October 2006

You have your C-Card but want to learn more. Night diving, rescues, the use of a safety sausage, light salvage work, better buoyancy control, going deeper than in the basic course, or even have fun with an underwater scooter -- they all can greatly add to the enjoyment, and safety of scuba. What's it like to take the NAUI Advanced Scuba Diver course? Conrad recently took the advanced course in several locations in Florida. Read report on NAUI Advanced Scuba Diver course.

Divers research ancient tsunami in Lake Tahoe
Scuba divers, a robot submarine, researchers from the University of Nevada in Reno and the USGS surveyed the bottom of Lake Tahoe to analyze a massive underwater landslide in Lake Tahoe thousands of years ago that caused a tsunami and left ripplelike stony ridges on the lake bottom. The waves created by the slide traveled 12 miles and must have splashed very high when they reached the eastern shore. The landslide weakened the Tahoe shore on the lake's west side where McKinney Bay is, sending boulders, rocks and soil more than 1,500 feet to the lake bottom. A light to moderate earthquake could have triggered the slide that occurred between 7,000 and 15,000 years ago. Researchers discovered at least two significant seismic faults on Lake Tahoe's bottom. They estimate the faults could trigger earthquakes with a magnitude as high as 7 that could generate waves 10 to 30 feet high. -- Posted Saturday, October 28, 2006 by chb

Book reviews added
Almost every diver has his or her own personal scuba book library. We sure have, and we're reviewing them for you. The latest review added is on internationally acclaimed Kevin F. McMurray's "Deep Descent - Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria." Though published in 2001 and thus lacking the most recent history of the famous and tragic oceanliner that sank in 1956, "Deep Descent" is a total treat for anyone interested in diving. The book doesn't pull any punches and should be of interest to almost anyone. [Go to review of "Deep Descent"] -- Posted Wednesday, October 25, 2006 by chb

Waterproof Olympus 720 SW with underwater case
ScubaDiverInfo.com reviews the remarkable Olympus Stylus SW720. This is a sleek and slender 7.1 megapixel camera that can be used in depths of up to ten feet for an hour without special waterproof housing. That's good enough for snorkeling and some river diving. If you want to go deeper, there's the special PT-033 underwater case for it (shown in the picture, with the camera in it), and now you can go down to 133 feet. Which means it is the best of all worlds: a small, handy digital camera you can take into the water, there's a deepwater case for it, and you don't even have to worry should the case ever leak a bit. We tested this camera in several dive sites and added pictures to the review. [Olympus SW720 review] -- Posted Sunday, October 15, 2006 by chb

Dive classes offer injured marines new opportunities
AP reports that injured Marines from Camp Lejeune's Wounded Warrior barracks are getting a chance at learning to explore a different world as well as stay in shape by doing a different sport and different exercise from the ones they cannot do anymore: diving. Thanks to a donation by the Rotary Club of Jacksonville-South, nine injured marines are now in a scuba class. -- Posted Sunday, October 15, 2006 by chb

What they don't teach you in class
Are you a new diver and don't quite know what to take along? What do you do with your wallet, car keys, glasses, camera or cell phone? What of that heavy gear do you take with? When do you put it on? And so on. Experienced divers know all that. Read a new diver's thoughts on what they don't teach you in class -- Posted Friday, October 13, 2006 by chb

More image galleries added
Underwater photography is special, and we intend to keep adding underwater picture galleries to ScubaDiverInfo.com. So check out Carol Walker's second batch of pics from her Cayman trip, as well as pics taken by another couple on that trip (see McKnight gallery). Also, Carol intends to write an Underwater Digital Photography 101 primer, so keep your eyes peeled! -- Posted Thursday, October 12, 2006 by chb

Waterproof USB Flash drives
Kingston Technology introduced a new line of rugged, waterproof USB 2.0 Flash drives capable of withstanding harsh operating conditions. No, you can't take them diving, but they are handy around water. The new DataTraveler Secure line of USB drives feature titanium-coated stainless steel casings that are waterproof to depths up to four feet. The drives are available in capacities up to 4 GB and will start at a MSRP of US$33 for a 512MB version. -- Posted Wednesday, October 11, 2006 by chb

New Image Gallery: Sealife beneath Little Cayman
ScubaDiverInfo.com's very own Carol Cotton Walker has returned from a weeklong trip to Little Cayman island and brought back some 400 underwater pictures! Carol's a recognized underwater photographer who excels at taking full advantage of digital imaging technology and all the advantages it can afford to the underwater photographer. We'll be featuring more of her work, but start with a gallery of selected pictures from the waters off Little Cayman, including some of pretty rare critters. [View Carol Cotton Walker's Little Cayman sealife gallery] -- Posted Thursday, October 5, 2006 by chb

Voluntary recall of Scubapro Mk 20 regulator for service
Scubapro issued a product safety recall affecting about 48,500 MK20 First Stage regulators sold between 1996 and 2001. There is a possibility that over-tightening of the yoke or DIN retainers during annual servicing could result in a stress crack and failure of the regulator. There have been no injuries and only eight units have failed after being service. However, Scubapro is providing a service upgrade kit via authorized dealers, and MK20 customers should bring the regulator to any authorized Scubapro dealer for the service upgrade free of charge. -- Posted Tuesday, October 3, 2006 by chb

We're adding underwater camera reviews!
Look for underwater camera reviews here at ScubaDiverInfo.com! We're starting with a full review of the handy 6-megapixel Pentax Optio W10 digital camera with an interal 3X optical zoom. It looks just like a regular digital camera and is as small and light as one, but it can handle five feet of water for 30 minutes. Which means you can probably take it deeper than that. Not exactly scuba territory, but enough for some serious fun snorkling, in tide pools, around lakes and even diving in rivers. See our review of the Pentax Optio W10. -- Posted Monday, October 2, 2006 by chb

Farewell to co-founder of Body Glove International
Hundreds of surfers and scuba divers paid tribute to Body Glove International co-founder Bill Meistrell as his ashes were scattered off one of his favorite diving spots in the Pacific Ocean. Meistrell, whose synthetic Body Glove wetsuits transformed surfing and deep sea diving, died July 26 after battling Parkinson's disease for three years at 77. Meistrell's twin brother and business partner, Bob, scattered his ashes off a boat as part of a "waterman's paddle-out" ceremony. The memorial was capped off with a 21-gun salute. He and his brother, both avid divers and surfers from the time they were boys, developed the world's first practical wetsuit in 1953. Meistrell had seen a market for wetsuits that were more flexible and lighter than the rigid rubber skins available at the time. The invention grew into a billion-dollar industry. -- Posted Monday, October 2, 2006 by chb