They knew that capturing the first high-quality underwater pictures of ultralong and skittish fin whales would be difficult, but DOUG PERRINE and DANNY KESSLER didn’t realise just how difficult! Find out how they got on, working alongside researchers from the Tethys Research Institute.
IN MARCH 2015, the epicentre of the world refugee crisis was a tiny Italian island in the southern Mediterranean Sea named Lampedusa, about 70 miles by sea from Tunisia, much closer than to the mainland of Italy.
Since 2000, hundreds of thousands of migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East have set out from Tunisia in small boats, hoping to reach Lampedusa and set foot on European soil. Thousands have died in the attempt.
Dr Simone Panigada was patrolling the coast of Lampedusa, strapped into the bow of a small inflatable boat, holding a medieval weapon across his chest and searching for migrants – not from the south, but from the north.
A sudden flash of reflected sunlight alerted him that one was swimming in the water just ahead of his vessel. He signalled to Giancarlo Lauriano, at the helm, and the boat lurched forward, racing ahead at full speed. Panigada raised his weapon and fired.
The projectile arced across the water, striking his quarry with two sharpened points that buried into its flesh.
It succeeded in securing a barnacle sized packet of electronics to the dorsal fin of the migrant – a fin whale that had previously been observed during the summer, feeding in the Ligurian Sea along the Italian coast.
The LIMPET (Low Impact Minimally Percutaneous Electronic Transmitter) tag would attempt to contact an Argos satellite every time the whale surfaced, and would transmit its position for the next six weeks.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der March 2017-Ausgabe von Diver.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der March 2017-Ausgabe von Diver.
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Appointment with Dr Anemone
It seems that marine-life could hold the key to improving many aspects of human health. Which is fine as long as the creatures we dive to see don’t have to be sacrificed in the process, says LISA COLLINS. They might not have to be
The Wreck Of The Zenobia: Disneyland For Divers
The Zenobia is one of those wrecks most divers have heard of, even if they haven’t dived it, but what is that makes some return to Cyprus year after year to revisit the site? DAVID BAKER, Chairman of Richmond Sub Aqua Club, has been asking around
Well And Truly Tested
MIKE WARD does the honours as a new Apeks regulator hoves into view – and for the rest, it’s all a matter of shedding light, with new products from Mares and Weefine
Man Jailed For First- Time Diver's Lake Death
THE OWNER OF A WELSH online company that sold golf balls retrieved from lakes has been jailed for 32 months for manslaughter, following the diving death of an employee.
God's Pocket
This coldwater Pacific classic can create dilemmas for photographers, says MARK B HATTER, torn between tiny rockfish and huge ‘GPOs’ in British Columbia.
In The Glassy Ripples
Tonga is a place of myths and traditions, and until 1978 whales were welcomed there only as food. Now things have taken a very different turn, as JENNY STOCK, only slightly hampered by her wetsuit, relates.
Baby Diver
Father-to-be HENLEY SPIERS decided that he needed a better understanding of diving and pregnancy.
Sumbawa
It’s alway good to feel that you might be ahead of the pack – we often hear about Bali and Lombok on one hand, and Komodo and Flores on the other, but what lies in between? JOHN LIDDIARD finds out.
Nudi GB
When you get your eye in you realise that colourful sea-slugs are not confined to the tropics – southeastern Scotland, for example, can also be a happy hunting-ground for macro enthusiasts. RICHARD ASPINALL drops into the Scottish Nudibranch Festival
Early Learning With Alligators-That's So Sick
The arrival of children can change divers’ lives – you don’t know if they will share your passion as they grow up or – inadvertently – stifle yours. So CHARLIE OLDFIELD went through a range of emotions when son Dylan announced that he wanted to dive…