FishQuest.info is live

Finally, after more than two years of redesigning, we've managed to successfully start up a marine life identification site. FishQuest.info is something between a marine life photo gallery, fish taxonomy site but it's main purpose is to collect different common names in a well organised manner. The idea first came to my mind after talking to other divers and having to use English names for the critters that had perfectly usable names in other languages. Being much simpler that fishbase.org, I feel that it will serve this purpose well.

No more last minute dive savers?

Polish authorities are considering making popular decongestants like Cirrus, Acatar, Sudafed and others prescription drugs. This is because they contain pseudoephedrine which can be used as a base for making methcathinone - a psychoactive stimulant sometimes used as a recreational drug and considered addictive. If they do that then it'll be an end to last minute dive-savers:(

Won the PADI Renewal Competition

Yesterday when I went to check my snail mailbox I was very surprised to see a big packet I was not expecting. My surprise was even bigger when I saw PADI stamps on the envelope, so I've torn the wrapping and saw... PADI Encyclopaedia of Recreational Diving - the prize in this years Renewal Competition I have almost forgotten I've entered:). It's not the grand prize (return of the renewal fee) but still niiiiceeee:)

Payback on UW photos

Finally getting some payback for the hard work done photographing underwater critters:) My picture (the sleeping masked puffer-fish photo taken in Egypt last year) is the February's Photo of the Month according to Nurkowanie - one of the Polish most popular diving magazines. Also Magda's photos was published in Wielki Błękit - another popular diving magazine. Gonna get some rewards:D

My winning picture

South Egypt dive safari

Some pictures from a diving safari to the extreme south of Egypt, partially even extreme north of Sudan:)

Coral lit by a strobe

Sleeping masked pufferfish

This pictures were taken with our dumb Olympus u1030 camera, though this time it had help from the Fantasea Remora strobe I bought especially for this trip. I must say it rocks. I still need to check how things look in the murky Polish waters, but from what I've seen in Egypt it seems that the strobe will be useful here as well.

Red soft coral, again thanks to my new strobe

Giant moray eel

As for the trip itself it was pleasant. The reef in the south are pristine, though not much bigger fish there:( We were expecting loads of sharks and mantas but just seen two white tips. Other groups have seen a thresher, but 4 sharks for a week of diving is a rather disappointing result. Water temperature was as nice surprise. Prior to departure I did a little bit of research and I was expecting water to be somewhere around 27 degrees Celsius. This is why I bought a 7mm wetsuit especially for this safari, however it turned out that the water was 31 degrees Celsius all the time so we were diving in shorts and T-shirts:)

Corsica trip

Some pictures from the trip to Corsica.

B-17 Flying Fortress wreck near Calvi

Freediving near Calvi

Calvi citadel

Groupers on Merouville divesite, Lavezzi Islands near Bonifacio

We toured the western coast of the island doing some dives including the B-17 wreck near Calvi. This was one of the places I always wanted to dive, even before I started diving:) Generaly good food, nice weather and clear water:)

Nova Scotia dive

Been in Canada for the last two weeks on a business travel and just had to dive:) It turned out that the most convenient spot was near Halifax and so I rented gear from the Torpedo Rays dive shop and went diving in the Sandy Cove in Terence Bay.

Sandy Cove

Lighthouse near Sandy Cove

Drying gear after the dive

The water was colder than I expected (3 degrees) but the visibility surprised me in a positive way - it was around 10 meters when I was expecting 3. Didn't get to see much except for a huge lobster and hordes of hermit crabs.