X-Ray Mag #91
Features in this issue
-
Bjurälven: The Underground River
Diver in Bjurälven cave system in Jämtland, Sweden. Photo by Micke Tilja.The waters of Bjurälven flows from Norway’s mountains and into the Swedish province of Jämtland where the river meanders its way past the peaks and through the valley of Bjurälv where it is engulfed by the earth and disappears underground. In a thunderous roar, the great mass of water is swallowed by what is known as the Bjurälven Grotto, only to reappear more than one and a half kilometres away.
-
Choosing a BCD: Solutions for the Slight
ImagesSimon Pridmore
A boy in a harness-and-wing system, which is adjustable, so it fits him perfectly. The system allows the head to be held higher on the surface of the water than a conventional jacket-style BCD does. It is easier to control and does not squeeze the diver’s ribcage and inhibit breathing when the air cell is fully inflated. Photo by Simon Pridmore.In 2014, off the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand, a diver on a discover scuba experience died when she became separated from her group and ran out of air. She was discovered on the surface, floating face down. The inquest found that the dive operation involved was to blame because they had failed to supervise her properly.
-
Diving with Great White Sharks of Guadalupe Island
ImagesScott Bennett
Great white shark, Guadalupe Island, Mexico.“You’re crazy; I don’t get in the water with bitey things!” The announcement of my impending great white shark trip drew a variety of such responses from horrified friends. The undisputed bad boys of the shark world, great whites are the largest of all predatory sharks, reaching lengths of up to 6m and weighing in at over 2,000kg.
-
Fibonacci Numbers in Underwater Photography
ImagesRico BesserdichWhat makes an image a really good one is certainly a question, that, at some point, troubles the mind of every image maker. Is it about the subject, or is it about that specific moment captured? Is it about color, or about techniques used?
-
From the Tip of an Iceberg to My Tap Water: Diving the Arctic Underworld and the St Lawrence River
Lasselin descends down the wall of a giant iceberg in Arctic waters. Photo courtesy of Nathalie Lasselin.Award-winning underwater cinematographer and documentary producer Nathalie Lasselin reflects upon her dive expeditions in the Arctic and her epic project to raise awareness about the state of fresh water in the St Lawrence River, closer to home in Montreal.
-
Masayo Fukuda Portfolio
Artist Masayo Fukuda of Tokyo is a master of kirie, the Japanese art of paper cutting. Her beautiful, delicate creations and intricate designs of marine life, cut by hand from a single sheet of paper, have been exhibited in Tokyo, Osaka and Paris, and featured in print, television and social media. <i>X-Ray Mag</i> interviewed the artist to learn more about her artwork and her creative process.
-
Maya Cenotes: Light, Shapes & Reflections
ImagesAndrey Gorodissky
In Light Curtain, vast caverns are filled with strange formations in crystal clear waters. Photo by Andrey Gorodissky.A huge ramified system of freshwater-filled sinkholes in the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico comprise what is known as the Maya Cenotes. The ancient Maya people sometimes used them for sacred offerings and sacrifices.
-
Review of the OrcaTorch D570
ImagesKate Jonker
The OrcaTorch D570 can also be used as a spot beam for underwater photography. Photo by Kate Jonker.How many times, whilst diving, have you seen the most exciting, unusual or incredible critter and wanted to show it to your buddies? You have finally managed to grab their attention and pointed at the critter, only for them to look in the direction of your pointed finger and then stare blankly back at you.
-
Risk and Uncertainty
Novel situations increase the likelihood of error clearing nets isn't a simple task. Photo by Gareth Lock.Why numbers don’t mean much when it comes to your behaviours!
-
Scapa Flow: Centenary of the Scuttle of the Imperial German High Seas Fleet
ImagesRod Macdonald and Bob Anderson
Fractured turbine blades, Scapa Flow. Photo © Bob Anderson.One hundred years ago this year, on 21 June 1919, 74 warships of the Imperial German Navy High Seas Fleet were scuttled en masse at Scapa Flow, the deep natural harbour set in the Orkney Islands of northern Scotland that was the WWI base for the Royal Navy Grand Fleet. The scuttle was the greatest single act of maritime suicide the world has ever seen.
-
Sharks: Still Misunderstood
Blacktip ReefsharkThe first time I met a shark, I was struck by silence. Having observed the wildlife of the Canadian mountains all my life, my knowledge of sharks was limited to the information gained from watching the movie <i>Jaws</i> many years before. All that remained from that brief education was that they bit and badly. Very badly. Essentially, if you met one, you died.
-
Shipworm: The Scourge of Wooden Wrecks is Really a Mussel
A specimen of shipworm (USGS / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain)Have you ever wondered why some bodies of water, such as the Baltic, have so many wooden wrecks in great condition while other areas have almost no wooden wrecks at all? It has something to do with salinity; however, it is not the salt in seawater that consumes the wrecks but a mussel, which somewhat confusingly is called a worm—and it only lives in saltwater.
-
Timor-Leste: Off the Beaten Path
ImagesBrandi Mueller
Midnight snapper and sea fan on reef, Timor-LesteAdmittedly, I knew almost nothing about Timor-Leste until I started seeing a lot of great images of the diving there on Instagram. I became curious and started following a local dive operator’s Instagram feed, watching them post daily photos of cuttlefish, nudibranchs, peacock mantis shrimp and beautiful reefscapes. Where was this place and how did I not know about it?
