In January 2018, Barb Roy, our long-time associate editor and regular contributor, passed away after a long battle with illness. We celebrate her inspiring life and imagery in this memorial portfolio, highlighting some of the many beautiful and vivid underwater photographs Barb took during her frequent forays under the waves.
Do we really need to go underwater at the other end of the world (and its challenges)? Lawson Wood poses this question while comparing the muck diving found in his home country of Scotland to that found in exotic locations in Asia and other regions of the world, renown for their muck diving sites.
There are many factors to consider when planning your dive trip, including the marine life, travel logistics, seasonal weather, ocean conditions and distance between dive sites. This is a lot to think about, and likely the reason so many of us, especially photographers, forget to consider one of the ocean’s most important processes when planning a trip—the tides.
By Rosemary E. Lunn and Gunild Symes
Barb was an avid technical and wreck diver, underwater photographer and instructor, having learned to dive in Anchorage, Alaska, in 1979. She was PADI Master Instructor and held instructor ratings with DAN, IANTD and NAUI. She became a NAUI Wreck and Archaeology Instructor to explore wrecks and an IANTD Trimix diver to photograph giant gorgonian sea fans at 200 feet.
Whereas the beaks of the common needlefish were needle-sized and shaped, this one's mouth was similarly pointed, but 15 cm long and lined with large, sharp, interlocking teeth. As I crumbled some bits of food for the ever present lagoon fish, it accelerated forward to take a morsel and the small fish shot away, creating a dazzling, submarine firework exploding in silence. When it opened its pointed mouth to take a morsel it revealed a throat nearly the same diameter as its body--it was well equipped to catch and swallow large prey. It had two parallel scars on its right side.
Over the years, new species have been found and existing species have been moved to other genera while other species are new. Thus, our colleague Christian Skauge writes that the Flabellina family has now gone "extinct" in Norway because the species therein have now been reclassified and put into other genera.
Instead of wearing earplugs at a rock concert, imagine you could simply tune a dial inside your ears to lower the volume and protect your hearing. In a new report published in Integrative Zoology, researchers have discovered four whale species and dolphins can do just that. This could potentially shield the animals from navy sonar and oil drilling, linked to at least 500 marine mammal deaths since 1963.
“Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want.” It is an old and well-worn phrase, but is it true?
Aqua Lung launched their first modular buoyancy control device - the minimalistic 'Outlaw' - at DEMA.2016.
Most years, Southern California on the US west coast is the site of a special marine life aggregation, treating locals to one of the most unique dives in the world. Hundreds of thousands of market squid (Doryteuthis opalescens) swim into recreational dive depths to mate and lay an expansive canvas of egg baskets (collections of eggs) across the sandy substrate.
The lead researcher, Kye Adams, a PhD student at the University of Wollongong, said that shark fishermen should be made aware of the danger of inducing abortions in pregnant sharks, rays, or skates. So far, the loss of the young aborted by fished sharks has been ignored by both science and fishermen.
Adams said, "It's quite prevalent across a lot of species and also seems to be not well known by both researchers and recreational fishers. "They don't realise these events are abortions, they think they are witnessing a natural birth."
The (34,000 Swedish Krona) package consists of a SE7EN E-module, two HP-sensors and a HUD.
The deadline for this upgrade is 24th December 2017 and it cannot be combined with any other offers. The old MKVI e-module must be returned to Poseidon and the owner will also need to either buy a M28 or a Paddle with a can connector.
Poseidon has also confirmed that there will be a minor upgrade for current SE7EN owners so that their rebreathers are solid state sensor ready.
