Winning Wildlife Photography

This stunning picture of a diver's close encounter with a 70-tonne whale off New Zealand is one of the winners of the Wildlife Photographer Exhibition of the Year.

The picture, taken by Brian Skerry, won first place in the competition's 'Underwater World' category...[Sky News]

Tahiti Diving Film Premiers At DEMA

The world premier showing of "Drop Zone Tahiti," an adventure film about surfing and scuba diving, was held on Oct. 22 at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas after the opening day of the DEMA (Diving Equipment and Marketing Association) Show.

An estimated audience of 1,200 persons was on hand from the international scuba diving industry to view this documentary film made by Greg Browning and Transworld Surf.

The surfing scenes were filmed off Tahiti's world famous peninsula village of Teahupoo. The diving scenes were filmed in the lagoons of Tahiti and its sister island of Moorea.

The world premiere was an important public relations event for the GIE Tahiti Tourisme. ..[Pacific Magazine]

New coral reef discovered in Seychelles

A previously unknown coral reef on the uninhabited Seychellois island of Curieuse has been discovered. The reef is already protected as it falls within the Curieuse Marine National Park.

Researchers from the British university of Essex this week report that they have discovered a previously unknown coral reef in the Seychelles. Dave Smith and Dave Suggett visited Curieuse Island as part of an ongoing study, with active participation from local Seychellois collaborators.

The island, which is managed by the Seychelles Centre of Marine Research and Technology-Marine Protected Areas (SCMRT-MPA), is home to over 200 giant tortoises, the unique coco de mer palms and rare Seychellois parrots. But until now, it was thought no coral reefs were present...[Afrol News]

Olympus And PADI Dive Deeper Into Underwater Photography

Capturing in-water images is easier than ever for scuba divers and water enthusiasts of all levels as Olympus extends its partnership with PADI (the Professional Association of Diving Instructors) as the official digital underwater photography equipment sponsor of the PADI Diving Society through December 2009. Announced today at the DEMA Show 2008 in Las Vegas, the two companies have extended their relationship and will continue to work closely together to help recreational divers capture amazing images during their scuba and snorkeling adventures.

“Olympus’ innovative cameras are designed to take incredible photographs in any setting, including underwater,” said John McGuire, product manager, Underwater and Outdoor Products, Olympus Imaging America Inc. “PADI is the obvious partner for us as it is the undisputable leader in recreational dive training and education. Additionally, our organizations share similar philosophies: commitment to quality as well as respecting and protecting the environment.”

PADI Americas Director of Marketing and Communications, Kristin Valette, concurs, “PADI maintains a strong commitment to the protection and preservation of the aquatic realm, supporting the philosophy of ‘take only pictures, leave only bubbles.’ Partnering with Olympus, a worldwide brand committed to quality and excellence, enables us to reach more divers and water enthusiasts and spread the passion for underwater photography and ocean conservation. PADI is honored to continue our partnership with Olympus.” ..[The Imaging Resource]

CX SWISS MILITARY WATCH ARGONAUT 1000 TQ

Argonaut1000 TQ is a professional diver’s instrument from the CX Swiss Military Watch brand, which won a Guinness world record in 2006 for its 12,000ft capability. The titanium 1000 TQ, pictured left, is described as a solid, powerful watch which is very light. Based on the 2007 model, this new-generation style is equipped with a helium escapement valve that protects the movement from the pressure of the water and guarantees total water-resistance to 1000 metres, the company said.

Powered by an automatic movement housed in a steel case, it has a chronograph function and extendible rubber strap. The 46mm diver’s watch features over-sized luminescent hands and hourmarkers for easy reading underwater. The extra-large crown, developed for easy use in any situation, and the graduated 60-minute unidirectional rotating bezel are also designed for diving security. Sporting a silver, black, yellow or blue dial, the watch comes on a titanium bracelet, or on a rubber strap with an extension for dry-suit diving.

Limited to 200 pieces, the watch has a recommended price, including VAT, of €1,398 or CHF2,307...[Moodie Report]

H2O Audio iDive 300 Makes Scuba Diving iPod Compatible

The new iDive "Deep Dive" Waterproof Housing and Over Ear Speakers provide iPod users with the ability to take their podcasts, training videos, music and movies to an unprecedented submersion depth of 300 feet.

"Three years ago we introduced the world's first waterproof housing and speakers developed for scuba diving, the DV-i700. Even though the number of supported mp3 players was small, the response and interest we received was overwhelming," said Kristian Rauhala, CEO of H2O Audio. "Divers have asked us to develop this product since the iPod revolution started. iDive's "Made for iPod" integrated microprocessor detects a wide variety of iPods making it compatible with Apple's most popular devices."

H2O Audio has helped redefine the surface watersport experience. With the release of its patented new iDive product, divers now have the opportunity to enhance and expand their underwater experience as well. Combing a secure and durable waterproof housing, built-in amplifier and acoustically engineered headphones, the iDive 300 is the perfect product for long decompression stops or those looking to add a soundtrack to their next dive...[Cloud Computing Journal]

Wildcam - Belize Reef

The new camera pans the undersea world 66 feet below the surface at Glover's Reef, a World Heritage Site on the barrier reef off the Central American country of Belize. Think of it as one of those video fish tanks, but the fish are real. Web watchers can see wild marine life swim past in real time -- at least during daylight hours. The reef has crystal-clear waters, colorful reef fish and the hypnotic sashaying of sea fans and soft corals...[National Geographic]

$75,000 up for grabs

Photographers of all levels will help celebrate the beauty, mystery and delicacy of the marine environment as the 4th annual international underwater photography and video competition series hosted by UnderwaterCompetition.com kicks off this week. The competition has become the "Superbowl" of international underwater imagery competitions, with over $75,000 of world-class prizes, major industry involvement, and the opportunity to have your images showcased to the world as some of the best. Esteemed judges include leading professional underwater photographers, cinematographers and magazine editors from around the world.

The unique competition series was founded by professional underwater photographers Jason Heller & Eric Cheng and hosted by popular websites DivePhotoGuide.com and Wetpixel.com. The series is held in association with two leading scuba diving expos on opposite sides of the world, simultaneously -- Our World Underwater, now in its 39th year and one of the largest consumer scuba diving expos in the US, and DEEP Indonesia, the first and only scuba diving and water sports expo in Indonesia...[eMediaWire.com]

Students trial computerised buoyancy device for divers

University of Auckland students have designed a computerised system to help automatically manage buoyancy for scuba divers.

Engineering department students Anatoly Kudryashov and Jenny Xu said the prototype, called an Electronic Dive Buddy, had been tested in a pool and the next step was to look at marketing it.

Mr Kudryashov said the unit attached to buoyancy jackets and monitored the diver's motion while underwater.

It automatically adjusted buoyancy if an unsafe depth or velocity was reached, and had a cruise control feature allowing divers to automatically maintain a desired depth.

"Our tests so far have proven the device to work, so the next step is to look at its marketability. As far as I know, a device like this does not exist," Mr Kudryashov said...[3news.co.nz]

Seals' muscles hide a built-in scuba tank

AN OXYGEN reservoir within seals' muscles could explain how they can dive underwater for up to 80 minutes at a time without taking a breath.

Seal muscle contains 20 times as much myoglobin - a protein that stores and transfers oxygen within their cells - as humans. Seals also stop breathing for 20 minutes at a time while asleep on land, which probably helps them conserve energy.

Thomas Jue of the University of California, Davis, and his team measured the levels of deoxygenated myoglobin in two elephant seals as they fell asleep. They found that as the animals fell into a slumber and stopped breathing, their blood flow slowed. "The metabolism drops," says Jue...[NewScientist]

Avalon Harbor Underwater Cleanup

The 28th Annual Avalon Harbor Underwater Cleanup is scheduled for Saturday, February 21, 2009. This is an annual dive event held in Avalon Harbor at Catalina Island. The event was started in the 1970's by the local dive community in an effort to cleanup Avalon Harbor, and this event is the only time diving is permitted there. The event has grown over the years to become one of the most publicized and popular dive events in Southern California.

Besides offering divers the opportunity to dive in Avalon Harbor, the event brings together a large number of people who share common interests - diving and Catalina. Last year more than 520 divers participated in the event. The proceeds of the Avalon Harbor Underwater Cleanup benefit the Catalina Island Conservancy's Ocean Conservation projects and the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber. Catalina Conservancy Divers is a support group of the Catalina Conservancy. The Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber is a life support recompressions chamber on Catalina that is available to serve the thousands of divers who frequent the Catalina waters...[Catalina Island News]

Invention: Natural colour underwater photographs

Taking good photos underwater requires a good white light source such as a flash or spotlight. But some wavelengths of light penetrate water more easily than others, and the result is a heavy blue cast.

The tint gets progressively deeper as subjects get further from the camera, meaning that corrective filters only work for a narrow range of distances from the lens.

Filters cannot always be changed quickly, or even at all, say Daniela Rus and colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. For example, they say filters are little use for remotely operated cameras like that on a robotic submarine.
See clearly now

Their new patent application suggests the solution is to use a camera with a battery of different flashes. Each produces a different wavelength of light, which penetrates water to different extents. A sensor records that effect, making it possible to work out the distance to a subject in the image...[New Scientist Technology]

Catalina Islands offers incredible diving experience

One of the many natural attractions that Costa Rica offers its visitors — whether researchers or ocean-beauty enthusiasts — is scuba diving.

And one of the key areas for this kind of activity is the Catalina Islands, where unique rock formations resulting from volcanic activity provide diving lovers with the chance to admire a myriad of sea-life species present at this site — including manta rays, white-fin and bull sharks, barracudas, sea turtles, starfish, and many more.

Catalina Islands is located 15-20 minutes in boat from Flamingo Beach in Guanacaste. There, tourists will find transportation companies that make the trip to the isles as well as diving instructors and other necessities for this activity. Additionally, there are many other businesses that offer transportation to this remarkable spot between Playas del Coco and Tamarindo.

Experts agree that the best time to enjoy the close to 20 diving sites available at Catalina Islands is between December and May. That means scuba diving season here is quickly approaching, and with it an opportunity to immerse yourself in these incredible underwater rock formations...[The Guantacaste Journal]

Good on Ya!

Stanley Stringer thought nothing of rushing to help a scuba diver trapped in a wreck in Darwin Harbour late last year.

For his effort, which saved the life of a 23-year-old scuba diver, he was nominated for a Pride of Australia Medal.

Mr Stringer said he couldn't believe he was nominated for the bravery category of the prestigious awards.

"It was unexpected," he said.

"I am a bit shocked about it. It is a nice recognition.

"There are a lot of things people do in the emergency services that they don't get recognition for.

"If I win, it wouldn't just be for me."

Mr Stringer responded to a distress call that the young diver was stuck in the wreck of the Medkhanum III.

He made his way into the wreck and had to feel his way around in the silt and pitch black to save the young man.

"I came across him pretty quickly, he was running out of air quite quickly," he said...[Northwest Territory News]

U.S. ship 'Kittiwake' to become Cayman Islands reef

The Cayman Islands announced plans to create an underwater attraction for scuba divers and snorkelers from a decommissioned U.S. Navy ship.

Ownership of the USS Kittiwake, a 2,290-ton submarine rescue ship, will be transferred from the U.S. Maritime Administration to the Cayman Islands government this fall.

Toxic materials must first be removed from the vessel, built in 1945, before the ship is sunk next year in the Caribbean Sea as an artificial reef. It has been anchored for years among rusting hulks of the James River Reserve Fleet, commonly known as the "Ghost Fleet," in Fort Eustis, Va.

The 251-foot Kittiwake should attract large schools of fish to deserted cabins and halls, according to Charles Clifford, the islands' minister of tourism...[Tampa Bay.com]

UK Scuba Divers Aim To Beat Aussie Champion Underwater Ironers

The usually mundane task of ironing is about to get a rev-up when three Torbay divers take part in a world-record underwater ironing attempt.

It will be full steam ahead when more than 80 divers from across the country attempt to flatten the world record.

Underwater ironing is an extreme sport and the record was set by 72 Australian scuba divers in April, in a plunge off a Melbourne pier.

Paul Mason, the vice-chairman of the Torbay British Sub Aqua Club, is taking part in the record-breaking attempt in Chepstow along with fellow Torbay divers Jack Macloughlin, a computing student at South Devon College and Kevin Western who works as a maintenance engineer.
Paul, director of Three Counties Home Inspection, said: "We already have more than 80 people signed up to take part, so the record will be ours...[Divemaster News]

Dive into a whole new world

Twenty metres below the surface of the Celebes Sea off the east coast of Malaysian Borneo, I'm getting blasted by the ripping current. Desperately, I grasp at the loose coral littering the top of the reef wall trying to find an anchor. My husband Aaron has a slippery grip on my other hand and my two younger sisters are clutching the tips of my fins. It would be downright comical if I weren't concentrating so hard on staying put.

The four of us tenuously hang on literally by our fingernails, while our bodies are buffeted by the washing-machine current that whips around Sipadan Island's most famous dive site, the aptly named Barracuda Point. The battle is worth it. I'm staring at a huge school of those voracious predators. There are hundreds of them, astonishingly still in the rushing waters, perfectly posed so I can get a good look at their toothy grins. Then in a silvery flash, the school turns on itself and swirls into a massive ball. The barracudas swim off into the blue yonder.

Perfect timing, because I'm losing the fight. The crumbly coral slips out of my hand and we hurtle around the point into much calmer oceans and an entirely new aquatic landscape...[Canada.com]

What lies beneath

That big white boat going back and forth between Orient Point and Rocky Point in Long Island Sound isn't lost. And the people aboard aren't glued to binoculars keeping track of every fish you catch, nor are they spies working for some multinational energy corporation.

With specialized echo sounders, multi-beam and side-scan sonars, this boat's mission is to update Long Island Sound's nautical charts, some of which haven't been updated in more than 100 years -- like a section near the coast off Orient Point with huge underwater boulders that have never before been documented.

"We work up and down the East Coast, whichever channel needs to be done," Thomas Jefferson crew member Ensign Megan Nadeau said. "Some haven't been done since before 1900, which can be dangerous in navigation. We make sure the depths are the same."..[The Suffolk Times]

Exploring new depths in the Yucatan

Not everyone goes to the Yucatan Peninsula for fun in the sun, or even to gawk at freshly burnt, underdressed wild girls on spring break. Not far away from the all-expenses-paid debauchery of Cancun, more adventurous travellers can experience the awesome natural grandeur of underwater caverns - the cenotes of the Mayan Coast.

These underwater rivers once served as an important source of fresh water for the Mayan civilization. The cenotes (a corruption of the Mayan word "dzonot", meaning "sacred well") also served a spiritual function. At least one cenote in Chichén Itzá was a place of worship and sacrifice, including human sacrifice.

Formed over the ages by acidic groundwater seeping through the soft limestone and eating away cavities in the even softer rock beneath, cenotes have weathered rises and declines in sea levels which have left them intermittently dry and flooded. As a result, visitors can see many beautiful formations of stalactites and stalagmites - protrusions in rocks that look like icicles hanging down from the cave top or pushing up from the floor - in the dry parts of the cavern systems. ..[Canada.com]

Pulling history from the sea

One day in March of this year, Steve Lloyd’s 27-foot cabin cruiser Obtainium was headed on a course along the Kenai Peninsula’s southwestern tip from Seldovia to the elongated bay of Port Graham, which shelters the town of the same name.

Lloyd considers himself a pretty savvy scuba diver, if not Alaska’s premier shipwreck hunter and he and his dive partner Ursa Lively were headed for a nearby shipwreck site. Their lure wasn’t treasure, but a 140-year-old military wreck known as the Torrent, which Lloyd had visited twice before. His pioneering dives in July 2006 revealed only spikes; apparently part of the ship drifted and created it’s own debris field as wooden parts rotted away. Lloyd led an expedition the next year that found anchors, and cargo, including cannon balls and an intact bronze cannon barrel.

Slowly, the Torrent was giving up her secrets to an expanding, albeit small, circle of divers skilled enough to dodge Cook Inlet currents during brief periods of slack tide.

Colder water temperatures in March make for clearer water (tiny plants and animals thrive in summer and create a green haze) and Lloyd and Lively were on their way to meet a team of seven people to photograph and take video to catalogue the wreck...[Anchorage Press]

Caymans to create underwater world

The Cayman Islands announced plans to scuttle a decommissioned U.S. Navy ship to create an underwater attraction for scuba divers and snorkellers.

Ownership of the USS Kittiwake, a 2,290-tonne submarine rescue ship, will be transferred from the U.S. Maritime Administration to the Cayman Islands government this fall, project manager Nancy Easterbrook said.

It has been anchored for years among rusting hulks of the James River Reserve Fleet, commonly known as the “Ghost Fleet,” in St. Eustis, Va.

The 77-metre Kittiwake should attract large schools of fish to deserted cabins and halls, according to Charles Clifford, the islands’ minister of tourism...[MetroNews.ca]

Divers Reach Sunken Steamship Off Massachusetts, Find Artifacts

Professional divers have located the wreck of the sunken 19th century steamship SS Portland 460 feet deep in Massachusetts' Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and found artifacts but no human remains.

Five divers led by Bob Foster were the first to see the shipwreck nearly 20 years after it was discovered by underwater explorers Arnold Carr and John Fish. At the time, the wreck was not confirmed as that of the Portland, which sunk amid a storm in 1898 while sailing from Boston to Portland, Maine.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration established the location of the wreck in 2002 but did not disclose it to the public to prevent the looting of its artifacts...[GantDaily.com]

Sea slug species named for Stuart man who discovered it

One day before his 62nd birthday, Bob Rice learned his name had become part of scientific history.

A new species of nudibranch, a sort of sea slug, has been named for him. It is all recorded in an article published in the Bulletin of Marine Science by the Rosensteil School of Marine and Atmospheric Science in Miami, released in mid-September.

According to the article, the new species of nudibranch found by Rice will be in the records as the Roboastra ricei, the last word being Rice’s name in Latin.

“That’s kind of neat,” said Rice. “There are not a lot of things left to discover on this Earth and to find one is really something.”

On March 4, 2006, Rice, a licensed tropical fish collector, was scuba diving about five miles offshore from the Coast Guard LORAN Tower in Hobe Sound, collecting tropical fish for sale, when he saw a colorful creature come out of the reef.

“I didn’t know what it was, but I popped it into the bucket I had for invertebrates, and went to the surface,” Rice said.

When he showed the creature to others, no one else knew what it was...[TCPalm.com]

Divers pull debris from Shark River

For more than a decade, a group of volunteer divers have plunged into the Shark River once a year to sweep the waterway and remove whatever trash they can.

Saturday marked the 13th annual cleanup, and while much of the major debris has been hauled away over time, each year's foray below the surface still serves a purpose, said Joe Skimmons of Divers Two in Avon, which sponsors the event.

"The bulk items — things like benches, lawn chairs, bowling balls, that kind of stuff — have all been taken out over the years," he said while a group of about 30 divers suited up at the borough's municipal boat launch off L Street. "Today is more of an animal rescue, where we'll see a lot of lures and nets and things like that that kill fish and crabs and all the other marine life."

Since the first dive cleanup in 1995, the event has seen the removal of between 28,000 and 30,000 pounds of trash from Shark River. And the fact that the volume decreases more each year is a good sign, Skimmons said...[APP.com]

Exploring the beauty of Tulamben

Tulamben is totally worth the two-and-a-half-hour overland trip from Sanur, Bali. When pressing the deflator button to descend, we seemed to get mysteriously, suddenly recharged by a new energy, the feel of the deep seawater through our wet suits soothing.

Ready to dive!

Welcome to Tulamben: one of the world's best diving sites near this island paradise. This site has attracted diving lovers from home and abroad to check out the underwater life and to treasure its beauty.

On the day we dived there were about 50 divers divided into several groups, mostly crowding the site of the U.S. Liberty shipwreck.

"During peak season, there could hundreds of people diving in this particular site," said Chris, our guide from Bali Scuba.

The U.S. cargo ship was torpedoed by the Japanese during World War II. It is now covered with anemones, gorgonian and coral. ..[The Jakarta Post]

Fashionable Fins

Australian designer Lisa Carney's latest creation.

Shipwrecks discovered in area waters

Northwest Michigan waters hold three, maybe four, shipwrecks recently discovered by a Grand Traverse County man and other shipwreck hunters.

"It's a passion for exploring. I love going places and finding things nobody's been to before and sharing that through photos and video," said Thaddius Bedford, of Mayfield, president of the Manitou Passage Underwater Preserve.

Two shipwrecks in the Manitou preserve were discovered in recent years, along with at least one shipwreck in Grand Traverse Bay. A second site in the bay could be another shipwreck, but it's in water that's too deep to dive in, so more research is needed beyond existing sonar images, Bedford said.

Bedford chose to reveal his finds now, years after their initial discoveries, because he's faced pressure to claim them before other shipwreck hunters grab the credit, he said...[Record-Eagle.com]

Salmon Shark With Strange Parasites Rescued By Seaside Aquarium

It was something the crew at Seaside Aquarium had never seen before. A salmon shark washed up in the Cannon Beach area Wednesday, still alive – which alone was a bit odd. But this salmon shark was covered in a dense layer of parasites in an unusual way.

The Seaside Aquarium is part of the Marine Mammal Stranding Network for the north Oregon coast, responding to baby seals that have wandered up, molting seals, injured sea lions and the like. But they also remove corpses of creatures that spill onto the beach from the tide.

Aquarium manager Keith Chandler said the shark was still living when they found it about 10 a.m. Wednesday. An hour and a half later it was dead, but first Chandler and others tried walking the four-foot salmon shark around the tank in order to get oxygen into its gills...[ZooandAquariumVisitor.com]

Dive Pirates

The Dive Pirates Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing Scuba Diving to persons with disabilities and joining them with the mainstream of divers. Its vision is to create a community of adaptive divers that will dive and travel in the mainstream world of scuba diving through education and overcoming obstacles...[KIIITV.com]

Australia's Great Barrier Reef now on Google Maps

Previously a largely indistinct feature visible in low resolution in Google Maps, the reef now suddenly looms large off the coast of Queensland as great dark mass that stretches over 2,500 km from Bundaberg to Cape York.

While you still don't get street level view of the entire reef, it's now possible to get a much clearer picture of the thousands of coral cays, lagoons and underwater reefs that make up what is the world's biggest structure built by organisms.


Importantly, the reef is overlaid with services like Panoramio's photos which add dramaticaly to the detail being presented, as well as Wikipedia and National Geographic entries...[APCMag.com]

SAlarc NGX - coming to a dive light near you...

Welch Allyn Lighting Products, a premier manufacturer of high-performance lighting and technology, has introduced SAlarc(TM) NGX, a new high-intensity-discharge (HID) technology that allows its users to "pierce the darkness" like no other lighting to date. To celebrate this latest release, the company has relaunched www.solarc.net, a website for the bike, dive, ATV and flashlight markets.

"Whether you're an ATV rider, a mountain biker, a scuba diver or a security professional, you've got similar requirements: you need the brightest, most rugged, most efficient portable lighting available," said Doug Rutan, Welch Allyn marketing manager. "Our new SAlarc NGX technology is tailored for these users; it outperforms previous HID lamps and competitive LED systems. We're confident it'll reinforce the dominance of HID technology for even the most demanding applications."

Twice as Bright
With its 1000-lumen capability, SAlarc NGX offers users daylight-quality light that punches far into the distance. In fact, it's twice as bright as previous SAlarc technology and it has a sharper beam. This means a 24-hour mountain biker who's equipped with SAlarc NGX could see further down the trail, through their safe riding and stopping zone, and well beyond.

Twice as Rugged
SAlarc NGX holds up to the shock and vibration typical in adventure sports environments. Since it's twice as rugged as the first-generation SAlarc technology, it's especially ideal for ATV lights in punishing off-road conditions and for extreme biking and scuba diving where resilience is critical.

Twice as Efficient
Twice as efficient as previous SAlarc technology, SAlarc NGX gives lighting manufacturers more options. This means that products equipped with it could boast twice the battery life, twice the brightness, or a smaller battery than earlier generations. So divers with the latest NGX lights could see farther in a wreck or cave, could stay submerged longer, or take advantage of a lighter equipment load.
SAlarc in Top Product Lines.

Lights featuring SAlarc technology are being released for the 2009 season by top sports and handheld equipment manufacturers, including NiteRider ( www.niterider.com), Dive Lights International ( www.niteriderdive.com), Dive Rite ( www.diverite.com), Underwater Kinetics ( www.uwkinetics.com), Green Force ( www.green-force.com), Halcyon ( www.halcyon.net) and Jet Lites ( www.jetlites.com), among others...[MarketWatch.com]