X-Ray Mag #105

Rene Bruno Nielsen
99 spreads (double pages)
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Feature articles in this issue with stand-alone pdfs

Peter Symes  
,
Jesper Risløv  
Sculpin, Little Belt, Denmark. Photo by Morten Bjørn Larsen

Along the coasts and in the seas around Denmark, a wide variety of species and types of habitats can be found. Most of the Danish waters are shallow, with only a few areas beyond the reach of recreational divers.

Peter Symes   René B. Andersen
HMS Defense wreck, Denmark. Photo by René B. Andersen.

The seas around Denmark have seen thousands of shipwrecks from ancient times until today. We take a look at a selection of wrecks from WWII minesweepers to WWI Battle of Jutland armoured cruisers to Age of Sail vessels with cannons.

Morten Bjørn Larsen   Morten Bjørn Larsen
Anemone, Øresund, Denmark. Photo by Morten Bjørn Larsen

Diving in Denmark, how does it really measure up? Since Morten Bjørn Larsen lives in Copenhagen, he talks about his favorite dives in and around the island of Zealand, where the capital city is located. Several wrecks in Øresund and a bridge in Isefjord top the list.

Scott Bennett   Scott Bennett , Lars Stenholt Kirkegaard , Peter Symes
Danish Carlsberg beer and the Old Little Belt Bridge, Middelfart, Denmark. Photo Peter Symes

From the capital city of Copenhagen, across the Great Belt to Funen and the Little Belt to Jutland, travelling through the green fields of the Danish countryside, Scott Bennett describes his diving and dining adventure through Denmark, stopping along the way for a five-course meal at one of the 25 Micheline star restaurants found across the country.

Peter Symes   Peter Symes , Lars Stenholt Kirkegaard
Diver on Ærøsund wreck. Photo by Lars Stenholt Kirkegaard

M/F Ærøsund is a former ferry that served the islands in the South Funen archipelago. It was scuttled in 2014 in a sheltered bay just 550m off Funen’s southern coastline where it now rests at a depth of only 19m. It is easily visible from the surface.

Peter Symes   Peter Symes
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Catherine GS Lim   Peter Symes
Viking Ship Museum, Roskilde, Denmark. Photo Peter Symes

Trading and transport by sea goes back to prehistoric times. Stone Age settlements and canoes, Viking ships, medieval cogs, fluyts, tall ships, warships, defence systems, jetties, harbour installations and aircraft wrecks—Denmark has got it all.

Peter Symes   Peter Symes , René B. Nielsen
Slåensø, Denmark. Photo by Peter Symes

Approximately right in the centre of Jutland, the western peninsular part of the realm, there is a region called Søhøjlandet, which translates to “The Lake Highland.” It is a sparsely populated and largely forested area with many lakes, a large part of which make up a reserve.

Peter Symes   Peter Symes
The JJ-CCR. Photo courtesy of JJ-CCR

Some 80km south of Copen­hagen, about one hour’s drive, in what appears to be just some ordinary and inconspicuous farm buildings surrounded by fields out in the countryside, we find JJ-CCR—manufacturer of world-renowned closed circuit rebreathers.

Edited by G. Symes   Dray Van Beeck
Parrotfish, by Dray van Beeck

In this issue, we celebrate Dutch digital artist and dive professional Dray van Beeck, who passed away suddenly on 19 April 2021. Together with his wife, Karin, he managed the Bali Diving Academy Pemuteran in Indonesia. A fine artist, avid diver and underwater photographer, Dray created surreal and fantastical scenes in digital artworks composed using his own underwater images. A few months ago, X-Ray Mag interviewed the artist and we share with you now the artist’s own words about his creative process and insights on digital art and the underwater realm he loved.

Simon Pridmore   Don Silcock , Matthew Meier
Whale shark. Photo by Don Silcock

This issue’s column tells the story of two dives, which took place half a world away from each other. The dives placed two divers in a situation where they had to make a choice.

X-Ray Mag Contributors   X-Ray Mag Contributors
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  X-Ray Mag Contributors
Photo by Martin Voeller

We asked our contrib­utors what their most unusual or unexpected dive was and they sent us photos and tales of unique experiences under the waves, some involving interactions with intriguing species, others purely chance encounters or surprising discoveries. From the tropical waters of Indonesia, the Philippines, Marshall Islands, Mexico's Revilla­gigedo Islands, Kona in Hawaii and Cuba, to the subtropical waters off the eastern coast of Florida in the United States and Mexico's Los Islotes, to the temperate waters of South Africa, Japan and the Puget Sound in America's Pacific Northwest, to a freshwater lake in China, X-Ray Mag contributors share their favorite uncommon underwater moments.

X-Ray Mag Contributors   X-Ray Mag Contributors
,
  X-Ray Mag Contributors
Photo by Martin Voeller

We asked our contrib­utors what their most unusual or unexpected dive was and they sent us photos and tales of unique experiences under the waves, some involving interactions with intriguing species, others purely chance encounters or surprising discoveries. From the tropical waters of Indonesia, the Philippines, Marshall Islands, Mexico's Revilla­gigedo Islands, Kona in Hawaii and Cuba, to the subtropical waters off the eastern coast of Florida in the United States and Mexico's Los Islotes, to the temperate waters of South Africa, Japan and the Puget Sound in America's Pacific Northwest, to a freshwater lake in China, X-Ray Mag contributors share their favorite uncommon underwater moments.

Andrea "Murdock" Alpini   Andrea "Murdock" Alpini
Rare historical photo of Plinio III, Lake Como, Italy (Museo Barca Lariana/Public Domain)

Lake Como is famous worldwide for its beauty, the charm of its ancient villas, stunning lake views, iconic village of Bellagio and romantic setting. Under its surface, Lake Como hides hundreds of hidden treasures: ancient wrecks and incredible stories. One of those wrecks lies in the northern corner of the lake. Here, there is a small pond called Lake Mezzola, whose flat mirror surface hides one of the most beautiful steamships ever to have sunk along the Alps.

R. Vorobyev & T. Klimenko   R. Vorobyev & T. Klimenko

Somewhere, far from civilisation, there is a secret place, lost among the high mountains and impassable wild forests. Here, where, for a hundred kilometres, you will not meet another person, there are roaring streams of waterfalls breaking from steep coasts, and in winter, instead of ice-bound lakes and rivers, waves rage. At the same time, in this place, the mysterious dark depths of one of the deepest and largest lakes in Russia attracts hundreds of divers every year. Intrigued? Then we invite you on an adventure to Lake Teletskoye.

Michael Rothschild, MD   Michael Rothschild , Alice Chong
Mixed OC & CCR dive team. Photo by Michael Rothschild

Nowadays, more and more recreational divers are coming into contact with technical rebreather divers, perhaps even being buddied up with one on a dive. What follows are some good things for open circuit divers to know about closed circuit rebreathers. Michael Rothschild gives us a quick glimpse into rebreather diving and what one can expect when diving in a mixed team.

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