Archive

This article is the second of a three-part series examining Jacques Cousteau’s legacy in the world of diving and underwater exploration. The first one delved into the history of scuba diving. This part focuses on Cousteau as the educator who taught the world about the ocean. One would be hard-pressed to find someone who has […]

Aerial footage of the Great Barrier Reef between Cairns and Townsville (Photo: Ed Roberts) For the second time in just 12 months, scientists have recorded severe coral bleaching across huge tracts of the Great Barrier Reef, after completing aerial surveys along its entire length. Surveys showed that bleaching in 2016 was most severe in the […]

This article is the first of a three-part series examining Jacques Cousteau’s influence on the development of scuba diving technology, his role in educating the public about the ocean, and his contributions to environmental conservation. Diving has such a long history that its true origins are virtually impossible to trace. What is certain is that […]

Source: IUCN Tiny plastic particles washed off products such as synthetic clothes and car tyres could contribute up to 30% of the ‘plastic soup’ polluting the world’s oceans and – in many developed countries – are a bigger source of marine plastic pollution than plastic waste, according to a new IUCN report. The report looked […]

Back in 1981, a young diver called Kihachiro Aratake was scouting for dive sites around the coast of remote Japanese island, Yonaguni, when he came across something that took his breath away. “An underwater Machu Picchu!” Three decades, several books and a countless documentaries later, divers are still arguing about the origins of the Yonaguni […]

Whether you’re just starting a scuba diving bucket list or refining an existing one, put these endangered animal encounters at the top of your list. We hope circumstances change for these these rare and wonderful creatures, and encourage you to support organizations like Project AWARE working to save them. Basking Shark – Vulnerable, Endangered in […]

If it smells like food, and looks like food, it must be food, right? Not in the case of ocean-faring birds that are sometimes found with bellies full of plastic. But very little research examines why birds make the mistake of eating plastic in the first place. It turns out that marine plastic debris emits […]

What is Decompression Illness? There are two mechanisms that fall under the broad term of DCI.  Both may result in bubble formation during or after an ascent from a dive when compressed gas is used.  These are Arterial Gas Embolism (AEG) and Decompression Sickness (DCS). AEG is caused when gas in the lungs expands and […]

With the latest update to the PADI Open Water Diver course, you were taught how to deploy a Surface Marker Buoy (SMB) on the surface.  But this does not really address the skill that you really need – how to deploy an SMB from depth. When you deploy an DSMB from underwater – it is […]