Divers Digest: The Hot Topics of This Summer

Now that the summer is officially over it’s time to look back at some of the most thought-provoking discussions and exciting diving-related events that took place during the last three months.

In this digest we’ll recall:

The new Guinness World Record for the “longest open-water scuba dive”
Cressi 70th anniversary
5 new cool artificial reefs
Release of the epic dive documentary Black Coral
Rossia Pacifica - the famous googly-eyed squid

Many scuba divers say that they want their dives to last as long as possible. But how long exactly is that? For a Turkish diver Cem Karabay it’s an entire work week! On July 20, Karabay set a new Guinness World Record for the “longest open-water scuba dive” and nearly doubled his own previous record by staying under for 142 hours, 42 minutes and 42 seconds. As you may have guessed, the number 42 is not accidental here. In such an unusual way the record-holder has decided to commemorate the 42nd anniversary of Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus.

Speaking of anniversaries, Cressi, one of the most beloved dive gear manufacturers, has celebrated its 70th birthday this summer. The company established back in 1946 by two brothers – Egidio & Nanni Cressi is still owned by the Cressi family and still keeps its production facilities in Italy. Cressi continuously invests in research and development of quality products for scuba divers, freedivers and spearfishermen around the world. In order to depict the achieved progress and show how the industry as a whole has changed, the brand, together with a famous freediver Guillaume Nery, has created this amazing video.

The next section of our article will be of particular interest for those, who enjoy wreck diving, as we will talk about as many as 5 artificial reefs that were created this summer.

The first one is a magnificent 324 foot Lady Luck, a tanker vessel formerly known as Newtown Creek. It has been sunk on July 23rd just off the coast of Pompano Beach in South Florida. Because the ship is now located only a mile and a half east of the city's pier, it’s one of the most easily accessible major dive sites. What’s more, it is surrounded by several other wrecks, that all together form a unique Shipwreck Park with original artwork and rotating art exhibits. As for the Lady Luck itself, the ship contains 16 staterooms, the captain’s deck, galley, engine room and tanker holding bays that divers will be able to explore.

For more information about this fascinating dive site, visit the Shipwreck Park Pompano Beach website.

Another 3 vessels have been sunk at the Axel Carlson Reef, just southeast of Manasquan Inlet, NJ. The last ship to sink so far was the 65-foot crew boat NY Harbor Charlie, however, the DEP’s Division of Fish and Wildlife plans to sink as many as 10 vessels by the end of fall. The ships will create a whole network of artificial reefs, which promises to be a great attraction for recreational divers and anglers.

Those divers, who like to travel to more exotic locations, are now free to roam about the cabin of an Airbus A300 jet, that was sunk at a depth of about 75 feet in the Aegean Sea near the Kusadasi resort, Turkey. The plane stretches 177 feet in length and is one of the largest planes sunk as an artificial reef in the world. It took more than two hours for the wreck to reach the seafloor. Turkish authorities hope that the reef will lure both marine life and divers.

If you are into diving movies, the epic documentary/adventure film Black Coral will blow your mind. Created by Brothers Jedd (director), Brett (producer) and Todd (dive coordinator) Winn, this 73-minute film was released on July 11. The movie contains heart-pounding contemporary and archived footage of over 54 years of diving, as well as interviews with the black coral divers themselves. Scuba lovers will appreciate the fact that many of the dive scenes were filmed off the coast of Hawaii, and the film crew had to dive as deep as 300 feet on rebreathers for some of the shots. You can read more about the movie or purchase it here.

We will end our digest with the tiny creature that made waves on the internet - Rossia Pacifica, the now-famous googly-eyed squid. This cute bright purple creature with giant, stuffed-animal-like eyes became popular after the researchers from the Nautilus exploration vessel found it at the deep seafloor off California's coast. The scientists filmed the odd little cephalopod and posted the video on the web, making the whole internet marvel. If you haven’t seen the video yet, here you go.