If you can avoid carrying sorb, it is generally cheaper to get it at your destination. In Florida it is cheap and easy to get at $110 per 45 pound keg. Many other destinations offer sorb and onboard cylinders. It is usually cheaper to rent than pay extra baggage fees. If you are traveling somewhere without support, then you may have to carry sorb in your checked baggage.

Download the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) from the internet for the brand of sorb that you are carrying. Tape the MSDS to the keg and if you feel like being a bit creative, print a sticker on your computer that reads "Safe for Airline Transport" in large block letters and stick it to the keg.

I like to put a formal letter in each case of luggage that begins: "Dear TSA Agent..."  Essentially, you want to advise them that this is a diving apparatus known as a rebreather and that it is delicate life support equipment. Put your cell phone and seat assignment on the letter and urge them to call if they have questions. Thank them for their diligence in securing your life support equipment. Put a small bundle of replacement zip ties inside the luggage so they can re-secure the zip pulls or case. If you have a title, logo or company letterhead that looks impressive, put that on the letter. If you have photograph of your smiling face in that diving equipment, print that on the letter. If this is the trip of a lifetime, tell them. Making their job easy, fun and light will increase your chances of getting to the destination with all gear intact.

If you are traveling with your tanks, take the valve out of the tank and place a piece of CLEAR packing tape over the opening of the tank. Only clear tape is acceptable... no plugs... nothing else. Cover the "Oxygen" label with some other duct tape or packing tape. You don't want any labels that say "Oxygen" to be viewable on any part of the unit. Technically, that voids the oxygen-clean status of the tank, but there does not seem to be a way around it at this point in time. You will need to do at least a visual inspection at your destination, so ensure your have an appropriate light to do so.

I have at times resorted to putting a small plastic flower, sticking through the clear tape, out of the tank. I've stood there with TSA agents and argued that I was carrying a unique flower vase rather than a scuba tank. Yes... some folks just don't understand pressure. In fact, Dr. Tom Iliffe, was once instructed to put the valves back in the tanks, then place a scuba regulator on the tank to prove to the agent that there was no pressure in the open tanks!

In any case, don't insult their intelligence. Be patient and give them every tool possible to make your trip easy. But just in case, photograph each piece of baggage outside and inside in the unlikely event you need to track a lost piece or make a claim on insurance. Every bit of evidence will help.

Safe travels! -- Jill Heinerth

PS - Recognizing the growing numbers in dive tourism, the TSA will attend Rebreather Forum 3.0 in Orlando this month. Perhaps we'll have an easier time in the future!

Established by American Tortoise Rescue in 2000, the aim of World Turtle Day is to increase our knowledge of and respect for turtles and tortoises, while encouraging positive action towards their survival for future generations.

As scuba divers, our interactions are mostly with sea turtles, which have a long and interesting history.

Sea turtles first made their appearance in the late Jurassic period, between 208 – 144 million years ago.  They are one of the few living creatures to have witnessed the evolution and subsequent extinction of dinosaurs.

Today, there are seven species of sea turtle in the world: Flatback sea turtle, Green sea turtle, Hawksbill sea turtle, Kemp's Ridley sea turtle, Leatherback sea turtle, Loggerhead sea turtle and Olive Ridley sea turtle.

Six of them live in the warm waters of the Great Barrier Reef on Queensland’s north-eastern coastline, where encounters with scuba divers are a daily occurrence.

I can’t define what it is about these ancient mariners that makes such an impression on people, but certainly close encounters with our flippered friends are a highlight for many scuba divers around the world.

Unfortunately, our reptilian friends are facing a crisis, with around 50% of the world’s turtles and tortoises now considered threatened: all the more reason to use World Turtle Day as a calling card to raise recognition and awareness for our turtles, on May 23.

There are many ways and things you can do to help our turtles, right the world around.  Many organisations offer the chance to adopt a turtle, where your donation and financial assistance helps fund turtle research and recovery.

You can also make a donation to a turtle rehabilitation centre or research group, which are situated on pretty much every major coastline around the world.

In Australia, the sea turtles of the Great Barrier Reef have been facing somewhat of a crisis of late.  An unfortunate combination of several, severe tropical cyclones and heavy flooding in recent years has had major impacts on the sea grass beds.

Sea grass beds are a critical habitat and food supply for the Great Barrier Reef’s sea turtles.  In Cairns, Queensland, the closest mainland point to the Great Barrier Reef – and a great dive destination – there is a turtle rehabilitation centre.

This not-for-profit organisation is committed to the care and rehabilitation of sick and injured sea turtles brought in from the Great Barrier Reef and Cape York Peninsula.  Founded in 2000, the Cairns Turtle Rehabilitation Centre (CTRC) is currently expanding its operations thanks to some generous donations, including $20,000 from the World Wildlife Fund, to include a new facility on nearby Fitzroy Island.  Once this is completed, CTRC will be able to care for up to 50 turtles at a time. This new centre opens in July 2012.

Cairns Dive Adventures loves sea turtles and is keen to spread the word on World Turtle Day, for more information please visit: http://cairnsdiveadventures.com/2012/05/world-turtle-day-2012/

When we signed up for this dive we really did not know what to expect. We knew we were going to watch the hand feeding of Caribbean Reef Sharks, and Adam would have his HD Camera, but we were not really sure how great it would be, if at all. Well, it was great. Actually, our expectations were blown right out of the water so to speak.

On a calm Thursday afternoon we set out towards the dive site, and listened to the dive briefing. Our anticipation had grown larger the last day or two as we had already seen, and dove with two sharks the day before that followed us the entire 52 minutes. When we entered the water and placed ourselves at 60 feet around the semi-circle, the game was on! Our guide Jeff was amazing. His understanding of the sharks was clearly visible in the water as you are about to see. It was one of the most amazing dives we had the privilege to join. Anywhere.

Upon return to the condo we reviewed the footage from the day. Wow! It was fantastic. None of us thought it could have been filmed any better. We all began to talk about how we could help people connect to what we saw by watching the video. The three of us decided that an “Awareness” type film with knowledge and perspective would be the best way to ensure that everyone who watched would be as amazed, and would learn something at the same time. We researched the narrative and edited after returning to Colorado.

This film is close to our hearts as we all have a deep love of nature; Oceans and Land. It is what keeps us thriving, and must be protected. Everyone can help, even if it is picking up a piece of trash each one of us sees on the ground, and throwing it away. Goodness is contagious. Enjoy!

"We wanted to make it as easy as possible for divers to view the Sidemount Diving video, on any platform that they prefer," said producer Robert McClellan. "I don't know if anyone in the dive training field has done this before, but Jill and Jeff decided to create this project as a truly transmedia experience. Divers can watch it immediately on a laptop, PC, iPods and iPads, smart phones, or if they would like a physical DVD, they can order one from the very same viewer in which they watch the trailer. It is really about giving the audience a choice."

"The technology behind the multimedia viewer is at the leading edge of the twenty-first century film distribution model," said McClellan, "and this year, we plan to release two more films, documentaries, using this amazing platform. There is no need to have a middleman, or a gatekeeper between the filmmakers the audience."

“If you want to share Sidemount Diving with your friends, click the embed link above the player, post it on your website, blog, or facebook page, and we'll say thank you by giving you 10.0% of any sales you refer,” stated McClellan.

“In just four simple steps you can be our partner and earn money. All you need is the ability to paste a line of code into your web page, blog, facebook page or even in your email to friends. This code is generated for you when you sign up in the movie player. The code contains your unique ID and will track each time a visitor watches the movie. Our movie distributor, Distrify, will pay you a 10% fee each time. This may seem small but over time this quickly adds up. You can request the payment via paypal, anytime anywhere. This could not be more simple.”

“This is a great opportunity for dive shops and scuba instructors to get in on the leading edge of Sidemount instruction,” said Robert. “Sidemount is the future of scuba and we have designed the content of this video to augment your teaching - not replace your classes. And with the sharing features, you can also make a bit of money from each student who buys this content.”

“Sidemount Diving” is available at www.SidemountVideo.com

April is Project AWARE Shout out for Shark month - so here at Liquid Dumaguete we thought we would make a little video to help the cause!

Please help to provide protecting and conservation for these amazing creatures. Please promote awareness of this horrific act and lets stop this now! The shark populations need to be saved globally.

Watch, learn, cry and then sign the petition...its now or never for the sharks...

Please 'No more shark finning'

Sri Lanka has recently come to light as probably the best location in the world for blue whale encounters. Sightings are regular enough for whale watching tourism to have begun from the ports of Mirissa and Galle in the South-West of the island during the calm season from December to April. Scubazoo were one of the very first teams to attempt to film these leviathans in Sri Lankan waters.

During February and March 2011, Roger Munns spent several weeks in Sri Lanka filming and photographing blue whales together with Scubazoo photographer Jason Isley. The blue whales found off Sri Lanka’s coast are a subspecies of Balaenoptera musculus although there is some debate as to whether they are B. m. brevicauda or B. m. indica. Whatever their classification they were extremely shy and difficult to approach in comparison to other whales we’ve worked with such as sperm whales and humpback whales.
Surprising for such a huge animal with so few natural predators. There were other significant hurdles to approaching the whales such as the lack of suitable boats. Sri Lanka has only just emerged from the shadow of its long civil war and, although it is opening up, restrictions on items like boat engines are still in place. To move quietly through the water you need a four-stroke outboard engine. These have been banned for several years for military reasons and are still virtually impossible to obtain. For large parts of the shoot we were reduced to using noisy and slow inboard engines or underpowered 25hp two-strokes – far from ideal. Add passing supertankers into the mix and you have one tough shooting assignment!

Despite the logistical and safety difficulties perseverance paid off and after spending over 200hrs out on the ocean the team managed to get rare underwater and topside HD video footage and photos of the blue whales in Sri Lanka. Roger said "as an experience it was unlike any other I've had in our oceans. On the few occasions I got close enough to a whale it seemed to take forever to pass through my camera's frame. Over 10 times my body length and probably 1500 times my weight I felt like a mouse must feel when next to an elephant. Truly insignificant to this massive beast."

Thanks go out to Chitral Jayatilake of John Keells and Daniel Fernando for their help and support throughout the shoot.