Scubashooters net e mag issue n14 apr 2016

ISSUE

N°14 A P R 2016

PORTFOLIO

AMOS NACHOUM

CAYO COCHINOS Different Honduras

by Rico Besserdich MONTHLY CONTEST Topic: “Reptiles” Join and enjoy

CRITTER CORNER Jellyfish SOFT BOTTOMS sand, mud and detritus

by F. Turano

EXCLUSIVE REPORTAGE

by Ian Urbina - New York Times FAMILY ADVENTURES

by T. Houppermans

Dear Scubashooters, Our yearly contest , Deep Visions, has come to its end and all the prizes have been delivered to the winners; we are already preparing Deep Visions 2016 and we expect to open for entries towards the end of the year. In the mean time we thought that entartaining our fellow audience with the glorious monthly contest would have been a good option and so we just started the 20th monthly contest, special theme “reptiles”, a very difficult but interesting theme. You will notice a big news as we moved the monthly contest out of our facebook group to the website www.scubashooters.net. Rules are the same, no entry fees as usual and nice prizes from our sponsors too... Just the new platform which will grant access to the photos for future viewers as well, so what are you waiting for? Join the 20th monthly contest or stay tuned to see the winning shots! One more recommandation, summer is approaching fast and so many underwater photographers around The world are preparing their gears for a new photo shooting season... Next time you will jump into the water, please bear in mind that a manipulated shot or a staged one is not worthed the effort... People is getting more and more sensible on the matter, so there are good chances that if you post it on social medias you will collect a lot of critics and if you enter it on a contest you will be disqualified. Where’s the point then? Point is to raise individual sensitiveness towards the sea and marine life in any form. Remember, don’t touch, don’t push/pull/brake anything underwater, just watch and take a shot of what you see. As simple as that . Stay tuned for more.

Marino Palla Owner and Founder Scubashooters Network

Cover image “A bear paw in my face” By: Amos Nachoum

C O N T E N T S 3

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EDITORIAL

by Marino Palla

CAYOS COCHINOS A different Honduras

by Rico Besserdich

PORTFOLIO Amos Nachoum

SOFT BOTTOMS Sand, mud and detritus: the environments less known to divers

by Francesco Turano

STOWAWAYS AND CRIMES ABOARD A SCOFFLAW SHIP

by Ian Urbina

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SILENTLY 3 UNDERWATER MOVIE FESTIVAL BELGRADE

FAMILY ADVENTURES Against all odds

by Tanya Houppermans

JELLYFISH

by John Fifer

BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND Road to technical diving (part 6)

by Richard Anspach & Mark Van Bronswijk

Editor: FABIO STRAZZI Verein Scubashooters, 8952 Schlieren - Switzerland

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Enjoy your We make it

r passion. t possible.

Via Milano 177/B 37014 Castelnuovo d/G Verona - ITALY 0039 45 6450480 info@isotecnic.it

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CAYOS COCHINOS

A DIFFERENT HONDURAS

Rico Besserdich

TRAVELS

Words and Pictures

12 We can’t say HONDURAS is unknown to scuba divers. Roatan is known and so is Utila, both of them dive locations that do attract scuba divers, mostly from the US, and do provide plenty of dive centers and all the dive logistics, keen divers do expect.

And then there are the CAYOS COCHINOS, a group of small islands just between the mainland of Honduras and Roatan. Cochinos Cays are a group of two small islands (15°58′18.99″N86°28′31.34″W) (Cayo Menor and Cayo Grande) and 13 more small coral cays situated 30 kilometres (19mi) northeast of La Ceiba on the northern shores of Honduras.

The Cayos are part of the Bay Islands (Islas de la Bahía ), some people still like to call them Hog Islands, referring to the famous pirate Henry Morgan who ( this it what the legends tells ) “planted” hogs on these cays so he and his pirate fellows would have meat on their return trips.

Around 100 people (Garifuna people) are living on those islands, and yes, scuba-diving is possible! “The Cayos Cochinos reefs are the least disturbed ecosystem in the Bay Islands. The waters around this collection of coral cays are a marine biologist’s dream: protected by the government, off-limits to commercial divers and fishermen, and busy with creatures that may not yet have names.” stated Dr. Matthias Hammer in National Geographic.

The German conservation biologist made several expeditions to this region.

Established as a key area of the Mesoamerican BARRIER REEF SYSTEM (the world’s second largest barrier reef, right after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia), the Cayos and surrounding waters were declared a marine reserve in 1993, in order to protect all marine and terrestrial flora and fauna within a 460km² area.

Laws prohibit all commercial fishing, netting, and trapping within the marine park. Local Garifuna people are permitted to fish with hand lines, but prohibited from netting and spearfishing. Since 1994, the Honduras Coral Reef Foundation is in charge to preserve the natural beauty of the area.

The Honduras Coral Reef Foundation (HCRF) has a marine-biologic research center on Cayo Menor (the smaller one of the 2 main islands) where scientists and students of marine biology from all over the world are welcome as guests to do their field researches.

Accommodation in cosy bungalows and catering is provided.

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I have to confess that I love the oceans and all marine life, but I am very far away from beeing even a glimpse of a marine biologist. I apologize in advance for my inability to give proper IDs to the living things I saw during my dives.

But what I would like to share are my visual impressions and a few of my adventures, seen and experienced as a diver and photographer.

The luxus of diving places where only very few dived before, requires of course the readiness for an adventure and the willingness to accept compromises.

But it all pays back a 100 times.

If you are used to stay on huge dive boats, have others preparing your scuba gear while you sip your morning coffee on the upper deck, you might need to re-think your expectations. Because on Cayos Cochinos it’s different.

Most of the visitors were day guests who joined a 45 minute boat ride from the city of La Ceiba (main land) and spent their day with visiting the islands, looking out for the pink boa conctrictor (it is only found there), hiking the hiking trail through the jungle, go snorkeling or perhaps scuba-diving. But most of the daily guests were more interested in the pink boa and in the souvenirs some of the local Garifuna people are selling, despite the fact that there are dive centers in La Ceiba that provide everything you need for scuba diving.

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So... Izmir-Istanbul-London-Newark-San Pedro: after a 34 hour trip I arrived in Honduras. What time is it? Ah, 9 hours earlier than at home! 2,5 hours by car from San Pedro to La Ceiba, the city that is also widely known as „gate to the Bay Islands“. It is also known as Honduras’ „party city“ and they perform some dances there where the „hips don’t lie“.

When at new places, I always love to check out the marina. Well, nothing to check out in la Ceiba as the boat picks you up directly from the beach of your hotel.

That’s pretty cool. My „dive boat“ is actually more a sort of „power canoe“ but that doesn’t matter. The boats are designed to pick you up from the beach and bring you to the Cayos Cochinos as fast as possible. And that worked well, I don’t need to drink coffee on boats.

Approaching the Cayos Cochinos gives you directly a sort of „Robinson Crusoe“ feeling.

Sand, palm trees and everything you expect from a Caribbean island.

No cars, no roads, no bikes.

And not to forget the crystal clear turquoise waters. Survivor realty show production teams from Spain, Italy, Greece and Israel do sometimes hire one of the smaller islands for their production.

But better don’t think the „survivor“ candidates do „really“ stay on that „1 shack and 3 palm trees“ island all the time – I saw them enjoying happy hour at the hotel bar.

THE UNDERWATER WORLD Well I think I am expected to stay very serious and not drift away in Euphoria when talking about the underwater world of Cayos Cochinos. But thats easier said than done after diving here.

18 I HAVE NEVER SEEN SUCH RICH DIVERSITY, especially of corals, in any of my 4000 dives around the world. Plenty of different species of hard and soft-corals are growing almost until water surface, the soft corals are waving, following the gentle music of the sea.

I felt like I was the first diver ever diving those waters. Yes, we divers are supposed not to touch anything - „leaving nothing behind but bubbles“, but at places where a growing dive industry performs thousands of dives and where dive operators seems to have just profits in mind, the responsible divers can do as best as they can – sooner or later we will notice the negative effect of intensive diving at such areas anyway.

Cayos Cochinos was different in this regard. Regarding amount of divers there are limits/restrictions and the entire concept of scuba diving activites done there follows the strict principles of eco-tourism, promoting a deeper understanding of the fragility of coral reefs.

Quality instead of quantity. No coffee served during the boat trip, but world-class dives at top-quality spots and yes, you have it (almost) all for your own.

While I was diving there I was accompied by my diveguide and by one of the marine biologists of the Honduras Coral Reef Foundation.

There was no other dive boat in sight, we had the reefs all to ourselves.

In terms of diving and underwater photography I would say that the dive spot „Pelikano Uno“ ( close to Cayos Mayor) is a dive spot every keen diver and photographer should put on his or her bucket list.

The boat anchored ( moored ) at the edge of a reef which is basically formed like a long shaped saddle.

We descended to 4 meters and already found ourselves sourrounded by thousands of soft corals. It is actually impossible to find an empty space, a space where No coral is growing.

We then continued our way with the saddle-shaped reef to our left.

The reefs falls down in cascades there and that’s the area where you can find beautiful isolated corals. Again, plenty of them. Just dive your way along... it is the easy good ol „left shoulder, right shoulder u/w navigation“.

Once your pressure gauge demands to turn back you just ascent back to the top of the reef, follow the saddle shape until you spot the boat. If you prefer to stay longer, you can find plenty of things to see in just 5-6 meters.

Current was no big deal and just for the records: in June ( actually: off season ) the water was 27° C. A 3mm shorty will do.

20 OTHER DIVE SPOTS TO MENTION: El Avión Roatan Banks Punta Pelicano Cabeza d León Arena La Grupera El Jardín Cayo Timon Wilfried’s Bell The stars of the scene at all dive spots are of course the corals but THERE ARE ALSO 2 WRECKS TO DIVE. „El Avion“ is a wreck of a smaller aircraft ( probably a „Piper“ ) which is covered by plenty of different corals. „Wilfried’s Bell“ is a wreck of a „Bell“ helicopter which was dropped down there in 2008. The chopper lays nicely isolated on sandy ground, a cool playground for u/w photographers if the visibility allows (which was sadly not the case when I dived there ). „El Jardin“ offers a nice underwater topography with several reef pinnacles, sandy areas with sand eels and also couple of enjoyable swimthroughs.

Very close to that place is a small bay where you can leave the boat, enter the jungle and find yourself some fresh fruits.

But beware your steps as fragile corals are everywhere, even in 50cm. shallow water. „Roatan Banks“ is a massive reef just in the middle between Cayos Cochinos and Roatan. Jacks, barracuda and snapper, turtles, rays, groupers and every type of coral and reef fish can be found here.

This however pretty much depends on the time of the year you dive there. February to May are good times to visit.

When I was there in June, the rain season started, resulting in bit less fish around.

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The Roatan Banks were with a depht of 30 meters the deepest dive spot of my stay, all other spots I dived were in a depht range of 5 to 20 meters and as such suitable for divers of all levels.

There are roughly a dozen of different spots to dive in the waters of Cayos Cochinos but due to the outstanding diversity you can easily dive every spot 2-3 times and yet you would have discovered everything. I dove „Pelikano Uno“ 3 times and felt like I not even discovered 50% of that dive spot.

NOTES TO UW PHOTOGRAPHERS: Bring everything you have. There is plenty to shoot for wide-angle and macro fans alike. Keep in mind that Cayos Cochinos is one of the most un-touched dive areas of this planet. No need to swim around long, searching for interesting subjects to shoot. It is more about to come to a decision what to shoot as you are sourrounded by plenty of life and photogenic subjects.

Some areas close to the islands are so shallow that going snorkeling with your camera stays a proper option, providing you with masses of photographic opportunities, even with working with ambient light only.

UW VISIBILITY starts to drop by beginning of June, the best uw viz I spotted was roughly 25 meters, the worse just 6 meters but I was told that in the months before June, 30-35 meters of uw visibility are considered to be normal. 40+ meter on some lucky days, then.

TO THOSE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN MARINE BIOLOGY I suggest to contact with the research station of the Cayos Cochinos Reef Foundation.

They know the place and everything that grows, crawls and swims in there best, and there is an option to dive together with one of their marine biologists.

Remember what natGEO said: Plenty of species in those waters do not even have a name yet.

So, if you ever wanted to discover a new marine species (not to forget proper proof photos of your discovery!) and give it a name: there is your chance!

24 HOW TO GET THERE: There are several regular flights from Newark, Houston, Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta and Miami to San Pedro Sula – Honduras. Around 2,5 hours by car (transfers are offered by tour operators and dive centers ) from there to reach La Ceiba (or just hop on a short charterflight) , the gate to the Bay Islands.

2 times a week there is a flight from Grand Cayman directly to La Ceiba.

If you are already on Utila or Roatan you could reach Cayos Cochinos by private boat charter. From the island of Guanaja there is a ferryboat going to La Ceiba.

ACCOMMODATION & DIVING : The most relaxed and comfortable way to dive at the Cayos Cochinos is to stay in the Palma Real Hotel and let its new dive center (Diving Center Palma Real Hotel, located right at the hotel’s pool) arrange your dives. Hop on the speed boat right at the hotel’s beach, enjoy a couple of dives at Cayos Cochinos, have a stopover at the island of Chachauate to meet the Garifuna people and be back in the hotel for beer o’ clock.

Tour operators : Honduras Tourist Options Alternate places to stay ( with no own divecenter but connected to one ) : La Delphina, Rainbow Village Hotel and Partenon Beach Hotel.

THINGS TO KNOW: Sand flies!! Nasty small monsters.

Better to bring some spray.

Honduras produces some of the finest Rums of the world. Their „Imperial“ beer is not too bad, too.

Sun protection creme and lots of water to drink. It is very very hot.

The currency of Honduras is the Honduras Lempira. 1 USD = 22 Lempiras. USD are widely accepted.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rico Besserdich, born 1968 in Germany, is a professional underwater photographer, artist, journalist, lecturer, speaker and the international director of underwater photography department at DIWA, the Diving Instructor World Association.

He has been involved in photography since 1978, and became an underwater photography specialist in 2000.

His more than 150 specialist articles about underwater photography and diving related topics have been published in magazines and books all around the world and have been translated into 9 different languages.

As the very first underwater photographer in the world, Rico worked as a guest lecturer of artistic underwater photography at the HBK Saar, College of Fine Arts – Saarbrßcken/Germany.

Website: www.maviphoto.com Facebook: facebook.com/rico.besserdich

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PORTFOLIO

Amos Nachoum

PORTFOLIO

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For more than thirty-five years, world-renowned professional marine and wildlife photographer Amos Nachoum has been featured in NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, on the BBC and on DISCOVERY CHANNEL. His photo essays have been published among others in National Geographic, Outdoor Photographer, Sport Diver, BBC Wildlife, Men’s Journal, Time, Life, and Condé Nast Traveler.

His passion and desire to share his special experiences with others has led Amos to create his own exclusive travel company, BIG ANIMALS PHOTOGRAPHY EXPEDITIONS. In the course of his career, he has guided over 4,700 divers, snorkelers, and adventurers across the globe.

Together with an unparalleled record of success in finding and observing unique animals in the wild, he is equally proud of his immaculate safety record.

Amos has led National Geographic expedition teams with Dr. Eugenie Clark, Dr. Sylvia Earle and astronaut Buzz Aldrin, and has CO-PRODUCED DOCUMENTARIES with Stan Waterman.

He was the team leader for National Geographic’s ‘Red Sea’, ‘Great White Shark’, and November ’96 ‘Killer Whale’ photo expeditions.

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Amos’s photos and essays have appeared in more than 100 publications in North America, Europe and Japan, including National Geographic magazine, Ocean Realm, Island, Outside, Rodale’s Scuba Diving, Time, Life, The New York Times, Condé Nast Traveler, Le Figaro, Terra Sauvage, Airone, and Mondo Somerso.

In addition, his work has been included in the books The Living Ocean, Oceans, and The World of Nature. He has been profiled in television appearances on National Geographic Explorer (Sept. ’97), the Today Show, and Good Morning America, as well as in People, Esquire, and Money magazines.

In 1988 he won Nikon’s underwater photography contest and in 1993, the Communication Arts Award. Twice he won the BBC wildlife photographer of the year at Animal Behavior category. In 2013 first place at the USA National photo competition – first place with the image of the Leopard seal. Antarctica devouring a penguin.

He is currently an instructor and lead Ocean Giants advanced u/w photo seminars. Workshops and lecture worldwide…

In 1978 after spending three years circumnavigating the globe, Amos co-founded Israel’s Marine National Park in the Red Sea, he established La Mer Diving Seafari Inc, a New York-based adventure-travel company that brought North American divers to some of the most pristine and exotic underwater locations on the planet, from the Galapagos Islands to the Maldives, from Papua New Guinea to Madagascar and the Red Sea.

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In the course of directing these operations he has become an expert at working in partnership with foreign governments and companies to introduce divers to some of the most beautiful and less-visited parts of the underwater realm, with preservation of the environment’s integrity foremost in every encounter.

Since 1990, Amos’s efforts have been focused on professional and editorial photography for such clients as the Israeli office of tourism, Saba Island, the governments of Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil, and large private clients ranging from Apple, IBM, and Microsoft to The Discovery Channel, Armani, the Walt Disney Corporation and Colombia Pictures.

Arising from the belief that private individuals should have access to the same sights as governments and large corporations, Amos has developed the cutting-edge adventure-travel program Big Animals Photography Expeditions specifically to provide opportunities to observe, photograph, and interact with the most imposing inhabitants of the sea, such as great white sharks, orca, sperm, blue and humpback whales, polar bears, Leopard seal, croc, and more. Only through such OBSERVATION AND INTERACTION, Amos Nachoum believes, can people learn to truly UNDERSTAND AND RESPECT the most impressive creatures of our blue planet.

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To enhance one photography aspiration - Amos advises treating all animals, the environment and the people you meet with RESPECT AND APPRECIATION. “Learn to understand light,” he adds. “Light is the single most important aspect of any photography but underwater the appreciation and use of light is absolutely critical.

Never give up, stick to your vision and mission for as long as it is humanly possible. Mother nature will always surprise you. Be ready for the unpredictable and keep your mind open for opportunities”.

“I truly believe that luck is a combination of preparation, commitment and dedication”. The enemy of all fears is KNOWLEDGE. Amos Nachoum is a big man. Not big in a tall, strapping, ex-marine kind of way, but his soul is big, his heart and his passion, these are what make Amos such an inspiring and ‘large’ person to be around.

While growing up in Israel Amos sometimes found communicating with people difficult, but his life was transformed when he picked up a camera at the age of 12.

He discovered a way of expressing thoughts and feelings that would carry him forward into adulthood and become a way of life.

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Photography fills his blank canvas, his empty page, although anyone who has been thrilled by his talks will know that he also mastered some impressive speaking skills along the way.

Amos lead and Direct the company BigAnimals expeditions… the company cater and dedicated to small groups of adventurers and photographers join him on life-changing photographic expeditions to Antarctica, High Arctic, Tonga, Galapagos, and Okavango delta and beyond.

Wherever there are big animals, Amos has been there or is planning to go to capture them on film and share them with the world.

“Big animals are usually portrayed as dangerous or frightening, my mission is to illustrate with images– the power, beauty, grace and their essence in our culture”. Amos said.

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Till today Amos camera is the only one that escaped the legendary Jaws of the GREAT WHITE, the deadly hug of ANACONDA, the pursuit of POLAR BEAR UNDERWATER, the mighty tail slap of the ORCAS, the hunting skill of LEOPARD SEAL and the lighting-speed strikes from the bill of the sailfish and Striped Marlins...

only to share these unique images with everyone that want to be thrilled… moved… and informed

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www.biganimals.com

A journey in and around Capodacqua - Pictures and text by David Salvatori Publisher Punta Campanella Diving

Available from December 2015 “Reflections from the Past” is a photographic journey in the heart of Tirino valley in Italy, ending in the crystal clear waters of the Capodacqua lake, at the culmination of a journey in which the places visited by the author stimulated fascination and personal reflections.

“Reflections from the Past” is an obvious line that connects all the photographic work, those of reflections of the images on the separate surfaces of water and air.

In the end, Reflection is an instrument “of reflection”, a mirror to past fears and troubles, for which the exploration of Capodacqua and its surrounding areas is a “journey” whose powers of suggestion become encapsulated and processed in a symbolic way to represent an experience of personal growth of the author.

The final goal is the achievement of a positive thought, peaceful, calm and as clear as the lake’s water; the communion with water being the road to rescue, the map to discovery of what is true and real in life.

www.reflectionsfromthepast.com

www.facebook.com/ReflectionsFromThePastTheBook

SUB

AQUATIC

flea market

SCUBA DEMO DAY Do you want to meet the latest equipment of Mares, presented from their high educated technicians and under water try all those products out? Mares day is a perfect chance for that.

If you do not know where to put your old equipment after buying a new one, we will organize the first diving flea market in Istria where you can sell, buy or change a second hand stuff.

STELLA MARIS RESORT sport center UMAG - CROATIA www.subaquatic.org E: subaquatic.umag@gmail.com Phone.: 00385 52 710 981 Mobil: 00385 92 26 16 168 subaquatic diving center

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SOFT BOTTOMS

SAND, MUD AND DETRITUS: THE ENVIRONMENTS LESS KNOWN TO DIVERS WORDS AND PICTURES: Francesco Turano

EVOLUTIONARY EDUCATION

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About 75 percent of the coasts of our planet is occupied by the sands.

Resulting from erosion or other volcanic or geological phenomena in general, the debris are transported to the sea by rivers and accumulate so and to varying degrees according to the locality.

In some areas, such as for shoals off the coast, the sediment is made up of fragments of animal origin, such as shells and skeletal remains of animals, which are then finely shredded by numerous agents such as turbulence of currents or waves. Our country is no exception to the rule and, if

we consider our coasts from the French border to Trieste, to include all the islands, we can safely say that the predominantly rocky areas are in the minority and in any case, even where the cliff prevails, there is always a large area with movable floor.

It is therefore clear that the majority of areas accessible to the underwater sportsman frequenting the coasts of the Italian seas, and the Mediterranean in general, fall into this environment.

But what do we mean by ‘movable floor’ and which features does the seabed in question present? This term usually refers to all those seabeds with incoherent sediment, composed by granules of different shape and size.

Depending on this, we may have - sandy bottoms, when the size of the granules (typically crushed rocks and minerals) is between a diameter of 0.10 to 2 mm - muddy when the particle size is less than 0.10 mm (silt) - gravelly or pebbly when individual particles reach sizes greater than 2 mm or 4 mm.

Such types of bottom include even the Posidonia meadows, plants that right here find the ideal place to grow and that, though declining, still occupy vast areas of our coastline, representing an environment of its own.

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One of the main characteristics of the movable floors is given by the fact of being greatly affected, especially near shore, by the waves’ movement.

Storm surges cause a total upheaval in the first meters of depth, resulting in continuous morphology changes, sometimes relevant, of vast seabed’s areas.

Another variable which helps to keep continuously moving these changeable environments are the currents. They are the major responsible for the debris accumulation and, depending on their intensity and the depth of the place, they may form piles of sediment perpendicular to the coast, with even several meters of gradient (couloirs and dunes).

The sand, mud and debris bottoms are inhabited mostly by animals that live within the sediment (infauna), but there are many species who spend their existence above (epifauna).

In any case, even the infauna is visible by the diver although over short periods of the day or night. Unlike hard substrates, where we have a high biodiversity, that is many species represented by few individuals, here we see the exact opposite: there are many individuals, belonging however to a few species.

Under such premises one would think of having to deal with a kind of desert, but it’s actually the exact opposite.

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The soft bottoms are generally snubbed by the majority of divers just for their ostensible desolate appearance, but, with a little attention, and especially at night, we will find ourselves in the presence of extraordinary creatures.

The sands are in fact inhabited by many organisms.

The most typical are some polychaete annelids, some wandering, more sedentary, the latter living inside their sunken tube into the sediment.

The lack of a hard support does not discourage some coelenterates, the group certainly better represented on rocky bottoms, but also here with many species: just remember the ceriantharias or Actiniaria, all anthozoans who are regularly and thoroughly present on the sandy expanses.

Echinoderms are present with species belonging to all five classes in which the group is divided.

The bottom urchins practically live inside the sands, others live on them and gather here for reproduction.

Some starfish can be found exclusively on these seabed while sea cucumbers, feeding on the sediment, where else could be?

The same goes for the ophiuroids, better known as brittle stars, who shun the light by burying themselves under the sand, or the colored crinoids of nocturnal habits.

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Among mollusks, bivalves find here an environment suitable to their needs, as many other living species in the sands, and are therefore difficult to detect; much easier to meet are some cephalopods, stable guests such as the musky octopus or the bobtail squid.

Octopuses also fits sediment, of whatever nature, even if they prefer the coarse debris. They build their den by digging a hole on the bottom, and adorn the entrance with stones and conch shells, which serve as “building blocks� for the walls of a secure building.

The cuttlefish, as a good swimmer, hunts regularly on soft bottoms where it, among other things, has the ability to camouflage itself very well.

Several are also the gastropods, large and small, that have adapted wonderfully to the sandy and muddy environments.

Sea slugs among the largest of the Mediterranean can only be seen in these places, especially in spring, when they climb from higher depths where habitually reside, to reproduce.

Crustaceans are also well represented and some have even a strong preference for the gravel or the sand, as in the case of some crabs that exploit the silting to disappear from view. Of course, given the small border between sand and coarse debris bottoms with isolated rocks or cliffs, it is not unusual to meeting here species that are typical of the neighboring environment.

It is the case of some eel-like species, like the moray eel, that is typical of the rocky crevices but very often, especially at night, can be found on soft bottoms constantly looking for some naive octopus for dinner!

Depending on the season, we will also observe species typical of sandy or muddy environments, but usually living at great depths: with the drop in temperatures, winter gives us the excitement of encounters with large monkfishes or beautiful St.Peter’s fishes, who take the chance to go back to more accessible depths for recreational diving.

The inhabitants of the sands have had to adapt to an environment with special characteristics, certainly more hostile than others, especially as regards the possibility of finding a shelter.

The adaptation led to the study of different strategies: some have settled in a very dismissive way, burying themselves up completely or partially to disappear from view; others, such as flatfishes, (e.g. Bothidae, Soleidae or Rajidae), hide in the sand leaving only their eyes and mouth uncovered; others show off a pattern virtually the same color of the background on where they rest, making it very difficult to identify them, betrayed only by eventual imperceptible movements.

The full confidence of these animals in their mimicry makes them virtually motionless in front of the divers and escape is the last option for almost all the inhabitants of the sedimentary expanses of any type: camouflage is the main rule to follow for survival.

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Among mollusks, bivalves find here an environment suitable to their needs, as many other living species in the sands, and are therefore difficult to detect; much easier to meet are some cephalopods, stable guests such as the musky octopus or the bobtail squid.

Octopuses also fits sediment, of whatever nature, even if they prefer the coarse debris. They build their den by digging a hole on the bottom, and adorn the entrance with stones and conch shells, which serve as “building blocks� for the walls of a secure building.

The cuttlefish, as a good swimmer, hunts regularly on soft bottoms where it, among other things, has the ability to camouflage itself very well.

Several are also the gastropods, large and small, that have adapted wonderfully to the sandy and muddy environments.

Sea slugs among the largest of the Mediterranean can only be seen in these places, especially in spring, when they climb from higher depths where habitually reside, to reproduce.

Crustaceans are also well represented and some have even a strong preference for the gravel or the sand, as in the case of some crabs that exploit the silting to disappear from view. Of course, given the small border between sand and coarse debris bottoms with isolated rocks or cliffs, it is not unusual to meeting here species that are typical of the neighboring environment.

It is the case of some eel-like species, like the moray eel, that is typical of the rocky crevices but very often, especially at night, can be found on soft bottoms constantly looking for some naive octopus for dinner!

Depending on the season, we will also observe species typical of sandy or muddy environments, but usually living at great depths: with the drop in temperatures, winter gives us the excitement of encounters with large monkfishes or beautiful St.Peter’s fishes, who take the chance to go back to more accessible depths for recreational diving.

The inhabitants of the sands have had to adapt to an environment with special characteristics, certainly more hostile than others, especially as regards the possibility of finding a shelter.

The adaptation led to the study of different strategies: some have settled in a very dismissive way, burying themselves up completely or partially to disappear from view; others, such as flatfishes, (e.g. Bothidae, Soleidae or Rajidae), hide in the sand leaving only their eyes and mouth uncovered; others show off a pattern virtually the same color of the background on where they rest, making it very difficult to identify them, betrayed only by eventual imperceptible movements.

The full confidence of these animals in their mimicry makes them virtually motionless in front of the divers and escape is the last option for almost all the inhabitants of the sedimentary expanses of any type: camouflage is the main rule to follow for survival.

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STOWAWAYS AND CRIMES ABOARD A SCOFFLAW SHIP A great reportage by

Ian Urbina (New York Times) CHIOS, Greece — The rickety raft made of empty oil drums and a wooden tabletop rolled and pitched with the waves while tied to the side of the Dona Liberta, a 370-foot cargo ship anchored far from land in the Atlantic Ocean off West Africa.

“Go down!” yelled a knife-wielding crew member, forcing two Tanzanian stowaways overboard and onto the raft. As angry clouds gathered on the horizon, he cut the line.

Gambling on a better life, the stowaways had run out of luck. They had already spent nine days at sea, most of the time hiding in the Dona Liberta’s engine room, crouched deep in oily water. But as they climbed down onto the slick raft, the men, neither of whom knew how to swim, nearly slid into the ocean before lashing themselves together to the raft with a rope.

As the Dona Liberta slowly disappeared, David George Mndolwa, one of the abandoned pair, recalled thinking: “This is the end.”

Through debt or coercion, tens of thousands of workers, many of them children, are enslaved on boats every year, with only occasional interventions. On average, a large ship sinks every four days and between 2,000 and 6,000 seamen die annually, typically because of avoidable accidents linked to lax safety practices.

Ships intentionally dump more engine oil and sludge into the oceans in the span of three years than that spilled in the Deepwater Horizon and Exxon Valdez accidents combined, ocean researchers say, and emit huge amounts of certain air pollutants, far more than all the world’s cars. Commercial fishing, much of it illegal, has so efficiently plundered marine

REPORTAGE

Few places on the planet are as lawless as the high seas, where egregious crimes are routinely committed with impunity. Though the global economy is ever more dependent on a fleet of more than four million fishing and small cargo vessels and 100,000 large merchant ships that haul about 90 percent of the world’s goods, today’s maritime laws have hardly more teeth than they did centuries ago when history’s great empires first explored the oceans’ farthest reaches.

Murders regularly occur offshore — thousands of seafarers, fishermen or sea migrants die under suspicious circumstances annually, maritime officials say — but culprits are rarely held accountable. No one is required to report violent crimes committed in international waters.

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stocks that the world’s population of predatory fish has declined by two thirds.

The Dona Liberta has been among the most persistent of scofflaws, offering a case study of misconduct at sea, according to an examination of shipping, insurance and port records, and dozens of interviews with law enforcement, maritime experts and former company associates. The vessel not only cast off stowaways — Jocktan Francis Kobelo, the second man ordered onto the raft, died from the 2011 ordeal — but has also been accused of a long list of other offenses over the past decade.

As the rusty refrigerator ship moved across two oceans and five seas and among 20 ports, it routinely abused, cheated and abandoned its crew, caused an oil slick nearly 100 miles long, and drew citations from a half-dozen countries for other environmental violations.

Creditors chased its owner for millions of dollars in unpaid debts, and maritime watchdog groups listed its parent company as an illegal fishing suspect. Still, the ship operated freely and never lacked for work or laborers.

To read full story: www.nytimes.com/2015/07/19/world/stowaway-

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96

FAMILY ADVENTURES AGAINST ALL ODDS Words and Pictures

Tanya Houppermans

As underwater photographers, we have the privilege of telling stories through our images. I became an underwater photographer with the hope of using my images to change the public’s misconceptions about sharks, and to show the world that sharks are not the vicious monsters so often portrayed by the media. But then I realized that I also had the potential to change other misconceptions through my images, namely about what those with disabilities are capable of. You see, my 19-year old son Richard has autism. And he is a certified Open Water scuba diver.

Richard was diagnosed with autism when he was 4-years old. At first 1. Tanya Houppermans and her son Richard waiting for whale the doctors thought sharks in the waters off of Isla Mujeres, Mexico he had a speech delay, but after subsequent testing the doctors told his dad, Sean, and I that Richard did indeed have autism. All of the hopes and dreams I had for my little boy suddenly seemed to fade away. I didn’t know what the future held for him. I didn’t know what kind of life he would have. And that terrified me.

But there were positives. Richard was smart, kind, and most importantly, he was happy. He had great teachers and therapists. So his dad and I started to focus on what Richard could do instead of what he couldn’t.

And one of the things Richard loved to do was swim.

Becoming A Scuba Diver As the years went on, Richard’s love of the water continued. He took

2. and 3. Richard honing his scuba skills in the Rappahannock Quarry in Fredericksburg, Virginia

who is a scuba diver. I became a diver, and Scott and I often wished it were possible for Richard to come diving with us. But we didn’t think that would be a possibility due to Richard having autism. We knew that he was capable of snorkeling though, so during their trips to the pool Sean taught Richard how to use a mask and snorkel. In no time, Richard was snorkeling all around the pool, enjoying being able to see underwater.

Still, I hoped for Richard to experience scuba diving, even if it was just in the swimming pool. The owner of our local dive shop took a chance and allowed Richard to take a Discover Scuba Diving class. Within an hour of first breathing through a regulator, Richard was swimming all over the deep end of the pool in full scuba gear, completely relaxed and happy.

He was in his element.

At this time, we met scuba instructor Pete Davis, who had also recently become an adaptive diving instructor through the Handicapped Scuba Association (HSA). Pete explained that it just might be possible for Richard to become an Open Water diver with a certification through HSA. Richard would have to demonstrate basic scuba skills (mask clearing, regulator retrieval and purge, inflating/deflating BCD, etc.), and be able to react appropriately in the event of an emergency. He would also need to dive with two other certified scuba divers at all times. Sean, Scott, and

TRAVELS

lessons to be able to swim properly, and to learn how to be safe in and around the water. He loved to read about animals that live in the water, and had a growing collection of plush fish, sharks, manatees, and dolphins. Sean and I divorced when Richard was 12, but Sean continued to take Richard to the swimming pool several times a week and he encouraged Richard’s love of marine animals. I later married my husband Scott,

98

I discussed it, and we came to a unanimous decision - we would all help Richard become a scuba diver.

Richard was a model scuba student and was very eager to learn. Like many people with autism, Richard is very visual; he learns best by seeing something rather than being told about it. He quickly caught on to how to perform his scuba skills by watching Pete, and also easily adapted to using hand signals. Richard has trouble with verbal communication, and finds it difficult to speak in full sentences. This was not a hindrance to him in the water though, where none of us use verbal communication.

With Pete, Scott, and I in the water with Richard, and Sean cheering him on from the side of the pool (and later the quarry when Richard did his Open Water checkout dives), Richard mastered his skills and was able to graduate to become an Open Water scuba diver.

Manatees, Whale Sharks, Manta Rays, and Caverns Before taking Richard to dive in the ocean, Scott and I took him diving a few more times in our local quarry. At that point, I couldn’t wait to introduce him to my beloved sharks, so I took Richard to the North Carolina Aquarium at Roanoke Island where they allowed Richard to dive with the sand tiger, sandbar, and nurse sharks. Richard loved being in the water with sharks that he had only previously read about in books. By now, we felt that Richard was experienced enough to make his first ocean dives, so Scott and I took him diving at Bonaire’s beautiful coral reefs. Richard performed flawlessly, and was most excited about seeing a sea turtle and a spotted eagle ray. He would even verbalize what he was seeing! After a dive, I would ask him, “What did you see?” He would reply with, “I saw a sea turtle!” or “I saw a ray!” Hearing him express himself so effortlessly was tremendously rewarding.

After our trip to Bonaire I decided to concentrate seriously on underwater photography. I realized that photography was one of the most powerful tools I had to not only help with shark

4. Richard enjoying his first ocean dives in Bonaire

conservation efforts, but to also share my son’s story. Perhaps we could help others by showing the opportunities available to those who may have never thought it was possible to become a scuba diver.

So I invested in my underwater photography kit, and began developing my skills as a photographer.

5.jpg 5. A curious manatee approaches Richard in Crystal River, Florida

While vacationing in Florida a few months later, we took Richard to snorkel with manatees. Richard was taught early on not to touch the animals, and to also not do anything that might scare them. Because Richard was so unintimidating, the manatees came right up to him, with one even gently nudging Richard on the nose. Richard was exuberant about being “kissed” by a manatee. The image I took of the manatee approaching Richard shows what can happen when we interact with animals on their terms. It was truly a magical moment, and Richard had a smile on his

6 and 7. Richard and his stepdad Scott are dwarfed by a whale shark in Isla Mujeres, Mexico

face for the rest of the day.

Our biggest adventure yet came last July when Scott, Richard, and I traveled to Isla Mujeres, Mexico to snorkel with whale sharks. When our boat arrived to the site, Scott and Richard slid into the water together.

Although Richard is quite competent in the water, Scott and I always

100

make sure at least one of us is within arm’s reach. I followed with my camera, and a few minutes later the first whale shark swam by. Richard was thrilled to see a whale shark so close, and after the shark swam by, Richard poked his head out of the water and said, “I saw a whale shark!”

He had no fear, and excitedly put his face back in the water to look for more whale sharks.

The next day, we went back out to the site and were privileged to see not only whale sharks, but also several manta rays! Again, Richard readily got into the water and watched as three manta rays swam by. When he lifted his head out of the water, he said, “I saw three manta rays!” Not only was he snorkeling in the open ocean with large animals, but he was also using sentences to tell me what he was experiencing. I was incredibly proud of what Richard was accomplishing.

8. and 9. While in Isla Mujeres, Richard was able to snorkel with both whale sharks and manta rays

One the third day of our trip, high winds prevented us from going back out to see the whale sharks, so we took Richard diving in one Mexico’s beautiful caverns. I ensured that this was a suitable environment for him, with shallow depths and plenty of areas with access to the surface. After a couple days of snorkeling, Richard was eager to scuba dive again. With Scott close by, Richard used his flashlight to follow our guide through the caverns, while looking around at the incredible formations. When we surfaced from the dive, I told Richard what a great job he did. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to. He had a grin from ear to ear, and that said it all.

Making A Difference Sharing diving adventures with my son, and recording them with my

10.jpg 10. and 11. With Scott close by, Richard explores caverns in Mexico

camera, are some of the most fulfilling moments of my life. They would never have happened without the support of everyone involved in helping Richard become a diver. This was truly a team effort, from Sean first teaching Richard how to snorkel, to the wonderful staff of The Scuba Shack willing to take the time to teach Richard to dive, and Scott ensuring Richard’s safety every time we are in the water. Being a diver has been tremendously rewarding for Richard, and has opened up a world of opportunities for him. My hope is that when people see the images of Richard diving, they will realize that those with disabilities are capable of doing incredible things with the love and support of those around them.

Tanya Houppermans

12. Richard’s smile speaks volumes about how much he enjoyed his first cavern dive g

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JELLIFISH To Pee or Not to Pee, that is the Jellyfish question. Before I go into the fascinating facts about Jellyfish, I figured I’d answer the most important Jellyfish question of all. Will it help if someone urinates on my Jellyfish sting?

The answer to this is NO, this is not a helpful activity. Hopefully this article saves a few individuals from a potentially embarrassing situation.

Jellyfish sting by shooting poison darts, nematocysts, into their prey or an unsuspecting diver. These darts are generally located on their tentacles but are also found on the bell of some species. Any change in salt balance to the mechanism a Jellyfish uses to sting, cnidocytes, causes it to fire. Given that, rinsing in fresh water and yes, urinating on a sting makes things worse… unless, you pee saltwater.

A remedy that does do a reasonably good job of relieving pain is vinegar.

It does this by rendering the stinging darts inactive.

In addition to the above process that takes a mere 1/1,000,000 of a second to happen, there are many more fascinating facts about Jellyfish.

A Jellyfish’s body is roughly 95% water and is mostly made up of a jelly like substance called mesoglea. They can be found in all of earth’s oceans and even in some freshwater lakes. Variants of their species have been in our oceans for over 500 million years. Today, there are over 10,000 species of Jellyfish. The largest of the species, the Lions mane jellyfish, Cyanea capillata, can reach over 30 meters long. At this length, it is longer than a blue whale.

They prey upon fish and plankton that they capture in their tentacles.

Although their stinging abilities are a fantastic defense mechanism, they are still prey to thicker skinned predators including Sea turtles, Sharks and Sunfish. Some species of Nudibranch actually eat the tentacles of Jellyfish and retain the stinging capabilities of them to be used as their own protection.

This willingness to eat Jellyfish by other predators can actually be dan-

John Fifer

gerous to them for other reasons. Plastic bags are often mistaken by predators for Jellyfish. More than 100,000 animals die every year after ingesting or becoming entangled in plastic bags.

With its unique defense mechanisms and staying power, it’s no wonder scientists have looked to the Jellyfish for answers. The stinging cells of Jellyfish may one day model the way injections are made and fluorescent proteins taken from glowing jellyfish are now one of the most important tools in medicine, used in everything from brain mapping to disease research.

Most jellyfish have a relatively short life span that ranges from a few days to less than a year. Some of the more minuscule species only live for a few hours. Oddly enough, some Jellyfish have “immortal” properties. It can be argued that the immortal Jellyfish, Turritopsis dohrnii, ages backwards.

When a crisis like starvation presents itself, the Jellyfish’s cells transform to their earliest form and become ready to grow again another day.

Should you come across a Jellyfish, observe, appreciate and be careful.

And if you get stung, remember, not to pee is the answer. Next Critter Corner – Wrasses.

CRITTER CORNER

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108

BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND Road to technical diving (part 6) Words

Richard Anspach Pictures

Mark van Bronswijk

TECH DIVE

112 After our last course the wrecks of a.o. Malta and Croatia have been our playground, building experience and confidence until the dives worked like clockwork, letting us fully enjoy the beauty of the places we dived. Wreck’s like the Um el Faroud, HMS Hellespont, HMS St Angelo, SS Vis and SS Kalliopi… if you don’t know these and ever get the chance, go dive. Every single one of them is worth multiple dives. If you need information on excellent diving centres that make your diving great, just contact us.

But… an increase in bottom time in the range we were diving and – to be honest – the longing of the deeper wrecks eventually made us decide to go the final mile. We spend many an evening discussing with whom we would like to take the Tech-2 class and – more important – were we would like to dive.

Decision was made and…

Finally you have to grab all your diving gear together for a final check and see if it fits the bag and meets the luggage restrictions.

Malta, here we come… 6 course days ahead and some additional days for fun diving – hopefully in the Tech-2 range (75m) - the beautiful Maltese wrecks.

No delays, no last minute stress, no lost luggage… all omen seem in our favour when we land and get ourselves installed in St Julian’s. We drop our diving gear at the dive centre and feel immediately at home at TechWise. All is already set and prepared for the course. Promising.

Off to enjoy the sun and check for a place to eat. St Julian offers plenty of good places for a drink and a munch, so choosing is probably the most difficult part.

DAY 1 The Next day we meet up with our instructor and after a brief course overview get to work on the academics; a recap on advanced mixed gas diving including planning, gas requirements and basic strategies and general overview of the various risks involved with decompression diving.

The larger part of the afternoon is spend on the house reef mainly focussing on our current platform, skills & drills. A solid platform is the most valuable asset you have in the water column; when the proverbial [beep] hits the fan, it is the backbone of any solution to a problem. Without? Chaos. And it is amazing just how many things can go wrong, malfunction or get lost when you spend 3 hours in the water laying line ;) During the comprehensive debriefing some pointers to bear in mind and work on during the coming days were noted, but all in all not too bad for a kick-off day. [note to self: slow is smooth, smooth is fast] DAY 2 After a nice cup of coffee, academics continue mainly focussing on stage handling; multiple bottom and deco stages as well as an hypoxic protocol as breathing gasses for the deeper dives no longer are breathable on the surface due to the low oxygen content (15%) We hit the water to put it all to practise. Every descent from now on will start with the hypoxic protocol, no matter the breathing gas or target depth. Through the shallows we moved to a nice playground on the house reef for clipping… clipping… clipping… and some more clipping, rotating stages in every possible

way… and… not a single one was dropped However, as time in the water column is limited, being able to complete a rotation is say under 2-3 minutes is mandatory, so we clipped some more. Fingertips, you ask? We haven’t kept count on how many bolt snaps were clipped, but surely if you were to wear gloves, they will be ripped after some 4 hours in the water.

Finally, a nice mind crusher scenario involving an OOG breathing from the stage with Houdini-loss of back gas and… ehm… oops… sorry, no spoilers for those who still have the intention to do the course themselves. Not the smoothest of performances we have ever done, but we managed to get it all sorted.

And to top it off you find your team member floating in the column, playing unconscious. We spend a couple of rounds taking this diver safely to the surface [note so self… never skip breakfast on a course day] DAY 3 Academics, of course. Today’s sessions was all about ascent rates, advanced breathing gas strategies and contingency planning. Quite confronting to realise the shear amount of gas you need to take with you to safely dive the deeper wrecks. As it would take a good 18 minutes to reach the next available gas source at 21m from a 70m dive in case of an emergency, minimum gas requirements are extensive and the margins of error in an OOG event are very limited. Did we mention that platform already?

We can now almost hear the question mark on the 18minutes. Without too much detail (we promised no spoilers, right?), for a Tech-2 dive we would typically calculate 1 minute to resolve simple problems, then the ascent starts at a rate of 9m/min to 75% of our depth (another 2 minutes to 51m), we change ascent rate to 3m/min to 50% of our depth (another 6 min to 33m) and change the rate one more time to 3m/2min (another 8 min to 21m) finally allowing typically 1 minute for the gas switch. In total 1+2+6+8+1=18min. Multiply this time required by 2 divers and the divers gas consumption rate and you know the amount of your Minimum Gas for the dive.

By the way… changing ascent rates in the column is easier said than done, so... of to Cirkewwa.

That is after our standard, thorough checking of the breathing gasses filled, correct marking and labelling of all tanks, right? Right.

Upon arrival kitting up and running our pre-dive checks once more, one of the manifolds proved not to be open. Say what? Yes, it happened. So we spend some time in the sun while the set was taken for a proper re-fill. Needless to say, we felt rather stupid…

The remainder of the afternoon? Up and down, up and down… with all sorts of failures on stuff we did check, unexplainable prolonged-OOG events and even missing stuff when you need it, knowing it was there a minute ago... funny that… [note to self: never, ever forget to triple-check the manifold…]

DAY 4 On the menu: first course being advanced decompression theory. Both physics and physiology on blood flow, tissue saturation and gas transport in the body really come to life when explained by someone with extensive academic knowledge and experience in the subjects.

114 Second course is all about decompression history and modelling development over the past decades, highlighting the benefits and shortcomings of each of the models developed.

Final course places all in perspective in a quest to find a practical approach to decompression. We compare many profiles in even so many models and decide we prefer bubble models to guide us through the deeper part of our ascent to say 21m and dissolved gas models for the shallower part of our ascent. Once more the choice of diving standard gases proves very valuable.

For those who don’t recall, here’s a small reminder. We have chosen to dive with the following standard bottom gases in the various ranges based on an END<30m, working pO2 of max 1,4 and deco pO2 of max 1.6: EAN32 to 30m, Tx 21/35 to 45m, Tx 18/45 to 60m and Tx 15/55 to 75m. Standard deco gasses are EAN50 from 21m and EAN100 from 6m.

Desert: Planning for the 18/45 dive on HMS Stubborn… yes, on the wrecks!

HMS Stubborn This S-class submarine of the Royal Navy was launched on November 11th 1942 and sunk as an ASDIC target after the war (30.4.1946) at 57m depth.

We plan for a max. 40min bottom time at an estimated average depth of 54m, giving us a planned deco of 60min in total.

Flat sea… nice!

Pre-dive checks, gas switch, jump in, to the shot, drop to bubble check and switch depth, check team an gooooooo… and from 30m already there she was… be-au-ti-ful.

Makes you realise one of the bigger benefits of diving deeper wrecks; less people dive them so the amount of detail is just great! We have plenty time to pay attention to those details and after a good 30min we end up back at the shot line and decide to call the dive, adjusting our deco to the shorter than planned dive time. Although our average depth proves slightly less as well, we keep it as planned, entering a re-planned deco of 40min in total.

When we arrive at our 6m stop we realise weather has changed quite a bit. High roller waves great us and the last stage of the deco is a bit of a challenge. Strangely but fortunately enough hardly any current still.

We manage to get ourselves on board unharmed and brace for a bumpy ride back. Boat captain Jordan proves a Master of the Waves and brings us home safe and sound.

Debriefing with very valuable feed-back on team performance, choices and communication followed and off for diner we went. [note to self: go dive again and challenge the depth rating of the Go-Pro] DAY 5 Theory on the breathing gas dynamics, focussing on the influences of oxygen, its tolerances and (CNS)-toxicity including hyperoxia and hypoxia. Finally a good bit on narcosis (from nitrogen, oxygen and co2) is dropped on our plate and munched.

Finally a recap and wrap-up… all set for tomorrow’s exam, except for some dive planning on Schnellboot S31.

She sank after she hit a mine and now lies at approximately 63m atop a white sand seabed. The wreck is broken amidships and the majority of the ship’s dark

wood has rotten away. The wreck has a huge amount of interesting items still on it, including 20mm ammunition on the decks, the starboard tube with the torpedo still in it and the propellers in place. We love the Maltese no-take policy for all her wrecks!

One word: WOW! What a nice dive!

So much to see, that when back at the 21m stop the team wasn’t unanimous on the deco profile, hence we took the most conservative one proposed. Debriefing the dive learnt that we could have saved quite a few minutes of coping with the current on the 6m. Also team communication when landing on the wreck could be improved; time spent at depth not ‘exploring’ is valuable as gas is depleting rapidly. Let’s call it valuable experience, shall we? [note to self: ask Dave for the pictures sneakily taken by a second ‘no bubbles’-CCR-team diving with us] DAY 6 Last course day already… time flies when you have fun while on a steep experience curve!

Exam-time – with a cup of coffee… excellent teacher as we remembered almost all the important subjects covered during the academics sessions and passed.

From the yippie-ka-yay feeling we snapped back to reality as HMS Southwold unfortunately proved a no-go for today’s dive.

Re-visiting Schnellboot and get in a solid dive and ditto deco in was easily agreed upon!

And we can tell you that diving it a second time was great fun as we now knew the specific spots we wanted to see in greater detail. And the more fun as the dive went as planned with proper team work and communication, amazingly without a single ‘event’. Great confidence boost and absolutely not the last dive we hoped to make in this depth range.

But… still one more thing to complete. As if lugging all the equipment for the past days wasn’t some sort of prove of our fitness, off to the local pool for the final swim test. Glad to say, we made it ;) Then, the closing meeting for a debrief on the team, individual feed-back and pointers for improvement and finally the big moment; would we get the word GO and be able to plan for HMS Southwold and Polynesian in the coming days?

We already learned the wind would have us move to Gozo to scooter-dive the wrecks of Karwela and Cominoland (also highly recommendable dives, by the way), but… would we…

YES!!!

Needless to say we had a fan-tas-tic course week building our team, skills and confidence for the days to come. We did dive Southwold, we did dive Polynesian and… the GoPro just about survived our photo-dive on the Stubborn. But maybe, just maybe these adventures will be told in a future story. If you don’t want to wait, please feel free to contact us, we will be happy to share our stories or answer any questions you may have.

For now, happy & safe diving and who knows… we’ll run into each other someplace or another. Hope to see you at the waterfront and do not forget to like and follow Team Pitch Blue on Facebook

N O LL II M M I IT T N O

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