We all like adventures, interesting meetings... Literally each single dive is an adventure. You never know what awaits you in the depths and what you will find and discover.
Our most recent issue is packed with a huge portion of amazing adventures, meetings and undertakings. All of this is adorned with beautiful photographs and packed with specific knowledge, as always, with care for our planet Earth.
Our editorial team has grown. We have new people writing for us, debuting in the Perfect Diver Magazine. You’ll be seeing more foreign names among our authors.
Practically every text will absorb the reader. We dive virtually and this broadens your horizons, brings back nice memories and, most of all, drives you to make plans in your head. The summer holidays are coming soon. Nature awaits!
I encourage you to bite really deep into this issue. Take a dive into it, but remember about safety stops, flushing your equipment and a good dinner.
I really recommend the article which accurately presents the problem of plastic and human dependence on it. Divers, as well as non-divers, should read this one and reflect on how their symbiosis with plastic looks like.
Each subscriber and everyone who decides to buy the newest issue of the magazine will receive a coloring book. What is on the other side? Find out!
Come and take a look at what we prepared for you inside. This is all for you.
Wojciech Zgoła Mateusz Popek
Irena Kosowska Bartosz Pszczółkowski Hubert Reiss Agnieszka Gumiela-Pająkowska Arleta Kaźmierczak
Reddo Translations Sp. z o.o. Lawyer Joanna Wajsnis Brygida Jackowiak-Rydzak
(Julieta Ulanovsky) Open Sans (Ascender Fonts) Spectral (Production Type)
WOJCIECH ZGOŁA
He often repeats that he travels by diving and that is his motto. In 1985 he obtained a yacht sailor's license, and only in 2006 began to dive. In the following years he improved his skills by obtaining the Dive Master degree. He completed nearly 650 dives in various climatic conditions. Since 2007, he has been taking photographs underwater, and since 2008 he has also been filming. As an independent journalist, he published dozens of articles, mainly in journals dedicated to diving, but not only. Co-author of photo exhibitions in Poland and abroad. He is passionate about and propagator of diving.
Since 2008 he has been running his own website www.dive-adventure.eu. On the basis of extensive experience, in August 2018 he created the new Perfect Diver Magazine
Regional Manager Divers Alert Network Polska, diving and first aid instructor, technical diver and cave diver. In love with all flooded, dark, cold, tight places and invariably from the beginning of the diving route – in the Baltic. Implementing the DAN mission, he conducts a series of lectures ”Dive safely” and Diving Safety Laboratory, so field research of divers for scientific purposes.
”My passion, work and life are under water.” He has been diving since 2009. Since 2008, he's walking in caves. Underwater archeologist by education. He participated in numerous projects in Poland and abroad. He has been engaged in professional diving since 2011. In 2013 he obtained the qualifications of a 2nd class diver. Has experience in underwater work both at sea and inland. Since 2013 he has been diving in caves, especially in the mountains, and since 2014 he is a diving instructor CMAS M1. In June 2020, he obtained a doctoral degree in underwater archeology.
That's my name and I come from Poznań. I have been associated with water practically from birth and with diving since I learned to walk. My grandfather instilled my passion for the underwater world, a CMAS*** instructor taking me to the lakes at any free time. I obtained my first qualifications in 1996. A year later I went to Croatia and literally went crazy at the sight of blue water, octopus and colorful fish;) I bought my first underwater camera – Olympus 5060 and started the adventure with underwater photography. I acquired my diving experience in the Canary Islands, Sardinia, Norway, Maldives and in Polish lakes. I am currently a Padi and ESA instructor, I train diving enthusiasts in Europe and pass my passion on to others.
I invite all lovers of the underwater world and photography to Beediver (FB) – see you soon.
An IT specialist by profession, but a flesh and blood salesman who is not afraid of any job. Diving has always been my big dream. At the beginning it was supposed to be a challenge, a short episode but it turned out to be a passion for the end of the world and one day longer. Under water I react and rest. As a Divemaster, sidemount Razor diver, and recently also a photographer, I realize my dreams by admiring and immortalizing the beauty of the underwater world. "Passion breeds professionalism, professionalism gives quality, and quality is a luxury in life. Nowadays, especially..."
IRENA KOSOWSKA
MATEUSZ POPEK
BARTOSZ PSZCZÓŁKOWSKI
HUBERT REISS
Has more than 8000 dives on his account. He has been diving for over 30 years, including over 20 years as a technical diver. He is a professional with great theoretical and practical knowledge. He is an instructor of many federations: GUE Instructor Mentor, CMAS**, IANTD nTMX, IDCS PADI, EFR, TMX Gas Blender. He participated in many diving projects and conferences as a leader, explorer, originator or lecturer. These included the Britannic Expedition 2016, Morpheus Cave Scientific Project on Croatia caves, GROM Expedition in Narvik, Tuna Mine Deep Dive, Glavas Cave in Croatia, NOA-MARINE. Professionally, he is a technical director at TecLine in Scubatech, and a director of training at TecLine Academy.
Karolina Sztaba, and professionally Karola Takes Photos, is a photographer by education and passion. She is currently working at the Trawangan Dive Center on a tiny island in Indonesia – Gili Trawangan, where she moved to live four years ago.She photographs above and below the water. In addition, she creates photographic projects against littering the oceans and polluting our planet with plastic ("Trapped", "Trashion"). He cooperates with NBO organizations dealing with environmental protection and actively participates in pro-ecological actions (coral protection, coral planting, cleaning the world, protection of endangered species). He is also the official photographer of Ocean Mimic – a brand that creates swimwear and surfwear from rubbish collected on the beaches of Bali. She cooperated with many brands of diving equipment for which she created advertising campaigns. In 2019, she became the ambassador of the Polish company Tecline. She has been a technical diver for two years.
A graduate of Geography faculty at the University of Wrocław and an incurable optimist… with a permanent smile on her lips! It was probably Destiny that led her to Activtour… and she's been here on permanent basis. She passionately fulfils the dreams of many, organizing diving trips around the world, and she has already been diving for more than half of her life. Each year she explores a different ‘piece of the ocean’, pinning another pin to her diving world map. In winter she changes fins into her beloved skis and gets away into the Alps. A recipe for life? ”The only a dead trunk flows with the current – the explorer's canoe flows up the river!” anna@activtour.pl activtour.pl; travel.activtour.pl; 2bieguny.com
Polish photographer, winner of awards and distinctions in world underwater photography competitions, has already dived all over the world: with sharks and whales in South Africa, with orcs behind the Arctic Circle, on Galapagos with hundreds of hammerhead sharks and humpback whales in the Tonga Islands. He participates in specialist photographic workshops. He has been diving for 27 years, he started at the age of 12 – as soon as it was formally possible. He was the first in the world to use the Hasselblad X1d-50c camera for underwater macro photography. Recently, in the remote Chincorro archipelago on the border between Mexico and Belize, he did it again, taking a successful attempt to photograph the eye of a crocodile with a macro lens with an additional magnifying lens, which is the world's largest photo of the crocodile's eye living in the wild (in terms of pixel count, print size, quality).
A traveller and a photographer of wild nature. A graduate of journalism and a lover of good literature. She lives in harmony with nature, promotes a healthy lifestyle: she is a yogini and a vegetarian. Also engaged in ecological projects. Sharks and their protection are especially close to her heart. She writes about the subject in numerous articles and on her blog www.divingandtravel.pl. She began her adventure with diving fifteen years ago by total coincidence. Today she is a Divemaster, she visited over 60 countries and dived on 5 continents. She invites us for a joint journey with the travel agency www.dive-away.pl, of which she is a co-founder.
"Wet photos" – He has photographed since he remembers. After several years of experience as a diver, he wanted to keep memories of underwater dives. He bought his first compact camera with an underwater housing. Over time, however, the desire to have the best photo began to dominate, which was not quite possible with the compact he used. That's why he switched to the Olympus PEN E-PL 5 reflex camera, which allows the use of several different lenses. He uses a combination of underwater flashes and lights. He focuses on wildlife photography, not arrangement. He photographs in fresh domestic waters as well as in the seas and oceans of the world.
He has already won numerous awards at Czech and foreign photography competitions. More photos can be found on his website, where you can also buy them not only as photos, but also as photos printed on canvas or on another medium. www.mokrefotky.cz
A graduate of two Poznan universities, the Academy of Physical Education (coaching specialization – handball) and the University of A.Mickiewicz, Faculty of Biology (specialty of experimental biology). He connected his professional life with this first university trying to influence the direction of development of future professionals on the one hand, and on the other planning and implementing research, pushing laboriously in the right direction of the stroller called science. In his free time he spends his time actively – his main passions are sailing (sea helmsman), skiing (downhill skiing instructor), riding a motorcycle, recreational diving and many other activities, as well as photography, mainly nature.
Since I was a child, I had dreamed of becoming a marine biologist and I managed to fulfill that dream. I did a degree in oceanography, where I recently started my doctoral studies. My diving adventure began when I was 12 years old. I love observing the underwater life up close and I try to show other divers how fascinating the underwater, Baltic creatures are.
”I can't imagine living without water, where in a free body I experience freedom of the spirit.”
• founder of the first freediving and swimming school in Poland – FREEBODY,
• Apnea Academia International and PADI Master Freediver freediving instructor,
• world record holder in freediving (DYN 253 m),
• record holder and Polish champion, member of the national team in freediving 2013–2019,
• winner of the World Championships in freediving 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2018,
• multimedalist of the Polish Championships and a member of the national team in swimming in the years 1998–2003,
• passionate about freediving and swimming.
A traveler, photographer and the underwater world filmmaker, an Asian cuisine enthusiast and a PADI diving instructor. He visited over 70 countries and dived on 5 continents (the other two are planned for next year's expeditions). For several years he has also been an instructor and trainer of the unmanned aircraft flights. A co-author of a travel agency for divers www.dive-away.pl. He documents his expeditions with photos and descriptions of his journeys on his blog www.divingandtravel.pl
Laura Kazimierska is currently working as PADI Course Director at TrawanganDive Center on the Indonesian island of Gili Trawangan. Founder of the Divemastergilis portal. www.divemastergilis.com @divemastergilis
For over 7 years she has lived and discovered the underwater world of Indonesia. She is not only an avid technical diver, but also the face of the Planet Heroes platform and the ambassador of the Ocean Mimic brand. She actively contributes to the promotion of the protection of corals and the natural environment of fish and marine animals by taking part in scientific projects, campaigns against ocean littering and cooperating with NGOs in Indonesia.
@laura_kazi
AGATA TUROWICZ-CYBULA
AGNIESZKA KALSKA
JAROSZ
LAURA KAZIMIERSKA
ADRIAN JURIEWICZ
"The awareness of the beauty of the underwater world is the passion of the whole life for a child..." It is a thought that has guided my life as long as I can remember. Adventure with I started aquaristics as a 9-year-old child. Today I have a gray head, but still I sit for hours in front of the glass separating me from the wonderful world of the reef coral. Diving has become for me a way of communing with the underwater fauna and flora in nature, where I can feel this world with all my senses at once. The camera is an inseparable companion of my underwater expeditions allows you to record all these wonderful experiences not only in memory, but also in films and photographs. I professionally deal with transport and logistics, although this path has been chosen for me by life sort of obligatory. Sailing is also an escape from everyday stress for me dance. All my passions are actively supported by my wife and daughter. Remember! – “The glass of life must always be half full, never half full empty".
PADI diving instructor and videographer. She spends most of his time in the water documenting a fascinating underwater world. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in the field of Fashion Design in Łódź and Film studies at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, trained as a tailor, and with a love of nature and a large dose of adrenaline. She loves everything related to water. Her diving adventure began with a backpacking trip in 2016. During her stay in Thailand she dived for the first time and from then on she got hooked on at this sport. Spending the last years and most of her days under water, teaching and showing the beauty of the underwater world in Asia, she believes that diving means unity – unity with own mind, nature and unusual creatures. @waterographyk
The author is biologist by profession, involved in cancer research at the Czech Academy of Sciences in Brno. His profession enabled him to travel around the globe and to visit places which are also regarded as the best dive sites. Underwater photography became a part of his life since he dove the Great Barrier Reef of Australia. His ”pet“ is Canon 80D (Ikelite housing, ”fish eye“, 60 mm and 100mm macro lenses, Subsee diopters and snoot RETRA), as well as the Photoshop editing software. He received an “Honorary Mention” on one of the most the prestigious underwater photo contest, Ocean Art 2020 (Underwater Art). Some of his underwater photos are processed by creative tools, by combination of underwater photography and digital software to create captivating – sometime even surrealist – images. His photos are regularly published in scuba diving magazines and presented at exhibitions. He believes that exhibiting of underwater photos to the public could increase social awareness towards marine conservation. More underwater photos, as well as information about the author, are to be found on his website http://michalstros.cz
My name is Maciej Szczepański, I am 26 years old, I am a second-year student of MA studies in the field of Military Studies at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. I am interested in broadly understood history and old motorization. I also collect military, watches and other old items.
My name is Aleš Koštomaj. I'm from Slovenia (Europe). I was born 1978 (43 years old) in city Celje. From what I can remember I loved snorkeling and freediving. I studied at the Faculty of Sports in Ljubljana, where I became more professionally acquainted with freediving. At first I was active in spearfishing (between 2001 and 2009), and then for a few years I completely focused on freediving. Between 2009 and 2016, I trained and competed in freediving. My biggest success is a 3rd place in CWT (AIDA international world) in Croatia (Lopar, 2011). In 2017, I received my master’s degree from the Faculty of Sports and became a master of science in freediving. Since 2017, I no longer compete but I love discovering the underwater world with an underwater camera in freediving and I also do researches with top Slovenian freedivers (Samo Jeranko, Andrej Ropret, Jure Daić,...).
So far, I have the highest scientific education in freediving in Slovenia (Mag. Aleš Koštomaj).
Hi! I am Max, an underwater photographer and scuba instructor with more than 5000 logged dives around the world. I started diving at the age of 7 and for as long as I can remember, always had camera in my hand. But it's only after having worked on Koh tao for a few years that I combined my passion for photography and the ocean. My objective is to take more pictures and raise awareness by showcasing divers exploring the ocean. This includes a variety of environments, from glacier water to deep wrecks. I create some educational content about underwater photography on YouTube. You can see more of my images on Instagram @maxime_underwater or on my website maximecheminade.com
BRUNON WALIGÓRA
MACIEJ SZCZEPAŃSKI
KLAUDYNA BRZOSTOWSKA
MAXIME CHEMINADE
ALEŠ KOŠTOMAJ
MICHAL ŠTROS
Mexico
JOURNEY TO THE INTERIOR OF THE EARTH
People can't fly because they don't believe they can. If they had not been shown that they could swim, to this day everyone would drown when thrown into the water.
Text ANNA SOŁODUCHA
Photos ZBIGNIEW ROGOZIŃSKI
Mexico is one of the few places on Earth where you can experience the feeling of flying. Free, independent, in the rays of sunlight. It is enough to just love diving. Simply.
The Yucatán Peninsula was a truly sleepy place until Jacques Cousteau visited it in 1960. On the Caribbean coast, on the quiet, shallow and white as sugar beaches, they fall in love, in the thickets of mangroves you can see flocks of exotic birds or feel the gaze of a cayman waiting for its victim, and cruise ships moor in ports – the same ones that a thousand years ago were used by the Maya. The interior of the peninsula is made up of agricultural towns set in the shadow of 16th-century monasteries. Each of the three states that make up the peninsula: Quintana Roo, Campache and the Yucatan Peninsula are a palette of archaeological sites hidden deep in the jungle. In this whole crucible of diversity, there is also the second largest coral reef in the world, and a system of underground rivers, lowlands and karst craters, or cenotes. This whole agglomeration has made Mexico one of the most desirable and popular tourist destinations in the world.
Cenotes have always caused mixed feelings among divers. It is often the case that the perception of these amazing diving sites is far from reality. People who do not like to dive in
volcanic places, within caves, grottos, without a reef environment – immediately remove Mexico from their list of selected diving destinations in the world... but are you sure diving on this unusual peninsula is not worth the sin?
Pangaea. One of the supercontinents means in Greek "all earth". As a huge mass of land in the Triassic period, i.e. about 200 million years ago, due to tectonic movements, it separated the present Yucatán from the Gulf of Mexico, maintaining its position to this day. About 40 million years ago, the peninsula was a beautiful developing coral reef beneath the water sur-
Mexico
Guatemala
Yucatan Peninsula
face. The Ice Age meant that the level of seas and oceans was constantly rising and falling, so at the same time – the peninsula was alternately emerging to the surface or was completely flooded with water. At a time when the water level was low, the process of creating underground caves began. Carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, dissolving in rainwater, formed carbonic acid. Due to the fact that the peninsula (from the point of view of geology) is made of sedimentary rocks, and more precisely of porous limestones, carbonic acid penetrated into the ground, dissolving in the rock, and then carving what we were going to dive to Mexico – caverns and tunnels of endless caves. Dissolved limestone penetrating (as dripping water) into dry caves, for thousands of years, formed incredibly beautiful stalatite and stalagmite formations. In 100 years one karst formation grows by 2.54 cm. After the end of the last ice age, about 8 thousand years ago, the ocean levels rose again, flooding the cave system. In the caves where the ceiling was above the level and were only partially flooded with water – a space with air was created. Such caves – partially filled with air in their upper part – at one point collapsed to form a reservoir, with a natural entrance to the underground river system left. This is how the cenote, i.e. a sinkhole was created, a circular depression of the terrain with vertical walls, filled with water, the mirror of which is at the level of the groundwater table. The Maya called the flooded caves "Dzonot" and the Spaniards called the "Cenote" (the well). From the practical point of view (for a pragmatist), "dzonot" is the only source of obtaining fresh water in the jungle, while the romantics will also find in its meaning a transition to the mystical, spiritual, magical underground world.
When going to Mexico, on the Yucatán Peninsula, we have a choice of several tourist destinations that are also a base for diving. Tulum, Puerto Aventuras, Akumal, Playa del Carmen
– it is there – depending on expectations, we usually decide to spend our diving holidays. Playa del Carmen is the second most popular resort on the Caribbean coast after Cancun. The local beach is located exactly in the city center. There are no multi-story buildings here, only low-rise buildings typical of a small town. It is one of the most cosmopolitan places in Mexico and the most exclusive resort of the Caribbean Sea. A large part of the hotels is covered with lush vegetation, which, combined with the restaurant serving breakfast on the beach, creates a truly Caribbean atmosphere. Playa del Carmen is bustling with life – the ubiquitous pubs serve Mexican delicacies – tacos, quesadilla, burrito, chili con care, nachos, enchiladas, always served with extremely spicy sauces made from various types of peppers, of which there are over 120 in Mexico alone! The streets are colorful and full of music, and tourists are sipping mohito, margarita or trying a variety of Mexican tequila. Peace and relief from the hustle and bustle can be found walking in the evenings along the coast of the Caribbean Sea, sitting on a pristine white beach with a bottle of cold beer...
The entire peninsula is "saturated" with diving centers because diving tourism in this place plays a key role in the country's economy. Playa Diving Center is a diving center with which we have been cooperating for many years, and the center itself has been in existence for over 20 years. Knowledge of cenotes, logistics and perfect organisation make diving trips to Mexico a permanent part of the calendar of our diving trips.
We reach the dive sites by pick-up cars, each group with its guide, who is also a driver. Depending on the selected cenote – the journey takes from 20 minutes to 1 hour. Most of the route is travelled on expressways, then we need to turn into a gravel road and... lose ourselves in the jungle. A huge limestone platform where water flows through underground
corridors has created thousands of holes in the ground, several hundred of which are between Cancun and Tulum, on the famous Riviera Maya. Since 1980, hundreds of cenotes have been explored, but their penetration continues. Today, the three longest underground corridor systems in the world are: Ox Bel Ha (129 km), Nohoch Nah Chich (61 km) and Dos Ojos (56 km). Mostly you dive in several different cenotes that belong to one – the main karst system. Despite such a large number of these reservoirs – only a small number, are available for recreational divers, and a bit larger – for cave divers. It is important to know the difference between cavern and cave diving. A cavern is defined as an area of a cave that is within the reach of natural sunlight, extending up to 60 m from the surface. Being a cave diver – we are already entering a system of corridors that are not reached by sunlight, and the tunnels stretch for kilometers...
If we decide to dive in these types of places, we must follow a few rules, which are discussed by the dive guides before the first dive in the cenote.
• When entering the water, always have the flashlight turned on – we turn it off only when leaving the cenote, or when – when the guide allows it during the dive, •Always stay within the reach of natural light,
• Do not exceed the distance of 60 m (length) from the entrance to the cavern,
• Follow permanent or temporary guidelines posted by a professional cavern diving guide
• Have at least one light source with you, preferably the main and backup one,
• Follow the rule of 1/3 of air consumption: 1/3 of the air in the cylinder one way, 1/3 for the return, 1/3 as a backup, •80 bar cylinder = end of dive,
• Maximum number of people in a group for 1 guide: 4 divers!
• We dive with raised legs (calves) up and we swim breast stroke,
• We do not dive in the Buddha system – we swim one after the other, following the guide and ropes,
• We dive without decompression!
Most of the dives in the cenotes take place at a depth of 7–15m, although as with every rule, there are exceptions. A good place to start diving in Mexico is the cenote of El Eden (Ponderosa). It is a large, beautifully situated cenote, reminiscent of a quarry or a charming lake. Its crystal clear water is a showpiece of the cenotes – here we do not have to worry about poor visibility... maybe only in some cases, but I will tell
more on that later on. Ponderosa is full of life hidden among large blocks of collapsed limestone covered with algae. You can come across molluscs, cichlids, freshwater eels and turtles there. What captivates divers from the very first moment is the incredible play of light – during the whole hour of diving, we swim in the rays of the sun, which are cut by branches and tree limbs, vines and algae wind everywhere, and when we swim through tunnels carved in the rock – we admire the first cave formations... The adjoining cenote is Tajma-ha, where diving is more like cave diving. Here, solar reflexes no longer accompany us throughout the entire dive. The dive goes through tunnels full of stalactites and stalagmites, where after turning off the flashlight it is completely dark. The corridors can be narrow, but they delight us with each new metre. Due to the topography of the route, constant depth changes are necessary here (here you will find out for sure at what level your buoyancy is). As we sail along the corridors, from time to time we notice natural skylights through which narrow beams of light fall into its interior. There are also fragments of tree branches resembling a landslide. In addition, in some cenotes we have the opportunity to emerge in the so-called air bubble in which… bats fly overhead. Impressions? Priceless!
Dos Ojos (meaning "two eyes") is one of the most famous corridor and cenote systems. As its name indicates, there are two entrances to the inside of the cave. The corridors are about 60 km long and are connected with 25 other cenotes. The special thing about this reservoir is that we make two dives in the same place, but in two different corridors. One route runs among the scenery of natural columns illuminated by the rays of natural sun, at a maximum depth of 18 m, while the other one leads to the cave – definitely darker and gloomier, full of stalactites and stalagmites, between which a group of bats is sleeping. This is one of the most popular cenotes, unfortunately often visited by crowds. Between dives we rest in the shadow of the jungle, and iguanas, sometimes snakes and spiders are sneaking aroud...
Dream Gate is a cenote similar to Dos Ojos – the accumulation of karst formations makes you dizzy! This beautiful cavern is part of one of the largest underwater cave systems, Sac Aktun. Due to the incredible number of delicate stalactites, stalagmites and columns found here, and the layer of mud that covers the bottom of quite tight and dark corridors, excellent buoyancy is necessary here. People with claustrophobia are not recommended to dive here, but if you already decide
Photo Łukasz Metrycki
on this diving spot – you will certainly not regret.
17 km from Tulum, in the middle of the jungle, there is a cenote different from anything else. It is called Angelita, or Ángel. The cenote was discovered in 1993. The diving place is a typical foiba, that is, a cenote not connected to any cave system. Angelita's cut-off from other caves meant that there was no water exchange. It has a diameter of 40–50 m and its depth reaches 60 m. Vertical walls stretch downwards and there is practically no rock protrusion here: diving takes place almost all the time in the depths. We begin to visit them them by descending to 40 m in complete darkness, where in the light of flashlights we notice fallen branches of trees. Gradually, we emerge to a depth of 28–30 m and suddenly we find ourselves on a cloud of hydrogen sulfide, which is clearly marked at a given depth. From the lake of sulfur fumes emerge branches of fallen trees and the top of a tulusu – a cone of rock material that comes from a cave's broken vault. Once again, we have an impression that we are flying!
One of the cenotes waiting for us in Mexico to visit it El Pit. It is very important to take into account the weather conditions when planning a dive in El Pit. On a sunny day, to the deepest cenote of Yucatán, rays of light shine through the 10 meter entrance hole. El Pit is a well descending 55 meters, with a layer of silvery mist and a tulus sticking out of the lake of mists like a mystical island! The gigantic cenote is merely a vestibule to the entire system. At the end of the narrow corridor leading from the bottom of the cenote, a much larger cavern opens at 104 m, leading to the deepest ever discovered place in the Dos Ojos system and Yucatán (119.1 m). Diving starts from a platform about 10 meters below the ground, to which there are quite steep steps. People who cannot strain their spine can lower their equipment down the elevator designed for divers, and after diving, pull it up again. While plunging into the water, at a depth of 10 meters, we come across a huge overhang with stalactites of various shapes and sizes. El Pit is definitely different from most cenotes – the size of the wells is staggering, and the constant play of light creates the perfect scenery for photographers. At
a depth of 30 m, we flow over a layer of hydrogen sulphide with dead trees. The ceiling is beautiful and has many stalactites at a height of about 12 m and a huge skyscraper. In addition, there is also the phenomenon of "halocline" – extremely popular and characteristic of dives in Mexican cenotes. Halocline is a phenomenon of fresh and salty water being mixed. Consequently, a shining effect is created which significantly reduces the transparency. Fresh water remains afloat because it is lighter than seawater. When you first swim through the halocline, you will get the impression of a mirage – a blurred image that disappears completely if we change the angle of our swim a bit. Don't worry – it's not nitrogen in our tissues.
Tak Be Lum and Tak Be Ha are recently discovered and little frequented cenotes, but they have so much mystery and magic… The entrance to Tak Be Lum is spectacular – a beautiful tree
grows through the entire cave, in which the cenote is located. The cenote is dark, but full of phenomenal dripstone forms resembling pointed castle towers, fossils, and moreover – in some places on the walls of Tak Be Ha we will see… crystals. In the air bubble, we once again encounter a herd of bats, spiders, and long, twisted ficus roots – which extend from the surface to the water level in the cenote!
Nicte Ha or Aktun Ha (Car wash) are cenotes that, apart from typical dripstone formations, enchant with lush and underwater vegetation, which is common in most caverns and caves in Yucatan. The colloquial name of the cenote "Car Wash", located near Tulum, comes from the fact that local taxi drivers used it to wash their cars. The site is a classic example of a water-filled funnel formation that looks like an exceptionally picturesque lake from the surface. After departing from
the open part of the cenote Aktun, we swim through a natural barrier of tree roots and leaves that separates the shallow pond and the deeper sections of the cave. Behind the curtain you can admire beautiful rock formations in the crystal clear water. In one part of the pond, there are living algae formations for which this cenote is known. They are largely responsible for creating brilliant lighting effects. Among the lush vegetation here, you can see a wide variety of aquatic animals such as molluscs, fish and turtles! At the end, we see a breathtaking "garden" of water lilies, safely separated by a railing. We will see a very similar scenery in Nicte Ha, which means "water flower" in the Mayan language, precisely because of the water lilies growing in this reservoir.
Diving in the cenote of El Zapote turned out to be a real jewel in the crown. Ruta de los Cenotes is a group of ceno-
tes that are located 15 to 25 km west of Puerto Morelos, some 36 km south of Cancun. There are such cenotes as: El Zapote, Tortugas, Maravilla or Siete Bocas. All these cenotes are foibas, or karst wells cut off from the system. They are characterized by a considerable depth, a small diameter entrance and a very thick halocline layer. These cenotes contain large amounts of hydrogen sulphide, which is the result of the decomposition of organic matter from the ta-
luses. El Zapote is an absolutely unique dive site. Cenote was discovered by Vincente Fito – a famous explorer and enthusiast of diving. The official name of this place comes from the trees that grow around the entrance to the cenote. The water surface is 6 meters below the ground level and there are wooden stairs leading to it. This place is located in a park (of the same name) that is eagerly visited by tourists, which is why it is full of attractions (jumping platforms, zip lines, traces of Mayan culture) and amenities (bathrooms, toilets, showers). What makes Zapote a unique place are completely different karst formations than we will see in all other cenotes. Hells Bells are inverted limestone cones resembling bells. At a depth of 29 m below the water level, the walls of the cenote diverge almost horizontally, forming a dome 60 to over 100 m wide. Between 30 and 35 meters, specific biochemical conditions allowed the karst formations to grow. The structures resemble bells, lampshades or trumpets in longitudinal and round, elliptical or horizontal cross-section, resembling a horseshoe. Diving surrounded by these amazing structures, reaching 2 meters in length (and constantly growing!), is unforgettable! Hells Bells are firmly attached to the
Photo Arkadiusz Majewski
Photo Łukasz Metrycki
ground, which is the horizontal roof of the cave dome, and are the product of archaea – single-celled, related to bacteria, living in a calcareous environment. It is a unique place on a global scale! El Zapote became even more famous due to the discovery of the skeleton of a large representative of the Pleistocene megafauna by the aforementioned Vincente Fito. The skeleton, on closer inspection, turned out to be a giant sloth. The fossilized bones lay between 50 and 55 meters
deep. The remains of Pleistocene sloths are of course quite frequent finds on the Yucatán Peninsula. It should be noted that huge sloths from flooded caves on the Riviera Maya are usually assigned to the species Nothrotheriops shastensis. However, a team of scientists led by Sarah R. Stinessbeck, who examined the remains of a Pleistocene creature from the El Zapote cenote, identified a completely new species in it. Archaeologists from around the world have come to Mexico to study the 5-meter skeleton. Thus, El Zapote – has become one of the most interesting cenotes in Yucatán, and I no longer associate Hells Bells with the song AC/DC...
The Yucatán Peninsula is a land without lakes and rivers in the standard sense, yet covered with tropical forest. They are powered by a system of groundwater, formed from precipitation soaking through porous, calcareous rocks. In places, the thin limestone cover collapses, then the waters rise to the surface – dark green lakes or shallow, turquoise lagoons are formed. There are about 3,000 of these forms –discovered so far, but only a small number is intended for recreational divers. Once upon a time, the water in the cenotes for the Maya rain god "Chaca" was sacred. For us (scuba divers) – nowadays – it is the greatest and most appropriate reason to visit Mexico. This is the only place on Earth where the water is so clear that we have the impression of gliding between stalagmites, stalactites and stalagnates. It is a place where geology and diving occupy a very important position, where entertainment, modernity and tourism mingle with the land of ghosts, magic, mysterious ancient Mayan cities.
“But I understand it now. – What do you understand? – How the birds fly. And why they love it.“
Mexico is not described – people believe in Mexico with passion.
What is Waves&Ice?
Text KLAUDYNA BRZOSTOWSKA
Waves&Ice is a film project documenting an Icelandic expedition in which 6 exceptional women were involved.
We all share a passion for extreme sports and water. Each of us loves to spend time in the water and capture our image of the world on a camera. The result of the two-week trip is a short documentary about women who met in Iceland and travel through the country together following their passions. The aim of the project is the emancipation of the female sex in the outdoor environment. In recent years, a lot of documents have been written about people who
live for their passions. The vast majority of stories are told by men, about men and for men. This time, a film is being made about the strength and determination of women who make a place for themselves in male-dominated environments.
Director Sabine M. Probst invited 5 women to the project: ` surfers and snowboarders: Elín Signý Ragnarsdóttir (@elinsigny), Ana Geppart (@anageppert)
` photographers: Berglind Jóhannsdóttir (@iamberglind), Julia Ochs (@juliaochsphoto)
` and Polish diving instructor and videographer: Klaudyna Brzostowska (@waterographyk)
In April 2021 we flew to our destination. After several cancelled flights and a 5-day quarantine, the female crew went on
Photo Julia Ochs
Photo Berglind Jóhannsdóttir
their way. We set off in campervans, going round Iceland by famous road number 1. Iceland is a land of fire and ice that gives no warnings. During our roadtrip, we experienced an arctic storm, during which the wind reached speeds of up to 216 km/h. Elin and Beglind kept their cool, and their strength and determination motivated me to continue driving. We made it, we found the shelter after several hours of crazy driving. Only after this experience did I understand how much the weather influences the daily choices and behaviour of Icelanders. Travelling around this country is all like that, and although all plans are constantly adapted to the current meteorological forecasts – sometimes such surprises do happen. The motivation to get from Reykjavik to the east and then north was high. All this with the aim of finding the best waves, dream diving spots and pristine snowboarding routes.
ICY BATHS AND THE GROUND SWELL
5:00 in the morning, we are sitting in the cars and looking at the sea. Finding the perfect waves to surf is a challenging mission. You never know if the forecasts will come true. There are many factors that make a perfect wave – the ground swell (or swell): the direction and period between waves, the wind, the ground, and of course the number of people in the water. The surfing environment in Iceland is very intimate, everyone knows each other and the arrival of even one new person in the water is an event. We were very pleased with the fact that in recent years more and more women have been "catching" the waves there. Elín was one of Iceland's first female surfers, and now she is looking for more enthusiasts. Ana and Elín get dressed first and wax their surfboards by the vans. Julia and I jump into the wetsuits and prepare the cameras by putting them in special cases. Sabine and Berglind take pictures from the mainland. They line up on a hill and look for the perfect frame – snow, mountains, sea and a surfer on the wave.
Our daily ritual during the trip was swimming in the sea. Regardless of the weather, we jumped into the water with photographic equipment. Depending on the place, our goal was to either freeze ;) or take pictures of surfers, the texture of the water and the breathtaking scenery.
Photo Sabine M. Probst
Photo Berglind Jóhannsdóttir
Personally, I love cold waters, but each time it is a challenge that I always decide to meet. It's ghastly cold at first. Then, thanks to increased activity (I swim non-stop, kick with my fins, run away from the breaker zone) and increased focus while filming and taking pictures, the cold disappears. Adrenaline and endorphins remain. Deep and regular breaths help me calm down and survive the next wave of the feeling of freezing. Fortunately, this also passes, and the feeling of satisfaction and joy remains.
DIVING
My goal during the Waves & Ice expedition was to dive in the Thingvellir National Park. Probably my passion for winter and
icy waters is the reason why this place is so important to me. Since I started diving it was on my list. I started my diving career in 2016 in tropical waters. One day, while working in Indonesia, a colleague mentioned Iceland and diving in the cleanest waters in the world. He told me about a dry suit, a pile of stones, a great visibility – he outlined to me a picture of the famous Silfra. Since then, I dreamt of diving into the icy waters there. This became my little obsession. When I got proposals to participate in the project – I knew there would be no better opportunity. I bought a ticket to Iceland.
WHAT IS (NOT) SILFRA?
The Thingvellir National Park Area (UNESCO) is part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the longest mid-ocean ridge on Earth. It is an unusual place where two tectonic plates meet – Eurasian and North American. Every year the distance between the plates increases by about 2 cm. Silfra is one of the many fissures in Lake Thingvellir that lies at the junction between tectonic plates. It is not true that while diving in Silfra you touch both plates. It's a marketing gimmick and an Instagram faux pas that tourists commit. However, this does not change the fact that Silfra is a unique rift. It is filled with crystalline water that bursts into this rift through an open spring of melting water from the Langjökull glacier, Iceland's second largest glacier. This is why there is such clean water and visibility which reaches more than 100 m. Silfra is considered the cleanest diving site in the world.
And so after a few years of dreaming of this particular rift in Iceland, I dived in 2°C, in crystal clear water, surrounded only
Photo Julia Ochs
Photo Julia Ochs
by large stones. A very intimate environment that aroused a lot of emotions in me. With one part of Silfry – called the Cathedral – I was particularly delighted. It is a relatively deep, majestic and respectful place. Silfra definitely has something mystical in itself – it is fascinating and silencing. Many divers in Iceland say that there is no retreat from diving in icy waters: it is addictive and later it is difficult to dive elsewhere. When I survived it and felt this adrenaline rush, I understood exactly what they meant.
MUTUAL INSPIRATION
Several days of expedition turned out to be an unforgettable adventure, during which overcoming difficulties together and inspiring each other turned out to be the most important elements of the project. It's an honour to share what you love most with other women who show excitement and determination to fulfill their dreams. And that's why this video was made – to show other people that it's worth leaving home, looking for and following your passions. I hope we can inspire other women to take up extreme sports and crate bonds based on support, not competition.
Special thanks to Polish companies that decided to support the Waves&Ice project. Thank you GRALmarine for lending me the equipment that allowed me to illuminate my underwater pictures. Thanks to ECN Diving Systems for putting BARE ultra warm drysuit at my disposal so I could stay in icy waters for longer. Thank you BlueArrow Patagonia Agent Polska for supporting the expedition with your products.
My diving adventure in Spain began a bit by accident. I have been visiting this country for many years, visiting various regions practically every year. I was delighted by Cantabria, Rioja, Andalusia and Catalonia. The Canary Islands also turned out to be interesting.
Everywhere I have always experienced a great hospitality and openness of its fantastic inhabitants, and that is probably what amazed me the most in this country. I got to know the Spanish language a bit and I was captivated by its melody, it allowed me to make great acquaintances that I cultivate to this day. It makes that all memories are still alive and very emotional.
When I visited Catalonia for the first time in Lloret de Mar, while walking down the street next to the diving centre, I heard Polish. It turned out, that one of the women working there was
Polish. After a few sentences mentioned together, I decided to dive with rented equipment. The owner of Dolphins Diving is Sergio Infante, who immediately took me for a dive in Tossa de Mar to a small cave at a depth of 20 m. On the way, I met a few moray eels and a magnificent grouper. In the following years, I returned to Sergio with my own equipment for the next fantastic dives, e.g. the wreck of the Boreas ship at 30 m in Palamos, the canyon at Cap de Sa Boquera in Canyelles, or for very difficult dives in the post-storm wave to the cave Cova del Dofi at a depth of 30m in Sant Feliu de Guixols and other
wonderful places. It was amazing to dive in Lloret de Mar on St. John's night in June in flashes of fireworks on the surface. There is a huge accommodation base at good prices, available through e.g. bookingcom. It is best to go to Catalonia by plane to Girona, rent a car there at the airport and then, being mobile, to explore the enchanting coast of this region. You must see Barcelona, Cadaqués, Begur and Tossa de Mar.
There are also brilliant dives at L'Estartit in the Medes Islands Reserve, which were already covered in the previous PD issue. I strongly encourage you to meet there with the greatest groupers I have ever seen in my life among the rainbow fields of gorgonians.
Another place that I visit regularly is Andalusia in the Malaga area. This time, also using bookingcom, I found a perfect place to stay in Benalmádena. The aparthotel BenalBeach is located directly on the promenade and has its own water park and is situated close to the wonderful park Parque de la Paloma, where animals are on the loose. I recommend this place to divers who travel with their family and children. You will not be bored there!
This time the dives were planned much earlier and due to their photographic nature, I asked for a guide only for myself, so as not to inhibit the group. Of course, this was associated with higher costs, but the price was acceptable. I used the Simly Diving base next to Torremolinos, where I met an amazingly nice dive master named Martin Dias from South Africa. He is an extremely pragmatic man and familiar with the conditions prevailing there. I chose to dive in the Marina del Este bay reserve next to La Herradura, where the Sierra Nevada Mountains get into the Mediterranean Sea creating steep walls and corridors among fallen boulders and stones. This
place is under strict protection, and the animals living there are regularly fed, which means that we can be sure of meeting them in a natural and not plundered environment. Diving logistics is usually perfectly organised.
After the morning check-in at the base and completing the formalities, we take the bus with packed equipment to the planned diving site, stopping on the way for a short break for breakfast in a local restaurant. You go to the coast along a steep serpentine up the hillside among flowery properties. There is a large parking lot on site with a place to prepare equipment and photographic equipment. You can dive in the bay on its left side, where the bottom drops near the walls to about 18–20 m, and on the right side, which in my opinion is more interesting, where you have to walk a bit and swim on the surface, which is tiring but rewarded with fantastic views of huge sunken boulders forming a labyrinth that leads to the edge of the bay and the open sea at a point called Puna de la Mona, where you can meet large fish swimming, such as sunfish (Mola Mola), although quite deep at about 20–30 m. It is worth considering choosing a 15-liter cylinder due to the distance to be covered underwater. Of course, I recommend
a drysuit for thermal comfort. The annual water temperature ranges from 14 to 28°C. In May and June it was about 19–20°C, and below 15 m the depth will be only a maximum of 16°C. We do two dives with a lunch break included.
Remember to hydrate properly and, especially on warm days, it is worth taking 3 litres of water.
As my passion is underwater photography, I asked Martin to focus on animals. I was very surprised by his knowledge of the environment and fauna of this bay. Virtually every now and then we came across new animals. There are octopuses, cuttlefish, crawfish, shrimps, crabs, tubulars, groupers, wrasses, scorpion fish and lots of other fish. Particularly noteworthy is the multitude of species and a big number of nudibranchs, which are the icing on the cake for a macro photographer. You usually have to take into account the undulations in this bay, up to 15m deep, which makes photography very difficult. It is worth equipping yourself with a pointer and stabilising your position in sand or rock crevices. Move with great care, maintaining perfect buoyancy with non-falling equipment (e.g. console, octopus) in order not to damage the environment. I would suggest swimming close to boulders so as not to miss
the perfect camouflage of animals. Transparency in the water (visage) reaches 10–20 m depending on the weather and currents. There is a lot of slurry and plankton. It is worth taking a good light with you and of course a compass so as not to get lost in the maze of boulders covered with multi-coloured carpets of algae, sponges and corals. Pausing with attention for
a moment, you can see the extraordinary richness of life up close, even on a fragment of a rock with a palm surface.
As in the case of Catalonia, it is good to go to Malaga by plane. Here, too, I encourage you to rent a car at the airport that will allow you to visit the south of Spain and jump into the water. I recommend a visit to Granada in the Alhambra palace and gardens, it is worth seeing the town of Ronda north of Malaga. In Benalmádena itself there is a beautiful sailing marina and the old part of the town called Benalmádena Pueblo. It is also close to Marbella and Gibraltar. On the coast there is the beautiful town of Nerja, and next to Torrox, where there is the Black Frog Divers diving base run by our Polish colleague Marcin Ogrodowski. They carry out recreational and training dives from the shore and from the boat, also in the described bay of Marina del Este. Night dives that guarantee meetings with predators are also a very good idea.
I am already thinking about another vacation in Spain, although the situation related to travel restrictions due to Covid does not encourage to take such decisions. However, I hope that everything will be back to normal soon and you will be able to enjoy diving and meeting friends again.
FINALLY, SOME USEFUL AND PRACTICAL INFORMATION:
` The average cost of accommodation in a 3–4 person apartment is 60–70 €/ day
` The average cost of buying food is low.
` The cost of renting a car in B / C class is 15–30 € / day + deposit insurance (you can have your own), by purchasing the fullcasco option on site, you will certainly get a new car and free yourself from any problems.
I recommend Firefly Car Rental – https://spain.fireflycarrental.com Public bus transport also works great on site.
DIVING BASES:
` Lloret de Mar, Dolphins Diving, Sergio Infante – http://dolphinsdivingcenter.com
` Marbella and Torremolinos, Simply Diving, Simon Bell – https://www.simplydiving.com
` Torrox, Black Frog Divers, Marcin Ogrodowski – https://www.blackfrogdivers.com
My Attersee
Text and photos MAXIME CHEMINADE
Corrected by DORIS
ASCHAUER
When I arrived in Austria a few years ago, it never crossed my mind that this could be an amazing place to dive. Missing the ocean, I decided to give the lakes a chance... and what I discovered blew my mind.
With more than 300 freshwater lakes Austria offers plenty of opportunities for beginners and experienced divers. But one lake has always stood out for me – Attersee.
Attersee is one of the largest lakes of Austria, situated in Upper-Austria. It has more than 24 official dive sites and with its depth of 169 meters it allows for a wide range of diving.
The dive sites are all accessible from shore. At each of them you can find a detailed map of the place you are about to dive, showing you the points of interest. At most dive sites you can find parking lots and toilets close to the entry points. Some even have a restaurant, making it the perfect place to enjoy a drink or a meal after diving.
The visibility in the lake reaches 35 to 40 meters at its peak in winter and 10 to 25 meters in summer. The water temperature at the surface ranges from 4°C during winter to 23°C in the summer months. However, a few meters below the surface the temperature quickly drops below 10°C.
Wildlife starts its activity in spring and thrives during summertime. Arctic and lake char, carp, trout, perches, and pikes can be found at most dive sites. Attersee is not only rich in fish, but also in vegetation. Dive sites such as Kohlbauernaufsatz give you the opportunity to explore a variety of both. At the
Plant sidemount
Attersee
Salzburg Vienna
beginning of May you might even see trees blossoming underwater, making for quite a fascinating spectacle.
There is plenty of history in Attersee. Archaeological surveys uncovered prehistoric pile dwellings dated to the 2nd century BC. While theses sites are classed UNESCO World Heritage and not open to divers, reconstructions can be explored at dive sites Hinkelsteine, Dixi and Hausboot. Like in an underwater museum, information signs with facts about the pile dwellings can be found in various languages.
On the east side of the lake at the dive site Dixi the reconstruction of a stilt house waits to be discovered at around 9 meter depth. Always take a look under the house, plenty of small fish love to hide here in the dark. Close by at 22 meters depth sits the Dixi sailboat, where large pikes can be seen.
If you decide to go to the west side of the lake, the dive site HausBoot has a lot to offer. It got its name from a sunken pleasure barge which is not only one of the highlights of this dive site, but also the literal translation of the word HausBoot. A short swim from the wreck another reconstitution of an UNESCO site can be explored, the pile-dwelling underwater forest. Both of theses points
Dixi with information pannel
Dixi outside
HausBoot
Splitshot
of interest are suitable for beginners, however experienced divers will find them worth a visit as well.
With its maximum depth of 169 meters Attersee is a paradise for technical divers. As technical diving is becoming more and more popular, helium based blends are now available in local dive centres.
The most popular dive site for dives beyond recreational limits is Schwarze Brücke. It got its name "black bridge" from the colour of the water under the bridge, which always appears deep black, even in summer when the shore of the lake is sparkling in turquoise colours. Right when entering the water you are welcomed by impressive rock formations and after only a few minutes your dive continues along a breathtaking wall. At around 20 meters depth, European eel can be found hiding in small cracks. This dive site is popular thanks to the myth of a maximum depth greater than 150 meters. While the wall ends at roughly 60 meters, reaching 100 meters is possible by continuing towards the centre of the lake. At these depths, the remains of a 1942 VW Kübelwagen (a light military vehicle) can be found.
Even after years of diving Attersee, it never ceases to amaze me, which is why it became one of my favourite places to dive in Austria.
With its large potential for adventures it is the perfect spot for any dive holiday in Europe.
Underwater forrest
Snoot in underwater photography
Text and photos MICHAL ŠTROS
"Madonna and Child"
Shooting in locations optimal for taking macro shots is conducive to fascinating encounters with the smallest and usually the most isolated inhabitants of the seas on the planet.
Most of these monsters or tiny beauties are seen on unremarkable, often litter-covered sandy bottoms.
The photographed objects are not only filigree, but also sometimes effectively masked with algae or sponges of similar colours and textures. In such a situation, it is worth having a so-called "snoot" (a conical tube) – a special attachment installed on an external strobe in order to illuminate the object itself, avoiding the disturbing background. Snoot gives the photo a black background, which builds drama, brings out the colour, contrast and vividness. Shadows are also created to enhance the creative qualities of photos.
The first individually constructed snoots looked like funnels and reduced the illuminated surface of the subject. Over time,
snoots evolved and a laser was added to commercial devices to better locate the direction of the light beam (this type of conical tube did not use the pilot light of the strobe to locate the direction of the beam). The size of the holes was limited by a series of bolted tubes of different diameters. Although the operation in domestic conditions seemed simple, there was a problem under the water, how not to lose individual tubes and be able to possibly quickly screw them back into each other. The surface illuminated by the strobe using these snoots was relatively large and its shape was not a perfect circle, had no sharp edges and the laser often left red points in the photo. Other snoots used two optical fibres to conduct the light from the strobe. Although this seemed beneficial, it was difficult to aim both snoots at a given motif.
Each such conical tube is, however, constructed in such a way that it does not produce light, but only allows the light beam to be focused and directed. The highest quality snoots cannot limit the intensity of the light, because then they must be compensated by a higher sensitivity (ISO) or a larger aperture. These types of compensations can lead to increased noise and too much contrast in the photo. In my opinion, the best commercially available snoot at the moment is the "RETRA LSD Ultimate Light Shaping Device" (RETRA for short, www. retra-uwt.com), an optical lens system that transmits the light
Snoot RETRA LSD Ultimate attached to the YS-D1 Sea & Sea strobe
without reducing its intensity. The RETRA interchangeable snoot masks have different diameters and creative patterns to define the size and shape of the light beam. The masks slide extremely easily and quickly into the snoot slot and can be changed in no time underwater. Each mask is equipped with a magnet and there are also two magnets on the RETRA side, so you can temporarily store unused templates there. RETRA has worked great for me and it proved to be a product with high quality finishes. The shooting distance from the main motif in the case of RETRA – compared to other snoots – is relatively large (about 15 cm or more, measured from the front edge of the snoot), which is a huge advantage for very shy creatures. RETRA can be mounted on the strobe with the use of easy-touse clasp and holds very stable.
Although the principle of operation of the conical tube is extremely simple, its perfect application is a completely different story. For this reason, in this article I will try to describe not only the difficulties of underwater shooting with snoot, but also how to effectively deal with these limitations.
WHEN IS IT WORTH USING SNOOT AND WHEN IS IT BETTER TO GIVE IT UP?
Although focusing and directing the light beam with a snoot can produce astonishingly interesting results, sometimes underwater conditions are not ideal for snoot photography. These include in particular intense sunlight or strong currents. The pilot light passing through the conical tube indicates where exactly the object will be illuminated, but trying to see it in the sunlight will most likely be futile – especially around noon at depths up to 10 m. Believe me, when you shoot with a snoot, it is hard to be more frustrated than when you try to look at the sandy bottom, where your pilot light is precisely directed, and you cannot see anything as the rays of the tropical sun are constantly flashing over your head. At depths from 15 meters down, the sunlight is less intense, so that the pilot light of the strobe is easy to see even during the day. At small depths (up to 10 m) I recommend using snoot with pilot light only early in the morning or late in the afternoon. In addition to better visibility of the pilot light, there is another reason why it is worth
Canon 80D in Ikelite Underwater casing and Snoot RETRA LSD Ultimate attached to YS-D1 Sea & Sea strobe
photographing with snoot in the morning or late afternoon. During the day, at depths below 15 m, in sunny weather, you need to set a shorter shutter speed of 1/250s and a larger aperture (f/16-29) to obtain a black background. For this reason, it is difficult to achieve an out-of-focus background by setting a small lens aperture (f/2.8-4) without overexposing the photo at the same time. All these considerations come down to the conclusion that the best visibility of the pilot light and the most favourable snoot orientation (regardless of the diving depth) are obtained during night dives.
Another obstacle in snoot photography is turbulent and foamy water (and all currents). Even though my diving friend or guide assisted me with directing a narrow beam of pilot light in such conditions, the uninterrupted surge was a real nightmare for me – not only because of the need to hold the camera steadily, but above all because of the need for perfect focus on the smallest objects like e.g. two-millimeter eyes or rhinophores.
LOCATING THE SNOOT
Basically, the snoot can be placed over, in front of or on the
side of the object. When the strobe is installed on adjustable arms, the mobility of the mounted snoot is severely restricted. In practice, this means that the clamps must be loosened and re-attached in a constant and highly impractical way each time the snoot is positioned. For this reason, I prefer to mount the strobe on the camera handle with the possibility of triggering it with a button. The final positioning of the strobe over the subject is then carried out with my left hand, while my right hand holds the camera and operates the trigger. If you have the opportunity to use your diving partner's help to precisely manipulate the snoot and position it, under favourable circumstances you will get rid of one problem. The big disadvantage, however, is that your diving partner will not be able to guess what you see in the viewfinder, and all this greatly increases the risk of improper lighting. Another downside is the loss of the ability to illuminate only selected parts of the subject, which would usually lead to stunningly creative underwater photos. Sometimes it is impossible to predict at all whether snoot will work in a given location full of macro motifs. In addition, during the dive, it often happens that the conditions change (e.g. currents, turbulent and foaming water or intense sunlight
On the hunt (yellow fish yellow angler fish)
Nudibranch Thecacera sp.
at a shallow depth) or you simply decide to photograph something else that is not suitable for snoot. For this reason, I always have two strobes attached to my camera casing – on the left side with a snoot and on the right side only with a diffuser. To take pictures without snoot, I place the right strobe above the camera casing or on the right side, at a different distance from the lens. Snoot photography, however, is not only limited to macro shots, but is also used for impressive wide-angle underwater shots with fisheye lenses. In these cases, the left strobe with a snoot is used to intentionally illuminate an interesting, smaller foreground subject, creating contrast with a dimly lit background (the right strobe is turned off completely or set to low light intensity).
SETTING THE STROBE INTENSITY
To get a black background, I set the shutter speed to 1/1501/250s (depending on the macro lens type) and use an aperture of f/11-29. Occasionally, however, I use a deliberately small aperture (f/2.8-5.6) to achieve the effect of a blurred background. Since I set the strobe intensity manually, I first shoot a few randomly selected motifs using different inten-
sity light in order to obtain optimal lighting. Sometimes I also move the snoot away from the motif without changing the intensity of the light. I do all these tests at the beginning of the dive, before I start the actual shooting. Later I only apply slight adjustments to camera settings, light intensity and snoot distance to the subject.
IMAGE EDITING
I take all underwater photos in RAW file format and then process them at home in Camera Raw and Photoshop (Adobe). In Camera Raw, I first balance white and then adjust the exposure, contrast, light and shadows, texture changes, clarity, and colour balance. In later steps, I continue processing, e.g. by cleaning the background, increasing sharpness and cropping photos in Photoshop (all photos in this article were taken on Bali – Seraya Secret / Melasti / Amed and Padangbai with a Canon 80D camera with 60mm or 100mm macro lenses, with strobe YS-D1 Sea & Sea and RETRA LSD Ultimate Snoot).
FINALLY, A PIECE OF GOOD ADVICE
Underwater (macro) photography has never been as flexible,
Nudibranch Flabellina sp.
Chapiteau (squat shrimp Thor amboinensis)
creative, versatile and relatively simple as it is using a snoot. Nevertheless, it is worth getting acquainted with snoot photography first in ideal conditions, for example in a swimming pool, and then try to take such pictures in the sea. Nevertheless, you should be patient if you want to become the authors of beautiful underwater photos – not only with the use of a snoot. To do this, you must take dozens of photos of the same object. The best results can only be achieved by following the well-known proverb: "Practice makes perfect".
More information about the author is available on his website: www.michalstros.cz
German translation by Alina Lizakowska
In every
Zeagle has your back.
Nudibranch Doto greenamyeri
Static apnoea
PERFORMANCE FACTORS
ABSTRACT
Ever since the first deep diving competitions were organized, there has been debate about when the ultimate limits of human apnoeic performance will be reached, and which factors will determine these limits. Divers have thus far surpassed all former predictions by physiologists in depth and time. The common factor for all competitive apnoea disciplines is apnoeic duration, which can be prolonged by any means that increase total gas storage or tolerance to asphyxia, or reduce metabolic rate. These main limiting factors can be broken down further into several physiological or psychophysiological factors, which are identified in this article.
INTRODUCTION
The word apnoea is derived from the Greek word a-pnoia and means “without breathing”. The very origin of the word has no connection with water but in modern terminology the word apnoea is used as a synonym for breath-hold diving or free-div-
ing. This means submerging under water without additional external devices which would allow for breathing.
With practice, one can make progress in breath-hold diving very quickly. Unfortunately, the methods and strategies of such diving are less known in the scientific field i.e. to scientists and are difficult to explain because they are currently difficult to research in the aquatic environment with existing technology.
STATIC APNOEA
Success in static apnoea depends solely on holding one’s breath, since a diver rests on a pool’s water surface in a relaxed manner. The ability of holding one’s breath is the basis of all other disciplines and methods of diving. There are three factors which determine the limit of holding one’s breath:
1. total amount of oxygen (O2) in the body (lungs, blood, and tissues);
2. ability to overcome hypoxia (deprivation of oxygen) and hypercapnia (excess of carbon dioxide);
3. metabolic rate.
Competition in static apnoea
Text and photos ALEŠ KOŠTOMAJ
1. Total amount of oxygen in the body lungs
Large lung volume has been repeatedly described as a differentiating factor among breath-hold divers. The usefulness of large lungs is known both in static apnoea as well as in deep dives or other deep disciplines. One study established the average vital lung capacity (VC) of 7.3 liters in 14 top divers which is about two liters more than in the control group’s subjects of similar age and body shape. The individual VC of top divers is related to their diving performance. This leads to the question of whether the enlarged lung volume is due to self-selection or whether it reflects the changes caused by practice. VC generally increases with growing up, however, numerous studies show that specific practice may increase VC. Other parallel studies also show high effectiveness of swimming practice and exposure to high altitude on lung volume.
influence of various breathing techniques
Lung packing (the glossopharyngeal insufflation maneuver) is a commonly used method to effectively increase lung volume. Normal maximal inspiration is determined by maximal contraction of the inspiratory muscles and thorax, and by lung compliance. By using the oral cavity and tongue to press small amounts of extra air down into the lungs, which are already filled with maximum inhalation, the diver can increase its volume by up to 4 liters. The disadvantage of this maneuver is the consequent increase in pressure in the lungs which reduces venous inflow and can lead to loss of consciousness if the diver does not dive in time. The extra volume of air will prolong apnoea by providing additional stored oxygen (O2) and
by diluting the carbon dioxide (CO2) obtained from the blood. In combination with specific thorax stretching exercises, lung packing can also be used in practice as a method to increase lung volume. However, packing should not be the main mechanism for long-term increasing of lung volume.
blood
Blood is a liquid tissue whose function is, among others, to carry O2. It consists of the intravascular fluid or blood plasma, and blood cells. O2 and CO2 are transported via red blood cells or erythrocytes. The red blood cells are the most numerous among blood cells. Most of oxygen (98%) is carried bound to hemoglobin in red blood cells while a small part of it is dissolved in the blood itself. The amount of blood in diving mammals is higher than in other groups of mammals. In seals and sea lions, blood represents 10–20% of their body weight, while it amounts to only 7–8% in terrestrial mammals. Human blood volume can be increased by increasing plasma as an adjustment to endurance and heat training. The increase in erythrocytes will consequently have a small effect on the overall increase in O2 volume in the body. Short-term changes are caused by splenic contraction in apnoea and hypoxic respiration.
Top breath-hold divers have higher levels of hemoglobin in their blood than cross-country skiers and people not training. The reasons for that lie either in their practice of breath-hold diving or in their self-selection. The number of erythrocytes in blood is regulated via erythropoietin (EPO) which is produced by hypoxic kidneys. It is known that exposure to higher altitudes increases the production of erythropoietin. Less than a decade ago, however, it was shown that the erythropoietin
Static apnoea
production is also increased by practicing breath-hold diving. With more intense and specific breath-hold diving practice and a diet high in iron, hemoglobin levels can be further increased, leading to higher capacity of O2 transport and CO2 removal. Breath-hold diving, and deep diving in particular, can cause stronger stimuli than altitude for erythropoietin formation.
spleen contraction
Spleens of diving mammals are an additional storage site for erythrocytes. This stock is activated with prolonged apnoea. Spleen contraction in humans in apnoea was first observed in ama-divers (traditional breath-hold divers in Asia who collect pearls and shells). Less than a decade ago, it was found that the best breath-hold divers also have the largest spleens with a volume of up to 600 ml. The difference in contraction between the smallest and largest spleen in elite breath-hold divers corresponded to 30 s of apnoea duration. Spleen contraction is an active contraction process caused in part by hypoxia and not due to the diving reflex, as it requires multiple breath-holding dives to fully develop.
tissue
first phase lasts until the onset of spontaneous contraction of the respiratory muscles (the start of CO2 accumulation). Spontaneous contractions of the respiratory muscles cause discomfort and psychological burden, and as such also mark the boundary between the two stages of apnoea. The second phase, however, also depends on individual motivation and endurance. It has been shown, that long-term practice of apnoea affects not only the duration of apnoea but it also prolongs the duration of the first, initial phase.
O2 accumulated in tissues is also an important source of O2 for aerobic metabolism. Tissues store only 2–3% of O2 which is stored in the body. It is the most abundant in myoglobin (Mb) in muscles. In marine mammals the levels of myoglobin can be 10 times higher than in terrestrial mammals. Myoglobin in muscles is important in all forms of breath-hold diving, in particular in dynamic disciplines (swimming distance).
2. Ability to overcome hypoxia and hypercapnia
phases of apnoea
The duration of apnoea depends on the ability to overcome hypoxia and hypercapnia. A mild respiratory response to CO2 has been reported in submarine rescue instructors, ama-divers, and underwater hockey players. In people who do not dive, however, CO2 is the predominant factor in stimulating respiration and stopping apnoea. Divers can tolerate higher levels of hypercapnia and hypoxia.
Apnoea is divided into two phases: the initial ‘easy-going’ phase without the necessity of inhalation, and the final struggle phase, in which the accumulation of CO2 is the main reason for the gradually stronger need for inhalation. The
The majority of inexperienced divers break the apnoea at the beginning of the struggle phase. Elite breath-hold divers distinguish as many as three phases of apnoea: the second struggle phase is followed by the third, fighting phase in which the desire to breathe is further increased by the combined stimuli of hypercapnia and hypoxia. In this stage, divers do not relax but use muscular strength to maintain apnoea. Developed psychological tolerance to strong contractions of the respiratory muscles in the last, fighting phase is crucial for successful static apnoea. It can only be improved with longterm practice.
Divers use hyperventilation in various forms to lower the CO2 content in the body and prolong the first phase of apnoea. However, hyperventilation represents an increased risk of loss of consciousness, as the O2 level does not increase to the same extent as the CO2 level decreases, and thus the risk of unconsciousness at the end of apnoea is increased. Hyperventilation is, therefore, not recommended.
hypoxia and brain function
Numerous studies show that practicing apnoea lowers the required level of O2 needed by the brain. During competition divers often experience a hypoxic loss of movement control and sometimes even lose consciousness, but they
Competition in static apnoea
quickly recover with the help of their safety diver. However, the question arises as to whether this causes any longterm damage of brain functions. Studies of neural functions of breath-hold divers have not shown bad long-term effects of apnoea practice on brain functions, which is thought to be due to regulation of protective stress proteins. At present there is no evidence that loss of consciousness in apnoea is harmful to the human brain. Many divers who partake in competitions know where their individual hypoxic limit is and that only prolonged apnoea training can move this limit towards a higher value.
3. Metabolic rate
The third limiting factor for the duration of apnoea is the intensity of metabolism. The lower the rate of metabolism, the lower the O2 consumption and the longer the apnoea can be.
cardiovascular diving reflex
Irving (1963) was the first to observe a diving reflex in humans. The first main effect of the diving reflex is the contraction of the blood vessels in muscles which are furthest from the lungs or brain (in fingers and toes). The other main effect is slowing down the heartbeat. Later it was established that there are, as a consequence, two additional effects: maintaining O2 and prolonging apnoea. The diving reflex is triggered by any apnoea. A complete reflex response can only be expected when immersing the face, especially the forehead and eyes. The diving reflex begins after only thirty seconds of apnoea.
The diving reflex is not changed with multiple series of apnoea, but it is enhanced by prolonged apnoea practice.
temperature
The intensity of the diving reflex response is most influenced by water temperature. Colder water affects the response rate of the diving reflex. Warmer water, however, is more important for the duration of apnoea. Cold-blooded animals have their metabolic rate and O2 consumption connected to their body temperature. Mammals respond to lower body temperatures with faster metabolism and, above all, with shivering. When shivering, muscle cells use twice as much energy which in turn shortens apnoea. Anyone who can withstand a temperature drop without shivering will likely be able to perform a prolonged apnoea.
Ama-divers were once considered to be people who adapted best to colder water. Studies show that the use of neoprene suits has led to de-acclimatization. Better insulated individuals use less energy to shiver and allow the body to lower its temperature instead of wasting energy to keep the body temperature constant. Body temperature affects cardiovascular responses which are important for the length of apnoea.
fasting and nutrition
Fasting is a method which is often used by divers to increase their diving performance. In terms of energy expenditure, fasting has been shown to reduce the resting metabolic rate by up to 17%. The best results in static apnoea can be achieved while fasting, which most divers already take advantage of in training and competitions. However, regardless of these findings, some breath-hold divers take carbohydrate supplements just before competitions to increase their performance. It is surprising, that while many top breath-hold divers consider their nutrition as extremely important, others ignore its significance.
relaxation techniques
In a sport where minimum oxygen consumption is more important than maximum oxygen consumption, it is obvious that relaxation techniques have a significant impact on results. This is especially evident in static apnoea. Special relaxation exercises with the emphasis on breathing techniques are derived from yoga and adapted for apnoea. Before competitions they are used by almost every top breath-hold diver. Yoga based cyclical relaxation techniques are expected to reduce O2 consumption by 32%.
CONCLUSION
In comparison with untrained individuals, breath-hold divers can significantly increase the total volume of O2 in their body and the ability to overcome hypoxia and hypercapnia with regular practice. The metabolic rate can be reduced with special meditation techniques. At present, we do not yet have enough knowledge about the highest possible human potential in breath holding. However, some factors which influence its duration are already known in some marine mammals. These factors will have to be investigated also in humans. The best breath-hold divers believe that the maximum limit in static apnoea is somewhere around 15 minutes.
REFERENCES
For readers interested in additional references and details, please contact me through email.
Static apnoea
Plastic
AN ENEMY OR A FRIEND?
Text LAURA KAZIMIERSKA
Photos KAROLA TAKES PHOTOS
Although it has been with us for only over a century, it has quickly dominated every area of our lives. Plastic is for some people the personification of all evil, for others salvation.
One thing is for sure, wherever you are today, take a look around and you will surely find something of the most durable material in the world.
A SHORT HISTORY
The common name of plastic comes from plastic materials that are easy to model and take various shapes. Who would have thought that it was due to the growing popularity of the
Our human tendency to irresponsibly clean up after ourselves can get us into trouble.
We risk losing not only many species in the ocean but also on land.
al turned out to be wonderful, although not for making balls but for imitating many fabrics and natural materials. The revolutionary discovery prompted scientists from around the world to look for cheaper and durable materials from which to make everyday objects, previously available only to the wealthy.
The beginning of the 20th century, the mechanical revolution and scientific progress in the field of chemistry, facilitated the creation of new solutions and the first synthetic plastics found their way into industry. At the same time, the outbreak of World War II strengthened the use of such a resistant and durable material. The plastic craze lasted until the early 1960's when it was first spotted in the ocean. The enthusiasm of scientists quickly turned into the question of what consequences this indestructible material will have for our planet?
Unfortunately, it was too late. Big concerns appreciated a huge drop in plastics production and transportation costs so much that it was impossible to withdraw the lucrative invention for the sake of the environment.
IS PLASTIC SO FANTASTIC?!?
Considering the price, the variety of uses and durability, plastic as a material is one of the best inventions of the 20th century. It revolutionised the economy and life of each of us. It is mainly thanks to it that we have made technological progress in the last 50 years. Without it, there would be no medical equipment or even the beloved diving equipment.
Therefore, it is worth remembering that not all plastics are the same. And what bothers us and litters every inch of our planet are plastic packaging and the so-called disposable products. The problem with plastic today is that we went into raptures over the new material too quickly without thinking about the consequences. Cheap, flexible material has replaced virtually every aspect of functional living, from furniture and clothing to a toothbrush.
game of billiards, and at the same time a drastic decline in the population of elephants, whose precious ivory was used to make billiard balls. Searching for new solutions and materials was supposed to protect and facilitate life on our planet.
Natural plastics, the so-called polymers, can be found in plants and animal shells or skeletons. The first plastic produced at the end of the 19th century was of natural origin and was derived from cellulose ubiquitous in nature. The materi-
Many countries have started introducing laws to ban the production of plastic bags to show that the problem of environmental pollution can no longer be ignored. And so the plastic bag has become a modern symbol of the fight against plastic.
Plastic bags are made of non-renewable resources and are a major contributor to climate change. Most plastic bags are made of polypropylene, a material made from petroleum and natural gas. Greenhouse gases are produced during production, which exacerbates our current problem of climate
change. The packaging sector is responsible for almost half of the world's plastic.
Plastic bags are harmful to wildlife and marine life. Birds, land and sea animals, including turtles, often confuse plastic bags and other plastic materials with food. When they consume these plastics, their digestive systems become clogged, causing health infections and even suffocation. Animals can also easily become entangled in the plastic.
IT IS A NEVER-ENDING STORY
Indonesia is a country of 17,000 islands, mostly surrounded by coral reefs, with a variety of underwater wildlife that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Despite its unparalleled natural wealth, it is also a country that, along with China, is the greatest contributor to the pollution of the oceans.
Living on one of the small Indonesian islands that can be walked around in two hours, I quickly realized that walking on the beach has little to do with collecting seashells, but rather a collection of plastic items thrown by the sea. It happened everyday! Both on and below the surface of the water, there is evidence of human invention, for which I am ashamed and it is difficult for me to justify all our progress.
From plastic bags, packages and bottles, between which sea turtles and shoals of fish swing agile, to fishing nets left behind, which become a pointless fishing tool, destroying coral reefs and all other creatures on the way.
More and more often, while diving, I encounter the problem of coral reef pollution and instead of enjoying the beauty of nature, I tirelessly collect garbage in BCD pockets or specially designed mesh bags. During the rainy season, we often emerge from the sea of plastic packaging. Last year, despite the lack of tourists, we managed to collect over five tons of rubbish on our weekly beach cleanings, and this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Plastic in the ocean also serves as a floating transport device that enables alien species to hitchhike to unknown parts of the world, threatening biodiversity. Global warming contributes to this process further by making once inaccessible areas like the Arctic friendly to the colonisation of invasive species that can be very harmful to local species.
Microplastics (plastic particles ranging from microscopic to 5 mm) that abandoned fishing gear and other plastic debris are among the greatest threats to the marine environment. As are they to the entire planet.
WHAT THE EYES CANNOT SEE...
Living away from nature, it is easy to forget where our trash ends its journey. It is also easy for us to blame the third world countries for the pollution of the ocean. The truth is, each of us contributes to the problem. And the sooner we realise this, the easier it will be for us to make a change. And there are plenty of reasons!
The average person produces a quarter of a kilogram of plastic waste every day. No wonder the oceans are filling up with waste!
Plastic is a health hazard not only to sea creatures, but to all of us. Research confirms that our health suffers at every level of plastic products manufacturing. Chemical compounds in plastic can contribute to infertility, diabetes, heart disease and all kinds of cancer.
The microplastic found in the seafood and fish we consume is able to enter our body and disrupt the hormonal function. Plastic particles have been found in waters, sediments and even the deepest parts of the oceans. A study of over 700 species from microscopic zooplankton to huge marine mammals has shown that they possess microplastics. In addition, plastic particles have even been found in plants!
How to protect yourself from consuming poisonous substances? Limiting your consumption of fish and seafood is the
first step in the right direction. However, one of the most effective options that we could all do as members of this fragile ecosystem is to be responsible for our garbage. When we have the option, we should try to avoid buying products packed in plastic, choose packaging that can be recycled, and bring your own bag when shopping, use a reusable bottle and, of course, do not clutter.
A NECESSARY EVIL
The addiction to plastic worsens with each passing year. All electronic devices require plastics. Life without plastic is also life without cell phones, computers or the Internet. If it weren't for plastic, it would not have been possible to write or read this article. But that's not all, aluminum soda cans are lined with plastic resin. Otherwise, the drink would have corroded within three days. The paper cups from which you drink your coffee to go also hide a thin layer of plastic. Tea bags would not be possible without plastic either, as they are sealed with polyethylene. Plastic packaging supports the safe distribution of food over long distances and minimises waste, keep-
80 % of microplastics come from land-based sources such as bottles and bags.
ing food fresh for much longer, and is a barrier to bacteria. The amount of food packaged in plastic has increased dramatically since the pandemic.
Plastic is the main part of most kitchen utensils. Plastics are also an important part of our medical technology, used to make glasses, dentures, in many different medical implants and other devices that help us stay alive and stay in good shape.
Without plastic, we would have been stuck in 1870, still using non-durable and dangerous varnish and rubber to insulate wires. But at least we wouldn't pollute the Earth with disposable coffee cups, water bottles, toothbrushes, and other plastic items. And plastic garbage would not affect thousands of marine and terrestrial species.
It is imperative to develop alternative plastics that are as light, durable and comfortable as conventional plastics. One of such solutions are plastics of plant origin, i.e. bioplastics made of corn starch or sugar cane.
But it also has its downsides. Huge capital investment, cultivation fields and specialised recycling points are necessary
to prevent bioplastics from turning into environmentally damaging methane-generating plants, a gas much more harmful to the climate than carbon dioxide.
THE FUTURE DEPENDS ON US
The truth is that plastic will be with us for the next millennia. And the only option to limit the use and cleanse our planet is to completely ban the production of packaging, straws or single-use bottles that can be easily replaced with another material. The textile industry also needs reform, but our appetite for possession must also decrease.
Governments draw huge amounts of money from large concerns that contribute to environmental pollution, so taking care of the environment is our responsibility, the consumers. Everyone is able to make a difference by choosing environmentally friendly products. If all of us did the same, we would live in a cleaner, more beautiful world.
It is therefore worth getting involved in actions promoting environmental protection, campaigns against plastic in social media, organising cleaning of beaches, forests or favourite diving sites. Replace everyday objects made of plastic with an ecological alternative. And also buy local and seasonal food products.
The last decade has shown a huge transformation in social consciousness, and as a result, many small businesses and start-ups have started to meet the growing demand for products that are not harmful to the environment. Although sometimes it is more expensive, it is worth supporting these brands in the name of protecting our planet.
Crowdfunding platforms such as Plane Heroes connect people from all over the world, creating an alternative form of income for local communities and cleaning organisers, promoting at the same time environmental care.
Pressure on government and local authorities is just as necessary. Research shows that bans on making plastic bags showed a 64% drop in their production! What follows? Reduction of the carbon footprint associated with the production of plastics compared to when there was no ban on these products.
As divers, we can also support organisations such as Project AWARE or Shark Guardian, organise underwater clean-ups or register abandoned fishing nets through the Global Ghost Gear initiative application.
In fact, we should all be involved. Making simple changes to your daily life is necessary before it is too late and we annihilate ocean life and even our own.
Cranes
LONG-LEGGED ELEGANCE
Text and photos WOJCIECH
JAROSZ
These birds can hardly be caught in an awkward posture. Whether they are standing, strolling on a wet meadow or flying among the clouds – they always do it all with a noble grace.
When they start to dance, they create a magical performance full of choreographic flavors, and exquisite ones at that.
This is why people have always been delighted with cranes. It is impossible to count the references in literature, and in order not to be groundless, I will mention Homer's Iliad as the first. The crane is also mentioned in the Bible, which can be interpreted as an indicator of its good recognition, that is, of regonising it as a representative of the avifauna well known to man. In the former Poland, Mikołaj Rej of Nagłowice of Oksza coat of arms wrote about the crane in his collection of epi-
grams "The Bestiary" (full name: "The Bestiary, in which shapes, cases and customs of various people, animals and birds are described, especially falling to our present day" year 1562), and much later Jan Brzechwa dedicated a poem to the crane – admittedly with the heron, but nevertheless in the title the crane comes first. It could take a long time to list the items of literature, but this is not what this text is about. To end the topic of cranes inspirations, I will mention the wonderful beauty of oils on the canvas by Józef Chełmoński: "Cranes" (also known as "Departure of the cranes", 1870), "Greeting the sun – cranes" (1910), "Cranes in the morning" (1913) and "Cranes in the clouds" (1913–1914, unfinished work), which are an extremely successful continuation of the painting trend consisting in presenting scenes from the life of cranes, started by our ancestors. Their prehistoric works in the form of wall paintings can be admired in Europe, Africa and Australia. Perhaps just one more word about the Golden Palm-winning lyrical war drama by Mikhail Kalatozov "The Cranes Are Flying" (1957), in which the title V-formation of the cranes, appearing at the beginning and at the end of the film, is one of the most important, symbolic motifs. But let's get back to the more natural issues.
Thanks to long legs, cranes feel great even in deeper water
Dancing is for cranes not only a form of courtship – it is even a form of communication. Not only the birds that are ready for mating season dance (it is worth adding here that birds of opposite sexes usually form pairs for life), but also young individuals. For them, it is a way to enter the social life of the flock, and at the same time support their physical development. Cranes are social birds, especially outside the breeding season. Therefore, living in large groups forces these birds to use behaviours that facilitate functioning in a group and dance is one of the tools used for this purpose. So you can see many birds dancing at the same time. Their repertoire includes jumps, marches with outstretched wings, bends, and even tossing objects found on the ground above them. All this with their inherent lightness and grace, of course.
Cranes are graceful because of the way they move, but they are also charming in appearance – long legs, a long neck (just like my wife) plus chic and very tasteful colours. Always fash-
ionable grays combined with white and black, with the icing on the cake in the form of a red spot on the head of adult birds. The sophisticated image is completed by an exquisite tail, which adorns the bird when it is not flying, and in fact when its wings are folded. This rear plume is formed by characteristically formed remiges, and the tail of the crane itself (made of feathers called rectrices) is completely inconspicuous. The mentioned colours are not the same for every species of crane – the description applies to the common crane (Grus grus), the only one found in Europe. We will get back to the rest a little later.
Apart from dancing and presence, we associate cranes with a distinctive voice. Their calling, known as clangor, which can carry for miles, is for many one of the earliest heralds of the coming spring. Birds of both sexes sing in this way, both during migration and during mating season. The calls of the responding female and male carry among the fields and meadows,
When mating season begins, cranes forage in pairs
when the birds, busy foraging, do not want to lose touch. The loudness of the crane's voice is the result of their unique anatomy. They have a trachea that is looped and recessed in the sternum. This internal structure makes it possible to produce very loud sounds. Probably a sound wave resonance specialist could suggest whether the crane's trachea is closer to a baritone saxophone, French horn or maybe a sousaphone.
Where can you see cranes? Of course, it is the easiest to spot them in the sky during migration. It is so easy, because about 20% of the global population of the common crane migrates through Poland. The characteristic V-formations not only can be seen, but also heard quite well. Cranes often stop near water reservoirs, especially in their shallow parts, eagerly foraging there. Both plant and animal food – as they are omnivorous – they can get in meadows, fields, floodplain forests – wherever they can forage in peace. The cranes do not particularly tolerate the presence of humans who disturb their peace. They are very skittish and it's hard to approach these birds so that you can see them well with the naked eye. There is certainly a lot of truth in the old saying "watchful as a crane" – it is a known truth that proverbs are the wisdom of the nation. Spectacular images of thousands of birds in one place can be seen at the so-called gatherings. During the flights, the cranes often rest in flock, first setting up sentries, and they can do it in flocks of several dozen, several hundred or even many thousands of individuals! Observations show that for this purpose birds most often choose places located in river valleys, by ponds and lakes. Nowadays, seeing cranes is a bit easier than a few or a several
years ago. The reason for this is the increasing number of these birds in Poland. The Common Breeding Birds Survey, carried out since 2000, indicated the crane, next to the green woodpecker and the common redstart, as the species showing the highest growth tendencies in relation to the population size. This is very good news!
Cranes can be admired on all continents except South America. In Africa appear increasingly rare wattled crane (G. carunculata) and the blue crane (G. paradisea). In Yakutia and West Siberia there lives (unfortunately also less and less numerous and now critically endangered with extinction) the Siberian white crane, also known as the snow crane (Leucogeranus leucogeranus). It is the representative of this species that holds the record for longevity – the bird named Wolf lived 83 years, an achievement for which it was entered in the Guinness Book. In addition, in Asia you can see the Demoiselle crane (G. virgo) – fortunately not endangered, the beautiful Manchurian crane (G. japonensis) and no less beautiful: the hooded crane (G. monacha) and the whitenaped crane (Antigone vipio), which are also members of the Endangered Species Club... This club has been happily abandoned in recent years by a black-necked crane (G. nigricollis) living in the Tibetan Plateau and northern India.
A pair of common cranes in flight
À propos Tibetan Plateau – it is worth mentioning that ordinary cranes can rise high enough to fly over the Himalayas! Of course, they most often choose the lower passes, but they can fly up to 10,000 meters above sea level! In India there is still a crane... Sarus crane, also called Antigone from its the Latin name (Antigone antigone) – it is the tallest flying bird in the world (up to 178 cm high, 280 cm wingspan). In North America, however, we can come across the Sandhill crane (A. canadensis) and a much less numerous whooping crane (G. americana). The list is closed by a silver-gray representative of the Antipode crane family – the Australian crane (Antigone rubicunda).
Just like you, dear Readers, cranes also like water. So when you are at the water's edge, look out for them as they wade on their long legs. When you hear the distinctive clangour coming from the sky, look up to admire these beautiful birds.
Whether they are walking or resting, cranes are always alert
Younger specimens do not have a distinct red cap
Surgery, Disappearing Wrecks and Big Money
Whenever a surgeon reaches for a scalpel or a patient undergoes an MRI scan, there is a high probability that both of these tools were made from steel that dates back more than 70 years.
It all connects to the late period of WWII, when the Americans used an atomic bomb for military purposes for the first time. Steel manufacturing has not changed much from that period, the Bessemer process was replaced with the BOS (basic oxygen steelmaking) process, although the air (oxygen in case of BOS) in both is obtained from the atmosphere. However, unlike today, air used in pre-war steel was not saturated with radioactive particles. For this reason such steel, which possesses better properties and durability, is desired all over the world for manufacturing such products as specialist surgical equipment or novelty items, like Böker knives manufactured from steel sourced from the wreck of the German battleship KMS Tirpitz. Another sought metal is phosphor bronze1, which was used for propellers, among other things.
Growing value of “old” steel is responsible for the increasing problem of marine looting. Companies with legal approvals for salvaging wrecks comply with all legal standards. They salvage steel from wrecks specified in their contracts – mainly from vessels deliberately sunk by their crew or destroyed through scuttling at Scapa Flow, shortly after World War I. This is due
to the fact that the law prohibits salvaging wrecks designated as war graves.
However, there are also companies that do not care for these laws and salvage steel from the bottom of the seas and oceans all over the world. In recent years many fishermen and sailors on the Java Sea and the Pacific have been reporting unmarked vessels with rusting pieces of metal on board. In 2017 the combined forces of the Indonesian and Malaysian author-
Text and photos MACIEJ SZCZEPAŃSKI
ities arrested the crew of a Chinese dredger, with fragments of World War II warships on board. Wrecks in those waters are graves for thousands of Japanese, American, British and Dutch sailors, which is why it is important to take actions to stop this illegal activity.
The list of damaged wrecks continues to grow: in 2014 the wrecks of HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales, officially declared as mass graves, were destroyed, and precious metals (phosphor bronze, steel and aluminum) were taken. Both vessels are the final resting places for over 800 sailors. Malaysian divers are aware of this practice and regularly document the destruction of wrecks, sending their photographs to proper authorities. Thanks to a photograph of the HMS Perth wreck, which is the grave for 350 people, the Australian authorities conducted talks with Malaysia, insisting on introducing additional patrols in the region where the Malaysian navy operates. However, this may be insufficient. A lot of wrecks have been lost forever, leaving only a sandy imprint on the bottom of the sea. According to David Yiu, the director of the Friendly Water Seaports Pte., the dredgers that salvage metals illegally desecrate bodies as well, as the corpses of the sailors from the wrecks are found hundreds of meters from the sinking site.
Although director Yiu, like many representatives of the Australian or UK government, has also been fighting for years to ensure better security for the wrecks, in any possible way, it is nearly impossible without the proper approach from international authorities. It is assumed that more intensive looting in these regions is connected not only to growing prices of increasingly rare “low-emission” steel, but the general increase of scrap metal prices in China. According to The Guardian, even a wreck of a small vessel (e.g. a destroyer) may be worth approximately GBP 1 million.
Current technology allows scientists, historians and archeologists to find wrecks even in places inaccessible to divers; however, the same technology is used by people looking for profit, even at the cost of disturbing the final resting place of thousands of sailors.
Hollis gear stands up to any condition. So, how deep will you go?
www.nurkowanie-ecn.pl
KMS Tirpitz, sunk in 1944
Source pl.wikipedia.org
HMS Repulse, sunk in 1941
Source en.wikipedia.org
How did it start?
HISTORY OF UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGY
Text MATEUSZ POPEK Photos ANDRZEJ PYDYN
How did it start? Who was in the beginning? These and similar questions are asked by historians around the world. However, it is often extremely difficult to establish the beginning, the first spark from which it all began.
Should we consider the achievements of Jacqu Costeau as the beginning of diving? Or perhaps those of classic divers, or maybe sponge divers? Despite such an ambiguous beginning, the whole community assumed that we would recognize a French officer as the forefather of all divers.
The same is the case with underwater archeology. Its genesis is a process rather than an event. However, as in diving, one man was recognized as the father of this science: George F. Bass, who died in March 2021. The death of this man was the inspiration for this article, as we must realize that history is always created before our eyes and the characters who have changed the history are still among us. We should not let the memory about these people go away, because they it is extremely precious, and we know how fragile life can be, especially in recent years.
The interest in sunken objects dates back to the earliest times. Of course, before the invention of scuba diving or surface-supplied diving helmets, humans could do well under water by holding their breath. Sources say that as early as the 15th century in Italy, apnea diving was carried out to extract ancient monuments from Lake Nemi. These monuments, namely the wrecks of two Caligula ships, became famous after Musolli-
ni ordered the lake to be drained to facilitate their exploration. Unfortunately, the monuments did not survive World War II.
There are also reports of the use of diving bells to extract objects from the water. Much has changed with the introduction of the diving helmet, which allowed for a long and relatively safe stay under water. This is how divers excavated the cannons of the Mary Rose wreckage in the 19th century, which later became the most famous nautical monument in Great Britain.
Another powerful change for underwater explorers was the creation of scuba diving by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Emil Gagnan. Compared to the classic helmet, the equipment of these two inventors was light and easy to transport. Therefore, it was easier for divers to reach and retrieve underwater objects. However, until the 1960s of the 20th century, it was hard to talk about scientific approach to these actions.
It was in the sixth decade of the twentieth century that there was an explosion of scientific projects that could be called underwater archeology. In Sweden, the Vasa ship was excavated and its maintenance started. The Danes discovered sunken Viking ships at Skuldelev, and in Turkey, George Bass began exploring the wreckage at Cape Gelidonya.
George Fletcher Bass was born in 1932 in Southern California. From an early age, he was interested in the sea and astronomy. He began studying English at John Hopkins University, during which he came to Sicily, where he was delighted with ancient monuments. This was also the reason for the change of the faculty to archeology. After graduation, he spent two years at The American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA), then joined the army in 1957, spending two years in South Korea.
In 1960, he was about to start research on the Cape Gelidonya, but at that time he was not yet able to dive. Just before the expedition, he had only taken a few diving lessons. This did not prevent him from becoming the leader of the expedition in a short time together with Joan du Plat Taylor. In the 1960s, he also conducted research on the Yassiada wreck in Turkey, and on the Kyrenia wreck in Cyprus.
He perfectly used the success of the first underwater archaeological research and in 1972 he became one of the founders of the Institute of Nautical Archeology, and a year later he was elected the president of this organization. The 1970s of the twentieth century was a time of dynamic changes. In addition to establishing an organization dedicated to underwater archeology, Georg Bass transformed the Museum in Bodrum into the Museum of Underwater Archeology, where materials from his excavations were presented.
The 1980s was primarily dedicated to exploration of the Uluburun shipwreck, an incredible ship from a Bronze Age with
cargo including a bronze bar in the shape of animal skins. It was this wreck that became the showpiece of INA and Georg Bass for many years, actually remaining the oldest discovered wreck of a ship until recently.
Bass did not limit his interests to the wrecks of the Mediterranean Sea. He investigated wrecks in Lake Champlain in the USA or sunken ships in the Sea of Japan. He was very active both as a field archaeologist and also a prolific writer. He published many books and scientific articles. During his 39 years of work, George F. Bass was the beneficiary of 36 research grants from the National Georgaphic Society. In 2002, he was awarded the highest honour that a scientist can receive in the USA – National Medal of Science. He died on March 2, 2021.
George Bass certainly did not create the underwater archeology as we know it today alone. There were a lot of people around him who, along with him, turned the extraction of the underwater treasures into science. However, it can be said that he was the spark that fueled this machine and inspired people to further research. My former supervisor and promoter met Bass and was with him on research. I did not have the opportunity to get to know Bass, but I was at his lectures, and the book with his autograph is standing right next to me as I am writing these words.
Let us remember that the pioneers are among us and let us try to preserve their memory while they are still with us.
Nine 1/2 weeks with MK2i
OR A SUBJECTIVE GARMIN MULTITOOL REVIEW
Text WALDEMAR RYDZAK Photos REDAKCJA
This was no love at first sight. There was no technical infatuation here either, as expected by Jacek Michno, the head of the Extreme-Dive Diving Center at Głębokie Lake (one of our two testing locations), during our discussion on MK2i at that time. It was simply an affair – brief, initially rough, turbulent, which ended in a breakup, leaving a sense of emptiness.
MK2i is Garmin’s top second edition dive computer. As an alternative, MK2 – a stripped version of MK2i – is available, deprived of some features and materials. But stripped does not mean bad. Simply not everyone needs a titanium case or wireless transmitter support. For testing, we got an MK2i – with a sapphire crystal and titanium case, covered with a diamond-like carbon layer. There were no signs of wear or tear on the watch, no scratches on the case after the tests, so Garmin is keeping up to their standard. Upon request,
we also got two Descent T1 wireless transmitters for testing. As an editorial team, we opted for something more than just a typical review, merely enumerating MK2i’s features. You can find the specifications on our competition’s or the manufacturer’s websites, but you won’t find any accounts of customer experience there. What we wanted to present were the feelings, emotions and observations regarding the everyday use of MK2i with T1. And this is what you will find in the following paragraphs.
Already from the beginning, our affair with MK2i was burdened with the trauma of our previous relationship. While Fenix HR series did have some clear advantages, it also had some flaws, including a serious one: long GPS readiness waiting time. Imagine you are going for a run with a bunch of friends, start the training recording function and you wait, and wait, and wait. I won’t be describing the differences between the Fenix and Descent series, as these are two completely different product ranges, having very little in common. I also won’t cover the differences between the current series as compared to the previous edition of Descent. When preparing for my evaluation of MK2i, I thoroughly studied other users’ opinions and video reviews both of the current and the previous series. Apart from describing my experience and facing my concerns on the GPS operation speed, I also wanted to see whether in my tests I would be able to confirm others’ critical opinions of the MK2i. Sometimes the users’ swipe was based on subjective feelings, misreading the manual. In such cases, it is hard to blame the manufacturer for faults that are actually not there. Some other times, however, the comments were most certainly in place. Which option would I apply to Garmin MK2i?
The first step following purchase, of course besides unpacking, is setting up the computer. For testing, we got an MK2i but without a user manual. I suddenly felt like a “pro”. Trust me – the only type of diver on our editorial team is the perfect diver, so why would we need a manual anyway? So when we were trying to setup satellite positioning and positioning according to current time location for the first time, instead of selecting the basic GPS+Glonass or Galileo setup mode, I selected UltraTrac. As a result, I got a signal searching prompt, suggesting to take the watch into an open area. I took the chance but three 30-minute sessions gave no result. I returned to the basic settings and managed to successfully complete the initial setup. I never came back to the UltraTrac mode, so it is hard to tell at what intervals MK2i determines its position in that mode. Thus, I figured the manual should also be covered in the review… and it is. I managed to find one on the Internet and read it. A well-designed user manual lets you move on to actually using the product faster, a poorly designed one can ruin your first impression and make it impossible to use all features properly. In the case of Garmin, I think the Descent T1 transmitter manual requires some optimizing. I mean the alternative methods of installing the transmitter to the first stage. From the very beginning, a new user should be shown pictures, clearly showing them that not every first stage can be
directly fitted with a T1. Sometimes proper installation requires a short high-pressure hose connecting the first stage with the T1. The goal of a manual is to help the least experienced diver prepare their equipment for diving. It seems like everything is there, but… there are surely areas for improvement. For example, in the Polish version of the MK2i manual, the T1 installation instructions on page 5 say: “…Confirm the regulator is depressurized and detached from an oxygen cylinder*”. Now that’s all folks, as in the English version, this part reads “Confirm the regulator is depressurized and detached from a scuba cylinder”. A scuba cylinder vs. an oxygen cylinder. This has been the topic of many discussions within the diving community regarding journalists’ diving expertise, and here – a major manufacturer with a translation like this.
When preparing for my evaluation of MK2i, I thoroughly studied other users’ opinions and video reviews both of the current and the previous series.
In our configuration, T1 has been screwed directly to an Apex ATX100, which was attached to an air cylinder, although the specifications suggest the MK2i should also work fine with O2 at concentrations up to 100%, as well as with air, nitrox or trimix; 1 bottom gas and up to 5 decompression or back-up gases. A scuba cylinder can contain different gases and unfortunately the Polish translator did not seize the opportunity to boast their expertise. I wonder if there are more “peculiarities” of this kind in the manual. In the second configuration we used for testing, the design of Tecline’s regulator body and HP port availability forced us to use a high-pressure hose of about 10 cm of length. This was not a major problem, but an important one to consider before going for a dive, because if your friendly diving center does not have the right equipment and you did not foresee such a situation, the first MK2i installation might end up in a failure.
As such, pairing T1 with the computer is quick and easy, although must be done under pressure above atmospheric pressure. Without it, the device switches into sleep mode to help conserve battery time. It seemed annoying at first, but it is just a matter of getting used to it. You don’t pair your device very often and a longer battery life might make it up to you for the initial inconvenience. My frustration was due to the fact that even in my old veteran Suunto Cobra there was a time switch for battery saving, which was activated once it detected conditions that would suggest you’re actually not diving. Yet there was a pushbutton for waking the computer up when on the surface. I wanted to quickly pair both transmitters while still at home, before going for a dive. In order to do that, however, I had to attach the regulator with T1 to a filled cylinder. It only
had 44 ATM but this was enough to wake the transmitter. After detecting pressure, T1 switched to standby mode very quickly. The MK2i pairing procedure took less than a minute. You can customize your transmitter name. This is useful not only in a one diver setup, but also for a group of friends with identical Garmin gear who want to keep track of gas consumption and remaining gases during their dives not only for themselves but also for the rest of the group. We tested it between two divers and it worked. Although we were unable to confirm the maximum range of 10 meters for the transmitters’ communication with the computer. Sometimes I was losing access to my diving buddy’s sensor when some 3 meters away, some other times the reading was stable at 4 meters. The manufacturer indicates a number of conditions to be met in order to reach the maximum, so I would just assume the group should keep closer for their own comfort.
Comparing depth readings from different computers (Suunto, Genz, Garmin) I couldn’t notice any differences. The only thing was the gas pressure indicated by Suunto Cobra mounted on the hose, which was 3 ATA less than the reading of MK2i mounted directly to the first stage. The difference was stable at all times, so this couldn’t have been some temporary reading glitch. Our test dives were not decompression dives. The algorithm used in all Garmin computers of the Descent series is the proven Bühlmann ZHL-16c with gradient factors. By default, upon detecting a depth of less than 1.2 m, the computer quickly ends the dive and treats the next descent as a new dive. This time is customizable, so my remark concerns default settings. With reed dives where you explore the littoral, crossing the 1.2 m barrier may happen more than once and take less time than designed by the manufacturer. Divers who count their dives will probably appreciate such a conservative approach, others will have to remember to change the settings. When the dive ends, the “no fly” message may be displayed in the main screen in a graphic and digital form. Seems nothing, but this is one of the differences between MK2i and classical dive computers. The latter rest in a box/ on a shelf and you’re jogging your memory to remember the flight ban. In the case of computers with a wrist watch feature, this information is visible at all times.
grown from 1.2 to 1.4 inch. The legibility of the displayed data improved and the manufacturer-declared operating time increased. Default color settings, the contrast and backlight intensity were good enough out of the box and no changes were necessary. In this regard, my bad experience comes from another computer I am using. I bought a Nitrox version, hoping for a good backup unit. As the piece came from a Polish manufacturer and initially had good marketing, this computer was flying off the shelves in Poland. Now it collects dust on my shelf. Just waiting there for a moment when I can put it up for sale. MK2i belongs to a different price segment and is a different device.
After more than two months of testing, I can confirm Garmin Descent MK2i is free from the childhood ailments the MK1 users had been complaining about.
Of course, 1.4 inch is not much compared to a couple of inches in some classical dive computers. The display with MK2i is similar in size to Shearwater Teric (1.39 inch) which some people believe to be a direct competitor for Garmin’s MK2i. In my opinion, however, the differences between both devices are bigger than those indicated in diving reviews. Looking at the specifications, Shearwater Teric is comparable to what MK2i has to offer. The price difference is minor – no more than a few hundred PLN, which is not a game changer in equipment worth a few thousand PLN. Garmin MK2i, when compared with Shearwater Teric, seems to offer a number of advantages that might be decisive for physically active people. It is a multitool – like the famous Victorinox pocket knives. It can be used not only for diving but also for other sports or tourism. My general sense of content in this matter is ruined by Garmin’s strong emphasis on playing golf. You can switch it off in the wrist watch settings but golf still comes round like boomerang in the app.
After more than two months of testing, I can confirm Garmin Descent MK2i is free from the childhood ailments the MK1 users had been complaining about. Most of them are gone, including software, battery life or display size, which has
During my two months of testing the MK2i, there were no situations where I would frantically look for the power cable. Clearly enough, you do have to charge it, but at surprisingly long intervals for a watch with that many features/sensors activated on purpose at the same time. Yes, I did that in order to asses battery drainage. What surprised me pleasantly was not only the discharge rate (e.g. 2% during a 40-minute dive with two T1 paired, which translates to approximately 33 hours of operation vs. 32 hours declared by the manufacturer) but also the charging speed. After my experience with Fenix models below series 6, I expected many hours of charging. Meanwhile, whether I was charging MK2i from my car’s lighter outlet, a computer USB port or a standard charger, I felt that reaching a 100% charge was fast. Of course my phone charges faster, but I wouldn’t expect the same performance from a dive computer.
MK2i is so much more than just a dive computer. The watch has Garmin Pay. Combined with a Revolut card, it worked seamlessly. There were no issues with rejected payments. Of course, as a safety measure, it is better not to connect your main card but rather a prepaid card or a low-limit card. The payment feature felt comfortable. When jogging or cycling, I never took my cards or wallet. After my session, I was able to buy myself something to drink or eat also without connecting my watch with a phone. Payments are secured with a PIN code which needs to be entered every 24 hours or each time the watch is removed from the wrist or signal from the pulse sensor is lost. If worn constantly on your wrist, MK2i becomes your personal trainer, suggesting your everyday workouts. Though you are of course free to just ignore the suggestion. The functionality seems like a good solution for people who don’t plan but would like to do some sport in a more conscious way. Personally, during the tests I used MK2i for ice swimming (there were a couple of occasions in early March), jogging and cycling – both on roads and cross-country. At home, I used it for controlling my blood saturation. At this point, you should take into account that the pulse oximeter in Garmin is not a medical device. A body contact disruption or a loosely secured strap takes your 98% saturation down to, say, 89% (the lowest reading I noticed). Such a reading is not for the faint-hearted, especially if you treat it as support in COVID diagnostics.
Luckily, you can force-reset the sensor. Unfortunately, if you activate manual measurement a short while after the automatic measurement, most times displaying readings from the automatic measurement will be displayed. Although you are prompted that a new saturation measurement was initiated. In such a case just return to manual measurement, but only after a dozen or so minutes.
During underwater tests, I haven’t noticed any such errors. It never crashed and was stable. Well, this computer is addictive, although probably its charm wouldn’t work on everyone.
What other problems did I have at the beginning? Music playback and navigation apps based on third-party maps available in the Garmin IQ store. I found a solution for the music issue on discussion groups concerning Garmin Fenix. For an unknown reason, if you have Deezer on your watch and the install Spotify, the latter wouldn’t work. Uninstalling Deezer did the trick. The same issue concerned using the Locus app. A software conflict forced me to uninstall a similar app from a different vendor.
At the beginning of my review I mentioned that the second edition of Garmin Descent includes two models – MK2i and MK2. The “i” in the name is crucial. Not only due to the differences between models from the same series. The danger is out there during the purchase as well. Should buying e.g. on Ebay cross your mind, be alert not to buy a set which is not really a set. Some canny sellers combine Descent MK2 (the stripped version) with a Descent T1 transmitter, while T1 is dedicated for MK2i only. I am writing about price traps on purpose. In my opinion, the manufacturer pricing for the European market is a bit excessive. While it is understandable that Garmin is seeking to avoid intra-Union import, due to EUR to USD rate discrepancies some thrifty consumers might be looking to optimize their purchasing costs. When I was writing this review, 1898 EUR (1499 EUR for MK2i + 399 EUR for T1) was, according to Revolut, approximately 8627 PLN for a set of MK2i and T1. Buying the same set in a shop with USD prices, you would have to pay 1898 USD (1499 USD for MK2i + 399 USD for T1) which gives 7092 PLN. Quick math and we have a difference of 1535 PLN. This is quite a lot, although the manufacturer probably has some justification for that.
After 9 1/2 weeks, my romance with MK2i came to an end. What remained was a sense of emptiness – in my heart and on my wrist. The yearning of my wrist soon passed, as MK2i was replaced by my old trusty Garmin Fenix HR. And my heart, well… my overall experience with this multitool is very positive. It is a full-fledged dive computer, a full-fledged sport watch,
a smartwatch. Of course, what is an advantage for someone, can be a disadvantage for someone else. MK2i wasn’t tested in different gear and gas configurations, so we cannot be sure it wouldn’t surprise us in a negative manner. The manufacturer secured themselves against such circumstances, with a disclaimer displayed during the first setup, informing about the possibility of faulty readings during operation. Other manufacturers put such information in small print, so I appreciate Garmin for the courage. During underwater tests, I haven’t noticed any such errors. It never crashed and was stable. Well, this computer is addictive, although probably its charm wouldn’t work on everyone. Which, by the way, is the beauty of the free market – a decent selection of alternative goods and attempts to tailor the products/services features to the diverse consumers’ need.
Does the diving world end if I drop my regulator with the connection unsecured into the water (the connection usually is a “screw” that is screwed into the tank valve)? Is puncturing the dry chamber diaphragm dangerous?
In the second part of the article on regulators, you will read, amongst other things, why flooding a regulator is not a problem and how puncturing the dry chamber diaphragm may increase your diving safety...
To begin with, let us officially explain the issue of flooding the regulator with water. Why officially? Because this has been precisely described in the standard applicable for approving regulators for use.
Each regulator with the designation EN 250:2014 may be flooded with water. It may actually be thrown into salt water and left there for 8 hours, which means it would be completely flooded. Then, when taken out and left to dry for 16 hours (without rinsing)... the regulator must work properly. Does this mean that I may flood my regulator's interior with salt water without any consequences?
Unfortunately not. The regulator will work properly, but it will start to corrode if left with salt water inside for longer –and that is something we don’t like.
Conclusion no. 1
A regulator may be flooded with fresh or even salt water and it will continue to work
Conclusion no. 2
You need to read the entire article to learn what to do to ensure not only that it will work, but also that it will not corrode
Photo Bartek Trzciński
What is the EN 250:2014 standard?
Regulator manufacturers call it the “new” standard, as it has replaced the old EN 250. It is a collection of information that determines the parameters for materials that should be used for building regulators, stipulating the behavior of such materials under different conditions, e.g., regulator hoses should be capable of bearing the weight of 100 kg, regulators must not deform in any way if kept for several hours at temperatures 100°C apart (from – 30°C to +70°C), or the way that regulator operation is tested at the depths of 30 and 50 m (the old standard covered regulator testing only at the depth of 50 m, the new one added a very important test at the depth of 30 m).
One of the most important parts of the standard for divers is the one that describes how much work we may perform underwater while breathing from the regulator. This part of EN 250:2014 is associated with regulator servicing and setting the breathing resistance*. Remember that the diver can affect the work of breathing actually done by using different settings of the cracking pressure adjustment knob and Venturi effect lever (I have described the details in the previous issue of Perfect Diver).
* That is why the servicing technician should be equipped with a device for measuring this resistance.
All this is to make diving safe and relaxing
your breathing without making any moves, then... you will perform work related to using a very large muscle called the diaphragm and many other smaller muscles.
This means you need to do a bit of work to breathe. You would feel the effort related to breathing quicker if you dived to 50 m, where the gas you breath would have, to put it very simply, a six times greater density. Does it mean that if we would drop down on an underwater bench at 50 meters and just breathe from the regulator, doing nothing, we could get significantly more tired than while breathing on the surface?
Exactly that, and the situation could be made even worse by setting the adjustment knobs in your second stage regulators to “minus”.
It should be noted that divers not only breathe, but also move, pose for pictures, run from sharks or pull out fishing nets. Therefore, the work performed while diving will be much greater than the work resulting just from breathing from the regulator.
Breathing involves many muscles – the deeper you dive, the greater the work of breathing is. To improve your diving experience, use the cracking pressure adjustment knob and Venturi effect lever, setting them to “plus” for each dive to minimize the breathing resistance. Another way for reducing the work of breathing is to add helium to the air or nitrox you breathe. Such a breathing mix is called trimix, because of the three gases used in it. Trimix is used by technical divers at greater depths, but also by advanced recreational divers at the depths of 25–40 m.
What does it mean “how much work we may perform while breathing”?
If you seat comfortably on the bottom at 10 m and focus on
Such “recreational” trimix is usually called triox.
Be a conscious diver – learn to use and always use the cracking pressure adjustment knob and Venturi effect lever to minimize your breathing resistance.
Photo Karola Takes Photos
ACADEMY
Let's get back to flooding the regulator
All the time we're told that you must not put a first stage regulator into the water without securing the connection or that you must not press the purge button when rinsing the regulator, so why say that nothing will happen if you pour water inside?
You already know that this is not so much about an abstract idea, but this is what the standard used for approving each regulator for use says, so the regulator must work no matter how flooded it is.
If you look at this matter from a more technical perspective, it will be easier to understand why water in a regulator is not a big deal.
How much water can you pour into a first stage regulator?
If you have one of the largest first stage regulators, with a rotary head, then if you try really hard, you can perhaps squeeze 25 mL of water inside, that is 1–1,5 times the volume of a spoon
It takes some time for a regulator that is dropped into water to fill with water. This time is measured in hours rather than minutes. It might just happen that you would want to use a regulator that has just been taken out of the water after spending several hours there. In such a situation, after you screw your first stage regulator into the tank valve, but before you open it, you should press and hold the purge button on your second stage regulator while opening the valve. Water is not compressible and it is safer to show it out of your regulator.
you use to eat vegetable soup. Meanwhile, one very calm breath taken by a diver is 500 mL, that is 20 times as much. This means that if you would connect a completely flooded regulator to a tank and press the purge button, it would be completely dry after less than 2 seconds
Can the first stage regulator be flooded by submerging the second stage regulator with the purge button depressed? It is possible, but would require time and persistence. The longer the hose connecting the first and second stage regulator, the longer it takes to flood it. Remember that this trick will not work if your first stage regulator has a tight cover on.
Anyways, you will effectively remove any water from everything by pressing the by-pass button, taking a breath, pressing the inflate button of the inflator or the dry suit. By operating every device connected to the individual hoses for a short while you can make sure that they are free of water.
It is also worth to add that in technical diving flooding regulators is almost an everyday situation for divers using several stage cylinders.
What to do with a regulator flooded with salt water?
You should remember that water left inside a regulator even for several hours is not a problem. The problem starts when you flood your regulator often with salt water and leave it to dry. In such situations, the interior of the regulator will very likely start to corrode and the regulator will have to be serviced. For regulators which have been very neglected, kept in a salty environment and dried with salt water inside, it may be necessary to replace the body and other elements damaged due to corrosion.
My first and second stage were flooded with salt water! HELP!
First stage regulator
After flooding a regulator with salt water and taking it out to the surface, you should purge it to remove any salt water and then pour fresh water into it several times, purging it after each fill. The more accurate you are when filling the regulator with fresh water, the more effectively you will clear it of any salt (by the way, you may check how hard it is to flood a regulator ).
There's a trick to do it quicker than by submerging the regulator in a bowl of water: remove the plugs from two LP ports and inject water inside using a syringe, or... use a garden hose and flush the regulator several times without hesitation.
Purge after each flooding, using the by-pass button before opening the tank valve.
Second stage regulator
Have you noticed that, after returning from a salt water diving session (e.g. a safari in Egypt), there's a small air leak in your second stage regulator? This is because of the salt deposited on the socket/head connection, that is in the valve of the second stage regulator. To remove it, you should thoroughly rinse the second stage regulator, while pressing the purge button. Thoroughly means that you should submerge it fully in fresh water, while dynamically moving the regulator body. Short purging after rinsing will remove the remaining water from inside.
In both parts of this article, I have spent much time describing the reasons for limiting CO2 accumulation while underwater.
You know that the amount of CO2 in your body can increase for different reasons. It is very important not to allow this gas to accumulate and to try to remove it. First stage regulators with hoses sticking up behind the diver’s head may make impossible to raise your head high and, therefore, they may make it difficult to easily exhale CO2 out of your body. An easy and very effective method for different routing of the hoses is to use special angle adapters that allow to properly configure hoses in any regulator.
This simple trick will save you quite a bit of money!
You already know that in order to reduce gas consumption, enhance buoyancy control or limit nitrogen narcosis, it might be important to set the cracking pressure adjustment knob and Venturi effect lever to “plus”. Meanwhile, many divers buy a regulator with these adjustments and... set both the knob and the lever to “minus”.
It may be compared to driving a car with the secondary brake always on.
Regardless of the reasons for such a decision, it might be worthwhile to give it some thought when buying a regulator.
Using angle adapters to connect LP hoses and second stage regulators should be considered carefully. They may significantly hinder the possibility to easily share your regulator in an “out of gas” (OOG) emergency. It is much easier to grab a traditionally configured hose and pass the regulator to the diver in need.
Selecting the appropriate length for your hoses is related to this, as it may not only affect the ease of operating your second stage regulators, decrease resistance while swimming with a scooter or protect against a hose loop getting hooked, for example, on an element of a wreck, but it may also enhance the breathing comfort, allowing for holding the regulator lightly in your mouth instead of biting it hard for fear of it being pulled out by a hose which is too short (which is usually the reason for using the previously-mentioned angle adapters for second stage regulators).
Appropriately selected LP and HP hoses lengths ensure that the hoses are always close to the diver’s body and do not form unnecessary loops, at the same time ensuring full comfort of use. This applies to any type of configuration used by both the greenhorns and expert divers.
Photo Bartek Trzciński
Photo Karola Takes Photos
A high-end regulator equipped with both adjustment options that would be set to “minus” works exactly the same as its cousin that does not have these options but is much less expensive. If you do not want to learn how to use a piece of equipment, don't spend an awful lot of money on it and just buy regulators that really suit you.
Another aspect of diving regulators, which is sometimes controversial, is the length of the exhaust tee. Introduction of the so-called “short” exhaust tees was related to regulator weight reduction, easier operation of the second stage regulators when they are frequently exchanged (e.g. sidemount) or while swimming with a scooter. Manufacturers call such exhaust tees “integrated”, while divers call them “short”. We made up many different reasons why “shorter” ones are worse that the “longer” ones. The picture below shows how deceptive the perspective can be.
If you measure the short and long exhaust tee, you may find that...
Those of you who are not interested in the part for advanced divers are still encouraged to read the useful tips at the end of this article
For advanced divers
Similarly as in the previous part of this article, here's some short information that should be useful for advanced divers. If you find anything interesting, I will gladly elaborate on the subject on one of Perfect Diver's media channels.
1. During long OC dives, using second stage regulator housings with a larger volume might be a good idea. Such regulators have buoyancy close to neutral, which helps a lot in case of long decompression in cold water.
2. Using seals with enhanced oxygen resistance (e.g., Viton) does not fully secure O-rings against the impact of oxygen, especially during long-term exposition. Seals become less flexible and as they wear out, they may unnecessarily complicate hard dives. I suggest to consider replacing them or
service oxygen regulators that are used often two times per year.
3. “Overbalanced*” – this is about gas cut-off in diaphragm-controlled regulators equipped with a dry chamber. All of the regulators available in our market are tested in accordance with the EN standard up to 50 m and the overbalance occurs at much greater depths and is related to regulator design imperfection. Basically, any currently used that is controlled in this way may get blocked when exposed to an ambient pressure within the range of 19–23 atmospheres. Different regulator specifications make the diver feel that “overbalance” is positive (greater amount of gas supplied at very large depths), but it quickly turns out that their gas supply will be cut off soon. The easiest way to prevent it is removing the dry chamber sealing. This is
Photo Bartek Trzciński
one of the reasons behind using diaphragm regulators with a wet chamber in many rebreathers. By virtue of their design, this phenomenon does not apply to piston regulators. A piston regulator with diaphragm sealing is an interesting solution to this problem.
*Overbalanced is also a regulator operation mode related to supplying a greater amount of gas, which is supposed to balance its density – this is achieved by applying a higher IP.
By the way: if any beginner diver kept on reading, I would like to mention that puncturing the dry chamber sealing (often called a diaphragm) is not a problem for regulator operation and, when diving very deep, it is necessary to prevent the regulator from cutting off the gas supply. If you have your own regulator, what you're probably thinking now is “sure, this happens with other regulators, but not my cutting-edge regulator manufactured by (your manufacturer name ).” Unfortunately, it is very likely that your regulator will also stop supplying gas if controlled by the dry chamber.
To explain what is safe and what most definitely is not, please take a look at the picture below.
The element marked as 1 is the dry chamber sealing. Puncturing, damaging or even removing it does not affect the
operating characteristics of the regulator and increases safety for deep dives.
The element marked as 2 is the diaphragm controlling the regulator. This is what makes a regulator a “diaphragm regulator”, even though it is not visible.
4. When sidemount divers explore sites with a muddy or mixed bottom, it is much easier to clear a second stage regulator blocked with rocks when there is no deflector in it. However, removing the deflector greatly decreases your breathing comfort – so this is a stalemate. It is worth to get familiar with the design of the Tec2 Tecline second stage regulator, where shifting the gas outlet duct within the second stage regulator housing caused a significant resistance decrease and made it possible to remove the deflector entirely.
5. When planning a long expedition in an area where equipment parts/servicing is not easily accessible, you should check if the manufacturer offers seals made of the material called EPDM, which has significantly better properties than regular rubber (NBR) in respect of reversible deformation. In other words, O-rings made of EPDM are much more resistant to deformation under long-term mechanical stress than the regular O-rings.
6. The above descriptions should be considered for regulators used in rebreather supply systems.
Photo Bartek Trzciński
Ending or maybe an attempt at a summary?
Regulators usually give raise to unending discussions amongst divers. We like our equipment and, as fiercely as a lion, we can defend our regulator, regardless of whether our interlocutor's arguments are sound or not
The world of diving regulators has changed after the EN 250:2014 standard was introduced – only top-class units remained in the market. Thanks to this, even a beginner diver can buy a regulator without any worry of making a bad choice, because they can simply choose the one they like the most and... it will work just as well as the best regulator used by a technical diver, who gazes around gloomily, probably saying “What do you know about regulators?”
However, the new standard does not release you from having to learn how to eliminate CO2 from the breathing process. In case of any doubts, ask your instructor or an experienced diver for help.
Do you know that a dishwasher can be very helpful in keeping your diving regulators in perfect condition? It might be interesting to know that in case of a small leak from the second stage regulator, you should look for the cause in the first stage regulator. Has the overbalanced phenomenon caught your attention and you'd like to know at what depth will your regulator stop supplying gas?
...or perhaps you do not believe that you can safely flood a first stage regulator ?
Come join us at the Tecline Academy. Here, we not only build a device for testing regulators that are to operate at extreme depths, but we also allow all those willing to flood our diving regulators
