Mark 'Crowley' Russell - Senior Correspondent
Crowley (known to his mum as Mark) began diving in 2000 in Sharm El Sheikh, before quitting a 10-year IT career and moving to Thailand to take his PADI IDC in 2005. He moved from Thailand to Australia and Curaçao before returning to Sharm as an instructor in 2009. He managed a Nusa Lembongan dive centre between 2013-14 before hanging up his instructor booties and returning to the UK. Crowley started writing a regular column for DIVE in 2010, and now looks after DIVE's daily online content and writes regular features for the print magazine. In his spare time, Crowley is an enthusiastic guitar player, devoted motorcyclist, dedicated gamer, and door-opening expert for two cats.
Win Ocean Film Festival 2022 tickets
The Ocean Film Festival World Tour is bringing a new collection of the world’s best ocean-themed films to venues around…
Underwater photographer Valentina Cucchiara: doing it with passion
Diver, teacher, cave explorer, filmmaker, underwater photographer, conservationist, campaigner. Valentina Cucchiara is all of these and more. She talks to…
Mystery shipwreck discovered off Greek island
The remains of an unknown ship have been discovered in the Aegean Sea, off the Greek island of Kythnos. The…
DIVE Magazine Summer 2022
Issue # 27: Oceans of Discovery DIVE’s Summer 2022 magazine is out now – and this year, it’s a summer…
An evening with Doug Allan for World Manta Day
Multi award winning wildlife cameraman Doug Allan and the Manta Trust are hosting an event at the Royal Geographical Society…
Sahl Hasheesh reopens after fatal shark attacks
The beaches around the Egyptian resort of Sahl Hasheesh have reopened to certified divers following two fatal shark attacks on…
Malaysian operator fined £938 for missing divers
The boat operator responsible for losing four divers – one of whom died – in Malaysia in April has been…
World’s deepest shipwreck discovered in Philippines
The world’s deepest shipwreck to be successfully dived and surveyed has been discovered in the Phillippine Sea. The destroyer escort…
Learning to dive: 15 things you need to know
Once a very niche activity, learning to scuba dive today is something almost anybody can enjoy, but getting started can…
Immersion Pulmonary Oedema: the silent killer
Immersion pulmonary oedema (IPO) may well be the cause of a significant proportion of scuba diving fatalities, and people with…
Dive Project Cornwall launches crowdfunding campaign
Dive Project Cornwall, an educational programme to teach 400 schoolchildren across the UK to learn to dive and become ‘PADI…
Shark Trust reports bumper eggcase hunt results
The Shark Trust has reported that a ‘fantastic’ 7,560 shark and ray eggcases were recorded this year by citizen scientists…
Spring jellyfish blooms bring turtles to UK shores
The Marine Conservation Society’s (MCS) long-running wildlife sightings project focuses on two key species around the UK: jellyfish, and the…
Endangered Species Day profile: Andrea Marshall
Today marks the 17th annual Endangered Species Day, during which people commit to learning, celebrating and taking action to save…
Aqualung i330 dive computer recall
Aqualung has issued a product recall for i330R dive computers produced and distributed in 2021 and 2022 due to a…
Komodo manta aggregations among largest in the world
A newly-published five-year study from the Marine Megafauna Foundation (MMF) and Australia’s Murdoch University has found that the waters of…
Scuba diving drug mule found drowned in Australia
A scuba diver found unconscious near the Port of Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia, has been identified as a…
Ras Mohammed diving suspended due to shark attack risk
All watersports activities in Egypt’s Ras Mohammed National Park were temporarily suspended on Sunday due to a heightened risk of…
Malta P-33 wreck smashed by storms
Malta’s most recent addition to its fleet of artificially sunken wrecks for scuba divers, a decommissioned Armed Forces of Malta…
Urgent Egypt travel update
Important update 1pm BST, Wednesday 13 April – the CDWS has announced that the ‘pilot’ registration programme in the article…
Two Malaysia divers rescued; 14 year-old boy died
Nathen Chesters, the 14-year old boy who went went missing with three other divers on Wednesday off the coast of…
MCS Good Fish Guide update
The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) has published a new update to its Good Fish Guide, but the latest assessment of…
One diver rescued, three missing in Malaysia
Kristine Grodem, a 35-year old Norwegian dive instructor, has been rescued after four divers went missing during a training dive…
Study shows need for whale shark population monitoring
A new study by researchers from Marine Megafauna Foundation (MMF) and its collaborators highlights the need for long-term monitoring and…
Green turtle population recovery in Seychelles
A new study from the University of Exeter has found that the green turtle population of Seychelles has recovered substantially…
Wreck of Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance found
The wreck of Endurance, the ship that took Sir Ernest Shackleton to the Antarctic but sank in 1915 after becoming…
Basking sharks protected in Ireland
As of 3 March 2022, basking sharks have been granted protected status in Ireland following a major public campaign to…
New Garmin Descent G1 dive computer
Sports tech specialist Garmin has announced the launch of its latest watch-style dive computer, the Descent G1 Solar. Following in…
New Fourth Element recycled Rec Fin
Fourth Element has launched a new line of fins – Rec Fins – a recycled scuba diving fin made from…
Five of Czechia’s unique dive spots
Czechia might be landlocked but it has a very enthusiastic scuba diving community, who make up for their lack of…
Deptherapy’s rehabilitation programme proven effective
A new academic study by the University of Sheffield Medical School has confirmed the effectiveness of Deptherapy’s programme of rehabilitating…
Divers fear Yucatán train could destroy cenotes
The scuba diving community in Mexico is rallying together to try and bring a halt to Tren Maya, a new…
Papua New Guinea reopens to tourists
The government of Papua New Guinea has announced that as of 16 February, ‘fully-vaccinated’ tourists will be allowed into the…
Iceland signals end to whaling
Iceland’s Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture, Svandis Svavarsdottir, has suggested that the nation may cease commercial whaling by 2024, stating…
New Scubapro S270 entry-level regulator
Scubapro has brought two new regulator systems to market, targeted at recreational divers who are ready to ‘step up’ from…
Hawaii first US state to ban shark fishing
On 1 January 2022, Hawaii became the first US state to ban shark fishing in state waters. Violation of the…
Philippines to reopen for vaccinated tourists
Correction: This article was originally published with the news that a negative PCR test result would need to be taken…
Inhambane Seascape named Mission Blue Hope Spot
Sylvia Earle’s Mission Blue Foundation has declared the Inhambane Seascape in Mozambique a ‘Hope Spot’ in recognition of work being…
Stop EU Shark Finning reaches campaign target
The campaign to end the shark fin trade across the European Union (EU) has successfully reached – and greatly exceeded…
Protection urged for Sabah’s endangered devil rays
Schooling shortfin devil rays at Pulau Si Amil in Sabah, Malaysia, have seen the location formally recognised as an area…
New pristine deep reef discovered in Tahiti
A giant, pristine coral reef recently discovered off the shores of Tahiti by a UNESCO scientific expedition may hold clues for future…
Ocean Art 2021 winners announced
The Underwater Photography Guide has announced the winners of its 2021 Ocean Art Underwater Photo Competition. While travel restrictions brought…
St Helena’s whale shark mating secret
One of the missing pieces in the global jigsaw in understanding whale sharks has been discovered around the isolated island…
Malta’s deep wrecks | HMS Nasturtium and SS Polynesien
Many of the most famous military wrecks that are visited by divers are from the Second World War, but the…
Malta’s deep wrecks | SS Luciston and HMS Trusty Star
Many ships had a part to play in the Mediterranean conflicts of the First and Second World Wars, and many…
Malta’s deep wrecks | Fairey Swordfish and Junkers JU88
By Mark ‘Crowley’ Russell The Mediterranean saw some of the most intense fighting of the Second World War, and the…
Malta’s deep wrecks | ORP Kujawiak (L72) and Schnellboot S-31
In large part due to the selective focus of the film industry, the Second World War is often viewed as…
Malta’s deep wrecks | HMS Southwold
HMS Southwold has been dived for some years but was brought under the protection of Heritage Malta’s Underwater Cultural Heritage Unit (UCHU)…
Malta’s deep wrecks | HMS Olympus and HMS Russell
Malta is one of the most popular destinations in the world for wreck divers. As a British and Allied Mediterranean…
DIVE Project Cornwall opens for registrations
Dive Project Cornwall, an education programme and competition inviting schools to participate in a project to teach 400 teenagers to…
10 best places to swim with dolphins
Dolphins are some of the best-loved animals in our oceans, a favourite of both divers and landlubbers alike – Here…
Scuba diving skills: weighing in
Mark ‘Crowley’ Russell explains the important difference between weight and mass and how it impacts on your diving There are…
DAN Europe and Azoth Systems’ microbubble study
Divers’ Alert Network (DAN) Europe and Azoth Systems – an engineering and service company specializing in hyperbaric exposure safety – have signed a memorandum of…
Aqaba’s underwater military museum
The world’s first underwater military museum has been created just off the shores of Aqaba, Jordan. After 30 days of…
Diving Aqaba’s C130 Hercules aircraft wreck
DIVE got to enjoy some of the first scuba dives on the wreck of the C130 Hercules transport aircraft, recently…
Review | Dylan McFinn and the Sea Serpent’s Fury
Culbert McFinn, also known as ‘The Captain’, is a grizzled old lighthouse keeper based on the Fijian island of Maloto.…
The best aircraft wrecks to dive
Wreck diving is one of the most popular activities for scuba divers around the world, both recreational and technical, and…
Why refreshers are essential after a break from diving
If you have been out of the water for a while it’s natural to feel that your scuba skills could…
Top tips for drift diving
Drift diving is, for many divers, their favourite form of diving. Jump in, float along and let the ocean do…
Why excess weight can be dangerous for divers
One of the most common scuba diving problems is overweighting; some divers even believe that extra weight is safer because…
The Mediterranean bliss that is gulet diving in Turkey
With 8,000km of coastline, a perfect Mediterranean climate, great visibility, fascinating historic wrecks and a growing number of marine parks,…
Shark Guardian investigation finds endangered shark fins for sale in Taiwan
A field investigation by UK charity Shark Guardian has revealed the alarming extent of the illegal shark-fin trade in Taiwan. Conducted between…
Ten of the best places to scuba dive in Egypt
Egypt has been a favourite of scuba divers for the better part of half a century thanks to its proximity…
Scuba diving world records
World record-breaking scuba dives: who has gone the deepest, spent the most time underwater; done it with most people and…
MCS’s Great British Beach Clean 2021 results
The Marine Conservation Society’s annual Great British Beach Clean 2021 results have been published, with a mixture of good and…
Shark Trust welcomes protection for North Atlantic shortfin mako
The fight to protect endangered species of shark has taken another step forward as North Atlantic shortfin mako has been…
The big questions remaining about whale sharks
Mark ‘Crowley’ Russell asks co-author of Whale Sharks, and co-founder of the Marine Megafauna Foundation, Dr Simon Pierce, what we…
Scuba diving skills: underwater navigation
Walking through London recently, I saw a young woman, head buried in the screen of her phone, walk directly into…
Top tips for improving your buoyancy control
The quest for perfect buoyancy control is something that all scuba divers should aspire to. Aside from basic safety skills, it’s…
Deep Dive Dubai dive pool sinks the competition
Deep Dive Dubai has stunned the diving world with the opening of the deepest diving pool in the world, verified by…
DarkTyde ocean-friendly, budget-friendly divewear
DarkTyde ocean-friendly divewear is a new, pandemic-born player in the divewear fashion market. That’s not a big market, to be fair.…
Tiger sharks’ social bonds ‘buffer’ impact of feeding dives
A new study has found that tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier), which ordinarily have a reputation as solitary creatures, have active…
DIVE Travel Awards 2021: Top 5 dive centres and resorts by region
This year DIVE readers nominated more than 750 dive centres around the world as their personal favourite. From Norway to…
DIVE Travel Awards 2021: best scuba diving destinations
More than 105 different scuba diving destinations were voted for by readers in the 2021 DIVE Travel Awards. Here’s a…
DIVE Travel Awards 2021: best scuba diving liveaboards
During the 2021 DIVE Travel Awards, 245 different vessels were voted by readers as the best scuba diving liveaboards to…
DIVE Travel Awards 2021: best dive centres or resorts
More than 750 different establishments were voted by readers as the best scuba diving resorts or dive centres to visit…
DIVE Travel Awards: The Winners!
108 different destinations, 245 liveaboards and more than 750 different dive centres and resorts – a total of almost 17,000…
New whale species described by New Zealand scientists
A study recently published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, has described a new species of beaked whale, Ramari’s beaked whale…
Fishial.ai – fish ID through artificial intelligence
A new project to create an open-source machine-learning program for the identification of fish using artificial intelligence (AI) – known…
One third of all sharks and rays threatened with extinction
A major new study re-assessing the IUCN Red List status for all sharks, rays and chimaeras has found that more than one-third of…
Scientists develop vast marine habitat maps to aid coral reef conservation
Scientists have been mapping coral reefs on a global scale for ten years to generate models of reef ecosystem health…
The best scuba diving watches
It wasn’t so long ago that scuba diving watches were an essential part of a diver’s equipment – now they’re…
Earliest recorded shark attack victim found in ancient Japan
The earliest recorded example of a human shark attack fatality, dating back more than 3,000 years, has been discovered in…
Manta rays communicate with their cephalic lobes – study
New research published by scientists from the Marine Megafauna Foundation, Macquarie University, the University of Cape Town, and the University of Papua, has observed…
Malta submarine wreck confirmed as lost HMS Urge
The wreck of a Second World War British submarine that was discovered off the coast of Malta in 2019 had…
Garmin Descent Mk2S dive computer and smartwatch
Wearable sports technology specialist Garmin has launched the latest in its series of wristwatch-style dive computers in the Descent Mk2S,…
Maldives government statement confirms no lifting of shark fishing ban
The Maldives Ministry of Fisheries, Marine Resources, and Agriculture has issued a statement saying that it will not legalise shark…
Shark Guardian’s Finspire Change brings UK law change
The import and export of shark fins is to be banned by the UK government thanks to the Finspire Change…
Diving after Covid-19 vaccine
Together with its updated advice for scuba divers who are planning on returning to the water after recovering from a Covid-19 infection,…
Updated Covid-19 scuba diving safety advice
The Diver’s Alert Network (DAN) has issued updated advice relating to divers who have suffered from Covid-19 infections and are…
Seriously injured whale sharks can heal in months
A study covering years of recorded whale shark sightings has found that the world’s largest fish has an extraordinary ability…
Largest bioluminescent vertebrate is a glow-in-the-dark shark
The largest bioluminescent vertebrate known to science has been discovered by scientists studying sharks off the coast of New Zealand.…
Spanish Government Bans Landing & Sale of Shortfin Mako
Conservationists have welcomed a decision by the Spanish government to protect the shortfin mako from overfishing. A new moratorium on the landing,…
World’s deepest dive pool opens in Poland
DeepSpot, the World’s deepest dive pool, has officially opened its doors to divers. Located in Mszczonow, Poland, approximately 45km from…
Best underwater smartphone housings
Taking photographs with smartphones is ubiquitous topside but, until recently, housing options for using your phone underwater have been limited – the…
Time is running out for decaying Yemeni tanker
A newly published report in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science is calling for action to prevent an ‘imminent’ ecological disaster in…
Portuguese man o’ war sightings on World Jellyfish Day
Beachgoers in the South West of England have reported large numbers of the jellyfish-like Portuguese man o’ war strandings to…
New Garmin Descent Mk2 and T1 transmitter
Wearable sports tech-specialist Garmin has announced the arrival of its new Descent Mk2 and Descent Mk2i dive computers, along with…
Exclusive luxury Caribbean yacht charters with Goolets
There are not many better forms of great escape than boarding a boat and sailing away from civilisation. For many…