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Mark Caney, Martin Parker, Jack Lavanchy, Rosemary E Lunn, Roz Lunn, EUF, European Underwater Federation, Dusseldorf, Boot Show 2018, XRay Mag, X- Ray Magazine, scuba diving awards, diving news
Martin celebrating his EUF Award at Boot 2018 | Image Credit: Martin Denison

Martin Parker Receives EUF Lavanchy Award At Boot 2018

The new award was to honour of former EUF Honorary Vice President, Jack Lavanchy. It would be presented annually to an individual who EUF members felt "had made a significant and sustained contribution towards the responsible development of the European diving community."

The inaugural winner in 2017 was Deric Ellerby.

In Memoriam: Barb Roy Portfolio

In January 2018, Barb Roy, our long-time associate editor and regular contributor, passed away after a long battle with illness. We celebrate her inspiring life and imagery in this memorial portfolio, highlighting some of the many beautiful and vivid underwater photographs Barb took during her frequent forays under the waves.

Scotland: Muck Diving at Home

Do we really need to go underwater at the other end of the world (and its challenges)? Lawson Wood poses this question while comparing the muck diving found in his home country of Scotland to that found in exotic locations in Asia and other regions of the world, renown for their muck diving sites.

The Moon, Tides & Your Dive Trip

There are many factors to consider when planning your dive trip, including the marine life, travel logistics, seasonal weather, ocean conditions and distance between dive sites. This is a lot to think about, and likely the reason so many of us, especially photographers, forget to consider one of the ocean’s most important processes when planning a trip—the tides.

Barb Roy on her way to dive Nootka Sound, British Columbia, Canada

Barb Roy — an inspiration to us all

By Rosemary E. Lunn and Gunild Symes

Barb was an avid technical and wreck diver, underwater photographer and instructor, having learned to dive in Anchorage, Alaska, in 1979. She was PADI Master Instructor and held instructor ratings with DAN, IANTD and NAUI. She became a NAUI Wreck and Archaeology Instructor to explore wrecks and an IANTD Trimix diver to photograph giant gorgonian sea fans at 200 feet.

The Killer Fish

Whereas the beaks of the common needlefish were needle-sized and shaped, this one's mouth was similarly pointed, but 15 cm long and lined with large, sharp, interlocking teeth. As I crumbled some bits of food for the ever present lagoon fish, it accelerated forward to take a morsel and the small fish shot away, creating a dazzling, submarine firework exploding in silence. When it opened its pointed mouth to take a morsel it revealed a throat nearly the same diameter as its body--it was well equipped to catch and swallow large prey. It had two parallel scars on its right side.

The nudibranch Fjordia chriskaugei, Gulen Dive Resort, Norway

Nudibranchs named after Gulen Dive Resort and friends

Over the years, new species have been found and existing species have been moved to other genera while other species are new. Thus, our colleague Christian Skauge writes that the Flabellina family has now gone "extinct" in Norway because the species therein have now been reclassified and put into other genera.

Many species of whales and dolphins have supersensitive hearing because they use sound to navigate

Whales and dolphins naturally muffle loud sounds

Instead of wearing earplugs at a rock concert, imagine you could simply tune a dial inside your ears to lower the volume and protect your hearing. In a new report published in Integrative Zoology, researchers have discovered four whale species and dolphins can do just that. This could potentially shield the animals from navy sonar and oil drilling, linked to at least 500 marine mammal deaths since 1963.