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Friday, 30 November 2012

Underwater art

For some awesome underwater photography make sure you check out this page!



http://www.facebook.com/pages/Underwater-Art/196327087143586?fref=ts

Wednesday, 28 November 2012

Scuba Quotes


Here are some of my favourite Scuba quotes:

"To scuba dive without any training is tantamount to playing Russian roulette with a loaded revolver". R. BURGESS

"Most photos are worth a thousand words. Underwater ones are worth at least a million".- Stephen Frink

Our memories of the ocean will linger on,long after our footprints in the sand are gone.

The ocean never lets you down. It might surprise you or frighten you or challenge you, but it's always there for you. 

"Yes; I love it! The sea is everything. It covers seven tenths of the terrestrial globe. Its breath is pure and healthy. It is an immense desert, where man is never lonely, for he feels life stirring on all sides. The sea is only the embodiment of a supernatural and wonderful existence. It is nothing but love and emotion; it is the 'Living Infinite,' as one of your poets has said. In fact, Professor, Nature manifests herself in it by her three kingdoms--mineral, vegetable, and animal. The sea is the vast reservoir of Nature. The globe began with sea, so to speak; and who knows if it will not end with it? In it is supreme tranquillity. The sea does not belong to despots. Upon its surface men can still exercise unjust laws, fight, tear one another to pieces, and be carried away with terrestrial horrors. But at thirty feet below its level, their reign ceases, their influence is quenched, and their power disappears. Ah! sir, live--live in the bosom of the waters! There only is independence! There I recognise no masters! There I am free!"
― Jules Verne

"Buoyed by water, he can fly in any direction - up, down, sideways - by merely flipping his hand. Under water, man becomes an archangel." Jacques Cousteau

"From birth, man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free."

No aquarium, no tank in a marine land, however spacious it may be, can begin to duplicate the conditions of the sea. And no dolphin who inhabits one of those aquariums or one of those marine lands can be considered normal.

The best way to observe a fish is to become a fish.

The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.

The sea, the great unifier, is man's only hope. Now, as never before, the old phrase has a literal meaning: we are all in the same boat.

"It is an interesting biological fact that all of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea- we are going back from whence we came."
- John F. Kennedy

"When you finally see what goes on underwater, you realize that you've been missing the whole point of the ocean. Staying on the surface all the time is like going to the circus and staring at the outside of the tent." -  Dave Barry 

Friday, 23 November 2012

Cave Dive

Before I entered the caves

Whilst in Portugal last summer I did a cave dive on the most south-westerly point of the Algarve, which is termed "The Corner of Europe". The cave system is known as Ilheu Martinhal e Cave Catedral (in Portuguese). 

Stalactites and stalagmites 


We entered the cave system 16m down and went through some tunnels before we surfaced in a dome which was an air pocket, so we were able to take our regs out and have a chat which was quite surreal half way through a dive, when you're used to the silence of being underwater!


In the dome

It was an interesting dive, not just to see the cave systems, but we also saw marine life which was seen so often on other dives,such as types of nudi branch, huge lobsters and hundreds of starfish. (Pictures below)



Lobster


Nudi Branch

Thursday, 22 November 2012

Free Dive

Halo Bubbles whilst free diving in Greece


The Beginning

Ever since I can remember I have had an affinity with the ocean and I have done many different water sports from wind surfing to sailing to water skiing. However it wasn't until I started free diving that I realised what Dave Barry once noted, “when you finally see what goes on underwater, you realise that you've been missing the whole point of the ocean. Staying on the surface all the time is like going to the circus and staring at the outside of the tent.” This was just how I felt when I started spending time under the water.

 However I was only an amateur free diver and I felt the urge to be able to go deeper and for longer, so in 2010 I first discovered Scuba Diving and fell in love with it straight away. I completed my PADI Open Water and Advanced Open Water courses in one summer in Kefalonia where I was spoiled with 30m viz and 28oc waters. I then spent a summer working at a Dive Centre in the Algarve which was a challenge with Atlantic temperatures and conditions but i gained my PADI Divemaster and DSD leader qualifications.