Red Sea Sharks and Wreck

I had an epic two weeks in the Red Sea at the end of last year diving with the All Star Liveaboards Scuba Scene. There were oceanic white tip sharks and wrecks and really amazing people. X-Ray Magazine published my article on the trip. The whole issue is available to download for free. Plus scroll down for a video of a very friendly Napoleon Wrasse.

X-Ray Magazine Issue #124

New Book!!

I am so excited to announce the upcoming release of my new book: Underwater Museums - What Remains of WWII in the Pacific. It’s a journey through nine countries that were host to Pacific Theater WWII battles and a look at what can still be found underwater, after all these years. It’s due out in November, just in time for Christmas. You can pre-order your copy today.

 
 

Dive into the submerged history of the Pacific theater of WWII where ships, planes, submarines, and military surplus rest beneath the waves. Explore the underwater museums preserved in time through stunning photography from award-winning photographer, Brandi Mueller, and captivating firsthand stories of diving the wrecks and the history of how they came to rest at the bottom of the sea.

From airplanes lost in the depths of Guadalcanal and Sherman tanks swamped off the coast of a beach in Saipan to medicine bottles deep within a ship intended for American soldiers in Vanuatu, WWII left behind an abundance of relics underwater. Mangled metal associated with destruction and lost lives litter the seafloor of the Pacific theater. The wrecks have been transformed into prolific coral reefs teeming with fish and life.

Go on an adventure to the underwater museums of little-known Kwajalein Atoll; the world-famous wreck diving destination, Truk Lagoon; Guam, where two WWI and WWII ships touch; an anchorage in the Philippines where a fleet of Japanese ships that thought they were safe and out of range of US aircraft; and the WWII ships, submarines, and planes that rest at the bottom of Bikini Atoll after finishing out their service as targets for Operation Crossroads.

This journey into the past will immerse you in extraordinary locations and includes stunning images and captivating firsthand stories from visiting these captivating museums.

Bikini Atoll

In August, I was lucky to return to Bikini Atoll, one of the world’s most fascinating locations. Making the trip to this far-flung destination is always an adventure in-itself and diving the WWII wrecks that remain in the lagoon after being sunk purposely by nuclear weapon testing does not disappoint. X-Ray Magazine has my story.

Sesimbra

After Diving Talks 2022, I couldn’t leave without doing at least a little diving. With the help of the amazing Arlindo Serrao and Anthia Diving Center, I spent almost a week diving south of Lisbon, around the town of Sesimbra. From sea kelp forests to underwater arches, there were fish, octopus and even nudibranchs on every dive. On top of excellent diving, the staff made me feel at home, as did the whole country of Portugal. Highly recommend - will go back. You can read my full article in X-Ray Magazine Issue 117 and check out my images in the Reader’s Picks - Minimalist.

Diving Books

I’ve had a lot of airplane time in the past few months and had gathered some great new books from DEMA, Diving Talks and Boston Sea Rovers. Here are my latest recommendations:

 

A Diver’s Guide to the World by Carrie Miller and Chris Taylor

I’m a little bias because I have several images in this book, but even beyond that, it’s a lovely book. The amazing Carrie Miller and Chris Taylor spent a year traveling and diving and they go through location by location talking about the diving and the other exciting things you can find in the location. It gave me all sorts of nostalgia for trips of my past as I read about their visits to places I have been…and a few new places were added to the never-ending bucket list. Its a great gift for divers, wanderlusters or even just for yourself.

Between the Devil and the Deep by Mark Cowan and Martin Robson

This is probably the most exciting diving book I’ve read since Shadow Divers (also an excellent read). It’s the true story of what technical divers fear most - the bends. In Martin Robson’s case, he knew he had it before he got to the surface. Would you be able to go back down to try and save yourself? It tells the story of the dive, the epic rescue, the doctor who saved his life and mixed within is one of the best historical reports of diving research throughout history and how little we still know.

Wreck divers will love this one. The stories of several of the many wrecks off Cape Cod and how they were found. It will make you want to go dive them all.

At Diving Talks, in Portugal, I met Mark Caney and learned about this fun read. You’ll never think of dolphins the same after a glimpse in to the civilization of the dolphins.

Website Update

I woke up the other morning and decided I hated my website, so I mostly started over. The blog remains mostly intact, but forgive me for some of the formatting being a bit off. I tried to fix what I could. Feel free to let me know what you think of the site overall.

Nauru

I’ve been working on what has turned out to be a very long-term project on islands no one’s heard of. In an effort to wipe the pandemic-dust off the project, here’s a bit on one of the islands. Nauru. Published in Perspective Travel.