WDHOF announces 2019 Class of Women Divers
Noted alumni of this USA centric non-profit include the following accomplished and renowned female divers:
Latest
Sabine Kerkau to be inducted in WDHOF in 2019
Sabine Kerkau will be the first German female diver to be inducted in WDHOF, since it was founded almost two decades ago, in 1999.
Kerkau is a diving journalist, more specifically, a technical diving journalist. There are very few of these specialist reporters, and even fewer female techie correspondents. Kerkau is an intelligent author. She keeps the wreck or cave centre stage, and gives it maximum exposure.
Sabine Kerkau is the first German female diver to be inducted in WDHOF
KUBI S80 Twin Cylinder Transport Bag
Peter Kubicka is an ardent cave diving explorer.
Dive Like a Russian: Busted Myths & Concrete Facts
For us survivors of the Perestroika, there are still some nice things we recall from the nostalgic Soviet past—one of these being, of course, the endless Cousteau series, run and rerun so many times on black-and-white television. The skinny Frenchman, with the (supposedly) red beanie, introduced an entire generation (or two) to the mysterious underwater world, full of beauties and beasts.
University develops wireless underwater video system
The new method, developed by the researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, is more cost-effective and flexible, and it can yield better video quality by improving the bandwidth to stream real-time underwater video images.
What Does It Take to be a "Good Diver"? Part II
Technical diver in Lake Baikal, Russia. Photo by Andrey Bizyukin.
You are chatting with a diving friend and the conversation turns to mutual acquaintances. “Do you know Bob and Carol?” your friend asks. “Oh yes, good divers!” you reply. We will usually refer to someone as a good diver when they are not around. We will rarely say it to their face. And it is something that we all rather hope people say about us behind our backs.
Wolfgang Leander has died
We instantly became friends. Wolfgang was mild-mannered, pleasant and very knowledgeable. At the time his body was already quite ravaged by several bouts of cancer but not his spirit or positive outlook.
Inspirational
Wolfgang's purist b/w photography of sharks, shot on film with his trusty and battered Nikonos V, was one of the few that truly inspired me to take my own photography a tad further. There was always such a raw but at the same time elegant aesthetic over his imagery which always appealed to me, and still does to this day.
A Matter of Sentience
Images
Peter Symes
What are fish feeling?
Fish feel pain, or don’t they? Despite a growing body of sound evidence that fish do indeed feel pain and are sentient beings capable of all the types of cognition found in the “higher” mammals, with the possible sole exception of the ability to imitate, a group of critics seems to systematically seek to discredit this research. But for what reasons? Ila France Porcher takes a closer look at the stakes involved.
Wreck Diving in Lithuania
Images
Sabine Kerkau
The BSHRP team recovered a bell marked with the name SS Marsdiep 1920 from a wreck later identified as the SS Edith Bosselman, Klaipėda, Lithuania. Photo by Sabine Kerkau.
It was pure coincidence that led my expedition team and me to Lithuania for the first time in September 2016. Our goal was to dive the battleship SMS Friedrich Carl. What we did not know before this first visit was that we would discover the “El Dorado” of pristine wrecks in Lithuania, which could keep us busy for many years.
Presence of fewer sharks causes fishes’ eyes and tails to shrink
After studying 611 fishes from different sites in Rowley Shoals and Scott Reefs in northwest Australia, scientists discovered that having fewer sharks around caused the fishes in the vicinity to develop smaller eyes and tails.
Older scuba divers at risk of heart attack
Cardiac issues have become a leading factor in diving fatalities, according to a study. Hence, older scuba divers have been advised to have regular fitness assessments with their doctors and cut down on factors that can increase one's risk of suffering a heart attack when diving.
Although it is mandatory to be screened for fitness and have one's dive skills certified prior to being issued a C-Card, such certification lasts a lifetime.
San Diego: Gateway to Wreck Alley and Islas Coronados
Images
Larry Cohen & Olga Torrey
Larry Cohen on the wreck of the Ruby E, San Diego, California, USA. Photo by Olga Torrey.
San Diego’s Wreck Alley is an area with intentionally sunken ships. One of the wrecks divers can find here is the HMCS Yukon, which was a Mackenzie-class destroyer that served in the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and later the Canadian Forces. She was named after the Yukon River that runs from British Columbia through the Yukon and into Alaska.