Archive

There often are tiny bits of plastic in the fish and shellfish we eat. Scientists are racing to figure out what that means for our health. BY ELIZABETH ROYTE Read this story and more in the June 2018 issue of National Geographic magazine. In a laboratory at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, in Palisades, New York, Debra Lee Magadini positions […]

This one is for Wilson – who is leaving Shanghai to Cancun – close to the best cenotes in the world. To the Maya, the water-filled cenotes in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula were portals to the underworld, Xibalba, and considered sacred wells. Today they are a magnet for cave and cavern divers who find these mystical […]

What are microplastics? What about a garbage patch? This glossary helps demystify plastic pollution. BY ELIZABETH ATALAY, LAURA PARKER, AND HEIDI SCHULTZ – National Geographic This story is part of Planet or Plastic?—The National Geographic multiyear effort to raise awareness about the global plastic waste crisis. Learn what you can do to reduce your own single-use plastics, and take their pledge. […]

Where do the terms port and starboard come from? Why is the toilet on a boat called the head? Why isn’t it on the poop deck? Today we answer divers’ frequently asked questions about boat terminology. We’ll also share the nautical history behind common terms like slush fund and scuttlebutt. Why is speed measured in knots? Up until the mid-1800’s sailors measured a […]

Sharks have a serious PR problem. Starting with Steven Spielberg’s movie Jaws, the admonition ‘don’t go in the water’ became a matter of common sense for many people. Threatening background music used in shark documentaries and media coverage focusing on negative events, such as attacks on surfers, helped build the unfavorable image of sharks. After years of being depicted […]

The Philippines has some of the best diving on the planet – this vast archipelago of 7,641 islands scattered across 300,000 sq km of ocean has nearly nine per cent of the world’s coral reefs and is the epicentre of global marine biodiversity. From historic wrecks to stunning roller-coaster drift dives; from migrating giant whales sharks […]

    By the Divers Alert Network Medical Team www.danap.org Scuba diving exposes you to many effects, including immersion, cold, hyperbaric gases, elevated breathing pressure, exercise, and stress, as well as a post-dive risk of gas bubbles circulating in your blood. Your heart’s capacity to support an elevated blood output decreases with age and with disease. Having […]

On 24 September 1944, a squadron of 24 Helldiver bombers burst out of the sky above Coron Bay in the Philippines, located the Japanese supply fleet hiding among the islands below, and proceeded to blow it apart. The dive bombers, escorted by 96 Hellcat fighters – some of which were also carrying bombs – had just 15 […]

Keeping yourself in good working order is as important as maintaining and servicing your dive kit WORDS DR. PETER LARKIN From basic ear problems to serious heart and circulation issues, there are various ailments that can stop us being fit to dive. Dr. Peter Larkin scans the body from head to toe and points out the […]

Plastics, among other pollutants, are one of the most commonly found in oceans and on beaches globally.  This is mainly for two reasons: first, plastic is very durable and often low in cost, so it is universally used for consumer and industrial products, and second, plastics do not biodegrade completely, remaining in the world’s oceans […]