8 / 118
68 FIJI: SOFT CORAL
CAPITAL OF
THE WORLD
A LIVEABOARD TREK THROUGH
THE BLIGH WATER
Text and photos by
Stephen Frink
Nourished by Pacific currents,
Fijian reefs are vivid and lush.
And thanks to minimal diver
impact and an almost 20-year-
old marine reserve, they teem
with life, insulated from
the tides of time.
76 CENDERAWASIH BAY
THE GALÁPAGOS OF THE EAST
Text and photos by Michael Aw
Most well known as a haven
for whale sharks, Indonesia’s
Cenderawasih Bay is an
“evolutionary cauldron” —
an ancient sea with an
extraordinary number of fish
and coral species found
nowhere else on the planet.
82 MY JOURNEY TO DIVE
ALL 50 STATES
Text and photos by Jennifer Idol
After watching her home waters
burn during the 2010 oil spill in
the Gulf of Mexico, Jennifer Idol
was moved to showcase not
only Texas’ underwater
beauty, but that of every U.S.
state, becoming the first
woman to dive in all 50.
88 DEFENSIVE DIVE
PROFILE PLANNING
By Neal Pollock, Ph.D.
Divers today rely heavily on dive
computers, but they must not
abdicate their responsibility to
plan their dives and dive smart.
Neal Pollock offers practical
strategies for proactively
reducing DCS risk.
Features
ON THE COVER:
A large school of
chevron barracuda
(
Sphyraena genie
) is
typically resident at
“The Arch” in Fiji’s
Namena Marine
Reserve. Stephen Frink
took this photo using a
Canon EOS 5DS with
a Sigma 50mm macro
lens in a Seacam
housing and compact
dome port, Seacam
Seaflash 150 and
Ikelite DS161 strobes,
with an exposure of
1/80 sec. @ f/14,
ISO 320.
THIS PAGE:
Butterflyfish, like this
one at the Namena
Marine Reserve in
Fiji, have long snouts
and other specialized
anatomic features
to facilitate feeding
among the crevices
and indentations of the
coral reef. Photo by
Stephen Frink
6
|
WINTER 2016
Winter 2016
CONTENTS