The Water’s Journey: The Hidden Rivers of Florida
This if mainly an ecology video about a study of the Kharst System of Florida. But they do use a cave diving team to do the exploration.If you have considered taking up cave diving, watch something like this. You get to see some of the real challenges of diving through a cramped and silted up cave system. Areas that they had explored in the past had collapsed. Gear got snagged and equipment failed. Some of it was obviously played up for drama because they have a camera crew with them. They are a...
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Blue Water White Death
Talk about an oldie. This is probably the first commercial shark documentary shot for an audience. Peter Gimbel, who was one of the first to dive and film the Andrea Doria decided that he wanted to get a crew together and go out to film Great White Sharks in nature. Back in 1969 when they filmed this 1971 release, there was no where near the level of knowledge we have today about sharks in general and the Great White in particular. They weren’t even sure where to go to find them. Most of the fil...
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The Rhyme of the Chivalrous Shark
I ran across this old shanty while watching Blue Water, White Death. Hope you like it. Rhyme of the Chivalrous SharkLesley Nelson-Burns Most chivalrous fish of the oceanTo ladies forbearing and mild,Though his record be dark,is the man-eating shark,Who will eat neither woman nor child. He dines upon seamen and skippers,And tourists his hunger assuage,And a fresh cabin boywill inspire him with joyIf he’s past the maturity age. A doctor, a lawyer, a preacher,He’ll gobble one any fine day,But the l...
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Sharkwater DVD Review
Sharkwater is an interesting and award winning documentary. It is also a highly opinionated issue film. It is very well shot and the issues that are discussed are real. But I always have my bullshit radar go off on this kind of documentary so I need to do more research for myself before I make any real decisions. The movie comes down to three basic premises: 1. Sharks are a misunderstood and integral part of our ecosystem (no argument with that) 2. Fishing sharks for their fins is not only barba...
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Shark Week collection DVD Review
I expected to enjoy this one more than I did. I think I’ve got a case of Discovery Channel Shark Special overdose. The shows chosen for this collection were all excellent and I remember enjoying every one of them when I saw them on TV but I just couldn’t get into them this time. I think that I might have channel surfed past them on TV unless there was nothing else on. I can’t really explain it. I don’t regret spending the money and I’ll probably watch them sometime when I’m more in the mood but ...
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Watching a classic, The Deep
I found this one on the bargain racks at the PX yesterday here in Iraq. I just couldn’t pass it up. If nothing else, I’d get to watch Jacqueline Bissett constantly wear white while swimming, combined with good wreck diving scenes, win win right. It was good to watch Nick Nolte and Robert Shaw back in the day and it’s been to long since I’ve seen the movie. It takes on a whole new interest now that I dive myself. The dive equipment on display was standard back in 1977 and my how it’s changed. Bac...
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Straits of Mackinac Shipwrecks dvd review
All in all this is an informative documentary style video about four wrecks in the Straits of Mackinac. Unfortunately the production standards aren`t that high. The narrator is overly dramatic and bad at it on top of that. But, once you get past that, the information in the video and from the people being interviewed provides a pretty decent introduction to what it would be like to dive these four wrecks. The people interviewed are primarily local historians/wreck divers. So for the purpose of p...
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Book Review: The Rapture of the Deep
Now this book is just plain fun. A warning up front, for a book about diving, there is remarkably little diving in it. Zinsley spends most of the book describing adventures in the life of a wandering SCUBA instructor/Dive Bum. His stories should never be told in a politically correct diver training evironment. The no drinking and diving rule is flaunted more than any other. His stories about some of his actual dives demonstrate that he`s probably explored some more advanced dive skills without a...
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DVD Reveiw of Mysteries of the Deep
Mysteries of the Deep: The Best of Undersea Explorer _____________________________________________________ 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 Rebrea...
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Descent Into Darkness Book Review
In the wake of the Raid on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, the Navy with help from civilian contractors such as Pacific Bridge went about the task of salvaging the Pacific fleet. They successfully raised 16 of the 18 ships sunk or badly damaged that day and all but the Oklahoma would be returned to action in one form or another. Only the Arizona and Utah remain on the bottom to this day. Edward Raymer was a newly trained 2nd class Navy diver at the time of the attack and was immediately sent to Pe...
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Two Dive Shops on Oahu
Ocean Concepts www.oceanconcepts.com and Dive Oahu www.diveoahu.com Both are excellent shops with their own high points. And they also dive different sites so sometimes there`s no need to choose between them if you want to see a particular site on their list. I had the oppurtunity to dive with both during my mid tour leave from Iraq in late May through early June. I enjoyed both crews when I dived with them and in the course of about 11 days, I got in 27 dives. Ocean Concepts is a highly profess...
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Starky`s Boys book review
Starky`s Boys by: Christopher P. LaVoie This is an excellent book about Navy salvage diving in the early 90`s by a sailor who did it. You have to take some of it with a grain of salt because this is a sailor telling his sea stories. But he does have a gift for telling them and they ring true more than exagerated. He briefly takes you through his experiences in Boot Camp and A-school before arriving at the Navy Dive School at Pearl Harbor. The selection process apparently had an extra step for hi...
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50 Dives in 50 States, a book review
An American Underwater Odyssey 50 Dives in 50 States Charles Ballinger Remember the thead on the Buddy Board about whether there was a state without diving? "Diving is more about exploration than athletic skill." Ballinger delivers that statement early in the introduction to this little dive travel book. Covering 50 states in 202 pages means that they are all going to get a pretty brief description unfortunately. This dive travel book describes the dives very well, but describes the travel and s...
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Dive the Bass DVD Review
The Wreck Hunters: Dive to the Wreck of the USS Bass This dvd is a mixed bag to me. The video gives a distinctly amateur feel compared to other videos that I`ve become accustomed to and the narrator tries to give it a dramatic telling and pretty much fails. But, there is a definate reality to this video. It isn`t slick, the people in the video are divers not "stars". They look like divers and act like them. They have fun on the way. It`s great to watch the "advanced navigation equipment" in use ...
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Dive Like Pro Review
Book Review Dive Like a Pro: 101 Ways to Improve your SCUBA Skills and Safety by Robert N. Rossier There is nothing in this book that you won`t find in your Open Water and Advanced Open Water dive manuals. So, I`d chalk the name up to puffery. I`m sure every pro does the things Rossier talks about in his book, but so do most amateurs if they`ve dived more than a few times. If you dive regurally, this book probably won`t help you. If you just finished your certification course, it`ll almost insul...
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Shadow Divers book review
Book Review of Shadow Divers If you haven`t read this book, you should. I think it`s rapidly becoming a classic in the dive community. This book and the NOVA documentary Hitler`s Lost Sub led to the History Channel show, Deep Sea Detectives. The book covers several areas that will interest divers, especially wreck divers. It discusses the hazards of deep diving and wreck penetration. It also discusses the research needed to find out about an unidentified wreck. If you`re a history buff like me, ...
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Diving and Food Poisoning an explosive mixture
After eating the food on a trip up Mount Sinai I came down with a nasty case of food poisoning. Let`s just say I lost around 10 pounds over a few days and leave it at that. But I just couldn`t pass up a chance at some bottom time. Now, I`m sure most of us have joked about some off gassing being louder than others as pressure changes wreaked havoc on our insides. So I`m betting you can imagine what it`s like when you aren`t well. I don`t recommend the experience to anyone, ever tried getting out ...
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Shopping online
Let`s face it, buying SCUBA gear online is a controversial process at best. And if you don`t know what you`re doing when you look over equipment to see it`s condition, you probabaly ought not buy life support equipment online. I`ve been buying manuals and videos online to study up for a dive vacation I`m planning for my mid tour leave from Iraq. No going to the local dive shop to pick them up in Baghdad. I recieved my orders quickly and accurately. I`m also browsing through the sites to compare ...
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