Features

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

Your support made the difference.
Your support is still needed.
This is why...

We have reported on the plight of the sea turtles before. We have reported how they were being butchered by the thousands. And we have asked for your support and signatures on a petition to stop the slaughter of these ancient ocean citizens. It is now time to report back that your support
has made a real difference. But the fight is not quite over yet.

Paris. City of lights, but of shadows, too. The capital has become a sought-out place for urban exploration. With walks across roofs, through the subways and the sewers and the ancient quarries known

The surface of the 12-foot pool bubbles like a hot tub while instructors below signal to a group of dive students using a series of hand signals on how to inflate their vest. One by one, each student slowly starts floating to the surface. The instructor signals the students to deflate the vest and again, one by one, they return to the bottom. Lined up along the bottom of the pool each student takes his turn floating up, then sinking down. The entire exercise from start to finish looks more like a wave at a football game set at super slow motion than a dive class.

This amazing tale begins with the selection of a group of divers who were asked to participate in a technically complex dive expedition to explore one of the deepest caves in Europe. Soon enough, we, the divers, found ourselves in a frenzy of activity and planning. There were so many preparations to make and things to consider—equipment for deep water photography, CNS and OUT values, which gas blends to use, how to put together a support team, management of the group and the quantity and size of the biggest cylinders and what not. But one can only plan for so much, then fate, as it would turn out, ended up giving us a surprising adventure for which no technical dive planning could have prepared us.

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.