Scubashooters net e mag issue n53 feb 2021

Enrico Somogyi

Portfolio

issue n°53

- feb 2021

Travels: Atlantis Dumaguete

Tecnique: Speleosub - Cave Diving

Review: Amazing Nautismart Pro

Travels: Adriatic Tide Pools

Biology: Hammerheads

Review: Nauticam Na-A7siii

Dear readers, This is the first issue of 2021 and I hope you all had a great holidays season. 2021 began with a new hope we can all be out of the pandemic soon but we will all be struggling a little more time I’m afraid.

On this column I’ve already addressed the consequences that Covid 19 is having on the whole diving industry, but I’m not an economist nor a politician so I can only limit myself to observe what’s going on in the diving industry.

I will summarize what’s happening with a single word, disaster.

My belief, our belief at Scubashooters.net is that only with solidarity we can grow the hope to limit collateral damages originated by the pandemic and under this perspective we will help as much as we can all the players of this industry keeping their customers “hot” waiting for the moment when we will all be liberated from the constraints , travel bans will be lifted and we could all go back and meet the Ocean and its creatures.

But we also need your support! How? Keep on visiting our network, load photos on our website www.scubashooters.net and on our facebook group, support and reciprocally sustain each other commenting, sharing, liking photos that members share on the network, but also considering purchasing our latest product , the Nautismart Pro you can find at www.nautismart.net .

We will support you, we need to be supported.

Stay tuned!

Marino Palla Owner and Founder Scubashooters Network

Cover image by: Enrico Somogyi

Contents

Issue

n°53

-

feb

2021

pag. 76

P ortfolio

Enrico Somogyi Editorial:

by Marino Palla

Review: Nautismart Pro, The New Universal Housing For Smartphones pag. 54

pag. 3

Travels: Dumaguete By: Gerald Novak

Review: Nauticam Na-A7siii by: nauticam

Biology: The Hammerheads by: E. Mancuso & M. Bicciato

pag. 8 Tecnique: Speleosub - cave Diving by: Rino Sgorbani

pag. 66

pag. 98 Dan: Shark & Yolanda Reef By: DAN Europe

pag. 24

Travels: West Adriatic Tide Pools by: Yann Toso

pag. 108

Editor: Fabio Strazzi Assistant Editor: Elisa Furlani

pag. 36

Scubashooters - Via Barucchi 37, 37139 Verona Graphic Design and Supervising: Elisa Furlani Layout: Elisa Furlani Alessandra Suppo Translations: Piera Pirini

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A New Partnership PADI and

We’re excited to be collaborating with

PADI to help share your incredible imagery with more divers across the globe!

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Travels

Dumaguete :

A Paradise For Macro

Words and pictures: Gerald Novak

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he second Atlantis Resort is strategically well positioned with its location near Dumaguete in the south of Negros.

workshops and enjoy after work the evening by the sea in the sister bistro of the Toko’s.

The small and quiet resort is reminiscent of the tropical houses of botanical gardens with its dense greenery.

Dauin are almost invariably flat muckdiving sites with some coral gardens.

Both hotels have focused on divers. Underwater photographers appreciate the knowledge of the helpful spotters and guides as well as the large and comfortable camera room.

Renowned underwater photographers therefore like to book the resort for their

The costal spots between Dumaguete and

On the volcanic dark sandy soil with its golden speckles, the rare and invariably colorful critters make themselves especially good.

Frogfishes are available in every size and appearance.

These are joined by rare crustaceans, such as tiger, harlequin or striped bumblebee shrimp.

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This is paradise for macro photographers.

Atlantis Azores Live Aboard ship.

Several times a week trips are offered over to Apo Island.

This runs seasonally various routes around the Philippine archipelago.

In this marine reserve, the Visayas Lake shows a completely different side.

Between March and June, Atlantis Azores heads for Tubbataha reefs in Sulu Lake from Puerto Princesa.

Predominantly hard corals and huge sponges grow here on the terraced slopes.

They are the home and feeding ground of a large number of local turtles, sea snakes and schools of fish.

Together with the dense cliffs of the island of Siquijor, Apo is a perfect complement to the macroplaces of Negros.

Incidentally, Atlantis Resorts also owns the

The pristine dive sites of the National Park, with its overflowing, almost virgin coral reefs, are known for their numerous pelagic inhabitants.

Regularly there are sighted various sharks, whale sharks and mantas.

The reefs of the atoll are certainly among the top 10 of the world’s best diving destinations!

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Infos: www.atlantishotel.com www.morefunphilippines.de

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Tecnique

Speleosub:

A different view of UW Words and pictures: Rino Sgorbani

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Tecnique

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fter the accident occurred on January 9, 2016 at the Bossi cave in Switzerland, ended with the death of my friend Borgio, I promised myself not to go cave diving again.

Nevertheless, things went differently.

To convince me, for this speleological diving adventure, it was my friend Luciano Tanini of Grotta Giusti during our meeting for Grotta Giusti’s 35th anniversary.

During that evening in Montecatini Terme, they screened a movie made by my friend Davide Briccolani and the undersigned and during dinner, around the table, Luciano told me about his project: diving in the “Buca Del Tinello” cave.

He told me “On the Tuscan Mountains there is a beautiful cave, easily accessible and not demanding. We need someone making a reportage with beautiful pictures ... come with us. We wait a few months, maybe before the

summer, when the water decreases and facilitates entrance. ” Luciano tried to persuade me with these arguments, but I was not convinced and left him with a vague answer “...we’ll see.”

After the spring, Luciano got back on track “We organized everything, come with your wife ... you’ll be our guests. I’ll take you to dinner at a nice place, and then in the morning we’ll go to the mountains: fantastic landscapes!

We’ll take care of the equipment, and then we’ll go to lunch in a very characteristic place.”

So I accepted. Let’s say he took me more by the throat than by the dive.

The date was set for mid-July, so the night before I found myself dining in Montecatini Terme with Luciano Tanini and his right-hand man, Paolo Lenaz. During dinner, Luciano began to describe in detail what we were going

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to do the next day, even with some extemporaneous drawing on a paper napkin.

Mountains, waterfalls, narrow passages, siphons ... as the explanations became more detailed, I understood that maybe it was not for me, but now I was at stake and I could not pull back. The next morning, after a good breakfast, I met again Luciano and Paolo, the two of them by their car and me and my wife on our pick-up.

Yes, because my wife Cinzia came too: I promised her a nice ride in Tuscany... everybody in the car, ready to leave, heading to Lucca.

At the exit of the motorway to the Garfagnana, two other members of our team were waiting for us, Emanuele Buono and Giovanni Caponi. Giovanni, for those who do not know him, is a well-known cave-diver with years and years of cave exploration behind him.

After the usual introductions, we set off again towards the road leading to Garfagnana, in the Apuan Alps. Breathtaking landscapes, valleys, hills, forests with green, lush trees, although we were already in plain summer. As we progressively climbed, the road became narrow, a typical mountain road, and the forest surrounded us more and more.

After more than an hour, beyond the village of Fornovolasco, in the municipality of Vergemoli, the road reaches a curve with a wide-open space. On the left, there is a small trattoria, on the right a bridge passing over the stream. In the middle, in the rocky wall hidden by a vault and vegetation, there is the cave.

Once parked our cars, we began to prepare our equipment. First of all, I went to make a close inspection to realize the degree of difficulty I would have to face to get to the entrance. The slope’s descent is quite steep; therefore,

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Tecnique

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Tecnique

I decided I definitely would not have done it wearing all my gear! Under the vault there is a small waterfall of perennial spring water flowing into the stream and, at about three meters in height, there is a small opening in the rock.

That, they told me, is the entrance to the cave.

After the site visit we started assembling our equipment: each of us had at his disposal a 7 + 7 double tank with double DIN regulator, a helmet with double lamp plus a spare torch, reel and various accessories, all for cave diving.

My buddies had a six or seven millimeters wetsuit, with protective overalls. Whereas, I had my old dry suit, certainly less suitable for this type of diving. Before getting ready, Giovanni made us a detailed briefing: the cave called Buca Del Tinello, explored for the first time in 1996, is located at 525 meters above sea level. The water passing inside is from a perennial spring, with a temperature of 8 - 9 degrees Celsius.

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The entrance is an opening in the small waterfall. Inside, the cave widens enough to stand up; just below, at three meters depth, there is a siphon eight meters long and after the first siphon you re-emerge in a cave a little bigger, with stalactites rock formations.

The second siphon is twelve meters long then, after a large cave, there is a third siphon sixty meters long at six meters deep.

In the stretch between the second and third siphon, we should take off the equipment, walk and climb on the rocks.

In short, from the briefing I deduced that it was not as easy as Luciano described! Outside we placed some ropes to facilitate both the descent from the escarpment and the entrance into the cave. After wearing all the equipment, I approached the entry rope: Giovanni was already climbing.

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Tecnique

He would be the first to get in, me second.

I saw him entering into that hole above me, crawling with difficulty. I thought that if he, who is a bit bigger than me, succeeded getting in, I should have done it too. I grabbed the rope and climbed up. Once I arrived at the entrance, I asked someone from below to hand over my photographic equipment and passed it to Giovanni, who was beyond the entrance hole. I could only see his arm and hear his voice: that hole is really tight! After handing over my camera, I put the mask on my face and the regulator in my mouth, because Giovanni told me that I had to crawl forward on my stomach and, beyond the hole, I would have slipped downwards into the water.

I had enough trouble getting in: the double tank was jamming everywhere. I could not even raise my head that I crash with the helmet, and crawling on the slimy rock I slipped into that icy

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water upside down. Once I entered, I stood up with the water coming to my waist. The cave is not very wide: just a meter above my head and about three meters wide.

Giovanni said to me “are you all right?” “... let’s say yes,” I replied. Without wasting time I took my housing, switched on the headlights and all seemed to me more beautiful, almost surreal.

Therefore, I started taking some pictures, while my other buddies came in one by one.

While we were preparing to cross the first siphon, I felt a bit cold in the suit and thought, “I hope it is not flooded!”

I illuminated under my feet with my headlights and, about three meters deep, at the bottom in front of me, I saw the opening of the siphon. Paolo entered first, I went behind. I deflated my BCD and, dragging my-

self on the bottom, I arrived in front of the opening.

feel my legs, I could not even pass in the entry hole and thus I decided to take off the double tank.

Naturally, we were all without fins that in these situations are not needed. I dragged myself into this narrow gut of rock about

As soon as I got outside, Giovanni passed me the equipment that then I lowered down

eight meters long and meanwhile I shot some pictures to the buddies in front of me.

through the rope. I had a lot more trouble getting out than getting in.

Arriving in the second cave, wider than the first, I positioned myself waiting for the others, continuing to take pictures even external: the rock formations, beautiful and smooth, looked like chocolate.

Fortunately, the outside temperature was very pleasant and once I was undressed, I recovered quickly.

My wife, who in the meantime had gone for a walk, arrived at that moment while I was undressing.

I began to feel cold and realized that my dry suit had flooded, and it must have been something serious because when I was standing I could feel the water up to my calves.

I told her what happened, and she shook her head and said, “Do you understand that you are not twenty anymore!”

Definitely a rip when I crawled at the entrance.

After about an hour, my buddies came out, happy and joyful: for them it was like a walk.

I thought about it for a moment, then I said, “Guys, I have to go out: I flooded my dry suit, I’m very cold and I think I cannot go on.”

These are tough decisions to make, but my experience tells me that you need to know when it’s time to say no. Everybody agreed:

When Luciano saw that I was pretty depressed, told me, “Now I’ll take you to a place that will make your good mood come back!”

A few kilometers away, in a remote place amidst the mountains, there is a kind of agritourism called “The Hermit”.

I would go out and the others would continue, though Giovanni would have accompanied me to the entrance.

The name fits like a glove and we ate very well: I think I’ve had the best “Lardo di Colonnata” in my life. Surely my good mood was back, but I think I’m done with cave diving.

Once there, retracing the path backwards, I was already half frozen: I could no longer

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Puerto Galera - Oriental Mindoro - Philippines

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Travels

West Adriatic

Tide Pools

Words and pictures: Yann Toso

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Travels

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game of tides. This up and down clock with its rhythm dictated by the moon can represent an incredible factor to the creation of habitats made of outstanding creatures, living their lives with incredible survival strategies.

We call ‘intertidal’ the zone of the coastline included by the maximum high tide line and the minimum low tide one.

This zone is partially submerged by water as it is submerged at least for some hours every day, so it can host many marine organisms, from benthic and sessile ones to motile necto-benthic ones.

Soft bottoms have started to be studied only in the latest years due to the difficulty of taking samples and study the ecology in-situ, while hard substrates and rocky intertidal

zones are very well studied and we really know a lot about their ecology because they can be observed and appreciated basically by everyone without needing of particular equipment.

It’s exactly on rocky coasts that we are able to see tide pools: small basins filled by sea water during high tides, which substrates still remain submerged when the sea level decreases because of water being trapped in.

Organisms who live in these pools have to be resistent to many radical changes in chemical and physical conditions of the water. In fact, under the sunlight and without exchanges with the open sea, temperature of the water trapped inside shallow pools increases sensibly.

Moreover, without a considerable presence of photosynthetic populations of turfs, seaweeds and in general macroalgae, oxygen concentra

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tion inside the pool tends to decrease inside the pool. In addition to this, changes can occur also in water acidity (pH) and salinity, due to cellular respiration and eventual rains.

The Adriatic Although Mediterrantean Sea is not famous for great tides like for example the Atlantic North of France, its sea level excursion is enough to create some shallow pools during low tides.

In the Northest side of the Adriatic Sea, the Trieste Gulf, the tide ranges about 2 meters and it’s the highest excursion of this Sea. In the West side and more precisely near the city of Ancona (where all the pictures have been taken) it’s possible to observe differences up to 40/50cm from high and low tide, allowing by the way the creation of little pools between limestone rocks of the coast of Monte Conero.

During Spring season these pools are literally overcrowded of small critters. There are crustaceans like shrimps (for example the rockpool shrimps Palaemon elegans and Palaemon serratus), crabs (like the ‘favollo’ yellow round crab Eriphia verrucosa), isopods and at the end beautiful anfipods Jassa and Caprella (skeleton shrimp), which are by the way very difficult to photograph because of their small size and ability to hide.

There are fishes like small and coloured blennies and, most of all, dozens of nudibranchs!

Once I have personally found more than 40 specimens of about 10 different species in less than one hour, but numbers can surely increase spending there more time and paying more attention. Some examples are Polycera quadrilineata, Eubranchus farrani, Cratena peregrina, Favorinus branchialis, Facellina rubrovittata and Facellina quatrefagesi, various species of Doto spp. and Trinchesia spp.

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These nudibranchs are characterized by shocking and charismatic colours and often can be seen without even entering the pools, just walking near to them and taking a look inside.

thanks to sunlight. This ability is called kleptoplasty or kleptoplastidy.

Light energy stealers

If some animals just adapt to the harsh condition of living in a tide pool, others try every single way to get out before it’s completely separated from the open sea.

Life into tide pools can be very hard, so the inhabitants have to exploit the maximum from the energy sources available.

Some opistobranch gastropods have found a way to survive without predation, doing photosynthesis. In fact, some species of sacoglossan belonging to the genus Elysia are able to literally steal chloroplasts from the green algae they feed on.

They evolved a particular morphology of their tongue (called radula), making it very similar to a needle. So organisms like Elysia viridis (in picture) use their radula to pierce algal cells and suck their chloroplasts, which will be their energy source

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Surfing out: a curious strategy

A lot of small gastropods and in particular nudibranchs show an incredible behaviour to save themselves from the fate of being trapped. In fact, they exploit the surface tension of the water to float upside down like they were planktonic organisms of the iponeuston and let currents push them out in the open sea.

This event is easy to see each time tide is falling and intertidal water is attracted far from the coastline, proposing new and different perspectives in underwater photography.

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Review

The Amazing Nautismart Pro WWW.NAUTISMART.NET

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Review

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n recent times one of the news that struck me more was when I read Olympus shutting down and completely dismantling the compact camera branch of the factory.

Wow, what a big news for a big event! Not many years ago the compact cameras was probably the most profitable market for cameras manufacturers like Olympus so

how come they came to such an halt on this production line?

The answer is very simple of course: smartphones! Soon after their launch on the market back in the 90s mobile phones have been equipped with on board cameras for messaging purpose and few less applications, but as years went by and smartphones started

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to peep on the market better performing cameras started to show up on these products. I still remember my first digital camera. It was of course a compact camera, a Sony DSCP1, 3mega pixels CMOS sensor, 16 Megabyte memory stick, and ... What a wonderful photos that small camera was able to deliver!

No wonder Olympus decided to shut the compact cameras branch down, no wonder at all.

I have been an underwater photographer since dive number one.

My dive number one after the OWD certification course took place in Sharm el Sheik in Egypt back in 2001 and yes, my Underwater photography gear was the Sony DSCP1 I mentioned before, in its Sony , specific Underwater camera housing, I remember I made terrible photos!

Now, in this very moment while I’m writing this article there’s a commercial on TV showing one of the latest Smartphone on the market... 108 mega pixels and 512 Gigabyte memory..

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So I have been observing this market since its beginning and when I noticed the great improvement smartphone cameras were going through I predicted the advent of the smartphones in underwater photography.

But I believed that so much that I developed the idea and asked for a Patent, later obtained , for this application; it was 2015. At that moment we were already running the scubashooters network so we envisioned a mission...

It was 2014 and when I started sharing my view on the future inside the world of UW photographers I was nearly bullied as no one believed this could ever become an option.

The mission is to enable underwater photography mode for everybody at an affordable price .

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Well , not only underwater photography but also any kind of activity involving some action and wet environment.As it has already been explained the Nautismart pro was first conceived we did it bearing in mind that nowadays smartphones are equivalent to compact cameras and will surely be better in the near future...

Action cams were also taken into consideration, especially their price, the need to update them and the lengthy process of transferring big size movies from the cam to another device... is totally un necessary as photos and videos are already resident in your device memory ready to be edited and shared.

When you use Nautismart in conjunction with your smartphone the transfer process

We also took into consideration the average time before upgrading a smartphone; it is slightly over one year and yes, with Nautismart Pro you can upgrade your smartphone as often as you wish and still be able to use it in conjunction with your Nautismart...

Or you can share Nautismart for use among the members of your family or with your friends. In other words Nautismart pro has been imagined for maximum safety, flexibility and economy.

Get it and you will not regret! Nautismart pro is the best Smart case for smartphones ant it’s made in Italy!

Last but not latest, there’s another positive outcome... UW photography is no doubt an amazing tool for scientists to monitor the health of the Ocean, the movements of alien species across the seven seas and the degree of pollution of the waters.

But unfortunately, there are few UW photographers compared to the number of divers around the world... With Nautismart Pro, nearly every diver, snorkeler, swimmer and sun bather has the potential to become an Ocean reporter.

One more, good , reason to get yourself a Nautismart Pro

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Review

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Review

Nauticam Na-a7siii

For Sony A7siii WWW.NAUTICAM.COM

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Review

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he long awaited Sony a7S III brings high frame-rate 4K video with incredible low-light sensitivity to the A7 full frame mirrorless lineup.

The video-centric follow up to the a7S II adds internal 10-bit 4:2:2 4K capture at up to 120fps while building on the a7S II’s already segment leading low-light capabilities. Upgrades also extend to the 9.44M dot OLED viewfinder, 759-point phase detection autofocus and reduced rolling shutter.

THE SONY ALPHA A7S III CAMERA Built around a new 12.1MP Exmor RS BSI CMOS sensor coupled with a BIONZ XR im-

age processor, the a7S III is a powerful video oriented mirrorless full-frame camera.

The long awaited follow up to the a7 SII, which set the standard for low-light capabilities in the full-frame mirrorless segment, brings not only improvements to that key spec but also a host of other notable upgrades.

Key Camera Specs

• 12.1MP Exmor RS BSI CMOS sensor

• ISO sensitivity of 40-409600

• 4K Video Capture at up to 120fps

• Internal recording at up to 10-bit 4:2:2 color sampling

• No recording time limit

• 16-bit raw video output over HD-

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MI-A

• 759-Point phase-detection autofocus with 92% coverage

• Dual UHS-II card slots

• S-Log2/3 or HLG/BT.2020 gamma curves

• 5.5 Stop IBIS The new sensor features 759 phase-detection and 425 contrast-detection autofocus points that cover approximately 92% of the image area and promises sensitivity down to -6 EV. Customizable seven-step AF transition speed and five-step AF subject shift sensitivity allows for fine tuning of the autofocus system. As expected, ISO sensitivity is expanded to ISO 40-409600.

A 5-axis in-body stabilization system provides 5.5 stops of camera movement, even with adapted lenses, which combined with the 120fps frame-rates help deliver ultra-smooth handheld video.

Video can be recorded in either All-I XAVC S-I at up to 600Mbps or XAVC HS which uses H.265 compression for smaller file sizes. Internal 4K recording uses 1:1 pixel readout at up to 120fps with 10-bit 4:2:2 sampling. The a7S III offers extensive color customization including the S-Log2 and S-Log3 gamma curves that can deliver 15+ stops of dynamic range. HLG and BT.2020 color spaces are also available. Recording time limits have been

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Review

removed and improved heat dissipation has been added to the camera body’s design. Internal recording is to UHS-II rated dual card slots that support CFexpress Type A or SD cards. External recording of 16-bit raw video is possible via the full size HDMI port when used with compatible recorders.

NAUTICAM HOUSING

NA-A7SIII

The N100 system includes a dull range of both macro and wide-angle ports as well as delivering access to the lineup of Nauticam’s professional wet optics that are optimized for underwater imaging such as the WACP1/2 and the SMC-1/2 lenses.

UNDERWATER

These optics deliver unparalleled image quality underwater expanding what is possible with the powerful a7S III camera.

Nauticam is the leader in producing intuitively designed precision manufactured aluminum underwater housings for the Sony a7 camera line and continues to innovate with the new NA-A7SIII housing.

HDMI Output The a7S III can output 16-bit raw video signal over HDMI and the NA-A7SIII features an M24 bulkhead that supports the HDMI 2.0 standard.

The NA-A7SIII is designed to maximize the video-centric capabilities of the Sony a7S III camera while maintaining it’s strong still image potential. The NA-A7SIII is built around the N100 port system that is shared with the rest of the Nauticam housing lineup for the Sony full-frame mirrorless a7 series.

This allows the NA-A7SIII to be used in conjunction with either a recording monitor such as the Atomos Ninja V in the NA-NinjaV housing via HDMI 2.0 or standalone monitors such as the SmallHD 502 Bright in the

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toggles the PLAYBACK button. The back panel of the housing provides access to all other rear camera controls including a multidirectional pad.

NA-502B housings via HDMI 1.4.

Optional Magnifying Viewfinder The a7S III camera features an updated 9.44M-dot OLED viewfinder with a 120fps refresh rate. Nauticam’s line of optional magnifying viewfinders, available in both an angled 45º (32203) or straight 180º (32201) configuration provide enhanced viewing ability as well as a dioptric adjustment knob that can used underwater. Installation can be achieved without tools in less than a minute.

Vacuum Check and Leak Detection System The Nauticam vacuum check and leak detection system is shipped with NA-A7SIII as standard equipment. With the addition of the optional M14 Vacuum Valve (25624) this monitoring system provides constant updates on the water tight and safe-to-dive status of the housing. A simple color coded LED lighting system lets the user know that the vacuum is solid, or that the housing is losing vacuum. Leak detection is built into the same circuit, so if there is water intrusion, an audible and visual indication will occur. The Nauticam system is temperature compensated, eliminating false alarms caused by a change in outside temperature, or from a camera heating up on an action packed dive.

Mission Control Nauticam engineer’s Mission Control design philosophy means controls are intuitively placed where they are needed most regardless of their position on the camera.

The NA-A7SIII features a double thumb lever within easy reach of the right handle that triggers the AF-ON and RECORD controls of the camera. A thumb lever on the left side

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Crystal Blue Resort~Anilao

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Nudibranchs

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Enrico Somogyi Portfolio

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y Name is Enrico Somogyi.

I’m 48 years old, born in a small town near Leipzig Germany where i work in the catering trade.

I started diving in 2008 and took a camera on a dive for the first time in 2009.

After seeing great photos by my dive guide in Anilao in 2012, it sparked something in me to take underwater photos properly.

From year to year, my photos got better and i started with creative photography in 2015.

Currently, im create double exposures in the camera, playing with lighting and different colours.

I build my own dry port to use a circular Fisheyelens on a compact camera. In the past few years, i has also been very successful in various competitions, mostly in the compact camera category.

Let´s hope that better times will come soon, so that we can continue our passion.

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Leo3 Wi

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Via Milano 177/B 37014 Castelnuovo d/G Verona - ITALY 0039 45 6450480 info@isotecnic.it

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Biology

Hammerheads The Sensitive Shark

Words and Pictures: Emilio Mancuso and Massimo Bicciato

Biology

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BIOLOGY

ment”, on the average temperature of the stretch of coast etc...

Sphyrnidae is the family to which they belong, represented by ten species only and distributed almost in all the warm and temperate seas of the world.

Probably the most famous among the Hammerhead Sharks is Sphyrna lewini (Scalloped Hammerhead Shark, less nobly known as crutch fish), which has an average vertical distribution that goes from the surface to 270 meters deep, and it seem to having been filmed, certainly not by scuba divers, at 500 meters of depth.

They tend to be coastal organisms, distributed along the continental shelves and, unlike many other sharks, they swim in even very numerous aggregations during the day, to be more dispersed overnight.

CURIOSITY

Almost useless to say, they are recognizable by the very sideways expanded head, with very peripheral eyes and nostrils, from which derives the common name of “Hammerhead”.

It is precisely the most striking feature that is probably the most curious.

A lot has been written about why such a head has evolved, and perhaps it is the mix of all the “discovered” reasons that gives us the sense of this unusual shape: the flap shape would appear to be a hydrodynamic support that helps the animal’s trim.

DEPTH As mentioned above, they are organisms that are not observed in the open sea, but remaining near the continental shelves they manage to have a remarkable vertical distribution that depends on their “biological mo-

The peripheral nostrils, aided by the classic sinuous movement of the shark, encounter

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Biology

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head sharks on the list, on which there would be so much to discuss, of potentially dangerous sharks. However, most divers know that approaching these organisms is never a simple matter.

a greater portion of water and therefore they “sniff” better.

Let us also remember that the famous seventh sense of sharks, in other words the possibility of sensing electromagnetic fields, is placed on the rostrum: such an expanded rostrum will allow hammerhead sharks to be very “electro receptive”.

Shy by nature, they will counteract to an incoming too noisy and intrusive with a very correct reaction of defense: they will disappear leaving the impolite diver alone, to observing the blue and his dive computer only.

Small but fascinating curiosity: the only species of hammerhead shark not belonging to the genus Sphyrna is the winghead shark (Eusphyrna blochii), which lives only in the Indo-Pacific to the north Australian coasts.

A more discreet presence with a slow approaching almost to the limit of immobility, never frontal and noiseless, could instead make us “run the risk” of an encounter with a rare emotional power: being in the blue with these fascinating and elegant creatures swimming around us, which is something that many people dream of and that, fortunately, someone will never forget.

I invite all science fiction fans to “recognize” it in at least a couple of movies.

APPROACH AND OBSERVATION Despite their size, some include hammer-

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匀 吀䄀夀 䤀 一 倀䄀 刀 䄀 䐀 䤀 匀 䔀

䄀 䜀 唀 匀 吀䄀 䤀 匀 䰀 䄀 一 䐀 Ⰰ 刀 䄀 䨀 䄀 䄀 䴀 倀䄀吀Ⰰ 䤀 一 䐀 伀 一 䔀 匀 䤀 䄀 䤀 一 䘀 伀 䀀 䄀 䜀 唀 匀 吀 䄀 刀 䔀 匀 伀 刀 吀⸀ 䌀 伀 䴀 䄀 䜀 唀 匀 吀 䄀 刀 䔀 匀 伀 刀 吀⸀ 䌀 伀 䴀

DAN Europe

Cult Dive

Shark & Yolanda Reef www.daneurope.org

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Location: Red Sea, Egypt.

GPS: 27° 43’ 51.03” N 34° 15’ 37.99” E Type of dive: deep, drift.

Marine life: the entire food chain, vibrant corals, underwater landscape that will make your head spin.

Level: advanced, expert divers.

Landscape There’s no need to get in the water to understand why Shark & Yolanda Reef is among the ten most beautiful dive sites in the world, it’s enough to look at a map. The ochre rocks of the desert there plunge down towards the Great Rift Valley that separates the African Plate from the Arabian Plate, thus creating the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba. And exactly there, on the Southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, two matching reefs emerge from the abyss, in the point where two gulfs meet: Suez, and Aqaba; each one with its currents, and its endemic species.

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We are located exactly 74 km far from Trieste, near the small town of Kantrida, which is about 5 to 6 km before downtown Rijeka.

Our Diving Centre is right under the swimming pools area, directly in front of the open beach. On one side, we are overlooked by Mount Major (Ucka) and on the other, we face the beautiful islands of Krk and Cherso: in brief, we are right inside the Kvarnaro Gulf.

Our flagship is wreck diving by boat: three wrecks situated at different depths, each one no farther than maximum 20 minutes boat ride. And there’s more! Our shore dives directly from our Center’s beach offer an easy and colorful training ground for any kind of diving courses. Finally yet importantly, our diamond tip dedicated to macro photography lovers: a wide variety of critters to increase the pleasure of diving.

From our beach, with our boat... ...come with us and enjoy your dive!

www.diving-marcopolo.com

唀渀搀攀爀眀愀琀攀爀 攀砀瀀攀爀椀攀渀挀攀

挀⼀漀 匀琀愀戀椀氀椀洀攀渀琀漀 戀愀氀渀攀愀爀攀 ᰠ匀琀攀氀氀愀 䴀愀爀椀渀愀 渀⸀㜀ᴠ 一甀洀愀渀愀Ⰰ 䤀琀愀氀礀 吀攀氀⸀ ㌀㤀 ㌀㌀㔀 㘀㘀㈀㔀㌀㌀㤀 䔀洀愀椀氀⸀ 椀渀昀漀䀀挀攀渀琀爀漀猀甀戀洀漀渀琀攀挀漀渀攀爀漀⸀挀漀洀 眀眀眀⸀挀攀渀琀爀漀猀甀戀洀漀渀琀攀挀漀渀攀爀漀⸀挀漀洀

Indonesia MOYO ISLAND

See it, Dive it, Love it A top natural wonderland A place where the beauty of nature exceeds expectation.

An exotic and luxuriant island paradise.

An extremely peaceful place where you can relax in tranquility.

A world-class diving destination.

info@bluemoceanresort.com www.bluemoceanresort.com +62 813.3794.6294