Welcome to Issue #27 of Inside Scuba

Welcome to Issue #27 of Inside Scuba. Byron and I just returned from a fantastic week diving the Gardens of the Queen in Cuba. We will have a full review of our liveaboard in an upcoming issue. This week we are excited to announce that Dr. Alex Mustard has agreed to share some of his underwater photography wisdom with us. His articles will appear periodically throughout the year starting with this issue where he tells us about the best way to photograph dolphins. Also in this newsletter an interview we conducted with Rannva Jøermundsson, co-founder of NIXIE Expeditions who tells us about an expedition she led to explore one of Indonesia’s cave systems.

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What’s happening in this edition?

• Exploring Indonesia’s Hidden Underwater Caves: Expedition Buteng’s Groundbreaking Discoveries
• Dive News
• Dances with Dolphins
• Instagram Spotlight
• Summary

Exploring Indonesia’s Hidden Underwater Caves: Expedition Buteng’s Groundbreaking Discoveries

We recently had an exciting opportunity to sit down and speak with Rannva Jøermundsson, a diver and explorer, co-founder of NIXIE Expeditions, who recently led an expedition to explore and map an underwater cave in Indonesia. The focus of the expedition was to study the caves' ecosystems through cutting-edge techniques like metagenomics and environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling. Rannva discusses the exciting discoveries made during the expedition, the challenges of cave exploration, and the vital collaborations with experts and organizations that are helping to advance research and conservation efforts. We hope you enjoy the interview.

IS: Rannva, nice to see you! It’s been a while. Tell our readers who you are and where you are from?

RJ: Great to see you, too! My name is Rannva Jøermundsson, and I’m the Global Head of Sales at Fourth Element. I’m originally from the Faroe Islands, but I’ve been living in the UK for eight years now. I moved here after I got the job with Fourth Element.

Beyond that, I’m a dive instructor, a cave diver, and a rebreather diver. I also do cave exploration and am a member of the Explorer’s Club in New York.

IS: So, tell us about how you got started with diving. Where did the passion come from, and where did you do your first dives?

RJ: It all began when I was 20 and backpacking around Australia. I’d seen Finding Nemo, and there I was by the Great Barrier Reef, so I thought, “Let’s do this!” At the time, I assumed diving would just be one of those bucket list items—do a dive course, tick; go skydiving, tick.

But to be honest, I was terrified of the ocean. I had this irrational fear of stepping on sea urchins or being bitten by a shark. That said, I’d always been fascinated by the sea, growing up near the coast and swimming a lot as a kid.

When I did the course, the pool sessions were fine, but what truly blew my mind was getting to the Great Barrier Reef. Putting on a mask and seeing underwater life for the first time was incredible. The feeling of flying with neutral buoyancy—that was something else entirely. I was hooked. I even spent years after that dreaming about diving, literally. It was love at first breath.

Read more…

In each issue of our newsletter, we will curate some top dive news from around the world. Links to each of the original articles are available.

The DPG Masters 2024 competition winners were announced. For the first time in the competition’s history, a video entry claimed the top honor. Canadian filmmaker Eiko Jones won the overall award with The Journey, a captivating short film that showcases the dramatic life cycle of salmon in British Columbia’s rivers. As the first-place winner in the Short Film category, Eiko also earned the prestigious title of “DPG Grand Master 2024.” Check out the winning film below.

The other winning images and videos can be found on DPG’s website.

Dances with Dolphins

By Alex Mustard

Of all the subjects we can photograph underwater, dolphins are the ultimate crowd pleaser. No subject impresses your non-diving friends more, but it is not straightforward to get quality images during these ephemeral and unpredictable encounters.

There are three golden rules for dolphin photography: shutter speed, shutter speed and shutter speed. Dolphin pictures always look great on the back of the camera, but it is common disappointment to find that they are all a bit blurred when we download them. The problem is that dolphins move much faster than most other subjects we photograph and if we want pin sharp photos then we have to use a much faster shutter speed than we’re used to.

I consider 1/320^th an absolute minimum for dolphins. We should ideally be at 1/500^th or more. I was up at 1/500^th for this group. So if you only remember one thing from this month’s column: whenever you see dolphins always think fast shutter speed.

The best exposure mode for dolphins is shutter priority exposure (S in Nikon and Sony speak, Tv in Canon language). This automatic mode allows us to set the shutter speed and the camera then selects an appropriate aperture to create a good exposure. We will usually have to dial in a bit of under exposure to get a rich blue water colour, but once set, the camera will produce reliable exposures whatever angle we shoot the dolphins from. Often such a high shutter speed will leave us with too wide an aperture, so we might want to push up the ISO a bit.

Read more…

This week’s Instagram Spotlight features Kirsty Andrews. Kirsty is a dedicated underwater photographer from the UK with a passion for showcasing the rich marine life of British waters. With over two decades of diving experience and nearly ten years behind the lens, she continues to find joy in exploring the ocean’s hidden wonders. Her work has received recognition in multiple nature photography competitions, and she contributes regularly to the British Sub-Aqua Club magazine.

Summary

As we wrap up this issue of Inside Scuba, we want to thank you for being part of our growing community of passionate divers and underwater explorers. Your support and enthusiasm keep us inspired to bring you the latest stories, expert insights, and breathtaking photography from the underwater world. If you enjoyed this edition, please consider sharing it with your friends, dive buddies, or anyone who loves the ocean as much as we do. See you in the next issue—until then, happy diving!

Andy & Byron