Dive Pacific Issue 168 Feb March 2019

ISSUE 168 - $9.90 inc GST February / March 2019

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Why is Wakatobi so compelling?

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What to do when a shark shows up?

The wrecks & reefs of Gizo NIWA’s underwater photo magician The seas are warming...

Leopard seal applies for residency Three dive pioneers pass on

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Giant Cuttlefish

I N E M A G A Z

Borneo: What lies beneath?

Diving the web: your regular guide

New Year, New career?

New column!

Spearos notebook

Scotland

Prehistoric Basking Sharks

Vanuatu

Hanging with the President

San José: Treasure wreck of the century

NEW! A Beginners Guide to Underwater Photography www.divenewzealand.com 1

Shining Star in Port Vila

• Simple rules for breath-holding divers www.divenewzealand.com

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Cousteau: “We can solve this!”

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• The menace of the Niagara • Stingrays meet for speed dating • What we're learning from scallop vision New Column!

'Back in the Day'

Tahiti

Whales, sharks, paradise

c.com www.Dive-Pacifi

Poor Knights: Rich days of wonder

The no-brainer case for more, bigger marine reserves Shark feeding regs tightening?

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The Kiwi Boxfish story

the Year - finalists

The richest marine ecosystem on Earth

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US Battle of the Atlantic revisited Photographer of

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Taking a risk on Guam n gallery • Wildlife

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• Our photo competitio

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captured for first time

• Want to dive under ice?

Solomons Dive Festival: Extraordinary photo gallery

winning Marine Reser ves: s for the sea hearts & mind

What makes Milford Sound unique for divers, (besides giant crayfish)?

Cook Is cave diving treasure

• Giant devil rays foreplay Jean-Michel Cousteau The latest report from Sea Turtles Australia’s far around New NZ Spearfishing north Diving the Championships Chatham Islands Zealand

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"Open wide!"

A Humpback whale calf comes to play in Tahiti

of South Australia

Cousteau on accelerating climate change

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Juvenile flying fish check s out diver

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Underwater fine art and fashion photographer Jose G. Cano

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The sex life of sharks: What do we know?

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Featuring stunning photography from dive destinations around the globe

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es ted in the Philippin Meeting the unexpec teams win gold Hockey NZ Underwater pher of Year finalists Wildlife Photogra

housing aland.com Notebook www.divenewze an underwater camerafrom Portugal: Spearos • How to choose ing champs: Report • World Spearfish

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2 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific Subs ad issue 168 new year.indd 1

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contents IN DEPTH

18 36

4 Letter: What you are saying: More on ‘Why the dropout rate’?

5 EDITORIAL: Nature can rebound, given a chance... with Dave Moran

SOUNDINGS

Local and international news & comment

6 Kelly Tarlton Recognition Award for services to underwater heritage awarded

7 Diver and Raewyn Peart recognised in New Year’s Honours 11 National Spearfishing Champs big success 20 Can a leopard seal change its residency status?

21 Eimear Egan, eel earbone detective 22 Warming seas confirmed Collecting rubbish to rid rivers of plastics

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35 Breakthrough in research on freshwater mussels 43 New inter-atoll vessel gifted to Tokelau 48 More of Antarctic’s Ross Sea to be explored 72 Three great dive pioneers pass on SPECIAL FEATURES

9 Crispin Middleton, Underwater Magician 18 Four tips for beginner Freedivers, with PADI 58 SHADES OF COLOUR: More stunning images from our regular photo competition

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ACK TO BASICS! Underwater Photography, A Practical Guide B for Beginners – Part III, by Alexey Zaystev. Translated from Russian exclusively for Dive Pacific

BUCKET LIST DESTINATIONS

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2 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific

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Tahiti, richest aquarium on earth

23 W hy WAKATOBI is so compelling

DIVE PACIFIC presents the definitive guide to this unique, unmissable experience

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recks & reefs…from Gizo & Ghizo to Munda W with Dave Abbott (The Solomon Islands Pt II)

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Volivoli, total Fiji at one resort EXCLUSIVE! FIJI GETAWAY PACKAGE OFFER!

Cover Photo Karen Stearns poses with a broadclub cuttlefish at one of Wakatobi's many fascinating underwater dive sites.

Photo: Walt Stearns - see p21

Do you have a possible cover image?

E: divenz@divenewzealand.co.nz.

NZ$100 will be paid if used.

Must be relevant to the marine world.

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GEAR BAG

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ayglass Protectors selected for top sailing world events R Most valuable ever’ Surtees/Yamaha Grand Prize for Hutchwilco Boat Show Orca underwater torch: compact, rugged

OUR EXPERT COLUMNISTS

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rayfish? Give us a fair crack C LEGASEA UPDATE

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hat to do when a shark shows up?

W SPEARO’S NOTEBOOK! with Jackson Shields

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iant triplefin G SPECIES FOCUS with Paul Caiger

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ix recompressions needed, on a liveaboard! : S INCIDENT INSIGHTS with DAN, the Divers Alert Network

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iving and Hypobaric medical Journal, a valuable resource: D DIVE MEDICINE with Professor Simon Mitchell

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ull-Frame or Crop-Size Sensor? : F Digital Imaging with Hans Weichselbaum

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Back in the Day!

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SKINDIVING - No longer Cinderella sport in NZ (From DIVE Underwater Magazine September 1963 Vol 3. No 4 One shilling and sixpence by Wade Doak, Editor)

Classifieds

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Check out our website www.divenewzealand.co.nz Dive Pacific magazine is available in the lounges & inflight libraries of these airlines.

www.dive-pacific.com 3

LETTERS

WHAT YOU ARE SAYING

More on ‘Why the dropout rate’?

Dear Dave I was very interested to read your editorial (Dive 166) on diver drop out rates of over 90%.

As a recent learner I wonder if it is actually because the trainees do not feel that they are competent enough to dive safely at the end of their training.

I wonder this because despite having completed my open water, advanced open water, rescue diver, and 60 dives, I still am not a "confident" diver. Add to this a dive where I was Iucky not to injure myself through a rapid ascent which made me question whether I should be diving at all.

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advice re their children taking up scuba diving I always say, get them to become competent snorkelers first!

hanks Pete. You raise a point I have continually discussed with divers over many years. The point being: How comfortable is a person in the water/ ocean before they learn to scuba dive?

They learn to understand the ‘moods’ of the ocean - its strength, currents, surf, bad and good visibility. Also, more importantly, they build a confidence in their body’s ability to recognize potential problems in the water environment.

But that advice does not work when people just want to learn to scuba dive.

Some I’m sure, treat it as a box to tick off their bucket list, a bit like doing a parachute jump! The training agencies are fully aware of this sort of demand and have course products that cater for it.

On a positive note. Although I am Christchurch based I have had the opportunity to do a number of dives with the Dive Wellington club. This is an excellent opportunity to build experience in a benign environment with experienced divers and instructors without it costing too much.

Regards Pete Rivers

who is in charge of the police National Dive Squad continually tells us too many divers carry excessive lead weight.

You should always slowly swim to the surface, not push a button to get there!

No more rapid ascents!

And you should be able to float easily on the surface with NO air in your BC. The training agencies teach this!

Diving is a fantastic sport and your confidence will improve as you log up more dives. But having already done …Do not … get caught up in the 60 dives I am wondering what was added expense of doing another course in the belief it will make (you) the standard of training you received?

I recall the late Dr Tony Slark, a New Zealand Navy doctor (the Navy recompression chamber in Devonport, Auckland is named after him) tell me that the best divers to train for the Navy were ex spearfishermen.

People who participate is sports such as underwater hockey, surfing and water polo also have a head start in becoming competent scuba divers. And when, over the years, parents have asked me for

4 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific

Why are we in this position?

The Open Water portion of the course is too compressed... I did four dives over two days to a maximum depth of eight metres to get my Open Water qualification. Did I have reliable control of my buoyancy at the end of this?

Definitely not. I'm still working on it!

I am one of the lucky ones. I have my own boat and good gear.

Another hurdle for those who don't.

Both my children have since

Back in the day, most divers were competent snorkelers/spearfishermen before they took up scuba. Snorkleling/ spearfishing gives a person a solid base to build from, and the strength of this base is directly proportional to the amount of TIME they spend in the water/ocean.

learnt to dive this year and have similar feelings to mine. We are all persevering (carefully) only because we truly love it. I suspect that without this love it would be logical not to continue!

more comfortable in the water.

Do a course by all means when (you) are comfortable…

As you have intimated, many people become certified as Open Water divers in a VERY short time with limited TIME in the ocean and naturally they can feel very uncomfortable breathing underwater with all the equipment strapped to their body. And they may never reach a point where they are comfortable, so they stop diving.

A further point to think about is If you are correctly weighted, you will hardly need to put air into your BC when on the bottom. Senior sergeant Bruce Adams

Do not let your children get caught up in the added expense of doing another course in the belief it will make them more comfortable in the water. Do a course by all means when they are comfortable. These days a person can throws dollars at doing courses and become an instructor in little over a year.

But you have to ask, are they really experienced?

Its great you are diving with the Dive Wellington club. They are a great bunch of guys and ladies and YES you will learn heaps. I wish you and your children a life time of diving adventures.

- Dave Moran Editor at Large

INDEPTH EDITORIAL

Nature can rebound, given a chance! f you live in New Zealand, you really could not complain about the stunning weather we have been having. Dive shops have been having a fantastic entry to their prime summer season.

Over this period I enjoy getting out for my once a year adventure spearfishing off the East Coast of the Coromandel Peninsula, although it is rather sobering to see how the fish population has decreased since I first arrived in New Zealand in 1970.

Then, I was a member of the Reefcombers Spearfishing club.

Some of the members were national champions. Our playground was the Alderman Island 20.8 kms off the beautiful town of Tairua.

the coastline ended up in the “box” which was at the end of a 300 metre net out from the coast. I tried to Google about these nets being used in New Zealand. No luck.

This year I had time to recall those amazing times as I was diving Richard’s Rock off the Mercury islands with my son in-law Tim in the search of a king fish to feed the family. Visibility was ‘dusty’ but eventually out of the gloom about six kingies came in for a look. How things have changed!

must be getting desperate when it encourages the harvesting of reef fish many of which cannot be caught on a hook.

One of the most in-your-face effects of fewer reef fish such as crayfish and snapper is the proliferation of kina barrens. Kina numbers can explode due to a lack of their natural predators keeping their numbers in check.

From Richard’s Rock we worked the shore line for a snapper or butter fish and in the end we did ok with one kingie, a kahawai and a few butter fish. All we needed to feed three families.

Photo: Richard Robinson www.depth.co.nz

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Spearfishing is a great physical activity and a very selective way of obtaining a feed of fish. But there is a down side.

Many new to the sport will spear some species of reef fish because they are easy to spear: Leatherjackets, Red moki, Sandager’s wrasse, Orange and

- Photo Wade Doak

Then later I was discussing with Dr Roger Grace and Wade Doak (both legends who we can thank for the stunning marine reserve at the Poor Knight Islands and much more) the shifting baseline of what people now Spearfishing for Kingfish at the Three Kings Circa1960's perceive as heaps of fish when in - Photo Wade Doak fact they are a mere fraction of We would see schooling kingfish …The New Zealand fishing Industry has recently what they once in their hundreds. A moving wall were. recommended targeting reef fish so there is of glistening silver fish would more variety of fish for people to eat… (!)

You may have pass beneath us. We never really heard about the appreciated what we were seeing as cuts in the total special. Back then it was just normal.

Scarlet wrasse, Goatfish to name a allowable cray catch for the area few. How many they are spearing is I still recall the shock we all felt CRA 2 stretching northwards from anyone’s guess, but some might say, when this massive school suddenly East Cape to south of Whangarei hey they have to start somewhere. shrunk to around 100 fish. We all in the Bream Tail area. These cuts asked: What’s changed? are necessary due to the fishery The New Zealand fishing Industry collapsing with the recreational daily has recently recommended targeting Then we discovered Sealord, a New bag limit being cut voluntarily from reef fish so there is more variety Zealand fishing company, had done six to three. The commercial total of fish for people to eat, though a joint venture with a Japanese take has been cut to 173 tonnes. having a healthy reef fish population company to install Box Nets off the is paramount for maintaining a Coromandel shore line. This type This action is expected to double healthy, vibrant, BALANCED marine of fishing was very effective. Just current rock lobster abundance in ecosystem. The fishing Industry about any fish or shark swimming CRA2 in about four to eight years.

www.dive-pacific.com 5

SOUNDINGS

LOCAL & INTERNATIONAL

Kelly Tarlton Recognition Award for services to underwater heritage awarded Many readers will know Lynton Diggle was a regular contributor to Dive magazine, and on Saturday, 1st December last year over 250 people farewelled him on his final adventure.

heritage by Rosanne Hawarden, President of the New Zealand Underwater Heritage Group (NZUHG).

Also present was Kelly’s wife Rosemary and daughters, Nicole and Fiona.

After the service Edith was presented with the Kelly Tarlton Award for service to underwater

Edith and Lynton were founding members of the NZUHG, a non-profit organisation whose primary interest is shipwrecks and the maritime heritage beneath New Zealand seas and under the sands of our coasts.

L to R: Fiona and Rosemary Tarlton, Edith Diggle, Rosanne Hawarden and Nicole Tarlton

The Award recognizes individuals or groups who have made significant and lasting contributions through research, practice, or advocacy to underwater heritage, maritime archaeology or maritime history.

Edith and Lynton made an amazing team. Their dedication to researching New Zealand’s shipwrecks was nothing but extraordinary. With fellow NZUHG member Keith Gordon they published the 8th edition of the New Zealand Shipwreck book.

Within its 576 pages over 530 wrecks are recorded!

Edith and Lynton went on to publish two companion books to further record new wrecks and information later uncovered. They were a team of two very sharp minds, worthy joint recipients of the 2018 Award.

Dave Moran, Vice President, NZUHG www.underwaterheritage.co.nz

…continued from pg 5

The benefits of limiting the take were demonstrated to me in Tairua.

Due to the fishery collapsing, all the commercial cray boats have left the area except one. Guess what?

Divers are seeing more crays and the remaining commercial guy caught his quota easily.

Wade told me of an amazing recovery of the marine biomass in Matauri Bay where a Maori rahui has been in place for two years. The kina barrens have disappeared. Crays and snapper are plentiful.

The recovery has been so dramatic that the local iwi is considering keeping it in place. They are witnessing the joy of their people NEW

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February/March 2019 Issue 168 Find us on facebook follow the links on our website www.Dive-Pacific.com

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Diver Emergency Number, P A C INew F Zealand I C: 0800 4 DES 11 1800 088 200 (toll free) Australia : +61-8-8212 9242

6 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific

and visitors as they snorkel amongst the fish life in much the same way as at Goat Island marine reserve.

It’s a wonderful example of, give nature a chance and it will bounce back.

But sadly, it is very rare these days for parts of the coast to be allocated as marine reserves. The Government seems to have lost interest!

We wish you all some amazing diving adventures during our stunning summer season! Get out there!

- Dave Moran Editor at Large

Publisher Gilbert Peterson +64 027 494 9629 Dive Publishing P.O. Box 34 687 Birkenhead, Auckland, New Zealand 0746 divenz@divenewzealand.co.nz Editor at Large Dave Moran +64 9 521 0684 davem@divenewzealand.co.nz Advertising Sales Manager Colin Gestro +64 272 568 014 colin@affinityads.com Art Director Mark Grogan +64 9 262 0303 bytemarx@orcon.net.nz

Printed by Crucial Colour Ltd Retail distribution NZ: Gordon & Gotch All rights reserved. Reprinting in whole or part is expressly forbidden except by written permission of the publisher.

Opinions expressed in the publication are those of the authors and not necessarily the publishers. All material is accepted in good faith and the publisher accepts no responsibility whatsoever.

www.DiveNewZealand.co.nz www.Dive-Pacific.com Registered Publication Dive Pacific ISSN 2624-134X (print) ISSN 2324-3236 (online)

SOUNDINGS

LOCAL & INTERNATIONAL

Diver recognised in New Year’s Honours

Quentin has travelled the word documenting the wonders of the ocean.

This magazine has published many of his articles on optometry in relation to diving. He is a skilled underwater photographer and many of his stunning images have been presented in Dive magazine.

He was also a contributor to New Zealand’s first diving publication published by Wade Doak. Quentin

fondly remembers diving with the late Kelly Tarlton on the wreck of the SS Tasmania off the coast of Mahia. Quentin captured historical images as Kelly and his team salvaged the Rothschild jewels.

Quentin studied optometry in London, and through his diving work, completed his thesis in underwater vision. This led to his working with the US Airforce school of Aerospace Medicine.

He has also worked with Antarctic Research Programme, introduced the modern dry suit to New Zealand and developed

Photo: Richard Robinson www.depth.co.nz

Quentin Bennett was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to optometry, conservation and diving in the New Year’s Honours list.

Quentin Bennett

prescription diving masks.

We congratulate Quentin on his successes to date and those in the future.

Raewyn Peart, MNZM Raewyn Peart, Policy Director for the Environmental Defence Society was recently made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her work developing environmental policy.

Raewyn’s work has covered marine planning, coastal

development and fisheries management leading to her books Castles in the Sand: What’s happening to the New Zealand coast? Dolphins of Aotearoa: Living with dolphins in New Zealand, The Story of the Hauraki Gulf, and Voices from the Sea: Managing New Zealand’s Fisheries.

Seaweek coming up Seaweek 2019 will be on Saturday 2 to Sunday 10 March with the theme “Tiakina o Ta-tou Mo-ana – Care for our Seas”.

For it the New Zealand Association for Environmental

Visit www.seaweek.org.nz Education is again running its annual, national Seaweek “Ocean Champions” competition. Entries all go into a prize draw for a selection of fantastic spot prizes from Auckland

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www.dive-pacific.com 7

LegaSea Update

Crayfish...

Give us a fair crack

A

s we look forward to some late summer sessions in the water it is only natural our thoughts should turn to the delicacies hiding in the depths below. Crayfish is on the top of many people’s wish list, to say thanks to someone special, or for sharing with the family. Treasure your thoughts because in many parts of Aotearoa depletion means they will remain just that, a wish and a dream.

limit. Fortunately some sanity now prevails.

Thanks to our collective efforts the Minister cut the CRA 2 Total Allowable Commercial Catch (TACC) by 60% in April last year.

This ought to have translated into fewer crayfish pots around inshore areas close to your holiday spot this past summer.

In 2018 LegaSea was pushing for a total closure of CRA 2 so that

Currently we have a statutory body that directs the crayfish science and management processes, and then provides advice to the Minister on catch settings. Members of the National Rock Lobster Management Group are appointed by the Minister - none of the current members

…In two South Island areas and in the Gisborne to East Cape area commercial fishers are permitted to take crayfish smaller than the minimum legal size..… report to the public on what goes on in the discussions behind closed doors leading to these settings. And without open public scrutiny the management and policy advice heeded by the Minister since the 1990s has continued to decline to new lows.

For example, in two South Island areas and in the Gisborne to East Cape area commercial fishers are permitted to take crayfish smaller than the minimum legal size. But despite being a valuable quota species, we the public are not allowed to know how many of these undersized fish are being taken. The numbers are not reported openly.

Further north in the Hauraki Gulf and eastern Bay of Plenty, the CRA 2 stock has become so depleted that professional harvesters were dropping almost 600,000 pots a year and they still could not catch their allowable

8 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific

it could rebuild with no disturbance from humans; after all we collectively are the problem.

The fishery’s management is also a problem because it is lacking in common sense. The TACC has been cut by 60% and the overall recreational allowance has been reduced by 76%. A recent management review discussed halving the daily bag limit and introducing telson clipping to identify recreational catch, by mid 2019. In our submission we supported the bag limit reduction in the interests of rapidly rebuilding the crayfish stock, but the rationale for telson clipping is emotive and driven by commercial interests rather than evidence-based.

But altering catch and daily bag limits for crayfish across large and diverse areas creates the illusion that this is an appropriate management strategy

while ignoring the issues of leadership, policy and localised depletion.

At ground level we cannot continue the charade that the Rock Lobster Management Group is representative of public interests. The Minister must fulfil his statutory obligations to provide for the foreseeable needs of future generations.

If we are to realise the full potential from our fisheries and give ordinary Kiwis a fair crack at gathering a crayfish for that special occasion we must do better. The status quo is not acceptable.

If you want to support the ongoing effort to increase crayfish abundance please donate here. https://legasea.co.nz/donate/ single/

Call 0800 LEGASEA (534 273) Email us info@legasea.co.nz Subscribe at www.legasea.co.nz/subscribe Read more at www.facebook.com/legasea

LegaSea, the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council, New Zealand Underwater Association and Spearfishing New Zealand are taking a proactive stance to help rebuild crayfish abundance. Together we are promoting a voluntary reduction on daily harvest from 6 to 3 crayfish per day in the Bay of Plenty, Coromandel and Hauraki Gulf over the 2018-19 summer.

Read more https://tinyurl.com/y8ofw5tg

Behind the lens:

Underwater Magician

Crispin Middleton is a marine ecologist and national dive manager for NIWA, looking after the safety of 45 NIWA divers.

Based at Bream Bay, Whangarei, Crispin is also an acclaimed underwater photographer and the recipient of numerous photography awards.

His work regularly appears in New Zealand Geographic, dive magazines, scientific journals and conservation/ government documents.

Following is a brief interview with Crispin.

Toado Selfie: Crispin Middleton surrounded by Starry Toadao Pufferfish, Poor Knights Marine Reserve

Reduced visibility: A huge shoal of fish at the Blue Maomao Arch, Poor Knights Marine Reserve.

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Blue moves: John Dory at the Poor Knights Marine Reserve.

What first got you interested in underwater photography?

I always had a passion for photography and combining it with my passion for the marine environment was a natural progression.

What is that attracts you to the ocean?

It’s what I study and admire. We are able to find something unusual or unique on almost every trip out… there aren’t many environments out there where you can do that!

What sort of equipment do you use in your photography?

Well, while travelling around California recently, we got absolutely every last bit of camera gear stolen from our vehicle. It was a disaster… so I am currently in the process of replacing this very expensive gear!

My new gear will be a Nikon D850 in a Nauticam housing with twin Inon strobes. My main macro lenses are the 60mm and 105mm micro and for wide, I use the 15mm Sigma fish eye.

This set up is a beautiful bit of kit and widely regarded as the best available for underwater photography. It doesn’t come cheap though!

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Flying fish: A rare shot of a juvenile flying fish, finally captured after years of trying.

What is the most difficult photography project you’ve undertaken? And the most rewarding?

It’s probably one and the same thing.

Chasing paper nautilus was our first New Zealand Geographic project and it was a toughie! Paper Nautilus are almost never seen alive in New Zealand so we had to think outside the box to get the images. It involved novel diving methods as well as lots of late/ all night adventures off the Northland coast.

Formidable defences

Where’s your favourite spot?

Definitely the Poor Knights marine reserve. It’s such a stunning place and we can find rarities or species new to New Zealand on almost every trip.

There is a real chance of photographing something no one has ever seen here before.

Where’s your next big underwater photography adventure taking you?

We have several projects on the go in New Zealand. The 2000 year-old sunken forest in Lake Waikaremoana, ocean flotsam and plastics, seagrass meadows and dune lakes. So plenty to keep us busy. Overseas, we have our eye on Lord Howe Island and British Columbia.

What would you most like to photograph that so far eluded you?

There are so many… at the moment, we are focusing on the open ocean, so species like Oarfish, Leatherback, tripod fish are all high up our list.

Any tips for budding beginners?

Get out there… so many of the cool things we find are purely because of time on the water. If you’re not out there, you won’t see it!

Jewel anemone: The jewel anemone spawns once a year with the event lasting between 10 and 20 minutes. This was shot on the wreck of the Canterbury in Deep Water Cove, Bay of Islands.

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Honda National Spearfishing Champs brilliant success Beach start at Moa Pont

Report by Darren Shields, President, Spearfishing NZ

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his year’s Honda Marine National Spearfishing Champs was held in Wellington and, as always, weather played a big part.

Robin Thornton put up his hand to be champs director and did an outstanding job. Honda Marine came on as principal sponsor. A big thank you to them.

The Junior’s and Women’s were postponed from Wednesday to Thursday due to weather, and held at the North End of Kapiti Island in stunning conditions. But as always in that area, plenty of tide.

Viz was not great but at the end of the day Josh Bird showed his

Men's Spearfishing Open Champs: Dave Mullins and Mal Bird

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ability taking out the event just ahead of last year’s winner Tyler Maughan.

and Graham Mackereth a very close second, and Paul Best and Jackson Shields third.

The Women’s was won by Alex Edwards who also won the Junior Women’s.

Day Two was held at Moa point with no boats required – the beach start there a first in many years.

The zone was Barretts reef right around to include Lyall Bay. A group of the top teams discovered a reef out wide off the airport where some very nice fish were taken.

The under 10 division went to Eli Herbert, and the under 16’s by Tyler Maugham.

Day One of the Men’s Open was held on the South End of Kapiti Island, and again the weather was favourable. Dave Mullins along with Mal Bird were the hot favourites with their local knowledge.

And so the results proved with Dave and Mal first, Julian Hansford Junior Women's Spearfishing Champ: Alex Edwards

Only three kingfish were speared during the whole event, all from the South Coast with Spencer George Hall taking the biggest.

Day Two’s results were a mirror of Junior Spearfishing Champ: Alex Edwards with champs director Robin Thornton

Day 2 - south end of Kapiti Island

Diver Diver Alex Edwards Alex Edwards Sophie Hamilton Sophie Hamilton Alex Barclay Alex Barclay Kat Mager Kat Mager Catherine Sayce Catherine Sayce Jacky Edwards Jacky Edwards Pipi Quinlan Pipi Quinlan

Diver Diver Annabelle Herbert Annabelle Herbert Janine Whitelaw Janine Whitelaw Nicola Dearnley Nicola Dearnley Diver Josh Bird Diver Josh Bird Tyler Maugham Tyler Maugham Alex Edwards Alex Edwards Cobey Herbert Cobey Herbert Jacky Edwards Jacky Edwards Jasper Quinlan Jasper Quinlan Luca Waring Luca Waring Pipi Quinlan Pipi Quinlan Eli Herbert Eli Herbert Edward Warnock Edward Warnock

Fish Fish Weighed Weighed 6 6 5 53 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 Fish Fish Weighed Weighed 4 4 2 2 1 1 Fish Fish Weighed Weighed 7 7 7 7 6 62 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 22 2 3 3

Penalties Penalties

Penalties Penalties

Weight Weight 2.55 2.55 1.95 1.95 0.85 0.85

Score Womens Rank Score 638.5 Womens Rank 1 638.5 1 553 2 553 2 327.5 3 327.5 3 321 4 321 4 222 5 222 5 219.5 6 219.5 6 215.5 7 215.5 7 Women's Women's Recreational Recreational Score Grade Score Grade 425.5 1 425.5 1 219.5 2 219.5 2 108.5 3 108.5 3

Penalties Penalties

Weight Weight 7.15 7.15 6.1 6.1 3.85 3.85 1.95 1.95 1.95 1.95 1.8 1.8 1.7 1.7 1.55 1.55 1.45 1.45 2.55 2.55

Score Score 771.5 771.5 661 661 638.5 638.5 219.5 219.5 219.5 219.5 218 218 217 217 215.5 215.5 214.5 214.5 125.5 125.5

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Weight Weight 3.85 3.85 5.3 5.3 2.75 2.75 2.1 2.1 2.2 2.2 1.95 1.95 1.55 1.55

U18 Rank U18 Rank 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 4 4 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 10 10

Junior Junior Women Women 1 1

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Day One giving the same result.

was brilliant.

Overall the event was an absolute success. We had 27 new competitors and having the Kapiti Underwater Club as our host venue

A big thank you to all our safety boat drivers and the Kapiti Underwater Club members.

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pearos notebook

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What should you do when a shark shows up?

with Jackson Shields

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ith summer in full flight and the water temperature getting over 18 degrees, shark encounters can become much more common.

This is not about to change any time soon, with the numbers of some species increasing, and as they become more comfortable interacting with humans.

In the upper north island Bronze Whalers are the most common and cause the most tension for spearfisher people. They can become pretty territorial, and ‘friendly’.

The apparent increase in Bronze Whaler numbers is not bad; typically it’s a sign of a healthier fishery. Because, no matter where you go in the world, if there are a lot of sharks, there are a lot of fish, resulting in a healthy ecosystem.

So embracing and learning how to reduce problematic encounters with them is the best approach.

There are many techniques and pieces of equipment I use to minimize the risk of a shark eating my fish or otherwise causing me problems. Common sense normally prevails when dealing with Bronze Whalers, and with the other common sharks we may come across like Makos and Seven Gills.

I will stick to Bronze Whalers as they tend to be a main culprit.

Guideline 1: Fish selection Now this is a really easy one and probably the most effective way of reducing shark problems. Certain fish tend to attract unwanted attention and be a favourite on a Bronze Whaler’s menu. Now this may break a lot of spearo’s hearts but Kingfish and sharks go hand in hand these days, sometimes literally.

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One of many Bronze Whalers we see at Little Barrier

You will often get a Bronze Whaler or two in convoy with a school of Kingfish waiting for a spearo to make an easy meal for them. Don’t fall into their trap!

Another favourite for sharks is the humble butterfish which is the most popular fish speared. It pays to get butterfish out of the water as soon as possible after spearing it or otherwise you can leave a stringer

…This may break a lot of spearo’s hearts but Kingfish and sharks go hand in hand these days, sometimes literally…

Maybe a better option is to steer away from shooting a Kingfish, especially in popular areas where there is known to be high fishing or spearing traffic and where sharks are a known presence.

An alternative could be to find a different spot, where there is less known pressure and where the sharks haven’t become accustomed to spearfishers.

The Bronze Whalers’ behaviour has been taught to them; they are learning all the time and have figured out that the firing of a speargun is like a dinner bell for them. You may get away with spearing the first fish but the next may explode in chaos.

of ‘lollipops’ for any resident Bronzies.

Strangely enough fish like Snapper, John Dory and Boarfish don’t win much attention from sharks and when spearing them I have never really experienced any incidents.

Guideline 2: Diving location This has already been covered a bit in the fish selection section and though, obviously, sharks have tails and can swim anywhere in the ocean, these days there are common spearing grounds that are known for Bronze Whaler

Archie Molloy with two nice Kingfish he managed to sneak past the Bronze Whalers using the Wettie float boat

problems. If you are not comfortable with dealing with them, it may pay to avoid these spots.

This is not a foolproof solution but would certainly be a step in a safe direction.

For example, I want to go shoot a kingfish. Do I go dive the Outpost at Leigh where it is common knowledge the Bronze Whalers can get aggressive with fish in the

Wettie Mini float boat keeping fish out of the water minimises shark incidents

Guideline 3: Get a Float Boat

the upper hand.

This is one of the most useful pieces of equipment these days for looking after your catch and keeping sharks away from it.

When encountering a shark it’s important to be confident. The shark can sense how you feel and will respond to your movements.

Try keeping eye contact with them and making your movements calm and measured.

No fish in the water typically results in less attention from sharks. The Wettie float boat does this. The float won’t sink and will keep your catch out of the water and with it any smell of fish. It’s

…You will often get a Bronze Whaler or two in convoy with a school of Kingfish waiting for a spearo to make an easy meal for them. Don’t fall into their trap!… water and are well accustomed to meeting spearos? Or I can try a new area along the coast, where I will likely be met with less resistance from sharks?

I have dived along that part of the coastline extensively and there are other areas to dive where I definitely get less attention from sharks while still encountering plenty of fish.

proven extremely effective in sharky areas and will save most people a lot of hassle.

Guideline 4: Confidence Lots of people ask me whether they will see a shark when spearfishing and my answer is often yes.

We will always have interactions with sharks since we are in their environment and where they have

Often, if a shark takes too much interest in me, I will swim towards it, to ward it off. But if a shark becomes erratic in its movements its typically best you leave the water. However if it’s simply cruising around just enjoy the experience, and keep an eye on it.

Note that I have called these guidelines. They are not rules, but just suggestions that have worked for me.

Sharks are not to be feared but they are to be respected. Simply killing them will not fix the relationship between us spearos or other divers and sharks. Learning how to be with them in the water, and to get out when necessary, is far better.

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Photo: Philippe Bacchet

Tahiti, richest aquarium on earth

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Marine environment

roudly displayed on the bodies of Tahitians, you’ll find manta ray, shark, whale and sea turtle tattoos that tell the story of a people defined by the sea.

The crystal-clear waters of The Islands of Tahiti are home to more than 1,000 species of fish with an unmatched variety of colour, size and shape. The smallest fish are often the most colourful and prefer the coral gardens and shallow depths of lagoons, while larger species enjoy the bustle of life in the inlets and reef complexes and beyond, out in the open sea.

Divers come from around the world to experience these sacred sea creatures, which, in The Islands of Tahiti hold a place of reverence among the gods.

It’s only natural that the sea around these islands is both figuratively and literally a clear blue heaven on earth. The warm waters that surround The Islands of Tahiti teem with life from flirty clown fish to ever-present sharks, to awe-inspiring humpback whales which arrive between July and November.

The combination of canyons, caverns and coral beds provides a multitude of nooks and crannies for marine life.

A 4 million km² natural aquarium

Because of its exceptional biodiversity, scientists consider the French Polynesian sea zone to be the “richest aquarium on earth”.

When you’re ready to do some diving and snorkelling, the heavens await.

There are dozens of unique dive sites around each island and atoll and expert certified dive operators will take care of all the details.

In 2000 the entire region was classified as an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), a wildlife sanctuary where, among other things, drift fishing is prohibited, earning French Polynesia top honours from the WWF (World Wildlife Fund).

Dives and other activities can be arranged in advance by your Preferred Travel Professional or through your resort or cruise ship.

The jade and turquoise waters of the lagoons of the Tuamotu and the Society Islands archipelagos, where slender, multi-coloured fish species have evolved, attract nearly a third of all dolphin species from every ocean. Schools of damselfish, mullet and soldierfish frolic in the coral lacework as striped convict surgeonfish and frowning Picasso triggerfish pass by.

Photo: Bruno David

Manta rays gliding across the shimmering sea bottom can suddenly leap skyward and re-enter the water right next to placid sharks basking in the lagoons.

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Sea turtles bury their eggs in the warm sands of deserted beaches as whales mate and calve in the undisturbed bays of our archipelagos: the Austral Islands, the Gambier Islands, the Tuamotu and the Society Islands.

© Gilles Diraimondo/AMV Voyages

BIG

© Grégoire Le Bacon

S MA L L

There are many sides to The Islands of Tahiti. Yet they are all connected by Mana. Mana is a life force and spirit that surrounds us.

You can see it. Touch it. Taste it. Feel it. And from the moment you arrive, you will understand why we say our Islands are

To discover Mana for yourself, visit Tahiti -Tourisme.co.nz www.divenewzealand.com 73 www.dive-pacific.com 17

4 tips for beginner Freedivers When it comes to exploring a new challenge like freediving, it’s wise to know a few tips and tricks to get you started. We reached out to PADI Freediver Instructor Trainer and World Champion freediver, Mandy Sumner to get her expert advice for those ready to experience the peace of the underwater world on a single breath.

As told by Mandy Sumner

1. Never Dive Alone This is the number one and most important rule in freediving, or any time you’re in the water for that matter. The buddy system is very important and should never be disregarded. It’s essential to watch out for each other, to learn to be aware of the safety of each other, in every dive shallow or deep, and of course everything is always more fun to share with someone or a group of people! You will learn the reasons for never diving alone in the PADI Freediver course.

2. Take the PADI Freediver course You will learn what your body has the capability for, and of course the safety aspect of the sport, which

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is indispensable. Taking a course will introduce you to the basic elements of the sport in a step by step manner which will build your confidence in freediving.

3. Relax Relaxation is the key to freediving. Deep, slow, calm breaths help lower your heart rate so your body will conserve oxygen.

Every tense muscle uses heaps of oxygen and energy. You will learn how to relax your body through different breathing and relaxation techniques in freediving courses and clinics.

dives is with the use of visualization. Visualize happy things and peaceful surroundings and your mind will automatically relax your body and lower your heart rate.

Visualization can be used pre dive as well as during your dive. For me, when I am competing, I will visualize step by step how I want my dive to go before I even get in the water. When I am in my dive, if I find myself getting tense, I say a little mantra or sing a song in my head, and that helps me relax again. Different things work for different people, but some type of visualization will help before and during your dives.

Remember, freediving is for everyone! You don’t need to be an athlete to enjoy freediving.

4. Visualize

The sport is more about relaxation, mind set and technique, than it is about strength – and these are just some of the skills you will develop throughout the PADI Freediver course.

A good way to prepare for your

Visit PADI.com to learn more.

Some exercises are borrowed from yoga practices, so you may already recognize some of them.

YOU CAN. Travel the World.

Lead people in a job others only dream about.

Start your PADI Divemaster course today. padi.com/divemaster Š PADI 2019. www.dive-pacific.com 19

SOUNDINGS LOCAL NEWS

Can a leopard seal change it's resident status?

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leopard seal that has made the balmy waters around Auckland home has prompted a NIWA scientist to campaign for her to be made a New Zealand citizen.

Owha has been a familiar site around the Waitemata Harbour for about six years. She likes marinas, sleeps on pontoons, and has recently been spotted wallowing among the mangroves.

Dr Krista Hupman, a NIWA cetacean biologist, says the species is now so common in New Zealand waters it needs reclassifying.

“Leopard seals are known as a vagrant species meaning New Zealand is well outside their normal range. But despite originating in Antarctic, their numbers keep increasing here and do not always return to Antarctic waters,” she says.

Dr Hupman says the status of the species needs to be changed from Vagrant to Resident.

The seals have always been described as a solitary Antarctic species and second only to killer whales on the list of Antarctica’s top predators.

Dr Hupman and the team at

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LeopardSeals.org has several scientific papers on leopard seals waiting publication which show the species is in fact a Resident in New Zealand waters.

In the past two years the team at LeopardSeals.org has put together a database of 2500 sightings of about 170 animals seen all around New Zealand. Some date back to the 1860s.

Owha is very easy to recognise. She has two distinctive parallel marks on the right side of her back and a v-shaped scar on the left side of her mouth. She has been spotted at Auckland’s Westhaven Marina, Great Barrier, Waiheke and other Hauraki Gulf islands and as far north as Marsden Cove, Whangarei.

Krista Hupman

Dr Hupman says sightings and photographs of the animals are crucial. “The way we identify and track individual movements over time is by photographing their spot patterns from as many angles of their body as possible. Their spots are like a fingerprint – each seal’s patterning is unique."

To report a leopard seal sighting:

Call 0800 LEOPARD (0800 5367273) – record the date, time and location and if possible, take a photograph. Leopard seals are known to be aggressive so should not be approached.

SOUNDINGS

LOCAL NEWS

Eimear Egan, eel earbone detective

Now Dr Egan, a NIWA freshwater ecologist based in Hamilton is studying eels, both the longfin and shortfin species.

The eels spend part of their life in marine and coastal environments and once they reach sexual maturity in freshwater they migrate to the western Pacific Ocean to reproduce. Resulting lar vae are transported by ocean currents back to New Zealand’s coastline where they develop into glass eels which are up to 7cm long. Dr Egan and her team are studying the ear bones of these glass eels to learn more about their spawning locations and lar val oceanic movements.

“They tell us about their growth, their spawning and hatching dates, about the chemistr y of the environment they live in, about their diet and movement. And because of that daily layer we can potentially figure out what routes the lar vae took to get to the New Zealand coastline.”

Eimer Egan dispatches an eel trap

“Longfin eels are only found in New Zealand, and they are at risk and declining.

At the moment, we don’t really have a good understanding of their early life histor y including locations of spawning grounds and lar val migration routes.

That’s where examining glass eel ear bones comes in.

One technique the team will use involves polishing the ear bones by hand until the daily rings become visible.

“We can interpret distinct rings, or check marks, that coincide with when the lar vae first feed and when P Athey C Ichange F I Cfrom NEW

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lar vae into glass eels. We can measure the distance between rings to figure out daily growth rates, and count the rings to estimate age and the date the lar vae hatched.”

The second technique involves using chemistr y to estimate the temperatures the lar vae have experienced at sea. Dr Egan is hoping analysis of the eel tissue using compound specific stable isotopes of amino acids will help pinpoint where in the western Pacific Ocean the lar vae might have come from.

Glass eels arrive at the mouths of rivers in pulses, waiting for suitable conditions to enter. During the early part of the season, they tend to migrate into rivers on the incoming tide, especially on the spring tides of new and full moons or after heavy rainfall.

There is evidence of a worldwide decline in glass eels, particularly for the European and Japanese species.

Photo: Dave Allen NIWA

“I was traumatised by it for years,” Dr Egan says. “It bit me several times.”

“Ear bones can tell us so much information about the environment a fish experiences on a daily basis. Each day they add a layer of calcium carbonate which is almost like keeping a diar y of their lives.

Next April, NIWA scientists will undertake a project that will complement Dr Egan’s work. In this new project, migrating female eels will be tagged and their location communicated to satellites to help pinpoint their spawning grounds in the western Pacific Ocean.

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ISSUE 168 - $9.90 inc GST February / March 2019

As a child growing up on an Irish farm, one of Eimear Egan’s chores was to clean out the well from where her family drew its drinking water. In the well lived a large eel that, no matter how many times it was shifted, just kept coming back.

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What to do when a shark shows up? www.Dive-Pacific.com

NEW

The wrecks & reefs of Gizo

NIWA’s underwater photo magician The seas are warming...

Leopard seal applies for residency Three dive pioneers pass on

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SOUNDINGS

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Warming seas confirmed The seas in the New Zealand region are significantly warmer than 30 years ago and all indications are the warming trend will continue, a NIWA scientist says.

Oceanographer Dr Phil Sutton says the strongest warming has occurred off the Wairarapa Coast, and the weakest along the northeast coast between North and East Capes.

Increased warmth isn’t only at

“Since 1981 we are talking of warming of about 0.1 to 0.3°C per decade,” Dr Sutton said.

While that may not sound like a lot, “a slightly stronger warming of about 0.4°C per decade off the east coast of Tasmania has resulted in significant changes to ecosystems.”

marine heat wave conditions this summer.

“We would expect to see this continue. The 30-year time series is long enough to see long-term changes and there is no reason to think this will turn around.”

NIWA’s Sea Surface Temperature Update is reported fortnightly to provide measurements of sea surface temperature and anomalies (differences from average) measurements for New Zealand coastal and Tasman Sea waters.

SSTs are well above average in the Tasman Sea with anomalies of +2.0˚C to 4.0˚C, and also above average in New Zealand coastal waters with anomalies of +1.0 to 3.0˚C.

A sea surface temperature anomaly is defined as the difference between the long-term (1981-2010) average sea surface temperature and current sea surface temperature for a given time of year.

SST difference: 1 to 14 Jan 2019 minus 1 to 14 Jan 2018

the surface but penetrates in places to 200m deep while in the Tasman Sea it reaches down to at least 850m.

Marine heat wave forecast Meanwhile NIWA’s sea surface temperature update forecast

Marine heatwave: According to Australian research (Hobday et al. 2016), warm sea surface temperature events are considered marine heatwaves (MHWs) if they last for five or more days with temperatures warmer than the 90th percentile based on a 30-year historical baseline period.

Collecting rubbish to rid rivers of plastics Amanda Valois hypothesis is that it’s in the rivers that plastics are being broken up into tiny pieces creating the microplastics that are the really dangerous particles harming marine life.

plastics to the ocean.

“We’ll be tr ying to figure out where the stream is picking up all this plastic from, and what it is doing to this rubbish.”

There’s a lot of interest about the amount of plastics on beaches and in marine animals but its all coming from the land carried there by rivers, she says.

So for the next three years Dr Valois will be studying rubbish collected from the Kaiwharawhara Catchment in Wellington counting ever y plastic bag, bottle, container, tag and fragment in a study on the role of rivers in carr ying

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Dr. Amanda Valois

Dr Valois will also be sorting the plastic rubbish to figure out the major sources and types in the hope of coming up with some ways of inter vening before it gets into waterways.

The best of

Wakatobi A virtual tour of the favourite dive sites of this Indonesian paradise (and other must do’s!)

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Pelagian Dive Yacht passes by Wakatobi Resort and the renowned House Reef on the way out for a cruise through the Wakatobi Islands on up to Buton

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Photo: Didi Lotze

akatobi Resort is renowned for world-class diving and snorkeling.

Set on a small, picturesque island in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia, the boutique beachfront resort offers immediate access to one of the most bio-diverse coral reef environments on our planet. Surrounding waters present an unmatched wealth of marine life along with compelling underwater landscapes. Here’s seven favourite Wakatobi sites to showcase the amazing diversity here on offer for divers.

House Reef

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At the outer edge, crevices and caverns riddle some steep slopes and sheer walls which are covered with hard and soft corals, sea fans and sponges. Regular visitors here include turtles and sizable schools of jacks and barracuda.

The current on the House Reef ranges from mild to strong, which creates excellent opportunities for drift dives. Small taxi boats can drop

An aggregation of Two-spot snapper and goatfish shoal amongst the hard corals at The Zoo 24 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific

Wakatobi’s House Reef begins just steps from the resort’s beach

divers up current so you can drift back to the resort's jetty. House Reef can definitely be dived all day long, and with its varying depths and drop off points, each dive becomes unique.

The Zoo

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ust a quick boat ride from the resort is one of the fishiest places in central Indonesia. Not far offshore, a patch reef within a sand-bottom

bay is home to a wealth of intriguing marine creatures and plants. A casual look among the corals will show frogfish, ghost pipefish and leaf scorpionfish, hiding, though easy to spot. Closer scrutiny may reveal smaller prize sights, such as the hairy squat lobster and pygmy seahorses, and surveillance of the sandy bottom will yield bizarre burrowers such as the stargazer, and the alien-like mantis shrimp.

Photo: Walt Stearns

Between the drop-off and the beach lies a vast ecosystem of turtle grass shallows and isolated coral heads which creates a rich environment for the most odd and beautiful creatures; just some of them are frogfish, stonefish, octopus, moray eels, blue-spotted stingrays, ghost pipefish, jawfish, shrimp and goby pairs.

Photo: Didi Lotze

he Wakatobi House Reef is reputed to be the world's best shore dive. Divers and snorkelers access it right from the beach or the resort's jetty since the reef’s crest lies less than 80 metres offshore and rises to just two metres depth at low tide.

Photos: Walt Stearns

Zoo is a favourite place for night dives.

At dusk a lucky diver might get to see the colourful mandarinfish emerging from staghorn coral and rubble. As the light fades further a new range of nocturnal animals such as hunting cuttlefish, bobtail squid, brilliant flatworms and many species of lionfish, including the elusive twinpsot lionfish, scour the reef.

Nocturnal critters such as the Bobtail squid can be spotted at dusk

Roma

T

he wide pinnacle known as Roma rises to within two metres of the surface. But the real story of this geological feature is what grows on and swims around the underwater plateau. The fringing ring of potato coral that encircles the crest has been likened to the Colosseum in Rome, hence the name of the site.

These formations are adorned with multi-colored crinoids and anemones with attendant clownfish. One slope is covered in a huge grove of Pavona coral providing shelter for small reef fish; the other is a drop off fringed with table corals, soft corals, and fans. Large barrel sponges point the way to Roma’s signature coral growth - a unique turbinaria coral formation more than six metres across

Resembling a gigantic rose, Roma’s large turbinaria coral formation measures more than six metres across

Photo: Walt Stearns

The Zoo is home to a wealth of intriguing macro subjects such as the Hairy Squat Lobster

www.dive-pacific.com 25

Photos: Walt Stearns

Brightly colored nudibranch (Goniobranchus kuniei)

Table Coral City is a particular favourite for wide-angle photography

and resembling a gigantic rose.

Large schools of blackfin barracuda, snapper and trevally jack patrol the water column above the pinnacle creating a constant flitter of light across the corals.

Table Coral City

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26 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific

Interspersed among broad table coral formations are groves of staghorn coral, patches of leather coral and wispy lettuce coral

Photo: Walt Stearns

The entire formation is a fish magnet.

The peak is covered in swirling masses of anthias, pyramid butterflyfish, fusiliers and soldier fish. Schools of blackfin barracuda circle the mount; eagle rays and turtles glide past while snapper and giant trevally patrol above. Keen-eyed critter hunters will find a range of ambush predators including lizardfish, leaffish and crocodilefish, and closer scrutiny will reveal tiny treasures such as bubble coral shrimp and orangutang crabs.

Photo: Marco Fierli

he crest of this prominent seamount is decorated with broad, mushroom-like growths of table coral. Their tops balance on slender supporting columns, and interspersed among them are groves of staghorn coral, patches of leather coral and wispy formations of lettuce coral. In contrast, the sides of the pinnacle are covered in colourful sprays of sponges and gorgonians.

Blade

Blade Blade is perhaps the most unique dive site in the region, and the furthest away from those regularly visited by the resort’s day boats. This distinctive formation consists of an elongated seamount rising from a deep ridge again to within two metres of the surface. In profile the entire formation resembles the serrated teeth of the edge of a giant knife. The elongated ridge-shaped formation is actually quite narrow allowing divers to view both sides of its seemingly vertical face simultaneously from the surface above.

This majestic ridgeline is covered in colourful arrays of giant sponges and sea fans growing upwards of three metres across. Red whip corals grow thick here, offering fantastic photo opportunities. Multi-hued crinoids are often seen perched on the tips of gorgonians, extending their tentacles to catch passing food morsels.

Mild currents allow you to drift from peak to peak, evoking a sensation of weightless flight. Blade is certainly an experience not soon forgotten.

Teluk Maya

C ornucopia

H

ere a wide range of depths and mix of underwater environments all occur in close proximity.

Coral formations rising almost to the surface surround a sandy bay decorated with coral heads and sea grass. But venturing seaward and the bay transitions from a slope to a wall with steep overhangs sheltering reclusive marine life and shade groves of black coral. Within the bay a large school of resident batfish mill about, hunting for morsels in the sand, or waiting their turn at cleaning stations. Cuttlefish frequent the area for mating and nesting. Razorfish and rockmover wrasse go about building their burrows while colourful nudibranchs inch their way through the sea grass and coral.

M

any of the shallow reefs around Wakatobi Resort start just a couple of metres below the surface then transition down to steep walls. One of the most popular of these precipices is the great wall of Cornucopia which combines a dramatic vertical profile with an above-average critter count. Nearer the surface, dense clusters of mid-sized sea fans dominate then, as the reef goes vertical, the face is adorned with the multi-hued coatings of soft corals. At even greater depths, larger and more solitary gorgonians mix with sponges and black coral groves while numerous undercuts perforate the wall, providing dark recesses for cometfish, juvenile grouper and a range of macro life.

This is a prime area to discover one of the most celebrated of sea slugs, the solar powered nudibranch. This large invertebrate adds variety to its diet of leather corals by cultivating colonies of zoocanthellae algae in its elongated tentacles.

A signature resident of these grottoes is the Randal’s shrimp goby. Unlike other shrimp gobies, which almost exclusively inhabit open sandy or silty bottoms, the Randal’s prefer the overhead environments indenting Cornucopia’s wall.

www.dive-pacific.com 27

Main photo: Walt Stearns Inset photos: Didi Lotze

The Pelagian experience

Photo: Walt Stearns

At Wakatobi guests can board the dive yacht Pelagian for week-long cruises to take in a greater area of the Wakatobi Regency. The Pelagian carries just 10 guests attended by a crew of 12 delivering the highest levels of personal attention, from attentive cabin and dining service to diving preparation and in-water support.

Each day the onboard chef creates meals worthy of a Michelin-starred restaurant - fresh local flavours in a menu also featuring international favourites.

Pelagian's weekly itineraries take in a broad swathe of the Wakatobi archipelago – such as the fish-laden pinnacles near Hoga, and the big reefs of Karang Kaledupa and Karang Kapota where divers will find everything from coral-rich shallows to sheer drop-offs. For many divers a highlight of each cruise is the days spent in Pasar Wajo Bay where some of Indonesia's best muck diving is to be found, along with a signature experience at Magic Pier to observe the mating rituals of mandarinfish.

Photo: Walt Stearns

The iconic mating mandarinfish

28 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific

All Photos: Walt Stearns

A mix of sponges and soft corals of varying species create a beautiful bouquet atop the crest of a reef

Green sea turtles always seen on both the House Reef and neighboring Turkey Beach dive sites

Wakatobi's commitment

to conservation

W

akatobi Resort is committed to a variety of proactive programs for protecting the environment while at the same time providing tangible benefits to the local community. The Wakatobi Collaborative Reef Conservation Program was established at the time of the resort's founding. This involved agreeing with the local people to designate a six kilometre section of reef as a marine sanctuary. Direct payments were made to villages in the area and their fishermen in exchange for honouring this no-fishing zone.

The program has since expanded to include 17 local communities around the resort, and the sanctuary now encompasses over 20km of some of the finest reefs in the world. Since the establishment of the reserve, destructive forms of fishing have been eliminated, dive sites are protected by permanent moorings, fish populations have increased, and corals have returned to near-pristine status.

www.dive-pacific.com 29

Photo: Wayne Osborn

Dive boats

Built for comfort. Staffed for service

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Photo: Mathis Weatherall

akatobi's fleet of spacious dive boats each make three daily trips to more than 40 sites within the Wakatobi private marine reserve. Each of these 21-metre custom-built launches is fitted with generous bench seating, bathrooms and storage areas under a full-length roof. To ensure each guest is given an appropriate level of attention, both in and out of the water, the resort typically maintains a ratio of one dive guide to four to six divers. There is also dedicated service for snorkelers who enjoy numerous shallow reefs accessible from the dive boats as well as full briefings and snorkel guides.

30 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific

Wakatobi’s private guides will tailor each dive experience to fit their guest’s wishes or individual needs

D

ivers and snorkelers seeking the ultimate in personal service and diving freedom can add the services of a Private Dive/Snorkel Experience Manager (PDEM), a dedicated guide who will focus entirely on the needs

and goals of a buddy pair, a single diver or a snorkeler. By working with a private guide, divers and snorkelers can enjoy a more independent itinerary while, at the same time, benefitting from the guide’s watchful eye and support. This service is available for casual or novice divers

looking for a bit of extra help with gear and in-water guidance as well as for advanced divers in search of new adventures, or a photographer with specific imaging goals. Guests staying in a Wakatobi’s villa are automatically provided a PDEM. The resort’s resident photo pro provides a full range of pro photography services that includes one-onone workshops and inwater sessions based on each guest’s skill levels and aspirations

Photo: Walt Stearns

Personalised Services

www.dive-pacific.com 31

Photo: Didi Lotze Photo: Didi Lotze

Also available are private boat charters which place one of Wakatobi's full-sized dive boats and crew fully at the all-day disposal of a diver or small group of divers. Special attention is given to underwater photographers; they are provided with the full support of a dedicated photo centre, climate-controlled workroom, and on-request underwater photography services and workshops overseen by Wakatobi’s resident photo pro.

Easy arrival hough remote, Wakatobi Resort is actually quite easy to reach. Direct charter flights bring guests from Bali to the resort’s own airstrip in just two and half hours. With generous baggage allowances and a dedicated concierge service in Bali there is no need to rush to make connections; Wakatobi staff will greet you, guide you through baggage claim and customs, and assist with ground transportation at your Bali layover with five-star efficiency.

32 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific

Photo: Walt Stearns

T

Relaxing luxury

akatobi is a boutique oceanfront resort combining the charm of a remote island setting with the highest levels of personal service.

To take full advantage of its natural surroundings, the resort’s individual bungalows and villas nestle into the shade of a coconut palm grove set along a white-sand beach. Buildings are hand-crafted in regional Indonesian style from sustainable local materials, and carefully sited to ensure both privacy and views. Though traditional in appearance, these spacious accommodations offer a full range of modern comforts, including air conditioning, private verandahs and with details such as Asian-style outdoor showers. Oceanfront Villas include additional indulgences such as plunge pools, outdoor Asian spa style showers and expanded waterfront decks. Complementing these amenities is an attentive staff that deliver a level of personal attention whose goal is always to exceed your expectations.

All Photos: Didi Lotze

W

www.dive-pacific.com 33

W atersports and earthbound interests

I

n addition to daily diving and snorkeling guests can also enjoy a range of beach and water sports such as kayaking, kiteboarding lessons, wakeboarding and other towed water sports.

Walking trails are nearby, and village tours allow a closer look at the region's places and people. For a taste of local flavours, guests can also participate in Indonesian cooking classes, towel art workshops and more. For more relaxing down times, there is a well-stocked library and media centre, (and the Jetty Bar becomes a favourite happy hour

destination for socialising and taking in a sunset over the ocean.)

Mealtimes at Wakatobi are much more than a chance to ‘fill up’ - the resort's waterfront restaurant consistently draws high praise from guests, and often considered a highlight of the vacation. Diners can choose seating with open-air dining room or on the outdoor ocean-view terraces.

The resort's talented culinary team prepares an ever-changing menu of both international and regional flavours, blending local ingredients with delicacies from around the

world. Our chefs and serving staff quickly learn each guest’s personal preferences and are more than happy to fulfill special requests or dietary needs.

Children of all ages are welcome.

Parents with youngsters can enlist the services of caring nannies to free them up for diving and other resort activities. Older children can join in a wide range of daily activities at the resort's Kid's Club, take snorkeling lessons or sign up for youth-oriented programs such as PADI's Bubblemaker diving experience.

For much more visit: www.wakatobi.com Contact: Linda Cash, Guest Experience Consultant Email: linda@wakatobi.com or Phone: +61 439 215 001 34 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific

SOUNDINGS

LOCAL NEWS

Breakthrough in research on freshwater mussels Freshwater mussels, ka-kahi which were once a valuable food source for many Ma- ori and play a crucial role in filtering waterways, have been in decline for years, but a recent breakthrough will help their restoration.

Ka-kahi are often found tucked under banks, in shady pools and partly submerged in shady, soft-bottomed streams.

Photo: Stuart Mackay

All three species of them were thought to reproduce by releasing clouds of lar vae into a waterway which then attach to passing fish and hitchhike upstream to a new habitat where they fall off, settle and grow.

AF35

DS51

Researchers clockwise from bottom: Dr Sue Clearwater, Nicole Hanrahan and Michele Melchior measuring freshwater mussels.

But Michele Melchior, a University of Waikato doctoral student, has discovered that one of the species, which can live to be over 50 years old, uses a different reproductive strateg y. It releases its lar vae in enticing packages called conglutinates to lure passing fish.

DS160 & 161

The lures are between 5 and 9 mm long, look like a small f latworm, and carr y on their back about 200 tiny lar vae, each about the size of a grain of sand.

Fish attracted to these lures tr y to eat them, giving the lar vae a chance to attach to their gills.

Once on the fish the lar vae can then transform into juveniles and catch their all-important “ride” to new habitat.

“Long-term we might be able to use mussel rafts to improve treated storm water quality because they can degrade bacteria,” said NIWA freshwater scientist Dr Sue Clearwater. “Mussels might help make water more swimmable.”

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Wrecks & reefs...

...Gizo to Munda Story and images by Dave Abbott Part 2: Diving

the Solomon’s

After three days of wreck-diving around Guadacanal it was time to fly out of Honiara on to Gizo for some mixed wreck and reef diving.

Internal flights in the Solomon’s are either on a Dash 8 or an 18 seat Twin Otter, real workhorses capable of short take-offs and landings, and ideal for island hopping!

Small islands present their own problems when it comes to building airstrips, and Gizo’s novel way of solving this was by joining two small islands together and levelling them to make what is still a short runaway. Consequently

Gizo must be one of the few airports in the world with no parking lot because there are no roads here and no vehicles. Just a jetty.

Gizo and Ghizo

We were greeted at the tiny terminal by Danny Kennedy, owner of Dive Gizo, who ferried us over to the dive shop on the main island of Ghizo (same name different spelling) then across to another small island (Mbabanga) to spend

the night at the iconic ‘Fat Boys’ resort with its laidback restaurant built out over the water on stilts, great food and quirky but comfortable bungalows. With its amazing views over the lagoon, this is a great place to stay!

The diving out of Gizo proved to be a nice blend of wreck and reef diving; we did five great dives with Danny, getting a good overview of what is on offer.

Solomon Is. Chill visitsolomons.com.sb

36 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific

Solomon Is. Chill

visitsolomons.com.sb visitsolomons.com.sb

A nearly intact Hellcat, the 'Betsy II' discovered by Danny Kennedy in Blackett Strait in 1986

First wreck

Our first dive was on the wreck of the Toa Maru, a nearly intact 140m long Japanese transport ship.

The stern lies at 37m, the bow at 7m, making it a great dive profile.

Being intact it is easy to penetrate and take a look around inside, and there are still many WWII relics to see, from old Saki bottles and ammunition to a small Japanese tank.

The clear water of the Solomon’s means you can also get a great perspective of the whole ship from the bow, and there are lots of soft corals and fish life on the deck and rails, even Crocodile fish! www.dive-pacific.com 37

Clownfish

Crocodile fish

Grand Central

For our second dive Danny took us to the famous ‘Grand Central’, renowned for having had the second highest fish count in the world on a single tank dive.

Batfish

…There are still many WWII relics to see, from old Saki bottles and ammunition to a small Japanese tank…

Over 270 different species of fish were identified!

This dive is a pleasant cruise along a pretty reef wall out to a point and a deeper drop-off where we saw some of the larger pelagic species including Trevally, Batfish, Barracuda and reef sharks.

Beach Dive

After a surface interval we followed this up with ‘Beach Dive’ dropping down over a ledge at 30m to a surreal seascape of huge sea fans interspersed with bright red whip corals and massive wine-red barrel sponges the size of 100 litre drums.

Bumphead

38 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific

A Grey Reef shark cruised by followed by a couple of exquisitely patterned Napoleon wrasse then we completed the dive on an idyllic sandy beach.

Barracuda

Zero

A quick dive on a Japanese Zero lying in only 9m of water in Gizo Harbour finished this most satisfying day with the strange juxtaposition of finning around an historic 70 year-old WWII wreck, only to surface a few metres away from a bustling little jetty!

Gap Out

The following morning was to be our last with Dive Gizo and at a beautiful site called ‘Gap Out’ off lush green Naru Island. This is a really pleasant drift dive along Naru wall starting at 30m and slowly ascending while drifting with the

Solomon Is. Diving GET WRECKED

visitsolomons.com.sb www.dive-pacific.com 39

Solomon Airlines begin direct weekly flights from Brisbane to Munda starting April 2018

Magical Munda - Dive the unexplored

www.divemunda.com

Dive Munda is a multi award winning SSI Instructor Training Centre in the Western province of Solomon Islands committed to sustainable dive eco-tourism. Scuba dive unexplored reefs, WWII history, Kastom culture, hard and soft coral, cuts and caverns along with pelagic life and shark action, all in one of the last wild frontiers left on planet ocean.

Experience Magical Munda at Agnes Gateway Hotel Award winning service and pristine diving SSI Instructor Training Centre WWII wrecks, caves and reefs – untouched and unspoilt

Winner divemunda@dive-solomon.com Find us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram 40 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific

Danny Kennedy investigates the bow of the Toa Maru

Tail of the Betsy II

current past large sea fans and gorgonians, through schools of Barracuda and large Humphead wrasse.

amazed researchers have managed to find out the stories of many of these wrecks, right down to the names of individual pilots and crew.

…Pilot Richard Moore was able to make a flaps-down water landing after being shot in a firefight over the Strait and quickly rescued by a canoe full of friendly Solomon islanders…

Giant anemones with their little families of Clownfish kept us entertained on our safety stop along with a myriad of small colourful reef species.

An exhilarating boat ride through narrow twisting mangrove channels and past the occasional

small village brought us to Lola island, where, after lunch and an afternoon nap at Zipolo Habu resort, we were picked up by Dive Munda in one of their dive boats and taken across to Munda.

The ubiquitous ‘banana boat’ is the dominant form of inter-island travel in the Solomon’s and to me the hum of 2-stroke outboards is one of the distinctive sounds of these islands!

Hellcat

Our final dive there was on an intact Hellcat ‘Betsy II’ in Blackett Strait, lying on a silty and weed covered bottom in just 10m. This US fighter plane was actually discovered by Danny back in 1986.

Apparently the pilot Richard Moore was able to make a flaps-down water landing after being shot in a firefight over the Strait and quickly rescued by a canoe full of friendly Solomon islanders. Considering how many WWII ship and plane wrecks litter the South Pacific I am

Fatboys

www.dive-pacific.com 41

Magical Munda

‘Magical Munda’ is renowned for outstanding diving and I had been looking forward especially to this part of my Solomon’s experience.

…A surreal seascape of huge sea fans interspersed with bright red whip corals and massive wine-red barrel sponges the size of 100 litre drums…

After settling into the very comfortable Agnes Gateway hotel, I wandered across to catch up with Belinda, Jos and Chevone at Dive Munda to talk about the week’s diving coming up. They had a very full itinerary planned for me to take in some of their best dive sites, and my time there turned out to be the highlight of my Solomon’s’ trip…but all about that in the next issue!

The nearly intact Hellcat, the 'Betsy II' discovered by Danny Kennedy in 1986 lies at the bottom of Blackett Strait

Solomon Is. Freedom NEVER FORGET, NEVER AGAIN

visitsolomons.com.sb

42 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific

SOUNDINGS

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

New inter-atoll vessel gifted to Tokelau A new inter-atoll vessel for Tokelau funded through New Zealand Aid aims to provide safe, reliable and cost-effective transportation between the countr y’s three atolls.

The vessel, Fetu o te Moana or Star of the Sea, is a 13-metre partly covered aluminium boat with two 440hp engines with jet units capable of a top speed of 32 knots and able to carr y 12-14 passengers.

nated search and rescue vessel to respond to an emergency in Tokelau the new vessel will be used for emergency response, and transportation between the islands for community leaders, teachers, officials and other people as needed.

The $860,000 vessel was

designed and built by ICON Custom Boats in Rangiora, New Zealand.

A critical part of the project is also to deliver a training and implementation emergency response programme on the boat to run over the next two years.

The vessel is designed for use between Tokelau’s atolls but has the fuel capacity to travel to Samoa, weather dependant, if required.

The vessel is equipped with the latest safety equipment and electronics including long range radio which operates under global maritime distress and safety systems.

As there is currently no desig-

Image by Shades of Colour contestant Dan Westerkamp

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Volivoli offers total Fiji experience

Fiji's best dive resort also a playground for families

By Laura Waters Premium Ocean View Villa

I

t’s no secret Fiji loves families.

The locals are famously friendly and the classic South Pacific beaches offer a haven for kids to play and swim.

Rakiraki or Bligh Waters is an easy two-hour drive from Nadi, and gazing out to sea from its headland is Volivoli Beach Resort. This four star property recently won the ANZ Fiji Excellence in Tourism Award for Quality Accommodation. But it’s more than just a great place to soak up the sun; this is also the gateway to some world-class diving.

44 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific

With Fiji often touted as the soft coral capital of the world, the dive sites nearby at Vatu I Ra Channel are arguably the cream of the crop.

Golden Dreams features swim-throughs festooned with yellow soft corals. Poke amongst the whip coral and you’ll find

…Amazing Maze is lined with soft corals and fans, creating a kaleidoscope of colour…

Three dives before lunch

Volivoli’s owners are Kiwi brothers, Nick and Steve Darling, both passionate divers. Every day dive boats depart for two or three tank morning dives to a selection of over 50 different sites.

ghost pipefish and scorpionfish while barracuda and reef fish buzz overhead. A network of passageways between pinnacles at Amazing Maze is lined with soft corals and fans, creating a kaleidoscope of colour. The

health of the coral is no doubt due to the proximity of the cooler and nutrient rich currents of the channel combined with low pollution and few other boats.

…When snorkeling on the house reef keep an eye out for the resident white frog fish, seahorses and ornate ghost pipefish…

Breathtaker offers a deeper dive with the chance to see big fish and several types of shark. Wreck lovers will enjoy the Papuan Explorer, Fiji’s largest and most accessible wreck in 20m and teeming with marine life.

Family time

Dive boats return for lunch, leaving hours free for a little exploring.

Adventurous kids are well catered for if it’s all about getting out in the great outdoors. Activities include swimming in the pool or off the beach, fishing, and paddling the free kayaks and paddleboards.

Snorkeling on the house reef is popular with kids of all ages - keep an eye out for the resident white frog fish, seahorses and ornate ghost pipefish. An introductory scuba experience is available or a full SSI open water dive certification.

The resort facilities are first class

Excursions

Though there’s plenty to do from the resort, venturing further afield can show you a different side of Fiji. Excursions include paddling on a bamboo raft through stunning mountain scenery on the Wainibuka River, or swimming under the spectacular Savulele waterfall. In the highland village of Nabalasere every building is painted the same shade of mint green. Or a trek up the extinct volcano of Mount Tomanivi (Fiji’s highest at 1,324m) offers magnificent views. www.dive-pacific.com 45

My, the food!

The dining at Volivoli is far above what you’d expect on your average dive holiday. Think double-smoked Wainadoi pork loin in whisky and honey glaze, or soft shell crab with papaya and lemongrass salsa. A simple burger or wood-fired pizza here is a memorable experience.

Kokoda Fish, marinated in lemon and served in coconut sauce, is a Fijian classic. And if you want to take the local cuisine home with you, you can learn to make

46 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific

it yourself in one of the resort’s cooking classes.

Or grab a cocktail and hammock at the beach bar to watch the sunset, or take a restorative spa treatment.

Ocean views at bedtime

When it comes to bedtime, even the most basic rooms have an ocean view and can sleep four.

Or spread out in the new two bedroom luxury villas each of

which have two bathrooms and a private swimming pool.

A stay at Volivoli ticks off your diving family’s needs; luxurious yet unpretentious. The relaxed nature of its owners is shared by the rest of the Volivoli team.

If you’re not travelling with your own family, you’ll soon feel part of theirs.

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SOUNDINGS

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Antarctic’s Ross Sea to be further explored Twenty one scientists supported by 19 crew members departed on NIWA’s research vessel Tangaroa recently to study Antarctica’s ocean, atmosphere and ecosystem processes. Their focus will be on establishing monitoring programmes for the newly created Ross Sea Marine Protected Area (MPA).

Scientists from China, Italy and France are also on board.

At more than 1.55 million km2 in size, the Ross Sea MPA is the world’s largest and only a year old. Its zones range from fully protected to special research zones as well as areas left open to fishing.

Voyage leader Dr Richard O’Driscoll says the main aim of the trip is to provide baseline information about the MPA so scientists can start to evaluate its effectiveness.

RV Tangaroa “During the voyage we will be making a range of obser vations from the atmosphere and water column. We will also undertake some biological sampling of small fish and fish living close to the seabed that are potentially impacted by the toothfish fisher y,” Dr O’Driscoll says.

“We are going to places we have never gone before and putting cameras down onto areas of the seabed where no one has looked before. It really feels like a voyage of discover y.

The Ross Sea still has large areas which are unknown,” Dr O’Driscoll says.

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VL15000P PRO MINI LED VIDEO LIGHT • Light Source: 25x XML LED + 6x XPE Red LED • Light Output: 1500 Lm (Level I), 3750 Lm (Level II), 7500 Lm (Level III), 15,000 Lm (Level IV) • Angle Of Light Beam: 160° • Color Temperature: 6500K • Burn Time: 3–30 hrs • Depth: 100m tested $1460.00

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48 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific

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GEARBAG

www.generalmarine.co.nz D820V is a compact and lightweight USB chargeable video light. It gives 120 degrees of super wide floodlighting with no blind angle for underwater photography, and up to 1600 lumens of light output. D820V offers three light sources: neutral white, UV and red, these options not only help your photography or videography in the dark water but can also illuminate the amazing fluorescence of marine organisms. The uniquely designed titanium alloy side button provides easy operation underwater, with a simple action to switch between light sources and a ‘safe lock mode’ to avoid accidental operation. With the USB rechargeable battery you are able to charge the torch wherever you have a USB power source, be it computer, car, wall plug or powerbank. The torch body is made from aircraft-grade high strength aluminium with a hard anodized finish, and the lens is 4mm thick, toughened glass; it is depth rated for use up to 150 metres under water. Easy to handle at 153mm long with 30mm diameter body and 45mm diameter head. The torch comes with a smart rechargeable li-ion battery, usb cable, lanyard and o-rings.

Whether you are on land or in the sea Orcatorch have a model to suit everyone from the beginner explorer to the experienced diver.

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www.dive-pacific.com 49

GEARBAG

‘Most valuable ever’ Surtees/Yamaha Grand Prize for Hutchwilco Boat Show The Hutchwilco New Zealand Boat Show Grand Prize for 2019 will again be the most valuable must-be-won prize ever offered at a boat show with a retail value over $220,000!

For the Show coming up in May (16th – 19th) the 2019 Surtees/Yamaha Grand Prize is the eye-catching Prowler Red Surtees 750 Open Cabin Game Fisher powered by twin Yamaha digitally electronic controlled 150hp four stroke outboards.

The boat will also be the first in New Zealand to be fitted with Yamaha’s revolutionary new Helm Master boat control system. The Helm Master delivers easy joystick controlled docking when coming into the ramp, and precision boat positioning out at sea.

Using Helm Master’s FishPoint™, for instance, the Grand Prize winner will be able to automatically follow a school of fish under their new boat.

With Helm Master’s DriftPoint™ uses a dual antenna GPS so the skipper can set the direction and speed for a drift and automatically maintain it. With its StayPoint™ a boat can be positioned over a point of interest, such as a deep water reef, and have it hold there automatically without an anchor, throttles or steering.

The Surtees/Yamaha Grand Prize’s twin Yamaha 150hp four-stroke outboards and new Helm Master boat control system are fitted to a new

Prowler Red Surtees 750 Open Cabin Game Fisher.

Hutchwilco lifejackets and Yamaha’s Marine Insurance for a year.

The Surtees/Yamaha Grand Prize comes complete with Surtees’ SiQ™ technology for superb handling in all conditions as well as outstanding stability while at rest or underway.

Other features include airtight flotation compartments, their QuikHitch™ trailer catch system and Surtees’ 10-year warranty.

The 2019 Hutchwilco New Zealand Boat Show will be held at the ASB Showgrounds in Greenlane, Auckland on May 16-19. Tickets to the show are $20 each and are now available online at www.boatshow.co.nz

The 2019 Surtees/Yamaha Grand Prize also features Surtees’ new Offshore Transom which increases the 750’s fuel capacity to extend the distance owners can travel without needing to refuel.

The 2019 Surtees/Yamaha Grand Prize will also come with a comprehensive Garmin electronics package, a Loan Star drum winch system, Fusion stereo, Hella LED lighting, Seadeck flooring, Oceanblue outriggers and HiTech Plastic seating, a set of

Ballistic RIBS launches new 7.8m dive RIB

Ballistic RIBS of the UK has launched a new, purpose designed 7.8m dive RIB with a generous 2.5m beam giving plenty of capacity for divers and equipment.

A neat stainless-steel tank rack for six cylinders sits at the back of the boat.

A variety of customisation options are available, for more tanks or alternative seating. Open space is provided for briefings, getting kitted up and rolling into the water. Below the seats is ample storage for fins, masks and spare kit. There’s even a removable

50 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific

picnic table and infill cushion seat giving somewhere to eat, drink or chill out during your surface interval.

A Yamaha four-stroke 300 HP

Full details about the Surtees/Yamaha Grand Prize package, along with all the terms and conditions, are now available on the show’s website: www.boatshow.co.nz What: Hutchwilco New Zealand Boat Show Where: ASB Showgrounds, Greenlane, Auckland When: May 16 -19, 2019 Open: 10am to 6pm; late night Friday to 9pm Admission: Adults: $20; children 16 & under FREE outboard will hit 50 knots with ease; or the 7.8m can be fitted with twin 200HP outboards. The 225-litre, underfloor fuel tank allows plenty of range for multiple dive trips. Package price is £74,976.

Kiwi-built Rayglass Protectors selected for top sailing world New Zealand built Rayglass Protector RIBs (rigid-inflatable boats) have been chosen as the official patrol boats for two of the world’s major sailing regattas coming up: the 36th America’s Cup in 2021, and the inaugural Sail GP competition.

The unique agreements supplying the boats between Rayglass Boats, Emirates Team New Zealand and the Royal New Zealand Coastguard will be worth tens of millions of dollars.

Rayglass Protectors were the official patrol boats for the 2000 America’s Cup regatta in Auckland, again in 2003, and involved in every America’s Cup since. The Protector is also to be the official support boats for the new Sail GP competition, planned as an annual, global sailing contest in Sydney, San Francisco, New York, Cowes and Marseille using identical F50 catamarans capable of exceeding

50 knots. Each competing yacht will accompanied by a Rayglass 10m Protector centre console.

Kiwi designed and built Protectors have found favour in Europe, the US, Scandinavia, Russia, Asia and throughout the Pacific which the company attributes to their high build quality and ability to travel safely and comfortably at high speeds in virtually any conditions. www.rayglass.co.nz www.protectorribs.com

First, a generous community benefit grant from the Lottery fund to Coastguard New Zealand will see 24 Rayglass Protector RIBs (from 9m to 12.5m) loaned to Emirates Team New Zealand and America’s Cup Ltd to be used as official patrol and support boats for the Prada and America’s Cup. Then, once that’s over, they will be returned to Coastguard New Zealand for distributing to New Zealand’s boating communities to help ensure water safety around the country.

Point n Shoot Camera Housings! Sony RX100 Mk VI

The powerhouse that is the RX100 line by Sony continues with the MkVI – it’s a point and shoot but features manual controls, an 8.3x optical zoom and nice big high-resolution sensor size! Hits that sweet spot between a point n shoot and a mirrorless.

Fantasea FRX100 VI Limited Edition

If you're new to underwater photography this housing has amazing features that make it easy and fun to use. As you develop your skills you can add wet lens, macro and wide-angle plus lighting!

RRP $695.00

This Fantasea housing features:

• 67mm thread, allowing the use of wet conversion lenses • Depth rated to 60m/200 feet • Dedicated video control button for easy video filming in any shooting mode • Shock resistant • Moisture Detector and Alarm • Special cold-shoe mount for lighting accessories • Removable double fibre optic cable connection • Removable flash diffuser

To find these products visit www.seatech.co.nz/collections/as-seen-in-dive-pacific-magazine

Bigblue VL600P Video light

The VL6000P is a 6000 Lumen video light with a 120 degree extra wide beam. Red mode option available, 500 lumens. Includes a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, charger, a sturdy hand mount and 25mm ball mount for easy attachment to an arm clamp.

•1 00m depth rating • 6000 Lumens at 5000K colour temperature • 120° extra wide-beam angle • The rechargeable Li-ion 18650×4 battery pack gives you two hours on the highest setting • Four power settings to reduce the intensity and increase battery life • Colour-coded battery indicator

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Prices current untill 31st March 2019

Trade enquiries welcome. Ph:09 521 0684 Email: info@seatech.co.nz

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All products come with full manufacturer’s warranties & New Zealand back-up service

www.dive-pacific.com 51

BACK IN THE DAY Some of the following comments by Wade Doak could describe some of New Zealand’s stores today, 56 years later!

DIVE Underwater Magazine

September 1963 Vol 3. No 4

One shilling and sixpence

SKINDIVING - No Longer Cinderella sport in NZ

by Wade Doak, Editor

J

ust as Dive was being taken to the printer, the editor, calling on Clive Reid to collect the ‘Sportways’ advertisement walked right into the centre page of this issue: the “Diver’s Den”. Awe-stricken he padded about the springy carpet drinking in the gleaming array of diving gear.

Meanwhile his mind cast back several years to the time when the NZ diver was accustomed to probing around between golf clubs and tennis rackets for his hard to come-by equipment.

Diving gear, being a Sportways Divers’ Den was located on the corner of Fort and Commerce Streets minor line for most dealers, in Auckland City. just could not compete for space with ‘idiot sticks’ and some excellent retailers, all back. An arsenal of spearguns, a ‘swords of willow’. The limited advertisers in Dive, who devote shoe store of flippers and enough range made it difficult to compare much attention to the needs masks to outfit 50 mail train various products, but choice was of our sport, recruit sales staff robberies. Scores of diving suits, easier – there was hardly any! In with diving experience, arrange in varying styles, hung on clothes those days, dealers knew very attractive displays of gear and racks like the latest from Saville. little about this off-beat line of even manufacture lines of merchandise, sold gear to any A diver, recognisable by his equipment difficult to import. The customer, regardless of training, ‘chewed-off’ crewcut, stomped NZ diver who pauses to think, and often, through their own lack down the stairs with a tank to will be grateful for the service he of diving knowledge, overstocked be filled. Clive connected a hose, receives from the retailers who on unpopular lines, suffered placed it within an armoured make this magazine possible. financially and washed their shield, twiddled a battery of hands of the sport.

Now Dive wishes to taps on the wall: gauge needles CONGRATULATE sincerely Clive flickered and with a quiet Nowadays, only the fittest Reid for his enormous stride hiss, the tank was filled. The retailers who kept in touch with forward. We now have in NZ a compressor was several yards the rapid development of the Skindiving Showroom equal to away beyond concrete walls with sport and its fluctuating fashions, any in the world and finer than a bank of storage tanks. have survived. Despite the many. struggle with import restrictions Then at length I glanced up at the and high tariffs, many NZ sports A line of scuba sets was as monster Packhorse Cray above the dealers have been quick to see impressive as the latest display counter and decided to rush Dive that the diver, requiring a huge of ‘fridges, each charged with to press and go for a dive. The amount of non-durable gear, was air waiting to be tried: no danger ‘Divers Den’ atmosphere gives one potentially an excellent customer. here of knocking over a display of that urge.

Hence, we are fortunate to have trout flies as you heft it onto your

52 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific

SPECIESFOCUS

Giant triplefin ~Blennodon dorsale

By Paul Caiger

New Zealand is a world hotspot for triplefins with 27 species and counting. The giant triplefin, as its name suggests, is at the larger end of the triplefin scale, only the Topknot is larger in New Zealand.

The head of this stocky triplefin is its most identifying feature - small eyes on a bulbous head covered in warty protuberances, and large obvious teeth. In fact, so unique are the teeth that the genus Blennodon is named for them (meaning “blenny-like teeth”).

Generally coloured mottled hues of grey and light brown through to olive-green help camouflage them in their surroundings. As males mature they become darker and more colourful, including red marks on the fins.

Though this is one of the largest triplefins in the world, it is rarely encountered, due to its existence in extreme habitats. They mostly inhabit intertidal and shallow subtidal areas along the highly exposed west coasts of both main islands of New Zealand, such as in mussel beds, boulder areas and rock pools.

Interestingly, as widespread around New Zealand as this species is, it is not found north of the Bay of Plenty on the east coast,

owing perhaps to the lack of turbulent intertidal habitats in this more sheltered region.

Living in such an extreme environment in proximity to the near constant pounding of waves, and extreme changes in salinity and temperature with each tide, has likely resulted in the diet of the giant triplefin becoming highly specialized. All but two of New Zealand’s triplefins are generalist carnivores, eating pretty much whatever they can catch and fit into their mouth. But the giant triplefin is a specialist carnivore,

feeding exclusively on the small black intertidal mussel, Xenostrobus pulex. (The other specialist is the planktivorous oblique-swimming triplefin). Their large curved teeth are adapted to pulling bivalves off the rocks, with the mussels providing a bountiful resource with little competition for them.

An evolutionary success story, the giant triplefin has exploited a unique niche to become the dominant species in areas of high turbulence in the intertidal and shallow subtidal.

~Blennodon dorsale

he second largest of New Zealand’s 27 triplefin he only triplefin with a specialised diet of 1 Tspecies.

5 Tmussels.

2 Attains a max length of 170 mm. ales become more colourful as they mature, 3 Mincluding intensifying red on fins. ives in harsh, shallow habitats of highly 4 Lexposed coasts.

6 Blennodon, meaning “blenny-like teeth”.

7 Monotypic, the only member of its genus.

8 Not found in the northeast of NZ.

www.dive-pacific.com 53

INCIDENTINSIGHTS WITH THE DIVERS ALERT NETWORK (DANAP]

By DAN Asia-Pacific

Six recompressions needed, on a liveaboard!

By DAN's Marty McCafferty The diver: A 60-year old male

in good general health with no significant medical history.

The Diver’s experience:

Advanced Nitrox Certified.

The trip: Liveaboard diving

holiday to Coron, Philippines.

The dives: Multiple air dives

over three consecutive days with safety stops completed on each dive.

The dive profiles: ay 1: D • Max depth - 15m; Total Dive Time (TDT) - 40 minutes Day 2: • Dive 1 - max depth 10m; TDT 30 minutes; Surface Interval (SI) - 3 hours.

• Dive 2 - max depth 20m; TDT- 25 minutes, SI - 3 hours.

• Dive 3 - max depth 25m; TDT- 30 minutes.

Day 3: • Dive 1 - max depth 27m; TDT 35 minutes; SI - 5 hours.

• Dive 2 - max depth 24m; TDT 40 minutes.

ONSET OF SYMPTOMS Upon exiting the water the diver took a warm shower and within 10 minutes immediately noted progressive numbness and weakness of both lower extremities, which commenced on the lower left leg and progressed up towards the left abdomen and chest, with gradual pain and increasing difficulty walking unassisted.

54 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific

There was gradual progression of abdominal fullness with bloating of the stomach and pain when urinating.

Oxygen was immediately provided on the boat by non-rebreather mask and was continued throughout the journey to Coron.

The diver was also given oral analgesics to help with the pain, though they provided little relief.

When the call was made to the DAN Diving Emergency Hotline, the liveaboard was on its way to Coron. However, due to the severity of the diver’s condition, DAN wanted the diver to receive a higher level of care and procedures were put in place to transport the diver via air ambulance to the decompression chamber at Quezon City in Manila.

TREATMENT When the diver arrived at the chamber on a stretcher he was conscious and coherent with stable vital signs. His key complaints were weakness and numbness of both lower extremities, abdominal fullness and discomfort, moderate lumbar pains and, due to difficulty urinating, the diver had a catheter.

With the symptoms persisting, the diver underwent a further three shorter decompressions (US Navy Table 5 Treatments at 2h 16 minutes each, to a depth of 18m, followed by a Table 9 treatment also at 2h 16 minutes, but to a reduced depth of approx. 14m) to deal with the residual symptoms.

At the end of all treatments, the diver’s catheter was removed. He had improved balance, and was better able to walk unassisted.

He was advised not to fly for an additional 72 hours and was required to undergo a diving medical examination prior to returning to diving.

Unfortunately some symptoms returned during the flight home so the diver was sent to an emergency department shortly after arrival into Australia where he required further treatment and investigations.

RECOVERY The diver continued to improve slowly upon returning home.

He was tested for a hole in his heart (a PFO), and the test proved positive. The diver elected to have the PFO closed. The procedure took place nearly nine months following the Decompression Illness incident.

Due to the severity of the symptoms the diver received six recompression treatments over six days.

Four months after the procedure the diver was given clearance to dive once again on the proviso he followed the guidelines below:

After each of the first two treatments (US Navy Table 6, 4h 45 minutes each, to a depth of 18m), the diver advised that the pain in his lower back was bearable and the numbness was reducing. He was able to stand independently for two minutes and walk a little, but remained wobbly, weak and uncomfortable.

• Conservative dive limits • Maximum depth 30m • No more than two dives per day • Minimum surface intervals two hours but the longer the better • Nitrox to be used where possible (on air settings) • Slow ascent and safety stops on all dives.

COSTS • Evacuation by air ambulance: USD$11,800 • Treatment (chamber and hospital): USD$10,650 All costs were fully covered by DAN under the member’s coverage option.

ANALYSIS This member was lucky that the liveaboard he was diving from had plenty of oxygen and that the crew understood that he needed oxygen to manage his condition (from their own personal experience!) while the boat was travelling to Coron. This likely contributed to his eventual recovery.

The call to DAN was made shortly after the onset of symptoms and this enabled DAN’s assistance team to organise the evacuation to Manila and advise the chamber team so they would be ready to receive the diver.

YOUR LEADER IN GLOBAL DIVE SAFETY. + + + +

39 Years Divers Helping Divers 24/7 Emergency Medical Services 150,000 Emergency Calls Managed 2,000,000 Members Served Worldwide

All divers should remember that DCI can occur on what some would consider to be relatively innocent dive profiles. Even though these profiles were well within the limits of this diver’s computer, he became seriously ill.

Further steps should be taken, particularly when in remote areas, to reduce the risk of DCI, by using such as a conservative setting on your dive computer and following the guidelines above that were suggested to this member.

Through testing it was found that this member had a hole in his heart (PFO). We are finding that PFO’s are not uncommon. Approximately one in every four people have one. In this case the hole allowed bubbles to cross the heart bypassing the filtering provided by the lungs and resulted in serious symptoms.

Having a PFO does not mean the end of a diving career.

It does mean that the diver needs to have a serious discussion with a Divie Physician to determine what options are available and how to best manage the increased risk of DCI. In this case the decision was made to have the hole repaired and to change the way he dives to reduce bubble loading in the body. www.danap.org Need more information? Send DAN AP an email (info@ danap.org) or call +61-3-9886 9166 DAN AP has launched a new blog, where we discuss topical diving health and safety issues.

Visit: daninsider.org and follow us on Facebook by searching DAN Asia Pacific.

Not yet a DAN member? Join at danap.org Engage with DAN on Facebook for insights into various dive-related safety and medical issues.

Search ‘DAN Asia Pacific’ or scan here.

Experience Matters.

Join DAN DANAP.org

www.dive-pacific.com 55

DIVEMEDICINE

Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine Journal: A valuable diving knowledge resource

by Professor Simon Mitchell, University of Auckland

I

have found that divers who become passionate about our sport are “sponges” for reliable technical knowledge. The origin of such knowledge is science; a process that I will describe in more detail below. Unfortunately, the world of science can be a little impenetrable to non-scientists.

Although we live in the so-called “information age” where the internet provides an accessible source of technical information, it can be difficult to evaluate the reliability and credibility of on-line information. Indeed, some material, presented authoritatively with the utmost conviction on internet discussion forums, can nevertheless be outright wrong. Scientists often avoid such forums because of the risk of being dragged into arguments with non-experts in a milieu where everyone’s opinions tend to be treated equally regardless of qualification and training.

The true mouthpiece of science is the scientific literature.

Collectively, the scientific literature is comprised of peer reviewed scientific journals that are typically published by academic societies with an interest in a particular field.

These journals will publish scientific studies, typically without charge to the authors, so long as the study is of interest to the journal’s readership and successfully passes through a rigorous peer review process (see below).

Unfortunately, there has recently been a proliferation of so-called “predatory journals” published by commercial entities whose focus is on profit; potentially at the expense of scientific accuracy.

These journals purport to be peer reviewed, but there may be significant doubt about the quality of this process, and they charge the authors large sums of money to

56 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific

arrange funding (very challenging in diving research), and then undertake the study.

publish studies. You can see the obvious problem, but that is a conversation for another day.

For a single study, the process of good science is often lengthy and expensive. The scientist authors will develop a hypothesis they want to test. Let’s say, to take a diving example, they

Once all the subjects had completed the protocol, the authors would compare post-dive bubbles in the two groups, and come to a conclusion about the veracity of their hypothesis. They would then prepare a manuscript for submission to a scientific journal. These manuscripts are typically short and to the point. Even a complex study is usually described in 3000 – 4000 words (about 3x the length of this article). They would choose a journal and submit the manuscript for peer review. The journal editor will read the article, decide whether it is of relevance to the journal’s readership and if so, send it to several experts (“peers”) who were not involved in the study who will review it.

The peer reviewers will document any concerns about the study and

…there has recently been a proliferation of so-called “predatory journals” published by commercial entities whose focus is on profit; potentially at the expense of scientific accuracy… believe decompression procedure A is better than decompression procedure B. The related hypothesis might be something like “for the same depth and bottom time, decompression procedure A will result in less detectable venous bubbles than procedure B”. They will then design a protocol to test the hypothesis. In this case, it would likely be a study in which two groups of human subjects undertake a dive with the same depth and bottom time, but one group uses decompression procedure A and one group uses B. At standardized times after the dive the divers would be examined for venous bubbles using ultrasound.

The authors would get ethics committee permission to proceed,

return their reviews to the journal editor who will in turn communicate those reviews to the authors.

At this point the study may be accepted or rejected outright, but more typically the editor will want the authors to modify the manuscript to answer some of the reviewers’ criticisms before accepting the study for publication. There may be several rounds of review required before a study gets to this point.

By such a process we generally get to the truth. There have been many examples of poor science being published (particularly in predatory journals) or even outright fraud where data are effectively made up. But

over time, science tends to be self-correcting; that is, repeat or related studies will identify aberrant results and correct conclusions will eventually be drawn.

Publication of scientific studies in journals has traditionally taken the form of printed papers in subscriber-only publications that end up in science libraries out of the view of many potential readers. But, and this is the main good-news point of this article, this is changing and scientific publication is steadily transitioning to electronic format, with papers becoming increasingly available on publicly accessible resources. This has recently become true of a very valuable resource for divers.

Diving medicine is a niche specialty and has only two journals dedicated to the subject in their entirety: Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine (DHM) published jointly by the South Pacific Underwater Medicine Society (SPUMS) and the European Underwater and Baromedical Society; and Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine (UHM) published by the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society in the USA. Part of the reason for writing an article of this nature at this time is that I have just taken over as the editor of DHM and I wanted to alert Dive New Zealand readers to its potential interest for those interested in advanced knowledge.

DHM is now an exclusively electronic publication. It is published every 3 months and contains about eight scientific articles per issue. The full issues (from 2012 to March 2017) to can be downloaded by anyone from the SPUMS website: http://www. spums.org.au/content/full-issues ( https://tinyurl.com/y9rgz8yz ) SPUMS members can download full issues right up to the present. In addition, individual articles from March 2017 onwards are available through

an on-line repository called Pubmed Central. The most recent year of articles are embargoed (and are available only to members through the website above). But anyone can access articles that are over a year old.

As examples, here are links to a few that have become available recently.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/ PMC6147225/ ( https://tinyurl.com/yd7e82xl ) On line soon!

Spisni E, et al. A comparative evaluation of two decompression procedures for technical diving using inflammatory responses: compartmental versus ratio deco. Diving Hyperb Med. 2017;47:9-16.

This is a report of a diver who was lost at sea (in a wet suit) for 75 hours off the New Zealand coast, and who survived. The article reviews the physiology and psychology of prolonged immersion.

This study compared post-dive bubble production and inflammatory markers in human divers following dives to the same depth and bottom time with decompression according to a Buhlmann profile (less deep stops) with ratio deco (more deep stops). The findings were interesting!

Available from: https://www. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/ PMC6147226/ ( https://tinyurl.com/ydfe5ok6 ) Sharp FC and Sayer MDJ. A technical diving related burns case: treatment in a remote location. Diving Hyperb Med. 2017;47:127-130.

This was a report of an oxygen fire and the resulting injuries in a rebreather accident at Truk Lagoon.

Available from: https://www.

Massey H et al. Lost at sea: the medicine, physiology and psychology of prolonged immersion. Diving Hyperb Med. 2017;47:239-247.

I will be maintaining a log of these and other high interest articles as they become available on Pubmed Central on the SPUMS Facebook page, so check in there from time to time for more links like the ones in this article. https://www.facebook.com/ divingandhyperbaricmedicine/ ( https://tinyurl.com/y7k8knc7 ) Divers can also consider joining SPUMS as associate members for direct access to all articles on the journal website. The cost is small, and there are other benefits like attendance at the Society’s meetings which are highly educational, fun, and always incorporate good diving.

Honiara, Solomon Is this year in May, and Tutukaka NZ in 2020.

See the society website: http://www.spums.org.au/

YOUR LEADER IN GLOBAL DIVE SAFETY. + 39 Years

Divers Helping Divers

+ 24/7

Emergency Medical Services

+ 150,000

Emergency Calls Managed

+ 2,000,000

Members Served Worldwide

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Join DAN

DANAP.org

www.dive-pacific.com 57

S H A D E S O F C O LO U R P H OTO G R A P H I C C O M P E T I T I O N

The contrast of beauty versus impact!

By Dave Moran, Editor at Large

I

t is always interesting at this time of the year to see how many Kiwis escaped New Zealand’s winter, as shown by a couple of our winners. It also good to see Kiwi divers enjoying a winters dive.

Goat Island Marine Reserve never disappoints. Over the years we have received many winning images taken in this jewel in New Zealand waters. Three of the images have Drama/Impact while Alex Stammers’ image is just simply stunningly beautiful.Once again, we see the amazing results that can be achieved by a high-end compact cam-era.

View the “wow” image of a Humpback whale calf taken

by Simone Matucci with a Sony RX100 MkIV compact camera.

The judges again encourage the use of post photographic programs such as Adobe Light-room to improve the final presentation of an image.

Give it a go --- it can be fun seeing what you can do!

The judges and the team at Dive New Zealand/Dive Pacific magazines look forward to receiving your personal masterpieces. See: www.divenewzealand. com click on Photo Competition. It’s free to enter. You can view galleries of all the entries over www.seatech. co.nz/blogs/shades-of-colour-photo-competition

‘Fantasea’; Beqa Lagoon, Fiji: Nikon D800, Sigma 15mm fisheye lens, Nauticam housing, dual Inon Z-240 strobes – f/11, 1/125, ISO400

A dvanced Category Winner:

Congratulations Alex Stammers, New Zealandd.

Alex receives a Gift Voucher for NZ$100.

Alex was enjoying the amazing soft corals of Bega Lagoon Fiji, when this diver came by filming with her Gopro and twin LED lights.

Judges’ comments:

58 58 Dive DiveNew NewZealand Zealand| |Dive DivePacific Pacific

This image is undoubtedly a winner. Having the diver’s eyes, framed a third in and a third down the image is great composition!

The fact that the diver is also ringed by red gorgonians enhances the image even more. The diver’s video lights also tend to pull the viewers’ eyes in towards the diver.

Great soft, subtle lighting from the strobes too!

Advanced Highly Commended:

Congratulations Simone Matucci, New Zealand.

One of the joys of diving off the island of Ha’apai, Tonga is the possibility of encountering a Humpback whale or its calf.

An amazing experience!

Simone receives a Gift Voucher for NZ$75.

Judges’ comments: A magical image of a very close encounter. With its left fin hanging down, this helps to fill the space below the whale's body. If its right fin was out, that would have added extra magic. We are guessing that the whale has tucked in its right fin so that it would avoid the possibility of striking the diver. These whales are very perceptive of their surroundings!

Using Lightroom to lift the bottom shadow detail and reduce slightly the top highlights would have improved image slightly.

‘Humpback whale calf ’; Ha'apai, Tonga: Sony RX100 MkIV in Acquapazza housing with wide angle wet lens and natural light – f/5.3, 1/300, ISO160

Novice Highly Commended: Congratulations, Dan Westerkamp, New Zealand.

If you’re in the right place at the right time why not keep taking pictures.

Dan was in the right spot as he also won first place in the Novice section of this fun competi-tion!

Dan receives a Gift Voucher for NZ$50.

Judges’ comments:

Central composition doesn’t often have appeal, but it seems to work well in this image. It is always interesting to have something big swimming towards you!

The dehaze and highlight sliders in Adobe Lightroom could have given this image a lot more impact.

‘Dolphin Pod 3’ ; Goat Island Marine Reserve, New Zealand: Canon 7D MkII, Tokina 10-17mm, Ikelite housing – f/3.5, 1/250, ISO1000

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S H A D E S O F C O LO U R P H OTO G R A P H I C C O M P E T I T I O N

‘Dolphin Pod 1’’; Goat Island Marine Reserve, New Zealand: Canon 7D MkII, Tokina 10-17mm, Ikelite housing – f/3.5, 1/250, ISO1000

Novice Category Winner: Congratulations, Dan Westerkamp, New Zealand.

Dan was enjoying a late afternoon freediving in the Marine Reserve at Goat island when he was surrounded by 10-15 bottlenose dolphins. Dan managed to snap off a few shots while the sun was setting!

Judges’ comments: A nicely composed image. The photo is visually interesting because you can see the dolphin’s tail movement at different steps of their swim cycle. A little tweaking in Adobe Lighroom could have improved the underwater visibility using the dehaze slider.

Dan receives a Gift Voucher for NZ$75.

Thanks to all those who entered this fun competition. The judges, Iain Anderson and Andy Belcher and the team at Dive New Zealand/ Dive Pacific magazines look forward to receiving your photographic masterpieces in October for the February/March 2019 issue of the magazine.

See: www.seatech.co.nz click on Photo Competition.

It’s free to enter.

60 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific

Are you a Novice Photographer?

We are looking for more NOVICE ENTRIES for our competition page - remember it's free to enter.

Sea Tech is the official New Zealand distributor of Ikelite, Fantasea, Inon, Bigblue, Nauticam and other leading brands of underwater photographic equipment.

Visit: www.seatech.co.nz or for personal service email: info@seatech.co.nz

A selection of notable photos entered for this edition's competition

(A) Stuart Loubser

(A) Alex Stammers

(N) Sara Kulins

(N) Sarah Milicich

(N) Sarah Milicich (A) Gaetano D Gargiulo

(N) Sara Kulins

www.divenewzealand.com 61

DIGITALIMAGING Hans Weichselbaum www.digital-image.co.nz

Full-frame? Or crop-size sensor?

In the previous issue we looked at mirrorless full-frame cameras and compared them with the more familiar DSLR cameras. With Nikon and Canon recently joining Sony’s Alpha series in the mirrorless world, full-frame cameras are in the headlines again. The question is, do you really need a full-frame camera? And how do they compare to crop-sensor cameras? That’s the topic of this article.

T

he full-frame format refers to a 36x24 mm sized sensor which was adapted from the common 135 film format and introduced by Kodak in 1934.

Just to make things clear from the outset: the more light the sensor can capture, the better the image quality. If you want the very best, you need to go full-frame.

But why stop there? There are medium format cameras out there with even larger sensors.

When assessing image quality, we are looking at a moving target. We can only compare current cameras because each new generation of sensor comes with significant improvements.

Each pixel can be thought of as a little bucket collecting photons of light.

All else being equal, the larger the bucket, the higher the sensitivity and the lower the ‘noise’. Larger numbers of pixels also bring an improved dynamic range and higher colour depth. I said all else being equal because, as we just noted, sensor technology keeps improving, their light detecting cells as well as the surrounding circuitry, amplifiers and processors. So we can only compare current camera models.

A certain number of MPixels is needed to resolve image detail

…Canon’s first full-frame camera, the EOS-1Ds from 2002 sported 11 MPixels and an ISO range of 100-1250. Back then this was a serious professional camera, but any of today’s cell phone cameras would put it to shame…

Case in point, consider Canon’s first full-frame camera, the EOS-1Ds from 2002. It sported 11 MPixels and an ISO range of 100-1250. Back then this was a serious professional camera, but any of today’s cell phone cameras would put it to shame.

Collecting Photons and MPixels Apart from sensor size another important factor affecting image quality is the number of pixels on a given sensor. A full-frame and a crop-sensor can both accommodate the same number of pixels, say 25 MPixels.

62 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific

Image sensor which are larger than the actual sensor diameters. These units go back to the TV camera tubes from the 1950s. The sensor size is about two thirds the size of the imaging circle. Image 1 gives you an example of a 2/3” sensor. Note that most compact cameras have an aspect ratio of 4:3, whereas the full-frame sensor has a 3:2 ratio.

and for printing to a given print size. In this article I will consider only the sensor dimensions, not the pixel count. That will be the topic of another article, but keep in mind that the overall number of pixels and the pixel density do affect image quality.

Sensor sizes The Table below shows some examples. Sensor size is often referred to with a “type” designation using imperial fractions such as 2/3” (inch) or 1/1.7”,

Image 1 - Example of a 2/3” Sensor with its Imaging Circle

Below I list only some of the most common sensor sizes and you can look up the dimensions for your particular camera and see where it fits into the Table.

Image 2 gives you a graphical comparison.

Table 1 - Some common sensor sizes

Pros and cons of a crop-sensor camera The main advantage of cameras with smaller sensors is their reduced bulk and weight. The lenses only need to project a smaller image circle and can also be designed a lot smaller. Needless to say, the reduced bulk of a camera plus lenses also eases the stress on your wallet.

The wildlife photographer will appreciate the longer reach of common tele lenses. For example, a 200mm lens on a Four Thirds camera (which still has a reasonably large sensor) will turn into a 400mm lens.

However, you also need to multiply the maximum aperture by the crop factor as well. Your f/4 lens will slow down to f/8.

…Each pixel can be thought of as a little bucket collecting photons of light. All else being equal, the larger the bucket, the higher the sensitivity and the lower the ‘noise’…

Image 2 - Comparing some common sensor sizes

This brings us to the question of whether to use full-frame lenses on crop-sensor cameras. Many people think a lens costing many times more must also give them the better results, but it often turns out that the cheap kit lens designed for the smaller sensor will give you sharper images! You can check out the image quality to expect from any lens/camera combination at https://www.dxomark.com/Lenses/Ratings

Depth of field Depth of field (DOF) is a hotly debated topic. Most photographers, including professionals, will tell you to get a full-frame camera because its larger sensor can create a shallower DOF. This is not strictly true since only focal length, distance to the object, and aperture affect DOF, not the size of the sensor.

In practice, with a larger sensor and the same lens, you need to move closer to your subject to maintain the same frame, thereby getting a shallower DOF.

When comparing cameras and lenses the ‘crop factor’ is important. Some people call this the “focal length conversion factor” but it is a crop factor because the part of the image circle outside the sensor gets cropped. Image 2 shows how a smaller sensor basically crops the image from a full-frame sensor. It is easy to calculate by dividing 43.3 by the sensor diameter. For example, a 1/1.7” sensor with a diagonal of 9.4 mm will give you a 43.3/9.3 = 4.7 crop factor. This sensor would turn a 50 mm lens into a 230 mm tele lens.

Cell phone cameras with their teeny-weeny sensor go to some elaborate software tricks to get their background blurred. So, there is some truth that larger sensors make it easier to isolate your subject.

A full-frame camera will always capture more light than its smaller siblings. The question is, will you notice the difference?

Thanks to the high quality of today’s sensors it is quite likely you will only notice an improvement in image quality under very low light situations!

www.dive-pacific.com 63

Chapter 3:

Back to the Basics

A Practical Guide for Beginners by Alexey Zaytsev Second edition translated from the Russian exclusively for Dive magazine.

(All photo's by Alexey Zaytsev)

Alexey Zaytsev is well known amongst Russia’s dive and underwater photography community, and has undertaken professional photographic assignments in many places around the world, including many visits to Egypt, Sudan, Bali and elsewhere. To illustrate the book, and also his own credentials, Alexey is making available a selection of his fine photographic work.

Alexey lives in Auckland, New Zealand.

Aperture, shutter speed and all…

Photography, regardless of on land or underwater, teems with terminology and quite often one thing can have several different names. Professional photographers may skillfully juggle these terms often replacing them with colloquialisms. So it is not surprising that a beginner can easily get intimidated and start panicking…

In reality, it is not as intimidating and complicated as it seems. So together let’s go back to the basics and clear the air so you are never again confused or feel uncomfortable in a company of super professionals.

Can we skip this part?

We shouldn’t and mustn’t! It is just as important as the physics of gas for a diver. Without the basics of photography, you won’t be able to fully master underwater photography. Take my word for it. Plus, it is interesting and not complicated at all.

"Mola mola" Mempang, Candidasa, Indian Ocean, Bali island, Indonesia.

Nikon D700 lens 15 mm F2.8 (f8; 1/160; ISO1250) Ikelite housing, strobe Ikelite DS160 64 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific

"Hangar for Hydrojet Saucer DS-2" Precontinet II, Sha’ab Rumi Reef, Red Sea, Sudan.

Nikon D700 lens 15 mm F2.8 (f10; 1/200; ISO400) Ikelite housing, two strobe Ikelite DS160

Let’s start with the camera set up‌ Good news for beginners: in principle, all cameras are the same. Any single one of them, regardless of whether it is digital or analog, has: 1) a lens with a diaphragm inside (f) 2) a shutter (s) 3) l ight sensitive material or a microchip (film in traditional cameras and a sensor in digital ones) (ISO) 4) a viewfinder

frame of modern cameras can be less than that of a 35 mm camera, hence a different focal length. In this case, optics manufacturers indicate another value for the focal length in lens specifications which is equivalent to the focal length of the 35 mm format. It can be easily calculated: the actual focal length of a lens is multiplied by a crop factor (the value by which the camera sensor is smaller than the 35 mm frame of an analogue camera). You will be able to read more about sensor sizes later in section 3 – Sensors.

5) LCD screen.

Lens speed

Look at the drawing of a photo camera below. It's not that bad is it? Let's talk about important components of the camera in greater detail.

Lens speed is an ability of a lens to transmit light. By the fastest lens photographers mean their largest maximum open aperture. Both the lens speed and its focal length are always shown next to the lens' name, for example, Sigma 15mm F2.8

in the technical specifications of the lens, and if you look at the lens itself, you will see this value at the focus scale. It is measured from the focal plane or the sensor plane.

The following sign on a camera body indicates where this plane is located in digital cameras:

Working distance Novice photographers often confuse the minimal focusing distance with the working distance. The working distance is a distance between the front of the lens and a subject if located at the minimum focusing distance.

Angle of coverage

1 Lens and aperture

The angle of coverage of a lens is measured along the frame's diagonal! All lenses form an image in a shape of a circle. The diagonal of the frame is the diameter of that circle. In other words, the frame (the sensor) of the camera is inscribed in this circle.

Any photographic lens consists of a group of elements and equipped with a diaphragm. What's important to know its focal length, lens speed, angle of view, minimal focusing distance and working distance.

In essence, the diaphragm is an opaque screen with an opening and closing hole (aperture) in the middle. The size of this hole or aperture can be changed automatically by the camera or by a photographer as he or she desires.

Focal length Focal length (F) is the distance in millimeters between the optical center of the lens and the surface of the sensor. The shorter the focal length, the wider the lens' angle of coverage. The longer the focal length, the smaller the angle.

For years photographers were shooting with analog cameras using so-called 35 mm film. The focal length of such lenses has somewhat become a 'standard' easily understood by any experienced photographer. The size of a

Diaphragm

Minimal focusing distance Since you must get as close to your subject underwater as possible, this feature of the lens becomes of utmost importance in defining its suitability for underwater photography. Choose lenses with the shortest focusing distance! You will find information about them

Probably, to intimidate or confuse novice photographers even more, a letter 'f' is used in literature to indicate the diaphragm. Moreover, it is often referred to as 'aperture'.

That is the precisely the reason why 'A' is used to indicate the aperture priority shooting mode on the camera.

Not many owners of digital cameras know about the existence of the aperture, or its purpose.

How wrong is that! The knob that controls the aperture on an underwater housing is as important for

www.dive-pacific.com 65

an underwater photographer as a gear stick for a driver. You need to know where it is and be able to change it automatically! So what is it and what do we do with it?

(or dark) is dark, and grey is grey.

3. If your lens doesn't have the aperture scale (ring), rotate the dial on your camera body that changes aperture settings. Note: some cameras have one dial that controls both shutter speed and aperture. To switch between shutter speed and aperture, you would have to press a special button. Please, see the user manual for your camera!

The fish and the gate Let's use an analogy with fish and a trap with a gate to help us understand how the aperture works. The aperture could be the gate leading to the trap, and light could be the fish. If you open the gate (aperture) wide then a large number of fish (light) can enter the trap within one unit of time. If you close the gate (aperture) leaving a small crack, then very few fish (light) will be captured in the trap (on a camera sensor).

In other words, a diaphragm is a screen that allows the photographer to control the amount of light entering the camera at his or her own discretion. What do we need it for? In order to be able to take a correctly exposed image, of course!

When we translate from the photographic language, this simply means taking a good photograph, where white (or light) is light, black

4. Look at the camera's monitor.

You should be able to see an aperture value next to the letter 'f', for example, f 5.6.

5. Rotate the dial in either direction and you will see the aperture value change. For example, f 5.6 will change to f 5, then to f 4.5, f 3.5, f 3.2, f 2.8. If you rotate the dial in the opposite direction, the values will change to f 6.3, f 7.1, f 8, f 9, f 11, f 13, f 14, f 16, f 18, f 20, f 22.

Aperture values Stop reading this book for a moment, pick up your camera and run the following experiment: 1. Turn on your camera.

"School of trevally" East pinnacle, Sail Rock, Gulf of Thailand, Koh Phangan, Thailand.

NIKON D700 15 mm F2.8 (f8; 1/125; ISO200) Ikelite housing

66 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific

2. Set the shooting mode to 'M'.

6. The smallest aperture value shown on the lens indicates the largest aperture, meaning that the largest amount of light will hit the sensor. For example, the aperture value of f 2.8 has become

"Wreck Kingston" Strait of Gubal, Red Sea, Egypt.

Nikon D700 lens 15 mm F2.8 (f8; 1/250; ISO640) Ikelite housing, two strobe Inon240

a standard for professional high quality lenses.

position closing the aperture to its maximum value.

7. The highest aperture value, for example f22, physically corresponds to the smallest aperture, through which very little light can pass.

12. If your lens has an aperture scale, move the ring with the scale and look through the lens.

You should be able to see how the diameter of the opening formed by the blades of the diaphragm changes.

8. Take the lens off your camera, but only if it's a DSLR or a compact camera with interchangeable lenses. Don't try to tear off an unchangeable lens from your point-and-shoot!

9. Look at the light through the rear of the lens. You will see a diaphragm mechanism consisting of several blades – it will be closed to the maximum possible value, for example f 22.

10. You will also see a lever on the rear side of the lens. Carefully not to pull it too hard, move the lever all the way to the side until it stops. You should be able to see the blades of the diaphragm open up to the maximum value, for example f 2.8.

11. Let go of the lever and the spring inside the lens will bring the blades back to their original

Consecutive full-stop F-numbers If you own lenses that can be used with analogue cameras, you will find an aperture ring on most of them. This ring is used to set aperture. You will also notice that the ring has several values – f 2.8; f 4; f 5.6; f 8; f 11; f 16; f 22 and f 32.

Shifting from one value to a higher one, we are reducing the amount of light that can pass through the lens. And visa versa. The amount of light will be reduced by a fraction of two with every change of values. Remember this magic number! We will see it again. This chain of consecutive values is called a full-stop F-number scale.

Not every lens has a full range of f-stop values. In some cases,

the widest aperture (f-stop as it is referred to by professional photographers) can be fractional.

For example, f 3.5, as in a popular among underwater photographers Tokina 10-17mm.

Fractional (partial) values Fractional (partial) f-stop values are invisible increments that are located between markings indicated on the aperture scale.

These can be set on the camera and will be shown as fractions on the display. What are they for?

They allow you to choose the exact amount of light that will hit the sensor thus ensuring that your images are properly exposed. In some models of digital point-andshoots, such as Ricoh that divers know as Sea&Sea DG-1, the f-stop sequence looks like this: f 2.5; f 2.9; d 3.2; f 3.6; f 4.1; f 4.6; f 5.1; f 5.7; f 6.5; f 7.2; f 8.1; f 9.1 – all values in the sequence are fractional! It is not confusing but rather helping the camera take better pictures…

Next time we will pick up more about Focal length and aperture

Available in New Zealand Housings & accessories for select Canon, Nikon & Sony cameras

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Available from your professional dive store. Trade enquiries welcome.

www.dive-pacific.com 67

DIVE STORES / TRAVEL

By region. To list your dive/sports stores contact Dive New Zealand for information.

More information on Dive Stores, Clubs & Travel at www.DiveNewZealand.com

NEW ZEALAND

NORTHLAND

A to Z Diving & Cylinder Services IANZ accredited SCUBA, LPG & Industrial cylinder testing. Certified in servicing all brands of dive gear. Supplier of compressor consumables: carbon, molecular sieve, felt pads, oil, O-rings etc. Certifiers of Air & LPG Fillers. All major gases available onsite.

235 Wiroa Rd, Kerikeri. P: 021 508 707 www.atozdiving.co.nz E: andre@atozdiving.co.nz B AY O F I S L A N D S , N E W Z E A L A N D

“World-class diving package” “Great diving mixed with even better accommodation, meals and hospitality” “Unbelievable value for money”

Dive Zone Bay of Islands Far North’s only PADI 5 Star IDC facility. Open Water to Instructor courses. Freedive and spearfishing training & trips.

Dive trips,On-site equipment servicing & cylinder testing. Aqualung, Mares, Scubapro, Beuchat.

Open 7 days! 5 Klinac Lane, State Highway 10 Waipapa. 09 407 9986. www.divezoneboi.co.nz, info@divezoneboi.co.nz

[ R E C E N T T R I P A DV I S O R C U S TO M E R R E V I E W S ]

Paihia Dive Dive training, charter and retail in Paihia.

Dive the Rainbow Warrior, frigate Canterbury and the Bay of Islands. PADI courses: Open water to Instructor. Quality scuba brands: Aqualung, Tusa, Faber, Luxfer and Wettie spearfishing. Open 7 days.

Williams Rd, Paihia, P: Craig or Lisa 09-402 7551 E: info@divenz.com www.divenz.com

NITROX

DNZ163

www.northlanddive.com Tel +64 9 433 66 33

Northland Dive World Class Diving package – Great diving mixed with even better accommodation, meals and hospitality. Dive with the team that instigated the sinking of the Canterbury Frigate. Full Gear available incl NITROX – PADI /TDI/ SDI training “Unbelievable value for money”. 3851 Russell Road, Whangaruru, Bay of Islands, P: 09 433 6633, E: info@northlanddive.com www.info@northlanddive.com

DNZ161

Dive HQ Whangarei One of Northland’s premier dive training facilities. Highest standard instruction and equipment. With their own on-site heated training pool and classroom. Staff and instructors have extensive knowledge of diving, marine environment and diver safety. At the gateway of the beautiful Poor Knights Islands. 41 Clyde Street Whangarei Freephone: 0800 102 102 or P: 09 438 1075 E: info@divenow.co.nz www.divenow.co.nz Dive! Tutukaka The Poor Knights Islands experts – professional, fun and safe – “It’s what we do” – With 5 boats, catering for all abilities; Adventure Audited, Qualmark endorsed, PADI 5 star IDC; air fills, nitrox, gear hire. Shed 7 with salt-water pool and training facilities – Behind Schnappa Rock. Marina Rd. Tutukaka, Whangarei. Open 7 days, 7am-7pm.

Always someone at the end of the phone 0800 288 882. Phone: 09 4343 867 E: info@diving.co.nz www.diving.co.nz

Auckland Scuba on Auckland’s north shore.

PADI 5 STAR IDC diver training specialists. PADI dive courses beginner to instructor and tec rec. Part time/full time tertiary (student loan approved), NZQA credits. Dive trips, air/nitrox fills, cylinder testing, equipment servicing. Top quality equipment!

Unit I, 121 Rosedale Rd, Albany.

P: 09 478 2814 E: info@aucklandscuba.co.nz www.aucklandscuba.co.nz KIWI DIVERS SSI, TDI/SDI, RAID dive centre.

Recreational and Technical dive courses (rebreather friendly). Regular trips from our own boat. Equipment sales, servicing and hire.

Cylinder testing, air/nitrox trimix/oxygen fills.

Open 7 days. 8 Keith Hay Court, Silverdale (just 20 mins north of Akld) P: 09 426 9834 E: info@kiwiscubadivers.co.nz www.kiwiscubadivers.co.nz Performance Diver NZ’s diving superstore! Massive stocks of all lines at unbelievable prices. PADI 5 star Instructor Development Centre offering training from beginner to Instructor. Local & national dive charters, overseas trips, servicing, air fills and rental. Open 7 days!

74 Barrys Point Road, Takapuna (behind Avanti bikes). 09 489 7782 www.performancediver.co.nz Dive HQ Westhaven in Auckland's CBD. PADI 5 Star Instructor Development Centre. Become a PADI Dive Instructor with us. NZQA approved Part Time and Full Course available. Still Your Local Dive Shop for all your SCUBA dive, freediving, spear-fishing and gear-servicing needs. Mares, Atomic, Oceanic, Pinnacle, Beuchat, and Zeagle. Fully equipped dive equipmentservice centre and dive cylinder testing facility onsite.

Corner (101) Beaumont & Gaunt Sts, Westhaven, Auckland. P: (09) 307 3590, E: info@divehqwesthaven.co.nz www.divehqwesthaven.co.nz Global Dive NZ’s favourite technical and recreational dive store. All top brands stocked and serviced. Our active dive club meets monthly with guest speakers and BBQ. Experts in photography and tech diving.

Quality rental gear, including technical and drysuits.

Nitrox fills.

132 Beaumont St, Westhaven, P: 09 9205200 www.globaldive.net E: info@globaldive.net Dive Doctor Mt Wellington New Zealand’s specialist dive servicing company, regulator servicing, drysuit & wetsuit repairs, compressor servicing, cylinder testing, NITROX, O2, Helium, 300 BAR air fills. A full selection of quality products as well as hard to find items for the technical, recreational and commercial diver.

20R Sylvia Park Rd, Mt Wellington www.divedoctor.co.nz P: 09 5308117 E: info@divedoctor.co.nz

AUCKLAND / DISTRICTS

Go Dive Center For All Your Diving Needs. SSI Training Facility. Authorized Mares Dealer. Servicing, Tank Fills and Trips. Come in and let us take you on a journey of discovery in the underwater world.

Unit 3/30 Tironui Road, Papakura, Phone 09 298 6431 or 0210 385 940 www.godivecenter.co.nz

68 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific

Manufacturing Quality Wetsuits in New Zealand for New Zealand conditions.

DNZ164

New Zealand Diving Charters to the Hauraki Gulf incl marine reserves, Little & Great Barrier Islands.

Also overseas trips. NZ’s leading SDI & TDI 5 star IDC & PADI with a wide selection of courses. Qualmark endorsed. Nitrox, 300bar fills, servicing & rental hire.

Full selection of gear for sports & tec divers.

22 Whitaker Rd, Warkworth.

P: 0800 NZDIVING. E: Neil@NZDiving.co.nz www.NZDiving.co.nz (DNZ164)

www.seaquel.co.nz

15G Porana Rd, Glenfield, Auckland wetsuits@seaquel.co.nz Tel: 09 443 2771

More information on Dive Stores, Clubs & Travel at www.DiveNewZealand.com COROMANDEL / BAY OF PLENTY Dive Zone Whitianga Only PADI 5 Star IDC facility on the Coromandel Peninsula. PADI courses from Open Water to Instructor. Dive trips from boat, shore and kayak, to many amazing dive sites. Full gear service and extensive retail store. Open 7 days.

10 Campbell Street, Whitianga, P: 07-867 1580, E: info@divethecoromandel.co.nz www.divezonewhitianga.co.nz

• New BAUER compressors • Late model, low hours, preowned BAUER compressors • Service, spare parts, oil and consumables AVAILABLE NOW FROM APPROVED BAUER AGENTS

General Marine Services 65 & 90 Gaunt St, Westhaven, Auckland. Phone 09 309 6317 www.generalmarine.co.nz sales @ generalmarine.co.nz service @ generalmarine.co.nz

Cathedral Cove Dive & Snorkel Half day trips – everyday through the summer at 9.30am & 1.30pm. Marine reserve or outer reef diving for new and experienced divers. Full gear hire.

Individuals & groups welcome. Check out our website for a full list of dive sites and prices, or link onto our facebook page for an up-to-date weather/sea/dive report in the Hahei & Mercury Bay areas. 48 Hahei Beach Rd, Hahei Phone 0800 CCDIVE (0800 223 483) www.hahei.co.nz/diving

CENTRAL NORTH ISLAND Dive & Gas Gisborne's authorised Aqualung dealer with full product range. A great range of other Scuba and Snorkel gear in-store as well. Plus we test and fill all Scuba Tanks. Kevin & Tracey Halverson, cnr Carnarvon St, and Childers Rd, Gisborne.

P: 06 867 9662 E: diveandgas@gmail.com Dive Zone Tauranga is Tauranga’s only PADI 5 Star Instructor Development Centre offering everything from Open Water courses to Specialty Instructor training. Gear sales for all scuba, spearfishing & snorkelling needs.

Hire equipment, gear servicing, air fills, dive charters, cylinder testing and more! See us at 213 Cameron Road, Tauranga, P: (07) 578 4050

E: info@divezonetauranga.co.nz www.divezonetauranga.co.nz

Dive HQ Rotorua Start your diving adventure with this PADI 5 Star training centre, your leading BOP dive & kayak shop. Showcasing a great range of quality diving, spearfishing, kayaking & water sports equipment. Filling and testing of dive cylinders, servicing of regulators and BCD’s. An IANZ certified cylinder test centre. 290 Te Ngae Rd, next to Repco.

P: 07-345 3047 E: info@divehqrotorua.co.nz www.divehqrotorua.co.nz

Island Bay Divers NZ’s Pro Gold Centre, Wellington’s oldest dive shop. Top brand retail, equipment hire, servicing all brands. Tanks tested within 24 hours.

CMAS, NAUI & PADI training. Club dives every Saturday. Corner Reef St & The Parade, Island Bay. Summer open 7 days 9am–6pm, winter closed Tues & Wed. P: 04-383 6778, E: tim@ibdivers.co.nz, www.ibdivers.co.nz Dive & Ski HQ Wellington PADI dive courses – beginner to professional qualifications. Dive club with regular local, national & overseas trips.

Wide range of diving/ spearfishing equipment and accessories. Equipment servicing/tank testing. Open 7 days.

14 Waione St, Petone. New Zealand P: (04)568 5028 mob 0210369996 www.diveski.co.nz E: diveskihq@xtra.co.nz snow ski and board rental available www.facebook.com/DiveSkiHQ

SOUTH ISLAND Go Dive Marlborough Specialist TDI technical diver training facility. Mixed gas, decompression and advanced wreck courses. Operate Lermontov Lodge (Port Gore) our base to diving one of the world’s biggest wrecks the Mikhail Lermontov. Weekly tours ex Picton from 1–6 days. Direct flights from Wellington to Port Gore. We offer Inner Sounds Tours from Picton.

South Island’s only SSI Dive Centre. www.godive.co.nz Freephone 0800 GODIVE Email info@godive.co.nz Dive Kaikoura is the only dive shop on the North Canterbury East Coast. Located 180kms North of Christchurch off State Highway 1 in the beautiful South Island. Specialists in having Fun, Tours, Shore Dives, Spearfishing, Air Fills, Nitrox, PADI 5 Star Courses.

Servicing of all gear AND we’re a Cressi Premium Dealer! Dive Kaikoura 13 Yarmouth St, Kaikoura.

03 319 6622. www.divekaikoura.co.nz.

Open October to June.

Book an ad space today!

Colin Gestro - Affinity Ads M: 027 256 8014 colin@affinityads.com

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WELLINGTON / DISTRICTS Dive Wellington Become a Padi Dive Instructor with our fulltime Diploma course.

NZQA approved and eligible for student loans and allowances. Contact us for a course prospectus. Dive Wellington is an audited and approved sub contractor of Academy of Diving Trust E: dive@divewellington.co.nz P: 04 939 3483 www.divewellington.co.nz On the seafront downtown Port Vila.

Sea Adventures PADI 5 Star Instructor •NZ Certified dives • Snorkel Tours • Training to Development Centre – also Technical diver•training Instructor Level • Full gearTDI hire available including CCR. Open 7 days. Dive courses – beginner Very friendly, professional & experienced to Instructor.

Club dives and trips Masters. in NZ and overseas. local Instructors & Dive Dive retail, fills, gear hire & servicing.

20 dive sites (10 to 20 minutes) including 5 wrecks 9 Marina 4View, Mana, Porirua. (including engine QANTAS Sandringham flying P: 04and 233-8238 E: old nzsa@scubadiving.co.nz boat 150 year sailing ship Star of Russia) www.scubadiving.co.nz Temp 24-28°c. Viz 10m to 40m.freediving Free pickup from Dive Kapiti Your scuba, & spearfishing Resorts town. specialists in the heart of theinKapiti coast. Quality servicing, airfills, dive training,27518 Kapiti Island dive & P: +678 or email: spearfishing trips and retail sales. Full range of Cressi dive@bigbluevanuatu.com products, our friendly staff are always happy to help! www.bigbluevanuatu.com 27 Milne Drive Paraparaumu 5032.

For your safety Vanuatu has P: 04 297 0075 E: craig@divekapiti.co.nz recompression facilities. www.divekapiti.co.nz

On the seafront downtown Port Vila.

• Certified dives • Snorkel Tours • Training to Instructor Level • Full gear hire available • Very friendly, professional & experienced local Instructors & Dive Masters.

20 dive sites (10 to 20 minutes) including 5 wrecks (including 4 engine QANTAS Sandringham flying boat and 150 year old sailing ship Star of Russia)

Temp 24-28°c. Viz 10m to 40m. Free pickup from Resorts in town.

P: +678 27518 or email: dive@bigbluevanuatu.com www.bigbluevanuatu.com For your safety Vanuatu has recompression facilities.

www.dive-pacific.com 69

DIVE STORES / TRAVEL / PRODUCTS / SERVICES

Fiordland Discovery Fiordland boasts some of New Zealand’s most spectacular diving, fishing and hunting.

We offer six-day, five-night private charters in the Fiords and the Tasman Sea. Be one of the first to discover Fiordland aboard our luxurious new cruise boat, the Fiordland Jewel. Multi-day cruises, private charters and individual bookings are available for diving, fishing & hunting. #Fiordlandjewel P: 0800 100 105 or +64 3 441 3322 E: hello@fiordlanddiscovery.co.nz www.fiordlanddiscovery.co.nz www.facebook.com/FiordlandDiscovery Waikawa Dive Centre located at Waikawa Marina, Picton. Offering dive training and trips through the Marlborough Sounds. Fully-certified dive cylinder filling/testing, dive gear servicing/repairs, hire gear.

Carrying a multi-brand range of diving equipment.

Open 7 days during summer. Ready to take care of all your diving needs.

P: 03-573-5939, F: 03-573-8241 waikawadive@xtra.co.nz www.waikawadivecentre.co.nz www.facebook.com/WaikawaDiveCentre Deep Blue Diving Making diving affordable for all divers. The Deep Blue brand is well known for its value for money and has a strong company reputation for delivering quality and excellent service. Visit our website or come in and see us for a huge range of dive gear, equipment servicing, tank filling, gear hire and Padi training.

15B Byron St, Sydenham, Christchurch 8025.

P: 03 332 0898 E: sales@deepbluediving.co.nz www.deepbluediving.co.nz

INTERNATIONAL DIVE OPERATORS AND RESORTS AUSTRALIA

Pro Dive Cairns Offers the highest quality, best value PADI dive courses and 3-day liveaboard Outer Great Barrier Reef dive trips in Cairns. We have 16 exclusive dive sites across 4 different reefs to choose from and departures 6 days/week.

Check out www.prodivecairns.com or call us on +617 4031 5255 or E: info@prodivecairns.com Spirit of Freedom visits the remote dive destinations of Cod Hole, Ribbon Reefs, and Coral Sea. The 37m vessel offers spacious en-suite cabins, every comfort on board, and exceptional service. Marine encounters include the potato cod feed, Minke whales in season, and the shark dive at Osprey Reef.

E: info@spiritoffreedom.com.au www.spiritoffreedom.com.au Tusa Dive Cairns local day dive operators with over 30 years experience diving the Great Barrier Reef.

Tusa’s fast modern catamaran the Tusa 6 will visit two unique sites where you can enjoy up to three dives in the day. Tusa Dive also offer a great day out for snorkellers. P: 00617 4047 9100 E: info@tusadive.com www.tusadive.com

dnz164

Dive HQ Christchurch 30 years industry experience, Christchurch’s only PADI 5 Star Instructor Development Centre and Adventure Activities Certified for SCUBA diving and snorkelling. Busy retail store selling the world’s leading brands and offering PADI recreational and tertiary SCUBA qualifications. Full range of spearfishing equipment including breath hold courses. Quality gear hire, service centre, Enriched Air training and filling station, local and international dive and spearfishing trips.103 Durham St Sth. Sydenham, Christchurch.

Freephone 0800-DIVEHQ. P: (03)379- 5804 www.diveskiworld.co.nz E: sales@diveskiworld.co.nz

DIVE COMPRESSOR

sales and servicing

HDS Australia-Pacific

High Pressure Equipment NZ Ltd

PO Box: 347 Dingley Village Victoria 3172, Australia. www.classicdiver.org

COOK ISLANDS Dive Aitutaki with Bubbles Below Explore Aitutaki’s underwater world with Bubbles Below. Only 40 minutes from mainland Rarotonga to the picturesque island of Aitutaki.PADI dive courses Beginner to Dive Master. Manned boats during dives! Safety and enjoyment paramount! ‘Take only Memories & Leave only Bubbles Dive Safe, Dive Rite, Dive Bubbles Below!’ www.diveaitutaki.com E: bubblesbelow@aitutaki.net.ck The Dive Centre – The Big Fish PADI 5-star dive

operator. Services: intro/lagoon dives, dive trips twice a day, courses, retail and rental gear. 2 boats, boats are manned with an instructor, 7 days, night dives. Aroa Beach by the Rarotongan Resort.

0804

Master Agents for Bauer Kompressoren in New Zealand and have been for the past 20 years.

• Servicing & repairs of all compressor brands: Bauer, Poseidon, Coltri, Bristol, Brownie. and most other brands.

• High pressure regulators.

• High pressure pumps.

• Compressor consumables and spare parts.

• Customised filling panels.

• Breathing air equipment.

New Zealand Master Agents for: BAUER KOMPRESSOREN compressors/spare parts BAUER-POSEIDON compressors and spare parts DNZ163

P: 682 20238 or 682 55238 E: info@thedivecentre-rarotonga.com www.thedivecentre-rarotonga.com

p h 0 9 -444

Contact us at: ph 09 444 0804, fax 09 443 1121

32 Parkway Drive, Mairangi Bay, Auckland.

Email info@highpressure.co.nz

www.highpressure.co.nz

70 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific

recompression facilities.

More information on Dive Stores, Clubs & Travel at www.DiveNewZealand.com

FIJI

VANUATU

Subsurface Fiji Visit Fiji for fun, relaxing tropical diving. Subsurface Fiji PADI 5-Star Dive shops are located in the beautiful Mamanuca Islands, offering daily trips and courses to some of the best dive spots in Fiji. Subsurface provides full diving services from Musket Cove, Plantation, Malolo, Likuliku, Tropica, Lomani, Funky Fish, Namotu, Tavarua, Wadigi & Navini Island Resorts.

E: info@subsurfacefiji.com www.subsurfacefiji.com (DNZ159)

Nautilus Watersports Vanuatu’s longest running dive operation in Port Vila with 30+ years’ experience.

Nautilus offers 4 dives a day (double dive both morning and afternoon). We also offer PADI course from Discover Scuba right through to Dive Master. For dive groups we can also offer diving/accommodation packages. P: Peter or Leanne +678 22 398 www.nautilus.com.vu E: nautilus@vanuatu.com.vu

Mantaray Island Resort Yasawa Islands – Fiji – Over 40 dive sites ; vibrant reefs, stunning coral gardens, caves, swim throughs, wall dives, drop offs, shark dives, turtles, and a stunning house reef. Fiji’s only accredited free-diving school, Mantaray swimming May–Oct. Small group diving in a safe and enjoyable environment visit us at www.mantarayisland.com Volivoli Beach Resort offers you relaxed, unspoilt white sandy beaches in a spectacular part of Fiji. Ra Divers operates from the resort giving you a water wonderland on the worlds best soft coral dive sites.

The Fiji Siren is a livaboard boat offering you 7 and 10 night dive packages. www.volivoli.com E: info@volivoli.com P: +679 9920942

SOLOMONS

Raiders Hotel and Dive Wreck and Reef diving, Accommodation, Bar and dining, Snorkelling Hiking and more. Located 1 hour from Honiara on the waterfront of the historic Tulagi harbour. Dive Discover – Relax. www.raidershotel.com email raidershotel@solomon.com.sb ph +677 7594185 / 7938017 SIDE Dive Munda – Dive the unexplored Experience Magical Munda at Agnes Gateway Hotel.

Award winning service and pristine diving. SSI Instructor Training Centre. WWII wrecks, caves and reefs – untouched and unspoilt. www.divemunda.com divemunda@dive-solomon.com Find us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram SIDE TAKA Dive See more of the Solomon Islands by liveaboard! Save $700 on a 7 night booking on board MV Taka: 7 Nights Accommodation; 3 gourmet meals daily; 24 Dives – sharks, WWII wrecks, manta rays, night dives; Round trip airport transfers. Conditions apply. For more information or to make a reservations: book@dive-solomon.com Tulagi Dive Solomon Islands An underwater paradise for marine life and explore the many ships and aircraft wrecks at the famous Iron Bottom Sound. We offer the PADI and TDI courses. Phone (+677) 25700 www.tulagidive.com dive@tulagidive.com

THIS SPACE

COULD BE YOURS

DIVE HOLIDAY Travelandco At travel&co (previously Dive Fish Snow Holidays) we’ve been crafting tailor-made active travel trips and experiences for over 30 years.

Our team of active travel experts share your passion for adventure and can help book an exceptional active travel experience that goes beyond the ordinary. From wreck or reef diving, learning to dive, to liveaboard adventures - for insider tips on the best dive locations and tailormade diving experiences let your active travel journey start with us. t: 09 479 2210 Toll free NZ: 0800 555 035 e: enquire@travelandco.nz www.travelandco.nz/dive

TRIPS/CHARTERS fish

•

hunt

•

dive

•

Very friendly, professional & experienced local Instructors & Dive Masters.

Ve

20 dive sites (10 to 20 minutes) including 5 wrecks (including 4 engine QANTAS Sandringham flying boat and 150 year old sailing ship Star of Russia)

20 d (inc boa

Temp 24-28°c. Viz 10m to 40m. Free pickup from Resorts in town.

P: +678 27518 or email: dive@bigbluevanuatu.com

cruise

Fish, Hunt, Dive or Cruise aboard the fully refurbished MV Cindy Hardy. Fiordland or Stewart Island, our scenic cruises will provide you with a once in a lifetime experience.

Everything is provided regardless of how short or long your time on board with us is.

Cruise options available on our website. www.cruisefiordland.com info@cruisefiordland.com +6421 088 14530

www.bigbluevanuatu.com For your safety Vanuatu has recompression facilities.

SPEAKERS/LECTURERS

Available for talks to dive clubs etc. You can find full details on these speakers/lectures at www.DiveNewZealand.co.nz/dive-in-nz/dive-shops/ Terry Brailsford Wreck diving for gold & treasure. Incl the Rothschild jewellery, search for General Grant.

0274 958816, theadmiral@xtra.co.nz Tony Howell History and entertainment with lots of rare historical photos and illustrations – 12 powerpoints in total. 45 mins –1 hr each.

Contact me for topics. 04 233-8238, www.scubadiving.co.nz tony@scubadiving.co.nz

(DNZ156)

Outer Gulf Charters One hour north of Auckland CBD Providing divers with the ultimate diving day out with diver lift, fast/comfortable travel, hot water shower, and all the tea and coffee you want.

Recommended Dive Sites: Goat Island Marine Reserve, Mokohinau Islands, Great/Little Barrier, Sail Rock/Hen & Chickens in style. Trip schedule and info www.outergulfcharters.co.nz or phone Julie 021 827 855

PLACE AN AD WITH US

Dr Roger Grace ‘Why do we need no-take zones?’; ‘20 years as a Greenpeace photographer’.

021 126 5292, gracer@xtra.co.nz Darren Shields Spearfishing titles,uw cameraman, author. Motivating/compelling/innovative/inspiring/ entertaining P: 09-4794231, 021839118, darren@wettie.co.nz Jamie Obern Technical instructor/cave diver, 20+ years exp. globally. Photos/video: uw caves in Mexico, USA, UK, NZ, Australia. Techdive NZ/GUE NZ instructor. P: 021 614 023, www.techdivenz.com jamie@techdivenz.com Dave Moran Ching Dynasty porcelain from the Tek Sing. P: Dive New Zealand 09-521 0684, E: divenz@DiveNewZealand.co.nz Samara Nicholas M.O.N.Z -Programme Director: Experiencing Marine Reserves – Te Kura Moana: samara@emr.org.nz www.emr.org.nz www.facebook.com/emr.mtsct P: 09 4338205 or 0210362019 (field only)

colin@affinityads.com

ADVERTISERS’ INDEX

•C Inst

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Enquiries to: Colin Gestro Affinity Ads M: 027 256 8014

Airtec 13 Big Blue 48 DAN 55&57 FantaSea Line 43&67 General Marine Services 49 Hutchwilco Boatshow IBC

On the seafront downtown Port Vila.

• Certified dives • Snorkel Tours • Training to Instructor Level • Full gear hire available •

Ikelite - SeaTech Nautilus - SeaTech Niue PADI SIDE Dive Munda Solomons

35 7 1 19 40 39

Subscription Tahiti Travelandco/Dive Yamaha

IFC 17 47 OBC

ALPHABETICAL ORDER

Captain Cook Cruises Reef Endeavour and Tivua Island are 5 star PADI operations – Discover Scuba – Scuba Dive – Open water dive – Advance Wreck Dive, MV Raiyawa at Tivua Island. Fiji P: +679 6701 823 E: fiji@captaincookcruisesfiji.com www.captaincookcruisesfiji.com

www.dive-pacific.com 71

Three great dive pioneers pass on Lynton Diggle is a name many of you will know, especially if you have been diving since the 1960’s, made his name as a cameraman / producer of documentaries.

He joined the New Zealand National Film Unit in October 1957 and was involved in many expeditions to Antarctica.

He filmed the recovery of bunker oil off the wreck of the SS President Coolidge Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu as well as the oil removal from the Russian cruise liner Mikhail Lermontov in the Marlborough Sounds in New Zealand along with footage pulling huge containers off ships stuck on reefs.

Lynton became involved with the late Kelly Tarlton filming salvage operation on the SS Tasmania off the Mahia coast at the time when Kelly was recovering much of the Rothchild’s jewels. He also

Allan Power was one of the

great identities of scuba diving.

Allan was very highly regarded among his peers; divers travelled the world to meet him and share his passion for diving and love of the marine world especially around the wreck of the SS President Coolidge in Vanuatu. His timeless book The Great Barrier Reef published in 1977 became a treasured classic.

After moving to Espiritu Santo to undertake a salvage operation Allan established Allan Power Dive Tours there, a company held in

Bob Halstead was a towering

figure in the international dive community and a regular contributor to Dive Pacific magazine. His photography and writing, smart device apps, and the promotion of diving in general, Papua New Guinea in particular, were great and varied.

As a celebrated underwater photographer, his work featured on countless magazine covers and won numerous awards.

He published eight books on diving and marine life, as well as hundreds of magazine articles (sometimes controversial).

72 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific

filmed Kelly in association with Oscar winner film producer David Lean when they discovered and recovered one of Captain Cook’s anchors which Cook lost in 1773 in Tahiti.

His wife Edith was his soul mate and fellow researcher as shipwreck research became their main interest. Edith had a column in Dive New Zealand: Shipwreck Lady.

They partnered up with Keith Gordon to publish the 8th Edition of NZ Shipwreck recording 530 wrecks in its 576 pages!

He was also a member of Auckland’s Reefcombers Spearfishing club and with a love of caving and spearfishing.

Lynton was a founding Member of the New Zealand Underwater Heritage Group and a committee member and president of the Ocean Society which ran two to

Lynton Diggle 13 Oct 1936 – 23 Nov 2018 three day Diving /Exploration Conferences in Auckland from 1976 to 1990.

He and Edith are pictured on page 6 receiving the Kelly Tarlton Recognition Award 2018. His contribution to New Zealand maritime history cannot be overstated. It was simply amazing.

He will be greatly missed.

high regard worldwide.

In 2011 Allan was inducted into the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame in the Cayman Islands. This prestigious award recognised his contribution to the diving industry with specific mention to his work and achievements on the SS President Coolidge.

The thousands of divers who met Allan over the years may recall his incredible memory and detailed knowledge of underwater fish species, and his passion for sharing that knowledge. Allan was

Allan Power 25 April 1933 – 17 Dec 2018 in his 85th year. http://www.allan-power-santo.com

His best-known book, Coral Sea Reef Guide, was later released as a marine life identification app: Bob Halstead’s Coral Sea Fish Guide App. Probably the thing Bob is most known for though, was his coining the term “muck diving” and introducing countless divers to a form of diving that had previously been left to scientists.

As an instructor and dive guide in Papua New Guinea, Bob was second to none. His spirit and sense of humour were notoriously infectious. He was inducted into the Scuba Diving Hall of Fame

Bob Halstead 24 Oct 1944 – 18 Dec 2018 in 2008. He died after a difficult illness.

- Dave Moran

Editor at Large

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