Scubashooters net e mag issue n4 june 2015

ISSUE

N° 4

JUNE 2015

DHIVEHI RAAJIE Get bored is a pity

PORTFOLIO

Raffaella Schlegel

MONTHLY CONTEST Visconti wins “Couples & Mating”

BACK TO BASICS M. Krumins guide to improve skills THE ALARM RINGS AT 5:30 AM Whale sharks in Mexico

EXCLUSIVE REVIEW Nauticam CMC

by A. Tattersall EVOLUTIONARY EDUCATION With Suzan Meldonian

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Dear Scubashooters, as we always say we are making our best to bring you the best Underwater Photography images and news. In order to achieve this very important task we have created a multiplatform network and our brainstorming is always on to bring you always fresh ideas.

For this reason we have created this magazine and for this reason we will bring you a new platform for underwater photography contests.

Two years ago we decided it was time to start our underwater photography monthly contest. At that time the website www.scubashooters.net was just started and then we opted to run the contest using the Facebook platform. We have now reached the 15th monthly contest and I can tell you we have been able to build quite a bit of experience on running online contests. Very soon Facebook showed its limitations on running this kind of events and for this reason we started developing our own web based contest platform.

The platform is now undergoing final tests and being fine-tuned for its inauguration which will take place in september.

As you can imagine we are putting a lot of efforts into this and this is going to be a very important milestone for scubashooters.net. It doesn’t matter wether you are a photographer or not or you will upload your photos or not. For sure it will be big fun looking at those amazing photos that normally participate in our monthly contests; in case you are not a photographer you will be asked to express preferences so that beside the normal judgement performed by our talented Jury group, there will be also a popular ranking. Of course underwater photographers participating the contest will have the chance to win big prizes, ranging from vacations to underwater photography gear and diving gear. We are still gathering prizes, so if you are a sponsor and are interested in supporting this event please do not hesitate to contact us.

From september onwards, the monthly contest will then be run on the website. Our contest platform has been developed following our directions by our software developers and it will be available for external organizations willing to run their own contests, so stay tuned and follow us because there is always more to come!

Marino Palla Owner & Founder Scubashooters Network

Cover image By: Raffaella Schlegel

C O N T E N T S 3

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ANILAO IS A MUST Words and pictures: Ee lin

EDITORIAL Words: Marino Palla THE ALARM RINGS AT 5:30 AM Whale sharks in Mexico Words and pictures: Alberto Gallucci BACK TO BASICS Improving your photography without changing a setting Words and pictures: Matt Krumins PORTFOLIO Raffaella Schlegel Oceanart

FESTISUB 2015 The Swiss Underwater Festival Neuchâtel

AMAZING ANILAO A place where time stands still Words and pictures: Suzan Meldonian THE NAUTICAM COMPACT MACRO CONVERTOR - CMC Words and pictures: Dr. Alex Tattersall

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CRITTER CORNER DIVE SAFETY: IT’S NO ACCIDENT Understanding the triggers of dive fatalities Words: Dan Orr

DHIVEHI RAAJIE Get bored is a pity Words and pictures: Isabella Maffei

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MONTHLY CONTEST Couples and mating

MONTHLY CONTEST Behind the shot: MATTEO VISCONTI BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND Road to technical diving (part 2)

Editor: FABIO STRAZZI Verein Scubashooters, 8952 Schlieren - Switzerland

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THE ALARM RINGS AT 5:30 AM Whale sharks in Mexico

WORDS AND PICTURES

ALBERTO GALLUCCI

TRAVELS

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The alarm rings at half past five. At six the boat of “Solo Buceo� diving awaits us on the back of the Sotavento Hotel in Cancun, where there is a channel connected with the open sea.

Still sleepy we enjoy the spectacle of the sun rising over the calm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, while we circumnavigate the northern extremity of Isla Mujeres. After about an hour of navigation finally we reach this vast area of the sea in which a large number of whale sharks from all the Caribbean meet in the summer months due to the large presence of bonitos eggs that the currents concentrate here.

Soon begin to appear the first dorsal fins that cut the smooth surface of the sea.

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There are many spaced a few tens of meters.

We reduce the speed up to stop and while drifting reaches us under the boat one of these huge beasts, so already from the boat we can see the grey back with the unmistakable grating of vertical and horizontal streaks clearer alternating series of white spots.

Wasting no time, with great excitement and emotion we wear fins and mask, grab cameras and dive in these warm waters to meet these large, harmless sharks in their natural environment.

Putting our head under the water we can see more than one with a single glance, so we start finning toward the nearest shark.

Not easy to reach

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them because despite seem almost motionless their speed in the water is considerable. See them parading in their majesty is a thrill, a unique and unforgettable spectacle!

Various species of remoras are attached with their suckers to the sides of the mouth, on the back and on the fins of sharks, sometimes moving from one point to another of these big fish.

Often swimming whale sharks keep their mouth open and it’s wide up to a meter and half, really impressive!

In this way, jumping from a shark to another, we spend in the water all the day and when, before sunset, we turn the bow of the boat landward saluting these beautiful animals, we not evenfeel tired, happy to have spent a wonderful, memorable day with them.

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BACK TO BASICS

IMPROVING YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY WITHOUT CHANGING A SETTING Many years ago when I started shooting underwater photography I fell under the “gear-spell” an ancient money-draining curse thrust upon the unassuming photographer that fools you into believing a beautiful image is the output of a camera and not the tiresome construction of an artist.

That is to say “an oven and not the chef” is responsible for an award winning meal. Over the years I have explored many camera options and have progressed from automatic settings through aperture and shutter priority modes all the way to manual settings with manual strobe settings, and yet reflecting on my best works and those of the underwater photographers around me, it becomes glaringly obvious that the beauty of these images is not the scientific combination of shutter and aperture but the image it‚Äôs self.

In fact it is only in the past few years that an image has ever been required to exhibit camera metadata settings to be accepted onto a photo sharing group.

Despite high-end cameras becoming more affordable and arguably mainstream, many of the masses still seem to struggle capturing their dream shot.

In my years of teaching on the topic, more often and not this is blamed on settings or cameras limitations rather than getting back to basics and reminding ourselves that a brilliant underwater image is an art form and not a science.

So lets get back to basics and remind ourselves of all of the small things that when complimented with the right settings will deliver the a beautiful back-scatter-free photograph, with depth, colour and a sense of drama.

When we learn to dive we are inundated with safety procedures, finning technique, buoyancy exercises and a strict code of conduct regarding the critters we interact with on a dive.

These things also happen to be the first things that new underwater photographers forget as they fin across the reef creating small mushroom clouds of silt whilst chasing their subject in circles like crazed paparazzi. Diving techniques are actually at the heart of a brilliant photograph; the ability to hover motionless with a subject is absolutely critical in getting the right “look”.

When I say “look” I’m referring to the images where the seashore is peering directly down the camera lens, or where the clownfish sits mouth open presenting a parasitic mollusc on it’s tongue or perhaps the flamboyant cuttlefish displaying it’s colours in perfect symmetry at the camera.

Poor buoyancy, chasing a critter and finning techniques that look more like an outtake from the Godzilla film lead to scared critters and scared critters generally leads to a poorly composed image.

TECHNIQUE

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24 All hope is not lost though as great buoyancy and finning technique comes at no cost other than your time and patience.

Practice diving with your camera switched off for the first 10 minutes of your dive; focus on the way your buoyancy is affected when you extend your arms out and move the camera closer or further way from your body.

As you change the pivot point of your buoyancy you will quickly realise just how much control your cameras weight affords you when floating motionless in the water.

I shoot with an Olympus mirrorless system and even though it is almost neutrally buoyant, this still has an impact on my balance.

This is also aided by another dive technique bestowed upon me by a fellow diver: always try and shoot into the current.

Simple really, the resistance of the current pushing against a slow gentle fin kick allows for significantly more control than trying to shoot against the current and as an additional bonus, if you accidentally cause a little sand cloud with your fins it will wash away from your shot, not into your scene.

Two birds with one stone.

Some people are born with an eye for brilliant composition and others need to develop it but one thing is definitely clear, your “eye“ is essential when it comes to any kind of photography and underwater is no exception. Good composition is a balance between negative space, balance of the subject and the isolation of focal points to de-clutter a scene. As a general guide the “Rule of Thirds” is a composing tool that works every time and most cameras can be programmed to display this on the screen as a constant reminder, however the underwater environment is what I would consider to be beautifully chaotic.

Reefs sport all shapes and sizes of fish darting in and out of countless shapes of coral structures sometimes entangled in sea-grasses and kelp forests. The brilliant images we all aspire to, all have one thing in common: they simplify the chaos by separating the subject from it’s environment whilst maintaining environmental context.

26 This can be achieved through a shallow depth of field (where the subject is in focus but the background is blurry) or through lighting techniques, but also through the simple act of ensuring our scene has an element of physical depth.

When we look at pleasing portraits of people they are rarely hard up against complex backgrounds and fish are no different, the subject gets lost and there is a lack of story in the scene.

For this reason the most basic technique to improve your underwater photography is to always try and shoot “up” slightly towards the surface; get your subject against a blue water background and separate them from the chaos of the reef.

Without a single turn of a dial your images will dramatically improve, with more drama and impact giving your subject more underwater context and the blue water appearance that audiences have come to expect in underwater photographs.

Like magazines sporting flawless images of models with shrunken hips and skin smothered in photoshop, it is no secret that almost any image aspired to by a photographer has been in some way, shape or form manipulated or at very least processed from RAW. When it comes to getting back to the basics this doesn’t just apply to before the shoot.

Post production is as much an art-form as the initial capture of the image and is essential in getting images that stand out from the crowd.

But at times post production is sometimes mistaken to be doctoring or photoshopping.

When I talk post production and getting back to basics I’m not referring to the Smurf-like over saturation of blue water or the complete overhaul of an image.

I am talking about the small things that are become more frequently overlooked in favour of in-vogue editing.

I myself am guilty of “overcooking” an image and over time I have come to realise that before getting stuck into the details, the “back to basics” questions you need to ask are: - Is this image worth my time editing?

- Do I need to correct the rotation or crop?

- Does my colour correction still look realistic?

- Are there any highly distracting backscatter particles I need to remove?

It is after these four questions that we can continue on and create our own post production style. All too often we forget to ask question 1 leaving galleries chockfull of average images that distract from our best works.

28 Photography is art and therefore there is no right way to go about it and no wrong way for your images to look but the above techniques will give you a good grounding to your process no matter what your images look or style.

It is all too often that we prioritise the details over the basics and whilst no-one will disagree that the right camera and settings are essential in shooting your dream image there can be no argument that the stepping back, focusing on our dive technique and simply paying attention to the angles we are shooting at can have more positive improvements than hours of tinkering with our settings.

When you visit a gallery or envisage your favourite photograph we don’t see “settings”, we are sucked into a scene, a set of circumstances, a story.

I would bet my money that some of the world’s most iconic images were shot in an automatic setting, but that’s ok because as Ansel Adams once said

“you don’t take a photograph, you make it” and by getting back to basics you can have far more control over how you structure your own work.

Words and Pictures: Mattew Krumins

PORTFOLIO Raffaella Schlegel Oceanart

PORTFOLIO

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OCEANART In this photographic collection, Raffaella Schlegel lures the viewer into a world of mystery and unsurpassed magic, beautifully captured through the lens of this passionate photographer.

Raffaella exposes breathtaking, sometimes haunting imagery that reflects her devotion and infectious passion for the Oceans and its inhabitants, in particular the energy and grace of big animals. These images invite you to join her on a journey to the unknown world of the deep blue.

Raffaella say that as a photographer she is privileged to enter this space that is full of grace, motion and colours and to capture images in those moments of passionate inspiration, moments when she suddenly feels a spark of inspiration followed by a flood of enthusiasm.

STORY Born in Castellanza, Italy, Raffa was destined for a career in fashion design.

Being close to Milan was one reason for the fashion design trajectory but being born into a family involved in fashion and design was another.

Fashion notwithstanding, Raffa was drawn to water from an early age.

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Competitive swimming drew Raffa in and she made the Italian National Junior team when she was 12 years old, making the National team when she turned 14.

Swimming nurtured Raffa’s love for water .

On successfully completed both Art & Design and Fashion Design diplomas at the Institute Marangoni in Milan and has been extremely active in the design industry for a period of about 16 years.

From Italian swimming champion to designing beachwear for Arena and Speedo to materials design for Celine, Trussardi and Fendi as well as the design of the Chanel Sport Collection in Paris.

Raffaella also had her hand on design projects for Mini Cooper, BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar, Alfa Romeo and Fiat and sportswear for Salomon & Nordica.

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In between building her career in fashion design Raffa continued to indulge her passion for water, finding herself being drawn to diving as a consequence of going diving with her father. Holidays and weekends began to be filled with diving activities and travel. Raffaella says:

“The sea always had an irresistible call for me, I kept dreaming about the freedom in the oceans.

Longing the feeling of being in what I believe is my natural environment�.

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In 2004 I decided to change my life and follow my passion.

I left my career as a designer and took the decision to form with my partner Dietmar Posch Blue Rush dive expeditions - South Africa.

Specialized in working with Tiger sharks for 10 years, for me this species represents the essence of pure force, gliding with a slow majestic pace and such an infinite elegance and the self knowledge of being the strongest.

A greatness in it’s being, that I respect so much; in these years of diving with Tiger Sharks, I learned to understand them, to anticipate their moves and to embrace them with my bare eyes, the complicity of man and animal.�

Today Raffaella and her partner are organizing diving and photographic expeditions around the world as well as productions for international TV and other media, producing unique and fascinating images on stills and video.

Productions, Publications and Cooperation with Animal Planet, National Geographic, ZDF/Germany, ARTE/France, Mediaset/Italy, LA7/Italy, SABC, ORF and various international magazines and books.

www.raffaellaschlegel.com

TRAVELS

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DHIVEHI RAAJIE GET BORED IS A PITY

WORDS AND PICTURES: ISABELLA MAFFEI

52 …I watch the world from a porthole, and I am slightly bored… recited Gianni Togni in one of his songs in the early eighties, when I was a child.

My mom used to listen to this song quite often, and as soon as the record started playing, I started dreaming of faraway seas.

The boat keel cuts the long waves like butter. The gray sky promises nothing good.

Scuba gear has been securely tied astern. The cushions have been collected.

We are sailing through the channel dividing Malé South from Felidhoo atoll.

A stiff wind sweeps the sea surface. Water splashes rise up and lash the bulwark.

The captain has been bossy: “everybody remains in the lower deck!” I splatter my nose against one of the many portholes of my bright cabin at the second deck.

More a window than a porthole and watching the world through its glasses, I am not getting bored at all! I am in Maldives, the “Dhivehi Raajie”: meaning the Islands Realm, where getting bored is a sin!

I visited this country many times, diving along its coral reefs, but this is MY FIRST LIVE ABOARD. According to many, this is the best way to enjoy one of the most extraordinary underwater landscapes in the world.

During 2006, under the sole atoll of Male North, 958 divers dove simultaneously.

Who knows how many they are to date: no one counts divers anymore. For sure, it would be a record figure, enough to suppose that divers oversaturated Maldives. Yet, no other boat takes shape on the horizon.

We are enjoying an absolute exclusive on the coral reefs and along the many white sands stripes, offering the chance to stretch our legs on dry land.

I keep on watching through my porthole: this long sailing leaves me time for thinking.Waves are chasing each other, as well as my thoughts. I question and answer myself. I realize that little is known about this country, considered as a mere tourist product.

Besides, how to blame those who do?

Talking about Maldives, we all have the same visions: white sands, clear blue waters, colorful fishes, sun, relax, luxury… what a sadness!

As though a foreigner was thinking of Italy exclusively as the country of pizza and mafia… and it could even be, except that our history is well known and documented internationally.

But the Maldivian history is not! The President of the Republic of Maldives is asking loudly, and since long time, not to consider these 1120 islands just as a “holiday industry”, although tourism is what they live on.

WHO ARE MALDIVIANS? People like us: workers who scrape out a living, others who do not give up the cell phone or status symbol lovers.

The most of them live in the smallest capital of the world: Malé.

54 It may be small, but suffers from the great problems of all western cities: shabby and congested roads (there are more cars than souls), juvenile delinquency linked to drugs, lack of work.

However, that’s another story: to the Maldives, you go on holiday!

Sailing across the atolls helps opening your eyes: there are penitentiary islands, dump islands, manufacture islands, even a coca-cola island! In Maldives they prey Mohammed, eat tuna and dance “bodubero”, but only men do.

Where are the women? I’d like to find it out and feel like finding an answer to my many questions.

I’ve been told to go to FELIDHOO, the “virgin” atoll, where you still can breathe Maldives air: and there’s where I’m going.

Compared to other atolls touristically more open, Felidhoo (a.k.a. Vaavu) is less developed. Unusually shaped like a boot, it is the primary destination for diving safaris, thanks to the wonders guarded under its waters and the presence of remote and uninhabited islands.

Out of the 15 islands composing the atoll, 2 host tourists resorts and locals, kind and welcoming people, inhabit 5.

I like the proud calmness of Maldivians.

Women, of a disarming beauty, cook and take care of the children. In the streets, you can still feel the smell of “bonito”, smoked fish, considered a delicacy.

How beautiful is seafarers’ simplicity!

I discover that the world is the same wherever you go: sitting in the middle of the village, with the fishermen and their families, I listen to stories of fishing and sea tales telling of a magical place: the underwater cave of Fotteyo.

Laying down on an exotic coconut fiber swing, rocking and watching all the shades of blue painting the lagoons, I feel suspended in time and space and try to imagine the hidden life beneath the surface at “Fotteyo caves”.

Horizon line is barely perceptible. I start feeling like a siren in a fishbowl: I need to return to the sea. I need to dive and see through my own eyes if the tales I listened to are real or just fishermen’s overstatements.

There the dhoni, a traditional Maldivian boat, takes us close to the external angle of DHIGGARU FALHU: that’s the name of the reef guarding Fotteyo paradise.

As soon as my guide checks the current direction, I make my giant’s step and jump into the water.

Keeping the colorful wall on my right, I immediately sink to 20 meters deep. Many surgeon fishes, close enough to be touched by hand, accompany us. In the deep blue of the open waters, small tunas patrol the area searching for food and a first white tip shark makes a sudden foray towards us, but goes away just as quickly.

Going deeper, the wall becomes even more colored. Fragile soft corals, made turgid by the current, swing like flowers in the wind.

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58 At about 30 meters deep, the beauty apotheosis awaits us, just around a ledge of the reef. A wide cave, or rather a through tunnel, opens inside the barrier.

Hundreds of soft corals hang from the ceiling as juicy cherries from a tree: a yellow, orange, pink, phosphorescent green rainbow. From the bottom, lush branches of carmine red whip corals try reaching the vault. At the tunnel entrance, black coral bushes provide shelter to an indefinite quantity of barrier fishes.

I swim cautiously inside the cave: I don’t want to lift any sand, thin as baby powder. Outside the tunnel, the show goes on: soft corals continue covering arches and balconies. A school of jacks surprises me from behind and swims inside the “cherry tunnel�: I follow.

I spend my last minutes diving among hard corals covering a plateau only 14 meters deep.

Clouds of fusiliers enliven the surroundings while oriental sweet lips, moving together with the current, keep us under control. A shy green turtle grazes here and there: I try to get closer, but she disappears in the rising daylight.

My first day diving at Felidhoo atoll is almost over.

I give myself a walk along a sand strip. My feet softly sink and caressing weak waves temper the heat rising from the shoreline.

I watch the sunset lights in the sky: I never observed it that intensely.

A smile enlightens my face: tomorrow is another day in Felidhoo!

SHEIKH COAST DIVING CENTER OUR STRENGHTS We are the only in Sharm to have the private landing, then starting directly from inside the hotel, 10 meters from the diving center.

The largest fleet of boats, 8 owned and 4 in annual rent.

For photographers we have created in a separate room 20 spacious lockers where you can use the sleeve, the flash and everything else.

A comfortable table where to mount the equipment and another table where you can leave charging batteries.

Imagine, you wake up, eat breakfast, go to the diving, take your equipment and jump on the boat.

Upon returning do just the opposite, but in place of breakfast awaits a frozen beer at the bar of the diving instead of a minibus that should bring you with all the equipment up to your hotel.

www.sheikhcoast.com

AMAZING ANILAO

A PLACE WHERE TIME STANDS STILL WORDS AND PICTURES: SUZAN MELDONIAN

THE TROUBLE WITH TRIBBLES; PREHISTORIC EXISTENCE OF A FIRE URCHIN With a never ending thirst for knowledge, underwater photographers continue to push the boundaries, with an effervescent search to document life that abounds beneath the sea.

As better and better digital cameras and lenses are developed, we continue to discover more and more about our oceans through underwater photography. Every day, yet another diver converts to underwater photography as we suddenly realize the final frontier is here for the taking.

In our search for amazing encounters, we search for new locations to visit, sometimes just for the animal, sometimes just for the experience, which in turn, then tends to become a personal conquest to shoot and photograph proof positive the existence of a creature, or we try to add to our cache of “OMG” images. Then a funny thing happens to us all at some point or other, and that is “discovery.”

For me, Anilao in the Philippines is like going back to a prehistoric time. Underwater there exists a profound presence of animals with highly developed, yet efficiently built-in defense mechanisms that have withstood the test of time and countless predators, yet there they stand, still alive and well. Where the symbiotic living arrangements defy imagination, and are sure to tempt any Citizen Scientist’s imagination to run amuck with ideas and theories as to their origins, let alone tempt any photographer in to shooting no less than 500 images per day.

It is, simply put, a plethora; a plethora of prehistorically instinctive creatures ranging in size from that of no more than an eyelash to that of a whale shark.

Today’s prehistoric moment; while lying on the sandy bottom trying to focus on a pipefish, out of the corner of my eye, I spied a couple of FIRE URCHINS (Asthenosoma varium ). Magnificent splash of colors. Mmmm, it is so tempting to turn and photograph them, yet I remain determined to focus on the whereabouts of my Striped Network Pipefish and its movement.

Steadily inching in, hiding behind the lens port to get ever close enough to capture that Pipefish’s beautiful innocent little face.

Movement again to my left, and now also to my right catches my attention.

The pipefish sees my concern, and uses that distraction to exit ... stage right.

Multiplying like Tribbles in a Star Trek flick, more and more Fire urchins chiddle (my word for their means of movement-which is not so much walking or waddling, or chittering, as it is “chiddling” –that is to say, motored by five rows of tubular sucker feet, yet steadily making rather alarmingly quick progress

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in my general direction), towards my body and are rapidly collecting around the circumference of my body, as though about to chalk the outline of the fallen body at a crime scene.

Some say they are drawn to heat.

I say, oh-contraire, they have a mind of their own, and with their sinister poisons contained within their quills, they have nothing to fear, therefore perhaps they are contemplating a human take over.

The mind runs wild- how are they communicating with one another?

They seem to be acting as a collective mind.

So why the mass aggregation towards my still body? Are they simply curious about this dark neoprene form twenty times their collective size or do they rather enjoy stinging silly humans? They have completely surrounded me, and are continuing to move in even closer.With the ability to inject their venom two different ways, they are certainly a poised killing machine. In between the mass of quills (each containing a sac of neurotoxin, capable of rendering a human unconscious) are more stems with pincers that resemble 3 fingers opening and closing, but in fact are hundreds of tiny mouths with teeth.

Yes, I said teeth.

68 These mouths that open and close are capable of biting and also injecting that powerful neurotoxin as well. I am astonished at their speed and stealth. Puts a whole new slant on “Silent but deadly.” To lean in any direction now is potentially dangerous. There is only way out of this and it is straight up.

Thank goodness I have a muck stick with which to push off the bottom.

Somewhat gruesome in this context, but however beautiful to behold, all divers should become aware of the many dangerous creatures that exist especially in prehistoric waters. But human nature and curiosity run very deep within us, and a return trip of discovery unfolds. I can no longer escape my desire to photograph these amazing colors.

Discovery: Within the quills of the fire urchin, live communities of other symbiotic life arrangements. Surprisingly the COLEMAN SHRIMP (Periclimenes colmani) can be found within the confines of quills, but also some juvenile fish like snappers, cardinal fish or juvenile lionfish, and some small crabs such as the ZEBRA CRAB (Zebrida adamsii), and URCHIN COMMENSAL SHRIMP, (Tuleariocaris sp) can be seen, evading predators, and apparently unaffected by the neurotoxins.

Further investigation of this amazing creature indicates that the red fire urchins are known to live up to 200 years.

They have 5 beaks called an Aristotle’s Lantern, that are self-sharpening. A true survivor from prehistoric times.

They are a favorite food to eels, octopus, triggerfish, sea otters in some areas, and finally humans. Surprisingly, they do not have eyes, however their quills are sensitive to light, giving them a visual ability to “see” as if they have eyes.

Guess that’s a kind of sonar thing.

The word is… they don’t actually have a brain, so what is the attraction to human?

70 Specifically only the Fire Urchins carry the poisonous neurotoxin. Fire Urchins can be found in the Indo-Pacific regions from as far north as Japan, throughout Indonesia and the Philippines, down to northern Australia.

Oh, just in case you were wondering, yes the Radiant Sea Urchin –the one with the amazing neon blue dots, Astropyga radiate, is also venomous.

Their sting can cause excruciating burning pain, and in some cases paralysis, or restrictive breathing- not good underwater. Oddly even with the ability to live to 200 years, generally urchins are considered a threatened species due to over fishing and pollution. They are omnivores, eating both animals and plant life.

“EVOLUTIONARY EDUCATION” is a series created by Suzan Meldonian, to share interesting points of interest with others about underwater life.

As she learns more (evolves) and shares with you, you share, and as a community, we evolve our understanding of life beneath the sea through underwater photography.

www.hogaislanddiveresort.com A little slice of heaven

Hoga Island, Wakatobi National Park is located in the heart of the Coral Triangle, one of the most bio-diverse regions of the Indo-Pacific and indeed the world. This makes for a unique diving experience, where you will see incredibly colourful corals teeming with marine life from large trevallies, schools of barracuda to small but stunning nudibranchs and cleaner shrimp.

Hoga Island Dive Resort

Hoga Island Dive Resort is a budget dive resort in the middle of Wakatobi. The traditional cottages are built on stilts facing the beach and the sea, each with their own balcony and hammock for relaxing. On the beach there are also hammock areas where guests can read a book, meet for a cold beer and watch spectacular sunsets. The resort has electricity from 6pm till 10pm. Two rooms share one mandy bathroom with water from the well. Dive package: 95 € per person per day, accomodation , meals and 2 dives.

Often served on the beach, meals are varied and generous and are made with fresh ingredients including the catch of the day brought in by the local fishermen. Wiah’s chips and spaghetti are famous as well as her traditional Indonesian dishes!

When not diving, Hoga Island Island also offers other activities such as walking around the island (5-6 hours at low tide), a visit to the local sea nomad village, a trip by motorbike on nearby Kaledupa Island. We also have a small library of books in various languages as well as marine life reference books.

Hoga Island Dive Resort’s involvement with the local community includes providing local children with a boat to take them to & from school each day with funds raised by the charity (www.piara.nl). On Sundays, the children clean the beaches to earn money to pay for their school uniforms.

Diving with Hoga Island Dive Resort

The dive sites are all within a short boat ride from the Resort and include fantastic pinnacles, ridges, walls, ledges and overhangs which together, make this an unforgettable, underwater paradise.

Due to Hoga Island’s remote location we do not have to compete with other divers for nice quiet dive sites and, whatever the weather, there is always a great choice of varied locations.

Asrul, our local dive guide has a great eye for the small creatures on the reef, he easily finds creatures such as pygmy sea horses and the orangutan crab in the bubble coral. Some sites have a superabundance of fish, where you can hang out at the end of your dive at 6 meters in utter bliss.

DIGITAL UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP RED SEA - 22nd/26th June with Adriano Penco Soft corals of more than a thousand colors, coral reefs presenting meetings with schools of fish dense enough to darken the sun, waters embarrassingly transparent… in other words, not surprisingly, the perfect place to test yourself with underwater photography!

From 22nd to 26th of June 2015, Adriano Penco, a well-known underwater photographer and journalist, will arrange a digital underwater photography workshop at the Sheikh Coast Diving Centre, Domina Coral Bay, in the Red Sea. Digital photography arrival made even underwater photography more accessible and enjoyable than ever. This workshop, actually more a lab than a course since immediately every participant will put into practice, and then discuss, the basics shown, has the purpose of bringing a dowry of each participant’s personal expertise and basic information to shoot good pictures in course of action. Technical growth may only come from putting into practice and applying the topics dealt and then discussed during the meeting. In this way, debating becomes the cornerstone for learning.

The workshop program plans to deal extensively with topics such as creating and composing a digital image, using a model underwater, motives for shooting, using the proper focus and shutter speed to obtain the best exposure, managing lighting underwater, to end up with photographic critical review.

The workshop is open to any photographer with a little knowledge and basics about photography, in possession of any kind of compact or DSLR camera bearing any lens, with related underwater housing. The workshop’s schedule consists in morning boat trips in order to effect two dives, lunch during the return trip to arrive at the dive center early in the afternoon to download the images, which will be analyzed and discussed together with the daily topic.

info: booking@sheikhcoast.com

During his several years of activity, Adriano Penco realized lots of special reports from all over the world. His editorial production counts several picture books that help drawing the attention and value the seabed and peculiarities of the underwater world.

The Genoa and the Milan Aquarium, the Montpellier and Antibes photo festival, together with the eminent Japanese monthly magazine Marine Diver, exhibit big blowup versions of Adriano’s pictures. The color publication “100 Ans de Photographie Sous-Marine” (100 Years of Underwater Photography), which contains the most beautiful underwater images taken in the last century, also contains some of his shots.

Alberto’s biography is also present inside the work entitled “Fotocinematografia Subacquea Italiana: I Protagonisti” (Italian Underwater Photo-Cinematography: the Key Players).

On its 500th number, Underwater World dedicated Alberto a splendid biography appointing him as one of the major excellent contemporary signatures.

Worth mentioning Alberto’s collaborations with Marevivo, Legambiente, Rome’s “La Sapienza” University, Bologna University, Italian National Geo-Volcanology Institute, Lipari’s Barnabò Brea Archeological Museum, Tuscany and Liguria Archeological Superintendence, IANTD Expeditions.

At present, Alberto Penco is the Director of the Scuba Guidebooks Collection edited by Magenes.

Contacts:

www.adrianopenco.com - adriano@adrianopenco.com

The Sheikh Coast Diving Centre is one of the most comfortable diving centers in Sharm el Sheikh, thanks to its private marina, just a few dozen meters from its headquarter.

The private marina exclusivity, in fact, allows guests to board directly from inside the touristic resort, avoiding to divers and their companions boring transfers by buses or shuttles to Sharm’s main harbor, together with the never-ending waiting times before boarding.

Every day luxurious boats leave their mooring from Domina Coral Bay, laying out for the amazing scuba day trips to discover the most beautiful, colored and crawling with marine life coral reefs between Tiran Island and the legendary Ras Mohammed Marine Park

THE NAUTICAM COMPACT MACRO CONVERTOR - CMC

WORDS AND PICTURES: DR. ALEX TATTERSALL

The CMC is the third in the series of optics released by Nauticam and is a very powerful yet very compact lens (weighing in at 260g, 70mm diameter x34mm length).

As the UK, French and Irish distributor of Nauticam products, I am well aware of my commercial bias in this review, as should many of you be, so I will avoid superlatives and simply present my own experience of using the CMC and some sample photos to demonstrate the quality of this product.

A useful starting point to see the comparative strength of the CMC side-by-side with two competing lenses can be found on the independent review site, Deepshots, at the following link (http://www.deepshots.co.uk/2015/03/macro-lens-test-nauticam-cmc-1-vs-inon-ucl-100-and-subsee-10/).

The CMC was conceived to be used primarily with compact and mirrorless cameras (both fixed macro lenses and mid range zoom lenses) but also can be used with the shorter DSLR macro lenses with which Nauticam’s SMC was not compatible. A full list of currently tested and recommended cameras and lenses compatible with the CMC can be found at the official press release for this product here (http://www.nauticamusa.com/news/2015/2/3/the-cmc-has-arrived). This table provides useful information regarding magnification achieved and working distance required for the compatible camera and lens range.

I used the CMC primarily with the Canon G7X in Nauticam housing with the standard 67mm threaded port.

I also used it on the Sony RX100iii. As the zoom range on the lens of the G7X is greater than the RX100iii, the greater magnification in the results with the G7X was apparent. To mount the lens, the housing or port requires a 67mm thread, Nauticam offer a flip dioptre holder designed specifically for this lens on Nauticam housings, but provide an adapter to use the lens on other housings/ports with 67mm threads.

The first thing I noticed when using this lens with the Canon G7X was that the autofocus responded well with very little hunting.

This is down to the noticeably high clarity and contrast in the lens throughout the useable range.

The fact that image quality is very high and that this is maintained throughout the useable zoom range allows shooting of a range of different size subjects.

Anyway enough talk, let’s look at some images.

F11, 1/200, ISO 100 (uncropped), sharpness clear, image quality and lack of chromatic aberration apparent, attractively rendered bokeh, what’s not to love.

A 100% crop of the same image

REVIEW

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78 F11, 1/125, ISO 200

F11, 1/200, ISO 250

F11, 1/200, ISO 100

As you might have noticed, with this level of magnification, I kept he aperture closed to maximise the depth of field in the image. The pleasing bokeh and absence of image quality defects I think is obvious from these images.

I am trying very hard to think of negatives for this lens so as to provide a balanced review in spite of my industry affiliations. However, this is proving very difficult to do.

The one thing I would say though of course is that when using a compact camera with a wet close-up magnifying lens, one of the key considerations is to select appropriate subject material.

The short working distance makes it unsuitable for very skittish or fast moving subjects and best results are clearly achieved with subject matter that can be approached closely and not prone to rapid movements.

The same though can be said to be true of any compact camera coupled with a strong close up macro lens.

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My attempt at shooting an anemonefish, a faster moving subject, using the RX100iii was far more challenging and took about 30 shots to get a well composed and focused image (although lighting is not ideal).

To conclude this brief review, I cannot help myself but be of the opinion that the Nauticam CMC takes compact/mirrorless macro imagery to new levels of quality and, perhaps just as importantly, enjoyment of use.

Don’t just take my word for it though, reviews of the CMC and images being produced with it are starting to hit the forums, online resources and social media, many of which speak entirely for themselves.

SUB

AQUATIC

24 hours of diving is the best chance for those who wants more! Take a chance to do the sunrise dive, why not the morning dive trip too, or afternoon dive trip, or maybe some romantic sunset dive... or better some nigth dives on our favorite locations.

...DIVING - DIVING - DIVING...

STELLA MARIS RESORT sport center UMAG - CROATIA www.subaquatic.org E: subaquatic.umag@gmail.com Phone.: 00385 52 710 981 Mobil: 00385 92 26 16 168 subaquatic diving center

ANILAO IS A MUST I recently had the opportunity to visit the beautiful Anilao, Philipines with its rich biodiversity of marine lives.

Manila sits on an archipelago just at the edge of the Asian continent, some 14° 35’ N, 121º 00 E’.

It’s 1,100 km or 2 hours flight time from Hong Kong, 2,200 km or 3:15 hours from Bangkok, 2,400 km or 3:35 hours from Singapore, 2,739 km or 3:35 hours from Malaysia, 3.000 km or 4:15 hours from Tokyo, and 2,800 km from 4:25 hours from Beijing.

Located in the island of Luzon, in the municipality of Mabini, Batangas, is loosely termed as the district (or barangay) of Anilao, the “socalled” birthplace of scuba diving in Philippines. The town is lined with a long stretch of resorts besides the narrow hilly main road catering to divers from around the world.

Arriving at the national airport, smack in the middle of Manila, the journey by road to Anilao will take around 3 hours or 170 kilometers south of Manila depending on the ever crazy city traffic like anywhere else in a metropolitan city.

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88 Anilao is widely known as a heaven for underwater macro photography, diving in Anilao is a serious matter of ticking off the extensive menu with your dive guides in terms of what you want to see.

Shrimp, crabs, nudibranchs, squid and cuttlefish, are all more plentiful than almost anywhere else I’ve dive. Frogfish, pipefish, diamond filefish, seahorse are also fairly common at some dive sites.

Hairy frogfish, wonderpus, mimic, coconut and blue ring octopus can also be found. Most species on the muck and macro diving critter list can be found in Anilao. For side dishes, we have soft corals; hard corals and everything in between too! Least that I forget, Anilao is also called the ‘Nudibranch Capital of the World�.

Coming from my home country where the sighting of a nudibranch is like striking the lottery, the variety of these colorful slugs that come in all sizes are possibly endless here and they are literally everywhere in the water.

Stretching from north to south, the dive sites are usually a short 15-20 minutes boat ride on the banca (traditional fishing boat converted into dive boat) depending from where the resort is. This small open boat is comfortable to sit 8 people including the crew and dive guides.

Most of the critters and corals can be found between 5-15 meters in calm waters whereas the travelling shoals of jacks, barracudas, tunas and bigger fish like the occasional whale shark and mola-mola swim through the center of straits where is current is stronger and its deeper. Visibility is usually good at about 30 meters.

Some of my favorite sites which never disappoints me include Secret Bay, Secret Garden, Sunview, Bethlehem, Caban Cove, Basura and Anilao Pier.

90 With a year round diving season, January and February is the coldest time to dive with temperatures dropping to 23°C compared to the average of around 26°C while the busiest time is around April and May. The occasional monsoon visits around July and August but that has never stopped me from getting into the water before! The best months are probably November, April and May. The main diving season is from October to the end of May. Even during monsoon, it never stop me from reaching the dive sites as most of the sites can be accessible using a jeepney (a converted jeep used as taxi) from the main road.

A normal dive schedule would include 2 dives in the morning, 1 after lunch and 1 in the late afternoon which doubles up as a night dive because by the time you surface from this dive, it’d be evening and just in time to head back to the resort for a hearty dinner. The night dive is a must because that’s the time when some of the weirdest critters bobtail, mototi octopus, stargazer, bobit worm and many more comes out to play.

By nightfall, once we arrive to the resort by banca the staff and guides will unload, carry and wash all our equipment for the day. Thereafter, all equipment is hung up and ready for the next days adventure. After a nice hot drink and shower, it’s time to kick back, relax and enjoy the hospitality of the hosts.

Never have I met a Philippino who doesn’t know how to have fun! Apart from the beauty of what the sea offers, Anilao is made even more special by the warm hospitality of the people. The hosts here are more than just business operators, they are friends and they are like family welcoming us into their homes and

offering their backyard, the sea, for us to play in.

Each of my diving trips to Anilao has always given me a sense of homecoming. Being able to detach myself from the confines of the office to be in the great company of friends who are more family, to savour the endless supply of delicious home-cooked food and of course, to shoot in the sea, this is where my heart lies. My journey in photography has brought me many places but the underwater world is one bounderless mystery that never ceases to amaze with its variety of life forms and seascape, and Anilao is one special place that has me kept coming back year after year.

Lastly but not least, If you ever get to dive Anilao, you will find incredible diversity, rich reefs, a great variety of small fish, and unexpected critters & nudibranchs turning up around every corner. If you love underwater photography, or if you love marine life, Anilao is a must.

Words and Pictures

EE LIN

Coup de cœur

FESTISUB 2015

The Swiss Underwater Festival Neuchâtel

“Juri” BEST OF SHOW Borghi Filippo - Italy

The Festival of Underwater Images of Neuchâtel is organized by the Festisub Association. The festival’s objectives are to promote everything related to the underwater environment and aquatic activities. Specifically, Festisub’s goals are to promote respect and protection of the aquatic environment, and to promote all forms of cultural activities related to these environments. A choice of fifteen films, Swiss or foreign, specially chosen at the World Underwater Images Festival of Marseille, are screened during the festival and allows a wide audience to discover confirmed or promising directors promoting the protection of the underwater environment by the beauty of film contents, and messages transmitted by their authors.

Eau Douce

Also, each year Festisub launches a photography contest open to amateurs and professionals. A selection of the jury is the subject to an exhibition during the Festival of Underwater Images of Neuchatel. For this competition, the Committee wants to see all the qualities of photographers and their mastery of their photographic equipment. A “freshwater” category is offered each year to promote our waters and to take account of our local peculiarities.

Our international competition, has become one of the competitions at which photographers from around the world participate each year. Winning our competitions is now a worldwide recognition. The photo contest is organized by Michel Lonfat, member of Festisub Committee, well knowed underwater photographer in Switzerland and that has been regularly awarded in international competitions for the quality of its images.

A main photographer is invited to exhibit his work during the Festival. This exhibition of a renowned artist runs during the exhibition of the winners of the photo contest.

Festisub regularly surprised everyone by presenting original artistic forms of expression on the underwater world subject (painting, sculpture, music, ...). Information and educational content on water, fresh water, sea, protection of the environment, find also, fully their place in the festival.

1° place Foulquie Mathieu - France

A special family session is scheduled the Saturday afternoon. In addition to being adapted to match the expectations of all, the family session is offered at particularly favorable terms as children pay only CHF 5.- and the adult admission is set at CHF 20.-. On the occasion of its 10th anniversary (2012), Festisub had created a sensation by offering the session “families” free to all visitors.

Festisub organizes special sessions for primary and secondary schools of the City of Neuchâtel and region. More than 600 students are thus given the opportunity to attend a program tailored to their grade levels. This is an opportunity for them to meet our distinguished guests who can convey their message and their vision to a careful and sensitive public

2° place Salvatori David - Italy

3° place Lecoeur Greg - France

FESTIVAL & CONTEST

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Trio Mer

Predateurs

1째 place Mimmo Roscigno - Italy

1째 place Zanni Mirko Switzerland

2째 place Walker Allen South Africa

3째 place Salvatori David - Italy

98 3째 place Friedrich Tobias - Germany

2째 place Zanni Mirko Switzerland

Located in the center of the Gulf of Kvarner - Croatia, our diving center is in the ideal location for countless different dive sites.

Three wrecks, colorful walls and ideal sites for macrophotography.

We offer the opportunity to dive for every level.

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

www.diving-marcopolo.com

SHARKS

Sharks are one of, if not the most widely recognized fish in our oceans. They invoke a wide range of emotions from fear to inspiration and everything in between. People that fear sharks and think of them as mindless killing machines don’t know a fraction of the story. Don’t let television drama fool you, truth is, you are more likely to be struck by lightning than be bitten by a shark. People that are bitten are usually mistaken for a normal prey item or are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. No matter your opinion of them, they are important to us and our oceans. Sharks are at the top of their respective food chains and regulate populations of species below thus keeping oceanic ecosystems in check.

There are more than 440 described species of sharks and they come in a variety of sizes.

They range from the deep water dwarf Lanternshark, Etmopterus perryi, which maxes out at about 17 cm to the Whale shark, Rhincodon typus, which reaches approximately 12 m. Often identified by most people as a shark by their distinct fin structure, the modern shark as we know it has been around for roughly 100 million years.

Although they looked very different than modern day sharks, fossil evidence has been found that shows sharks existing roughly 420450 million years ago.

Shark diets vary and include crustaceans, invertebrates, other fish, plankton, mammals and even the occasional sea turtle. An individual shark’s diet can generally be identified by its teeth that are constantly being replaced throughout its lifetime. Although they also eat other items, flattened teeth like those of the Leopard shark, Traiakis semifasciata,

are generally used for crushing prey like crabs, shrimp and clams. Needle like teeth like those of the Sand tiger or Spotted ragged-tooth shark, Carcharias taurus, are used for gripping fish that are captured. Sharks that eat larger prey like the Great white, Carcharodon carcharias, have a combination of angular and pointed teeth with serrations that can be used gripping, cutting and tearing.

Oddly enough the largest of the shark species, the Whale shark, Rhincodon typus, eats plankton and has small nonfunctional teeth. In order to find their prey over long distances, they utilize an electro sensory system. Once the prey is located, sharks can then combine this with their smell, hearing and vision to home in.

Shark bodies are all about saving energy and maximizing efficiency. Their structure is maintained by cartilage rather than bone which is durable, flexible and is about half the density of bone. Their skin is a complex weave of flexible collagenous fibers arranged in a helical network surrounding their body. This structure acts as an outer skeleton and provides attachment for their swimming muscles as well as gives them hydrodynamic advantages by reducing turbulence when swimming.

Like many fish populations, most shark species face high amounts of pressure from humanity making encounters with them less and less likely. There are however locations where people can go to see significant shark populations such as the Caribbean, the Galapagos and Cocos Islands. The populations of sharks in these locations can be breath taking and of course provide fantastic photo opportunities. Fun shots of sharks can include close ups, silhouettes, feeding, schooling and even shots of sharks employing camouflage. Before you start taking pictures, take time to watch and appreciate these majestic animals, you’ll be glad you did. Next critter corner, Jellyfish.

Sportissimo Milano by Giorgio Sangalli Via Ripamonti 15 (corner Via Giulio Romano) 20136 Milano (IT) Ph: +39 02 58305014 - e-mail: info@sportissimomilano.com At Sportissimo Milano you will always find professionalism, experience, customer service, products selection and the best quality/price ratio.

You will find the best products and the best brands, you will see and touch and try (many products are available also to an underwater test) before you decide to buy anything.

Visit also www.sportissimomilano.com a MEGAStore on-line in which you will find a huge amount of selected and guaranteed items.

You will find all the latest products and special offers such as warranty extension, all inclusive equipment inspections and many other!

Sportissimo Milano is also on facebook: click “like� here and find special offers every day https://www.facebook.com/sportissimo.milano?fref=ts

Divingo (www.divingo.it) is the new website reference, made in Italy about the world of diving.

With Divingo all amateurs and professionals can find diving spots, diving center, specialized shops, diving schools and sports clubs and receive information, contacts, directions and special offers.

One of the strengths of the portal is the ability to print for free and without registration exclusive coupons offering deep discounts for courses, diving tours, travel, and equipment.

Divingo born because the Italian world sub has not a real point of reference with which communicate on Internet with simplicity, quality and wealth of information.

The success of Divingo starts from this simplicity and ease of use: already on the homepage you can see the map that summarizes and highlights the centers and possible activities in Italy.

In fact the project, started from just two months, already has more than 900 centers included throughout the country and now aims to conquer foreign markets thanks to the translation of the entire site in English and to agreements for the insertion of centers in Europe .

It will not be an immediate process, but the good response at the national level bodes well for rapid growth of the project.

The peculiarity of the portal is in the fact, that are not present only structures that can afford a showcase internet. For this reason it was decided to activate a basic service free thinking of the small companies and startups, consumers and people who visit the portal, offering first of all complete information.

Divingo in fact offers free use of facilities that want to join the project immediate visibility or a number of subscriptions to insert more information, content and offers.

Visiting Divingo will also find photo galleries and a blog with articles and curiosity, travel and environment. Also the staff that runs the site is always careful to interact with visitors through the many social channels and share the information and pictures of the users.

Lastly the portal offers and invites all divers, to leave a review and share real news for the benefit of future users of the same structures.

The dream of every sub is to discover a sunken treasure: Divingo is the treasure map!

DIVE SAFETY: IT’S NO ACCIDENT Understanding the triggers of dive fatalities

Words

Dan Orr Divers Alert Network (DAN) takes great pride in being by your side, and for 30 years we have been conducting research to help make diving safer. Recently, DAN researchers reviewed our accumulated fatality data and conducted a root cause analysis of nearly 1,000 recreational diving fatalities to determine what circumstances and events lead to diver deaths. In this analysis, DAN researchers identified four different phases in the cascade of events leading to a fatality: the trigger, the disabling agent, the disabling injury and the cause of death. As the earliest identifiable root causes that transform dives into emergencies, the triggers merit special attention.

Identifying these triggers is essential so divers can avoid or manage them during dives.

In the fatality analysis, the triggers were identified as follows: Running out of breathing gas 41% Entrapment 21% Equipment problems 15% Rough water 10% Trauma 6% Buoyancy 4% Inappropriate gas 3% RUNNING OUT OF BREATHING GAS The most significant trigger was running out of breathing gas. To put this in context, approximately 400 divers from the cases studied might be alive today had they managed their gas supply correctly. Because of the equipment standard in diving today, running out of breathing gas underwater, especially before any other problems occur, should simply never happen.

Be “air aware.” Always begin dives with a full cylinder of breathing gas, and end dives (standing on the boat, dock or shore) with gas remaining. Before starting a dive, you and your fellow divers should decide how you will communicate information about your remaining gas supplies during the dive. Establish a point at which you will begin making your way to the exit. That may be when the first diver reaches half of his breathing gas supply, but it may be sooner than that.

Many cave divers use the rule of thirds, which has divers using the first third of their gas supply for the dive, the second third for the exit from the cave or the ascent, and the final third set aside for contingencies. This may seem conservative for open-water diving, but the idea of leaving a significant reserve for emergencies or other unexpected circumstances is absolutely relevant. Anything short of total management of your breathing gas puts you, your buddy and every diver in the vicinity at risk.

ENTRAPMENT The next most common trigger in dive fatalities is entrapment. Approximately 200 divers in the DAN fatality records, or 21 percent, found themselves trapped in an overhead environment and unable to get back to open water. An overhead environment is any in which a diver does not have direct, vertical access to the surface — such as a cave, cavern, wreck or under ice. Every training organization warns divers about the dangers of entering such environments without appropriate training, experience, planning and equipment. The way to mitigate the hazard of this trigger is very simple: Don’t enter overhead environments without being qualified and prepared to do so. When in doubt, stay out. EQUIPMENT PROBLEMS The third most common trigger identified in the fatality analysis was equipment problems.

This trigger caused 15 percent, or about 150, of the fatalities studied. Notably, this does not mean the equipment failed or its design was flawed. Rather, the problems were most often a result of user error. These errors included improper use, failure to ensure correct configuration, lack of maintenance and insufficient familiarity with the equipment. Dr. George Harpur, an experienced investigator of dive fatalities , states, “We are not able to document a single case in which equipment malfunction directly caused a diver’s death or injury. It has been the diver’s response to the problem that results in the pathology.” It’s important to remember that dive equipment is life-support equipment. Learn about all its features and functions, practice with it, and maintain it; take care of your gear so it can take care of you.

Knowing how divers get into serious trouble only advances the discussion so far. For diving to be safer, we must apply the lessons that can be taken from these tragic events. How can we, as divers, reduce the likelihood that these triggers will cause problems for us?

EDUCATION Take full advantage of every opportunity to learn. Read dive magazines, spend time with experienced divers, attend dive club meetings, and check out dive safety lectures or seminars online. More knowledgeable divers are safer divers. Get trained in the type of diving you want to do, but don’t stop learning when you leave the classroom — treat every dive as an educational experience. Use any unexpected incidents that occur while diving as opportunities to brainstorm and discuss response options, contingencies and prevention strategies with your buddies.

PRACTICE Dive skills and emergency-management skills require constant practice and reinforcement.

Refresh your skills often, especially when you haven’t been diving in a while. Take time to familiarize yourself with new equipment in a controlled environment before using it in open water. Although practice may not make you perfect, it will help you make the correct decisions and manage problems appropriately rather than trying to escape to the surface.

EXPERIENCE The value of experience cannot be overstated. Divers with limited experience, including those returning to the sport after a long absence, are at greatest risk. According to the DAN fatality data, 88 percent of the divers died on the first dive of their dive series. Consider that the number of dives in your logbook or the date on your certification card do not automatically qualify you for greater challenges. To truly be prepared for more advanced diving, slowly and methodically increase the complexity and task loading of your dives. Expand your horizons gradually, making sure you don’t outpace your training and your level of comfort. Certification is not the

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110 same thing as proficiency. Don’t dive your C-card, dive your experience.

HEALTH Approximately one-fourth of the fatalities studied involved cardiac problems. Amazingly, in 60 percent of the cases with cardiac involvement the divers had symptoms such as shortness of breath, chest pain or fatigue but proceeded to dive anyway. Most divers are aware of the importance of good general health and fitness for diving, but comfort and well-being at the time of the dive are also important. If you’re not feeling up to a dive, don’t dive; wait and see how you feel later.

The majority of these cardiac cases were associated with a pre-existing condition or age greater than 40. It’s a good idea for everyone older than 35, whether or not they dive, to have an annual physical. A physical is also recommended following any change in an individual’s health status. Divers might benefit from having their physical exam performed by a physician trained in dive medicine. If you don’t know a physician in your area who is familiar with dive medicine, send DAN an email: medical@daneurope.org.

PREDIVE PREPARATION As you prepare to dive, it’s a good idea for you and your buddy to configure and assemble your equipment together so you can identify anything that looks odd or out of place. This also provides an opportunity to familiarize yourselves with each other’s equipment. If boat diving, it may be helpful to set up your gear before the boat leaves the dock. This is especially true if you are subject to seasickness, since it minimizes the amount of time you’ll spend on the rocking boat deck. Hastily assembling your equipment in rolling seas while feeling nauseated increases the likelihood of potentially hazardous errors.

Before diving, review your dive plan with your buddy to ensure you have a shared understanding of the dive’s goals. You’ll also want to agree on the route you’ll take and possible alternatives to your primary dive plan. It’s much easier to communicate the switch to plan B if you decided what plan B was before you descended. Establish the fact that anyone can terminate a dive at any time for any reason, even before the dive begins, without repercussions.

Creating an environment in which divers feel comfortable making such calls builds a culture of safety.

Develop and continually reinforce a predive ritual. It should involve equipment checks, dive plan review, hand signal review, diver separation protocol review and out-of-breathing-gas procedure review. This may seem unnecessary if you dive with the same people regularly, but these rituals are time well spent if they give you confidence and reduce the likelihood that you are unprepared to dive. The use of a checklist to assist in this ritual is highly recommended. Never say, “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you.” That means one of the divers is not as qualified or prepared for the dive as he should be — a formula for disaster. Anyone making a dive should do so only if he is fully prepared and wants to dive, not because someone else wants him to.

THE DIVE Once in the water, check each other to make sure all equipment is secure and in place, there are no leaks and that buoyancy is properly calibrated. Give and receive the OK signal, initiate your preparatory ear-clearing procedures, and begin a controlled descent. Descending feet first using a fixed line makes it easy to stop the descent should the need arise and may be advisable if a current is present. If there is any doubt about your preparation for the dive,

make a short stop 4,5 to 6 metres below the surface to give and receive the OK sign before proceeding to the bottom. Maintain constant awareness of your environment during dives, and know when to call off a dive. It’s always wise to plan your dive and dive your plan, but you can modify your dive plan if conditions call for a more conservative approach. If you are working harder during the dive than anticipated, you may want to watch your air consumption more closely and possibly limit the time you spend at depth.

As you move underwater, your pace should be dictated by the slowest diver in you group.

Never assume another diver can keep up with you. If a recreational dive starts to feel like work, slow down — you or a member of your dive group may be doing it wrong. If you’re diving in a group of three and one diver decides to return to the surface, either end the dive as a group or escort the diver back to the exit point and make sure he is safely out of the water before continuing the dive.

Does this examination of diving fatalities indicate that recreational diving is inherently dangerous? No. There are millions of certified divers who have made tens of millions of safe, enjoyable dives without incident. But consider that there is risk in anything you do. Is this risk we divers subject ourselves to unreasonable? I firmly believe the answer is no. A degree of risk will always be part of scuba diving, but it is a risk we can identify and learn to manage.

Scuba diving is a fantastic sport enjoyed by young and old alike. The focus should always be to maximize enjoyment while minimizing risk. You overcome challenges in and under the water by thorough preparation, physical capability and the effective application of knowledge and skill.

References: Buzzacott P, Zeigler E, Denoble P, Vann R. American Cave Diving Fatalities 1969-2007. International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education 3:162-177; 2009.

Denoble P, Caruso J, Dear G, Pieper C, Vann R. Common causes of open-circuit recreational diving fatalities. Undersea Hyperb Med. 35(6):393-406; 2008.

Denoble P, Pollock N, Vaithyanathan P, Caruso J, Dovenbarger J, Vann R. Scuba injury death rate among insured DAN members. Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine 38(4):182-188; 2008.

Orr D, Douglas E. Scuba Diving Safety. Champaign, Ill.: Human Kinetics, 2007.

Vann RD, Lang MA, eds. Recreational Diving Fatalities. Proceedings of the Divers Alert Network 2010 April 8-10 Workshop. Durham, N.C.: Divers Alert Network, 2011. ISBN #978-0-61554812-8.

Dicembre 2013

14° MONTHLY CONTEST: “COUPLES AND MATING”

FIRST PLACE

MATTEO VISCONTI “Harlequin shrimps”

MONTHLY CONTEST

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FOURTH PLACE EDUARDO ARRIBADA “Exumas”

SECOND PLACE

FIFTH PLACE

GIACOMO MARCHIONE “Lybia tesselata”

MATTEO VISCONTI “Whip coral shrimps”

SIXTH PLACE GABRIELLA LUONGO “Love is in the air”

THIRD PLACE LAURENT OUILLET “Love me tender”

This accessory has the function of “rear-view mirror”, applied at the junction of the arms through a triple clamp CP/3 allows to view what happens behind.

Through an additional quick release arm AR13/SF it is possible to use the mirror by hand for macro photo effect.

The front part is arranged with a 67 mm thread that allows to place additional lenses. The side is also arranged with threaded holes M8, Kodak and M6 that allows to place balls SF/M8, SF/WT and SF/M6.

The ball and the mirror holder are made out of anticorodal aluminum anodized 40 microns to ensure the maximum durability and excellent resistance to wear and to sea salt.

The mirror is resined in order to maintain a long lifetime.

www.easydive.eu

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Behind the shot:

MATTEO VISCONTI Harlequin shrimp (Hymenocera picta) is one of my favorite critters, you can find them at coral reefs in the tropical indian and pacific oceans.

They can reach 5cm in lenght, usually they live in pairs and feed exclusively on starfish including crown of thorns starfish which in turn they feed of corals.

I’ve found them in one of the best macro spot in the world, i was in south-east Bali around 20/25meters deep when i saw this lovely couple eating a orange starfish. That day luckily i mounted on my camera a macro lens and a snoot on my strobe so as to have a black background and isolate the subject from the rest.

Canon 5D mkII + Canon 100macro ƒ/2.8L is II Isotta housing Retra snoot Sea&Sea 110a 1/100s – ƒ/32 – iso640

TECH DIVE

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BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND

Road to technical diving (part 2)

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The major misconception about technical diving is: Extensive and expensive equipment makes the difference between technical and recreational diving. We strongly feel this is not true. The real ‘technical’ bit of technical diving is in the necessary skills and mindset. In fact, if you do not know how to deal with your equipment, you are actually adding risk instead of creating additional security.

The foundation for these extra skills and mindset is a mayor part of our training called: ”Intro to tech” or “Fundamentals”. Both training courses are a basic program that anyone must complete before taking the next step towards technical diving. No matter what level you are or how many dives you already made.

This way every diver knows that every one of his team members has the same procedures for every part of the dive. From the checks before setting up the equipment, the final pre-dive checks on the boat to the actual behaviour during an emergency. Shooting a buoy, the passive and active communication or gas-switch procedures, each team member will perform them in the same way. Therefore each team member will know what is coming and will easily see if something is out of the ordinary. Solving problems underwater is done in the same way. For almost every scenario possible, there is a procedure. These procedures are trained in a controlled environment, over and over and over again. So if the inevitable problem occurs, everybody will react in the same way. The diver in trouble will recognise the behaviour of his helping team members. This way there will be no panic and everyone knows the problem is dealt with in the most efficient manner.

The team will complement each other. Not only in terms of equipment. Many underwater operations can be performed easier and safer with multiple divers doing a specific task, rather than everyone doing something on his own.

Now the promised explanation about our material considerations or ‘silly outfit. The same way as there are standardised procedures for reaction to failures, the setup of the dive-equipment and the placement of everything, we do in a standardised way. Every diver will blindly know what-is-where on themselves, but also on their team member. No excessive item is taken down with us, but certainly not too few either. Everything is smoothly tucked away and yet easily accessible. The name often used for this typical equipment configuration is the Hogarthian style. This type of configuration is proven favourite and named after its “inventor” William Hogarth Main. K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) has been the guiding principle: can the material used endure a beating? Is entanglement with other material possible? Are all other items accessible? Or will the adding of an extra piece of equipment prevent the use of another? The Hogarthian configuration is minimalistic, yet fully-developed for wreck and cave diving alike.

Harness and backplate All diving equipment is worn, therefore there are no parts dangling around.

Everything is tightly fitted around the body of the diver. We use a stainless steel back plate with harness to carry our cylinders. The harness (also called webbing) consists of one piece and has no quick release locks. The reason for no quick release locks is that they can open or fail, which would unnecessarily lead to a preventable problem. Our webbing contains five D-rings: one for the left hip, a crotch and a butt D-ring and one on the right and left shoulder. On these D-rings we can clip all necessary items. Where we clip what items, is predetermined.

Wing The wing provides the buoyancy of the diver and our equipment. The wing comes in various sizes, but must be fit for purpose. When a wing is to large and bulky, deflating it may become more difficult. The use of bungees (elastic straps) on a wing is in our opinion not a good idea as they can easily break and create avoidable buoyancy control problems.

First and second stages Our first stages are balanced to ensure regulator performance, regardless of cylinder or ambient pressure. DIN connectors provide proper assurance of the O-ring and better hydrodynamics, because no INT bracket sticks out at the back.

Therefore we prefer to use DIN connectors.

The routing of the first and second stages is divided into a left and a right post.

128 fold, our so called “double 12’s. For some dives we may consider using a double 18. The isolator on the manifold helps safeguard half our gas volume should a non-fixable failure on our regs or manifold occur.

This way we ensure that in case of a failure there is always gas available from one of the two regulators.

We breathe from our primary regulator, the ‘long-hose’ that routes from the 1st stage on the right post. The ‘long-hose’ is approximately 2.1 meters long to enable convenient positioning of our team while gas is being shared with a team member in an Out of Gas situation. The ‘long-hose’ is routed under the wing, behind the battery pack, across the chest and around the divers neck into the mouth.

Unlike out of gas situations occurring during recreational dives, where the out of air diver goes for your “yellow octopus”, in a technical dive we donate our own regulator if our team member proves out of gas. This way we are sure that the person who needs gas the most, gets an actual working regulator with breathable gas for the given depth. Why the right post and not the left post? Valves could possibly rotate if in contact with the ceiling of a cave or a piece of a wreck. The right valve will always rotate to an open position. Hence the long-hose on the right.

Our backup regulator is routed from the first stage positioned on the left post.

Why? Because our primary is already on the right post and we prefer to have two separate first stages. The hose runs closely over our right shoulder and hangs on a piece of bungee cord just below our chin.

The inflator of the wing is attached to the right post and the pressure gauge on the left. Should the left valve be closed accidentally due to contact with the previously mentioned ceiling of a cave of wreck this is easily detected, because the gauge will show the same pressure throughout dive.

The dry suit inflator is connected to our left post, so our back-up buoyancy device is on the opposite post of our wing. However, we prefer to use an argon bottle.

This ensures we have two completely separated and redundant buoyancy control devices. Also in case of diving helium based gasses, it gives us the option to inflate our dry suit with either air or even argon to prevent heat loss.

Cylinders For most of our dives we use two steel 12 liter cylinders, conneted with a mani-

Stage (or deco) bottles are for buouyancy reasons preferably made from aluminium with most common sizes being 40 cft or 80 cft. We prefer for interchangeability reasons to use the same 1st and 2nd stages as the ones we use on our doubles. On both sides of the bottle its maximum operating depth (MOD) is indicated in large numbers.

The gas the cylinders contains in itself is not dangerous, provided it is used at the correct depth.

Part of our approach to technical diving is using standard gasses for given depth ranges.

Our bottom and deco stages can easily be identified by the mentioned large MOD numbers on the bottle, e.g. “60” meters for a Tx18/45 bottom gas (trimix with 18% oxygen and 45% helium); “45” meters for a Tx21/35 bottom gas (trimix with 21% oxygen and 35% helium); “21” meters for an EAN50 deco gas (Nitrox 50% oxygen) and “6 OXYGEN” for our 100% oxygen deco gas. All colour markings are removed from both cylinders as well as first and second stages. We determine and verify the content of the bottle according to the stated MOD (that was confirmed during the pre-dive gas analyses, of course) and not for example on the basis of the colouring on the first stage (which you might have accidentally put on the wrong bottle) Primary and backup lights Our primary lights consist of a light head with a separate cannister type battery attached to the webbing at our right hip. For proper communication a focussed beam is required. In this way, clear signals can be given when needed. Our primary lights all have similar ‘strength’, so that all divers are proportionately visible.

We use so called passive communication in our diving; if a beam of light of a team member is quietly pointing forward or moving slowly, we know they are ok. No need to actively exchange OK-signals as commonly used during most recreational diving.

We realise there are many possible hazardous situations that can be caused by the failure of a primary light and the absence of a good back-up light. We clip at least one, preferably two, back-up light to the D-rings on our shoulder, stowing them behind an elastic band attached to the harnas.

130 Instruments We strap our instruments conveniently to our under arms; our compass on the left (best location, as we often use our scooters during our dives), our bottom timer on the right side. The bottom timer displays all information we need during our dive: time, (average) depth and possibly ascent speed and a stop-watch function. The dive plan (and a backup plan when appropriate) has been made in advance, when needed verified in a decompression program and most of the times written in the wetnotes for possible in water reference. In our diving a dive computer is not necessary.

Drysuit We dive tri-laminate dry suits, because the properties of these materials do not alter during the dive. Isolation and buoyancy remain the same under all circumstances. Furthermore, the dry suits we use are fitted with two pockets, one on each leg, and have a so-called telescope torso for comfortable fit.

The distribution of additional diving gear over our pockets is also standardised.

Everyone has the same materials in the same place. The right pocket is used for ‘security / reserve items’: safety spool, spare mask and wet notes, the left pocket is for the ‘operation items’: primary SMB, spools etc. All this extra dive gear is stored into the pockets on the legs during the dives and attached with a double-ender to bungee cord, so if for whatever reason it falls out of our pockets it won’t get lost.

Masks and fins The most convenient for us are low volume masks with a simple adjustable neoprene mask strap. Neoprene has the advantage of (almost) never breaking. Our spare mask is a frameless type as it is easiest to store. Our fins are preferably rigid and sturdy, suitable for the various propulsion and positioning kicks needed to manoeuvre with precision. Especially in environments with high risk of silt outs. We replace the standard rubber straps by stainless steel springs.

Fixing material Metal to metal joints, tie-wraps and carabiners we feel are not a good option to fix materials. We only use boltsnaps that are firmly put in place using easily removable cave-line or double enders. The main difference with other types of clips is that boltsnaps and double enders only open if you want them to.

We are happy to share our choices in our material and configuration as it plays an important part in the fun we have in all the dives we do.

But not the only part. Knowing how to use it properly is equally as, if not more important.

The next issue will be about the first step in learning to use the equipment, the Intro to Tech or Fundamentals course.

We hope to see you at the waterfront and don’t forget to like and follow Team Pitch Blue on Facebook. We are happy to answer possible questions you may have right there.

Team Pitch Blue

wanderlass.com

N O LL II M M I IT T N O

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