Tabla de contenidos para Issue 5 - 2016 en Scuba Diver/Asian Diver

DUGONG BASICS 1 Dugongs (Dugong dugon) is the only remaining species of the family Dugongidae 2 They are usually found in shallow waters and bays 3 Dugongs feed exclusively on seagrass, which is where they get the name “sea cows”. One dugong can eat up to 40kg of seagrass a day 4 Dugongs can grow up to 3m in length and weigh up to 500kg 5 They are nomadic and can travel hundreds of kilometres in a few days 6 Dugongs can live for up to 70 years 7 The largest population of dugongs is in Australia 8 Large populations of dugongs also persist in the Gulf of Arabia and the Red Sea 9 Seagrasses are not only essential food for dugongs, but are also an important store of atmospheric…

“I thought for a moment, ‘Maybe this isn’t the best idea, are we about to be lunch?’” On a bright, sunny morning in the Solomon Islands, while wishing Maurine Shimlock a very happy birthday, our cetacean-filled day started off with a pod of pilot whales hanging around the liveaboard, tail-flapping and spy-hopping, putting on quite a show for us. We were unable to get in the water with the pilot whales but their behaviour was nonetheless exciting to witness from the ship. We were all convinced that this was the highlight of the day. How wrong we were. A little while later, after our first dive, we were all hanging out talking about our next dive and eating fresh-baked cookies (a daily treat and certainty the reason we all put…

You must have heard stories about diving in Manado, Indonesia, and if so, you will certainly have been inspired to dive there after seeing pictures of its exotic inhabitants and beautiful coral covered walls. Yes – it’s a beautiful place. However, I recently had the opportunity to discover some of Sulawesi’s secret spots, dive sites that are off the beaten track. These are plentiful, and a lot of fun to explore. The local dive community keeps many of them closely guarded secrets, only whispering about these spots to a lucky few. Others take years to locate and some well-known dive sites are seriously underrated. All in all, it can be said with confidence that there are new wonders and untold stories to be discovered in Sulawesi. “It can be said…

THE DIVER’S EXPERIENCE 550+ dives over a 30-year period THE DIVER An Australian living in India THE TRIP A 6-day diving holiday in the Maldives THE DIVES • Five dives completed within 36-hours • All divers were between 22 and 31 metres • All dives were on air and approximately 60 minutes in duration • On all dives the computer was set to default settings with no added conservatism, despite multiple days of planned diving at depths between 20 and 30 metres DIVE PROFILES Day 1 DIVE 1 30.6m, 55mins Surface Interval (SI) 1hr 56mins DIVE 2 30.6m, 56mins Surface Interval (SI) 5h 18mins DIVE 3 22m, 64mins Day 2 After a surface interval of just under 13 hours DIVE 1 31.3m, 60mins Surface Interval (SI) 1h 58mins DIVE 2…

Every California diver I know has a recent story about when they first noticed things were changing at our local dive sites. Some recall their local kelp bed looking thin, while others mention the presence of yellowfin tuna on every shore dive, the range extension of a Mexican nudibranch or the appearance of a skinny baby sea lion on the swim step of their dive boat. For me it was when a three-metre-long smooth hammerhead shark curiously bumped my camera rig. It was August 2014, and it was no secret that the surface waters were a few degrees warmer than normal. On that day the swell and wind were formidable, but we were determined to get offshore. We hoped to get a good look at the hammerhead sharks – typically…

SS PRESIDENT COOLIDGE, ESPIRITU SANTO   For: One of the most famous wrecks in the world, chock-full of features like tanks, guns, trucks, and even a barber’s chair. Inhabited by a profusion of sealife, this wreck is a must-dive for any rust head Conditions: Can be suitable for all levels if divers stick to the limits of their training and experience. Wreck drops from 20 to 70 metres. Do not penetrate the wreck or make decompression dives unless certified to do so and properly prepared When: Year round diving, dry season with best visibility is April to October CINDY’S REEF, ESPIRITU SANTU   For: A beautiful, gentle drift over a bed of colour – healthy staghorn and encrusting corals, reef fish and sometimes sharks and turtles! Conditions: Some current, decent…

A MAMMOTH MARINE PARK IN MALAYSIA After more than 13 years of negotiations, Malaysia has officially declared its largest marine park. The Tun Mustapha Park, off Borneo’s Sabah’s province, will protect diverse ecosystems of coral reefs, mangroves and seagrass meadows, covering an area of one million hectares with over 50 islands and islets falling within its bounds. The area is home to 80,000 people, most of whom rely on the ocean for their livelihoods. As a result, the park will allow fishing in designated areas, promoting sustainable use and management of marine resources. MARES ENTERS THE WORLD OF REBREATHER DIVING As of July 1st 2016 Mares has acquired 100% of REVO BVBA Belgium, one of the world’s leading Closed Circuit Rebreather (CCR) manufacturers. After the successful introduction of “Extended Range,”…

“Vanuatu might be one of the places that gives them a better chance of survival. But we don’t know how many are here.” AROUND THE INDO-PACIFIC, as part of an international effort called the Dugong and Seagrass Conservation Project, people and organisations are being mobilised to help protect dugongs and their habitats. SDAA talked to Christina Shaw of the Vanuatu Environmental Science Society (VESS), one of the smallest of these initiatives, about what it means to be working on the front line of the fight to protect these wonderful creatures. 1 Why is it important to better understand and protect dugongs and their habitats? And why is it important in Vanuatu specifically? Dugongs are iconic marine mammals and we have a duty to ensure they do not become extrinct.…

“The concept of donning clanging, dangling breathing gear and stepping into water once boiling and screaming with loss was utterly daunting.” For over 25 years I had immersed myself in a myriad beautiful underwater settings around the world. For all that time, many people had tried to convince me that a shipwreck was just another rich and fascinating marine habitat. Full of life, not death. However, in my mind’s eye a wreck was dark and cold and in the wrong place, lonely and lost on the seabed. Crafted with sweat and toil in a distant shipyard, filled with noise and life, now she lay beneath, crumpled and silent – forever. Whatever caused her demise, the moment of impact with reef or sudden boom of bomb was usually catastrophic. It is…

Often referred to as “slugs” due to their evolutionary path, the grand designs of nudibranchs are as fascinating and varied as there are slugs themselves. There are over 3,000 species and each one of them seems to have evolved in a special way to speciate and proliferate in each of the different and challenging habitats in which they are found. Cold water to warm water, benthic or pelagic and at every depth, they occur globally and have even been found in brackish rivers. Just as interesting and as detailed as the slugs themselves is the community that they have ensnared along the way. The common thread in the community of “Nudiphiles” seems to be the data list that each and every self-respecting “brancher” develops. This data list becomes a central…

DURING OUR BASIC dive training we are taught that if a dive doesn’t feel right we should abort it. The reality is, despite these lessons, many people find themselves on dives for which they lack the confidence or experience to be undertaking. This places unnecessary stress on the diver, both physically and mentally, and this can lead to unnecessary incidents involving injury or even death. Every diver should know their limits – should know what dives they should be doing and the ones they should avoid. However, this knowledge is only half the equation; the remainder is the confidence to say no to a dive, even if you have arrived at the site, have suited up, or even after you’ve started the dive. No diver should ever feel pressure to…

“Perhaps the most significant concern involves psychology and cognitive ability. Children often lack the mental maturity to understand and manage invisible risks” When recreational diving equipment became commercially available in the 1950s, scuba was established as an exciting activity for courageous adepts all over the world. As equipment and confidence in technique evolved, diving became available to more people, including children. Children and diving, however, is not without controversy. Concerns range from kids not having sufficient body size and strength to aid a fellow diver to the risk of inhibited bone growth and other medical concerns. Children are not small adults. They are still growing, with different organs and systems developing at various speeds. They are maturing and evolving both physically and psychologically. Children are predisposed to ear infections as…

Ah yes, a question that people (especially singletons!) have been positing for eons. Well, good news for those looking for love: Recently, it has been discovered that the mass of the fish in the ocean could be as much as 10 times more than we previously thought! In 2009, researchers estimated that there were somewhere between 0.8 and 2 billion tons of biomass (a measure of the total number of living organisms) in the oceans. But in 2014 a study was published in the journal Nature Communications that, quite literally, blew this figure out of the water. Incredibly, it looks as if most fish, around 95 percent of all fish, in fact, live in the “mesopelagic” zone – between 200 and 1,000 metres deep. This startling revelation meant that estimates…

STRAIGHT OUT OF THE PAGES of Moby-Dick, Migaloo, the all-white humpback whale, swam into public consciousness when he was first spotted in 1991 off the coast of Australia. He is quite possibly the most famous wild whale in the world, embodying the spirit of freedom and the extraordinary and unexpected beauty of Nature as no other wild creature has done before. MIGALOO’S name was bestowed upon him by the elders of an Aboriginal tribe in the Hervey Bay region; it means “white fella” in their language. Albino creatures have a special significance in many cultures around the world, revered as spirit animals. UNTIL RECENTLY, Migaloo was thought to be unique – the only albino humpback in existence. However, in September of 2011, another white whale calf was spotted and christened…

POSTED BY: OLIVER JARVIS, July 25, 2016 Topics: Travel Tuesday We’re happiest when we’re learning – it’s true. As a relatively novice diver still messing with buoyancy, I’m falling in love more and more with this easter-egg hunt that is scuba diving; where each dive site teaches you something new, and your logbook filling with the most amazing marine creatures you’ve spotted becomes your most talked-about topic on the end-of-day boat ride. During a trip that would push my own dive boundaries by a seemingly nautical mile – one where I would have to fight off a titan triggerfish, and go deeper than I have ever been before – diving really grabbed me by the straps of my BCD, rattled me a little, and showed me how truly incredible our…

Have your thermal undies on stand-by and get ready to trip out into the cold. Walruses need ice to bask on, and, as a result can only be found around the North Pole in the Arctic and the subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. Be aware, diving with these beasts is considered to be risky and many operators have strict rules about when, where and how it’s allowed. You can still get out and see them from the safety of a zodiac, though, or on foot where they have hauled themsleves out of the water... WHERE TO SEE THEM? • Cape Seniavin, Alaska, USA • Round Island, Alaska USA • Cape Pierce, Alaska, USA • Davis Strait, North Altantic • Baffin Bay, North Atlantic • Qaanaaq, Qaasuitsup, Greenland • Sisimiut,…

BLESSED WITH TURQUOISE crystalline waters and lush, vegetation-filled landscapes, Fiji is without doubt a paradise on Earth, especially for divers! It has great underwater diversity, from sharks and large pelagics to walls full of soft corals and macro diving. Many divers assert that it the best diving they have ever experienced. Colours and critters Rich waters, full of nutrients brought by the strong currents, make Fiji‘s reefs the “Soft Coral Capital of the World”. There are more than 4,000 square kilometres of coral reefs that are home to more than 400 species of colorful soft and hard corals. And these reefs are ever changing as, depending on the current, the soft coral changes colour. At the same time, Fiji coral reefs are home to one of the most varied fish…

Slipping beneath the surface of the ocean is to enter another world without leaving this one. Some dive sites, however, are so breath-takingly otherworldly, with topography so strange and wonderful that they really can make us feel as if we have drifted into a fairy tale. Here is just a small selection of these kinds of whimsical underwater wonderlands in Asia and the Pacific. 1 PALAU TINY MARINE LAKE There are over 50 marine lakes of different shapes, sizes, and depths scattered throughout the Rock Islands of Palau. Each one is an exceptional petri dish of marine life. Jellyfish Lake is of course the most famous but many others enclose amazing aesthetics and out-of-the-ordinary marine communities. The problem is finding the lakes, many of which are completely enclosed by rugged…

“I could feel and hear a gurgling sound with every breath. Getting out of the water was difficult, breathing was difficult, I was tired and struggled to walk” MY INCIDENT I was undertaking a long cavern dive with my new and never-been-dived-before rebreather with newly designed and never-before-used back counter lungs. During the dive I experienced cramps, so cut short what was going to be a two-kilometre expedition. Assuming I was dehydrated, I took a double dose of a rehydration product (thinking I was doing the right thing), which stopped the cramps. I was on my fourth day and fourth dive. The plan was to complete a three-hour dive in the cavern system with the rebreather. I did all the usual pre-dive checks, including a pre-dive pre-breathing with the unit…

White Wedding The inspiration for this image came from wedding photography. The initial photo was intentionally overexposed on the margins to create the white base to work from. In post-production the background was totally desaturated, contrast reduced and a soft glow added. The filefish was softened up by digital airbrushing. WHERE Anilao, Philippines WHEN June 2015 EQUIPMENT Olympus EPL 3, Nauticam housing, 60mm lens, Sea and Sea YS-D1 strobes SETTINGS f/16, 1/80s, ISO 400 Monster in the Dark Beginning with a simple face-on picture of a hairy frogfish, this image was converted to black and white with the exception of the eyes. The rest of the image starts on the left with white hair then reverses by the time it reaches the right side. This creates an illusion of depth.…