OSKAR FRANBERG LEADS THE RESEARCH GROUP in marine systems engineering at the Blekinge Institute of Technology in Karlskrona, Sweden, and is managing director of the Swedish National Underwater Technology Center. This father of three is an engineer by training and has been active in dive research, especially rebreather physiology, for more than 20 years.
MANY DIVERS AND NONDIVERS ALIKE envision the ideal scuba dive as a coral reef in warm, clear water surrounded by a myriad of beautiful fish. River diving, on the other hand, is drastically different and not for the faint of heart.
MY HUSBAND, BARRY, AND I got our dive certifications in Cozumel, Mexico, in 1994, and since then it has been one of our favorite destinations. We spent three weeks diving there in the summer of 2001, following our routine of running, exercising, and diving twice a day.
SHARING SPACE WITH WILD ANIMALS in nature is one of the greatest gifts life has to offer. Maybe you’ve locked eyes with an orangutan in Borneo, or perhaps you’ve watched a clownfish gently tend its eggs on a reef. You may have spied an army of leafcutter ants marching plant clippings back to its colony or peered over the bow of a boat only to catch the gaze of a dolphin.
WHEN I MOVED TO SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, from New England in January 2007, I knew next to nothing about the area. As I made my way across the country, I considered my future — one that was hazy, although it seemed likely to involve fish tacos and a diminished need to say that I “loved the seasons.” I had an easier time envisioning the local diving: towering kelp forests and sharks everywhere.
EVEN THOUGH I WAS A photojournalist for Skin Diver magazine for 17 years, one of the covers I most remember was not one I shot but a portrait of Stan Waterman that Geri Murphy took for the September 1982 issue.
YOGA KEEPS YOU YOUNG, at least from a physiological perspective. Regular yoga practice can counter the effects of aging by regularly moving joints through a full range of motion, improving strength and balance, and reducing stress.
UPON SURFACING, I heard a fellow diver ask, “How cute are those brooding anemones?” This observation piqued my interest because I’d never heard of this behavior despite a lifetime of watching nature documentaries and reading dive magazines.
SINCE THE LATE 1800S, debate among marine taxonomists has swirled around the species status of the stately little Caribbean sea basses in genus Hypoplectrus, commonly known as hamlets. At the heart of the controversy is the essence of taxonomy: What defines a species?
SEAFOOD HAS LONG BEEN AN INTEGRAL PART of the human diet, and some people consider it to be an inexhaustible food source.
