Mysteries of the Deep: The Best of Undersea Explorer
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This is an excellent dvd set. It has 5 discs and over 10 hours of video. Watching these episodes will take you through a number of different aspects of SCUBA and marine biology and oceanography. It`s a great visual resource for the new SCUBA diver or an old hand who wonders where he or she wants to go next.
Tropics, Cold Water, Reefs, Wrecks, Deep diving, Free Diving, Cave Diving and Rebreathers all get at least some coverage in this set. They also show off a number of dive operators. I suspect they got a lot of free services through product placement ads by mentioning who they went diving with. The Aggressor fleet gets a lot of coverage in various locations for example. But the weren`t grotesque about it.
The visuals are excellent. The descriptions are basic but more than adequate for a non science professional. The cover many different aspects of marine biology. Some like the deep sea volcano episodes, you won`t get to see for yourself. But others are great. Seals, Whales, Sharks, Dolphins, Nudibranchs, Octopii, Corals, Barracuda, Cleaner Fish, and all the usual suspects and more are all there.
They often cover specialized training that divers should get for certain types of diving such as caves or rebreathers. They definately mention what divers can do to minimize their impact on the underwater environment when they are down on a reef. Several mentions are made of various underwater programs that divers can take part in to help document fish populations.
If this set has a real disadvantage, it`s that it was definately edited for TV and commercials. This leads to occasional jarring scene changes. But, it`s a small price to pay. In return, you`ll get to see, the Florida Keys, Bonnaire, the Galapogos, Hawaii, South Africa, the Northwest coast of British Columbia, North Carolina, the Great Barrier Reef, the Sea of Cortez, Fiji, the Great Lakes, and more.
And, it comes in a cool metal display box with a small supplemental book. What more could you ask for?
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To find it online try:
http://shopping.discovery.com/Mysteries-of-the-Deep-DVD-Set.shtml