X-Ray Mag #8
South Africa theme: Up and down the coast. Sardine Run - Seal heaven - White Sharks - Tiger sharks - Safaris & Photography. Profile of Andre Hartman, the sharkman. Ecology - the life of Dolphins. Using Surface Marker Bouys. After the Tsunami. Photography: Let there be light. Polluce wreck
Main features in this issue include:
After the Tsunami
It was a day of unbelievable violence. Sometimes Nature decides to wake up and with an unforgettable result. This was the case on 26th December 2004 when the giant earthquake struck and a day that will be remembered for long time in areas as Simeulue and Nias Island, North Sumatra, Indonesia which were the nearest points to the earthquake epicentre. From this day on life changed profoundly for the islands’ inhabitants.
Andre Hartman - the shark man
Nowadays, sharks are big business and many divers and scientists have made a name for themselves by making new discoveries about shark behaviour and biology. There is however one man who for many shark enthusiasts needs no introduction.
He has made discoveries that have questioned our understanding and has made many of the most memorable shark photographs and documentaries possible by bringing the world’s top underwater photographers and cinematographers face to face with Carhcarodon carcharias, the Great White Shark.
Dolphin Ecology
When you are on the way back to the harbor after the afternoon dive, wild dolphins often swim in front and along the dive boat. They seem to love following boats. Sometimes they then perform for us, in form of huge jumps out of the water and “tail shows”, keeping the tail up for minutes remaining still in the water.
My biggest surprise was to see how fast these beautiful animals actually swim underwater. One of these young dolphins tried to teach me her kind of swimming, but quickly gave up on such a clumsy student.
General von Steuben
German ocean liner General von Steuben was torpedoed by a Russian submarine in 1945 taking thousands of refugees fleeing the advancing Red army with her to the bottom. She now rests at 72 meters in the Baltic Sea making it one of the most impressive Baltic wrecks and daunting technical dives.
General von Steuben (GvS) was built in 1923. A modern ocean liner for the time, her top speed was 16 knots and she took 1100 passengers.
Getting it all right
Mask clearing and deployment of the Surface Marker Buoy. What's the connection between these two unrelated skills, you may be excused for thinking. They are both giving many students problems during training, that's what. In both cases it's all about getting it right from the beginning.
Let there Be Light
As any diver knows, at depth light is absorbed, and one by one the colours of the spectrum disappear. Red is the first to go which disappears at around six metres, followed by orange, yellow… Underwater photographers are constantly battling against the effect water has on colour and light, and use various methods to return good colours to their images.
Electrical or Optical?
Most of the principles of flash photography are the same on DSLR’s (Digital Single Lens Reflex) and compact cameras. There are however some differences in the way flash units are connected to, and communicate with the cameras.
Polluce Wreck - the Recovery
It was one of those highly unlikely chains of unforeseable events that led us to Elba the pictoresque but somewhat mislaid lump of land in the Meditterean made famous by emperor Napoleon’s exile here: The fact that the treasureship Polluce was finally being excavated.
Saturation divers
South Africa
Covering an area of over 1,200,000 sq km, with nearly 3000km of rugged coastline, South Africa boasts some of the worlds most awe inspiring diving.