Dive Pacific 170 Aug Sep 2019

NEW ZEALAND'S DIVE MAGAZINE 

NEW ZEALAND’S ONLY DIVE MAGAZINE 

ISSUE 170 - $9.90 inc GST 

August / September 2019 

P A C I F I C 


What you 

can see in 

Tahiti’s 

blackwater 

…and how you 

can take photos 

like this 

Queensland kills 

whales, dolphins 

www.Dive-Pacific.com 

Marine science needs You! 

A tribute to Dr Roger Grace 

What’s it like being stung 

by a hydroid? 

www.dive-pacific.com 1

VIP.S104 

“catch fish...not cables” 

There are a number of international submarine cables which come ashore in the Auckland area. These cables supply international 

communications for both New Zealand and Australia to the rest of the world. 

New Zealand is a very isolated nation and as such is extremely reliant upon global communication via submarine cables. Here in New 

Zealand over 97% of all international communication is carried via submarine fibre optic cables. These cables are a key component of 

New Zealand’s infrastructure and play a significant role in our everyday lives, the general economy and future growth of New Zealand. 

These cables are laid in three submarine cable corridors in the greater Auckland area where anchoring and fishing is prohibited under 

the Submarine Cables & Pipelines Protection Act. 

These areas are: 

• Muriwai Beach out to the 12 mile 

territorial limit where both anchoring and 

fishing is prohibited. 

• Scott Point to Island Bay in the upper 

Waitemata Harbour where anchoring is 

prohibited. 

• Takapuna Beach this runs from Takapuna 

Beach in the south to just north of the Hen 

& Chicken Island (opposite Taiharuru Head) 

where anchoring and fishing is prohibited. 

Note: These protected areas are monitored by sea 

and air patrols. 

Symbols Relating To Submarine Cables 

Figure 1. 

Submarine cable 

Submarine 

cable area 

Anchoring 

prohibited 

Fishing 

prohibited 

These are some of the 

penalties 

• A maximum fine of $20,000 for a 

non-commercial vessel. 

• A maximum fine of $10, 0000 for a comme 

• A maximum fine of $250,000 for 

damaging a submarine cable. 

Additional to the fine for damage, the cable 

owners would inevitably pursue the recover 

of costs associated with repairs, this could be 

up to $750,000 plus a day; a typical repair can 

take up to two weeks (around $10 million). 

Be Aware 

These International submarine cables 

carry up to 10,000 volts to power the 

system repeaters along the cable. 

For more detail refer to 

appropriate marine charts. 

Kaitaia 

Bay of Islands 

Kerikeri 

Russell 

To download Spark Undersea Cable Awareness Charts visit: 

boaties.co.nz/useful-info/cables-underwater.html 

What should you do? 

• If you are going into any of these areas, be sure to check your marine charts and/or 

GPS plotter so you know the exact locations of the prohibited zones. The relevant 

charts are NZ53, NZ5322, NZ532, NZ522, NZ52, NZ42 and NZ43. The symbols used to 

mark the zones are detailed in Figure 1. 

• If you suspect you have snagged your anchor or fishing gear on a submarine cable in 

one of these areas, don’t try to free it. Note your position, abandon your gear, then 

call 0800 782 627. 

Kaikohe 

Dargaville 

WHANGAREI 

Kawakawa 

Kaipara 

Harbour 

Hikurangi 

Poor Knights Is. 

Marotere Is. 

Hen & Chicken Is. 

Wellsford 

The Pinnacles 

Flat 

Rock 

ANCHORING 

AND 

FISHING 

PROHIBITED 

ZONE 

Little 

Barrier 

Is. 

Mokohinau Is. 

Great 

Barrier Is. 

What happens outside the prohibited areas? 

These cables are covered by the Submarine Cables and Pipelines Protection Act 

regardless of whether they are inside or outside a prohibited area. Beyond the 

confines of the “anchoring and fishing prohibited” areas, the cables are clearly marked 

on the appropriate marine charts. 

Considering possible positioning inaccuracies and repaired cable section deviations, 

fishermen are advised to keep a minimum distance of one nautical mile from either 

side of charted cables. 

Note this number: 

For any queries regarding submarine cables call: 0800 782 627 

2 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific 

ANCHORING 

AND 

FISHING 

PROHIBITED 

ZONE 

Muriwai 

Piha 

Whangaparoa 

Peninsula 

Takapuna 

Papatoetoe 

Manukau 

Harbour 

Waiuku 

Kawau Is. 

Tiritiri 

Matangi Is. 

AUCKLAND 

Rangitoto Is. 

Manurewa 

Papakura 

Pukekohe 

Hauraki 

Gulf. 

Waiheke Is. 

C.Colville 

Thames 

Coromandel 

Peninsula 

Mercury Is.

RUN1167 

What you see is what you get in Niue. And what you see diving is everything. 

With crystal clear waters, surrounding the world’s largest uplifted coral atoll, 

you can see up to 80m in any direction. A world teeming with healthy marine life. 

A world waiting for you to discover. 

Start discovering Niue today, www.niueisland.com 


contents 

IN DEPTH 

4 EDITORIAL: A tribute to Dr Roger Grace 

with Editor at Large Dave Moran 

12 

14 

18 

SOUNDINGS Local and international news & comment 

7 Queensland goes shark, whale, dolphin killing 

Solomon Islands dive operators set up formal group 

8 Residency granted to leopard seals 

Wyland/Dive magazine Award presented to Project Reef Life 

9 Navy acquires new dive and hydrographic ship 

10 Canterbury hosts NZ Underwater 66th AGM 

11 Partnership set up to protect from oil spills of WW II wrecks 

PADI and GoPro promote video contest 

Missing diver found deceased 

National Spearfishing champs time/date set 

28 The oceans, cradles of viral diversity 

SPUMS conference big success 

29 Fish bombing kills three divers 

Bob Marx, treasure hunter; John Selby, hyperbaric inventor. Obits. 

73 Dive!Tutukaka celebrates new premises 

SPECIAL FEATURES 

12 A dive on the RMS Niagara 

37 Research shows northern crays in BIG trouble 

This reprinted feature is to honour Roger Grace who was saying this 

12 years ago 

44 Diving the world’s deepest flooded freshwater abyss 

46 ALDO KANE – ex commando, TV adventure wrangler: Profile 


P A C I F I C 

established 1990 


P A C I F I C 

August / September 2019 Issue 170 

Find us on facebook - 

follow the links on our website 



Diver Emergency Number, New Zealand : 

0800 4 DES 11 1800 088 200 (toll free) 

Australia : +61-8-8212 9242 

Publisher 

Gilbert Peterson +64 27 494 9629 

Dive Publishing 

P.O. Box 34 687 

Birkenhead, Auckland, New Zealand 0746 

divenz@divenewzealand.co.nz 

Editor at Large 

Dave Moran +64 9 521 0684 

davem@divenewzealand.co.nz 

Advertising Sales Manager 

Colin Gestro +64 272 568 014 

colin@affinityads.com 

Art Director 

Mark Grogan +64 9 262 0303 

bytemarx@orcon.net.nz 

BUCKET LIST DESTINATIONS 

18 Taking in Fish Geek Week! At Raj Ampat’s Misool resort 

24 Diving blackwater in Tahiti - how you can photograph species like 

these 

31 Munda’s remarkable Zero find & Sealark discovers new WWII wrecks in 

Solomons’ Florida group 

34 The best of Fiji … may be farther out? Part II with Gilbert Peterson visits 

to two outstanding resorts on Vanua Levu, Fiji 

Printed by Crucial Colour Ltd 

Retail distribution 

NZ: Ovato NZ Ltd 

All rights reserved. Reprinting in whole 

or part is expressly forbidden except 

by written permission of the publisher. 

Opinions expressed in the publication are 

those of the authors and not necessarily 

the publishers. All material is accepted in 

good faith and the publisher accepts no 

responsibility whatsoever. 

www.DiveNewZealand.co.nz 


Registered Publication 

Dive Pacific ISSN 2624-134X (print) 

ISSN 2324-3236 (online) 

2 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific




www.dive-pacific.com 1 

P A C I F I C 

Juvenile Sharpear enope Squid 

Photo by Fabian Michenet 




P A C I F I C 

Planktonic animals like this juvenile sharpear enope 

squid are usually photographed under controlled 

situations after they’ve been caught. But Fabien is 

fascinated by the beauty of their living forms and 

aims to photograph their natural behaviour in the 

wild. Night diving in deep water off the coast of 

Tahiti, he became surrounded by a mass of tiny 

planktonic animals. Apart from the occasional 

sound of a dolphin, it was silent, became fascinated 

by this tiny squid. Just three centimetres long, it 

was floating motionless about 20 metres below 

the surface and probably hunting even smaller 

creatures that had migrated up to feed under cover 

of darkness. Its transparent body was covered with 


What you 

can see in 

Tahiti’s 

blackwater 



like this 



Marine science needs You! What’s it like being stung 

A tribute to Dr Roger Grace by a hydroid? 

40 

DIVE NZ D170.indd 1 24/07/19 12:14 PM 

polka dots of pigment-filled cells, and below its eyes were bioluminescent organs. 

Knowing it would be sensitive to light and movement, Fabien gradually manoeuvred 

in front of it, trying to hang as motionless as his subject. Using as little light as 

possible to get the autofocus working, he finally triggered the strobes and took the 

squid’s portrait before it disappeared into the deep. 

46 

Technical specification 

Nikon D800 + 105mm f2.8 lens; 1/320 sec at f16; ISO 200; Nauticam housing; 

two Inon Z-240 strobes. 

GEAR BAG 

48 Oceanic’s new dive computer, New dry glove, New gas analyser, 

Recreational surface supplied air system, and more 

OUR EXPERT COLUMNISTS 

6 No more small dead fish: LEGASEA UPDATE 

22 Winter Kingfish surprise 

SPEARO’S NOTEBOOK! with Jackson Shields 

53 The Blanket Octopus 

SPECIES FOCUS with Paul Caiger 

29 

54 Is decompression sickness caused by bubbles? 

DIVE MEDICINE with Prof Simon Mitchell 

56 What’s it like being stung by a hydroid? 

INCIDENT INSIGHTS with DAN, the Divers Alert Network 

58 SHADES OF COLOUR: More stunning images from our regular photo 

competition 

62 About pixels, file size and resolution 

Digital Imaging with Hans Weichselbaum 

64 Lenses & related accessories 

BACK TO BASICS Underwater Photography, A Practical Guide for 

Beginners Ch 3 Pt II 

by Alexey Zaystev. Translated from Russian exclusively for DIVE PACIFIC 

68 Classifieds 

24 

Check out our website www.divenewzealand.co.nz 

Dive Pacific magazine is available in the lounges & 

inflight libraries of these airlines. 


INDEPTH 

EDITORIAL 

Caring for 71 % of planet Earth 

In early July the Czech Republic 

hosted the 42nd Antarctic Treaty 

Consultative meeting in Prague. 

Delegates from nearly 40 countries 

and ten scientific, intergovernmental 

and non-governmental 

organisations attended. Many were 

Antarctic Treaty member nations, 

including New Zealand. This year, 

is the 60th anniversary of the 

signing of the Antarctic Treaty. 

Beside discussing the possible 

effects of climate change there were 

discussions re biodiversity conservation 

and a call for more marine 

protected areas. 

Recently Professor Jane Lubchenco 

and Steven Gaines wrote re the 

environmental health of our oceans. 

The oceans are “not too big to fail, 

nor too big to fix. It is too big to 

ignore.” 

Dr. Roger Grace would love those 

words: More marine protected 

areas... it is too big to ignore. 

The world’s oceans have lost one of 

their most committed supporters. 

I dedicate this Editorial to Roger. 

- Dave Moran Editor at Large 


1st January 1942-28th June 2019 

With a sad heart I put the 

following down on paper. It is also 

a sort of happy place for me at the 

same time, if that makes sense? 

This is in a way, my personal au 

revoir to Roger. I hope you understand. 

It was an enormous privilege to call 

Roger a friend, a mate. 

I said my farewell to Roger on the 

26th June with Gilbert Peterson, 

the publisher and managing editor 

of this magazine, as we sat by 

Roger’s bed chatting. Roger’s brain 

as always was as sharp as a tack, 

and we had a few laughs. It was a 

wonderful, peaceful time. 

I recall when Roger phoned, as I’m 

sure he did to a few friends, re his 

idea of having two Roger’s Way Out 

Parties. “Dave I can’t see the point 

of being in a box surrounded by 

friends recalling their times with 

me. I would rather be alive and 

listen to their stories, what do you 

think?” “Bloody great idea, Roger”. 

They were Historical Events in my 

humble opinion! 

Roger Grace was a good bugger 

who loved ice cream! He was one 

of life's true gentlemen. A humble 

guy with immense talent. 

A family trip to Goat Island in 1958 

triggered his serious interest in 

diving, photography and marine 

biology. He joined the Auckland 

Underwater Club and later, the 

university Underwater Club. Like 

many divers of that era he was 

into spearfishing and entered 

several spearfishing competitions, 

achieving a fourth place in the 

National competition at Whitianga 

in 1964. He learnt to scuba dive in 

1961. 

At the University of Auckland he 

gained a Bachelor of Science, a 

Masters in Zoology and a PhD on 

the animals and marine sediment 

at the entrance to Whangateau 

…His photos of marine life enmeshed in kilometres of 

drift netting in the Tasman Sea brought home to the public 

the indiscriminate carnage taking place off our coast by 

international fishing vessels… 

harbour. With these qualifications 

and knowledge he kick-started and 

sustained his amazing career and 

years of dedication to protect New 

Zealand’s marine environment. 

We published his first article for 

Dive New Zealand magazine in 

the Dec/Jan 2001 titled, Towards 

a Network of Reserves. He contributed 

over 50 plus articles to this 

magazine. 

As the years thundered by my 

respect grew for Roger's ethics 

and undiminishing environmental 

2009, Roger Grace proudly 

holding the Wyland Foundation 

– Dive New Zealand magazine 

Recognition Award. 

passion and his commitment to 

understanding this blue planet's 

fragile ecosystem. God knows 

how many Environmental Impact 

Reports he wrote… 

In the halcyon days of the massive 

Ocean Conferences in the 80s-90s 

Roger was a superb presenter. 

He was also a strong entrant in 

the battle to win the prestigious 

Oceans Photography Competition. 

Roger won Overall Best of Show in 

1984, 1988 and 1991. 

It was an absolute pleasure in 

2009 to award him the Wyland 

Foundation/Dive New Zealand 

magazine Recognition Award – one 

person can make a difference. The 

small citation on the Award says: 


Roger Grace Environmentalist, 

Photographer, Writer, Researcher. 

When presenting this award I 

listed just a few of his projects: 

• Over 30 years of reef fish and 

crayfish monitoring in protected 

and non-protected areas. 

• Invited photographer and 

sometimes scientist on many 

international Greenpeace 

expeditions. 

• Study of impacts on benthos 

communities due to channel 

deepening and widening 

projects at Port of Tauranga, and 

effects of dumping sediment 

offshore. 

• Monitoring biological impacts of 

sand extraction in the Kaipara 

Harbour and Northland east 

coast. 

• Monitoring the effects of dredge 

spoil dumping by Ports of 

Auckland Ltd on rocky reef life 

in the Hauraki Gulf. 

• New Caledonia: With a team 

from Conservation International 

a survey of coral reef and lagoon 

fishes. 

• Guide to the Kermadec Islands 

for Jacques Cousteau on the 

Calypso. 

• Guide for National Geographic 

underwater photographer David 

Doubilet on two expeditions to 

New Zealand. 

• Habitat Mapping of Tawharanui 

marine park, Mimiwhangata 

marine park, Doubtless Bay, 

Motukaroro marine reserve, 

Whangarei – to name a few. 

• 245 magazine articles with 

pictures on marine and conservation 

issues. 

He has been recognised for his 

environmental work with: 

• Forest and Bird's highest honour, 

the Old Blue Award, 2016. 

• Queen’s Service Medal for Public 

Service, 2005. 

• Mobil Environmental Award 

1974. 

Greenpeace was a big part of his 

life. His first campaign was aboard 

Rainbow Warrior II in 1990. This was 

the start of his 17-year commitment 

to the organisation. He was 

their top-side and underwater 

photographer. His understanding 

of the world’s environment was 

invaluable. His photos of marine 

life enmeshed in kilometres of 

drift netting in the Tasman Sea 

brought home to the public the 

indiscriminate carnage taking 

place off our coast by international 

fishing vessels. 

As many of you know he made 

a huge commitment with his 

long-term crayfish monitoring 

at Tawharanui. (see pages 37 – 39 

in this issue) This monitoring will 

continue with the support of 

Mountains to Sea Conservation 

Trust. 

Finally 

To his last breath, Roger never 

gave up his battle for the environment. 

Tony Enderby was good enough 

to send me his notes while sitting 

with Roger during his final days. 

Scott Macindoe, the legend who 

started Legasea, shared with me 

his recording/video when chatting 

with Roger a few days before Roger 

said farewell. 

As he struggled to breathe 

he replied to Scott McIndoe’s 

question: “So, Roger, I’m keen to 

fulfil your wishes and help get 

your message out there. It’s a critically 

important message. Could 

you introduce me to Nick and 

Tony?” 

Roger: “Yes. Hi [Dr] Nick 

[Shears],Tony [Enderby] and Terry 

Brailsford. I’m sitting here in my bed 

at the hospital in Warkworth with a 

wonderful man, Scott Macindoe. I’m 

sure you all know quite a bit about 

him already through his Legasea 

work. I believe the Legasea team 

does a wonderful job in pushing for 

sensible fishing rules and that with 

their work we may see much better 

fisheries management. Particularly 

in the Hauraki Gulf; it’s in a sorry 

state as you know. I’m only sad I 

couldn’t be around for seeing a much 

better result. But I’d like you three 

guys to make sure that fisheries 

management is hell of a lot better 

than it is 

now. And 

I hope my 

work so 

far can be 

carried on to 

create a much 

better environment 

including no-take reserves. We need 

a lot of them secure – secure so that 

they’re not frittered away. 

“The current proposals for a couple 

of marine reserves around Hauturu 

[Little Barrier Island] are particularly 

valuable and I think if we can get 

those in place that’d be absolutely 

wonderful. I think it’s a great shame 

that we didn’t get the one out the 

back of Great Barrier Island. I think 

that would’ve by now, if it’d been 

put in place when it was supposed 

to, that one would’ve been absolutely 

wonderful. Just imagine it, snapper 

hooning around out the back of Arid 

Island [Rakitu Island]. Such a loss we 

didn’t get that. But with your help 

we’ll probably get there.” 

l have only met a couple of people 

in my life that have unquestionably 

contributed to our enjoyment 

and understanding of our marine 

environment. They are the most 

humble, not seeking any form 

or recognition for their achievements, 

no ego BS, both loveable 

human beings, the late Kelly 

Tarlton (Kelly Tarlton's Sea Life 

Aquarium) and Roger Grace. 

Looking back, l wish l had recorded 

our phone conversations over such 

things as the Shifting Baseline, 

kina barrens and the failure of 

Fisheries Quota Management 

system. Maybe the CIA or the 

Russians have them! 

Rest in peace, my friend. 

Dr Roger Grace Memorial Fund 

A memorial fund has been established 

to be administered by the 

Mountains to Sea Conservation 

Trust. For information and to 

make a donation visit: https:// 

www.emr.org.nz/index.php/rogergrace-fund 

More information on the Wyland 

Foundation here: 

www.waylandfoundation.org 


SOUND 

by Dave Moran, Edit 

Coming Events 

LegaSea Update 

No more small, 

dead fish 

Dining at a food court in the 

city guarantees a range of 

flavours and types of food 

to suit your appetite. On the dark 

side, at some of these eateries 

there are undersized fish legally 

available for sale. Often these 

fish are surrounded by a tasty 

sauce and gleefully consumed 

by hungry customers with little 

thought given to where they 

came from. 

people who 

have English 

as a second 

language 

this must 

very 

confusing. 

How can 

it be okay 

to buy and 

eat small 

…a fish that can be landed legally by commercial fishers 

would, in the possession of a recreational angler, be 

illegal. And…that illegal possession could lead to a fine or 

confiscation of an offender’s boat… 

LegaSea has been campaigning to 

protect small fish from exploitation 

for many years. Juvenile fish 

are the adults of tomorrow and 

we must protect them if we want 

healthy stocks in the future. 

There is also the matter of size 

differentials. There are 11 finfish 

species that have a minimum 

legal size limit and for some 

species that size limit is different 

depending on who you are. 

Snapper caught on the northeast 

coast by a commercial fisher only 

has to be 25cm, for recreational 

fishers the minimum size limit 

is 30cm. There is no commercial 

minimum size limit for red 

gurnard so all catch must be 

landed but a 25cm limit applies to 

recreational catch. 

fish from the retailer yet it’s not 

okay for them to catch their own 

fish of the same size and enjoy 

that? It is hypocritical of fisheries 

managers to ignore this duplicity. 

If we consider this scenario in 

terms of the recent proposals 

from Fisheries New Zealand to 

remove all commercial minimum 

legal size limits it becomes even 

more concerning. That is because 

there are poor records of how 

many small fish are currently 

caught and killed using conventional 

gear so any shift to an 

open season on small fish will 

have untold impacts. 

LegaSea continues to advocate 

for conventional bulk harvesting 

methods such as trawling, purse 

…How can it be okay to buy and eat small fish from the 

retailer yet it’s not okay for them to catch their own fish of 

the same size?… 

a comprehensive response to 

the Ministry’s proposals. In our 

submission we highlighted the 

reality that removing minimum 

size limits will not change the 

incentive for commercial fishers 

to sort and discard part of their 

catch to earn the best economic 

return. Ultimately money talks. 

If we are serious about making 

meaningful progress towards an 

ecosystem based management 

system for the future we need 

to start now. And we can begin 

that process by protecting the 

animals and organisms susceptible 

to indiscriminate and 

wasteful harvesting methods. 

More info 

Full submission – Fisheries 

Change programme 

https://tinyurl.com/yycmf5zg 

Submission summary – one pager 

https://tinyurl.com/yxekmlwc 

Want to help? 

If you want to help this ongoing 

effort please support us. 

https://legasea.co.nz/support-us/ 

This all adds up to an inequitable 

situation where a fish that can 

be landed legally by commercial 

fishers would, in the possession 

of a recreational angler, be illegal. 

And depending on the circumstances, 

that illegal possession 

could lead to a fine or confiscation 

of an offender’s boat. For 

seining and Danish seining be 

phased out of inshore waters to 

protect vulnerable habitats and 

juvenile fish. 

In March this year LegaSea and 

the New Zealand Sport Fishing 

Council worked with a number 

of organisations to coordinate 

Call 0800 LEGASEA (534 273) 

Email us info@legasea.co.nz 

Subscribe at 

www.legasea.co.nz/subscribe 

Read more at 

www.facebook.com/legasea 


Queensland’s Fisheries Minister, 

Mark Furner recently announced 

his government would double its 

so called shark control programme 

(the QSCP) to $17.1million over four 

years. Just $1million of it annually 

is for research. Queensland has 

had the same programme in place 

since 1962. 

This, despite an Australian Senate 

inquiry finding shark nets should 

be phased out as they cause more 

harm than good. 

Sea Shepherd Australia is not 

happy. It’s shark campaigner 

Jonathan Clark said, “The 

Queensland Government seems 

utterly disinterested in providing 

real beach safety {by adopting] 

currently available technologies 

that are proven to be effective and 

have no impact on our precious 

marine ecosystems.” 

He said the programme does 

nothing for the dolphins, whales, 

turtles, rays and sharks that 

become entangled and killed by 

the shark nets and drumlines. 

Two humpback 

whales were 

caught In the 

shark nets in six 

days in June, one 

at Main Beach on 

the Gold Coast 

and the other at 

Rainbow Beach 

in Queensland’s 

north-east. One 

of the whales 

struggled for at 

least four hours 

before finally 

being released. 

In 2017, eight 

humpbacks were caught in the 

nets along the Queensland coast. 

Over 30,000 whales travel from 

Antarctica to the warm waters 

of north Queensland every year 

between April and November. 

About the latest entanglements 

Jonathan Clark said “Shark nets 

do nothing for human safety. They 

provide a false sense of safety 

whilst quietly killing the variety of 

sea life that ought to be protected. 

Whales, sharks, rays, dolphins, 

birds, dugongs and turtles are all 

casualties. 

“The QSCP’s budget increase 

merely creates a false sense of 

safety at our beaches.” 

Along with the 186 metres long 

shark nets (in which many holes 

SOUNDINGS 

LOCAL & INTERNATIONAL 

Queensland government doubles kill spend on sharks, 

whales & dolphins 

Solomon Islands main dive 

operators have agreed to combine 

resources to create a formal 

representative body, the Dive 

Operators Solomon Islands (DOSI). 

Participants unanimously 

agreed on the need for a formal 

association to champion issues 

affecting the local dive industry in 

tandem with the tourism industry. 

Participants include Tulagi Dive, 

Raiders Hotel & Dive, Driftwood 

Solomon Islands, Biliki Cruises, 

Dive Munda/Solomon Islands 

Dive Expeditions, Yawana Dive, 

Dive Gizo and Uepi Island Resort. 

Gizo-based Sanbis Resort and 

Solomon Dive Adventures are also 

expected to join. 

Other stakeholders are the 

Ministry of Culture & Tourism, 

Tourism Solomons, Solomon 

Airlines, and the Solomon Islands 

Chamber of Commerce & Industry. 

Tourism CEO, Josefa ‘Jo’ Tuamoto 

underlined the importance of 

having a strong, united dive 

operators’ association to help shape 

have been recorded), there are 

383 drumlines (buoys with big 

hooks attached) sitting off popular 

Queensland beaches. More than 

500 sharks were caught by the 

programme last year, but the nets 

also entangled 132 ‘non-target 

species’ such as rays, turtles and 

dolphins. 60 of them died before 

they could be rescued, including 

six dolphins, two loggerhead 

turtles and a humpback whale. 

The drumlines are described not 

so much as a barrier to sharks 

but more of a fishing device. 

Hanging straight down from 

them is a rope, a chain, and a 

fairly large hook. The hooks are 

supposed to be baited every couple 

of days to tempt and catch any 

sharks swimming nearby. But a 

television crew recently reported 

that of 58 lines they checked in one 

day, 26 had no bait on them, which 

meant they could be removed and 

it would make no difference to 

beach safety. 

Shark researcher Richard 

Fitzpatrick from James Cook 

University, said “People see the 

floats out there and think they’re 

safe, not realising what the nets 

and drumlines are actually doing. 

“The nets aren’t a full barrier and 

the drumlines are a big hook with 

a big chunk of meat on it, just 

sitting off a beach. 

“The science behind the 

programme to be honest is not that 

strong; it’s more a measure to keep 

the public happy.” 

Solomon Islands dive operators set up group 

the country’s tourism future. 

International divers make up a 

large percentage of the 28,000 

international visitors to the 

Solomons which is renowned as 

one of the world’s foremost dive 

locations. 

The destination’s 992 islands and 

unspoilt coral reefs teem with huge 

numbers and unique varieties of 

marine life added to which are 

dozens of WWII shipwrecks and 

downed aircraft. (See p31) 


SOUNDINGS 

LOCAL NEWS 

Residency granted for sea leopards 

New Zealand’s newest citizens 

like the solitary life, have leopardlike 

markings, can weigh up to 

600kg and now they’re officially 

classified as New Zealand 

residents. (See Dive Pacific 168, 

Feb/March 2019). 

NIWA cetacean biologist Dr Krista 

Hupman attributes this to Owha, 

a female leopard seal which has 

made the Waitemata Harbour 

her home since 2012 and has 

been moving between Dunedin, 

the Bay of Plenty, Auckland and 

Whangarei. Previously leopard 

seals were primarily known as an 

Antarctic species and second only 

to killer whales as a top predator. 

Together with fellow researcher Dr 

Ingrid Visser, Dr Hupman set up 

LeopardSeals.Org to foster more 

understanding about leopard seals. 

Dr Hupman also set up an 0800 

LEOPARD hotline for the public to 

report sightings of leopard seals; 

the identification of 216 individual 

seals that have visited New 

Zealand shores resulted, 74 in 2018. 

Dr Hupman and the LeopardSeals. 

org team scoured historical records 

from newspapers and museums to 

compile more than 3000 sightings, 

including some from Māori 

middens, to show leopard seals 

had been part of the New Zealand 

native fauna for centuries. 

The Department of Conservation 

announced its latest Marine 

Mammal Threat Classification 

System Report recently with the 

seals change in status. 

“Our next challenge is to 

understand their role in our 

ecosystem and to educate people 

about this magnificent addition to 

our whanau,” Dr Hupman said. 

To report a leopard seal sighting 

call 0800 LEOPARD (0800 5367273) 

Record the date, time and location 

and take a photograph if possible. 

The Department of Conservation 

recommends staying at least 20 

metres away from any you might 

encounter. 

Wyland Foundation/Dive New Zealand Magazine 

Recognition Award - "One person can make a difference". 

At the New Zealand Underwater 

Association’s AGM (see page 11) 

in Christchurch on Saturday 29th 

June it was an absolute pleasure 

to award The South Taranaki 

Underwater Club for their Project 

Reef Life programme. The Club is 

the 17th recipient of the Award 

which was first presented in 2003. 

This Project was born out of an 

idea planted at the Club’s AGM in 

August 2014, when Karen Pratt 

explained the environmental 

impact that the proposed offshore 

iron sand mining would have on 

the reefs off the Taranaki coast. 

The underwater 

photographic recording system, 

MkII, invented by Project Reef Life 

Project Reef Life 

has developed 

into a major 

community led, 

citizen science 

initiative that 

is providing 

valuable insights 

into the marine 

life and habitats 

that characterise 

the offshore reefs 

of South Taranaki 

that are 11km 

offshore. 

With the 

assistance of 

funding from 

Ministry of Business 

and Innovation 

the group have been able to build 

an underwater photographic 

recording system that is anchored 

to the reef to record the passing 

marine life over many days. 

The local community and schools 

are absolutely loving the Project. 

Many school children are getting 

The South Taranaki Underwater Club / Project Reef Life members with the 

Award: L to R: Richard Guy – Secretary STUC and Project Engineer, Bruce 

Boyd - Project Reef Life - Co Leader and Gerard Rowe - President STUC. 

involved in marine science 

projects. The local buy-in is 

extraordinary! 

Check out their website and 

facebook. You will be amazed at 

that has and is being achieved. 

www.projectreeflife.org/ 

www.facebook.com/projectreeflife/ 


Navy acquires new dive 

and hydrographic vessel 

SOUNDINGS 

LOCAL NEWS 

New Zealand’s Navy has acquired 

a Dive and Hydrographic vessel 

to replace the decommissioned 

survey ship HMNZS Resolution in 

2012 and the dive tender HMNZS 

Manawanui (now renamed MV 

Ocean Recovery – see story on page 

11) in early 2018. The new ship, 

which will be named HMNZS 

MANAWANUI is the fourth Navy 

ship to bear this name. She has 

the capability to conduct a range 

of specialist diving, salvage and 

hydrography tasks for around New 

Zealand and across the South West 

Pacific. 

HMNZS Manawanui will be 

deployed on specialised operations 

such as the surveying of lakes, 

coastlines and harbours, 

underwater explosive disposal, 

Ship Specs: 

Purpose built dive and 

hydrographic vessel, purchased 

from Østensjø Rederi, AS, Norway 

Built by Myklebust Verft AS in 

2003 

Length 84.7 m; 

Beam 18.0 m; 

Draught 6.8 m; 

Displacement (Full) 5741 tonnes; 

Range 7000 nautical miles; 

Speed 13 knots; 

Core Crew 39; Bunks 66 

Propulsion system - 4x diesel 

electric generators powering 2x 

azimuth propulsion systems and 

3x bow thrusters 

mine counter measures and 

underwater search and salvage. 

Possible missions are expected to 

include surveying harbours and 

approaches after a natural disaster 

prior to larger support ships 

landing support equipment and 

personnel, providing support to 

remove explosive remnants of war 

in the South Pacific, and salvage 

operations to find and recover 

submerged objects. 

HMNZS Manawanui will contribute 

to New Zealand’s presence in 

the region also be supporting 

government agencies including 

the Police, Customs, Ministry for 

Primary Industries and Ministry 

of Civil Defence and Emergency 

Management. 

Positioning system - Kongsberg 

K-POS Dynamic Positioning 2 (DP2) 

System 

Dive systems - IHC Hytech 3 

person wet bell and Surface 

Supply Breathing Apparatus 

through an enclosed moon pool. 

Recompression chamber 

Hydrographic Systems - 

Kongsberg EM712 multi beam echo 

sounder and EA 440 single beam 

echo sounder 

Remotely Operated Vehicle - SAAB 

Seaeye Cougar 

DV005 

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SOUNDINGS 

LOCAL NEWS 

Canterbury hosts NZ Underwater 66th AGM 

By Dave Moran, Editor at Large 

The Canterbury Underwater 

Club hosted the NZU AGM in 

Christchurch this year, on June 

28th and 29th. Friday evening was 

the traditional meet and greet 

the NZUA Board members and 

host club members before the 

formalities. 

Excellent presentations were 

delivered by Howard Reid of the 

Ministry for Primary Industries 

(MPI) on the marine impact of 

the Kaikoura earthquake. At two 

minutes past midnight on 14th 

November 2016 the 7.8 magnitude 

quake dramatically altered 

sections of the coastline and the 

topography of the underwater 

canyons off the coast. Along a 

110km section of coastline, vertical 

movement ranged from subsidence 

of 2.5m to uplift of 6.5m. 

The famous offshore canyon where 

the whales feed was dramatically 

affected with over 850 million 

tonnes of sediment cascading off 

its slopes and the canyon deepened 

a further 50m! Millions of tons 

of gases were released into the 

atmosphere, a powerful reminder 

of the massive forces released 

when the earth flexes! 

Mark Conner of Legasea updated 

us on the Fish for the People projects 

in the South Island, and we 

discussed the state of the Blue Cod 

fisheries in the Sounds, along with 

the NZ Sport Fishing, Fisheries 

Management Annual Report 

2017-2018. The Sport Fishing 

Council is utilising Legasea’s 

support base to help formulate 

and support its submissions, 

presentations, fisheries 

management reviews, policy 

proposals and environmental 

initiatives as presented to 

Government on the impact etc of 

commercial fishing including the 

Quota Management System and 

the environmental damage being 

caused by some fishing methods. 

Bruce Boyd, Gerard Rowe and 

Richard Guy presented an update 

on the amazing Project Reef Life 

Project. This Project was born out 

of an idea planted at the South 

Taranaki Underwater club’s AGM 

in Aug 2014, when Karen Pratt 

explained the environmental 

impact that South Taranaki 

Underwater club the proposed iron 

sand mining would have on the 

reefs off the Taranaki coast. 

The Project Reef Life Project is a 

community led, citizen science 

initiative that is providing valuable 

insights into the marine life and 

habitats that characterise the reefs 

of South Taranaki that are 11km 

offshore. 

Moria Rihari from Canterbury 

DHB updated delegates on the 

Christchurch Hyperbaric Medicine 

Unit which treats a range of 

conditions from decompression 

sickness and air embolism through 

to radiation injury and hypoxic 

problem wounds. 

We also heard the latest on 

Underwater Hockey from President 

Tony Colquhoun, and Spearfishing 

NZ’s Darren Shields. 

The soon to be promoted NZUA’s, 

Safety Flags video campaign was 

a highlight too. The soon to be 

promoted NZUA’s, Safety Flags 

video campaign was presented. 

Awards: 

There was no Leo Ducker Award 

presented this year. 

Wyland Foundation - Dive New 

Zealand magazine Recognition Award 

was presented to: Project Reef Life - 

South Taranaki Underwater club. 

NZU delegates at the AGM 

LtoR front row: Mark Buckland, Canterbury U/W Club, Andrea Macfarlane, Executive Officer, NZUA/Air Purity, Brian 

Dally, Mt Maunganui Underwater Club , Denis Adams & Trish Mahon-Adams, Dolphin Underwater Club, Dave Moran, 

Dive Pacific magazine, Coral Dolman, NZUWH Secretary/ East Bay U/W, Wayne Lester, Canterbury Underwater Club 

LtoR back row: Steve Bishop, NZUA/Air Purity Technical manager, Andy Stewart, NZUA Board member / Auckland Uni 

Dive Club, Tristan Reynard, NZUA President / Knights of McKinlay, Jeff Strang, NZUA Marketing/Media, Project Reef Life 

/South Taranaki Underwater Club members Bruce Boyd, Gerard Rowe & Richard Guy, and Steven Grant, Mt Maunganui 

Underwater Club 


Partnership set up to protect from oil spills of 

WW II wrecks 

SOUNDINGS 

LOCAL & INTERNATIONAL 

A remediation programme to 

protect island ecosystems from 

damage caused by oil pollution 

from World War II wrecks sunk in 

the Pacific Ocean was launched in 

Newcastle, Australia on May 23rd. 

The programme is the result of 

a partnership between not-forprofit 

Major Projects Foundation, 

the Secretariat of the 26 member 

intergovernmental Pacific 

Regional Environment Programme, 

and Australia’s University of 

Newcastle. The aim is have teams 

of scientists, engineers and 

marine archaeologists work with 

Pacific island communities to 

meet the challenges posed by the 

degradation of WWII wrecks. 

Over 3,700 World War II wrecks are 

registered globally with the most 

vulnerable locations in the Pacific: 

the Federated States of Micronesia, 

Palau, Papua New Guinea, Marshall 

Islands and Solomon Islands 

identified at high risk of oil leakage 

from sunken vessels. 

The partnership launch took place 

aboard MV Ocean Recovery, a 

refurbished ex-New Zealand Navy 

vessel (see Dive Pacific 166, Oct/ 

Nov 2018) which was bought by 

the Major Projects Foundation to 

explore priority shipwrecks. 

Using expertise from marine 

archaeologists and historians, the 

programme will identify wrecks 

posing the biggest risk of an oil 

spill. Once identified, sub-sea 

engineers and bioremediation 

experts will look at a number of 

possible techniques to prevent 

oil spills. These could include 

hot-tapping to pump out the oil 

directly from the tanks; cathodic 

(L-R) Kosi Latu, Paul Adams 

and Alan Broadfoot 

protection of the ship’s hull to 

prevent it from rusting further and 

to stimulate marine growth on 

the wreck, making it structurally 

stronger; and using bacteria known 

to eat and breakdown oil. 

Built in 1979, the 43-metre vessel, 

renamed MV Ocean Recovery, was 

purchased by philanthropists Paul 

and Wilma Adams, who started 

Major Projects Foundation in July 

2018 to help investigate damage 

caused by oil to coastal or sea life 

and coral reefs in our oceans. 

PADI, GoPro promote video contest 

PADI (Professional Association 

of Diving Instructors) has joined 

forces with GoPro to present 

a video contest in three parts: 

First, the CAPTURE contest, was 

simply to capture an amazing 

underwater experience. The 

second is open from 1 July to 15 

August to put editing skills to 

the fore. Participants are given a 

series of clips by GoPro for editing 

and is to inspire creativity and 

unique storytelling. The third is 

CAPTURE/EDIT and open from 16 

September to 31 October, where 

entrants put everything together 

(capture and editing) into one 

awesome video story. 

Each contest is open to both 

amateurs and pros. Video tips, 

tutorials and inspiration are 

available to help. 

Whether it’s capturing a shot of a 

sunken ship in the local quarry, 

an unforgettable turtle encounter 

or a freedive over a vivid reef, 

participants can enter for the 

opportunity to win valuable prizes. 

To get CAPTURE tips from GoPro 

ambassador Jeb Corliss and enter 

the contest. www.padi.com/dive/ 

gopro-evolution 

Missing diver found deceased 

A diver reported missing in May around 

1.40pm near the Waipatiki Beach area 

was later found dead. He was reported as 

separated from his group by fellow divers at 

Waipatiki beach in Tangoio in the Hawke's 

Bay. 

The man's body was located by helicopter. 

Police Search and Rescue and Coastguard 

attended the incident. The death has been 

referred to the Coroner. 

National Spearfishing champs time/date set 

The New Zealand National Spearfishing championships are 

to be based at Omaha in 2020, just north of Auckland, and the 

dates will be April 14-19th. 

Accommodation at nearby at Whangateau Holiday Park www. 

whangateauholidaypark.co.nz is offering a 10% discount to 

anyone mentioning they are there for the Nationals, with 

several other options near to hand. Zones to be dived could 

include any of the islands off the coast with the photographic 

event potentially at Goat Island one of NZ's premier marine 

reserves. 


Talking tech diving 

A dive on the RMS Niagara 

By Martin Wallis 

The RMS Niagara was an 

ocean liner launched in 

1912. On the 19th of June, 

1940, while carrying a large 

shipment of gold, being 

payment from the UK to the 

US for munitions for the war 

effort, she struck a German 

laid mine off Bream Head, 

Whangarei and sank to the 

bottom at 121 metres. 

An Australian salvage 

company was able to recover 

555 gold bars in the very 

early 1940s and another 30 

were salvaged in 1953. Which 

apparently leaves five 12kg 

gold bars remaining there to 

this day. (For more information 

on the history of the wreck see 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ 

RMS_Niagara). 

It was three years and two 

months since Andrew Simpson 

and I had previously enjoyed this 

wreck dive and we had a few other 

punters more than keen to come 

along to see this piece of New 

Zealand history for themselves. So 

the dive team consisted of Andrew 

Simpson, Darryl Lowndes, Guy 

Bate and myself and once again 

our choice of operator, Yukon Dive 

Charters with Glenn Edney at the 

helm. 

A lot goes into the planning these 

technical dives including planning 

and analyzing CCR (closed circuit 

rebreather) and bail-out gases, 

who will run top-side operations, 

safety divers, and permits and the 

like, and none of it would’ve been 

possible without the voluntary 

help of Vicky Thompson, David 

Pearce and Herbert Segmuller. 

Most of all we owe the biggest 

thanks to Keith Gordon for his 

help, advice and many stories 

about this historic wreck. 

The dive procedures were almost 

identical to that for the HMS Puriri 

dive (see Dive Pacific 169) except 

for extra planning required for the 

additional depth, so I won’t bore 

you with repetition. 

On the first attempt we must 

have hooked into a piece of debris 

rather than the wreck itself as we 

ended up finding nothing but the 

tracks of the shot line pick in the 

sand on the sea bed. We followed 

these tracks for a couple of 

minutes to no avail and called the 

dive off, completing decompression 

within two and a half hours. 

The following day (my 3rd dive on 

this wreck) was the best to date. 


Martin diving on the centre prop 

We landed near the bow and, 

as she is lying on her port side, 

we simply kept the decks on our 

left side as we scootered her full 

160m length towards the stern. 

As is the case on the Puriri, this 

ship is covered in fishing line and 

nets so situational awareness is 

paramount. The wooden decks 

have large holes throughout so 

there are many points of entry for 

penetration but that was not part 

of our plan. I did stop in a couple 

of places to peer inside during the 

traverse but there wasn’t a lot to 

see in those spots. We completed 

the bottom portion swimming 

around the centre propeller; 

I believe the port propellor is 

buried in the sand as we saw no 

sign of it, then came around the 

hull, over the long starboard prop 

shaft and followed it back out to 

the starboard propeller which is 

covered in medium sized black 

corals and is really quite picturesque. 

The small amount of hull we saw 

…This ship is covered in fishing line and nets so situational 

awareness is paramount. The wooden decks have large holes 

throughout so there are many points of entry for penetration 

but that was not part of our plan … 

looked intact but that piece near 

the stern is the only piece we laid 

eyes on. The Niagara is constantly 

drip feeding oil towards the 

surface and you can tell when 

you’re right over the wreck 

by the oil slick on the surface. 

During this dive we didn’t see 

any obvious points of leakage so 

further investigation is definitely 

required! 

We now had only a couple of 

minutes of our 25 minute bottom 

time left to check out the stern 

railings during which time the 

resident school of Golden Snapper 

checked us and I prepared the 

ASMB (surface marker buoy) that 

would soon be attached to our 

floating decompression station at 

the surface. 

During our ascent one of the 

largest schools of kingfish I’ve 

ever seen circled us, and stayed 

with us from roughly 100m at the 

top of the wreck all the way back 

up to 50m. 

There should have been some 

marvellous photo recordings of 

this piece of WWII history, but 

alas déjà vu, some moisture got 

into my camera housing leaving 

drips and mist on the inside of the 

dome port. The photos here were 

all taken by Andrew Simpson on 

our Niagara 2016 trip and remain 

the best images we have of this 

wreck. 

In the next issue I’ll cover the 

shallower but more technical dive on 

the Kamikaze Drop-off that was the 

start of the build up to both the HMS 

Puriri and RMS Niagara dives. 


You too can become a Marine 

Citizen Scientist! 

…simply by sharing your observations and photos 

By Nicole Miller 

Scuba divers, spearfishers and 

snorkelers often develop a great 

eye for, and knowledge about their 

local marine life. Many divers 

have favourite marine species, or 

sometimes try to photograph and 

identify as many species as they 

can. A successful critter hunt 

creates a real buzz. 

Wellington divers are particularly 

lucky having easy access to a fully 

protected marine reserve and a 

good seafood hunting ground right 

on the city’s doorstep. Wellington’s 

South Coast is home to many 

weird and wonderful inhabitants, 

and divers and snorkelers are 

often interested in exactly those 

colourful, sometimes concealed 

and hard to find (cryptic) species 

that so easily go unnoticed. 

Sharing your observations of 

them with friends and family is a 

great way to share your passion, 

and marine enthusiasts can also 

become citizen scientists simply 

by submitting these observations 

to science projects. The data 

provided, combined with other 

similar observations, becomes 

a valuable asset as it provides a 

snapshot of our marine biodiversity, 

documents change along our 

coasts over time, and helps experts 

develop recommendations for 

marine management. 

From left to right: Antonia Cooper (RLS Australia), Ramadian Bachtiar, 

Molly Crowe, Nicole Miller, Yaroslav Panfylov, Cathryn Quick 

name, or get help with identifying 

their finds. 

It might take just one small inspiration 

to head off on a search. A 

National Geographic article on 

the diversity and taxonomy of 

highly elusive sea slugs, which 

From left to right: Yaroslav Panfylov, Molly Crowe, Nicole Miller 

iNATURALIST 

For instance, observations 

recorded on the online platform 

iNaturalistNZ reveal that 

Wellington’s Taputeranga Marine 

Reserve is one of the country’s 

top marine biodiversity hotspots. 

Visitors there have recorded about 

2,000 observations with more than 

350 species noted to date. And it’s 

easy. Everyone can just sign up and 

submit their photos of animals and 

plants, and even suggest a species 


mimic their food, inspired me to 

take a closer look at the Caulerpa 

seaweed in the Taputeranga 

Marine Reserve. Ten minutes into 

my snorkel and still close to shore 

I had found two Sacoproteus spp. 

sea slugs, and a few minutes later 

my buddy had the photos on her 

camera. 

REEF LIFE SURVEY 

Scuba divers with some knowledge 

of their local marine life can 

also get involved in more specific 

projects. Reef Life Survey (RLS) 

trains volunteer scuba divers to 

undertake standardised surveys 

and collect fish and invertebrates 

from rocky and coral reefs around 

Sacoproteus spp. Sea Slugs in Taputeranga Marine Reserve 

the world. The data obtained 

is hosted by the University of 

Tasmania and used in many scientific 

papers, management reports 

and for setting up conservation 

projects, including one looking 

for the super rare Tasmanian 

Handfish. 

Recently Wellington Underwater 

Club divers participated in a 

successful four-day RLS training 

Cristiceps aurantiacus or crested weedfish 


Mollie Crowe 

course and are now qualified 

to submit surveys to the RLS 

database. Divers were taught to 

search thoroughly for mobile 

invertebrates and cryptic species, 

and to look for distinctive identification 

characteristics.The efforts 

by trainer and trainees paid off. We 

spotted exciting marine life during 

the course and on our subsequent 

survey and practice dives. The 

crested weedfish (cristiceps aurantiacus) 

was my favourite – what 

a pose! I uploaded the photo to 

iNaturalistNZ where experts noted 

that Wellington could be a considerable 

range extension for this 

species; it was previously known 

only in northern New Zealand. My 

buddy Cathryn also got a particularly 

nice head shot of a rarely seen 

thripenny (gilloblennius tripennis). 

MORE UNUSUAL FINDS 

The incredible ability of some 

cryptic fish species to change 

colour patterns to match their 

habitat was one of the big surprises 

for me. I spotted two different 

coloured banded weedfish (ericentrus 

rubrus) and two topknots 

(notoclinus fenestratus), one blending 

into brown seaweed while the 

other hid perfectly in red seaweed. 

Cristiceps aurantiacus or crested weedfish 




Box jellyfish (carybdea sivickisi) 

Another unusual find was a 

box jellyfish (carybdea sivickisi) 

with folded up tentacles. During 

daylight box jellyfish hide under 

rocks or seaweed by attaching 

themselves to the substrate 

using adhesive pads on the top 

of their bell. Box jellyfish are 

known to congregate for mating 

in Australia and now the observations 

of marine citizen scientists 

suggest they also congregate in 

Taputeranga Marine Reserve in 

early summer! 

Examples like these show there 

are many enormously important 

discoveries to be made, and that 

P A C I F I C 


recreational divers and snorkelers 

can make them. 

GETTING STARTED 

If you are a diver or snorkeler with 

an underwater camera and want 

to get involved, check out iNaturalistNZ. 

It’s easy, and greatly 

rewarding to know your observations 

build scientific knowledge, 

provide resources for other marine 

enthusiasts to learn about the 

marine life they interact with, and 

can add directly to science, conservation 

and management efforts. 

There are a lot more marine and 

coastal citizen science projects 

around the country. Check them 

out at the Mountains to Sea Trust, 

Project Baseline groups, and 

Curious Minds. You can download 

marine guides and other online 

resources too, from Marine Meter 

Square, NIWA and the environment 

section on the NZUA website. 

Other projects to follow are What’s 

That Fish? and . 

If you are in Wellington and 

interested in Reef Life Survey get 

in touch with the Wellington 

Underwater Club 

www.wuc.org.nz 

wellington.underwater@gmail.com 

RLS training for them was made 

possible with support from Reef 

Life Survey Australia, Friends of 

Taputeranga Marine Reserve and 

Dive Wellington. 

Visit: Taputeranga Marine Reserve 

on iNaturalistNZ: 

https://inaturalist.nz/projects/ 

taputeranga-marine-reserve 

Reef Life Survey online: 

https://reeflifesurvey.com 


P A C I F I C 


P A C I F I C 



ISSUE 168 - $9.90 inc GST 

February / March 2019 

P A C I F I C 

Why is Wakatobi so 

compelling? 

Our definitive guide 

Special subscription deals on now! 

Get 8 issues for the price of 6 ($57) SAVE 25%! 

Get 15 issues for the price of 12 ($103) SAVE 25%! 


What to do when a shark shows up? 

The wrecks & reefs of Gizo 

NIWA’s underwater photo magician 

The seas are warming... 

Leopard seal applies for residency 

Three dive pioneers pass on 


DIVE NZ D168.indd 1 29/01/19 10:40 AM 


TRAVELLING FOR A CAUSE 

Taking in Fish Geek Week! 

At Raj Ampat’s Misool resort 

By Sarah Ford 

If you’re a passionate diver, interested in identifying 

fish and their behaviour, and keen on 

conservation you would really love Fish Geek Week 

at the Misool Resort in Indonesia’s Raja Ampat. 

Fish Geek Week runs annually during April/May and 

this is where Conservation International’s Dr Mark 

Erdmann and Misool’s Sabine Templeton talk about 

why they have dedicated themselves to this mysterious 

underwater world. 

The Raja Ampat archipelago comprises 1500 islands 

just off Sorong in West Papua and is arguably the 

worlds’ most marine biodiverse environment. Misool 

is a dive resort and conservation centre just south of 

the equator inside a No-Take-Zone and a shark and 

manta sanctuary of 46,000 sq km around the island of 

Batbitum. 

Manta tagging Photo: Shawn Heinrichs 

Misool used to be a shark finning site but thanks 

to resort founders, Andrew and Marit Miners, the 

practice was stopped and sharks protected. Now the 

shark population inside the no take zone is 25% higher 

than just outside it. 

Misool Resort is a paradise. Our villa overlooks 

the house reef and spectacular Fiabacet dive 

site. Turquoise waters… a white sandy beach. We 

frequently saw baby blacktip sharks and turtles swim 

close by. 

…Now the shark population inside the no take 

zone is 25% higher than just outside it… 

Walking sharks, wobbegong sharks, 

whale sharks… 

As you might imagine the diving is simply amazing. 

Every imaginable tropical fish and creature lives 

nearby. Some highlights were mantas (oceanic and 

reef), epaulette (walking sharks), wobbegong sharks 

and so many pygmy seahorses I couldn’t take all of 

them in. And set against beautiful large gorgonian 

fans! An abundance of squid, cuttlefish, squat lobsters, 

sharks, barracuda, large Napoleon wrasse, big schools 

of humphead parrot fish and sweetlips. 

Protection paid for 

The Misool Foundation works with the local community 

to protect some of these reefs, the world’s richest. 

They practise sustainable tourism, including paying 

rangers to protect the area. The Foundation also 

provides teachers at the local school and pre-school. 

Another exciting business project aims to recycle 

ocean bound plastic and reward contributors with 

a bank balance while educating the young about 

protecting the marine environment. 

Every evening and in some days dive guests attend 

lectures with fascinating discussions on marine life. 

Knowing more about your world 

Dr Mark Erdmann must be the world expert on 

Blennies. Here in West Papua he has a great ‘library’ of 


Photos by Dr Mark Erdmann

Raj Ampat from the air 

more like a gecko with 

their short nose, elevated 

eyes and two dorsal fins. 

They use their pectoral 

and pelvic fins to ‘walk’ 

on, and are active at night. 

Mark has discovered three 

different species of them 

around West Papua. 

and evolution and the difference 

between Reef Manta and Oceanic 

Manta. 

At other times we learned about 

Misool’s founders Andrew and 

Marit Miners, the hard times 

and challenges they faced, and 

how they went about redefining 

Dr Mark Erdmann discusses a newly 

found species of fangblenny. 

them - 74 different sorts in fact and 

with all but three found at between 

three and 20 metres depths. These 

pretty little herbivores with blunt 

heads, some with cirri tentacles, 

grow to about 6cm, are bottom 

dwellers and often found hiding 

in holes. Fourteen species are 

endemic in Raja Ampat. 

Mark introduces the huge variety 

of coral reef fishes here, and how 

to identify them. His wide knowledge 

extends to his own discovery 

of many new species. 

The talks on sharks include the 

Walking Shark, Whale Shark and 

Wobbegong sharks; of the six 

varieties of Wobbegong found 

globally, three are in West Papua. 

Walking sharks which are closely 

related to bamboo sharks and 

usually grow to 65-75 cm, look 

…By communicating too much about “continents of 

plastic” 930 Manta have been identified… and my family 

was lucky. We were able to ‘adopt’ a large black Oceanic 

Manta, a pregnant female we named Aroha… 

Sabine Templeton, who 

runs the dive centre, gave a 

great talk titled ‘The Secret 

Life of Manta Rays’ - their history 

sustainable tourism in this 

isolated area. Last year they were 

recognised as Scuba Diving Sea 

Heroes by Scuba Diving Magazine. 

Atelomycterus erdmanni, a new species of walking shark 


Manta ray 

Misool marine lake jellyfish 


Whale shark Photo: Mark Erdman 

Tagging Mantas 

One most exciting expedition 

during Fish Geek Week was going 

to Magic Mountain with Mark to 

witness his tagging of Mantas. 

Fourteen were so identified while 

we were there. 

Hemiscyllium galei 

…Foundation also provides 

teachers at the local school and 

pre-school… 

In all about 930 Manta have been 

identified with some of them 

tagged so they can be tracked in 

the area. My family was lucky. 

We were able to ‘adopt’ a large 

black Oceanic Manta we snorkelled 

with, a pregnant female we named 

Aroha. 

Misool is totally unique, a long 

way to travel to get there, but 

seeing dedicated people strive to 

protect the marine environment up 

close is so heartening. What they 

are doing is inspirational in this 

magical place, an example for the 

rest of the world. 

And Fish Geek Week was great fun! 

A rewarding dimension to a great 

dive holiday. 

You too can become a Fish Geek! 

Footnote in from Mark: 

“I just received confirmation 

that one of the gobies I collected 

while on the Fish Geek Week is 

definitely a new species and we 

are moving forward with a name 

honouring Andrew and Marit 

Miners, the founders of Misool 

EcoResort. Finding a new species 

is always a cool thing!. 

Sweetlips ball ribbonned and diagonally banded fish 

To watch on You tube: 

‘Tales by Light’ Season 3 

‘Paradise in Peril’ by Shawn 

Heinrichs 

and 

‘The Last Resort’ - Misool Eco 

Resort Raja Ampat 


S 

pearos 

notebook 

Winter surprise! 

As the summer holidays wound 

down at the end of January the 

best spearfishing started to kick 

in. The fish heard the camp sites 

and boats packing up and started 

to head back home – they realised 

it was safe to come out of their 

hiding places. The water temperature 

stabilised over the 20 degree 

mark and with that corridors of 

blue water formed. 

After a long but anti-climactic 

summer we headed out for an 

afternoon dive off Mangawhai. 

We did not have high hopes as the 

water temperature had begun to 

drop and there was a bit of wind. 

We were just hoping for a quick 

evening snapper snoop. But on the 

way out the water looked pretty 

clear so we anchored on a piece of 

exposed coastline and jumped in. 

To our surprise the visibility was 

amazing, clearly seeing the fish on 

the bottom in 20 metres of water! 

With that in mind I headed off to 

deeper water to explore where I 

hadn’t dived before due to a lack of 

visibility and strong tides. 

Winter kingfish 

As soon as I hit the pressure point 

where weed meets sand in around 

30 metres, the abundance of fish 

life was incredible! The demoiselles 

were very high up in the 

water column, a good sign for 

impending predators. Sure enough 

a mass of big Koheru flew through 

lit up with beautiful yellows. 

Trailing behind them was a large 

…To our surprise the visibility was amazing, clearly seeing 

the fish on the bottom in 20 metres of water!… 

school of healthy looking kingfish 

hell bent on feeding. Kingfish are 

always a welcome addition due to 

their winter conditioning making 

fantastic raw fish and nice fatty 

flesh for steaks. I took a nice fish 

around 15 kilos with a simple head 

shot with my 110 Wettie Viper. 

Scanning below, I was able to make 

out the rock structure at 30 metres 

- an incredible scenario for winter 

time. 

On a likely looking rock below I 

was welcomed with a nice John 

Dory. Once spotted they are 

usually easy to spear, but finding 

with Jackson Shields 

them, and the challenging conditions 

they can be found in, makes 

them a rewarding catch. 

The current was pumping through 

making it difficult to stay on the 

spot. My two dive buddies had 

to work a bit harder as one was 

carrying his large camera and 

the other was having equalizing 

problems. But we were undeterred, 

and every dive we got buzzed by 

kingfish coming in to check us out 

on the bottom. 

A profusion of John Dory! 

As I rounded the point of an 

exposed weed bank, the edge 

became broken, typically not 

productive for the species we hunt. 

But in this case there was a profusion 

of John Dory! I had already 

shot two more in close vicinity of 

the first one out on the sand but 

on this broken weed bed, the John 

Dory were in tandem hunting the 

bait fish, sometimes in threes 

parked up next to each other. An 

…But then back on the surface 

Sam began to cough… 

amazing sight and one I cherished 

so much I became uninterested in 

spearing them. Instead I went back 

down with a camera. 

Photo Sam Power 

Sam Power with big John Dory 

Filming takes over 

The excitement level was too 

much, and my dive buddies in 

the boat were keen to get back in. 

We drifted further through the 

weed bed to where the edge began 

to become more distinctive and 

soon enough Sam found another 

big John Dory parked up after 

gorging himself no doubt on the 

surrounding bait fish. I filmed his 

approach, which got a little erratic 

due to the depth, strong current 

and ensuring I was in fact filming. 


Photos by Sam Power 

Going deeper and deeper? 

Spearfishers seem to be diving deeper and deeper as 

our understanding, exercise regimes, and improvements 

to equipment allow us to push on further than 

in the past. A noticeable change with equalizing and 

comfort occurs once past 30 metres (for us mortals). 

Once past 40 metres the body seems to come under 

even more stress when trying to hunt fish, moving 

around or lying on the bottom. 

Prognosis? 

My dive buddy Sam’s day ended after that dive as we 

came to the obvious conclusion he should stay out of 

the water. He booked in with a doctor for a scan and 

they noticed the damage and suggested three months 

of no diving at all. 


Once you get a lung squeeze you seem to be more 

susceptible to it too, as you have scar tissue from it. 

Certainly its a big learning experience for us all, to be 

cautious when pushing your limits, and to make sure 

you make a controlled progression. 

Blood 

But then back on the surface Sam began to cough. And 

on the boat the coughing resulted in blood clumps 

coming up, a worrying sign for sure, what with a fair 

bit of blood in his saliva as well. I had seen something 

similar before with another dive buddy but never this 

much. I suggested it could be lung squeeze which, in 

short, is damage to the lungs resulting in small tears 

(in my uneducated knowledge). But I had never seen 

anything like this, though from what I have been told 

and seen, many factors can lead to it. For example a 

lack of ‘warm up’ diving resulting in the lungs and 

diaphragm not being stretched enough to cope with 

the erratic and straining movements required under 

pressure. The cold water probably didn’t help. Sam had 

not been diving for a while and certainly not to the 

depths we were doing. 

…A noticeable change with equalizing and 

comfort occurs once past 30 metres (for us 

mortals)… 

“Warming up” 

When diving to these depths I have been told to be 

mindful to minimize twisting or erratic movements, 

and to use the stretching techniques familiar to free 

divers who use them to make their diaphragms more 

flexible. It’s important to ‘warm’ into deeper dives. 

Though this condition tends to be more likely when 

diving past 30 metres, I have heard about people 

getting it when diving shallower than 20 metres. 



Discovering Blackwater diving… 

in a search for the new 

By Fabien Michenet 

Velliger, the pelagic larva of a shell 

At the centre of the Pacific lies tropical Tahiti, where many volcanic islands emerge from the ocean 

and where their steep slopes plummet to the ocean floor 4000 metres below the surface. This is the 

very type of geographic relief ideal for ‘top of the abyss’ or ‘Blackwater’ diving as we can navigate to 

these locations within minutes from shore and make new discoveries down to 1500m. 

It's 9:30pm. We cut the boat’s 

engine. There is no moon; the 

Milky Way stands out in striking 

relief. In the distance we can see 

the lights of Tahiti, and in the 

opposite direction, those of Moorea 

20 km away. No other craft is 

visible in this channel separating 

the two islands. 

The sea is perfectly calm; no wind 

or swell. A slow current drifts us 

northward, bringing with it all the 

planktonic wildlife from the reefs 

just a few hours before. 

We immerse a strong light in the 

sea connected to the boat by a line 

we will follow in our drift dive. As 

we watch it sink, a Mobular Ray 

twirls for a few moments around 

it. It stimulates our curiosity and 

helps us lose any sense of misapprehension 

before we switch into 

black water mode. Because we 

most definitely are in a current 

particularly rich in planktonic life 

and this is what we have come to 

photograph. 

Offshore, the sea at the surface 

at night is full of life. During 

the day the intense solar light is 

particularly rich in phytoplankton 

but every night juvenile animals 

which live during the day hidden 

in the depths, rise to the surface 

for feeding. And the rise of these 

animals goes hand in hand with 

those of their predators. 

This cycle which occurs every 

night in all the oceans of the world 

for a multitude of forms of ocean 

life, is called 'vertical migration' by 

scientists and its one of the most 

important of all migrations in the 

animal kingdom. 

Diving at night off the coast from 

the reefs is an opportunity to 

observe the juvenile stages of 

almost all reef species: fishes, 

crustaceans, molluscs and so on. 

But here too there is a myriad of 

other life forms drifting; jellyfish, 

salps, ctenophores, pteropods, 

Atlanteans, and the larvae of 

pelagic and deep-sea fish which 

are extremely rare, and never 

before photographed in their 

natural environment. 

…here too there is a myriad of other life forms drifting: 

jellyfish, salps, ctenophores, pteropods, Atlanteans, and the 

larvae of pelagic and deep-sea fish which are extremely rare, 

and never before photographed… 

Occasionally too we expect to 

see pelagic sharks, or banks 

of dolphins hunting squid and 

attracted by the night lights of the 

divers. 


Alciopid worm 

Technical info 

During BW dives I use a Nikon d810 

with 60mm or 105 mm macro lens 

in a nauticfam housing with 2 inon 

z240. Usually speed 1/320 aperture 

between 1/11 and 1/32 (details in 

Exif) 

Juvenile long arm octopus 

Fabien Michenet is a medical doctor 

based in Tahiti for 10 years. He has 

been taking photos underwater 

for 12 years and these have been 

published in various French and 

international publications. 

Some of his awards are: 

Wildlife Photographer of the Year 

finalist underwater 2014 & 2015. 

Our World Underwater (USA): Best 

in show 2014 , and many awards in 

macro and wide angle categories. 

Tornaria, a free-swimming larva of the 

immature form of an acorn worm 

Leptocephalus (larval eel) 

(about 12cm) 

This leptocephalus larvae is 

a juvenile of some kind of deep 

unidentified eel. Measuring 10 to 

12cm, it is entirely transparent and takes 

the shape of a wheel when not swimming 

around. When moving, it acts like a snake and 

can quickly vanish in the darkness of the deep 

when disturbed. 


Juvenile deep sea fish (about 2.5cm) 

This abyssal monster is the juvenile 

of a very deep bottom dwelling 

fish called Brotulotaenia. 

The chances of spotting 

one of these wonderfully 

coloured creature in 

accessible depth are very 

weak. 

For black water diving you need: 

In practice, despite some of the 

weighted lights being attached at 

intervals of 20m, nevertheless they 

move around every other minute. 

You also need to be vigilant about 

the depths on your dive; the risk is 

you can easily forget how deep you 

are as you follow an animal you 

want to photograph. 

Conditions elsewhere sometimes 

differ from those described here 

to produce these images. If structures 

near where you dive do not 

currently offer night dives as for 

a Tahiti-pelagic dive, it is possible 

to dive in Blackwater in Hawaii, 

Indonesia, Florida and Japan. 

Another trend is for the Blackwater 

experience to be offered anchored 

in 20 m depth with tens of 

thousands of lumens of light 

played on the surface to quickly 

attract some iconic subjects, 

deprive them of encounters with 

the animals moving offshore or 

fleeing actively strong lights. 

Juvenile long arm octopus 

A juvenile flounder (Chascanopsetta lugubris) 


Setting up your photographic 

equipment 

A number of these animals are very 

small, sometimes in the order of a few 

millimeters. Therefore, for underwater 

photography of them a macro lens is 

preferred. Use it with the minimum 

focal distance and maximum magnification 

ratio to obtain the best advantage. 

DSLR housings with a 50mm or 

60mm macro lens appear currently to 

be the best configuration for this. 

A focal length shorter than the 100mm 

macro that is popular with underwater 

photographers allows you to limit 

the distance between the object and 

the subject, and to more easily track 

their often erratic movements in the 

viewfinder. 

To limit shake blurs, use fast shutter 

speeds between 1/200th or 1/320th 

depending on the subject, so that the 

strobe flashes dedicated to macro 

photography will produce extremely 

brief lighting. 

To find topics in open water and to 

allow the auto focus of the case to 

work best, a torch that produces a very 

strong light and which is attached to 

the subwoofer is very useful. But you 

need to be able to decrease its intensity 

when animals approach so you do 

not scare them away. 

Ribbon fish (body about 3.5cm) 

This small long ribbon fish called Zu cristatus, 

shows characteristic extensions of the fins that 

extend to 50 cm or more. Once adult, it will 

reach more than a metre long. Living in very 

deep waters, it is extremely difficult to spot 

alive in the wild. Eventually, during vertical 

migration, it can be seen late at night. 

Larval anemone (about 3.5cm) 

This little sea anemone (larval stage) is 

wandering in the open ocean. Its stinging and 

sticky tentacles are used to catch prey and to 

bring them straight to its mouth. It will grow to 

fix on an adequate substrate, if it survives the 

numerous predators that travel by night to hunt 

on this kind of prey. 


SOUNDINGS 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

The oceans, cradles of viral diversity 

New research on data derived 

mainly from the Tara Oceans 

expedition in 2009 to 2013 has 

generated an archive of viruses 

found in all the world's oceans. 

Led by the University of Ohio 

in the US, the study, involving 

teams from several research 

institutes associated with 

the Tara Oceans Research 

Federation has brought the 

number of identified oceanic 

viral populations from 16,000 

to nearly 200,000. The research 

was published as the cover 

story of Cell magazine on May 

16, 2019. 

The findings show the importance 

of the oceans as a reservoir 

of marine viruses and 

will be referenced extensively 

for understanding the role of 

viruses as ocean ecosystems 

respond to the impacts of 

climate change. 

For the research the Tara 

Ocean Foundation and partners 

used the resources of the Tara 

Oceans expedition to collect 

and analyze 35,000 samples of 

marine plankton. More than 

200 scientists from some 20 

international laboratories were 

involved. 

Viruses play a role in transporting 

carbon from the surface 

to the ocean seabed, the 

"biological pump". It is therefore 

essential to identify them and 

understand their functioning, 

dynamics and role in marine 

ecosystems. The study is 

leading to an understanding 

of the genetic variation within 

each virus population, their 

evolution and the impact of 

ocean viruses globally. 

Viruses impact all other marine 

planktonic organisms (bacteria, 

archaea, protists, and animals) 

and can change the structure of 

bacteria populations when they 

colonize them by stimulating 

their metabolism and modifying 

their evolutionary trajectory. 

In this way they can influence 

the ability of the oceans 

to sequester carbon from the 

atmosphere. 

Micro-organisms in marine 

plankton play a vital role since 

they produce more than half 

of the oxygen we breathe and 

absorb carbon dioxide from the 

atmosphere, transferring it to 

the bottom of the ocean. 

By developing new methods to 

sequence the viruses in planktonic 

populations, researchers 

can understand genetic variation 

between individual organisms 

within each viral population, 

between populations 

within each viral community, 

and between viral communities 

across several environments 

of the oceans, as well as the 

driving forces behind all these 

variations. 

The global maps of viral diversity 

are surprising. Almost all 

virus communities are divided 

into only five groups, depending 

on their location and depth. 

The greatest viral diversity 

measured in the Arctic Ocean 

is astonishing. Most previous 

studies of uni-cellular and 

multi-cellular organisms have 

shown the highest diversity is 

in the tropics, with decreases as 

one moves towards the poles. 

But the new findings suggest for 

instance, that the Arctic Ocean 

is a cradle of viral biodiversity, 

which highlights again the 

importance of the Arctic (and 

Antarctic) region for biodiversity. 

SPUMS conference major success 

The South Pacific Underwater 

Medicine Society’s (SPUMS) 48th 

Annual Scientific Meeting in 

Honiara recently was the biggest 

ever-dive related conference held 

in the Solomons and a major 

success with 100 + delegates 

attending from Australia, the US 

and elsewhere around the world. 

“Hosting SPUMS in the Solomon 

Islands has presented up with an 

excellent opportunity to showcase 

our expertise in successfully 

delivering a major convention,” 

Tourism Solomons CEO Josefa ‘Jo’ 

Tuamoto said. 

“Judging from the feedback 

received from the delegates, and 

word of mouth we know the real 

winner at the end of the day is 

the Solomon Islands dive industry 

which we are confident now stands 

to benefit for many years to come,” 

he said. 

The conference was spread across 

five days of practical morning 

dive sessions near Honiara and 

in Tulagi followed by scientific 

meetings every afternoon in the 

Solomon Kitano Mendana Hotel. 

The task of catering for the large 

group of divers was managed by 

Diveplanit Travel with help from, 

among others, local transport 

operator Travel Solomons and 

Dive Munda which stepped in to 

assist the Tulagi Dive team with 

additional dive guide support. 

(From left) Tourism Solomons CEO, 

Josefa Tuamoto; Tourism Solomons 

senior marketing officer, Fiona Teama; 

Diveplanit director, Simon Mallender; 

Ministry of Culture Permanent 

Secretary, Andrew Nihopara, & SPUMS 

president, Professor David Smart. 


Fish bombing kills three divers 

Two Chinese tourists and a local 

dive master have been killed 

by fish bombs while diving in 

waters off Semporna on Sabah’s 

east coast on July 5th. Sabah 

police commissioner Datuk Omar 

Mammah confirmed the deaths. 

It is believed that the local dive 

master was underwater with the 

two male Chinese tourists on a 

scuba dive at about 5pm when the 

incident happened. 

Those killed were Malaysian 

divemaster Ab Zainal Abdu, 30, 

and Chinese nationals Zhao Zhong, 

26, and Xu Yingjie, 26. 

Sabah's maritime and tourism 

community were in shock over 

the deaths, the Singapore Strait 

Times reported. The police are 

investigating the case believed to 

be the first involving the deaths 

of divers from fish bombing 

activities. Such activities involve 

the use of explosives to stun or kill 

fish so they can be easily collected. 

Sabah Chief Minister Mohd Shafie 

Apdal said it was time for "stern 

action" to be taken, as such 

bombing activities had been going 

on for a long time, with damaging 

effects on the environment. 

Malaysia’s World Wildlife Fund 

called for urgent efforts by the 

authorities to combat such illegal 

activities that were now a "life and 

death" issue. The group's Monique 

Sumampouw, called for all-out 

efforts to stop "illegal, unreported 

and unregulated" fishing, in 

particular fish bombs, and also 

the banning of pump boats, which 

SOUNDINGS 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

are usually associated with illegal 

fishing activities. 

A four-month study conducted 

by WWF-Malaysia in Semporna 

between June and September 

2018 recorded a total of 263 fish 

bombings. Malaysian Maritime 

Enforcement Agency (MMEA) 

Sabah director Kamaruszaman 

Abu Hassan said the deaths of 

the divers shocked the maritime 

community in Sabah's eastern 

Semporna area and also cast a 

shadow on the credibility of the 

coastguards in dealing with fish 

bombing. 

In another report two men had 

been arrested in connection with 

the deaths. 

Obits 

Bob Marx, treasure hunter 

On July 4th Bob Marx, 82, of 

Indialantic, Florida passed on. Bob 

was a pioneer SCUBA diver, famous 

raconteur, renowned marine 

archaeologist and maritime 

historian. He is best known for 

the archaeological excavation of 

the sunken city of Port Royal, and 

the discovery of the 1656 Spanish 

galleon Nuestra Señora de las 

Maravillas shipwrecked off Grand 

Bahama Island, an expedition 

featured in a TV documentary 

Treasure Galleon. 

He was a US Marine and Korean 

War combat veteran, and in the 

1950s the Director of the USMC 

Diving School, Vieques, Puerto 

Rico. Other achievements were the 

discovery of Mayan archaeological 

sites in Honduras and Yucatan, the 

re-enactment of Columbus’ 1492 

transatlantic voyage on a replica 

of the Niña II, and organizing and 

captaining two voyages of replica 

Viking ships in 1964 and 1969 

to demonstrate the possibility 

of pre-Columbian transatlantic 

contact with the Americas. 

In all he is credited with 

discovering over 5,000 shipwrecks 

in 60 countries including 

Phoenician and Roman shipwrecks 

in the Mediterranean, and Chinese, 

Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese 

shipwrecks in the Atlantic, Pacific 

and Indian Oceans. Artefacts he 

discovered grace museum exhibits 

throughout the world. 

He wrote 50 books and 900 articles 

and papers, was Adventure Editor 

of the Saturday Evening Post, 

Archaeology Editor of Argosy 

magazine, and a consultant for 

movies and television. Bob is 

survived by his wife Jenifer Grant 

Marx, daughters, brothers, sisters 

and grandchildren. 

John Selby, hyperbaric inventor 

On April 26th John Selby, 81, founder of the SOS Group, passed 

on. John developed the Hyperlite 1 Portable Hyperbaric 

Chamber System in 1989 for the front line hyperbaric treatment 

of diver decompression sickness in remote locations. 

The first model was a portable, non-metallic chamber capable 

of transferring an injured diver or submariner from the scene 

of an accident to a nearby recompression facility. SOS now 

supplies life-saving devices for governments and dive facilities 

in over 30 countries. 

http://www.sosgroup.co 


Solomon Airlines begin direct weekly flights from Brisbane to Munda starting April 2018 

Magical Munda 

-Dive the unexplored 

www.divemunda.com 

Dive Munda is a multi award winning SSI Instructor Training 

Centre in the Western province of Solomon Islands committed 

to sustainable dive eco-tourism. Scuba dive unexplored reefs, 

WWII history, Kastom culture, hard and soft coral, cuts and 

caverns along with pelagic life and shark action, all in one of the 

last wild frontiers left on planet ocean. 

Experience Magical Munda 

at Agnes Gateway Hotel 

Award winning service and 

pristine diving 

SSI Instructor Training Centre 

WWII wrecks, caves and reefs 

– untouched and unspoilt 

Winner 


divemunda@dive-solomon.com 

Find us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram

New discoveries in the Solomons 

Munda’s remarkable Zero find 

Text and photos by Nigel Marsh and Helen Rose 

www.nigelmarshphotography.com 

The Solomon Islands is 

overflowing with relics from 

World War II that divers can 

explore. It was the scene of some 

of the most intense land, air and 

sea battles of the Pacific campaign, 

and today the country is a diver’s 

paradise littered with ship and 

plane wrecks. But while all these 

wrecks make for brilliant diving, 

one is totally unique; Munda’s 

remarkable Zero. 

In the early stages of World War 

II the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M 

Zero fighter plane had no equal in 

the air. Able to out-gun, out-manoeuvre 

and simply outperform 

all comers, the Zero made for 

Japanese air superiority. However, 

by 1942 the tide had turned with a 

new range of allied fighter planes 

that matched or even outperform 

the legendary Zero. 

Over the course of the war 

thousands of Zeros were produced, 

and thousands were lost, including 

one off Kolombangara. This island, 

about 40 minutes from Munda, was 

a Japanese stronghold in 1943, and 

with an airstrip nearby. Sometime 

in 1943 a Zero had to ditch just 

short of that airstrip, crashing into 

the ocean. 

Recently that Zero was rediscovered 

by one of Dive Munda’s dive 

guides, Sunga, resting on a sandy 

bottom in 16m. The plane is in 

remarkable condition, almost 

completely intact. Exploring it on a 

recent trip to Munda, we inspected 

the cockpit, machine guns and the 

prop. It’s encrusted with sponges 

and coral, the plane a riot of colour 

and host to a surprising variety of 

fishes and invertebrates. But when 

Sunga brushed sand away from 

its fuselage its most remarkable 

feature was revealed: text. 

We have dived on dozens of World 

War II plane wrecks but never seen 

one with text still present. The 

Japanese text has been translated 

by one of Dive Munda’s staff, Jack 

McKee. He found the inscription 

says the plane was sponsored 

by Yong’an Textile, a Japanese 

company based in occupied China. 

The sponsor number was 1049. 

This was a little bit of history we 

had never been aware of, that 

businesses in Japan helped the war 

effort by paying for the building of 

planes. 

Munda is full of wonderful dive 

sites; coral reefs, pinnacles, walls, 

caves, a Japanese shipwreck, and 

several other plane wrecks. This 

Zero fighter plane is icing on the 

cake of a spectacular dive destination. 

www.mundadive.com 

www.agneshotelsolomon.com 

Helen inspects the engine and prop 

of the Zero 

Hovering near the tail section 

Inspecting the cockpit of the Zero 

A totally unexpected sight - this text still in place on the 

Zero’s side after 76 years underwater 


New discoveries in the Solomons 

Expedition discovers more WWII wrecks 

Ewan Stevenson and Matt Wray from Sealark 

Maritime Exploration Ltd rolled off the boat and 

into the crystal waters off Olevuga Island, part of the 

Florida group in the Solomon Islands. They were on a 

search but had only the scantiest information to go on. 

Conditions were perfect so why not give it a go… 

They dived down the reef face then levelled off at 30m 

and started along the reef. Spotting a small stingray, 

Ewan’s excitement lifted and he pointed it out to 

Matt before glancing away. What Ewan missed and 

what Matt found himself staring at, was an aircraft 

wing! There in about 40m of water, resting on a 

gently sloping, sandy bottom was an inverted F4F-4 

Grumman Wildcat. 

The next dives included a couple on Kawanishi H6K 

Type 97 Flying Boats or Mavis as they were known, 

and another Wildcat. The Mavis were an impressive 

aircraft with a 40m wingspan; seven are in the Tulagi 

area with most still diveable, in reasonable condition, 

and located quite close together in an area dubbed 

‘Mavis Bay.’ 

Another favourite dive was on ‘The Gavutu Wildcat.’ 

Ewan first dived this one in 2011 and all indications 

are that it is Zeke Swett’s plane, a famous US aviator 

who became an ‘ace in a day’ when he was credited 

with downing seven enemy aircraft in a single day. 

This Wildcat sits upright in 44m of water, and is quite 

impressive. 

The new Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat we discovered—upside 

down! 

The Wildcat was intact. It looked amazing draped in 

soft corals on the white sand. 

Discovery action packed 

The aircraft was their latest discovery in an 

already action packed week. Ewan and Matt were 

staying at the Raiders Hotel and Dive on Tulagi 

Island 

(www.raidershotel.com) where they were following 

up on leads they had heard about. The latest find 

topped off a top week. 

Sealark Maritime Exploration Ltd (www.sealark. 

co.nz) is to be a not-for-profit, and a job in spare 

time. The week had begun with warm up dives on 

the bow of the USS Minneapolis, close to Raiders. 

‘Minnie’s’ bow had been hit by a Japanese torpedo 

and for the ship to get back to Pearl Harbour it was 

cut off and now sits in 21m of water surrounded 

by other war wreckage. For the ship’s return to 

Hawaii the ship’s bow was shored up with coconut 

logs. 

Cockpit of Japanese MAVIS Flying Boat 

Mystery lumps 

The next dive was on what had become known as the 

‘mystery lumps’! Investigations over several years 

there had Ewan and Matt trying to solve an intriguing 

The Gavutu Wildcat first dived by Ewan Stevenson in 2011 


sonar contact. The seafloor in 

the target area was 52m; multiple 

dives were to be avoided. A strong 

return on the echo sounder called 

for a drop down for a search. No 

luck. Matt strapped a GoPro to a 

weighted line and dropped it on 

the next contact. Upon retrieving 

it the team huddled around the 

small screen and viola! Success. 

Ewan, Bob and Yvie headed down 

to investigate these mystery lumps 

which proved to be the remaining 

parts of a cut up PBY-5 Catalina. 

These parts, with a previously 

discovered fuselage section, make 

up what Sealark now calls ‘The 

Catalina Garden.’ 

The Catalina Garden 

Plenty more to find! 

There are plenty of WWII 

mysteries to be solved in the 

waters around the Solomon 

Islands, which is why Sealark 

Maritime Exploration Ltd was 

established - to help the Solomons 

identify where these amazing 

pieces of history are located, then 

for them to benefit from them 

through conservation and heritage 

tourism. 

Discoveries like the Wildcat can 

bring direct income to the villages 

that ‘own’ the reef where the 

plane rests through dive tourism. 

Tourists need accommodation and 

services, and infrastructure of the 

sort creates employment. Ewan 

and Matt hope this ‘grass roots’ 

work builds momentum and helps 

the Solomon Islanders to prosper. 

Matt Wray inspect the hawsepipe of the heavy cruiser USS Minneapolis 

Wreck map 

Sealark Maritime Exploration Ltd. 

are publishing a map on the known 

World War II Heritage Sites of 

the Florida Islands to include the 

known dive sites of the area. If 

you would like to help to Sealark 

with this work contact Matt Wray 

(matt@sealark.co.nz). 

Beautiful, unspoilt Florida Islands in the Solomons 


The best of Fiji … 

Koro Sun 

…can be further out 

Photo: Hammer 

Gilbert Peterson continues his travelogue 

Sorry, but we had to leave the 

peace and richness of Taveuni 

behind, though loaded it was 

with stuff to do; the excellent and 

economic value of Garden Island 

Resort, (not called Garden Island 

for nothing -www.gardenislandresort.com); 

it would be so easy to 

spend a couple of weeks at each 

place all along the way. 

But pack up we did, and went off 

to traverse the glassy Somosomo 

Strait from Taveuni Island to 

Vanua Levu’s southern coast in a 

dive boat! From there a 90 minute 

trip across the island took us 

through lush growth on a quiet 

road to the Hibiscus Highway – 

hardly any vehicles at all – to be 

dropped off at the Koro Sun resort 

at Savusavu. 

Here’s a resort of the grand style, 

on a grand scale, catering for all 

types: families, couples, burnt 

out corporates. Molly showed 

us around. There’s 160 acres to 

explore, hide in a cave, or in a 

tree top villa – the whole resort 

shelters under a veritable forest of 

huge trees - escape to a floating 

bure (said to be Fiji’s only floating 

bures), swim up to a bar, do 

barefoot golf, tennis, snorkel and 

dive in the warm clear water. 

Koro Sun is located on the edge of 

its own private lagoon, a harbour 

Photo: Hammer 

Fiji sunset 


Lin Ziqui, one of our Chinese 

party 

Taveuni Island to Vanua Levu by dive boat 

with entry to many dive sites not 

so far out in the ocean beyond, and 

where Dive 4 Life operates its dive 

guide operation (fijidiving.com.fj). 

Before long we geared up and 

set off, hoping to join a group of 

hammerhead sharks at a drop off. 

We moored on a buoy marking 

the rise, but it was the afternoon 

by then, and the hammerheads 

typically show up earlier in the 

day. Nonetheless the waters were 

full of colourful coral and the usual 

tropical abundance of life, and we 

were fortunate to come across a 

very large moray eel. 

Again, at Koro Sun, we long for 

more time to explore but time is up 

and we’re back on the bus. https:// 

korosunresort.com 

Exclusive luxury defined 

Not for long. In 30 minutes we 

arrive at the secluded, exclusive 

park on a peninsular that is the 

Jean Michel Cousteau Resort. 

Genial dive host, instructor and 

guide Andy Fraser accompanied by 

manager Christine McCann greet 

us along with many of the staff. 

In Fiji the singing that welcomes 

you so often always makes you 

feel special, and you never tire of 

it. Andy is a top dive instructor 

and he’s in charge of the dive shop 

Jackie and Claudia ready for Dreadlocks 

Preparing the lomo for the traditional 

Saturday night banquet, Garden Island 


The performance at Garden Island 

resort was the full show 

operation on site (JeanMichelCousteauDiving.com). 

Bures at Koro Sun 

But the resort itself really is the main game, where every last 

bell and whistle is in attendance. Privacy to nth degree, if you 

should so desire. Luxury defined. Any normal person could 

surely find nothing more to wish for. 

We are shown around, hear the reasons why people are drawn 

here: child care to the max (rated Fiji’s best family resort); 

haute cuisine; every service; startling location; endless marine 

excursion activity options; the full five star experience; lie 

about, or superb diving just out there. 

Koro Sun corals 

Jean Michel Cousteau resort 

Photo: Hammer 

ºWe are booked for the Dreadlocks, a dive site just 20 or so 

minutes offshore, where two mounds rise from the ocean floor 

30m down. We will swim around them, inspecting the walls of 

these formations, discovering a wealth of life, and somehow, it 

feels possible but fantastic as well, I find myself humming to 

myself and giggling every so often into my mouthpiece as I go 

along. 

www.fijiresort.com 

Jean Michel Cousteau resort 

Getting there: Fiji Airways operates several flights 

to Vanua Levu daily, both to Savusavu and Labasa 

which can be cheaper though you need to add an 

hour and a half by road to Savusavu. 


Research shows northern 

crays in BIG trouble 

Male and female crays held by diver 

By Roger Grace 

In 2007, Dive magazine ran a feature by 

Dr Roger Grace (to celebrate our 100th 

edition) on the parlous state of crayfish 

in the north of New Zealand. Roger’s 

work proved prophetic. As part of the 

deep respect we have for Roger and in 

his honour at this time of his passing we 

are reprinting here that article slightly 

abridged under the original title. 

Remember this was written 12 years ago. 

What have we done to address this dire 

situation? 

Talk to any OLD diver (any diving in the 

1960’s) and you will hear stories of crayfish 

feelers bristling out of every crevice at Tiritiri 

Island, 7-pound crays at Ponui Island, plenty 

around Waiheke Island, and giant 20-pound 

plus packhorse crawling around in the kelp 

at the Cavalli Islands. What has happened to 

them? If the Quota Management System is so 

good at sustaining our fisheries, why aren’t 

there still lots of big crays out there? 

These days most divers are pleased if they can 

catch a couple of crays around 2 or 3 pounds in 

weight. Each generation of divers thinks what 

they are seeing is “normal”, unaware that what 

was “normal” 30 years ago is far different from 

what you see now. 

Well, we now have a reality check. We have 

some Marine Reserves which have been estab- 


lished for long enough to show what crayfish 

populations would have been like about 

50 years ago. And the results are a bit of a 

shock. 

I have been studying crayfish at 

Mimiwhangata and Tawharanui in a 

long-term monitoring programme which 

began in the mid 1970’s. Mimiwhangata and 

Tawharanui are Marine Parks on the northeast 

coast which have been in existence since 

the early 1980’s. At Mimiwhangata, commercial 

fishing ceased in 1994, but recreational 

fishing has continued. At Tawharanui, all 

fishing ceased in 1983, and the area has been 

totally protected since that time. My studies 

covered several years… “before and after” 

protection. 

A full analysis of results was published 

in 2006 in the scientific journal Biological 

Conservation (Shears et.al., 2006 Long-term 

trends in lobster populations in a partially 

protected vs. no-take Marine Park, Biological 

Conservation 132:222-231). All rather 

technical and necessary. 

Decadal trends of legal-sized red crays. Partial protection 

and open fishing areas . Only in the no-take area have 

crayfish numbers recovered from the hammering all crays had 

in the 1960's and 70's. 

Pictures tell the story 

To summarise the data, I have presented the 

information in three histograms (reproduced 

on these pages). 

The trends are pretty obvious. In the unprotected 

areas at Tawharanui, legal-sized red 

crays quickly dropped away to nothing! At 

Mimiwhangata, although numbers were the 

highest of the three areas in the 1970’s, over 

time they have dropped away to very small 

numbers despite the lack of commercial 

fishing since 1994. In contrast, in the no-take 

zone at Tawharanui crayfish numbers have 

increased dramatically with very high 

numbers in the current decade. 

20-minute counts of red crayfish at Tawharanui. Graph 

shows a few undersized crays in the open fishing area , but 

good numbers of small and large crays in the no-take zone . 

Not only are there high numbers, but there 

are many large crays too, with 10-pounders 

not uncommon! The results represent 800 

kilogrammes of legal-sized red crays per 

hectare of reef in the protected area, whereas 

outside the protected area on the transects 

there are none! 

20 minute counts 

I did a simple 20-minute count and size 

estimate of crays inside and outside the 

western boundary of Tawharanui Marine 

Park in January 2006. The map shows where 

I counted, the two sites being only one 

kilometre apart, on the same reef type and 


Crays on rock at Tawharanui 

Lonely sublegal cray at Mimiwhangata 

in a depth of eight metres. Anyone 

can do this. Just anchor your boat 

and search around on the bottom 

for 20 minutes. The graph shows 

the results in terms of pounds 

weight (I can estimate cray sizes 

in pounds, but have difficulty with 

kilos!). 

The difference is again very 

obvious. There are far more crays 

in the no-take zone, and a good 

size range up to three at 6 to 7 

pounds. There were NO legal-sized 

crays seen in the open fishing area. 

Notably there were far fewer 

sublegal crays in the unprotected 

area which raises an interesting 

point. If people don’t take 

sublegal crays, why are there 

far more in the protected area 

than outside? The answer lies in 

crayfish behaviour. Crayfish are 

gregarious, meaning they like to 

be together in groups. And little 

crayfish like to be where there 

are already lots of other crayfish 

including big ones. 

10 day window for breeding 

Recent research by Dr Alison 

MacDiarmid has brought to light 

some very interesting facts about 

crayfish breeding. Not only do 

large crayfish produce far greater 

numbers of eggs than small ones, 

but apparently when a female 

cray is ready to mate, it seeks 

large males to breed with because 

the fertilisation success is much 

greater than if she breeds with a 

small male. She has only a 10-day 

time window, however, in which to 

find a mate, after which time if not 

successful the eggs are resorbed 

into the ovaries which causes 

partial sterilisation for the rest of 

her life. 

…If I was a commercial crayfisherman, I would be screaming 

out for more marine reserves! I would be demanding at 

least 10 kilometres of coastline protected in every 100 

kilometres… 

Because of overfishing, there are 

now very few large males in the 

general population, so the chances 

of a female cray finding a suitable 

mate are greatly reduced. In 

no-take marine reserves and parks, 

however, there is the full size and 

age range of crays including big 

males, so only in these areas is 

breeding success assured. 

Alarm bells screaming 

All this should be ringing serious 

alarm bells for the crayfishing 

industry and fisheries managers. 

If I was a commercial crayfisherman, 

I would be screaming out 

for more marine reserves! I would 

be demanding at least 10 kilometres 

of coastline protected in every 

100 kilometres. The current way 

the fishery is managed has led to 

very serious depletion of crayfish 

stocks. We may be approaching 

a point where the few marine 

reserves we have may be starting 

to prop up the crayfish stocks 

outside the reserves. 

Past management has led to 

grossly depleted numbers, 

wrecking of the natural size and 

age structure of the population, 

disruption of natural behaviour 

and social organisation, erosion of 

natural levels of breeding success, 

and probably loss of genetic diversity. 

Not to mention difficulty for 

fishermen catching their quota. In 

CRA 1&2 (Northland and Auckland 

east coasts) catch per unit effort is 

down to 0.5kg per pot haul. That is 

on average each time a fisherman 

hauls a pot he gets one just-legal 

cray! That would hardly cover his 

fuel costs. 

It is time for a complete overhaul 

of philosophy of management of 

our crayfish populations. If you 

are concerned write to the Minister 

of Fisheries, Parliament Buildings, 

Freepost, Wellington, and express 

your views. 

Let’s get real and make some Marine Reserves. 

Marine Reserves = more crayfish = good idea! 


Protecting coral ecosystems 

How one man changed the map for community-based marine conservation 

Lorenz Mäder’s decades of work is evident through the abundance of unspoiled, 

healthy coral reefs surrounding the island, including on the house reef just 

steps from the beach 

With unique and vital coral reef ecosystem around the world 

facing threats from human activity, the need to protect them is 

ever more urgent. Traditional responses to do this have been through 

regulation and top-down enforcement. But lately conservation leaders 

have shown there’s another way, one which inspires and incentivizes 

local communities and user groups to willingly engage in grassroots 

conservation efforts A Swiss diver, Lorenz Mäder, was an early 

proponent of this approach, and the programme he created is now one 

of the world's most successful community-based, privately funded 

marine conservation initiatives. 

Lorenz Mäder, whose years 

of investment is testament 

to how sustainable ecotourism 

can work 

By Karen Stearns 

In the beginnings 

The genesis for what would 

come to be known as the Wakatobi 

Collaborative Reef Conservation 

Programme took shape in the 

1990s. Mäder had spent years 

searching for the ideal place 

to create a small dive resort, 

eventually coming to the remote 

Indonesian island of Pulau 

Tolandona in the Tukang Besi 

archipelago of Indonesia’s Banda 

Sea. From the outset, Lorenz 

understood the importance of 

protecting and preserving the 

magnificent coral formations 

he found there. At that time, 

dynamite fishing, reef gleaning 

and netting were becoming wide 

spread, and there were few if 

any restrictions on fishing and 

harvesting practices. But rather 

than lobby for governmental intervention 

and largely unenforceable 

regulations, Lorenz reached out to 

local fishermen and communities. 

Despite language barriers and 

initial skepticism, he eventually 

won them over. Drawing on his 

marine biology background he 

convinced them to set aside 40% 

of their traditional fishing areas as 

no-take replenishment zones. In 

the years that followed they saw 

significant increases in their catch, 

and became the replenishment 

zones' staunchest defenders. 

But preservation for the future isn't 

an easy concept for people living 

hand-to-mouth, Lorenz says. “You 

have to build trust, and there also 

has to be demonstrative material 

benefits.” Benefits were created 


A site known as The Zoo sports a pristine, hard 

coral slope that can be seen from the surface 

On coral reefs free of harmful fishing activities you 

will likely see large green sea turtles gliding majestically, 

as here on the house reef just steps from the resort 

beach on Tolandano 

when a six km section of reef with 

seagrass meadows surrounding 

the new resort was designated 

a permanent no-take zone. In 

exchange for this Lorenz pledged 

to make direct lease payments 

to 17 local villages using revenue 

generated by resort guests. The 

programme has since expanded 

to cover 20 km of reef, and has 

become an international model for 

private-sector conservation. 

Changing the map 

Lorenz named his resort Wakatobi, 

a word created by taking the first 

two letters of the four largest 

islands in the archipelago: Wangi- 

Wangi, Kaledupa, Tomia, and 

Binongko. Then in 2002, the 

Indonesian government expanded 

the area created by the resort’s 

conservation program to create the 

Wakatobi National Park which now 

encompassed nearly 1.4 million 

hectares, which has been designated 

an autonomous region with 

a new name: Wakatobi Regency. In 

2005 UNESCO listed the Wakatobi 

National Park as a tentative World 

Hard coral formations such as this can take several decades (or more) to develop but can be destroyed in mere 

seconds by destructive fishing practices like explosives or nets 


For a resort to be on such a remote island without causing 

harm to it is not easy. One way to reduce its carbon footprint 

was when Lorenz Mäder convinced the government to establish the 

region’s first solar power plant on the adjacent island of Tomia tying the resort 

into a local solar cooperative to supply most of its needs during daylight hours. 

Heritage Site and added it in 2012 

to the World Network of Biosphere 

Reserves. 

More than money 

Today, the Collaborative Reef 

Conservation Programme installs 

and maintains a network of 

moorings in the reserve and 

in-area harbors thereby eliminating 

anchor damage to the 

reefs. Other initiatives 

include reef 

monitoring and 

cleaning, sponsorship 

of marine biology and 

ecology education, 

daily reef cleaning, 

and sponsoring reef 

and fishing area 

patrols by local 

communities, police, 

military, and rangers. 

Wakatobi’s commitment to the 

local community has expanded 

beyond the marine preserve 

too. The resort uses traditional 

labor and materials to build 

and maintain it’s infrastructure 

providing full-time employment 

for 150 locals. It provides electricity 

for the nearby 500-person village 

and sponsors waste management 

in the area. Educational materials 

are provided to schools while the 

resort’s micro-credit programme 

assists small-scale entrepreneurs 

seeking alternatives to unsustainable 

fishing practices. 

Real rewards 

Wakatobi’s conservation and social 

initiatives have yielded substantial 

benefits. Now reefs in the marine 

preserve are in near-pristine condi- 

Since the Collaborative 

Reef Conservation 

Programme was 

initiated, healthy 

corals and sponges 

now stretch across 

the reserve’s 20 km of 

prime habitat 


Drop beneath the waves on a healthy vibrant reef with thousands of species of coral, sponges, fish and 

invertebrates and you can see good reef management is possible 

tion, and overall fish populations have rebounded 

allowing for sustainable harvests in selected areas. 

Many people see Lorenz as a visionary who initiated 

one of the world’s largest privately-funded and 

managed marine protected areas. But he says his 

motives are more pragmatic: “You can’t pack up and 

move your resort when the diving is no longer good,” 

he says. “So it’s better to do what you can to protect it, 

to enjoy it now and in the future.” 

email: karen@wakatobi.com 

www.wakatobi.com 


The deepest flooded freshwater 

abyss in the world... 

Michal Guba measures profile through Konsberg Mesotech MS1000 with Policie 

In 2016, the Hranice Abyss 

became officially recognised as 

the deepest flooded freshwater 

cave on the globe, thanks to the 

work of local divers using locally 

developed technology. 

Speleologists there have now 

reached 404 metres, and according 

to some geologists and hydrogeologists, 

the cave could continue on 

down to four kilometres. 

Hranice Karst is located at the 

intersection of two major European 

geological units, the Bohemian 

Massif and Western Carpathians in 

the Czech Republic. 

First attempts to determine the 

depth of the cave were described 

in 1580; others included a probe 

in 1900 that reached 36m. Then 

in 2014 members of the Czech 

Speleological Society began 

their explorations using their 

own locally developed Divesoft 

technology. 

Whether it is a Liberty rebreather 

diving device (back and side 

version), which allows divers 

to perform complex work at 

100m depths (drilling, enlarging 

holes, positioning sensors, etc), 

and where the rebreather's low 

breathing mixture consumption 

and partial oxygen pressure 

optimisation are fully utilized. 

They are as well useful when new 

spaces are discovered deeper thanr 

100 metres. 

Prepping for the dive 

Members of the diving exploration 

team were equipped with Freedom 

diving machines to maximise 

safety in complex dives (deep dives 

and so-called jojo dives) and also 

to ensure equipment compatibility 

of all divers. 

Currently, data collection 


Spouses producing 

diving equipment in 

land locked Roudnice 

Lucie Šmejkalová and Aleš Procháska met at 

college 30 years ago and have been doing 

business together ever since. First Ales created 

the online banking software used by Czech and 

Slovak banks. Then they decided to use their 

software experience for diving. 

"I found that helium analyzers divers use to 

control the composition of breathing mixtures 

at great depths are unnecessarily expensive 

and imperfect, said Aleš Procháska. “They could 

be made differently and better so I decided to 

make them.” 

Hranická abyss 

(temperature, atmospheric pressure, water level) is managed 

by a monitoring centre with 10 temperature and two pressure 

sensors installed. The deepest is at 180 metres, with the 

data recorded at 10-minute intervals and sent to the central 

computer once a day. 

Upon request from scientists in various fields, speleodivers 

collect samples of water, rocks and minerals; sample bat 

guano from Suchá rotunda where around 1,500 bats nest in 

the summer months; collect beetles from the dry parts of 

the abyss; and accompany fauna and flora experts in their 

explorations. 

Summary facts: 

• The deepest abyss of the Czech Republic and world’s 

deepest flooded abyss 

• First written mention: 1580 

• Recorded on map: 1627 

• Cadastral area: Hranice 

• Edge elevation: 315 m above sea level. 

• Entrance: length 104 m, width 34 m, depth 69.5 m 

• Depth of the flooded section: 404 m (2016) 

• Total depth: 473.5 m 

• Depth reached by divers: 265m (2015) 

Eight years ago, when the first 10 pieces Ales 

assembled himself were sold to friends and 

acquaintances in the one weekend, Lucie sensed 

the business potential and founded Divesoft as 

a hobby. Now the company turns over 50 million 

Euro and feeds 30 people. And their products 

are used by celebrities such as Canadian diver 

and researcher Jill Heinerth, the world record 

holder for the deepest cave dive (265 metres) 

Krzysztof Starnawski, and Discovery Channel 

and National Geographic cameraman Becky 

Kagan Schott. 

In addition to diving computers and other 

accessories, Ales designed and developed a 

rebreather, a closed circuit breathing apparatus 

designed for diving in extreme, deep conditions, 

or very long dives such as in flooded caves. 

He says: “We've combined our software expertise 

and my ideas on how a good closed circuit 

system should work. That's why everything in 

it is doubled up - computer, helium and oxygen 

sensors.” 

The development of his new concept took three 

years, several prototypes and plenty of dives in 

quarries, lakes and seas, and even a breathing 

simulator in the form of artificial lungs. 

Then they sold the software company and 

began making the doubled rebreather the 

flagship that it is for them today, along with 

their dive computers, which, thanks to their 

own software, are used in the most demanding 

dives with every conceivable combination of 

diving equipment and breathing mixture. 

Now, the markets for their computers, analyzers 

and rebreathers extend to countries like Israel, 

Australia and New Zealand, and the US. 

www.divesoft.cz 

See also Gearbag for the latest on their Solo 

Analyzer 


Profile: 

Aldo Kane: 

TV adventure wrangler 

Aldo Kane is a former Royal Marines Commando sniper who has operated and 

filmed in over 100 countries, been held at gunpoint, charged by a black Rhino, 

abseiled into an active volcano, escaped Ebola, rowed across the Atlantic and 

dived on Captain Kidd’s pirate ship. 

Currently he joins Steve Backshall 

behind and in front of the 

camera on his global adventure 

travel series Expedition on the UK’s 

BBC Two and Dave. 

Aldo’s previous projects include 

Expedition Volcano, Down the Mighty 

River and Extreme Mountain Challenge, 

and for the Discovery Channel First 

Man Out and Driven to the Extremes. 

For National Geographic he was the 

on-screen Expedition Leader for 

their flag-ship feature length Natural 

History series One Strange Rock 

(volcano) hosted by actor Will Smith. 

How did you got started in TV adventure/documentaries following 

your time as a Commando? 

When I left the Royal Marines after 10 years’ service I went off 

shore into the oil and gas industry, and I used my time off to 

gain skills, qualifications and experience that would eventually 

allow me to set up my own business looking after film crews in 

remote, hostile and extreme environments. 

What inspires you? 

I’ve been driven since I was a small child and I always knew 

what I wanted and made a plan how to achieve it. When I joined 

the Royal Marines at the age of 16, I had already been training 

for the last two years and getting fit. I am driven by challenges 

both physically and mentally. I draw inspiration from the fact 

that you can literally achieve anything if you put your mind to it 

and put in the hard work to get there. Perseverance. 

Which place(s) and experiences have you enjoyed the most? 

I have just recently finished making a series with Steve 

Backshall, the action man naturalist, called Expedition. It’s a 10 

part series on Dave Channel and for each one we visit a new 

country and take on a new challenge. I think out of those 10, I 

enjoyed our river trip in Surinam the most. It was a truly epic 

challenge in one of the most beautiful and remote parts of the 

world I have ever been. 

What makes you laugh? 

In the jobs that I do, they are often dangerous, risky and fairly 

extreme with little or no rescue probability so a sense of 

humour is vital. Joining the Royal Marines at a young age instils 

a “Gallows Sense of Humour”. Generally when things get tough, 

I try to have more of a laugh. 

You have been in many hostile places so which do you rate the most 

difficult? 

I would say the jungle is probably one of the toughest environments 

to operate in. Of course it depends on what you are doing 

and your workload but generally, if you can operate effectively 

in the jungle you can operate anywhere. 

What do you still most want to do that you haven't done yet? 

I haven’t climbed any mountains over 6,500 metres. Would love 

to climb some high mountains in the Himalayas. 

What upsets you emotionally in general? 

I don’t like to see cruelty to animals, of any sort. 

Which place or experience most affected you emotionally? 

I think this was probably the Ebola film we made in 2014. I 

was in Liberia and Sierra Leone throughout the outbreak and 

witnessed the devastation of the virus. It was harrowing to see 



Under plates of ice in Iceland coming up in Expedition, Aldo Kane’s current TV series 

so many communities ripped apart 

by the invisible killer. 

What's your take on the plight of the 

planet? 

In my travels I get to see first hand 

how the environment and the 

planet is changing. Even in the last 

five years alone I have seen great 

changes. Rivers of plastic in places 

where recycling isn’t an option, 

deforestation, illegal and legal 

mining, extreme weather events 


etc. It’s quite easy to be completely 

disheartened but we can make a 

difference, all of us can. 

P A C I F I C 

Which people do you most admire? 

Marcus Aurelius because of his 

views on life and how to live a 

good one. Ernest Shackleton for 

his unfathomable experience 

documented in the book South. 

Also Charles Darwin the naturalist 

for the expeditions and adventures 

he took part in that required so 

much courage and determination. 

Do you have a favourite place to dive? 

I have been diving for around 20 

years and am both a CCR diver and 

Commercial Media diver. I have 

been lucky enough to dive around 

the world from Mexican Cenotes 

to Iceland and the Maldives. One 

particular job that stands out was 

working on a film for the Discovery 

Channel carrying out an archaeological 

survey of the famous 

Captain Kidd’s pirate ship off the 

coast of Madagascar. 

What was your scariest dive experience? 

I have been lucky enough to not 

have too many scares whilst 

diving. I’ve had a couple of issues 

on my CCR but with good training 

managed to sort them out. I tried 

cave diving recently and found it 

incredibly all-consuming. 



P A C I F I C 

P A C I F I C 





P A C I F I C 


What you 

can see in 

Tahiti’s 

blackwater 



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What’s it like being stung 

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DIVE NZ D170.indd 1 24/07/19 12:14 PM 


GEARBAG 

Oceanic adds to dive computer range 

Veo 4.0 joins Oceanic’s ProPlus 4.0, Geo 4.0 and ProPlus X in their family 

of Bluetooth-compatible dive computers. The new entry level device 

connects to other mobile devices through the DiverLog+ App (available for 

free in app stores). 

Pre-Dive: with it you can plan your dive with alerts for time and depth, and 

select your gas mixes. Post-Dive: you can download your dive instantly to 

your mobile device, view your most recent dive profile and information, 

add photos and videos, and use the search query to filter by location, dive 

type, depth. 

With it Oceanic’s patented Dual Algorithm lets divers choose the 

decompression algorithm that best suits their diving needs without 

compromising safety. 

Other features include: • 30% slimmer profile • Up to 33% larger digits 

www.OceanicWorldwide.com/Veo-4-0 

• Firmware Auto-Update: download and install through Bluetooth 

• 4 Operating Modes: Air, Nitrox, GAUGE (with run timer) and FREE 

• SmartGlo Backlighting 

New dry glove system for SLÄGGÖ Flex Ring 

SI TECH has launched three dry glove systems that connect with SLÄGGÖ Flex 

ring; NEVA, OBERON and LIANA. The SLÄGGÖ Flex Ring allows the opportunity 

to change wrist seals instantly without gluing. 

NEVA is an easy “pull over” dry glove whereby the NEVA Ring is installed into 

the SLÄGGÖ Flex Ring and a latex glove or a PVC glove with extended latex 

cuff is pulled over it. The glove can be secured with a thick O-ring. 

OBERON allows the use of a similar system as VIRGO/Glove Lock QCP but is 

compatible with the SLÄGGÖ Flex Ring. 

LIANA is a version of Quick Glove compatible with the SLÄGGÖ Flex Ring (instead of Quick Cuff/Quick Clamp). 

Czech company Divesoft launches new SOLO gas analyzer 

Side scan sonar finds truck 

In December of 2015 the Beadle County Emergency Management 

office in South Dakota in the US purchased JW Fishers’ Dual 

Frequency 600k/1200k Side Scan Sonar system and this year it 

paid off big time when two individuals and their Mack garbage 

truck went missing. The truck was located using the scanner during 

a search of the James River, a tributary of the Missouri, and two 

bodies were found. Investigators believed there may have been an 

equipment failure. The vehicle went through the guardrail, vaulted 

an embankment, and landing in the flooded river. 

High accuracy and reliability are the claims made for the SOLO analyzer which 

measures oxygen helium concentrations in diving breathing gases for technical 

divers using nitrox and trimix mixtures. It works on the principle of measuring 

the speed of sound, thanks to which it is never necessary to replace the helium 

sensor, says Divesoft co-founder Aleš Procháska. 

“The new product is developed according to the needs of our divers who have 

been using our previous analyzer. The new one is compact, light, conveniently 

sized and more affordable,” said Lucie Smejkalova, Prochaska’s partner. 

RRP EUR $579 | USD $649 


STEPDive launches first recreational SSA 

GEARBAG 

STEPDive is claiming to be 

the first recreational Surface 

Supplied Air (SSA) system 

to partner with a major dive 

training organization, Dive 

Instructor World Association 

(DIWA), to develop ISO 

accredited diving courses. 

SSA has long been treated as 

an industry outlier but with 

STEPDive’s patent pending 

Variable Depth Control Buoy and other innovations, a new range of 

training possibilities has opened ranging from a try dive, to commercial 

and tech courses up to an instructor specialty. 

STEPDive is an Austrian start-up aiming to blend the accessibility of 

snorkelling with SCUBA diving, in particular by helping prepare children 

and families with foundation skills and safety before they progress to greater depths when age appropriate. 

The eSPEAR comes in five colours. RRP AU $299 

www.stepdive.com 

New Stabicraft 2250 range launched 

Two years in design and 32 years in its evolution, the 

Stabicraft 2250 Centrecab and 2250 Ultra Centrecab 

were launched at the Hutchwilco Boat Show back in 

May. 

The goal for it was to offer a market defining central 

cabin and walkaround, offering 360 degrees of 

fishing space. 

The Ultracab designs offer more room in the cabin 

and an immense feeling of space. So the 2250 

project continued with two versions in mind – a 

2250 Centrecab (raked back screen) and a 2250 

Ultra Centrecab (raked forward screen). Stabicraft 

has a history of taking functional concepts, like the 

buoyancy chambers, and giving them their own style. 

Another big tick is the long range 300L fuel tank. 

The hull was swamp tested in a controlled environment, 

and then rough water tested passing with no issues. 

Simrad launches first VHF radio with AIS transmit/receive 

Simrad has announced the new Simrad® RS40-B is the first VHF 

marine radio with AIS (automatic identification system) transmit 

and receive capability. 

The AIS transceiver can receive position data from other vessels 

like the original RS40 but is the first VHF marine radio capable of 

sharing its position with nearby AIS-equipped vessels. 

www.simrad-yachting.com 


GEARBAG 

Underwater video systems critical for aquaculture 

With aquaculture’s importance 

on the rise JW Fishers say 

their dropped underwater 

video systems are proving an 

important research tool with 

their ability to be set on the 

ocean floor to observe fish in 

their natural habitat. The DV-2 

video system which comes 

with two 1200 lumen LED 

lights, 150’ of Kevlar reinforced 

cable and a 500’ depth rated 

housing, was used in a recent 

development off Nova Scotia 

for a baseline benthic habitat 

survey (ocean mapping) as 

part of the proposals for new 

aquaculture sites for farming 

Atlantic salmon and Rainbow 

trout at depths of 20 to 300m. 

The Olympus TG-6 is here! 

It may seem just yesterday the TG-5 was released, but it’s been two 

years! The newest model is a modest update to its predecessor, with 

an upgrade to the LCD display (now 1.04 million dots, compared to 

460k dots); better program and aperture priority mode; and new 

underwater microscope modes, along with new white balance 

options for shallow, midrange and deep water shooting. If you’re 

buying new, it’s a win. 

TG-6: RRP $745.00 

The TG-6 still fits in all the same housings as the TG-5, so that sweet 

Nauticam NA-TG5 housing you had your eye on? Still good. Same 

goes for Ikelite and any other brand. Olympus have also released a 

new housing but we can’t figure out the difference. Take your pick. 

PT-058 & PT-059 housings: RRP $565.00 

The Nautilus Lifeline lifesaver 

Divers, boaties, water-people of all stripes: unless you’re a mermaid, take heed. The 

Nautilus Lifeline is a lifesaver, and you should get yourself one asap. The Lifeline is 

a marine rescue GPS device that pinpoints your position accurate to 1.5m as well as 

transmitting a man overboard distress message that broadcasts to all AIS equipped 

ships up to 60km away and a special DSC message to the marine radio on your own 

vessel. It floats and is waterproof. It should be good for 5 years. 

• Depth: 100 metres 

RRP $325.00 

Prices current untill 30th September 2019 

Trade enquiries welcome. Ph:09 521 0684 

Email: info@seatech.co.nz 

www.seatech.co.nz 

All products 

come with full 

manufacturer’s 

warranties & New 

Zealand back-up 

service 


www.generalmarine.co.nz 

D820V is a compact and lightweight USB 

chargeable video light. It gives 120 degrees of 

super wide floodlighting with no blind angle 

for underwater photography, and up to 1600 

lumens of light output. D820V offers three light 

sources: neutral white, UV and red, these options 

not only help your photography or videography 

in the dark water but can also illuminate the 

amazing fluorescence of marine organisms. The 

uniquely designed titanium alloy side button 

provides easy operation underwater, with a 

simple action to switch between light sources 

and a ‘safe lock mode’ to avoid accidental 

operation. With the USB rechargeable battery 

you are able to charge the torch wherever you 

have a USB power source, be it computer, car, 

wall plug or powerbank. The torch body is made 

from aircraft-grade high strength aluminium 

with a hard anodized finish, and the lens is 4mm 

thick, toughened glass; it is depth rated for use 

up to 150 metres under water. Easy to handle 

at 153mm long with 30mm diameter body and 

45mm diameter head. The torch comes with 

a smart rechargeable li-ion battery, usb cable, 

lanyard and o-rings. 

Whether you are on land or in the sea Orcatorch have a 

model to suit everyone from the beginner explorer to the 

experienced diver. 

Small tactile waterproof torches suitable for the car, 

dive bag, bikers, underwater photographers and action 

adventurers. 

Exceptional 

quality torches 

• Dive torches to suit everyone 

from the beginner to the 

professional (including 

photography models). 

• A range of tactical torches 

to suit all action adventures. 

• Small torches for in the car, 

bike bag or tool box. 

• Great gifts for family 

and friends. 

• Many more sizes and 

functions available. 

Visit our store to find 

the torch you need. 

DIVE 

D 

D560 

DIVE 

D800 

waterproof to 

150m • 630 lumens* 

119m beam* # • 1h+ run time* 

runs on 1 x AA battery 

fits MX05 mask mount 

2100 lumens* 

336m beam* # • 3h+ run time* 

batteries & charger included 

waterproof to 150m 

TA 

T 

TACTICAL 

T11 

DIVE 

DIVE 

D500v 

D820v 

white, red or UV light 

1600 lumens* • 120° wide beam 

6h run time* • USB charging 


wrist strap included 

1000 lumens*• 18h+ run time* 

120° wide beam • sealed 

switch • waterproof 

to 150m 

T 

TACTICAL 

T30 

DIVE 

D830 

easy magnetic switch 

3 x AA batteries • 800 lumens* 

274m beam* # • 20h run time* 



1m impact resistance 

1000 lumens* • 426m beam* 

470h run time* • dual switch 

USB charging 

General Marine Services 

90 Gaunt Street, Westhaven, Auckland. 

Phone 09 309 0048. sales@generalmarine.co.nz 



1.5m impact resistance 

190 lumens* • 106m beam* 

60h run time* • compact, anti-roll 

design • runs on 1 x AA battery 

* maximum output # on land 


Box net not satisfactory fishing method 


SPECIESFOCUS 

The Blanket Octopus 

~Tremoctopus sp. 

By Paul Caiger 

The blanket octopus is one of the 

few truly pelagic octopuses, and 

there are four species in this genus 

Tremoctopus. 

Its common name refers to the 

webbing between the dorsal arms 

of adult females since, when 

threatened, she expands this 

webbing to give an overall appearance 

substantially larger than she 

is. But only the female possesses 

this elaborate blanket. 

Larger females can reach up to 

two metres in length, whereas the 

males are mere walnut-sized, a 

case of sexual dimorphism virtually 

unmatched in the animal 

kingdom. 

Should the blanket method of 

protection fail, other defense 

mechanisms can be brought 

to bear and extend to further 

extremes. Blanket octopuses are 

immune to the deadly stings of 

the Portuguese Man O’ War, and 

males and juvenile females have 

been known to rip off sections of 

those poisonous tentacles to use as 

a weapon. When things get decidedly 

more desperate, the females 

can even voluntarily jettison a 

section of their arm and membranous 

blanket, hoping to confuse 

or entangle a would-be predator. 

Furthermore, their orange/red 

colouration helps with camouflage 

in the open ocean; red is the first 

colour to attenuate with depth, 

helping the octopus practically 

‘disappear’ only a few metres 

below the surface. 

The males endure a lonely 

existence, searching the oceans 

their entire, short life for a potential 

mate, only to sacrifice life and 

limb, literally, when finding one. 

For them, a modified arm, the 

hectocotylus, houses the sperm 

sac, and upon finding a female, 

he ejects that arm inside the 

female, before drifting away and 

dying. The female then uses this 

when she’s ready to fertilise up to 

100,000 eggs, which she carries 

around with her until they hatch. 

Blanket octopuses are not a 

common sight for divers in New 

Zealand, mostly because of 

their pelagic lifestyle. The most 

common encounters are usually 

at offshore island groups, where 

they may stray close to the land 

masses, though normally in the 

open ocean, and are easy meals 

for resident predators such as 

kingfish and snapper. Following a 

frenzy near the surface, often the 

only pieces remaining, by the time 

divers or boaties approach, are 

jettisoned arms or the unpalatable 

blanket. 

The blanket octopus in the photograph 

was encountered at the Poor 

Knights Islands, and appears to 

have already jettisoned an arm 

segment. Whether she managed 

to drift past the islands and return 

to the relative safety of the open 

ocean is anyone’s guess. 

~Tremoctopus sp. 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

One of the few entirely pelagic octopuses. 

Blanket enlarges appearance for self-defense. 

Can jettison arms for an extreme diversion. 

Immune to Portuguese-Man O’ War stings. 

Males semelparous meaning they mate once then 

die. 

6 

7 

8 

One of the most extreme examples of sexual 

dimorphism. 

Orange/red colour turns black quickly with 

depth. 

Vulnerable to predation when they encounter 

islands. 


DIVEMEDICINE 

Is decompression sickness 

caused by bubbles? 

By Professor Simon Mitchell, University of Auckland 

To many of you the question posed in the 

title of this article might seem a stupid one. 

Many would say “of course it is caused by 

bubbles”. But to some who keep an eye on 

the relevant medical literature, you may have 

picked on articles or discussions that give the 

question some serious consideration. I was 

recently asked to critically appraise this issue 

in a speech to the Undersea and Hyperbaric 

Medical Society Annual Meeting in the USA 

and I thought it might make an interesting 

topic for discussion in my regular DNZ articles. 

, let’s not drag it out. The 

OK truth is, just as you were 

taught in your open water course, 

there is overwhelming evidence 

that bubbles formed from inert 

gas, usually nitrogen in air diving, 

dissolved in blood and tissues 

during a dive, are the primary 

vector of injury in decompression 

sickness (DCS). The evidence falls 

into five categories. 

FIVE MAJOR REASONS 

First, bubbles are the most 

obvious explanation when 

autopsies have been performed 

on animals with DCS after 

experimental dives. When DCS 

occurred bubbles were found, and 

typically in places that explained 

the symptoms exhibited by the 

animals. 

Second, numerous studies in 

animals and humans have 

demonstrated that increased 

decompression time reduces risk. 

Some of these studies have shown 

that increased decompression 

time reduces bubble formation, 

and this reduction in bubble 

numbers is certainly the most 

plausible link between increased 

decompression and reduced risk. 

Third, studies in both animals 

and humans show that the risk 

of DCS increases as the number 

of bubbles we can easily detect 

(those moving in the veins) 

increases. Interestingly, the 

correlation between bubble 

number and risk of DCS is not as 

strong as one might expect. For 

example, in perhaps the largest 

relevant study, only 10% of divers 

with high grade venous bubbles 

actually developed DCS. But this 

compares with zero DCS cases 

if there were no venous bubbles, 

so there is definitely a correlation 

in which risk increases as 

bubbles increase. In addition, 

other things probably need to 

happen for bubbles in the veins 

to be a problem, like these 

venous bubbles bypassing the 

lungs (which normally remove 

them from the circulation) and 

getting into the arterial blood 

which then carries them off to 

different tissues where they can 

…we have had evidence for some time that bubbles are 

almost certainly not the whole story… 

cause harm. This would explain 

why numbers of venous bubbles 

on their own don’t correlate with 

DCS risk as strongly as might be 

expected. 

Fourth, the relationship between 

presence of a patent foramen 

ovale (PFO, a communication 

between the venous and 

arterial sides of the heart) and 

risk of neurological and skin 

DCS is strong, and implies that 

something normally removed by 

the lungs but which can cross a 

PFO is important in these forms 

of DCS. Bubbles, which we know 

are filtered by the lungs but which 

can cross a PFO are most likely 

that “something”. 

Finally, the extremely rapid 

recovery (during compression!) 

from symptoms of DCS when 

recompression is instituted 

straight away, for example, in 

experimental dives where a 

chamber is immediately available, 

suggests that something 

must be responding very quickly. 

Compression and resolution of 

bubbles appeals as the most 

plausible explanation. 

SO WHY QUESTION? 

So why would anyone question 

whether bubbles are the cause 

of DCS? To begin with, it must 

be observed that though many 

consider the above to constitute 

proof that bubbles cause DCS, 

a more objective interpretation 

would conclude that this evidence 

constitutes an extremely strong 

circumstantial case rather than 

definitive proof, that bubbles are 

the bad actors. 

More importantly, we have had 

evidence for some time that 

bubbles are almost certainly not 

the whole story. 

BUBBLE DAMAGE 

Bubbles forming in tissue or 

moving within blood vessels 

can cause damage to the tissues 

themselves or the blood vessel 

walls. They can also block blood 

vessels and blood flow. All of this 

potentially causes tissue injury, 

and it is virtually impossible to 


cause any sort of tissue injury without sparking off 

an inflammatory response involving elements of the 

body’s immune system, particularly the white cells in 

the blood. 

These responses have adaptive advantages in fighting 

infection and initiating/controlling tissue repair after 

injury, but almost paradoxically, inflammation can 

also contribute to tissue damage. There is very strong 

evidence that some tissue damage in DCS arises from 

inflammation. As hinted above, it was always assumed 

that inflammation in DCS is initiated by bubble formation, 

but evidence has emerged that it may be a little 

more complicated than that. 

MICROPARTICLES 

The last 10 years has seen intense interest in the role 

of so-called “microparticles” in DCS. Microparticles 

are small fragments of the membrane of white and red 

blood cells, platelets, and other cells. They are present 

all the time in our blood, but their numbers rise in a 

variety of disease states where they are thought to 

have a role in promoting inflammatory responses. It 

was thus of high interest when they were found to 

increase after diving, and even more (though inconsistently) 

in divers with DCS. 

A comprehensive programme of research funded by 

the US Navy and conducted largely out of one American 

laboratory under Dr Steve Thom, has shown that not 

only may microparticles be important mediators of 

inflammatory damage to tissues in DCS, but also that 

some microparticles form at depth during the dive and 

thus independently of bubble formation which only 

occurs during ascent or at the surface. This finding of a 

pro-inflammatory process occurring in diving at least 

partly independent of bubble formation is where the 

“do bubbles cause DCS?” question has arisen. 

DIVING MICE 

Several experiments in which microparticles from 

dived mice are given to non-dived mice show that the 

non-dived mice may develop some relevant functional 

and inflammatory effects, but they do not clearly 

develop a DCS syndrome. It thus seems that bubbles 

remain the most likely primary vector of injury, but 

that bubble formation, or aspects of diving itself may 

increase microparticle numbers and this facilitates the 

inflammatory response to the presence of bubbles. 

In other words, microparticles are a mediator of 

inflammation in DCS, but they are very unlikely to be 

the primary vector of injury. 

In another intriguing finding, Steve’s lab demonstrated 

that some microparticles appear to contain 

small amounts of gas, and these may be one form of 

gas micronuclei that leads to bubble formation after 

decompression. Thus, microparticles may have a 

complex role in DCS both as a mediator of inflammation, 

perhaps in response to bubble formation, and also 

(perhaps) as seeds for the formation of bubbles. 

This will be an exciting space to watch over the next 

few years. 

KEEPING DIVERS SAFE 

AROUND THE WORLD 

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+ Emergency Medical Evacuation 

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INCIDENTINSIGHTS WITH THE DIVERS ALERT NETWORK (DANAP] 

By DAN World 

What’s it like being stung by a hydroid? 

DAN Member was on a liveaboard 

trip in Indonesia. He 

A 

was in good overall health with 

no known allergies. He was on 

the second dive of the day, down 

to 29m. As the diver commenced 

his ascent he felt something 

hit his neck and saw it was a 

hydroid. At that stage he was 

at 23m and there was a strong 

current on the wall when the 

incident occurred. He immediately 

felt his neck become hot 

and burning. He panicked, 

became confused and descended 

to 47m without realising. 

After composing himself he 

ascended slowly and completed 

his safety stop and finished the 

dive safely and without further 

incident. When his buddy 

checked his neck there was only 

one small red spot. 

Back on the boat he treated his 

neck with a hot compress and 

took an antihistamine. 

The diver felt fine, so four hours 

later he commenced his final 

dive of the day, to 15m. However, 

he soon aborted the dive as his 

breathing became difficult. And 

that night his neck began to 

swell. 

…I felt my body getting hot, I couldn’t move my neck much due 

to the swelling and it was hard for me to eat and breathe… 

For the remaining four days 

of the trip, the diver did not 

complete any further dives. 

There was an Ear Nose and 

Throat doctor on the boat who 

monitored his condition. During 

this time, the diver says: “I felt 

my body getting hot, I couldn’t 

move my neck much due to the 

swelling and it was hard for me 

to eat and breathe.” 

The day after the trip ended, 

he presented at the hospital in 

Jakarta where he was told there 

was fluid inside the wound 

that could be toxic. Surgery 

was undertaken the same day, 

as the diver was complaining 

of difficulty in breathing. Two 

holes were made in his neck and 

a tube inserted to enable the 

fluid to drain. The following day 

all the swelling had gone, his 

breathing improved and he could 

start eating as normal. 

He was given a course of 

antibiotics and painkillers and 

recovered fully. He has since 

completed 300 dives without 

incident. 

ANALYSIS 

While the swelling was significant 

the diver did not complain 

of symptoms that are typically 

associated with a significant 

…Tetanus is common in the sea and it is always advisable for 

divers to keep their tetanus prophylaxis up to date… 

hydroid envenomation, such as 

nausea, vomiting, shortness of 

breath and/or confusion. The 

diver did complain of difficulty 

breathing and eating, but this 

appears to be directly related to 

the location of the swelling. 

It is highly unusual for a hydroid 

sting to result in the swelling 

and difficulty breathing that 

this diver experienced and it is 

likely the initial wound became 

infected, possibly during the 

subsequent dive. Coral polyp or 


another disease-carrying agent 

(pathogen) could have entered 

the wound leading to the infection. 

As divers, we must be conscious 

of the risk of serious marine 

infection, particularly in the 

tropics. What might seem insignificant 

at the time can become 

far more serious, and quickly. 

Without prompt and appropriate 

care, such wounds can become 

dangerous, and at times a threat 

to limb and life. 

Tetanus is common in the sea 

and it is always advisable for 

divers to keep their tetanus 

prophylaxis up to date. All 

wounds need to be cleaned 

thoroughly and there should 

be a low tolerance to seeking 

medical attention where antibiotics 

may often be prescribed to 

avoid infection. 

What are Hydroids? 

Hydroids can look like plants, 

seaweed or clumps of feathers. 

Like their relatives, fire corals 

and jellyfish, these animals 

have tiny stinging cells known 

as nematocysts. As in this case, 

the stinging nematocysts may 

also fire into the skin of unsuspecting 

divers, which results in 

a cluster of red welts and bumps 

that burn and itch. 

The severity of symptoms of 

envenomation depends on: 

• The Hydroid species; 

• Venom dose; and 

• Body location. 

TREATMENT 

There is no consensus for the 

treatment of a hydroid sting 

as different species may react 

differently to various first aid 

procedures, including the application 

of vinegar and heat. 

In general, it appears sensible 

to: 

• Rinse the skin immediately 

with seawater. 

• Try to refrain from rubbing 

the area, as this may 

induce further nematocyst 

discharge. 

• Pain can be treated with 

the local application of heat 

or cold or by analgesics if 

necessary. 

• Once cleaned, topical 

steroids such as hydrocortisone 

and antihistamines 

are commonly employed to 

reduce local skin irritation 

and itching. 

Significant Envenomations 

Hydroid stings producing 

symptoms such as nausea, 

vomiting, shortness of breath 

or confusion are considered 

significant. It is also possible 

for individuals to develop an 

allergic reaction, which may be 

severe. 

Anaphylaxis is a potentially 

deadly allergic reaction that 

can involve respiratory distress, 

airway compromise and other 

unstable vital signs. Anyone 

suspected of having a serious 

allergic reaction should immediately 

seek medical care. 

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+ 24/7 

Emergency Medical Services 

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Emergency Calls Managed 

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DANAP.org 

For more diving health 

and safety articles 

DANinsider.org for 

weekly posts discussing 

recent incidents, and 

diving health and safety 

content. 

Visit: daninsider.org and 

follow us on Facebook by 

searching DAN World. 

Need more information? 

Send DAN World an email 

(info@danap.org) or call 

+61-3-9886 9166 


SHADES OF COLOUR PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITION 

The beauty of compact cameras 

By Dave Moran, Editor at Large 

It is interesting to see the increasing use of compact 

cameras compared with either SLR or Mirrorless 

cameras in this fun photographic competition. At 

Sea Tech we have noticed a dramatic rise in interest 

in compact cameras that have very high photographic 

specifications. These high-end point-n-shoots are 

producing images that are challenging the quality of 

far more expensive SLR/Mirrorless packages. 

Divers are also discovering the joy of taking their 

camera gear on flights to exotic locations without 

being too stressed out that taking a camera housing 

will result in paying for excess weight. 

We also know the divers who are very committed 

to their love of photography (such as our Advanced 

Category Winner, Simone Matucci) and will choose 

an SLR or a weight-friendly mirrorless package which 

also includes various ports for different lenses that are 

going to be used for shooting wide angle and macro. 

The compact camera diver does not have to worry 

about different lens or ports – all he or she does is just 

push a button to change from wide angle to macro. 

Which can be very convenient with the ever-changing 

photographic opportunities that present themselves 

during a dive. 

Get out there and have fun! 

The judges and the team at Dive New Zealand/Dive 

Pacific magazines look forward to receiving your 

personal masterpieces. See: www.divenewzealand. 

com click on Photo Competition. It’s free to enter. You 

can view galleries of all the entries over www.seatech. 

co.nz/blogs/shades-of-colour-photo-competition 

Thanks for taking the time to enter! 

‘Free dive into the blue’’; Poor Knights, New Zealand: Nikon D850, Fisheye lens 8–15mm in Nauticam housing, 

with Nauticam dome and 2x Sea&Sea strobes – f/9, 1/100, ISO 200 

Advanced Category Winner: 

Congratulations Simone Matucci, New Zealand. 

Simone was diving a little south of the Poor Knights 

Islands at group of rocks and stacks known as the 

Pinnacles. The larger stack is known as Tie Dye Arch. 

Just east of it is a dive location known as the Scary 

Deep! 

A great location to photograph different schools of fish! 

Simon receives a Gift Voucher for NZ$100. 

Judges’ comments: 

A beautiful image of a relaxed freediver enjoying interacting 

with a school of Trevally. Nice composition on 

the diagonal, with shafts of sunlight adding a touch of 

magic. The diver on the surface is slightly distracting. 

This diver could have been easily removed with a 

photo editing program. 

58 58 Dive Dive New New Zealand Zealand | | Dive Dive Pacific Pacific

‘Green Sea Turtle’; 

Lankayan Island, 

Borneo: Canon G7 X 

with Fantasea housing 

with wide angle lens – 

f/5.6, 1/800, ISO200 

Novice Category Winner: 

Congratulations, Susan Harris, New Zealand. 

Sue was escaping New Zealand’s winter on Lankayan 

Island, Borneo when she came head to head with this 

green sea turtle feeding on the sea grass. 


Wonderful to see a green turtle looking so healthy! 

Image has the turtle’s head pin sharp. 

The black and white accentuates the pattern on the 

turtle’s head and flippers, well done. 

Sue receives a Gift Voucher for NZ$75. 

Advanced Highly Commended: 

Congratulations Simone Matucci, NZ. 

Simone spotted this handsome crested 

blenny while diving at the Poor Knights 

Islands. 

Simone receives a Gift Voucher for NZ$75. 


The judges had some fun with this image! 

One of our judges commented that the blenny 

is showing off its double chin! A fantastically 

sharp focus image, full of colour against a 

dark background which really brings the 

image to life. 

‘Crested Blenny says Hi!’; Poor Knights, New Zealand: 

Nikon D850, macro 105mm lens, in Nauticam housing, 

Retra snoot on Sea&Sea strobes – f/22, 1/160, ISO80 

www.divenewzealand.com 59

SHADES OF COLOUR PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITION 

Novice Highly Commended: 

Congratulations, Sarah Ford, 

New Zealand. 

Sarah was diving one of the world’s 

most recognized location for photographing 

little critters – Lembeh 

Strait, Indonesia. What a cute baby 

porcupinefish! Good spotting Sarah! 

Sarah receives a Gift Voucher for 

NZ$50. 


Wow this baby has attitude, we 

think! The image could been 

improved using a photo editing 

program to darken the slightly 

distracting whiteness of the 

surrounding coral. Keep up your 

good work! 

The judges, Iain Anderson and Andy 

Belcher and the team at Dive Pacific 

magazines look forward to receiving 

your photographic masterpieces in 

August for the October-November 

issue. 

‘Baby Porcupinefish’; Lembeh Strait, Indonesia: SeaLife DC2000. 

Sea Tech is the official New Zealand distributor of Ikelite, Fantasea, 

Recsea, Inon, Bigblue, Nauticam and other leading brands of underwater 

photographic equipment. 

Visit: www.seatech.co.nz or for personal service email: info@seatech.co.nz 

IMAGE BY SHADES OF COLOUR WINNER, THE FANTASTIC SIMONE MATUCCI 

CAPTURE THE 

UNDERWATER 

WORLD 

WITH 

SEA TECH 

FOR A GREAT PRICE ON HOUSING 

AND CAMERA PACKAGES VISIT 

www.seatech.co.nz 

AVAILABLE FROM YOUR PROFESSIONAL MARINE & DIVE STORES. ALL TRADE ENQUIRIES WELCOME. 

SOME OF 

OUR BRANDS: 

Fantasea 

Ikelite 

Nauticam 

Olympus 

Inon 

Bigblue 

i-Divesite 

Ultralight 

Ph: 09 521 0684 

info@seatech.co.nz 


A selection of notable photos entered for this edition's competition 

(N) Hansjoerg Waibel, Dunedin, NZ 

(A) David Haintz - Victoria, Australia 

(N) Werner Truter 

(N) Simone Petrich - Otago, NZ 

(N) Susan Harris - New Zealand 

(A)Daniel Poloha - New Zealand 

(A) Mark Blomfield - New Zealand 

www.divenewzealand.com 61

DIGITALIMAGING 

Hans Weichselbaum www.digital-image.co.nz 

About pixels, print size 

and upsizing 

In the last issue we discussed file size and how it relates to the megapixel count of your camera. For example, a 

12 MP camera will give you images measuring 4000 x 3000 pixels (aspect ratio 4:3). The uncompressed file size 

will be around 36 MB, but this can easily be compressed in the JPEG format to 1MB or less. Commercial printers 

require 300 pixels/inch (ppi) for high quality offset printing. This means that our modest 12 MP camera will 

produce 13.3 x 10 inch prints, slightly larger than A4. 

This is the theory. In this article we’ll look at the practical side of printing, especially at what you can achieve 

with your desktop inkjet printer. 

One of the most commonly 

asked questions is: “How big 

can I print photos with my latest 

super model DSLR?” As always, 

the answer is “It depends”. Some 

people insist on only printing at 

360 dpi for maximum quality, 

which means you need a 36 MP 

camera to produce a 13 x 19” print. 

Others will tell you that 8 MP is all 

you need for printing to any size. 

Note that here I use the conventional 

units of dpi for the file 

resolution, instead of the more 

correct ppi unit (pixels/inch). 

The optimum print 

resolution 

Inkjet printers reproduce the 

thousands of colours in your 

images with just four or six 

different inks by putting down 

1440 or 2880 or even more overlapping 

droplets per inch of paper. 

Experts will tell you that the 

file resolution fed to the printer 

should ideally be a whole number 

divisor of 1440, for example 360 dpi 

(1440/4): 

Pixels / inch Ratio 

1440 1 

720 2 

480 3 

360 4 

288 5 

240 6 

180 8 

Table 1 - Optimum File Resolution for 

Printing 

generally seen as the maximum 

for best quality - any higher value 

won’t give you any improvement. 

In fact, a file resolution of 240 dpi 

will be sufficient in most cases for 

a sharp print. You can only see a 

difference between a 360 and a 240 

dpi print by very close inspection. 

Chances are that you would need 

a loupe to spot any gain in image 

detail. 

The magic number of 1440 refers 

to Epson printers. Canon and HP 

…Some people insist on only printing at 360 dpi for 

maximum quality…others will tell you that 8 MP is all you 

need for printing to any size… 

print driver will resample the file 

to the optimum value and you 

don’t need to worry. 

What is important is that if your 

images contain fine detail, and if 

the prints are going to be viewed 

at close distance the file resolution 

is not lower than around 240 dpi. 

On the other hand, larger prints for 

hanging on the wall and viewed 

from a distance are more forgiving; 

you can get away with file resolutions 

of 180 dpi and lower. 

The next thing you want to know 

is the maximum print size you can 

get out of your camera. 

Mpixels Pixels Print 

Size (cm) 

12 4256 x 2832 30 

15 4752 x 3158 33.5 

20 5472 x 3648 38.6 

24 6000 x 4000 42.3 

30 6720 x 4480 47.4 

36 7360 x 4912 51.9 

50 8688 x 5792 61.3 

Table 2 - Print Size from MPixels at 

Maximum Quality (360 dpi) 

See Table 1 - Optimum File 

Resolution for Printing 

(Epson printers) 

A file resolution of 360 dpi is 

printers work on 1200 dpi and, if 

you want to do things perfectly, 

you should use values of 400, 300, 

240 and 200 dpi etc if you work 

with those printers. However, any 

Table 2 gives you the maximum 

print size based on the longer side 

of the print at maximum print 

quality (360 dpi). The MP numbers 


are rounded and based on the 

more common 3:2 aspect ratio. 

Many desktop printers can handle 

13 x 19” paper (33 x 48.3 cm) and 

the Table says you need a +30 

MP camera for prints of that size. 

However, as mentioned before, a 

print resolution of 240 dpi is sufficient, 

and even a 15 MP camera 

will do the job just fine. 

I mentioned earlier that some 

people claim that 8 Mpixels is 

all you need to print to any size. 

How does this work? Well, larger 

prints are viewed from a greater 

distance, and if you stick with this 

rule, there is no need to upgrade 

to the latest super high-resolution 

camera. Needless to say, if 

you crop your images you need to 

take this into account and start 

your calculation from the number 

of pixels you’ve got left after 

cropping! 

Preparing images for 

printing 

An image file is a rectangular array 

of image pixels. It has no resolution. 

Only when you send an image 

to a printing device do you need 

to consider the resolution, defined 

as pixels/inch so in your image 

editing program select Image > 

Image Size. 

Image 1 - The image size interface in 

Photoshop 

Make sure that the ‘Resample 

Image’ box at the bottom is not 

ticked and now you can vary the 

resolution (pixels/inch) as much as 

you like; the pixel dimensions and 

the file size won’t change. If you 

increase the resolution, the print 

size becomes smaller and vice 

versa, but nothing will happen to 

your pixels. 

…What do you do if you 

want to print a really large 

print (but) you only have 

6000 pixels …In this case 

you need to upsample your 

file before printing… 

What do you do if you want to print 

a really large print, say 24 x 36” 

from your 24 MP camera? You only 

have 6000 pixels which give you 

167 pixels/inch when spread over 

36 inches. In this case you need to 

upsample your file before printing. 

Upsampling of image files 

Upsampling means asking the 

computer to interpolate new pixels 

between existing ones. But of 

course there is no way that we can 

add image detail that wasn’t there 

in the first place. Adding pixels 

to an image will reduce aliasing 

(the ‘jaggies’), but in general the 

print will become softer and more 

blurry. The challenge is to retain 

sharpness and contrast. 

Digital camera files are generally 

very tolerant to upsizing 

(as opposed to film scans!). 

Upsampling by 200-300% can still 

get you very acceptable results - if 

the original shot was clean and 

sharp. 

For demonstration I use the same 

Image Size interface in Photoshop 

as before, but now we tick 

‘Resample Image’. 

See Image 2 

The drop-down menu at the 

bottom lets you choose the 

algorithm used to interpolate the 

new pixels. ‘Bicubic’ is the default 

Image 2 - Image size with resampling 

algorithm and it is a good all-round 

choice for resizing photographic 

images. 

Some programs give you more 

choices. For example, ‘Bicubic 

Smoother’ is specifically designed 

for upsampling. ‘Bicubic Sharper’ is 

meant for downsampling when you 

need to downsize a large image for 

a website. The ‘Nearest Neighbour’ 

algorithm is not used for photographic 

images. 

After upsampling the file needs 

to be sharpened, most commonly 

with the Unsharp Mask filter 

and there are other sharpening 

techniques we will discuss in 

another article. If you find yourself 

regularly upsizing your images for 

printing you might want to look at 

specialised image editors specially 

geared for upsizing. 

What is the best strategy in terms 

of workflow? Always keep all the 

pixels your camera is capable of 

producing. Leave your camera 

settings at ‘large’ file size. It is no 

problem to downsize a large file for 

a smaller print, or if the image goes 

on a WEB site. Leave the upsizing 

as the second-last step before a 

final sharpening. And never upsize 

unnecessarily – you will always 

loose on quality! 


Chapter 3: 

Back to the Basics Pt.III (abridged) 

A Practical Guide for Beginners by Alexey Zaytsev 

By Alexey Zaytsev, exclusively for Dive magazine. 

(All photo's by Alexey Zaytsev) 

Alexey Zaytsev is well known 

amongst Russia’s dive and 

underwater photography 

community, and has undertaken 

professional photographic 

assignments in many 

places around the world, 

including many visits to Egypt, 

Sudan, Bali and elsewhere. To 

illustrate the book, and also 

his own credentials, Alexey is 

making available a selection of 

his fine photographic work for 

this series. 

Lenses and accessories 

Fisheye 

An ultra wide-angle lens with a 180-degree angle of coverage 

is called a fisheye lens. They come in two types: full-frame and 

circular. What's the difference? 

All lenses create a circular image (since all lenses are circular). 

The rectangular frame is inscribed in this circle along its diagonal. 

Genius lies in simplicity! So, a full-frame fisheye has a 180-degree 

angle of coverage along the frame’s diagonal, while a circular lens 

produces a circular image inscribed in a square. You read earlier 

in the section on Focal length about full frame and crop sensors. 

Below, I will talk about focal lengths of lenses for full-sensor 

cameras, or 35 mm cameras. A circular fish-eye has a focal length 

of 8 mm. A diagonal one 15 or 16 mm. 

Ice plate from beneath Lake Baikal, Russia 

The main characteristics of 

these lenses are: 

• Strong visual distortion. 

Straight lines are curved. 

• Wide angle of view. Subjects 

closer to the camera seem 

bigger than they are, and 

subjects further away seem 

smaller than they actually 

are. Wide-angle lenses 

increase the visual distance 

in a photo. 

• Very big depth of field. 

Wide-angle lenses 

These are lenses with an angle 

of coverage of less than 180 and 

more than 60 degrees. Such 

lenses can have a focal length 

of 14 mm, 17 mm, 20 mm, 24 

mm, 28 mm, 30 mm and 35 

mm. As the focal length of 

these lenses increases, distortion 

becomes smaller. A 35 mm 

lens produces an image close to 

what a human eye would see. 

Ultra wide-angle and 

wide-angle lenses are the 

most commonly used optics 

in underwater photography. 

Remember, if your housing has 

a flat port, you will not be able 

to produce an image with an 

angle of coverage greater than 


95.5 degrees, no matter how 

hard you try. Because of refraction 

(see Ch 2), we cannot use 

fisheye and wide-angle lenses 

(with an angle of coverage 

greater than 90 degrees) behind 

a flat port. So what should we 

do? 

Ikelite port for Canon 60mm f/2.8 

EF-S Macro 

Dome port: what does a 

fish-eye consist of ? 

One radical way to minimize 

the refraction effect is to use a 

spherical or dome port instead 

of a flat port. 

Ikelite (USA) manufactures 8 

and 6-inch dome ports, and 

there are six-inch dome ports 

for almost all popular Nikon, 

Canon, Sigma, Tamron and 

Tokina lenses used underwater. 

The only difference between 

them is the length of the port 

barrel. In other words, different 

lenses require dome ports with 

different length port barrels 

so that the front of the lens 

is located in such a way as to 

ensure the maximum angle of 

coverage and corner sharpness. 

A port selection table at www. 

ikelite.com will help you select 

a correct port. 

If you decided to use an 8-inch 

dome port, but your favorite 

lens doesn't fit inside because 

it is too long, you should use an 

extension ring with the port. 

Spherical ports 

Let's now talk about spherical 

(dome) port dimensions. 

In catalogues of underwater 

housing manufacturers, you 

can find ports of different sizes 

ranging from 4 to 6, 8, 9 and 

even 10 inches. Which one 

to choose? And how are they 

different? 

Let's start by noting the larger 

the dome port diameter, the 

higher the quality of an image. 

One more advantage of a large 

dome port is that it makes it 

easier to shoot split-level or 

above and below images. It is 

easier to capture the air-water 

borderline and keep it in 

place with a larger dome port, 

especially if the water surface 

is rough. 

WEFL-02 Wide Angle Lens from 

Weefine 

Large dome ports have some 

disadvantages as well. They 

are large thus very positively 

buoyant, and heavy, and 

expensive. Modern dome ports 

are made out of optical glass, 

have a special anti-reflective 

coating and high manufacturing 

costs, which explains 

"Wide" PTWC-01 lens from Olympus 

their high prices (some dome 

ports cost as much as an underwater 

housing). Acrylic dome 

ports are easier to manufacture 

and cheaper but wear out 

faster. They scratch easily, 

which negatively affects image 

quality. But, there's good news: 

acryl can be polished! So if 

scratches are not deep, they 

could be polished out. 

Mid-range lenses 

These are lenses with a focal 

length ranging between 40 

and 58 mm and the angle of 

coverage ranging between 

50 and 43 degrees. 50 mm 

lenses are the ones used most 

commonly. These lenses ‘see’ 

the world as a human eye 

would see it which is why some 

call them ‘normal’ lenses. In 

the past, during the times of 

‘film’ cameras, all cameras 

were equipped with such 

lenses. Normal or mid-range 

lenses can be used with both 

dome ports and flat ports. 

Ikelite WD-3 Wide Angle Dome 

Macro lenses 

A true macro lens is one that 

can produce an image at 1:1 

magnification. Simply put, 

the size of the photographed 

subject is the same as its size 

on the camera sensor. This 

magnification can be obtained 

only if you photograph from 

minimum focusing distance. 

Nikon macro lenses come in 

several focal lengths: 50 mm, 

60 mm, 70 mm, 85 mm, 90 mm, 

105 mm, 150 mm, 180 mm and 

200 mm. Why so many and 

what is the difference between 

them? It's very simple! The 

shorter the focal length of a 


lens, the shorter the minimum 

focusing distance. 

A lot of beginners confuse 

minimum focusing distance 

with the distance from the 

front of the lens to the subject 

they are shooting, ie the 

working distance. And its 

because of their very short 

working distance that 50 mm 

macro lenses are not suitable 

for underwater photography 

(I'm talking about full-frame 

cameras!). Lenses with the 

focal length longer than 150 

mm are not very suitable 

for underwater photography 

either, because they are 

too big and their minimum 

shooting distance is longer. It is 

extremely difficult to capture a 

tiny creature from half a metre 

away… 

To obtain greater magnification, 

or to shoot super macro, 

you can use teleconverters 

and diopters which we will 

talk about later. In underwater 

photography macro lenses can 

only be used with flat ports. 

Telephoto lenses: 

«Off limits!» 

The focal length of telephoto 

lenses is 100 mm and more 

and these lenses are not used 

underwater. Why? Read again 

where we talk about the loss of 

light underwater. 

Zoom lenses 

Zoom lenses are in a separate 

category as they have adjustable 

focal lengths and come in 

several types: ultra wide, wide, 

normal and telephoto lenses. 

Moreover, to please their 

customers, some companies 

manufacture so-called 'superzoom 

lenses'. Being underwater 

photographers we should try 

to avoid using superzoom and 

telephoto zoom lenses. 

Up until now engineers have 

had no luck in creating a superzoom 

lens that would produce 

images of an acceptable photographic 

quality. The maximum 

Nauticam WWL-1 Wet Wide Lens 130° 

magnification factor of a zoom 

lens should not exceed 3x if you 

want to produce a high quality 

image! 

Usually, superzoom lenses are 

not fast (f-stop of 5.6 and lower) 

and are very bulky, which 

makes it difficult to place them 

inside a housing. On top of that 

they produce rather ‘weak’ 

images. For an amateur photographer 

happy with 10x15 cm 

prints for a family album, this 

is not critical. An advantage of 

a superzoom lens is that there 

is no need to carry around a 

number of other lenses. But 

there is no such thing as a free 

lunch! If you are after great 

quality images, you have to be 

ready to drag around a heavy 

bag with a variety of lenses… 

Telephoto zooms cannot be 

used underwater for the same 

reason as fixed long lenses. 

Water 'eats' colour, contrast and 

sharpness if you shoot from far 

away. Underwater, this distance 

should not be more than 1.5 

metres… 

Other categories of zoom lenses 

very popular among underwater 

photographers are: 

Ultra wide zooms: Tokina 10 – 

17 (for cropped sensor cameras); 

Canon 8 – 15 mm. 

Wide zooms: Nikon (12-24 mm 

for cropped sensor cameras, 

14 – 24 mm for full-frame 

cameras); Canon (10-22 mm for 

cropped sensor and 16-35 mm 

and 17-40 mm for full-frame); 

Tokina (11-16 mm for cropped 

sensor and 16-35 mm for 

full-frame). For mirrorless M4 / 

3, Olympus produces a perfect 

7-14 mm zoom. 

Normal zooms are lenses with 

the angle of coverage that 

can change from moderately 

wide to slightly telephoto. On 

a full-frame camera the focal 

length ranges from 24-28 mm 

to 75 mm, and on a cropped 

sensor cameras from 17-18mm 

to 50 mm. For mirrorless micro 

4/3, Olympus has a zoom with a 

similar range of focal lengths of 

12-40 and aperture of 2.8. This 

is popular not only for photography, 

but also for underwater 

video. 

These lenses see subjects with 

a perspective that the human 

eye is used to, and they are 

ideal for photographing small, 

mid-size and even large sea 

dwellers, starting from clown 

fish all the way to sharks. Once 

I managed to take a close-up 

portrait of a whale shark with a 

28-75 mm zoom! 

Ikelite port, 6 inches in diameter, 

for zoom or wide-angle. 

Port allowances 

Dome ports are used with ultra 

wide and wide zooms. Normal 

zooms can be used with both 

dome and flat ports. A flat 

port will introduce additional 

distortions and aberrations, 

such as chromatic aberrations 

in image corners. Beams of light 

along the edges of an image go 

through the port glass at a large 

angle and when they bend, they 

break into spectral components. 

That is the reason why we see 

a blue and green halo along the 

borders between bright and 

contrasty objects. However, this 

optical problem can be fixed 

during post processing in a 

RAW converter. 


Zoom point-and-shoots 

and wide-angle lens 

adapters 

The majority of modern digital 

compact cameras (point-andshoots) 

are equipped with kit 

zoom lenses with a minimum 

focal length of 28 mm or less 

commonly, 24 mm (a 35 mm 

equivalent). So if a point-andshoot 

is a camera of your 

choice, look for one with the 

shortest focal length possible! 

24 mm is 84 degrees on land 

and 62 degrees underwater. At 

least, it's something… 

You can focus your camera 

manually by rotating the focus 

ring on the lens and thus 

visually controlling sharpness 

through a viewfinder of the 

camera. There is a focusing 

scale on the lens and you can 

present a desired distance 

using that scale, eg 30 cm. Now 

all you have to do is to position 

yourself 30 cm away from the 

subject and the trick is done! 

The subject will be in focus. 

How often will you use manual 

focus? Not so often, because 

autofocus underwater works 

much faster. But sometimes, for 

example when you are 

shooting macro, manual 

focus could be your 

choice. 

Auto focus 

All modern cameras 

are equipped with an 

automatic focusing 

system and they work 

very well underwater 

with few exceptions. 

Problems may occur 

in poor lighting conditions 

or if a subject 

has the same colour 

and contrast as the 

background. Different 

camera models have 

different focusing 

speeds. Simple amateur 

cameras are not as quick 

as their SLR sisters, 

especially professional 

SLR models. 

The speed of the auto focus of 

DSLR cameras also depends 

on the lens design. ‘Classical’ 

lenses focus with the help of 

a motor built in the camera. 

Naturally, the larger the lens, 

the heavier the optics and 

slower auto focus. This is 

particularly noticeable with 

macro and telephoto lenses 

with large focal lengths (from 

100 mm and up). Almost all 

leading photography equipment 

manufacturers overcame this 

problem by inserting a special 

ultrasonic (wave) motor inside 

a lens. The autofocusing speed 

has improved significantly and 

subjectively become almost 

instantaneous compared to 

regular lenses. Such lenses 

have a special marking: USM 

for Canon, S for Nikon, and HSM 

for Sigma. 

Autofocus modes 

There are two main auto-focusing 

modes. AF-S: The first 

one is usually marked with 

a letter S (single). When this 

focusing mode is used, the 

camera focuses on a subject 

once when a shutter release 

button is pressed halfway 

down. If you hold the button 

halfway pressed, the focus 

will remain at the distance, to 

which the auto focusing system 

focused the camera. If you 

press the shutter-release button 

all the way down, the shutter 

will open up. This is the most 

common and convenient way to 

focus if you are photographing 

landscapes or portraits. 

AF-C: The second mode is 

marked with a letter C (continuous), 

which is often referred 

to as tracking focus. This 

mode makes it possible for the 

camera to track a subject while 

you hold the shutter release 

button halfway down. This 

mode is useful when you are 

photographing fast moving and 

macro subjects. 

AF-A: The third mode, 

automatic (A), is when the 

camera determines where to 

focus. There are different types 

of this autofocusing mode, for 

example, when the camera 

finds a person’s face or eyes 

and focuses on them. It should 

be clear why I would not recommend 

using this with its unpredictable 

focusing underwater! 

Next time I will cover focusing, 

and focusing areas 

Shark diving in Fiji 


DIVE STORES / TRAVEL 

By region. To list your dive/sports stores contact Dive New Zealand for information. 

More information on Dive Stores, Clubs & Travel at www.DiveNewZealand.com 

DNZ161 

NORTHLAND 

NEW ZEALAND 

A to Z Diving & Cylinder Services IANZ accredited 

SCUBA, LPG & Industrial cylinder testing. Certified 

in servicing all brands of dive gear. Supplier of 

compressor consumables: carbon, molecular sieve, 

felt pads, oil, O-rings etc. Certifiers of Air & LPG 

Fillers. All major gases available onsite. 

235 Wiroa Rd, Kerikeri. P: 021 508 707 

www.atozdiving.co.nz 

E: andre@atozdiving.co.nz 

Dive Zone Bay of Islands Far North’s only 

PADI 5 Star IDC facility. Open Water to Instructor 

courses. Freedive and spearfishing training & trips. 

Dive trips,On-site equipment servicing & cylinder 

testing. Aqualung, Mares, Scubapro, Beuchat. 

Open 7 days! 5 Klinac Lane, State Highway 10 

Waipapa. 09 407 9986. 

www.divezoneboi.co.nz, 

info@divezoneboi.co.nz 

Paihia Dive Dive training, charter and retail in Paihia. 

Dive the Rainbow Warrior, frigate Canterbury and 

the Bay of Islands. PADI courses: Open water to 

Instructor. Quality scuba brands: Aqualung, Tusa, 

Faber, Luxfer and Wettie spearfishing. Open 7 days. 

Williams Rd, Paihia, P: Craig or Lisa 09-402 7551 

E: info@divenz.com www.divenz.com 

Northland Dive World Class Diving package – Great 

diving mixed with even better accommodation, meals 

and hospitality. Dive with the team that instigated the 

sinking of the Canterbury Frigate. Full Gear available 

incl NITROX – PADI /TDI/ SDI training “Unbelievable 

value for money”. 3851 Russell Road, Whangaruru, 

Bay of Islands, P: 09 433 6633, 

E: info@northlanddive.com 

www.info@northlanddive.com 

Dive HQ Whangarei One of Northland’s 

premier dive training facilities. Highest 

standard instruction and equipment. With 

their own on-site heated training pool and 

classroom. Staff and instructors have extensive 

knowledge of diving, marine environment and 

diver safety. At the gateway of the beautiful 

Poor Knights Islands. 41 Clyde Street 

Whangarei Freephone: 0800 102 102 or 

P: 09 438 1075 E: info@divenow.co.nz 

www.divenow.co.nz 

Dive! Tutukaka The Poor Knights Islands experts – 

professional, fun and safe – “It’s what we do” – With 

5 boats, catering for all abilities; Adventure Audited, 

Qualmark endorsed, PADI 5 star IDC; air fills, nitrox, 

gear hire. Shed 7 with salt-water pool and training 

facilities – Behind Schnappa Rock. Marina Rd. 

Tutukaka, Whangarei. Open 7 days, 7am-7pm. 

Always someone at the end of the phone 0800 288 

882. Phone: 09 4343 867 

E: info@diving.co.nz www.diving.co.nz 

Auckland Scuba on Auckland’s north shore. 

PADI 5 STAR IDC diver training specialists. PADI 

dive courses beginner to instructor and tec 

rec. Part time/full time tertiary (student loan 

approved), NZQA credits. Dive trips, air/nitrox fills, 

cylinder testing, equipment servicing. Top quality 

equipment! 

Unit I, 121 Rosedale Rd, Albany. 

P: 09 478 2814 E: info@aucklandscuba.co.nz 

www.aucklandscuba.co.nz 

KIWI DIVERS SSI, TDI/SDI, RAID dive centre. 

Recreational and Technical dive courses 

(rebreather friendly). Regular trips from our 

own boat. Equipment sales, servicing and hire. 

Cylinder testing, air/nitrox trimix/oxygen fills. 

Open 7 days. 8 Keith Hay Court, Silverdale 

(just 20 mins north of Akld) P: 09 426 9834 

E: info@kiwiscubadivers.co.nz 

www.kiwiscubadivers.co.nz 

Performance Diver NZ’s diving superstore! Massive 

stocks of all lines at unbelievable prices. PADI 5 star 

Instructor Development Centre offering training from 

beginner to Instructor. Local & national dive charters, 

overseas trips, servicing, air fills and rental. Open 7 

days! 

74 Barrys Point Road, Takapuna 

(behind Avanti bikes). 09 489 7782 

www.performancediver.co.nz 

Dive HQ Westhaven in Auckland's CBD. PADI 

5 Star Instructor Development Centre. Become 

a PADI Dive Instructor with us. NZQA approved 

Part Time and Full Course available. Still Your 

Local Dive Shop for all your SCUBA dive, 

freediving, spear-fishing and gear-servicing 

needs. Mares, Atomic, Oceanic, Pinnacle, 

Beuchat, and Zeagle. Fully equipped dive 

equipmentservice centre and dive cylinder 

testing facility onsite. 

Corner (101) Beaumont & Gaunt Sts, 

Westhaven, Auckland. P: (09) 307 3590, 

E: info@divehqwesthaven.co.nz 

www.divehqwesthaven.co.nz 

Global Dive NZ’s favourite technical and recreational 

dive store. All top brands stocked and serviced. Our 

active dive club meets monthly with guest speakers 

and BBQ. Experts in photography and tech diving. 

Quality rental gear, including technical and drysuits. 

Nitrox fills. 

132 Beaumont St, Westhaven, P: 09 9205200 

www.globaldive.net E: info@globaldive.net 

Dive Doctor Mt Wellington New Zealand’s specialist 

dive servicing company, regulator servicing, drysuit 

& wetsuit repairs, compressor servicing, cylinder 

testing, NITROX, O2, Helium, 300 BAR air fills. A full 

selection of quality products as well as hard to find 

items for the technical, recreational and commercial 

diver. 

20R Sylvia Park Rd, Mt Wellington 

www.divedoctor.co.nz P: 09 5308117 

E: info@divedoctor.co.nz 

AUCKLAND / DISTRICTS 

DNZ163 

New Zealand Diving Charters to the Hauraki Gulf 

incl marine reserves, Little & Great Barrier Islands. 

Also overseas trips. NZ’s leading SDI & TDI 5 star IDC 

& PADI with a wide selection of courses. Qualmark 

endorsed. Nitrox, 300bar fills, servicing & rental hire. 

Full selection of gear for sports & tec divers. 

22 Whitaker Rd, Warkworth. 

P: 0800 NZDIVING. E: Neil@NZDiving.co.nz 

www.NZDiving.co.nz (DNZ164) 

Go Dive Center For All Your Diving Needs. SSI 

Training Facility. Authorized Mares Dealer. Servicing, 

Tank Fills and Trips. Come in and let us take you on a 

journey of discovery in the underwater world. 

Unit 3/30 Tironui Road, Papakura, Phone 09 298 

6431 or 0210 385 940 www.godivecenter.co.nz 

DNZ164 

Manufacturing Quality 

Wetsuits in New 

Zealand 

for New Zealand 

conditions. 

www.seaquel.co.nz 

15G Porana Rd, Glenfield, Auckland 

wetsuits@seaquel.co.nz Tel: 09 443 2771 


dnz164 


FREE 

PHONE 

TUTUKĀKĀ 

NEW ZEALAND 

SIMPLY 

AWESOME! 

0800 288 882 

www.diving.co.nz 

3-5 Rona Place, Tutukaka, Whangarei, SOUTH PACIFIC 

COROMANDEL / BAY OF PLENTY 

Dive Zone Whitianga Only PADI 5 Star IDC facility on 

the Coromandel Peninsula. PADI courses from Open 

Water to Instructor. Dive trips from boat, shore and 

kayak, to many amazing dive sites. Full gear service 

and extensive retail store. Open 7 days. 

10 Campbell Street, Whitianga, P: 07-867 1580, 

E: info@divethecoromandel.co.nz 

www.divezonewhitianga.co.nz 

Cathedral Cove Dive & Snorkel Half day 

trips – everyday through the summer at 9.30am 

& 1.30pm. Marine reserve or outer reef diving 

for new and experienced divers. Full gear hire. 

Individuals & groups welcome. Check out our 

website for a full list of dive sites and prices, or 

link onto our facebook page for an up-to-date 

weather/sea/dive report in the Hahei & Mercury 

Bay areas. 48 Hahei Beach Rd, Hahei 

Phone 0800 CCDIVE (0800 223 483) 

www.hahei.co.nz/diving 

CENTRAL NORTH ISLAND 

Dive & Gas Gisborne's authorised Aqualung dealer 

with full product range. A great range of other Scuba 

and Snorkel gear in-store as well. Plus we test and 

fill all Scuba Tanks. Kevin & Tracey Halverson, cnr 

Carnarvon St, and Childers Rd, Gisborne. 

P: 06 867 9662 E: diveandgas@gmail.com 

Dive Zone Tauranga is Tauranga’s only 

PADI 5 Star Instructor Development Centre 

offering everything from Open Water courses 

to Specialty Instructor training. Gear sales for 

all scuba, spearfishing & snorkelling needs. 

Hire equipment, gear servicing, air fills, dive 

charters, cylinder testing and more! See us at 

213 Cameron Road, Tauranga, 

P: (07) 578 4050 

E: info@divezonetauranga.co.nz 

www.divezonetauranga.co.nz 

Dive HQ Rotorua Start your diving adventure 

with this PADI 5 Star training centre, your 

leading BOP dive & kayak shop. Showcasing 

a great range of quality diving, spearfishing, 

kayaking & water sports equipment. Filling and 

testing of dive cylinders, servicing of regulators 

and BCD’s. An IANZ certified cylinder test 

centre. 290 Te Ngae Rd, next to Repco. 

P: 07-345 3047 E: info@divehqrotorua.co.nz 

www.divehqrotorua.co.nz 

Dive & Ski HQ Wellington PADI dive courses 

– beginner to professional qualifications. Dive 

club with regular local, national & overseas trips. 

Wide range of diving/ spearfishing equipment 

and accessories. Equipment servicing/tank 

testing. Open 7 days. 

14 Waione St, Petone. New Zealand 

P: (04)568 5028 mob 0210369996 

www.diveski.co.nz E: diveskihq@xtra.co.nz 

snow ski and board rental available 

www.facebook.com/DiveSkiHQ 

SOUTH ISLAND 

Go Dive Marlborough Specialist TDI technical diver 

training facility. Mixed gas, decompression and 

advanced wreck courses. Operate Lermontov Lodge 

(Port Gore) our base to diving one of the world’s 

biggest wrecks the Mikhail Lermontov. Weekly tours 

ex Picton from 1–6 days. Direct flights from Wellington 

to Port Gore. We offer Inner Sounds Tours from Picton. 

South Island’s only SSI Dive Centre. 

www.godive.co.nz Freephone 0800 GODIVE 

Email info@godive.co.nz 

Dive Kaikoura On the is seafront the only downtown dive shop on Port the North Vila. 

Canterbury East Coast. Located 180kms North of 

Christchurch • Certified off dives State • Highway Snorkel 1 Tours in the • beautiful Training South to 

Island. Instructor Specialists Level in • having Full gear Fun, hire Tours, available Shore Dives, • 

Spearfishing, Very friendly, Air Fills, professional Nitrox, PADI 5 & Star experienced 

Courses. 

Servicing local of all gear Instructors AND we’re & Dive a Cressi Masters. Premium 

Dealer! Dive Kaikoura 13 Yarmouth St, Kaikoura. 

20 dive sites (10 to 20 minutes) including 5 wrecks 

03 319 6622. www.divekaikoura.co.nz. 

(including 4 engine QANTAS Sandringham flying 

Open October to June. 

boat and 150 year old sailing ship Star of Russia) 

Temp 24-28°c. Viz 10m to 

40m. Free pickup from 

Resorts in town. 

P: +678 27518 or email: 

dive@bigbluevanuatu.com 

www.bigbluevanuatu.com 

For your safety Vanuatu has 

recompression facilities. 

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65 & 90 Gaunt St, Westhaven, 

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Dive Wellington Become a Padi Dive 

Instructor with our fulltime Diploma course. 

NZQA approved and eligible for student loans 

and allowances. Contact us for a course 

prospectus. Dive Wellington is an audited 

and approved sub contractor of Academy of 

Diving Trust 

E: dive@divewellington.co.nz P: 04 939 

3483 www.divewellington.co.nz 

NZ Sea Adventures PADI 5 Star Instructor 

Development Centre – also TDI Technical diver training 

including CCR. Open 7 days. Dive courses – beginner 

to Instructor. Club dives and trips in NZ and overseas. 

Dive retail, fills, gear hire & servicing. 

9 Marina View, Mana, Porirua. 

P: 04 233-8238 E: nzsa@scubadiving.co.nz 

www.scubadiving.co.nz 

Island Bay Divers NZ’s Pro Gold Centre, Wellington’s 

oldest dive shop. Top brand retail, equipment hire, 

servicing all brands. Tanks tested within 24 hours. 

CMAS, NAUI & PADI training. Club dives every 

Saturday. Corner Reef St & The Parade, Island Bay. 

Summer open 7 days 9am–6pm, winter closed Tues 

& Wed. P: 04-383 6778, 

E: tim@ibdivers.co.nz, www.ibdivers.co.nz 

On the seafront downtown Port Vila. 

• Certified dives • Snorkel Tours • Training to 

Instructor Level • Full gear hire available • 

Very friendly, professional & experienced 

local Instructors & Dive Masters. 







P: +678 27518 or email: 





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DIVE STORES / TRAVEL / PRODUCTS / SERVICES 

Dive HQ Christchurch 30 years industry 

experience, Christchurch’s only PADI 5 Star 

Instructor Development Centre and Adventure 

Activities Certified for SCUBA diving and 

snorkelling. Busy retail store selling the world’s 

leading brands and offering PADI recreational 

and tertiary SCUBA qualifications. Full range 

of spearfishing equipment including breath 

hold courses. Quality gear hire, service centre, 

Enriched Air training and filling station, local and 

international dive and spearfishing trips.103 

Durham St Sth. Sydenham, Christchurch. 

Freephone 0800-DIVEHQ. 

P: (03)379- 5804 www.diveskiworld.co.nz 

E: sales@diveskiworld.co.nz 

Waikawa Dive Centre located at Waikawa Marina, 

Picton. Offering dive training and trips through the 

Marlborough Sounds. Fully-certified dive cylinder 

filling/testing, dive gear servicing/repairs, hire gear. 

Carrying a multi-brand range of diving equipment. 

Open 7 days during summer. Ready to take care of all 

your diving needs. 

P: 03-573-5939, F: 03-573-8241 

waikawadive@xtra.co.nz 

www.waikawadivecentre.co.nz 

www.facebook.com/WaikawaDiveCentre 

Deep Blue Diving Making diving affordable for all 

divers. The Deep Blue brand is well known for its 

value for money and has a strong company reputation 

for delivering quality and excellent service. Visit our 

website or come in and see us for a huge range of dive 

gear, equipment servicing, tank filling, gear hire and 

Padi training. 

15B Byron St, Sydenham, Christchurch 8025. 

P: 03 332 0898 E: sales@deepbluediving.co.nz 

www.deepbluediving.co.nz 

MINI ADS - GREAT RATES 

Book an ad space today! 

Colin Gestro - Affinity Ads 

M: 027 256 8014 


INTERNATIONAL DIVE 

OPERATORS AND RESORTS 

AUSTRALIA 

Pro Dive Cairns Offers the highest quality, best value 

PADI dive courses and 3-day liveaboard Outer Great 

Barrier Reef dive trips in Cairns. We have 16 exclusive 

dive sites across 4 different reefs to choose from and 

departures 6 days/week. 

Check out www.prodivecairns.com 

or call us on +617 4031 5255 

or E: info@prodivecairns.com 

Spirit of Freedom visits the remote dive destinations 

of Cod Hole, Ribbon Reefs, and Coral Sea. The 37m 

vessel offers spacious en-suite cabins, every comfort 

on board, and exceptional service. Marine encounters 

include the potato cod feed, Minke whales in season, 

and the shark dive at Osprey Reef. 

E: info@spiritoffreedom.com.au 

www.spiritoffreedom.com.au 

Tusa Dive Cairns local day dive operators with over 

30 years experience diving the Great Barrier Reef. 

Tusa’s fast modern catamaran the Tusa 6 will visit two 

unique sites where you can enjoy up to three dives 

in the day. Tusa Dive also offer a great day out for 

snorkellers. P: 00617 4047 9100 

E: info@tusadive.com www.tusadive.com 

HDS Australia-Pacific 

PO Box: 347 Dingley Village Victoria 3172, 

Australia. www.classicdiver.org 

DIVE COMPRESSOR 

sales and servicing 

High Pressure 

Equipment NZ Ltd 

ph 09-444 0804 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Master Agents 

for Bauer 

Kompressoren in 

New Zealand and 

have been for the 

past 20 years. 

Servicing & repairs of all compressor brands: 

Bauer, Poseidon, Coltri, Bristol, Brownie. 

and most other brands. 

High pressure regulators. 

High pressure pumps. 

Compressor consumables and spare parts. 

Customised filling panels. 

Breathing air equipment. 

New Zealand Master 

Agents for: 

BAUER KOMPRESSOREN 

compressors/spare parts 

BAUER-POSEIDON 

compressors and spare parts 

DNZ163 

Contact us at: ph 09 444 0804, fax 09 443 1121 

32 Parkway Drive, Mairangi Bay, Auckland. 

Email info@highpressure.co.nz 

www.highpressure.co.nz 

COOK ISLANDS 

Dive Aitutaki with Bubbles Below Explore Aitutaki’s 

underwater world with Bubbles Below. Only 40 

minutes from mainland Rarotonga to the picturesque 

island of Aitutaki.PADI dive courses Beginner to 

Dive Master. Manned boats during dives! Safety and 

enjoyment paramount! ‘Take only Memories & Leave 

only Bubbles Dive Safe, Dive Rite, Dive Bubbles 

Below!’ www.diveaitutaki.com 

E: bubblesbelow@aitutaki.net.ck 

The Dive Centre – The Big Fish PADI 5-star dive 

operator. Services: intro/lagoon dives, dive trips 

twice a day, courses, retail and rental gear. 2 

boats, boats are manned with an instructor, 7 days, 

night dives. Aroa Beach by the Rarotongan Resort. 

P: 682 20238 or 682 55238 

E: info@thedivecentre-rarotonga.com 

www.thedivecentre-rarotonga.com 

dnz164 


ecompression facilities. 



FIJI 

Subsurface Fiji Visit Fiji for fun, relaxing 

tropical diving. Subsurface Fiji PADI 5-Star Dive 

shops are located in the beautiful Mamanuca 

Islands, offering daily trips and courses to some 

of the best dive spots in Fiji. Subsurface provides 

full diving services from Musket Cove, Plantation, 

Malolo, Likuliku, Tropica, Lomani, Funky Fish, 

Namotu, Tavarua, Wadigi & Navini Island Resorts. 

E: info@subsurfacefiji.com 

www.subsurfacefiji.com (DNZ159) 

Captain Cook Cruises Reef Endeavour and Tivua 

Island are 5 star PADI operations – Discover Scuba – 

Scuba Dive – Open water dive – Advance Wreck Dive, 

MV Raiyawa at Tivua Island. Fiji P: +679 6701 823 E: 

fiji@captaincookcruisesfiji.com 

www.captaincookcruisesfiji.com 

Mantaray Island Resort Yasawa Islands – Fiji – Over 

40 dive sites ; vibrant reefs, stunning coral gardens, 

caves, swim throughs, wall dives, drop offs, shark 

dives, turtles, and a stunning house reef. Fiji’s only 

accredited free-diving school, Mantaray swimming 

May–Oct. Small group diving in a safe and enjoyable 

environment visit us at 

www.mantarayisland.com 

Volivoli Beach Resort offers you relaxed, unspoilt 

white sandy beaches in a spectacular part of Fiji. Ra 

Divers operates from the resort giving you a water 

wonderland on the worlds best soft coral dive sites. 

The Fiji Siren is a livaboard boat offering you 7 and 10 

night dive packages. www.volivoli.com 

E: info@volivoli.com P: +679 9920942 

SOLOMONS 

Raiders Hotel and Dive Wreck and Reef diving, 

Accommodation, Bar and dining, Snorkelling 

Hiking and more. Located 1 hour from Honiara on 

the waterfront of the historic Tulagi harbour. Dive - 

Discover – Relax. www.raidershotel.com 

email raidershotel@solomon.com.sb 

ph +677 7594185 / 7938017 

SIDE Dive Munda – Dive the unexplored 

Experience Magical Munda at Agnes Gateway Hotel. 

Award winning service and pristine diving. SSI 

Instructor Training Centre. WWII wrecks, caves and 

reefs – untouched and unspoilt. 

www.divemunda.com 

divemunda@dive-solomon.com 

Find us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram 

SIDE TAKA Dive See more of the Solomon Islands by 

liveaboard! Save $700 on a 7 night booking on board 

MV Taka: 7 Nights Accommodation; 3 gourmet meals 

daily; 24 Dives – sharks, WWII wrecks, manta rays, 

night dives; Round trip airport transfers. Conditions 

apply. For more information or to make a reservations: 

book@dive-solomon.com 

Tulagi Dive Solomon Islands An underwater paradise 

for marine life and explore the many ships and aircraft 

wrecks at the famous Iron Bottom Sound. We offer 

the PADI and TDI courses. Phone (+677) 25700 

www.tulagidive.com dive@tulagidive.com 

THIS SPACE 

COULD BE YOURS 

PLACE AN AD WITH US 

Enquiries to: Colin Gestro 

Affinity Ads M: 027 256 8014 


Travelandco 

At travel&co (previously Dive Fish Snow 

Holidays) we’ve been crafting tailor-made active 

travel trips and experiences for over 30 years. 

Our team of active travel experts share your 

passion 

On the 

for 

seafront 

adventure 

downtown 

and can help 

Port Vila. 

book an 

• exceptional Certified dives active • Snorkel travel experience Tours • Training that goes to 

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learning to dive, to liveaboard adventures - for 


insider tips on the best dive locations and 


tailormade diving experiences let your active 

20 travel dive sites journey (10 to start 20 minutes) with us. including 5 wrecks 


t: 09 479 2210 Toll free NZ: 0800 555 035 

boat e: enquire@travelandco.nz 

and 150 year old sailing ship Star of Russia) 

www.travelandco.nz/dive Temp 24-28°c. Viz 10m to 



TRIPS/CHARTERS 

P: +678 27518 or email: 

CRUISE 


FIORDLAND 

fish • hunt www.bigbluevanuatu.com 

• dive • cruise 

Fish, Hunt, Dive For Cruise your safety aboard Vanuatu the fully has 

refurbished MV recompression Cindy Hardy. Fiordland facilities. or 

Stewart Island, our scenic cruises will provide 

you with a once in a lifetime experience. 

Everything is provided regardless of how 

short or long your time on board with us is. 

Cruise options available on our website. 

www.cruisefiordland.com 

info@cruisefiordland.com 

+6421 088 14530 

(DNZ156) 

VANUATU 

Nautilus Watersports Vanuatu’s longest running 

dive operation in Port Vila with 30+ years’ experience. 

Nautilus offers 4 dives a day (double dive both 

morning and afternoon). We also offer PADI course 

from Discover Scuba right through to Dive Master. For 

dive groups we can also offer diving/accommodation 

packages. P: Peter or Leanne +678 22 398 

www.nautilus.com.vu 

E: nautilus@vanuatu.com.vu 

DIVE HOLIDAY 

Outer Gulf Charters 

One hour north of Auckland CBD 

Providing divers with the ultimate diving day 

out with diver lift, fast/comfortable travel, hot 

water shower, and all the tea and coffee you 

want. 

Recommended Dive Sites: Goat Island Marine 

Reserve, Mokohinau Islands, Great/Little 

Barrier, Sail Rock/Hen & Chickens in style. Trip 

schedule and info 

www.outergulfcharters.co.nz 

or phone Julie 021 827 855 

On the seafront downtown Port Vila. 

• Certified dives • Snorkel Tours • Training to 

Instructor Level • Full gear hire available • 









P: +678 27518 or email: 





SPEAKERS/LECTURERS 

Available for talks to dive clubs etc. You can find full 

details on these speakers/lectures at 

www.DiveNewZealand.co.nz/dive-in-nz/dive-shops/ 

Terry Brailsford Wreck diving for gold & treasure. Incl 

the Rothschild jewellery, search for General Grant. 

0274 958816, theadmiral@xtra.co.nz 

Tony Howell History and entertainment with lots of 

rare historical photos and illustrations – 12 powerpoints 

in total. 45 mins –1 hr each. 

Contact me for topics. 04 233-8238, 

www.scubadiving.co.nz 

tony@scubadiving.co.nz 

Darren Shields Spearfishing titles,uw cameraman, 

author. Motivating/compelling/innovative/inspiring/ 

entertaining P: 09-4794231, 021839118, 

darren@wettie.co.nz 

Jamie Obern Technical instructor/cave diver, 20+ 

years exp. globally. Photos/video: uw caves in 

Mexico, USA, UK, NZ, Australia. Techdive NZ/GUE NZ 

instructor. P: 021 614 023, 

www.techdivenz.com jamie@techdivenz.com 

Dave Moran Ching Dynasty porcelain from the Tek 

Sing. P: Dive New Zealand 09-521 0684, 

E: divenz@DiveNewZealand.co.nz 

Samara Nicholas M.O.N.Z -Programme Director: 

Experiencing Marine Reserves – Te Kura Moana: 

samara@emr.org.nz 

www.emr.org.nz www.facebook.com/emr.mtsct 

P: 09 4338205 or 0210362019 (field only) 

ADVERTISERS’ 

INDEX 

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Our definitive guide 



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P A C I F I C 

The wrecks & reefs of Gizo 

NIWA’s underwater photo magician 

The seas are warming... 

Leopard seal applies for residency 

Three dive pioneers pass on 


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Dive! Tutukaka… 

…celebrates new centre opening 

The crowd gathers at the new Dive! Tutukaka centre opening on May 4th in 

Tutukaka, (and yes that is the world's largest Scuba tank!) 

Photo: Dive!Tutukaka, Doug Pearson 

crowd of over 200 guests 

A gathered for the official 

opening of Dive!Tutukaka’s new 

building on May 4th. Minister of 

Tourism, the Hon Kelvin Davis did 

the honours. 

They have done and are doing 

the world renowned Poor Knights 

Islands to the standard and honour 

it demands. 

Minister Davis said it was just 

fantastic what Dive!Tutukaka had 

achieved. 

Earlier accolades underscored the 

point: Best Business in Northland, 

Best Tourism Business New 

Zealand wide, and PADI rating 

them top in the Asia–Pacific 

region. 

PADI’s Asia Pacific Territory 

Director, Thomas Knedlik was on 

hand from Australia to acknowledge 

their 25 years of PADI training 

during which time Dive!Tutukaka 

has certified some 5000 divers. 

Aussie Malcolm explains more of 

Dive!Tutukaka history 

PADI’s CEO, Drew Richardson video 

messaged from the US adding his 

thanks for everything achieved. 

With just two boats Jeroen 

Jongejans and Aussie Malcolm 

formed Dive!Tutukaka as a 

fully integrated, professionally 

marketed operation back in 1999. 

Back then Tutukaka was a four 

month a year destination; now 

they operate 364 days a year 

employing 60 full and part timers 

on six boats, and larger ones at 

PADI Asia Pacific Territory Director, 

Thomas Knedlik, presents Dive! 

Tutukaka’s Jeroen Jongejans and 

Kate Malcolm with an award for 

over 25 years of membership, and 

their 5000th student PADI certified 

that. A fully electric boat, Little 

Blue, is also due to enter service. 

Then Kate fell in love with 

Jeroen and they both worked in 

Dive!Tutukaka for a decade before 

buying out Kate’s father, Aussie, in 

2015. Dive!Tutukaka always has 

Photo: Dive!Tutukaka, Doug Pearson 

Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis, 

officially opens the centre at 

5.45 pm - now his name should 

always ring a bell in Tutukaka 

been very much a family-owned 

and run company, says Kate. 

As Jeroen noted at the opening, 

every year they take 200,000 

people to the Poor Knights Marine 

Reserve, and in a total of 27 years 

their dive instructors have filled 

over 500,000 scuba tanks, overseen 

some 250,000 dives racking up 

10,000 days underwater. In all 

some $10 million is being brought 

into the local economy annually. 

The achievement as Jeroen and 

others noted, is the operation has 

brought the marine reserve and 

experience closer for everyone. Far 

more people now have the ability 

to experience the Poor Knights 

Islands. 

“Our aim is to deliver the best day 

of your life,” Kate said, referring to 

how their largest boat, Perfect Day, 

was named. 


“The reef systems here are some of the 

most pristine I have seen anywhere in my 

dive travels around the globe, and Wakatobi 

resort and liveaboard are second to none. 

The diversity of species here is brilliant if 

you love photography.” ~ Simon Bowen 

At Wakatobi, we take great pride in 

providing the ultimate in exclusive 

and personalized service. Our dive 

staff and private guides ensure your 

in-water experiences are perfectly 

matched to your abilities and interests. 

While at the resort, or on board our 

luxury dive yacht Pelagian, you need 

only ask and we will gladly provide 

any service or facility within our 

power. For all these reasons and more, 

Wakatobi takes top honors among 

discerning divers and snorkellers. 

An experience 

without equal 

www.wakatobi.com

Dive Pacific 170 Aug Sep 2019

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