X-Ray Mag #104

This is the incredible story of the French trawler that was turned into the German submarine fighter UJ-2208 during WWII and sunk by a British submarine off the coast of Genoa in 1944. Nowadays, the UJ-2208 lies on the seabed at a depth of 108m, covered in Mediterranean mud, fishing nets, shrimp and oysters. A must-see wreck in Italy, it encapsulates a piece of history and presents a stunning adventure to experience on a deep technical dive.

Fakarava is an atoll in the Tuamotu archipelago located about 440km northeast of Tahiti in French Polynesia. Pierre Constant takes us on a journey to the pristine lagoons of Tuamotu and describes what awaits adventurous divers in its underwater realm.

Bruce Partridge is the founder of Shearwater Research, which makes high-quality dive computers, trimix computers and electronic control systems for rebreathers, with simple and intuitive user interfaces and a reputation for being reliable, user-friendly and easy to read underwater. In an interview with X-Ray Mag, we learn from Partridge how it all came about, what drives and inspires him, and his unique perspectives and insights on innovation and the dive industry.

American artist Kristin Moger, who is based in Pennsylvania, creates beautiful, precise and intricately patterned black-and-white drawings of marine life, bringing to life the animals’ dynamic and sublime personalities on paper. X-Ray Mag interviewed the artist to learn more about her creative process and perspectives on art, nature and conservation.

We asked our contributors what their favorite underwater photography technique was and they sent us images and insights into a range of intriguing techniques from close-up wide-angle to use of reflective cylinders and Snell's window to circular fisheye and snoots to using sunballs and sunrays for backlighting as well as how to create black backgrounds. X-Ray Mag contributors share their favorite techniques and details on how to use them to achieve compelling images.

The final stage of creating an image is printing it. Despite the fact that we are living in an increasingly screen-oriented world, a printed image still proves the old saying, “If it’s not printed, it does not exist.” This is 100 percent right. As a matter of fact, only a good print can reveal the full magic and spirit of your image. This is what you, and your images, deserve, and this is what we are going to discuss now.

Everybody knows the legendary wrecks of the Egyptian Red Sea from the Thistlegorm to the Salem Express. But there are stories of rarely dived remains of ships that rest in the shallow waters up north in the Gulf of Suez.

In part one of this series, which appeared in issue #103, I suggested a few commandments to consider in order to ensure, as far as possible, that your technical dives are safe and successful. These were: First commandment: Prepare paperwork; Second commandment: Nominate a supervisor; Third commandment: Deploy safety divers. In this sequel, I deliver a few more tablets of stone.

I first discovered freshwater eels in an estuary pool by the sea in Tahiti. There were usually about eight of the thick-bodied creatures, each over two metres long with triangular fins at their gills and vertically flattened tails. They would emerge from the shadows to swim languidly into the sunlight, undulating against the boulders, and turning on their backs to wriggle against the stones, as if this pool, these rocks and this morning’s rising sun were all that they needed to be happy. But the ones I found on the mountainside were smaller, and very secretive.

Ladoga is a magical lake—a location and natural monument that fascinates many tourists. In Europe, it is the second largest lake after the Caspian Sea. Sergey Kulikov takes us on a journey to this body of fresh water, located in northeastern Russia, just outside of Saint Petersburg, and reports on an expedition to some of the wrecks that can be found here.