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X-Ray Magazine article archive is currently undergoing a restructuring where articles will be placed under their right categories for a better overview.

This work is in progress so check back with us regularly.

Meanwhile use the Search function above

Ecology articles

  • Published in X-Ray Issue:   24 - Jul 2008
    Corals
      |  

    The exploitation of corals has depleted stocks all over the world. This is not only destroying the seafloor, but has a much wider impact. Corals are more valueable if they stay in the oceans rather than around someone’s neck. Coral reefs support more than 25 percent of all known marine fish species. As one of the most complex ecosystems on the planet, coral reefs are home to more than 4,000 different species of fish, and almost 5,000 species of corals, in addition to thousands of other plants and animals. Scientists estimate that coral reefs provide an economic benefit of US$ 375 billion each year to millions of people around the world. Besides from indirectly feeding people, corals also offer cures for illnesses. Add to that that coral reefs protect our coastlines.

    Download pdf: Corals for sale
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Features

  • Published in X-Ray Issue:   22 - Mar 2008
    Feature
      |  

    On August 2, 2007, the weather was good at the North Pole. The sea was calm, the water temperature was just -1° C, with
    the air at a balmy 0° C.

    That morning two Russian mini submarines, Bathyscaphe Mir-1 and Mir-2, were sent down and at noon, Mir-1 touched down on the seabed at 4,261m, planting the Russian flag

    Download pdf: North Pole Controversy
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Freediving

  • Published in X-Ray Issue:   18 - Aug 2007
    Freediving

    Just their name, their size, and their menacing looks can evoke feelings of terror, fear and instinctive rejection. However, if you have the privilege to be able to dive with big tiger sharks, as I have, you might fall in love with them, at least you will bond with them in a mysterious way. They are certainly not as “cute” as marine mammals or nthropomorphized clown fish, but they will have an impact on you that could change your perception of sharks, and marine life, forever.

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Environment

  • Published in X-Ray Issue:   25 - Sep 2008
    Conservation
      |  

    The race to save animal species from extinction is as important as ever before. There are still many threats to a growing number of animals, but there are also some success stories. Animals on the brink of extinction have rebounded.

    Download pdf: Success Stories
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Equipment

  • Published in X-Ray Issue:   20 - Dec 2007
    How to...
      |  

    Do divers really need underwater lamps?

    It is a simple question to which there is no simple answer, as it all depends... If you are mostly diving in Southeast Asia or the Caribbean where visibility is fantastic, during days of bright sunshine and in waters of 20m or less, you probably don’t need one. But if you plan on diving in lakes, doing night dives, penetrating wrecks or do any sort of technical dive, then a good lamp becomes an essential part of your diving gear

    Download pdf: Lamps
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Whale Tales

  • Published in X-Ray Issue:   08 - Dec 2005
    Dolphins
      |  

    When you are on the way back to the harbor after the afternoon dive, wild dolphins often swim in front and along the dive boat. They seem to love following boats. Sometimes they then perform for us, in form of huge jumps out of the water and “tail shows”, keeping the tail up for minutes remaining still in the water.

    Download pdf: Dolphin Ecology
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Medical and hyperbaric medicie

  • Published in X-Ray Issue:   20 - Dec 2007
    DivePsych
      |  

    Nitrogen narcosis, or “rapture of the deep,” is one of those things that some divers like to joke about but really is no laughing matter. (Pun intended) While a recreational diver is far more likely to experience nitrogen narcosis than decompression illness, we know much less about the exact physiological mechanism of nitrogen narcosis than that of DCI. Unfortunately, both can result in a diver fatality, the first from being bubbly drunk and foolish and the second from being bubbled up.

    Download pdf: Nitrogen Narcosis
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Photography

  • Published in X-Ray Issue:   25 - Sep 2008
      |  

    Dependable and well functioning camera equipment is the foundation of good pictures. This article gives you some hints and tips on how to maintain your equipment in flawless condition.

    Download pdf: Maintenance & Care
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Articles by Kurt Amsler

  • Published in X-Ray Issue:   25 - Sep 2008
    Kurt Amsler
      |  

    Dependable and well functioning camera equipment is the foundation of good pictures. This article gives you some hints and tips on how to maintain your equipment in flawless condition.

    Download pdf: Maintenance & Care
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Profiles and Interviews

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Science

  • Published in X-Ray Issue:   23 - May 2008
    Water properties
      |  

    The way an animal gets around in the sea and or in the air depends, fundamentally, on the density and viscosity of its milieu. Birds use the low density and viscosity of the atmosphere to fly or glide, with the range of their movement being limited only by their endurance and the height to which they can fly. This is similar to the fishes and similar marine creatures who can also move three-dimensionally within their aqueous milieu though unlike the terrestrial creatures which live on the, essentially, two dimensional surface of the earth. The latter have evolved locomotive mechanisms which are suited to movement dominated by gravity. In the case of humans, for example, a two-legged mode of locomotion suited to this situation has evolved. To a certain extent, birds may seem to be independent of gravity as they fly around in the air. However, unlike marine creatures in their aqueous milieu, if they stop flying they immediately crash to the ground – unless, of course, they can glide for a little while.

    Download pdf: Locomotion
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Sharks & Rays

  • Published in X-Ray Issue:   23 - May 2008
    Sharks
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    Why the peculiar head shape of the hammerhead shark developed as it did has been the subject of much speculation. Few other morphological oddities have inspired so many fanciful and sensible theories about its function as the weirdly shaped head that characterises the hammerhead shark. Recent experimental evidence supports some ideas and refutes others, while pointing to a previously unsuspected role for this peculiar feature.

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Technical Diving

  • Published in X-Ray Issue:   25 - Sep 2008
    Cedric Verdier
      |  

    One morning, sooner or later, you will wake up with a strange sensation—as if some minor and weird changes happened in your body overnight. You are not turning
    into another Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, but in the recent weeks you have come to find your dives to be very noisy with all the bubbles escaping from your regulator starting to get on your nerves. All your dive gear has also started to feel very heavy, with all these tanks and regulators to carry everywhere.

    Download pdf: What to think about...
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Articles by Cedric Verdier

  • Published in X-Ray Issue:   25 - Sep 2008
    Cedric Verdier
      |  

    One morning, sooner or later, you will wake up with a strange sensation—as if some minor and weird changes happened in your body overnight. You are not turning
    into another Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, but in the recent weeks you have come to find your dives to be very noisy with all the bubbles escaping from your regulator starting to get on your nerves. All your dive gear has also started to feel very heavy, with all these tanks and regulators to carry everywhere.

    Download pdf: What to think about...
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Articles by Leigh Cunningham

  • Published in X-Ray Issue:   14 - Dec 2006
    Leigh Cunningham
      |  

    Something I find surprising in the 21st century is the amount of divers that have had no formal training below 40 meters, which chose to conduct dives regularly beyond this depth going to 50 or 60 meters on air and in some cases even deeper.

    Download pdf: Do it right
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Training issues

Travel & Trips

  • Published in X-Ray Issue:   26 - Oct 2008
    Caribbean
      |  

    It’s not by chance that the producers of the Pirates of the Caribbean series of Hollywood movies chose St Vincent and Dominica as locations. They both offer the rustic charm and unspoiled richness of environment that can, with little effort, take you back hundreds of years.

    Download pdf: Caribbean Pearls
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