Op'eds and commentaries

As the international diving community has recently come to witness, a scandal surrounding Ahmed Gabr’s world record for deepest scuba dive has surfaced. Was it faked? Some accusers, who have opted to remain anonymous for reasons I shall not comment on at this point, have alleged that his record dive was faked, and to that end, have presented to the public a quite comprehensive compilation of evidence in support of their case. The documentation was compelling, but the jury is still out.

Last week, our good colleague Stephan Wheelan wrote an excellent recap "The Day the Diving Stood Still" - Is the diving industry facing an existential threat from coronavirus?"  on his website, DeeperBlue. It is close to what I had originally intended to post here today, but Stephan beat me to it. Instead, let me expand a bit upon the matter.

Local diving recommencing

Local diving seems to be recommencing in some countries, depending on what local regulations permit. Supervised or guided dives at various local spots are now on the calendar again and off to at least a modest start. One Italian operator explained how he hands out masks for clients to wear aboard his dive boat and everyone is supposed to sit at least one metre apart.

Who would have thought that the day would come when I would publicly state that there are more important things in life than diving. After all, the aquatic environment has been my passion and calling for as long as I can remember. I was that toddler on the beach collecting starfish and small crabs in my red bucket, the public swimming pool was my preferred playground after school, and I specialised in aquatic ecology for my master's degree, not to mention taking up diving early on and becoming an underwater photographer.

The international dive community was shocked and grief-stricken when the news broke of the devastating fire that consumed the award-winning California-based liveaboard Conception and the 34 people who perished, including divers and crew members. The accident struck close to home, as many of us have taken dive trips on liveaboards at some point. Some among us had even been on that particular vessel.