Last year I was invited to deliver a lecture at the Oztek show in Sydney, Australia. I spoke on the topic “What Makes a Good Technical Diver”, and one particular point I covered on accident avoidance drew a very positive response and provoked a number of questions from the audience.
X-Ray Mag #59
Feature articles in this issue with stand-alone pdfs
Gary Gentile not only helped pioneer deep wreck diving, but also documented its art and craft, in addition to his finds so that others may follow in his footsteps.
Gary Gentile not only helped pioneer deep wreck diving, but also documented its art and craft, in addition to his finds so that others may follow in his footsteps.
There are certain images of marine life that consistently conjure up a predicted response from the general public, whether they are scuba divers or not.
Is it the agency or the instructor that’s important?
The Swedish warship Mars, otherwise known as Makalös (peerless), sank in a sea battle during the Northern Seven Years War in 1564.
Undersea Creatures V, by Michael Frank. Acrylic on canvas, 24x30 inches (61x76cm)
Inspired by the magical ambience in the works of early American artists painting scenes with great attention to detail, color and dramatic light, Michael Frank works layer upon layer on canvas to produce brilliant underwater scenes echoing the sumptuous yet mysterious nature of marine life on reefs and in rivers and streams.
In this article, the final one in the series, I will explain my personal experience with wide-angle underwater photography using the Olympus OM-D EM-5 camera.
Following six flights, two nights and a 30-hour boat trip, I found myself approaching a relatively uncharted group of small coral cays about 60km off the northeast coast of Honduras, not far from the Nicaraguan border.
Who could imagine for a minute that Namibia is a diving destination?
Nobody. Despite its 2,000km of coastline, this is the mere truth. The marine temperatures are about 13°C on average, with an almost nil visibility resulting from stirred up waters and omnipresent sand. There is nevertheless a light of hope at the end of the tunnel. Some 30 years ago, caves and sinkholes were discovered, a peculiar reminder of the ‘cenotes’ in Mexico.
You could say that Richard Lundgren’s destiny was cast when his parents took the precocious, then eight-year-old Swedish schoolboy to visit the Vasa Museum in Stockholm.
The young Lundgren walked the oak decks of the 69m (226ft) long, 17th century Swedish warship Vasa, which has been painstakingly reconstructed following its salvage in 1961. Enthralled by the experience, Lundgren vowed that one day he would find Sweden’s most famous shipwreck—Mars the Magnificent—King Erik XIV’s warship that was lost in battle in 1564 in the Southeast Baltic Sea.
You could say that Richard Lundgren’s destiny was cast when his parents took the precocious, then eight-year-old Swedish schoolboy to visit the Vasa Museum in Stockholm.
The young Lundgren walked the oak decks of the 69m (226ft) long, 17th century Swedish warship Vasa, which has been painstakingly reconstructed following its salvage in 1961. Enthralled by the experience, Lundgren vowed that one day he would find Sweden’s most famous shipwreck—Mars the Magnificent—King Erik XIV’s warship that was lost in battle in 1564 in the Southeast Baltic Sea.
The world in one country is an oft-used quote to describe South Africa and is not unwarranted. Along with dramatic scenery and a rich cultural heritage, it is a nation renowned for its diversity of ecosystems and wildlife.
However, its undersea environs rival the terrestrial abundance. From northern subtropical reefs to the chilly waters of the cape, South Africa offers a wealth of marine life few nations can rival.
First scientifically described by Gunnerus in 1765 from a specimen in Norway, there is an earlier published reference to the shark in 1739 in Ireland.
Over ten years have past since my last dive in Hood Canal. I’m not sure why, probably because I’ve been so focused on exploring the pristine waters of British Columbia that the extra effort of driving so far south has always deterred me. But when Adventures Down Under, a dive shop in Bellingham, invited me to join their group for a Hood Canal dive charter, I was too curious to say anything but yes.