The Book Log
Every month, Sterner Editorial Services looks over the
books, DVDs and videos on sport diving shelves with an
eye for who would enjoy them the most. Generally the
newest entries are reviewed, but now and then it's a
classic that has been reprinted. See earlier reviews by
genre in the Book Log Library.
PUBLISHERS
Have your books considered for a review on this page,
which is also published in Northeast Dive News and
Northwest Dive News magazines as well as other
venues. Simply click Contact Bob and send it to the
mailing address. Press releases about new books and
videos are welcome by e-mail, but the only honest way
to evaluate them is by physically reading or viewing
them. In addition to print media, these reviews now are
posted on DiversOnly.Com.
READERS
Tell us about the books and videos you would like
reviewed: e-mail info@sternereditorial.com.
Every month, Sterner Editorial Services looks over the
books, DVDs and videos on sport diving shelves with an
eye for who would enjoy them the most. Generally the
newest entries are reviewed, but now and then it's a
classic that has been reprinted. See earlier reviews by
genre in the Book Log Library.
PUBLISHERS
Have your books considered for a review on this page,
which is also published in Northeast Dive News and
Northwest Dive News magazines as well as other
venues. Simply click Contact Bob and send it to the
mailing address. Press releases about new books and
videos are welcome by e-mail, but the only honest way
to evaluate them is by physically reading or viewing
them. In addition to print media, these reviews now are
posted on DiversOnly.Com.
READERS
Tell us about the books and videos you would like
reviewed: e-mail info@sternereditorial.com.
Click To Enlarge
Warm up to Caribbean sites
If you're planning a trip to the Caribbean consider picking up
the Frommer's Caribbean 2010. The 800-page guide is
updated annually with new issues arriving in bookstores in
September. The 27-chapter guide kicks off with a "best of"
section covering the region and another on how to pack and
prepare for a trip. Otherwise individual islands and nations are
presented as stand-alone chapters with notes on essential
items relative to the destination, fast facts, lists of resorts and
service providers, including charter boats and dive shops.
Web sites are given, so readers can go on-line to see what
rooms and other accommodations look like. Besides the diving
recommendations in the initial "best of" chapter, dive sites are
covered in the individual destination chapters. Non-diving
friends and family members can learn about top-side dining,
golf, shopping, parks and other activities. Each chapter
includes "must see" tips and suggestions on what clothes to
wear and, more importantly, not wear. Detailed maps are
accurate enough to help tourists get around, and the planning
challenged can take advantage of itinerary suggestions to get
the most out of their visit. ISBN: 978-0-470-28970-9.
www.frommers.com.
If you're planning a trip to the Caribbean consider picking up
the Frommer's Caribbean 2010. The 800-page guide is
updated annually with new issues arriving in bookstores in
September. The 27-chapter guide kicks off with a "best of"
section covering the region and another on how to pack and
prepare for a trip. Otherwise individual islands and nations are
presented as stand-alone chapters with notes on essential
items relative to the destination, fast facts, lists of resorts and
service providers, including charter boats and dive shops.
Web sites are given, so readers can go on-line to see what
rooms and other accommodations look like. Besides the diving
recommendations in the initial "best of" chapter, dive sites are
covered in the individual destination chapters. Non-diving
friends and family members can learn about top-side dining,
golf, shopping, parks and other activities. Each chapter
includes "must see" tips and suggestions on what clothes to
wear and, more importantly, not wear. Detailed maps are
accurate enough to help tourists get around, and the planning
challenged can take advantage of itinerary suggestions to get
the most out of their visit. ISBN: 978-0-470-28970-9.
www.frommers.com.
Think freely about dive safety
YDive the big picture
Divers searching for a chance to see big pelagics might want
to virtually test dive the “Revillagigedos Archipiellagos of
Mexico” by viewing Gary Knapp’s Dive Travel video on the
destination. The uninhabited volcanic dots in Pacific are 250
miles off the tip of Cabo San Lucas, and visited by liveaboard
dive boats such as the Nautilus Explorer, which took Knapp
on an eight-day trip there. Besides the islands of Socorro, San
Benedicto and Roca Partida, the divers visited pinnacles that
rise to within 10 feet of the surface. Surrounding these lands
is water that plunges to thousands of feet of depth that is a
crossroad for international travelers of the oceans. Manta rays
with wingspans of 20 feet or more and weighing some 5,000
pounds approach divers for interspecies interactions. Whales
cavort here, among other cetaceans and whale sharks. White
tip, hammerhead and reef sharks call the place home. In
between gaping at Mr. Big, Knapp trained his video on
morays, spiny lobster and swarms of colorful tropical fish. As
with other videos, he called attention to top-side activities at
Cabo San Lucas from which the boat departs for dive
adventures. There would be plenty to amuse non-divers left
ashore while the dive party heads to sea. www.
DiveTravelDVDs.com.
YDive the big picture
Divers searching for a chance to see big pelagics might want
to virtually test dive the “Revillagigedos Archipiellagos of
Mexico” by viewing Gary Knapp’s Dive Travel video on the
destination. The uninhabited volcanic dots in Pacific are 250
miles off the tip of Cabo San Lucas, and visited by liveaboard
dive boats such as the Nautilus Explorer, which took Knapp
on an eight-day trip there. Besides the islands of Socorro, San
Benedicto and Roca Partida, the divers visited pinnacles that
rise to within 10 feet of the surface. Surrounding these lands
is water that plunges to thousands of feet of depth that is a
crossroad for international travelers of the oceans. Manta rays
with wingspans of 20 feet or more and weighing some 5,000
pounds approach divers for interspecies interactions. Whales
cavort here, among other cetaceans and whale sharks. White
tip, hammerhead and reef sharks call the place home. In
between gaping at Mr. Big, Knapp trained his video on
morays, spiny lobster and swarms of colorful tropical fish. As
with other videos, he called attention to top-side activities at
Cabo San Lucas from which the boat departs for dive
adventures. There would be plenty to amuse non-divers left
ashore while the dive party heads to sea. www.
DiveTravelDVDs.com.
Second round for Massachusetts
Massachusetts divers now have the guide that completes the
reference shelf about shipwrecks in their waters. Gary Gentile
recently released "Shipwrecks of Massachusetts North", the
companion book to his 2007 reference about the wrecks in
the state's southern waters. The 240-page soft cover from
Aqua Quest is illustrated throughout with color and black and
white photos of the wreck sites as well as historic shots while
they were topside. The book divides the wrecks
geographically, including Massachusetts Bay, Stellwagen
Bank, Cape Cod Bay and East of Cape Cod Bay. Facts about
each ship are presented in outline form before Gentile
launches into the history and fate in the text. Although a bit
pedantic in style, the stories reflect scholarly research on each
vessel, sailors aboard them and life in their day. His sources
are reflected in the extensive suggested reading list presented.
GPS and Loran numbers can help boat owners find the sites.
ISBN: 978-1-883056-30-8. www.AquaQuest.com.
Massachusetts divers now have the guide that completes the
reference shelf about shipwrecks in their waters. Gary Gentile
recently released "Shipwrecks of Massachusetts North", the
companion book to his 2007 reference about the wrecks in
the state's southern waters. The 240-page soft cover from
Aqua Quest is illustrated throughout with color and black and
white photos of the wreck sites as well as historic shots while
they were topside. The book divides the wrecks
geographically, including Massachusetts Bay, Stellwagen
Bank, Cape Cod Bay and East of Cape Cod Bay. Facts about
each ship are presented in outline form before Gentile
launches into the history and fate in the text. Although a bit
pedantic in style, the stories reflect scholarly research on each
vessel, sailors aboard them and life in their day. His sources
are reflected in the extensive suggested reading list presented.
GPS and Loran numbers can help boat owners find the sites.
ISBN: 978-1-883056-30-8. www.AquaQuest.com.
Movie's a 'Flipper' out
Divers who care about cetaceans will want to keep eyes
peeled on local movie marquees for The Cove. Dolphin trainer
Ric O'Barry, best known for his role in the "Flipper" television
series of the 1960s, takes viewers to Taiji, Japan, where
dolphins by the thousand are captured and corralled to supply
the multi-billion dollar dolphin industry. While some find their
way to dolphin encounter programs at aquaria around the
world, most are sold for food or donated to school lunch
programs. The meat, high in mercury, is often marketed as
whale meat. The one-hour 34-minute documentary from
SkyFish Films, Diamond Docs and the Oceanic Preservation
Society garnered the Audience Award at Sundance Film
Festival earlier this year. It underscores the lengths industry
players will go to keep the world's eyes away from their
livelihood. Film crews are tailed and threatened by locals, but
nonetheless get footage some with night-vision cameras of the
fishermen and butchers going about their grim tasks in the lee
of Wakayama Wildlife Protection Area. Rebreathers helped
crews avoid detection while filming underwater scenes. For
O'Barry, the film is an attempt at redemption for the industry
he feels he helped to start through his TV show.
www.thecovemovie.com.
Divers who care about cetaceans will want to keep eyes
peeled on local movie marquees for The Cove. Dolphin trainer
Ric O'Barry, best known for his role in the "Flipper" television
series of the 1960s, takes viewers to Taiji, Japan, where
dolphins by the thousand are captured and corralled to supply
the multi-billion dollar dolphin industry. While some find their
way to dolphin encounter programs at aquaria around the
world, most are sold for food or donated to school lunch
programs. The meat, high in mercury, is often marketed as
whale meat. The one-hour 34-minute documentary from
SkyFish Films, Diamond Docs and the Oceanic Preservation
Society garnered the Audience Award at Sundance Film
Festival earlier this year. It underscores the lengths industry
players will go to keep the world's eyes away from their
livelihood. Film crews are tailed and threatened by locals, but
nonetheless get footage some with night-vision cameras of the
fishermen and butchers going about their grim tasks in the lee
of Wakayama Wildlife Protection Area. Rebreathers helped
crews avoid detection while filming underwater scenes. For
O'Barry, the film is an attempt at redemption for the industry
he feels he helped to start through his TV show.
www.thecovemovie.com.
Whale(back) of a tale
Great Lakes historians and authors Cris Kohl and Joan
Forsberg ventured into the video medium with The
Shipwrecked Whalebacks. Being regular presenters at dive
shows prepared them to narrate the 28-minute DVD available
through Seawolf Communications. Although packed with
facts, it is far from a dry recitation of history and fate of the
uniquely streamlined vessels that were created in late 1800s in
Duluth, Minn., by Alexander McDougall. The steamers and
barges caught the eye of public wherever they went, some as
far as England and the Pacific Northwest after rounding Cape
Horn. The narrative is so glowing about the each of vessels
and their fates that they seem to have true personalities as
unique as their design. Anecdotes of the sailors and
passengers, though, are what give warmth to the story.
Historic shots of the vessels in their heyday and still and video
images underwater fill the screen while Kohl and Forsberg
take turns telling the story. Larger freighters replaced
whalebacks early in the 20th century, so now the only way to
see one is to go diving in the Great Lakes or along the Eastern
Seaboard with one exception. The Meteor is preserved as a
maritime museum at Superior, Wis.
www.seawolfcommunications.com.
Great Lakes historians and authors Cris Kohl and Joan
Forsberg ventured into the video medium with The
Shipwrecked Whalebacks. Being regular presenters at dive
shows prepared them to narrate the 28-minute DVD available
through Seawolf Communications. Although packed with
facts, it is far from a dry recitation of history and fate of the
uniquely streamlined vessels that were created in late 1800s in
Duluth, Minn., by Alexander McDougall. The steamers and
barges caught the eye of public wherever they went, some as
far as England and the Pacific Northwest after rounding Cape
Horn. The narrative is so glowing about the each of vessels
and their fates that they seem to have true personalities as
unique as their design. Anecdotes of the sailors and
passengers, though, are what give warmth to the story.
Historic shots of the vessels in their heyday and still and video
images underwater fill the screen while Kohl and Forsberg
take turns telling the story. Larger freighters replaced
whalebacks early in the 20th century, so now the only way to
see one is to go diving in the Great Lakes or along the Eastern
Seaboard with one exception. The Meteor is preserved as a
maritime museum at Superior, Wis.
www.seawolfcommunications.com.
Oh, Mamma! A Bahama DVD
Just in time for anyone considering a winter dive trip to the
Bahamas, Gary Knapp has released a video sampler Nassau
Bahamas, New Providence Island. As with other videos in his
Dive Travel Series, the 30-minute DVD from GRK
Productions was filmed in one week to show what tourists,
especially divers, can pack into a one-week visit. The topside
footage covers history of the island and flashes vignettes of
the museums, shops, zoos, forts and other highlights that
could keep non-diving travelers busy while their friends go
diving. Stuart Cove takes viewers on a tour of his famed
resort, and specialists in the sea lion and dolphin encounters
areas provide briefings on the aquatic animals in their charge.
Widely varied sea life seen in the diving footage visually
shows why the island is known as the underwater Hollywood.
Sharks, reef fish, eels, turtles, groupers, even, unfortunately,
non-native lionfish abound on walls and colorful shallow
reefs. Quite a number of airplane and ship wrecks will be
familiar to movie buffs, including the sets for "Thunderball",
"Into The Blue", "Jaws Four", "Flipper" and many other films
dating back to "Creature From The Black Lagoon" and the
1917 silent flick "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea". The
challenge for any viewer is to pack more into one week than
Knapp and his film crew packed into this video.
www.divetraveldvds.com.
Just in time for anyone considering a winter dive trip to the
Bahamas, Gary Knapp has released a video sampler Nassau
Bahamas, New Providence Island. As with other videos in his
Dive Travel Series, the 30-minute DVD from GRK
Productions was filmed in one week to show what tourists,
especially divers, can pack into a one-week visit. The topside
footage covers history of the island and flashes vignettes of
the museums, shops, zoos, forts and other highlights that
could keep non-diving travelers busy while their friends go
diving. Stuart Cove takes viewers on a tour of his famed
resort, and specialists in the sea lion and dolphin encounters
areas provide briefings on the aquatic animals in their charge.
Widely varied sea life seen in the diving footage visually
shows why the island is known as the underwater Hollywood.
Sharks, reef fish, eels, turtles, groupers, even, unfortunately,
non-native lionfish abound on walls and colorful shallow
reefs. Quite a number of airplane and ship wrecks will be
familiar to movie buffs, including the sets for "Thunderball",
"Into The Blue", "Jaws Four", "Flipper" and many other films
dating back to "Creature From The Black Lagoon" and the
1917 silent flick "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea". The
challenge for any viewer is to pack more into one week than
Knapp and his film crew packed into this video.
www.divetraveldvds.com.
A book to treasure
Captain Daniel Berg has developed a handy guide to help
divers and non-divers find more fun and valuables in and
around the water. "Beach and Water Treasure Hunting With
Metal Detectors" from Berg's Aqua Explorers publications is a
slim soft cover. Yet its 68 pages cover anything a neophyte
needs to know to get started looking for treasures at beaches
and at depth. It starts with descriptions of the various
detectors' features, explaining which are useful where. He
then suggests techniques that could improve the odds of
returning from an outing with valuables instead of bottle caps
and very historic pop-top aluminum can openers. The book is
illustrated throughout with gem-studded rings, coins that are
hundreds of years old and other artifacts, many recovered by
his hunting buddy and fellow diver Mike McMeekin. The only
thing lacking is an index, but it's hardly needed because of the
good organization of the chapters. This is the most recent in a
line of diving books that are available in many dive shops or
on-line as eBooks or PDF downloads.
ISBN: 978-0-557-14768-7. www.aquaexplorers.com.
Captain Daniel Berg has developed a handy guide to help
divers and non-divers find more fun and valuables in and
around the water. "Beach and Water Treasure Hunting With
Metal Detectors" from Berg's Aqua Explorers publications is a
slim soft cover. Yet its 68 pages cover anything a neophyte
needs to know to get started looking for treasures at beaches
and at depth. It starts with descriptions of the various
detectors' features, explaining which are useful where. He
then suggests techniques that could improve the odds of
returning from an outing with valuables instead of bottle caps
and very historic pop-top aluminum can openers. The book is
illustrated throughout with gem-studded rings, coins that are
hundreds of years old and other artifacts, many recovered by
his hunting buddy and fellow diver Mike McMeekin. The only
thing lacking is an index, but it's hardly needed because of the
good organization of the chapters. This is the most recent in a
line of diving books that are available in many dive shops or
on-line as eBooks or PDF downloads.
ISBN: 978-0-557-14768-7. www.aquaexplorers.com.
A fish, of course
Dive trips are more fun if you know the destination’s locals,
the critters that is, not the resort staffers. New World
Publications in conjunction with the Reef Environmental
Education Foundation has a series of DVD-based curricula to
get travelers up to speed before they head to Florida,
Caribbean or Indo-Pacific destinations. Authors Paul Humann
and Ned Deloach developed the educational material that can
be used as for home-study or to supplement a classroom
underwater naturalist certification course. Fish are sorted into
“chapters” in the DVD, with each presenting in-depth
descriptions of the species’ identifying markings, behavior
and other traits. The information is accompanied with footage
of each creature in situ. Also included with the package is a
waterproof ID book that can slip into a buoyancy vest pocket,
a slate to log sightings underwater and a survey log to track
discoveries. The survey can be sent to REEF for compilation
in the non-profit organization’s fish count data base. The
DVD was incompatible with a couple computers in the office,
but was entertaining and educational once a proper program
was found to decode it. www.REEF.org.
Dive trips are more fun if you know the destination’s locals,
the critters that is, not the resort staffers. New World
Publications in conjunction with the Reef Environmental
Education Foundation has a series of DVD-based curricula to
get travelers up to speed before they head to Florida,
Caribbean or Indo-Pacific destinations. Authors Paul Humann
and Ned Deloach developed the educational material that can
be used as for home-study or to supplement a classroom
underwater naturalist certification course. Fish are sorted into
“chapters” in the DVD, with each presenting in-depth
descriptions of the species’ identifying markings, behavior
and other traits. The information is accompanied with footage
of each creature in situ. Also included with the package is a
waterproof ID book that can slip into a buoyancy vest pocket,
a slate to log sightings underwater and a survey log to track
discoveries. The survey can be sent to REEF for compilation
in the non-profit organization’s fish count data base. The
DVD was incompatible with a couple computers in the office,
but was entertaining and educational once a proper program
was found to decode it. www.REEF.org.
Dive the big picture
Divers searching for a chance to see big pelagics might want
to virtually test dive the “Revillagigedos Archipiellagos of
Mexico” by viewing Gary Knapp’s Dive Travel video on the
destination. The uninhabited volcanic dots in Pacific are 250
miles off the tip of Cabo San Lucas, and visited by liveaboard
dive boats such as the Nautilus Explorer, which took Knapp
on an eight-day trip there. Besides the islands of Socorro, San
Benedicto and Roca Partida, the divers visited pinnacles that
rise to within 10 feet of the surface. Surrounding these lands
is water that plunges to thousands of feet of depth that is a
crossroad for international travelers of the oceans. Manta rays
with wingspans of 20 feet or more and weighing some 5,000
pounds approach divers for interspecies interactions. Whales
cavort here, among other cetaceans and whale sharks. White
tip, hammerhead and reef sharks call the place home. In
between gaping at Mr. Big, Knapp trained his video on
morays, spiny lobster and swarms of colorful tropical fish. As
with other videos, he called attention to top-side activities at
Cabo San Lucas from which the boat departs for dive
adventures. There would be plenty to amuse non-divers left
ashore while the dive party heads to sea.
www.DiveTravelDVDs.com.
Divers searching for a chance to see big pelagics might want
to virtually test dive the “Revillagigedos Archipiellagos of
Mexico” by viewing Gary Knapp’s Dive Travel video on the
destination. The uninhabited volcanic dots in Pacific are 250
miles off the tip of Cabo San Lucas, and visited by liveaboard
dive boats such as the Nautilus Explorer, which took Knapp
on an eight-day trip there. Besides the islands of Socorro, San
Benedicto and Roca Partida, the divers visited pinnacles that
rise to within 10 feet of the surface. Surrounding these lands
is water that plunges to thousands of feet of depth that is a
crossroad for international travelers of the oceans. Manta rays
with wingspans of 20 feet or more and weighing some 5,000
pounds approach divers for interspecies interactions. Whales
cavort here, among other cetaceans and whale sharks. White
tip, hammerhead and reef sharks call the place home. In
between gaping at Mr. Big, Knapp trained his video on
morays, spiny lobster and swarms of colorful tropical fish. As
with other videos, he called attention to top-side activities at
Cabo San Lucas from which the boat departs for dive
adventures. There would be plenty to amuse non-divers left
ashore while the dive party heads to sea.
www.DiveTravelDVDs.com.
