Diver Down

And if you didn't already pick up a copy of August edition of Diver magazine (shame on you if you didn't), the article, minus a good few of the photos missing, is now on the Diver website.

Link: HERE

And just in case you can't be arsed clicking over to Divernet then here's the whole thing below with all the lovely pictures intact. You're welcome. 

P.S. Go and buy a copy or take out a subscription, it's the best dive mag out there.

 

Black Rain

It was a full on weather front when we jumped in, surf, surge, current, rain, thunder, lightning, we just needed snow and we would have had the complete set. Despite all that (or even because of it), it was still an enjoyable 100 minutes or so in the water with pretty reasonable viz despite everything else.

We headed for the deep first to see what we could see and try and find this alleged hammerhead that gets reported every now and then but no one has actually provided any photographic evidence of it. You know the rules, if there's no pictures, it didn't happen. 

With vibrant rope and barrel sponges topped of with swirling clouds of fusiliers, surgeon and triggerfish, there was plenty of colours, like boxful of monkeys got loose in a paint shop. Throw in a few hinds and groupers and you've got an eclectic mix of marine life and that's your starter for ten.

Almost forgot to mention the Southern stingrays that were hiding out in the sand, waiting to pounce for the camera, those sneaky devils........

From the deepest of the deep to the beautiful ugly of the shallows, for your horror and delight, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the peacock flounder in all its glory. I love these things as they are so interesting to photograph, they have some lovely detail and colours, they always make great subjects if you can catch one sitting still for more than five seconds.

Another one of my favourites was also hanging around. This banded jawfish has been at the same spot for some time now and he's got very accustomed to me turning up for a shot or two. Or three.

 And if you're willing to look hard enough and have some patience, the little stuff will come to you. Throw some mantis shrimp in there, spiny, rough head, secretary, triple fin, orange saddled blennies and much more besides, you've got a recipe for a thoroughly entertaining dive.

 

Lust for life

We see this all the time here in the accident reports involving snorkeling and diving. In nearly all instances it involves people of "age". They either have pre existing medical conditions, their unfit, overweight , unskilled or all of the above. If you're not fit to be in the water, don't put yourself and others at risk.

Link: HERE

“Cardiac issues are now a leading factor in diving fatalities,” said study author and diver Dr Peter Buzzacott, of the University of Western Australia. Divers who learned to dive years ago and who are now old and overweight, with high blood pressure and high cholesterol, are at increased risk of dying.”

Cardiac events now come second only to drowning as a cause of death among divers.

Taking care of business

Here's a very thoughtful insight in cave diving by one safety diver and what the experience must have been like during the recent rescue of the Thai boys football team, not only for the boys but for the rescuers themselves.

I've done a fair bit of tight diving over the years in caves and wrecks but that's absolutely nothing to what these people did. You have to hand it to these guys, they really did themselves and fellow divers everywhere proud.

Link: HERE

"Last week, the world was riveted by the successful rescue of a youth soccer team as they and their coach were pulled out of a flooded cave in Thailand. The team had been stranded on a narrow rock shelf in the dark for two weeks, the way out blocked by turbid stormwater. The rescue involved far more than a few divers putting on gear and heading into the cave—it required a tremendous amount of technical skill and posed extreme danger."

Turn the page

If you ever wanted to know what liveaboard diving is like on the left coast of Mexico, have a look at my thoughts in the latest edition of Diver magazine (August 2018) for a better insight. 

Epic diving and even better marine life encounters, I highly recommend diving in the region if you get the opportunity to do so.

Better sorry than safe

Think that the sunscreen you are using is good for the environment because it says "reef safe" on it? Think again. Check the article link below.

Link: HERE
 

"If you think you’re in the clear as long as you buy a sunscreen labeled “reef safe,” think again, says Downs. The federal government requires sunscreen claims to be “truthful and not misleading,” but the term “reef safe” doesn’t have an agreed-upon definition, and therefore isn’t strictly regulated by government. This means sunscreen manufacturers aren’t required to test and demonstrate that such products won’t harm aquatic life, says Downs. And even if they did and found a sunscreen that passed this test, says Downs, it might still be harmful if concentrations in the water got high enough."
 

Come a little bit closer

A quick one today. We had a little bit of time to kill in the morning, so we managed to get a quick dive in at LHP. The conditions and viz weren't great but a dive is a dive and water is always wet. Most of it was up and down on the mini wall hunting for all things for all things great and small. We had some good finds with plenty of cleaner stations offering so photo ops.

 We also had plenty of reef squid ready to play with us and they were more than happy to hang out with us.

There's always a good selection of gobies and blennies to find here and it would have been rude not to get some pictures with them.
 

Large shoals of grunts, sweetlips, groupers, tangs and squirrelfish are in abundance here and always offer a magical experience when swimming among them.

There were a few rays cruising out over the sandy transition to the main wall but not worth chasing, especially with a macro lens fitted. I'll be getting some wide angle done this weekend anyway, so no big loss.