X-Ray Mag #71

Don Silcock || Manta Ray in Papua New Guinea.
94 spreads (double pages)
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Feature articles in this issue with stand-alone pdfs

After losing his girlfriend and a friend in a dive accident, Stephen Martin was first commended for his handling of the situation but later found himself accused of involuntary manslaugher by the Maltese authorities who issued an international warrant for his arrest. The case was eventually dropped after the dive community kicked up a storm, politicians intervened and BSAC came to his aid.

Two perfectly serviceable Boeing 747s crashed into each other on the runway killing 583 people in 1977. In another incident, the pilots shut down the wrong engine, and 47 people were killed when the aircraft crashed... But what has that got to do with diving?

Lawson Wood   Lawson Wood

If you are in Europe and like the idea of a short flight to Southern France and diving on the same day you arrive in the Mediterranean, then perhaps you may want to try the seaside resort town of Golfe-Juan—just a short ride west from Nice. Average journey time to Nice for flights from all over Europe is only two hours. My wife, Lesley, and I chose to fly EasyJet from Edinburgh.

Returning from the pristine reefs of Tobago, I flew over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. Aghast, I set out on a journey that would help me illuminate waters of the United States to help people better understand their national treasure. I became the first woman to dive all 50 states at the end of last year.

Edited by Gunild Symes   Harriet Mead
Mole Grip Lobster, by Harriet Mead. Welded collage of found metal objects, 55cm long

British artist Harriet Mead sculpts marine life out of found objects, capturing not only their curious forms but also a nearly lifelike vitality pulled out of recycled metal parts we might recognize as common household objects we use in daily life or find in the tool shed out in the backyard. <i>X-RAY MAG</i> interviewed the artist to learn more about her work, insightful perspectives and creative process.

Konstantinos Alexiou   Konstantinos Alexiou , Falck Safety Services

Falck Safety Services has been providing high quality safety and emergency preparedness courses and consultancy services to the offshore, military and aviation industries worldwide for more than 30 years. It is a division of Falck—a Nordic-based organization, which provides emergency assistance in case of accident and disease. Falck Safety Services offers a variety of offshore courses all accredited by OPITO [7]. The training center is located in Denmark and based in Esbjerg, on the western coast of the Jutland Peninsula.

One of the things I value the most about planning specialized wreck diving trips around the world is not only getting an opportunity to dive these sites, but also getting totally immersed in the history and circumstances that put these steel hulks at the bottom of the ocean. The more I read and learn about the bravery and heroism of the people who died in fierce battle during these conflicts, the more I am humbled by diving these graveyards of the deep.

It is 7:30 in the morning and I’m on my personal veranda on a small hill looking out over green trees and beyond them to blue water and a bright orange sun emerging from it. My feet are up on the rail and there’s a cup of coffee in my hand. I snap a photo for Instagram—#itdoesntgetany­­better­than­this. And the day’s diving hasn’t even started yet.

From a distance, there is little to distinguish the small island of Gonu Bara Bara from the myriad of others in this part of southern Milne Bay Province; and few would guess that just off its northern beach is the best place in the whole of Papua New Guinea to see the magnificent reef manta ray—Manta alfredi.

From a distance, there is little to distinguish the small island of Gonu Bara Bara from the myriad of others in this part of southern Milne Bay Province; and few would guess that just off its northern beach is the best place in the whole of Papua New Guinea to see the magnificent reef manta ray—Manta alfredi.

Tony Myashlyaev   Tony Myashlyaev

Light is the most important thing for all photographers. It is easy to get excited about a critter and start firing away without much consideration for lighting. However, it is the little extra things that you juggle beyond pointing your camera and clicking the shutter that makes your style unique.

Jack Laverick   Ally McDowell , Brian J. Sullivan

The pressure builds, causing ears to pop as they equalise. The temperature drops and the light starts to fade. However, bubbles are not an issue for the researchers from the University of Oxford, as they descend in the waters off the Honduran island of Utila. Researching efficiently in the twilight zone requires rebreathers, and the summer of 2015 saw the first-ever expedition led by doctoral students using this technology.

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