Matava @ The Scuba Show in California!

We are heading across the Pacific to sunny California to have a booth at The Scuba Show at the Long Beach Conference Centre on 30th and 31st May 2009.

Come along and see us on the Tourism Fiji Booths # 615, 617, 714, 716 and we can have a coffee and relive the great dives! We are partnering with our good friends from Tourism Fiji, so that guarantees a few laughs!

We hope to see you there, it'll be a great weekend!

 

Sincerely,

 
Richard Akhtar

Scuba Show 2009http://www.scubashow.com
May 30th & 31st
@ The Long Beach Convention Center:

THE Diving Event of the Year!™

76,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space will host over 200 exhibitors featuring new and revolutionary dive gear, dive travel representatives and scuba experts. This is the largest consumer dive expo in the U.S.!
http://www.scubashow.com 
Seminars
33 seminars are presented during the weekend, packed with information, learning and entertainment. Top dive experts from around the globe will present detailed information on marine life, must-know travel information, photography and video techniques, dive medicine and more.

Wyland
World famous marine artist Wyland will be appearing in person to do a live painting at the show and exhibit a large portion of his artwork.

Film Festival
Films from top pros and talented amateurs feature images from around the world. For maximum thrill, the films are screened on a 3-story tall mega screen inside the exhibit hall.

Casino Party
Las Vegas style gaming will be available for your enjoyment on Saturday night. The event benefits the non-profit California Ships To Reefs working to create artificial reefs from surplus ships.

THE Diving Event of the Year!™
America's Largest Consumer Dive Expo
Now in our 22nd Year

 

Event Info
Scuba Show 2009
THE Diving Event of the Year!™
PO Box 11231
Torrance, CA 90510
mail@scubashow.com
Phone 310-792-2333
30-31 May 2009

Winners 2009 Gallery » Byron Underwater Festival - Byron Bay

Winners 2009 Gallery

These are the photos and the winning video from the 2009 shootout competition. What a fantastic week we had. The visibility was fantastic all week - check out the winners list and the winning images - winning video will be up soon.

Best Festival Video

• 1st prize - Kieren Curry - Light & Motion LED Sunray-1000 Video light - see his clip here soon

• 2nd prize - Josh Jensen - Beuchat full wetsuit PLUS a $500 Gates voucher from Scubapix

• 3rd prize - Jorina van der Westhuizen - Pair of ESCLAPEZ Fins

Best Festival Photograph - SLR camera

• 1st prize - Mark Gray - a dive holiday for TWO at Matava in Fiji - includes meals and taxes - *flights not included

• 2nd prize - Chris Hamilton - 10 dive voucher at Sundive Byron Bay inc gear hire if needed PLUS a $500 Ultra Light Control Systems voucher from Scubapix

• 3rd prize - Graham Midgley - a massive 1200mm x 800mm canvas print of your winning image by Retrospect

Best Festival Portfolio - 5 images

• 1st prize - Chris Hamilton - Full Beuchat SCUBA package including first and second stage regulators, occy & BCD as well as fins & mask.

• 2nd prize - Mark Gray - 6 Days/5 Nights Cocotinos Dive Package for one diver in Manado, Sulawesi. PLUS a $500 Aquatica voucher from Scubapix

• 3rd prize - Stefan Beekman - aunoc 3TEN Dive Light

Best Festival Photograph - Compact camera

• 1st prize - David Bryant - Choice of Ikelite SLR housing (inc port) / video housing or DS-160 deluxe strobe package

• 2nd prize - Stefan Beekman - 3 night/4 dive Dive/Accommodation package at PLANULA Divers Retreat/Byron Bay Dive Centre for TWO PEOPLE

• 3rd prize - Ken Thongpila - a huge 900mm x 600mm canvas print of your winning image by Retrospect

Best Festival Photograph - Novice & Sealife Camera Try Outs

• 1st prize - Susan Berry - Sealife DC800 camera

• 2nd prize - Aiden Dipple - Pair of ESCLAPEZ Fins

• 3rd prize - Cherie Dodd - Essential & Advanced Guide to Underwater Photography

Neville Coleman Awards

Most interesting critter find during the Underwater Festival

• 4 prizes of autographed copies of Neville Coleman’s latest books

1 - John Natoli

2 - John Natoli

3 - Ian Banks

4 - Ken Thongpila

Thank you all sponsors!

The Byron Underwater Festival would like to say a huge thank you to all the prize sponsors - without you, this festival would be only half as much fun.

Latest UF09 News

• News: Underwater Festival 2009 winners now up - May 5th, 2009
  Please check out the 2009 winners page which features all the winning entries from this years Underwater Festival in Byron Bay. Video winners will be uploaded as soon as possible. We hope to see...

Winners 2009 Gallery » Byron Underwater Festival - Byron Bay

Last night we went snorkelling

Last night we went snorkelling. Just in our backyard.

The tide was high and the breeze was warm. A dark canopy of sky with tiny holes in it shouted at us as we rippled through its reflection.

A family of Puffer fish, dozy and clumsy, rolling gently in the dark water, followed by a hermit crab fumbling with a sea urchin, its huge claws prying the spiky shell open.

We turned off our lights and watched the water ignite with golden white sparks.

Our fins touched the sea grass and it was just like when my mum used to take the hot clothes out of the dryer and throw them around in a dark room, the water sparked and we all laughed with a genuine joy.

Grown adults laughing like children into a dark night, dancing with the water and the light.

Kate the Kiwi Instructor

Green Tips - Ten Things You Can Do for More Eco-Friendly Photography

Green Tips - Ten Things You Can Do for More Eco-Friendly Photography
Text and photography copyright © Samantha Chrysanthou. All rights reserved

Nature photographers bring some of the most stunning imagery of the natural world to the public. We all benefit from having access to these photographs, but with this privilege comes responsibility. There are many things photographers can do to take pictures in a way that reduces impact on the environment. If you love nature and being in nature, these small steps can be incorporated so that you are preserving, rather than destroying, the very thing you came to photograph.

See full article here: Nature Photography

Husky Dusky? Maybe!

Remember the mystery Shark?
It's still a mystery - but at least, we've managed to narrow down the choices to two likely suspects. And having gone digging, I found some brilliant pics on Andy Murch's great Elasmodiver website.
The two suspects look like this.

That would be a Dusky (Carcharhinus obscurus) on top and a Silky (C. falciformis) below. See the alignment and the size of the fins? And that caudal keel that for so long has left everybody baffled? Except that, apparently, it aint really a proper "caudal keel"? Read below and you'll understand - it's complicated!

And now, compare them with the mystery pic on top: any preferences?

Like El Tiburon and after a knee-jerk reaction in favor of it being a Silky, I now root for the Dusky. I've never seen a Dusky, but I've seen plenty of Silkies - and although I can't quite put my finger on it, the mystery Shark just doesn't "feel" like one of them. I'm specially unconvinced by the first dorsal, but then again, who am I to say!

Talking of which, Juerg cautiously tends towards the Silky - but being the good scientist he is, he has passed on the question to a very prominent (and probably, the best) Shark taxonomist who has come back with the following.

"C. falciformis it is, nice pics."

but then, after reflection:

"I was a bit deprived of sleep when I made the call on the identification, so that your friend may be on to something.
I did a composite illustration of C. falciformis vs C. obscurus, and append it to this note for comparison with the best of your two images.

The only carcharhinids with prominent keels when alive and dead are Galeocerdo cuvier and Prionace glauca, so that your Carcharhinus when alive and swimming shows a keel but not when dead. Rather like observing a live bird in a tree through binoculars vs a live bird of the same species in hand from a mist net, and again the same species of bird as a study skin.
Fin size and shape change with growth in Carcharhinus. I was wondering about your C. falciformis in terms of second dorsal shape, position of the first dorsal, and pectoral fin shape and relative size.
Tooth shape of upper anterolateral teeth and vertebral counts are diagnostic for these species, but until we can pack underwater mini CAT-scan machines, we have to rely on dead animals to voucher live ones. Shark watching is not quite as advanced as bird-watching, but it's getting there"

There you have it! And yes, it's complicated! But fascinating, too - at least to me!
But whatever Shark that really was, the myth about Bronzies (C. brachyurus) prowling the waters of Fiji remains just that, a myth! As expected! For now!

Stuart: there you have it!
Well, sort of.

Husky Dusky? Maybe!

Face of Australia: The Final 3

Face of Australia: The Final 3

The results of the semi-final round are in, 3 finalists have been decided by popular vote... and I made it through! Thanks in no small part to the good people at the other end of this newsletter — namely, you.

I am extremely grateful to all of you that took the time to register and vote during the semi-final round, and here I am asking yet again for your help to leap the final hurdle.

What exactly is the Face of Australia, you ask? It's a part-time job working for The Underwater Channel (UWC). I would research and write my own stories, film them, and present them to the UWC's global online audience. I'm busting to tell everyone about the great diving we have here, to teach people a bit about marine life, and to tell you about the good work being done by local researchers and conservationists. Most of all, I'd love to to show that it doesn't need to be all doom and gloom from the media when it comes to the underwater world.

Votes from the semi-final round don't count anymore, unfortunately. So if you can spare a minute a day over the next week to cast your new votes, I will be eternally obliged. Voting runs from now until May 8th , and you can vote every day. You can also get your spouse, partner, kids, pets, postman, plumber, etc, to vote too — and with the bikini-clad hotties I am up against, I need all the help I can get!

Rest assured, this is the last time I'll bombard you with a request for help. Future newsletters will once again give you useful, relevant and sometimes amusing material. But for now, relax and bask in that warm fuzzy feeling you get each time you vote, knowing that you helped me land a job I'm passionate about, and that you'll be in my good-books for life.

All the best, and thanks ~
Josh

Young at Heart

Anthony going into the deep!

Anthony and Cheryl from Aussie arrived at Matava resort to diving guests that had just experienced a wonderful day diving with the Mantas. Cheryl and Anthony came to Matava with no diving plans but decided to give it a go, and they did just that.

Cheryl taking the plunge!

Armed with no diving experience and a ‘lets get on with it attitude’ they completed the course in three days, flying through the paper work and skills like naturals.

Now it must be said that these two Aussie’s were the ‘most mature’ students I have had the pleasure of teaching, but it didn’t make a difference as they were motivated and ready for a laugh. In no time they were out on the dive boat checking out the mantas for themselves. Well Done Ant and Cheryl.

Also Congratulations to Sylvia from Canada, Marcell from Switzerland and Byron, Wes and Denise also from Canada, who all completed the PADI Open Water Course.

by Kate the Kiwi Instructor