X-Ray Mag Issue #54 | May 2013
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Macro with Mirrorless Cameras :: Peter Hughes Profile :: Amanda Brisbane Portfolio British Columbia Southern Gulf Islands New Zealand GLOBAL EDITION Lermontov Wreck May 2013 Number 54 Japan Yonaguni Jima Finland Ojamo Mine Seals of Farne Islands COSTA RICA Expedition The Maldives Cocos1 X-RAY MAG : 54 : 2013 Island COVER PHOTO BY MICHAEL AW DIRECTORY X-RAY MAG is published by AquaScope Media ApS Frederiksberg, Denmark www.xray-mag.com PUBLISHER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF SENIOR EDITOR Peter Symes Michael Symes, PhD - Science Ochre sea stars, Swordfish Island, British Columbia. Photo by Barb Roy [email protected] SECTION EDITORS PUBLISHER, MANAGING EDITOR Michael Arvedlund, PhD - Ecology contents & CREATIVE DIRECTOR Scott Bennett - Travel, Sharks Gunild Symes Andrey Bizyukin, PhD - Features [email protected] Larry Cohen - Photo & Video Kelly LaClaire - Marine Mammals ASSOCIATE EDITORS Catherine Lim - News, Books Scott Bennett, Toronto Roz Lunn - Equipment News [email protected] Bonnie McKenna - Turtles Catherine GS Lim, Singapore Michael Menduno - Tech [email protected] Robert Osborne - Features, Profiles Michael Menduno, Berkeley Don Silcock - Photo & Video [email protected] Barb Roy, Vancouver COLUMNISTS [email protected] Gretchen Ashton - Dive Fitness Pascal Bernabé - Tech Talk Russia - Moscow Leigh Cunningham - Tech Talk Andrey Bizyukin, PhD Andy Murch - Shark Tales [email protected] Mark Powell - Tech Talk Svetlana Murashkina, PhD Cindy Ross - GirlDiver [email protected] Cedric Verdier - Tech Talk Lawson Wood - UW Photography ASSISTANT EDITORS Roz Lunn, London CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE [email protected] Antti Apunen Robert Osborne, Toronto Gretchen M. Ashton [email protected] Michael Aw Don Silcock, Sydney Pascal Bernabé [email protected] Scott Bennett Amanda Brisbane USA Kevin Davidson Larry Cohen, New York City Wayne Grant [email protected] Farhat Jah Kelly LaClaire, Portland Kelly LaClaire [email protected] Steve Lewis Bonnie McKenna, Houston Catherine GS Lim [email protected] Gareth Lock Rosemary 'Roz' Lunn ADVERTISING Bonnie McKenna UNITED KINGDOM Matthew Meier 8 14 18 20 29 plus... Rosemary E Lunn, London Paul Morrall LER M ONTOV WRECK SO YO U WANT TO BE A THE MAL D IVES COCOS ISLAN D SO U THERN GU LF ISLAN D S EDITORIAL 3 [email protected] Mark Powell NE W ZEALAN D SC U BA INSTR U CTOR ... EXPEDITION COSTA RICA BRITISH COL um BIA NEWS 4 Ila France Porcher BY EVIN AVI D SON BY TEVE E W IS BY ICHAEL W BY ATTHE W EIER BY ARB OY USA & INTERNATIONAL Barb Roy K D S L M A M M B R WRECK RAP 8 Susan Kochan, Orlando Don Silcock TRAINING 14 [email protected] Chris Sterrit Matthew Meier, San Diego Janne Suhonen 36 40 49 55 89 TRAVEL NEWS 17 [email protected] Gunild Symes PROFILE : DIVING W ITH SEALS OJ A M O MINE OZTEK 2013: PORTFOLIO : EQUIPMENT NEWS 35 Peter Symes ETER U GHES INLAN D ALES OF ARING O Undersea Hunter Group P H FARNE ISLAN D S F T 'D D ' AM AN D A BRISBANE TURTLE TALES 45 Lawson Wood BY PETER SY M ES BY LA W SON WOO D BY ANTTI Apu NEN BY ROSE M ARY 'ROZ ' E. LU NN ED ITE D BY GU NIL D SY M ES BOOKS & MEDIA 47 Contacts page: Xray-Mag.com MARINE MAMMALS 65 Not yet subscribed to SHARK TALES 68 columns... X-RAY MAG? Sign up now! PHOTO NEWS 80 SUBSCRIPTION X-RAY MAG International Edition in English is FREE It’s FREE! QUICK! EASY! To subscribe, go to: www.xray-mag.com 61 73 77 82 click here... FITNESS PROGRA M S TECH TALK : ONE FOR ALL UWP: MACRO W ITH UNIQ U E DIVE SITE : COVER PHOTO: Diver encounters manta ray, Maldives FOR DIVERS OR ALL FOR ONE ? MIRRORLESS CA M ERAS YONAG U NI JI M A , JA P AN Photo by Michael Aw BY GRETCHEN ASHTON BY MARK PO W ELL BY DON SILCOCK BY FARHAT JAH 2 X-RAY MAG : 54 : 2013 Amsterdam Barcelona Cape Town Copenhagen Kuala Lumpur London Moscow Orlando Oslo Paris Singapore Tacoma Toronto Vancouver Warsaw Editorial Rec-tekkies — The Advent of a New Diving Middle-Class Some 1½ years ago, on 31 Dec personal interests lay more in technical diving is for everybody, 2011 to be exact, I participated the areas of photography and because it isn’t, and most of us in a New Year's dive event at one ecology. But the training I have probably shouldn’t go there. But of the nearby beaches. It was a undertaken over the years we should all take notice of the fine day—frosty, theatrically misty has provided me with skills, lessons learned from tech and, and perfectly still, with the surface experience and confidence to where we can, adapt and use being smooth as a mirror. conduct challenging dives and to the techniques and new gear to handle various scenarios. make all of our dives safer and The location was rather shallow more rewarding. and sheltered and was a popular Together with having good site for basic training. Looking equipment this instills in me —The X-RAY MAG Team around me at the odd 50 divers both a sense of confidence gathered for the last dive of the and calmness, which ultimately year, I saw twin-tanks, sidemounts, translates into pleasure and ability Set your course for success big dive-lights with canisters to immerse myself into the sense at the ONLY international and Goodman handles. At of adventure and exploration trade-only event for diving, first, I almost giggled because of which all dives have some action watersports and travel everyone was surely overdressed element—even those I have done professionals! for the occasion—I don’t think many times before. it was possible to deeper than seven meters. At a glance, it just That event also made me realise looked rather silly, like they were how the advent of ‘recreational showing off. tech’ in the recent years quite evidently has been both softening But then I realised that I was also and bridging the once significant diving a twin tank, twin regulators gap between recreational and and all the rest of my usual kit. technical diving. And why not? All my ‘usual stuff’ is what I am comfortable As such, I also suspect and with and routinely use. I know hope that it represents a new where everything is, everything opportunity for the dive industry November 6–9, 2013 is adjusted, balanced and to once more inject a sense of Orlando, Florida weighted just to my comfort. It adventure and achievement into is also the exact same gear that diving—two important elements Orange County Convention Center I can use for deeper and more that have been somewhat demanding dives, on which I diluted since diving was made have also received some of my immediately accessible to almost advanced training. everyone and presumably made it a less coveted activity. I do not consider myself a facebook.com/DEMAShow linkedin.com/company/dema-org pinterest.com/demashow twitter.com/DEMA_Show technical diver, and I will This is a development this probably never venture very magazine both welcomes and far into this realm because my supports. This is not to say that 3 X-RAY MAG : 54 : 2013 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO Peter A. Hughes, Founder from the deep News edited by Peter Symes NEWS LIVE-ABOARDS! Unravelling the Coelacanth The coral bots are coming Scientists have decoded the DNA of the celebrated "living fossil" fish, gaining new insights into how today's mammals, and it takes dec- Kickstarter to raise funds, hoping amphibians, reptiles and birds evolved from a fish ancestor. ades for them to to raise GB£70,000 (US$107,000) re-grow. When before June. Coelacanths were thought to have Gombassa Project they get dam- gone extinct in the Late Cretaceous As of this issue goes to press a 40- aged, divers Tested technology some 70 million years ago, but were day expedition named Gombessa can some- The robots have already been rediscovered in 1938 when a live Project after the coelacanths local times be tested at sea, but the team is specimen was was found off the name is under way. The expedi- deployed keen to move to the next stage— east coast of South Africa. In 1999, tion, which is led by French marine to re- giving them computer vision to a second extant species was de- biologist Laurent Ballesta and spon- cement "see" healthy bits of coral and scribed from Manado, North Su- sored by Swiss dive-watch maker broken design arms to pick up and put lawesi, Indonesia. Blancpain. fragments, down the pieces in the right plac- Analysis shows its genes have helping es. been remarkably slow to change, Close encounters them re-grow "Kickstarter funds will let us an international team of research- The coelacanth is quite rare; living But this is very purchase and assemble this kit, ers reported in the journal Nature. more than 100m down, it is a hard time consuming and and allow us to conduct our first Like lungfish, the other surviving creature to study. The Gombessa mostly conducted live demonstration of the robot lineage of lobe-finned fishes, coe- expedition, which is the result of by volunteers. Also this team on a coral reef in a public lacanths are actually more closely two years’ scientific research, logis- method is restricted to aquarium," said marine biologist related to humans and other tical and human preparations, will shallow depths and is not appli- and Coralbot team member Lea- mammals than to ray-finned fishes enable observations and scientific Underwater robots tasked Utila, Bay Islands with saving coral reefs cable to deep water corals.