Scuba Diver #55

BACK IN THE RED LAWSON WOOD CELEBRATES RED SEA ANEMONEFISH

Q&A: ANDY FORSTER

WE CHAT ABOUT THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE AMBITIOUS DIVE PROJECT CORNWALL

TECH: MINE DIVING

KURT STORMS HEADS INTO THE CARRIERE MINE IN BELGIUM

TECH ICON PHIL SHORT GOES COMMERCIAL DIVING BLUE SHARKS

WRECK HUNTERS

DIVERS ALERT NETWORK ISSUE #55

EVERFLEX WETSUIT

“WARMTH, FLEXIBILITY AND FIT. EVERFLEX CHECKS ALL OF THE BOXES.” — EMILY, MARINE BIOLOGIST

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LIMESTONE BASED NEOPRENE S O LV E N T- F R E E G L U E

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EDITOR IN CHIEF Mark Evans Tel: 0800 0 69 81 40 ext 700 Email: mark.evans@scubadivermag.com DESIGN & PRODUCTION MANAGER Matt Griffiths Email: matt@scubadivermag.com CONTRIBUTORS Phil Short, Steve Millard, Kurt Storms, Lawson Wood ADVERTISING & SPONSORSHIP Ross Arnold Tel: 0800 0 69 81 40 ext 701 Email: ross.arnold@scubadivermag.com

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Foreign travel back on the table

The news that diving hotspots Egypt an the Maldives were going ‘green’ in mid-September was great news for divers, and then the subsequent dropping of the ‘amber’ list - and the majority of destinations on the ‘red’ list moving to green - has meant that finally, we can put foreign dive travel back on the table.

Now I enjoy my UK diving, don’t get me wrong, but it is nice to wet the gills in some warm-water, tropical location every now and then, and it seems I am not alone in my thinking - we spoke to several of our dive-specialist tour operator partners and they all reported the phones were ringing off the hook in the last few weeks since the latest relaxation of restrictions was announced. Divers are wanting to get out there in our watery planet and dive!

The change from PCR tests to lateral flows for fully vaccinated travellers returning to the UK was also welcome news.

As the Red Sea is going to be number one on the hit list for many divers returning to warm waters, we thought this issue we’d focus on one of our favourite denizens of the reef - the ubiquitous anemonefish. These colourful little characters might be found all over the Red Sea reefs, but they can’t fail to bring a smile to even the most-jaded diver’s face.

Elsewhere in the mag we celebrate some great British diving, notably the blue sharks which come to our shores at certain times in the year, and we take a look at the Dive Project Cornwall in a Q&A with founder Andy Forster. Tech icon Phil Short expands his dive skillset by completing his Surface Supply and Offshore Top-Up commercial diving course in Cornwall.

Mark Evans, Editor-in-Chief

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BACK IN THE RED LAWSON WOOD CELEBRATES RED SEA ANEMONEFISH

Q&A: ANDY FORSTER

WE CHAT ABOUT THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE AMBITIOUS DIVE PROJECT CORNWALL

TECH: MINE DIVING

KURT STORMS HEADS INTO THE CARRIERE MINE IN BELGIUM

TECH ICON PHIL SHORT GOES COMMERCIAL DIVING BLUE SHARKS

WRECK HUNTERS

DIVERS ALERT NETWORK ISSUE #55

Cover.indd 1

PHOTOGRAPH © BRAD WAKEFIELD

25/10/2021 10:35

Regular columns

Monthly features...

8 News round up

16 Egypt

Massive net haul by Ghost Diving, 900-year-old sword found off Israel, award for Shark Trust stalwart, the launch of UPY2022, and missing divers found off South Coast.

14 DAN Europe Medical Q&A

The Divers Alert Network team looks at the link between fitness and air consumption.

44 Divers Alert Network

Michael Menduno offers up some sage advice on methods of cleaning and disinfecting your scuba equipment.

66 Wreck Hunter

Mike Haigh continues his focus on the challenges of searching for ancient shipwrecks.

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To celebrate Egypt being back on the diving menu with the lifting of COVID travel restrictions, Lawson Wood celebrates the humble anemonefish - a ubiquitous sight on most Red Sea reefs.

24 Q&A with Andy Forster

Andy Forster is the brainchild behind the ambitious Dive Project Cornwall, which aims to introduce 400 lucky teenagers into the watery world of scuba diving. We chatted to him about the scheme, and how it came into being.

28 Underwater Photography

Mario Vitalini looks forward to getting back into the Egyptian Red Sea by taking a closer look at one of his favourite dive sites - The Barge.

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...continued

Gear & testing

32 Plymouth

54 Test Extra

Steve Millard heads to the South Coast to freedive with blue sharks, which come to the UK coastline during the summer months.

38 Technical to commercial

Veteran recreational and technical instructor trainer Phil Short is a major proponent of always learning new skillsets, and in August, he entered the world of surface supply commercial diving.

46 TECH: Belgium

Kurt Storms is now an experienced Belgian cave diver, but his first overhead dive was in the depths of the Carriere mine in Denée, and here he returns to this atmospheric site, which is a regular haunt for him and other local cave divers.

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Scuba Diver Editor-in-Chief Mark Evans rates and reviews the Garmin Descent MK2S dive computer and the Thermalution heated gloves - perfect for as the water temperatures start to head into single figures...

THE RESCUE

EYE OF THE TIGER

DON SILCOCK DIVES WITH TIGER SHARKS IN THE BAHAMAS

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ISSUE #54

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

GHOST DIVING TEAM LIFTS 450KG NET OFF TOSSA DE MAR

Healthy Seas, together with Ghost Diving Spain, organised an event from 1-3 October in Tossa de Mar, and removed a massive net weighing more than 450kg from the reef

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n 1 October, a conference at Tossa Del Mar City Council kicked-off the event followed by an educational programme that involved 120 students from the local school ‘Escola Pública Ignasi Melé i Farré’ in collaboration with Xatrac, a local environmental association.

The children participated in a beach clean-up, interactive presentations and games, to raise awareness about the ghost fishing phenomenon that is responsible for the suffering and death of millions of marine animals. It is estimated that 640,000 tons of fishing gear are lost or abandoned annually in the world’s seas and oceans.

In the following days, eight volunteer divers carried out underwater clean-ups at Muladera Rock near Tossa de Mar. The team discovered and removed a fishing net that was covering the reef like a thick blanket, preventing marine life from accessing food and shelter in its holes and crevices.

Coinciding with scientific studies that indicate that the sea surrounding Barcelona is one of the three areas in Spain most polluted with plastics from fishing activity, Raúl Alvarez, co-ordinator of Ghost Diving Spain, said: “For years, divers have observed nets and other fishing equipment polluting this popular diving spot.

We are excited to be able to help clean up this area to allow biodiversity to thrive again.”

Once on land, it was time to clean the large fishing net that covered an area of 100 m₂ and weighed 450kg. Divers removed 30kg of lead which they will upcycle into weights for their diving belts.

“We are proud to have expanded our activities to Spain and be able to support local efforts in order to heal and protect the environmentally burdened coasts and seas of this beautiful country,” says Veronika Mikos, Healthy Seas Director. The event was also made possible thanks to Hyundai Motor Europe that announced its partnership with Healthy Seas back in April. They are providing funding for the implementation of Healthy Seas cleanup and education activities. www.healthyseas.org

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COULD YOU BE UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2022?

The search is on for the world’s best underwater photographs. UPY - the Underwater Photographer of the Year - 2022 contest opened for entries on 1 November and closes on 4 January 2022. The contest is widely regarded as the world’s leading underwater photography competition, attracting thousands of entries, with the winners showcased around the world in the mainstream media. The previous edition attracted entries from over 500 photographers and was won by Renee Capozzola from the USA. Chair of the judges, Alex Mustard, said: “The previous edition of UPY created our biggest splash yet. During the pandemic the stunning photos proved so popular as an escape into the underwater world. Last year also saw our first female overall winner, with Renee taking the top spot in the entire competition with Shark Skylight. We’re already excited about what UPY 2022 will bring. For many of the photographers, the last couple of years have brought more local diving, and it is really turning up very fresh underwater imagery. So we’re continuing with our new My Backyard Award to celebrate

images taken close to home, wherever that may be for you.

Last year it was won by Mark Kirkland from the centre of Glasgow with While You Sleep.”

UPY is an annual competition, that celebrates photography beneath the surface of the ocean, lakes, rivers and even swimming pools. British photographer Phil Smith was the first underwater Photographer of the Year, named in 1965. Today the competition is truly international, has 13 categories, testing photographers with themes such as Macro, Wide Angle, Behaviour, Wreck and Conservation photography, as well as four categories for photos taken specifically in British waters. UPY already has more than 30 prizes lined up for this year’s contest, from the leading brands in diving and travel, with more set to be confirmed in the coming weeks. The contest incorporates a bespoke results system, providing feedback to the photographers on how far through the contest every single image has progressed, so every entrant will benefit from taking part. The experienced judging panel remains underwater photographers Peter Rowlands, Martin Edge and Alex Mustard. www.underwaterphotographeroftheyear.com

DIVER FINDS 900-YEAR-OLD SWORD OFF COAST OF ISRAEL A one-metre-long sword thought to date back 900 years and possibly wielded by a crusader knight has been found by a diver off the north coast of Israel.

Shlomi Katzin was exploring a natural cover near to the port city of Haifa off the Carmel coast, which was known to provide shelter for ships in the Mediterranean during storms for many centuries. The sword, which is heavily encrusted with marine growth, is thought to have been uncovered by shifting sands. Other finds included shards of pottery, and a number of stone and metal anchors. He recovered the

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sword as he feared if he left it, it would be stolen.

Katzin handed over the weapon to the authorities, and the Israel Antiques Authority (IAA) said that once it has been professionally cleaned and analysed, it would be put on public display. The eagle-eyed diver was rewarded with a certificate of appreciation for good citizenship.

Inspector Nir Distelfeld, from the IAA’s Robbery Prevention Unit, said: “The sword, which has been preserved in perfect condition, is a beautiful and rare find and evidently belonged to a crusader knight.”

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DEPTHERAPY HEADS FOR GRENADA

EMPEROR PRICING MEANS NO HIDDEN EXTRAS

A team of Deptherapy divers have been on the Caribbean island of Grenada to conduct a two-week marine biology course and rack up several dive certifications. The expedition in October, funded by the Positive Pathways Programme from the Armed Forces’ Covenant Fund Trust (AFCFT), was due to take place in Egypt, but when there was continued uncertainty about the country being open from travel restrictions, the decision was made to look elsewhere – and Grenada fit the bill.

The Deptherapy members took part in various RAID courses throughout the fortnight trip, which began on 13 October, as well as conducting a reef survey in the nutrient-rich waters of Grenada.

They stayed in the True Blue Bay Resort and dived with Aquanauts Grenada, who have two instructors on staff who have many years of experience working with divers with disabilities. www.deptherapy.co.uk

WE ARE DIVING IN THE RED SEA AND MALDIVES NOW! Contact us for the latest updates on new flight arrivals

Contact reservations@ emperordivers.com We’re the team to help you go diving again!

BODIES OF MISSING DIVERS RECOVERED The bodies of two scuba divers who went missing in early September while diving the HMS Scylla wreck in Cornwall have been recovered.

The two men, who were from Saltash and Plymouth, were exploring the artificial reef in Whitsand Bay on 3 September when they failed to return to the surface. A third diver managed to get back topside and received treatment in the DDRC in Plymouth.

A major air and sea search was launched involving RNLI vessels from Plymouth and Looe, a S&R helicopter from Newquay, and Devon and Cornwall Police was conducted into the early hours of Saturday 4 September.

The Scylla has claimed the lives of divers before – back in 2007, two Gloucestershire divers died while exploring the shipwreck, and in 2014, divers were warned by the National Marine Aquarium not to venture inside due to hazardous conditions.

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SHARK TRUST’S ALI HOOD WINS IFAW’S MARINE CONSERVATION AWARD

© IFAW

Ali Hood, Director of Conservation at the Shark Trust, has been awarded the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)’s Marine Conservation Award for her outstanding dedication to protecting sharks.

The ceremony, held at the House of Lords, saw IFAW present the 2021 Animal Action Awards to an inspiring group of true animal heroes. The awards recognise their steadfast commitment and dedication to animals during difficult times.

Their ‘never giving up’ attitude and passion for animals is why IFAW are so proud to honour them this year. IFAW’s 2021 Animal Action Awards honours those who have made incredible achievements in the animal welfare and conservation community.

Ali has headed the conservation team at the Shark Trust for nearly 20 years and tirelessly works to secure

Left to right: Baroness Gale, James Sawyer (IFAW UK Director); Ali Hood (Shark Trust Director of Conservation), and Mark Beaudouin (Chair of the IFAW board of Trustees)

management and protection for vulnerable shark and ray species, and to hold governments and industry to account for their commitments.

Ali said: “As a conservation advocate, I’m fortunate to work with a highly dedicated team of people, both within the Shark Trust, and our trusted partners worldwide. Overfishing is the greatest threat to sharks, and securing essential shark conservation objectives is not a straightforward task, given the commercial interest in many species. But we’ve found persistence pays, and we’re committed to seeing sciencebased management adopted.

“It was amazing to receive such an award, and I’m grateful to IFAW for their recognition of shark conservation concerns.” www.sharktrust.org

SEARCH CALLED OFF FOR MISSING FARNE ISLANDS DIVER A diver went missing off the Farne Islands on Sunday 17 October and, despite a multi-agency search running into the following day, they could not be located.

The Coastguard received a Mayday call from a dive boat near the Longstone lighthouse in the Farnes late on the Sunday morning and a huge search was initiated, involving lifeboats from Amble, Craster, Seahouses and Berwick, Coastguard helicopters from Prestwick and Hull, Maritime Coastguard Rescue, the police and local charter vessels and dive boats. The search continued on the Monday, but was

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eventually the operation was stood down at around 1pm.

A Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokesperson said despite ‘extensive shoreline and maritime searches’, nothing was found. A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: “A comprehensive search has been carried out over the last 48 hours for the missing diver, supported by our partners, but sadly the male has not been located.

“Our search has now concluded. The man’s family have been notified and have asked that their privacy is respected at this time.”

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BSAC PARTNERS WITH DIVING TRAVEL PLATFORM ZUBLU

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BSAC has introduced new Travel Partner, ZuBlu – specialising in eco-friendly resorts, liveaboards and dive centres, ZuBlu focuses on bringing divers and snorkellers the very best ocean adventures across the world. Founded in 2017 by Adam Broadbent and BSAC diver Matthew Oldfield, ZuBlu offers an entirely handpicked selection of resorts and liveaboards, aiming to deliver unforgettable experiences.

Committed to playing its part in helping protect our seas, ZuBlu offers a selection of conservation-focused holidays and citizen science opportunities around the world, as well as aiming to only work with partners with more sustainable business practices.

ZuBlu co-founder Matthew Oldfield said: “Having trained as a BSAC diver, I am very pleased to be able to offer members a discount on dive packages from our extensive portfolio of partners across the globe. BSAC divers will also benefit from ZuBlu’s experience and up-to-date knowledge of changing travel restrictions – vital when planning a dive trip during the pandemic. We invite BSAC members to dive in and explore what ZuBlu has to offer, whether they’re looking for far-flung inspiration, or are ready to book a holiday a little closer to home.”

BSAC CEO Mary Tetley said: “We’re thrilled to welcome ZuBlu as a new BSAC Travel Partner. With a focus on delivering incredible underwater experiences while protecting the future of the oceans, we hope members will love this new addition to the Travel Partner scheme for members.”

As part of BSAC’s Travel Partner scheme, the new relationship with ZuBlu provides various benefits for BSAC members, including 5% discount on bookings. www.bsac.com

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To find out more, why not visit us for Aptitude Day? Experience a Surface Supplied Dive, view the Facilities and meet the Training Team Please visit the website for more details 2022 Course Dates available www.commercialdivertraining.co.uk info@commercialdivertraining.co.uk 01726 817128 | 07900 844141

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Ask DAN

DAN medical specialists and researchers answer your dive medicine questions

Does a physically fit (athletic) diver consume air faster on a dive than an average person with a sitting lifestyle?

Q: I have been working as a dive instructor for over ten years now and I noticed that throughout the years, the more physically fit I became, the more air I consumed. I was always fit, but constantly been doing more exercising.

Does physical fitness affect it? Does it maybe depend on a type of exercise?

A: Physical fitness level is one of the factors that can influence the oxygen requirements of the body and so your breathing rate during a particular exercise/effort level because a higher aerobic fitness (cardiovascular endurance) means an increased efficiency of the body in its ability to deliver oxygen to your muscles. VO2 is the usual index of the body’s efficiency at producing work and the measurement of VO2max is an indicator of one’s aerobic fitness.

However, many other factors influence breathing gas consumption during a dive, such as physical size, work load, water temperature, use of drugs, stress and anxiety,

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excitement, general physical and emotional state.

Also, as the Boyle’s law applies, there is increasingly less volume of gas available to the diver as the diver descends in the water, as you are aware, the actual volume of gas within a scuba cylinder does not decrease as the tank physically does not shrink under pressure. However, gas being delivered to the diver is at ambient pressure. This increased pressure means there are more gas molecules per unit volume as the gas is more dense and the diver consumes more molecules per breath, resulting in the gas in the scuba cylinder lasting a shorter time than at a shallower depth.

In conclusion, your gas consumption rate will change based on your personal comfort during that dive, your actual physical fitness and health on the day, and your personal experience as well as the dive conditions themselves, such as dive profile, temperature, currents, etc.

Join DAN to get a number of benefits, including answers to all your diving-related medical questions: www.daneurope.org

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W

ho would have thought that a father and abducted son could make such an impact on our lives. The story of the Hollywood Pixar movie Finding Nemo so touched everyone, it became the biggest-selling DVD of all time. However, the lives of these (almost) comical and colourful fish is indeed stranger than the fictionalised story behind the movie.

We are all now well acquainted with the anemonefish, with our closest encounters to be found in the Red Sea, thankfully now back on the diving menu after the lifting of COVID-19 travel restrictions. Being only a four-hour flight away from mainland Europe, the Red Sea is the closest tropical coral reef ecosystem available to us. The Red Sea anemonefish (Amphiprion bicinctus) is more commonly known to us as the clownfish and it is this remarkable little damselfish that so steals our hearts on almost every dive in the Red Sea. These clownfish are so obvious to us snorkellers and divers, not only because of their amazing flamboyant colours of orange/red overall, plus a couple of iridescent blue/white stripes which wrap the upper body, they also live exclusively within the grasp of an anemone’s tentacles. Anemones (as we all know) have stinging cells, called nematocysts, within their tentacles to snare any passing food bits, yet the clownfish manage to live their entire lives within this sticky embrace and manage to appear invincible to the deadly stinging cells of their host.

It has taken various marine scientists many years of intense study to work out this relationship between the anemone and its clownfish and it is found that their relationship is entirely mutualistic, with both partners benefitting from the association. We know that clownfish help to protect their anemone by attacking any possible threats to their host (and that includes us divers), with clownfish readily leaving their protective host and swimming many metres into open waters to ward off anything and everybody. This is doubly so when the clownfish have laid their eggs under the skirt of the anemone and within the range of their tentacles. The clownfish also helps to ‘clean up’ debris from the feeding anemone, and also eats the anemone’s faecal matter.

The most obvious of the relationship is the fact that the clownfish are not stung and ingested by their host. The clownfish appear to keep in almost constant contact to their host and continuously swim amid the tentacles and even the mouth, coating themselves in the anemone’s protective mucus, thus rendering them effectively ‘invisible’ to the

anemone’s toxins and stinging cells. Once the clownfish’s eggs are laid and fertilised, it is the male that cares for the brood by blowing fresh water over the eggs and removing any dead or diseased cells. Even the newborn hatchlings spend some small time amid the anemone’s tentacles before leaving the nest and finding (perhaps) their own anemone to start the cycle all over again.

There are few predators while the clownfish is within the range of the anemone, but are prone to incidental attack if they venture too far, but they are prey to isopods such as species of the Cymothidae family, which attach themselves to the heads of the clownfish (as well as many other species), where they do little harm, rather than some skeletal deformities as they are scavengers, rather than parasites.

Clownfish are able to reproduce all year and depending on the water temperature and constant current of the water, they can often form huge colonies with dozens of anemones and perhaps hundreds of clownfish, living alongside another damselfish, the juvenile three-spot damselfish (Dascyllus trimaculatus), which co-habit the anemones, and are usually in much greater numbers than the clownfish.

In the Red Sea, two of the most obvious of these super colonies are the Anemone Gardens at Ras Mohammed at the tip of the Sinai Peninsula and Anemone City on Panorama Reef to the south of Marsa Alam, down Egypt’s African mainland. Other lovely small colonies can be found at El Quseir, Gubal and Tawila that are rarely, if ever dived, due to the heady excesses of other more popular dives nearby. If you look closely at the anemones, you will also find that they are inhabited by various species of small shrimps and even crabs and depending on the anemone species, there may be several species of shrimps co-habiting with the clownfish and three-spot Dascyllus. There is a similar-looking fish to the clownfish and can sometimes be confused, but this species lives on table corals and will certainly be killed if it touches an anemone.

This is the citron or lemon coral goby (Gobiodon citrinus), which is an overall lemon yellow in colour with iridescent thin blue lines around the head and at the base of the dorsal fin.

Clownfish are relatively common in all tropical oceans, yet there are only 29 different species worldwide and perhaps around only a dozen host anemones. The greater number of different species can be found within the Coral Triangle in Indonesia

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A clownfish is born male and has the ability to change into a female.

This can happen when the dominant female dies, the dominant male will turn into a female and then choose to mate with another male in the group. However, once they change they cannot turn back.

The Red Sea

ANEMONEFISH As the Egyptian Red Sea opens up from COVID-19 restrictions for UK divers, many will be excitedly awaiting their first glimpse of that ubiquitous reef inhabitant, the anemonefish Photographs by Lawson Wood WWW.SCUBADIVERMAG.COM

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Barefoot luxury in the heart of Indonesia

Bunaken National Marine Park I had a fantastic time at Siladen Resort. The resort itself is a quiet and idyllic oasis, the food was outstanding, but it’s the fishes that will have me coming back. The dive crew were some of the friendliest folk I have met. Always smiling, and so happy. I can’t wait to dive there again.

Dr. Richard Smith

w w w.s i l a d e n.c o m

Anemonefish are ever-present on Red Sea reefs

Clownfish are omnivores. They eat dead anemone tentacles, leftovers from the anemone, plankton, mollusk, zooplankton, phytoplankton, small crustaceans and various algae.

Clownfish are relatively common in all tropical oceans, yet there are only 29 different species worldwide and perhaps around only a dozen host anemones. The greater number of different species can be found within the Coral Triangle in Indonesia, and the Red Sea to the extreme northwest has managed to snare only one species which is regarded as endemic to the region, but some are gradually making their way into the Gulf of Aden and the greater Arabian Sea. Curiously, the German marine scientist Hans Fricke wrote about the skunk anemonefish (Amphiprion akallopisos) in the Red Sea and described the hierarchy between the males and females and how (unlike most other fish species) start off as males when young and if there is no dominant female, one of the males will change sex to female and rule her harem of males!

What is curious to me is that this species of clownfish does not exist in the northern Red Sea (to my knowledge), so perhaps their work was in the extreme south. Nevertheless, their observations stand firm and true for all species of anemonefish. On reflection, I am sure that their discovery and description of the skunk clownfish is correct, as back Threespot Dascyllus

Once the clownfish’s eggs are laid and fertilised, it is the male that cares for the brood by blowing fresh water over the eggs and removing any dead or diseased cells in 1999, up on Woodhouse Reef in the Straits of Tiran in the northern Red Sea, I photographed the Oman anemonefish (Amphiprion omanensis). Originally I had thought that this little clownfish was actually a melanistic (or dark) colour form of the Red Sea anemonefish, but on examining the early photographs, they are quite clearly of a clownfish that I had never imagined finding in the northern Red Sea, and to my knowledge this is a first record for this clownfish in the northern Red Sea. So, if anyone out there has photographed these or other species of clownfish in the Red Sea, please let me know!

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With clownfish found on virtually every reef dive that we have in the Red Sea, one would think that this flamboyant little fish would have come to the fore of all the naturalists who had been exploring the Red Sea since the early 1800s.

Amazingly, the species is only known to us since it was first discovered and described in 1830, when a couple of specimens were collected and kept in a bucket of seawater!

The Red Sea anemonefish is endemic to the Red Sea, but is gradually spreading out into the Arabian Sea and down the west coast of Africa.

My first-ever trip to the Red Sea was back in 1973 and armed with my trusty Nikonos II, I joined Dr Paul Cragg and a number of other BSOUP photographers (including Jim Wilmot, Kevin Cullimore, Pete Bignall and my great dive buddy Harry Simmonds, as well as other marine life enthusiasts) to explore the Red Sea for the first time. Many trips later after having run dive safaris through the Sinai out of Eilat, I went to live and work in the Red Sea in the mid-1980s for four years working on the legendary Lady Jenny III and Lady Jenny V, exploring reefs and wrecks that had never been seen before (some have never been dived since!) and have photographed these little fish everywhere.

My love for the clownfish in the Red Sea has never diminished. n

Anemonefish sheltering in their host

What’s in a name?

Citron goby Lawson Wood on a Red Sea liveaboard

All marine species have a common name and a proper (Latin) name. Common names can change from region to region, never mind country to country, hence the use of proper scientific names to remove this confusion. As we can see with the naming of the Red Sea anemonefish, two-striped anemonefish, two striped clownfish, clownfish or Red Sea clownfish, you should be trying to describe the same fish, but thankfully the full Scientific Classification is on hand to properly describe its place in the hierarchy of all living things, including who first described the fish, back in 1830 - the zoological scientist and geographer Eduard Rüppell from the Senckenberg Research Society and Museum in Frankfurt.

Scientific Classification

Kingdom: Animalia | Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii | Order: Perciformes Family: Pomacentridae | Genus: Amphiprion Species: A. bicinctus Binomial name: Amphiprion bicinctus, Rüppell, 1830

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SCUBA DIVER Q&A ANDY FORSTER

Andy Forster is the brainchild behind the ambitious Dive Project Cornwall, which aims to educate millions of adults and hundreds of thousands of young people about the importance of our oceans, Part of the plan is to introduce 400 lucky teenagers into the watery world of scuba diving. We chatted to him about the scheme, how it came into being, and what drew him to diving.

Photographs courtesy of Dive Project Cornwall

Q: How did Dive Project Cornwall come into being in the first place?

A: As a Divemaster at Porthkerris, I have taken many children on try-dives. The expression on their face and feedback from the experience got us all talking at Porthkerris and I started working on ideas on how to get more kids diving – Dive Project Cornwall was born!

Porthkerris is a haven for divers

Q: What are the main long-term aims and goals of Dive Project Cornwall?

A: To save the ocean! We will do this through educating millions of adults and hundreds of thousands of young people about the importance of our oceans – the future generation are the future of this blue planet.

Q: Dive Project Cornwall is one of those schemes which is close to our hearts, as it involves getting younger people into diving, and as long-time readers of Scuba Diver will know, we are all about The Next Generation of diving. We were on board as a sponsor from day-one. What other companies are involved with the project?

A: Yes, thanks Mark, you have been amazing since agreeing to work with us. Other incredible supporters who have jumped on board to help me get this started are PADI, Fourth Element, Suunto, Beuchat, Marine Conservation Society, Porthkerris, Kent Tooling, and my own businesses, Engine House Media and The Ocean Agency (both proud to be part of Leven Media Group). With the help of my founding sponsors, others have started to get involved to make a difference – Blue Marine Foundation, City to Sea, Cornwall Air Ambulance, Cornwall College Group (including Falmouth Marine School), Divers Alert Network (DAN), Kids Against Plastic, Marine Diaries, Sea Changers, Visit Cornwall and Burges Salmon to name a few – there are many, many more.

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Andy returning from a dive on Drawna Rock

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Andy and project manager Jowen Spicer

Colourful wrasse on the shore dive at Porthkerris

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Picturesque Porthkerris is base for Dive Project Cornwall

The Cornish coast wreck dives are varied enough to satisfy any diver’s curiosities, however it is not all wrecks and Cornwall boasts some fantastic natural reefs, such as the Manacles. Wherever you dive, you can find a plethora of marine life, including seagrass, pollock, seals, dolphins, mullet, cuckoo wrasse, pink sea fans, cuttlefish, edible crabs, crayfish, lobster and dead man’s fingers

Andy is full of enthusiasm for Dive Project Cornwall

Andy checking some of the trial kids pre-dive

We are also starting to work closely with dive centres – Ocean Turtle, Orca Scuba Diving, Andark, Sussex Diving and Leisure, In Depth, Welsh Diving, Go Dive and Overland Underwater are all supporting the project.

Q: Although you have been a lifelong waterman, enjoying kayaking and surfing, your love affair with diving is only relatively recent – and you have an interesting story as to why you learned to dive in July 2017 in the first place.

A: Yes. My friend wanted to go to Guadalupe Island to see the great whites for his 40th. Not being the sort of person to do things by halves, I researched the trip and realized to go in the submersible cage, you needed to be a qualified diver

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Andy always has a smile on his face

Porthkerris dive boat at anchor

Octopus on the house reef

Diving is my new life and I love it – I owe this fact to the whole team – I booked my course at Porthkerris immediately and have been diving ever since – that was just over four years ago (July 2017). Now, as a Divemaster with 500-plus dives, I think you could say I’m hooked!

Q: You are currently a PADI Divemaster – are you progressing further?

A: Yes, I am going to be taking an active role in teaching the children from Dive Project Cornwall and am off to do my IDC in Utila in January 2022.

Q: As we always do in these Q&As, what is your mostmemorable moment when diving?

A: Oh, so many already. Guadalupe was incredible. The Maldives was sensational. But my favourite moment of all was with an autistic diver called Scott who came for guided

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dives and we saw a seal for over 20 minutes in Porthkerris.

As Scott said ‘it was the most amazing 20 minutes of my life’. He was only 20-odd, but I can safely say at 50 it was definitely my best dive experience – the seal, and the fact that Scott enjoyed it so much!

Q: On the flipside, what is your worst memory when diving?

A: Depsite having experienced several incidents during courses and being present to ensure a couple of scenarios did not end with the worst, I don’t really have a worst memory! Diving is my new life and I love it – I owe this fact to the whole team at Porthkerris, who make every diving day very, very special and great fun. There is a special bond of comradery and friendship that runs through Porthkerris - it really is such a magical place, and so perfect for Dive Project Cornwall. n

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THE BARGE - YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY ONE-STOP SHOP Mario Vitalini explains why a rather humble dive site in the Egyptian Red Sea ranks highly among his favourite dive locations Photographs by Mario Vitalini

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he last 18 months have certainly been challenging and some of us haven’t had the chance to get in the water as much as we wanted. Finally, borders are re-opening, and restrictions are being lifted so we can, at last, jump in at some of our favourite warm water dive sites.

For me, The Barge in the Northern Red Sea is one of those places. What makes this rather average-looking dive one of my top photo spots? Let me explain why I love diving here so much. I’ll introduce some of the subjects you are likely to find, and show how I like to shoot them.

An octopus hunting at night. I particularly love the fish in the background

The Barge

The Barge is an Egyptian photography favourite, located on Little Gubal island in the Gulf of Suez. It is a must stop for any liveaboard running a northern itinerary. As its name says, the site is marked by an old barge. Very little is known about the vessel’s history. Some theories say it was used to salvage the cargo of the Ulysses, a beautiful wreck located just around the corner that sank in 1887. Other people are more inclined to think the barge went down in 1973 during the Egypt Israel war. The truth is, there is not much left of the old wreck.

Lemon gobies live on a coral tree right inside the lagoon. This is a great place to photograph these shy and elusive guys

Laying on a gentle slope between 9m and 15m, it offers plenty of bottom time and the deep waters north and east of the island ensure a constant flow of clear water. Currents are normally mild, but they can be a bit strong. If this is the case, just move to the shallow and more-protected areas.

What’s left of the wreck is home to a great number of species of fish and invertebrates. Because it is a regular stop for many liveaboards, the marine life has become used to divers and is relatively easy to approach. The surrounding area is packed with marine life and the drop off is regularly visited by dolphins. Cardinalfish, nudibranchs, octopus and scorpionfish are among the many friendly subject that make The Barge their home. It is this abundance of life that draws us, and why photographers now consider this site one of the highlights of any Northern Red Sea trip.

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Classic subjects at The Barge

Cardinalfish - After jumping from the boat, swim towards the wreck and quickly find large numbers of tiger cardinalfish and bigeyes. They hover next to the hull very close to the bottom. Look carefully and you may see some of the cardinalfishes with distended jaws. This indicates the fish is guarding its eggs inside its mouth, a great photo opportunity for portraits.

Patience is key. Once you have chosen an individual, move slowly and let the fish get used to you. Try to approach them from the front to get a good look at the eggs between their sharp teeth. Occasionally cardinalfish spit out their eggs and then grab them again. This is to allow better oxygenation. Be ready to capture the moment.

Lighting can be tricky. Because of the cardinals’ size, you will need to stay a bit further away than what you normally do for a traditional macro subject. If you keep your flashguns close to the housing, you will end up lighting the water column in front of the fish. Instead, push your strobe arms forward, straight in front of the housing as far as you can so your strobes are positioned closer to the subject at either side.

If you want to achieve a soft background or shallow Depth of Field, you will need to open the aperture This will let more light through, compensate by reducing the power output of the strobes and reducing the ISO on your camera.

Alternatively, you can try a snoot to helps concentrate the light on the subject. Or, if possible, to frame the fish against the blue background.

Portrait of George, the resident moray at The Barge. By using inward lighting, I was able to accentuate the features and isolate the face

Cardinalfish with eggs in its mouth

Morays - One moray has become a symbol of The Barge, and it has been affectionately named George. It’s been living on this site for years and is one of the biggest morays I have ever seen. George often hides in or around The Barge.

There are in reality several large morays around the barge, who are easy to approach and offer great wide angle and portrait opportunities. They are great to use cross lighting or even inward lighting to great effect.

Peppered morays are also very common here. They tend to live on tiny holes and cracks and separate them from the messy background is challenging. A bit of spotlighting, perhaps with a torch or snoot helps to isolate them. Given the white colour of their body, backlighting can be very effective. Lionfish, and scorpionfish are easy to find all over this site. One curious thing about all of them is the size. For some reason, fish and critters in this site are consistently bigger than everywhere else.

A special treat

Swim away from the barge heading towards the shallows.

You will see a sandy alley and a small shallow gap on the reef, this will lead you to a shallow lagoon. The corals around this small channel are gorgeous and being incredibly shallow it is a great place to try some split levels or dappled light photos.

Swim into the lagoon for a few metres in you will see a lonely coral tree. This is home to several lemon gobies.

These beautiful little fish are relatively rare and very shy but here is not difficult to photograph them. Toward the back of the lagoon, in just 3m of water, there are some old dead coral heads, in there you can spot a relatively unknown species of blenny, known as unicorn blenny. Its funny face is great to practice your super macro skills.

Book your holiday with the award winning dive experts at Scuba Travel!

+44 (0)1483 411590

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Night dives at The Barge

Using a snoot, I directed the light right to this peppered moray face creating a glowing effect

Right before dusk, hundreds of fusiliers start gathering around the wreck creating clouds of fish. These schools are not easy to photograph but if you jump at the right time and with a wide-angle lens, you can experiment with very long exposures to great effect.

If you prefer a more straightforward experience, there is plenty around to keep you entertained. Many species of nudibranchs crawl along the bottom and small morays that hide during the day are now out and hunting. Night is also a great time to look for the resident octopus and try to get some great shots of their eyes (Please be kind to the creatures and do not blast them with hundreds of flashes, they do not have eyelids to protect their eyes).

On the sides of the wreck, you can see some beautiful soft corals, look carefully between the branches and you may spot a candy crab. These little guys are relatively common in the Far East but not so much in the Red Sea. A word of advice: when diving at night at the barge, be extremely careful with your buoyancy. Hundreds of long spine urchins crawl around and if you get too close to the bottom there is a risk of getting stung.

Right before dusk, hundreds of fusiliers start gathering around the wreck creating clouds of fish A blue spotted stingray swim around The Barge

Bottlenose dolphins use the bay at night to rest. It is not uncommon to encoutnter them in the afternoons

Welcome dolphins

In the afternoons, keep an eye out for dolphins, these magnificent creatures live in the area and after a day hunting in the open water they generally come back to spend the night in the relatively protected waters. Is not uncommon for them to pay a visit and play for a few minutes with the divers.

The Barge may not be known as one of the best dive sites in the world. Let’s face it… it lacks the adrenalin or drama of other well-known locations. But this humble site is a photographer’s one-stop shop in every aspect. It has an impressive variety of subjects all year round, the marine life is relatively friendly and relatively easy to approach, the visibility is good, and the shallow depths give us plenty of bottom time. For this reason, I always make The Barge a mandatory stop on all my Red Sea workshops. I can’t think of a better place to dust off those cobwebs from your kit and get back to take some great underwater photos. n

Book your holiday with the award winning dive experts at Scuba Travel!

+44 (0)1483 411590

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WRECK HUNTERS

2022

It’s finally happening!

Calling would-be undersea detectives for 2022!

Plus, the chance to meet the project director at the Go Diving Show.

As you all know, international COVID travel restrictions have impacted everyone. But the good news is the Wreck Hunters project can finally get underway for an extended season in 2022.

This is a unique opportunity to take part in the beginning of a diving archaeology programme on the Caribbean island of Utila. The focus will be getting to the heart of the story of a wreck called ‘The Oliver’, its rich history and the life of 18th Century mariners.

Learn all the skills of undersea archaeology, from traditional to cutting edge techniques. If you’re a relatively experienced diver with some skills or experience in drawing (artistic or technical), surveying, photography or in construction work this could be just what you’re looking for (See website for full details).

Project Director Mike Haigh will be on hand to explain the details of the course at the Go Diving Show 2022, March 4-6 at the NAEC, Stoneleigh, Kenilworth. Find us near the entrance.

So, if you think this project would help put a smile on your face, why not get in touch to find out more at

www.wreckhunters.co.uk 0117 9596454

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18/08/2021 06:46

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FREEDIVING WITH SHARKS: HINTS AND ADVICE

As with scuba diving with sharks, remember - these are wild animals, you are not in a petting zoo, so stricly look but don’t touch, even if they approach you very closely.

Also, before you commence freediving with the sharks, it is worth spending some time just floating on the surface and letting them get used to your presence.

It is advisable to wear only dark clothing, including gloves, and remove any items that are reflective, as the flash of something metallic or a bare hand, can easily be mistaken for a tasty fish - the normal diet of a blue shark.

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or me, one of the positives of the short 2020 diving season was the increased willingness of new divers to try the British coast and all that it holds. Many enquiries were made by new would-be divers who would no longer be going abroad to learn and were still after some adventure and thrills, but now good ole’ Blighty seemed the only option.

Many of those who tried the diving were surprised how good it was and booked on trips and courses through 2021, making it a good year for acquisition and retention of a new demographic of divers that historically would have travelled abroad to learn and experience the sport.

As well as Britain being famous for its seal colonies and historic wrecks we have around our shores, it is less known that we also have regular shark visitors. One such shark, the blue shark (Prionace glaucais) is an open-ocean, pelagic species that visits British waters mainly in summer months. They follow the Gulfstream from the Caribbean and return there following the Atlantic North Equatorial Current. Blue sharks, as you would expect, predatory and feed on mostly mackerel and herring, as well

as squid, and sometimes hunt larger fish such as cod, pollock and coalfish. They have been recorded at depths of up to 350m, and the largest blue shark ever caught in UK seas was over three metres long.

They are a slim shark. They look a little like whitetip and blacktip reef sharks, but have a metallic blue colour on top and white underneath. These beautiful-looking nomads are, for us in the UK, spotted around the South and South West coast of England and South West Wales in the summer months, normally ten-plus miles offshore. They prefer water temperatures between 12 and 20 °C, but can be seen in water ranging from 7 to 25 °C, so the UK is ideal. Our 2021 trip was 24 to 27 miles offshore and the water was about 18 degrees C. The best way to dive with them is snorkelling or freediving, and I would suggest the latter is certainly the better way, as you can be with them on their terms rather than casually viewing from the surface as an onlooker.

Females give live birth, and litters are known to rarely reach sizes of more than 100 pups

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Blue sharks visit our shores in the summer months, and as Steve Millard found out, being in the water with these stunning creatures is an awe-inspiring experience Photographs by Steve Millard

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The blue sharks approach without fear

A migratory breed, blue sharks are found all over the world, except the polar circle. Blue sharks have a slim, torpedo-shaped body and are graceful swimmers.

They reach up to three metres in length and can weigh up to 450 pounds.

They are a slim shark. They look a little like whitetip and blacktip reef sharks, but have a metallic blue colour on top and white underneath On our recent trip to Plymouth, Gemma Care, conservationist and YouTube Shark Talk presenter said: “The trip to see the blue sharks this year was absolutely fantastic - two days of diving and sharks on both dives with up to four around me at any one time on day two! I think this trip is a fantastic way to enjoy some of the wildlife that the UK has to offer. On our way out to the dive site we saw mola mola and common dolphins too, which made the trip even better.

“Freediving with blue sharks is something really special they are so curious and swim so close to you that you really get to appreciate how beautiful they are and see them at their most inquisitive, while feeling safe the entire time. I thoroughly recommend this trip to anyone and if you’re scared or unsure of sharks, this is a great way to replace your fear with an unforgettable experience and see first-hand that we are not at all on the menu! I found it especially gratifying to swim with them and to then be able to spread the message Sharks of all sizes come to check out the divers

that you can have peaceful encounters with sharks.”

Globally, the blue shark is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List. In the UK, it is a Priority Species under the UK Post-2010 Biodiversity Framework. The plight of this shark is that they are caught commercially in their millions.

Blue shark meat is not highly regarded, but the skin is used for leather and the liver for oil. The dorsal fin is also used to make shark-fin soup. After these parts of the shark have been taken, the remainder of the carcass may be thrown back into the sea or processed into fishmeal. An example of this commercial exploitation was outlined in 2018 when a Spanish fishing vessel, the Virxen da Blanca, was detained by the Irish Naval Service and found to have 1,250kg of shark fin on board, along with an incredible 164,250kg of blue shark on board – the equivalent of around 5,000 individual blue sharks.

Louisa Funder, Apneists UK club member, said: “From documentaries and other peoples’ experiences, I knew that sharks are peaceful creatures and since I started learning more about sharks I always wanted to see and experience them in their own habitat myself and not just on a screen or in a book.

Dive with sharks

If you would like to see our trips, visit our website and have a look at the calendar, blogs and course details. www.freedivers.co.uk

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Getting read to dive

“Sharks fascinate me because of their nature and behaviour, they are so different to what a lot of people think they are.

During the trip I was surprised how gentle, nosey, and interactive the sharks were. It was an incredible experience with great people and even greater animals.”

Blue sharks go on these long migrations to reach areas of dense food resources and to find potential mates. For most of the year, males and females of this species live in different places. Only during the mating season do they come together, briefly, and reproduce via internal fertilization.

Males may aggressively bite females during mating, so females have thick protective skin to prevent injury when they meet males. Females give live birth, and litters are known to rarely reach sizes of more than 100 pups.

Blue sharks are an important species to marine tourism as divers, photographers and other groups enjoy encountering them. In rare instances, individuals have bitten people, but this happens only very infrequently - only 13 such incidents between 1580 and 2013. The blue shark has one of the largest geographic distributions among the sharks and was historically one of the most-common pelagic sharks in the world. Its wide distribution and dense population structure make the blue shark a target of fisheries in some areas and a common accidentally caught species in gillnet and longline fisheries targeting other species. The blue shark’s numbers have decreased by as much as 80 percent in some areas. Therefore, it is important to continue to monitor the targeted and incidental catch of this species and to update its population trends as new information becomes available.

Colin Christian, Apneists UK Scotland member, said: “I love sharks and my first up close experience was cage diving with none other than great whites in South Africa. I had never seen such a majestic, powerful and misunderstood creature. “Ever since this life-changing experience I have wanted to get closer to and interact with sharks in the open water, free of the limitations of a cage.

“Blue sharks are ideal for this due to their inquisitive but peaceful nature. We were fortunate to be surrounded by five relaxed individuals for several hours - each taking turns to calmly get up close and personal to inspect these aliens floating around in their natural habitat.”

Two areas where we have had success in viewing and diving with these sharks are Plymouth with In Deep and Pembrokeshire with Celtic Deep. We find the best month to go is August, but there are sightings either side of that window. There is also settled weather then too. n

Blue sharks shoaling below

Blue shark just beneath the surface

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Commercial diving jobs vary in pay according to risk, duration, and other variables, but generally, a diver’s base pay is usually supplemented with ‘depth pay’.

The further down they go, the more they can make.

Veteran recreational and technical instructor trainer Phil Short is a major proponent of always learning new skillsets, and in August, he entered the world of surface supply commercial diving Photographs by Brad Wakefield and Phil Short

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39

O

ne of the things that has kept me driven and enthusiastic in diving over the last three decades in the diving industry is variety. My first instructor told me that diving was like a tree, where being underwater competently is the ‘trunk’ and above are a mass of different disciplines that are the ‘branches’.

So, for some time, I have endeavoured to undertake some form of training or experience outside of my ‘norm’ but still under the general ‘umbrella’ of diving. In addition, there is an oft-used phrase ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks’… well, I disagree and this year I took one of the biggest steps ever outside of my diving ‘norm’ and, as an ‘old dog’, learnt an enormous amount of new tricks by undertaking my commercial diver training in the form of Surface Supply and Offshore Top-Up with Commercial Diver Training (CDT) in Fowey, Cornwall.

Firstly by way of explanation… why? I’ve always aimed to progress my knowledge and, where needed, qualifications in a direction where I will immediately or later on use the new skills, and often find myself combining skill sets for a given ultimate objective - as an example, learning vertical rope technique for ascent and descent added to my caving, cave diving and rebreather skills led me to be an exploratory diver on Bill Stone’s 2013 J2 expedition. With the decision to undertake commercial dive training, the purpose was slightly different. In the last decade I have worked as a safety diver, rigging diver, diving safety officer and diving operations manager on numerous institutional scientific diving projects, including the 1495 Danish Gribshunden wreck in Sweden, World War Two aircraft wrecks in Croatia and Sweden, and numerous ancient maritime archaeology sites in Greece.

These projects and this work has slowly lead to a more and more commercial approach and future planned projects will head in that direction even more, so after discussions with my projects manager Dr Brendan Foley of Lund University, Sweden, and other members of our team, I decided to proceed with my training for early 2021.

Now, the best plans do not always work out and due to travel restrictions caused by the pandemic, I was unable to attend my booked April dates as we moved our 2021 projects (A B-17 bomber survey outside of Trelleborg Sweden and the year’s archaeological project on Gribshunden) to run almost back to back to minimalise travel and ‘bubble’ our team members. This worked perfectly and CDT were able to move me to the August course. So, early in August, I was picked up in a car park in Fowey by a RIB and taken out to DSV Hambledon for the next five weeks of a whole new diving world!

Many years previously, I had completed my HSE SCUBA training to enable me to work in the UK. under the HSE Media and Scientific ACOPs, so I joined the course at the close of that phase and the start of Surface Supply training breathing your air supply via an umbilical fed from a primary and back-up supply on the surface to a helmet (‘hat’) or band mask with an additional isolated but accessible bailout on your back, and on into Off Shore Top Up training. To summarise, the Surface Supply allows the diver to work in inland or inshore waters (Civil Engineering ‘Civils’) and the Off Shore Top-Up covers the diving side of being able to dive, as the name implies, ‘Off Shore’. At this level that makes the diver on completion a 50m Surface Supplied ‘Air Diver’ and with the Top-Up able to use Hot Water Suits

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Phil ready to get stuck into learning some new skills Thumbs up from a dressed diver

Manning the panel

Surface supply diver set to be lowered into the water

Prepping the diver

Surface crew

Here the rescuer on command from the Supervisor follows the diver’s umbilical, checking for ‘cuts and fouls’ to the diver, then on approach checks the area for personal risk and safety to proceed (Wow!) and Wet Diving Bells, but more about that later.

Now, CDT run an extremely ‘hand’s on’ course with huge amounts of dives and in-water time well in excess of the required training minimums. The days start early, end late and are full on to simulate the reality of the workplace post-training, so after being shown my cabin, given a safety briefing and having dinner, it was off to bed ready for an early doors start to commercial diving day one.

Next morning saw instructor John Duffy introduce us to the Kirby Morgan Band Mask 28, which consists of a frame, lens and neoprene face seal with a side valve assembly, regulator, free flow knob and auxiliary/emergency gas supply valve built into a zipped neoprene hood and held in place by a five-strap head harness or ‘spider’. This mask is often used for the stand-by diver and also preferred on ship inspection dives as it is much lighter than a full ‘hat’.

The first dive was simple, acquaint to the world of Surface Supply and loss of gas exercises, where the Surface Supplied gas is isolated by the Supervisor, the diver then notices a

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tightening of breath and switches over to the on-board (backmounted single cylinder plumbed into the mask) and notifies the Supervisor ‘on-bailout’… we did this rather a lot of times, just as I would teaching technical divers gas shutdowns in twinsets or open circuit bailouts on rebreathers!

Once happy with the mask and loss of gas use, we moved right along to diver rescues, alternating as rescuer and simulated casualty. Here the rescuer on command from the Supervisor follows the diver’s umbilical, checking for ‘cuts and fouls’ to the diver, then on approach checks the area for personal risk and safety to proceed and checks the diver’s conscious state and if they are breathing. The rescuer then holds the casualty securely by the harness, running both their own and the casualty’s umbilicals between the two divers, and ask the Supervisor to haul them both in via the casualty’s umbilical… very hard physical work and a fair degree of fitness needed, especially as Graham Weston (our chief instructor) made (as he should) us do them again and again and again!

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Diver in Kirby Morgan helmet

A few days on and we were introduced to our first ‘hat’, the Kirby Morgan Superlite 37, identical in use and operation to the band mask but built into a carbon fibre-reinforced fibreglass helmet shell. To don this type of ‘hat’, a neck dam is fitted over the dressed diver’s head (basically a neoprene neck seal as on a drysuit fitted into a metal hoop with an O-ring around the outer edge) then the ‘hat’ is put on like a motorcycle helmet and the dam seals inside the base and is locked by collar latches. We also started learning ‘tools’ and started actually doing some underwater work… the purpose of commercial diving.

First tool was the airlift, now I’ve used a lot of airlift and water dredge systems in my archaeological diving to remove sediment and clear localised visibility… the key being a gentle and gradual approach. This was not that!

Rather it was a large diameter pipe fed with air from a diesel road compressor to dig a hole.

Now as all of this training and experience grew, the thing for me with 6,000-plus dives over 30-plus years was having no computer/depth gauge/timer and being entirely under the control of the Supervisor for when to leave bottom, when to stop during ascent to decompress, and for how long…

Diver being lowered into the water

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Over the week we progressed from 30m to 50m dives - the first time for over 15 years I had dived in the 40m to 50m range on air! strange! On these early dives in the class, we were training from the CDT Mid River/Harbour pontoon in up to 10m of water so I was not too concerned but knowing that later in the course we would conduct 45-50m decompression dives, I did wonder how that was going to feel.

Training continued from the pontoon with introduction to hydraulic tools for cutting and grinding, to sub-sea assembly with the building of a cube from 12 short scaffold bars and 16 clamps (This became rather competitive in a friendly way to see who could build the most cube-shape cube and rig it for lifting within the allowed dive time!) - not as simple as it sounds on a muddy harbour bed. And then the fun really began, with a surface demo and practice of the Broco-Gun for underwater hot cutting!

The Broco ultrathermic cutting rod produces a temperature in excess of 5,000 degrees Celsius enabling it to cut through metal and concrete! You actually get to make fire underwater! The system has a supply of oxygen passed down the inside of the rod and an electric circuit to spark the combustion of the rod. Our task was to cut through large chain links strung under the pontoon and we did this on one of our required night dives, which looks really impressive

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from the pontoon above while tending another diver.

The next phase saw us head out to sea from Fowey harbour to complete our deep dives, cage dives and chamber use training. The cage is lifted up and over the side of the Diving Support Vessel (DSV) by the Lifting and Recovery System (LARS) and takes two divers. Once in the water the cage is lowered down wires to a ‘clump weight’ at the dive depth where the cage door can be opened and diver one exits to begin their tasks. Over the week we progressed from 30m to 50m dives - the first time for over 15 years I had dived in the 40m to 50m range on air!

On one dive in exceptional visibility, a mola mola (sunfish) swam towards and past our cage as we prepared to leave the seabed - the first time I had ever seen one underwater.

As part of our deeper dives we learned how to operate the LARS, operate the chamber and run the divers panel and were also introduced to SURD02, where the last phase of ascent is made to be de-kitted, undressed and recompressed in the chamber in under five minutes to then complete the last of the deco on oxygen in the chamber dry and warm… With CDT, it really was ‘full on’ training, always something to do and plenty going on under the watchful eyes of Graham and John.

I’d signed up for both Surface Supply and the Offshore Top-Up, so the final phase saw us exchange the cage for a Wet Bell and our drysuits for hot water suits… Yes, I did say hot water suit! Wow! So I love my SANTI heated vest, suit, gloves and socks, but this was a whole new level of comfort. You wear a thin wetsuit and over that what seems like a drysuit with no wrist seals, no boots and no neck seal.

Within this suit is a network of perforated pipes to arms, legs and torso and an inlet and control on the hip. Sea water is pumped into a diesel heating unit on the boat and then down a hot water hose that is part of the diver’s umbilical. It really is like diving while wearing a hot tub with arms and legs!

Ready to descend

On the job

Diver returning from a dive

Fully kitted surface supply diver

The Wet Bell dives involved a large umbilical to the canopy of the wet bell then inside the dome roof control panels to feed air, hot water and communications to each diver via their own umbilical. When at depth, diver one will exit the bell to go to their task while diver two tends the umbilical out and back while also monitoring the control panels. A big part of Wet Bell training was diver rescue, which required the Bell Diver/Tender to pay out a sufficient length of their own umbilical to then leave the Bell, follow the diver’s umbilical and effect a rescue by hauling both the casualty and themselves back to the Bell, securing the casualty and then stowing the umbilicals of both divers to prepare the Bell for surfacing… intense!

So after five weeks living aboard the DSV Hambledon and Loyal Watcher, I found myself qualified as an HSE Surface Supply Offshore Top-Up Air Diving. I cannot thank CDT, Sal, Tamsin and especially Graham Weston and John Duffy for an intense, enjoyable, highly professional and rewarding experience. And to bring the story to a close, I’m writing this during the middle of a three-week job (my first!) using my new qualifications for a civil engineering job on the River Avon in Bath, where much like driving lessons and test, the learning continues under the guidance of my supervisor Ben Coker and his team. So it seems that you can teach an old dog new tricks - and long may it continue into my fourth decade as a diver. n

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DIVERS ALERT NETWORK: EUROPE

DAN Europe is an international non-profit medical and research organisation dedicated to the safety and health of divers.

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DISINFECTING YOUR

SCUBA EQUIPMENT Michael Menduno offers up some sage advice on methods of cleaning and disinfecting your scuba equipment

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ith the COVID-19 pandemic easing and people slowly returning to diving, it seemed appropriate to revisit our recommendations regarding disinfecting scuba equipment.

Accordingly, we reached out to nearly a dozen manufacturers for their input and latest recommendations.

Note that DAN US published a quick guide to disinfecting scuba equipment in March 2020, which was later updated in June 2020 and titled Disinfection of Scuba Equipment and COVID-19.

Of course, it continues to be important to rinse and clean your scuba equipment to prevent wear and premature aging, as has been discussed in prior articles. However, as everyone is aware, the pandemic has introduced additional requirements. Though it might not be necessary to disinfect your own gear after diving, all of the vendors we spoke to agreed that it is essential to disinfect scuba equipment that comes into contact with a diver’s face, eyes and mouth before sharing the equipment with other divers. This includes but is not limited to the second stage regulator mouthpiece and internal surfaces, snorkel, BCD oral inflator and mask.

Rebreather manufacturers also pointed out that it is essential to regularly disinfect the breathing loop to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria even if it is only used by one diver.

It is also to keep in place protocols that minimize the possibilities of transmission. This includes social distancing, washing/sanitizing hands before and after touching their own and someone else’s gear - that is before and after the dive in most instances. Note that being in water may reduce contact transmission risks, but experts remain divided on the degree or duration required to inactivate COVID-19 in particular, so a conservative approach is recommended. So for example, it is best to modify gas sharing drills, so that divers do not breathe off another’s regulator.

Disinfectant products

Vendors recommended some commonly used disinfectants including Virkon products including Rely+On Virkon, Virkon S, and Chemgene, that have shown to be effective against the virus. Other products such as sodium hypochlorite, the active ingredient in bleach, which is inexpensive and readily available, has been studied in many different concentrations, and its effectiveness against viruses has been proven.

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In a study that examined COVID-19 specifically, it was found that a sodium hypochlorite concentration of 0.1% or 1,000 ppm in water was needed to reduce infectivity when sprayed onto a hard-non-porous surface. A second study on the same virus found that 0.1% sodium hypochlorite would inactivate the virus within one minute.

CDC recommends a solution of 1/3 cup bleach per gallon of water (22 ml bleach per litre of water) with a soaking time of 1-2 minutes for hard, nonporous surfaces. This relatively weak 2% bleach solution and short contact time should not cause damage to scuba regulators.

When using bleach, the use of gloves, a mask, and eye protection is encouraged. It is important to read the product label carefully, checking the percentage of active ingredient, and diluting it in water in the right ratio. Mix the water and bleach solution in well-ventilated areas, and use cold water, as hot water will decompose the active ingredient.

Items disinfected with bleach must be thoroughly rinsed with fresh water and allowed to dry before use, as it is corrosive to stainless steel (in higher concentrations) and irritating to mucous membranes, skin and eyes. Highly concentrated bleach solutions have also been found to be harmful to life-support equipment. Do not use bleach in rebreather counterlungs and other breathing loop components unless advised otherwise by the manufacturer.

Disinfect counterlungs as directed by the manufacturer.

Vendors also mentioned quaternary ammonium compounds, or quats, such as Steramine and Barbicide, which are commonly used to disinfect rebreathers, and are frequently active ingredients in cleaning solutions.

These agents are hydrophobic and as such are effective against enveloped viruses; quats are thought to react with the viral envelope and ‘disorganize’ it, leading to

DAN Membership

Before taking the plunge make sure your DAN membership is still active. If it isn’t, join DAN or renew your membership at: www.daneurope.org Your DAN membership ensures the services of the biggest international network for assisting divers anywhere, during any emergency.

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the contents of the virus leaking out and degrading. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the use of products containing these compounds to fight the coronavirus disease. However, quats are also harmful to the environment, so care must be taken in their use and disposal. Please responsibly dispose of these chemicals (for example, down a drain leading to a wastewater treatment plant), as they can negatively affect marine life, especially algae and micro-organisms.

Alcohol can also be used to combat COVID-19. According to the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), an alcohol solution of at least 70% isopropanol or ethanol can be used to disinfect surfaces. However, repeated use of alcohol can harm certain types of plastic and rubber by causing swelling, hardening and cracking of these materials, so it is most likely not the best disinfectant to use on scuba equipment.

In Europe, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has published guidelines about disinfecting for COVID-19. In the US, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has also published a list of disinfectants that are effective against COVID-19.

Environmental considerations

Given the increase in equipment disinfection and attention on effective disinfectants, it’s important to consider the environmental aspects. Disinfectant products kill microorganisms, and continue to kill or cause harm, even in diluted form, when discharged into the environment until they break down. Accordingly, we recommend that you consider the following to make sure that you disinfect your equipment in an environmentally-friendly manner.

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Check the safety data sheet (SDS) for the product you’re using, and never discharge a disinfectant solution into the environment. The SDS includes information such as environmental and human toxicity, proper disposal and other important information.

Thoroughly rinse disinfected scuba equipment with fresh water, and allow it to dry. Small amounts of disinfectant will be in your rinse water, so that also requires responsible disposal. Follow manufacturer guidance for waste disposal.

You are safe using disinfectants registered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that are effective against any specific or local microorganisms of concern.

Unfortunately there isn’t a European equivalent. You can look up the EPA registration for a specific disinfectant in the Pesticide Product and Label System to determine if you can use the product on scuba equipment, respirators or other breathing equipment.

Even if cleaning products are labeled as environmentally friendly, never dump them overboard or pour them onto the ground. Dispose of them as specified on the product’s SDS. In conclusion, as long as the pandemic persists, it’s important to properly disinfect your scuba equipment if it is to be used by others, and in a way that does not harm the environment. Know the composition of the products you use, and be aware of the potential impacts of disposal. It is our responsibility as divers and dive operators to care for and preserve the aquatic environment that we love. Thank you!

Additional Resources

Environmental Considerations for Disinfection (February, 2021)

By Francois Burman, Pr.Eng., M.Sc., and Chloe Strauss. n

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beyond technical

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Mines are man-made and inherently a higher risk environment than the vast majority of natural caves. A cave is formed over a long period of time and its intrinsic stability is due to this. Mines are cavities excavated over a relatively short time period and not there because of any natural process.

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Kurt Storms is now an experienced Belgian cave diver and underwater photographer, but his first overhead dive was in the depths of the Carriere mine in Denée, and here he returns to this atmospheric site, which is a regular haunt for him and other local cave divers Photographs by Kurt Storms

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Computers • O2 Cells • Gas Analysers Cables & Connectors • Rebreather Parts PathFinder Strobes • Sensors Tools • Solenoids The Carriere is a wellknown mine among Belgian cave divers and once, a long time ago, I took my first steps into cave diving here

Tyres and other rubbish is dumped near the entrance

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n the past, a lot of black marble was mined in Belgium, mainly on the Namur sides.

Mining was an important pillar in the past, and the precious black marble was distributed worldwide. One of these mining places was the black marble mine in Denée, a Belgian village that since 1977 has been a part of the municipality of Anhée, in the province of Namur. The famous Maredsous Abbey is located nearby.

The Carriere is a well-known mine among Belgian cave divers and once, a long time ago, I took my first steps into cave diving here. This mine is a one-hour drive from my home, so I spend some time here on a regular basis with my buddy Willem Verrycken.

The mine is closed off with a fence, and to gain access, you have to be a member of VVS or UBS (I am a member of VVS, or Vlaamse Vereniging van Speleogen).

On this visit, it was time to take my wife Caroline Massie and former student Nico Seymus into this beautiful underwater world. Both had recently become members of VVS, but had never dived here before. I agree with Nico that he will pick up a key so that we can enter the system - the key will be ready in a locker at the covenant house.

We arrived at 10am, and as usual Nico was right on time and eager to get to the parking lot. First, I explained to Caroline and Nico what it’s like here, what they can expect and see, and so on. After the thorough briefing, we load everything, using speleo bags to make transport easier.

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A snapshot of the past frozen in time

Many mine workings remain in-situ

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view all products online

www.narkedat90.com Diver exploring Carriere Mine

After about 30 minutes, we returned to the exit, and I am overwhelmed by the beautiful words and amazement of my dive companions Mine diving is very different to cave diving

Access to the mine is via a steep drop, and for this we use a rope. There is a lot of rubbish down there - two years ago they removed two containers of rubbish, but you can still see more left here - car tyres, fridges, etc - that were dumped here in the past. Even a small car wreck was once brought down here! After a few trips up and down the rope, we were ready to change and put our drysuits on.

Once ready and at the water’s edge, we geared up. We ran through our S-drill and then we disappeared under the water for a bubble check.

We dived in one team of three divers. The corridors in the Carriere are large and the water is very clear, making visibility seemingly endless. After about 50 metres, we came to a fork, and here I took the right-hand side. We passed some remains from its mining past, including a large wheel.

I signalled here for my buddies to pose for a moment so that I can take some photographs.

Kurt took his wife Caroline for her first Carriere dive

Then we continued along the corridor and here and there I turned around to take a picture and check everything was alright with the team, especially since they were here for the first time. After about 30 minutes, we returned to the exit, and I am overwhelmed by the beautiful words and amazement of my dive companions.

After a small break of about five minutes, we leave again and take the left passage. In this direction, after about ten minutes, we come to the end of our possible routes and return to the entry/exit point. The Carriere mine at Denée is a very beautiful mine, but can best be described as ‘very sporty’ when it comes to transporting all of your diving equipment to and from the entry and exit point! n

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The currents of

Adrian Stacey waxes lyrical about the adrenalinefuelled drift dives that can be enjoyed in the wild waters of the Komodo National Park PHOTOGRAPHS BY ADRIAN STACEY

T

THE US VIRGIN ISLANDS

he outboard motor on our speed boat wined in protest as a furious current tried its best to thwart us from reaching our destination.

The texture of the water was another clear indication that this dive was going to be far from sedate. Resembling a fastrunning river rather than an ocean, in some parts the sea seemed to boil and performed an agitated little dance, in other areas whirlpools drifted along the fast-moving surface. In contrast, different sections of the sea were as flat as glass and, for a split second, we were afforded a brief glimpse of the utter mayhem below.

Our experienced driver dropped us a little way in front of the reef, to give us some hope of reaching our target. We aimed to get down to 20-25m as fast as possible and to find a good place to secure a reef hook before the current swept us off the dive site.

With this feat completed, it was now time to watch the show.

Immense schools of fusiliers and yellow-masked surgeonfish had congregated where the current first hit the reef, known as ‘the split’. They, in turn, attracted the unwanted attention of a whole host of predators. Huge gangs of the thuggish-looking giant trevallies casually mingled with the fusiliers, grey

The US Virgin Islands are made up of four main islands - St Thomas, St John, St Croix and Small Water Island. St Thomas has some really nice wrecks but is not often visited by UK divers. Choices are limited to a handful of dive centres, including JJ Divers and Coki Dive Centre. Blue Island Divers has just closed down. Originally owned by a Brit, Aitch Liddle, they ran a friendly, professional service at the Crown Bay Marina Suite.

In all there are 40 sandy beaches. Accommodation varies from selfcatering apartments to resort hotels. Dive centres usually offer pick up from hotels with water frontage, otherwise for all other accommodation it’s best to hire a car. There are more than 20 wrecks scattered along the south coast. Most are at a depth of around 30m and no more than 5km offshore (35 minute boat ride). Some even have portholes and brass fittings still attached.

The WIT Shoal II is probably the best wreck dive on St Thomas. The 99-metre-long LST (Landing Ship Tank) was built in 1943 by Kaiser Co Inc. She saw intense action in the Pacific during World War Two and was involved in a number of the infamous beach landings. By the early 1980s she had become a non-functioning derelict and was sunk during Hurricane Klaus on 6 November 1984. She was re-floated in order to be scrapped but sank while being towed to her final destination. She now lies at a max depth of 28m, just 3km outside of St Thomas harbour. There are five deck levels to explore. The engine room is well worth a visit, although finding a way in can be quite tricky. The stern, wheelhouse and crane are the best areas. Two knot currents are quite common, but diving with some water movement does have its advantages. Monotone bulkheads transform into a blaze of colour when thousands upon thousands of tiny orange cup corals open up to feed. This wreck is perfect for night dives.

Stuart Philpott has dived around many Caribbean islands, and he has trawled through his archives to bring this round-up of some of the best shipwrecks in the region PHOTOGRAPHS BY STUART PHILPOTT 22

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Byron Conroy heads to the Maldives in search of big-animal encounters – and he is not left wanting

have always wanted to visit the Maldives for its pure beauty of white sand, blue water and magical sunsets. Also, just hearing someone mention the Indian Ocean makes me start dreaming of a tropical underwater paradise.

When starting to do some research on this place, I quickly found out that shark fishing has been completely banned in all Maldivian atolls since 2010, and ray fishing since 2014. I suddenly got even more excited for our trip.

My partner and I arrived at the Dhigali resort in a tiny propeller-driven seaplane, some 45-minute flight from Male international airport. The island is located in the Raa Atoll in the northern part of the Maldivian archipelago. We got a warm welcome and a useful orientation briefing by manager Kate. My first impression of Dhigali was that the island was very green and jungle-like, creating an authentic and exciting atmosphere. The island is one kilometre long, which is quite big compared to many other resorts with similar guest capacity. This, together with the owner´s intention of keeping as much natural vegetation as possible, has created a very lush, genuine environment.

DOING THE JUNGLE WALK

While exploring the island, we stumbled upon the ‘jungle walk’. Here, 80 percent of the vegetation is preserved and joined by little wooden signs with interesting facts about the wildlife and the plants found here. As we continued along the jungle walk, a group of flying foxes landed in a fruit tree just in front of us. We could also hear many different species of birds around us. On the ground, a small lizard made its way into the bushes.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY BYRON CONROY

The

However, the next moment I reminded myself that I actually get up at 6am every morning just to fit in three or four dives a day, and I suddenly felt a lot better!

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winter waters of the Arctic that even in midwinter the area can support the food-webs necessary to sustain a complete marine ecosystem.

So, while the rest of the North Atlantic is practically barren at that time of the year, the Gulf Stream creates rich upwellings around the mountains and seamounts of the Azores that become fertile oases to which the large pelagic animals of the region aggregate.

Come spring and rising temperatures, the Azorean waters burst into life with huge planktonic blooms and krill spawning events, creating the perfect feeding conditions for the hungry great whales of the northern hemisphere as they migrate to their Arctic summer feeding grounds.

THE GREAT WHALES OF THE AZORES LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION…

Swept by the warm tendrils of the southern Gulf Stream, rich in tropical nutrients and dissolved organic nitrogen, the Azores archipelago is far enough south from the frigid

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The deep waters, undersea mountains and overall ecosystem of the Azores make it an almost perfect location for sperm whales - deep-diving animals that hunt and feed on the giant squid that abound in the depths around the archipelago.

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

I

Jill Heinerth waxes lyrical about the underwater delights that lie in store for adventurous divers off the coast of Newfoundland around the picturesque Bell Island

n the pale light of a wintery Canadian dawn, the Arctic blast persuades me to snug my hat securely down over my ears. Emerging from the neck of my parka, my muffled voice emits curly wisps of white vapour into the cold air.

A barrel-chested John Olivero vaults clear of his truck in a long-sleeved T-shirt loudly announcing ‘let’s go diving!’ My sturdy Canadian resolve cannot hide my disbelief.

“First, we have to get out of the driveway, Johnny!” I mumble.

“No problem!” he smiles backs. “We have a secret weapon!”

Who would have imagined that a diving expedition would require a snowplow? On this day, we need it to move the metre-deep snow that has accumulated overnight. But the list of necessary tools is even more peculiar. For months, John Olivero and Ocean Quest Adventure Resort (www.OceanQuestAdventures.com) owner Rick Stanley wrangled volunteers, convincing them to heft pickaxes and shovels to prepare for our visit. The group of selfless volunteers moved tons of iron ore, built decks and benches, and installed critical lighting in preparation for us to dive into the depths of the Bell Island Mine. February never deterred their dedication.

On the contrary, there is plenty of time in the winter for projects and diversions. In Newfoundland, summertime is an orgy of outdoor activity – 18-hour days crowded with whales, World War Two wrecks, beach picnics and icebergs, leaving little room for manual labour. Winter is work time.

Summer is for play.

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PHOTOGRAPHS BY JILL HEINERTH WWW.INTOTHEPLANET.COM

Newfoundland

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ention the words ‘wreck diving’ on a club RIB or a dive charter boat and it’s guaranteed to get a reaction. In the UK, wreck diving is king. Who doesn’t enjoy exploring shipwrecks? Some get their kicks from the historical aspect, while others are attracted by an oasis of marine life. There is another contingent I would describe as ‘trophy hunters’, but the shallower wrecks were stripped yonks ago, leaving only the sub-50m tech wrecks laden with brass. Back in the good old days, every wreck diver was tooled up with a lump hammer, chisel and lifting bag. I would like to think that today’s discerning wreck diver has a moreconscientious approach, with thoughts more on preservation rather than plunder, but I’m sure there are still a few divers out there that would disagree!

Our whole coastline is littered with tens of thousands of shipwrecks at varying depths to suit every level of recreational and technical diver. The English Channel alone has more than 40,000 recorded wrecks! The Dorset coast has its fair share and, fortunately for me, this has been my stomping ground for many years. I have explored most of the favourites in the 0m-40m range and taken a few reasonable pictures along the way.

There are far too many amazing wrecks to mention in detail, so I have skimmed across the surface, detailing a selection of the very best. Except for the Royal Adelaide, Nor and Landing Craft wrecks lying off Chesil Beach, all of the sites I’ve mentioned are boat dives.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY DON SILCOCK

Sat as they are, roughly halfway between the edge of southern Europe and the tip of North America, the nine islands of the oceanic archipelago of the Azores offer the only shelter from the notorious seas of the North East Atlantic.

Underwater, that archipelago sustains an incredible ecosystem because those nine visible peaks are just a fraction of the 100-plus underwater mountains and seamounts that are both a beacon to marine life and a catalyst for the interaction between the many pelagic species that aggregate there.

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Don Silcock made the long haul from Australia to the Azores in search of some big-animal encounters – and he was not disappointed

ike the tips of icebergs, the islands of the Azores archipelago are just the visible peaks of a remarkable chain of underwater mountains that rank among some of the highest in the world. They rise up from the Azores Platform, a huge area of nearly 6 million km2, which in itself is just a small part of the incredible Mid-Atlantic Ridge, that runs the complete length of the Atlantic Ocean - from the far north and the Arctic Ocean, to the deep south and the Southern Ocean.

The Azores Platform is some 2,000m below the ocean surface, but the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is grounded on to the seabed another 2,000m below that, while the tip of Pico (the tallest island of the archipelago) is 2,350 metres above sealevel, making the mountain that is Pico about 6,500 metres high in total elevation.

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Up currents, down currents, washing machines, currents that do not go in the direction they are supposed to, and currents that just come out of nowhere, can all be encountered in the national park

These sites are well protected from rough weather which means virtually guaranteed diving throughout the year

It is also one of the few places in the world where, under a special permit from the Regional Environment Directorate, it is possible to be in the water with those sperm whales – which is what convinced me to undertake the marathon journey from Sydney!

September is the optimum month as it has the best visibility, reasonable water temperature, most tourists have departed and it’s the end of the calving season, with the highest chance of curious juvenile sperm whale encounters.

I based myself in Madalena, the main town of the picturesque island of Pico in the central Azores, which is dominated by the Mount Pico volcano - the highest point in the archipelago and in all of Portugal.

Thankfully dormant since its last eruption in 1718, a drive up to the flanks of Mount Pico affords a view that seems to stretch to eternity and puts into perspective the sheer isolation of these islands.

It is that very view, combined with the nature and tenacity of the Azorean people, that allowed a shore-based sperm

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Stuart Philpott takes a whistlestop tour of some of the most-popular wreck dive sites along the South Coast PHOTOGRAPHS BY STUART PHILPOTT

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Each issue, the Scuba Diver test team bring you the latest product and equipment releases from the dive industry. Cannot wait for the next edition? Keep up-to-date with all the latest gear news and reviews by heading over to the Scuba Diver YouTube channel! www.youtube.com/ScubaDiverMagazine

GARMIN DESCENT MK2S | SRP: £949 Mark Evans: When Garmin launches the Descent MK2, it picked up where the innovative MK1 left off. It rectified the few issues with the original version, notably with a bigger, better display and overall better aesthetics. There was more functionality – both for diving, and a plethora of other sporting activities – and this made it a tidy package.

The release of the MK2i, which offered all of this with the addition of air-integration capabilities, was a crowning glory for a supremely efficient unit.

Never one to rest on their laurels, Garmin then looked at their potential market, and released there was nothing out there in the wristwatch dive computer market that was designed for smaller builds, be that women, youths or just smaller blokes. Not everyone wants a whopping big dive computer on their wrist for daily wear – my wife Penney loves her D4, but only wears it for diving as it swamps her wrist and is not practical for daily watch wear. And that is where the Descent MK2S comes in.

Available in carbon-grey with black silicone band, light gold with light sand silicone band, and as tested here, mineral blue with sea foam silicone band, the MK2S is significantly smaller than the MK2 or MK2i. It has a 1.2-inch sunlightreadable sapphire display, and 43mm case. It looked right

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at home on my wife’s wrist, and on my teenage son Luke (though he said he would want the carbon-grey colourway!).

The Descent MK2S boasts Garmin’s full suite of diving features as well as encompassing all of the company’s smartwatch and health features, including activity tracking, smart notifications, stress and energy tracking, and Garmin’s industry-leading women’s health features, such as menstrual and pregnancy tracking.

As with the MK2 and MK2i, the diving side of things is easy to get used to. To get started into the diving menu is simplicity itself – you just press the top right-hand button and it brings you on to the screen where you can select the type of diving you are going to be doing – so either single gas, multi-gas, closed-circuit rebreather, gauge mode, apnea, or apnea hunt for the spearos out there. There is also a dive planning option.

Let’s focus on single-gas mode, which is what most users will be doing. Another press of the top right-hand button gets you on to a screen where you can see what your nitrox mix is, what your maximum operating depth is, and what level of conservatism you have it set on. You can also see

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your surface interval. If you need to edit your gas mix or conservatism level, you just press the bottom left button and it takes you to a screen where you can go in and change these. At any time, once you are done, pressing the bottom right-hand button takes you back a screen.

From that first dive screen, another press of the right-hand button takes you to a screen where it shows whether it is set for salt or fresh water, and what the safety stop timer is.

Again, to edit you just press the bottom left-hand button.

A third press of the right-hand button takes you to the ‘dive screen’ itself. I found this nice and clear, and easy to understand during the dive.

You can clearly see the nitrox mix, the water temperature, your NDL, your current depth, and your dive time. The display up the left-hand side of the screen goes from green, to orange, to red, and the hand rises as your NDL gets nearer to zero, so as well as the actual digit display, you get this handy visual graphic as well. The display on the righthand side is rather neat. If you are hovering motionless in the water, the hand remains at the 3 o’clock position, and if you start to ascend, it goes up, and if you start to go too quickly, it warns you with orange, and then if it goes into red, the entire screen alerts you to the fact you are ascending too quickly. So, a rapid ascent warning, nothing new there.

But what I liked was the fact that the hand can go the other

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way, to show when you are descending. This may seem pointless to some people, but I can imagine this being very useful if you were out in the blue looking for sharks, for instance, with no point of reference.

If you are at this stage and need to change your gas mix, you can just press the top right-hand button and it takes you to the gas select screen. As changing your gas mix is probably the most regular thing you will ever do, this makes it quick and easy to do.

After diving, when you want to look at your logbook, you just press the bottom left-hand button and the first thing on the screen is the dive log. Top right-hand button press and you are into the log. On this first screen it gives you the time, depth and water temp of your last dive (and a scroll down goes back dive by dive). A further right-hand press, and after a quick loading screen, you get more details, including a graph of your profile alongside the time, depth and water temp info. This screen also appears on the MK2S when you first get out of the water and back on your boat/dry land.

Penney is a warm-water-loving diver, and with the restrictions on travel from COVID, while we had this unit for test, we have not been abroad, so she graciously said she’d test it from a daily watch and topside exercise point of view, leaving myself and Luke to don our drysuits and go and dive it in UK waters!

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Each issue, the Scuba Diver test team bring you the latest product and equipment releases from the dive industry. Cannot wait for the next edition? Keep up-to-date with all the latest gear news and reviews by heading over to the Scuba Diver YouTube channel! www.youtube.com/ScubaDiverMagazine

GARMIN DESCENT MK2S | SRP: £949

Luke and I mainly dived it on air, and set the MK2S to low conservatism. I used it alongside my Shearwater Perdix, and the NDL was very close on all of the dives, as you’d expect, ax both use the tried-and-tested Buhlmann ZHL-16c algorithm.

While we are talking drysuits, the Mk2S has a neat feature where you can swap out the straps quickly and easily with a clip system (similar to the Suunto D5). This lets you change to different colours if you so wish, but it also means you can

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change out the standard strap for a longer version designed to go over a drysuited arm (this comes with the computer).

Much neater than adding an extension strap to the existing strap. Luke was in his Fourth Element Hydra drysuit with 3mm neoprene gloves, and had no trouble pressing the buttons on the Descent MK2S to navigate through the menu on the surface before the dives, or scroll through the dive screens during the dives.

One thing I have seen commented on online is the screen

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of the Descent MK2S (and the MK2 and MK2i), and some people saying it is hard to read. As I said in my review of the MK2i, that is a load of tosh. Topside, I found I could read the display even when the backlight was not on, but once it was on, it is very easy to see.

While diving, I had the backlight set for on all the time, and it made the screen nice and clear, even in bright sunlight in the shallows during a safety stop. I didn’t really notice a massive difference in brightness once I took it over 60-70 percent, I have to say, but suffice to say you can easily see the display either in watch mode or while on a dive. As we said before, all dives on the MK2S have been in the UK, and a few dives in particular, the vis was, shall we say, marginal at best, yet the Descent MK2S was clearly legible even in these grim conditions with the backlight on full.

The Garmin Descent MK2S is rechargeable, and I am a big fan of the method of charge - a clamp system on to charging points on the back of the watch, which is solid and secure.

A full charge only takes a few hours, and then you can get several days of daily watch-wear out of it before it needs another boost of juice. You get a solid 30 hours of dive time out of a charge too.

Where the Descent MK2S wins hand’s down against the competition – although, as we have said, there are not really any ‘smaller’ wristwatch dive computers on the market - is with all of the other features it contains within its svelte body. I am not going to go into all the ins and outs of each, but suffice to say, if you are an active person, the Garmin has you covered!

Being based on the tried-and-tested Fenix 6, it has functions for running, biking, hiking, golf, swimming (both pool and open water), kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding, boating, triathlon, yoga, cross-county skiing, even jumpmaster for those who liking leaping out of planes, as well as new modes for surfing, mountain biking, indoor climbing and

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even a recovery advisor which recommends how long to rest before another big effort in activity.

It monitors your heart rate and your blood oxygen level (when it is directly on your wrist), calories burnt, the list goes on. And as a smart watch, you also get your phone messages on the screen, and it can even handle your music choices, either from your phone or even stored in the unit itself. Let’s just say there is a lot to get to grips with!

The Garmin Descent MK2S comes in just under a grand, which might seem pricey, but if you bought a top-of-the-line wristwatch dive computer and a smartwatch, you’d spend more combined than you would on the Descent MK2S. If you are an active person who does other sports, and you want a wristwatch that can handle a plethora of your activities including diving, but not look massive on your wrist, then the Descent MK2S is the logical choice. www.garmin.com

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Each issue, the Scuba Diver test team bring you the latest product and equipment releases from the dive industry. Cannot wait for the next edition? Keep up-to-date with all the latest gear news and reviews by heading over to the Scuba Diver YouTube channel! www.youtube.com/ScubaDiverMagazine

THERMALUTION HEATED GLOVE SYSTEM | SRP: £415 FOR FULL STAND-ALONE SET Mark Evans: Exposure protection for diving in cold waters has certainly developed over the years. Gone are the days of thick ‘woolly bear’ undersuits and 7mm non-compressed neoprene drysuits - and the tonnes of lead need to sink you.

No, now you have technologically advanced undersuits, base layers, trilaminate and compressed neoprene drysuits, which all serve to keep you warm and toasty.

But perhaps the biggest innovation in recent years is the plethora of dryglove systems on the market. There is nothing worse than having frozen digits, and so the advent of drygloves, which keep your hands nice and warm, with all the increased dexterity that affords, have become a regular sight at inland and coastal sites in this country and beyond.

What could be better than a dryglove, I hear you ask. Well, how about a heated glove within your dryglove? There are a few heated glove systems out there, including one from Santi, which we reviewed a few months ago. Now Thermalution, who brought you the heated vest which could be used under a wetsuit or a drysuit, and full heated undersuits, have now released a heated glove system.

Many heated gloves are just on or off, but the Thermalution gloves offer three heat settings. The gloves are switched on and off, and you can move up and down the heat settings, via a nifty magnetic switch arrangement, which allows you to make adjustments on the fly even while you are diving.

You simply cross your hands, which puts the magnet on one hand on to the control on the other. Vibrations signal heat changes and on/off. It takes a little bit of practice to get your hands into the right position, but you soon get the hang of it.

These would be perfect underneath a dryglove system, but as they can be used wet, they can even be used under a wet glove – say you are diving in the Med in the winter in a thick semi-dry with hood and gloves. Now you can add an extra degree of warmth to your hands.

However, I would say the majority of the time, these will be used under drygloves, so I paired them up with the KUBI dryglove system fitted to my Otter Atlantic drysuit. One thing to bear in mind, that I immediately discovered, is that if you are wearing the Thermalution gloves on their own underneath your dryglove, and your drygloves are quite tight, be careful not to snag a hole on your glove from the magnet on the Thermalution. If your drygloves are quite loose, this probably wouldn’t be such an issue. If you are wearing a pair of normal dryglove inner-gloves over the top of them – they are extremely thin, so this is not an issue - that removes the potential threat from the edges of the magnet.

You can get these as standalone products, with their own batteries which mount on your forearms, or you can add them on to existing Thermalution undersuits (some they can just be added into the system, others will require new

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Each issue, the Scuba Diver test team bring you the latest product and equipment releases from the dive industry. Cannot wait for the next edition? Keep up-to-date with all the latest gear news and reviews by heading over to the Scuba Diver YouTube channel! www.youtube.com/ScubaDiverMagazine

THERMALUTION HEATED GLOVE SYSTEM | SRP: £415 FOR FULL STAND-ALONE SET

batteries – if in doubt, contact the Thermalution team).

I was using the standalone variant. These come with batteries and holders which fasten securely around your forearm. A power cable then snakes down to your wrist, where it connects via a wet connector to the cable on the gloves. I tried various routing options – one time I had the cable from the battery poking out of my drysuit seal, so that I could just connect the glove, slide on my dryglove and I was ready to dive. This works fine, but I ended up with excess cable within my dryglove, which was a bit of a pain. The next time I opted to have the glove cable go under my drysuit seal, so the wet connector and all of the battery cable were tucked inside the arm of my drysuit. Everyone will have their own method, but this second style worked best for me. I also found it was easier to put on the gloves, connect them to the battery packs and then don my drysuit. This was less faff than fishing out the power cable from the battery, connecting it to the glove and then trying to push it back under my drysuit wrist seal.

In use, I found the ability to switch them on and off, and toggle up and down the heat settings, during the dive was a huge bonus. I whacked them on full heat to start with, and I actually had to dial it down slightly as my hands were getting too warm – something I never thought I would say when diving in the UK! Due to a mishap with one of my drygloves – when I had put a tiny pinhole in it after snagging it on the glove magnet – I am also able to confirm that the heated gloves work well

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Each issue, the Scuba Diver test team bring you the latest product and equipment releases from the dive industry. Cannot wait for the next edition? Keep up-to-date with all the latest gear news and reviews by heading over to the Scuba Diver YouTube channel! www.youtube.com/ScubaDiverMagazine

THERMALUTION HEATED GLOVE SYSTEM | SRP: £415 FOR FULL STAND-ALONE SET

when wet! My entire dryglove flooded minutes after entering the water, but the heating elements in the glove meant that I was still able to complete the dive. Alas, because the cable from the glove to the battery goes under your drysuit wrist seal, water also tracked up here and so by the time I exited the water, I had a rather damp arm… Still, that’s a good reason to have a spare undersuit with you!

As I found with the Thermalution vest, these gloves are multi-purpose. I have put them on to take the dog for a walk when the temperatures have been hovering around freezing – nothing beats the feeling of toasty warm hands when you are crunching through the frost in the morning. I haven’t been able to test them out on my mountain bike yet, but I imagine they will be awesome for keeping my hands warm when out on the trails in Wales during the winter months.

Heated glove systems in general are not cheap, but if you are doing lots of cold-water diving, then nothing comes close to keeping your hands warm and with full dexterity.

And with the forearm battery mounts, as we’ve said, with the Thermalutions, you can use these for all sorts of other activities too. The Thermalution gloves are depth-rated to 100m, so will be fine for the vast majority of technical divers out there. They come in four sizes – small, medium, large and extra-large. www.miflexhoseshop.co.uk

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KENT SCUBA LTD

t: 01202 122006 e: info@dorsetdiving.co.uk a: 25A Ringwood Road, Poole, Dorset, BH14 0RF 5 Star PADI Dive Centre offering PADI Courses, Kit Sales, Servicing, Air Nitrox and Trimix Fills.

In house IDEST test station and workshop for on site repairs. www.dorsetdiving.co.uk

t: 01843 621188 e: dive@kentscuba.com a: 23 Maple Leaf Business Park, Manston, Ramsgate, Kent, CT12 5DG Scuba is our passion and we want to share that by enabling others; turning your dreams into realities. www.kentscuba.com

UNDERWATER EXPLORERS

t: 01227 700374 e: sales@divingproducts.co.uk a: Windgates, Church Lane, Waltham, Near Canterbury, Kent, CT4 5SS Kent Tooling Diving Products produce the widest range of rebreather and diving supplies and accessories in Kent and the UK. www.divingproducts.co.uk

t: 01305 824555 e: info@underwaterexplorers.co.uk a: Unit 1, Maritime Business Centre, Mereside, Portland, Dorset, DT5 1FD Leading Dorset dive centre stocking all major brands, air, nitrox, trimix fills, rentals and servicing beside Portland Marina and across from Chesil Beach. www.underwaterexplorers.co.uk

ESSEX BESPOKE SCUBA DIVING LIMITED t: 01708 837032 e: contact@bespokescubadiving.co.uk a: Becontree Heath Leisure Centre, Althorne Way, Dagenham, Essex, RM10 7FH Our mission is to provide quality & professional scuba training in a relaxed friendly environment. www.bespokescubadiving.co.uk

BLACK WATER DIVING t: 07841 561680 e: info@blackwaterdiving.co.uk a: 18 Lower Park Road, Loughton, Essex, IG10 4NA PADI Dive training focussed on beginners.

Try Scuba Diving for £20. Private swimming pools. Learn to scuba dive with 1:1 instruction at Blackwater Diving. www.blackwaterdiving.co.uk

DIVERSE SCUBA t: 01375 892444 e: info@diverse-scuba.co.uk a: Ye Old Plough House Motel, Brentwood Road, Bulphan, Essex, RM14 3SR Diverse Scuba are one of the leading 5 STAR PADI IDC dive centres in the UK providing scuba diving courses and services to the Essex region. www.diverse-scuba.co.uk

ORCA SCUBA DIVING ACADEMY t: 01268 520111 e: info@orcascubadivingacademy.co.uk a: 17 Repton Close, Burnt Mills Estate, Basildon, Essex, SS13 1LN Established in 2007 the Academy a vision of Gary to deliver the very best Scuba Diving School in Essex. www.orcascubadivingacademy.co.uk

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HARROGATE DIVESHACK UK t: 07779 605863 e: tim@diveshack.uk.com a: 17 Station Parade, Harrogate, HG1 1UF Harrogates number 1 dive store. www.diveshack.uk.com

LANCASHIRE CAPERNWRAY DIVING AND LEISURE LTD e: info@dive-site.co.uk a: Jackdaw Quarry, Capernwray Road, Over Kellet, Lancashire, LA6 1AD The UK’s finest inland dive site... Welcome to Capernwray, the beautiful diving venue on the edge of the Lake District. www.dive-site.co.uk

EAST LANCS DIVING e: info@eastlancsdiving.co.uk a: Daisyfield Pool, Daisy Ln, Blackburn, BB1 5HB East Lancashire’s only PADI approved Dive Centre - Undertaking all PADI courses and Specialities from Try Dive to Professional. www.eastlancsdiving.co.uk

MILTON KEYNES MK SCUBA DIVING t: 07957 710334 e: contact@mkscubadiving.co.uk a: Unit 50A, I-Centre, Howard Way, Newport Pagnell, Milton Keynes, MK16 9PY Friendly, professional and patient PADI, SDI and TDI scuba instructors, we proudly offer you high quality service, equipment and facilities. www.mkscubadiving.co.uk

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BLUE OCEAN DIVING

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t: 01622 212022 e: scuba@blueoceandiving.co.uk a: West Park Road, Maidstone, Kent, ME15 7AF 5* PADI scuba diving courses and training, organised diving trips and events, scuba equipment and friendly advice based in Maidstone. www.blueoceandiving.co.uk

t: 01603 485000 e: info@scuba4me.co.uk a: 62 Whiffler Road, Norwich, NR3 2AY We are Norfolk’s Premier dive centre with our own on-site swimming pool and well stocked shop with the latest equipment. www.scuba4me.co.uk

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NOTTINGHAMSHIRE GO DIVE t: 01332 665353 e: sales@godive.net a: Nottingham Road, Spondon, Derby, DE21 7NP Take your diving to the next level with GoDive, the UK’s first fourth element concept store. Start shopping with us today! www.godive.net

PLYMOUTH AQUANAUTS t: 01752 228825 e: info@aquanauts.co.uk a: 88 Vauxhall Street, The Barbican, Plymouth, PL4 0EY Waterfront full service centre with direct access to the best wreck and reef diving the UK has to offer. www.aquanauts.co.uk

ROTHERHAM DREAM DIVERS LTD t: 07976 526050 e: info@dreamdiversltd.co.uk a: 18-20 Greasbrough Rd, Parkgate, Rotherham, S62 6HN PADI 5 Star Instructor Development Centre based in Parkgate, Rotherham. Our instructional team has been teaching PADI courses together in the Rotherham, Barnsley, Doncaster, Sheffield and surrounding areas of South Yorkshire since 2005. www.dreamdivers.co.uk

SHROPSHIRE SEVERN TEC DIVING t: 01939 291303 e: severntecdiving@gmail.com a: Seventec Diving, Unit 1J, Leaton Industrial Estate, Shrewsbury SY4 3AP We are a Scuba Diving Training Center with over 20 years experience with a multi-agency approach to scuba diving. www.severntecdiving.com

SOMERSET DIVE ACADEMY t: 01935 353525 e: info@dive.academy a: Unit 7-8 Boundary Avenue, Commerce Park, Yeovil, Somerset, BA22 8UU Somerset’s Premier. Scuba Diving Centre.

Book a lesson. www.dive.academy

SUSSEX OYSTER DIVING t: 0800 699 0243 e: info@oysterdiving.com a: Maritime House, Basin Road North, Portslade, E. Sussex, BN41 1WR PADI 5-star IDC centre in London and S.E. Holidays around the world, active club and local dives.

Exclusive lake in Surrey. www.oysterdiving.com

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t: 07889 883232 e: info@planetdivers.co.uk a: Planet Divers, The Angling Club, Royal Parade, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN22 7AA A Friendly Crew, Great Diving all year round.

Excellent, Fun trips UK & Abroad for all levels, non-divers welcomed. www.planetdivers.co.uk

t: 07967 733764 e: info@belowthesurface.co.uk a: 26 Albert Street, Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, HX7 8AH A PADI 5 star centre with over 30 years’ experience, we teach in small groups & at your pace. www.belowthesurface.co.uk

DIVEWORLD

WEST MIDLANDS AQUASPORT INTERNATIONAL t: 0121 706 6628 e: info@aquasportonline.com a: The Dive Centre, 50 Lincoln Road, Olton, Solihull, West Midlands, B27 6PA The only purpose built diver training centre and dive shop in the West Midlands and the only PADI Dive Centre in the whole of Greater Birmingham and Solihull. www.aquasportonline.com

t: 01142 332995 e: info@learn2dive.co.uk a: 185 Holme Lane, Hillsborough, Sheffield, Yorkshire, S6 4JR Welcome to Diveworld, dive school, dive club, dive retail and servicing, dive travel and more, the complete scuba package. www.learn2dive.co.uk

Your diving memories deserve

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THE BIG BAD WOLF

Mike Clark goes on the hunt for wolf fish off the north east coast - and you can too!

Q&A WITH IVANA ORLOVIC

We talk to the innovative model and photographer whose shots are instantly recognisable.

IN SEARCH OF GIANTS

Don Silcock heads off to photograph aggregations of giant Australian cuttlefish.

RAJA AMPAT

We explore the wonders of Raja Ampat in Indonesia - in the ‘off-season’.

TECH: SHOOTING FOR TV

Hamish Harper gives us a behind-the-scenes peek at the challenges around planning and filming water-based shoots for TV programmes.

GEAR GUIDE: TEST EXTRA

Editor-in-Chief Mark Evans dives the Avatar drysuit, and tries out the Paralenz Vaquita action camera.

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The challenges of searching for ancient wrecks, part two Photographs by Mike Haigh and NOAA

You have done your research, you know what you are looking for and have some idea where it might be. But now you are ‘on site’ looking at a frighteningly large area of sea. It might be calm and placid, but more likely it will be whipped into a froth of wave and spume. Worse, part of the search area may be covered by obstructions such as ice. A voice in your head says ‘what the heck do we do now?’

The only thing you can. Deploy an AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle). An AUV is a robot that travels underwater without requiring input from an operator.

The key point is that it is not connected to the surface by an umbilical and therefore not restricted or hampered by surface conditions. AUVs carry sensors to navigate autonomously and map features of the ocean. In our case, this means locating our ‘target’. Typical sensors include compasses, depth sensors, sidescan sonar, magnetometers, conductivity probes and sometimes biological sensors.

Before an AUV is launched a CTD (conductivity, temperature and depth) cast is carried out. This involves sending a probe to the ocean floor to generate a range of evaluations, from which the calibration of the relevant payload systems can be performed. Before launch audits are caried out on the vehicle’s sensory arrays, the propulsion unit is tested, and the rudder and all other mechanical components checked. In addition, the submersible’s navigational functions are reviewed. Finally, in case the AUV has to abort its mission, emergency recovery trials are undertaken to ensure that the vehicle’s GPS and satellite systems are communicating as expected. After all this, the AUV is ready to dive.

For the launch the ship turns into wind and holds a speed of between two and three knots. AUVs are normally launched rear first down a chute into the sea. From the surface the dive angle is normally 20 degrees, but in adverse conditions this can be raised to 45.

The AUV normally moves to a loiter station and when all systems have been checked the search programme begins. The robot progresses to one corner of the search

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area - final checks take place and the AUV moves to autonomous running and commences the search, cruising at something below four knots. The AUV’s navigation system is programmed to follow a series of parallel lines – a bit like mowing the lawn. Periodically the AUV reaches a prescribed rendezvous station, where a ‘handshake’ takes place. The team on the support vessel check its sensors and navigational systems, corrects any deviations or other irregularities, and then releases the vehicle to carry on searching.

Of the systems an AUV possesses, the most relevant for wreck location is the sidescan sonar. This emits a downward, fan-shaped spread of sonar pulses which are reflected back to the sensors by the landscape within its swathe. Due to the way that the sidescan is orientated there can be a blind spot directly below the vehicle. This ‘gap’ can be filled from readings by a multi-beam sonar located in the AUV. The altitude that the AUV ‘flies’ above the seabed is critical. If you go high, to cover a wide area quickly, the resolution of the images produced can be poor. If you go low, the field of vision is narrower, and you can see what there is in greater detail. But the search time will be extended – at extra cost. Remember, these vessels cost a fortune to operate every day. Nobody has an unlimited budget. Unlike ROVs, which give us a real time view of what is there, AUVs take time to reveal their secrets. You have to wait until its voyage is over before its data can be transferred to a server for conversion into a legible format.

This often takes up to five hours. Then you need a specialist to decipher what the side scan has revealed.

So, a bit more complicated than a circular search, but normally the rewards for all this effort and cost are high, and of course there are no guarantees!

Next time, we will be looking forward to the future. www.wreckhunters.co.uk

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