Basking Shark vs. Whale Shark
Whale sharks are easy. Basking sharks are hard. Whale sharks usually inhabit warm, tropical waters, while baskers prefer cooler, temperate regions.
Alert Diver Issue: Q1 2024
Seeking Success as a Woman Dive Professional
Young women beginning their careers as dive instructors regularly ask me how to be heard on a dive boat. Their experience is that guests don’t naturally listen to their directions. The dive industry has improved, and I don’t want to downplay the vast improvements that have already happened for women dive professionals. But this is a common question, so it remains relevant.
Vaya donde nadie ha ido antes
¿Orinar o no orinar? Esa no es la cuestión para los buzos técnicos, instructores u otras personas que pasan muchas horas en el agua. Una hidratación y una comodidad adecuadas garantizan que la orina fluya. La pregunta es: ¿cuál es la mejor manera de manejarlo?
Fighting the European Green Crab Invasion
One of the world’s most destructive invasive species is gaining new ground — or water — in Canada and up to Alaska. Carcinus maenas, which translates to “raving mad crab,” outcompetes many local crab species in devouring clams, oysters, and mussels, and they sometimes even eat other crabs and juvenile fish. They destroy seagrass, an essential habitat for juvenile salmon, herring, rockfish, and many other marine animals.
Welcome to Shoulder Light
Imagine waking up in the early hours of the morning at your favorite dive site. The sun hasn’t quite peaked above the horizon, and light is minimal. You don your dive gear, grab your camera, and giant stride off the back of the boat to begin your descent into the dimly lit ocean.
Gerald Nowak: Extreme Environments
Over the years I have often admired Gerald Nowak’s underwater photos. There is so little overlap between the markets available to European versus North American photographers, however, that I did not know the backstory of his career. A recent phone call rectified that.
Diving After an Eye Stroke
Q: I recently had an eye stroke. Can I still dive after it has been resolved? A: The main concerns with an eye stroke (central retinal artery occlusion, or CRAO) are the underlying cause and the medications your doctor prescribed for treatment. Before returning to diving, work with your ophthalmologist or physician to determine the root cause of the initial ocular stroke, the probability of recurrence, and your overall cardiovascular health.
Aprendizaje a partir del incidente del Conception
El 2 de septiembre de 2019, el pequeño buque de pasajeros Conception se quemó hasta la línea de flotación cerca de la Isla Santa Cruz, California, y 34 personas perdieron la vida. Este no fue el primer incendio de una embarcación de vida a bordo, pero las reacciones temerosas frente a esta tragedia mortal hicieron eco en toda la industria del buceo. Los incendios en embarcaciones de vida a bordo que se produjeron desde este incidente han alimentado aún más las preocupaciones de la industria.
Training Is Everything in a Rescue Attempt
Many divers are proud to be comfortable in the water and sometimes push their limits on air consumption, exceed their bottom time, or take one last shot of a big fish with a camera or spear before ascending. Some of them develop reputations in the dive community for being competent divers by looking cool and experienced while taking little risks. It may start small but snowball into making poor decisions for which the price you pay is not worth the reward.
Optimal Nutrition for Diving
Scuba diving demands not only physical fitness but also proper nutritional preparation. Like with any activity, we expend energy while diving; surprisingly, the energy required for routine recreational diving is somewhat moderate. Under unusually strenuous recreational conditions, however, it’s possible to burn more than 500 calories.