X-Ray Mag

December 2020

Japan Underwater Photo Contest 2020 Winners

Words
Edited by G. Symes
Images
Courtesy of JNTO
Gold Medal winner: "Survival," a photo capturing a butterflyfish feeding on spawning corals in Yakushima, Kagoshima
Gold Medal winner: "Survival," a photo capturing a butterflyfish feeding on spawning corals in Yakushima, Kagoshima
Download the full article as pdf ⬇︎

From October to Novem­ber of 2020, the Japan National Tourism Organ­ization (JNTO) held its second annual Japan Underwater Photo Contest, seeking photos taken by divers that showcase the undiscovered beauty and artistry of diving in Japan to the world.

Researchers pick up nine new calls made by Weddell seals

3 years ago By Annie Won

Most of these sounds were measured at more than 21 kHz, which is beyond the range of human hearing of 20 to 20,000 hertz. A particular high-pitched whistle came in at 49.8 kHz. When the seals harmonised multiple tones, the resultant sound may exceed 200 kHz, which is beyond what even cats and dogs can hear).

The discovery was the subject of a paper published online in the journal The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

WW2 Soviet Destroyer 'Moscow'

What sank the Soviet destroyer Moscow?

3 years ago By Main minion

About 13 hours later, at 4:40 pm, three submarines—Щ-205, Щ-206 and Щ-209 (Щ is short for Щука or shuka, which means pike in Russian)—received approval from the Kremlin to move towards the eastern shores of the Black Sea, while the M-33 and M-34 left for long-range patrol near the main base. It was the first day of the war in the Black Sea.

Octopuses are highly intelligent creatures.
Octopuses are highly intelligent creatures.

Octopuses seen punching fish

3 years ago By Annie Won

Called "active displacement" of fish, this behaviour usually takes place during collaborative hunting efforts that both the octopus and fish engage in.

In such a situation with multiple parties, a complex network is created where investment and payoff can be unbalanced, and this gives rise to partner control mechanism, said marine biologist Eduardo Sampaio from the University of Lisbon in Portugal. A paper on this behaviour was published in the Ecology journal.

Sunset House offering Future Travel Vouchers

3 years ago By Matthew Meier

We are going to miss you this Holiday Season but you don't have to forget about us. Purchase Vouchers Now for Future Travel.

$750 per Voucher and receive these extras:

  • $100 towards your package
  • $100 dive credit
  • $50 food & beverage credit

That is a saving of $250 per person.  Or a whopping $500 per couple. No need to worry about choosing travel dates right now, just pay it forward with our future travel voucher.

Tomorrow is #GUEUnityDay2020

3 years ago By Rosemary E Lunn

"We are really excited because for the first time ever, GUE communities from around the world will gather together this weekend to celebrate our love for diving.

"This has been a unique year—each of us has experienced stress and challenges. We thought it was time to bring a bit of joy to our community of passionate scuba divers," stated Dorota Czerny.

Live Stream Schedule

Session 1: 06:00 - all times shown are GMT

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Session 2: 12:00 noon - all times shown are GMT