Scuba Diving and Snorkeling
Wreck divers find a diver’s Holy Grail on the Andrea Doria
Aug 11th
Every SCUBA diver and beachcomber dreams at some point of finding long-lost buried treasure or unearthing some relic lost to the sea. Two Andrea Doria divers recently did just that when they unearthed the bridge bell during their first dive on the wreck. The SS Andrea Doria is a fairly recent wreck. It sunk after it collided with the Swedish ocean liner, the MS Stockholm on July 25, 1956. Even though many of the lifeboats were unuseable once the severely damaged ship started listing to one side, only 46 lives were lost on the Andrea Doria and 5 on the Stockholm. More >
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Loading ...Extreme Underwater Activities – Things You Never Knew Folks Did Underwater
Apr 28th
I spend a few minutes each day looking for news and other information that might be of interest to blog readers and hobbyists. While perusing one of my favorite websites, Underwatertimes.com. While it was a slow day in respects to fish and aquarium related news, I did come across an entertaining article about a group of Florida Keys Divers who are attempting to break the Guinness Book of World Records for extreme underwater ironing. That’s right, extreme underwater ironing. I am not sure what is more interesting, the fact that there is such a thing, or that there is a Guinness record for it. All you need to know about the sport is on the Extreme Ironing Bureau website, “Welcome to the home of extreme ironing – the latest danger sport that combines the thrills of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well-pressed shirt”. Man, I thought fish geeks were a weird bunch.
I love being on and in the water, diving, snorkling, and watching what goes on down there with fish and other reef inhabitants, but I’ve never come across anyone pressing their laundry! This got me to wondering what other weird underwater activities have I missed out on, and all I can say is WOW. Here’s some of what I found:
Underwater Hairdressing - David Rae recently set the Guinness record for underwater hairdressing, cutting 33 peoples hair in one hour, in 3 meters of water.
Underwater Juggling - Hannes “kann es” Neumann from Hannover, Germany owns the record for underwater juggling, in 2009 Hannes juggled underwater for 49 minutes, 53 seconds.
Underwater Tic-Tac-Toe - Divers in Melbourne, Australia set out to break the record for consecutive hours of underwater tic-tac-toe playing of 24 hours. The goal of the diving crew was to play for 36 hours strait.
Underwater Hockey – who needs ice to play hockey? Yes it is serious, very, very serious. For more information click here.
Underwater Pumpkin Carving - right here in our neck of the woods, the York Divers held an underwater pumpkin carving contest in 2009 to celebrate thanksgiving.
Underwater Mail Service - the tiny South Pacific Island paradise of Vanuatu, has what they claim to be the only underwater post office. Located 9 feet 10 inches underwater, patrons can snorkel or scuba dive to the fiberglass hut on the seafloor to purchase and mail waterproof postcards!
Maybe people have a bit too much time on their hands…Thank God for the internet, so they can share their fun with us.
Until next blog,
Dave
(+4 rating, 4 votes) Loading ...Another Environmental Catastrophe Averted on the Great Barrier Reef
Apr 21st
The Great Barrier Reef is the largest and most diverse coral reef in the world. The aquarium industry over the past few years has seen a growing list of fish and corals that have been made available from the Barrier Reef, and they’ve been some amazing specimens. The last thing anyone wants is anything damaging the pristine natural wonder, especially something so devastating as to restrict collection of fish and corals from selected areas again. More >
(+1 rating, 3 votes) Loading ...The Plastic Sea – Islands of Plastic Debris Litter our Oceans
Feb 12th
We use plastic every day; there is no getting around it. From the cars we drive to the food we eat, plastic materials dominate our lives. Plastics have simplified our lives so much over the past century it would be virtually impossible to reduce our use. The problem with plastics is the inability to biodegrade. Plastics break down over time, but only into smaller pieces. More >
(+1 rating, 1 votes) Loading ...Artist’s Exhibits Embody “All Washed Up”
Dec 16th
Hey, it’s Eileen again! Last summer, I posted a blog on artificial reefs and their wide range of uses and designs, but an English artist is taking this concept to a whole new level!
Jason de Caires Taylor, an underwater naturalist and diving instructor with over 14 years experience underwater, has created magnificent underwater sculpture exhibits. The exhibits are located in Grenada (Moilinere Bay) and the United Kingdom (Canterbury and Chepstow) with a sister exhibit on land in Crete, Greece. His exhibits highlight the underwater environment and its ability to change and adapt. Instead of scrubbing each bit of algae and growth from the artwork, it has become part of the exhibit.
As the underwater life reclaims each piece of Jason’s artwork, it helps illustrate his point on the resilience and adaptability of his exhibit. Most of his sculptures are of human figures, a truly haunting picture as the sealife starts to overtake them. His latest sculpture is incorporating a collection of glass bottles with messages submitted by the public and divided into categories like fear, hope, loss and belonging. Another project to be installed in Cancun incorporates propogated corals and over 400 individual sculptures.
Check out the gallery on the artist’s homepage and don’t forget these pictures the next time you are scrubbing the algae off your ornaments!
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