Another event-filled year from the underwater world in 2023, back up to full diving strength with some exciting scientific discoveries and beautiful environmental stories tinged with tragedy and loss.
Let’s take a look back at some of the top stories of 2023….
January
2023 began with a sad start with the news that legendary scuba diving pioneer Bob Hollis had died. Founder of the tech diving company that bears his name, Hollis was also a renowned underwater photographer and was instrumental in the evolution of digital dive computers.
There was some mixed news in the world of conservation with Marine Megafauna Foundation confirming for the first time that reef manta do, indeed, migrate across international borders, meaning that international cooperation to protect the species is necessary more than ever before, and new legislation to protect East African dugongs.
More controversially, the Mexican great white shark hotspot of Isla Guadalupe was permanently closed to shark diving, with uproar from affected marine tour operators standing to lose their businesses as a result. Mexico’s government said it was doing it to protect the sharks; tour operators said that taking tourists to see the sharks enabled better monitoring of the shark populations, and was an effective protection against illegal shark fishing.
February
2023 marked the 80th anniversary of Jacques Cousteau’s and Émile Gagnan’s invention of the Aqua-Lung, the precursor of today’s open-circuti regulators. We took a look at PADI’s round-up of Cousteau’s favourite dive sites to mark the occasion.
Tragedy unfolded later in the month as Duangpetch Promthep, one of the Thai youth footballers dramatically rescued from the flooded Tham Luang cave system in 2018, took his own life while studying at a UK football academy.
We were brought some stunning underwater images in the form of previously unseen video footage from the first Titanic dive and the wreck of the submarine USS Albacore (SS 218), finally identified off the coast of Japan.
DIVE’s Winter 2023 print magazine was issued in February, featuring a cover story about one man’s obsession with photographing orcas – which produced some of the most beautiful orca shots we’d ever seen; and the story of a dive instructor cleared after being wrongfully prosecuted for manslaughter.
In happier news, the world record for the longest underwater kiss was broken, just in time for Valentine’s Day.
March
Early in March the UK Government announced the formation of three new Highly Protected Marine Areas, where any activity considered to be harmful to the marine environment will be banned. The announcement was unfortunately followed by the publication of a rather depressing study finding that blue whales swallow up to ten million pieces of microplastic a day.
In much better scientific news, the world’s first whale shark reproductive ultrasound study was published, with captivating images showing the lengths that scientists went to in order to scan pregnant whale sharks just going about their business in the wild.
In one of the more unusual scientific studies of diving, a professor of biomedical engineering spent 100 days underwater to see if diving makes you live longer
April
Another record was broken in early April as a joint Japanese-Australian deep sea expedition discovered a species of snailfish to be the world’s deepest fish. While on the other side of the world, the endangered sicklefin devil ray was, for the first time, discovered to be present off the US Atlantic coast.
For divers looking for their next adventures in critter photography, Walt Stearns provided us with a cracking rundown of Wakatobi’s fantastic beasts, and where to find them. We also featured a rundown of the little-known delights of the best places to dive in New Zealand.
In Egypt, the popular Red Sea liveaboard Carlton Queen capsized, but thankfully without serious injury to its passengers and crew. Meanwhile, off the coast of the Philippines, the Second World War wreck of the Montevideo Maru – Australia’s worst-ever maritime disaster – was finally located after 81 years.
May
Early May saw the publication of DIVE’s Spring 2023 print magazine, featuring a brilliant interview with Marine Megafauna Foundation’s co-founders, Dr Andrea Marshall and Dr Simon Pierce, plus an outstandingly photographed introduction to the fine diving around the Caribbean island of Curaçao.
In one of the biggest conservation stories of the year, Ecuador established new protections for Galápagos with world’s biggest blue-bond swap, which will see $1.6 billion of Ecuador’s debt converted into a loan to generate conservation resources over the next two decades.
One fascinating – if probably apocryphal – story that drew much media attention was the discovery of a ‘Megalodon-tooth’ necklace amongst the debris found around the wreck of the Titanic.
May also saw the passing of deep sea pioneer, Phil Nuytten, inventor of deep-diving technologies used by NASA and NOAA, and the first hard-shell one-atmosphere diving suit, who died in his native Canada at the age of 81.
June
The Titanic dominated the headlines in June, for all the wrong reasons, as the world was captivated by the search for a submersible that had lost contact during a descent to visit the wreck. Hopes that the five passengers would be rescued were ended, however, after the discovery that the vessel had catastrophically imploded at the moment it lost contact.
Tragedy struck a second time when three British divers died in a fire which broke out on board one of the Red Sea’s most popular liveaboards, MV Hurricane, as it was moored near Elphinstone Reef.
Another widely reported story in June was the news that a pod of orcas appeared to be deliberately attacking boats in the Strait of Gibraltar, resulting in three boats having been so damaged that they sank. An orca – not thought to be related to the Gibraltar group, bizarrely replicated the behaviour when it attacked a yacht off Shetland later in the month
In better news for marine conservation – despite orcas appearing to have a particular appetite for the species – scientists reported that the great white shark population off the US Atlantic coast is ‘booming’.
July
British tour operator Thomas Cook – which had previously limited trips to dolphin shows – ended the sale of all tickets to any attractions featuring captive cetacean attractions. At almost the same time, dolphins randomly attacked a group of swimmers at a beach in Japan, leaving four people injured.
July was also a month for discovery, with a new deep-sea octopus nursery discovered in Costa Rica, plus the amazing news – showing how very little we know about even familiar creatures – that basking sharks are warm-blooded.
In a slightly more unusual discovery, it appears that decades of drug smuggling may have turned some of Florida’s sharks into cocaine addicts.
August
Our Summer print magazine was published in August, with a fascinating insight into the use of modified vintage lenses for artistic underwater photography effects, and the magnificent results from the return of our Big Shot underwater photography competition.
Orcas made headlines again in August with some grizzly footage of giant Pacific orcas attacking an adult whale shark to eat its liver.
August was also the month that the sad story of Lolita (aka Tokitae) the orca came to its tragic end. The 57-year-old killer whale, who had spent 53 years of her life held captive in a tiny pool, died of renal failure while waiting to be transferred to a new home.
In scientific news, a new species of feather star was found in Antarctic, and the recovery of coral along the Great Barrier Reef was found to have paused following reports in 2022 that it had reached a record-breaking level of cover.
In news that gadget enthusiasts across the globe have been waiting for, it was revealed that the Oceanic+ Dive Housing – which turns iPhones into fully-featured photo-taking dive computers – was coming to market.
September
Early September saw the freediving community mourning the loss of the record-breaking and highly regarded Andrea Zuccari, who went missing while scuba diving in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt
In conservation news, the UK government expanded its plans to protect the UK’s waters from sewage overflows, and reports about Cape Cod’s thriving great white sharks brought more good news that the endangered shark population is recovering in the north Atlantic.
Scubapro, one of the most widely known and influential brands of dive gear celebrated its 60th anniversary with the launch of limited edition models of its flagship regulator and dive computer designs.
It also turns out that brainless jellyfish are – unlike a notable number of humans – capable of learning.
October
October saw the loss of two of technical diving’s most influential pioneers as TDI co-founder Bret Gilliam and record-breaking cave diver Brett Hemphill sadly died within days of each other.
In the field of maritime archaeology, which has undoubtedly been influenced by those esteemed gentlemen, a sunken temple was revealed in the waters off Egypt’s Mediterranean coast; and the wreck of the British Second World War Submarine HMS Thistle was located off the coast of Norway.
Showcasing how the world of subaquatic exploration may change in the coming decades, Stanford University’s groundbreaking OceanOneK humanoid robotic diver was showcased at an event at Deep Dive Dubai.
November
Once again showing how little we know about the underwater realm, several new reefs and seamounts were discovered in Galápagos; and showing how little we know about its residents, the Strait of Gibraltar orcas sank yet another boat in the Mediterranean.
Sparking much discussion about who will get what when it happens, Colombia’s government announced that the ‘Holy Grail’ of shipwrecks – the San José – is to be raised, although, given the arguments over its $20 billion-dollar treasures, it may well be better to leave it where it is.
In another sign of how the future of diving is evolving, Garmin announced the launch of its Descent Mk3, which will be capable of diver-diver messaging with a forthcoming software update.
The BSAC Annual Diving Incident Report 2022 was published in November, with one of the lowest number of fatal UK diving incidents on record.
November’s highlight, of course, was DIVE Magazine’s Winter 2023/24 print issue, featuring an exploration of the mythology of manatees with some simply stunning photography of the ‘mermaids’ in action; plus an in-depth look at the state of diving in the recovering Florida Keys,
December
December began with the shocking news that another popular liveaboard, the Indo Siren, was destroyed by fire in Raja Ampat, although thankfully with no serious injuries.
The winners of DIVE’s Big Shot Kaleidoscope underwater photography competition were published on our website with some stunningly colourful pictures proving some of our readers are among the best photographers in the world.
Shark science was re-written once again with two separate discoveries – that of a beached pregnant megamouth shark with seven pups resulting in the discovery that the incredibly elusive species is ovoviviparous; and some grey reef sharks caught napping in Seychelles proving they don’t need to keep swimming in order to breathe – begging the question if obligate ram-ventilators might also be capable of taking a break?
Also in Seychelles, in some – quite literally – ‘huge’ news, it has been confirmed that blue whales have returned to the region since they were almost hunted to extinction over the 20th Century. On the other side of the world, the island nation of Dominica announced it will create the first marine reserve for sperm whales.
In some happy Christmas news, it was also announced that the manatees that were housed in the same aquarium as Lolita the orca had been rescued and rehomed in larger accommodations with expert medical care, and may be able to see out their last years in Florida’s protected natural waters.
Roll on 2024!
