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Dive Like a Russian: Busted Myths & Concrete Facts

For us survivors of the Perestroika, there are still some nice things we recall from the nostalgic Soviet past—one of these being, of course, the endless Cousteau series, run and rerun so many times on black-and-white television. The skinny Frenchman, with the (supposedly) red beanie, introduced an entire generation (or two) to the mysterious underwater world, full of beauties and beasts.

Wreck Diving in Lithuania

The BSHRP team recovered a bell marked with the name SS Marsdiep 1920 from a wreck later identified as the SS Edith Bosselman, Klaipėda, Lithuania. Photo by Sabine Kerkau.

It was pure coincidence that led my expedition team and me to Lithuania for the first time in September 2016. Our goal was to dive the battleship SMS Friedrich Carl. What we did not know before this first visit was that we would discover the “El Dorado” of pristine wrecks in Lithuania, which could keep us busy for many years.

Lee Selisky

Lee Selisky dies

Lee Selisky was an adventurous cold-water wreck diver who recognised that divers needed a range of lead weights, hence he founded 'Sea Pearls'.

We've lost an industry icon. Cathryn Castle, Publisher

Selisky started his company in a garage and used his plastics moulding and die-casting knowledge to develop a range of products that included coated and uncoated lead weights and softer bags of shot lead. He manufactured lead in different shapes and colours.

Rob Harper, Rick Stanton, John Volanthen, Thailand, Thai Cave Rescue, British Caver, cave diving rescue, XRay Mag, X-Ra
Weerasak Kowsurat, the Thai Minister for Minister for Tourism and Sports presented Rob Harper with a very special drawing to thank him for his specialist help | Credit: Sky News

British caver Rob Harper is thanked and honoured by Thailand

It has now been confirmed that Rob Harper has returned to the UK for a medical appointment.

When Harper arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport to fly back to the UK, he received a VIP welcome and escort. He was warmly greeted by several Thai officials including the Minister for Tourism and Sports, Weerasak Kowsurat.

The Minister presented a Certification of Appreciation to Rob Harper on behalf of the Kingdom of Thailand.

Kind heart. Fierce mind. Brave spirit.

Four Heyphones - a specialist cave radio system that can transmit through hundreds of meters through solid rock - were relayed by the Police from Derbyshire to London Heathrow, to be flown out to Thailand by Rob Harper, Rick Stanton and John Volanthen

Thailand Cave Rescue: Brit cave divers report "gnarly diving"

The Cave

This cave system runs for many miles underground and is explorable from November to June. It is prone to seasonal flooding during the monsoon months: June to October. Apparently there are warning signs discouraging visits during the rainy season.

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The moment the group are found

This is the transcript of the conversation between Rick Stanton, John Volanthen and the trapped children.

John: How many of you [are there]?

Children: Thirteen

John: Thirteen? Brilliant!

John: There's two of us.... we had to dive.

John: We're coming, it's ok. Many people are coming. We are the first.

Children ask what day it is

John: Monday. One week and Monday. You have been here 10 days. You are very strong, very strong.

Some rockpool prawns prefer to stick with the food they found while others tend to forage for more choices.

Shy prawns fare better than bolder ones

Scientists at the University of Exeter studying rockpool prawns (Palaemon elegant) have discovered that they exhibit different personalities, and those that are "shy" tend to fare better when competing for food.

The findings of their study was published in Volume 140 of the journal Animal Behaviour.

In the study, the prawns, all taken from the Gyllyngvase beach in Falmouth, were tagged and tested on their level of boldness by placing them in an unfamiliar tank and observing how much they explored and ventured to the centre.

Soviet Sub found and identified

According to Wallin's report, UMEX (Underwater Exploration Team) found and identified Sch-317 yesterday, 2 May 2018.

This Soviet submarine lies at 78 meters / 255 ft between Gogland (Suursaari) and Tuiters (Tytärsaari) in the east part of the Gulf of Finland in Russian waters.

Sch-317 was sunk in 1942 by a German mine after surviving several attacks by allies that included bombing the Swedish coast.

The submarine's final resting place is near her home port.