Starting Underwater Photography
January 6th, 2009
Underwater photography is very different to every other kind of photography. In fact, it’s the most difficult kind of photography there is.
There are the environmental pressures and, compared to land photography, there is a whole new set of variables to contend with (which are many and difficult to assess). You don’t have to be a masochist to be an underwater photographer but it helps!
Not put off yet? Good! Underwater photography can also be FUN. In fact it can be as much fun as you’ll ever have with your dive gear on! But, it does cost money, it does involve a load of effort, and it does mean that you have to take on board some knowledge to get the most out of it.
Who should do u/w photography?
People who take up underwater photography generally do so from one of two angles; either as a photographer who would like to specialize, or a diver who would like a second interest in the sport.
For me, it started when I got my dive qualification my instructor said “Fine! now what are you going to do?”. I pondered on what she meant. I think it was that no matter how wonderful the diving experience is it does take something to motivate you on a cold day! Enhancement of your diving is just one valid reason to take up underwater photography. So is wanting to share the experience of the good dives with others (who may not even be divers).
The pre requisite is not just learning to dive but also reaching the stage where you are totally at ease in the water. Once you have done that learning underwater photography is no harder than learning to dive, although there are fewer sources of instruction! However, by picking up this book, you have tapped in to a mine of information and, providing you get over the first few hurdles, you will soon be snappin’ with the best of them!
A word of warning: beware, when the bug bites, it bites hard. If you’re already a diver it may change you diving habits forever. Don’t worry though, you won’t automatically become an outcast on dive boats - and you will learn to appreciate the underwater environment even more than you do already!
To reiterate: a lot of underwater photographers begin as land photographers. It is a logical progression to graduate to underwater photography when you start diving. If this is you, and you are already familiar with the basics of photography, then you could skip this chapter and move on to the next. If you are not already a photographer then read this chapter as many times as it takes to understand it fully.
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Interline Travel Tips for Roatan
January 6th, 2009
January 5, 2009 by The Travel Master
Interliners are starting to discover this gem in the Caribbean. But getting to Roatan is still a bit of an adventure. TACA flies to Roatan from Miami, San Pedro Sula and Le Ceiba. Continental, America, Delta and United all fly to either San Pedro Sula or Le Ceiba. For now those are the best options to get to Roatan. So why go to Roatan?
Well the Scuba Diving is incredible. Some say it is the best in the world. The beaches are long and almost empty, just waiting for you. Roatan is a beautiful tropical Caribbean island with stunning views of the sea with its shades of blue, lush vegetation, and gorgeous sunsets. It has the contour of a gentle mountain ridge rising from the sea and stretching from the southwest to the northeast.
Roatan is the largest of the Bay Islands, which are a part of Honduras, lying just over 30 miles from the northern coast of the Honduran mainland.
Roatan is known around the world for its scuba diving. The reef surrounding the island attracts beautiful tropical fish and snorkelers alike. Dive attractions include sea walls, shipwrecks, and night diving. Sea turtles, dolphins, and whales swim in the waters of Roatan.
Parrots, iguana, and monkeys live in the wild on this tropical island. An iguana farm east of French Harbor provides a refuge for thousands of iguanas and is open for tourists.
Roatan has a mild climate year around with sea temperatures fine for swimming all year. The weather does not always permit swimming, however. Stormy weather brings rough and dangerous seas, but that is more like to occur during the rainy season.
Thousands of tourists travel to Roatan each year. Visitors from around the world enjoy Roatan”’’s relaxed lifestyle, beautiful sea, mild climate, and friendly people. As more people become acquainted with Roatan each year, more decide to make the island their home. Roatan is experiencing a real estate boom and the associated housing growth. At the same time, more people are moving here from the mainland of Honduras to take advantage of the economy and better paying jobs.
Coxen Hole is the largest town on Roatan. It is home of government offices, the airport, and the cruise ship dock. It streets are narrow and crowded with people and honking cars. Street vendors offer peeled oranges, a variety of other fruits, newspapers, and souvenirs for tourists. In this photo, a customer is paying one Lempira (a little more than 5 US cents) for a peeled orange to a Coxen Hole street vendor. Coxen Hole is one of the less attractive communities of Roatan.
French Harbor is the second largest community on Roatan. It is a thriving business center, with one of the largest grocery stores, banks, real estate offices, shrimp boat docks, and shipping companies. A new shopping center is under construction in French Harbor. It will feature the island”’’s first Wendy”’’s restaurant.
Punta Gorda has the largest settlement Garifuna people. The Garifuna have a fascinating culture, preserving their African roots. They beat African drums and still speak the Garifuna language, which is very unusual sounding.
West End is the tourist side of the island, with dive centers, hotels, restaurants, and tourist shops. West End has rental properties and condominiums available for travellers who choose to stay longer on Roatan.
You may spend either Honduran Lempiras or American dollars on Roatan. Some businesses give better exchange rates than others, so ask what exchange rate they give before you spend dollars here.
Lempiras have been holding steady compared to the US dollar for the past few years.
http://interlinetravelnews.com/2009/01/05/interline-travel-tips-for-roatan/
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Welcome to Atlantis Divers
January 2nd, 2009
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Frozen with Fear
December 31st, 2008
The sudden chill surprised Alex when he began his short descent to the shallow bottom. His new drysuit should’ve been much warmer. He attempted to inflate the suit with the button on his chest, but he couldn’t feel the rush of insulating air. The cold continued to spread across his body, and the suit grew tighter around his limbs and chest as his buoyancy decreased and he sank deeper. When he turned to signal his buddy, Alex received another surprise: His buddy was out of sight. Alex knew he had to go up. He struggled to ascend now, forcefully holding down the button on his dry suit valve, but still no air came in, just a sickening, slow trickle of ice-cold water. His breathing accelerated, his air supply dropped and his limbs grew stiff as he drifted toward the bottom.
The Diver
Alex was a relatively new diver with only a handful of dives under his belt. He was in his 30s, in excellent health and showed a lot of enthusiasm for his new sport. He had only dived in a drysuit a few times before, under the supervision of an instructor. This was Alex’s first time independently diving dry.
The Dive
Alex geared up with his buddy as they listened to the dive briefing, and then the two entered the water together. At the surface, the water was warmed by the sun to about 70 degrees, but the thermocline was shallow, at about seven or eight feet, and below it, the temperature dropped to the high 30s–definitely drysuit conditions. Visibility was average for the site, about 20 feet. The surface was calm with small, gentle swells, and a mild current was present as they descended toward their target depth of around 25 feet for their shallow dive along a coastal jetty.
The Accident
As he descended, Alex noticed the cold and puzzled over his drysuit’s inability to keep him warm. He repeatedly pressed the inflate valve, but it took several minutes before he realized no air was entering his suit. In fact, the drysuit’s low-pressure inflator hose wasn’t even connected. Without the buoyancy from the inflated drysuit, Alex struggled to gain control of his descent. Dealing with these problems distracted him for several minutes, and by the time he turned to ask his buddy for help, he was shocked to find he was all alone. This increased his anxiety even more as he kicked in vain for the surface, but with his drysuit fully compressed next to his body, Alex was extremely negative and unable to ascend. Alex was most likely disoriented and possibly hypothermic by this time, but whatever the reason, he failed to add air to his BC or drop his weights. Alex’s dive buddy had ascended within a few minutes of starting the dive, shortly after the two became separated, thinking Alex would meet him at the surface. When Alex didn’t come up, a search was rapidly organized, but unfortunately, it was too late. Alex was found drowned on the bottom in only 23 feet of water.
Analysis
The risks of diving in cold water should never be underestimated. In extremely cold water, with temperatures approaching freezing, the impact on the body is immediate. It reduces finger dexterity almost instantly and can impact coordination very rapidly after that. In just a few minutes, without proper protection, the body can become hypothermic. One of the first signs of hypothermia is difficulty focusing and an inability to solve problems rationally. To prepare for dives in these types of conditions, divers should overtrain in more moderate conditions to make every skill and every emergency procedure an effortless second reflex. Alex had not prepared himself to that level, especially with regard to his drysuit.
Even equipment as common as a drysuit requires additional training, additional experience and additional predive safety checks for safe use. Add an extreme diving environment, and these procedures become critically important. A drysuit works by providing an insulating layer of air between the diver and the suit. This space is typically filled with heavy underwear of some sort, but the air space is necessary because the undergarment would be crushed flat next to the diver’s body without it and a flat or compressed piece of material has very little insulating power. To inflate a drysuit, a diver has to press a valve button, usually located on the chest of the suit, that’s connected to the tank via a low-pressure inflator hose. Like a BC’s inflator hose, the drysuit hose connects to the suit valve with a slip-coupling device. Drysuit divers should check this connection and the operation of the valve before entering the water on every dive, and the dry diver’s buddy should check the connection and operation of the valve during the predive buddy check. Alex was a new diver with very little drysuit experience, and he apparently missed this vital safety check because the hose was either never connected at all, or it was not connected securely and came undone as he entered the water. This hose can be hooked up underwater. However, this can be awkward, especially in very cold water with heavy gloves or mittens, so it is necessary for drysuit divers to practice this skill in advance. Because drysuits are filled with air, dry divers also tend to wear more weight than wetsuit divers, often distributed across the body, and it is vitally important to be trained in dumping this weight.
Alex apparently failed to practice any of these procedures in advance and as a result, he was unable to respond to the actual emergency when he entered the water. He never inflated his BC, which worked properly upon later inspection, and he never dumped the considerable amount of weight he was wearing. Either of these procedures would have brought him immediately to the surface where his waiting buddy or the other divers at the site could have assisted him.
Lessons For Life
Extremes of any type will accelerate the effects of any problem, sometimes with disastrous results.
on a dive that pushes your comfort zone.
Rehearse basic diving skills until they become second nature. And pay special attention to emergency procedures–the skills you use least are the ones you should practice most.
Check that all hoses are connected and working, note the location of weights and how to ditch them and discuss emergency procedures and the locations of alternate air sources.
Especially in stressful situations, it’s vital to keep a frequent check on your buddy’s position.
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St. George’s shipwreck a protected site
December 22nd, 2008
The Royal Gazzett
Published: December 16. 2008 09:07AM
By Amanda Dale
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Archaeologists have revealed a vessel of international historic significance is sitting in St. George’s Harbour, the only one of its kind in the world.
The marine archaeology team, from East Carolina University in the US, say the suspected remains of HMS Medway could now prove “an important tourist draw card” and must be protected at all costs.
Plans for a new marina have been modified to keep the wreck in situ and the vessel is now a restricted wreck site out-of-bounds to scuba divers.
Derrick Burgess, Minister of Works and Engineering, told the House of Assembly the findings of the archaeological team had resulted in “one of those rare win-win stories”.
“Upon discovering the wreck’s identity and significance, the Government, archaeologists and the developers immediately began to work together to produce a plan that would protect the site,” said Mr. Burgess.
“Even before completion and submission of the survey report, an alternative version of the Marina Plan was produced, one that highlights and protects the wreck’s historic value whilst ensuring that it is not disturbed.
“At the same time, the alternative version of the Marina Plan allows some measure of future access to the public to view the site.”
The archaeologists say the wreck is either HMS Medway or HMS Medina, iron-hulled British gunboats used to guard Darrell’s and Tucker’s islands against escape attempts by Boer Prisoners of War in the late nineteenth century. It is however, most likely to be the Medway, which was previously deployed in China by the British Admiralty.
Mr. Burgess said: “Most persons involved in this exciting project were pleasantly surprised to find that this wreck, HMS Medway, a gunboat of the Medina class built in 1876, is one of great international historic significance.
“Most significantly, it is the only known remaining gunboat of this class in the world.”
Describing the boat as “a naval marvel”, the Minister said it was in “remarkably good condition, considering its age”.
There were 12 vessels in the Medina-class, all of which were built by Charles Palmer at Jarrow, in the north east of England. The class were ‘flat-iron’ gunboats meant to operate on rivers, and renowned for their manoeuvrability, in part due to having both bow and stern rudders.
They were not only propelled by steam engine but also had three barkentine-rigged masts.
An “experimental class of warship”, a report by the archaeological team states: “Medina-class vessels were peculiar in their architecture with a sharp, tapered bow that widened into a turret-like forecastle, a bulbous tumblehome amidships, and fantail stern.”
It says: “The vessel can be considered rare, as the only known surviving example of a truly unique vessel type, as well as representative of this class of gunboat, and one of the oldest forms of iron-hulled British river gunboat.
“Moreover, it is potentially the oldest British gunboat of any class that can still be found afloat or in an archaeological context.
“The remains of Medina or Medway potentially represent the only remnant of an M-class gunboat still in existence.”
The remains of the vessel sit less than 200ft from shore, with sections of the bow and stern visible at low tide.
The archaeological team concluded: “This is an opportunity for cultural tourism development that is rarely found. For this reason there is considerable promise that the development of the remains of the Myers Slip vessel could positively contribute to cultural tourism and dive tourism in St. George’s Parish and Bermuda.”
The April survey was the result of a planning application for a new marina. Shipwrecks over 50 years old are protected under the Historic Wrecks Act 2001, and developers WEC Limited were asked by the Historic Wrecks Authority to carry out an Historic Impact Assessment.
The Bermuda Maritime Museum and local divers also assisted in the survey.
HMS Medway was sold out of service in 1904 and local lore suggests it was used as a lighter to offload cargo from other ships. It was later used as a work and salvage vessel into the 1930s.
The ship eventually sank at Marginal Wharf and, after being raised by the US Navy, she was moved to Meyer’s Slip. It is thought she was then used as a breakwater but another story suggests she was taken there for repairs but sank.
To view this article: http://www.royalgazette.com/siftology.royalgazette/Article/article.jsp?articleId=7d8c83730030006§ionId=60
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Humpback whale rescue
December 22nd, 2008
Divers rescue a humpback whale in Mexico after being trapped in a fishing net.
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/index.php?cl=11183124
