• Grand Turk, February 17-24 -- 7 nights/8 days - $990
• Tortola, British Virgin Islands, April 14-21 -- 7 nights/8 days - $974
• Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, May 22-27 -- 5 nights/6 days - $TBA
• St. Vincent, June 9-16 -- 8 days/7 nights - $1,050
• Key Largo, Florida*, July 7-14 -- 8 days/7 nights - $1,093
• San Juan Islands, Washington, July 23-26 -- 4 days/3 nights - $818
• Kona, Hawaii, August 4-11 -- 7 nights/8 days - $1,485
• Woods Hole, Cape Cod, September 11-16 -- 6 nights/5 days - $509
• Bonaire*, September 22-29 -- 7 nights/8 days - $1,063
• Utila*, October 20-27 -- 8 days/7 nights - $1,110
• Anguilla, November 10-17 -- 8 days/7 nights - $975
• Cozumel, December 1-8 -- 8 Days/7 Nights - $544

Jack Connick has started writing a monthly column for Northwest Dive News. Discusiing underwater photography, Jack plans to concentrate on cold-water dive photography, but I'm sure tropical divers will learn lots, too. Fortunately, he plans to re-print the articles on his blog, so check in often if you don't subscribe.

In his first article, Jack discusses the importance of experience and not engaging in unnecessary task-loading. He also goes over important questions to ask yourself before making the often-expensive leap into underwater shooting. What do you want to do with your photos? Where are you going to be shooting? How much can you really afford to spend? These are some of the questions Jack walks you through.

In 2000, Yuri Lipski died while scuba diving in Egypt's famous "Blue Hole." During his dive, Lipski had a video camera strapped to his head. This 5-minute clip shows portions of Lipski's final moments, as well as some analysis of the tragic end provided by specialists. Don't expect to be amazed by the level of analysis -- in my opinion, they seem far too emotional and engaged in the clip to be objective -- though they do help clarify what's going on on screen.

Of course, it's a bit morbid to watch a person's final moments. Hopefully, though, divers can use the footage to help protect themselves against similar accidents.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change -- comprised of 2500 experts from 130 countries -- the Great Barrier Reef could become "functionally extinct" within a few decades. According to the Panel's leaked report -- the final, official draft of which should be available this Friday -- the reef will (might?) die from bleaching, which occurs when water temperatures grow too high, and which involves a breakdown of the symbiotic relationship between corals and their color-giving zooxanthellae. Interestingly, the cooling waters associated with last year's Cyclone Larry preempted the potentially catastrophic bleaching event that scientists had predicted for 2006. However, the thought is that by 2030, the GBR will likely begin suffering from routine bleaching events and quickly perish.

What's most disturbing to me about this news is that the GBR is the largest living organism on the planet. Able to be seen from space, a dead GBR would be a permanent, hideous scar -- a constant reminder of beauty and life wasted.

[Thanks, Drew!]

In November, Divester reported on an underwater poker tournament-slash-fundraiser in Colorado. Organized to assist a Marine reservist on his third deployment in Iraq, the High Plains Scuba Center raised $1600 for Brian Ivers and his family. This past weekend, some of the same folks got together for another round of underwater festivities. Instead of playing cards, though, about 30 certified divers ranging in age from 13 to 60 competed in the 11th Annual Scuba Olympics. This year, the event also served as a fundraiser for Tyler Carron and Nikko Landeros, two high school wrestlers whose legs were amputated after they were struck by a car. According to Scuba Olympics Coordinator and High Planes Scuba Director Mark Williamson, all the money collected from the $10 Scuba Olympics entry fee are being given to the families of the boys to help cover their medical bills.

What happens at a Scuba Olympics? In one event, divers had to swim through a series of rings without touching them. In another event, divers were required to assemble a bag of wooden parts, nuts, and bolts underwater. Among the other events staged were the Pin Pong Push, the Dart Throw, and the Golf Ball Crawl. If you're interested, David Buffalo walked away with the gold at this year's Olympics. But all the participants are going to receive Divester's coveted Hero of the Week Award!

• Pseudopterosin, an anti-inflammatory chemical found in the sea-whip Pseudopterogoria elisabethae. Interestingly, when these sea-whips are "pruned" and harvested, the whip actually grows back stronger and healthier than before, meaning this endeavor is not only good for the organisms, it provides sustainable employment for low-income coastal residents.
  
• A small, yellow coral in Australia that yields eleutherobin, which prevents cancer cell division.
  
• Two other compounds that may work against cancer, and one compound that may help patients fight Herpes simplex.

• Bioprospectors Do It With marine Animals
• William Smith, Literally Bitten By the Allure of Venomous Fish
• Harbor Branch researchers to Survey the Deep Sea for Potential Medicine
• Unregulated Bioprospecting Destroying the Ocean

• Nose jobs
• Face lifts
• Liposuction
• Breast implants

• The Maldives is home to thousands of faros, which are mini-atolls within the larger Maldivian atoll.
  
• Ribbon worms (a.k.a., Nemertean worms) can reach lengths of 160 feet. One such ribbon worm is called the Football Jersey worm, because of its striking similarity to the pattern on an American football.
  
• Earth's oceans contain about 324 million cubic miles of seawater.
  
• Many fishermen in Sri Lanka fish from stilts, so as not to frighten away their quarry.
  
• The Humber Estuary discharges about 66,000 gallons of water per second into the North Sea, which is the largest input from any British river into this sea.
  
• The Fangtooth, with its large head and giant, syringe-like teeth, has been recorded at depths of 16,380 feet, which is known as the Abyssal Zone (only the Hadal Zone is deeper).

1. An Introduction, which talks about physical and chemical features of oceans (spotlighting unusual aspects of the oceans like the Corryvreckan Whirlpool, as well as explaining how sound travels through water);
   
2. Ocean Environments, which discusses areas that compose the oceans (from ocean floor sediment to seamounts and guyots);
3. Ocean Life, which examines marine animals found in the various zones (including coral, birds, bugs, fishes, mammals and everything in between); and,
   
4. The Atlas of the Oceans, which contains detailed maps of the oceans and illustrates, for example, the zones, basins, and rises within them.
   

For a more "traditional" review or to peek at some of the images in the book, check out Wetpixel. The Art of Diving is available through Amazon.co.uk for £13. It's also available in German. The perfect coffee table book, and the perfect justification for why you simply must go diving this weekend, pick up a copy for yourself and you'll see that The Art of Diving is the most magical, most beautiful, most insightful book ever written about scuba diving.

There are a smattering of clubs across the globe that bring underwater shooters together, but there hasn't been a good one in New York. Until now. Now, there's one in Manhattan.

The New York Underwater Photo Society (NYUPS) aims to bring together underwater photographers and videographers from the tri-state area to share and learn about the world of underwater imagery. Each month, NYUPS will host workshops and speakers (think: underwater photographers, filmmakers, marine biologists, explorers, and adventurers). In 2008, NYUPS plans to host photo expeditions to some of the world's most biodiverse hot spots, and it'll even launch an international underwater photo and video competition/festival. Sounds like a busy club! You know why I'm sure it'll succeed? Because of the people involved, which include Jason Heller, Larry Cohen, Robin Dyleski, Pasquale Pascullo, and Wendy Heller.

The Society's first meeting is in April. Check the website for details concerning time and place.

Want to go diving in June but don't know where to go? If you're an underwater shooter, you might want to head to Bonaire. The crew at Reef Photo has organized a trip to the island, and they're bringing their brains along with them (which is quite the opposite of what I do when I go diving). Reef's staff will be available for one-on-one hands-on help with camera gear and techniques during the week. Moreover, award-winning shooter Rand McMeins will also be on the trip, providing inspiration and advice.

Reef will be carting A/V equipment to the island to facilitate the sharing of the day's images every evening. Warning to the competitive: this is not a competition, but allows divers to share what they experienced throughout the day. Heads-up for the competitive: they are sponsoring a "best shot" contest at the end of the week. If you're interested, the package runs $1025 and includes:

• 8 days/7 nights in a fully-equipped apartment
• 7 days rental vehicle
• UNLIMITED Boat Diving
• NITROX fills for shore diving
• American style breakfast buffet daily
• 50% Off Food & Beverages at the Pool Bar
• Welcome Drink
• Manager's Rum Punch Party
• Airport transfers
• All Government Taxes

Much like scientists can read the rings of trees to determine climate changes that tree has endured, researchers can "read" coral. For example, by analyzing the coral's strontium-calcium ratio, scientists can measure how much rain fell as much as 6500 years ago. In a recent study, in fact, researchers with the British Antarctic Survey concluded that the periodic and normal increase in monsoons in the Indian Ocean paradoxically result in stronger droughts in Indonesia and Australia.

While this trivia may not have much import for the typical suburban mom, the implications of this research are fairly staggering. Simply, corals provide a giant, untapped library of information about the planet's past. According to Nerilie Abrams of the British Antarctic Survey, "There is a lot more we can learn from the corals. It's a matter of analyzing them." Of course, we can't analyze them if we're destroying them.