Wrecks, walls, and worms all feature prominently in British Columbia’s high octane, highly adventurous Discovery Passage Words and Photography by Russell Clark As Editor of DIVER magazine, one of the first questions I get asked by people is “where’s your favourite place to dive?” I think the question is a little …

You can read all about these sponges and the incredible work done by this team in the next (Winter) issue of DIVER. Moonless Oasis is now streaming for free in Canada on CBC GEM. Click here for the full documentary. The sea to sky highway from Vancouver to Whistler …

Inside the current issue of DIVER (Fall 2020) you’ll see a lovely four page feature by our regular columnist Maxwel Hohn, all about the incredible journey of the western toad tadpole. Maxwel has been capturing footage of the tadpoles for four years, accumulating in this mini nature documentary, noq …

The Dive Industry Association of British Columbia (DIABC) announced the online release of a new video promoting scuba diving in Beautiful British Columbia. Funded in partnership by the DIABC and Destination BC, and produced by BC’s own SeaproofTV, the video is an exciting 3 minute look at the Canadian …

Hitchin’ a ride on the Red-eye Medusa By Jett and Kathryn Britnell Named for the telltale ‘red eyespots’ ringing the base of its tentacles, the Red-eye medusa (Polyorchis pencillatus) is one of the prettiest jellyfish in British Columbia’s Emerald Sea. These ocelli are actually tiny light-sensitive receptors that help …

Text and Photograph by Andy Murch While hunting for skates on a featureless sea floor around Madrona Point on southern Vancouver Island, B.C., I came across this sunken tree trunk with its cover of  gigantic orange plumose anemones. These anemones are usually white, but under certain environmental conditions (like …

Originally Published for DIVER April 1995 By Phil Nuytten So there I was, right at the edge, one foot actually in the water.  I kneeled down to pull on my fin and lost my balance.  Just a little.  My knee moved forward and down, perhaps six inches, no more.  In …

First Published in DIVER Volume 38 Issue 5 By Phil Nuytten The problem: A swillion, or so, years ago, we humans were designed (or evolved, or left here by aliens – please substitute your desired flavour) to function best under a fairly rigid set of specifications. These specs include …

Advances in gear design & technology over 60 years may not make diving more fun, but it is much easier. And, a picture’s worth a lot of words, we think! Text by Phil Nuytten  Bouyancy Compensators Bouée Fenzy / Aqua Lung Axiom i3 The French Navy’s Bouée Fenzy, left, was …

Gorgonian corals become rockfish communities Photograph by Lou Lehmann – Text by Neil McDaniel Gorgonian corals are common in the cold waters off Canada’s Pacific and Atlantic coasts, but they usually dwell in deep, dark water well beyond SCUBA depths. But on the Pacific coast, a few species are …

In dark depths rarely visited by scuba divers, subs explore hectares of sponge many storeys high that form British Columbia’s ancient Sea of Glass By Sabine Jessen and Alexandra Barron The Aquarius submersible plummets through the depths, the light fades and darkness surrounds the small white vessel. Through the …

Text and Photograph by Eiko Jones   I first started shooting dogs in the water when Mortimer, a friendly pooch, came down to visit me photographing in the Campbell River estuary. He stood there watching me float in the water with my camera so I turned and began taking …

Divers encounter jelly with a bubbly personality Text and Photo by Trisha Stovel During a recent search for six gill sharks with Rendezvous Dive Adventures, I encountered one of my favourite critters: a fried egg jelly. In the end, we didn’t see any of the elusive sharks during our …

The dive live-aboard Nautilus Swell travels back in time to an archipelago and culture thousands of years old Text and Photography by Dale Sanders   Haida Gwaii is a remote and windswept archipelago more than 60 miles (100km) off the north coast of British Columbia, inhabited by the Haida since, …

Text and Photo by Amanda Marie Lovell In the Pacific Northwest basket stars can be found in high current areas clinging to hard and soft coral, sponges, rocks, and even to each other, like this one. These extraordinary creatures have five delicately spiraled arms that divide and branch out …

  Text and Photo by Andy Murch One of the favourite games played by adolescent Steller sea lions is ‘sneak up on the scuba diver’. This gang of juveniles materialized out of the blue and entertained me to no end before acrobatically scattering in all directions. For most of …

Dive into the underwater wilderness of the Pacific Northwest in this new book then grab your gear and go get wet! Photo by David Hall   David Hall’s sumptuous volume, Beneath Cold Seas, is a celebration of British Columbia diving and a perfect fit for this, DIVER’s first Big …

Dr. Phil Nuytten, President of Nuytco Research Ltd and Publisher of this magazine, received the prestigious William Beebe Award from the world renowned Explorers’ Club in New York on March 23rd, 2012. This very distinguished award is given to those who have made exceptional life-long contributions to underwater exploration. …

This Exosuit is production model 001 and the first in a series of three designs from Nuytco Research of North Vancouver, B.C. From the first ergonomic mock-ups and tests to its unveiling last month, the Exosuit has been in development for a decade. It’s the latest generation atmospheric diving …

Lake Minnewanka has a rich history. There are recorded archaeological sites showing pre-contact occupations that cover an entire 10,000 year period. Artifacts have been found from the early, middle and late pre-contact periods. The Minnewanka site is one of a series of such early sites in the lower Bow …

DIVER magazine scours the internet so you don’t have to. Simply browse our selection of todays top stories and click for further reading… Researchers from the University of British Columbia have been using Google Earth to investigate fish enclosures of the Mediterranean. Read Article. Source: New Scientist Could mobile …

By Jean-Michel Cousteau The biological clock of the Pacific Northwest is set to the rhythm of the ebb and flow of five different species of Pacific salmon: Chinook, Chum, Coho, Sockeye and Pink. Preparing to spawn, adult salmon travel upstream from the open ocean along coastal rivers and streams. …

Winter diving along Canada’s Pacific shore has its benefits and principal among them is the astonishingly clear water to be enjoyed much of the time by scuba enthusiasts up and down the length of the British Columbia coast. As temperatures cool and summer plankton blooms die off, underwater photographers …

Ablaze with what appears the reflection of a dazzling fireworks display, the eyes of a Red Irish Lord (Hemilepidotus hemilepidotus) add to the brilliant colouration of this striking species of sculpin. Its typically vivid coat can vary from hues of orange through red to magenta and into striking pinks …

Two hundred billion gallons of foaming seawater swirl through Sechelt Rapids on each turn of the tide in this constricted, islet-strewn passage on Canada’s Pacific coast. In the aerial view to the northwest, looking from Sechelt Inlet toward Jervis Inlet, a 13.5 knot ebb roars through the shallow gap. …

Every autumn sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) enter British Columbia’s Fraser River and battle their way hundreds of miles upstream to spawn in the big river’s countless tributaries.  Of these the Adams River run is arguably the best known.  A dominant run occurs every four years and after several dismal …

The Pacific white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus oblquidens) is among the most social and playful of marine mammals in British Columbia waters.  During autumn large numbers of them often move into the Johnstone Strait, off the northern coast of Vancouver Island, where they feed on large schools of herring and pilchards …

A mid winter opportunity to dive Browning Pass in B.C.’s Queen Charlotte Strait delivered up cold February winds and rain… but when they abated and the sun came out we were treated to some of the best visibility I’d ever enjoyed in these remarkably fertile waters at the top of …

Winter diving weather along the British Columbia coast is not infrequently overcast but when the sun peaks through the clouds up there in the sky, divers can be rewarded with the best visibility of the year. This photo was taken during such a winter’s day in Agamemnon Channel, which …

It’s one of my favourite British Columbia dives. We tie up close to shore – really close in fact. The drop-off in Jervis Inlet is precipitous; a mere stone’s throw from the low-hanging trees the sounder registers depth at more than 400 feet (120m). Yet for a deep dive, …