Scuba Diver Australia & New Zealand - Issue 13

AUSSIE ROAD-TRIPPIN’

ENTER THE VORTEX

DON’T BE LEFT IN THE DARK

DR RICHARD SMITH HEADS OFF ON AN EPIC ROADTRIP DOWN THE EAST COAST

WE GO BEHIND THE SCENES ON THE BUILD OF THE DIVE BOAT SOCORRO VORTEX

THE TEST TEAM ASSEMBLES TO RATE AND REVIEW A RANGE OF PRIMARY DIVE LIGHTS

HOW OPERATION CROSSROADS MADE

BIKINI A DIVING ICON

+

The Seychelles

‣ UW Photography ‣ Scholar ‣ Dive Like A Pro

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EDITOR’S NOTE

AUSTRALIA - THE ULTIMATE DIVING ROADTRIP? We all know that Australia boasts some superlative diving all around its rich and varied coastline, and many people have their favourite local dive spots, but this month we kick off a three-part feature from Dr Richard Smith, who saddled up with four diving buddies for an epic roadtrip taking in some of the best diving areas along the east coast.

As you will find out on page 20, Richard had completed smaller, less-ambitious trips in the past, and utilised things learned on these ‘trial runs’ to put together what could well be the ultimate diving roadtrip.

Whether you live in Australia, or are planning on visiting the country, check out Richard’s story and be inspired. 2019 could see you embark on a roadtrip of your own.

While on the subject of aspirational diving adventures, this issue we also focus on another dream destination - Bikini Atoll.

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Mark Evans Email: mark.evans@scubadivermag.com

DESIGN

Matt Griffiths Email: matt@griffital.co.uk

CONTRIBUTORS

Mario Vitalini, Paul Duxfield, Anne and Phil Medcalf, Martyn Guess, Dr Richard Smith, Joanna Smart, Deborah Dickson-Smith, Aron Arngrimsson, Al Hornsby

Aron Arngrimsson, founder of The Dirty Dozen Expeditions, which runs several trips to Bikini each year, provides an insight into the Operation Crossroads nuclear testing, and focuses his attention on one of the most-famous shipwrecks in this remote location - the gigantic aircraft carrier USS Saratoga. Turn to page 50 to read this amazing story.

This month we also look at all the blood, sweat and tears - not to mention wodges of cash! - that goes into building a dive boat. The Socorro Vortex is set to become one of the world’s top liveaboards, and will be operating around the Socorro Islands and Guadalupe. We go behind the scenes of this ambitious build and talk to the man whose brainchild it was, award-winning underwater film-maker and photographer Jorge Hauser.

Mark Evans, Editor-in-Chief

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Ross Arnold Email: ross.arnold@scubadivermag.com Adrian Stacey Partnership Manager Tel: +61 403 270 519 Email: adrian@scubadivermag.com Paul Lees Email: paul@scubadivermag.com

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PUBLISHERS

Rork Media Limited Tel: +44 (0) 800 069 8140 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, England, WC2H 9JQ Views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily the views of the publishers. Copyright for material published remains with Rork Media Limited. Use of material from Scuba Diver is strictly prohibited unless permission is given. All advertisements of which the creative content is in whole or in part the work of Rork Media Limited remain the copyright of Rork Media Limited.

is a registered trademark of Rork Media. ISSN 2515-9593

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& AUSSIE ROAD-TRIPPIN’

ENTER THE VORTEX

DON’T BE LEFT IN THE DARK

DR RICHARD SMITH HEADS OFF ON AN EPIC ROADTRIP DOWN THE EAST COAST

WE GO BEHIND THE SCENES ON THE BUILD OF THE DIVE BOAT SOCORRO VORTEX

THE TEST TEAM ASSEMBLES TO RATE AND REVIEW A RANGE OF PRIMARY DIVE LIGHTS

ON THE COVER

HOW OPERATION CROSSROADS MADE

BIKINI A DIVING ICON

+

The Seychelles

‣ UW Photography ‣ Scholar ‣ Dive Like A Pro

ISSUE 13 | FREE MAGAZINE! WWW.SCUBADIVERMAG.COM

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF: ARON ARNGRIMSSON

REGULAR COLUMNS

FEATURES...

6 News

20 Australia

Plastic threat to ocean has been ‘underestimated’, Thai beach numbers limited, and no charges in Bethany Farrell death.

14 Medical Q&A

Dr Oliver Firth answers reader questions about the ??? ?????.

16 Dive Like A Pro

This issue, our panel of experts offer useful hints and advice on how to prepare your equipment for the coming season.

66 Scholar

A welcome introduction to the 2019 Our-World Underwater Scholar, Joanna Smart, who hails from Tasmania.

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Australia boasts some extraordinary dive sites all along the southeast coast, and Dr Richard Smith assembled four diving buddies and set off on an epic roadtrip to shore-dive some of the best. This three-part series kicks off in Adelaide.

32 Shoot Like A Pro

Our panel of underwater photography experts - Martyn Guess, Mario Vitalini, Paul Duxfield and Phil and Anne Medcalf - tackle the topic of what routine maintenance/care they carry out to their photo kit both pre- and post-dive trip.

30 Underwater Photography

Seasoned underwater snapper Mario Vitalini is in the hotseat this month, and he focuses his attention on how underwater photographers can make the most of their ‘golden hour’ - usually referred to as ‘dappled light’.

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CONTENTS

...CONTINUED

GEAR GUIDE

36 Socorro Vortex

54 What’s New

We go behind the scenes of the construction of new luxury liveaboard Socorro Vortex, and talk to the man behind the project, Jorge Hauser, about his vision and seeing it come to fruition.

42 The Seychelles

New products recently released, including the Fourth Element Rock Hopper booties, Sharkskin long and short sleeve tops, Beuchat Maxlux S mask, and the Mares Genius dive computer.

Veteran underwater photojournalist waxes lyrical about the above-water and undersea charms of the Seychelles, which he describes as one of the world’s ‘true wonders’ - and with the number of places he’s visited, that is high praise indeed.

56 Group Test: Primary dive lights

48 TECHNICAL: Bikini Atoll

64 Long Term Test

Aron Arngrimsson, founder of The Dirty Dozen Expeditions, delves into the backstory of Operation Crossroads, and explains how this experiment into nuclear destruction paved the way for the remote Pacific enclave of Bikini Atoll to become one of the world’s all-time iconic dive destinations. He also explores on of the most-famous shipwrecks - the gigantic aircraft carrier USS Saratoga.

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The Scuba Diver Test Team head for the depths of North Wales to rate and review a selection of hand-held primary dive lights.

The Scuba Diver Test Team reviews a selection of products over a six-month period, including the Mares Epic Adj 82X regulator, Otter Watersports Atlantic drysuit, Shearwater Research Teric dive computer, Halcyon Infinity wing, and the Bare Ultrawarmth 7mm hood.

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Each month, we bring together the latest industry news from the Asia-Pacific region, as well as all over our water planet. To find out the most up-to-date news and views, check out the website or follow us on our various social media (@scubadivermag) www.scubadivermag.com/news

SHEER SCALE OF PLASTIC POLLUTION HAS BEEN

‘UNDERESTIMATED’ PHOTOGRAPHS BY SILKE STUCKENBROCK

T

he scourge of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans has become a mainstream ‘hot topic’ since Sir David Attenborough devoted an episode of Blue Planet II to this subject, but now scientists are concerned that the scale of plastic debris is being underestimated worldwide.

Dr Jennifer Lavers, from the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania, has been leading studies of Australia’s remote Cocos (Keeling) Islands and has estimated the beaches are smothered with more than 414 million pieces of plastic.

In the study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, the research team calculated there was more than 238 tonnes of plastic, including a staggering 977,000 shoes – mostly flipflops – and some 373,000 toothbrushes.

As staggering as these figures are, what is most shocking is that they believe their findings are actually conservative, and that potentially some 93 percent of plastic pollution is out of sight under the sand.

Dr Laver, who has avoided plastic in her own life for the past ten years, said she hopes that her findings will bring home to people that prevention is far better than cure when it comes to plastics. “In over a decade, I’ve never used a plastic toothbrush, and I don’t use plastic bags of any shape, size or source. It’s no longer a conscious decision – it’s just part of my day-to-day life. At first, it’s hard, and you have to think about it, but then you don’t think about it anymore. I just don’t use plastic anymore. I just don’t.” n

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CAMPAIGN BEGINS TO CLEAR ‘GHOST NETS’ FROM MERGUI ARCHIPELAGO

A team of experienced divers from around the world have launched a campaign to clear lost and disused fishing nets - known as ghost nets - from the coral reefs in Myanmar’s Mergui Archipelago.

Ghost nets, or ALDFG (abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear), include fishing nets, lines and traps which are left in the ocean and become entangled in rocks and reefs, ultimately killing fish and other marine life and suffocating coral.

“In 2009, the United Nations estimated that 640,000 tonnes of ghost gear were littering the world’s oceans,” said Marcelo Guimaraes, a marine biologist working for Awei Pila resort, which hosted the expedition. “Most of the nets are made of nylon and will not biodegrade for the next 600 years. These are the silent killers of our ocean marine life and we must do something about it.”

From 8-11 May, the team of nine divers and five surface support crew – from as far afield as Brazil, Sweden, Lithuania and Romania – set out from Awei Pila on the island of Kyun Pila in the heart of the archipelago, which is home to some 800 islands and atolls. Within four days, the divers recovered, using scissors, some 300kg of ALDFG from the surrounding reefs at depths of up to 25m.

The team was led by Anuar Abdullah, the founder of Ocean Quest Global, a Southeast Asia-based organisation dedicated to the protection and rehabilitation of coral reefs. “The importance of healthy coral reefs to their surrounding communities cannot be understated,” the group says in its mission statement. “They not only provide them with food and revenue [through fisheries and tourism], but also stave off coastal erosion, thereby safeguarding land property from damage and reducing the risk of population displacement. Coral reefs are important and unique ecosystems that are self-sustaining and provide vital support for marine life.”

The Awei Pila initiative follows closely on the heels of a similar ghost net clearance campaign in the Mergui Archipelago by the Myanmar Ocean Project.

Guimaraes says plans are in place for both teams to co-operate in a joint effort to clear more fishing gear from the sea in September or October. www.memoriesgroup.com

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DIVING WITH F

RIENDS

Marine scientists are appalled that Australia’s newly appointed Special Envoy to the Great Barrier Reef has dismissed reports about worsening coral bleaching and other threats currently facing the World Heritage Area, saying ‘we don’t need to save the reef’. Warren Entsch, a Queensland MP for the Liberal National Party, wrote off bleaching as something that has ‘been happening forever’. He did, however, acknowledge that climate change was ‘a challenge for the reef’, and said that his priority was to reduce plastic in Australia’s oceans.

Mr Entsch also took a potshot at climate change activists, saying they were ‘indoctrinating’ school students and ‘frightening the living hell out of kids’, despite many bodies being in agreement that climate change is one of the biggest threats to the Great Barrier Reef.

As we reported last month, coral reef scientist Terry Hughes said that unprecedented back-to-back mass bleaching events caused by global warming in 2016 and 2017 meant that the amount of coral larvae that survived into adulthood declined in 2018 by 89 percent compared to historical levels.

On a more-positive note, he has vowed to legislate a national approach to reducing single-use plastics and tackling the problem of plastic pollution in Australia’s oceans. He said he hopes to eventually phase out single-use plastics altogether and replace them with environmentally-friendly alternatives.

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AUSTRALIA’S SPECIAL ENVOY FOR THE GREAT BARRIER REEF SAYS ‘IT DOESN’T NEED SAVING’

The French Polynesian islands of Tahiti and Moorea have reported that more than 50 percent of their coral reefs have been bleached, despite the fact that there was no El Nino event this year. Shockingly, whereas in the past, coral bleaching events linked to El Nino have predominantly been in shallow waters, this time bleached corals have been seen as deep as 100m.

Coral bleaching occurs when higher water temperatures than usual cause the coral to jettison its symbiotic algae, leaving the white skeleton beneath, and is not something new to the islands, which thanks to their position are often washed by warmer waters caused by El Nino events. However, this year, as there was no such event, the coral should have been safe, yet recently, it has been estimated that 50 to 60 percent of corals have been bleached.

Marine biologist Dr Luiz Rocha, from the Californian Academy of Sciences, said: “It seem to be only the southern portion of French Polynesia that’s bleaching, but definitely Tahiti and Moorea are severely bleached.”

With uncertainty over whether the bleached corals will recover – a drop in water temperature needs to happen in the next couple of weeks for them to have a chance of survival - he continued: “I was overwhelmed by sadness because I saw these reefs looking really healthy just two months ago.”

Coral micro-biologist Andrew Thurber, from Oregon State University, was also recently in Moorea, and he commented: “In our initial surveys, we found over 90 percent of the dominant coral species were at least partially, if not entirely, bleached. When I first got in the water, I was completely disorientated – it was a carpet of white.”

Terry Hughes, a coral reef scientist from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, said: “This bleaching is indiscriminate and, if anything, worse at the normally healthy reefs. Sadly, while it is tragic, it is no longer surprising – we don’t need an El Nino to trigger bleaching in the northern Great Barrier Reef or the islands of French Polynesia, we just need a hot summer – and we get plenty of them.”

22.01.19 12:00

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Moalboal, Cebu

Anda, Bohol

www.magicresorts.online info@magicresorts.online

© NIGEL MARSH

In May, the Solomon Islands played host to the South Pacific Underwater Medicine Society’s (SPUMS) 48th Annual Scientific Meeting. The conference, held at the Solomon Kitano Mendana Hotel in Honiara, attracted just over 100 delegates.

While many delegates came from Australia and nearby Pacific nations, some came from as far away as South Africa, the Middle East, Washington DC and the United Kingdom. The five-day conference included practical underwater sessions each morning, with scientific meetings each afternoon.

Providing conference facilities for 100 delegates is not a challenge for most hotels around the world, even in small Pacific nations such as the Solomon Islands. The challenge for organisers Diveplanit Travel, however, was getting this large group of delegates diving every day – with only one small dive centre in Honiara that has a normal capacity of around 12 divers.

This enormous task was managed by Diveplanit Travel with help from many local businesses. Transportation for divers was provided by Travel Solomons, and dive guides were flown in from Dive Munda to assist the team at local dive centre Tulagi Dive. Help also came in various ways from other dive operators around the Solomon Islands, including Raiders Hotel & Dive, Dive Gizo, the Bilikiki and Solomons PNG Master liveaboards, the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force and Solomon Airlines.

© NIGEL MARSH

102 DIVING DOCS DESCEND ON SOLOMONS FOR 2019 SPUMS CONFERENCE

Here are the numbers: 102 – total number of SPUMS delegates 124 – scuba tanks filled at Honiara Fire Station each day 68 – divers in the water every day (81 divers in total) 94 – day trips managed by Travel Solomons According to Diveplanit’s Deborah Dickson-Smith, benefits to the tourism industry are already evident. “Thirty or so delegates chose to extend their time in the Solomon Islands on pre- and post-conference trips visiting other dive-rich areas including Tulagi, Munda, Gizo and Uepi Island and many more have enquired about return trips.”

Speaking of the mammoth undertaking, Diveplanit’s Simon Mallender acknowledged the tremendous support received from the Minister for Tourism and Culture and Tourism Solomons.

“We’re incredibly thankful to Tourism Solomons, the Ministry of Tourism and Culture and Solomon Airlines for their unwavering support, and to local business owners for stepping up to the challenge of managing such a large group of divers,” he said.

Tourism Solomons CEO, Josefa ‘Jo’ Tuamoto, said that with tourism - growing in importance as a key economic driver for the Solomon Islands, the opportunity to host the SPUMS event represented a huge opportunity for the country.

“International divers make up a large percentage of the

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30,000-odd international visitors we host every year and the positive feedback we know will emanate from our staging of this event will undoubtedly create major awareness of our dive capability within the international dive community,” he said.

According to Diveplanit’s Deborah Dickson-Smith, while the SPUMS Annual Scientific Meeting is fairly unique conference, organisations are looking more and more to marine-based activities to compliment conferences and corporate events.

Just last month, Diveplanit organised a charter for 100 delegates aboard Captain Cook Cruises Fiji’s Reef Endeavour; members of the Sydney Chapter of the Entrepreneurs Organisation. The itinerary included three days of islandhopping, early morning yoga sessions, snorkel tours led by marine biologists, Discover Scuba experiences and shark diving.

Diveplanit is now in early planning stages for another similar event in Fiji’s Beqa Lagoon – raising the bar a bit higher, with the challenge of managing 120 divers every day for a week.

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THAILAND’S ICONIC BAY FROM THE BEACH TO REMAINED CLOSED UNTIL 2021 The tranquil, picturesque bay on the island of Phi Phi Leh that was catapulted to fame after appearing in 2000 Hollywood hit The Beach is to remain closed until 2021.

Maya Bay was closed last year after the authorities stated that the massive rise in the number of tourists – up to 5,000 a day at one point – was causing severe damage to the environment, in particular killing off most of the coral in the shallows. It was expected to be a temporary ban, but now it has been extended for a further two years in order for the eco-system to make a stronger recovery.

The ban is obviously working – blacktip sharks have already been seen cruising around the bay.

When – and if – the bay reopens for tourism, it is expected that the number of visitors allowed at any one time will be restricted, and boats will not be allowed to anchor within the bay itself.

WWF-AUSTRALIA RELEASES IMAGES OF DEAD SHARKS OFF THE GREAT BARRIER REEF Conservationists have expressed their horror and dismay after WWF-Australia released sickening photographs of huge piles of dead sharks on a gill-netting ship close to the iconic Great Barrier Reef, renewing calls for gill nets to be removed from fishing areas.

The shocking photographs, which WWF-Australia obtained earlier in the year, prompted chief executive Dermot O’Gorman to state ‘there is nothing illegal in any of these images, and in some ways, that makes them more disturbing’. He continued: “Gill nets are indiscriminate killers, in that they drown whatever swims into them, including many threatened species, as these images clearly show.”

Gill nets are anchored to the sea bottom and feature long, rectangular panels of netting with diamond-shaped mesh designed to entangle fish. They are used to target species such as gummy shark, saw shark and elephant fish.

The photographs show hammerhead sharks on the boat – it is thought they have declined on the Great Barrier Reef by 83 percent since the 1960s – as well as at least four sawfish, which are recognised as one of the most-endangered species of sharks and rays.

The release of the images by WWF-Australia coincides with their call for an 85,000 sq km ‘safe space’, where gill nets would be completely banned, running from north of Cooktown to the tip of the Cape.

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BETHANY FARRELL DIVING DEATH – NO INDIVIDUALS TO BE CHARGED No individuals connected with the tragic death of a woman on her very-first scuba dive will be charged, because a health and safety organisation has ruled there was ‘no reasonable prospects’ they would be convicted – prompting outrage from her distraught parents.

Bethany Farrell, who was 23 and from Colchester in Essex, England, was on a gap year in Australia when she went for a dive with friends in February 2015. She became separated from the rest of the group after the instructor turned away from her, and despite coming to the surface, she was not spotted because the surface cover was not doing an adequate job.

An inquest was held last year, during which a magistrate said that the skipper Steve Croucher, employee Peter Hall and dive instructor Fiona McTavish may have committed offences under workplace legislation.

The Queensland Office of Industrial Relations prosecuted diving company DL20 Trading Prt Ltd, which traded as Wings Diving Adventures, after it admitted breaching its duties under the Safeties in Recreational Water Activities Act and was fined AUS$160,000.

However, commenting a spokesman for the organisation said in a statement that ‘in the coroner’s findings, he formed the opinion that certain individuals may have committed offences under workplace legislation and, accordingly, referred

the matter to the Office of Industrial Relations. The Office of Industrial Relations subsequently reviewed the matter and decided not to commence a prosecution of individuals as that review determined there was no reasonable prospect of conviction. On 15 March, the Office of Industrial Relations referred the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions for further independent consideration, and on 5 April, the DPP responded to that referral, and advised that there were no reasonable prospects of a conviction. The Office of the Work Health and Safety prosecutor then reviewed the matter upon receipt of the advice of the DPP and determined that no prosecution would be commenced on the basis that there was no reasonable prospect of securing a conviction’.

Now Miss Farrell’s devastated parents – Patrick and Caron – have written a detailed complaint to the Australian ombudsman outlining what they believe is evidence of their daughter being failed by individuals during the dive, and have asked for a full and unambiguous reply explaining what prevented the prosecution of Ms McTavish and Mr Croucher, who they say both had a duty of care towards Bethany – and both failed her. They commented: “I do not accept there is not proof or evidence of these failures. I believe the facts speak for themselves – these two duty holders, individually, held very clear and documented sole responsibilities.”

SEA OF CHANGE FOUNDATION SUPPORTS COMMUNITY REEF RESCUE Two years ago, to support marine conservation across the international community, the Sea of Change Foundation launched a new kind of fund to provide quick response to coral reef damage from anchor drops, vessel groundings, oil spills, and other localised impacts to coral reefs.

This year, the Reef Rescue and Rapid Response Fund is supporting a reef clean-up by Lang Tengaah Turtle Watch on a small island off the northeast coast of peninsular Malaysia.

During the last monsoon season, jetties were destroyed leaving large debris scattered across the reef that smashed into the coral during tidal surges causing irreparable damage.

To avoid future damage, removing the debris before another storm was mission-critical and time was of the essence. The Sea of Change Foundation is supporting that critical mission, and on one dive alone, divers retrieved and removed eight two-metre long planks of wood, a large cement pillar base, 19 additional planks, and four tyres from the reef. Their efforts encouraged guests from a nearby resort, who saw what the team was doing, to get involved, helping drag the objects out of the water and up onto the beach. This reef rescue will continue through July with the goal of not only removing all the storm debris from the reef, but also partnering with local Marine Parks Authority to work towards a long-term solution.

“It is inspiring to see the passion and dedication the Lang Tengah Turtle Watch team has for protecting their reef,” said Samantha Whitcraft, Director of Conservation and Outreach for the Foundation.

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SEA OF CHANGE FOUNDATION EXPANDS MISSION

Founded in 2015 by leaders in the scuba diving industry, the Sea of Change Foundation is expanding its core mission while maintaining focus on creating positive change. The Foundation will now fund terrestrial conservation in addition to marine conservation to include all of the natural world.

Examples of current and pending projects funded by the Foundation that encompass the new mission include: • Innovations in reducing plastics-use at sea turtle nest monitoring sites, Mexico • Limiting negative interactions between subsistence farmers and elephants, Sri Lanka • Conservation of African manatees in Lake Ossa, Cameroon • Educating military communities and families about daily sustainable choices, USA The three conservation focus areas of the Foundation will continue as: Ocean Pollution – Public Awareness and Action, Coral Reefs – Restoration and Resilience, and Threatened Species and Habitats, with the latter to now encompass terrestrial conservation. www.seaofchange.com

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www.prodivers.com

MARES SSI PROUDLY WELCOMES MICHAEL AW AS A NEW INTERNATIONAL AMBASSADOR Internationally acclaimed wildlife photographer, explorer and conservationist Michael Aw has become the new Mares SSI Ambassador.

Author of 37 books about the ocean, his essays and pictures have been published in BBC Wildlife, GEO, National Geographic, The Smithsonian, Nature, Ocean Geographic, Asian Geographic, Nature Focus, The Times, and Discovery, to name a few.

His accolades include winning more than 67 international photographic awards and being named as one of the world’s most-influential nature photographers

by Outdoor Photographer.

Since 2010, Michael has been the project director of the Elysium Epic expeditions. From the Antarctic (2010) to the Arctic (2015), he brought 66 team members comprised of the world’s best image makers and scientists and tasked them with documenting the flora and fauna of these regions with the goal of creating a climate change index.

His most-recent work was in September of 2018 when he led a team of 49 using three vessels, for an expedition across the heart of the Coral Triangle for a first-ever baseline survey of the biomass of corals and fishes in the region. He has proudly received five awards from the Natural History Museum Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition, and in 2006 and 2015 he was the Winner of the Underwater Category.

Michael AW is the founder of Asian Geographic and Ocean Geographic magazines, as well as OceanNEnvironment, a charity organization registered with Environment Australia. Beneath Bunaken (1993) was his first book and Elysium – Heart of the Coral Triangle, is his 37th. The Mission Deep Blue initiative, the project created

by Mares to raise awareness and take action to protect our oceans, gains with Michael a global advocate to promote the responsible use of resources. Michael also this way returns to his origins when he was one of the first SSI instructors in Singapore, back in 1985, swimming around with his then-favourite Avanti fins.

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MEDICAL Q&A Dr Oliver Firth is a diving doctor with over 22 years of diving experience. He is an Approved Medical Examiner of Divers for the UK HSE and a medical referee for the UK Diving Medical Committee, performing many hundreds of diving medicals a year. As the senior doctor at London Diving Chamber for the last 13 years, he has supervised the treatment of hundreds of cases of decompression illness. He has now set up Hyperdive (www.hyperdive.co.uk) to continue his diving medical work with a global audience. With his accumulated experience, he has seen most things a diver might come across, but remains eager to hear from anyone with a medical conundrum they need a solution to! divingdoctor@scubadivermag.com Q: Despite never having played a round of golf in my life, I have inexplicably been diagnosed with ‘Golfer’s Elbow’, or a case of tendonitis, as it was also put. I work in a dive centre and so the cause was put down to repetitive lifting of cylinders and kit. I have been given anti-inflammatories, and have an appointment with a traumatologist.

Relaxing the lifting is easy... get the customers to do it! But, I am concerned with the uptake of nitrogen in the ‘traumatised’ tissues. I generally dive twice per day, six days per week. Am I unduly concerned, or should the diving stop for a while?

A: Technically what you’ve got is a case of medial epicondylitis, but we could justifiably re-christen it as ‘Tank Lifter’s Elbow’. It will generally settle down with rest, ice, some anti-inflams and a few exercises to stretch and strengthen the tendons.

But to your main question: this is one of those perennial diving concerns, which seems to stem from many anecdotes of recurrent symptoms in previously injured areas of the body.

I have to say that I’ve yet to see any convincing evidence that DCI is more likely at the sites of old trauma or scarring. That said, I do not dismiss the fact that many divers seem to get aches, pains and odd sensations in areas of prior damage. Quite why this happens is a bit of a mystery.

The bottom line is that we don’t really know whether this connection between scar tissue and DCI exists.

However, when we’re talking major surgery, especially around regions prone to DCI anyway (eg. spinal operations), it might be prudent to take a few extra precautions with regards to conservative diving – minimising bottom depths and times,

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using nitrox, keeping profiles square and avoiding deco where possible.

Q: Can you please explain to me why it is that I want to pee in my wetsuit almost as soon as I get in the water? It’s really frustrating as I feel embarrassed to admit to it, and I know it’s a health hazard. Help!

A: Firstly, don’t panic – what you’re experiencing is common to every diver.

It’s all down to your kidneys, those bean-shaped organs that filter waste products from the blood and help regulate your blood pressure.

When you are immersed in water, your peripheral blood vessels constrict in an attempt to minimise heat loss by shunting blood away from the skin’s surface and extremities, towards the warm body core and vital organs.

Although the total volume of blood in the body has not changed, the volume of blood flowing through the body core (particularly the heart) increases. This causes stretching of the chambers in the heart, fooling the body into thinking it is fluid-overloaded; a chain of hormone releases is activated, which results in an increase in urine production in the kidneys (diuresis) – and an uncontrollable urge to pee.

So what can you do to dampen down this response? Stay warm by using a thicker wetsuit, or stay warm and dry by using a drysuit (preferably with a pee valve). You might assume that consuming less water before a dive will reduce the need to pee, but this is not the case: the core blood volume will still increase, regardless of hydration level, and not drinking will only serve to predispose the diver to dark, smelly wee and decompression sickness. And finally, although not the most-fragrant fluid, urine is sterile – so not the health hazard it may seem.

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This issue, in a follow-on from last month’s focus on getting in shape for the diving season, our panel of industry experts discuss preparing your scuba equipment for 2019 PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARK EVANS

A

s we discussed last month, it is important you are fit and healthy when it comes to getting in the water for the coming dive season, but if your equipment is not up to scratch, it doesn’t matter how in-shape you are, you are going to have potentially life-threatening issues. The best way to avoid these occurring is to give your kit the once-over pre-season so you can deal with any problems you discover. Our agency gurus explain what to look out for.

Mary Tetley, Chief Executive of BSAC, said: “When it comes to dive equipment, prevention is better than cure so the first piece of advice when it comes to preparing kit for the new season is to ensure it is packed away correctly before you hang up your fins for the winter. Zips cleaned and waxed, regs and BCDs rinsed, drysuits stored out of the way of little critters that may have a nibble… you want no surprises when the frosts thaw and you are ready to unfurl your kit for the new season ahead.

“Before you set off for the first dive of the season, a little time working through a pre-season kit checklist will then ensure you are totally dive ready. Are all your cylinders in test and have your regs had their annual service? Pop these dates in your phone calendar and set a reminder so you are always ‘good to go’.

“Next, lay out your kit so you can check for signs of winter deterioration. With your drysuit, look out for any holes and test for leaks, check zips to ensure they are not crusty or the rubber hasn’t hardened and get repaired if need be. Is your suit’s inflator valve smooth or is it starting to stick? If so, it could do with a service so speak to your local dive shop. Wrist and neck seals – especially if they are latex – can deteriorate so check these too… an unexpected in-rush of water on your first dive is never pleasant!

“Check the inflator and dump valves on your BCD to make sure they are not sticking, and that the bladders retain gas when you inflate. Check the batteries in your dive computer

16

and take a little time to unwind and re-spool your reel so there are no old kinks or knots that could jam when you deploy your DSMB for real.

“Also, why not take a little time to re-evaluate your kit, to see if anything is in dire need of replacing; you may have a fondness for your old hood but it is really still fit for purpose or are you hanging on to it out of sheer nostalgia? Don’t forget to check your spares kit and replenish… this little act now can save the day when you eventually get out on the dive boat.

And finally, go for a test run! Get in the pool or inland site with your core kit and ensure it all works… and works for you.”

TDI/SDI Business Development Manager Mark Powell said: “Most equipment problems do not start in the water. They start on land before the dive and we then take that problem into the water, where eventually it causes an issue. This is especially true at the start of the year. Equipment has been unused, left in a cold garage or storage area and may not have been cleaned or maintained after its last use six months ago. This means that the first dive of the year is a common time for equipment problems to occur. The good news is that most of these equipment problems can be avoided by some equipment maintenance and servicing.

“Now is the time to check whether your cylinders and regulators need servicing. Most manufacturers recommend that their regulators should be serviced every year. In the UK cylinders will need hydrostatic testing every five years, a visual inspection every two-and-a-half years and oxygen cleaning every 15 months. If your cylinder didn’t get a test or inspection last year, then it will almost certainly need

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one this year and there is a chance it is already past its date. If you use nitrox in your cylinder then, unless you had it oxygen cleaned in the last half of last year, then it will soon need cleaning again. Now is the time to check the dates on your cylinders and take your cylinders and regulators down to your local dive centre to get all of this done. If you take your equipment to your local dive centre in February, March or April, you will get a warm smile, a cup of tea and a chat together with a quick turn around on your servicing.

The reason for this is that most people leave their servicing until the last minute, so your dive centre will be glad that you brought your equipment in with plenty of time to spare.

On the other hand, if you take your equipment in two weeks before Easter and ask for a quick turnaround on your servicing before your first dive trip at Easter then you will get a gruff response, no cup of tea and only a vague commitment on when it will be done by. That is because you are the tenth person that morning that has brought their equipment in for urgent servicing due to leaving it until the last minute. The only thing worse than this is turning up for your first dive of

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the year and discovering that your cylinder has been out of test since last November and the dive centre refuses to fill it. As soon as you have finished this article, go check your cylinders and book a trip to your local dive centre to get your cylinders tested.

“For the rest of your equipment it may not need to be serviced at your dive centre, there is plenty of maintenance you can do yourself. Check the strap and skirts of your diving mask to make sure they have not split or perished. Also check that the glass is securely fixed. If you look inside you may see some mould or other growth so you can take the opportunity to thoroughly clean the mask. Don’t forget your back-up mark also in this process. Fin straps should also be checked. Straps do not spontaneously break but instead they slowly start to perish over time. if you start to see any damage then change the strap now before it breaks. This is also an ideal time to check your dive computer. If the battery is getting low then you can change it or if it is not user-changeable, you can take it to your dive centre when you get your cylinder and regulators tested and ask them to change the battery at the same time.

17

Your BCD is also a critical piece of equipment. Over time, the low-pressure inflators can get a build up of salt or corrosion on them and make it harder to connect and disconnect the hose. The inflator button may get sticky and not release as easily. The string on the dump valves can become worn or even break. If you are happy to clean and maintain these items then now is the ideal time to do this. If you are unsure how to look after your kit then many agencies run an equipment course that is designed to show you how to look after your equipment. However, servicing of regulators and life support equipment should only be done by those with the training, knowledge and experience to do it safely.

“After all of this has been done it is a good idea to check your equipment in a pool before jumping in for your first dive of the year. No one is perfect and even regulators or a BCD that has just been serviced may still have an issue. Finding this out in a pool is just an inconvenience and, if you have left enough time, can be easily resolved before your first dive trip.

If you have left it until the last minute or have not checked the equipment before the first dive, then any problem will result in a cancelled dive or worse.”

Tim Clements from IANTD said: “If you are the kind of diver that would check their car for an MOT by attempting a record lap of the Nurburgring, then you should stop reading now and jump into 100m without checking your gear. If, however, you have grain of common sense then there are a few sensible things you can do.

“The first is to have a visual check over all your gear and identify anything actually broken! Then assemble carefully and test – positive / negative, breathing, clipping – a full function test.

“Check what service intervals are due and service early with an accredited facility for your brand. You don’t want to be

18

wondering if Nice Nobby who did it for nothing really has all the tools and test gear – it’s your life, make sure. If the service interval is due in the middle of the season, get it done early – you don’t want to lose dives. Don’t be cheap, it’s expensive in the long run. CCR cells, in particular.

“Lastly, take it easy on those first few dives – maybe a practice lap before that first corner tussle…”

Emma Hewitt, PADI Regional Manager for Southern UK and Ireland and a PADI Master Instructor, said: “After having not dived for the winter season, preparing for the new diving year will mean needing to service various pieces of equipment. To ensure safety for all upcoming dives do not skip on this servicing and ensure that the gear is taken to reputable, qualified service technicians to carry out the work. When you have all kit back and you are ready for your first dive of the year, be sure to make this a simple, shallow dive to check all kit is working well and you are feeling comfortable.”

Emily Petley-Jones, a PADI Examiner and ex-dive shop owner, said: “From the days I used to work in a dive shop, it was a surprisingly common occurrence that divers would come in to the shop with their kit and expect a service to be completed in time for their holiday… the next day. Servicing your life supporting equipment is something which should not be rushed, and keeping in mind the huge variety of all the different regulators and BCDs out there, it certainly is no guarantee that your dive centre will always have the correct service kits in stock. You should also allow time to test your regulators and BCD after they have been serviced before you go away anywhere.”

Vikki Batten, PADI’s Training Supervisor, said: “As well as checking kit, don’t forget to check yourself. Don’t just rush into the same dives you were doing at the end of last season, a pool or shallow water is the best place to start and make sure you practice your skills – especially the ones you don’t like! The next step is a dive in full kit but in easy conditions and not to your full depth capacity. Simulated dives are a very underused tool, but really prepare you for the dives you want to be doing. If you were confidently diving to 30m last year, you should work back up to that over a few dives making sure to practice the same dive plan and teamwork, just shallower and in benign conditions.” n

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34

DIVING DRY:

THE LOWDOWN ON DRYSUIT BUOYANCY, WEIGHTING AND MAINTENANCE

oh Lanta on the east coast of Thailand is becoming an increasingly popular occasional whaleshark . Once one of these majestic place for divers to visit creatures because it provides a has been spotted the relaxing alternative to word soon spreads around the the diving bustling streets of Phuket, community on Koh Lanta.

The next day a small but perhaps the main flotilla of advantage of diving from dive boats consisting Koh Lanta is the spectacular of all shapes and sizes will make the dive sites of Hin Daeng and long journey out to these Hin Muang. Other than rocks. In something akin liveaboards and the occasional boat to Wacky Races on water, the goal from Koh Phi Phi, the is to get there and in Koh Lanta the water first centres have these dive dive to have some quality sites to themselves. They time alone with these are located before huge animals in the Andaman Sea around the hordes arrive. Obviously 60km south of Koh Lanta. the speed boats have As with all diving from the advantage, but in the island, there is a choice rough conditions they of either can be forced to a speed boat or a big turn back. It is also worth boat. The big boats can bearing in mind that take up to four hours to reach the site these sites are more suited to experienced but offer a more-comfo divers and most dive rtable journey, breakfast on the way centres will not take novice divers. there, lunch on the way back and even the opportunity for a snooze Even if you are not lucky enough after an early 7am start. to encounter a manta The speed boats, however, or whaleshark, there ray have the advantage of is plenty to see. Hin Muang being able to reach these sites in about is usually dived first. The top of one hour 30 minutes. this long, slender ridge-like They set off later, get there earlier reef lies about 10m under the and are back home before surface and is covered the big boats. with anemones.

The direct translation Numerous peaks descend of Hin Daeng from Thai like giant stepping stones to English Red Rock, while Hin Muang is down to 22m. Its coral-covere means Purple Rock. The d walls then plunge over names are derived from the 60m to the ocean floor. red and purple broccoli corals that adorn their respective walls and peaks. Arguably providing the best diving Thailand has to offer, and certainly the deepest, these two sites offer a stunning array of soft corals and marine life.

They are one of the few places in the area where manta rays can be found and even the

DIFFERENT WAYS TO EXPLORE THE GBR

being literally We spent the whole dive ous shoals of surrounded by enorm er, jacks, trevallys, fusiliers, yellow snapp batfish and sweetlips, barracudas, several large grouper 35 WWW.SCUBADIVERMAG.COM

Red Rock,

PURPLE ROCK Adrian Stacey reckons that Hin Daeng and Hin Muang deserve the title of ‘best dive experienced divers, thanks sites in Thailand’ for to a superlative blend of stunning topography, colourful corals, myriad varieties of reef life and the chance of big pelagic visitors PHOTOGRAPHS BY ADRIAN

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SEADRAGONS Richard Smith and four buddies start their 2,000-mile Australian diving road trip around Adelaide’s cool waters PHOTOGRAPHS BY RICHARD SMITH

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hen Marvel’s superhero crack team - The Avengers – assemble, they don’t seem to have problems with multiple flat tyres thwarting their every move, or end up accumulating more 7-Eleven snacks than you could shake a stick at.

I’m not saying that our little team are quite The Avengers, but I know my way round a seahorse, Wendy Brown has organised and led liveboard charters for 20 years and has at least 15,000 dives under her belt, Yann Alfian is one of Indonesia’s most-experienced dive guides and has amazing critter-hunting eyes that can easily spot a needle in a haystack, while Ned and Anna DeLoach, two of the mostinspiring people, whose natural history observations have informed scientists for decades, have helped the rest of us identify all the reef’s fishes and critters with their ubiquitous ID book series. This concluded the quintet of divers for our inaugural Australian road trip that would be the trip-of-alifetime around Australia’s cooler southern waters. Between us, we had an elaborate and unusual critter wish list, one that hopefully we were in with a good chance of finding given our collective backgrounds.

We were fresh off a similar adventure that I had organised for the same group about 18 months prior in temperate Japan. So, we were already in the groove and decided to really embrace the chilly water diving. In Japan we had heated vests and 7mm semi-dry suits, but we decided that wouldn’t cut it in Australia. With temperatures in Tasmania as low as 13˚C, I ditched my old and leaky drysuit and got fitted out with cosy new one. I didn’t want uncontrollable hypothermic shaking to affect my seadragon encounters.

Rich algal growth in South Australian waters

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Inquisitive Tasmanian blenny

Having missed out on the Japanese species, when Wendy spotted a juvenile Port Jackson horned shark swimming under the jetty she disappeared in pursuit WWW.SCUBADIVERMAG.COM

Crab feasting on fish discarded by anglers above

Shore dive with bountiful gorgonian growth

The charismatic and unique pyjama squid

I was based in Australia for seven years for my PhD research on pygmy seahorses, and had used the opportunity to do plenty of diving road trips during that time. The most extreme had been after submitting my thesis, when my friend Laura and I drove a good 4,000-mile round trip from Brisbane to Tasmania. We shore dived all along the coast, allowing me to really tailor this trip for my friends knowing what animals they wanted to see. In fact, Laura and I had driven from Adelaide to Melbourne just a year before, and I had decided this would be the best place to start our current dive safari.

It turned out that the dry-run Laura and I had made the year before had taught me some valuable lessons. Our first stop had been Edithburgh Jetty, an amazing cold-water muck dive three hour’s drive to the west of Adelaide. I hadn’t had as much time as usual to plan our spontaneous trip, so we turned up in Edithburgh to find that you couldn’t hire cylinders. Only the local petrol station did fills, but had no tanks to rent out. So, after spending the night at the local caravan park, we drove back to Adelaide and picked up four cylinders. We seemed to have spent about 12

hours out of the first 24 in the car, but it was a good learning experience nonetheless.

With Wendy, Yann, Ned and Anna, I was prepared. We picked up our minibus and went off to Diving Adelaide, a great little shop near the centre of town. There, we filled the bus with ten cylinders, plus all our dive gear, tons of weights and several big cameras. Unfortunately, pulling out of the car park we picked up a screw in one of the tyres, which we only noticed upon hearing air hissing out at our first supply stop just down the road. Wendy drove us into a Sparring male southern pygmy tyre repair centre just as the last puff of air leatherjackets left the tyre and, holding our breaths, we scraped in on the tyre rim. Luckily, they had a new tyre for us and off we went on our merry way, hoping we’d put all disasters behind us.

Several hours later we had driven almost to the tip of the Yorke Peninsula west of Adelaide and arrived in Edithburgh. It’s a quaint and sleepy town, with one main street and a couple of shops and cafes, but little else. The Edithburgh Caravan Park has simple rooms with a kitchenette, which was more than ample for our needs.

After settling in, we took a walk along

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BIOGRAPHY

Richard Smith, a British underwater photographer and writer, aspires to promote an appreciation for the ocean’s inhabitants and raise awareness of marine conservation issues through his images. A marine biologist by training, Richard’s pioneering research on the biology and conservation of pygmy seahorses, led to the first PhD on these enigmatic fishes. Richard organises and leads marine life expeditions, where the aim is for participants to get more from their diving and photography by learning about the marine environment. His book, The World Beneath: The Life and Times of Unknown Sea Creatures and Coral Reefs will be released in September 2019. www.OceanRealmImages.com Rock crab off Edithburgh jetty A tiny southern pygmy leatherjacket

the foreshore and to the jetty that was the main reason for us visiting. Like many shore dives, the best time to dive Edithburgh is on a slack tide. The currents are reduced and visibility, as a result, is often better. We took the rest of the afternoon to put cameras together and prepare for the slack tide the following morning.

One of the first critters that we all wanted to see is the cheerfully striped pyjama squid. At just a couple of inches long, they would be easy to miss, so together we looked at an image of the animal and discussed where we might find them.

It seemed like a good omen that within two seconds of Anna putting her head into the water, before even descending, she’d found one! The rest of us were still negotiating our entry, but very happy to finally get in The Maori, the world’s third-largest octopus and see one of these spectacular blackspecies at Rapid Bay and-white cephalopods so quickly.

Once we were all in and had watched the pyjama squid for a while, we followed the jetty away from shore.

The deepest we ever got to over the four dives we made there was 6m, but three of the dives were to just 4m! I hadn’t got the hang of weighting in my new suit yet, so had a very awkward underweighted dive in the shallow water. We didn’t want to stray too far from the jetty structure as this is an area well known for great white shark sightings. In fact, there have been a number of fatal attacks, including one just off Edithburgh in 2014. However, a different local shark was of particular was happy that she had her dream fulfilled. interest to us. In Japan, Wendy had been very keen on seeing Over the next few dives we found many unusual critters the indigenous Japanese horned shark, which is a prehistoricand many endemic animals too. Southern Australia has plenty looking small striped shark, with diagnostic horns in front of of marine creatures found nowhere else on Earth, and this the dorsal fins. There are nine species of horned shark found particular area has more than its fair share. I spotted a scarlet around the world, with two in Australia. Having missed out cardinalfish found only in this particular part of Australia. The on the Japanese species, when Wendy spotted a juvenile Tasmanian blenny, with its elaborate long cirri, was another Port Jackson horned shark swimming under the jetty she highlight. Another, the warty prowfish, was a species I was disappeared in pursuit. I only caught a brief glimpse of it, but

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19/12/2018 13:33

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unaware of until I looked it up after the dive. It is a type of grumpy-looking fish, which is variable in colour but in this case was a rusty orange hue. Among all these southern Australian endemic fishes, probably the most striking and memorable is the male ornate cowfish. It has great horns at certain spots over the body, is covered in elaborate hexagons and stripes, and just to add to the wild attire tops it all off with a bright orange tail.

After several daytime dives, we were shocked by the transition of Edithburgh by night. Between us, our group has dived all the tropical muck dive locations, but none of us had ever seen so many blue-ringed octopuses. I lost count at a dozen, but there were probably double that.

Again, these were an endemic Australian species, the southern blue-ring, found only in these cooler southern waters. When not watching their antics, I was excited to see the huge numbers of short-head seahorses. Usually they are hard to find, being just 10cm in length, but at night they emerged to the edge of the algae bushes and there were many dozens of these too. All in all, although I’m not a huge night dive fan, this was one of the best I have ever done and

All in all, although I’m not a huge night dive fan, this was one of the best I have ever done and it made for a great conclusion of diving in Edithburgh

it made for a great conclusion of diving in Edithburgh.

Our next location as the crow flies was very close, just across the bay on the Fleurieu Peninsula, but to access it we needed to drive back up the Yorke Peninsula, past Adelaide and a further couple of hours south. We kept the cylinders with us, as we would be planning our own dives in search of one of Australia’s most-beloved of marine animals, the leafy seadragon. We had allowed for a couple of day’s diving around the Fleurieu Peninsula, to pick the best site for dragon action, but our first dive at Rapid Bay yielded five leafies, so we were more than happy. The old jetty has lots of algal growth around its pylons, and is just a short swim from the new jetty. It’s a fair walk from the carpark to the access stairs at the end of the jetty, probably around 1km in scolding sun and mid-30s heat. With full gear, camera and all the weight required to stay down in a drysuit, it’s a pretty arduous trek. We decided to invest in a small trolley to help with the steel tanks and made several trips back and forth for the gear.

The water in early February was in the low 20s both here and at Edithburgh, so we were cosy in our drysuits. We did two 90-minute dives with these majestic beasts, swaying

Tasmanian blenny and rich invertebrate growth

One of at least a dozen southern blue-ringed octopuses at Edithburgh jetty by night

Yann and Wendy observing a leafy seadragon

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back and forth in the gentle swell. None of the others had ever seen a seadragon before, so there was rather a lot of pressure to find one. I was very happy that we all had a good amount of time to observe these animals in their natural habitat. These large pipefish are not considered to be endangered, but they are only found in this small part of the world and do suffer a certain amount of poaching for the aquarium trade, for which they are highly sought after.

With a couple of seadragon dives under our belts, we decided to spend a little time at the world-famous local wineries before starting our long drive to Melbourne’s jetties that would be the next stop on our journey. Soaking up the local sights above the waves is surely part of the adventure too, and the Great Ocean Road’s 12 Apostles was next in store for us! n

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UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY

SUNBEAMS AT SUNSET

Mario Vitalini discusses how underwater photographers can make the most of their ‘golden hour’ – usually referred to as ‘dappled light’ PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARIO VITALINI

you are in the water at the right time. The sun in the tropics sets incredibly quickly, so you will only have a few minutes in which to capture the light shafts. Try to dive within an hour of either the sunset or the sunrise, otherwise the sun will be too high in the sky and the rays will hit the surface at a greater angle, or will be too low.

Secondly, surface conditions are very important. Be realistic about your chances of capturing dappled light. You don’t want a very choppy surface because that will reflect almost all the light. Calmer water creates stronger sunbeams. But you don’t want it to be perfectly still either. In my experience, you get the best results when there are a few small ripples on the surface. The small waves on the surface disrupt and split the sunbeams creating a beautiful effect.

When too deep, you will have to shoot upwards, risking overexposing the background

P

hotography is all about light and how we ‘paint’ with it. For me, one of the most-striking forms of ambient light you can find in underwater photography is dappled light.

Land photographers talk about the ‘golden hour’, a time for shooting pics early in the morning or at dusk, when the sun sits low in the horizon and creates a soft, alluring light with a beautiful warm tint. In underwater photography we have our own golden hour, but we tend to refer to it as ‘dappled light’.

At sunrise or sunset, the sun’s rays hit the water’s surface at an acute angle. Most beams are reflected by the surface.

However, a small portion penetrate through, creating visible sunbeams and striking shafts of light you can photograph.

This is dappled light.

Clownfish and anemone on the top of Thomas Reef near Tiran Island, Red Sea. A late-afternoon dive gave me the opportunity to photograph it with the characteristic dappled light sunbeams in the background

FINDING THE SUNBEAMS

There are a few key elements you will need to plan for if you want to capture dappled light in your images. Firstly, timing is essential. To achieve a strong image, it is imperative that

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A diver lining up a dappled light photo.

In order to get the best results, he’s keeping a shallow depth and pointing the camera into the sun

Dive site selection is also essential. A deep dive site is no good. Pick instead a shallow reef, preferably if it almost reaches the surface. Ideally you want to be familiar with the area you intend to photograph, or at least try to dive it beforehand. Think foreground. You can get the mostperfect sunbeams in your shot, but if there is nothing in the foreground that catches our attention, your picture will be too simple and boring. Always look for an interesting subject to place close to the camera - it can be a nice coral formation, a fish or your dive buddy. The ‘what’ is not necessarily that critical, but you need something.

Lastly, depth is essential. Dappled light works very well at very shallow depths, and I have had the best results in less than 2m. If you end up deeper you will struggle to get striking sunbeams. Either you are too deep to actually see the beams, or you have to shoot upwards at an angle that is too steep.

Clearly you need to plan ahead a bit for these kind of shots. When diving reefs that I know are very shallow and have potential for dappled light shots, I aim to finish my dive when the sun position is at its best. Use the first part of the dive to locate the best spots on the reef and spend the last part of the dive in that area to be ready for the right moment.

Position yourself in the right place. You will have to be on ‘the dark side of the reef’ because you will need to shoot into the sun in order to see the shafts of light. Ideally you want to shoot almost horizontally or fractionally upwards to avoid overexposing the background.

Corals in the shallow reefs are ideal for dappled light, offering interesting subjects for the foreground of your images

LENS SELECTION AND SETTINGS

One of the characteristics of dappled light is the beautiful warm tint the light exhibits. However, when using a macro lens, the light tends to lose this quality. A wide-angle lens is ideal for dappled light. A fisheye lens would be my

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11th Sept 2020 £1795 inc flights from UK

BIOGRAPHY: MARIO VITALINI

For nearly 30 years, Mario has sailed the globe and dived the seas, working as a PADI instructor and dive guide. Today, he shares his passion for underwater photography.

His students love his real-world expertise and patient approach. He has an extensive working knowledge of most underwater camera systems, having spent several years at the UK’s largest photo retailer. Mario’s images have won several awards and he has featured not once, but twice, among the top categories at the prestigious Underwater Photographer of the Year, including Most Promising British Underwater Photographer in 2015.

Photo Finish

Malapascua

Holiday highlights... Join photo pro Mario Vitalini on this Philippines workshop to hone your images of the biggest sharks to the smallest critters. The workshop includes 20 nitrox boat dives plus daily presentations covering all aspects of underwater photography. Your holiday package includes 7 nights in a deluxe room on an full board basis – optional room grades available. Airport transfers are included.

..award winning dive experts +44 1483 411590 www.scubatravel.com/photography

UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY A table and staghorn coral in the shallows of Indonesian Kalimantan.

I found this particular formation during an early dive and considering the great position, made a point to go back to photograph it at the perfect time to capture the dappled light

Be prepared to change the settings as the sun goes down, because the light will be disappearing rapidly. Decreasing the shutter speed or increasing the ISO will help you compensate for the rapidly diminishing light. This is a type of shot that requires you to work quickly and adapt until the conditions mean you have to stop.

LIGHTING

preferred choice as long as I can get very close to the element I’m placing in the foreground. This will allow me to fill the frame with it as well as light it properly.

As I have said many times, make sure you expose for the background. Point the camera to the surface, where the sunbeams are forming, and take test shots adjusting the shutter speed and aperture until you are happy with the way the image looks in your LCD. In most cases, you will get a relatively fast shutter speed and a mid-range aperture (around 1/60th F8).

Shooting into the sun means you will be shooting the dark side of the reef and the foreground will be very dark, almost black.

Some sort of artificial lighting is essential to light any subject placed in front of the camera. Keep your strobes on either side of your dome port, and position for wide angle. How high or low you position them on the vertical will depend a bit on how high or low your subject is in the foreground. And don’t forget to pull your strobes behind the front plane of the dome port to avoid backscatter.

Loads of people love to dive at dusk, and many divers talk about the different critters they can see at that time of the day. For me it is not the animals, but the light that makes diving at dusk a great experience as a photographer.

Next time you are in the water and the sun is setting, get to the shallows, face the sun and get ready to take dappled light shots, where the light is the real star of the picture. n When photographing reef scenes with dappled light, consider using a letterbox crop

Best

of

Manado

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29th Sept 2020 £3595 inc flights from UK

Holiday highlights... With an action packed 29 boat dives plus 9 unguided, house reef dives and free nitrox!

Martyn Guess & Manado workshop will enable you to go hone and advance your key photographic skills at Murex Bangka and Lembeh resort. The workshop will spend 5 nights at Murex Bangka followed by 6 nights at Lembeh resort, both on a full board basis (2 people sharing).

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This month, we ask our panel of experts what routine maintenance/care they carry out on their gear both pre- and post-dive trip PHOTOGRAPHS BY PAUL DUXFIELD, MARIO VITALINI, MARTYN GUESS, AND ANNE AND PHIL MEDCALF

Always a hassle when I get home from a trip, but as MARTYN soon as practical, I make GUESS myself take everything out from the various bags. Don’t leave equipment in your bags for weeks before you do this, as corrosion sets in quickly, even if equipment is rinsed on location.

I make a list of anything that I didn’t use to help plan for the next trip, or anything that will need replacing or repairing.

I reassemble my housing without camera and also my strobes and everything that I used on the trip, make sure it is all waterproof and place everything in a large ice cooler (the biggest container I have). You can, of course, use your bath but I tend to leave my equipment soaking for several days. I fill the ice cooler with fresh water and a couple of 500ml bottles of distilled vinegar, which helps get rid of the salt. I leave it for several days and then

Find something large enough to hold all of your equipment while giving it a thorough soak for a few days

empty and fill again with freshwater for another day or so.

When everything is dry, all O-rings are re-greased and then stored, loose, in the housing and the battery boxes of my strobes. Don’t leave O-rings in place for months at a time. The housing and ports are polished and everything else is re-assembled. Strobe arm clamps are taken apart and sprayed with silicone and then stored in a clean bag. The strobes are tested to make sure they are working okay and then everything is stored, safe in the knowledge that it is all clean, lubricated, free of salt and working – that is until the camera cupboard gremlins get to work!

When going on a trip, everything is reassembled, tested, fired and practice shots taken so that any problems can be resolved before departure.

Take O-rings out and store in battery box of strobes (They can’t then be lost) in between trips.

The same applies to housings

Master Macro 9th May 2020 £3495 inc flights from UK ESCORTED BY MARTYN GUESS

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Additional travel options available, ask for details.

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Use a very diluted mix of distilled vinegar and freshwater to soak your equipment after a trip.

The acetic acid will remove salt deposits

Ok, how do I care for my photo kit and make sure it’s all tickety boo before and PAUL after a trip?

DUXFIELD Pre-trip, as hinted at on the last Shoot Like A Pro, I put all of my kit together before packing as if I was going on an imminent dive. I even go as far as taking a couple of shots with both wide-angle and macro lenses so that I know ahead of time that nothing in the chain will let me down. This allows me to see if I have any problems with things like fibre-optic cables, loose clamps, worn O-rings, etc.

I will then grease all the O-rings, not forgetting the lessobvious ones like the ones on the strobes that are for the less-fashionable electronic synch. As these rarely get used, there is a tendency to forget about them, but a regular peek and a regrease will keep them in tip top condition.

Don’t forget vital stuff like battery chargers - on my last trip I found out that one of my chargers had given up the ghost, I have a spare, but it was best to know in good time.

Check your memory cards too, they can fail, so make sure you’ve got back-ups, and free up enough space on your hard drives so that you don’t run out mid-trip.

Upon my return, all the waterproof stuff gets a thorough rinse. I fill up the bath and leave it all to soak for a few hours, pressing all the buttons periodically. I then put it on the draining board to air dry, before putting it all away ready for next time once it’s completely moisture-free. And so as not to waste water and use the time more effectively, after I’ve removed all the camera kit from the bath, I’ll put all my dive kit in the bath water too so it can get rinsed.

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11th July 2020 £1495 inc flights from Gatwick

Relaxed Red Sea

Holiday highlights... 7 nights onboard Whirlwind, tanks, weights and open dive deck at least once a day!

Photographers can go at their own pace on a photography itinerary that is as relaxing as it is productive.

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Our underwater photography professionals have, between them, literally thousands of hours of dive time and countless hours spent travelling the world shooting underwater images and teaching workshops. If you have a question you’d like them to address, email: mark@scubadivermag.com

Lists play a big role in how we get things done on a diving trip. As we mentioned last month we try and have a list of everything we take somewhere with us so we can make sure it all makes it back home at the end. Providing replacements for lost equipment is a small but significant portion of our sales business. Common things left behind or mistakenly picked up by other divers include batteries, chargers and housing port covers. Create a checklist before you pack everything and make sure it is all still there when you pack to come home.

This will at least give you the chance to search the boat or resort before the journey back. During the trip, you’ll likely discover a few things that you should’ve brought - bung these on the list for the next expedition.

The other list we put a lot of thought into when prepping for a trip is our ‘shot list’. This is a plan of what pictures we want to get while we are diving somewhere. For us it’s a mixture of test shots using different equipment, and images we need for blogs, talks and workshops. But it also includes any funny ideas we have along the lines of ‘I wonder whether this will work?’. Look at what pictures you want to achieve and put it on the list. Planning like this can really help to take your photography up a notch.

PHIL MEDCALF

From our experience as dealers of underwater photography equipment, ANNE one of the best bits of advice we can MEDCALF suggest is, weeks before a trip, set your camera rig up. Check that everything is functioning properly and that nothing is missing or broken.

Underwater photography equipment is very specialist, manufacturers often only produce small quantities at a time and because of the diversity of items, dealers and importers don’t hold large stocks. This means if you order at the last minute, you may not get what you need before a trip.

We keep all our kit as organised as possible in a set of labelled boxes when we aren’t diving. This is a necessity for us given how much equipment we take on a trip. It saves the stress of hunting around for things and reduces the chance that something will get left behind.

We also use a lot of equipment that has been loaned to us by manufacturers and importers to try out. Keeping track of what came from who and when it needs to be returned is a job in itself. All this gear gets carefully checked and cleaned before it hits the water along with our own. The last thing you want when someone lends you some shiny toys is for it to be flooded for the sake of a bit of time cleaning an O-ring. If you do borrow or rent equipment, do the same, don’t presume the last user put it away ready to use.

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Some of the best photo locations are far away MARIO and there is nothing worse than to VITALINI arrive to your destination after hours of travelling and realise that you left a key piece of equipment behind. To avoid this, I always recommend checking all your photo equipment before you start packing and, more important, assemble everything at least once, If you are planning to use different lenses make sure you set up your kit in every configuration you intend to use to ensure you have all the bits you will need and making sure everything is working. After this I normally take everything apart, add any spares I may need such as O-rings, grease and my housing maintenance kit, and put it in a box so is all together for when I start packing.

Rinsing your camera kit after every dive is always a good practice and helps to prevent any problems. At the end of the trip, after the last dive, a more-thorough rinse is not a bad idea but when back at home, reassemble the housing and ports and give it a proper soak in a big plastic container or in the bath with lukewarm water. Work all the dials and buttons to ensure you rinse out all the salt and plankton. Sometimes, especially if I’ve been diving in particularly salty environments such as the Red Sea or in sandy spots like Lembeh, I leave my kit in water for a couple of days.

Use a micro-fibre towel to dry ports and domes to avoid watermarks. I then remove all the O-rings, grease them as when I use them in the housing, and store them in a plastic bag. I then store the housing ports and strobes in a cotton bag inside a cardboard box ready for my next trip. n

ESCORTED BY MARIO VITALINI

11th Sept 2020 £1795 inc flights from UK

Photo Finish

Malapascua

Holiday highlights... Join photo pro Mario Vitalini on this Philippines workshop to hone your images of the biggest sharks to the smallest critters. The workshop includes 20 nitrox boat dives plus daily presentations covering all aspects of underwater photography. Your holiday package includes 7 nights in a deluxe room on an full board basis – optional room grades available. Airport transfers are included.

..award winning dive experts +44 1483 411590 www.scubatravel.com/photography

INTO THE VORTEX

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Socorro Vortex with its fellow Pelagic Fleet member, Solmar V

There are liveaboards, and then there are luxury liveaboards, and the newly launched Socorro Vortex certainly falls into the latter category. We peek behind the scenes of the epic build of this fantastic vessel, and talk to its creator, Jorge Hauser PHOTOGRAPHS BY JORGE HAUSER, DANIEL NORWOOD AND MANUELA KIRSCHNER

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D

ivers know that liveaboards give us the opportunity to reach some of the world’s greatest dive sites, and these days, you don’t have to ‘rough it’ anymore, with some vessels literally bringing five-star hotel fixtures, fittings and service on to the sea. One of the latest liveaboards to hit the open ocean definitely sits in the upper echelon – the Socorro Vortex.

The Vortex (www.vortexliveaboard.com) is a 42.5-metre former Canadian coastguard vessel, which was originally built to withstand rough conditions and, while retaining that robust seagoing nature, has been refitted to offer truly first-class, luxury accommodations and living areas. Given that it will be operating off Guadalupe Island and the Socorros, both of which involve long sailings across open water, this distinctive hull design and twin MTU main engines will ensure that it makes short work of these voyages – it has a top speed of 22 knots, and a comfortable cruising speed of 14 knots.

The Vortex has four luxury staterooms (San Benedicto, Clipperton, Clarion and Cerralvo), two junior suites (Socorro and Guadalupe) and one master suite (Roca) – it is capable of catering for 14 guests – along with a spacious lounge, dining salon/bar offering complimentary premium beer, wine and espresso, al fresco dining area and lounge, sundeck with stainless-steel Jacuzzi. There is complimentary high-speed internet, for those who can’t wait to get back to land to post their videos and photographs, and even a helipad for those who want to arrive in style!

Diving-wise, there is complimentary nitrox, a large dive deck, and two spacious tenders.

The Vortex in dry dock

Mid-way through the build

Vortex and its tenders at Socorro

The master suite Roca

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The bathrooms look like a fivestar hotel

The spacious lounge area

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THE MAN BEHIND THE VORTEX

Al fresco dining on the Vortex The impressive bow of the Vortex

The SPOC being lowered into the water

The stunning Socorro Vortex is the brainchild of Jorge Cervera Hauser, an award-winning underwater photographer and videographer born and raised in Mexico City. He was introduced to the ocean and its pelagic inhabitants at an early age through his grandfather’s sport-fishing company, starting to dive aged 15, and became infatuated with his country’s native waters.

He got a Bachelor’s Degree in Media and Communication in CDMX and a degree in Cinematography from Universidad de Madrid, and began working for major advertising agencies as a creative, and on TV networks as a field producer, until a dirt bike accident laid him up for six months. After his accident, he spent two months in South Africa as a contestant on Animal Planet’s Unearthed, which he won, having his documentary short broadcast worldwide. This prompted him to kickstart his own production company, Calypso Media, where he did corporate videos and TV commercials for companies like Kelloggs, Avon, AXA and the Mexican government.

In 2011 he met a group of like-minded people, and together they formed www.pelagiclife.org, a non-profit organisation dedicated to protecting open-ocean marine life in Mexico by creating visually stimulating content to inspire and raise awareness for sustainable tourism with pelagic species. This led him to produce an acclaimed documentary, Mexico Pelagico, which was later picked up and aired on Discovery Channel and

by Netflix. His amazing photographs have been published by National Geographic, Wired and The Outdoor Journal.

Riding on a wave of success, it was around this time that Jorge decided to try and make a living out of his love – the ocean – and in 2016 bought the iconic liveaboard Solmar V, a renowned vessel which pioneered diving in the Socorros and around Guadalupe. Since then the Pelagic Fleet (www. pelagicfleet.com) has expanded to include the Pelagic Safari, which offers daily shark diving trips and whale-watching expeditions out of Cabo San Lucas, and has now been rounded out by the Socorro Vortex.

I wanted to design a truly high-end boat that would match the quality of diving and natural wonders of the destination SELF-PROPELLED OCEAN CAGE (SPOC)

Filming great whites from the SPOC

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Divers on the Socorro Vortex have also got the opportunity to charter the SPOC, a self-propelled cage that can fit a pilot in the back, and a diver/photographer in the front.

Previously it has been used in several TV productions for research purposes, but last year it was issued with a commercial permit, opening it up to all guests.

The SPOC can travel at five knots, allowing it to effortlessly keep up with a cruising white shark, and both the pilot and the diver wear full-face masks so they can communicate with one another and the boat. Before you start to worry what would happen if the SPOC lost all propulsion, it is slightly positive, so in case of malfunction, it would just remain on the surface waiting for pick-up.

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We spoke to Jorge about the Vortex build, and what went into this epic endeavour.

Jorge freediving with humpbvack whales

Q: You already had the legendary Solmar V in your fleet.

What was the rationale behind the creation of the Socorro Vortex?

A: To build the dive boat Socorro deserved. More boats were coming in, which came with an increase in the offer that resulted in discounts from everyone wanting to fill their boats.

Reluctant to fight a price war, I wanted to design a truly high-end boat that would match the quality of diving and natural wonders of the destination. To achieve this, I wanted luxury to be present both above and below the surface.

Less divers equals less bubbles during a dive, and bigger, more comfortable spaces on board. Also, as an underwater photographer myself, and having so many photographers on the boats, I wanted to really design spaces for the lens aficionado, such as our individual camera/charge stations inside the salon, and the camera table and camera rinse tank outside.

Q: It is certainly an impressive-looking vessel, and that Canadian coastguard hull and superstructure are very unlike most diving liveaboards out there. What attracted you to a boat that was constructed for the military?

A: First of all, we wanted a boat that covered our needs in terms of navigation, size, speed, and interior spaces with the refit potential we needed. Before buying the Vortex, formerly Lestralaur, formerly James Sinclair, we actually put a deposit down for a big boat called the Pacific Provider, a steel hull, 51-metre former crab vessel that worked the Bering Sea on both the American and the Russian side. The Provider had an impressive stern platform that could carry an 18-metre Viking, with a brand new ten-ton crane - it was the perfect boat for exploratory trips while carrying around all sorts of toy, like Jorge is an acclaimed photographer

submersibles. As excited as we were with this boat, the size was an issue, and being over 500 gross tonnage comes with all sorts of special requirements and logistical nightmares.

The original steel plate was one-inch thick, which is a lot, and even though the boat was in perfect condition to sail, from a safety certificate point of view, and based on the original, super-thick steel plates, we needed to replace over 60 percent of it. At this point I decided to call it off, and a year later we found what is now the Vortex. The most-impressive thing about our boat is the pristine condition of the hull and the high quality of the structural work, as well as its design as a patrol vessel, built for speed. These two are directly related to her military origins. Then, the previous owner had installed two super-powerful MTU engines 2,750hp each before he passed away. They are some of the most-fancy marine engines out there, and brand new.

Q: The photographs of the finished interior look more like a land-based hotel. What was your main aim during the build of the Vortex?

A: The most-important thing for me was to not deviate from the product we had designed. As a project like this progresses, everything starts taking more time and more money than what you had planned‌ considerably. In these situations, the easiest thing to do was to cut corners or downsizing on the quality of the equipment, materials, etc, but my aim always was to finish the same boat I had envisioned. This came at a cost, many cancelled trips and financial struggle, but I do think nothing worthy comes easy, and I’m very happy and proud of what we achieved.

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The most-impressive thing about our boat is the pristine condition of the hull and the high quality of the structural work, as well as its design as a patrol vessel, built for speed Jorge Hauser

Q: Whenever you are involved in a major operation such as this, I am sure that things don’t always go to plan, but have you managed to create a real-life vessel that matches the vision you had in your mind’s eye?

A: We did manage to match the vision, and it was thanks to surrounding myself with the best team. Doug Sharp on the early layout design stages, Tomás Fernández, the shipyard’s owner, and Nina Anguelova, our interior designer and architect during the refit, Rodo, our head of operations and our amazing

crew, they were all hard working during the final two months at the shipyard. Last but definitely not least, my very dear friend Peter Hughes, who was there by my side for the entire 16-month process. Without his advice, knowledge and support, none of this would’ve been possible. It took a lot of stubbornness and determination from all of us to get here.

Q: You can tell from the finished vessel that this was a real labour-of-love for you. How long did the whole Vortex project take to come to fruition?

A: It took us one year to find the right boat, three months to design the new layout, and 13 months to finish the refit, for a total of two years and four months. n

The Socorro Vortex at anchor

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A TRUE

NATURAL

Wonder Al Hornsby waxes lyrical about the above-water and undersea charms of the Seychelles, which he describes as one of the world’s true wonders PHOTOGRAPHS BY AL HORNSBY

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S

ometimes, when trying to describe some beautiful, tropical place, you risk sounding like you are reading from a travel brochure. When it’s about clear, blue and turquoise sparkling waters with reefs glowing just beneath the surface; whitesand beaches edged with waving coconut palms; steep, mountainous islands rising from the sea, covered with lush, green jungle; wheeling seabirds, flashing in the sunlight across the sky… well, you get the picture. Yet, for some special locations, whichever words you choose to accurately describe the place will be the stuff of which travel brochures are made. There are few places on Earth where this would be more true than the islands of the Seychelles, in the warm Indian Ocean, just east of Africa.

The Seychelles archipelago, indeed, is considered one of the most-beautiful, pristine places on Earth. Even ancient Arab sailors agreed – they actually thought it to be the Garden of Eden.

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The island group is made up of a collection of inner islands of grey and pink granite, covered with a rich proliferation of tropical vegetation, with scattered waterfalls and meandering streams. Off to the southwest, a string of scarcely inhabited coral atolls meanders for more than 1,200km into the oceanic wilderness toward the African continent. Colonies of birds are found seemingly everywhere – boobies, terns, tropic-birds and frigate birds, by the millions during the migratory seasons.

And on a number of the islands are giant tortoises, more than 150,000 in all.

Having spent a total of six weeks of intensive diving and exploring the Seychelles over the years, the islands remain one of my very favourite places. The diving here, centred around the inner islands, is not primarily focused on coral reefs, but instead, the geology provides a dramatic underwater environment like none other I’ve ever seen. The same granite spires and columns that form the islands - very similar in type and age as the granite around Cornwall, I’m told - have their roots in the sea, and dives are predominantly among a complex landscape of huge boulders, walls and spires that rise up toward the surface. They are covered with sponges, cup corals and whip corals, and soft corals emerge from protected crevices, all fed by warm, clear, nutrient-rich waters.

The most-striking aspect of diving here, however, is the amazing concentration and variety of marine life, from the smallest to the largest. The bottom is home to a vast assortment of macro-critters, such as shrimps, crabs, shells and nudibranchs, especially active on night dives.

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Massive schools of fish swirl about, and species such as Napolean wrasse, batfish and pompano, eagle rays, large marbled rays, green turtles and a number of different sharks are frequently seen. And, if that wasn’t enough, mantas are resident, and some 500 individually-identified whalesharks spend the fall months feeding in the islands’ waters.

Mahe, the island nation’s capital, is the largest of the islands, covering 155 square kilometres, and is the centre for Seychelles diving. Many of the islands’ most-popular dive sites are located off its shores or around nearby islands reachable by boat. Around the northern end of Mahe, my favorite dives are: Shark Bank – Large, granite rocks and pinnacles jut up from a 35m bottom, creating a beautiful dive averaging 20m in depth.

The stone is covered by orange cup corals and there are many small, purple soft corals. We photographed schools of batfish, fusiliers, blue-striped snapper and mobula mantas. Two large marbled stingrays lying half-buried in the sand provided very interesting images.

The Ennerdale – A 100-metre British Royal Fleet auxiliary tanker that sank in 1970, the wreck sits on a 30m sand bottom, and its superstructure is dramatic. It has a great swarm of fish life, and we found the bridge swirling with glassy sweeper and batfish. Several groups of eagle rays made repeated passes, and we came across a large Queensland grouper, one of several resident to the wreck.

Conception Island – This small island sits just off Mahe’s northwestern shoreline. On a flat sand and coralline bottom at 25m, encrusted granite boulders lay scattered about, with lots of large fish. We saw schools of big-eye jacks and great barracuda, white-tip and grey reef sharks, and several species of rays. At one point, we were surprised by a group of bumphead parrotfish, which noisily swept in and by us.

Along the southwestern coast of Mahe, there are also a number of excellent dives: Alice in Wonderland – With perhaps the most-vibrant corals of the inner island dive sites, Alice is a coral plateau at depths of 12-20m. It has stands of staghorn and table corals, and lots of reef tropicals swim in and out of the corals. Like many Seychelles’ dive sites, there are many large anemones and several species of clownfish, including false clowns, oranges and skunks.

Manta ray

Spectacular wall

Breeding females arrive in large numbers, moving around the pinnacles and grottos pursued by males; breath-taking stuff when you are in their midst 44

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Blue-lined snapper

The bottom is home to a vast assortment of macro-critters, such as shrimps, crabs, shells and nudibranchs, especially active on night dives Elephant Rock – An offshore site with a maximum depth of 20m, this dive centres around a large pinnacle sprinkled with low, hard corals and soft corals. It has lots of fish, and resident eagle rays. There are a number of nurse sharks, and loads of bottom dwellers such as shells, octopi, scorpionfish and lionfish.

Whalesharks – Throughout the islands, but centred around Mahe, is a world-class specialty of the Seychelles – diving with whalesharks. From August through the end of October, hundreds of whalesharks migrate in to feed in the rich waters.

The Marine Society of the Seychelles Whaleshark Programme, which was supported by a Project AWARE grant in its early days, monitors the sharks and has become one of the mostsignificant whaleshark studies in the world. During the season, a microlight aircraft is sent up each morning to locate the groups of sharks, then boats go out in the afternoons for dive encounters. Visitors can join the research trips, their fees helping to fund the programme. And while such interactions can never be guaranteed, the success rate on the research boats is remarkably high - only two days in the 2010 season, for example, did not have whaleshark interactions; a number of days had aggregations of 20-30 sharks.

Beautiful topside and underwater

Snapper and surgeonfish shoal in an overhang

PRASLIN AND LA DIGUE

The next chief diving area is around the islands of Praslin and La Digue, which lie to the north of Mahe. Praslin is the second largest of the Seychelles, known for exquisite beaches, rare birds and virgin forest. La Digue, just to the east of Praslin, is the top of a submerged mountain surrounded by white sand beaches dramatically interspersed with huge, grey and pink granite boulders. My favorite dives here are: Ave Maria Rock – Lying in mid-channel between Praslin and La Digue, large boulders extend into the water, forming walls, swim-throughs and grottos, which we found practically filled with glassy sweepers and silversides, marauding bluefin trevally and coral grouper slashing through their midst, actively feeding. Along the bottom, several large Napoleon wrasse hovered about us, and we saw several green turtles, who were completely unconcerned with our presence.

Marianne Island – The site, which consists of pinnacle rocks and giant granite needles that rise up from 23m of depth, is considered the best shark dive in the Seychelles. With lots of resident white-tips, nurse and grey reef sharks, things really heat up from September-November, when the grey reef mating seasons occurs. Breeding females arrive in large numbers, moving around the pinnacles and grottos pursued by males; breath-taking stuff when you are in their midst.

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DES ROCHES

Nearly 230km to the south, Des Roches is a tiny, palm-covered coral island, only 6km long, well-known as both a romantic hideaway and an exciting dive destination. My favourite dives here are along its wall: Canyons – In an area where a portion of the reef face has toppled away, it has formed a vertical cavern and a series of deep canyons, down to 38m. Black coral bushes and cup corals grow along the cavern face, and on my last dive there, a huge school of resident big-eye jacks, a moving silver wall, completely enveloped us. Mantas and eagle rays also regularly move through this area, and large bull helmet shells lie about on the sandy bottom.

Tunnel – Through a large opening in the reef top at 14m of depth, the passageway extends downwards vertically. Schools of blue-striped snapper, Macaloris snapper and Oriental sweetlips practically fill the entrance. At 25m, the tunnel opens out onto the wall face. Leopard sharks are often seen along the drop.

Napolean wrasse Iridescent mollusc

SILHOUETTE, NORTH ISLAND AND FREGAT

Liveaboards at anchor

There is also excellent diving to be found around some of the other islands, such as Silhouette, North Island and Fregat, and like the more well-known dive areas of the Seychelles, they are supported by professional PADI dive operators. Along with the diving, however, any trip to the Seychelles should include the time to visit some of the many nature reserves, which are home to a wide variety of plants, birds and reptiles. Especially interesting is the small island of Aride, a world-renowned bird sanctuary located just north of Praslin. Hikes along its jungled trails provide close viewing of nesting fairy, noddy, roseate and sooty terns, along with huge frigatebirds, which feed and roost around the island.

Stingray

Picture-perfect scenery

CONCLUSION

When writing about such a large and varied area as the Seychelles, there is never enough space to adequately tell the story. The culture, marine and topside life, innate beauty and diving each could easily support a full narrative. Without exaggeration, the Seychelles archipelago ranks as a true world wonder, worthy of anyone’s ‘must visit’ list.

Al was assisted with this article by Four Seasons Resort Seychelles, the Four Seasons Resort Seychelles Dive Centre and Seychelles Underwater Centre. n

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MANTA NURSERY DISCOVERED NEAR BALI

M

anta Bay and Manta Point, on the coast of Bali’s Nusa Penida, have been identified in new research as vital habitats for manta rays.

The area has now been identified as both breeding area and nursery for these graceful creatures.

The new study, led by Murdoch University and Marine Megafauna Foundation PhD student Elitza Germanov, found one hotspot – known as Manta Bay – was frequented by juvenile male mantas looking for food, suggesting the area is a nursery for the threatened species. Researchers also found mature males and females congregating in large numbers at Manta Point, 12km from Manta Bay, where the mantas were observed visiting cleaning stations and engaging in courtship displays during the mating season (which peaks in May). To minimise the impact from tourism, the researchers have proposed limiting the number of tourism boats allowed at one time, and formulating codes of conduct for tour operators to follow.

Co-author Dr Gede Hedrawan of Bali’s Udayana University said the new findings could inform conservation efforts in Nusa Penida: “This new research will prove useful for MPA managers, informing future reviews and allowing them to assess the appropriate capacity for manta ray watching.”

Ms Germanov said it was vital to learn more about the manta rays in Indonesia, so more could be done to protect them. “Where manta rays are born and grow up still baffles us,” she said. “Our research in Indonesia suggests there might be a reef manta nursery in the Nusa Penida area, which is important for us to know because they provide a safe space for young, vulnerable mantas to grow and develop away from the reach of predators.”

Data for this study was obtained from citizen scientists and trained observers submitting ID photos to the global

manta ray database, www.mantamatcher.org, over the course of six years, from 2012. A total of 624 reef manta rays were identified from 5,913 sightings based on their unique ventral coloration patterns and sex and maturity indicators.

The study, titled Contrasting Habitat Use and Population Dynamics of Reef Manta Rays Within the Nusa Penida Marine Protected Area, Indonesia, was published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science. n

PHOTOGRAPH BY SIMON PIERCE

WORLD’S TOP 5 PLACES FOR A MANTA ENCOUNTER

1. Hanafaru Bay, The Maldives – The Maldives, being a string of coral atolls surrounded by deep water, attract lots of pelagic creatures and one of the world’s largest aggregations of mantas: Hanifaru Lagoon at Baa Atoll.

The atolls in this region are best dived between July and October when dozens, and sometimes hundreds, of manta rays, gather in this lagoon and are often joined by several whale sharks.

2. Nusa Penida, Bali – Being so close to tourism hotspot Bali, the manta dive sites of Nusa Penida are easily accessible and growing increasingly popular. As the area has recently been identified as mating ground and possible manta nursery it’s important you choose a reliable operator.

3. Raja Ampat, Indonesia – There are a couple of great manta dive sites in Raja Ampat but the best-known is Manta Sandy, located to the south of a large reef between Arborek Island and Mansuar Island towards the Dampier

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Strait’s western end. It is also known as Manta Site or Manta Mantra.

4. Lady Elliot Island, Australia – Lady Elliot Island is a destination well known for manta activity – indeed, the island advertises itself as ‘Home of the Manta’ and is used frequently as a base for the research team at Project Manta. There are mantas at Lady Elliot all year round and the resort is also deeply involved in manta conservation and they offer lots of information about mantas.

5. German Channel, Palau – Palau had the foresight to ban commercial fishing in all their territorial waters creating a massive Marine Sanctuary and also has particularly serendipitous marine geography that funnels nutrient rich waters into the mouth of German Channel where you can watch mantas loop the loop as they feed.

If we’ve inspired you to search out a manta encounter, contact the team at Diveplanit Travel for help - email: info@diveplanit.com or FREECALL 1800 607 913 (+61 7 4039 0200)

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BEYOND TECHNICAL

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F

or most divers, Bikini is almost like an urban legend.

A remote atoll in the middle of the Pacific where 23 nuclear tests were performed, where the Able and Baker blasts famously destroyed some of the most-significant warships of our time, and the local Bikini Islanders were left nuclear refugees to this day. It is a place where, after 40 hours of travel and a brief stop at a secret army base, you are still only halfway there. Historic wrecks, shark-filled waters, and exploration define it.

Welcome to Bikini Atoll.

OPERATION CROSSROADS

After World War One, and following a mandate from the League of Nations, Japan took over the administration of the Marshall Islands. In anticipation of World War Two, military presence in the islands intensified. Bikini, Truk Lagoon, and other low-lying coral atolls became strategic points of interest. Life for the Islanders wasn’t peaceful anymore as the Japanese began building watchtowers to keep an eye out for an American invasion. Kwajalein, in particular, became a key headquarters for the Japanese.

American forces took Kwajalein and the Marshalls by force in February 1944. Japanese control was lost. There were five Japanese soldiers left on Bikini Atoll. Instead of allowing themselves to be captured, they blew themselves up with a grenade while hiding out in a foxhole.

Post-World War Two, in December 1945, then-US President Harry Truman informed the US Forces the testing of nuclear weapons would be undertaken ‘to determine the effect of atomic bombs on American warships’. Unluckily for Bikini, its isolation from the sea and air routes meant it was chosen as a nuclear testing point - these tests came to be named Operation Crossroads.

Helmets found in a diving locker

Five-inch guns pointed towards the surface

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HAVING A

BLAST Aron Arngrimsson, founder of The Dirty Dozen Expeditions, waxes lyrical about Operation Crossroads and how it made Bikini Atoll an iconic dive destination, as well as exploring the most-famous wreck – the USS Saratoga PHOTOGRAPHS BY ARON ARNGRIMSSON AND GEOFF CREIGHTON

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Looking into the forward elevator shaft

Doorway still sealed shut

Commodore Wyatt, then-military governor of the Marshall Islands, went to Bikini in February 1946. After church on a Sunday, he gathered the native Bikini Islanders and asked them to leave their homes so the US could test bombs. He stated it was for ‘the good of mankind and to end all world wars’. King Juda, the Bikini monarch, was understandably confused but entered into discussions with his people. They decided to leave: ‘We will go believing that everything is in the hands of God’.

While the Islanders were preparing for their enforced exodus, the US testing programme advanced swiftly. A total of 242 naval ships, 156 aircraft, 25,000 radiation recording tools, and 5,400 animals arrived. The latter were to serve as test subjects. More than 42,000 US personnel played a part in the testing programme.

The Crossroads tests were the first of other nuclear tests in the Marshalls. They were also the first to be announced in public beforehand and were observed by a large audience, including press from around the world. Operation Crossroads was led by a joint Army and Navy Task Force. The target ships were placed in Bikini’s lagoon. They were hit with two rounds of Fat Man plutonium implosion weapons, the same type of nuclear bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki. Each implosion yielded 23 kilotons of TNT. A total of 95 vessels - the equivalent of the sixth-largest navy in the world - were caught in the crossfire of the Able and Baker bombs. Among the sunken ships were four US battleships, two aircraft carriers, two cruisers, 11 destroyers, eight submarines, and three surrendered German and Japanese warships. These vessels had been bunkered and were filled with ammunition. Some even carried sheep and other animals acting as stand-in soldiers so that the effects of radiation could be observed.

Following the mainline penetration

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COMPUTERS • O2 CELLS • GAS ANALYSERS CABLES & CONNECTORS • REBREATHER PARTS PATHFINDER STROBES • SENSORS TOOLS • SOLENOIDS The way it makes you feel going down corridor after corridor is like no other, endless amounts of mindblowing exploration Sick bay sign

Bikini Island

500lb bombs in elevator shaft

The first blast, Able, was dropped from a B-29 and detonated at an altitude of 158 metres at 9am on 1 July, 1946. Designed to replicate the Hiroshima bomb over water, it didn’t go as planned as the bomb missed its target, the USS Nevada battleship. It did, however, sink the USS Gilham, USS Carlisle, USS Anderson, USS Lamson, and IJN Sakawa.

Baker, a bomb of the same yield, was used for the second test. It was detonated at 27m underwater beneath LSM-60 on 25 July, 1946. No part of LSM-60 has been identified since, it’s presumed to have been completely vaporised.

A Defense Nuclear Agency report detailing the weather briefing the day prior to Castle Bravo test stated there would be ‘no significant fallout for the populated Marshalls’.

The 6pm briefing was contradictory though: ‘the predicted winds were less favourable; nevertheless, the decision to go ahead was reaffirmed, but with another review of the winds scheduled for midnight’. It was known that high winds were ‘headed for Rongelap to the east’. Furthermore, ‘it was recognised that both Bikini and Eneman islands would probably be contaminated’.

The decision to go forward with the testing, knowing full well that the winds were blowing toward inhabited islands, was in essence a decision to contaminate the northern Marshalls. And to irradiate the people who were living there.

Inside is like diving into a museum

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BEYOND TECHNICAL

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A lot of the targets also represented symbolic killings.

The Japanese battleship IJN Nagato is famously known as the vessel from which Admiral Yamamoto issued the order to attack Pearl Harbour, which brought the US into World War Two. During Operation Crossroads, the US Navy placed it in the direct crosshairs of the Able and Baker tests.

For the few ships that survived the blasts, radioactive contamination in the lagoon proved more problematic than expected. Prinz Eugen, a German heavy cruiser, sank in December outside of Kwajalein just five months after the tests. The high radioactivity levels made repairs to the leaking hull impossible. Only nine surviving ships were decontaminated and then sold as scrap. Other vessels, when decontamination wasn’t successful, were sunk near Kwajalein.

Bikini Lagoon became the graveyard for some of the most-significant naval ships in war history. The dangers of the radioactivity and the remoteness of the area led to an extremely limited exploration of this diving site for many years. Now, from the misery and destruction wrought by the nuclear tests, Bikini Atoll has risen as the world’s preeminent wreck-diving site.

The business end of a gun barrel

Crockery still in one piece

A total of 95 vessels - the equivalent of the sixth-largest navy in the world - were caught in the crossfire of the Able and Baker bombs The dentistry is a ‘must-see’

THE USS SARATOGA

The USS Saratoga entered service in 1928 and spent her whole career with the Pacific Fleet. She was the third cruiser to be converted into an aircraft carrier. The Japanese claimed to have sunk the Saratoga seven times during World War Two. It was only when the vessel was struck by five kamikaze attacks on 21 February, 1945, killing 123 men and tearing a huge hole in the side of the ship, that the end started getting near for the Saratoga. In July 1946, the ship was part of Operation Crossroads.

After surviving the first nuclear blast, the Saratoga was not so lucky during Baker. The explosion forced the vessel out of the water, knocking everything off the flight deck and destroying her funnel. Her ammunition and fuel loads were at

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We design, manufacture and retail scuba and rebreather equipment. We have fully equipped test and certification labs, and can pressure test large items in our vacuum chambers, as well as run fully automated leak test and dive simulations down to 400m. Our EMC and EMF lab is filled with state-ofthe-art equipment for testing electromagnetic compatibility and electromagnetic fields. We also have a large in-house laser for cutting and engraving on plastics and metals. www.narkedat90.com

CCRs help on extended explorations

67 percent and 10 percent capacity respectively Eight hours after the blast, as he watched the aircraft carrier sink below the water, a correspondent for the New York Times wrote ‘Outside the reef... the observing ships cruised, while the Sara slowly died. There were scores who wanted to save her - and perhaps she might have been saved, had there been a crew aboard. But she died a lonely death, with no man upon the decks once teaming with life’.

The USS Saratoga now rests 51m below the water in the lagoon at Bikini. The bridge is accessible at 18m, with the deck at 29m. The bombs and scattered Helldivers are on the bottom, flung from the carrier during the explosions, with their controls and dials still somewhat intact.

The forward elevator shaft offers a range of penetrations including the sick bay, scullery, dive locker, and the blacksmith shop, among others. There are over 1,000 watertight compartments on the Saratoga with many closed doors still unexplored for over 70 years. The way it makes you feel going down corridor after corridor is like no other, endless amounts of mind-blowing exploration.

While the wreck itself is teeming with life - tiger sharks and even occasional juvenile whalesharks like to hang around the wreck the sheer size combined with the number of artefacts is simply unparalleled.

That it was blown up by a nuclear device, and it is in one of the remotest places on the planet, stands testament to the old adage that the most-extraordinary things in life are hard to get, but for the most part, there is a very good reason for it. Saratoga is one of them. n

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THE DIRTY DOZEN EXPEDITIONS The Dirty Dozen Expeditions came about when two passionate wreck divers shared a beer, while running a boat in Truk Lagoon, Micronesia, and discussed their dream-trip itinerary. They decided to organise a special one-off trip and invite old friends and industry leaders to join.

Since then, The Dirty Dozen Expeditions has gone from that first trip to 20-plus expeditions in Truk Lagoon, Bikini Atoll, and beyond. Dirty Dozen trips foster a close-knit family atmosphere between passionate wreck junkies and distinguished guest divers who conduct onboard workshops. Their unique itineraries are combined with full support for the most-demanding OC/CCR divers.

The expedition-ready vessel Truk Master travels to Bikini Atoll between May and October every year and is the only regularly scheduled dive operator since the land-based dive centre was abandoned. The yacht provides ample space for relaxation, big cameras, rebreathers and all the tech kit their divers need.

There are redundant oxygen generators onboard, ample supplies of helium and Sofnolime, underwater scooters, twinsets, and dedicated sidemount and rebreather cylinders. Logistical challenges in Bikini are about as hard as they can get because of the atoll’s isolation.

But with their vast experience operating in remote areas, you’ll find that the crew makes it look easy and you can have the wreck-diving trip of a lifetime in both style and comfort. Email: info@thedirtydozen.org for more information, pricing, and availability, or check out: www.thedirtydozen.org

What’s New

SHARKSKIN SHORT SLEEVE AND LONG SLEEVE

Sharkskin has extended its range of lightweight, technologically advanced waterwear. This short sleeve with chest zip, or long sleeve with full zip, both come in female (sizes 8-18) and male (sizes XS-5XL) cuts. Made from Sharkskin’s aquatic-specific chillproof multi-layer material, the garments are breathable, have four-way stretch, are neutrally buoyant and give equivalent thermal protection to 2.5-3mm neoprene. www.sharkskin.com

FOURTH ELEMENT ROCK HOPPER

The Rock Hopper shoes are lightweight yet pack a punch in comfort and versatility. Comfortable for clambering over rocks thanks to the natural rubber outsole and ergonomic footbed, the Rock Hoppers are equally suited to use with open-heel fins thanks to heel reinforcement and a durable lining over the bridge of the foot.

The 3mm stretch neoprene is very comfortable and is lined with OceanPositive fabric made from recycled plastic bottles.

The smoothskin seal around the ankle minimises water movement and helps to keep the shoes in place whether walking, climbing or finning. www.fourthelement.com

BEUCHAT MAXLUX S

Beuchat are certainly ensuring that everyone notices their return to the market when it comes to the masks – I don’t think I have ever seen such a bright, vibrant range of colours in masks!

The Maxlux S mask has a very low profile, hypoallergenic silicon skirt, which is super-soft and comfortable. As the skirt is bonded 54

directly on to the single lens, you get a superb panoramic field of vision.

There are three new colours for 2019 – salmon, electric blue and yellow sun – which join the array of blues, yellows, pinks, reds, oranges, white and black already available. www.beuchat-diving.com WWW.SCUBADIVERMAG.COM

BIGBLUE TL 2600

Bigblue dive lights have been shining bright since they hit the UK market, and the TL 2600 is continuing that trend.

With a light output over four levels ranging between 260Lm2600Lm with a 10° beam, it offers burn times of between 15 hours and 1.5 hours.

The aluminium case is double O-ring sealed and rated to 100m, and the on/off power switch also indicates battery level.

The light comes complete with Li-ion battery, charger, aluminium handle, soft goodman glove and dry bag. www.bigbluedivelights.com

MARES GENIUS

The Genius is the latest full-colour dive computer from Mares that not only supports recreational air and nitrox diving, but also hypoxic and normoxic trimix gas mixes, making it their most-advanced computer so far.

Four push buttons along the bottom of the housing provide easy navigation through the various menus, screens and settings. An oversized elastomer strap makes the computer easy to secure to your arm, with waved sections in the strap designed to compensate for suit squeeze at depth.

As you can imagine, the Genius is packed with features including the ability to support up to five optional wireless transmitters, a full-tilt digital compass, large dive profile memory, built-in smart battery management for up to 40 hours of time from the rechargeable battery, Bluetooth connectivity to smart devices, and so much more. www.mares.com

ROHO X-FLEX SOLO

The X-Flex Solo is Roho’s brand-new suit that offers a telescopic torso and cross-chest front-entry zipper. It is made from the company’s X-Flex fabric, which is soft and comfortable but also durable and hard-wearing. As usual for Roho, it is triple-glued and taped to ensure water integrity.

It has Melco kneepads, neck warmer/protector, internal braces and two large tech pockets. The neck and wrist seals are latex, and it has hard-soled neoprene-lined feet.

Available in pink, blue, black or red, and optional extras at no extra cost include latex socks, heavy-duty seals or neoprene seals. www.roho.co.uk

XDEEP DOUBLE-ENDER CLIP

Every once in a while comes a subtle change that affects, in such a dramatic way, the most-simple of tasks. xDeep have taken the industry-standard boltsnap and thrown the rule book out of the window. The redesign, from basic concept through function to individual design detail gives the new NX range of boltsnaps class-leading performance and ergonomics, once again proving that every aspect of your diving kit has room for optimisation. www.xdeep.eu * = check pricing with local suppliers/centres in your area

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Gear Guide

THIS ISSUE: PRIMARY DIVE LIGHTS

Each month, the SCUBA DIVER test team assembles to rate and review a selection of dive equipment from a range of manufacturers. Products are split into price categories and are then evaluated for performance, comfort, ease of use, build quality, looks and value for money. The Test Team comprises Editor in Chief Mark Evans and a squad of volunteers, whose dive experience ranges from a couple of hundred dives to well over 6,000.

PRIMARY DIVE LIGHTS

This issue, we look at primary dive lights. A decent torch is a must for any diver, whether you are a hardcore local diver, an occasional holiday diver, or anywhere in-between. Dive lights are not just for ‘night dives’, thay can be invaluable in a cave, cavern or shipwreck, and can also put some of the colour back into an underwater scene on an overcast or dull day. They are also useful as a signalling device between buddy teams.

Our criteria for the test was a torch that is ideal for use as a primary dive light, that is, your main source of illumination on a dive. It could be battery or rechargeable - although in this case they are all rechargable - but must be hand-held, no umbilical units. We looked at the build quality, ease of use (how to turn on/off while wearing thick gloves, etc), type of beam (spot or wide/flood), burn time, accessories and size.

The continued development of LED lighting technology has seen dive lights come on leaps and bounds, and it is astounding the power developed by some compact units these days - in the past, you have been carrying a monster torch around for a similar sort of output.

ON TEST THIS MONTH: • ANCHOR SERIES 3K • BIGBLUE TL3500 • DIVEPRO D6 • EXPOSURE MARINE 3-20 • FINNSUB 3600 SHORT • MARES EOS 20RZ 56

Location: Tested at Vivian Dive Centre, Llanberis www.viviandivecentre.com Water temp: 9 degrees C Surface temp: 18 degrees C WWW.SCUBADIVERMAG.COM

ANCHOR DIVE LIGHTS SERIES 3K 20-DEGREE SPOT Anchor Dive Lights are an Ireland-based company that is earning high acclaim in the world of underwater lighting. The Series 3K is one of their staple products, and the 20-degree Spot version here, as the name suggests, produces a tightly focused, bright beam which still provides a reasonable spread, and has some peripheral light that illuminates around the main beam.

This aircraft-grade anodised aluminium torch pumps out 3,000 lumen at full power, which gives a burntime of 70-80 minutes, but you get two-anda-half hours at 50 percent power, and five hours at 25 percent power. It is simple to cycle through the different power settings by pressing the on/off button, which also features illumination to let you know the charge level of the battery.

Depth-rated to 100m, it is amazingly compact, and is swallowed in the palm of your hand. With its light weight - for a metal torch - and dinky size, it is ideal as a travelling diver’s companion. Its power and brightness of beam means it is fantastic as a compact primary torch right here in UK waters that beam just slices through even lousy visibility - but it would be phenomenal as a main dive torch abroad, I’d just knock it down to 50 percent power so you didn’t scare everything off on a night dive!

The latest blue-anodised version has a couple of new features, in particular a ‘warmer’ light more suited to tropical night dives. www.anchordivelights.com

TECH SPECS & VERDICT WEIGHT: 340g RECHARGEABLE: Yes VERDICT: Small but powerful primary dive torch suitable for use in the UK and abroad, especially the new ‘blue’ version.

Easy to use, durably built - all-round quality package.

SCORE

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BIGBLUE TL3500 BigBlue have successfully carved out a niche for themselves in the competitive world of underwater lighting, and I am seeing many videographers utilising their products now, as well as divers for general lighting purposes.

The TL3500 delivers - as the name suggests - 3,500 lumens at full power for oneand-a-half hours via its three ultra-highintensity LEDs, and while much of this is concentrated in a ten-degree spot, there is also a wide peripherary beam as well.

This makes it great for penetrating through floating detritus - as often encountered in UK waters - and also for signalling. The halo of peripheral light is also enough to illuminate wider surroundings without burning everything out.

There are four power settings - 100 percent, 50 percent, 25 percent and 10 percent, with the latter giving an awesome burntime of 15 hours! There is also an SOS setting. The push button is easy to operate even wearing thick gloves, and the colour indicator - blue at full charge, green as the power drops, and red when nearing re-charge time - is handy too.It is quite comfortable just held in your hand, but also comes with a lantern-style handle, and a soft Goodman handle. www.bigbluedivelights.com

CHOICE 2019 GROUP TEST

TORCHES

TECH SPECS & VERDICT WEIGHT: 447g RECHARGEABLE: Yes VERDICT: The BigBlue TL3500 is a compact unit, but it sure pumps out some light, and we like the design of the push-button on/off with indicator light.

SCORE

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* = check pricing with local suppliers/centres in your area

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DIVEPRO D6 The DivePro D6 is made from aircraftgrade anodised aluminium and boasts a single CREE XM-L L2 LED pushing out 1,200 lumens into a tight, bright spot, with a light peripheral halo around it.

The D6 is turned on and off with a twist of the hilt, which is easy to do even wearing gloves. However, by turning it on and off within two seconds, you can cycle through high and low power settings, and an SOS mode, which is pretty neat. You get a burntime of four hours on full power, and eight hours on low power. Even low power, approximately 500 lumens, is quite bright.

The small nature of the D6, along with its relatively low weight (for a metal torch) means it is a good option as a primary torch for use abroad, as it won’t eat up too much luggage allowance.

I personally would happily use the D6 as a primary torch in the UK, as that narrow spot beam slices through the gloom (great for signalling, too), but it would also make a superior back-up torch due to its size. It would excel in tropical waters, though, as a main dive light.

Finally, let’s touch on that stunning price point. That sort of cash for a metal-bodied rechargeable torch of this quality is fantastic value for money. www.divepro.com

TECH SPECS & VERDICT WEIGHT: 340g RECHARGEABLE: Yes VERDICT: Extremely compact dive torch, with a bright spot beam. Easy twist on/off, great burntime and an astonishing price. Great for a powerful back-up or tropical primary.

SCORE

•••••••••

* = check pricing with local suppliers/centres in your area

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Solas Ă?ontach All handhelds are modular and can be upgraded to an umbilical & canister.

EXPOSURE MARINE ACTION 3-20 Exposure Marine turned the dive light market on its head a few years back with their innovative torches, which were incredibly bright and compact. However, the method of turning them on/off and cycling through power settings - which involved rotating the torch - left some divers bemused. The new versions have all of the positives of the previous incarnation, and none of the negatives.

The anodised aluminium, rechargable Action 3-20 has three White XPL2 LEDs, which deliver 1,800 lumens on full power, for a runtime of two hours. Medium power gives you four hours, and low power eight hours.

Gone is the old method of turning it on and off, instead you now have a moretraditional and user-friendly push button on the bottom. However, uniquely, there is an OLED display which shows the remaining runtime at that power setting in hours and minutes.

The clever bods at Exposure Marine couldn’t help themselves, though, and so the torch also has a ‘tap’ function, where you can cycle through the power levels simply by tapping the light itself.

For a small unit, the 3-20 puts out a very bright, even white light, and it sits in a soft Goodman handle on the back of your hand. www.exposurelights.com

TECH SPECS & VERDICT WEIGHT: 258g RECHARGEABLE Yes VERDICT: Geat to see Exposure Marine back in the mix, with a compact but powerful, and more user-friendly, version of their unique dive light.

SCORE

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* = check pricing with local suppliers/centres in your area

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ACTION SERIES Exposure’s Action series are designed for use above and below the water utilising a simple push switch control and colour coded battery management system. The optional, patented, TAP control feature allows hands free control for changing mode. This feature can be switched on or off depending on the user’s preference. Maximum outputs from 1000 Lumens up to 2500 Lumens. Varying beam angles from 9 degree spot beam to 100 degree video light.

16° BEAM 1000 LUMENS 1.5hrs RUNTIME

100° BEAM 1000 LUMENS 1.5hrs RUNTIME

104mm x Ø 32mm

9° BEAM 1000 LUMENS 1.5hrs RUNTIME

20° BEAM 2500 LUMENS 1hr RUNTIME

100° BEAM 2500 LUMENS 1hr RUNTIME

9° BEAM 1000 LUMENS 4.5hrs RUNTIME

113mm x Ø 47mm

FINNSUB 3600 SHORT Finnish-brand Finnsub offer a wide range of dive lights, but the 3,600 Short is perhaps one of its morepopular units. The head has three CREE XM-L LEDs putting out a focused ten degree beam, which at full power of 3,600 lumens - the name kind of gave that away! - is incredibly bright and cuts through British waters, and is more akin to some umbilical torches.

This full-power mode has a burn time of one hour, but knock it down to half power of 1,800 lumens, you get two hours, and this is still very bright.

Drop it to the third ‘safety’ power setting of 360 lumens and you get a burntime of 12 hours, plus you can use it topside without damaging the torch.

To cycle through the power settings, you just turn the magnetic ring on the head - the first twist puts it in safety mode, and then clockwise goes brighter, and counter-clockwise reverses the procedure. It has an anodised aluminium body and comes with an anatomic Goodman handle that allows the torch to sit comfortably on the back of your hand.

It is one of the heavier and more-expensive units in this test, but it also produces the most lumens. www.finnsub.com

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TECH SPECS & VERDICT WEIGHT: 760g RECHARGEABLE: Yes VERDICT: One of the bigger, heavier and expensive torches here, but well-made, incredibly bright, and easy to operate even with gloves on. A great primary light.

SCORE

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MARES EOS 20RZ Mares have produced a strong line-up of torches with the EOS RZ range, and the 20RZ is the top of the line, but it doesn’t have a ridiculous price point, coming in at a very reasonable cost.

It is one of the larger units in this review, and it weighs in at 594g, but even then, it is no beast, comfortably sitting in your hand. Part of the reason for the weight is the enlarged front of the light, which offers a nifty zoom function - twist that chunky head and you can alter the beam from a tight, bright 11 degree spot to a wide 75 degree flood, which still retains an even spread. A narrower beam penetrates well in lower vis, and the wider beam can light up a wide area when things are clearer.

The three CREE XP-L LEDs put out 2,300 lumens at full power, and it has three settings - high (100 minute burntime), low (three-hour burntime) and SOS mode.

It is depth-rated to 120m, and recharges by simply unscrewing the end cap and then plugging in a cable to your laptop or a wall socket (via a mains/USB plug).

To turn the 20RZ on and off is easy - you just slide the locking mechanism across and thumb the slide switch forward. Ever push forward cycles through the settings. www.mares.com

BEST VALUE 2019 GROUP TEST

TORCHES

TECH SPECS & VERDICT WEIGHT: 594g RECHARGEABLE: Yes VERDICT: Great torch for use as a primary dive light. The zoom beam is a neat feature, and the on/off is simple to use even with gloves on. Great unit.

SCORE

••••••••••

VERDICT

Dive lights are an essential piece of a diver’s kit arsenal, and all the torches here performed admirably, which made dishing out the awards incredibly hard.

For the Best Value, the DivePro D6 and the Mares EOS 20RZ went head to head. The DivePro is incredible value for money, but while I would be happy using it as a primary over here, it is perhaps best suited as a superior back-up torch thanks to its size and bargain price. The Mares represents great value for the performance and build quality, and we really liked the zoom ability to switch between spot and flood beam ‘on the fly’.

The Choice award was even more difficult. The Exposure Marine, Anchor Dive Lights, Finnsub and BigBlue were all contenders. They all put in a superb performance, and we liked the Exposure Marine’s nifty OLED display, the Anchor Dive Light’s modular nature and dinky size, and the Finnsub’s robusy build quality and magnetic switch, but the BigBlue just edged ahead, a combination of being well made and having an epic power output, all for a stunning price. * = check pricing with local suppliers/centres in your area

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Long Term Test OTTER WATERSPORTS ATLANTIC Mark Evans: Otter Watersports’ Britannic II earned a legion of followers, and the Atlantic - defined

by John Womack as ‘the new standard in explorationgrade drysuits - is sure to soon garner similar praise from discerning divers. It features a seamless underarm pattern for more flexibility, has a telescopic torso with frontentry zip, and is equipped with the new Turbo boots with ankle straps. www.drysuits.co.uk

INFORMATION Arrival date: February 2019 Suggested retail price: * Number of dives: 0 Time in water: 0 hrs 0 mins

FINNSUB 20D AND COMFORT HARNESS Mark Evans: All Finnsub products I have tested have got that nice, solid, well-built feel to them, and the 20D and Comfort Harness is no different. The whole thing oozes quality.

It is no lightweight, having a good heft to it, but everything - from the thick shoulder straps to the heavy-duty bolts to the sturdy D-rings - is built to last. www.finnsub.com 64

INFORMATION Arrival date: January 2019 Suggested retail price: * Number of dives: 5 Time in water: 4 hrs 25 mins

MARES EPIC ADJ 82X Mark Evans: The first thing that you notice with the Epic ADJ 82X is the nifty finish on the first and second stages. This PVD coating is not just for looks, it also protects the regulator, but it does give it a very-distinctive style.

I was also glad to see the pivoting purge button design making a welcome appearance - this just works for well, even if you are in cold water with thick gloves on. www.mares.com

INFORMATION Arrival date: February 2019 Suggested retail price: * Number of dives: 4 Time in water: 3 hrs 20 mins

SHEARWATER RESEARCH TERIC Mark Evans: The Teric is still going strong, and while I was already a Shearwater Research fan from my Perdix AI, I am really enjoying using this wristwatchstyle computer.

I just can’t get over how clear the screen is despite being more-compact than a Perdix, for instance, it is just as easy to read. And it is nice knowing you always have your dive computer on your wrist for when you need to get in the water. www.shearwater.com

INFORMATION Arrival date: December 2018 Suggested retail price: * Number of dives: 7 Time in water: 6 hrs 35 mins WWW.SCUBADIVERMAG.COM

HALCYON INFINITY

Mark Evans: More dives on the Infinity, and the one thing that stands out more than anything is how comfortable it is. The dense padding on both the backplate and the shoulder straps themselves just remove any pressure points. You might not notice too much in a INFORMATION Arrival date: October 2018 drysuit, but in a 3mm Suggested retail price: * wetsuit or over a rashvest, Number of dives: 18 it is like heaven.

Time in water: 17 hrs 10 mins www.halcyon.net

BARE ULTRAWARMTH 7MM HOOD

Mark Evans: The Ultrawarmth hood is still doing a sterling job keeping my bonce warm during cold, winter dives temps have been low single figures - and the little venting system on top works well in preventing any INFORMATION Arrival date: November 2018 trapped air from giving you Suggested retail price: * that classic British-diver Number of dives: 18 ‘conehead’ look.

Time in water: 17 hrs 35 mins www.baresports.com

APEKS XL4+

Mark Evans: The XL4+ has been getting a cold-water workout recently, both on stand-alone test dives and as part of the mid-price Group Test, in which it scored very highly. Next month it will have been in warmer waters Sudan, to be precise - and so it will be good to test out its lightweight capabilities as a travel regulator. I have no INFORMATION Arrival date: February 2019 doubt it will be more than Suggested retail price: * up to some deep sharkNumber of dives: 7 hunting dives.

Time in water: 6 hrs 15 mins www.apeksdiving.com

ZEAGLE SCOPE MONO

Mark Evans: The Zeagle Scope Mono has finally reached the end of its six-month run in Long Term Test, and the Test Team has been impressed by this mask.

A big plus is that elasticated ski-mask-style strap, which is supremely comfortable but just so easy to put on and take off. I never needed to adjust it from bare head to hooded, which is great if you dive in the UK and abroad.

Normally I don’t get on with single-lens masks - they always press on my forehead - but the Zeagle didn’t. LowINFORMATION Arrival date: September 2018 profile, easy to clear and Suggested retail price: * comfortable. What more do Number of dives: 28 you want?

Time in water: 26 hrs 20 mins www.zeagle.com * = check pricing with local suppliers/centres in your area

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SCHOLARSHIP DIARY

The Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society is a non-profit, educational organisation whose mission is to promote educational activities associated with the underwater world. It has offered scholarships for over 35 years. owuscholarship.org

JUMPING INTO THE DEEP END AS THE 2019 AUSTRALASIAN ROLEX SCHOLAR PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF JOANNA SMART

M

y name is Joanna Smart and I am excited to introduce myself as the 2019 Australasian Rolex Scholar of the Our-World Underwater Scholarship Society. I come from Hobart, Tasmania, Australia and am thrilled to share this journey with everyone. My adventures underwater began in the cool southern-ocean waters where my parents passed on their passion for the marine environment to my sister and I. They encouraged us to explore rockpools, snorkel in the kelp and play in the surf. At 13, I gained my PADI Junior Open Water Diver ticket and the adventure continued from there.

My experience so far has been in marine and Antarctic science, seaweed physiology, environmental consulting and scientific diving.

Since completing my undergraduate degree, I have worked as a guide on a tourism vessel, as a field research assistant examining the impacts of aquaculture operations on rocky reef communities, volunteered as a research assistant in Palau and, most recently, worked as a project officer for a local marine environmental consultancy.

In conjunction, I have been completing an Honours thesis examining how seaweed species can be used in aquaculture operations to effectively uptake effluent. Being selected as the 2019 Australasian Rolex Scholar is an incredible opportunity that I am honoured to share with you all.

I recently got my first taste of everything in New York City, where I attended the 45th Annual Awards Programme of the OurWorld Underwater Scholarship Society. Highlights of the weekend included attending a watch fitting at Rolex Headquarters, being presented with a camera set-up from Reef Photo and Video and attending the presentations of the 2018 Scholars at the Explorer’s Club. The Explorers Club was filled with incredible artefacts from expeditions all over the globe, including Explorers Club flags that had been to the moon, the top of Mount Everest and the bottom of the Mariana Trench!

After New York, I headed to Sydney to visit Tabata Australia, my new gear sponsors and supplier of all things diving-related. Receiving my sponsorship equipment for

Joanna Smart

the year was truly overwhelming and I cannot thank Tabata Australia, Waterproof and Tusa for the amazing equipment they have supplied me with. Their support of the Australasian Scholar over the years has been fantastic, and I cannot wait to test out this awesome equipment throughout the year. I was also provided with some great sunglasses from the team at Mako Eyewear. I want to thank the team there for their warm welcome, continued support and fantastic sunnies that I can take on all my adventures.

Receiving this Scholarship is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Throughout the year I hope to explore sustainable solutions to problems facing the marine environment and the relationship between coastal communities and a changing ocean environment. Stay tuned for my next Scholarship diary where I will be heading to Fiji, the Great Barrier Reef and Papua New Guinea to get a taste of underwater photography, marine conservation and community education. n

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