X-Ray Mag #82
Features in this issue
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Achieving Our Teaching Objectives
Diving instruction has standards, qualifications, materials, governing bodies and best practices. So why do we see such poor examples of diving practice? Why do so many new divers struggle with the basic skills? Why do tech divers forget some key techniques? Is it poor instruction or something else?
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Analysis and Reflection as Learning Tools
In my time, I have been head coach and assistant coach to pro, semi-pro and national league rugby teams as well as the Irish women's team. I have been a sports psychologist and an advisor on performance and setting performance environments in rugby, golf, motorcycle racing, rally driving and many other professional and Olympic sports. I am now a technical diving instructor as well. Why the mini-CV?
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Australia: The Little Life on the Great Barrier Reef
ImagesBrandi MuellerThere is nothing small about the Great Barrier Reef. It is not only the largest coral reef system on Earth, but probably the most well-known. You would be hard-pressed to find divers who do not have it on their dive wish lists. It is Earth’s largest living structure and reaches over 2,300km (1,400 miles) down the coast of Queensland, Australia.
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Australia: Victoria's Secret
ImagesScott Bennett“You can dive in Melbourne?” was the baffled response from a Queensland hotel concierge upon telling her I was heading to Victoria to dive. And this was from an Australian who WAS a diver! When overseas visitors think of Australia, the Great Barrier Reef immediately comes to mind. However, Australian diving is not just about coral. Along the continent’s southern coast is an undersea world far removed from the tropics.
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Diving the B-29 Bomber
ImagesCindy ShawAfter World War II ended, the Superfortress airplanes known as the B-29 took on many new jobs. No longer needed as bombers, many of these bombers were converted into specialized aircraft, performing the tasks of in-flight refueling stations, weather research and reconnaissance.
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Giant Australian Cuttlefish
ImagesDon SilcockThe giant Australian cuttlefish (Sepia apama) is the largest cuttlefish in the world, reaching up to half a metre in total length and weighing in at around 11kg. Solitary animals, they are found all along the coastline of the southern half of Australia—from Central Queensland on the eastern coast, right around the bottom of the continent and up to Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia.
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How to Take Really Great Photos of Divers
ImagesKate JonkerBy adding divers to our underwater photos, we are able to bring about a sense of exploration, highlight a focal point and provide a sense of scale to the scene, especially in wide angle reef and shipwreck photography.
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Jay Maclean Portfolio
Ethnic Reef 2 (2012), by Jay Maclean. Acrylic on canvas, 24 x 36 inchesWith a background in marine fisheries biology, Australian artist and diver Jay Maclean, who is based in the Philippines, creates brilliant paintings of stunning underwater scenes using unique angles and artistic techniques. X-Ray Mag interviewed the artist to find out more about his artwork, insights and creative process.
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Northwest Bali: Underwater Gods & Conservation
Rarely do you come across someone who has a negative opinion about Bali. More often than not, you will find previous visitors raving about Bali as magical, some suggest it is spiritual, and others find it relaxing, or even full of adventure. It is a place I have come to love and enjoy returning too often.
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Project Baseline: Facilitating Needed Underwater Science
Project Baseline’s team conducted over 100 video transects of coral reef and benthic habitats of the Great Astrolabe Reef in Fiji, one of the largest barrier reefs in the world, to compile baseline reports in order to effectively monitor the health of the reef.
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Taking the Seabob for a Spin
Seabobs on the beachThe SEABOB is a luxury seatoy designed for “fun in the sun.” Corporate divers or technical divers are not invited to this party—unless they are vacationing, of course. No, this is a unit for scuba divers, free-divers or snorkelers, and meant to be purely recreational.
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The Incredible Australian Leafy Seadragon
Australia, the great brown land down under, is home to many iconic and often strange-looking creatures, both above and below the water. But few are as unique and visually spectacular as the leafy seadragon!
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The Swimming / Diving Disconnect
You must walk before you can run, so why do so few dive centres teach people how to swim before they learn to dive?
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The Unique Marine Life of Southern Australia
Leafy seadragon, Australia. Photo by Brent Durand.Most divers heading to Australia make a beeline straight to the Great Barrier Reef. And while this wonder of the world has some amazing dive sites and marine life (and is still very much alive, contrary to claims in the media), it does not have many species that are uniquely Australian, as most of its tropical species are common throughout the Indo-Pacific region.
