Cruisers in Tonga discover freediving and are immediately hooked on the simple elegance of a healthy pastime. I’m floating in the electric-blue water of Tonga’s Vava‘u group. My goal is relaxation. It shouldn’t be that hard here, 50 meters from the white shores of a tiny tropical paradise. Then again, I’m not floating on the …
How the high-risk, high-reward extreme sport helps conquer your fear of the deep through meditation. The Guinness World Record for holding one’s breath underwater is 24 minutes and 3 seconds. Most humans, however, can barely make it a minute and a half. For a diver, the degree of difficulty increases exponentially. Lungs shrink to half …
“Learning to freedive takes any limitations we may feel about ourselves and blows them out of the water.” When you go away for a tropical getaway, there’s no end to the list of ways that you can fit in fun physical activity. You’ve got beach volleyball, snorkeling, kayaking…the list goes on. At one point or …
Wild dolphins need up to 33,000 calories a day, researchers have found – equivalent to about 60 portions of salmon. In contrast, Olympic swimmers – who are smaller and less active – burn about 12,000 calories a day during training. Studying the metabolic rates of whales and dolphins is important for their conservation, say scientists. …
When freediver Janeanne Gilchrist noticed an increase in the amount of debris washing up on the shores of her favorite diving spots, she decided to do something about it. To raise awareness of the problem, she created a collection of breathtaking images, transforming waste into art. Gilchrist, who dives without breathing equipment off the coast …
We have been exploring new locations and discovering site gems for years. I remember diving in Dahab in 1999, and taking my first group there in 2001 – when The Blue Hole was strictly a 4×4 excursion, since then we seem to be bombarded with offers from further and further afield, promising a freediving experience …
Though the dolphin die-off has be attributed to a virus, the cause of the disease remains a mystery. Since late last year, four or five dolphin carcasses have beached in Brazil each day. Scientists have confirmed that a virus is to blame, but the mortalities still have conservationists baffled. The Associated Press reports more than …
It’s hard to imagine this adorable sea cow getting caught in a fishing net, or losing its home to coastal development. Unfortunately that’s what’s happening to many populations of large marine mammals around the world. It’s urgent—sea cows are under threat of extinction. Sea cows might be cute, but it turns out they’re also really …