X-Ray Mag #106

Feature articles in this issue with stand-alone pdfs

Don Silcock   Don Silcock
Leafy seadragon, Rapid Bay Jetty, Australia. Photo by Don Silcock

There are two large, side-by-side jetties in Rapid Bay on the Fleurieu Peninsula, which are probably the most popular shore dives in South Australia.

Amanda White   Mario Arena, Peter Brandt, , Kirill Egorov, Ali Frkee, , Luca Palezza, Claudio Provenzani, , Derk Remmers, Craigh Walker, , The Egadi Project, RPM Nautical Foundation
Diver with ancient ram discovery, Sicily, Italy. Photo by Mario Arena

Since 2017, a team of divers from Global Underwater Explorers (GUE), along with Soprintendenza del Mare (Superintendent of the Sea) and the RPM Nautical Foundation, has been involved in archaeological investigations at the site of the Battle of the Egadi Islands in Southern Italy.

Larry Cohen   Larry Cohen , Olga Torrey
Photo by Larry Cohen

Flooding a camera and other underwater photo gear is a nightmare for all underwater image-makers. Unfortunately, if you work underwater long enough, at some point, you will experience the horror of a flood. Over the years, I have flooded a Nikonos V, a film camera, a housing, several strobes and some dive lights. I have also had minor floods on a few digital camera housings.

Andrea Murdock Alpini   Courtesy of Bret Gilliam
Bret Gilliam being inducted into the AUAS Diving Hall of Fame in 2012

If you love scuba diving, deep dark waters, decompression procedures and mixed gas theory, you must have heard the name many times: Bret Gilliam, a revolutionary trailblazer in the dive world. Over the past few decades, he has changed the way scuba diving is practiced.

Simon Pridmore  
Photo illustration by G. Symes compiled with public domain Pixabay images

Getting back into diving after a break is something a lot of us will be doing soon, as pandemic restrictions lift. At least, we hope so. This is the story of one diver’s experience of returning to the sport—although, in his case, he had been out of the water for 20 years!

Pierre Constant   Pierre Constant
Diver in Cenote Zacil-Ha, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Photo by Pierre Constant

As a cave diver, you do not come back from the Yucatán and say, “I have done Mexico,” boasting with pride and glory. It takes more than one visit to fully appreciate the enormous potential the peninsula has to offer underground. That means having not only the guts for it, but also the necessary training and experience to be able to do so. “Rome was not built in a day,” as the saying goes.

Kelly LaClaire   Kate Holt
Oceanic manta ray, Socorro, Mexico. Photo by Kate Holt

We leveled off at 25m and the visibility was perfect. I could see my two buddies to my left—Kate adjusting her housing strobes and Dominic turning on his GoPro action camera. A group of silvertip sharks were casually circling a cleaning station, this one manned by bright yellow angelfish. They gave us a glance, but mostly, they were unconcerned. A few whitetip sharks emerged from the drop-off below to join us. More sharks—my favorite.

X-Ray Mag Contributors   X-Ray Mag Contributors
Pygmy seahorse, Triton Bay, West Papua, Indonesia. Photo by Claudia Weber-Gebert

When we asked our contributors what their most favorite dive location was, they came back with photos and stories of beautiful and exciting spots both near and far from home. From the tropical waters of Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Chuuk, Mexico's Revillagigedo Islands, Solomon Islands and Cayman Islands, to the subtropical waters off Baha California, Guadalupe Island and the Coronado Islands in Mexico and the eastern coast of Florida in the United States, to the temperate waters off South Africa, the US state of New Jersey, and British Columbia in Canada, to the frigid waters of Alaska, X-Ray Mag contributors share their favorite dive locations.

X-Ray Mag Contributors   X-Ray Mag Contributors
Pygmy seahorse, Triton Bay, West Papua, Indonesia. Photo by Claudia Weber-Gebert

When we asked our contributors what their most favorite dive location was, they came back with photos and stories of beautiful and exciting spots both near and far from home. From the tropical waters of Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Chuuk, Mexico's Revillagigedo Islands, Solomon Islands and Cayman Islands, to the subtropical waters off Baha California, Guadalupe Island and the Coronado Islands in Mexico and the eastern coast of Florida in the United States, to the temperate waters off South Africa, the US state of New Jersey, and British Columbia in Canada, to the frigid waters of Alaska, X-Ray Mag contributors share their favorite dive locations.

Edited by G. Symes   Olga Nikitina
Red Fish in the Red Sea, by Olga Nikitina. Oil on canvas, 25 x 20cm

Russian artist Olga Nikitina is an underwater painter with a degree in interior design and a dive instructor at the Egyptian Red Sea who creates brilliant and beautiful impressionistic paintings capturing the sublime light and textures of coral reefs and the dynamic energy of marine life. X-Ray Mag interviewed the artist to learn more about her creative process and perspectives on art and life underwater.

Pierre Constant   Pierre Constant
Tulum, Mexico. Photo by Pierre Constant

Tulum has changed a lot since I was here last, well over 45 years ago. Once a mere dusty village with beach huts, it is now a booming town with a main street full of bars, restaurants and tourist shops.

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