A missing scuba diver nearly sparked a full scale search and rescue operation in Cape Town – until the man’s mother informed rescuers that her son had in fact been locked by the police.

The National Sea Rescue Institute mobilised on Wednesday night after an emergency call that a man had not returned from a late afternoon dive at Cape Town’s St James beach.

But all activated rescue services – including a police helicopter with a thermal imaging detector – were called off after a phone call to the missing 42-year-old’s family, said NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon.

“Fortunately the mother of the missing man informed us that her son had just called her and that he was locked up in the cells of a police station… for allegedly being found diving in a protected marine reserve without a permit.”

The alarm was raised by the man’s friend who grew anxious after darkness fell.

“All rescue resources were stood down as they were no longer required and the man’s friend was relieved to find out that he was alive and well,” said Lambinon.

“It appears that while the friend had gone for a walk along the beach law enforcement agencies had come across the scuba diver diving and they had arrested him for apparently not having a dive permit.”

Something simply useless…

Something you may only use if you are out of air, your buddy is far away and you can’t do a CESA.

Divers from the world, Welcome to the Stipid invetion of the Year: The underwater Bible.

Yep, gear f with your BCD, regs, tanks, flashlight, knife, mask and Bible… (always useful!)

The creators claim this waterproof Bible floats (mmm positive buoyant?) and is extremely durable. The Bible will be available by November 1 (we can’t wait) in the following translations: KJV, NIV, ESV, and NLT.

You don’t have to be just a scuba diver to use this Bible (thank god) Anyone can use it (from sharks to whales) Especially if you are outdoors a lot and who like to have your Bible with you. It’s also great for mission trips and vacations. It can even be used in your own home; whether it be in the shower or bathtub or even outside in your backyard as you float in your pool.

The cost for the waterproof Bible ranges from $25-$40 and can be found at Barnes & Noble and Books a Million, along with other bookstores.

So I wonder today: Is this the face that Expedition Fleet want’s to show the world?

If this is the way they target their business… I wonder the way they run their boats.

ScubaHerald.com called them today trying to talk to their manager… but obviously, in the company there is not one single manager, or person in charged and they didn’t know that commenting in 200 blogs per day, posting their link while adding no value to the conversation or topic is Spam. In this case lame Scuba Spam. Expedition Fleet: shame on you!

The parties have held talks with Jon Mills, an emeritus dean at the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law and a former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, about representing them in efforts to block release of video recordings of the Feb. 24 tragedy, in which a 6-ton orca pulled 40-year-old trainer Dawn Brancheau into its tank and drowned her in front of park guests.

The Gainesville laywer was also part of the legal team that represented the widow of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt in her battle to prevent the release of her husband’s autopsy photos after he was killed in a 2001 race crash in Daytona Beach.

In a statement distributed by SeaWorld on Monday afternoon, a spokesman for Brancheau’s family said public airings of the video of the tragedy would only compound what is already “a time of tremendous sadness and grief for our family.”

“Use of this video will do nothing more than further sensationalize a tragic event and traumatize our family,” said Charles LoVerde, the spokesman. “Some members of the news media have shown restraint and sensitivity during this difficult time, but many others have not. The conduct of some members of the press has been disgraceful. Our family has a right to heal in private, and we once again appeal to the media to recognize the terrible pain we are experiencing and give us a small measure of respect and privacy.”

t’s not unusual for disillusioned graduates to pack a bag and hit the road, but what distinguishes dive enthusiasts Ben Stokes, 30, and Sarah Kemsley, 31, is that they kept going. Since meeting in Malaysia in 2003, the couple have worked as diving instructors in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Egypt, Honduras, Belize and Fiji, clocking up over 5,000 dives between them and leaving their respective studies – in advertising and fashion – far behind.

The couple, who learned to dive while travelling, now have their own bespoke travel company, Dive Safari Asia, which is based in the UK but can be run from wherever they are in the world. They put together unguided package trips (flights, accommodation, diving) for their clients or, for more remote destinations, step in and act as guides. “Being in Asia for so many months of the year allows us to discover new destinations and really connect with the places,” says Ben.

Typically stationing themselves in a location for two to four months, their three essential requirements are internet access, phone signal and “very good-quality diving”.

And when we mention very good quality diving, is because these guys, can simply tailor any type of holiday in Asia, just for you. The best diving in the world? I don’t know about that… but for sure the best service.

check today Dive Safari Asia and re-discover diving.

Acclaimed contemporary filmmaker, Ang Lee arrived in Ambergris Caye, Belize for a few days of sun and left a certified SCUBA diver. Lee took his certification course with White Sands Dive Instructor, Samuel Lin. Lee was accompanied by his two sons, Mason and Haan who also took the course and became certified divers as well.

So now we hope to see more Underwater scenes in Hulk… or the scuba diving sequel of brokeback mountain ? (bad joke…!)

David Swain was found guilty of murder nearly a decade after Shelley Tyre drowned while diving at a sunken ship off Tortola. Authorities in the British territory initially classified her death as an accident, but filed charges after the woman’s family won a civil judgment against Swain in the U.S. in 2006.

Swain, 53, faced a mandatory life sentence following his Oct. 27 conviction. Justice Indra Hariprashad-Charles said the premeditated nature of the crime bound her to deny a defense request that he become eligible for parole after 18 years in prison.

“It is my view that this murder was carefully planned and premeditated and calls for stiff punishment,” the judge said Tuesday.

In the trial, prosecutors argued that Swain killed Tyre to pursue a romance with another woman and get his 46-year-old wife’s inheritance. Swain’s lawyers called it a weak case that lacked physical evidence and plan to appeal the verdict.

Jen Swain Bloom, a daughter from his first marriage, said evidence that would have helped her father was improperly barred from the trial.

“My family, and my father’s friends and colleagues are still 100 percent in support of my father, and his innocence,” Bloom wrote in a letter to local journalists. “No one that has spent any time with or actually knows my father thinks he should spend one more second behind bars.”

She submitted 45 letters to the court supporting parole for Swain, also a former member of the town council in Jamestown, Rhode Island.

In one letter, Jeremy Swain, a son also from the first marriage, said his father has been teaching fellow inmates math and reading in the two years he has spent so far in prison on Tortola. “David Swain is a man who will do good works no matter where he finds himself,” he said.

No eyewitnesses or DNA evidence linked Swain to the murder. The prosecution’s case rested largely on experts who testified they believed Swain wrestled his wife from behind at a depth of 80 feet (24 meters), tore off her scuba mask and shut off her air supply while they swam near the shipwreck. Her mask was damaged, the mouthpiece of her snorkel was missing, and her fin was found embedded in a sandbar — all signs of a struggle, prosecution witnesses said.

Tyre’s parents doubted their daughter, an experienced diver, had accidentally drowned, and long suspected her husband had killed her. They were awarded $3.5 million in the civil jury trial, but Swain filed for bankruptcy and has not paid the sum.

Hi guys, Gabriel here, owner of ScubaHerald.com
The reason for this self-plug is to let you know about my new project where for the first time (seriously) I’m looking to take on the world!

Well, not really, only the underwater world, let me explain this to you….

I have been working full time in internet marketing for the last 2 years and in that time I have created over 500 websites, many have been a complete failure and some of them have been great projects that have generated very good traffic, feedback and results.

Since the birth of my 2nd child, 3 months ago, I decided to work towards building quality, ever lasting sites… and that’s why I have decided to create the best scuba diving site in the world.

I know what you are saying … “OMG not another scuba diving site”.
Well, this is not “another scuba diving site”… this will be be simply the best scuba diving blog in the world thanks to an army of experts that will be writing every month in ScubaJedi.com

ScubaJedi.com is the name of my new project and the idea is simple: to build a blog where multiple writers, can blog about their unique area of expertise, making ScubaJedi.com the site with the most Authority in the scuba diving.

ScubaJedi.com is not a forum, it tis not an online community, it is a blog/magazine style site where we provide one thing: Top quality content. – the one thing the scuba industry is missing.

So why am I writing o you today? Because I know you are an expert in at least one field inside the scuba diving industry universe, and I want you to be part of ScubaJedi – I want to be able to promote you as your own brand or to help you promote your company/dive center by giving you a space in ScubaJedi

ScubaJedi is only open to 100 bloggers and those 100 bloggers will be real experts. I’m looking for hardcore divers, people like me… people that simply love diving.

Interested in knowing more? I’m sure you do… so check out ScubaJedi.com and let me know what you think.

The site will be launched the 1st of November… so I hope to have you on board. What do you think? Let me know.. I mean seriously, just click post a comment and send me a quick message. It would be nice to hear from you and know what you think.

Please Enjoy the Photos. I guess this is what Diving is like nothing on Earth!

This is the classic myth portrayed in CSI about the scuba diver in the forest. As the myth goes, a firefighting copter picked up a bucket of water, dumps it in a forest, and out dropped the scuba diver. God. I love it.

They quickly dismissed the fire-fighting airplanes, which have a small nozzle for collecting water, far too small for a diver. They next looked at a “bambi bucket,” which is dipped into the ocean by the helicopter. The one that they looked at was clearly too small for a diver to fit into, but I was disappointed that they moved on without looking at any other buckets. The one in the footage of helicopters was clearly larger, though it had rigging that would prevent a diver from entering as well.

They finally settled on the Ericson SkyCrane mechanism, which is a prop-driven hose that is lowered into the water by the helicopter that sucks water into its tank. Adam liked this scenario because of the active suction.

They picked up an outboard engine and re-welded the propeller downward so that it would be able to suck water up a tube. Sadly, the chicken cannon was carved up for its tube.

According to Jamie: 25% chance of nothing happening, 50% something bad happening, and 50% chance that its going to work (you do the math). In the tests it did work, pumping well over 2000 gallons per minute. Jamie and Adam got into a little debate over how to hook up the pump to the tank to measure its intake, which one of the new support cast mocked as “World-wide wrestling of nerds.”

The final test was to bust the myth. They lowered the tube into the pool and pushed Buster into the intake. With the filter screen on the tube it wasn’t even capable of grabbing Buster. The next step was to remove the filter screen. This time it did hold onto Buster, but when they tried to lift Buster out of the pool, Buster immediately fell off (with a nice hole where the wet suit used to be). busted