The surface of the 12-foot pool bubbles like a hot tub while instructors below signal to a group of dive students using a series of hand signals on how to inflate their vest.
Getting an underwater camera is really only half the solution. Without a proper light source the possibilities will be very limited. Having one or more strobes are essential, but how to chose the right unit?
This amazing tale begins with the selection of a group of divers who were asked to participate in a technically complex dive expedition to explore one of the deepest caves in Europe. Soon enough, we, the divers, found ourselves in a frenzy of activity and planning. There were so many preparations to make and things to consider—equipment for deep water photography, CNS and OUT values, which gas blends to use, how to put together a support team, management of the group and the quantity and size of the biggest cylinders and what not. But one can only plan for so much, then fate, as it would turn out, ended up giving us a surprising adventure for which no technical dive planning could have prepared us.
Just their name, their size, and their menacing looks can evoke feelings of terror, fear and instinctive rejection. However, if you have the privilege to be able to dive with big tiger sharks, as I have, you might fall in love with them, at least you will bond with them in a mysterious way. They are certainly not as “cute” as marine mammals or anthropomorphized clown fish, but they will have an impact on you that could change your perception of sharks, and marine life, forever.
Just their name, their size, and their menacing looks can evoke feelings of terror, fear and instinctive rejection. However, if you have the privilege to be able to dive with big tiger sharks, as I have, you might fall in love with them, at least you will bond with them in a mysterious way. They are certainly not as “cute” as marine mammals or anthropomorphized clown fish, but they will have an impact on you that could change your perception of sharks, and marine life, forever.
The boat’s four occupants were spear fishing for Yellowtail. As Mark began to ask the skipper questions, one of the spear fisherman suddenly appeared to be walking on the water shouting “White, White! Get me out of the water now!”
Mark nonchalantly looked at us and said, “Well, we have found them boys. Let’s go diving!!”
Not all artificial reefs are shipwrecks or scuttled vessels, tanks or planes. Now divers can enjoy artificial reefs growing on original sculptures mounted underwater. Jason Taylor, a sculptor from England, recently finished a photo-documentation of his underwater sculpture project in Grenada. X-RAY MAG caught up with Taylor to find out how and why he did it.
Not all artificial reefs are shipwrecks or scuttled vessels, tanks or planes. Now divers can enjoy artificial reefs growing on original sculptures mounted underwater. Jason Taylor, a sculptor from England, recently finished a photo-documentation of his underwater sculpture project in Grenada. X-RAY MAG caught up with Taylor to find out how and why he did it.
If you ask a group of people what is a manta, nine out of ten will think of stingrays or those large things that swim in the rivers of Florida. Even through the manta ray is the largest winged creature on the planet and has a wingspan wider than a condor, few people even know they exist. The width of a manta ray can exceed 22 feet. They are part of the shark family but hold no danger to humans as they eat only tiny zooplankton. They are found throughout tropical and subtropical regions of the world. In the Pacific Ocean, they have been documented as far south as New Zealand and as far north as Hawaii.
Nitrogen narcosis, or “rapture of the deep,” is one of those things that some divers like to joke about but really is no laughing matter. (Pun intended) While a recreational diver is far more likely to experience nitrogen narcosis than decompression illness, we know much less about the exact physiological mechanism of nitrogen narcosis than that of DCI. Unfortunately, both can result in a diver fatality, the first from being bubbly drunk and foolish and the second from being bubbled up.
Nitrogen narcosis, or “rapture of the deep,” is one of those things that some divers like to joke about but really is no laughing matter. (Pun intended) While a recreational diver is far more likely to experience nitrogen narcosis than decompression illness, we know much less about the exact physiological mechanism of nitrogen narcosis than that of DCI. Unfortunately, both can result in a diver fatality, the first from being bubbly drunk and foolish and the second from being bubbled up.
Aquatic animals, like their land-based relatives, can communicate in a number of ways. For example, in one form of communication, organisms can emit and detect certain organic molecules which can function as the pheromones of land based creatures. This is a sexual communication.
Discussions about diving are very often boring—always the same stories about numerous sharks dangerously close, strong current ripping a mask off or friendly dolphins playing during a deco stop. We heard them so many times.
So, if you want to have some fun, simply say that you dive on your own with a rebreather and wait for the reactions. You’ll hear some nasty comments about you being an accident waiting to happen, and some people will clearly show you their option about your mental health.
Located 386km (250 miles) southwest of the tip of Baja California and over 720km (446 miles) west of Manzanillo, the Revillagigedos are one of three Mexican island groups in the Pacific Ocean. All four islands that make up the Revillagigedos Archipelago are remote, volcanic in origin and offer some of the most unpredictable, wild diving in the world.
