NEWS

Domino effect led to diver’s death

A New Zealand scuba diver died through a lethal combination of unsafe practices from which other divers could learn, a coroner has concluded at the inquest. Read more...

Lockdown lures seahorses back to Studland

Britain’s endangered spiny seahorses have recolonised their former stronghold of Studland Bay in Dorset - that’s the conclusion following a dive by a team from marine-conservation charity the Seahorse Trust. Read more...

Maldives gets first ENOS system

The DivePoint dive-centre on Rannalhi in South Male atoll has become the first Maldives operation to invest in ENOS, the electronic rescue and locating system for divers. Read more...

Greece lowers guard on diving

Long-established restrictions on scuba diving in Greece are finally reported to have been lifted by the country’s parliament, as it bids to maximise visitor numbers in the wake of its success to date in limiting the spread of coronavirus. Read more...

Dolphin anchor lifted in Sicily

A 2300-year-old stone anchor inscribed with a dolphin symbol has been retrieved by scuba divers off the north-west coast of Sicily. Read more...

Join Socorro manta expedition

The Revillagigedos are a group of four volcanic islands in the Pacific Ocean that lie 250 miles off Baja Mexico and include Socorro. They attract schooling hammerhead, tiger, and silky sharks, dolphins, jack and barracuda, whale sharks and famously manta rays. Read more...

Medics worried by Covid after-effects

Diving doctors have expressed concern that they do not know how scuba divers’ lungs and heart will recover after Covid-19 infection. Read more...

European cave-training in 28°C water!

The Scuba Murcia dive-centre in southern Spain says it has been working closely with PADI and TecRec instructor Simon Townsend to become the only PADI dive centre in Europe to be able to offer the PADI Tec Full Cave Diver course. Read more...

Likely English shipwreck found off Mexico

Scuba divers have investigated the remains of what is thought to be a late 18th / early 19th century ship off Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. The timber hull has disintegrated but an Admiralty-pattern anchor, 2.5m cannon and cast-iron ballast have been found, suggesting that it was an English sailing vessel. Read more...

Did anyone see this snorkeller?

A major search is underway for a male teenage snorkeller who went missing off Portland in Dorset yesterday evening (Wednesday, 27 May), and Portland Coastguard has issued an urgent appeal for anyone with information to come forward. Read more...

Brandi & Tobias hit Red Sea

Two DIVER contributors and, we have to say, inspiring underwater photographers are combining for a Red Sea Underwater Photography Workshop later this year. Read more...

Covid-19 claims camera pioneer Schaefer

A pioneer in the development of underwater cameras and housings has been lost with the death from coronavirus of Austrian diver Kurt Schaefer. Read more...

Inland dive-site forced to close

A popular inland dive-site in south Gloucestershire has been forced to shut its doors permanently following closure of the quarry. Read more...

Rainbow reefs: how corals create ‘sunscreen’

Scuba divers might have noticed that instead of bleaching white in response to ocean warming, some corals put on a dazzling rainbow display of colours. Now scientists from Southampton University believe they have discovered how and why. Read more...

Seahorse discovery like ‘finding kangaroo in Norway’

A tip-off from a South African diving instructor has led an international team of marine biologists to identify a new species - the first pygmy seahorse ever to be found in Africa. Read more...

Lusitania owner Bemis dies at 91

Gregg Bemis, the man who devoted more than 50 years to establishing the cause of the rapid sinking of the WW1 U-boat victim Lusitania, has died a week before his 92nd birthday. Read more...

Shore-diving green-lit in England/NI

Recreational divers in England and Northern Ireland are being allowed to resume “limited” shore-diving with immediate effect. The easing of restrictions imposed during the coronavirus pandemic is the start of what is described as a phased return plan, outlined in new guidance just published by the sport’s governing body. Read more...

Whale-rescuing freediver spared fine

An Australian freediver has been acclaimed by the public for releasing a humpback whale calf caught in netting. But after telling reporters that he had been threatened with a fine for interfering with official “shark-control equipment”, a fund-raising campaign was started to cover his costs. Read more...

If Only… Divers learning from errors

'If Only…' - a documentary about the death of a US scuba diver produced by British diving safety expert Gareth Lock - is released online today (20 May). Read more...

The JUNE issue of DIVER Magazine is out now

To ensure prompt delivery of DIVER Magazine during the current period of coronavirus disruption a special FREE digital version of the JUNE issue has been produced to replace the normal paper copy - with no reduction to subscribers' overall paper-copy entitlement. Read more...

How crystals enable fish to navigate

How do ocean-spanning salmon find their way back to the river in which they hatched years before when it’s time for them to spawn? US scientists believe they have come closer to solving the long-standing mystery. Read more...

Leg up in Florida, tank heist in Caymans

Scuba divers are out of their brief lockdown in Florida, where a 13-year-old recently came up from a dive with a surfer’s missing leg. Read more...

Microplastics form vast deep-sea drifts

More than 10 million tonnes of plastic waste enter the oceans every year, and until now it has been thought to degrade into microplastics that sooner or later sink vertically to settle on the seabed. Read more...

Booking ahead with no deposit

With travelling divers naturally reluctant to pay deposits on holidays they can no longer be sure will go ahead because of the COVID-19 pandemic, one long-established dive operator was early to announce that it had taken steps to remove the risk. Read more...

Cocos-Galapagos Swimway takes shape

Can nations co-operate effectively to protect migratory species such as sharks and turtles? One way forward has been indicated by what would be the world’s first bi-national marine protected area (MPA), connecting the UNESCO biosphere reserves of two countries in the eastern tropical Pacific. Read more...