Subsea 154

SUBSEA Ireland’s Only Diving Magazine

RED SEA UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP

B4 Dive Ireland 2016 Scottish Marine Protection Diving Komodo National Park

Vol. 10 No. 154 Spring 2016 '))(++ %&!,#%$*

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SUBSEA

CONTENTS

ISSN 0791 - 475X Volume 10 Number 154 Spring 2016 5

EDITORIAL Editor's comment

5

BRIEFINGS What’s happening at home and abroad

8

LOW VIZ DIVING AND THE WONDERS OF ZOOPLANKTON

By Maja Stankowski

11 THE SIMPLICITY OF SNORKELING

By Richard Thorn

Diver shooting wreck of the the Giannis D in the Red Sea. Photo by and © Damien McGuirk.

Attention SubSea contributors • Submit all material to the Editor at editor@diving.ie or to Head Office • Material must arrive well in advance of the deadline.

• Pictures are essential to illustrate news items and articles.

• Authors must remember that they bear responsibility to ensure that material is not copied from another copyrighted publication.

• Ensure that digital photos submitted are: 120 pixels/cm (300 dpi) and sized at 30cm X 21cm.

SubSea is published by the Irish Underwater Council. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the Council.

The magazine is not intended as an invitation or prospectus to members of the public or other interested parties to dive on any of the sites that are mentioned in the text and anyone intending to do so should take appropriate advice with regard to the safety and viability of their proposed actions. Boarding a wreck requires the permission of the owner. Diving on a 100 year old wreck requires a permit.

Edited by: Shane Stanley

Advertising: Sarah Campbell

Proofreading: Eibhir Mulqueen Martin Johnston

Typesetting and Design: Bernard Kaye Honorary Archivist: Michael Moriarty SubSea, Irish Underwater Council, 78a Patrick St., Dun Laoghaire Co. Dublin.

Tel: (01) 2844601. Fax: (01) 2844602.

Web site: www.diving.ie E-Mail: info@diving.ie

Printed by Doggett Print & Design, Dublin.

Tel: (01) 453 3151. Fax: (01) 453 3156.

15 REVIEW OF THE 2015 UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY YEAR

By Ivan Donoghue 17 DIVING IN KOMODO NATIONAL PARK

By Yvonne Moran 21 GATEWAY TO THE UNDERWORLD

By Daragh Muldowney 25 DIVE IRELAND INTERNATIONAL 2016 Programme – Speakers – Exhibitors 29 MARINE PROTECTION IN SCOTTISH SEAS

By John Collins 34 INSTRUCTOR DEVELOPMENT OVERVIEW

By Dermot Moynihan 35 UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP WITH ALEX MUSTARD

By Damien McGuirk 40 EL HIERRO

By John Reynolds 43 SEASEARCH SEA SQUIRT ID COURSE

By Frances O’Sullivan

Affiliated to

47 MANAGING STRESS

By Matt Jevon 50 MART AND EXCHANGE

CMAS

Summer 2016 Issue Deadline All articles for inclusion in the next issue of SubSea should be sent to the editor before April 21st.

All advertising should be sent to CFT Head Office before April 21st.

SubSea Spring 2016

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EL HIERRO

DIVE HOLIDAYS – EL HIERRO DEPARTURE DATES – 2016

A magic, undiscovered little gem of an island on the western edge of the Canary archipelago. Only 25 miles long but 5,000ft high it has an extraordinary diversity of scenery from green fields and stonewalls like the west of Ireland, up on the plateau, through beautiful pine and laurel forests and vineyards down to fertile coastal plains awash with bananas, pineapples, papayas and cereals. The people are extremely friendly and there is zero crime on the island. There are no Irish bars, no English bars, no fast food joints, no golf courses, no snakes or mosquitoes - and hardly any tourists. In fact no nasties at all!

The scenic driving and hill walking are both dramatic and amazing so it is idyllic for the non-diving spouse who values peace and quiet and an utterly relaxing holiday in the sun.

“OUR FLEET”

We have 4 vehicles and anyone who wishes can take a car for a drive around the island or to nearby swimming spots.

The picture shows “our fleet” of two x 8seater Toyotas, a 5-seater Mercedes and a 4-seater Mercedes, parked beneath the apartments, overlooking the harbour in La Restinga.

Those of you who were with us in the early days may mourn the passing of our old 11 -seater Land Rover but you will find these cars a lot more comfortable!

THE DIVING The best diving in all of Spain. The Spanish Open U/W Photography Competition (a major, heavily sponsored event) has been held here for the last 16 years! Probably the best diving in all of

Book your Ryanair flights to Tenerife on the designated date. I collect you at Tenerife airport and we transfer to a hotel in the nearby resort of Los Cristianos from where we depart by fast ferry next day to El Hierro. With the exception of the March 5th holiday, we travel back on Sunday evening to the bright lights of Tenerife before flying home Monday. Departure dates: ■ Monday 22 Feb ■ Saturday 5 Mar ■ Monday 14 Mar ■ Monday 4 Apr ■ Monday 16 May ■ Monday 10 Oct ■ Monday 17 Oct Euro-land. It is, after all, the most southerly (28 degrees) and the most westerly (18 degrees) point in Europe.

Temperatures are tropical and the Ocean is 25 degrees in autumn so there is abundant Oceanic and tropical life, particularly in the Marine Reserve, situated in The “Mar de Las Calmas” or tranquil sea, an area of several square miles completely protected from the prevailing NE winds by huge cliffs.

The seascape is spectacular with dramatic dropoffs, caves and pinnacles.

Depths are daunting with 3,000m not far offshore. Visibility is 30m plus and the sea is a vivid blue. The variety and abundance of marine life is exceptional.

■ Monday 8 Nov ■ Monday 22 Nov

HOLIDAY COST The diving holiday price which includes all transfers and transport; all ferries; all accommodation and ten boat dives with tanks, air, weights and dive guide is €625. Non divers and hill walkers (5 days guided walking) travel for just €425.

GODS OFFER GODS (Golden Oldies Diving Society) members get €50 discount (Divers:

LA RESTINGA The tiny fishing village at the southern tip of the island which is our base for the week; our lovely apartments are on the little promenade overlooking the harbour. Everything is within a couple of minutes’ walk - the Dive Centre, “El Bar” the little “supermercado” and the 5 very good restaurants (fresh fish every day).

There are safe and simple swimming and snorkelling spots and the outdoor dining and wining under the stars are memories to cherish.

€575 and Non- divers & hill walkers: €375) INFORMATION If you wish to give me a postal address I can send you the information leaflet Contact me on e-mail at any time if you have questions or queries.

Good Diving!

Shane

BRIEFINGS Huge Kickstarter success for budget ROV

EDITORIAL Greetings one and all and welcome to the spring edition of Subsea. I do hope the beginning of 2016 has been good to you (despite all the stormy weather) and that you are looking forward to a fun filled dive season as well as Dive Ireland International 2016 hosted this year by Athlone SAC at the Hodson Bay Hotel.

Inside is the full programme for the show, packed with high profile speakers and also the programme for the CFT Underwater Photography group’s talks. I would like to wish them every success in with their show and I personally look forward to catching up with all the contributors of the wonderful Subsea articles from my first 12 months as editor.

In this edition, we again have a fantastic array of contributions including Damien McGuirk’s trip to the Red Sea and his experiences working with photographer extraordinaire, Alex Mustard. John Collins shares with us an insight into marine protection in Scottish seas. Let us hope it is a trend that other countries including Ireland can take an example from. John has also penned an article we all need to pay heed to with regards to diver fitness. Daragh Muldowney of Dulra Photography has provided us with a sequel to his adventures in search of interesting features beneath the waves off our emerald isle coastline.

Former CFT National Diving Officer and President Richard Thorn describes for us “The simplicity of snorkelling” and the window it can open “on the life of our remarkable planet”.

All this and a whole lot more.

My thanks to all of you again for your submissions and to the team who helped put this magazine together. I hope 2016 is a great year for everyone whether it be above, on or below the surface of the water.

I await with much anticipation your stories, adventures and photographs for our next instalment of Subsea. Until then, Slán and stay safe my friends.

Regards Shane Stanley

On September 14th 2015 a small Berkely, California company called OpenROV launched a campaign on Kickstarter to seek $50,000 to fund development and production of a low cost underwater drone called Trident. 46 days later the campaign closed with a whopping $815,601 pledged by 1,324 backers.

The Trident can reach depths of 100m, and with two rear thrusters has a top horizontal speed of 2m per second. A vertical thruster helps give low speed precision control.

On-board are a HD camera and six LED lamps. The unit comes with a 25m tether as standard with an optional 100m cable available. This tether leads to a Wi-Fi enabled buoy on the surface allowing the ROV to be controlled by smartphone or tablet. The controlling software is open source, allowing for the user community to develop and distribute upgrades. The Trident has already been used to map the wreckage of a Beaufort bomber off Fiskardo, Greece. The mapping information was then used to produce a 3D model of the wreckage and seabed and later 3D printed as a physical object (https://openexplorer.com/expedition/fiskardogreece2015).

The Trident will sell for $1,199 with 25m tether or $1,649 with 100m tether and hard case. See www.openrov.com for more information and to see the Kickstarter campaign visit www.kickstarter.com/projects/openrov/openrov-trident-an-underwaterdrone-for-everyone SubSea Spring 2016

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BRIEFINGS

Seamus Furlong honorary member award At Wexford Sub Aqua Club's recent AGM, the club recognised the long standing service of Seamus Furlong. Seamus has been a member since 1983 and during this time, he has been a terrific servant to the club. In particular, his work on boat maintenance and building the clubhouse were just two of his many achievements. On the night, we looked back on his time in the club using secretly gathered pictures from his photo albums and recent videos from the Red Sea. Members were delighted to take time out to show Seamus and his family, our appreciation for the work he has done and to make him an honorary member.

Seamus joins club founder Denis Martin with that honour and passes the torch to his daughter Karen and granddaughter Keara, who are members of the club.

L-R Seamus Furlong and Denis Martin.

L-R Lilly, Triona Fulong, Debbie Furlong, Keara, Stephanie, Lorna, Andrea, Dee, Karen, Seamus and James.

Hook Sub Aqua Club Since its formation back in 1982 the Hook Sub Aqua club has always, no matter what the weather conditions, taken to the sea for its annual Christmas Swim.

And this year was no exception. In spite of gale force winds, high seas breaking in over the harbour wall and sleet and rain falling in near horizontal directions a hardy bunch took to the water as though it was mid summer.

The club would like to remind SubSea readers to make a note in their diary that the Southeast Dive Rally is moved back this summer to July 15,16,17 and 18 in order to avail of better tide conditions. Planning is already taking place and this year’s event promises to be bigger and better than ever.

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SubSea Spring 2016

Left to right; Dave Furlong, Ray Furlong, Dave Hearne and Eric Naylor. Noel Furlong drew the short straw and had to do safety cover.

BRIEFINGS

Blackwater Sub Aqua Club recovers Fermoy’s wheelchair accessible boat

by Timmy Carey

The wheelchair accessible boat in 2012 being used to help with a missing person search in Fermoy with Finbarr Mulcahy, Eugene Whelan, Peter Mullen, Matt Culotty and Dick Vaughan preparing to deploy.

With the recent incessant rainfall resulting in record flood levels across the country; Blackwater Search Unit received a large number of call out's in the North Cork area. As always many of these were very tragic with a number of calls to missing person searches and also to assist families who had their houses destroyed by the pernicious flooding. Big thanks to everyone who made the efforts to assist. A search a little out of the

ordinary took place on Jan 5th when Fermoy's wheelchair accessible boat broke its moorings and in the midst of a raging current, it got sucked under the eyes of Fermoy town bridge and at the time, everyone presumed it was destroyed. Being a boat that was purchased for use to introduce the joys of fishing and boating to disabled people and as it was raised by voluntary contribution that was looking again to be a tragic loss; added

Eugene Whelan, David Carey, Olan O Farrell, Graham Burke and Timmy Carey launching the rescue launch over Fermoy flood defences.

to the raging river current full of fast flowing debris the divers would have to contend with launching over the 30 foot high flood barriers. Last year the club had installed manual launching gates with winches to allow two divers launch and recover with no utility power or large mechanical devices and they would work a treat and proved to be very successful. Over a four day period 10 divers took it in turn to search a very large floodplain and eventually found that boat over 4 miles away with the assistance of local landowners and recovered it with very little damage. With minimal repairs it should soon be again available for making the majestic sport of river angling an accessible reality to those with disability. Thanks to all those who took part in all searches over a busy period.

The wheelchair accessible boat in 2012 being used to help with a missing person search in Fermoy with Finbarr Mulcahy, Eugene Whelan, Peter Mullen, Matt Culotty and Dick Vaughan preparing to deploy.

Olan O Farrell and Judith O Brien searching an extensive flood plain for the wheelchair accessible boat in austere conditions.

SubSea Spring 2016

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Pelagia noctiluca with a large hitchhiker. Photo by and © Maja Stankowski.

Low viz diving and the Maja Stankowski found that the attractions of t was mid-October last and I had been looking forward to a weekend dive all week. When the time finally came, I couldn’t wait to get up in the morning, drive to the west and jump into the water. But as soon as my buddy and I descended, we noticed the thick bloom of plankton and particles. My immediate reaction was, oh, no, not again, no viz.

As the weather had been pretty rough over the previous two weeks, I wasn’t expecting great visibility, but since it was pretty late in the season, I was hoping that most of the plankton would have been gone and we’d be blessed with decent visibility. Instead, the plankton stretched even deeper, all the way down to 12 metres. Okay, not all was lost; I did bring my macro lens since I was expecting lower visibility, so I could still achieve a lot in those conditions.

I

Stalked Jellyfish. Photo by and © Maja Stankowski.

8

SubSea Spring 2016

Blue jellyfish. Photo by and © Maja Stankowski.

wonders of zooplankton plankton made a dive unexpectedly pleasurable After descending through all the plankton, we saw that visibility below 15 metres was very decent and we could see at least 20m so we happily began our dive and enjoyed cuckoo wrasses chasing us all the way on our dive and tremendous fish life. Time passed very quickly and it was time to start ascending slowly. I wasn’t looking forward to ascending through all the plankton but as soon as we got back up to 10m, I couldn’t help but be mesmerized by the vast variety of jellyfish, ctenophores, and pteropods that we saw.

Pteropods are free-swimming sea snails and sea slugs or you might be more familiar with sea butterflies or sea angels that have a thin shell. They are a favourite prey for many species of fish and other critters. Jellyfish are basically a type of zooplankton that spend their life

Spider Crab holding a Blue Jellyfish. Photo by and © Maja Stankowski.

SubSea Spring 2016

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Zooplankton

Blue jellyfish. Photo by and © Maja Stankowski.

drifting in the ocean and have limited swimming ability. They are soft-bodied, very fragile, and often transparent and appear like swimming umbrellas. They swim by pulsing their bells or “umbrellas” and this is how they propel themselves going forward. They are often a habitat for many small species of fish, crustaceans and amphipods which use them for protection, for food or distribution. While some fish and shrimps normally hang around the tentacles of jellyfish and benefit from jellyfish for protection and catch dropped food pieces, amphipods have a different approach. They live within the bells of the jellyfish and feed off the jellyfish flesh from the inside. A lot of jellyfish can be more than a meter across, but others are tiny and barely visible.

If you look closely, even the tiniest

jellyfish carry a number of hitchhikers.

Some look like they struggle with the weight of their uninvited guests, but some seem completely unperturbed even though judging by their size, they should be struggling. As soon as I noticed the abundance of jellyfish I started snapping pictures and couldn’t help but stay at the safety stop a bit longer than necessary and admire the sheer variety of the critters that were swimming around us.

There is something mesmerizing and calming about jellyfish; I could admire them for hours. My buddy was getting slightly impatient and I gave him the signal of two minutes and then, alas it was time to ascend to the surface and enjoy some hot tea and some nice food during our surface interval. On the second dive, since the water was so full of plankton, I said to myself, I better

Cross jellyfish with an amphipod. Photo by and © Maja Stankowski.

10 SubSea Spring 2016

make the most of it and jellyfish became my focus. I noticed a spider crab holding a blue jellyfish and it didn’t seem like it wanted to let go.

I couldn’t help but think of the famous saying “My precious”, and I snapped a few pictures of the crab and the beautiful jellyfish that got caught and is about to become dinner. Blue jellyfish despite their mesmerizing azure colour can pack a punch and even though spider crabs will eat pretty much anything, it still makes me wonder why it’s unaffected by its sting. Unfortunately, we are not that lucky and despite the dry suit, I always approach the jellyfish very cautiously as some tentacles can easily get close to my exposed areas of the face and just a gentle brush will cause a nasty sting.

If you do have the misfortune of being stung by a jellyfish, do not attempt to put any home remedies on the stung area; never put vinegar or urine, this will just make the sting worse. The best remedy is to soak the affected area in either sea water or hot water (take a really warm shower) to release all the stinging particles and then take antihistamines for three days. That should clear even the worst sting in three days max. Luckily most plankton actually doesn’t cause a sting, comb jelly (actually not a jellyfish, but a ctenophore) can show us a rainbow of colours when light falls on them just from the right angle and are completely harmless so you can approach them freely and take as many close-ups as you like and with a lot of patience, the results will be amazing.

Just remember to keep an eye on your buddy and reward their patience with a nice lunch or dinner afterwards.

Stalked jellyfish is another harmless and an interesting critter that is quite rare these days as its very sensitive to pollution, so you can find it mostly in the west of Ireland but usually close to the shoreline. They are quite unique as they spend their life attached to kelp more in polyp stage rather than free-swimming medusae.

So despite the plankton bloom and fairly low visibility in shallow water, my diving day was a huge success and I am happy with the variety of pictures I managed to take. I will keep an eye on more unusual swimming species in the future and won’t miss the photo opportunities that swim by when on a safety stop. ◼

The Simplicity of Snorkeling

by Richard Thorn

Snorkeling. Photo by and © Richard Thorn.

write this piece in the hours after a snorkel on one of Ireland’s designated snorkel trails at Keem Bay in Achill in County Mayo. This is one of five such trails developed as part of the Wild Atlantic Way project.

The others are at Old Head near Louisburgh in Mayo and Glassilaun Beach, Inishbofin Harbor and Mannin Bay, in Galway. These areas have been identified for the beauty of the landscape above water, their safety, the cleanliness of the water and the

I

abundant life beneath the water. In reality, they are just five of the hundreds of places in Ireland to snorkel. Anywhere you can get in and out of the water safely at all stages of the tide and you are safe from tidal runs and watercraft is suitable for snorkeling.

Leonardo da Vinci designed a breathing device to aid Venetian divers taking part in the war against the Turks at the beginning of the 16th Century.

Unfortunately, he never got to make or

wear it because the Venetian Senate rejected the design. Having imagined and drawn plans for a device consisting of a snorkel and a leather helmet with glass windows da Vinci was told the snorkel would be seen above water and the element of surprise lost.

Various pieces of apparatus for breathing underwater have been imagined, designed and used, some with deadly consequences, through the ages since da Vinci’s design. However, it wasn’t until the late 20th century that simple, reliable and affordable masks and snorkels became available to the majority of people and the sport of snorkeling became widespread.

As recently as the 1960s masks and snorkels were the preserve of the enthusiast who made them or bought them at considerable expense from abroad. I have a mask and snorkel put together by my father-in-law in the 1960’s. It’s made out of copper tube, rubber and other bits and pieces. He loved the sea but, living and working in rural Ireland, he couldn’t easily get access to something we can now buy for a few Euros in any seaside shop.

Ask most divers where snorkeling fits into the repertoire of possible underwater activities and they will say ‘something for the kids to do’ or ‘something you have to do if you haven’t been diving for three months’.

Ask a freediver what the attraction of breath-hold diving is and you are more likely to be told that ‘The scuba diver dives to look around. The freediver dives to look inside’ (Umberto Pellizari) or that ‘Freediving is about silence…the silence that comes from within’ (Jacques Mayol).

I am not suggesting that we should all eschew bottles, regulators and stabiliser jackets and attempt to free dive to 100 metres to look inside ourselves but I am suggesting that there is a simplicity and purity about using just a mask and snorkel to see beneath the water. Add in the ability to duck dive and hold your breath, even for a few seconds, and, as Emma Farrel, a UK free diving instructor says, you will ‘…invoke a magical time of pure consciousness, safety and freedom, released from everyday worries and cares’. Jacques Cousteau is alleged to have said, ‘diving is a sport SubSea Spring 2016

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Simplicity of snorkeling

Pelagia jellyfish. Photo by and © Richard Thorn.

Shanny. Photo by and © Richard Thorn.

12 SubSea Autumn 2015

for active grandmothers’ if so then snorkeling is for anyone who can put on a mask and float and be ‘…released from everyday worries and cares’.

As divers, we either drop in off boats and head straight to our planned depth or, if we are shore diving, complain about the kelp that gets in our way as we fin out to our chosen dive site. But, ecologically, that intertidal zone between water and land has lots to offer the observant snorkeler. Take a walk at low tide along a shoreline and look at the abundance of life on the rocks and in the pools.

Crabs, barnacles, limpets, mussels, starfish, anemones and all sorts of seaweeds - simple plants without a root system that convert light into plant material and thus sit at the bottom of the marine food chain compete for space. Now go back with your mask and snorkel at high tide and see how much more there is to see.

Red Beadlet anemones open like flowers and wait for food to get close and be drawn into their combined mouth and anus. Black mussels have open shells filtering food from the surrounding water. Limpets move off on their muscular foot from their home base, visible as a scar on the rock, to graze algae on the surrounding rocks. These are just those creatures fixed to the rocks.

Look for the little shy fish, the Shanny, with chubby cheeks and mottled pale green and brown body blending in with the barnacle covered rocks and disappearing just as you thought it hadn’t spotted you.

Common prawns with transparent bodies and numerous red and yellow lines on their bodies and legs may be seen under the darker overhangs or in the open as the light fades. You might even spot a Spider crab with its spindly arms and domed, spiny body moving about in open spaces.

Beyond the intertidal zone the only experience that most divers have of the water column close to the surface is on a stop – when surface marker buoys are being put up and taken down, cameras are being stowed away and OK and up signals are being exchanged. Snorkeling in the open water provides the opportunity to concentrate on the great variety of life

Simplicity of snorkeling

Compass jellyfish. Photo by and © Richard Thorn.

in the water column. Look out into the open water and see if you can spot the distinctive compass jellyfish with its radial pattern of ‘v’ shaped markings on its ‘umbrella’ or the beautiful Blue jellyfish with its bluey purple, translucent umbrella (be careful of their trailing tentacles which sting).

Look even more carefully and you might just see Comb jellies with their sets (usually 8) of small plates that are often iridescent in sunlight and luminescent at night and which beat to move the creature through the water mouth first.

The Irish Underwater Council offers a range of snorkel training courses (see www.diving.ie) for pensioners to children as young as six.

Many of the scuba diving centres around Ireland offer snorkeling as an alternative to scuba diving. At several of the snorkel trails, noted above, snorkeling guides and instructors, who

Blue jellyfish. Photo by and © Richard Thorn.

Spider crab. Photo by and © Richard Thorn.

SubSea Spring 2016 13

Simplicity of snorkeling men and women often compete equally in teams of six and seek to drive a weighted ‘puck’ into goals with ‘sticks’ (see www.underwaterhockey.ie). Dublin has several underwater hockey teams and others are also established in Cork and Limerick. Freedivers usually dispense with snorkels and on one breath train to stay underwater in time measured in minutes, not seconds and go to depths of tens of metres.

So, da Vinci, having imagined helicopters, painted the Mona Lisa and drawn Vitruvian Man never did get to see a Shanny or Spider crab or Compass jellyfish. As a master of innovation and design, he would have appreciated the simplicity of snorkeling and its insight into a different world.

Thongweed. Photo by and © Richard Thorn.

have met Irish Underwater Council training standards, provide wetsuits, masks and snorkels and will bring adults and children snorkeling.

Snorkeling opens up a new window on the life of our remarkable planet, simply. It can also bring you

into contact with communities of people who regard a mask, snorkel and one breath as an opportunity to compete against themselves and others in a variety of sports reliant on being able to see underwater. Underwater hockey is one of the few sports where

Richard Thorn is a CMAS Moniteur 4*/CFT Leading Instructor and Snorkel Instructor and is a past President, Vice President, Secretary and National Diving Officer of the Irish Underwater Council. ◼

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14 SubSea Spring 2016

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Review of the 2015 underwater photography year

by Ivan Donoghue Photos by Ivan Donoghue, John Collins & BSOUP 2015 was a great year for Irish underwater photography. Last year’s Nenagh dive show started the year with great fanfare and was reviewed in a previous Subsea. Throughout the year, the photography exhibition was on the road as it travelled to public spaces around the country including Wexford, Dublin and Sligo. We had to decline a few requests due to double booking. Brian Stone will be asking for submissions for this year’s exhibition soon.

In May, we held a CFT underwater photo course in Kilkee.

In July, the Vincent O’Brien underwater competition was held at the south-east dive rally, and despite some bad weather, we still had enough images submitted to award prizes to Ciaran O’Murchu, Dick Nagle, Ann Kenny, Emma Byrne, Padraig Keane, Ronan Murray, Mikey O’Regan, Zac Campbell and Louise Kavanagh.

One of the highlights of the year was the British and Irish Underwater Photography Championship. A total of fifty-five contestants took part in the inaugural completion which was held on Saturday, September 5th. This was the first time such a competition was held across both islands and twenty Irish divers took part. The aim was that from 10 pm on Friday night to 10 pm on Saturday night, you could dive, photograph, process and submit your best two pictures into a number of categories.

Vincent O’Brien photo competition winners L-R Ronan Murray, Louise Kavanagh, Padraig Keane, John Dunne, Zac Campbell, Ciaran O Murchu, Ann Kenny.

We were blessed with kind weather and locations such as Malinbeg, Kinsale, Wexford and Quilty were flat calm. Ronan Murray was one of four divers along with Louise Kavanagh, Tighernan Fox and Damien McGuirk who invaded Malinbeg. “The concept of the competition was novel,” said Ronan, “and the idea of being able to pick your own site within a specified time frame was very appealing. The logistics made great sense and were well thought out. There was great encouragement to participate, so taking up the challenge with my dive buddies we selected our location and took it from there. We couldn’t have asked for better diving conditions and so the scene was set. Bottles filled, cameras prepped, gear tested and packed, picnic table, van sorted, two dives, lunch al fresco, and 170 snapshots later, back for editing within the deadline….decisions, decisions, decisions….two images selected and fingers crossed”.

Marco Salino travelled from Dublin to Quilty in Co Clare and told us that he “really enjoyed taking part in this competition” and “found it both challenging and motivating having to dive with the a mandate of getting two decent pictures” Ken O’ Sullivan, whose work recently appeared on the BBC’s Atlantic programme, had a little less luck when due to a time stamp problem on his jellyfish finalist image, it didn’t meet the

upload criteria. Oceanaddicts ran an event from their dive liveaboard and had Sarah Lyle, Simon Carolan and Graham Ferguson enter. Owner, Anne Ferguson explained, “We had two practice days on Thursday and Friday and then they took part on Saturday. Graham submitted one wide angle shot, Simon also submitted one image of a scorpion fish and Sarah had a wide angle and then a macro of a tompot blenny. They had a ball. I think Graham enjoyed it best of all as he had not dived with his camera all year. There were loads of discussions and showing of images over the three days it was good fun. None of them expected to win anything. The vis wasn't great on the day here, but it was a great focus. I hope it will be on again next year. It's a great idea”.

Congratulations to all of the following winners: Charles Erb, who was judged BIUPC Champion 2015.

Close-up category. Winner: Spike Piddock. Runner-up: John Spencer.

Highly Commended: Dan Bolt and Len Deeley.

Wide-angle category. Winner: Charles Erb. Runner up: Terry Griffiths.

Highly Commended: Charles Erb and Richard Ayrton.

Compact/Action category. Winner: Trevor Rees. Runner-up: Marco Salino. Highly Commended: Alex Tasker and Ronan Murray.

SubSea Spring 2016 15

2015 UW Photography Underwater Category: The competition was 1st - Nigel Motyer (Seal), judged by renowned underwater photographers 2nd - Maja Stankovski Peter Rowlands, Martin (Bluefire Jellyfish), 3rd Edge and Steve Jones and Andy Keegan (Inner thanks to them for giving space jellyfish). People of their time. Credit must & Wildlife category: 2nd go to the British Society of - Nigel Motyer Underwater Photographers (Dolphin). Coastal and in particular to Paul Landscape: 2nd - John Colley for organising the Collins. Huge thanks go event and coming over to to An Taisce’s us at the dive show. As Cleancoast division for organiser, Paul could not running with the idea of enter the competition, but the underwater section he had a nice consolidation and with your help; we Ronan Murray receiving his BIUP awards from Fiona Scoones. as he won the Marine and hope that it grows for the first time as divers and Coast category in the World Wildlife bigger each year. snorkellers, we had our own Photographer of the Year. This year’s Last year was a great year and we dedicated category and prize pool.

BIUPC will take place on August 27th. have even higher hopes for 2016.

The great thing about this competiWe guarantee that if you take part, It’s all going to kick off with one of tion is that it allows images from the you will love the concept and the major international underwater previous two years to be included. challenge of the time limited event. photographers, Dr Alex Mustard, Thirty-one divers/snorkellers entered More information on www.biupc.org coming to speak with us at the dive a total of 104 pictures in the underwaIn October, we had An Taisce’s show. Can’t wait. ter category alone. That’s a stunning “Love your Coast” competition. For number. Our group members picked many years, underwater images have Safe diving in 2016 and press that up five awards on the night. done very well in this event and now shutter like there’s no tomorrow !! ◼

Love Your Coast competition winners L-R Thomas Moore, Damien McGuirk, John Collins, Derek Bolton, Nigel Motyer, Maja Stankovski & Andy Keegan.

16 SubSea Autumn 2015

Diving in Komodo National Park

by Yvonne Moran

With more than 1,000 fish species, 260 different types of coral and dives ranging from currents to gentle drifts, caves and swim throughs, Komodo National Park is a diver´s dream destination, writes Yvonne Moran.

Turtle and beautiful coral life.

The turtle might be checking out lunch!

Photo courtesy of Divine Divers (http://www.divinediving.info).

Komodo National Park

Dancing mantas in Komodo National Park. Photo courtesy of Divine Divers (http://www.divinediving.info).

Komodo National Park is still far from the madding crowds, in spite of a short 90-minute flight from Bali to Labuan Bajo. Located on the western side of verdant Flores Island, the town is experiencing a tourist boom.

Labuan Bajo is the base for diving in Indonesia´s first national park, established in 1980.

Day dives are available, but if time and money permit, stay on a liveaboard.

Getting to and from Labuan Bajo to the park’s dive sites often takes two hours each way, so a three to five-day stay on a liveaboard is highly recommended.

Park entry fees and dive tickets validated in the park’s office, the group hopped on a small boat that ferried them to Divine Divers’ larger boat for a three-dive day trip. The Dutch-owned dive shop is well established in Labuan Bajo.

The 90-minute boat ride over glasslike water and past lots of islands passed very pleasantly. A good introduction and thorough buddy check amongst the eight participants followed. Divers included a young Dutch woman who seemed like a mermaid: having completed just six dives, she looked like she’d been born in water, I told her later, laughing. A British man was doing his

18 SubSea Spring 2016

Dive Master course. Several others were enjoying one or two days’ diving as part of a bigger holiday.

Diving in Komodo National Park is not for the faint of heart. Known for its unpredictable strong currents and whirlpools, it requires divers with a

Cuttlefish at Tatawa Kecil dive site.

Photo courtesy of Divine Divers.

recommended minimum of 50 dives under their belt.

Diving in the UNESCO Heritage Site is worth the long journey from Ireland as most divers will include a holiday in Bali. Caribbean reefs contain one-fifth of fish species found in Komodo National Park. Whales - blue, fin, humpback and sperm - pass through on their migration routes from the China Sea to the Indian Ocean. Ten species of dolphins have been recorded, besides a great variety of sharks. And the coral life is fantastic: the Indo-Pacific region, centered around the Indonesian Archipelago, harbours more than half of the world´s coral reefs.

The curious, sociable longfin batfish, unicorn and cornet fish, tube coral and golden sea squirt were observed in Tatawa Kecil’s 20-metre visibility.

Mantas weren’t spotted at Manta Point, (they´d also been “out to lunch” the day before, we were informed,) but a rare bamboo shark was seen. A large shoal of blue strip fusiliers enjoyed the 27-29 degree Celsius waters. The tiny, exquisitely coloured mandarinfish, which lives in coral rubble or dense branch coral, and is usually only briefly seen at dawn or dusk, made an appearance at Siaba Kecil dive site.

There was also a fantastic variety of hard

Komodo National Park

Three nurse sharks watching divers watching them. Photo courtesy of Divine Divers (http://www.divinediving.info).

and soft coral formations. The approximately three knots per hour fun drift dive ended by swimming across the current. It was time to return home.

Crystal Rock is one of the park´s best dive sites. Abundant in coral and marine life, it’s a two-hour-plus boat ride from Labuan Bajo. Several white tipped reef sharks swam below as the divers descended into the fantastically clear waters.

Shoals of barramundi, oriental and striped sweetlips, giant, blue fin and big eye trevally, potato groupers and two tuna chasing each other greeted us at the rock.

It seemed like Hawksbill Turtle Central at Batu Bolong, another twohour boat ride, with Bajo Divers, several days´ later. This German-owned dive shop is also well established in a place chock-a-block with dive shops.

A porcupine puffer, regal and emperor angelfish, napoleon wrasse and sheltering goby formed part of the colourful spectacle. A smashing mantis shrimp observed the dive invaders from its rubble hole-home. Known for learning and remembering, they’re able to recognize their neighbours by visual signs or individual smell. Many of them have also developed complex social

behaviour to defend their space from rivals. Divers must take care: sometimes called “thumb splitters”, these creatures can inflict serious gashes if handled carelessly. Pyramid butterflyfish and the beautiful black, blue, yellow and white emperor angelfish – two of 85 species of angelfish worldwide – called the Tatawa Kecil location home. Pygmy sea fans reside in what’s often called “current city” because of its up and down currents.

Two tiny pygmy sea horses, beautifully camouflaged.

Photo courtesy of Divine Divers.

A gigantic giant clam, one of the biggest this diver has ever seen, common reef cuttlefish (they´re great disguisers, thanks to their ability to almost instantaneously change colour to match their surroundings,) and three almost invisible crystal and three glass shrimp were spied at Sebayor Kecil.

A diver was left behind as the boat moved off, then located five kilometres from where he´d ascended, but drifted: had Ravi not used his camera flash in the descending dusk, he’d have been forced to swim to a nearby deserted island for the night.

A dive was aborted due to delays getting the fairly large group of divers into the 3-knot current waters. A search ensued for the many divers unable to keep up with the guide after the 26minute dive was terminated. (Entry into the water via dinghies, rather than from the boat, would have been more efficient.)

A diver who had descended to 46 metres joined the next dive without being advised against so doing: “How not to dive” was repeated over and over again during a five-day liveaboard with CNDive.

The owner was also present on the boat.

CNDive, which also hires its vessels to groups, is popular with Asian divers.

SubSea Spring 2016 19

Komodo National Park

A diver enjoying some of Komodo National Park’s luxuriant coral life.

Photo courtesy of Divine Divers (http://www.divinediving.info).

Malaysians and Singaporeans, many of whom dive regularly together, comprised the jolly crowd on that five-day trip.

Unusual sightings included a very, very slow moving crocodile fish and a massive, but beautifully graceful manta that swam by and then returned.

“I’ve done 500 dives and this is my first manta sighting,” said one thrilled diver back on board.

Three white tipped reef sharks and a pregnant female were observed during another dive. Pink-hued Picasso Triggerfish dined on coral; the crunching sound reverberated through the water. Smart, smaller fish hung in the vicinity, waiting for stray nibbles. A massive shoal of Moorish Idols seemed to relish the exceptionally strong currents at Castle Rock. “They´re playing,” said Chandra, the dive guide.

Underwater cityscape. Abundant fish and coral life.

Photo courtesy of Divine Divers (http://www.divinediving.info).

Five nearby white tipped reef sharks were oblivious to the divers using hooks latched onto rocks in the strong current.

The biggest hawksbill turtle this diver ever saw was methodically chomping on soft corals. Two mantas measuring some three-and-a-half metres fin-to-fin were chilling at Manta Point. Chilling, that was, until one of the photographers used flash. Startled, the mantas reacted to the sudden light, then quickly swam away.

These plankton feeders, which like shallow waters, don´t like divers or snorkelers above them, so divers should descend as quickly as possible. A large group disappeared after divers didn’t descend during an earlier Bali dive trip specifically to see them. (That excursion included a tedious six-hour round trip bus journey from the north of the island.)

Fact Box

Spending a half day watching Komodo dragons, the world´s largest lizard, is another advantage to staying on a liveaboard, given the distance to town.

Measuring up to three metres in length and weighing up to 70 kilos, the remaining 4,000 – 5,000 dragons, whose diet preference is deer, are found within the park and small areas of western Flores.

Short, medium and long treks with park rangers to look for these ancient creatures are organized on Rinca and Komodo islands. But visitors often don't need to venture further than the Rinca entry point to see these remarkable creatures.

Watching these awesome monitor lizards on their home turf is usually the last of many highlights before boats set sail, out of this beautiful national park and back to Labuan Bajo. ◼

Komodo National Park Fees

Interested in hiring your own boat, plus crew? CNDive Komodo charter boats, land-based dive trips, liveaboards and dive courses are also offered. www.cndivekomodo.com

Scuba diving fees start from: Indonesian Rupiah 175,000, or €11.73, taxes and fees included (Sundays and holidays are more expensive).

Accommodation:

Komodo dragon walk costs Indonesian Rupiah 55,000, or €3.68 Park Ranger fees for a walk: Indonesian Rupiah 80,000, or €5.36. A maximum of five people are permitted.

Bayview Gardens boasts great views of the lovely bay from its hilltop abode in the centre of town. Dutchman - owner Adrian is an extremely genial host.www.bayview-gardens.com

(EDITORIAL NOTE: CONVERSION RATES ON WWW.XE.COM ON 15 May 2015)

Puri Sari Beach Hotel, 15 minutes from the town centre, boasts its own little beach. Rooms are bright and spacious and there’s also a small swimming pool. www.purisarihotel.com

Dive Operators:

Bintang Flores Hotel is located near Puri Sari. The four-star hotel is relatively new, so facilities are good. A dive shop is located in the hotel grounds. www.bintangfloreshotel.com

Divine Divers, owned by Marij, is highly recommended. A variety of dive packages, including courses, are available. Divers can either go on land based dive trips or stay on a liveaboard. www.divinediving.info/eng/home

Getting There:

Bajo Dive Club, which Anke owns, is also recommended. A variety of dive packages, including courses, are available. Divers have a choice of day excursions or a liveaboard. www.komododiver.com

Sky Aviation offers daily flights to and from Denpasar, in Bali, to Labuan Bajo. Book early for well-priced tickets. www.sky-aviation.co.id

20 SubSea Spring 2016

Gateway to the Underworld

Daragh Muldowney and his buddy found an entrance to a serene under-sea chamber while diving in Achill ‘Chamber’, through the portal, Achill Island. Photo by and © Daragh Muldowney.

am and a storm was due in the afternoon. We were south-west of the cliffs near Moyteoge Head on Achill Island with strong easterly winds. We felt we had time for one dive and we wanted to make it a good one. A pleasant night had just been spent anchored at Keem Bay aboard ‘Nanette’, the yacht that had been our home for the past two weeks.

As we were two weeks into the expedition, we had developed a bit of a workflow: Look for interesting topside topography with the hope that this would make for in-teresting features below. We scanned the coast and there seemed to be plenty of quality dive sites but one stood apart from the rest…a narrow fissure all the way down the rock face with heaps of boulders wedged at the bottom. We settled on this, and Ciarán and I began the routine of getting our gear ready. I love the contrast that exists from the weight of the gear in pre-dive to the moment I leave the boat and all weight is taken from me. There is a wonderful sense of freedom that seems to expand as I descend.

Ciarán and I swam on the surface over to our chosen location by the cliff.

Final check, dump our air and down we went. We followed the boulder strewn gully down, past the exquisite jellyfish, then past the colourful kelp

9

swaying like corn crops in the wind.

There were giant boulders everywhere.

At about 20m, we went under one that was wedged in the gully and that felt like passing through a portal. On the other side, we had entered what felt like a sacred chamber with soft defused monochrome light and felt a tangible energy that made everything worthwhile. I took a moment to connect with the surroundings and then it was time to try and capture the

essence of what I felt. This moment was both powerful and serene, a piece of magic where I had passed through a gateway to the underworld.

I went through my air quicker than Ciarán, as per usual, so when I was low it was time to return to the surface. We worked our way back up and as soon as we sur-faced we realised the storm had arrived early. Strong southeasterly winds meant that Des and Matt couldn’t get near us at the rocks. We

Ciarán and Daragh ready for a dive, The Stags. Photo by and © Daragh Muldowney.

SubSea Spring 2016 21

Gateway to the Underworld

Light dances with my fins, keeping me hypnotised. Photo by and © Daragh Muldowney.

had a hefty swim ahead of us as they circled further away. We eventually got back on board and started head-ing for Westport to escape the increasing winds. We were stuck there for a week!

Two weeks earlier we had transferred all our dive equipment and food barrels from the ‘Killary Flyer’ to

‘Nanette’ in the Sligo marina. This included all our sponsored gear: O’Three Drysuits, Scubapro Regulators and BCDs and a Bauer air compressor courtesy of Scubadive West. We had so much food sponsored for Greenland, rang-ing from Bachelor’s beans, Skellig’s hot chocolates, meat and more

Ghost diver, Scotch Port Rock. Photo by and © Daragh Muldowney.

22 SubSea Spring 2016

from Bullín Blásta, relishes from Caroline Lennon, Supervalu, and Dunnes stores vouchers. The list goes on and as we couldn’t waste it, it all got squeezed on board ‘Nanette’.

We had been on route to Greenland on board the ‘Killary Flyer’ but due to some weather problems had to return home (See previous Subsea issue).

‘Nanette’, a 29ft lifting keel yacht, was Des Moran’s vessel and he very kindly of-fered me and Ciarán Lennon, a hugely experienced diver and sailor, the use of it af-ter our aborted voyage to Greenland. Des would come along for some of the trip as would Matthew Boyd, a filmmaker who had been planning to meet us in Greenland. On Tuesday, 7th of July, we set sail from Sligo and made our way out of Sligo Bay and travelled towards Dún Briste (Downpatrick Head). The plan was to dive our way along the Irish coast accessing gullies, caves, pinnacles and other interesting fea-tures. I had met with Richard Thorn and he had a good sense of what I was looking for, so we had a fair few locations marked out.

All we needed was some favourable conditions. Unfortunately, it was too

Gateway to the Underworld

‘Eden II’, a hidden garden, Inis Turk. Photo by and © Daragh Muldowney.

rough to dive so we headed into Killala for some safe sanctuary.

It was still rough the next day but we managed a dive at Dún Briste to kick things off.

My plan was to photograph these locations using a quadpod ( a fourlegged version of a tripod courtesy of Anchor Dive Lights) in order to achieve long exposures. My idea was that we would dive each site first without the quadpod in order to decide what shot I would take. The second dive I would take the quadpod down and go di-rectly to the location and capture the shot.

The fly in the ointment with this plan was that there was not always an option of a second dive due to weather and swell. Dún Briste was a classic example: we circumnavigated the stack, saw tonnes of wonderful life and I earmarked a couple of possible locations but when we returned to the surface the weather had deteriorated and a second dive wasn’t to be!

Little did we know but the weather and the swell proved to be a major restriction for the entire summer!

We had a night in Kilcummin, where General Humbert and the French

forces landed in 1798, before heading on along the coast, anchoring at night and searching for sheltered dive sites by day. We had a great dive at the Stags at Broadhaven, amazing jagged islands off the North Mayo coast. Not only is Ciarán an expert diver but his boat handling skills are fantastic. There was a fair swell and he set our anchor right

between two of the Stags. It was a sunny day and hundreds of Puffins were there to keep us company. I experimented with using a neutral density filter on the lens which made it impossible to see but enabled me to get four-minute exposures in fairly bright conditions, lots of moving kelp throughout the exposure.

The Stags at Broadhaven. Photo by and © Daragh Muldowney.

SubSea Spring 2016 23

Gateway to the Underworld

A 4 minute exposure with a 6 stop ND filter on. Photo by and © Daragh Muldowney.

We sailed along the spectacular north Mayo coast getting dives at Portacloy and Kidd Island before running for cover at Rossport. A fierce storm raged here for two days and kept us pinned in. Sean from the local pub (Dennys) took pity on us and al-lowed us to use his shower, probably best for everyone in the pub. Continuing around the coast, we had more dives at Eagle Island and found a spectacular gully at Scotch Port Rock. This is an area that I would love to explore further. There seems to be countless dive sites but alas, on this day, the swell was too much and we were limited on where we could get in the water.

Travelling South, we sailed inside the Black Rock lighthouse and after our

adventure at Achill we spent a week in West-port.

There was a changing of the guard in Westport as Matt and Des left and a friend of Ciarán’s, Joe Cox, came on board as our surface support guy. A great lad and a keen fisherman, so as soon as we would go diving, the lobster pot would go down along with a couple of fishing lines. He kept us nicely fed with lobster and mackerel.

We spent the next week diving off Inis Turk and Inis Boffin. The turbulent waters contin-ued but we persevered.

We sometimes launched directly from ‘Nanette’ and at other times, we would load our gear into the dinghy, take it to the dive site and use a grapple anchor to secure it while we

‘Nanette’ on anchor at Frenchport, Bellmullet. Photo by and © Daragh Muldowney.

24 SubSea Spring 2016

were in the water. I had my camera (sponsored Canon equipment and Sandisk memory cards) but Ciarán had my quadpod at the start of most dives to help me preserve my air and when I wanted to start shooting he would hand it over. I would connect it to the Aquatica housing (courtesy of Cameras Underwater). One of the problems with long exposures is a solid platform is needed to put the quadpod on.

Easier said than done when you are mid gully! Ciarán had my back, though – six months earlier I had been a novice diver with no drysuit dive experi-ence. Scubadive West got me up to speed quickly but having Ciarán watching my back while I grappled with camera and quadpod at depth allowed me to lose myself in the task at hand. Unbelievable support from a great guy!

There was one dark swim-through we were in off Inis Turk, with a fair surge pushing through. A shallow dive just below the surface but a fantastic shape. I needed a four-minute exposure to get the shot I wanted. I would be setting the shot up and next second a surge would push through and I would be 5m from the camera. A lot of patience was needed. I believe there is an added feeling achieved through these long exposures …. water, fish and particles are passing the front of the lens which is unseen but adds an ethereal feel to the subject.

Most of the locations that we have been trying to dive are features that have been sculpted by the powerful forces of the Atlantic Ocean. They are incredible locations because of the sheer force that constantly batters them. This makes them difficult dive sites as conditions need to be perfect, particularly to achieve stable long expo-sures in caves and gullies. As I was a novice diver a year ago, last summer was a steep learning curve for me. Becoming a diver was one thing but underwater pho-tography is like learning a whole new skill set. I have found the entire dive communi-ty to be extremely welcoming and generous with their time and knowledge. Many, many thanks to everyone who has helped me so far.

This is the beginning of a project that I intend to continue. ◼

Dive Ireland 2016

The Hodson Bay Hotel in Athlone is the place to be on the 5th and 6th of March 2016 for all divers and snorkellers. As well as the CFT AGM and Diving Officers’ conference, we will also have expert speakers from a wide range of topic areas. Hosted by Athlone Sub Aqua Club for the fourth time we hope it will be a huge success. Entrance to the dive show is only ₏5 for each day and don't forget that kids are free. For directions and a look at the hotel, check out www.hodsonbayhotel.com

EXHIBITORS

More surprises on the weekend For more information find us on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DiveIrelandExpo/ Looking forward to seeing you on the 5th & 6th March Athlone Sub Aqua Club

DIVE IRELAND 2016 GUEST SPEAKERS Dr Alexander Mustard Dr Alexander Mustard has been taking underwater photographs for over 30 years and has worked as a full-time underwater photographer for the last 12 years. His photographs have attracted many awards including being category winners in both the Wildlife Photographer of the Year and British Wildlife Photography Awards. His last book, Reefs Revealed, won the International Grand Prize for the best book of underwater photographs. In 2013, he was named European Wildlife Photographer of the Year as the overall winner of the GDT contest, the first time an underwater photograph has won this prestigious award.

In 2015, he founded the Underwater Photographer of the Year competition and has acted as a judge for the Wildlife Photographer of the Year and the CMAS

Daragh Muldowney

Daragh Muldowney’s interest in photography originally developed when he completed a Scuba Diving course in 1992, where he was awestruck by the experience of being underwater.

Dr Eddie Bourke Dr Eddie Bourke – Maritime Aspects of the 1916 Rising.

Eddie Bourke has been diving for 30 years with Viking Sub Aqua club in Dublin and developed an interest in shipwrecks through diving. He is the author of three volumes of shipwrecks off the Irish coast and a photo book on shipwrecks as well as the story of the Tayleur. He is also the author of the Story of Guinness - the family, the business and the black stuff.

Currently working on a history of spying in the war of independence, he is interested in all aspects of maritime and Irish history. Eddie will show us the links that are still alive between us and the 1916 Rising, looking at both the Aud and the Helga shipwrecks and their history.

World Championship of Underwater Photography.

His new book, Underwater Photography Masterclass is the most eagerly anticipated publication on the topic for many years and will be released in spring 2016. Alex is a regular contributor to many publications in the marine, wildlife, diving and photographic media, and to date has published more than 400 articles.

In addition to various features, he currently writes two monthly columns on underwater photography: IMAGES Column for Sport Diver (USA) and Be The Champ for DIVER Magazine (UK).

He was one of the team for the 2020VISION conservation photography project in the UK. He also runs highly popular underwater photography workshops at top diving destinations around the world.

Without the use of artificial light or filters, his photography aims to present the smaller details of nature that we often overlook. As a result, his work gently reminds us to appreciate our beautiful planet. Daragh is a full-time professional photographer working as Dúlra Photography which he established in February 2003.

Daragh’s commitment to developing his work was further demonstrated when he travelled across the Sahara in Morocco and then trekked across glaciers in Iceland, taking photographs of the opposing climates and conditions. The images from the two trips were launched in 2007 as his first themed exhibition called 'Sand & Ice'. A couple of years later he took on the exploration of Ireland’s rock pools which was to become ‘Jewellery Box Ireland’s Hidden Gems', an exhibition that has travelled all over the world.

In 2013, Daragh set sail, aboard the Killary Flyer, to Greenland to create a new body of work entitled 'Out of Thin Air'. The collection proved to be the most popular yet winning the FEP European Photobook of the Year award for 2015 in the Landscape category. In 2015, Daragh was due to return to Greenland, but this time, to photograph the icebergs from under the water.

Unfortunately, the trip did not take place but the summer of 2015 was not wasted and Daragh embarked on a trip around Ireland making long exposure underwater images, which will be presented at Dive Ireland 2016.

Nautical Archaeology Society Streedagh Spanish Armada Discovery This year we are introducing more in the area of archeology. The guys have come with up a few different topics that will be presented including the Streedagh Armada cannon discovery in Co Sligo. This discovery and subsequent retrieval from the sea showed how different groups can work well together to preserve Ireland’s historical artefacts.

They will also discuss the legislation in Ireland in relation to underwater archaeology and looking at some of the National Archaeology Society courses and projects

PROGRAMME

Lecarrow Suite

Lough Ree Suite

Upstairs - (Underwater Photography Workshop)

10.00 am - 11.00 am

11.00 am - 12.00 pm 12.30 pm - 1.30 pm 1.30 pm - 2.30 pm 2.30 pm - 3.30pm

Nigel Motyer, Nick Pfeiffer & Brian Stone -Sharks and Art, Science and Technology in Underwater Photography

How and Why Talks: Nigel Motyer - Shooting for Publication Mike Orth - Making Marvelous Movies or Memorable Memes Nick Pfeiffer - Scientific Photography

How and Why Talks: Damien McGuirk - Fish Portraits Stewie Andrews - Deep Water Photography Alex Mustard – "Masterclass with Mustard" - Lighting in UW Photography

4.30 pm - 5.30 pm

10.30 am - 11.30 pm

11.30 am - 12.30 pm

Alex Mustard - The Challenges and Rich Rewards of UW Photography TED Talks - See Notice Board

Dargh Muldowney - Gateway to the Underworld

NAS and Underwater Archaeology Unit: Streedagh Wrecks: Sligo’s Armada Discovery

Daragh Muldowney- Full Immersion An Approach to the Creative Process

Ivan Donoghue - Image Management and Post Production Processing

How and Why Talks: Richard Thorn - On One Breath Brian Stone - Super Macro Ivan Donoghue - Over and Unders

2.00 pm - 3.00pm

3.00 pm - 4.00 pm

Irish Underwater Council Diving Officers, Training Officers and Instructors Conference

Sunday 6th March

9.30 am - 10.30 am

1.00 pm - 2.00 pm

Saturday 5th March

Steve Warren, Inon UK - Why Auto Doesn't Work

3.30 pm - 4.30 pm

Ground Floor

AGM Registration from 9:30

Irish Underwater Council Annual General Meeting TED Talks - See Notice Board

NAS - Discussion: Protection of underwater heritage Eddie Bourke -1916 Maritime Links

Clonmacnoise Suite & Killinure Suite - Ground Floor:

Largest Dive Ireland Trade Show Ever!

UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY SPEAKERS Yet again the guys in the CFT underwater photography group have put together a great line-up. Covering various topics from a wide array of contributors, it promises to be a must for any photography enthusiasts, both above and below the water.

Stewie Andrews

Ivan Donoghue

Stewie Andrews has been diving for 28 years and has enjoyed rebreather diving for 12 of those. He is a recent convert to deep water photography. It started with two years trying to master steady GoPro video at depths down to 160m and progressed to two interesting years of still photography in depths ranging from 64 to 132 metres. Deep diving, in itself, is challenging – however, taking photographs is a great way to document the exploration and share the experience.

The challenges of Deep Water Photography are many. Years of preparation and expense are involved in building up your diving techniques and each dive brings the challenges of long boat journeys offshore – some as far as 75 miles out. The real fun starts with choosing cameras which are light sensitive enough and housings which can go deep enough. The only decisions left are how do you con a diver to model the scene, how do you light it and how many thousand ISOs can you tolerate?

Ivan Donoghue began diving with Wexford Sub Aqua Club in 1990. By 1996, he had purchased a second-hand Nikonos V underwater film camera. The advent of digital helped improve his photography, but he claims that working on the CFT underwater course with likeminded Irish shooters had the greatest benefit of all.

Ivan has published several articles for Subsea over the years. He has won the Scubadive West underwater competition and was placed in An Taisce’s “Love your coast” competition. None of this would be possible without the friends who have patiently modelled for him underwater, or waited for him to finally surface.

Ivan will happily dive in a puddle...but only if it’s deep enough to take a camera or at least half submerge to allow a split shot.

There is nothing that makes him happier than seeing how underwater photography has flourished within CFT in recent years and how it is now one of the prime reasons that people begin or continue to dive.

UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY SEMINAR SPEAKERS Nigel Motyer Nigel Motyer is a well-known teaching and speaking personality on the Irish underwater photography scene. He began diving in the early 80s and first picked up a camera shortly after that in 1987. Since then, it is his passion for the challenge of underwater photography that has kept up his interest in diving.

Nigel’s photography has been widely published around the world, including Subsea, Diver, Sport

Steve Warren Steve Warren made his first scuba dive in 1975 aged 11. His first formal scuba training was through ASADA and he has held instructor ratings for BSAC, PADI and NAUI. He began underwater photography in 1994. He co-designed the INON UK Level One underwater photography course with Mark Koekemoer. With Colin Doeg, he co-founded the Visions in the Sea underwater photography conferences. Steve is also a contributing author to Martin Edge’s The Underwater Photographer, INON UK’s recommended student and instructor manual.

Steve has worked extensively in the diving media since 1992.

Book credits include technical editor of the UK Divers Source and contributing editor to Scuba Diving. He provided images, including cover shots, for Underwater Gibraltar. He has also provided consultancy services to other authors. He was technical and contributing editor of Dive International Magazine and designed consumer equipment testing and major safety projects for it and its successor, Dive, He has also written for Scuba World Magazine, Australian Freediving and Spearfishing News, Underwater Photography Magazine, Historical Diving Times, The Sea and Gibraltar Magazine. He now writes for Diver Magazine. Steve has been a main speaker at a number of Diver Magazine's Dive Shows.

He has worked as a professional underwater cameraman on the BBC’s Marchioness – a Survivors Story and directed and filmed the diving sequences for seasons one, two and three of Channel Five’s Gibraltar – Britain in the Sun. He was a consultant to the Underwater Channel and is one of the founding team of Your Diving TV.

Brian Stone Brian Stone is a very experienced diver and underwater photographer. Brian is a university lecturer and researcher working in the area of marine image analysis in Dublin City University. He is currently involved with MESTECH, the Marine & Environmental Sensing Hub, www.mestech.ie which includes the Irish Marine Institute, the National Centre for Sensor Research (NCSR) and DCU. Brian is also involved through his marine research with Insight, the Centre for Data Analytics, which is the largest research group in Ireland. The work dealt with in his project is part of the Smart Bay project, based in Galway Bay. This project is a test bed for new marine technologies, ranging from power generation to environmental science and marine biology. This technology is being developed alongside other marine sensing technologies for the purpose of gathering and analysing marine data in order to conduct research into changing marine environmental conditions, conservation and environmental surveying.

Diver, and Dive, as well as National Geographic Magazine. Nigel has travelled widely to a great many destinations over the last 25 years, but most recently he has focused on great shark destinations. Sharks have always been his passion despite being bitten by a rather over curious silky shark in the Pacific in 1995. Nigel lives in Malahide, Co Dublin, with his wife, Sinead, and their two children, Hannah and Ben. A speaker at many a dive show, his level of photography knowledge and his absolute passion for diving, will be clearly evident for all to see.

Damien McGuirk Damien McGuirk (aka Merrow Ti Ti): Damien shot his first roll of film with an underwater camera in 1993, but didn’t embrace UW photography properly until 2006. Since then, he has been a voracious student of underwater photography, taking workshop trips to many part of the world with such luminaries of the underwater photography world as Alex Mustard. His work has featured in Subsea and he has been successful on several occasions in having his images placed in An Taisce’s Clean Coast competition.

Nick Pfeiffer Nick Pfeiffer is an environmental scientist, diver and underwater photographer. He currently works with MERC Environmental and is well known in Ireland for his land and underwater photography and for his commercial work in the fishery industry.

Recently Nick was featured in the Irish Times with some of his stunning images of the blue sharks which can be found off Irish shores.

Mike Orth Mike Orth is the current President of CFT. His job description on Facebook lists "Irish Underwater Council’s Diving Evangelist".

Mike uses GoPro footage to create short videos promoting the club diving scene – with more footage above water than below. More technical knowhow than artistic skill, he hopes a few dive show attendees can use his hints, tips and advice to create their own advertisements for next dive season. Mike’s compilation of the South East Dive Rally won the award for best video at the Vincent O’Brien Memorial Competition in 2014.

Dr Richard Thorn Dr. Richard Thorn is a past President and National Diving Officer of CFT and has been diving for over 20 years. He has been taking land photographs for almost 50 years and for the last six, has transferred his interest to making underwater photographs, with a particular interest in making images while snorkelling and breath hold diving. His photography is a companion activity to his academic research and travel writing, and his written work and images have been published in many magazines, including, in Ireland, Subsea and Outsider. He is currently studying photography at the Open College of the Arts in the UK.

Marine Protection in Scottish seas

by John Collins

John reports on recently granted Marine Protected Status for the Sound of Mull Exploring a rocky reef in Scotland’s Sound of Mull – recent marine protection to this area should enhance inshore marine life in the coming years. Photo by and © John Collins, using an Olympus OMD E-M1 with 7-14mm lens in a Nauticam housing and two Inon z220 strobes.

SubSea Spring 2016 29

Marine Protection

The stern of the ‘Thesis’, pre-2014 damage. Sound of Mull, Scotland. Photo by and © Nigel Motyer.

Marine Protected Areas are a hot topic throughout the European Union. All Countries are obliged to protect some areas of their waters under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive or face substantial fines. On a recent trip to dive the Sound of Mull – a long time favourite among divers, the announcement that the waters most popular for diving had just been granted protection, was great news for divers and dive centres alike. This prompted the question as to what possible areas in Ireland might be protected in the future and how this might affect popular dive sites.

I had joined a group of friends from Dalkey Scuba Divers for a long weekend’s diving from Ballycastle, taking in Rathlin Island and the Scottish Isles, with Richard Lafferty of Aquaholics.

Frequently billed as the “best diving weekend ever!” this group has been doing the trip since 2008. Conditions do vary of course each year, but the diving in the Sound of Mull and the neighbouring islands is

30 SubSea Autumn 2015

always something special. This year, the water was unseasonably cold for mid-June – a chilly 9°C – and the visibility was down on previous years, but that did not dampen enthusiasm.

There are some really nice scenic dives but the highlight of diving in this area is the shipwrecks.

After the 60 mile crossing from Ballycastle to Oban, the first available wreck is that of the ‘Breda’, a short distance from the town. This is quite often a ‘green’ dive as the area does not

get a significant wash of tide each day but, being intact and upright, it is an easily navigated and enjoyable dive.

The same cannot be said for the wrecks in the Sound of Mull itself – really strong tidal streams restrict diving on most of the wrecks to slack water. This does make them biologically high energy sites and all the of the wrecks have wonderful encrusting marine life.

The human stories behind the wrecks are always intriguing and some of the shipping losses have occurred in comparatively recent times. One of the most dramatic wreck dives is on that of the ‘Rondo’.

Built towards the end of World War I, she had started life as the ‘War Wonder I’, but as the fit out was not complete until September 1918, she did not see any war action and was renamed ‘Lithopolis’.

She was renamed twice more with ownership changes, firstly to ‘Laurie’ in 1930, and then to ‘Rondo’ The colourful Tobermoray seafront, Isle of Mull, Scotland.

Photo by and © John Collins. by its Norwegian owners in

Marine Protection

The wonderfully scenic wreck of the ‘Thesis’ (1887), before damage in the winter of 2014. Photo by and © Nigel Motyer.

1934. In January of the following year, There are enough wrecks in the area area, having been lost in 1951. This she was making her way from Glasgow to keep a diver occupied for several 6600-ton cargo vessel was also in to Dunstan in ballast to pick up a cargo days, including the ‘Hispania’ and the ballast, making its way from the Mersey destined for Oslo. Sailing north into ‘Shuna’. However, it is even better to to the Tyne to pick up a cargo bound the Sound of Mull, a savage winter venture outside the Sound to the nearby for India when she was caught in a storm forced her to take shelter from a island of Coll, as the visibility increases violent storm and was driven up on the blinding snowstorm in Aros Bay near dramatically in the open water. Weather rocks at Soa Island on the south end of Tobermory. Unfortunately, the anchor does not always favour diving the wreck Coll. As well as being a fantastic dive in chain parted and she was soon drifting of the ‘Tapti’ and it is quite a long boat its own right, the area is known for its helplessly eastwards down the Sound journey offshore, but it is a rare treat to abundance of both seals and basking by gale force winds and strong tides, dive a wonderfully varied wreck with sharks. until being swept on to the point on beautiful marine life in easy depth. It is There was one final wreck that Dearg Sgeir, narrowly missing the small the most recent of the wrecks in the everybody was looking forward to lighthouse. By dawn, the diving back in the Sound Captain and 22 crew realised itself – the 1887 Belfast built that they were high and dry ‘Thesis’. Details of the loss of astride a rock. Attempts at this ship in October 1889 are repair and salvage failed and vague, but it is known that the ship eventually broke up she did strike a reef towards and slipped into deep water. the southern end of the Today, the ‘Rondo’ lies almost Sound. All eleven crew vertically in the water, with managed to make it safely the bow at 50 metres, while ashore, but the ship sank in the stern and rudder post are deep water within a few just a few metres from the hours. The wreck lies on a surface. This dramatic incline steeply sloped shingle seabed makes it a cracking visual between 20 and 35 metres tour, criss-crossing the decks depth. It has always been from your chosen depth up to enjoyable as the decks and the shallows and your safety iron plating have fallen away Diving on the wreck of the Tapti, lost in 1951 off the Isle of Coll, stop. over the years and all that Inner Hebredies, Scotland. Photo by and © John Collins.

SubSea Autumn 2015 31

Marine Protection

A diver swims over the recently damaged wreck of the ‘Thesis’ (1887) in the Sound of Mull.

It is thought that the damage was the result of scallop dredging in January 2015. Photo by and © John Collins.

The stern of the ‘Thesis’, post damage, June 2015. Photo by and © Nigel Motyer.

remains is the hull. Visibility is often excellent and as the light penetrates, the many openings along the hull create a visually stunning wreckscape. This is how we recalled this dive from previous years but heard locally in Tobermory that a scallop dredger had damaged the wreck last winter.

As we descended the shot line, we were greeted with an unrecognisable wreck that had been badly damaged.

This was only my second Scottish Isles trip with Richard – I had done just one dive on the ‘Thesis’ on which I shot

32 SubSea Autumn 2015

video – but I could not recognise this as being the same wreck at all. Back on the boat, everyone agreed that the wreck had been hugely damaged which opened the conversation as to what type of fishing equipment had caused such destruction. Later, we went ashore for a lunchtime surface interval and asked the staff at Lochaline Dive Centre about the damage to the ‘Thesis’. The answer was a mixture of disappointment and disbelief but allied to the recently announced Marine Protected Area for the Sound of Mull – there was an air of optimism that the

marine life and shipwrecks in the area would at least get a break from now on.

We also chatted about one of the scenic wall dives that we had done near Tobermory, as a few divers noticed a lot of damage to the seabed just off the wall. It is hard not to conclude that bottom trawling and scallop dredging, in particular, are seriously destructive. Stopping these alone would be a good thing for the marine environment. I have asked many people since then about Marine Protected Areas and Special Areas of Conservation and it is both a complex and contentious area. Fishing communities will rarely agree to changes that restrict long held practices but, without buy-in from locals, any imposed restrictions seem doomed to failure. A case in point is Lyme Bay in Dorset where a decision to close off 60 square nautical miles of the bay to scallop dredging and bottom-trawling in 2008, had been a complete failure, as it resulted in the doubling of other fishing techniques.

In 2012, a collaborative approach was taken by the British Blue Marine Foundation who sought to engage with the local community and have successfully got fishermen from four ports to sign up to a voluntary code to restrict the amount of gear used by any one boat to 250 crab and lobster pots, 500 whelk pots and individual nets of a maximum 600m. The partnership, which is more “low impact” than “no-take”, aims to “boost tourism and the local economy”.

It did make me wonder about protecting some of our popular diving areas, and how this might affect the marine life in years to come. One of the longest established Marine Reserves in Europe is Lough Hyne in Co. Cork. Established under the 1976 Wildlife Act, its protected status dates back 1981 we in Ireland have much to protect around our coastline since then, in establishing Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and Special Protection Areas (SPAs). These go some way towards meeting our commitments under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, but the hard work of establishing fully protected marine areas is only

Marine Protection beginning. Getting agreement from fishing communities is going to be difficult however, judging by just one example in west Cork. Efforts to draft a management plan for Roaringwater Bay – deemed a site of exceptional conservation importance, supporting diverse marine and terrestrial habitats – have not reached agreement after prolonged discussions.

It is difficult to be optimistic after reading about and discussing these topics with Marine Scientists. Perhaps the only viable protected areas will be those where a boost to tourism would outweigh fishing revenues and where communities would take a longer term view. The recent designation of 30 new Marine Protected Areas in Scottish seas, increasing the level of MPA’s and marine conservation zones to over 20% of Scottish waters, is estimated to have a “scenario-based” value of between £6.3 billion and £10 billion, boosting fish stocks, biological diversity and tourism revenues whilst generating employment for coastal

Recently broken metal parts on the wreck of the ‘Thesis’, Sound of Mull, Scotland. Photo by and © John Collins.

communities in sustainable employment programmes. And while it is too late for the previously wonderful wreck of the ‘Thesis’, at

least the Sound of Mull and other Marine Protected Areas may preserve the marine environment for future generations of divers to enjoy. ◼

SubSea Autumn 2015 33

Instructor development overview

by Dermot Moynihan he standards of training within our organisation is recognised among other National Governing Bodies (NGB’s) in Ireland as being extremely high and that is down to the commitment and dedication of our instructors. However, there is always room for improvement, methods of teaching have changed vastly and there is much more focus on active learning these days. The Irish Underwater Council have been working closely with Coaching Ireland in the last year to use their expertise to bring our methods of instruction and assessment in line with current best practice. We think this will greatly benefit not only our instructors but the members that they teach. The first Instructor Development Course took place over the course of five days in November and December of 2015. Twenty-two IUC instructors completed the training element of the Coaching Ireland Instructor Development course.

A little background; the role of Coaching Ireland is to improve the standards of coaching / instruction across Ireland by facilitating NGBs to develop

T

Instructors prepping for next lecture. Photo by and © Gearoid McCarthy.

coach & instructor education. Coaching Ireland Work in partnership with over 60 NGB’s and provide training and accreditation programmes. We have been working with Coaching Ireland and 7 other adventure sport NB’s to develop a national framework for our qualifications, these we hope will fit onto the new Adventure Sports Framework (ASF), the other adventure sport NGB;s on board are Canoeing Ireland, Irish Orienteering Association, Cycling Ireland (Mountain Biking), Mountaineering Ireland, Speleological Union of Ireland (Caving), Irish Surfing Association, Irish Sailing Association.

Working with Coaching Ireland and bringing awards under the Adventure Sport Framework will have the following benefits for our members,

Instructors at Coaching Ireland workshop. Photo by and © Gearoid McCarthy.

34 SubSea Autumn 2015

• Access to dedicated Sports Ireland Instructor Education funding • Coaching Ireland support and expertise in terms of course development/review, tutor training and quality assurance • Potential to align awards with National Framework of Qualifications • Identify where our awards sit in relation to other Adventure Sport NGBs (The ASF is a common framework across eight Adventure Sport NGBs) • Recognition for the quality of work already taking place within our organisation.

Our Mon* course is currently being reworked and updated to embrace current best practice and will be recognised as an advanced instructor award within the Coaching Ireland framework. The instructor developers pictured, along with twelve previously trained Tutors will, with the help of our existing instructor base, prepare our future Mon* instructors. It is envisaged that the Snorkel Instructor will in time also take its place on the Coaching Ireland framework.

These developments do not affect the role of our current instructors and examiners in any way but we hope in time everyone will see the benefits of this development and help us improve how we teach.

If any existing instructor is interested in attending a future Instructor Development Coaching Ireland course in the fall of 2016 we would be delighted to hear from you, please contact head office for details. ◼

Underwater Photography Workshop with Alex Mustard

by Damien McGuirk Diver in the hold of the Chrisoula K. Photo by and © Damien McGuirk.

SubSea Autumn 2015 35

UW Photo Workshop

Diver in the hold of the Chrisoula K. Photo by and © Damien McGuirk.

A lot of water has passed under the boat since I did my first underwater photography workshop trip, way-way back in 2011. You could be forgiven in thinking that to participate in one photo workshop in tropical climes would be enough, but to be honest, this sojourn marked the beginning of many interesting adventures for me and my beloved Nikon D200. Since then, many

rivers have been crossed (with more than enough leaks along the way) and I have found that when one goes over one horizon, one finds an even larger undiscovered country.

What does become patently clear is that when it comes to taking a camera underwater, the learning really does not stop. Yes, there are many occasions where we go through the motions on our

Alex Mustard Group Photo 2015. Photo by and © Damien McGuirk.

36 SubSea Autumn 2015

photo dives, blissfully snap away right left and centre, and come back to the surface with data cards full of images which may or may not be so nice. There are occasions when we get a lucky alignment of factors which result in an image that we want to hang on the sitting room wall and proudly show to family and friends. Still, I do feel that if you want to be more consistent in achieving the element of the ‘WOW’ factor, there is no substitute for being in a good space for creativity, and in the company of other like-minded photographers seeking the same goal i.e. to improve.

As I have oft said in the past, I could never recommend going on a dedicated UW photo trip enough to anyone who is serious about improving their image making. May I also say that you get out as much as you put in, yet you may well ask does going on a workshop guarantee that you will come away with the skill sets to consistently make pleasing images? Absolutely not! For me, these workshops make you come away with the simple truth that to get the images you really want, you have to be prepared to actively seek them from the minute you submerge. I have also learned that

UW Photo Workshop every professional photographer runs his/her workshops in their own way.

Some take a more relaxed approach, some are aimed at absolute beginners, and some can push you into a mind frame that will force you to think more creatively about how to compositionally approach a subject.

In terms of my own evolution as an ‘underwater shooter’, I felt I was getting to the stage where I badly needed to be pushed. At the back of my mind, there was a nebulous plan, a plan which involved going on a photo trip with someone who is arguably one of the finest underwater photographers on the world stage at this point in time. A someone who consistently produces amazing work, and is constantly pushing the envelope when it comes to making images that have those letters “WOW” written all over them in pink neon. That someone (for me at any rate) is Dr. Alex Mustard.

I don’t think there are many divers out there who have not seen at least one or two images from Alex’s diverse and award winning portfolios. If you read any of the UK dive publications you will certainly have recognised one or two I’m sure, but have a look at his images on www.amustard.com. His work has featured in the book ‘The Art of Diving’

by Nick Hanna, and his own book ‘Reefs Revealed’ (published by Constable books) is a must have. At the time of writing, there is another book from Alex in the pipeline that is scheduled for release in 2016, which has the u.w/ photo community buzzing with anticipation!

As a testament to this man’s abilities with a lens, his workshops fill up very quickly and indeed, are sold out almost immediately when details are announced by dive travel companies (see www.scubatravel.com or www.wetpixel.com). Many talented (yours truly excluded of course) photographers from all around the globe attend his workshops and I sometimes wonder why there are so many regulars and repeaters on his trips, as some of them to my mind don’t need any coaching! Yet, they still keep coming back to Alex for more. Why? I think the bottom line is that we are never done learning in our pursuit of excellence, and there will always be room to learn more. With Alex, just watching him at work both underwater and over leaves one in no doubt as to how much

Red Sea reef. Photo by and © Damien McGuirk.

Group discussion. Photo by and © Damien McGuirk.

SubSea Autumn 2015 37

UW Photo Workshop

Lemon goby yawning. Photo by and © Damien McGuirk.

on top of his game he truly is, and how much one can learn from him by simply being on his trips. In truth, I never really knew what ‘being on top of your game’ meant until I saw him in action.

Aimed at the complete beginner, a Mustard workshop is certainly not. You do not go on these workshops without the first clue of underwater photography, expecting to come away with all the answers. In short, it is not that kind of workshop. The typical clientele are experienced underwater photographers shooting with SLR rigs, yet compact users are very welcome. The key point, though, is that a Mustard workshop is squarely aimed at experienced UW shooters who want to try and take things to the next level, and want to push themselves.

I have had the good fortune to attend two red sea liveaboards with Alex over the last few years that have operated out of Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt aboard the superb dive boat, MV Whirlwind. Hand on heart I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of them. From the minute you get on board and assemble all your kit, it’s a non-stop roller coaster ride of diving, shooting, downloading, editing, eating, diving, shooting, sleeping, repeat etc. etc., with tailor-made lectures from the man himself dispersed in between.

As the workshop progresses, you can skip lectures, dives, or the image review sessions if you find it all a bit much.

From my own experiences, no one ever did, and when it came to the dives, all

38 SubSea Spring 2016

the photographers were absolutely champing at the bit to go every day!

In between dives, most of the participants had their heads buried in their laptops, downloading images, reviewing and processing same. An essential piece of kit on Alex’s workshops (and indeed any photo workshop) is without a doubt, a good laptop PC or Mac, capable of comfortably running ‘Light Room’ at a minimum. The lovely thing about using your own laptop is you can get much better critique in real time when you can show an image you are working on to Alex and he can give you feedback in situ.

There is little or no time for a breather if you want to avail of the photo opportunities that Alex and the boat crews work so hard to place you in.

Early morning starts were typically between 5.30- 6.00 a.m., with at least three to four dives a day on offer. The day would typically wrap up between 1011 pm. with the all-important image review session, where each participant has to produce two images from the day’s diving. The images are projected on a screen where both Alex and fellow participants could review and/or constructively critique the images, and suggest improvements, be they from compositional or post-production viewpoints. This critique is absolute gold dust in my eyes, and more often than not, I would put up an image for critique that I was not happy with. You

are then expected to submit ten of your best images for the end of the trip, which are put into a slideshow which Alex puts together, as a wonderful take home souvenir collection (set to eclectic background music) of your own work, and the work of all the other participants.

With Alex’s workshops, a particular theme or vein runs throughout the duration, be it macro shooting or wide angle, with a slant on creative techniques e.g. off-camera strobe work, using snoots etc. On the Red Sea trips run in June, particular focus (no pun intended) is on the wrecks of the North Red Sea which include the mighty S.S. Thistlegorm, and the aggregations of schooling pelagic fish that occur at the world class dive sites located in the Ras Mohammed marine reserve. There are ample photographic opportunities to get to know the sites as more than one dive is conducted there. Coupled with stunning red sea reef life, the photographer has an opportunity to go back and dive the same site at different times of the day.

Before each dive, a thorough briefing is given by the dive guides and then the main man gives his own perspectives on what to think about and what to shoot on a given dive site. Again, this is vital information in that you go into the water with an idea for shooting if you so desire, as opposed to moving through a dive site taking loads of snaps but not really

UW Photo Workshop making much by way of pictures. As to the mechanics of the photo dives, each photographer has plenty of time and room to work a picture. More often than not, if one photographer finishes with a scene, they will gladly hand over the scene to another photographer. This is also key when getting the best out of the workshop and this sense of team effort and sharing of ideas is actively encouraged by the master of ceremonies.

Hosting an UW photo workshop is a very full on and intense exercise for any professional. Regarding Dr. Mustard, I couldn’t say enough by way of praise as to how he runs his workshops. Right from the off, he hits the ground running, and his enthusiasm and energy is nothing short of infectious. His energy for the art of making pictures rubs off on all participants, and believe me, it does rub off. As he says himself, if you are not falling asleep at lectures or at image reviews, you are not pushing yourself enough, and I am guilty of copping more than one sneaky cat nap

in this regard. But oh, is this push so worth it, and…believe me….so enjoyable!!! When the lights come on, and the opportunity for creativity flows, you realise what it means to get those underwater images that you can be justifiably proud of.

No mention of Alex’s Red Sea workshops would be complete without a short but very sweet word about the crews that work alongside us to make these trips so enjoyable. I can honestly say that in all my years diving the Red Sea, I have never met a more friendly, helpful, and lovable bunch of guys than the Egyptian boat crews. For some strange reason which at times escapes me, they seem to be very fond of me, and I think it’s due to the fact that I like to smile and laugh a lot when on holidays, and they, in turn, love this fun too.

Why? I think it just gives them a little time to relax in company where it’s not a question of ‘client’ versus ‘holiday worker’, and I do feel that this really makes all the difference. Every time we

came up from our dives they were there with the nibbles, the hot chocolate, and most important of all, the smiles. It’s these little treats that have made my Red Sea Mustard adventures so immensely enjoyable. To them, I say a heartfelt ‘Shokrahn’. Likewise to all the wonderful souls I have met on these workshops.

They are truly inspirational photographers in their own right, and up for a bit of devilment on the down time!

In summing up, I thought I would leave the last word to regular Alex trip participant, a certain Mr. Andy (you’re a star) Barker who is no slouch when it comes to shooting lovely clicky piccies. I remember him saying that “If we came away with perfect pics after every workshop, we wouldn’t bother going on anymore now, would we?”

I wholeheartedly agree and I do hope to go on more photo trips with Grand Master Mustard, in the years to come.

Wishing you all inspiration and happy photo dives in 2016!!! ◼

SubSea Spring 2016 39

El Hierro:

warm, blue seas and a magical island Above and below water, the small Canary Island of El Hierro was a worthwhile trip, writes John Reynolds

Ray in the blue, the large ray spotted on the dive in the nature reserve. Photo by Gavin Griffin.

n a fresh afternoon on November 5th, a ragtag bunch of 23 divers from the four corners of Ireland and further afield congregated in the departures lounge of Dublin airport. We were about to embark on a four-hour flight to Tenerife south airport to start the Ocean Divers’ 2015 trip to El Hierro.

There was a good mix of divers from various CFT clubs as well as PADI divers and others from different disciplines. Some were already friends from holidays past or from the various trips Ocean Divers Brian Murphy and Willy Siddall had taken out around Ireland. It wasn’t long before we were all introduced and on our way.

There are no direct flights to El Hierro from Ireland, so a connecting flight or ferry are your two best options for getting there. A group of us from Drogheda Sub Aqua club had travelled with Shane Gray there in October 2014 and taken the flight and drive on the ferry option. This time, we would fly into Tenerife, travel to Tenerife north and stay overnight before getting our Binter Canarias internal flight to El Hierro. Either option is timeconsuming, so it was important to have the craic along the way.

After an evening meal with the

O

40 SubSea Spring 2016

group in the wonderful Café Atlántico, Calle la Marina, Santa Cruz, the group got better acquainted and those that remained were treated to an evening of waltz, salsa dancing and music.

It was an early start to take the short bus journey from the hotel in Santa Cruz to Tenerife north airport.

‘Binter’ operate internal flights to the island daily. We arrived shortly before lunchtime, stopping along the way to take in some of the breathtaking views from the hills at the top of the island.

El Hierro is the smallest and farthest south and west of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa, with a population of 10,162.

The summit of El Hierro is surprisingly lush and green and ideal for walkers and non-divers to explore the many

Friendly grouper. Photo by John Reynolds.

trails and tracks. The island boasts an eco-friendly energy and self-sufficient status and it has many and varied species of plant and animal life. We were more interested, however, in what the island had to offer below the surface of the 22 degrees warm Atlantic Ocean.

We arrived in the sleepy fishing village of La Restinga on the very southern tip of the Island, got settled into our apartments and set up in The Centro De Buceo (A family run and owned centre, right in the middle of the town). We weren’t diving until the next day, so it was a good opportunity to get provisions in the local market and get the dive gear set up and checked. The staff were very friendly and they had facilities that more than catered for our needs. They had a small dive shop, Nitrox for those who wanted it, the all important hot showers for after those longer dives, two ribs moored up in the harbour (a Valiant 850 and Astec Artic 850, both fitted with Honda BF 225 outboard engines), plenty of kitting up room and power for our group.

If that wasn’t enough, they had a compressor bank and plenty of tanks which meant there was no hanging around, waiting for fills between dives.

El Hierro

The group exploring the caverns and swim throughs off the shores of El Hierro. Photo by Gavin Griffin.

That evening the group got together for a meal. The village is very quiet at that time of year and the bars and restaurants rotate their opening hours and times so a bit of preplanning of food is required. You are very much on ‘la Restinga’ time once you are there. Apart from a small group of

locals and divers, you pretty much have the place to yourself. The harbour itself is modern and ornate and well-lit at night, ideal for a post-meal stroll to walk off some of the local food and ‘cerveza’. It is well worth taking a stroll down to see what ships and vessels have moored up for the evening.

The nature of the island’s tides and wind runs mean planning dives can be tricky. The dive centre coxswain won’t be 100% sure until they stick their nose out of port. Thankfully the island offers shelter on both sides so if one is choppy there are alternate options.

Our main guide, Iñaki, knew the seas

The lava fields. Photo by John Reynolds.

SubSea Spring 2016 41

El Hierro

A diver descends a shot line to join the group. Photo by Gavin Griffin.

and sites well so it took all the guesswork out of the diving. There are scores of dive sites to the east and west of the port. There is plenty of great wall, reef and small cave diving and the chance of seeing some larger life coming in from the ocean to feed.

There are also swim-through arches and rock and boulder formations.

There is even diving and snorkeling in the harbour and a chance to see turtles. The water outside the port is warm, blue and crystal clear. The visibility never dropped below 20 metres during the day. The top dive sites are located inside the nature reserve areas. These areas are strictly monitored for fishing and diving and

The view from the summit.

Photo by John Reynolds.

42 SubSea Autumn 2015

only one boat with twelve divers is allowed on El Bajón, the top dive site, at any one time. El Bajón is a large underwater pinnacle and also the site of an underwater volcano, the crater of which can be seen on the dive. It is teeming with life. Expect to see, moray eels, garden conger eels, octopus, cuttlefish, various sea urchins, crustaceans, trumpet fish, parrot fish, barracuda and the most chilled out, friendly Grouper fish you’re likely to ever encounter.

One of the groups was lucky enough to get this on their second dive as it is quite isolated and prone to strong runs. The last diver was ascending the shot line and settling

themselves on the top of the pinnacle with the rest of the group just in time for the arrival of a large Manta ray, who didn’t seem one bit bothered by our presence. It’s rare to see a group of divers so still in the water. It circled around a few times then headed off into the blue. Needless to say, the craic was ninety in the centre after the dives.

We spent five days in total diving on various and varied spots including two night dives in the harbour where we were treated to a visit by a roughtail and baby eagle stingray. On our final day, some of the group relaxed in the village and enjoyed snorkelling and basking in the final few hours of sun.

Others ventured off across the lava fields just outside La Restinga and walked towards Tacorón. The landscape and sea views in this area are simply stunning.

After a wonderful week in El Hierro it was time to say goodbye to the magical island for another year.

Getting home was a bit more straightforward as both flights were in the one day, although it did involve travelling from one side of the island to the other. Hopefully, as the island becomes more popular, the frequency of flights or even direct flights may come about. On the flip side, would the island’s wonderful charm then fall victim to tourism? ◼

A curious pair of eels. Photo by Gavin Griffin.

Seasearch sea squirt ID course

by Frances O’Sullivan Fluted Sea squirt, Ascidiella aspersa. Photo by and © Frances O’Sullivan.

At the end of August, seven of us gathered in the leafy surroundings of the National Biodiversity centre in Waterford Institute of technology, for a two-day course on creatures that often go unnoticed or get confused with sponges and a number of other colonial animals. These creatures, namely sea squirts, proved to be a fascinating group of animals to get to know in a bit more detail.

On the first day, Professor David Kipling and Sarah Bowen from Seasearch introduced us to the basic structure of a sea squirt which is surprisingly more closely related to humankind than sponges or other simple marine life forms. In their larval free swimming stage they have a rod running down their back which stiffens the body to assist in swimming more efficiently, this rod is called a notochord and is a forerunner of our vertebrae. Once the larva settles it can become a single or colonial animal.

Course content

Sea squirt design

The course consisted: • An introduction to sea squirt anatomy.

The basic design of a sea squirt is a sack with two siphons, one for taking in water, incurrent siphon, the other, excurrent siphon, for removing it. A sudden contraction due to being poked or disturbed will cause this little animal to squirt out sea water as its name suggests. The “sack“ or tunic is made out of a tough material, Tunicin, that contains cellulose, more commonly associated with plants, the sea squirt is one of the only animals that can manufacture this substance

• What features to look for in order to ID a squirt in a photo.

• A Bring-and-show photo session.

• Lab work, examining a dissected specimen.

• Working through the top 12 species most often encountered in the British Isles and other more difficult to ID species.

SubSea Autumn 2015 43

Sea squirt ID course

Basic Sea Squirt Design.

Sea squirts living arrangements

Incurrent siphon. Photo by and © Frances O’Sullivan.

A single sea squirt or zooid can exist as a solitary animal or grouped together in a social aggregation, and in these forms we as divers are very familiar with them. The difficulty starts with the colonial squirts which can form sheets or clumps and resemble sponges or bryozoa or just similar sea squirt species. David and Sarah started to unravel this mystery by introducing us to the more familiar unitary ascidians, showing us these animals under the microscope and after the basic rules sank in, we progressed to the more awkward members of the sea squirt brigade.

Solitary sea squirts: The yellow-ringed sea squirt, Ciona intestinalis, is a familiar sight in harbours, on jetties and moorings, up to 15cms tall with a pale, whitish and translucent outer membrane or test and a yellow ring at the top of both siphons, it can occur in large numbers but each is a separate animal from its neighbour. Unfortunately, it can also be a serious fouling organism in the above-mentioned areas.

Light bulb sea squirt, Clavelina lepadiformes. Photo by and © Frances O’Sullivan.

and it gives rise to their other name of Tunicate. They are filter feeders and water is circulated through the body by a collection of beating cilia that are arranged on a barrel shaped grid within which a continuous sheet

44 SubSea Spring 2016

of mucus travels, trapping food particles and ending up in the u shaped gut. After digestion, waste matter and the circulating water escape via the smaller exhalant siphon.

Social sea squirts: The light bulb sea squirt, Clavelina lepadiformes is always a welcome sight on any dive, this pretty tunicate has a clear glass-like body about 2 cm in height, with handsome white linear markings running the length of the animal and also outlining it’s siphons.

This squirt exists in groups of a dozen individuals or so and these are joined at their base but stand freely from each other in the water column.

Sea squirt ID course Colonial sea squirts: The star ascidian or Botryllus schlosseri forms clumps or sheets often around kelp holdfasts and can come in a variety of colours, most often blue in my experience. The star pattern repeated throughout the colony corresponds to a group of maybe ten or twelve tiny sea squirts which group together. The central dot of the star is actually a common excurrent siphon and the points of each star are the individual incurrent siphons of each zooid. These zooids are embedded within the jellylike tunicin. They are up to 4 mm thick and can extend over 8cm in extent.

Ecological significance of ascidians Because sea squirts can grow to cover wide areas of substrate or aquaculture equipment it can have a smothering effect on other life forms such as mussels competing against the yellowringed sea squirt for space on grow ropes, or scallop beds being covered by the invasive carpet sea squirt, Didemnum vexillum, thought to have come from Japan. A beneficial result to sea squirt growth is being investigated in Norway where they are being farmed to produce bioethanol fuel and fish food. Tunicates also feature on Japanese and Korean menus, but I don’t see them catching on here anytime soon.

Unfortunately due to inclement weather we were not able to dive in Newtown cove in Tramore so didn’t get to see a Waterford sea squirt or two.

Thanks to Professor David Kipling and Sarah Bowen for a very informative and pleasing ID course which went too quickly. We were well fed and watered

by Rory and Tony O’Callaghan who not only organised this very enjoyable course and venue but produced some fine sandwiches, tea and biccies so as not to let the brain cells flounder. The other attendees were John Breen, Nick Owen and me, Frances O’Sullivan.

Seasearch is a great way of learning about our wonderful marine environment, if you would like to know more about it please E-mail seasearchireland@gmail.com or contact us via our Facebook page “Seasearch Ireland”. ◼

Star ascidian, Botryllus schlosseri. Photo by and © Frances O’Sullivan.

Yellow ringed sea squirt, Ciona intestinalis. Photo by and © Frances O’Sullivan.

SubSea Spring 2016 45

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Managing Stress The stress response in diving

by Matt Jevon An unstressed Matt Jevon enjoying a scenic dive. Photo taken and copyright owned by Audrey Cudel of Gozo Technical Diving.

Before we can talk about managing stress we must first understand what stress is and how it arises, specifically in a diving context. Stress has become a very negative word, but, in fact, stress can be positive, eu-stress, and negative, dis-stress. In diving, a little stress can be useful to focus the mind and offset the complacency that experienced divers often allow to settle in.

Stress refers to the degree (intensity of reaction) and direction (eu stress or distress) of our response to a stimulus or stressor. e reaction can be mental, emotional or physical and is generally a combination of all three. is results in an emotional outburst / reaction, a mental (thought process) reaction and some sort of behaviour. At best this is a mild emotional response, a quick decision on the problem identification and a behavioural response to fix the issue., e.g. ‘oops, I've a free flow, best close and reopen right post, free flow sorted’. At worst, the emotion takes over, clouds judgement and irrational behaviour results, e.g. ‘oh s*** a free flow, I'm losing gas, bolt for the surface!’

What is dangerous to assume is that for a given stressor, we will have a consistent reaction. Even if the circumstances and the environment are exactly the same, there's a whole host of factors that will influence our stress response, these include....

Fatigue - the more tired we are the stronger the emotional response. An emotional response is the last one we want to have as it uses up the resources we need to think and act our way out of the situation.

Dehydration - restricts our ability to think and adds to fatigue.

Emotional state - even a bit of bad news before the dive, an argument with the spouse, an incident of road rage, increases emotional activation making it more likely our response will be emotional in nature.

Poor nutrition - low blood sugar levels can decrease our ability to cope with the hormonal response to stress, as well as contribute to fatigue.

No recent experience - our trained or experienced reactions to situations fade quickly over time into memory. e longer we have not been in a situation, the longer it will take to recall the past experiences and an appropriate response. Skills degrade by a third after only two weeks without practice.

Consequence - a stressor in a cave or at 100m is going to have far greater consequences than on a 10m scenic dive. e greater the perceived consequence and the key word here is perceived, the more severe the stress reaction will be.

Let's focus on the distress part because for stress management in diving this is clearly of the most importance. Most of us, at one point or another on a dive, have been a little stressed. Swimming in a current, a gear failure, put under pressure by an instructor on a drill,

etc. we've taken this as a normal reaction and hopefully learned from it and coped with it.

How did we do that? Well, moderated by the factors above, as soon as we identified the stressor, we first decided if it was relevant (there's a bull shark, is it interested in me?) we then match that to previous experiences.... I've dived with sharks before, no problems, threat appraisal is minimal. e key is whether we believe we have enough resources (previous experience, equipment, training, skills, recent practice, help from buddies etc) to cope. is perceived coping potential is far more important than the reality of whether we can cope or not. If we believe we can cope, this is where we can "survive the unsurvivable" and where we perceive we can't cope, we end up as a casualty.

First, manage stress by dealing with the things that predispose us to stress or make it seem worse when it occurs. Be fit to dive, get a good night’s sleep, eat well, stay off the booze, drink plenty of water checking urine colour for hydration. Bear in mind this must be consistent over weeks, upping the fluid the day or two before a dive will not suffice.

Ok, now for the brain game!

Pre-dive emotional status, if not right, can increase the risk of you having a

SubSea Spring 2016 47

Managing Stress disproportionate emotional reaction to any incidents on the dive. Not the ideal calm mind, solution focused reaction preferred. So, you got up and left to the spouses "oh, diving again is it, when will you be back, you won't be drinking with your buddies, how much was that new thingy", then you were stuck in traffic which made you late for the boat, someone pinched the last parking space so you had to haul your gear miles and the skipper is treating you like a recalcitrant toddler. Add in a rough trip out and 20 minutes waiting for the shot to hit metal and I'm guessing that your emotional status is not evenly balanced. How can we regain the equilibrium? It's going to take a few new skills. e best way to apply these is to put them into an emotional control routine. is can then be transferred to any situation, in or out of diving and may save you some bruising to the knuckles.

Step 1. Find a place where you can be undisturbed for a couple of minutes. Sticking on some headphones works for some people, even if you don't have music on. If you do have music, have a tune you find calming.

Step 2. Engage in some deep tidal breathing, not to relax, but to just gain a sense of physical control over the body, this is naturally associated with a sense of control over the mind. Some contract-relax muscle exercises can help.

Step 3. Park all the crap that's currently bothering you or has the potential to bother you. Now, you can't just forget about it. Try this..... Forget about a white elephant, now, no seriously don't think about it..... You can't can you? Ok, now imagine you have walked the elephant into an enclosure and you've closed the gates. Now, you can see the gates, but not the elephant. It's the same with stuff that bothers you. You have to convince your subconscious mind, which is rather like a hyperactive child, that you aren't trying to block out its concerns, but you are putting them away and will return to them later. I just imagine myself writing them down and putting them in a box I can open up later. I then imagine putting this box with all the issues away in a safe place. I use a pocket of my dive bag, I don't want to bring this stuff on the dive so a drysuit pocket won't do. e key to stopping these issues coming back is to plan and stick to the plan of coming back to the issues and dealing with them at the right time, i.e. when you're not diving.

Step 4. Choosing the right mood to be in.

Personally, and I encourage this in my students, I like to be a little bit up, I think a small degree of 'being up for it' gets me over the danger of complacency that I've done this or similar dives 100's of times before. I don't like the concept of relaxing before the dive, I think it's ok once you're in the dive to relax

48 SubSea Spring 2016

into it after all the pre and start of dive planning, what if and safety drills have been done. It's choosing the optimum level, too excited or worse, nervous, and you'll miss stuff.

To get into the optimal mood I use cues that key into it. Music, a few keywords, set physical routines such as kit prep, putting on the drysuit etc and some imagery that recreates the perfect mood for the dive.

Step 5. Rehearse the dive plan (using imagery not visualisation) and if the mood doesn't change - ok a bit more positive excitement is ok - then all is good. Rehearse with the team. You're ready to go and the chances of any stressors having a disproportionate effect are greatly reduced. At this stage put the consequence into the context of your planning and preparation.

Ok, it's a 100m dive, but you've built up to it with a good few 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's, kit and gases have been thoroughly tested and checked, you've a great team plus safety divers and there's ample backup. Conditions including the environment, the team and, vitally, your attitude and approach, are optimal.

If the rehearsal, either your own imagery or with the team is not smooth and clear, then you're not ready to go and should not dive until you have a great mental and actual run through of the plan. Treat it like there has been an equipment failure; there has, your head!

Start to engage in the normal pre-dive routines, flow checks, safety / buddy check, final plan reviews, drills, descent and bubble checks etc. What can reinforce the value of these is to create an association between the physical routine and your thoughts at each stage of the routine. It's not just something you do, but it has meaning for you.

Tink about why we do each check, not only does this ensure you are ready, but it also reinforces the why. e.g. check long hose clear, yes safely clear, and reinforces that this is our response to an out of air diver. Turn stage on for bubble check, yes ensures pressurised but also "fixes" in the head where the stage is, how it's marked, what it's for and ups the confidence knowing it is working.

A solid consistent pre-dive routine is a piece of pure gold in psychological terms.

Firstly it will provide all the mood and attitude cues you want. If it doesn't you need to refine the routine. Secondly, it will have checklists, even if they are not written or ticked off (though that's good practice, especially until your routine is rock solid), third, you will find you shut out all but the most relevant or required stimuli from the world around you, you are very difficult to distract. As a sense check if you can be distracted, again your head is probably not in the right place. You can rehearse this routine time and again, without being any nearer the water than your own bathtub! Practice, psychologically, is as important to do as physical skills practice.

In water there are a great number of stimuli and occurrences that can cause us to have a stress reaction. Some of these are obvious and immediate, free-flowing regulator, burst hose, silt out. Others are more insidious, the onset of thermal stress, dehydration and often narcosis. Developing appropriate and timely reaction to these is vital.

Stop, breathe, think, act is the reaction that's often suggested. Tough to do if you’re out of air!

What I prefer is to use the acronym START to ensure that I have prepared responses for all foreseeable issues that can occur on a dive. Where possible the responses should be similar, but, if practiced, these responses don't need to be, and, as we can see from the above, it's not appropriate that they are all the same. e response should fit into this acronym.

S elf T eam A ction R eview T hink Let’s look at each part.

Self Your first recourse in any stressful situation is you. It's you that needs to get a grip on yourself and the relationship you have to the stress. e best way of doing this is to use a technique called anchoring. Anchoring brings the psychological and physical attention back onto you in a controlled way. A deep breath is often a good anchoring technique, but for reasons previously discussed I'm not a fan for diving. My preference is to go for another physical reference and I use a keyword that is only used in that situation. Mine is 'focus Matt' and putting my hands on my valves. en it's about accurately and quickly identifying the stress source. E.g. on CCR or on your dive computer an alarm is a stressor, but it's not specific. It could be an ascent rate warning, a cell warning, a low PO2. Other than drawing your attention to the source issue, the alarm is actually no use to you and is a source of increased stress (I often want to take a large rock to a constantly beeping computer!). We need to condition ourselves, through training, to respond to alarms with a calm, "right, what's that!?" as opposed to a fluster of agghh's and oh s***s. Accurate ID of the issue and a good assessment of our ability to cope is of more value. Not once in my training did I ever have an alarm beep or buzz simulated. I had the issues simulated, high PO2 etc. We need to add simulated alarms into training, physical and mental, especially for CCR. So my reaction to an issue is ideally, centre (hands on valves), self-referenced talk - "focus Matt", then identify the issue. This takes about 0.5 of a second to 2 seconds max,

Managing Stress depending on the issue complexity. If the issue is critical I'm also perfectly placed to respond - ah that probably involves gas loss! I decide if action is needed, based on trained and well-practiced responses, then implement the response. The better trained I am, the more I have physically practiced the response skills and if I've previously used imagery to really embed the response, then the faster I will react.

Team I need to check how my team has responded.

A great team will be right by me by now, especially if my chosen solution has included a clear signal to them. At this point they are checking my issue diagnosis, checking the response I've made or am making for correctness, helping out if that's the way we practice as a team and most importantly checking my head / emotional state is ok.

Action What next? Abort the dive, check gas and deco penalty. e team should be involved, either to implement a pre-planned action (light failure in a cave - exit) or to check recalculated turn pressures or deco requirements. e key is this is a decided action, based on having averted the immediate crisis and is done at a reduced stress level.

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Review At the most appropriate point, the immediate response, the solution and the team's responses and action should be reviewed. is should be as soon as possible. Maybe once back at the shot, maybe on the longer 9 or 6 deco stops. If the soonest most appropriate time is back on the boat or at the dive centre, then that's when it's done. Hopefully, what you're then doing is affirming all the right steps were taken. If not, then there's a training issue.

Think Did the incident occur due to lack of training or practice? Was it a skills failure or a clarity of thought and action failure. How did you feel as the situation evolved? If my reaction was intense or involved uncertainty or early signs of stress or panic, regardless of having solved the issue, I would set up and practice scenarios on a controlled training dive until I was very confident in my solution. Don't just be pleased with yourself that you "got away with it". Be self-critical. If you don't know how you got away with it seek advice from an instructor (not the Internet forum or your mates). ere are issues here for your training.

Good dive instructors will expose you to 95% of the potential stressors you will face. ey will train and encourage you to practice the appropriate response and repeat until the

techniques become skilful and second nature.

In dive planning your instructor should ask you to do a 'what if' plan (plus 3m plus 3 mins) plus what if x or y happens. e further into tech or cave you go, the more skills and responses you learn. Try this! Write down 10 problems that can occur on a dive, not too common. Now write down your response. Was there enough detail in the response to meet the start criteria above? Is there something in there that focuses you and depowers any emotional reaction? Can you close your eyes and using your imagination, see, feel and hear clearly (imagery) the issue and response? If not then purposeful practice is required.

Psychological skills are harder in many ways to learn and become an expert at than physical skills. ey need clarity - this is the skill, they need consistency, and they need a lot of practice and repetition. Just like the physical skills, this needs to be quality practice, with real intent and purpose.

Biography: Matt Jevon is a Technical Trimix and Cave Diver and Technical and CCR instructor with TDI, IANTD and PADI. Matt is the JJ-CCR instructor and dealer for Ireland.

He held accreditations as an interdisciplinary sports scientist, sports psychologist and as a British Olympic Strength and Conditioning Coach. ◼

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