It Takes Only One Good Fish

OUR RECENT UNDERWATER ADVENTURE began with a fanciful quest to track down an inconspicuous little fish no larger than a nickel. In many ways our mini mission to find the seldom-seen dwarf seahorse (Hippocampus zosterae) seemed more like a weekend lark of carefree youngsters than the stalwart band of seven men and women tugging on wetsuits along the hardpan shoreline of the seldom-explored shallows of Florida Bay in Key Largo, Florida. 

A pregnant male dwarf seahorse

Protecting Hawai‘i’s Fishes

CHARLES DARWIN’S FIVE WEEKS IN THE GALÁPAGOS Islands were crucial to the development of his theory of evolution, likely due to the Galápagos having the world’s second-highest proportion of endemic (unique to one location) species.

green sea turtle being cleaned of algae by yellow tangs

Dive in the Fast Lane with DPVs

NEW AND IMPROVED TECHNOLOGY enters the dive industry every year. Advancements can make diving safer, more enjoyable, or sometimes both.

recreational and technical divers use DPVs

Mentorship

SITTING IN A DUSTY OFFICE chair surrounded by dozens of tanks, scooters, drysuits, a massive compressor, and nearly a hundred photographs of dives from around the world tacked to plywood, I found myself in Tim’s dive shack.

Vince Campisano and Tim

The Philippines

During the pandemic I asked my partner, David Doubilet, a question: “If you had one full year to dive in one country, what country would it be?” I thought he might need some time to consider, given he has spent five decades documenting the sea for National Geographic.

A backlit Rhinopias scorpionfish

Chuck Davis: The Blue in Black and White

I knew Chuck Davis’ photography long before I met the man, so interviewing him revealed a wealth of fascinating information. One of the most surprising things I learned is that Chuck shot on film all the black-and-white images featured here and processed and printed them in his darkroom.

A school of blue rockfish

Spawning Seas Forever

To the delight of the divers staying at Tawali Resort on the shores of Milne Bay in Papua New Guinea, Anna’s hunch turns out to be right on track.

Staghorn coral nurseries create fish habitats even as suspended branches

Liz Taylor: A Diver and a Doer

A 2023 inductee into the Women Divers Hall of Fame, Taylor hopes to get people to think about little things they can do every day that collectively can make a big difference.

Liz Taylor outside DOER headquarters

DAN Dispatch: New Annual Diving Report Available

THE NEWEST EDITION OF DAN’S ANNUAL DIVING REPORT IS NOW AVAILABLE. While the release of the 2020 report was delayed, it offers fascinating insights, statistics, and case summaries of recreational dive incidents and fatalities that occurred in 2018.