The smouldering hull of the MV Conception the morning after the fire (Photo: Ventura County Sherrif’s Department) By Mark 'Crowley' Russell Jerry Boylan, Captain of the MV Conception liveaboard that caught fire off the coast of California in 2019, causing the deaths of 34 people on board, has been sentenced by a Los Angeles court to four years in federal prison for seaman’s manslaughter. Boylan, now 70, was found guilty in November 2023 of ‘misconduct or neglect of ship’s officer’, also known as ‘seaman’s manslaughter’ under a statute dating back to the 1800s, prior to the American Civil War ..read more

By DIVE Staff PADI is calling on its worldwide membership to register events celebrating the 10th anniversary of International Women’s Dive Day, set to take place this year on 20 July. The agency is also encouraging women divers to use the day as an opportunity to further their education. ‘Ten years ago, PADI Women’s Dive Day began as a simple idea – encourage more women to go scuba diving,’ said Katie Thompson, Senior Director of Environment & Sustainability for PADI Worldwide. ‘For over a decade now, passionate PADI dive operators across the globe have collectively planned memorable edu ..read more

Dive into our Marine Mammal Quiz! Can you identify whales, dolphins, and seals? Reach a 75% score for a special discount! The post QUIZ: Marine Mammals appeared first on DIVE Magazine ..read more

‘A true five-star liveaboard experience’; ‘a 7-star diving experience’; ‘the best team we have ever experienced’ – underwater photographer Walt Stearns talks to Pelagian’s cruise directors about why Wakatobi’s liveaboard earns such high praise The personal touch Pelagian’s cruise directors, Ramon Crivilles and Judith Terol Oto, have hosted guests onboard cruises through the Wakatobi Archipelago for eight years. They say that one of the most often-praised aspects of a Pelagian cruise is the warm hospitality of the crew and the elevated levels of personal service made possible by limiting each ..read more

Still from a video circulating on social media showing the Sea Safari VII on fire (Twitter/X)Four injured as passengers and crew evacuated from popular Indonesian liveaboard which caught fire after the morning dive Sea Safari VII, a traditional Indonesian Phinisi style liveaboard, has been destroyed by fire close to Labuan Bajo, while on its way to Komodo Island. Reports in the Indonesian media state that there were 33 people on board, 17 of whom were foreign tourists, nine Indonesian nationals, and seven crew members. The fire is reported to have broken out at around 8.30 in the morning on Th ..read more

A deep ocean volcanic vent (Photo: Ocean Census) By DIVE Staff The Ocean Census has launched a new expedition to the depths of the Arctic Ocean, which it says is ‘set to redefine our understanding of the biodiversity of the deepest Arctic Ocean marine habitats.’ Led by The Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census Alliance, UiT (The Arctic University of Norway), and ROV specialists REV Ocean, the Arctic Deep Expedition will bring together a multidisciplinary team of 36 scientists and media experts from 15 leading academic institutions to explore, research, and document the region. ‘Ocean Census ha ..read more

Discover more from the next phase of the Wrecks4All 2.0 project, bringing the wrecks of the Adriatic Sea to life Wrecks4All 2.0 – the next phase of a project bringing the wrecks of the Adriatic Sea to public attention and promoting them through tourism, has recently wrapped up a conference themed ‘The Future of the Adriatic Past,’ in Montenegro’s capital city Kotor. The event, hosted by the Laboratory for Maritime Archaeology (LabMa) of the University of Montenegro, showcased groundbreaking projects on underwater cultural heritage and sustainable tourism development across the Adriatic. Leader ..read more

Luminescing bamboo coral (Photo: Bioluminescence 2009 Expedition, NOAA/OER) By Mark 'Crowley' Russell A new study has suggested that bioluminescence in animals evolved at least 540 million years ago, some 300 million years earlier than has previously been recorded. The study, led by scientists from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History suggested that the trait first evolved in a subclass of Anthozoans – the class containing corals and anemones – known as octocorallia, which is made up of all the soft corals, blue coral and sea pens. Bioluminescence – through which living organisms ..read more

(Photo: RLS Photo/Shutterstock) Clione limacina, the naked sea butterfly, sounds like an angelic little creature… that eats its relatives! The naked sea butterfly, or common clione, is a type of sea angel, a pelagic, non-shelled – or gymnosomatous – sea snail, although they are sometimes also referred to as sea slugs. This particular species is found in the cold waters of the Arctic and North Atlantic Oceans, ranging anywhere from the surface to around 500m of depth. and moves by quite gracefully flapping its ‘foot’, which has evolved into a set of wings and gives the naked sea butterfly its a ..read more

The brain-bending effects of nitrogen narcosis are… unpredictable (Image: Aliaksandra/Adobe Stock)Mark ‘Crowley’ Russell warns that all too often, divers are unaware of the impact of nitrogen narcosis until it is too late By Mark 'Crowley' Russell Back in my days as a full-time instructor, I was conducting the 40m dive of a Deep Diver speciality course when one of my students started indicating that there was a problem with his computer – a virtually identical model to my own – and the display of his computer read precisely the same as mine. He kept waggling his hand in the ‘I have a problem ..read more