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Many people suffer from ear problems during and after diving. Technical rebreather diver and underwater photographer Dr Michael Rothschild is an ear, nose and throat specialist in New York City. In this series, he walks us through some of the common causes of dive-related ear problems, and how to treat and prevent them.

In underwater photography, "scale" can mean a couple of things: how big or small a thing is or the myriad of tiny plates on the skin of a fish. We asked our contributors what their favorite underwater photos were that showed scale. And playing on the pun, they came back with a creative mix of macro, wide-angle and close-up abstract images.

There is no doubt that Yucatán in Mexico is a fascinating region. Not only for its culture, its unique nature and wildlife or the archaeological sites of the ancient Maya, but for the simple fact that it is a cave diver’s paradise. Pierre Constant has the story.

Many divers, and especially macro underwater photographers, adore the lovely, colorful, and photogenic sea slugs found in the deep. We often call them nudibranchs, the “butterflies of the sea.” But not all sea slugs are nudibranchs. Have you ever heard of the sacoglossan? Underwater photographer Wesley Oosthuizen takes a closer look at a special sacoglossan species—the butterfly sap-sucking slug.

Near the urban city of Kaohsiung in Taiwan is the tiny picturesque coral island of Xiaoliuqiu—a section of uplifted ancient limestone reef. It is the only place in Taiwan where one can dive in warm water all year round. Simon Pridmore has the story.

An enchanting and ecologically unique place, immortalized by Charles Darwin’s seminal work on evolutionary biology in 1859, the Galápagos Islands hold a revered spot as one of the truly magical locations of the world. During pandemic times, when stillness and quiet replaced the cacophony of tourists, it seemed even more captivating. Brandi Mueller reports.

Once considered an extreme activity reserved only for a fringe set of explorers and adventurers, technical diving has grown in popularity since the ‘90s and has become mainstream. However, technical diving is not for everyone. Aside from an advanced skill set, it also requires a certain mindset. How do you know if you have got it? Simon Pridmore offers insights into what makes a good technical diver.

It certainly looks “prehistoric”—whatever that means. Cigar-shaped, blunt-snouted, with that slightly “sock-puppet-looking” smirk, the overall look of this big beastie is very much that of an ancestral shark, like some of the deep-water dogfishes, the sleeper sharks and others. Indeed, fossil remains similar to modern sevengills and sixgills are known from the Jurassic and perhaps much earlier.

“Treat customers the way you want to be treated” is a tenet of client relations for which many businesses strive but, sadly, not all achieve. This concept of customer service was the primary building block with which Mark Derrick developed Dive Gear Express (DGX) since its infancy in 2002. In light of the five-star independent Google reviews from 97 percent of DGX patrons, I would say they are on the right track.

Say you are in some far-flung location where it will take quite some time to get to any recompression chamber. What do you do if you get decompression sickness? Get back in the water and recompress?