Yesterday, we featured a short video discussing Yuri Lipski, a diver who died in Egypt's Blue Hole in 2000. Naturally, YouTube has some other clips concerning Lipski's death. In the first video, there is additional commentary (not in English) and additional footage, including some of Lipski's body on the sea floor, his BC unstrapped but not removed -- as if he had been trying to wriggle out of it. The second video, much shorter, is a close-up. It *appears* to me that the second clip is also of Lipski, but I may be wrong.
Warning: these videos are graphic, particularly the second. You've been warned.
Fatal Accident Caught on Tape, Update
Fatal Diving Accident Caught on Tape
In 2000, Yuri Lipski died while scuba diving in Egypt's famous "Blue Hole." During his dive, Lipski had a video camera strapped to his head. This 5-minute clip shows portions of Lipski's final moments, as well as some analysis of the tragic end provided by specialists. Don't expect to be amazed by the level of analysis -- in my opinion, they seem far too emotional and engaged in the clip to be objective -- though they do help clarify what's going on on screen.
Of course, it's a bit morbid to watch a person's final moments. Hopefully, though, divers can use the footage to help protect themselves against similar accidents.
Russian Diver Dies After Diving to 300 Feet, Update
Yesterday, we told you about Alexander Nikitan, the Russian who died after diving to 300+ feet. According to an accident analysis by Jean Loup Hamacher (TDI Extended Range Instructor and PADI MSDT) who was at the scene of the accident, Nikita was conscious and asking for help when he surfaced from his dive. Having difficulty breathing, Nikitan explained that, while at 330 feet, he had lost his weight belt. Rescuers administered emergency care, but Nikitan died soon thereafter. An inspection of Nikitan's computer revealed that he had performed a normal ascent until 240-210 feet -- but surfaced from that depth in only a few seconds. He had missed his decompression stops and had not used his nitrox28 and nitrox70 on ascent.
Based on a post-accident gear analysis, Hamacher assumed the cause of the accident was probably poor gas management. With no reserve left, Nikitan likely removed his weight in an attempt to save his life when he ran out of gas at depth of 240 feet, resulting in hypoxia and massive gas embolism. For the full analysis, check out Tetis, a Russian forum, which has posted the report in English.
Russian Diver Dies After Diving to 300 Feet
This hasn't been a good week for divers in the Red Sea. Last weekend, four divers (two Russians, a Hollander, and an Egyptian) vanished while diving at Marsa Alam. Yesterday, another Russian diver died. According to police, Alexander Nikitan was found dead on Monday near the shore at Ras Mohammed. Apparently, Nikitan ignored the warning to divers not to dive below 180 feet and, instead, descended to 300 feet, where he ran out of air.
Search Called off for Four Missing Red Sea Divers
As you know, this weekend several divers went missing during a dive in the Red Sea. Apparently, five divers -- three Russians, a Dutchman, and an Egyptian guide -- were exploring a reef off Marsa Alam when the instructor warned them of sharks and instructed the group to surface. Several hours later, one of the Russian divers stumbled onto shore and told authorities about the accident. The other four never appeared.
A helicopter and 15 boats have been searching the area for four days, but today, officials called off the search. According to Alaa El Din Abdelgeleel of the Red Sea Association for Diving and Marine Sport, "I am sorry to say there is no chance to find them alive. We are limiting the search to the coastal areas, looking for their bodies."
Egyptian authorities are not planning to charge the owner and employees of the dive center that organized the excursion. An inspection concluded that the dive center had all necessary licenses, and that its equipment was in good condition. Rather, the prosecutor concluded, "Bad weather conditions, large waves, and the fact that the current swept the tourists away from the vessel were the main causes of the accident."
A Better Way to Find that Fish
I don't know about you, but my memory could use some help when it comes to fish identification. Black tip reef sharks and the bright orange Garibaldi are easy to remember but the variations of damselfish and triggerfish can be overwhelming.Fish ID guides, like those by Paul Humann, are a critical part of any divers bookshelf but they're not always the easiest to use if all you can remember is the general size or markings on a fish. What I've always wanted to see is a fish guide which cross-references their characteristics in greater detail and It looks like the folks at WikiDivers are doing just that.
Their fish identification guide begins with describing the characteristics of fish: body shape, fins, markings, gills, size, and body/fin configurations. Each of these includes a link to fish which have those characteristics. If your unknown fish had vertical bands, click the Bands link and a list shows you those with vertical bands.
There is a growing number of fish species already in the guide but it's a work in progress. While the main page is a great starting point with photos and links, the search results don't generate thumbnails. Bummer, because clicking through links for individual photos is no better than paging through Humann's book. The founders of WikiDivers have voiced their commitment to the site so hopefully their hard work will continue and produce an intuitive and thorough resource.
Holiday Loot - What Was in Your Stocking?
It's 2007 and hopefully you've survived another Festivus holiday. I'm looking forward to next year when I don't have to follow my 14-month-old around my in-laws' and pulling him away from tables and electrical outlets.My scuba stocking had these great books inside...
The first, Master Guide for Underwater Digital Photography, is authored by Jack and Sue Drafahl. I've only paged through but it looks like an excellent introductory guide to underwater shooting with your digital camera. There are many photos and references to new(ish) gear from point-and-shoot digitals to SLR. Topics covered include camera settings (what <i>is</i> the histogram used for?), setting proper exposure, strobes, wide-angle, macro, composition, and traveling with your gear. This is my first book on the topic and it looks like an excellent place to start.
The other is a giant coffee-table-sized thing called Ocean: The World's Last Wilderness Revealed. With a foreword by Fabien Cousteau, it's the end-all, be-all visual reference and fact guide to our seas. There are beautiful two-page photos and hundreds of diagrams describing every facet of our great seas from ocean currents to temperature to the creatures living in dark depths. It's the type of book where you can read two or three pages and move onto the next topic. If nothing else this should inspire you to get back into the water, try a new dive site, or simply impress your friends.
So what did you get for dive-related gifts?
The Odd Couple: Eels and Grouper Cooperatively Hunt
Redouan Bshary, a researcher from the University of Neuchâtel in Switzerland, was in for a surprise the day he decided to study the interaction of cleaner fish and groupers in the Red Sea. What he found instead was a bizarre interaction between moray eels and groupers.Morays lurk in the reef and hunt at night while groupers hunt in open water during the day. In some cases a grouper's prey might find refuge in the reef, leaving a frustrated grouper poking its big head around unfulfilled.
What Bshary observed was a grouper approach a moray, shake its head just inches away, and lead it to the crevice sheltering its prey. The eel might scare it out for the grouper or grab a quick meal.
Once might have been coincidence (video) but this was observed a number of times. This type of cooperative hunting is unique because it's between two fish species and never before observed. Until now it was only seen in humans/dogs and humans/dolphins.
What's left to be determined is whether this behavior is learned or unique to marine life in the Red Sea.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in.]
What's It Like to Be Lost at Sea for 46 Hours?
I imagine it's happened to just about every diver. There you are swimming along, admiring the reef, when all of a sudden you realize that the reef is dwindling. A moment later, there isn't even a reef -- there's just a sandbar. For whatever reason, you choose to forge ahead -- maybe the current is taking you this way, or you just "feel" this direction is correct. In any event, in a few minutes, you realize: you're lost. Often times, simply ascending will give you the opportunity to relax, find the boat, and head back to safety. In other cases, you might not be so lucky. Surfacing, expecting to find the boat, but seeing nothing must be terrifying. While I've never lost the boat, I have gotten turned around under water. However, British diving instructor Andrew Smith and Belgian divemaster trainee Milly Geyskens recently had the unfortunate experience of spending 46 terrifying hours drifting in the Red Sea.
How did it happen? After diving the wreck of the Kingston, they were pulled away by a strong current, which they encountered while diving deeper than the rest of their party. After Geyskens lost one of her fins, she was unable to swim against the current and was forced to ascend into heavy swells. Night fell. The following day, the pair saw the rescue helicopter pass overhead but fail to see them. Night fell again. What was it like? Did they survive? Read their story.
Jane McAlister Saves Diver, Congratulated by Tony Blair
Dive instructor Jane McAlister visited Egypt's Ras Mohamed National Park last June. Diving with a small group, when another instructor in the group signaled for them to ascend to follow a shoal of barracuda, one of the divers got confused, dumped her air, and "dropped like a stone," destined for the bottom, 3000 feet below. Springing into action, McAlister raced after the errant diver, and managed to catch her around 150 feet. McAlister grabbed the diver, inflated her BC, and dropped her weights. After completing a controlled ascent to 70 feet, McAlister handed the woman to the other instructor and decompressed. By the time McAlister climbed onto the dive boat, however, she was already bent. After two days of treatment in a decompression chamber, she had recovered.
Next month, McAlister will be congratulated personally by Tony Blair for her achievement. If she's good enough for Blair, she's good enough to be named Divester's Hero of the Week!
Sea Turtles a Victim of Military Conflict in the Middle East
Aside from the U.S. Navy's testing of sonar which is linked to whale beaching, I hardly think about the impact of military action and the marine environment. This story brings the issue into sharp focus in the Middle East where the clash between Israel and Lebanon took its toll on nesting sea turtles.One mile of beach near Mansouri provides a nesting ground to Loggerhead and Green turtles. Even with the fighting 70 and 9 nests, respectively, were laid and 5,000 hatchlings made their way to the ocean. This number may have been more had the turtle conservationists been able to stay in the area and protect the nests. Unfortunately the conflict forced them to flee. Although the fighting has ceased, the beach has become littered with plastic water bottles and other trash from marine vessels patrolling the coast.
On a bright note, Lebanese don't eat turtle for religious reasons and laws have been enacted to prohibit harvesting them.
Dive Global's Seasonal Calendar: One Page Goodness
It's not terribly difficult to find details about the weather conditions of a dive destination. A quick Google search or thumbing through Sport Diver will give up the answer. Finding the information in one place may be a different story.From Africa to the Virgin Islands, Dive Global has an alphabetized listing of dive destinations and what to expect for water conditions based on the season. It's not as nicely designed as their Critter Calendar which presents animal encounters by calendar month (hint, hint), but it's a start.
A Diver's Guide to Reef Life
In addition to their regular full-time jobs, Andrea and Antonella Ferrari moonlight by writing and publishing a wide-ranging assortment of books -- from a guide covering Malaysian dive resorts to Oceani Segreti, a coffee-table book awarded the World Grand Prize at the Underwater Image Festival at Antibes. The couple also serves as associate editors for FiNS dive magazine.
Recently, the Ferraris published A Diver's Guide to Reef Life, a 478-page reference guide detailing 1200 tropical species that divers might encounter from the Caribbean to the Indo-Pacific. In addition to more than 1300 photos, the Ferraris also provide detailed descriptions of the creatures that include distribution, size, habitat, and "life habits" -- a summary of the animal's characteristics that may include color variations or other trivia. Scattered throughout the book are "bonus" chapters that, for example, discuss specializations fish have achieved, or showcase brilliant images. Thoughtfully, the Ferraris also provide underwater photo tips, so you can come home with photos as resplendant as those in the book.
A Diver's Guide to Reef Life will be available from both SeaChallengers and Amazon soon. The book will cost around $55, but, according to the review on Wetpixel, you should consider that money well-spent.
Dive Video of the Day: Clownfish Attack!
Initially, I thought this 30-second video was cute and harmless: here's a diver who just wants to snap a picture of a clownfish in the Red Sea. However, after watching it, I wondered if he was harassing the clownfish and therefore deserved what he got. What do you think? Harassment? Or just playing?
This Is Why We Dive
What can I say? I just love this shot of a pair of Masked Butterflyfish that Veelen added to Divester's Flickr pool. The colors are great; I love that Veelen got two fish in one shot; and because they're facing opposite directions, it's a great way to see what Masked Butterflies look like. So cool!
Although Veelen doesn't provide any details about this shot, Masked Buterflies are common in the Red Sea, so...unless Veelen went to a lot of effort to stage this shot, I'm guessing it was made in the Red Sea.
Have you got a cool shot of a pair of fish? Add them to This Is Why We Dive! We always love to see a great pair.
