PEOPLE WHO HAVE FILLED scuba cylinders, refilled oxygen cylinders, or boosted a gas mix are familiar with using flexible hoses. Some hoses are covered with a durable rubber or thermoplastic jacket, while others appear even sturdier with a braided stainless-steel mesh on the outside. Correctly specified hoses are rated to pressures of up to 6,000 […]
A TWO-WEEK LIVEABOARD in Turks and Caicos was the first dive trip I’d taken in 18 months, and I quickly learned that this small island nation has plenty to offer adults and children alike. It was Family Week, so I got to spend time with the younger generation of divers and their parents. West Caicos […]
STOCKTON RUSH AND HIS TEAM AT OCEANGATE made history on July 10, 2021, when they reached the Titanic — at a depth of approximately 12,500 feet — in Titan, the only submersible of its kind. The dive proved that this unique cylinder-shaped, carbon fiber and titanium five-person submersible can explore this wreck and was a […]
DIVING INHERENTLY CARRIES AN ELEVATED LEVEL OF RISK because humans cannot survive underwater without specialized equipment. When things go wrong, an effective rescue is vital for a favorable outcome. Most rescue diver courses teach students basic techniques to apply after something goes wrong, but better courses also provide techniques to prevent incidents from occurring in […]
WHEN IT COMES TO THE OCEAN, we know when to go and when to stay away. If it is standard practice to check conditions before a dive, shouldn’t we ask a few basic questions before diving into a pool? Years ago I ran a pool at an athletic club and someone asked, “Why do we […]
Every night as the sun slips below the horizon, countless aquatic creatures begin migrating up from the deep in what is quite possibly the greatest show on Earth. Seeking nourishment in shallow water, zooplankton must risk a perilous journey upward, avoiding a gauntlet of predators while remaining in the safety of darkness and then returning […]
MY FELLOW DIVERS WERE ECSTATIC AFTER A TWILIGHT DIVE on the Okinawa wreck near Pompano, Florida, in early June 2019. I was shooting wide angle and hadn’t paid much attention to small creatures during the dive, but they had found the holy grail for macro photographers: nudibranchs — in this case, regal sea goddesses (Felimare […]
Although striped marlins (Kajikia audax) are slower than some of their billfish cousins, their 50-mph speed is plenty fast for me. I try to swim alongside this stealth bomber of the sea as it works a baitball to separate individual sardines from the silvery mass. While getting outpaced by sailfish and black marlin might be […]
I REMEMBER SITTING AT MY COMPUTER while thinking about all the ibuprofen I had been popping for the past 18 hours and wondering why I still had the dull, aching pain in my shoulder. Could this be more than soreness from carrying gear back and forth from our shore entry point or exertion from a […]
A STATEMENT ON FRED BUYLE’S WEBSITE briefly explains his approach to underwater photography: “To take his pictures and videos, Fred uses a simple formula: the water, available light, a camera, and one breath of air, nothing more, nothing less.” I would add to that list an extraordinary eye for composition and a passion for placing himself […]
