From our regular columnists

British Columbia - Critter connection

December 18, 2012 - 19:43
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The story is found: 
on page 86

British Columbia (BC), Canada is known for having some of the most colourful temperate water diving in the world. This holds true for excellent critter sightings as well, found throughout the varied coastal regions.

To get a better understanding of what BC has to offer, let’s take a closer look at each region. Keep in mind however; most of the underwater life you will encounter can also be found at multiple locations.

Destination reports

But I want one... Switching to rebreathers after diving open circuit scuba

November 07, 2012 - 19:14
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The story is found: 
on page 73

Many of the pieces of equipment used by technical divers look different to the equipment used by recreational divers. However, for most of the time, the basic principles are the same.

A rebreather is simply a way to reuse the gas breathed out by the diver in conjunction with a method of removing the carbon dioxide produced by the diver. The main advantage of a rebreather is that it is much more efficient on gas usage.

Rebreathers

Timor-Leste’s Tasi Tolu

October 20, 2012 - 13:37
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The story is found: 
on page 49

There can’t be many dive sites that owe their existence to the direct intervention of the country’s president, but Tasi Tolu, on the outskirts of Timor Leste’s capital Dili, can claim that unique patronage.

Tasi Tolu gets its name from the three fresh water lakes just inland from the beach and below the nearby foothills. During the rainy season, the lakes tend to fill to capacity and then overflow, flooding the nearby road and villages.

Destination reports

Exley on Mix

September 12, 2012 - 11:01
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I first spoke with Sheck Exley in the summer of 1991. I had begun publishing aquaCORPS: The Journal for Technical Diving, a year earlier and I was working out of the office at Capt. Billy Dean’s dive shop in Key West, Florida, the first technical diving training center in the United States. “Technical diving”, a term we had just coined to describe this new style of diving, was just in its infancy.

Billy was out running errands and Chris, the store manager, called out for me pick-up the phone in the office: someone was interested in our deep diving program.

aquaCORPS Magazine
Profiles & Interviews

Safety Culture - diving in the zone

September 11, 2012 - 22:23
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“Thank [beep] for that! How lucky were we? We better not do that again. Don’t tell anyone though, we don’t want to look like amateurs...”

 
The problem with not letting people know what happened is two-fold. Firstly, others can’t learn from your mistakes; and secondly, the ‘authorities’ don’t obtain the evidence to show that there is a problem with whatever it was that went wrong.
 

Training
Safety culture

Improving Rebreather Safety

July 18, 2012 - 23:38
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The story is found: 
on page 46

How can rebreather diving be made safer? That was the question at the core of the numerous presentations and discussions at Rebreather Forum 3 (RF3) held in Orlando, Florida, this May.

The last forum, Rebreather Forum 2.0, which I organized with rebreather builder Tracy Robinette, was held 16 years earlier in 1996, at a time when rebreathers were just being introduced to the sport diving market.

Conferences and events
aquaCORPS Magazine
Rebreathers

Papua New Guinea: Walindi & Loloata

June 04, 2012 - 23:39
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The story is found: 
on page 28

Papua New Guinea. A name evocative of the exotic, this island nation is one of superlatives. Lying south of the equator some 450 miles north of Australia, it shares the world’s second largest island with the Indonesian province of West Papua.

The allure of this island nation has always beckoned, and as I was going to be in North Queensland, the opportunity was too good to pass up.

Destination reports

The Insidious Threat of Hypoxic Blackout in Rebreather Diving

April 22, 2012 - 16:42
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The story is found: 
on page 79

Why rebreather divers, even more so than open circuit divers, need to be in control and focused when they ascend.

Not only free divers

One of these concerns is a widely misunderstood phenomenon most frequently referred to as shallow water or hypoxic blackout, something that hitherto has typically been a problem encountered mainly by free divers.
 

Opinions & comments

Red Sea Safari: Journey from Cairo to El Quseir

April 19, 2012 - 20:23
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The story is found: 
on page 26

In spite of Egypt’s current turmoil, I feel this exceptional country is still a place of interest and worth while including in anyone’s holiday itinerary. I recall enjoying the opportunity to tour many of the countries monuments, museums and being able to touch one of the huge pyramids that have surpassed the adversity of historical challenges.

When I found out I would be traveling to Egypt for three weeks in June, I immediately began making regular visits to a local sauna to prepare my body to withstand the heat for which northern Africa is famous.

Destination reports

Land of the Sleeping Crocodile - Timor Leste

April 19, 2012 - 17:17
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The story is found: 
on page 67

The juvenile salt-water crocodile was near to death when the small boy found it stranded in a swamp far from the sea. Although greatly afraid, the boy decided to try and save the crocodile and eventually managed to get it back to the sea where it quickly recovered.

The tale of the boy and his cold-blooded friend is told often in Timor to explain the island’s crocodile-like shape and why the Timorese have a special affinity with the large reptile that is said to inhabit the creeks and pools along much of the south coast of the country.

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