Alert Diver September 2024

UNDERWATER NAVIGATION

Editor

DAN Southern Africa

Publisher

DAN Southern Africa

Contributors

Nicolene Olckers, Dennis Guichard, Francois Burman, Megan Wagner, City of Cape Town (Media Office), Maryka Pace, Dr David Colvard, Kyle Kray, Adam Sokolski, Aydrey Cude, Dr Douglas Ebersole, Madeline Coombs, Frauke Tillmans, Jessica B Adams, Stephen Frink, Jessica Winn, Mia Groeneveld, Karla Redelinghuys, Tasmyn Signe

Team

Morné Christou, Nicolene Olckers, Dr Frans Cronje

Cover Photograph

By Ofek Liepaz

This juvenile boxfish was photographed deep inside a crevice around the Bikini Reef amphitheater in Sodwana Bay Just under 2cm in size, the fish was hovering in place, investigating me as I approached it I snapped my first photo of it, but before I could get any more, one of my dive buddies excitedly tugged on my fin to show me a squat lobster nearby When I came back to the crevice, I couldn't see the boxfish anymore, so all I could do was hope for the best Needless to say, I was thrilled to see that the single shot I took was in focus and managed to capture the big personality of this tiny fish!

Equipment: Sony A7iii + Sony 90mm macro lens

Housing: Seafrogs

Lighting: 2 x Inon Z240 strobes, Orcatorch D900v focus light

Settings: 1/200, f/16, ISO100

Contact Website www dansa org

Advertising mail@dansorg

General mail@dansaorg

Phone +27-11-266-4900

Diving Emergencies +27-82-810-6010

@dansouthernafrica @divesafety /DANSAorg

@dan sa org

Alert Diver Philosophy

TheviewsexpressedbycontributorsarenotnecessarilythoseadvocatedbythepublisherorDANSouthern Africa Whileeveryeffortismadetoensuretheaccuracyofinformationandreports,thepublisherandDAN SouthernAfricadonotacceptanyresponsibilitywhatsoeverforanyerrors,omissions,oranyeffectsresulting therefrom TothebestofthepublisherandDANSouthernAfrica’sknowledge,contributorshavenotindulged inplagiarism Althoughtheutmostisdonetoavoidsuchoccurrences,thepublisherandDANSouthernAfrica willnotbeheldresponsibleforthecontributors’orwriters’indulgenceinplagiarism Nopartofthispublication maybeusedorreproducedinanyformwithoutthewrittenpermissionofDANSouthernAfrica E&OE

DAN IS NOT AN INSURANCE COMPANY

DAN SOUTHERN AFRICA PROVIDES ITS MEMBERS WITH SUPPORT & ADVICE DURING DIVING MEDICALEMERGENCIESANDDOESNOTPROVIDEINSURANCEPRODUCTS.

TEXTBYMORNÉCHRISTOUCEODANSOUTHERNAFRICA

“IS DAN REALLY JUST A DIVE INSURANCE PRODUCT?” The short answer is “NO” However, as this question keeps coming up, I will offer some background on the issue of insurance, as I want our members to understand the “HEART” of the matter

DAN is an international confederation of diver safety organisations consisting of DAN America, DAN Europe, DAN Japan, DAN World and DAN Southern Africa Although each DAN establishes its own membership and financial and service structures, there are some central requirements and principles upon which all DAN organisations are founded:

1 DAN is, first and foremost, a missionoriented, not-for-profit (public benefit) organisation established to assist injured divers and to promote diving safety

2 DAN offers an emergency hotline assistance service which, once activated, engages and co-ordinates emergency medical services on behalf of its members.

3. DAN leverages any and all potential medical and financial resources when supporting an injured diver. However, from practical experience, particularly because divers often travel to remote areas but require specialised treatment (eg, recompression), DAN has realised that it simply cannot rely on national health services or personal health insurance in diving emergency situations Therefore, DAN ensures that its members have access to these services when they need them

4 Each DAN organisation has created an independent means to cover evacuation and diving emergency medical services Depending on the number of members, diving activities (ie local vs remote travel), country, local insurance laws and available health systems, each DAN organisation has developed funding mechanisms with associated cover benefits to best meet the needs of its members

At present, these cover or insurance mechanisms range from a simple DAN group policy cover, with benefits extended to its members ((Note) as in the case of DAN Southern Africa) to running a fully-fledged insurance company for the sake of its members (for example DAN America and DAN Europe) DAN Southern Africa is not an insurance product; DAN Southern Africa is actually the insured party

Over time, the needs of the larger DAN organisations reached a stage where it was better to be part of the economic engine associated with the cover than to keep paying out all the premiums to a third party However, this point is only reached when many years of experience allow each DAN organisation to assess the risks versus benefits of doing so DAN Southern Africa reached this stage roughly 10 years ago

Armed with 27 years of hands-on experience in managing diving and dive-travel-related accidents, DAN Southern Africa has taken the next step in optimising the benefits it offers its members. The membership package includes an efficient and highly flexible set of benefits supporting the DAN Southern Africa in-house (i.e. DAN, operated and controlled) medical assistance service. This service is self-funded and less reliant on an insured-risk basis It ensures that any premium payments that would have been paid out to an insurer are retained to meet our members’ needs through better membership benefits and services rather than in greater profits for the insurance company This is not only a sure sign that DAN Southern Africa is not an insurance product provider, but it underscores how DAN Southern Africa continues to creatively build on its services to best meet its members’ needs

DAN Southern Africa is not in the business of providing, facilitating or selling any insurance products DAN Southern Africa is a membership organisation much like a mutual organisation You, the members,

receive benefits in the form of funding for essential medical and related services if and when you need them Because DAN Southern Africa is in the unique position of managing the administration related to the group policy it owns, the usual broker industry commissions, management fees and administrative costs are applied to the benefit of DAN Southern Africa members rather than being lost to a third party

DAN Southern Africa’s incentive is not profit, but better service This is what sets DAN Southern Africa apart!

(Note) The cover that DAN Southern Africa extends to its members is by virtue of a group policy owned by DAN Southern Africa This means that DAN Southern Africa is actually the insured party, not the individual member DAN Southern Africa claims for the services the member receives and pays for them on behalf of the member As such, DAN Southern Africa is not an insurance product; DAN Southern Africa is the insured party DAN Southern Africa arranges and facilitates the services for its members through the hotline and then claims for the services the member has received under the group policy it holds

DAN Southern Africa provides its members with support & advice during diving medical emergencies and does not provide insurance products.

RECOVERY MISSIONS DRAW MANY PASSIONATE AND HARDWORKING VOLUNTEERS

RECOVERY MISSIONS DRAW MANY PASSIONATE AND HARDWORKING VOLUNTEERS

DEREK ABBEY SERVED FOR 23 YEARS years in the US Marine Corps As a Weapons Systems Officer, he holds more combat hours in the F/A18 Hornet than hours in peaceful skies He left flight operations to become an original member of the Marine Corps Special Operations Command During his time in the Marine Raiders, he served as a Forward Air Controller, Special Operations JTAC, and Executive Officer

In 2004, between back-to-back combat deployments to the Middle East, Abbey became a team member with Project Recover, a collaborative effort to use current science and technology to find and repatriate Americans missing in action since World War II. On his first mission with Project Recover, he helped locate an aircraft whose pilot had been in his same fighter squadron nearly 60 years earlier

DEREK ABBEY

KEEPING AMERICA’S PROMISE

TEXT BY KYLE KRAY

Hometown: Seatle, Washington Age: 50 Years Diving: 24 Why I’m a DAN Member: Having DAN membership comforts me and my family Knowing I am taken care of in far-off places gives me one less thing to worry about

After retiring from the Marines, Abbey began a successful career assisting militaryconnected students with attaining their higher education goals He earned a PhD in leadership studies at the University of San Diego and currently serves as Project Recover’s president and CEO

HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN DIVING?

I started diving while I was in flight school in Pensacola, Florida One day, I thought, “I’m right by the water I’ll go try it out” I got certified and found that flying and diving share a lot of similarities I approach a dive the same way I would a flight: attending the briefing, reviewing the checklist, executing the dive, and assessing it afterwards for what worked, what went wrong, and how to improve on any concerns or safety issues

Like flying an aircraft, you can get task overload when you are new to diving. You get inundated with information and have to learn how to focus on what is most important in the moment. When I was introduced to Project Recover years later, the organization provided me with a valuable use for diving. It is a strong tool that advances our mission, and I’ve now done more mission-based dives than recreational ones

TELL US MORE ABOUT PROJECT RECOVER.

The goal of Project Recover is to provide recognition and closure for families and the nation It started as individuals taking it upon themselves to find fallen service members, funding the operations to research and find these missing veterans out of their own pockets The diving started on scuba using rudimentary techniques and following search patterns on the ocean floor

We’d traverse through the jungle with machetes and eyeballs, forming search lines

to look for evidence of aircraft Reading field reports in the national archives helped us determine where to look After all the searching, locating, and documenting, we would send our information to the US Department of Defense (DOD) and then wait The DOD created the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency in 2015, which had the capacity for public-private partnerships that allowed us to become an official partner

We still do the research, searching, and documentation, but we’ve added aquatic and terrestrial recovery The only thing we don’t do is the official identification of the remains, which is the responsibility of the US government

WHAT ARE SOME IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS OF MISSION PLANNING?

We are looking for people, not aircraft or shipwrecks. The most challenging work begins once we discover or confirm a site. Science drives our work, and safety is foundational to each recovery mission.

We make sure that all divers are proficient with their fundamental skills so they can be safe with advanced activities such as operating tools or executing recovery techniques We constantly seek improvements to our contingency and emergency action planning Skilled divers from the US Navy and dive medical officers from around the world have helped us develop sound protocols to safely execute our dive operations

Each year, we do multiple missions all over the world, performing the vast majority of work overseas and in coordination with the host nation Americans were not the only people lost and killed in these environments We might locate former allies, former enemies, or locals, and we are always mindful of encountering these remains

ABBEY HOLDS A JAPANESE SOLDIER’S HELMET, ABBEY HOLDS A JAPANESE SOLDIER’S HELMET, WHICH WAS FOUND WHILE SEARCHING THE JUNGLES OF PALAU WHICH WAS FOUND WHILE SEARCHING THE JUNGLES OF PALAU

PROJECT RECOVER IS AN OFFICIAL PARTNER OF THE PROJECT RECOVER IS AN OFFICIAL PARTNER OF THE DEFENSE POW/MIA ACCOUNTING AGENCY DEFENSE POW/MIA ACCOUNTING AGENCY

Any time we find a site like that, we document it, turn it over to the host nation, and then communicate it through the State Department so the host nation can take any action they desire

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE OF THESE MISSIONS?

There is no shortage of missing Americans We have a database with hundreds of cases and thousands of missing Americans We assess the database each year to determine which missions we will execute on land and water based on available time and resources The biggest challenge is securing the resources we need, particularly financial support

We’ve significantly scaled up our operation and expanded our technology, including the use of underwater vehicles, drones, and side-scan sonar to help our divers through working with our partners at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of Delaware, and Legion Undersea Services.

Most people are not familiar with what we do and don’t realize that 80,000 veterans are still missing from previous conflicts That translates to millions of people impacted by the loss of family members People across the country are waiting for answers about what happened and for the remains of their loved ones to be returned

If someone has been missing for 80 years, does it still affect the surviving family? The answer is indisputably yes The void associated with loss is not only held by the ones who knew them but also is passed from generation to generation

The grieving process and opportunity to heal is interrupted, restarted, and continues to be passed on Those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in defence of our nation are not forgotten Project Recover is about keeping America’s promise to bring them home, and there is no expiration on that promise.

BENEFITS OF GROUP TRAVEL

DIVE SLATE | TRAVEL SMARTER

EVEN THOUGH IT’S EASY TO RESEARCH and book an entire trip on your own, group travel provides several benefits. Travelling through foreign countries and navigating airports, taxis, and hotels when you don’t know the language is tricky Planning group travel through a local dive shop can help prevent people from taking advantage of you because the dive shop has likely researched the vendors they use and may already have experience with them

One of the key advantages of group travel is the enhanced safety it offers Whether you're on land or in the water, you're less likely to be singled out when you're part of a group In the context of diving, this safety is further bolstered by the presence of additional dive professionals from your local dive shop They serve as an extra pair of eyes, ensuring your safety and providing assistance in case of any unforeseen emergencies

Group travel offers a unique sense of freedom and flexibility For instance, during a diving trip with multiple dives over several days, you might feel the need to skip a day

of diving. However, the fear of limiting your buddy's experience might push you to dive anyway. In a group setting, this pressure is eliminated. You're encouraged to make choices that align with your comfort level, knowing that the presence of additional buddies on the trip ensures no one is left out

Travelers will occasionally encounter situations such as flights, weather, illness, or an incident where things don’t go according to plan Having a trip leader who will help with arrangements removes a lot of stress Hotels and airlines often feel more pressure to solve problems for a group rather than an individual

Group travel is also fun! There is always someone you can talk to about the dive, learn from, and share ideas about other travel Whether you are a social butterfly or want quiet interactions with just a few people, you will find people on the trip who want the same thing You may even find other divers who become travel partners year after year

DELIVEROXYGENFASTER

WHENEVERYSECONDCOUNTS

Respondtoadiveincidentfasterwith DANemergencyresponsegear.

WWW.DANSHOP.CO.ZA

IN THE EARLY MORNING LIGHT OF A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN CAPE TOWN, the ocean beckoned to divers ready to explore its depths Among these enthusiasts, the air buzzed with excitement and anticipation, particularly at the DAN Southern Africa Training Workshop, held at the beginning of June This event, a cornerstone for dive safety, was presented by JoAnn Haacke from DAN America, adding an international flair to the proceedings.

BE

PREPARED

WITH DAN FIRST AID TRAINING

Imagine this scenario: it's a perfect day for diving, and you and your buddy are gearing up for a shore entry. Nearby, another group of divers is already in the water. Suddenly, you see them assisting a fellow diver back to the beach, calling frantically for help Would you know what to do next?

FIRST AID TRAINING UPDATE

DIVE SLATE | SPOTLIGHT

TEXT BY MEGAN WAGNER PHOTOS BY NICOLENE OLCKERS

PHOTO BY NICOLENE OLCKERS

PHOTO BY NICOLENE OLCKERS

This exact question underpins the importance of DAN's revamped first aid training The newly introduced DAN Courses Version 30 ensures that divers are not just prepared but are experts in managing emergencies both in and out of the water Sharing real-life scenarios and detailed course descriptions encourages divers and others to prioritize safety and emergency preparedness

DAN COURSES VERSION 3.0: AN OVERVIEW

The new curriculum is comprehensive, incorporating the latest international protocols for CPR, first aid, and related lifesaving techniques These courses are beneficial for divers and invaluable for anyone interested in emergency first aid Here's a closer look at the offerings:

Basic Life Support: CPR & First Aid: This foundational course covers CPR for adults, children, and infants, and includes both single and two-rescuer scenarios. Participants also learn to use automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and manage obstructed airways. Critical skills in bleeding control, including direct pressure, wound packing, and tourniquet application, are thoroughly taught.

Emergency Oxygen for Scuba Diving

Injuries: As DAN's flagship course, this remains essential for all divers Participants learn to administer oxygen using various methods such as non-rebreather masks, demand valves, bag-valve masks, and

manually triggered ventilators (MTVs)

Diving First Aid for Professional Divers:

This course, targeted at dive professionals, includes all elements of the previous programs, plus additional training in neurological assessments and treatment for injuries caused by hazardous marine life The skills taught extend beyond diving, making them valuable in a wide range of emergency situations

THE CAPE TOWN WORKSHOP: A CONFLUENCE OF EXPERTISE

The workshop in Cape Town brought together instructors, instructor trainers, and examiners from across Southern Africa The primary focus was to update these professionals on the new Version 30 of the DAN Courses A participant shared his insights: "The new curriculum is a gamechanger It enhances our knowledge and boosts our confidence in handling emergencies."

A CALL TO ACTION

Ready to take charge in an emergency? Enrol in a DAN first aid course and find a qualified instructor near you. For more details, visit the DAN Southern Africa website, wwwdansaorg and ensure you're prepared for any situation in the water and beyond

Stay safe, stay informed, and dive confidently with DAN

DURBAN UNDERSEA CLUB CUP 2024

DIVE SLATE | PRESS RELEASE

DURBAN UNDERSEA CLUB (DUC) FIRST POOL FREEDIVE COMPETITION. Durban XX

June 2024 – The Durban Undersea Club (DUC) is pleased to announce the launch of the Durban Undersea Club Cup, a national freediving competition at Kings Park Pool from 21 – 24 September 2024

“It’s time for Durban to stake its claim in the world of competitive freediving,” says Angie van der Hoogen, DUC Freediving Portfolio Officer and Instructor “By hosting an event closer to home, we’re giving our talented KwaZulu-Natal athletes a chance to compete at a national level for the first time”

Freediving, the ancient art of diving underwater on one breath, is one of the fastest-growing underwater sports The DUC Cup 2024 seeks to showcase dynamic apnea, freediving for distance (with and without fins), and duration underwater in the static discipline

Freedivers from across the province and country are expected to participate in the DUC Cup 2024 It is officially registered under AIDA International, a globally recognised rule- and record-keeping freediving certification agency

“Establishing this inaugural event in our region is no easy feat, but there is an increasing level of interest and backing from the community,” adds Van der Hoogen. “Competitors and spectators are both welcome! This is not just for freedivers but anyone who loves sports, and being in the water,” she concludes

The DUC Cup will be held at Kings Park Pool from 21 – 24 September 2024 To register, visit: duccoza/events/aida-durbanundersea-cup-2024/ or contact Angie van der Hoogen at: 082 874 1706 / info@saltescapecom

ABOUT DUC

Durban Undersea Club, “DUC”, as it’s familiarly known, is a family-orientated, social activities club for people interested in the ocean and its beaches The Clubhouse, based at Durban’s Point promenade, serves as a “home” to several sports, where water sports participants can meet and arrange sporting activities and socialise

Contact: Chelsey Hale Tel: +76-813-6566

Email: chelsey@chelseyhalecom

DAN MEDICAL CALL CENTER UPDATES

DIVE SLATE | DAN DISPATCH

THE DAN MEDICAL CALL CENTER

experienced a significant increase in activity in 2023, setting a record for medical information calls and case reports. This proliferation indicates a resurgence in the dive industry, prompting DAN Medical Services to accommodate the demand to assist divers and healthcare providers in making the best decisions for their patients

DAN has expanded its Medical Services division by adding two additional call centres to the one at its North Carolina headquarters Staffed by medical professionals trained to DAN’s high standards, these new centres are strategically positioned to ensure global readiness during daylight hours

DAN has also established smaller teams of doctors in various regions of the world to offer support in various languages such as Spanish, Portuguese, Bahasa Indonesia, and Bahasa Malay and will continue expanding its multilingual capabilities to better serve divers and doctors worldwide in their native languages

DAN’s Medical Call Center is staffed entirely by medical personnel, ensuring seamless, high-quality assistance, while improved proprietary systems for monitoring ongoing cases enable DAN Medicine to provide around-the-clock support to divers worldwide

SEALS & RABIES

The recent spate of aggressive Cape Fur seal attacks on divers and the public in the Western Cape and the Garden Route of South Africa called for the convening of an expert workshop.

The City of Cape Town, in partnership with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation, and Sea Search, convened a scientific workshop in July 2024 Some key findings, outcomes, and agreements have been concluded

The workshop focused on investigating the possible causes of the increase in the frequency of unusual and unprovoked Cape Fur Seal bites and aggression on recreational users in the Western Cape With the recent confirmation of rabies amongst the Cape Fur Seal population, the workshop included discussions about the implications of and appropriate management responses to the rabies virus in the Cape Fur Seal population

Marine mammal experts, veterinarians, marine scientists, various government departments, and key stakeholders from South Africa and around the world attended the two-day workshop hosted by the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town.

The following key findings, outcomes, and agreements were decided upon.

CAUSES OF AGGRESSION

Some levels of aggression in seals should be considered normal and may arise from various causes, including territorial behaviour, maternal protectiveness, pain or distress, and poor health conditions caused by various disease states However, excessive aggression associated with unusual behaviour that is being documented in multiple cases is not normal and is directly linked to the now-confirmed presence of the rabies virus in some individual Cape Fur Seals

ERADICATION UNLIKELY

Rabies appears to be well-established in the Cape Fur Seal population It is unlikely to be eradicable and should now be considered endemic, requiring ongoing and long-term management by coastal authorities Initial indications are that rabies was transmitted to seals from another wildlife population and not from local domestic dogs

The effect on the seal population remains unknown In other animals, rabies typically pursues a 'slow burn' course of flares and declines, rather than resulting in mass mortalities Questions, however, remain about the differences between seals – highly gregarious animals living in very large colonies – and other terrestrial animals in which rabies occurs As this is the first documented rabies infection in a marine mammal population there are many unknowns.

Coastal authorities, in partnership with the State Vet, veterinary experts, researchers,

marine mammal experts, and animal welfare organisations, will need to continue implementing proactive measures to manage the rabies outbreak responsibly

ONGOING MANAGEMENT ACTIONS

As a controlled disease, all suspected or confirmed rabies cases must be reported to the relevant state veterinarian The ongoing surveillance of seal colonies and seals that come ashore should be conducted against a clear case definition through organized patrols and via a network of coastal users As a definitive diagnosis of rabies can only be done post-mortem, in cases where the presentation includes unprovoked or extreme aggression, a poor prognosis is likely irrespective of the cause Given the high risk posed by a potentially rabid individual that meets the Case Definition, immediate euthanasia of the affected animal is a justified and necessary response. In the interest of the seal itself, the seal population and as a protective measure for people.

Only officially permitted government authorities and recognised institutions such as the Cape of Good Hope SPCA and others may humanely euthanise seals that meet the rabies case definition It is illegal for any member of the public to harm or kill any Cape Fur Seal, regardless of its rabies status

RESEARCH PARTNERS

Long-term surveillance is necessary to understand the disease prevalence and impact An appropriate research programme will be established with relevant research organisations With over 2 million Cape Fur Seals spread between Southern Angola and the Eastern Cape, vaccination of the wild population is not considered viable or possible.

Although the efficacy of rabies vaccines in seals is not yet known, there is no reason to expect adverse outcomes. It was strongly recommended that vaccination be trialled with a focus on animals that come into regular contact with humans This would include harbour-associated seals and rehabilitation centre seals The Two Oceans Aquarium will develop a standard procedure for vaccinating seals, including dosage and injection options Vaccinated seals should be tagged to allow repeat identification and follow-up vaccination

VAGRANT SEALS

Visiting elephant seals and sub-Antarctic fur seals will be vaccinated as a precautionary measure even while efforts are underway to establish the efficacy of the vaccine in seals This is a responsible precautionary measure to reduce the small risk of rabies spreading to the Sub-Antarctic and southern ocean regions Vaccinated seals will be tagged where possible to allow repeat identification

Only seals involved in a confirmed bite on a person or domestic dog will and must be euthanised immediately and sent for testing for rabies by the State Vet

PUBLIC HEALTH ADVISORY

The public health advisory remains that rabies vaccines are not recommended for the general public at this time Anyone bitten or scratched by a seal resulting in an open wound must seek immediate medical attention and receive post-exposure prophylaxis

Domestic dogs' rabies vaccines must be up to date at all times The public is also reminded that it is their individual responsibility to avoid their dogs' contact with seals at all times

PUBLIC COMMUNICATION

Ongoing updates on the rabies outbreak in Cape Fur Seals will be provided. Only results provided by the State Vet should be considered confirmed and factual.

Seal feeding at Hout Bay harbour is illegal, as is aiding and abetting seal feeders by paying or participating, including photographingthese are offences, and offenders may be arrested

WHAT TO DO

The public is advised to stay clear of all coastal wildlife including seals regardless of their rabies status It is illegal to approach, touch, handle, harass or interfere with any coastal wildlife Seals are a healthy and normal part of our coastline and you should expect to see and encounter seals along our beaches and inshore areas

Those who come across a seal that is behaving unusually or aggressively, are advised as follows:

Move away from the animal or leave the water if they are surfing, swimming or diving Immediately inform the relevant authorities:

CAPE TOWN

City of Cape Town 021 480 7700

Cape of Good Hope SPCA 021 700 4140

WEST COAST

CapeNature 083 236 2924

OVERBERG

CapeNature 083 236 2924

EASTERN CAPE

Plett Stranding Hotline 079 463 4837

CapeNature 044 5332125

EASTERN CAPE

Bay World Stranding Hotline 071 724 2122

Table Mountain National Park 021 783 0234

OTHER KEY FINDINGS AND OUTCOMES

The Cape Fur Seal population is stable at around 2 million, and annual changes in population numbers fluctuate by only 1% to 2% There is a small eastward movement of the population, with some new colonies forming, but the bulk of the seals remain in very large colonies on the West Coast of South Africa and Namibia

It is unlikely that Domoic Acid, which is a natural by-product of some phytoplankton species, is having a similar marine species impact as that which has been documented

in California as the levels of DA in our waters are over 100-fold lower than measured in California While present and having been detected in some seal necropsies, the concentrations found are not likely to be causing the unusual aggressive behaviour documented in the last three years There are multiple disease processes occurring in the seal population and individual seals at any given time

Changes in predator populations, particularly the absence of Great White Sharks in the Western Cape, do not explain the unusually aggressive behaviour of seals observed over the past three years. These changes might be linked to other ecological shifts, such as seals moving to new areas, being present at different times, or changing their survival or hunting behaviours.

It is not likely that marine pollution is a contributor to the recent incidents and measured pollution levels in Cape Town including Chemicals of Emerging Concern do not differ from those levels measured anywhere else globally along all shorelines

PUBLISHED AND ISSUED BY

City of Cape Town, Media Office

GEAR UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHIC EQUIPMENT

TEXTBYMARYKAPACE

WHY ARE WET OPTICS OF BENEFIT TO US UNDERWATER? They increase our field of view and make our captured images clearer, sharper, bigger and better!

BACK TO BASICS: OPTICS deal with light. Including the behaviour of light and it's properties.

WET OPTICS deal with the behaviour and properties of light underwater through a port and or lens. This includes the interactions with water and how the light is detected

HOW DOES LIGHT REFRACT IN WATER?

Refraction is caused when light passes from air to water It’s speed slows down causing the light rays to bend The result of this can make objects appear up to 25% closer and around 33% larger than they actually are when viewing them through a flat surface like a mask or flat port

WHAT HAPPENS TO THE COLOURS UNDERWATER?

The deeper you dive the more the water absorbs colour. Red nearly disappears at around 5m, orange at about 10m, yellow at 20m, green at 30m and eventually blue at around 60m

HOW DOES THIS AFFECT AN UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHER?

The object that you will see through your flat port will appear closer, larger and your field of view will be reduced by approximate 33% This is actually great when shooting macro,

but not so great when shooting wide angle as you will lose part of your wider field of view Flat ports are known for their loss of corner sharpness and pincushion distortion that is particularly visible with wider lenses

Dome port makes up for most of the flat port 'mistakes' as it does not refract light and therefore helps solve the magnification issue Wide-angle dome ports also have the same field of view underwater as they have in Air However they are stuck with the loss of corner sharpness unfortunately

WHAT TYPES OF WET OPTICS ARE THERE?

You get different types of wet optics, including from wide-angle (eg images of Shipwrecks) to macro (images of nudibranchs), from *wet lenses to **water corrected conversion ports.

*Wet lenses like the NA WWL-1B and UFLG140 SD are attached flush against the flat or macro port. They are designed to consider the layer of water between the port and the back of the lens, the water in between the port and the lens kind of creates a type of optical element

**Water corrected ports like WACP- 1B & 2 are what we call "dry" corrective optic ports and are fixed onto the housing directly

EXAMPLES OF SOME AMAZING WET

OPTICS:

NAUTICAM WWL (WET WIDE LENS) 1B

Integrated aluminium buoyancy collar

Lens construction of 6 elements in 5 groups

Anti-reflective coating

FOV of 130° with 28mm equivalent lenses

Focal range from the front element to infinity

Can be used with full zoom & close-up shots

Easy changeable underwater with bayonet mount

INON UFL-G140 SD UNDERWATER SEMIFISHEYE CONVERSION LENS

For use with GoPro

FOV of 140°

Focal range from 4cm to infinity

Lens construction of 4 elements in 4 groups

Easy changeable underwater with bayonet mount

INON UCL-G165II, G100 & G55 SD UNDERWATER CLOSE-UP LENS

For use with GoPro Close-up lenses

FOV of 110°, 90° & 45° respectively

NAUTICAM WACP (WIDE ANGLE

CONVERSION PORT) 1B & 2

Integrated aluminium buoyancy collar

Anti-reflective lens coatings

Can be used with full zoom & close-up shots

WACP-1B

Lens constructions of 6 elements in 5 groups

FOV of 130° with 28mm equivalent lenses

WACP-2

Lens construction of 4 elements in 4 groups

FOV of 140° with 14mm equivalent lenses

WACP-2 can focus in air making it great for split (over-under) shots

Focal range from 10 -35cm, 7-152cm & 48-62cm

Easy changeable underwater with bayonet mount

TIPS FOR WET LENSES

1 Attach wet lenses while submerged underwater avoid the burping the lens (to remove the air bubbles stuck in between the port and lens)

Technique:

11 Remove the wet lens underwater

12 Lightly wipe away the bubbles on the front glass of the port and the back of the wet lens, removing the air bubbles

13 Reattach the wet lens to the port underwater

2 When using macro converters keep in mind the focal range (the min and max distance that the converter will focus in)

CONCLUSION

With dome ports reaching the maximum level of performance, companies like Nauticam and Inon have shifted their focus to wet lenses and water corrected ports

The optical systems are designed entirely as underwater corrective and conversion optics, and not as adaptations of designs used in the air While the process of making these wet optics is not easy, the images captured by these optical designs are well worth the effort of using them

About the Author: Maryka Pace has worked fulltime in the diving industry at Dive Action, Cape Town for the last 10 years. She is part of the Nauticam SA team and assists underwater photographers with their underwater photography equipment.

ProsChooseDAN TrustedWhenItMattersMost

Richie Kohler, Professional diver, shipwreck researcher, and film-maker, explains why he chooses DAN.

CONTEMPLATING DCS RISK

EDUCATION | SHOULD WE BE WORRIED?

TEXT BY DENNIS GUICHARD, SCUBA INSTRUCTOR TRAINER & HYPERBARIC TECHNOLOGIST

It feels like we’ve been inundated with decompression sickness (DCS) cases lately, both locally and internationally. Perhaps it is a natural by-product of a busy dive season and just a statistical ‘numbers game’. But it is endlessly fascinating trying to unpick back at WHY people seem to bend. And whether DCS is anything we should lose sleep over.

Solving that question though is as endlessly elusive as the magical unicorn carrying the pot of gold Whilst it is certainly critical that we each adhere to the NDL nodecompression time limits defined by our dive tables and computers, doing so is irronically no guarantee of avoiding DCS As many divers indeed do still bend well within the limits defined by those

I have been doing some fascinating studies recently unpicking the popular Bühlmann algorithm and its relationship with gradient factor M-Value modification Once we had that defined it became a handy tool to use to benchmark other metrics and dive limits against

Decompression algorithms though are no magic They are just relatively ‘simple’

maths Maths that has absolutely no insight what-so-ever as to your specific physiology, your cardiovascular wellbeing, your hydration levels, or anything else.

Dive tables and dive computers just identify an acceptable risk parameter. Which fairly can only work for ‘most people most of the time’. No algorithm can ever ensure total avoidance of DCS for ‘all the people all of the time’ Unless it was so restrictive we barely might as well not dive at all That is just not the basis of how these risk limits work They are still an awesome risk planning tool though

There’s a good saying about “If something isn’t broken don’t try to fix it” And that fairly applies to the dive tables and computers we currently have They are not perfect, but for the most part they seem to work as they were intended They help us control DCS risk but those depth/time profiles they identify are not solely what defines whether a bend might happen or not There is so much more to decompression sickness and whether we might get it

We can do better though And various

organisations like the US Navy have been developing interesting probabilistic risk algorithms

And with these we can define specific risk parameters more accurately So, using those we should be able to define better dive tables and refine how dive computers calculate no-deco limits

DCS is fairly stochastic in nature Meaning it is very random Individual occurrences of it are unpredictable, by and large But collectively DCS follows the laws of probability with remarkable regularity

Long shallow dives are arguably ‘safer’ than short deeper ones. Even though those shallow dives give us a greater saturated gas burden. And thus, also a higher letter number on our dive tables. Our dive tables and computer NDL time limits permit greater risk probability on shallower dives. It is known that DCS risk increases substantially with deeper diving

One simple way to estimate and compare deep diving DCS risk is with the PrT (Pressure Root Time) formula - ie,:

‘Pressure x Square Root of Time’

So, say a 30m dive with 16-minutes bottom run time would be calculated as:

4 (ATA) x √16 = 16

Compared to say, a 50m dive for 16-minutes, which is calculated as:

6 (ATA) x √16 = 24

Thus, indicating a greater risk value on that deeper 50m dive, compared to the 30m one Another way of looking at depth variance DCS risk would be to study the US Navy probabilistic dive tables A 30m/30-minute bottom time dive gives a DCS probability of 2.0%, whereas a 51m/30-minute dive gives a probability of 5.4%. Doesn’t sound like much but 2% risk is a 1 in 50 chance of bending, whilst 5.4% risk is a 1 in 18.5 chance of bending - substantial.

If DCS were to occur, the deeper dives tend to more often present the more serious Type 2 (cerebral, neurological, and spinal) DCS, which is also often more difficult to treat successfully Whereas the shallower dives tend to more often generate Type 1 (skin and joint) DCS Not that Type 1 is necessarily ‘preferable’ to a Type 2 by any measure, but they are easier seemingly to treat

On technical decompression dives the risks elevate in relationship to bottom time at depth Although we have these fascinating new probabilistic dive tables that can help define acceptable risk limits That said, technical divers the world over are successfully doing these dives, on the most part without incidence of DCS

Even then though, we might at best only be able to predict the pDCS risk of any dive profile Whilst DCS remains individually random We had a diver in the chamber recently who bent after a deep recreational dive for example But we can’t fairly blame the profile, because at the same time there were nine other divers in the group who didn’t bend. DCS isn’t strictly caused by the profile, nor our adherence to NDL time limits, not even by the number of venous gas emboli we might have (which is another individual variable), but rather by how our bodies respond to the presence of those emboli.

Diving entails risk, there is no getting away from that But then everything in life entails risk DCS is a random numbers game It is postulated that DCS occurs in perhaps only 3 in every 10,000 recreational warm water dives (it is higher in cold water diving) Quite unfortunate of course if you ARE the one who bends but is it really anything worth

being out in the sun on dive boats than will develop DCS in their lifetime So, perhaps we should rather be focussing on good skin care and adequate use of protection from sun exposure

I always make sure my dive gear is serviced regularly This gives me the confidence of trusting my equipment when I am in the water diving Knowing my chance of any equipment failure is minimised And thus, negating any need for any controlled emergency swimming ascent that might entice a bend

I also dive with the confidence of knowing that my DAN cover is there should I need any medical attention or chamber time. I know that I have got the whole DAN medical team behind me should I have any concerns, just a phone call away. And I know that I will be taken well care of at any DAN approved hyperbaric centre should I need treatment in the unlikely chance of me getting a bend.

There’s much we can indeed do wrong to invite a bend, if we choose to baulk at the basic rules of diving we learnt in SCUBA class But there’s also much we can do to minimise those risks

Stay safe out there but focus on what really matters Just get out into the water and

HELP WITH EQUALISATION EDUCATION

A NEW SURGICAL PROCEDURE, BALLOON EUSTACHIAN TUBE TUBOPLASTY, CANHELPCORRECTEUSTACHIANTUBEBLOCKAGEINSOMEDIVERS.

TEXTBYDR.DAVIDCOLVARD

With practice, most divers learn to equalise using the Frenzel manoeuvre or other equalisation methods However, equalising difficulties must be addressed to make diving possible or less problematic and help reduce injury risk Despite being taught otherwise, sometimes divers with equalisation issues make forceful and extended equalisation attempts, which can damage or even rupture the eardrum or cause even more severe injuries (especially the Valsalva method)

While equalisation issues may result from temporary blockage like a cold or allergy, it’s caused by Eustachian Tube Dysfunction (ETD) for some individuals. ETD is a problem with the Eustachian tube itself, and until recently, little could be done to prevent ETD. Now, there’s a new minor surgical procedure called Balloon Eustachian Tube Tuboplasty: In this surgery, using one of two (at present) US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)approved devices – international approvals exist as well – an ear, nose and throat (ENT) doctor inserts a tiny “balloon” catheter through the nose into the Eustachian tube and inflates it for two minutes This crushes the lining membrane, which grows back thinner, effectively increasing the inner diameter

Potential complications are minimal, but include “tissue and mucosal trauma, infection, or possible carotid artery injury” While the procedure seems to benefit most divers with equalisation issues, some will get little or no effect like any medical procedure

The procedure was first suggested for use with diver patients in 2016, followed by clinical studies in 2019 and 2020

In December 2022, I underwent the procedure The ENT told me I might start hearing myself breathe, and I responded, “I’m a scuba diver; I already hear myself breathe!" Since then, I have flown repeatedly, as well as going to altitude in the

Swiss Alps, always noting how easily my right ear equalized despite decades of difficulty In September and October 2023, I made my first scuba dives after the procedure, and I was pleasantly surprised by how easily my right ear equalized Any medical procedure has some risks, of course, but there have been no complications or adverse events for me and I have no regrets whatsoever about the procedure

If you or one of your divers has equalization difficulties that are clearly not temporary and not remedied by another means, it may be worth evaluating the procedure by an ENT physician. Many medical insurances cover balloon eustachian tube tuboplasty it usually requires prior approval but is an outpatient procedure. In my case, after insurance coverage, my out-of-pocket was just a bit under $1,000 US. For a diver of 52 years (and hopefully many more), it’s money well spent.

David F Colvard, MD (retired) is a boardcertified psychiatrist (now retired from private practice), clinical investigator, and PADI® Divemaster (DM – 168689) who works with anxious and traumatized divers He learned to dive in 1971 in West Palm Beach, Florida, USA and has logged more than 1,200 dives His first study on diver panic involved over 12,000 divers, and he is author/contributing author for multiple papers relating to diver stress, anxiety and panic

SILENCE IN THE TOWER OF BABEL

EDUCATION | A BRIEF STORY ABOUT HAND SIGNALS

TEXT BY AUDREY CUDE | PHOTOS BY DAN EUROPE STAFF

When landlubbers ask divers the reason why they are attracted to such a hostile world, the most common answer is that beyond the discovery of the underwater wonders, Jacques Cousteau’s Silent World provides a soothing feeling of Zen and inner peace… until the noise of a diving shaker or your buddy’s agitated hands wake you up all of a sudden and bring you back to a basic reality: the need to communicate.

Communication underwater deals serve two main purposes: safety and decision-making within the team Safety-related communication entails assessing a divers condition, checking gauges, defining a depth, a level, an exit direction or a decompression constraint Decision-making is required to deal with unexpected events or emergencies

For the vast majority of open circuit divers, the means of communication underwater are non-verbal and quite limited Writing is effective but time-consuming Light signals are pretty basic and only operate in dark environments Touch signals are even more limited And while voice communication in full-face masks is available, it hasn’t proven

very popular in the diving community outside of scientific projects… maybe because, in the end, we’d rather ‘talk to the hand' and keep the underwater experience as silent as possible.

For the most part, we are left with two hands and ten fingers to engage in conversation. Some techies will argue that one hand and five fingers must suffice, as the fact that the other hand might be busy with a light, spool, or other tool Divers also use gestures familiar from everyday life, like nodding one’s head for ‘Yes’ Others may be local, for example, to point out species of marine life Special signals have been created for specific diving circumstances to give instructions, provide information, or indicate a condition or emergency

It would be great if we all shared a common language of hand signals derived from those with similar meanings on land to reduce learning effort and time and simplify communication The reality is slightly different Despite the effort of the RSTC (Recreational Scuba Training Council), and even though there is a range of commonly used signals, the recreational diving

community has developed a variety of confusing dialects which can make one feel lost in translation Who hasn't attended predive briefings where flashing twice five fingers translates into a half cylinder’s pressure when at other times it might be expressed by forming a ’T’ with one hand perpendicular to the other?

This diversity can make communication between divers imperfect at best and nonexistent at worst Its cause isn’t so much a sundering of languages like in the story of the Tower of Babel as parallel developments in different communities isolated from each other As a result, one could argue that the risks in the recreational diving world are limited, but the potential for miscommunication can worsen emergencies

The situation is different in technical diving: Despite the variety of training agencies, the

tech community can pride itself on speaking one common language, necessitated by the greater risk compared to recreational diving Tech diving signals are one-handed using five fingers (with special adaptations when mitts or three-finger gloves cover the hand) Information is often provided using a signal to indicate the subject (eg, pressure, depth, time), followed by a number Numbers are indicated by a sequence of digits Digits from one up to five are given with the fingers pointing up and the palm facing outward, while digits from six to nine are given with the handheld horizontally and the palm facing inward Ten, a double-digit number, requires a ‘one’ followed by a ‘closed OK’ for ‘zero’ As a rule, using the thumb is avoided whenever possible to avoid confusion with the thumb-up signal for ‘end the dive’

Technical diving usually involves decompression and overhead environments

Specific one-handed signals have been developed for both and are shared among all technical divers regardless of background Reviewing each individual signal would go beyond the scope of this article, but if you’re interested, the information is easily available online

Another major difference between recreational and technical communication is the avoidance of everyday gestures Techies don’t like room for interpretation or trusting the ‘obvious’ Instead, they crave clarity through the confirmation of any given hand signal Communication is not just about delivering information but also about making sure it has been properly received and understood. Validation plays a significant role in avoiding loss of information and is critical for the team’s safety.

In an ideal future silent world, signalling practices from technical diving will spread to the recreational world to avoid confusion and the need for re-learning processes for the sake of safety Hush

ProsChooseDAN TrustedWhenItMattersMost

Michael Clarke, Group Director, Watersport & Marine Division, Sandals and Beaches Resorts, PADI® Course Director, explains why he chooses DAN

MOST DIVERS’ LOVE OF THE SPORT STEMS from a drive to explore a foreign environment With exploration must come the ability to navigate Nowhere else on Earth can one become more lost than in a liquid while simultaneously requiring constant individual concentration on safety techniques, breathing gas, buoyancy, horizontal trim, depth, and time

When it comes to safety, many divers overlook navigation as a crucial tool for their survival. The ability to effectively and efficiently navigate underwater directly affects every aspect of a dive. It’s all too common to see a pair of divers go through a complete gear check and dive plan only to set off on their dive and quickly become lost. Divers who continually bounce to the surface to get their bearings can increase their risk for pressure-related problems such as squeezes, reverse blocks, and expansion injuries

SUCCESSFUL NAVIGATION DEPENDS ON ONE’S ABILITY TO MASTER THE BASIC FUNDAMENTAL SKILLS OF DIVING. NO MAGIC PILL OR PIECE OF DIVE GEAR WILL FUNDAMENTAL SKILLS OF DIVING. NO MAGIC PILL OR PIECE OF DIVE GEAR WILL ACT AS A SHORTCUT AND ALLOW YOU TO OVERCOME A POOR SKILLS BASE. ACT AS A SHORTCUT AND ALLOW YOU TO OVERCOME A POOR SKILLS BASE.

SUCCESSFUL NAVIGATION DEPENDS ON ONE’S ABILITY TO MASTER THE BASIC

UNDERWATER NAVIGATION

EDUCATION | ADVANCED DIVING

TEXT BY KYLE KRAY

PHOTOS BY STEPHEN FRINK

Orienting yourself underwater is one of the most difficult obstacles to overcome to make the dive a safe and enjoyable one Different underwater environments and activities warrant different navigation strategies Whether the dive is guided or not, every diver should be able to successfully navigate throughout the duration of the dive and find their way back to their entry point

OPEN-WATER ENVIRONMENTS

Skilled divers use a combination of compass and natural navigation in conjunction with cognitive mapping and an understanding of underwater currents. Natural or environmental navigation sometimes referred to as pilotage, relies on visually referencing external cues.

Divers use underwater landmarks to achieve their objective by going from one spot to another in the form of point-to-point navigation It is best applied on sites with fair to good visibility and distinguishing natural features such as coral ledges, rock formations, or distinct vegetation zones Most dive sites have at least one prominent natural or artificial feature

Recognize checkpoints and space them out equally Too far apart can cause you to wander off course, but too many points are hard to remember Have a thorough mental picture of where you’ve been so you can visualize it and trace it backwards Remember that features may look significantly different from the opposite side Looking back at each checkpoint after passing it will help you identify it from your return direction

As divers move through the water on a compass heading, currents will invariably move them off course A current may flow from a different direction at the bottom from what can be observed on the surface A diver might also enter an area where a

current suddenly occurs or changes direction When a diver obtains their best determination of the direction of an underwater current and its speed, they can anticipate the effect it will have on their navigational course and adjust for it accordingly A cross or angled current requires a diver to maintain their compass heading and then adjust their kick direction into the current so their net movement is in their intended direction of travel

LIMITED-VISIBILITY ENVIRONMENTS

Visibility drastically affects a diver’s ability to navigate underwater. Site conditions in some locations can change tremendously between visits and limited visibility may make natural navigation techniques impossible. A complete loss of orientation can cause uneasiness or panic in even the most experienced divers, resulting in uncontrolled ascents or descents, increased air consumption, and buddy separation.

Limited visibility also subconsciously hampers your progress underwater, reducing speed and kick cycles as you anticipate feeling the area in front of you to avoid colliding with a submerged object It is possible to become disoriented enough in a limited-visibility environment to not recognize which direction is up or down, even when clinging to a vertical line

Exhalation bubbles always rise, but finding which way is up by your exhaust is hard when a swift current pulls away your bubbles horizontally and out of sight before you can see them ascend Gently tilting your head to the side and partially flooding your mask will give you a constant reminder of where the surface is regardless of your position, as water in your mask will always settle at the bottom

If you dive long enough, there may come a time when you will be forced to rely solely on your gear for navigation In these moments,

your skills practice, training, and preparation are crucial to successfully completing the dive You will have to trust that your equipment works, just as you do with your regulator, that your practised techniques are solid and that you can successfully navigate to your intended destination

In that dark space where you are enveloped by particles and can see less than a foot in front of you, you may look around and intuitively try to trend in the direction you feel you should go Understand that weightlessness has already disrupted your sense of equilibrium and that visual sensory deprivation has compromised your sense of spatial orientation. The sense of direction you possess on land is not applicable here. Shut down those feelings and instead trust your equipment and your skills.

OVERHEAD ENVIRONMENTS

Overhead environments are confined spaces where a diver’s free ascent to the surface is not possible Never enter an overhead environment without proper training, regardless of how simple you perceive navigating the enclosure to be

Many divers consider caves to be the most complex overhead environments to navigate Some caves have tangible and established flow patterns that allow divers to orient themselves Others lack strong flow and require the diver’s keen attention to features of the cave, such as geological composition or sediment characteristics, as a supplement to their guideline

Proper cave training is imperative for navigating these environments incorrectly marking or having a false understanding of line markers can confuse and imperil yourself and others Cave lines are marked differently depending on geographical location, and impetuously following lines and markers based on

assumed meaning is a quick way to a slow death

Navigating the internal structure of a shipwreck can be just as difficult as cave diving Wrecks can rest on the bottom in every possible orientation, influenced by the bottom topography and the elements that led to the ship’s sinking In even the clearest visibility, navigating inside a wreck with the floors, walls, and doorways at unusual angles can be dizzying

Using a compass on top of or inside a steel wreck may be difficult or impossible metal present in the components of a wreck can throw off the needle and give divers an erroneous reading. Wooden shipwrecks can also affect a compass if taking a reading too close to metal spikes, nails, or ferrous material present in submerged cargo.

As a wreck continues to deteriorate, it creates a myriad of obstructions and entrapment hazards, such as collapsed interior walls and dangling cables and wires

A diver can accidentally ascend or descend to a different deck level, finding themselves in a new passageway with no discernable way forward or back

Diving in ice-covered water has its own navigational concerns Depending on proximity to the magnetic poles in both polar regions, an analog compass may be rendered inoperable, and most digital dive compasses that still rely on magnetic principles will also be negatively affected Extremely cold water also impacts a dive computer’s battery life

Ice cover diffuses surface light, and sunlight becomes unavailable to assist divers as a positioning reference at depth for navigational aid Ice cover also hinders wave action and the creation of ripple patterns on the bottom to use for natural navigation

LOOK SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT FROM

SIDE.

FEATURES MAY LOOK SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT FROM THE OPPOSITE SIDE.

Silt-outs causing zero-visibility conditions can occur inside caves or wrecks When diving overhead environments, plan for and expect silt-outs rather than fearing or trying to pray them away The safest, best navigation practice is to never enter an overhead environment without a direct line that leads back to the point of entry, allowing you to safely return to the surface Line laying and the use of wreck reels is a skill in and of itself Divers who struggle with the basics of buoyancy and trim could become entangled in existing lines as well as their own

Successful navigation begins before a diver enters the water and depends first and foremost on one’s ability to master the basic

fundamental skills of diving No magic pill or piece of dive gear will act as a shortcut and allow you to overcome a poor skills base

Successful underwater navigation is directly linked to diver safety Mastering navigation techniques will assist divers in conserving energy and air, limiting the need to surface, and offering divers the maximum exploration time allotted in their dive plan

Whichever navigation techniques you follow, use them from the start of the dive until it ends Failing to navigate to a known location or becoming lost underwater is an easy way to waste a dive and deplete your finite supply of air at depth

DIVING WITH A PFO

MEDICINE | SAFETY 101

IF A DIVER SUSPECTS RECURRENT DCS MIGHT BE DUE TO A PFO, THEY WILL USUALLY UNDERGO A BUBBLE STUDY. A SURGICAL SOLUTION IS A PFO CLOSURE, AS DR. DOUG EBERSOLE IS PERFORMING HERE. IT IS AN OUTPATIENTPROCEDURETHATNORMALLYTAKESLESSTHANANHOUR.

To clear up any confusion divers may have about patent foramen ovale (PFO), I will share how I explain the condition to patients

The heart has four chambers: two on the top (right and left atria) and two on the bottom (right and left ventricles) As our heart is forming before we are born, the wall between the two bottom chambers is solid, but the wall between the two top chambers is not

One wall grows up from the bottom, while the other grows down from the top Where they overlap is a flap not a hole, as some people have described. The reason for this structure is that once we are born, the purpose of the right side of the heart is to pump blood to the lungs to get oxygen, and then the blood returns to the left side of the heart, where it is pumped to the body.

As a fetus, however, we don’t use our lungs; they are collapsed and full of fluid Oxygenated blood comes from the placenta, empties into the inferior vena cava, and then goes to the right atrium In the fetus, the right side of the heart tries to pump blood to the collapsed, fluid-filled lungs, which is difficult and results in higher pressures in the right atrium than in the left atrium This differential pushes open the flap between the two top chambers and allows the oxygenated blood from the placenta to bypass the right side of the heart and enter the left atrium From there, the oxygenated blood goes to the left ventricle and is pumped to the body

When we are born, the lungs open, which makes pumping blood to them much easier This results in lower pressure in the right atrium compared with the left atrium and slams the flap shut In about 75% of people, this flap between the two atria will seal within the first year or so of life and make a solid wall In about 25% of people, however, it never seals and is called a patent foramen

ovale The presence of a PFO is a normal variant in humans and not a disease

In the 25% of divers who have this flap between the atria, bubbles that the lungs normally filter can cross from the right atrium to the left atrium under certain loading conditions, resulting in decompression sickness (DCS)

When doing a bubble study, we inject agitated saline into a vein, which results in tiny bubbles that reflect the ultrasound This mass of bubbles enters the right atrium and should go to the right ventricle and then to the lungs. In people with a PFO, however, the bubbles will cross from the right atrium to the left atrium. We determine the PFO’s size by observing how many bubbles go across and if they cross at rest or require a manoeuvre, such as a Valsalva, to cross.

As best we can tell, a PFO increases the risk of DCS by about fivefold. While that may sound bad, remember that it is a relative risk The absolute risk of DCS in a diver with a PFO is quite small For recreational diving, the risk of DCS is about two episodes per 10,000 dives Therefore, a diver with a PFO could expect about 10 DCS episodes per 10,000 dives or one episode per 1,000 dives,

DOUGLAS EBERSOLE, MD DOUGLAS EBERSOLE, MD

When a diver with a PFO gets DCS, we have to determine if the PFO is a contributing factor Research indicates that four types of DCS are related to a PFO: cerebral, spinal, inner ear, and cutaneous (skin)

Whether or not a diver with DCS has a PFO, the options are always to either stop diving or dive more conservatively The issue is the inert gas load, not the PFO itself, so anything that limits inert gas loading will decrease the likelihood of recurrent DCS We recommend diving shallower, staying within nodecompression limits, making fewer dives per day, using nitrox with your computer set to air, performing long safety stops, and not engaging in any strenuous activity for several hours after diving

If a diver has recurrent DCS of any of the four types related to a PFO despite using conservative dive practices, we may offer a PFO closure, which is an outpatient procedure that takes less than an hour After the procedure, the diver takes aspirin and clopidogrel (Plavix) for three to six months and then has a repeat echocardiogram with a bubble study. If that shows no right-toleft shunting, the diver can return to diving without restrictions.

Douglas Ebersole, MD, is an interventional cardiologist and director of Lakeland Regional Health’s Structural Heart Program in Lakeland, Florida. He serves as a cardiology consultant for DAN.

NATURAL MOVEMENT

DIVE FITNESS

TEXTBYJESSICABADAMS,PH.D

A variety of natural-movement exercises have recently entered mainstream fitness In the fitness industry the exact definition of natural movement ranges from activities and movements that occur between the body and the natural world to multijoint exercises that can be accomplished using traditional weights

Most natural-movement professionals agree on a scientifically sound premise: The exercises require that several large muscle groups work together to perform a task through a full range of motion Most exercises are completed at various levels in three-dimensional space (in contrast to the single-plane movements of traditional weight machines). Large muscle groups working together performing movements in multiple planes is inherently life-specific training. This sort of training prepares your body for the activities of daily living in addition to the joys of the dynamic underwater world.

Many of these movements may feel anything but natural at first The exercises are natural only in the sense that your body once had perhaps many years ago the aptitude to develop these skills The unfortunate truth is that in modern society few of us have the opportunity to physically reach our full potential unless we take the initiative to prioritize our fitness

Train smarter, not harder The images shown in this article illustrate a substantial range of motion for each exercise Do not try or expect to reach this range during the first day, week or even month of doing the exercise Full range of motion is a long-term goal The key is to be patient, pay attention to your body and gradually increase mobility Your muscles work together to develop strength through an increasing range of motion, which amounts to improved flexibility It is not smart to “push through the pain”; gradual progression is a fitness principle that yields long-term results

with minimal risk If at any point you feel pain, take a break, reassess and adjust your form, or move on to a different exercise

Attempt to complete the stated number of repetitions for three or four rounds, depending on your training state and the amount of time you have available Remember, every repetition counts, so if you have time only for a single round, that’s better than nothing Initially you may need breaks between rounds, but as your training progresses, you will complete the exercises through a greater range of motion at a faster (yet still controlled) pace with less rest in between.

The exercises purposely alternate between low and high levels to make you get up and down between exercises. You may feel slightly light headed when you transition from low to high, so transition slowly until you feel comfortable. Focus on how you feel, and always listen to your body.

NATURAL MOVEMENTS DEEP AIR SQUATS

These are traditional body-weight squats A full-range deep squat is shown, but your full-range squat may be just a quarter of that range of motion Descend as low as you feel comfortable If you pay attention to your body, each time you do the routine your comfortable range of motion will slowly but surely increase

Start in an athletic stance with your feet shoulder-width apart (or slightly wider) and your toes pointing slightly outward

Flex (bend) your knees and hips simultaneously while consciously pushing your rear end back and down

Keep your eyes toward the horizon, and push through your heels to minimize stress on your knees while maintaining the natural curve of your spine

Fully extend your hips through their full range of motion in a controlled manner at the end of each repetition

Squats should not put pressure on your knees If you feel any stress on your knees, you probably need to lift your chest higher Squats should not put pressure on your lower back If you feel any stress on your lower back you are probably focusing your eyes too

NATURAL MOVEMENT BEAR CRAWL

The bear crawl is not just for kids It is a total body exercise that improves balance, flexibility and muscular strength throughout the body

1

Begin in a quadruped (crawling) position with your hands and knees about shoulder-width apart

Raise both knees slightly off the floor

3

2 Move one hand and the opposite foot, keeping your hips and shoulders square with one another

TIPS

Gradually increase the speed of the movement within your zone of comfort and control.

Try not to raise your hips too high.

NATURAL MOVEMENT TRAVELING SQUAT

Perform four steps forward and then four steps backward Repeat five times

1

2

Start in a low but comfortable squat position Low is a relative term; listen to your body

While holding this position, take four steps forward and then four steps backward

TIPS

You may not be able to go as low as is shown in the photo. A low squat is a position in which your body feels comfortable. It’s OK if your thigh muscles are uncomfortable, but any stress on your knees or lower back is unacceptable

Keep your weight on your heels (You should be able to wiggle your toes)

NATURAL MOVEMENT CRABWALK

The crabwalk is not just for kids This is a total body exercise Perform 10 backward and then 10 forward Repeat twice

Start in a seated position on the ground with your hands slightly behind you 1

Lift your rear end off the ground 2

Travel backward for 10 steps and then forward for 10 steps 3

Challenge: Add a kick with each foot prior to each change of direction 4

TIPS

Try to keep your hips up this will make the movement more challenging.

Start slowly, and gradually increase speed as you become more comfortable with the movement

NOTE

To avoid an increased risk of decompression sickness, DAN recommends that divers avoid strenuous exercise for 24 hours after making a dive

During your annual physical exam or following any changes in your health status, consult your physician to ensure you have medical clearance to dive

ProsChooseDAN TrustedWhenItMattersMost

Ivana Inglesina & Victoria Cole, PADI® Platinum Course

Directors, Pro Dive Vibes, Curacao, explain why they choose DAN.

DIVERS ALERT NETWORK

BREASTFEEDING & DIVING

FROM THE MEDICAL LINE

DAN MEDICS & RESEARCHERS ANSWER YOUR DIVE MEDICINE QUESTIONS

Q | I am about two and a half months postpartum with no complications and have received clearance from my physician and a dive specialist to resume diving. Are there any potential issues or complications associated with breastfeeding and diving?

The combination of diving and breastfeeding is a topic of concern for mothers eager to return to diving while ensuring their infants’ well-being Diving is generally deemed safe for breastfeeding mothers, but you should postpone it if you have an active breast infection or inflammation Nitrogen uptake is not a concern due to the off-gassing that occurs after diving and the fact that feeding an infant takes place at ambient pressure

There are two things to be concerned about when breastfeeding after diving: dehydration and constrictive straps and gear Diving and other activities can result in dehydration, which can potentially impact milk production, so it’s important to maintain optimal hydration Breastfeeding mothers should also avoid using buoyancy compensators with tight chest straps Too much pressure could lead to painful, swollen

breasts or leaking milk during or after diving.

While you can dive while breastfeeding, we encourage everyone who plans to do so to consult with their obstetrician gynaecologist and DAN’s Medical Information Line for personalized guidance about any lingering concerns.

Shannon Sunset, NCPT, AEMT

Q | I am a dive instructor, and I had some ear pain while descending with a class. I pushed through it to stay with my students, but more than four days later, my ears still felt like they had water in them. Should I see a doctor, or will this heal on its own?

If you are symptomatic following a dive, DAN always recommends that you seek a physician’s evaluation, preferably by a doctor trained in dive medicine The symptoms you describe are often the result of middle-ear barotrauma (MEBT), which is a pressure injury typically caused by inadequate or forceful equalization

Negative pressure in the middle ear causes

micro-tears, which lead to the release of blood and serous fluid This fluid release is what typically causes the feeling of fullness or water in the ear

If you experience MEBT and feel the urge to forcefully equalize or clear your ears, don’t do it Adding pressure to a pressure-injured area will likely exacerbate the injury and can cause extended healing time

MEBT with no additional injuries usually heals on its own in about four to six weeks with minimal to no intervention In some cases, however, a rupture of the tympanic membrane (eardrum) can accompany MEBT Antiinflammatory and decongestant medications may help relieve your symptoms A physician’s evaluation will verify whether you need additional treatment or antibiotics If your physician refers you to an ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialist for consultation, any ENT doctor can evaluate and treat these injuries without needing specific training in dive medicine

It is your responsibility as an instructor to be an example of safe diving practices, including teaching students that it is OK to slow down, especially on descents and ascents If anyone has difficulty, it’s important not to push through it A diver may need to ascend to facilitate equalization before attempting to descend again If it’s still unsuccessful, abort the dive

MEBT accounts for about 40% of cases reported to DAN, but the dive community can help reduce those numbers by teaching others how to avoid those injuries.

Ryan Gan, NREMT

VAN

PLANS

Pieter-Jan van Ooij, MD, PhD, is the head of the Department of Research, Innovation, and Education at the Royal Netherlands Navy’s Diving Medical Centre (DMC) As the Netherlands’ leading facility for diving and dive medicine for armed forces divers, the DMC also helps professional and civilian divers who need medical advice

Van Ooij plans and initiates dive research to determine how divers can dive longer, deeper, and safer

WHAT IS YOUR EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND, AND HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN THIS FIELD?

After graduating in 1991, I considered pursuing a career in either anesthesiology or respiratory medicine. Getting specialized training in these fields was very challenging in the Netherlands at the time, however, so I started working in cardiology as a nontraining resident.

One day, I read a newspaper interview with Rob van Hulst, who was head of the DMC I had always been interested in diving, so I thought, “What could be better than a combination of diving and medicine?” Instead of entering the Navy, I decided to train to be an occupational physician and then merge into dive medicine

After finishing my training in 1998, I worked at a commercial occupational health centre before joining the Royal Netherlands Army’s occupational health centre in 2000 In 2002, I was appointed as the army’s dive medical physician The DMC was already the centre of expertise in dive medicine, so van Hulst and I decided to combine dive medical care for both forces In 2006, I started at the DMC as a civilian dive medical physician and have remained there since

TELL US ABOUT YOUR RESEARCH ON PULMONARY OXYGEN TOXICITY MARKERS.

During my doctoral studies on pulmonary oxygen toxicity, I primarily aimed to identify a better marker for its development during diving My supervisor was respiratory physiologist Peter Sterk, who was producing promising results on volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung cancer, and tuberculosis patients

That success inspired us to see if VOCs were relevant in dive medicine I found five relevant VOCs, most of which were alkanes and methyl alkanes Other researchers found similar results, indicating that we had found a correlation with pulmonary oxygen toxicity, although we need additional research for a final confirmation.

Our focus going forward is on the use of electronic noses (e-noses) once we gather enough data. E-noses use a gas sensor and convert gas molecular signals from exhaled breath into electric signals, giving those signals an identity The alcohol breath test that law enforcement officers use is one example Our goal is to make the device smaller and pair it with an app that can indicate dive readiness with a simple colourcoded system This system holds a lot of potential for enhancing the safety of dive operations, particularly for special forces, who require extended, deeper, and safer dives This will be my primary project for the next couple of years

SOME PHYSICIANS OUTSIDE OF DIVE MEDICINE QUESTION THE USE OF HYPEROXIA. HAVE YOU ENCOUNTERED FEARS OF HYPEROXIA AT WORK?

During my initial research on pulmonary oxygen toxicity, I needed approval from the medical-ethical committee at the University of Amsterdam, where some anesthesiologists questioned administering 100% oxygen based on fears of oxygenrelated complications in intensive care units

SUBJECTS PARTICIPATE IN A STUDY ABOUT PULMONARY SUBJECTS PARTICIPATE IN A STUDY ABOUT PULMONARY OXYGEN TOXICITY AFTER TABLE 6 TREATMENTS IN AMSTERDAM OXYGEN TOXICITY AFTER TABLE 6 TREATMENTS IN AMSTERDAM

RESEARCHERS

In the late 1960s, many people with compromised respiratory systems got worse after long periods of being intubated with 100 percent oxygen The older ventilator models delivered only a fraction (40% to 50%) of the supplied oxygen to patients, but new devices deliver much more

Our research suggests that administering higher concentrations of oxygen, up to 100% if necessary, can be beneficial for patients, especially in improving white blood cell function and patient recuperation Even with our findings, some medical professionals still have a lingering apprehension about hyperoxia. Recognizing the caution stems from the history of oxygen therapy, we encourage tailoring oxygen levels to meet the patient’s needs.

YOU HAVE ALSO INVESTIGATED HEALTH DIFFERENCES IN SUBMARINERS. WHAT DID YOU FIND?

We looked at the well-being of retired submariners and how their unique living conditions impacted their mental and physical health Factors such as prolonged absence of sunlight, lack of privacy, and the submarine environment can have significant effects on individuals Exploring these elements could give us insight into developing new submarines and evaluating crew working hours and shift schedules

Our findings from a questionnaire sent to retired submariners showed that they generally reported better overall health than their civilian peers The questionnaire was broad in scope, with questions including how they felt, how frequently they visited a physician, and their drinking habits We did not ask for specific health issues such as heart or lung problems The occupational medicine department of the Netherlands Ministry of Defense is following up by further investigating these aspects and going deeper into submariners’ health, including lung health and cancer risk

TELL US ABOUT YOUR PROJECT INVOLVING ANTIHISTAMINES AND NITROGEN NARCOSIS.

That study looked at the effects of old- and new-generation antihistamine medications on nitrogen narcosis Participants were administered three different medications (old generation, new generation, and placebo) on separate dives, one medication per dive, without knowing the medication type They then took reactivity tests at depths of 0 feet, 33 feet (10 meters), and 98 feet (30 meters) We found that the nitrogen narcosis levels induced by the newgeneration antihistamine were comparable to those the placebo induced, showing that it does not influence nitrogen narcosis. We determined the new-generation antihistamine is safe for dives up to 98 feet (30 meters).

My participation in this study came from wanting to see the procedure as a participant and show our other participants that we were not conducting any unusual procedures I could tell from my experience which medication was the old generation, as it made me incredibly drowsy Like the other participants, I could not distinguish the effects of the new-generation medication and the placebo Everyone could identify the old-generation medication because it made them drowsy as well

There is not much research about medications in diving in general I understand why, after the challenges we faced in obtaining approval from a medicalethical committee for this study I hope people will continue this line of research because while using medications may not strictly disqualify someone from diving, it is important to recognize the potential risks The greater concern is the underlying disease causing the diver to take the medication rather than the medication and its side effects

YOU COME FROM THE OCCUPATIONAL MEDICINE SIDE AND HAVE DONE THOUSANDS OF FITNESS-TO-DIVE EVALUATIONS. WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ON CHEST X-RAYS IN FITNESS-TO-DIVE EXAMS FOR COMMERCIAL DIVING?

Some of our current research focuses on fitness to dive, and the procedures haven’t changed in a long time We recently conducted a study examining whether an audiometry test is necessary for divers and asking if they should be performed annually, especially considering its absence in recreational dive standards

We also looked into the benefit of taking chest X-rays, which comes from the 1960s, when high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) was not yet developed. Chest X-rays were the best option for detecting tuberculosis-related lung damage at that time, but they may now be obsolete.

We did a retrospective study looking at the differences in detecting pulmonary anomalies from both chest X-rays and HRCT We found that HRCT was more accurate in finding anomalies such as bullae although it

diver’s health status, including pulmonary health If doctors suspect anything from that information, then they can do an HRCT or a chest X-ray if HRCT is not available We stopped doing chest X-rays in the Dutch Navy and hope that more naval and occupational medicine institutions will follow that lead

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT THE FUTURE OF DIVE MEDICINE TO LOOK LIKE?

Over the next 50 years, I anticipate significant changes in dive research and technology Artificial intelligence and electronic developments will make things that seem impossible today feasible. Scuba gear may look very different or even be obsolete due to advancements.

Personalized dive systems that account for temperature, sweat, gas consumption, bubble formation, and other factors could eliminate the need for standardized dive tables With potential environmental challenges such as climate change, underwater habitats may become more popular

While we may not have artificial gills or fully integrated dive systems yet, ongoing research will make progress like that possible

UNDERSTANDING DIVE EQUIPMENT REGULATIONS

RISK MITIGATION

TEXT BY FRANCOIS BURMAN PE, MSC, AND MARK GRESHAM

MOST DIVERS KNOW THEIR SCUBA CYLINDERS need a visual inspection every year and a hydrostatic test every five years (referred to as a requalification or a hydro). The actual regulations for cylinders and other dive equipment, however, are less clear.

There is a veritable alphabet soup of rules and regulations, some of which are likely unfamiliar regardless of your experience Let’s review these US regulations and how they apply to recreational divers

The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Title 49 covers the US Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations, some of which address the required stamping on your cylinder, how to handle and transport cylinders, and requalification

CFR Title 29 covers regulations by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which prescribes workplace safety and health requirements, including for dive operators, businesses, and professionals It also defines hazardous materials (hazmat), which include cylinders and associated dive equipment The OSHA dive regulations also apply to dive instructors and dive guides

The Compressed Gas Association (CGA) publications introduce scuba cylinder and breathing-gas requirements and recommendations. CGA P-5 covers the care of high-pressure cylinders for underwater breathing.

Consumer protection regulations require dive equipment manufacturers to specify service intervals to prevent failure. If you do not follow these guidelines and an unfortunate accident affects you or someone for whom you are responsible such as a dive buddy, friend or colleague, or other members of the public you will be exposed to potential civil actions, more commonly known as liability suits These regulations apply to recreational divers in terms of refilling cylinders, maintaining breathing-air quality, safely transporting cylinders in certain circumstances, and handling and caring for cylinders

While the stipulations may start to appear overwhelming, they are likely things you already consider as safe diving practices Injuries and fatalities from equipmentrelated accidents are rare Typical failures include cylinder ruptures, regulator malfunctions, contaminated breathing gas,

breathing hose ruptures, mechanical and heat damage, and mismatched threads when divers mix products from different manufacturers The regulations help prevent these incidents and protect you and others from harm

Instead of listing titles, chapters, document numbers, and other hard-to-locate publications, we can distil the information down to following the practices that divers learn through training

When you learn to dive, your instructors should make you aware of the hazards of handling cylinders and how to take care of your equipment. Remember these lessons, especially when the cylinders are full. Use common sense, such as not storing your cylinder near a furnace and securing it well in your car.

Make sure your cylinder is in date. You may be disappointed if you travel far and discover the local filling station refuses to fill your cylinder Use only authorized filling stations, which should do regular air-quality testing and have the certificates to demonstrate it Service your dive gear at the recommended intervals, and remember that if it fails you, it also fails your buddy

As with cylinder filling, use only authorized repair centres and testing stations, and make sure they have trained employees with visible certificates They are responsible for telling you your equipment is no longer

Do not become complacent Our scuba gear is life-support equipment that we fully depend on when underwater The risks never change, even if our perception of them does It is usually complacency that injures or kills Rules and regulations help protect you and those around you, but they will work only if you know and abide by them

Divers may wonder if they are subject to the laws of the country where they are diving The answer is generally yes ignorance does not get you off the hook Good safety practices will help prevent accidents and protect people. Most countries that host dive tourism have health, safety, and hazardous equipment laws. In the U.S., Canada, Europe, and other more-developed regions, the requirements are not difficult to locate. In some less-developed areas, the rules are not as clear but this does not mean that they don’t exist. In an unfortunate accident, not knowing the laws might make the outcomes significantly worse

Most countries follow similar trends in terms of high-pressure equipment to help mitigate incidents The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is an excellent example of multinational collaboration, and its standards are well respected worldwide

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Tec Clark, Associate Director, Scuba Diving Nova Southeastern University, explains why he chooses DAN.

Foundation

Empowering Conservation Through Local Engagement

TextByStephenFrink

The spectacular ecosystem of Indonesia’s Raja Ampat offers ample opportunities for fish portraits and macro shots with a 100mm lens. Still, the broad expanses of pristine hard corals punctuated with colourful soft corals and sea fans made it difficult for me to forego using my wide-angle lens during a recent liveaboard trip

Seeing reefs this healthy especially after the bleaching in the Florida Keys and the Caribbean last summer kept me shooting with my 15-35mm lens. Still, I frequently found vibrant reef dwellers, such as coral groupers or clown triggerfish, that I also wanted to photograph Even at 35mm, I couldn’t get close enough for the fish portrait I imagined before they would dart away

On one morning dive, however, the fish were much easier to approach Wondering if this change in behaviour was due to the time of day or the tides, I asked our cruise director what was different from the previous day. He said we had just entered the Misool Marine Reserve, where the fish were friendly.

Suddenly, it all made sense. I have dived marine protected areas (MPAs) off my home waters in Key Largo, Florida, for more than four decades and have learned that fish behave differently if they do not associate divers with spears or fear for their lives because of hook or net.

Established in 2011 as the registered nonprofit extension of Misool Resort, Misool Foundation employs a team of 49 people, including 18 full-time, salaried rangers stationed at three dedicated ranger stations to protect a 300,000-acre privately funded marine preserve A blue-water corridor connects two distinct no-take zones and is likewise protected from destructive fishing, including nets and longlines

The foundation is actively engaged in reef restoration, and they have a program to rewild zebra sharks and giant clams Accomplishing all this in such a remote region must have been challenging. Eager to know the backstory, I interviewed Marit Miners, one of the founders.

HOW DID ALL THIS START?

Miners: I was on track for a master’s degree in physical anthropology but got derailed in 2000 when I discovered diving in Thailand. It was much more interesting than studying dead things My open-water instructor became a dear friend, and for five years, she tried to set me up with her colleague, Andrew On my 28th birthday in 2005, we finally bumped into each other in Bangkok, where Andrew was on holiday My instructor was right: Andrew and I hit it off immediately At the time, he was working on one of the two liveaboards in Raja Ampat For our third date, he invited me to join him on a dive trip

IN 2005, RAJA AMPAT WAS INCREDIBLY REMOTE, AND SORONG WAS LITTLE MORE THAN AN AIRSTRIP AND A PORT. WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO STAY BEYOND YOUR TWO-WEEK CRUISE?

We were young and in love, but I also had an epiphany One day, during a surface interval, we took a dinghy to a remote island called Batbitim in Misool An itinerant sharkfinning camp was there, and the detritus of the slaughter remained In that moment,

the chain of commerce became clear, linking Raja Ampat’s reefs to the shark-fin soup restaurants that were ubiquitous in Bangkok

We had seen beautiful reefs during that month of diving but not one shark While we were surveying the island, Andrew shared a loose idea for building a conservation centre there, with some simple accommodations to fund our work

This arrangement made us unique from the beginning: Many businesses add a conservation component once they become profitable, but we did it the other way around, with conservation as our starting point. Marine protection is integral to our ethos and business plan, with healthy reefs as our most important asset.

Andrew approached the local community, which holds the traditional rights to the area. He reached an agreement to lease several islands and the surrounding waters, which effectively evicted the shark-finners Misool Resort now stands on the beach where they once had their camp

WAS IT HARD TO GET THE LOCAL COMMUNITY TO EMBRACE YOUR VISION?

They already practised a form of Indigenous fisheries management called Sasi, a tradition of opening and closing areas to extraction Leasing their waters wasn’t unusual either, albeit to shark-finners who took anything they wanted from the surrounding waters for one month for the equivalent of $30 Our ideas weren’t completely outrageous and clearly resonated with them We wanted to create job opportunities in sustainable tourism and help protect their waters, and they knew from Sasi that their catch would increase outside the no-take zone We had figured out the general scope of a conservation initiative linked to a resort dive operation by June 2006 We scraped together about $20,000, assembled a

THE BAY WHERE MISOOL RESORT WAS BUILT WAS A SHARK-FINNING

THE BAY WHERE MISOOL RESORT WAS BUILT WAS A SHARK-FINNING CAMP WHEN ANDREW AND MARIT MINERS FIRST VISITED IN 2005 CAMP WHEN ANDREW AND MARIT MINERS FIRST VISITED IN 2005

WILDAID GENEROUSLY DONATED A BOAT SO RANGERS IN THE WILDAID GENEROUSLY DONATED A BOAT SO RANGERS IN THE MISOOL MARINE RESERVE COULD PATROL TO PREVENT POACHING MISOOL MARINE RESERVE COULD PATROL TO PREVENT POACHING

skeleton crew, and showed up on the island with a generator, some tools, a satellite phone, and a lot of noodles The village appointed an elder as our first employee, who recruited others We bought a portable sawmill and began milling reclaimed wood from tropical hardwoods that washed up on our southern beach A nearby island had fresh water for drinking, cooking, and mixing concrete

Shark-finners and illegal longline fishers still plagued the area even though we had a lease agreement After a long day of construction work, our local staff would approach poachers, pelt them with pebbles, and confiscate their gear. We bought our first dedicated ranger boat with a donation from WildAid Canada.

As infrastructure expenses ramped up exponentially, the numbers weren’t working for our simple backpacker resort we needed to go more upscale. When we opened in 2008, we had eight water cottages that catered to die-hard divers The resort has continued to evolve, and we now welcome all kinds of adventurers

From the start, we have had a symbiotic relationship between conservation and tourism Biodiversity is our main asset Our guests experience off-the-charts biodiversity thanks to Misool Foundation’s conservation initiatives, especially the efforts of our rangers, who protect the Misool Marine Reserve every day The foundation could not exist without Misool Resort, which provides the logistical nerve centre that is critical in such a remote location The resort, in turn, is the foundation’s most consistent supporter, donating more than $200,000 in 2023

WHEN WE WERE DIVING IN THE MISOOL MARINE RESERVE, THE BOAT CREW RADIOED THE RESORT AT 5 P.M. EACH DAY TO SCHEDULE DIVE PERMISSIONS FOR THE NEXT DAY. IS IT A BIG TASK TO CONTROL DIVE DENSITY ON YOUR LOCAL REEFS?

Absolutely! We have many sites available only to our guests, but many other sites within the reserve are available to the 20 to 30 liveaboards that might be around at any time, all wanting four dives per day We provide the service to optimize everyone’s experience while managing the impact on the reefs Most operators understand and see it as an asset to their guests’ experience as well as a conservation imperative

SOUTH RAJA AMPAT IS NOT A YEARROUND DESTINATION. HOW DO YOU MANAGE PATROLS WHEN THE DIVERS AREN’T THERE?

The resort is open only from mid-September to mid-June, but the rangers are there 24/7, year-round, even in the worst monsoon conditions. Our resort team does maintenance work in the off-season. Conservation is a full-time job of protecting what’s there and rewilding where we can.

With our Reef Restoration Project, for example, we plant different types of coral, but we don’t have a coral nursery We collect fragments in the wild that have broken naturally but are still living Our water quality is such that corals will thrive if given a chance We target rubble zones from past dynamite fishing for restoration Our jetty was one of those rubble areas we didn’t want construction to damage a natural reef We have been planting coral there since 2013, and it is now a flourishing reef

Giant clams (Tridacna spp) are another example Over 60,000 years, the island has likely never had a permanent settlement because no freshwater source exists Giant clams are an easy meal, but they don’t return so easily once they are gone They broadcast spawn, so they must be near each other to reproduce Moving a giant clam close to another is a monumental task, but we’re making progress with our clam garden

A MESH GRID BLANKETS THE SEAFLOOR, WHERE STAGHORN CORALS

A MESH GRID BLANKETS THE SEAFLOOR, WHERE STAGHORN CORALS

RELOCATED AS FRAGMENTS FROM OTHER REEFS FLOURISH RELOCATED AS FRAGMENTS FROM OTHER REEFS FLOURISH

STEPHEN FRINK PHOTOGRAPHS A CORAL GROUPER

STEPHEN FRINK PHOTOGRAPHS A CORAL GROUPER

BENEATH A SOFT-CORAL-CLOAKED OVERHANG

BENEATH A SOFT-CORAL-CLOAKED OVERHANG

Many shark species now thrive in our area thanks to our ranger patrol’s vigilance Due to the high level of protection, ReShark chose Misool Foundation as a nursery and hatchery site The international collective has a groundbreaking initiative to rewild endangered zebra sharks (Stegostoma tigrinum, also called leopard sharks in some regions) These sharks are now functionally extinct in Raja Ampat and won’t come back in our lifetime without human intervention Jennifer Hayes and David Doubilet were recently here to document ReShark for National Geographic

Aquariums worldwide are collaborating to breed zebra shark eggs, called mermaid’s purses, which are then transported to local hatcheries. Shark nannies tend to them after hatching until the pups are large enough to be tagged and released into the wild. The project’s goal is to release 500 zebra sharks in Raja Ampat, establishing a healthy, genetically diverse, and self-sustaining population

THAT’S AN IMPRESSIVE EFFORT, AND THE

Through social media I knew that Alex Mustard was teaching a photo class at Misool Resort while I was writing this article I asked his opinion of the diving, and his response was consensual validation:

“I first dived Misool in 2006, before the resort was there, and the reefs were the most spectacular I’d ever seen, with wonderful coral and abundant fish The diving is even better on the two trips I’ve already made in 2024 There are more divers but also a lot more fish, turtles, rays, and sharks Every dive had reef sharks, with hammerheads, threshers, and even tigers from time to time Species we usually witness disappearing from oceans are blossoming here. There’s no magic; it’s sound marine conservation and lots of effort. People who put in the very hard work to make ideas a reality are sadly vanishingly rare. And our planet needs more of them.”

For more information about the ReShark project, visit tinyurl.com/reshark. For more information on rewilding, see tinyurl.com/rewild-misool.

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Captain Breezy Grenier, Owner, Breezy SEAS, explains why she chooses DAN.

Sharks, rays, and skates (elasmobranchs) have persisted through several mass extinction events to claim their position as one of the oldest living lineages on Earth, with an evolutionary history spanning 450 million years This predates the dinosaurs by 200 million years!

The current Anthropocene era, marked by unprecedented human-mediated environmental change, has led to a staggering 70% decline in the global abundance of elasmobranchs in just the past 50 years. This rapid decline has pushed sharks and rays into the category of the most imperilled animals, with over a third of species facing extinction due to a variety of threats. The urgency of this situation cannot be overstated.

Biomass depletions from large-scale fishing efforts, habitat destruction, and climate

GENOMICS TOOLS

FOR CONSERVATION OF SOUTHERN AFRICA’S SHARKS AND RAYS SPECIAL INTEREST

TEXT BY JESSICA WINN, MIA GROENEVELD & KARLA REDELINGHUYS

SCIENCE SAVES SHARKS

change are reshaping the ecosystems that these species inhabit Elasmobranchs hold important roles in community functioning as apex- and meso-predators, and their eradication has the potential to catalyse trophic cascades in ecosystems This not only negatively impacts the species relying on those ecosystems but also threatens to deplete resources that humans depend on and ultimately impacts the health of our bioeconomy

All sharks and rays interacting in an ecosystem contribute to its stability

However, a few charismatic species tend to dominate the public realm South Africa’s waters host an abundance of biodiversity, with 191 Chondrichthyan (cartilaginous fish) species, 70 of which are endemic - meaning they are found nowhere else in the world

Species such as the Flapnose Houndshark and Ornate Sleeper Ray occur along only a

important question is how do we go about protecting this biodiversity?

Our research group in the Genetics Department at Stellenbosch University is dedicated to using molecular tools to study the evolutionary relationships, population dynamics, genetic diversity, and adaptive potential of shark and ray species, particularly those that are threatened or endemic We believe that genetic diversity is the key to survival, and understanding how to preserve it is crucial We also believe that each one of us, including you, can play a role in creating species management strategies that lead to the revival of threatened populations while still ensuring a sustainable form of income for local fishing communities

Phylogenetics and phylogeography enable us to decipher the evolutionary relationships

different shark and ray species to design unique management strategies In the shark and ray world, species often look very similar but cannot breed and exchange genetic material Assessing a group of species as a single unit can compromise estimates of their true population size and conservation requirements The same can be true for populations belonging to a single species that are reproductively isolated from each other by geographical barriers

Genetics can also be an asset in forensic investigations, which aim to identify the species and origin of confiscated shark products to combat illegal trade. Additionally, uncovering patterns of genetic evolution allows us to pinpoint adaptations to specific environmental conditions, paving the way for informed conservation strategies that can prevent further declines of species faced with environmental challenges. When combined with data from marine scientists

and other experts, genetic insights guide the prioritisation of protection efforts

For example, measures such as catch limits and Marine Protected Areas are being developed, which enhance species recovery and preserve biodiversity in vital coastal breeding regions

The field of shark and ray conservation in South Africa has grown exponentially, with many different organisations, research groups, officials, and public stakeholders dedicated to protecting our species Although there is still a long way to go, we must acknowledge the great strides that have been made so far. Many stakeholders attended the 7th South African Shark and Ray Symposium in Umhlanga, Kwa-Zulu Natal, highlighting the growing collaborative network emerging between seasoned experts and the next generation of scientists.

Equally noteworthy is the increasing presence of women making significant contributions in this field, marking a commendable milestone However, the potential of genetics as a powerful tool for conservation in this domain is still sometimes underestimated due to the science not being well understood In an attempt to navigate this, “Science Saves Sharks” was cofounded by three postgraduate students: Jessica Winn, Mia Groeneveld and Karla Redelinghuys Through our organisation, we aim to achieve four main goals, which are all interconnected

We strive to raise awareness about the threats facing sharks and rays We are focused on demonstrating how genetic approaches can be applied in synergy with other marine sciences to add real value to conservation efforts We also aim to make scientific findings more accessible and highlight the incredible work that scientists are doing to a broader public network We hope to create a community that unites different ocean stakeholders for the common cause of ensuring healthy oceans for our future

ScienceSavesSharksLinks

Linktree:https://linktr.ee/sciencesavessharks

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/science

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Michael AW, Underwater Photographer, Director, Board Member, Ocean Geographic, explains why he chooses DAN.

DIVING ANILAO PHOTOGRAPHERS PARADISE

TEXT&PHOTOBYADAM SOKOLSKI

I am an underwater photographer, and I love macro photography One of my favorite destinations for diving holidays is Anilao in the Philippines I recently returned from my fifth visit there, and it never ceases to amaze me Anilao offers an incredibly rich biodiversity and diverse underwater life, providing endless opportunities to discover and photograph rare and fascinating marine creatures Each dive is an exciting adventure, making me eager to return again and again

Located in the province of Batangas, Anilao is just a three-hour drive from Manila, making the trip quite convenient Dive centres can arrange a car to pick you up from the airport, eliminating the need for domestic flights or ferries

Anilao offers a wide range of hotels and dive centres, many of which specialize in underwater photography

These centres offer facilities and services tailored to the needs of photographers, such as dedicated camera rooms, special washing and air-drying areas and photography workshops They also employ guides who are experts in finding and identifying macro subjects They can point out the smallest and most elusive subjects that might otherwise go unnoticed, increasing the chances of capturing great images If you're an underwater photographer, choosing a professional dive centre will enhance your diving experience and provide valuable learning opportunities for the owners and other divers

My favourite place in Anilao is the Anilao Photo Academy, run by Rina, Wayne and Tim The owners and their team have extensive knowledge of underwater photography and are always incredibly helpful, making it an ideal spot for both learning and enjoying your dives

Anilao's underwater ecosystem is teeming with life, especially small subjects like colourful nudibranchs, frogfishes, octopuses, crabs, shrimps and even rhinopias It is truly a haven for underwater photographers The highlights of our last trip were two hairy frogfish (one orange and one grey) and different kinds of Pikachu nudibranch (Thecacera)

The area features world-class diving sites, each offering unique underwater landscapes and experiences The visibility is usually good, and the waters are relatively calm, making it easier to focus on small subjects without the distraction of strong currents or poor visibility

Instagram:

Dive sites are a mix of coral reefs and muck diving locations All dives start in shallow water, with maximum depths of 18-20 meters Only on special occasions, such as searching for pygmy seahorses, you need to go a bit deeper The shallow dive sites also mean longer bottom times, allowing photographers to focus on the composition and experiment with different angles and lighting

Anilao, with its incredible macro life and professional dive centres, is a dream destination for underwater photographers Whether you're an advanced photographer or a novice, you will definitely enjoy diving in Anilao

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Maurtius Valente Bell, Dive Safety Officer, California Academy of Sciences, explains why he chooses DAN.

SAFETY ANGELS

AGLIMPSEINTOTHEWORLDOFFREEDIVINGCOMPETITIONDEEPSAFETY

SPECIAL INTEREST

TEXTBYTAMSSIGNE

PHOTOSBYALICE CATTANEO,FREEDIVINGWORLD&MATTSTOW,FREEDIVINGAFRICA

“Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Official top. Plus one. Plus two. Plus three-“

Having taken her final breath, packing every last drop of air into her lungs, the athlete rolls over, submerging her airways, and begins her competition dive. As she disappears into the azure depths, the platform operator’s countdown is replaced by her depth readings off the sonar display.

Around the line, the safety team becomes hyper-focused. Tasked with escorting her safely to the surface, our role in this performance is critical. If anything goes wrong, we will be the ones to intervene, protecting her airways and returning her to the surface, where we will support and revive her if needed The first safety with the scooter will meet her at -40m, and the second and third safety will meet her at -30m and -20m, respectively.

Deep competition dives can be over four minutes long, amplifying the risk of both hypoxia and nitrogen narcosis for the diver Timing of safety dives is critical: dive too soon, and you’re going to be waiting at depth for the diver to appear from below, extending your own dive and putting yourself as well as the athlete at risk; too late, and you won’t get to the designated depth in time, leaving the athlete alone on a part of the ascent where they’re expecting to see the safety diver, and reaching the riskiest part of their dive.

Although the competitor is doing a much deeper dive than the safeties, the risk profiles of their dives are very different: the athlete wears a lanyard connecting them to the main line at all times, and a counter ballast system is in place that will be activated immediately should the diver not appear from depth at the announced time, bringing them back to the surface The safeties are self-reliant: they are not attached to anything, diving well into negative buoyancy where they will wait for the diver, relying only on their own judgment and ability to keep them safe

This particular dive has an announced length of just under three and a half minutes. The athlete in question is one of the deepest women in the world and always exhibits impeccable form. We have watched her collect white cards for indomitable performances time and again, executing competition dives with clockwork precision, which gives us no reason to question her announced dive time Newer competitors might make less accurate announcements than those of the pros, and we use experience to adjust our safety dives accordingly, but the sharp end of the field is reliable, their announcements honed to the second through weeks and months of training and calculation Although the depth is over 100m, this dive is only two metres deeper than her last successful attempt and should be uneventful With an estimated 90 seconds of the dive remaining, first safety dives with the scooter to meet her at -40m

I am on second safety Breathing up to dive, I keep one ear out of the water so that I can cross-check my forecast of her depth against the callouts of the sonar As first safety descends, something feels off: she is still deeper than she should be, and her ascent rate feels excruciatingly slowOn a textbook dive, I should depart 20 seconds after first, but I decide to hold off 10 seconds to create a bit more safety margin, because she is slow today Anything that increases

my heart rate at this point is simply going to make the dive more challenging, so as I slide below the surface and start finning down, I focus on nothing but the very moment I’m in Perfect streamlining Gentle finning Don’t rush – that generates CO2 Become even more calm dropping Passing through -15m, I glance down, hoping to see the ok sign from my teammate deep below me indicating that the diver is in sight, but there is none He is suspended below, waiting I tuck my chin back in and keep finning A couple of seconds later, another glance reveals no change She’s late

As I freefall through -25 m, I know that this is going to be a long dive, not only for the athlete but for all of us. I let myself sink a little past -30m before rotating to a head-up position. I can see first safety below me, and a speck appears in the depths below him. She is on her way, moving upward through the water column at a glacial pace. As she creeps towards the surface, he closes in, the scooter blipping intermittently as he gives tiny bursts of power to synchronise his ascent with hers His proximity communicates concern: if the athlete looks strong and lucid, we give them space; if their body language indicates distress, we move closer so that, should intervention become necessary, there is no delay in responding

I join the formation, assessing both the athlete and safety She looks stable, albeit a little spaced out; he, however, looks stressed and indicates to me that he is out of air A quick exchange of sign language tells me that I must watch the athlete because he may abort the dive and head to the surface

We could be in a complex scenario at a moment’s notice If the athlete requires assistance, I will help her, but that means that my eyes are no longer on him; if he needs help, third safety will need to get involved, assisting him while I watch the athlete This is not standard protocol, but the

SAFETIES L-R FEDERICO FRANCONI , ANDREA MARENGO , TAMSYN SIGNE

DIVER - GLETWYN RUBIDGE ZA ( DURING THIS COMPETITION HE REACHED THE

DIVER - GLETWYN RUBIDGE ZA ( DURING THIS COMPETITION HE REACHED THE

TAMSYN SIGNE ON SAFETY FOR UK’S DEEPEST FREEDIVER GARY MCGRATH

TAMSYN SIGNE ON SAFETY FOR UK’S DEEPEST FREEDIVER GARY MCGRATH

PHOTO - MATT STOW, FREEDIVING AFRICA PHOTO - MATT STOW, FREEDIVING AFRICA

SAFETIES L-R TAMSYN SIGNE, MATT STOW SAFETIES L-R TAMSYN SIGNE, MATT STOW WARM UP BEFORE COMPETITION: WHO SAFETIES THE SAFETIES? WARM UP BEFORE COMPETITION: WHO SAFETIES THE SAFETIES?

BLUE HOLE DAHAB

BLUE HOLE DAHAB

PHOTO - ESLAM PIKO PHOTO - ESLAM PIKO

situation is dynamic, and we will do what needs to be done for the best possible outcome for everyone

Only 20m to go, but the surface feels a million miles away and time expands Eventually, we emerge As the near-hypoxic athlete manages a shaky surface protocol, clearly affected by the unplanned additional 30 seconds of dive time, I watch my teammate like a hawk as we both do strong recovery breaths and position myself close to him in case he needs help He is ok, only because he is an exceptionally strong, wellexperienced safety diver who stays icy calm under pressure. It’s one of the reasons he’s on my list of favourites to be on duty with. We have a full conversation through quick eye contact and a flicker of the eyebrows without a word being spoken.

That was intense, and it’s six minutes to the next dive. Time to reset and dive again.

A question that doesn’t get asked enough is ‘Who safeties the safeties?’ Earlier in my career, it felt as though we were on our own, but as I garnered experience and was involved in more and more rescues, I learnt the principle of no blind spots from my mentors The role doesn’t begin and end with competition dives: it requires constant awareness of everything going on in the water at all times – a gruelling always-on mentality that demands a particular type of mental grit that few have Good safeties are resilient, reliable, strong divers; great safeties are all that, with an additional nearsupernatural level of awareness of the threedimensional environment and the ability to forecast major and minor issues before they materialise This includes subconscious monitoring of everyone on the team, and seeing risk unfold and preparing to act It’s not for the faint of heart

The million-dollar question is obvious: what is the motivation to join the ranks of these seemingly mad divers who are prepared to

put themselves between those at the thin end of the competitive wedge and potential disaster? It’s certainly not the paycheck – a financially successful competition means perhaps breaking even with careful budgeting Routine dives can go bad in seconds, and the escalation of an emergency has seen more than one safety diver go well beyond the call of duty and act outside of his required parameters to save a diver in the moment, ignoring the potentially catastrophic consequences to him- or herself.

After a gruelling week on duty with long hours in the water and dive accretion that both exhausts my body and frays my nervous system, the answer is elusive, but once large quantities of steak and chocolate have been consumed in between recovery naps, the pull to get back in the ocean and look after my friends returns

Time and again, I reach the same conclusion: it’s a calling, and can’t be ignored. In the words of photographer extraordinaire Daan Verhoeven, “As a former safety diver myself, I might be prejudiced, but I reckon the safeties tend to be the most fun bunch, as they’re all there for the love of the sport, and we all have a screw loose as we’re not fazed at all by watching our friends blackout But I think that’s an interesting screw to have untightened”

Anyway, it would seem rude if those affectionately referred to as safety angels didn’t show up when duty called, wouldn’t it?

Freediving instructors Tamsyn Signe (Stay Longer Go Deeper Freediving) and Matt Stow (Freediving Africa), are South Africa’s two most competitionexperienced depth safeties, having worked safety at 11 competitions (including five World Cups) between them, most memorably at Freediving world in Sharm-El-Sheikh when Gletwyn Rubidge became the first South African freediver to reach 100m Matt is also part of the safety team at the Aida World Championships 2024, being held in Corsica in September

TEXTBYSTEPHENFRINK

It’s odd to be thinking of Benjamin Franklin while in an ambulance driving from the border between Myanmar and Thailand to a recompression chamber in Phuket, but his quote rang in my head that day: “For want of a nail, the shoe was lost For want of a shoe, the horse was lost For want of a horse, the rider was lost For want of a rider, the battle was lost For want of a battle, the kingdom was lost And all for the want of a horseshoe nail” My nail, metaphorically speaking, was a cap for a synch plug on my housing

It was 2004, the dawn of digital photography, and I was conflicted about whether to shoot film or digital. I had brought the housing for both cameras with me to Thailand. Carrying two housings on a dive was ponderous, but I could manage it if I didn’t take two sets of strobes. My solution was to rig both housings with wet connectors called EO pigtails, which went into the regular sync socket, allowing me to connect and disconnect my strobes underwater

I took off one of the pigtails but accidentally left open the synch port while at Richelieu Rock, one of Thailand’s most iconic dives My housing wouldn’t flood because of that, but it wouldn’t fire the strobe due to the electrical short circuit from exposure to salt water That’s the backstory of what went wrong The real story is how it went wrong and how I could have avoided it

The dive was outstanding, with lots of fish, soft corals, and remarkable visibility I shot the film camera first It took me 15 minutes at 80 feet (24 meters) to run through my 36 frames When I switched to my digital housing, it wouldn’t fire the strobe because of the flooded sync port What I should have done, and what would have saved the whole situation, was to be happy with what I had, do my safety stop, and shoot digital on the next dive

Instead, in my photography-induced

addiction, I raced to the surface so I could dry out the port, add a new strobe cord, and return to the dive I thought I could do it quickly before the bubbles in my body figured out the reduced pressure from being back on the surface That was stupid in retrospect, and I didn’t fool my physiology I had omitted my decompression obligation and got decompression sickness (DCS) the bends

Once it happens, there’s no taking it back I felt the bubbles lodge in my neck and knew what would happen next The crew would give me oxygen at the surface and call the Divers Alert Network, who would arrange to facilitate my treatment. I’d be evacuated to a recompression chamber and be done diving for the week. This trip was long before I had any affiliation with DAN I was just another underwater photographer who was too greedy with photo ops. The DAN medic on our satellite phone call had heard it all before and knew exactly what to do.

It was complicated because Richelieu Rock was the last dive before we were scheduled to cross to Myanmar from Thailand The ambulance crew couldn’t accommodate immigration procedures, so I had to stay on the Thailand side of the border for evacuation to Phuket for treatment while my buddies sailed off for their night dive

I remember it as a two-hour drive on rough and winding roads Still, when I arrived in Phuket, I was admitted to a beautifully modern hospital with an acrylic-tube recompression chamber I had received treatment for DCS before, but it was in a large multiplace chamber in Oahu after a DCS event in Vanuatu This chamber was far less intimidating I could lie on my back and watch movies through the chamber’s transparent walls while breathing oxygen at the depth my treatment tables proscribed I even took pictures of the chamber and my doctor before I climbed in, not knowing I would need the photos 20 years later

The treatment went well, and many symptoms resolved with a single treatment They treated me again the next morning for the lingering symptoms After the treatments, I still felt rough, with a compromised gait and tingling in my fingers Some symptoms will only be cured in time, which is what my doctor advised I had to take it easy for a while, drink plenty of fluids, and let my body heal from the trauma

Confident in my recovery, I had to figure out a way to rejoin the boat I had chartered the liveaboard for a photo tour and wanted to be back on board with my friends, even if I was restricted to snorkelling for a while They were just crossing back into Thailand after their scheduled three days of diving in Myanmar The timing was lucky for me as I was able to hitch a ride in an ambulance returning to the border Still, unfortunately, it was to

evacuate my friend Dennis Liberson, who had been run over by the dive dinghy The propeller had cut off his fin and badly lacerated his foot, and the hull gave him a massive contusion on his shin

Regardless of the causation my stupidity and his misfortune DAN was there for us in both of our accidents They arranged and paid for our evacuations and treatments Liberson spent five days in the hospital and missed his normal flight home, but DAN assisted with his return travel arrangements

We’ve made scores of trips together since then, and the common thread of our trip preparation has always been to not leave without our cameras and our DAN member cards

Note: You can read about Liberson’s accident at https://tinyurlcom/propaccident

SCHOOLING REDTAIL BUTTERFLYFISH AND BLUE-LINED

SCHOOLING REDTAIL BUTTERFLYFISH AND BLUE-LINED SNAPPERS CONGREGATE AT THE RICHELIEU ROCK DIVE SITE SNAPPERS CONGREGATE AT THE RICHELIEU ROCK DIVE SITE

ProsChooseDAN TrustedWhenItMattersMost

Stephen Frink, Underwater Photographer President, Waterhouse Tours, Publisher, Alert Diver® Magazine, explains why he chooses DAN.

REVIEW

FROM DAN MEMBER

ELTINA STENHOUSE

Every person completing their first dive course should sign up for DAN membership, especially if diving along the coastline of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, which has dynamic surf conditions and, in many instances, challenging launches We experienced a nasty boat flip many years ago, which resulted in me being injured and airlifted by helicopter to a hospital in Durban. The cost of that and the treatment to follow was exorbitant, but thanks to our DAN membership benefits, it was all covered, and we were not out of pocket

CALLING THE DAN HOTLINE

WHEN SHOULD I PHONE THE DAN HOTLINE?

All diving emergencies

Non-diving medical emergencies

Diving medical information, such as fitness to dive, medication, and travel medical advice and enquiries

Travel notifications and advice

Diving medical examiner contact details

International medical centres or doctors who want to confirm DAN memberships

WHAT DO I NEED TO HAVE READY?

The caller and/or patient’s name and contact number

The nature of the emergency

The patient’s DAN membership number, if applicable or known

The patient’s medical aid information, if the incident occurred within South Africa

The patient’s travel insurance information, if applicable

If the caller is not at the scene, at least one local contact number should be provided in order to reach the person that is in need of assistance, or those who are in charge of their care

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER I HAVE LOGGED THE EMERGENCY?

DAN makes a conference call to one of the on-call diving medical officers (DMOs) when an emergency call is received and the nature of the event has been established The DMO will provide specialist diving medical advice regarding how and what should be done immediately and will also make decisions concerning the further management of each case, depending on the situation

WILL I GET EVACUATION BY AIR?

Aeromedical resources, such as helicopters and air ambulances, cannot be dispatched unless authorised by the DMO It may take longer to activate an air ambulance than it would take to mobilise emergency medical services via a ground ambulance Several factors, aside from costs, will determine aeromedical evacuation

The DAN hotline provides emergency medical assistance to injured divers We encourage you to call early, even when you are uncertain, rather than wait until the situation has become critical as the opportunity to assist becomes more restricted.

DIVE ESSENTIALS

IMPORTANT FACTORS TRANSPORT

THE AVAILABILITY OF TRANSPORT

Is an air ambulance or a helicopter available?

THE INJURY

THE NATURE OF THE INJURY

How urgently does the patient need advanced life support and should they be moved to intensive care?

THE LOCATION

THE LOCATION OF THE PATIENT

What are the optimal logistical considerations for efficiently and safely moving the patient to a place where they can receive medical assessment and appropriate medical care, with appropriate medical support, during the transfer?

LANDING ZONE

VARIOUS ASPECTS REGARDING THE LANDING ZONE OR AIRPORT

Are these appropriate for a helicopter or a fixed-wing air ambulance? Are these open, particularly at night? What are the customs or immigration requirements? What are the implications of getting the patient to the landing zone or airport, or the crew to the patient?

HOTLINE

ProsChooseDAN TrustedWhenItMattersMost

Windell John Regional Watersports Manager Eastern & Southern Caribbean Region, Sandals and Beaches Resorts, PADI® IDC Staff Instructor, explains why he chooses DAN.

PARTING SHOT

MEGAN STEVENSON | YAWNING RHINOPIAS

Bikini Mid, 2 Mile, Sodwana

Approx. 18m

Camera: Olympus TG6

Underwater Macro Mode

ISO 100 | f3.2 | 1/250s

Lighting: Weefine Ringlight (Warm light, 100% intensity)

The Weedy Scorpion fish had been on my bucket list since I started my diving journey in 2019. This was my second sighting - I was so excited on the first that I squealed out a few (20) bar of gas, lost my buoyancy and got camera shake! Between their colouration, markings and tassles they have become a firm favourite of mine to photograph. Since I wasn’t making use of flash photography due to the nature of my camera configuration on this dive, I needed to illuminate the image with my macro ring light. This proves to be challenging with larger subjects as you can lose colour as you increase depth of field Unfortunately, Rhinopias doesn’t like the light so tends to move their body away from you as you set up the shot I had to angle my camera down, wait for the fish to settle and then quickly snap away – I was extremely lucky to get this big yawn!