NEWS
Coming to Coral Reefs 2: Jelly Bots
Two days ago DIVERNET reported on “Bluebot” robotic fish as a means of carrying out environmental monitoring of coral reefs. Now we have news of another robotic approach to working in fragile underwater environments such as reefs or archaeological sites - based not on schools of fish but on “pulse-jet” animals such as jellyfish and squid. Read more...
Maltese divers de-net HMS Southwold
Ghost-netting has been removed from one of Malta’s most notable technical wreck sites, the bow section of WW2 destroyer HMS Southwold. Read more...
Coming to coral reefs: Bluebot swarms
Schools of robotic fish that can co-ordinate their movements without any outside control have been developed by scientists at Harvard University in the USA. Read more...
Divers find ancient wrecks off Kasos
Significant ancient shipwreck discoveries have been made by scuba divers off the remote island of Kasos, according to Greece's Ministry of Culture & Sports. Read more...
Long solo dive rings alarm bells
A search and rescue operation was launched off New Zealand’s South Island when scuba diver Kazushi Noiri was reported missing. What was unusual was that the 34-year-old nurse hadn’t realised he was in any difficulties. Read more...
Baby sharks face uncertain future
Baby sharks are being born smaller, exhausted, undernourished and into difficult-to-survive environments, as climate change causes the world’s oceans to warm. Read more...
New: electric eels hunting in packs
Electric eels have always been thought to be solitary night-hunters, but now they have been observed for the first time working together in large groups to kill prey. Individual eels of the new species being studied are able to emit more electricity than any other known creature - enough to power 10 light-bulbs. Read more...
Diver safety risked in ray-death aquarium
More than four years after a scuba diver died after being stung by a ray in a Singapore oceanarium, the company behind the now-closed facility has been found guilty of lapses in safe diving procedures. Read more...
Ocean repels plastics using seagrass balls
Scuba divers enjoy the biodiversity of seagrass locations, which can provide food, shelter and breeding habitats for turtles, dugongs, seahorses and countless other creatures. Seagrass also exchanges vast quantities of carbon dioxide for oxygen, improves water quality and protects coasts from erosion. Read more...
Divers recover Marines’ kit from warship
The wreck of an 18th-century British warship off the Netherlands' North Sea coast has revealed a number of well-preserved artefacts, including cannon, leather cartridge pouches and bayonet sheaths. Read more...
Octopus selfie scoops Ocean Art pool
The shot chosen as “Best of Show” in the ninth Ocean Art underwater photography competition comes from Australia, and is described as “a once-in-a-lifetime moment of an octopus taking a selfie with the help of the photographer and his curious family in the background”. Read more...
Torch saves nurse on first night-dive
A nurse on her first night dive spent three hours lost at sea off the South Australian coast – and says it was her dive-light that saved her life. Read more...
Manatee turned into Trump billboard
An investigation is under way after a manatee was videoed in Florida’s Homosassa River with the word ‘TRUMP’ etched into the algae covering its side. Read more...
Canal diver trapped under ice
An unusual diving death has occurred in Canada, after a man became separated from his buddy and was trapped beneath ice in an inland waterway. Read more...
Stop riding sharks, authority tells divers
Up to 80 requiem sharks gather each winter in the warm Mediterranean waters off Israel’s Hadera power station - but now some scuba divers have been accused of trying to “ride” the vulnerable sharks. Read more...
Diving campaigners welcome Mozambique action
“Sweeping protections” for threatened whale sharks, manta rays and all mobula species is how Mozambique-based campaigning body the Marine Megafauna Foundation (MMF) has described new commercial-fishing laws that came into effect in the Indian Ocean nation yesterday (8 January). Read more...
Deaths of two veteran UK divers
Frank Allen, who was instrumental in the development of scuba-diving as an adventurous training (AT) activity for members of Britain’s armed forces, died on 30 December. Read more...
BDMLR completes first UK orca rescue
A stranded orca has been rescued in Orkney by volunteers from the conservation charity British Divers Marine Life Rescue. Such incidents involving orcas are “incredibly rare”, says BDMLR, which believes this was the first time the organisation had been able to refloat one successfully in the UK. Read more...
Conception-inspired law passed in USA
The dumping of outgoing President Trump’s veto of the US National Defence Authorisation Act has unblocked the passage of commercial boat-safety legislation that had been introduced after the fatal Conception dive-liveaboard fire off California. Read more...
Free view: polar bear dive-trip
One of the best recent diving-related documentaries, the 75-minute “Picture Of His Life’, is temporarily available for Divernet readers to watch for free – until Friday, 8 January. Read more...
Lifeboat volunteers honoured
Sixty-nine-year-old Phil Eaglen has been a lifeboat volunteer since 1967, and remains a vital part of the shore crew at Wells RNLI. The emergency mechanic for the Norfolk station, he was described as the “backbone” of the operation when he was honoured for a half-century of service in 2019. Read more...
MBE for top Navy diver
One of the Royal Navy’s most experienced underwater bomb-disposal experts has been recognised in the New Year’s Honours list for his “inspirational leadership and operational achievements”. He has been made an MBE. Read more...
Londoner Toby the youngest MSD
Toby Monteiro-Hourigan from London became the world’s youngest PADI Master Scuba Diver at least for a time when he recently completed his training the day after his 12th birthday. Read more...
Whale song reveals lost population
A previously unsuspected second population of blue whales has been identified in the Indian Ocean from their unfamiliar song patterns. Read more...
‘Star Wars’ seals go ultrasonic
Weddell seals can produce chirps, whistles and trills at frequencies beyond human hearing range, according to new research. Weddells are highly vocal, but the ability to emit such ultrasonic calls has never before been identified in any of the 33 known species of seal, sea-lion or walrus. Read more...
Big Blue beckons in March
Pharaoh Dive Club owners Clare and Steve Rattle have been working and diving around the Egyptian Red Sea for nearly 30 years and run the popular Roots Red Sea centre which, as they fairly say, put the town of El Quseir on the map. Read more...
Divers couldn’t save whales in Yorkshire
Members of the volunteer force British Divers Marine Life Rescue spent Christmas Eve on an East Yorkshire beach in rough weather - but were unable to provide a happy ending to the mass stranding of 10 sperm whales. Read more...
Season’s greetings to Divernet readers everywhere
Season's greetings to Divernet readers everywhere Read more...
Freediver Stig smashes ocean distance record
As a breath-hold time it was relatively short, certainly for Stig Severinsen, but a recent horizontal dive by the veteran Danish freediver has smashed a previous distance record by 25m and has just been featured as “Record of the Day” by Guinness World Records (GWR). Read more...