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By Judy Lehmberg At the end of the semester in the advanced invertebrate zoology course I took, my rather dry, boring professor made the only joke I remember him ever uttering. We had just finished the phylum Echinodermata, the starfish and their relatives, who may not look too advanced but are the most advanced large phylum of […]

WORLDWIDE, PLASTIC CONSUMPTION has reached over 320 tons per year. Most of the plastics produced are of a one-time use nature and is rapidly added to burgeoning landfills or disposed of as litter. A smaller portion is either recycled or incinerated (which has its own set of problems). The plastics that are introduced into the […]

Gil Rosenthal learned to scuba dive in college, and since then he’s never been able to stay out of the water. Like most divers, he’s fascinated with marine life, and how, through the experience of diving, a colorful array of beautiful reef fish — angelfish, damselfish, wrasses, and others — swim all around him. It’s […]

When you ask people who don’t dive what they think the most common type of diving injury is, the answer is usually ‘The Bends!’. If not this then at least an imagined tale of a Jaws-type marine monster attacking innocent divers one by one. The real answer is actually a lot simpler, and significantly less […]

AN INSIDE LOOK AT SCUBA CYLINDERS Precious few things are as seemingly simple as a scuba cylinder, but don’t let that fool you. Although a cylinder may seem like a dumb hunk of metal, it does serious work. Filled to capacity, a typical cylinder carrying 80 standard cubic feet of air — enough to fill […]

As published in the Shanghai Daily.  Full text below for easier reading. FULL TEXT PLASTIC is the most prolific form of waste the world has ever seen. From the depths of the Mariana Trench to the heights of Mount Everest, humans have left no place untouched by plastic. Buildups of enormous quantities of plastic bags […]

REVEALING NEMO’S TRUE COLORS If you know a kid younger than 10, then you also know the names Nemo and Dory. And just in case you’re one of the few humans on the planet who don’t know what I’m talking about, these were the “stars” in the phenomenally successful animated film, “Finding Nemo.” Nemo was […]

The last thing you probably want to read is another tirade on the dangers of drinking and smoking. Besides, what can I say that’s new? Although some recent evidence points to drinking alcohol in moderation as a health benefit, no one doubts the dire consequences of imbibing in excess. And no informed person on Earth […]

A diver without good buoyancy is like a driver who is unable to change lanes, is uncomfortable reversing, and cannot parallel park. Not really a good driver, right? Mastering buoyancy is one of the most fundamental skills that you must learn and perfect to really be in control of your dive. This is our comprehensive […]

Hammerhead sharks are one of the easiest sharks to identify, thanks to their hammer-shaped heads, and are a great species of shark to dive with. They can be found at a variety of top dive destinations including Cocos Island off Costa Rica, Malepelo Island in Colombia, and the Galápagos Islands. Divers can also enjoy hammerhead […]