Section

Diving

Scuba, freediving and the people who go under: safety, training, incidents and the water itself.

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Diving

Molchanov Dives 137 Metres and Torocsik 108 Metres at Freediving's Limassol World Championships

Two depth marks fell at the AIDA world championships in Cyprus, one in constant weight for men and one in free immersion for women. Both still await ratification.

Oct 10, 2026/2 min read

A freediver in a dark wetsuit descending head first along a rope in clear blue water off Moalboal in the Philippines, published in April 2012, a file photograph illustrative of depth freediving and not of the Limassol championships or either record holder

Diving

Playing Recordings of a Healthy Reef Drew More Coral and Fish Larvae to Artificial Structures Off Hawaii

Two Scripps studies in Kaneohe Bay found coral larvae settled most near an underwater speaker, and fish larvae arrived four to 14 times more often than at an identical silent site.

Oct 9, 2026/3 min read

An aerial view of Coconut Island and the reefs of Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, Hawaii, where the experiments took place, photographed on 18 May 2017

Diving

Autopsies Say Five Italian Divers in Maldives Cave Died of Anoxia, Italian Report Says

An expert report for Italian prosecutors lists anoxia as the cause of death for the five divers lost in a Vaavu Atoll cave in May. Why they ran short of gas is still unanswered.

Oct 6, 2026/3 min read

A small palm-covered island with a white sand beach seen across turquoise water at Vaavu Atoll in the Maldives, photographed on 5 November 2012, a file photograph of the atoll and not of the cave or the recovery

Diving

Blacktip Sharks Can Hear a Sound From Nearly 250 Feet Away and Swim Straight Toward or Away From It

A Florida Atlantic University study of free-swimming blacktip sharks off Palm Beach County found the animals could detect low-frequency underwater sounds from 74 metres away and change course in response, the clearest field evidence yet of shark hearing range.

Oct 1, 2026/2 min read

A blacktip shark, Carcharhinus limbatus, the species studied off Palm Beach County, photographed in the Bahamas in March 2007 and not one of the sharks tested by Florida Atlantic University

Diving

A Sea Turtle Species Never Recorded Nesting in the United States Laid Eggs on a Southern California Beach

An olive ridley sea turtle, a tropical species whose nearest known nesting ground is in Baja California, dug a nest near Seal Beach in September, the first confirmed sea turtle nest ever recorded on the US West Coast.

Oct 1, 2026/2 min read

An olive ridley sea turtle, the species that nested near Seal Beach, photographed in March 2023 and not one of the animals involved in the California nesting event

Diving

Marine Surveyors Confirmed Living Coral Off Benin, More Than Sixty Years After the Reef Was Presumed Dead

Sonar and underwater video surveys of the Benin continental shelf found octocorals and reef fish thriving 54 metres down, the first confirmed living mesophotic coral community documented anywhere on the Gulf of Guinea shelf.

Sep 29, 2026/2 min read

Gorgonian sea fans on a reef, illustrative of the octocoral group confirmed off Benin and not the Benin site itself, via CSIRO

Diving

Divers Pulled 1,400 Metres of Abandoned Fishing Net Off an Oman Beach After Six Sea Turtles Were Found Dead in It

Environment Authority divers working with volunteers from Divers Planet reached the site near Bimmah Beach at 7.30am on 23 September to find six turtles already dead, then spent hours retrieving two nets spanning 1,400 metres combined.

Sep 27, 2026/3 min read

A green sea turtle swimming near a pier, illustrative of the species affected and not one of the turtles found near Bimmah Beach, photographed in October 2019

Diving

Scuba Divers Find Two New Sea Spider Species in the Salish Sea, the First Described There in Almost a Century

University of British Columbia researchers combined dive surveys with genetic analysis to describe a red-eyed, three-lipped species that grooms itself with comb-like legs, and a second with an hourglass abdomen and black eyes.

Sep 26, 2026/2 min read

A sea spider of the genus Pycnogonum, illustrative of the group and not one of the two newly described Salish Sea species, photographed in March 2020

Diving

Tides for Divers, Swimmers and Beachgoers: Springs, Neaps, Slack Water and Why the Sea Moves When It Does

Tides follow the moon, not the season. Spring tides are the big ones, slack water is not always at high or low tide, and the hour that matters for a dive or a swim is the one the tables show for your own coast.

Sep 23, 2026/4 min read

A fishing boat resting on the mud at low tide in Halls Harbour, Nova Scotia, on the Bay of Fundy where the tidal range is among the largest in the world, photographed in July 2017

Diving

The Dive Briefing Questions Worth Asking Before You Get in the Water

A good briefing answers most of what a visiting diver needs. A great diver asks the rest: current, exit, turn pressure, lost-buddy plan and what happens if the boat cannot find you.

Sep 18, 2026/3 min read

Scuba divers in wetsuits and kit preparing for a morning dive from a boat in Egypt, photographed in April 2008

Diving

Nitrox Buys You Bottom Time and Costs You Depth, and It Will Not Make You Less Tired

Enriched air extends no-decompression limits at recreational depths by reducing the nitrogen you take on. It also imposes a hard ceiling on how deep you can take it, and the claim about post-dive fatigue has never held up.

Sep 5, 2026/3 min read

Nitrox and trimix blending equipment plumbed into a high pressure compressor intake, with the oxygen analyser inline