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Hello Wetpixelers! After lurking on it for years, last month i've finally made it to the Farne Islands (facing Seahouses, Northumberland, UK) for 1 week family vacations, but with a side-agenda to go diving with the famous grey seals. I think i don't need to introduce this destination since there have been some wetpixel trips organized over there in the past, plus a recent article from Alex Mustard on front page mentioning it too. Nevertheless, i'll be happy to help with any question you may have on the diving there. We had planned for 4 days of diving (each day including one double-tank trip, so 2 dives/day), but unfortunately the sea conditions allowed for only 1 day... I've asked the boat operator if there was a better time of the year to come back, but apparently we've just had very bad luck, and October is supposed very good to dive there. Still, i've taken a few pictures which i am happy enough about, but i would really appreciate your constructive criticism on which ones to improve, and how. thanks a million! Nicolas

Hi Everyone, Just wanted to let you all know about our new business focussed on snorkelling with Basking Sharks from Oban in Scotland. We are gearing up to start in May and are using a brand new vessel which has just arrived (this weekend) on the west coast. We are offering single, two and three day trips where we will explore all round the Argyll coastline looking for the sharks. The boat we are using is a brand new 12m cabin RIB, 760hp and has 14 suspension seats. Although this isn't a dive boat, it's a very comfortable way to travel by sea having a nice toilet and galley, combining a cruising speed of 28knots. The benefits of travelling to Scotland to see the sharks is that the seasonal population has been shown to be one of the most consistent in terms of sightings and also numbers. In addition to the sharks we have an abundance of marine life such as seal colonies which you will also be able to snorkel with. Along with whales & dolphins, eagles, puffins and now good consistant sightings of otters. Not to mention the stunning Scottish scenery, historic landscape and options for island exploration. On our longer tours we will be stopping in Tobermory and Iona which are awesome places to explore along with sampling our friendly island hospitality. Our start base in Oban makes travel far easier for everyone, with direct train links not far from the boat and only being a few hours drive from the central belt and the major Scottish airports. It also makes the car journey from further south in the UK a bit more bearable too. We would be happy to arrange for transport for larger groups. You may notice that this makes a longer journey to the known shark 'hotspot' but what sets us apart is that as soon as your are on the boat in Oban we are looking for sharks and other wildlife straight away! With an unpredictable animal this means we have the best chance of seeing them by covering the most ground! Although we are not a dive boat, we can cater for a small amount of divers and as underwater photographers and videographers i'm sure you will be keen to take advantage of our wonderful Scottish marine life. We can arrange custom dive trips for you, please see this link as a sample of some of the image opportunities open to you. http://baskingsharkscotland.co.uk/scuba-diving/ My own background is that I was born and grew up in Scotland and starting diving in 1996. I qualified as a commercial and scientific diver in 2001 and completed my marine biology degree in 2003. I am a BSAC First Class Diver and Advanced Instructor, along having technical and rebreather qualifications and my own underwater photography is well published. Just to give you some comfort as to our professionalism and understanding of both the animals, our area and you as specialised customers. We would welcome enquires from groups and can offer discount on these types of bookings however we can equally accommodate individuals booking on trips. Please visit our website at www.baskingsharkscotland.co.uk and follow our news on facebook at www.facebook.com/baskingsharkscotland and please feel free to contact us with any query. We look forward to giving you amazing experiences at Basking Shark Scotland. Safe Diving Shane

I posted a short video from a series of 3 dives I did last Friday Oct 19th at the Coronado Islands in Baja California very close to San Diego. It's just footage from that one day, but it features a number of sea lions in very good viz (for this area). Additionally there's a whitetail major at 1:36 which is an unusual fish to be found in this area (usually occurs quite a ways south of here). Footage was shot with a Sony HDR-XR520v camcorder in a Bluefin Pro Housing from Light and Motion, using Light and Motion Sunray 2000x video lights (with lithium batteries). -Roger Uzun The video can be seen on youtube here (up to 1080p) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxhj1mQb7-c or on Vimeo here (720p) - https://vimeo.com/51975063