Top 10 Scuba Diving Blog Posts of 2010

TANKS to everyone for making 2010 such a great year here at the Neutral Dive Gear Scuba Diving Blog. We hope we've entertained, informed, and inspired your passion for all things scuba.

In reverse order, here are our top ten posts on the year as decided by your viewership:

10. Video: Neutral Dive Gear on CNN!

09. 40 Sites That Will Help You Become A Scuba Diver

08. Coroner: Tour Operator's Failings Led to Scuba Diver's Death

07. Environmentalist Serenades Great White Underwater

06. Katie Price Warned About Personal Risk Involved in Scuba Diving

05. Poll: Who is responsible for divers in the water?

04. Oil Rig Becomes Scuba Diving Hotel

03. Navy SEAL Dies During Training Dive

02. Bold, Fresh New Scuba Diving Sweatshirt for 2010

And the most viewed scuba diving blog post in 2010 was...

01. Renowned Underwater Photographer Wes Skiles Dies While Diving

Happy New Year, everyone.

May 2011 bring you exciting adventures and new horizons!

Blog Roll Addition: Scuba Diver Girls

We absolutely love all the stuff going on with the Scuba Diver Girls, and had to add their Scuba Diver Girls Blog on our blog roll.

These lady divers have a TON of ways to follow them online (just look at the bottom of their homepage!) and their passion for diving is inspiring.

Be sure to check 'em out!

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Blog Roll Addition: Prime Scuba

Hey divers!

Just wanted to give a shout out to the latest addition to our illustrious scuba diving blog roll: Prime Scuba Blog.

The Prime Scuba Blog is an extension of their main site, PrimeScuba.com, which provides discounted scuba equipment. We love discounted scuba equipment.

They're just getting their blog up and running, so kick over and give them some love! Oh, and don't be afraid to let them know you think they should carry some items from the Neutral Dive Gear scuba diving clothing line.

Go dive!

;-)

Blog Roll Addition: Surface Interval

Hey dive buddies!

Be sure to kick over to the latest addition to our illustrious Neutral Dive Gear Blog Roll: Surface Interval.

Author Absolutmark is "looking to create a place for people passionate about scuba diving, wrecks, marine life and equipment, lots of equipment."

What's not to like about that?!

So when you're not submerging yourself here at the Scuba Diving Blog, spend your Surface Interval with Absolutmark.

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First Official Lionfish Sighting Reported in Florida Keys

Phil Ellis over at the Dive Sports Blog has been tracking the dangers of the invasive spread of lionfish in the waters near the United States and Caribbean islands.

Today, Ellis reports that Reef.org has recently received the first “official” and documented sighting of the foreign predator in the Florida Keys.

While there have been undocumented sightings for over six months, this is the first to be photographed and reported in a timely manner. This sighting allowed for capture of the sighted individual.

Continue reading...

Intova Nova Wide Angle LED Dive Light

Just before the new year, David Fricks discovered a new dive light after diving Shaw's Cove in Laguna Beach.

The Intova Nova Wide Angle LED Torch puts out 130 lumens with a focused 4.7 watt LED. It’s smaller then my Halcyon, puts out more light and burns longer. The magnetic switch and double o-ring battery compartment means it is almost impossible to flood. With traditional lights like the Halcyon Scout you have to twist the head to turn on the light. This puts stress on the o-rings and can damage the seal if sand has made its way into contact with the o-ring. Traditional lights also have a tendancy to turn on accidentally on decent if not twisted far enough in the off position. This is because the water pressure presses the head down against the housing. With the magnetic switch on the Intova Nova there’s no opening so there’s no chance of a leak. The only time you have to service the o-rings on the Nova light is when you change the batteries. The only down side I see is that the 3volt batteries required for the Nova light are a bit more expensie than traditional C cells, but I think you will agree its worth the extra money for the extra output. To see the light for yourself visit Intova.net.

David had never heard of Intova, and to be honest, neither had we.

Have any of you used this -- or another -- light from Intova? Wondering your thoughts on this company and/or piece of gear.

Scuba Diving Blog Email Subscription

Just a quick blog admin note:

You'll notice a new email subscription box in the right-hand column. For those of you who forget to visit the Scuba Diving Blog by Neutral Dive Gear every day -- shame on you! -- this little box is the answer to your problem.

Simply enter your email and our blog posts will be delivered to your email address of choice. Don't worry, unsubscribing is just as easy as subscribing and this doesn't mean we're going to start flooding you with spam. Entering your email and clicking 'subscribe' will enable you to receive our blog posts, and nothing else.

Try it out and see if you like it!

Marine Visions Unveils New Website for Gates Deep Red Underwater Video Housing

Marine Visions officially launched a new website dedicated to the Gates Deep Red Underwater Video Housing at this year's DEMA show.

Marine Visions, The Choice for Underwater Professionals, has officially launched a new website dedicated to the Gates Deep Red Underwater Video Housing. http://www.deepredvideohousing.com

Historically, few underwater video housings would warrant the creation of a dedicated website, however we believe that Deep Red has changed that. Designed for the revolutionary Red One Cinema Camera, Deep Red will usher in a new era for underwater cinematographers. This housing will allow underwater cinematographers to capture stunning 4K (4 x HD) motion images, a feat, that until now was not possible. Technically speaking, 4K means that there are 4000 lines of resolution versus the 1920 lines in HD.

Deep Red is currently in development by Gates Underwater Products and is expected to be available in February of 2009. The prototype housing was on display at DEMA and as usual, Gates has proven that they are a leader in the field of capturing underwater motion images.

For more information on the Gates Deep Red Video Housing, visit our websites at http://www.deepredvideohousing.com or http://www.marinevisions.com

About Marine Visions: Marine Visions, Inc., located in Webster Texas, is the Choice for Underwater Professionals. Marine Visions carries a full line of professional underwater video and photo housings and accessories. Rental housings are also available for many professional video cameras. If your production calls for underwater shots, then Marine Visions is the ultimate resource. Video Housings are available for Canon, Sony and Panasonic models. Marine Visions is committed to providing the highest quality equipment along with the best possible customer service.

About Gates: For over 38 years Gates Underwater Products has produced the world’s most reliable underwater housings. Using ‘bulletproof" machined aluminum, 100% mechanical controls, time-proven design methods, and state of the art manufacturing, Gates housings are built to satisfy the most demanding recreational divers, imaging professionals, marine researchers, salvage operators and military personnel.

For more info, you can also follow Joe Holley's blog.

UPDATE at 11/9/2008 8:58PM

DivePhotoGuide.com posted some great photos of the Deep Red housing.

Watch MythBusters During Shark Week...

Hey everyone!

Check out this cool contest sent to us by the good folks over at Shark Diver. I mean, why not get rewarded for watching a show you were probably going to see in the first place!?

Luke Tipple, Marine Biologist and Adventurer, is developing his own Science based show with GRB Entertainment of Los Angeles. While the show is coming together Luke continues to offer his technical and scientific knowledge to top research and entertainment teams worldwide. This year Luke was asked to be the dive safety officer and shark behavior specialist on Discovery Shark Week's premier show MythBusters.

Luke was hired to be a guide, work with sharks, and prevent Adam and Jamie (the MythBusters) from being eaten, but his personality and involvement with the myths soon had him on camera. Since this is Luke's first time on Discovery, and since he is working very hard on a show of his own at the moment Luke's sponsors got together to celebrate by giving away some cool gear.

All you have to do to win is watch MythBusters on July 27th at 9PM PST/EST (8 CST) or any other time it airs during Shark Week. Answer the simple question above which is related to the show (HINT: check out the dive gear… we are his dive sponsors after all!). You'll be entered in a contest to win the prizes above, a great dive watch, an amazing dive mask, or a chance to get face to face with a great white shark.

One entry per person, one prize per person, no purchase required. Prizes will be drawn at random and will be awarded subject to our terms and conditions.

Scuba Diving Blog by Neutral Dive Gear Linked to from DivePhotoGuide.com

We recently received an email from Publisher and Founder Jason Heller, alerting us that our blog post "Disgusting: Great Barrier Reef Shark Fin Fishery Proposed" was linked to from this article.

Further information can be found on the Australian Marine Conservation Society's (AMCS) website, and on this blog as well, Neutral Dive Gear.

AMCS also has a form letter that you can send to the Australian authorities. Please help send the message that these actions are unacceptable and unsustainable.

For the sharks!

Very cool!

We're honored and certainly glad to do our part. And what a great scuba diving photography site they have over there at www.divephotoguide.com. They've got a lot of great info, reviews, and of course, photos.

Be sure to check 'em out and bookmark the site! We definitely did!

Scuba Diving Blogroll Additions

Hey folks!

Just a quick post to draw attention to all the recent additions to our scuba diving blogroll. Be sure to frequent these scuba diving blogs as well for even more insight into the issues surrounding the dive community.

Keep diving!