Strange Relations: A Look at Unlikely Undersea Pairings
After almost every dive someone grabs a reference to try and identify animals they saw. Upon flipping through the book and finding the perfect…
The Library
How to Shine at Night Diving: Tips for Using a Dive Light
Dive lights are necessary for you to see at night underwater; they’re also your principle means of communication at night. In the daytime they…
Small Critters With a Big Story to Tell: The Shrimps
Some are extraordinarily colorful and equally animated. Others are drab or transparent and hard to see. Some are active cleaners. Others are scavengers. Some…
Reefs in the Deepfreeze: Understanding Cold Water Corals
In the fall of 1974 I made my first dive on a Pacific coral reef. But unlike what you might imagine, it didn’t take…
The Quick and the Deadly: A Look at Underwater Life in the Fast Lane
Ask a group of football, basketball, soccer and baseball coaches what attributes they fear most in their opponents and look for when they build…
Fashion Statements or Important Appendages?: Why Some Bottom Dwellers Wear ‘Beards’
Beards. Mustaches. Whiskers. In human males facial hair is used to enhance one’s appearance, intimidate, add stature, set one apart from the crowd and…
In Over Your Head: Exploring Overhead Environments Safely
Seeing a sunken hulk materialize out of the blue is a thrill I never tire of. It doesn’t matter if it’s a ship, plane,…
Bottomed Out and Going Nowhere: The Curious Lives of Bottom Dwellers
In many respects the ocean is a world in motion. Fishes swarm, circle and move in perfectly synchronized schools. Nomadic populations of bluefin tuna…
The Good Stuff is Deep: Dispelling Common Scuba Myths
I remember from years past a particularly eager young diver who was seemingly obsessed with the desire to dive deeper. After all, he had…
By Air and By Sea: The Amphibious Lives of Seabirds
Ancient mariners always kept a close eye out for seabirds as harbingers of terra firma. Fishermen, too, have used them for years to help…