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The dive watch – a history

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The oceans have always held a powerful fascination for mankind, accounting for the fact that the history of diving may have started as early as 5,000 B.C., making it as old as human civilization itself. Even today, the sea holds so many secrets and it is doubtful that we will ever fully understand it. “More people have walked on the moon than have been to the deepest place in the ocean.” This statement by explorer Don Walsh describes perfectly how little we know about the sea – but as is the spirit of mankind, humans always try to satisfy their curiosity. In order to further explore the marvellous beauty of the sea, all those people who are brave enough to do so, share the need for reliable devices as without them, there would be no diving as we know it today. One of these devices is the diving watch. Confronted with today’s overwhelming choice of dive watches, we might sometimes forget about the progress this special timepiece had to go through before it arrived at the point where it is today. Compared to the time span that comprises the history of diving, the history of the diver’s watch seems ridiculously…

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Sardine Run 2014 – The Holiday Diary

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It’s Sunday morning, day one. The alarm clock shows 6.00 am and its beeping makes it very clear that it’s time to get up. It’s still dark outside, the coffee fragrance is in the air leading us to the breakfast lounge of the Umkomaas lodge; a few muffins satisfy the stomach and get us ready to go. The equipment is all set-up, the wetsuits are on and the boat is loaded. It’s not often to see people getting up before dawn with a smile on the face, but when your early wakening anticipates two dives packed of sharks, then the perspective totally changes. The launch with our speedboat is still the same: hold on tight, put your feet in the straps and the jumping and slalom between the waves kicks the day off. The first dive is a baited dive, but not before having attracted a few dozen blacktip sharks around the boat. We kit-up and with a rollback we are in what looks more like a shark soup then a place in the Indian ocean. The washing machine drum full of smelly fish hangs at an eight meter depth and we’re looking all around at the blacktips getting crazy…

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The Hammerhead Triangle – Cocos, Galapagos and Malpelo

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So, you like sharks? Big sharks? Hammerhead sharks? Then the Hammerhead triangle is where you want to be in your next diving holiday. Hammerhead sharks Their bizarre shape, their wave-motion and their powerful grace makes this animal one of the most sough-after sharks. This shark variety may reach the 6 meters size and weigh up to 580 kg; the particular hammer-shape consents the shark to a 360 degrees eyesight. Their habits are not the most common among other sharks: they swim in schools during the day and hunt solitarily at night. Hammerheads can been spotted in warm waters, along the coastline of many places in the world but there is a special place where they particularly like to hang around: the hammerheads triangle. The hammerheads triangle The imaginary triangle formed between Cocos, Galapagos and Malpelo islands is a well-known location in the scuba diving community for its massive presence of hammerheads sharks. These three islands confine some of the best diving spots in the world where you can see of up to 200 / 300 hammerheads swimming in schools. Situated west of Central America, this golden triangle is formed among three different countries: Galapagos Islands, situated 1,000 km of the…

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Dive with Hammerhead Sharks in Gordon Rocks – Galapagos

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Three rocks emerge from the water, they are part of an extinct volcanic crater and, together with the submerged pinnacles, gives this dive the shape of an open semi-circle. In the middle of it, an imposing pinnacle (El Pinaculo) emerges from the 32 meters depth bottom and creates funky washing machines. In front of it, between two of the exposed rocks, other three aligned pinnacles are set as the gate: the entrance to the dive spot. Gordon Rocks is probably the best diving site that you can reach from Santa Cruz, without the need of joining a liveaboard excursion. You can reach it within 45 minutes to 1 hour navigation from Puerto Ayora. La Lavadora (washing machine), the local name of this site, is considered one of the most challenging dives in Galapagos. When there is current, it totally deserves the recognition. Like most of other places around the world, it depends on the day, the hour, the moon and many other factors, so as you could dive Gordon without a breeze of current, most of the time you’ll have from moderate to intense current as well. This is why it is not recommended for beginner divers. Knowing ahead that the…

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Fit for a Nature Documentary: Amazing Migrations You Can Personally Experience

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With our vast access to nature-themed channels, documentary specials and a plethora of self-made online videos, the incredible feats that animals are capable of can often seem mundane. So let’s put it in perspective! With regular exercise and a well balanced diet, a rookie marathon runner could take 16 weeks to get in tip-top shape for a race. It’s an impressive accomplishment for many of us humans. However, the ocean’s marathons would put to shame the 26 miles (42 kilometres) that our races’ entail and they don’t even practice! More so, the motivation for marine life is certainly not about staying in shape. Instead, animals put their bodies to the ultimate test for the reward of obtaining essential food sources or arriving at safe havens where they can procreate. In addition, many of these crucial migrations occur in large masses thereby attracting many other species to the commotion. As if it were the ocean Olympics, predators, prey and the opportunists of the sea gather at these monumental events. These aquatic athletes utilize their unique attributes to win life or death battles but will make the ultimate sacrifice for someone else (often for their own young). As an ocean lover, the…