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2012-01-10T07:06:00.000-08:00

Adaptive Scuba Diving Clinic

2011-10-15T19:57:00.001-07:00

David Briggs smiles at Jenny Baweja as he gets his tank strapped on during an adaptive scuba diving clinic Saturday, Oct. 15, at East Grand Rapids High School. The clinic, which is help put on by Mary Free Bed, is designed to give children and adults with physical disabilities an introduction to scuba diving basics...[Link]

"Sunk Punk" Pale Ale...Underwater Beer

2011-10-11T07:21:00.000-07:00

The Fraserburgh-based BrewDog have released Sunk Punk, the first beer to be brewed underwater.

The 7.1% pale ale is said to contain a host of maritime-themed ingredients, including buckweed, distilled sea-salt and rum.

The brewery, known for its experimental and often controversial creations, dropped a specially-modified fermentation tank into the sea on June 27.

The tank was sunk to a depth of 20m, where the water would have a steady temperature of 10c...[Link]

Blind Diver Achieves Scuba Certification

2011-10-07T09:17:00.000-07:00

Some people recognize every barrier as an opportunity. The human spirit and the mind can open doors regardless of disability. This young man is living his life, his way.

Last April the Sunday Sun introduced us to the story of a young man in Hexham England that was working towards his plumbing license. Pretty unremarkable except that 25 year old Robert Ainsley-Raffel was born blind...[Link]

Get your underwater fix on your iPad/2 - new game releasing soon

2011-09-28T10:51:00.000-07:00

If you are a PC or Mac gamer, you may have heard of the underwater exploration game called Aquaria. This is a very deep game with an awesome soundtrack and gorgeous underwater environments to navigate. It also has a bit of magic and mysticism as part of its charm. According to TouchArcade, the game will be available for the iPad and iPad 2 sometime this fall.

The iPad port is an enhanced version of the original with various tweaks like the ability to see explored areas via a navigation map. This upcoming version has also been designed with touch controls in mind from the get-go in a way that may make it more intuitive and enjoyable than previous versions...[Link]

New HD video camera from SeaLife - first for the company

2011-09-28T08:19:00.000-07:00

Underwater Cameras Direct brings aboard to its fine line of underwater cameras the new SeaLife DC 1400, with its 720p video or 14 megapixel high resolution capability. SeaLife, the leader in underwater cameras, built the new DC 1400 to be easy to use for creating your own personal undersea concerto of sight and sound.

Boasting five easy-to-use "piano keys", the DC 1400 allows you to take either true high-definition 720p video or 14 megapixel high-resolution images of your adventures beneath the seas and above water as well. These five large primary control keys eliminate the confusing button cluster of a traditional camera to provide simple one-handed operation in any environment.

Water proof for up to depths of 200 ft (60 meters).....[Link]

SCUBA improves paralysis patients - helps wounded vets.

2011-09-22T13:30:00.000-07:00

Paralyzed veterans who learned to scuba dive experienced both physical and mental improvements, a new study suggests.

Researchers brought 10 paralyzed veterans and nine healthy participants to the Cayman Islands in May for a four-day scuba certification course.

Before the dives, researchers did a series of neurological and psychological tests, measuring muscle spasticity, motor control and sensitivity to pinprick and light touch, as well as symptoms of depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, hostility and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Participants did nine dives over four days. Eight of the 10 paraplegics were able to complete the dives.

Afterward, researchers ran the tests again...[Link]

Divers "nurse" shark back to health...

2011-05-31T19:27:00.000-07:00

Scuba Works does a pier clean-up for the Juno Pier in conjunction with Loggerhead Marinelife Center. On one of their last clean up's one of the divemasters, Travis Slusher, found about a 12" nurse shark lying lifeless on the bottom.

Travis scooped it up to discover a hair tie had been wrapped around the sharks neck. Carefully, Travis, along his dive buddy Amy Lesh, cut the hair tie from around the sharks neck. The shark had developed a small laceration from where the hair tie had been restricting its eating and breathing...[Link]

If you were going to be in Costa Rica anyway...

2011-05-30T19:43:00.000-07:00

The Costa Rica EcoPhoto Challenge will taking place later this year, from August 13-20. We are proud to be sponsoring this unique event along with EcoGuide Costa Rica and X-Ray Magazine.

The week will include both topside and underwater shooting opportunities in the oceans, mountains, volcanoes, and jungles of Costa Rica- one of our favorite places to dive. Under the waves, the area features Bull sharks, reef sharks, and other large fish, while topside the highlights include the Natural Park in Guanacaste and touring the steamy summit of Volcan Rincon de la Vieja. The categories for the underwater contest are Scenic, Big Life, Close-up, Divers and Humor, and includes prizes at local restaurants, publication of photos, and even an all-expenses-paid return visit...[Link]

Plane makes planned plunge in Athens

2011-05-28T18:03:00.001-07:00

From nose, to tail, the Beechcraft Hawker 125-600 stretched 60 feet with a nearly 50 foot wingspan. It sat on the banks of the Athens Scuba Park pond waiting for take-off.

Calvin Wilcher and his wife, Shannon, purchased the plane to add to their growing scuba diving collection. The couple's been collecting scuba wreckage for more than 20 years. The Beechcraft is the second plane to be submerged in their pond.

"We have three sailboats, four cabin cruisers, 16 speed boats, nine motorcycles, a d 210-foot cave system, and about eight fish," said Calvin Wilcher.

Calvin and a team of divers helped taxi the plane out onto the water, and were onboard to ride it to the bottom of the pond...[Link]

Breathtaking Undersea Aliens

2011-04-18T21:51:00.000-07:00

In recent years, Russian marine biologist Alexander Semenov has built a stunningly beautiful collection of deep sea photography, capturing alien creatures only locatable in the hostile, icy depths of the far northern sea off the coast of Russia.

A brave art world denizen might surmise that the beauty of Semenov's images rivals those of the great masters—yes, Henri Matisse and Vincent Van Gogh were kings of color, and Hieronymus Bosch did invent wild creatures, but Semenov's organisms aren't fictional. Their vivid colors weren't mixed on a palette, nor were their structures designed by a human brain. They're as real as you or me. Below, Semenov shares his experience capturing his "sea aliens" deep below the cold arctic ice....[Link]

Scuba yoga anyone?

2011-04-18T08:37:00.000-07:00

Some people go to the Caribbean to scuba dive in crystal clear waters, others long to find yogic calm on soft sand beaches. Now apparently you can combine the two. At the same time.

Yes, it sounds strange to us too, but this is apparently the latest trend to hit Grenada, with the LaSource Resort offering yoga and meditation to open your mind and help your breathing before plunging you to the depths of the Caribbean Sea.

Yogic breathing exercises, practised on the beach just before you don your flippers, are supposed to give beginners more confidence to go into the water...[Link]

New trend toward lightweight SCUBA gear hepls divers save on baggage fees

2011-01-10T09:44:00.000-08:00

With the ever-increasing cost of travel starting to add up, the recreational scuba diving community is working to keep the costs down. This is especially true of scuba diving equipment, which can add several hundreds of dollars to the cost of a trip due to extra weight and baggage fees.

Last year, several equipment companies started experimenting with more lightweight gear. Now the trend has caught on in a big way. Last week, Oceanic Worldwide, an international manufacuterer of recreational scuba equipment, unveiled its new BioLite buoyancy control device, which weights just 5.5 pounds. This is a significant difference over previous designs that can weight as much as 20 pounds...[Link]

USS Kittiwake sunk in Cayman Islands to create artificial reef for SCUBA divers

2011-01-06T20:00:00.000-08:00

There's a new dive site in the Cayman Islands. Yesterday, government officials, environmentalists and the local scuba diving community came to together to sink the USS Kittiwake, a decommisioned submarine rescue vessel. The eight-year effort was capped by the vessel slowly sinking beneath the surface and coming to rest upright in 60 feet of water just off the coast of Grand Cayman Island.

According to Nancy Easterbrook of DiveTech Grand Cayman and chairman of the Kittiwake Grand Cayman committee, the vessel sank as planned and should be ready for the general public to being exploring this weekend. "It was an amazing site. She hit the bottom upright just like we had planned. This will be a major new attraction for visitors coming to Grand Cayman to scuba dive or snorkel...[Link]

Top Scuba Diving travel destinations for 2011

2011-01-05T17:08:00.001-08:00

As active travelers look to book their 2011 adventures, scuba diving destinations continue to rate high on the list of “must-visit” places. The opportunity to explore new surroundings, take vivid underwater photos and interact with a variety of marine life are just some of the experiences that appeal to today’s recreational scuba enthusiast.

In addition to traditional destinations including the Florida Keys and the Caribbean, dive travel professionals have outlined several other destinations that scuba travelers might want to consider when booking a trip this year...[Link]

Liquid Image announces new sports masks at CES

2011-01-05T08:35:00.000-08:00

Liquid Image Masks, the company who created the Model 320 Scuba Series HD, displayed a newer version of the built-in camera scuba mask at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The Model 318 Scuba Series HD has a 12MP camera sensor with a 74 degree lens and 720p HD recording. The camera operates in water depths from up to 40 meters. The mask will not be available to customers until July 2011 at an expected cost of 300 dollars...[Link]

Huge Coral Reefs Discovered off Puerto Rico

2011-01-05T08:34:00.001-08:00

A new discovery of thriving coral reefs off the coast of Puerto Rico may offer hope for other shallower reefs.

Scuba diving scientists discovered sprawling and diverse coral reefs at 100 to 500 feet (30 to 150 meters) below the ocean surface within a 12-mile (19-kilometer) span off the southwestern coast near La Parguera, Puerto Rico.

With the overall health of shallow coral reefs and the abundance of reef fish in Puerto Rico in decline, this finding brings hope that deeper fish stocks may help to replenish stocks on shallower reefs...[Link]

Huge Coral Reefs Discovered off Puerto Rico

2011-01-05T08:34:00.000-08:00

Scuba Divers Celebrate a 'Hoppy New Year' in Bunny Suits

2011-01-04T08:16:00.000-08:00

There are bunny ears, and then there are bunny years.

We're just days into 2011, and there's already another New Year's on the horizon: The Year of the Rabbit.

On the Chinese zodiac calendar, Feb. 3 marks the end of the Year of the Tiger and the start of the Year of the Rabbit. And even though New Year's Day is still a month away, it seems like some people are already getting the party hopping...[Link]

Diver saves unconscious woman 14 metres underwater

2010-08-23T09:32:00.000-07:00

A scuba diving instructor in the right place at the right time is being credited for saving a drowning diver in West Vancouver's Whytecliff Marine Park on Sunday.

The instructor was teaching a class in the waters at the mouth of Howe Sound near Horseshoe Bay when he and his students heard calls for help nearby.

He wasted no time in organizing a grid search for the 46-year-old Port Moody woman after her partner surfaced, pleading for help around noon.

The instructor found the unconscious woman in about 14 metres of water within minutes.

He brought her up to the surface and pulled her to the beach, where CPR was administered...[Link]

Review: Epoque underwater digital camera EHD-900Ai

2010-08-23T08:19:00.000-07:00

Who doesn’t love showing off their holiday snaps to friends, family and anyone else who will take a look?

So this new product from Epoque will have snap-happy holidaymakers drooling with excitement.

The Epoque underwater camera is ideal for capturing those moments that other cameras just can’t picture.

Whether it’s the children splashing around in the pool, the underwater world of the seabed or a water sports adventure, you’ll be able to log all of those once-in-a-lifetime moments.

I already own several cameras so I was particularly surprised that it took not just one but two friends to help me make sense of the instructions.

'Be careful not to become crazy about taking pictures which cause the lack of air,' was one of the warnings in the manual. It doesn’t exactly scream professionalism....[Link]

Family meets humpback whale on scuba diving trip off Atlantic City

2010-08-23T08:17:00.000-07:00

Eleven-year-old Cailey Maxwell's weekly scuba dive started an hour late Saturday morning, but she could not have cared less. Nothing under the water could compare with what she had just seen above it.

Six miles off Atlantic City, Cailey and her family, of Bedminster, Pa., spent nearly an hour watching an energetic humpback whale leap from the water and splash down, again and again.

The family had left Ocean City, where they are staying at Cailey's grandfather's house, in a 28-foot-boat and was en route to the Atlantic City Reef for a dive about 7:30 a.m. when, Cailey said, "My Pop-Pop saw this huge thing jump out of the water."

"We were all amazed," said James Maxwell, Cailey's father. "My dad's been sailing and fishing out there forever and he's never seen that."...[Link]

Shipwrecks, sinkholes and more in Alpena

2010-08-23T08:16:00.001-07:00

Shipwrecks long have drawn divers and the simply curious to Alpena’s Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, where about 200 wrecks lie just offshore.

Starting this year, anyone who can paddle a kayak can have a similar experience.

Green Planet Extreme offers glass bottom kayak tours over shipwrecks, visible in as much as 18 feet of water, thanks to the clear waters. Accessible wrecks include the intact hull of the American Union, a 500-ton schooner that sank in 1894...[Link]

High-Definition Dive Computer

2010-08-21T20:27:00.000-07:00

Dive computers are an essential part of any professional diver's equipment roster. Unlike scuba diving itself, these dive computers have evolved quickly and tremendously well. The Mares Icon HD is pretty much the coolest of them all. Besides having a full-color LCD screen, this computer records up to 50 logbook dives. The Icon HD also uses a "Reduced Gradient Bubbles Model" algorithm which takes into account the possibility of microbubbles without compromising dive time. Pretty slick...[Link]

Scuba diving for Ireland

2010-08-20T20:38:00.000-07:00

‘I hardly ever go on traditional holidays. Instead I tend to go to extraordinary places to work and take overlapping holidays. I’m a big scuba diver. I learned to dive in the Galapagos when I was 38. I was a late starter but now have about 500 hours under my belt.

“To be eye to eye with a manta ray or sea lion is very primal, extraordinary and thrilling. Every diver wants to see a whale shark but the reality is that you could miss it while looking at a tiny shrimp.

“My last proper dive holiday was in Australia. I had been working on an opera in Melbourne and earned money so I could go diving. While on a ‘live-aboard’ boat I got to explore the wreck of the SS Yongala, which is located in Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The dive was incredible. There were yellow sea snakes, grouper the size of Volkswagens and giant ray feeding in the light of my torch...[Link]