For those divers out there who are a lot manlier than me, you might be interested to know that Iceland boasts some world-class diving. According to the Iceland Review, one of the world's best dive spots is within a deep crevasse named Silfra, near Thingvellir Lake. Filled with water that originated from glaciers, this dive site is an amazing journey through craggy, sheer-faced, vertical cliffs. To reach Silfa, the water has traveled underground for some 10,000 years. Cut off from both oxygen and sunlight and cooled to a chilly 2ºC, the water is virtually free of organisms, offering viz in the neighborhood of 300 feet! Wait -- two degrees Celsius?! That's, like, waaay below freezing, right? Don't forget your drysuit.

More interesting than the frigid waters and the nearly endless viz is the fact that Silfra is part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge -- the result of the slow separation of two tectonic plates: the North American Plate and the Eurasian Plate. What this means is that you can begin your dive in Europe and finish it in North America. Bitchin'! Don't forget your passport.

If Silfra just leapt ahead of other destinations on your must-dive list, check out DiveIceland or DivingInIceland to book a trip. While making plans, don't forget to schedule a dive at the Strýtan thermal chimney. Did somebody say "thermal chimney"? Now THAT sounds like a dive! Don't forget the cocoa.

[Via Gadling]

In August, Divester reported the deaths of two Seattle-based Coast Guard divers who died during an operation in the Arctic Ocean. Apparently, Lt. Jessica Hill and Petty Officer 2nd Class Steven Duque were diving beneath the Coast Guard Cutter Healy, inspecting the ice-breaker's rudder. At the time, the Coast Guard declined to provide many details of the incident; they simply described the dive as a cold water familiarization exercise turned tragic. The following month, the Coast Guard revealed that when crew-members aboard the boat noticed something was wrong with the divers after only 10 minutes, they pulled them from the water. Since then, the Coast Guard has released no additional information about the divers' deaths, although the agency has relieved the Healy's commander, citing a loss of confidence in his ability.

Hill's father recently released the autopsy results of his daughter and plans to ask an independent pathologist to review the findings. According to the autopsy summary, Hill suffered "an uncontrolled descent to a possible depth of 189 feet." The autopsy ruled Hill's death accidental, concluding that her death was asphyxia, lung trauma caused as pressure decreases during ascents, and possible air bubbles in the blood. The Coast Guard claims Hill and Duque were planning to dive to a maximum depth of 20 feet that day. If that's true, why did the surface support team allow nearly 200 feet of rope to enter the water? A spokesman said the Coast Guard would not discuss Hill's autopsy report prior to the outcome of its investigations, which are expected next year.

Last month, we told you about the two Coast Guard divers who drowned during a reported cold water familiarization exercise 500 miles north of Barrow, Alaska. On August 17th, while many of the crew relaxed topside, Lt. Jessica Hill and Boatswain's Mate Steven Duque went for a dive off the 420-foot icebreaker, the Healy. A support team held ropes tethered to the divers, and several research scientists watched from the deck. Apparently:

• The pair had been underwater for about 10 minutes.
• Something appeared to be wrong, so they were pulled from the icy water.
• EMTs immediately performed CPR.
• The divers were carried to the ship's sick bay, where they were pronounced dead two hours later.

After more than a month, no one is able to explain what happened to the divers. In the meantime, the Coast Guard has started two investigations -- one, focusing on the cause of the accident; another, a broad administrative investigation that could result in findings of responsibility -- and has relieved the Healy's captain of duty. The Coast Guard has also removed all diving equipment from the ship, and suspended all polar diving. Despite this, the Coast Guard has refused to release any information about the event, and the families of the divers can't even get death certificates. Weird? Conspiracy? CYA? What do you think?

[Thanks to everybody who sent this in!]

I know it's naive of me, but I'm always a little extra-surprised when I read about professional divers who drown. I guess I assume that since they're "professional," they would be insulated against accident. However, I know that's silly. Moreover, as "professionals," they often spend more time in the water than the rest of us, making them all the more likely to suffer an accident.

Sadly, on Thursday afternoon, two Seattle-based Coast Guard divers died during an operation in the Arctic Ocean. Lt. Jessica Hill and Petty Officer 2nd Class Steven Duque were diving beneath the Coast Guard Cutter Healy -- in the Arctic, about 500 miles north of Barrow, Alaska -- to inspect the ice-breaker's rudder. Although the Coast Guard declined to provide details of the incident ("the deaths are under investigation"), agency officials described the shallow dive as a cold water familiarization exercise.

Jim Osse studies climate change. But he doesn't just sit in his office and crunch numbers all day. No way. Instead, he's a very hands-on researcher. For example, Osse's next data-collection foray will entail donning scuba gear and being lowered into a hole in the ice covering the Arctic Ocean. Although he'll only descend about 12 feet below the ice's surface, the water there is so cold that it will begin to refreeze almost immediately after the hole is cut in the ice. Ergo, Osse is not your typical statistician.

Quite understandably, Osse and his fellow researchers face many challenges when they collect their samples. In addition to having to pack in everything they need at the North Pole Environmental Observatory, they also have to deal with polar bears, freezing scuba gear, and severe weather. New York Times reporter Andrew Revkin thought their story would make an excellent adventure novel. To that end, Revkin has written The North Pole Was Here, which comes out this month.

So what has Osse learned in his travels? "In the Arctic, never pass up a meal, a shower or a flight south." That sounds like good, practical advice...even if you don't work in the Arctic!

Of course, we've all heard about the opportunities to go diving in cages with sharks. But what about snorkeling in the open ocean with sharks? Of course, I'm not talking about snorkeling with a great white - although it HAS happened! - but snorkeling with blue and mako sharks, some of the fastest, sleekest animals on the planet.

Amazingly, Chris and Monique Fallows run these trips off South Africa. The best time to go on one of these excursions is from November to June, when the Fallows claim around a 90% success rate of seeing these amazing creatures. Snorkeling with these blue water predators must be stunning! (According to Murray Williams, who recently went on one of these trips, it is!) Using low frequency sounds to attract the sharks, snorkelers slide into the water as the animals approach. What happens next? I'm guessing lots of: camera-snapping, frightened inhalations, and arm flapping as you try to maneuver yourself close to - and then out of the way of! - these beautiful animals.

I've been on a great white cage dive in SA and on a shark feeding in the Caribbean, but I haven't ever been snorkeling with blues or makos. It sounds incredible.

[Thanks, Drew!]

OK. Stop what you're doing, grab a sticky, and write this down: April 5th at 8 pm. On that night, Jean-Michel Cousteau's "Ocean Adventures" debuts on PBS. This six-part, HDTV series uses state-of-the-art technology to investigate eco-systems hundreds of feet beneath the ocean's surface, and brings viewers up close with the friendly - and ferocious - inhabitants of the deep. The six one-hour programs included in the "Ocean Adventures" series are:

"Voyage to Kure " (Parts I and II) -- The Cousteau team sets sail on the Northwest Hawaiian Archipelago. There, they discover diverse wildlife populations above and below the sea, and investigate these species' fight against extinction and the devastating effects of pollution, mining, fishing and development on the most remote island group in the world.

"The Gray Whale Obstacle Course" -- The Cousteau team follows gray whales, unchanged for 600,000 years and under constant threat of extinction, from the nursery lagoons of Baja California north to frigid feeding grounds in the Bering Sea -- through the longest and most polluted migration routes of any whale species.

"Sharks: At Risk" -- Long feared as objects of terror, sharks are gaining a new reputation due to unprecedented observation - yet their numbers are quickly dwindling. To better understand shark behavior and the impact their reputation has had on their survival, the Cousteau team observes gray sharks in French Polynesia and great white sharks in South Africa -- unprotected by a shark cage.

"America's Underwater Treasures" (Parts I and II) -- This two-part installment will take viewers to the rarely visited underwater parks that constitute the National Marine Sanctuary System -- a diverse and uniquely American group of ecosystems that promise to inspire an ethic of ocean preservation that will translate far beyond any national borders.

To learn what local station is your PBS affiliate, or to sign up for an email reminder to watch the show, head over to PBS' website.  I don't know about you, but I think it'll be even better than Surface!

[Thanks, Drew!]

The 26^th Annual London International Dive Show is scheduled for Saturday, April 1 and Sunday, April 2, in London 's ExCel Exhibition Center. There will be over 260 exhibitors in attendance. Moreover, the Show will feature talks ranging from discussions of Baltic Wrecks to the Future of Diving. Among the many speakers at the Show will be the Chatterton/Kohler duo; John Boyle; Monty Halls; and Jean-Michel Cousteau. Ticket prices run 7.50GBP per day and gain you entrance to the exhibition halls and the guest speakers. That's a great deal.

[Thanks, Drew!]

If you're on the hunt for some dive site information, then you might want to check out the aptly named dive site directory. Begun by Clare and Matthew Slightam as a free source of reference for the diving community, it's a great resource for divers trying to scrape together information about potential dive destinations, especially those that are a bit off-the-beaten-path. When it began, dive site directory featured only 80 dive sites covering 3 countries. Today, it houses over 510 dive sites in 25 countries!

When searching for information, you can search by clicking a world map; you can check out the site's highlights or recent additions (like this piece about diving with killer whales in Norway); or you can search for specific dive sites from A to Z (I found some interesting information about the Canary Islands this way). Some of the sites link to dive shops to make your trip-planning easier. And don't forget that you can also contribute a review and upload a photo, if you feel generous. As the site grows, of course, it'll become more and more useful. But even today, I think you'll find it's really stellar. Check it out.

Similar, yet slightly different: 

Dive-Spots 

Big Blue Planet 

Scuba Spots 

Asia Dive Sites 

Dive Happy

[Via Scuba Geek]

Speaking of swimming, we previously told you about Lewis Pugh, the man who dreamt of becoming the first person to complete a long-distance swim in all of the world's oceans. (Quick: can you name all five of them?*) Well, guess what? He successfully completed this so-called Holy Grail of swimming last month! (Frankly, I think we all knew he would, especially after Pugh swam the Arctic in just a Speedo! Yes, you read that correctly: he swam the Arctic in just a Speedo! Brrrr...) 

Interestingly, Pugh was planning on wearing an electronic anti-shark device while swimming in the Pacific. However, it washed overboard just before he started the leg. Pugh claimed it was "a bit scary" swimming in Australian waters after the recent shark attacks, but he didn't encounter any toothy fans. If you want to see some pictures of Pugh shivering, or check out what zany adventure he's scheduled for next, check out Pugh's website. 

*The five oceans are: the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic and Southern. 

This is a pretty cool video, with dives on German WW2 wrecks off the coast of Narvik, Norway. They look like they had a real good time with the dives and playing tricks on each other. The video is 115mb and be warned, near the end a couple brave souls do a little skinny-scootering which is NSFW.

All I can think of is shrinkage from that Seinfeld episode, as Narvik is 200km inside the Artic circle.

Damn that is cold.

Before I went away for the holidays, I downloaded several podcasts onto my iPod for the trip. Among the best was Confessions of a Shark Wrangler, a short videocast from DiveFilm. In her short piece, Mary Linn Price interviews Jessie "Shark Chick" Harper, a woman who leads shark diving tours off San Diego . It was a very interesting portrait of a person with a very unusual job. Around since 2000, DiveFilm showcases underwater films produced specifically for the internet. DiveFilm features a lot of interesting short films about diving (check out Drifters of the Deep Blue Sea), and they're all free to watch. If you use iTunes, you can subscribe to their podcast feed and get them delivered directly to your iPod! 

One more thing - DiveFilm is looking for underwater imagers to submit their short digital films. If you've always dreamed of having your movies available for others to see, this might be your big break!