X-Ray Mag #44

The Bahamas are an English speaking island nation known to most of us, but for very diverse reasons. For many living in Florida or nearby, it’s a location for a quick day or weekend break for beach or casino. For Europeans, it’s an offshore financial and investment capital. To many, it’s the location for films and TV programs that feature water and sea, such as the Pirates of The Caribbean, The Spy Who Loved Me, or even the TV series, Flipper, plus many others. For divers, we think of Blue Holes and technical dives or one of the best places to see sharks.

Every time I think of deep diving, both good and bad memories surface together in my mind. I can recall those exciting evenings over 15 years ago when my friends and I would drive from Jacksonville to Eagle’s Nest just for an evening dive. We were full of anticipation back then for the promise each dive held.

Have you always wanted to dive with sharks? Hug a dolphin? Explore shipwrecks, caves and colorful coral reefs? What if you wanted to have all of these adventures wrapped into one destination? Then, it is time to visit the Caribbean island of Grand Bahama.

Mention Africa to most divers and the Red Sea or South Africa usually springs to mind. To many travellers, let alone divers, Mozambique is not exactly high on most people’s bucket list. Less than 20 years ago, the very idea of visiting the country would have been regarded as a madman’s folly. Upon gaining independence from Portugal in 1975, a nearly two-decade long civil war wreaked havoc upon the once affluent colony, decimating its people, infrastructure and wildlife.

The 2012 Nudibranch Safari at Gulen Dive Resort was a phenomenal success. A staggering 49 species of nudibranchs and seven other ophistobranchs were identified during the weekend—on one divespot.

Expectations ran high as 16 participants from Norway, Sweden, Denmark and the Faroe Islands gathered at Gulen Dive Resort north of Bergen in Norway to look for nudibranchs the last weekend in March.

Using state-of-the-art “internal tags” with a battery life of more than ten years, scientists in Palau are breaking new ground in studying the long-term behavior of individual sharks.

Peter Verhoog and Georgina Wiersma went along to document exactly how sharks are caught, tagged, and released. And also discovered, how important divers can be in shark conservation.

Using state-of-the-art “internal tags” with a battery life of more than ten years, scientists in Palau are breaking new ground in studying the long-term behavior of individual sharks.

Peter Verhoog and Georgina Wiersma went along to document exactly how sharks are caught, tagged, and released. And also discovered, how important divers can be in shark conservation.

Shark man Wolfgang Leander has taken on legendary status in the diving world with his intimate work with sharks of all kinds. X-RAY MAG’s Arnold Weisz talks with the shark conservationist to find out the story behind the legend.