Scuba Diving

In the age of drones this is how shark reporting should be done. The Coast guard or local surfing schools should fly a drone around and check to see whether there are any sharks present. If and when they spot a shark or groups of sharks they could temporarily close the beach until the threat is gone. It reduces the need for shark nets. It also reduces the need and desire to kill any shark that is spotted as people are informed ahead of this time. The report tells us that the sharks in the video are juveniles and that the reason for which they are on this section of beach might be linked to a dead whale floating “about eight miles away in that direction”. There is no sensationalism. We are given the facts. The report then tells people that if they do want to swim or surf and be safe they should stay near the lifeguard tower. When a whale dies it provides sharks with enough food for days or even weeks. It provides them with food until it looses buoyancy and sinks to the bottom of the sea where crabs and eels eat the remains. I’m sharing the second video because we see divers photographing and filming sharks as they eat a whale carcass. We see how close they get without any difficulties. There are a number of interesting documentaries to learn more about sharks and I recommend watching Sharkwater because it shows that rather than sharks being a threat to us it is us that are a threat to sharks. By taking a calm and rational approach to sharks we are helping preserve the ecosystem. By learning to cohabit with these animals we are allowing future generations a chance to see these animals. With today’s technology we can monitor risk, especially on calm and clear days.

Today Amer Sports announced that it has bought Sports tracker. Sports Tracker is an application that I have been using since I had the Nokia N95 8GB. I used it on symbian, iOS and Android devices over the years. What I love about this app is the way it displays information about the work out. It gives you several screens while you are exercising with the option to select which information you want to see most. [gallery columns=“2” ids=“2305,2306”] Once you arrive home and synchronise the workout with the web interface you can see the information displayed above. You can choose whether there is a topographic map, a normal map or satellite imagery. It is simple and intuitive to read. Suunto make devices that I like using. I have used the Suunto D9 diving computer, the Suunto D4i diving computer, the Suunto Ambit 2 and the Suunto Ambit3. Suunto dive computers are small diving computers that you can wear in day to day life. When you are passionate about diving this is nice. The Suunto Ambit family are more interesting for people who do land based sports. I used the Suunto Ambit 2 and 3 when doing via ferrata, hiking, cycling and other sports. The advantage of these fitness watches is that they have long battery life. This means that you can be active for two or three days before worrying about the battery dying. In this respect they are far better than mobile phones for fitness activity tracking. Suunto products and Sports tracker do not communicate natively. Suunto products synchronise with movescount. From movescount you need to export the GPX workout files and import them to Sports tracker. I would like to see Suunto devices communicate directly with Sports tracker. In my eyes the best option would have been for Sports tracker to buy movescount and for them to take over the web interface for Suunto. They both provide interesting web interfaces and combining the two would have been mutually beneficial. Time will show whether Amer Sports with links to sports tracker, precor and Suunto will come out with an interesting amalgamation of the three products/services. I look forward to finding out.

The Apple Watch rather than fill a niche provides a fifth screen. According to Wikipedia the four first screens are the cinema screen, the television screen and the mobile phone and tablet screen. The fifth screen is the smart watch as designed by Apple, Samsung, Sony and others. Apple and others have designed phones that bring the mobile phone experience to the wrist. Energy efficient Suunto, Garmin, Fitbit and other brands fill the wrist worn niche effectively because they have designed devices with energy efficient displays that provide tracking whilst at the same time giving extended battery life. Extended battery life in use Health trackers by fitbit and other companies have been designed to last for a week or more whilst tracking movement 24 hours a day. Suunto, Garmin and other brands have designed watches that can track activities for hours or even days before they need charging. Long stand by time When not in use all of the devices mentioned above can last for weeks. In the case of the Suunto Ambit two I have found that it loses one percentage of charge per day. As a result of this it can be used as a watch for three months before I need to think of charging. Data analysis All of these tools are for collecting data about the route you took, the intensity of the exercise tracked, heart rate and complementary information. When synced on the computer or website a lot of information is presented. Garmin syncs with Runkeeper, Strava, Garmin connect and other services, Suunto syncs with Movescount and Strava intuitively. Fitbit syncs with the fitbit site and other fitness apps. The most interesting data is analysed on a computer rather than the wrist unit. This leaves the device to track information cost effectively, where cost is battery life, and effective is defined by how long you can track an activity. Conclusion: My passion for “smart watches” stems from scuba diving. I bought a Suunto D9 to track dives and loved taking dive data and analysing it in view of improving my diving ability. I tracked training at the gym, hiking and other activities with various phones and their weakness was battery life. When you go for a hike in the mountains, go for a via ferrata or do a number of other sporting activities for extended periods of time you want a device that can last as long as you do. Suunto’s Ambit 2 filled that need very well, so well that I upgraded to the Suunto Ambit 3. As an android user I can’t  take advantage of all the features yet but that will come soon, this month in fact. The Apple Watch does not fill any of the requirements I have listed above and for this reason I am not tempted. I see it as a fifth screen that does not fill a niche. Fitness trackers, fitness watches and other devices cost the same price or less and fill niche requirements effectively. Why would I want a gimmick?

Font del Truffe with T-Reb from Slawek Packo on Vimeo.

Cave diving in France. Although there is a squeeze at the beginning the cave looks forgiving from a visibility point of view.

Birth of a Regulator - Commercial Film for Apeks from Scarlet View Media on Vimeo.

  I was curious to watch part of the process. i am more and more tempted to start diving again but I think without being too technical. I think I need to return to recreational, non challenging dives.

It makes me want to go diving again. Now that summer is over the lakes should be better. Visibility should have improved.

Freediving Blackout from Terra Australis on Vimeo.

For those who have a passion for Scuba diving I have found a group that you will enjoy. Vimeo has a group with over 1000 members and 2800 videos related to diving. Most of these videos are warm water dives and aquatic life.

Diving with whale sharks - Chumpon Pinnacle from nick zioncheck on Vimeo.

Sidemount training | Expedition Bjurälven from Markus Nord on Vimeo.

Northdiving Arrieta Lanzarote, Tauchen an den Wracks von Barranque del Quiquero from Erich Heiz on Vimeo.

Earlier today I was at Chindrieux, a lake side village looking out over the Lac du Bourget lake in France. It is a nice lake with good visibility. The dive site where my friends and I usually dive is a wall. You swim out for 300 meters before heading down the bank to a little gap in the cliff. At 9 meters depth you start going west along the wall. On this wall you can find lots of shells and the occasional fish hiding in one crack or other. There are overhangs and scree fields. The bottom of the wall is at 65m. From there it slopes gently off to 110m. So far my dives have only taken me to 40 meters on this wall. Diving in this part of the world takes a certain character type. The water at depth is at a stable 5°-6°c but the water column varies from 21°c at the surface in Summer zo 6°c at the surface in winter. In summer you go from warm water to cold, and then you get back to warm. You’re sweating in your dry suit and to cool down is welcome. In winter the opposite is true. You’re cold. You’re happy to put your dry suit on, and gloves, and hood. The drawback is that you go from cold air to cold water and back. Friends of mine and I have come out of the water shivering in winter, unable to use our fingers anymore. This is all part of the fun. Today for a change I went with my video camera. I am currently working on a diving documentary and I want to get footage of the surface as well as down below. The vista are nice. You can see parapentistes, the occasional boat, trains passing by and in the distance snow covered mountains. They serve as a backdrop to Aix Les Bains. I will keep you informed about how this project progresses.