Why be FINatical about sharks with AWARE? Shark fishing is largely unregulated around the world. Overfishing, bycatch and finning – the slicing of sharks fining and throwing away the body at sea – kills thousands of sharks every day. Project AWARE has recently helped close loopholes in the EU finning ban and secure international trade protections for 8 of the world’s most vulnerable sharks and rays. But, to ensure the survival of sharks, stricter, enforceable controls are needed for more species at national, regional and global levels.
By donating to one or more of our swim team members, or by swimming yourself and fundraising, Project AWARE will use your support to:
Fight to stop finning
Insist on full protections for critically endangered sharks
Negotiate stronger policies to ensure a brighter future for all sharks
The clock’s ticking for vanishing shark species. You can join the race to protect them. Join our Finathon™ team by donating or swimming with us on 29th May. You can also visit finathon.org to find other swim events between now and July. Let the global race to END shark finning begin…
We’ve been out and about with the GoPro Hero 3 to test how much color filters improve the underwater footage on this popular videocam, and we like the results! By using a clip-on red filter amazing color results can be achieved.
We also found that CineForm Studio software (free to download from GoPro.com) is also a useful tool. GoPro says:
“From simple adjustments like slow motion control and clip trimming to more advanced color correction and 3D editing, CineForm Studio is a powerful tool for all GoPro content creators.”
After the initial tests, we filmed a dive at Camia II Wreck. Here’s the short video (processed by YouTube to web quality – original is very high definition!):
Wide angle shots at 28 meters still had plenty of contrast, and when moving close-up to sponges and corals (0:33 sec) there was still plenty of color even at this depth. Coming up onto the deck of the wreck at around 24 meters the colors close-up just got better and better (0:55), and at 18 meters we have glorious technicolor (2:05). With filters a little light is lost, but this doesn’t seem to be significant and the GoPro Black Edition does very well. The disadvantage of the red filter is in shallow water when lots of the sun’s rays are coming down into the shot through the ripples – in this case a pink shimmering effect can occur when shooting upwards (2:22). We found the filter easy to remove from the port on ascent (last couple of meters – 2:25) to allow filming of the transition from below to above water.
Our recommendation: give red filters a try for your underwater videos!
Celebrating Earth Day on 22 April 2013, Calypso Diving staff and friends organized a Dive Against Debris in the morning, then Earth Day education and awareness with face-painting and earth cookies to encourage people to take action and donate to Project AWARE. It was a really fun day. Thanks to everyone who took part. Here’s the video Sue took with the new GoPro HERO 3!
Posted on 7th April 2013 by calypso in Diving |General
With the forecast perfect and divers revved up by the recent great viz, Calypso staff headed out for a special trip to check out Panagatan. Setting out early and having breakfast on Isla, the divers aimed to do 2 – 3 dives in the day. After experiencing the amazing viz and glimpses of sharks, they opted for the 3rd dive and were treated not only to lots of sharks but to a 5-meter-wide manta with baby mantas close by!!!! Although this trip is only possible with particular water conditions, we hope to be back there in the future for more manta and shark action! Enjoy the photos by Rene.
Congratulations to new PADI Divemasters: Lachy, Jonny, Berting and Gery! With a record-breaking 4 graduates, of course we were in for an awesome party! The boys did a great job completing their snorkel tests, administered by Chris and Andrew, and were awarded with their Calypso Pro Graduate t-shirts. From everyone at Calypso, big congrats DMs and enjoy your diving!
Cruising out towards Maniguin Island with breakfast cooking on the stove and the sun coming up over the horizon, staff and guests were all excited about what the day would hold. After a good feed and a quick snooze, we arrived to the sight of incredible crystal clear waters. Lachy, just about to complete his DM course with Calypso, was tasked with jumping in to do a current check: on arriving back at the surface he was so stoked by the viz that all he could do was shout “Get in now guys – this is AWESOME!”. So we did, and the viz certainly didn’t disappoint, probably being well in excess of 40 meters! The epic drop-offs around the little island were especially stunning on this day, with thousands of bannerfish, surgeonfish and red-tooth triggers dancing in the gentle current at the top of the wall. The barracuda were also schooling around, and allowed divers to join them in their dance! The school was large, yet the whole could be seen by all due to the amazing viz! After the diving it was time for some more great food and a leisurely cruise back to Boracay. What a lovely day!
As Chasper proudly graduates as a PADI Divemaster, Randy is excited to take over the Live The Scuba Dream batton and get stuck in to PADI Instructor training! Randy already received the PADI IDC Crew-Pak, chock full of reading materials, teaching slates and DVDs. And he’s had the opportunity to sit in on IDC training sessions to see what it’s all about. Randy talks to us about starting his instructor adventure, and about feeling a mixture of nerves and exhilaration:
“Yes i am living the scuba dream and my Instructor Development program in Calypso starts now! And I am as happy as a diver can be! But first things first… I’ll need to reacquaint myself with all the diving theory and skills before starting the IDC course – and one of the topics is PHYSICS (my favorite subject!) The sport of diving involves dealing with an environment that is not natural to us humans, much like an Astronaut in space. Underwater, everything is different… We know that water is much denser than air, and that the formula is ‘H-i-j-k-l-m-n-O’ Get it? H to O! As intimidating as it may sound, it is fun to study it in relation to diving, because our senses underwater work in ‘mysterious’ ways; we hear, feel and see things differently underwater. Studying these things is an integral part of scuba diving. I am thankful to my Course Director Sue and to Master Instructor Andrew for taking extra time to show me and teach me how physics can be fun! I’m having a blast so far. Until next time… remember ‘never hold your breath!’…”
While doing some training dives from the beach, staff noticed that there had been a build-up of trash in the water during the busy time on the island. So Calypso organized a Dive Against Debris with 10 people to clean up. Divemaster Trainees Gery and Lachy were tasked with leading the dive groups to practice supervision, with several Instructors, diving friends and our receptionist Annie on the dive too. We collected around 40 kgs of trash: including many bottles, sadly way too much plastic, and even a beach towel! The Calypso team and divers were able to make a positive change and leave this important fish nursery ground in a better condition. Thanks everyone for helping out.
CONGRATULATIONS to new PADI Instructor NICO! From Sue, Andrew, Rene, the Calypso staff and the pro trainees who helped out, well done. Looking forward to the Nitrox and O2 Instructor courses after a well-earned few days rest…
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