Scubashooters net e mag issue n22 dec 2016

ISSUE

N°22 D E C 2016

PORTFOLIO Andrew Marriott

BIZARRE FISHES

by F. T urano

PLAYING WITH SHARKS

by J. Gutierrez

VENTOTENE: LITTLE PARADISE

by A. Gallucci

ISOTTA FOR NIKON D500

by D. Lombroso

ABANDONED AT SEA

by I. Urbina

MONTHLY CONTEST Donny Suminta wins “Ugly faces”

Dear Scubashooters, Another year is coming to an end... Time to review what has been done and to set forth proposals for the new year coming.

It’s been a though year at Scubashooters.net, lots of projects have started and others are about to. Some of you will remember that few months ago I’ve announced that we wanted to go green and for that purpose we could have organized a “green month” on the network, meaning that we wanted to do something to raise people consciousness towards the sea and the environment and how fragile it is this ball where we all live. I’m proud to announce that we went even further that already high target and we created what we called “Scubashooters Blueline” an eco friendly project which will see us promoting respect, protection and consciousness; for the purpose a parallel structure is being created and will be integrated into the present network. We already have one of the most amazing partners we could hope to find, Dr Sylvia Earle and her Mission Blue organization. Visit www.mission-blue.org to learn more about this amazing group of people and their fight for the sake of the ocean, you’ll be amazed .. Our yearly contest Deepvisions has just started too and this year it’s even bigger than last one sporting 7 categories, 3 trophies and 5 special prizes: many 10000€ overall value of prizes are available to you, many trips and amazing gears for scuba diving and UW photography. I want to take this opportunity to thank all our partners and sponsors for trusting us once more and offering the chance to win really amazing prizes and organize such an event and of course I want to thank you fellow scubashooters that from all over the world, letterally from all over the world are following us in growing numbers day after day, a BIG THANK YOU! Everybody!

Deepvisions is set to end on the 31st of January 2017 so we still have a bit of time ahead to search our computers and hard disks for that beautiful photo which might be the winning one!

I want to take this opportunity to wish you and your families a wonderful Christmas of joy and peace and happyness and the best for the new year coming , please keep following us as your energy and enthusiasm is our fuel to keep on improving and bringing always new ideas and projects for you to enjoy.

Thank you!

Marino Palla Owner and Founder Scubashooters Network

Cover image “Blue Rings” By: Andrew Marriott

C O N T E N T S 3

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EDITORIAL

by Marino Palla

VENTOTENE Little Paradise of the Pontine Islands

by Alberto Gallucci

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BIZARRE FISHES Trumpetfish and slender snipefish

by Francesco Turano

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TRICKED AND INDEBTED ON LAND, ABUSED OR ABANDONED AT SEA

by Ian Urbina

25° Monthly contest: “Ugly Faces”

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PORTFOLIO Andrew Marriott

GERMOPHOBIA? Just give it a reasonable thought DAN Europe

PLAYING WITH THE SHARKS

by Joaquin Gutierrez

ISOTTA D500 HOUSING

by Davide Lombroso

Editor: FABIO STRAZZI Verein Scubashooters, 8952 Schlieren - Switzerland

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VENTOTENE LITTLE PARADISE OF THE PONTINE ISLANDS WORDS AND PICTURES

BY ALBERTO GALLUCCI

TRAVELS

12 The sea is deep blue when, on a beautiful sunny morning, after 1 hour on the hydrofoil departed from Rome, September in Ventotene, a small island in the Pontine archipelago. The ancient Roman port has an almost magical, carved as it is the rock acanthosis. Most of the houses of the village is colored yellow or pink and the narrow streets are teeming of people moving between the bars, little shops and stalls, where among other things you can buy typical products such as lentils and capers. Going up from the port you highlight, looking out to sea over the white Lighthouse Tower, many boats anchored in the Strait separating Singapore from the smaller island of Santo Stefano, so close that you can see with clarity on its Summit the former penitentiary of origin Bourbon.

Time to fix your luggage at the hotel and I have returned to the Roman port, where excavated into the tuff are the premises of the Diving World Ventotene,

the first and best known of the island diving, whose owners Valentina Lombardi and Dario Santo Mauro and all the boys staff show me from the start their professionalism, availability, competence and sympathy. I arrived on the island for two hours just get dressed and already the bottle and wearing the suit, our destination the Molara, a dry between Ventotene and Santo Stefano characterized by an irregular ridge of rock that rises from the sandy bottom just under twenty meters deep. Visibility is excellent, the water is warm. After a few minutes there appeared a beautiful barracuda that we turn around and move towards up or down remaining resident in

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the area. There are also numerous groupers of various sizes, some swimming near barracuda, others remain quiet in their dens. On the bottom in the middle of the sea grass peep some fins Nobili’s.

I follow Dario diver swims for a hundred meters to the north on the sandy bottom. Suddenly it stops and pulls out from the sand a big log anchor Roman stone. At another point, near the sea grass, my dive buddy, perfect who knows the

depths of his Ventotene, show me the Roman amphora almost full! After taking some photos and We made some shots we go back, leaving in the sand these extraordinary finds.

If you spend a few days in Ventotene has inevitably become aware of the postal steamship tragedy Saint Lucia, called “the tram Ponza” by the islanders, who at the time of World War linking the islands of Ponza, Ventotene and Santo Stefano in Gaeta, and that was torpedoed by the British in the waters off Ventotene July 24, 1943. He was struck in the center Hull and lost their lives sixty persons (sixty plus the Commander Cosimo Simeone, who died at the hospital in Naples

16 two days later), four survivors. The wreck of the Saint Lucia was located only sixteen years later, in 1959, when Raimondo Bucher, passing in Ventotene with his sailboat “Chimera”, during a fishing excursion with aqualung He caught a glimpse of something on the bottom.

He stepped back in place by Ugariello, local fisherman, and with the sounding spotted the hull.

Bucher also recovered a skull, buried with impressive ceremony in the cemetery by the parish priest of Ventotene.

In this site, northwest of the island, I’m ready to dive, not without emotion after knowing the sad story sinking. The bottom is at 46 meters deep but by virtue of the excellent visibility of these clear waters of the structures of wreck are already evident after getting off a few meters from the surface. The front half of the hull is completely reversed, until the vertical cutwater, typical of that time. On either side of the bow there are, big and bulging, the two Hall anchors locked in hawses. The plates collapsed damage to the bow upside down the appearance of a huge shark’s mouth that grinds his teeth. The stern, placed at right angles with respect to the forward part, lies on her left side, with the remains of the railing encrusted of sponges and algae. The large bronze propeller, half-covered by sand, is clearly visible and above it has pitched a tent Spirograph beautiful. Other worms are a bit ‘all over the sheets. Later, in an area occupied by pipes and sheets twisted, I saw a grouper that tries to hide, a resident of the wreck who knows how long. In the sixteen minutes Fund programmed so I can completely scour the wreck,

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moving between clouds of damselfish and anthers.

During the Decompression think back to the shipwreck of Saint Lucia, the many lives cut short by a torpedo aviation English, what remains of that ship, and a shiver runs down my spine.

In the afternoon we reach the nearby island of Santo Stefano, on which the old prison building stands in the blue sky.

On the eastern side we anchor at “Pier 4”, in front of the steps carved into the rock that lead on top of the small island.

Let’s begin diving keeping the wall to the right, ie in the direction of Punta Straws, but where ‘we cannot get since it is integral reserve area. Santo Stefano and Ventotene are indeed Protected Marine Reserves since 1997 and Nature Reserve State since 1999, therefore, the animal species and natural resources present here are preserved. The wall can explore is characterized by large boulders that besides being covered with a large amount of animal and plant species create beautiful steps up to over 50 meters deep. On one of these boulders I find a beautiful star gorgon (Astrospartus mediterraneus) near which there are branches of red and yellow sea fans. On a branch of the latter it is bound a dogfish egg from unmistakable elongated oval shape. Many of these eggs are attached to a fishing line that hangs from the wall. other boulders are covered with colonies of bryozoan “elk antlers” (Pentapora fascialis), tangle of branches stretched and flattened orange, and trine Sea (Sertella septentrionalis) from the typical appearance laced and yellow-pink.

Really a triumph of colors, enlivened by the frequent presence of groupers and snappers in the hunt.

The next morning the sea water is still like that of a lake and the air is clear the

20 point that you can see very well in the distance the islands of Ponza and Palmarola to the north and south of Ischia. Our direction is north-west: dry called The Secchitella.

The hat is approximately 21 meters and anchoring takes place right next to a rock arch under which we pass one at a time.

Bello also passing through a siphon with large input and output rather cramped few meters above.

As soon as “Resurface” the trap I pass in front of a fantastic slaps bench, so are ideally placed to photograph them.

In a small cave refuges a white hake (Phycis phycis). Many fins Nobili’s between the Posidonia that are closed when approach. We attend to a sudden at the scene of a moray eel that remains entangled in a tense line and wriggling to try to free only worsens the situation. See it hanging like that puts me in a kind of agitation and I look my mates who are diving oncoming. They too are obviously upset by the scene, but alas well powerless. After a few seconds Chiara remembers having a knife that extracts from the BC and passes to Darius, who with a rap free the animal. The eel, after a moment of stupor, flees sinuous.

The life having saved us It makes everyone happy and makes us feel a great joy!

With each passing day we develop a special feeling with some of my dive buddies, the more experienced and ... friendly, so as to form an inseparable group ready to face, led by Darius, the most difficult dives and without doubt the most beautiful beach of Ventotene. So with Clare, Henry, Daniel, Andrea and Valerio, aboard the Poseidon, one of boats Diving World Ventotene, we sail at a time of dry “Santo Stefano”, “Joyful,” “Dennis” and “To Tell the Zell Land” (The latter named in dialect ventotenese), strictly at nine every morning and fortunately every morning with sea Building and transparent. To dive on St. Stephen’s dry requires a permit of the Harbor, as it belongs In the area of the Marine Park, ie the ‘forbidden zone to each activity’ scuba diver and of course fishing. Thanks to Dario and Valentina we get permission, so we can make in a beautiful sun

22 ny day to the east south-east, beyond the island Santo Stefano, with Ischia in front of us.

We go down in the blue up to about 52-53 meters deep, when it starts to dry this dir short of amazing!

Perhaps for the combination of the current biodiversity here it is remarkable, with a presence of life animal that probably is not found in any other of the Mediterranean seabed.

There is a predominance of orange crinoids, some of which open beautiful star gorgon. It accounts within three meters.

The rocks are covered with hundreds of hedgehogs thunderbolt (Stylocidaris affinis) from nearly spherical body and sparse and developed spines, sea lilies (Anteon Mediterranean), melon urchins (Echinus melo) and star pentagon (Pelt aster placenta). There are many lobsters and red scorpion fish. I also run into a fine specimen of Umbraculum Mediterranean, rounded clam fifteen centimeters in diameter topped from its small flattened oval shell. At sixty meters immersing the residence time in the air, that is, without mixtures, is very little, so reluctantly we have to soon face the ski and long decompression.

The dry Gaudies is located north - west of the island and is characterized by two towers of rock, a higher (hat a little more than 40 meters) and a lower, rising from a muddy seabed around 60 meters deep. The excellent visibility allows us to scorgerle in their grandeur as soon as we begin to descend into the blue. And ‘ this is the only site of the island where there are large fans of red gorgonian (Parametrical clavata), some of which lend support to the white of spotted eggs.

Many are also the branches of yellow gorgonian (Eunicella cavolinii) and fan worms Sabella spallanzanii with long feathery filaments.

Colorful and varied the numerous species of sponges present. Hundreds of red damselfish (Anthias) swim on this festive colorful forest, while large groupers peep from the many crevices created by the rock.

To the northwest of the island is also the dry Dennis, on whose flat at about 50 meters’ depth planiamo after a dizzying and exciting descent into the blue. The wall comes down to over 62 meters and begin the exploration by holding to our left.

Henry shines his flashlight some melon urchins. We arrive at the dark opening of a cave. Even if the depth is considerable I do not think twice about entering. In the light of my beacon appears an incredible swarm of parapandali that move with perfect synchrony along the walls of the cave, the bottom of which seems to doze a big curly crown Centrostephanus longispinus with long spines. Then I start to walk along the wall of anthias swarming up to stop for passing a moray heedless of us divers swim quiet along the ciliated . During decompression accompany us some Ctenophora Bolinopsis glassy with a characteristic iridescence along the ribs.

A dry Zell Tell the Earth (zell tell is a measurement used by fishermen ventotenesi) is located south-west of the island, not far from Punta dell ‘Arco, between 50 and 60 meters deep. The descent into the blue is a beautiful and exciting time, I would like repeat it a thousand times! The dry rocks are rich in ravines and canyons low, again teeming with red damselfish. a large musdea probe the bottom with long wattles. Dario guides us along the ciliated that remains to our right. Many worms and the curly melon. We find even a sponge to vessel, rather rare in the Mediterranean. On the remains of a fishing net are attached many of spotted eggs. A little ‘later Dario shows me a strain of even Roman bronze. In the long minutes of deco dating the so-called “comb jelly with veils” Leukothea multicornis, I had never seen before, yet another demonstration of remarkable biodiversity that you find in these waters.

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BIZARRE FISHES Trumpetfish and slender snipefish

Words and Pictures

Francesco Turano

MARINE BIOLOGY

32 When I started having the first direct approaches with marine life, in the stretch of sea between Calabria and Sicily, I used to hang out at the coasts where the fishermen landed returning from their work. I watched inquisitive the disembarking operations but, above all, I lingered while fishermen were cleaning the gill nets, which I found very interesting. Observing all that they removed from the nets, I was trying to identify the different species of fish and sea invertebrates, collecting everything that was thrown to the ground, like useless fishes, starfishes, shells and pieces of corals of various types. Once home, by consulting my first books about the sea, I tried to trace back to the animals’ scientific data and ... filling my parents’ house with a smell nothing short of nauseating! I will never forget, despite the passing of years, those little “unnecessary” and, among other things, very annoying fishes called trumpet fishes. They were small, they were many and, when they ran up against the nets, it was crazy.

Removing those strange fishes from the tangle of a net, meant spending hours fighting with the quills of which they are equipped, that often ended up stuck in the hands of the poor workers...

The longspine snipefish, Macrorhamphosus scolopax, belongs to the order of Syngnathiformes. It has a curious shape: its mouth proboscis-shaped has a small opening at the end, made to feed on small prey. With a reddish color on the back, shading on the sides tending to pink, it swims tilted upside down; I have to say in a rather unusual way for a fish. Despite living at quite high depths (200-300 m), often it climbs up to 40-50 m overnight. The waters of the Strait of Messina make exception to this rule. There the snipefishes come up almost close to the surface under cover of darkness, while during the day, thanks to a

special game of currents, they can be found between 20 and 50 meters deep quite frequently, even if only in very specific and narrow-confined places. The main feature of the trumpet fish is the first dorsal fin, consisting of a second highly developed spine very sharp, whose inner edge is saw-toothed. A real stinger, damnation of the fishermen who are injured regularly while cleaning the nets. A terrible needle with certainly a very precise function, probably defensive. I remember that once I saw a golden grouper resting on his stomach on the bottom, as if it was suffering, almost bent to one side. Getting closer, I discovered that the grouper had tried to swallow a trumpetfish, but grabbing it from behind. Result: the stinger of the first dorsal fin remained stuck on the grouper’s palate, who could not swallow its prey. At the same time, the snipefish could not take the sea route, held by its own sting that, on the one hand had saved it, but on the other kept it restrained in the jaws of the predator. I waited a bit to see the evolution of the situation, but things did not change quickly and I did not see the ending. However, the grouper was there trying to help the trumpetfish getting away, shaking its head, and eventually things would work out for the best... Going back to the physical characteristics of the fish, besides the stinger we notice a small and truncated tail fin, and a dorsal and anal fin quite similar. Although the animal can reach 18 cm in length, the specimens that are usually seen are long on average between 7 and 10 cm. To learn more about the habits of this funny little fish I will tell you some of my experiences in the stretch of sea where it is easier to meet them, not right in between Scylla and Charybdis,

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but rather between Reggio and Messina. This is to emphasize that the trumpet fish actually can be found only around Reggio and Messina and, only in certain cases, to the southern limits of the Straits (on the Calabrian side between St. Gregory and Punta Pellaro), although in the past many articles, appeared in specialized magazines about diving tourism, incorrectly also reported their sighting in the sea of Scylla, to the north of the strait. One of the most evocative scenery that the sea of the city of Reggio has offered me, and still offers (although lately in much more modest way), is right this: all these little silver and pink fishes, swimming frantically on the seabed’s debris slopes in front of the beach promenade, sometimes near the bottom, touching the tufts of the many spirographs, sometimes hovering in midwater, in evolutions that only occasionally you can observe closely, because of a certain diffidence of the school towards men diving during daylight hours. At night the behavior of the longspine snipefish is completely different: they form small groups laying out near the bottom, and sometimes they are also scattered here and there, as confused, even quite disturbed by the beam of light perturbing the environment hidden in the dark. Shedding some light on a group of a few specimen, I see them starting to swim now to one direction, now to another, as adrift, suddenly caught by frantic swimming or, sometimes, seemingly pausing “reflexive�. In that way I had several opportunities to observe them, photograph them and get very close to individual fish. Approaching a single specimen, photographing the details while it moves, remains very difficult, although not impossible as by day. Nevertheless, with the sun, I found a place where you can approach a remarkable school of fish in continuous rhythmic evolutions. It is located between two clusters of rocks, placed between 35 and 45 meters deep, in front of the mouth of a stream almost on the southern

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edge of the Strait. We are at Fiumarella di Pellaro, a magical and congenial place to the life of these fish, even though I do not know the causes of this large concentration in a small area. The exceptional images of dense clouds of tiny trumpet fish were made over the years in these waters, where only the shelter and security offered by the walls of the rock bastions gave me the opportunity to shoot playing hide and seek. During very few night dives, instead, I had the good fortune to assist to the coupling of the snipefishes. There were no more than two or three dives characterized by this important event, and I seemed almost to understand that there are some winter nights when these fish go wild and mate. The magical night of the coupling is just unforgettable, and the only testimony is a single photograph, unique because only once I managed to freeze the moment, grabbing on the fly one of the few seconds available when the two fishes are joined. Out of the blue, you see two specimens in the context of a small group who get close and cling to one another with the back of the body, near the anal fins. The mating lasts a few seconds and soon after, at the time of detachment, you see both fishes shaking and simultaneously emitting the first a small curled cord of eggs, and the other the semen that will fecundate it, or so it seems... I do not remember what I felt when I saw such a scene, but I am convinced that the observation and documentation of such events in the wild is not so common. Pleased to share with the readers my emotions, I propose between the lines that unique image that shows the two sexually active trumpetfishes in that fantastic underwater world, wrapped in darkness, on the seabed of that mythical channel separating Sicily from Calabria.

Very similar to the co-genus scolopax, Macrorhamphosus gracilis or slender snipefish, unlike the first has a more slender body and compressed at the sides, with large and circular eye. The beak-shaped snout is quite pointy, with a small, incised mouth facing upwards. The second spiny ray of the dorsal fin does not exceed the caudal peduncle and has a slightly serrated edge facing down. The tail is truncate with a slightly concave margin. The color of the back is golden rose to become silver on the belly. Not more than 3 cm in length, exceptionally reaches 5 cm, so its size is well below the spiny trumpetfish, with which it shares the habitat typically pelagic and the depth. The slender snipefish also feeds on small planktonic animals and seems to be present only in the Strait of Messina.

Encountering this fish underwater is very rare: I seldom have but have no picture of it. I always thought a lot about this, but I never understood why it is so hard to see the slender snipefish underwater, while it is easier to encounter its beached corpses. Therefore, I assume that probably is because of the depth at which they usually stay.

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TRICKED AND INDEBTED ON LAND, ABUSED OR ABANDONED AT SEA A great reportage by:

Ian Urbina (New York Times)

REPORTAGE

48 LINABUAN SUR, the Philippines — When Eril Andrade left this small village, he was healthy and hoping to earn enough on a fishing boat on the high seas to replace his mother’s leaky roof.

Seven months later, his body was sent home in a wooden coffin: jet black from having been kept in a fish freezer aboard a ship for more than a month, missing an eye and his pancreas, and covered in cuts and bruises, which an autopsy report later concluded had been inflicted before death.

“Sick and resting,” said a note taped to his body. Handwritten in Chinese by the ship’s captain, it stated only that Mr. Andrade, 31, had fallen ill in his sleep.

Mr. Andrade, who died in February 2011, and nearly a dozen other men in his village had been recruited by an illegal “manning agency,” tricked with false promises of double the actual wages and then sent to an apartment in Singapore, where they were locked up for weeks, according to interviews and affidavits taken by local prosecutors. While they waited to be deployed to Taiwanese tuna ships, several said, a gatekeeper demanded sex from them for assignments at sea.

Once aboard, the men endured 20-hour workdays and brutal beatings, only to return home unpaid and deeply in debt from thousands of dollars in upfront costs, prosecutors say.

Thousands of maritime employment agencies around the world provide a vital service, supplying crew members for ships, from small trawlers to giant container carriers, and handling everything from paychecks to plane tickets. While many companies operate responsibly, over all the industry, which has drawn little attention, is poorly regulated. The few rules on the books do not even apply to fishing ships, where the worst abuses tend to happen, and enforcement is lax.

Illegal agencies operate with even greater impunity, sending men to ships notorious for poor safety and labor records; instructing them to travel on tourist or transit visas, which exempt them from the protections of many labor and anti-trafficking laws; and disavowing them if they are denied pay, injured, killed, abandoned or arrested at sea.

“It’s lies and cheating on land, then beatings and death at sea, then shame and debt when these men get home,” said Shelley Thio, a board member of Transient Workers Count Too, a migrant workers’ advocacy group in Singapore.

“And the manning agencies are what make it all possible.”

Step Up Marine Enterprise, the Singapore-based company that recruited Mr. Andrade and the other villagers, has a well-documented record of trouble, according to an examination of court records, police reports and case files in Singapore and the Philippines. In episodes dating back two decades, the company has been tied to trafficking, severe physical abuse, neglect, deceptive recruitment and failure to pay hundreds of seafarers in India, Indonesia, Mauritius, the Philippines and Tanzania.

Still, its owners have largely escaped accountability. Last year, for example, prosecutors opened the biggest trafficking case in Cambodian history, involving more than 1,000 fishermen, but had no jurisdiction to charge Step Up for recruiting them. In 2001, the Supreme Court of the Philippines harshly reprimanded Step Up and a partner company in Manila for systematically duping men, knowingly sending them to abusive employers and cheating them, but Step Up’s owners faced no penalties.

The Philippine authorities have charged 11 people tied to Step Up with traffick-

50 ing and illegal recruitment of Mr. Andrade and others from the Philippines. But only one person, allegedly a low-level culprit, has been arrested and is likely to be tried: Celia Robelo, 46, who faces a potential life sentence for what prosecutors say was a recruiting effort that earned her at most $20 in commissions.

Mr. Andrade’s story was pieced together from interviews with his family, other seamen recruited in or near his village, police officers, lawyers and aid workers in Jakarta, Manila and Singapore. It highlights the tools — debt, trickery, fear, violence, shame and family ties — used to recruit men, entrap them and leave them at sea, sometimes for years under harsh conditions.

No country exports more seafarers than the Philippines, which provides roughly a quarter of them globally. More than 400,000 Filipinos sought work last year as officers, deckhands, fishermen, cargo handlers and cruise workers. Mr. Andrade’s death shows that governments are sometimes unable or unwilling to protect the rights of citizens far from home.

The abuse of Filipino seamen has increased in recent years, labor officials in the Philippines say, because the country’s maritime trade schools produce, on average, 20,000 graduates a year for fewer than 5,000 openings. As men grow desperate for work, they take greater risks. Roughly a third of them now use agencies that are illegal — unregistered and willing to break rules, the officials said.

Such agencies, favored by ship operators and workers looking to shave costs, compound the problem of lawlessness on the high seas. Scofflaw ships cast off stowaways and deplete fishing stocks. Violence is rampant, and few nations patrol the waters, much less enforce violations of maritime laws or international pacts.

Read more at:

www.nytimes.com/2015/11/09/ world/asia/philippines-fishing-ships-illegal-manning-agencies.html?_r=0

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Andrew Marriott

PORTFOLIO

PORTFOLIO

62 Andrew is a long time diver, photographer and writer.

Originally from the USA he found the ocean while working in the world of financial derivatives.

After a move to Guam he devoted himself full time to the ocean, helping many new divers fall in love with the water while working as an instructor and enthusiastic underwater photographer.

After much encouragement from his friends and students, he devoted himself full time to taking and sharing his images and writing about diving.

His writing and photos have appeared in major magazines across the world and he is the author of the book Legends Beneath the Waves Vol. 1: Truk Lagoon.

Currently he is working on the next two books in that series while living in Beijing with his awesome wife Dalice and two daughters Elly and EJ “Doomy�.

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Our ACTION CAM BRACKET is made of AISI 316 stainless steel (3 mm thick and with black Delrin inserts).

It consists of two laser-cut plates and a pair of folding handles with blocking mechanism. The coupling of the two plates is via a M8 dowel acting as a guide. In the rear part the handle has an additional 1/4 UNC thread for extra applications (eg. Gorilla POD or similar), an extendible guide plate and a small base for bi-adhesive connections.

An anodized aluminum stick simplifies macro recording allowing to force the minimum recording distance from the subject. The handles terminate with preanodized 6026 aluminum alloy SML-pearl-grey spheres (Ă˜ 25 mm), thus allowing for the maximum flexibility for lights and additional parts to be connected to the base. The system can be offered with Lock-line terminations instead.

Our SCUBA VIDEO LIGHT Led C-95, electronically realized in cooperation with Elbatech Srl, is made by an 6026 SML pearl-grey anodized aluminum alloy body (Ø 60 mm) (milled from full aluminum bar), with a ring-bezel rear cover in black Delrin (Ø 70 mm) and with a 8-mm thick front polycarbonate glass. Its weight out of the water is 750 g, in the water 270 g.

LIGHT FEATURES: High intensity LED diode: CREE LED array CXA1304, 900 lumen, 5000°K Viewing Angle: from 85° to 140° CRI: 90 to 95 Battery: Li-Ion rechargeable battery pack, 14.8V 2000 mAh (dedicated battery charger IMAX B6AC included) Burn Time: 120 minutes @ 100% Hydrostatic test: 120 minutes @ 9 bar Electronics: custom-made power-led driver (Elbatech Srl, Marciana (LI), Italy) Our scuba light model 170/30 N is offered a beautiful blue briefcase containing: 1 scuba led video light model C-95 1 battery charger IMAX B6AC 1 black Delrin dedicated holder terminating with an anodized aluminium SML pearl-grey sphere (Ø 25 mm) About MECHANICS please refer to SML-SUB www.sml-sub.it e-mail: info@sml-sub.it About ELECTRONICS please refer to ELBATECH srl www.elbatech.com e-mail: info@elbatech.com

www.sml-sub.it

86

GERMOPHOBIA? JUST GIVE IT A REASONABLE THOUGHT

As published in past articles of Alert Diver, microbes from different sources, transmitted via diving equipment, can be a true threat to scuba divers.

In fact, rented equipment and rinsing tanks can pool a high load of bacteria, fungi, viruses, and amoebas with the potential to spread diseases.

Don’t think dive centers use bactericides in their rinsing tanks - because they probably don’t Or let’s put it this way: some may, some may not. And even if they did, after 20 divers have put their equipment into these tanks following a dive, the microbial load would simply be too high to be handled efficiently by the disinfectant.

Sinking your regulator in the same tank with other divers’ neoprene suits won’t actually clean it, considering the habit of some to relieve themselves during the dive. Most dive centers provide separate rinsing tanks, one for neoprene suits and boots, one for regulators and masks, one for BCDs and so forth. But still, the microbial load will add up, the more divers put their equipment in there.

As a result, a freshwater rinsing tank could quickly turn into a reservoir for a diverse circus of bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Considering the somewhat “international committee of divers” on a dive boat full of tourists of mixed nationalities, these microbes may be as diverse as their carriers – and therefore hard to be treated in case of an infection.

In times of global concerns about an ever growing microbial resistance against antibiotics – once an effective weapon against human pathogenic bacteria – this should make us think. Many great diving spots are located in less developed countries with lower hygienic, sanitary and health standards. In some countries you just can’t drink tap water, so why would you rinse your regulator or your BCD bladder using the same water?

Rinsing tanks are actually there to protect the equipment from the corrosive effect of seawater, they cannot primarily protect against microbes. So you should simply rinse all your diving equipment separately with a hose and hang it somewhere to let it dry properly. If it is your own equipment, you can of course use disinfectants recommended by the manufacturer.

If the equipment is rented, you just have to rely on the dive center to clean it properly (which might happen, or not).

Why do we rinse diving equipment in freshwater tanks?

We mainly do this after diving in seawater. Salt has a very corrosive effect on all kinds of materials. In order to keep the equipment intact for as long as possible, we should rinse the salt off as best as we can.

DAN EUROPE Therefore, disinfecting is something that needs to be done additionally.

What can you do to protect yourself from infections transmitted through the use of rental equipment?

First of all, you could use your own equipment and not share it with others spouses excluded, for obvious reasons – and avoid using rinsing tanks that have been overused by many. You could also ask for a fresh refill, if the dive center doesn’t do it anyway – many do. This concerns mainly mask, snorkel, regulator, BCD, neoprene suit, any equipment coming into contact with your mucous membranes. It can also be useful to use your own scuba tank and boots.

Remember, when using your own equipment, you are the sole user and therefore the sole contaminator. This way you can reduce the possibility of another person passing on pathogens (bacteria, viruses, fungi) to you.

And, dear instructors and dive masters, if you have to try your student’s regulator for demonstrative purposes or checking on equipment malfunctioning above water, then at least rinse it quickly before returning it to the student to avoid icky moments and/or spreading germs.

The BCD bladder - Clean it and disinfect it thoroughly A BCD needs regular care. The bladder needs to be cleaned and disinfected also on the inside with a solution especially made for this purpose. A disinfectant can kill bacteria, viruses and fungi, which could originate from breathing air into your BCD, storing it in a warm place when it is still humid, or from other sources of contamination. Especially the BCD bladder and the oral inflator hose are prone to fungi and bacterial growth. Keep in mind that if you are using rental equipment, others may have blown in the BCD. Bladders that have not been maintained very well may grow a lot of fungi inside, so be aware of the fact that breathing from it may cause severe upper respiratory infections. Under normal circumstances, never breathe from a BCD. After disinfecting the BCD bladder with disinfectant and rinsing it for several times with clean freshwater, it should be stored in a cool and dry place and with valves open.

As said, you won’t probably be able to change things if you use rental equipments, but you can certainly take care of your own equipment!

Regulator, mask, snorkel, boots Just apply disinfectant on the outer parts of the mouthpiece, then rinse with freshwater. Allow the regulator to dry off completely by hanging it up in a cool and dry place. Do not store it curled up in a bag. Mask, snorkel, boots can be

88

disinfected and rinsed similarly.

Use disinfectants properly – read instructions first Disinfecting or sanitising the equipment must be done properly, in order not to damage the equipment, which could then put you in even greater danger. Don’t soak for too long, and again, rinse thoroughly with freshwater after use. Read instructions carefully.

To put it in a nutshell

• Own your own equipment – at least the essential parts that come into contact with your mucous membranes, the easiest barrier for pathogens to overcome.

• Use a recommended disinfectant and read the instructions for use first.

• Remove bacteria, viruses, and fungi by using a disinfectant which can actually kill them (e.g., EW80 des or any equivalent product recommended by the manufacturer of your dive equipment or your favorite dive shop).

• Always dry off your equipment in a well ventilated, cool and dry area.

Damp equipment stored in a dive bag is a great place for growing fungi. Storage in warm, humid places enhances bacterial growth.

• Under normal circumstances, never breathe from a BCD

• You can also wash your neoprene suit with a light detergent and soak it in disinfecting solution

• In case of rental equipment, choose the dive center wisely. If you feel it’s unhygienic, find another one and dive with someone else.

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94

PLAYING WITH THE SHARKS

Words and Pictures

Joaquin Gutierrez

Words and Pictures

Joaquin Gutierrez

TRAVELS

96 Many people ask me why I return to Tiger beach. The answer is quite clear: I return because I love to dive with sharks, and in Tiger Beach there’s a variety of species, especially the tiger shark for which I feel a great attraction. I do not

know whether because of his huge size or his behavior towards us divers, but from the first time I dove with it I had to come back to this destination again and again.

Beach.

To get to Tiger Beach, we had to fly from any destination to Miami, where we were picked up and transported by road to Palm

We embarked there and, after a night on board, at dawn we reached the Baha-

98

on sharks and safety measures and, by noon, we were ready for our first dive.

From that moment, every day we effected our dives together with sharks of different species.

Sharks are attracted with bait and, as soon as we enter into the water, nurse sharks and lemon sharks are waiting for us.

Rarely, in the first dive, there is contact with the tiger shark, as it is done at a dive site where the priority is to check our equipment and buoyancy.

It is from this point that the dives will gain up action and adrenaline. It is required respect for safety standards and much attention to the tiger sharks for the trip to run smoothly and with the goal achieved for divers and photographers.

This destination is highly recommended for fans of photography and underwater video, but not recommended for those seeking a

100 relaxing and peaceful diving.

I recommend carrying only wide-angle lenses. In my case, I brought a Sigma 15 mm, a Canon 8/15 mm, and a Canon 2.8 16/35 mm.

Macro and very closed lenses are absolutely unnecessary for this destination,

and you may forget to carry them.

The average depth of our dives was between 6 m up to 25 m (rarely). Many people ask me how much the tiger sharks come close to divers. The answer is easy: sometimes you have to move them away with your hand, depending on how playful they feel that day. I cannot recommend either of the two main companies operating in this area, as they are very different from each other. I’ve been with these two:

http://scuba-adventures.com/ by Jim Abernethy, a point of reference about

sharks and a true passionate, who will transmit you his passion every minute you’ll spend with him. Boat small and uncomfortable, but diving with Jim is an experience of a lifetime.

http://www.dolphindreamteam.com/ led by Captain Scott Smith, and it’s just

the opposite of Jim Abernethy as to the diving: old but comfortable boat and smoother diving.

A different option if you want to dive in Bahamas with tigers but look also for some relaxation in diving.

My visits have always been between February and the end of April, when visibility is usually quite nice, the water temperature is very good and a 3 mm wetsuit is more than enough.

Remember that your hood, gloves as well as your wetsuits, fins and jacket should be possibly dark, without many colors, not to attract the attention and the extreme curiosity of the tiger sharks. If you like sharks, this is your destination.

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116

ISOTTA D500 HOUSING Dreamed, desired, wanted ............

First presented at DEMA in Las Vegas 2016, Isotecnic could not miss and launches another “red jewel� that allows exploits the full potential of the fantastic Nikon D500, the newest home Nikon DX format.

Like all Isotecnic housings, it has been studied and designed perfectly, providing an excellent manageability in a compact size, handling underwater without

PREVIEW

Words and Pictures

Davide Lombroso

problems. The housing with the characteristic, unmistakable and “inimitable�

Isotecnic red color, is built entirely of anodized aluminum anticorodal, all the buttons are on the outside to take advantage of all the features of the Nikon D500. Once installed and locked the camera and close the rear back, you have immediately a feeling of strength and security.

The adjustable handles allow a comfortable and ergonomic use of the housing by everyone. Both the shutter button and auto-block are positioned as to be used without major problems. The three M6 and M8 threaded holes are useful for the use of various accessories. The buoyancy varies depending porthole used, and by using of various Isotecnic floating arms you can easily neutralizes the thrust facilitating underwater use. The safety and perfect seal of all closures, back and portholes, are ensured by double O-ring seal. I find it very useful the possibility to change the lens without having to remove the camera body, by quick release button. The strobe connection is ensured by means of the two sync bushings (TTL internally manageable with micro switches) or by the optical fiber bushings, all positioned in a symmetrical manner on the upper part of the housing.

A highly visible red LED indicates moisture inside the case, thanks to an easily replaceable battery circuit. The already very good standard viewfinder can be easily substituted for the mounting of external viewfinder. Available a wide range of porthole made in tempered glass and adapters rings offered by Isotecnic to meet every need for the use of different lenses. To support users who already have portholes of

118

other brands, Isotecnic provides the ability to adapt them to their housings with the appropriate adapters.

I’m now diving since many years and with pleasure I can confirm that the Isotecnic housing for Nikon D500 is a quality focused, reliability and manageability that allows me to dive for fun, my camera is safe, even in the most extreme situations of temperatures the answer has always been up. Easy access to all key/main features of Nikon D500 camera controls by means of clearly labelled buttons. The knobs and buttons are accessible gripping the housing without removing your hands from the handles and switch from image mode to video just your thumb. The weight of 2.6kg without porthole in line with competitors of the same material. The price is aligned on the market and is justified by the high quality of the product. Increasingly extensive list Isotecnic accessories used. Last but certainly more important, security you get when using the Isotecnic housings, always at the highest level Product completely Italian made of which we must be proud. The “must” of Isotecnic are the passion and the availability of Elisa, Andrea, Lilia and Egidio, owners, designers and builders of the “red”, always attentive to the needs of divers.

Do not hesitate to contact Isotecnic, they will find the right solution for everyone!!

For more technical details www.isotecnic.it

120

Categor y:

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COMPACT OPEN

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POOL & CONCEPTUAL

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Categor y:

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BEHAVIOR

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SECOND PRIZE V-TWIN Regulator THIRD PRIZE AL3 torch

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FOLLOW ME

THE ULTIMA EXPER SOUTH AFR

Dates 12th-19th March 2017 19th-26th March 2017

Unique opportunity join BLU once again in South Africa

Aliwal Shoal offers some of sonal interactions with larg interactions with Tiger Shar ic Black Tip Sharks Included:

7 nights - B&B Ocean view in 3 days Tiger Shark Dive 2 days Reef Dive Snacks & soft drinks on the bo Transfer a/r Durban-Umkoma Not Included: Flights Meals & Beverages Single supplement Tips

ATE SHARK RIENCE RICA 2017

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