X-Ray Mag #29
Bikini Atoll - Expedition to the wrecks of Operation Crossroads :: Aftermath — at the nuclear playground :: Journey to Bikini Atoll :: Wrecks of Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Leatherback Turtle Report from Papua New Guinea :: Profiling Odyssey Marine :: Yoga & Dive :: Tech Talk: Why Technical Diving :: UW Photography: Illumination :: Portfolio Ana Bikic
Main features in this issue include:
Aftermath — at the nuclear playground
During the period between 1945 and 1958, a total of 67 nuclear tests were conducted on Bikini and Eniwetok Atolls and adjacent regions within the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
In Bikini on 24 July 1946, an enormous water column beneath a mushroom cloud left 500,000 tons of radioactive mud in the atoll’s lagoon.
Ana Bikic
Originally from Argentina, artist and scuba diver Ana Bikic believes that art should play an active roll in environmental education and awareness.
Bikic began her career as an artist after studying fine arts in Cordoba at the Figueroa Alcorta School of Fine Arts in Argentina. She then worked in art publishing and marketing in Spain, creating designs for Moroccan Carpets and exhibited throughout Europe and the UK.
Illumination
Nice subject matter and good visibility is a prerequisite for a great image. But just as important is correct lighting.
Daylight is a constant light source that influences the film or the CCD-sensor in a digital camera as long as the shutter is open. This creates a photographic rule; the longer the shutter remains open with the same aperture, the brighter the image will be.
Journey to Bikini Atoll
In contrast to the Bikini report by the expert Dutch expedition, X-RAY MAG’s Barb Roy shares her perspectives as a recreational diver and wreck junkie on the history and culture of Bikini Atoll.
Although I am the only female in the group, and a travel journalist, I am accepted because I create these escapes and weave a recipe of pleasing surprises, challenging dives and always add a twist of exploration to the mix.
Leatherback Expedition
Save Our Leatherbacks Operation completed its fourth year of expeditions to the nesting beaches located in very remote Papua Barat.
Humanity’s increasing and wanton destruction of our seas is causing a spiral into extinction of this, the largest sea turtle and reptile on Earth.
Odyssea Marine Exploration
Millis Keegan interviews Odyssey Marine Exploration’s Principal Marine Archaeologist Neil Cunningham Dobson
— April 2009
MK: What do you do? I ran into some confusion trying to set this interview up, so lets take a closer look at what you are trying to do. Obviously you are not treasure hunters, so what are you doing?
Technical Diving: Why?
Technical diving gives you the opportunity to develop your diving without becoming an instructor. But the diving becomes more difficult, and the technology is not what you are used to.
In recent years, a new path has opened up for those who do not want to become an instructor and yet want to develop with his or her diving; that path is technical diving.
Who Owns a Shipwreck?
New technology now allows for the exploration of deep-water wrecks previously not accessible. But, who really owns a shipwreck?
Most countries, especially coastal states, have their own legislation that regulates the exploration and exploitation of shipwrecks as a cultural or economic resource.
In Canada, a new federal policy aims to better protect and preserve archaeological resources found within that country’s national parks, both on land and underwater.
Yoga & Diving
A place without distraction, a place without time.
The place one can find solace and retreat from a busied world above, where the problems of your day seem to meld with the water and are left at the shoreline.
Our ability to dive comfortably is directly related to our core strength, balance, focus and determination. To improve our abilities in the water, we were told “the only way to get in shape for diving, is to dive”.