Scubashooters net e mag issue n26 apr 2017

ISSUE

N°26 A P R 2017

PORTFOLIO

Goran Butajla

WHO DOES NOT KNOW THE MALDIVES

by M. V isconti MACROMANIA 2017 meet the staff

MOALBOAL A PARADISE

by Henry Jager

SMARAGDIA VIRIDIS

by Giannaccini & Reinero

UW PHOTO IN BLACK AND WHITE

by C. Umili

DEEP VISIONS All the winners and the rankings

Dear friends, This month i’m very happy because we just had Deep Visions 2016 results.

It’s been a great adventure and an even greater challenge . Why? Simply because we were very happy last year with the results of the first edition and we wanted of course to repeat the exploit but we knew it would have been a tough target. I can now proudly announce that not only we have been able to equal those results but they have all been improved! In terms of participants, photos uploaded, countries involved, prize offered by our partner and sponsors and categories. 7 Categories, 3 trophies and five special prizes. Well over 50000 USD prize pane kindly offered by our sponsors which I would like once again to thank for their support. I won’t name them all here as they are a lot and I don’t want to bother you, but you will find all of them and their amazing services and products inside the magazine. Please have a look and enjoy all that they have to offer to the UW photography industry as they’re all top notch manufacturers and resorts.

Right after the end of Deep Visions we partnered with Deep Blu of Taiwan and helped them to organize their first ever Photo contest... together with Deep Blu we obtained an historical result having to date more than 1000 contestants participating , what an amazing result! Nudi Festival is still open, so you still have the chance to enter in case you didn’t so far.

We will resume shortly our beloved “Monthly contest”, so stay tuned for more!

I realize that this month’s editorial has all been focused on Contests, but we had so many beautiful news to spread that it couldn’t be any different. I hope you enjoyed reading anyway and that you might have found some interesting hint for your UW photography activity.

Thank you!

Marino Palla Owner and Founder Scubashooters Network

Cover image “Whale” By: Goran Butajla

C O N T E N T S 3

10

32

38

EDITORIAL

by Marino Palla

MOALBOAL An underwater paradise for everybody

by Henry Jager

SMARAGDIA VIRIDIS: A SHINY LITTLE SNAIL

by Alessandro Giannacini and Francesca Romana Reinero

PORTFOLIO

by Goran Butajla

WHO DOES NOT KNOW THE MALDIVES?

by Matteo Visconti

UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY IN BLACK AND WHITE

by Cristian Umili

MORE THAN JUST BUBBLES DAN Europe

Editor: FABIO STRAZZI Verein Scubashooters, 8952 Schlieren - Switzerland

66

78

88

PREORDER NOW ON

Would you like to put your fins on as easily as you clip on your skis?

Finclip is a device that has been specially designed to help scuba divers donning and doffing their fins without having to bend down or use hands.

It can fit to the most popular models of adjustable fins with exceptional ease.

With Finclip in a few seconds you'll be ready to enter the water.

www.finclip.cloud | info@finclip.cloud

VISIT WEBSITE

BUY YOURS

10

MOALBOAL An underwater paradise for everybody Words and Pictures

Henry Jager

TRAVELS

12

7107 islands in the coral triangle: Isn’t that promising a biodiversity of it’s best? And in deed, the Philippines are offering first class diving combined with affordable prices. Let’s have a look at a special island in the Visayas, the middle part of the country. It is the island of Cebu, where we make a visit to Moalboal and its fantastic dive spots.

Travelling there is very convenient from many continents. From Europe, I enjoy the great services of Singapore Airlines and fly to Singapore and from there directly to Cebu. From Cebu it’s only a short ride with the car to the heart of Cebu: Moalboal.

Moalboal combines an easy access with the biodiversity we expect from the coral triangle but we hardly find elsewhere in such a small area. Let’s dive here three world famous places: Pescador Island, Panagsama beach and the Kasai Wall to experience fantastic macro dives but also the big cinema of marine life only a few boat minutes apart.

Pescador Island Pescador Island rises as a small pillar from 300m depths to a few meters above surface. Its diameter is only about 50m. But underwater, an amazing world awaits you!

14

16

The Cathedral Pescador Island has gotten famous with its huge school of sardines back a few years ago. Since the school has disappeared, the beauties of the island itself are back in focus. “The Cathedral” for example, is a cave with it’s own spooky atmosphere. At about 18m, we enter the cathedral and slowly turn around to get scared by a huge face looking at you! The lights entering the entry holes make the face even more mystical. If you find the right place, the single face turns into two faces in profile, just about to kiss. The cave reaches from 40m to 18m and offers many places with different view.

Soft Corals, Critters and the Frogfish Going round the Island, the scenery changes into the other extreme. An attracting colourful soft coral wall calls for a closer look. It’s time to change the

view to the small creatures. The Philippines are well known for their critters.

And the region around Pescador Island is contributing very well. Colourful nudibranches are all the way round and many small animals are hiding in the rich coral world.

The frogfish is one of the bigger. Often sitting on a sponge around the corner, observing what’s going on in his district and looking for a good bite. You can find many species of frogfishes around Pescador Island.

Panagsama Beach After some sad years without sardines at Pescador Island, a new school started to grow. They settled just in front of the Panagsama beach. Diving the Panagsama Reef is very easy. The current is very small, if you have any. That makes the place very nice to stay and just watch the sardines.

Schooling behaviour is very similar we know from the behaviour of flocking birds. There is no leader who tells his thousands of followers how to move.

The school is behaving like an own organism. It is reacting upon an input wherever it appears and whoever caused it. Within seconds the entire school is changing direction or its shape. It is a fantastic spectacle of our nature. Observing the movements of the school is like watching a movie in the cinema.

You can spend easily an entire dive or even many dives with the sardines and increase your change to meet a thresher shark, turtles and other big animals.

18

The Kasai Wall The Panagsama beach is a few kilometres long. One place is extremely rich of life: The Kasai Wall. It’s the house reef of Kasai Village and the top spot of the region. No wonder, the Wall is not only famous among the guest of the fantastic resort in front, the Kasai Village Dive & Spa Resort, but it is also regularly on the program of many other dive bases around.

The Kasai Village Dive & Spa Resort is predestined for being your host. It’s a small resort with a few bungalows, a great service and very friendly staff.

They run the Dive Academy where you get first class dive education. From

this place, all the famous dive spot are within a few boat minutes.

The dives start just at the newly extended pier. A very good place to be is just around the pier. The Kasai Wall is attractive during the day as well as for night dives and the dives at twilight.

Twilight - Mandarinfish Time At twilight, a fantastic spectacle begins just beside the pier. A few square meters of corals build the home for the mandarinfishes (Synchiropus splendidus). We all know how shy they are and there are only a few spots in the world, were

20

22

you can observe them that close to your resort.

The mandarinfishes come out every evening.

If you are lucky, you can see them mating.

The best recommendation to spot them is to approach the area slowly and hoover with perfect buoyancy at the border of their home area.

Keep your torch off as they don’t like the light and keep hiding as long as there is too much light around.

Night Dives with the Blue-Ringed Octopus and others One of the most venomous creatures in the oceans is the blue-ringed octopus (Hapalochlaena lunulata). We spotted it during one of our fantastic night dives at the Kasai Wall. The one you see on the picture is quite relaxed. When they are agitated, they change colours to yellow with blue rings. Then it’s time to respect the flight zone.

Normally, blue-ringed octopuses first hide, then try to escape. The blue rings start to pulse and with a fast, multiple changes of colours they escape. Only if escaping is not possible and they got very stressed, they attack humans.

A calm observing, of course without trying to touch, can last your experience with this beautiful creature for 10 or 20 minutes without causing

it to escape, whereas a fast approaching leads to an immediate flight reaction.

Night dives here are relaxing.

In shallow water, you can spot amazing creatures like the corallimorph decorator crab. It’s a crab, which has a special habit to hide itself from its predators. It glues pieces of anemones or corals on the body where they continue to grow.

Don’t forget the beautiful coloured wall. The gracile cup corals (Dendrophyllia gracilis), which are about 2,5 cm (about 1 inch) in size, are open and show their flower-like beauty during night.

They belong to the stony corals and feed on plankton with their tentacles.

Great Variety of Marine Life The leaf scorpionfish (Taenianotus triacanthus), can be found as well as different ghostpipefishes, anemonefishes, lionfishes. The region around Moalboal is famous for its pygmy seahorses for example the Hippocampus denise, but also “normal” sized ones like a black and a yellow Hippocampus sp. are present.

Many crustaceans live in the Kasai Wall. Coming back from a night dive to the pier, thousands of pair of luminous eyes are watching you. They belong to the countless shrimps sitting in every little hole and on the ground.

Not only critters but also big stuff can be met at the Kasai Wall.

24

Turtles are seen very often and occasionally, a whale shark passes by.

Having this amazing biodiversity in mind you find at this single dive spot, it’s obvious that the Kasai Wall as well as Pescador Island, Panagsama beach and Moalboal in general belong on a diver’s bucket list.

Enjoy your passion.

We make it possible.

Via Milano 177/B - 37014 Castelnuovo d/G (VR) ITALY Tel. 0039 45 6450480 - info@isotecnic.it

Technical data: Dimensions: • Height 62mm.

• Width 94mm.

• Depth 60mm.

Controls: • Mechanical.

CASE GO-PRO H3/H4 PRO

Weight and depth rating: • Weight: 310gr.

• Weight in fresh water: 150gr.

• Max depth rating - 250 meters.

Optional: Red filters, tray with double handles, flex arms, carbon arms, lights, stobes, telescopic arms, cases.

Housing realized in Ergal aluminum, anodized with 50 microns military treatment to ensure the maximum durability and excellent resistance to wear and to sea salt. This case is shaped according to the GO-PRO hero3 and Hero4 outline.

All controls are brought outside with high precision.

The case is realized starting from a single block of Ergal aluminum that ensures a maximum depth rating of – 250m.

Outside all commands are available through mechanical buttons.

The lateral hinge allows to open and close the case very easily. In the upper part of the case there is an M6 threaded blind hole and a locking pin hole.

They allow to add other accessories such as an M6 ball for an additional light support.

In the lower part of the case there are n.4 threaded holes - n.2 M6 + n.2 Kodak metric pitch. These hoels allow to easily fix the housing on a tray.

32

SMARAGDIA VIRIDIS: A SHINY LITTLE SNAIL Words and Pictures Alessandro Giannaccini and Francesca Romana Reinero If we sharpen the view in the grasslands of Posidonia oceanica, Zostera marina and Cymodocea nodosa, we could often meet small organisms provided with shells moving along the leaves of these plants. This funny little snail is the Smaragdia viridis, a 5-7 mm mollusk feeding on leaf tissues that, thanks to its color, camouflages perfectly between the leaves so to graze undisturbed.

These mollusks live in small groups of two or more specimens. They fall into the gastropod class, subclass of prosobranchia, Neritidae family.

The Smaragdia viridis, despite having very reduced dimensions, has a small head hosting the sensory receptors. The mouth is the radula, a kind of rough tongue the mollusk uses to scrape on plant leaves. Inside its body, in the visceral region, there are the blood circulation system, the stomach, the kidneys, the anus and the genital openings.

Surrounding all of these just listed organs there is, moreover, a mantle hosting the gills for breathing, in an advanced position (hence the term prosobranchia). A shell covers, finally, the body of this small mollusk; It has an oval depressed shape, light green with a yellowish hue, smooth, shiny and often interrupted by thin white and / or light brown bands.

The columellar region, that is the part close to the shell opening, is greenish white, broad, convex and with particularly fine teeth. A foot acting as a suction cup permits the ambulation on the leaves. S. viridis is not present exclusively in the coastal areas of the Mediterranean Sea, since it has also been observed in the Caribbean Sea and, while in the Mediterranean feeds on Posidonia oceanica, Zostera marina and Cymodocea nodosa, in the Caribbean consumes other plants including Thalassia testudinum, Halodule wrightii and Syringodium filiforme. At reproductive level, the sexes of these small mollusks are separate, which means there are female and male specimen.

The larval form resulting from their coupling is called “veliger”, which has an asymmetrical body characterized by an enormous development of the equatorial ciliate region, hosting a powerful organ for swimming called “velum”.

Moreover, in all marine gastropods, the “veliger” also has a foot and a shell, and the metamorphosis, that is the step of passage from the larval form to adulthood, is accomplished during the pelagic life of the larva among the marine plankton. The Smaragdia viridis is a subject very suitable to underwa-

To better photograph this subject, it helps to proceed with caution, moving the leaves slowly from left to right since, as soon as it feels in danger because of the sudden and clumsy divers’ movements, the body retracts very quickly within the small shell, canceling the suction effect on the leaf surface. This phenomenon causes S. viridis to tumble among the rhizomes and roots of Posidonia, where it is thickest.

Therefore, using cautious movements and taking advantage of an underwater flashlight to illuminate the gloom of the foliage, makes it definitely easier to locate.

Photo 01: In the first image, there is a small specimen of Smaragdia viridis, which does not exceed half a centimeter in length, taken with a macro lens and a +10 close-up lens.

MARINE BIOLOGY

ter photographers’ shots and, although it is very small and does not exceed seven millimeters in length, it is easy to find between the leaves of Posidonia.

Its shell rather thin, fragile and shiny green color appears very bright in the picture, to look like a drop of water hanging from a leaf and, although it is not easy to locate because of its color, making it perfectly cryptic with the leaves of Posidonia, in its trail leaves characteristic signs testifying its presence. It can be found all year round in the leaves of aquatic plants although it is easier during spring and summer, when the leaves are longer and is present in greater abundance.

34

Photo 02: In the frontal picture you can observe the sensory receptors the shellfish uses to orients itself through the long leaves of Posidonia. The calcareous shell covering the body results very thin.

Photo 03: In the third image you can realize how small the S. viridis is, compared to the Posidonia leaf.

Photo 04: In the fourth image, S.viridis appears undisturbed in its natural habitat, while running its journey down the long leaves of Posidonia.

38

PORTFOLIO

Goran Butajla

PORTFOLIO

40 I am amateur underwater photographer from Zagreb, Croatia, and can say that underwater photography is my passion through entire diving career, but with one major pause.

I am diving since 1987 and in diving bussiness for more than 20 years now, as Instructor.

Trainer for several training agencies, and running my own diving centers in Croatia, in Zagreb as diving school and in beautifull island of Lastovo.

I got something like 4000 logged dives, but also countless dives that i never logged. Allmost 20 years ago I begun to shoot with my belowed Nikonos V which is still proudly sitting in my desk, but my professional career in diving did not allow me to get more seriously into photography.

Therefore I had more then 10 years of pause, and just few years ago decided to wake up my passion again, and started to shoot again with Nikon D80.

Since I am still amateur, did a lot of “Do it yourself� alterations on my gear.

Few years ago acquired Nikon D7000, Tokina 10-17mm, 60 and 105mm macros and Aquatica housing, with Inon flashes.

I was lucky to be able to travell around the World, so had opportunity to visit all around Egypt, Sudan, Bali, Belize, Mexico, Thailand, Maldives, Malta, Seychelles, Kenya, Tanzania, Cuba, Komodo, Raja Ampat, just to name a few.

42

44 My homeland Croatia has some spectacular diving locations, such as islands of Kornati, Vis and Lastovo, with deep walls, wrecks and caves.

The best diving spot in the World for me is Jardines de la Reina in Cuba, since I love sharks, and that is the place where you have opportunity to dive with dozens of them in close proximity, virtually on every dive.

In recent years I am manager of “Ronilački raj” diving centar in Lastovo in Croatia, in winter time I am organising tropical diving trips and cruisings, and I am editor in chief of croatian scuba related magazine called “Scubalife” for 7 years allready.

“Scubalife” is highly luxurious magazine, running quaterly, on croatian language, and covers the region of Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro.

46

48

50

52

54

56

58

60

62

Contacts: goran.butajla@scubalife.hr

66

WHO DOES NOT KNOW THE MALDIVES? Words and Pictures Matteo Visconti

TRAVELS

68 Who does not know the Maldives? Who has never seen a picture of that turquoise sea from which every now and then crops up a white sandy islet inhabited only by palm trees?

Well, the Maldives consist of 1,192 coral islands grouped into 26 atolls in the middle of the Indian Ocean. 300 of such islands are inhabited by local or designated as tourist resorts.

70

Why the sand is white?

The sand is white because the dead coral crumbles, either by erosion, or by breakage due to storms, or even because of some fish species such as parrotfish and titan triggerfish that eat coral, returning it via the faeces in the form of white sand, precisely.

Two monsoon seasons characterize the climate in Maldives: the dry season from December to April and the wet season from May to November, with frequent rains that can last for the whole day. However, the temperatures remain mild throughout the year, oscillating between 26 and 31 degrees.

In 1998, though, because of “El Nino� (a climatic phenomenon), water temperatures inside the atolls rose up for 4/5 degrees, giving rise to the coral bleaching effect resulting in the death of about 90% of acroporas, and even today we can see these effects.

Nevertheless, Maldives remain a paradise on earth also under water, and this is what make them one of the best destinations for underwater photographers.

The Maldivian coral reef is one of the most beautiful of the Indian Ocean, inhabited by colorful wrasses, clown fishes, surgeonfishes, butterfly fishes, sea ravens, and where you can also make exciting encounters with large pelagic fishes such as tunas, marlin, sailfish, but even dolphins and the largest fish in the ocean, the whale shark.

72

There are a few places in the world where you may be lucky enough to dive with elegant manta rays and eagle rays. The lucky ones might assist, during the mating season, to the manta’s mating at the surface of the water, or even to their jumps out of the water: real acrobatics.

In my opinion, the best way to visit these beautiful islands and their seabeds is by cruising through the various atolls. During the day, you may make wonderful dives, relax and sunbathe, while during the night usually you move from one point to another, but not always...

The sun was set since a few hours, when the bell rang and warned us that it was time to get ready: we arrived at Maaya Thila, one of the most famous dive spots in the Maldives.

We wear our suits; check the cylinders and the full charge of our batteries.

Then stare at the black sea in front of us, ready to jump in the water: we will need a lot of light in that seemingly calm black.

It is night, and while everyone goes to sleep, another world awakes.

Crabs and shrimps come out of their dens; plankton filterers fan out to catch the more possible nutrients transported by updrafts, while strange creatures climb up along with the current from the seabed in search of food. The fishes that you can easily spot during the day run away in their burrows among the corals, like clown fishes in their anemones, protecting each other.

The colorful parrotfish secrete a special mucus from the mouth where it wraps

74 up to escape the predators’ nose. Everything is quiet.

We are completely surrounded by nothing. The water is warm and our torches illuminate only a few meters in front of us. Microscopic creatures cross the torches light beam for an instant, and many others are attracted: minuscule shrimps escape, expelling an electric blue liquid to mislead their predators, tiny jellyfish, anemone’s larvae in search of reef to colonize, flatworms and other undefined forms...

We are in a primordial soup that brings me back to the creation of life on

earth I studied at school during the hour of sciences. Suddenly, something takes me back to reality: with the corner of my eye, I see a fin, a shark.

In front of us starts to consolidate something, here it is: it is the Maaya’s shoal, a pinnacle that rises from the depths, creating a reef at 20/30 meters below the sea surface.

We note immediately the movement and my mind once again takes me back in my life when I used to go to the disco, and the more I got closer, the more there was traffic of cars and people swarming like bees around a hive.

An abundance of gray reef sharks and white tip reef sharks patrol the reef,

along with big trevallies. There is frenzy: they all are searching for food.

I see something creeping underneath me: it is a moray eel, a big eel-like fish that during the day stays quietly inside its den, but at night comes creeping through the grooves looking for preys. What fascinates me about this creature is the double jaw it has to grab the prey.

Some sand rises from the bottom and I point my flashlight to look better: it is a large ray patrolling the sandy bottom in search of crustaceans. I get close as much as possible to see how it uses its sucker type body to raise more sand as possible to find what it eats, but being always attentive to the dangerous stinger on its tail.

I stop to think about how fascinating this world is: creatures depending entirely on others for their survival; fishes that seem sketched by a painter with fake eyes on their tails to mislead predators. Some assume shapes and colors of the corals on which they live; others, like the decorator crab, stick on their bodies pieces of living anemones for camouflage.

I wonder who or what may have had all this fantasy and how delicate this ecosystem is when another shark pass me right over my head, perhaps attracted by the activity of the ray or perhaps by my lights. This brings me back to my dive, reminding me that I’m here to take pictures. Consulting my computer, I realize that I’m in the water since an eternity! Therefore, I look for the rest of the group, and see their flashlights far away toward the boat ... hey wait for me! Excuse me: I have to go! Bye ;)

78

UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY IN BLACK AND WHITE Words and Pictures Cristian Umili

Speaking of photography in black and white inside the underwater photography field is a little strange, given the colors that we find underwater. However, taking pictures in black and white (hereinafter BW for simplicity) allows you to see the underwater world in a different way.

Using digital cameras, is still more convenient taking a color photograph, leaving the conversion work in the development phase through Lightroom or Photoshop. This is because, in the color image, we have a lot more information and we can decide to lightening or darkening the various colors composing the image. In fact, the BW camera function brings the color saturation to zero without customization, losing all the information in the JPG format. In RAW format, even if we set the camera in BW, the picture we will open through Photoshop will appear as colors since the camera conversion performs only when saving in JPG format while in the RAW, being a file containing raw data, this setting does not fulfill.

When we decide to shoot in BW, we should pre-view the image: some subjects, such as sea grass or silver fishes in the blue, help us in the task while others, more colorful, make the job more difficult instead, because we have to focus on shapes and light and dark volumes without thinking about the colors. This is why we could go down without flashlight, definitely getting a more similar view to the final shot.

The most suitable lens for this type of shots is definitely the wide angle, which allows us to make the subject stand out in the blue, and possibly give clarity on the subject with a bit of flash, so to not have a completely black silhouette.

A subject close to the rock and mimetic, in black and white is even more invisible: that’s why underwater macro photography is not much suitable for BW. However, we can stick out the subject using adequate lighting, if anything a bit from behind, so that the subject’s profile turns out to be well drawn and to ensure its good visibility.

For a photographer used to shoot in color, the first approach to the BW is not easy because he thinks and sees in color and is often concentrated to portray the sea in a more “documentary” and realistic way. Through BW photography, we need to move our vision, giving space to the emotional part of the photograph. I.e., a BW photograph must transmit especially emotions,

In underwater photography, the BW has largely been used to shoot wrecks, certainly subjects that go to a wedding with the BW and help the photographer because the blue water dominant is missing. Moreover, we won’t suffer the problem of the flashes to not illuminate properly because, if we are at recreational depths, we can shoot in ambient lighting. Yet, we may also use BW photography for portraying natural subjects, such as schools of fish, sharks, turtles but also moray eels and other small entities. The important thing is to choose carefully both the subject and the lighting: the BW should not be, and is not, a method to save a bad photography.

When we explore the world of BW, there are no colors but only shades of gray. BW purists like images rich in shades of gray, with the scale as full as possible, but everyone has their own tastes. I personally love most contrasted BW with a few grays, resulting in images more aggressive, visually speaking, and with a darker mood.

HIGH KEY – LOW KEY In addition to photography with much of the range of gray tones, we can decide whether to shoot our image in High Key, i.e. using only the lightest tones of gray, thus creating a more sunny and positive picture, or to create an image in Low Key, i.e. using darker shades of gray only, to obtain an image portraying a darker and violent reality. As just one example that many of you have seen, the light used in the film Blade Runner was mostly low key.

Photo 01: The schools of fish prove to be ideal for BW shots because of the shapes they take.

TECNIQUE

shifting the beauty of the subject to the background.

80

Photo 02: A subject stuck between the rocks like an anemone can be shot black and white as long as you use lighting to highlight the subject from the background. In this case, I used the sunlight to illuminate the upper tentacles and a frontal nudge of the flash to lighten shadows.

Photo 03: A branch of sea fan lit from top to bottom with an oblique light allows you to emphasize the polyps and make them stand out from the black, playing with shapes and geometries.

Photo 04: A branch of red coral that is close to the background and illuminated inappropriately creates an unpleasant effect of confusing the subject with the background.

Photo 05: A blenny shot in low key where all the tones are dark.

82

Photo 06: A blenny shot in high key where all the tones are light up to the limit of overexposure..

Photo 07: BW photo of the prow of the Bettolina wreck of Sestri Levante

Photo 08: BW photo of Elviscott wreck at Elba. The BW allowed making more evident the games of sand forms and shapes of the wreck itself.

Photo 09: A BW photograph of the Islande wreck (an armed cargo tank) superstructures at Sestri Levante. Here the development of a color photography into BW has been heavier because we added some noise and some sign at the top, to give the feeling of old photograph, although it wasn’t that young given that we started from a slide taken sev-

To know the methods of conversion from color images to black and white through Photoshop, I invite you to read the article appeared on Scubazone nr.17.

Crystal Blue R

Dedicated to Underwater P • • • • • • • •

Nitrox 32 Chef Prepared Meals On-Sight Photo Pro Camera Room Workshops Highly Skilled Spotters 4:1 boat loads Rental Gear

Con Mike@Dive

saltwaterphot

Resort~Anilao

Photographers Worldwide

ntact eCBR.com

to@live.com

AEROTECNICA COLTRI

ALLOWS TO INVEST IN FULL AUTONOMY

MCH-6 SR HP PORTABLE COMPRESSOR DRIVEN BY CHARGIN RATE FILLING TIME CYLINDER 10 L 0-200 bar WORKING PRESSURE NET POWER DIMENSIONS DRY WEIGHT NOISE POWER LEVEL FILTRATION INTERSTAGE COOLER AND AFTERCOOLER

SUBARU PETROL ENGINE 100 L/min - 6 m3/h 20 min 200 - 225 - 300 - 330 bar 6,5 HP HEIGHT 35 cm, WIDTH 78 cm DEPTH 32 cm 37 Kg 100,5 dB (LWA) ACTIVATED CARBON AND MOLECULAR SIEVE CARTRIDGE STAINLESS STEEL

AEROTECNICA COLTRI® S.p.A.

via dei Colli Storici 177 25010 San Martino della Battaglia Brescia - ITALY Tel: +39.030.99.103.01 +39.030.99.102.97 Fax: +39.030.99.10.283 www.aerotecnicacoltri.it

FOLLOW ME

56 88

MORE THAN JUST BUBBLES Diving grants us a great freedom to explore. It offers the opportunity to expeDiving us a people great freedom explore. offers the creatures, opportunity toare experience grants what most see onlytoon film. AsIt terrestrial we all rience what most people see only on film.

As terrestrial creatures, we are all adapted to the aquatic world but nonetheless eager to survey its wonders. For adapted to the aquatic but eager toeach survey itsiswonders.

For divers new to the sportworld as well asnonetheless seasoned veterans, dive unique and divers new to thepreparation sport as well as seasoned veterans, each dive recognize is unique that and requires diligent prior to entering the water.

Divers requires diligent preparation prior to entering Divers any excursion into or under the water carries the withwater. it some riskrecognize of injury. that The any excursion into or under the water carries with it some risk of injury. question is – do we actually pay most of our attention to the greatest risksThe to question is – do we actually pay most of our attention to the greatest risks to our health and safety? our health andarticles, safety? seminars and presentations, DAN is a vocal advocate In numerous In articles, and prior presentations, DAN is a physical vocal advocate fornumerous physical and mentalseminars preparation to diving, including fitness, for physical and mental preparation prior to diving, including physical fitness, equipment maintenance and skills training. In practice, however, decompresequipment maintenance and skills training. practice, however, sion sickness (DCS) frequently becomes the In ultimate focal point. decompresDCS is very sion sickness (DCS) frequently becomes the ultimate focal point. very well represented throughout DAN’s publications and research andDCS alsoisforms well represented DAN’sdive publications and research and also forms an integral part ofthroughout all introductory training programs.

Ironically, however, an partrelative of all introductory diveto training programs.

Ironically, however, DCSintegral is actually rare compared so many other common injuries and DCS is actually relative rare compared to so many other common injuries and ailments that may occur while diving or while on a diving trip. Moreover, DCS is ailments that may occur while diving or while on a diving trip.

Moreover, DCS is neither the most severe injury nor it is the most likely to be fatal. So, what is the neither severe injury nor it is the most likely to be fatal. So, what is the greatestthe riskmost to divers? greatest risk to divers?

What Harms Divers?

What Harms DAN has beenDivers? gathering dive injury and fatality statistics for more than 30 years.

DAN has been dive injury and more than 30ofyears.

In 2008 a teamgathering of researchers led by Dr.fatality Petar statistics Denoble, for senior director DAN In 2008 a team of researchers led by Dr. Petar Denoble, senior director of Research, published a paper on the causes underlying dive fatalities. WhileDAN the Research, published a paper on the causes underlying dive fatalities.

While the ultimate endpoint is often classified as drowning, the triggering events that lead ultimate is ofteninsight classified drowning, the triggering events that lead to these endpoint deaths provide intoashow such accidents may be avoided.

For to these deaths provide insight into how such accidents may be avoided.

For instance, health-related problems such as heart disease, account for approxiinstance, problems as triggering heart disease, account for approximately 26health-related percent of dive fatalities.such Other events like running out of mately 26 percent of dive fatalities.

Other triggering events like running out of gas contribute 41%; entrapment – 20% - or trouble with equipment – 15%.

This gas contribute 41%; entrapment – 20% - orfatalities trouble with – 15%.

This illustrates the fact that the majority of dive stemequipment from human factors.1 illustrates the fact that thethroughout majority of the divepublished fatalities stem fromon human factors.1 This is a recurring theme literature accidents and This is a recurring theme throughout the published literature on accidents mishaps in other fields such as medicine and aviation. It also points to the and immishaps in other fields such as medicine and aviation.

It also points to the importance of procedures, consistent practices and a disciplined focus on acciportance of procedures, consistent practices and a disciplined focus on accident avoidance. dent avoidance.

Running out of gas, entrapment and equipment problems — three human-reRunning out of entrapment and equipment problems three human-related triggers —gas, account for about 75% of dive fatalities.

The—common pathway lated triggers — account for about 75% of dive fatalities. The common pathway

DAN EUROPE

toward in-water incapacitation in most of these cases was asphyxia or rapid ascent associated with pulmonary barotrauma (lung- overexpansion injury) and subsequent arterial gas embolism (AGE). In the unforgiving aquatic environment, incapacitation or unconsciousness usually results in drowning.

It is also important to emphasise the significance of AGE in the fatality statistics and differentiate it from DCS. AGE is far more likely to lead to drowning, as symptoms often occur while the diver is still in the water; onset is sudden, and often results in loss of consciousness. DCS, on the other hand, is almost never fatal in recreational diving.

DCS in Perspective When considering all the effort that goes into DCS prevention – including extensive dive table training, dive planning, dive table calculations, completing logbooks, and the use of dive computers, divers tend to lose perspective of the fact that DCS is actually quite rare. DCS incidence rates are low in recreational diving (aggregated DCS incidence from all sources is 2 to 4 cases per 10,000 dives).2 In addition, DCS is rarely fatal and, at least among recreational divers, an uncommon cause of long-term disability. Please note that this is by no means an endorsement of unsafe decompression practices or an encouragement to slacken preventive efforts. Even though severe symptoms, long-term disability and death are indeed rarely associated with DCS, this is the result of conservative training standards, adherence to established protocols and diligent monitoring of nitrogen exposure. However, the point is that divers should not be so preoccupied with DCS prevention that they ignore all the other aspects of their diving activities, no matter how mundane they seem. We must, for example, ensure adequate air supplies and properly configured equipment. On a statistical basis, errors and omissions in these areas have much greater lethal potential than DCS. Shifting the Focus Decompression-related problems represent only a fraction of the injuries and medical problems that travelling divers experience. Dive trips often involve other forms of recreational activities and thus, additional sources of injury. Of the calls DAN receives from symptomatic individuals who receive evacuation or medical-care-coordination, about 70% have injuries that are unrelated to diving. This is a powerful statistic that points to other causative factors. Trauma tops the list as the single most common injury type: from broken legs to car accidents, our DAN’s evacuation services spend the most time on injuries acquired out of the water. So, whether cycling, driving, walking or riding a scooter, the risk of injury while out of the water certainly warrants attention.

If you’re a diver who wears multiple computers to ensure adequate DCS prevention, don’t put all your safety eggs in that basket and forget to watch your footing on boat ladders. Increase your caution while travelling in areas that have different traffic patterns than those with which you are familiar. Crossing a street with cars travelling on the opposite side of the road is a common scenario for pedestrian injuries in tourists. Injury prevention is even more important in remote locations where the local quality of medical services may be deficient and transportation and evacuation to higher levels of medical care may cause delays to receiving optimal care and contribute to the additional

56 90

cations. toward in-water in most Our of these cases was asphyxia orisrapid Accidents are by incapacitation definition unplanned. best defense against them vigiascent associated with pulmonary barotrauma (lungoverexpansion injury) and lance and education. These enhance our knowledge of possible hazards, guide subsequent arterial gas embolism (AGE). and In the unforgiving aquatic environour behaviors that reduce their likelihood, make us anticipate problems bement, incapacitation or unconsciousness usually results in drowning. fore they occur. First aid and rescue diver courses don’t just teach people what It is also important to emphasise the significance of AGE in the fatality statis-

to do when accidents happen; they also promote heightened awareness and a mindset of prevention.

Live safely, dive safely, and may all your dives and travels be accident- and injury-free.

left or right?

You decide.

vist www.hollisuk.com for more info