H2O Photo Pros Underwater Photo & Video, who of the most well-known underwater imaging companies in the country, has just announced it has relocated to a new, larger facility. The new underwater imaging superstore is located in Irvine, California.

The new location is at 17985 Sky Park Circle, Suite B, Irvine, CA 92614 on the corner of Main & Red Hill just a half mile off of the 405 Freeway and across the street from John Wayne International Airport (SNA). The new H2O Photo Pros showroom has products on display from more than 100 manufacturers, Apple Editing systems to demo the latest in computers, software and hardware. Coming soon is a full printing station complete with a calibrated iMac and Epson Professional printer.

To read more, click the following link: http://diverwire.com/underwater-photo-video/265-h20-photo-pros-underwater-photo-larger-facility.html

DURHAM, NC – The Divers Alert Network Annual SCUBA Diving Report is one of the most anticipated and trusted publications in the dive industry. Each year, divers count on it as a resource to educate themselves; the knowledge they gain, hopefully, makes them safer divers.

Once again, the DAN Research team has compiled its findings from data gathered from incident reports and information shared through the Project Dive Exploration (PDE) initiative. The DAN Annual Diving Report – 2008 Edition examines contributing factors in SCUBA dive accident and fatality cases in an effort to understand those factors and improve dive safety.

To read more, click the following link: http://www.examiner.com/x-17646-Scuba-Diving-Examiner~y2009m8d4-Divers-Alert-Network-Releases-2008-SCUBA-Diving-Accident-and-Fatality-Report

Las Vegas has many oxymorons…but scuba diving in sin city may take the cake. Mandalay Bay’s Shark Reef Aquarium scuba program opened June 2009, to certified divers for a down under experience like no other.

In the 1.3 million gallon salt-water aquarium you can enjoy a private dive with 30 + sharks, green sea turtles, green sawfish, rays, and reef fish. Many of the sharks are large, over 6 feet long.

Diving with these sharks is a bit of shark therapy. You will learn the behavior of sharks while in a safe surrounding. Not only is the environment safe but extra safety features including chain maille, a high-tech metal suit that sharks are unable to bite through, helps to ease the mind. Also, there are 2 dive instructors swimming with you, watching and guiding you through the tank. Prior to the dive there is an extensive briefing, for an educational overview and proper protocol while swimming in the aquarium.

To read more, click the following link: http://www.examiner.com/x-4707-San-Diego-Day-Trips-Examiner~y2009m8d2-Mandalay-Bays-Shark-Dive-at-Las-Vegas

A drowning diver has told how she was saved by a whale that pushed her back to the surface when she suffered crippling cramps.

Yang Yun thought she was going to die when her legs were paralysed by arctic temperatures during a free diving contest without any breathing equipment.

Competitors had to sink to the bottom of an aquarium’s 20ft arctic pool and stay there for as long as possible amid the beluga whales at Polar Land in Harbin, north east China.

But when Yun, 26, tried to head to the surface she found her legs were crippled by cramps.

To read more, click the following link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5931345/Beluga-whale-saves-diver.html

NEWPORT BEACH – A body surfer slammed into the rocks by strong currents and massive waves died after being pulled from the rough waters today, fire officials said.

The man was pulled from the waves by lifeguards at the Wedge in Newport Beach at about 1 p.m., officials said.

He had been body surfing near the Wedge when a set of waves up to 20 feet high came rolling through, throwing the surfer into the rocks, Schulz said. Newport Beach lifeguards pulled the badly injured surfer into a lifeguard boat and took him to shore.

To read more, click the following link: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/sciencedude-waves-newport-2506602-hoag-hospital

SAN DIEGO – The seals in La Jolla won’t be dispersed by the sounds of barking dogs after a Superior Court judge on Thursday set aside his order to the city to remove the seals until a new hearing set for October.

The three-month delay is the latest chapter in the long-running legal dispute over whether the marine mammals should be allowed to remain at the cove or be forcibly removed to restore a swimming area for children.

The latest decision comes after a new state law signed Monday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that gives San Diego the power to decide the best use of the cove.

The City Council has favored letting the seals stay, but the city also drafted a $689,000 dispersal plan under court order. It was a blueprint that City Attorney Jan Goldsmith has said the city could not afford during a recession.

To read more, click the following link: http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/jul/23/bn23seals091232/

It’s not often you get to see a giant sea creature up close and personal. But the arrival of swarms of giant Humboldt squid in southern California has given scuba divers a rare treat. Nigella Hillgarth, executive director of the Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, offers her insight.

To listen to the podcast, click the following link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106747476

SAN DIEGO – The Children’s Pool beach in La Jolla will likely attract hundreds of activists, police and onlookers this week if the city follows through on a judge’s order to begin removing seals by Thursday morning.

SAN DIEGO – The Children’s Pool beach in La Jolla will likely attract hundreds of activists, police and onlookers this week if the city follows through on a judge’s order to begin removing seals by Thursday morning.

The cove is a familiar site for standoffs between animal lovers who support the seal squatters and local residents who feel the beach belongs to children.

But past scuffles – which have included fisticuffs, urination, spittle, pepper spray and a stun gun – could pale in comparison to the round of friction caused if seals are forced to leave.

“It’s going to be absolute chaos,” said J. Daniel Romero, a Mission Valley businessman who used to operate a retail shop down the street from the cove. “I’m not an activist, but this outrages me. I’ve been sitting on the sidelines watching this unfold, and it’s just not right.”

As always in the long-running seal debate, courts may intervene yet again in response to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s signature yesterday on legislation that would give the San Diego City Council final say over the fate of Children’s Pool.

The council leans in favor of letting the seals stay at the pool, but the city drafted a $689,000 dispersal plan under court order.

A contractor would carry a portable public-address system that will emit barking dog noises to scare off the seals. Police would stand by to protect the contractor and ensure activists on both sides behave themselves.

To read more, click the following link: http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/jul/20/bn20seals-judge-order/

United opposition of divers and residents on Tuesday scuttled a proposal to close city beaches between 10 or 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.

No one from the public spoke at the City Council meeting in favor of an agenda item sponsored by Mayor Kelly Boyd to direct staff to work up a curfew for North Laguna beaches, which he verbally expanded to include all city beaches bordered by residential neighborhoods. The audience in the Council Chambers stood and applauded when Boyd withdrew his recommendation.

“I got a petition from a neighbor to close the beach, but I plead with you not to do that,” said Crescent Bay resident Pamela Horowitz, also known as Pamela Lawrence. “I’d find it a sad situation.”

Horowitz said she enjoyed strolling to Crescent Bay early in the morning or at night, sometimes just to watch divers and would consider it an imposition if her walks were curtailed.

“I even went to the dive shops and asked them to do something — we don’t want our beaches closed,” Horowitz said.

If the curfew were approved, residents and visitors would have been banned from those beaches during stipulated hours.

To read more, click the following link: http://coastlinepilot.com/articles/2009/07/21/top_stories/cpt-beachcurfew071009.txt

Southern California’s free-diving community united on Thursday evening, July 16, for the Watermen’s Alliance Santa Barbara Social in order to discuss the future of the sport, especially the looming effects of the Marine Life Protection Act. The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum served as a melting pot for some of the biggest names in spear fishing, from outspoken conservationist and underwater videographer Dr. Terry Maas, to world-record-holding spear fisherman Bill Ernst.

Although the mood was light at the social gathering, the topic of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) was hotly discussed by individuals who have spent their lives at the water’s edge. “This is a fishing/no fishing law which is trying to cure the ocean’s ills by restricting [noncommercial] fisherman, when there are much greater influences impacting the marine environment,” Maas said.

To read more, click the following link: http://www.independent.com/news/2009/jul/19/divers-decry-marine-life-protection-act/