Beneath the Sea 2007 a big hit 
Our friends at DivePhotoGuide.com covered the 31st annual Beneath the Sea show at the Meadowlands Convention Center in NJ that offered a fantastic expo floor, seminars, workshops, a film festival and more. Stan Waterman was the "Legends of the Sea" guest of honor this year, and DivePhotoGuide.com's Jason Heller captured it all in a cool photo report. -- Posted Thursday, March 29, 2007 by chb
ABC News runs very belated report on Bushman's Hole rescue attempt
It took place two years ago, but ABC World News finally got around describing the whole thing. I wrote about it extensively in our "Beginning Scuba" contemplations in an essay I named Some things you'd rather not know. The ABC story is at Underwater Adventure: Cave Divers Face Death Deep Beneath the Surface. -- Posted Sunday, March 25, 2007 by chb
Underwater Warriors group helps wounded soldiers with scuba 
Underwater Warriors is a non-profit that provides scuba diving as therapeutic recreation for injured servicemen and women. Armed with adaptive skills, injured soldiers are defying gravity, liberating bodies confined to wheelchairs, and finding freedom in an underwater world. Underwater Warriors, brought together by their sacrifice and service, have embarked on a new and exciting mission, and their families are joining them! On March 24 to 31 a group of six injured soldiers, most who have served with the 101st Airborne Division out of Fort Campbell, KY, will do their Open Water Certification during a dive trip to Cayman Brac. John Chatterton, co-host for the History Channel’s Deep Sea Detectives, will be on-site to film the soldiers.
-- Posted Friday, March 23, 2007 by chb
Download/view Bahamas dive videos on your phone
The Bahamas Diving Association now has PhoneCast dive videos for download to cell phones, and has added a Mobile Device webpage that can be viewed from almost any mobile phone or PDA. The page lists all the dive videos that can be downloaded directly into a mobile device for viewing, all compliments of the Bahamas Diving Association, plus a full online dive guide, Bahamas Diver magazine. [view/download diving videos]
-- Posted Thursday, March 22, 2007 by chb
Review: Olympus E-330 dSLR with underwater housing 
The E-330 is a competent, versatile 7.5 megapixel digital SLR with a "live view" wide viewing angle LCD so you don't always have to look through the viewfinder. It uses a number of advanced technologies that eliminate dust on the mirror, enhance picture quality, and adds some handy consumer camera goodies such as numerous "scene" mode settings. We gave the E-330 a good workout, and that includes a lot of underwater shooting, using the E-330's optional PT-E02 deepwater housing system. [Read detailed review of the Olympus Evolt E-330 dSLR with underwater housing] -- Posted Wednesday, March 14, 2007 by chb
Plight of seahorses
Who doesn't like seahorses, those funky, lovable little critters? Problem is that the seahorse is now an endangered species, with its habitats disappearing and a very active trade in seahorses for tourist and medicinal purposes. Read a detailed interview on seahorses with marine biologist Choo Chee Kuang posted in a FiNS blog. -- Posted Monday, March 12, 2007 by chb
A detailed look at SCUBAPRO's 2007 products 
ScubaDiverInfo.com has taken a detailed look at the 2007 product lineup of Scubapro Uwatec, one of the premier scuba equipment providers. We've personally tried many of their products and are quite familiar with most of the lineup. If you're interested in Scubapro, do get the new 2007 catalog. It has been redesigned with emphasis on clarity and easy reading. Unlike most such catalogs, Scubapro's contains not just product listings but a wealth of information about scuba concepts and technologies in general. We will be reviewing of all new-for-2007 Scubapro products, so check back frequently. [Read our analysis of Scubapro and Uwatec's 2007 products] -- Posted Thursday, March 8, 2007 by chb
Commercial vs recreational equipment
Those who follow the scuba scene know of the criticism the California Department of Water Recources took when two professional divers died in February while inspecting a pumping station in the California Aqueduct. Concerns ranged from the lack of backup safety divers to the use of scuba equipment. Some experienced commercial divers contend that commercial applications should always be done with helmet and hoses and never with "recreational" scuba equipment. Which side are you on? [read San Diego Union-Tribune report] -- Posted Monday, March 5, 2007 by chb