who is posing like the experienced underwater model he is. I have done this and other similar dives with Faisal so many times that we work almost telepathically together. He instinctively finds the good spots to pose—an important measure, as we must use our 80 minutes efficiently.

Soon we begin to move up along the impressive wreck that lies on a 45-degree slope on the reef. We explore the huge engine room and

swim out of the skylight to begin the almost two-hour long decompression, a penalty for 30 minutes on the two wrecks with a maximum depth of 80 m/260 ft.

With very few exceptions, the wrecks in the Red Sea always rest close to a reef. It makes sense, as the reefs typically sealed the fates of the ships in the first place. Technical divers who do not like long decompressions in open water, and who are equally bored at the sight of an ascent line, will be happy when decompressing after a wreck dive in the Red Sea. The two-hour decompression on Big Brother’s steep walls is almost a reward. We glide slowly back toward the south plateau where our mothership, M/V Tala, is waiting. The scooters get a break as the current gently carries us back.

Family trip

The boat is fully booked on this trip. My wife and I are from Denmark, and a very pleasant group of Norwegians makes up most of the guests.

There are also a couple of Lebanese divers, a Belgian, and an Egyptian. In addition to the two competent guides, Red Sea Explorers’ founder, Faisal Khalaf, is joining the trip, and he has invited his mother.

If you have ever been on one of the vessels in the Red Sea Explorers fleet, you will have learned to appreciate the family atmosphere on board. You feel as if you are traveling with a group of friends and relatives and not at all like a charter tourist.

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Numidia presents itself from its best side today, where the visibility is almost infinite.

PHOTO JONO ALLEN 18

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It wasMICHAEL only when I zoomed PHOTO LEWINGTON in to check the sharpness after the dive that I spotted the longnose hawkfish on the railing at a depth of 80 m/260 ft.

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Zealot // DAEDALUS DAEDALUS REEF (Abu Kizan, in Arabic) is 400 m/1,312 ft long, 100 m/330 ft wide, and located approximately 90 km/55 mi from Marsa Alam on the mainland. There is a small artificial island at the center of the reef supporting a lighthouse built by the French in 1863 during the construction of the Suez Canal. The lighthouse was rebuilt in 1931. The picturesque tower is 30 m/100 ft high and still active. It is run by the Egyptian Navy, and they welcome visitors.

Daedalus Reef is well-known for frequent hammerhead shark sightings and its stunningly beautiful walls with an abundance of corals. But, Daedalus also has a secret in the deep.

Even though it rests on 100 m/330 ft, the Zealot wreck is perhaps not such a big surprise after all, as the large field of debris and wreckage that spreads over the reef reveals its location.

But, I’m sure many divers have swum past the debris field without knowing that there is a wreck deep down below. The debris is scattered over a larger area, so it can be difficult to find the Zealot.

Our descent is a little bit off the mark, and we end up cruising 300 m/1,000 ft at 60 m/200 ft depth with the scooters before we finally see the contours of the ship. We wasted valuable bottom time in our search of the wreck, but our rebreathers provide unmatched flexibility, and we are only limited by how much decompression we are willing to pay at the other end. We have enough breathing gas to last us six or seven hours.

If you have dived the Carnatic at Abu Nuhas, you have a very good impression of what type of vessel Zealot is. However, probably only a fraction of divers have been here compared to Carnatic, which rests at 20 m/66 ft. Zealot appears somewhat more damaged; the wreck is scattered over a larger area, and it is difficult to form an overall overview. But the helm, the propeller, and the two anchors offer some waypoints. After spending about 15 minutes on the wreck, aver20

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aging 95 m/310 ft depth, we are approaching the maximum decompression we have agreed to before the dive and it is time to leave the site.

Deco-cave

As we approach the last and longest decompression stop at 6 m/20 ft, where we are supposed to spend over an hour, we can feel that the surface has become rather turbulent, and it is awkwardly difficult to stay stable at our target depth. If we swim out from the reef, the surge from the surface is less noticeable, but it is unsafe to stay where the zodiacs rush up and down the reef taxiing divers to and from the dive sites. Close to the reef, the surge is taking us for a ride up and down—not a good way to do deco. On a rebreather you cannot fine-tune your buoyancy with your breath, so it’s hard work to compensate for surge.

Since the 60-minute deco at 6 m/20 ft will be uncomfortable at best and will feel like an eternity of hard work, I look for a solution. A rebreather is operating on a constant partial pressure of oxygen (pO2). The advantage is that, during decompression, you don’t necessarily have to be at a certain depth, as long as you maintain your pO2. I find a cave in the reef at 7 m/22 ft—it’s big enough to accommodate the three of us—but there is still a strong surge when the water flows in and out of the cavity; it is probably that very water movement that has carved out the cave through the centuries. I have to press my arms and legs against the rock to maintain position, but we can rest pretty comfortably while the minutes tick away. Necessity is the mother of invention. Finally, it’s time to swim out of our temporary habitat and shoot a bag to the surface. We send up our bailout cylinders to the zodiac that has stayed with us during the entire dive. It is almost dark when we finally surface after almost three hours on our rebreather loops.

Hammerheads and oceanic whitetips are commonly spotted around Daedalus, especially during the summer months.

Nowadays, we dive the Zealot using rebreathers.

However, when I first started diving the wreck 15 years ago, we still used open-circuit equipment.

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The llghthouse on Daedalus was build in 1863 during the construction of the Suez Canal. It was reconstructed in 1931 and remains operational.

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Daedalus Reef is wellknown for frequent hammerhead shark sightings and its stunningly beautiful walls with an abundance of corals.

But, Daedalus also has a secret in the deep.

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Technical diving on Red Sea reefs provides a beautiful adventure, allowing you to appreciate the mesmerizing marine life during the deco stops.

M/V Tala, the mothership in the Red Sea Explorers fleet of liveaboards operating in the Egyptian Red Sea.

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PHOTO JONO ALLEN

PHOTO ARZUCAN ASKIN

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On air, divers, affected by nitrogen narcosis may imagine the square rock as a pharaoh’s sarcophagus.

However, with a more sober mindset during a trimix dive, it becomes clear that it is just a large square rock.

The Arch // ELPHINSTONE ELPHINSTONE REEF (Sha’ab Abu Hamra in Egyptian) is located close to the coast about 30 km/20 mi north of Marsa Alam.

The reef is about 500 m/1,640 ft long from north to south. The spectacular walls drop vertically into the depths and the often-strong currents can be very unpredictable. At the northern end, a long, narrow plateau extends far from the main reef. At the end—at about 35 m/115 ft depth—there is a huge crack in the reef as if a giant had Arzucan Askin cleaved it with an axe. This is a good place to hang for a while to look for sharks.

The southern plateau is somewhat smaller, but a few cleaning stations attract thresher sharks, mantas, and other big game. Close to the surface along the reef

or under the boats at the southern end, it is very common to meet the curious and sometimes a little bit too frisky Carcharhinus longimanus—the oceanic white tip shark.

Robert Moresby, an officer in the Indian Navy, reportedly baptized the reef with its English name in 1830 after Mountstuart Elphinstone (1779-1859) who had just retired from his position as Governor of Bombay for the East India Company (1819-27).

There are no wrecks at Elphinstone—with its location close to the coast, the reef lies far from the sailing routes through the Red Sea. It has, therefore, not been necessary to establish a lighthouse. But Elphinstone still hides another deep secret.

PHOTO ALEX MUSTARD August 2023 · Quest

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The stunning Gorgonian sea fans, the intriguing sarcophagus, and the heavenly light above make for photogenic subjects.

Most of the liveaboards are moored in the Pharaoh’s sarcophagus sheltered areas on Elphinstone’s south plateau, When divers take a technical diving approach and from there it is easy to jump into the water to Elphinstone, they open up a whole new world and drop directly beyond the south plateau that below 30 m/100 ft. Under the southern plateau stretches away from the reef. On top of the of Elphinstone, there is a big hole in the reef— plateau, most divers who have visited E-stone The Arch. Admittedly, in the old days, I used to look for big game at the cleaning stations. But, dive under the Arch on air. (Don’t tell anyone!) we have a different agenda. We follow the edge It was before I knew better and before I had the of the plateau at about 35 m/115 ft while I’m opportunity to breathe trimix. It was foolish, as scouting for The Arch deep below us. A glare passing through the Arch forces you to go to al- from below reveals the big hole in the reef, most 60 m/200 ft! But with rebreathers, scootand we drop down and explore The Arch and ers, trimix, and the right decompression gases, its surroundings. The enormous Gorgonian it is a completely different experience. sea fans, the sarcophagus, and the light from On the bottom, just below The Arch, lies above are all very photogenic. We have planned a large square rock. Divers who have been 20 minutes of bottom time; it’s a short dive on under The Arch on air (and, consequently, are a rebreather, but we are accompanied by a relanarced stupid) have imagined that the square tively inexperienced tech diver on open-circuit, rock was a pharaoh’s sarcophagus. But, with so we respect her limits. After taking lots of the more sober and clinical mindset that char- pictures under The Arch, we begin the ascent acterizes a trimix dive, we can clearly see that and look forward to a long Elphinstone dive the large square rock is, in fact, just… a large while decompressing after our deep explorasquare rock. tion. 26

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Monkey diving in shallow water around Elphinstone is a great way to spend the afternoons.

Go to www.redseaexplorers.com for more information on technical diving liveaboard trips in the Red Sea.

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