Southern Right Whales

A few white southern right whales are born each year, but this leucistic trait is not a permanent feature. Their coloration usually gives way to a lighter gray in adulthood, indicating they were white at birth and distinguishing them from the more common darker whales.

Southern Right Whale

Shared Sparks

My dad is always beside me in everything I do. It was no surprise when he followed me off the end of our dive boat and under the waves.

Shannon poses with her parents, Kim and Ben Amiot

Understanding Oxygen Kit Components

Oxygen is the standard of care for first aid in dive injuries. You do not need to determine if the injured person is experiencing decompression sickness (DCS), arterial gas embolism […]

Assisting with oxygen kit

Flipping the Script

Maintaining a respectful distance from potentially harmful species underwater is a tenet of good recreational diving and a frequent topic of charter boat predive briefs. But those venomous fish you have learned to avoid might save your life someday.

Scorpionfish is a common tropical coral reef resident in both Pacific and Atlantic/Caribbean waters.

Photographing Cetaceans 

Capturing good pictures of whales is among the most rewarding photographic experiences an underwater photographer can have. These majestic and charismatic creatures evoke wonder, and the time spent with them will likely be unforgettable. The environments where you find them, however, along with their sheer size and elusive nature present challenges.

Humpback whales

Transforming Ocean to Art

David Doubilet said it first and best. “He uses boundless imagination and a keen eye to peel back the surface and expose a world that is beautiful, bizarre, and wonderfully unexpected,” Doubilet said about Alex Kirkbride’s remarkable underwater photographic journey through all 50 states for his book American Waters.

leopard seal

Wearing Contact Lenses While Diving

Many divers wear contact lenses without issue during their dives. It’s crucial, however, to be aware of potential challenges, such as increased dryness or irritation due to factors like dry air in the dive mask, prolonged wear, mask squeezes, or exposure to saltwater. Maintaining good hygiene practices, including thorough handwashing before handling lenses and avoiding contamination, is essential.

applying contact lenses

DAN E-Learning

DAN’s vision is to make every dive incident- and accident-free. Improvements in training, equipment, operations, dive boats, and dive computers have made diving significantly safer. The safety of a dive, however, relies heavily on the diver’s practices.

DAN E-Learning

Monitoring Dive Incidents and Drug Use

The day-to-day tasks of injury monitoring at Divers Alert Network include tracking dive fatalities by sifting through emails, news alerts, and social media to collect information about recent events. Our goal is to report to the dive community our findings on what people report to us or what we encounter in our research. 

drugs and AR-15 on a pallet

Chumming the Waters

Getting to the wreck of the Caribsea off the coast of North Carolina can take up to an hour and a half. While traveling to the dive site, I regrettably ate a prepackaged lunch with an indecipherable expiration date I had purchased the night before.

diver clearing regulator
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