Scubaverse

In this exclusive two-part Zoom interview, Dove Joans - author, artist, creative conservationist, host, storyteller and explorer - interviews Jeff Goodman - multiple award winning, freelance TV cameraman/film maker, author and Editor-at-Large for Scubaverse - about his life filming and interactions with wildlife.

Having made both terrestrial and marine films, it is the world's oceans and their conservation that hold Jeff's passion with over 10,000 dives in his career. Having filmed for international television companies around the world and author of two books on underwater filming, Jeff is Author/Programme Specialist for the 'Underwater Action Camera' course for RAID.

Jeff has experienced the rapid advances in technology for diving as well as camera equipment and has also experienced much of our planet’s marine life. He has witnessed, first hand, many of the changes that have occurred to the wildlife and environment during that time.

Jeff runs bespoke underwater video and editing workshops for the complete beginner up to the budding professional.

Find out more at www.jeffgoodman.co.uk

In this exclusive Zoom interview, Jeff Goodman, Scubaverse Editor-at-Large, chats to Maria (Mary) Bereozka, winner of the Scubaverse February video competition about her work and films.

Her winning video can be seen on Scubaverse HERE  www.scubaverse.com/february-2022-video-contest-winner-and-review/

Maria Bereozka Bio in her own words...

I am passionate about the underwater world.

My love for diving happened in 2018 and completely turned my life around.

I was born and grow up in the city of Minsk, Belarus and we don't have a sea. I lived in a not calm area and my mother would not let me play alone on the street. I just counted the hours until the program about the underwater world of Jacques Yves Cousteau. I dreamed of seeing all the beauty of the underwater world and visiting all these exotic countries. But my mother told me that this is all a fairy tale and I want too much...

At the age of 14, my mother died and I forgot about my dreams for a long time. After many years, I tried diving in Egypt and could not leave the sea. Now: I learned freediving on my own, without a computer and post-processing, with a $25 camera, and entered the top 100 underwater photographers of the 35awards 2020 international competition only thanks to online information and freelancing.

I have been living for the last 6 years in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. I am in the top 100 underwater photographers and top 50 photographers in Egypt for the 6th 35awards 2020. I am in the top 70 underwater photography nominations, top 50 underwater photography, top 100 photography Belarus 7th 35awards. I was among the finalists of the underwater photo awards Fotovideosub 2021 - https://fotovideosub.es/participantes-concurso-de-fotografia-submarina-fotovideosub-2021/, and Siena Awards 2021. I shoot on a Go Pro 9 camera. I am a Rescue Diver.

I created my YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UCi7tKqgWuyuPKJ-Jaa9tcPw about the underwater world of the Red Sea, and my Instagram is 99% underwater content: www.instagram.com/mary_bereozka/

In this exclusive Zoom interview, Jeff Goodman, Scubaverse Editor-at-Large, chats to Esther Jacobs from Fire Island Conservation - Mozambique.

Once ravaged by poachers, Ilha do Fogo is now the centre of conservation on the north-east coast of Mozambique. Soon, it will be opened up as an exclusive, luxury retreat, focused on scuba diving and eco-tourism. You can read Scubaverse's story on this HERE.

Find out more at www.fireislandconservation.com

In this exclusive Zoom interview, Jeff Goodman, Scubaverse Editor-at-Large, chats to Ana Filipa Sobral, Founder and Project Leader of The Manta Catalogue Project in the Azores.

Ana Filipa Sobral is a marine biologist and conservationist based in the Azores Islands. She moved to the Azores in 2011 and once there, realised that this was one of the few places in the world where Sicklefin Devil Rays (Mobula tarapacana) gather in large groups, making it a strategic place to study them. She started the The Manta Catalogue Project and through this project, collects photo ID and occurrence data on Mobulid Rays, with the precious help of divers and dive operators as citizen scientists.

Ana is also finishing her PhD which focuses on population genetics and connectivity of migratory elasmobranchs in oceanic islands in the Atlantic Ocean. The main goal fueling my research has been to help fill the knowledge gaps on elasmobranch biology and ecology to ultimately assist in the design of effective conservation and management plans aimed at protecting their populations in this remote region of the North Atlantic Ocean.

You can find out more about Ana's important work at: https://mantacatalogazores.wixsite.com/mobulaid/project.

In this exclusive Zoom interview, Jeff Goodman, Scubaverse Editor-at-Large, chats to Jim Elliott, Founder and President of Diveheart, and Tinamarie Hernandez, Executive Director, about the new documentary 'Adapting to Dive' by David Marsh.

Diveheart, a Downers Grove-based nonprofit tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization, and Los Angeles filmmaker David Marsh will be presenting the world premiere of the documentary called “Adapting To Dive” at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 18, 2022, at Classic Cinemas Tivoli Theatre, 5021 Highland Ave. in Downers Grove.

Since 2001, Diveheart has been helping youth, veterans, and others with disabilities through adaptive scuba and scuba therapy. Last year, Marsh went on a life-changing Diveheart scuba adventure trip to Cozumel, Mexico. As a result, he experienced a transformational journey while doing the film after losing his son to an overdose just seven days before the trip.

After doing some pre-trip research, Marsh felt he understood the spirit of the Diveheart mission and vision. He had completed backstories on many of the adaptive divers who went on the trip when his son passed. He chose to go on the trip and said nothing to anyone until asked about his experience on the very last day. He then shared his loss and that he had been remotely planning his son’s funeral while filming the documentary.

David Marsh is amazing and awesome. Despite his loss and grief, he soldiered on and captured the spirit, love, and hope that emerges from every Diveheart trip,” said Diveheart Founder and President Jim Elliott. “He really captured the essence of our mission and shared the real-life experience of what Diveheart does to help those with disabilities experience freedom underwater.”

In the documentary, every day embraces a theme. One day it is trust. Another day it is about freedom and then finally adapting. Audiences will see how Marsh emphatically listened and translated the feelings of the adaptive divers who shared with him their losses, struggles, fears, and hopes.

“We are so grateful to David for capturing Diveheart in action,” Elliott said. “I’m hoping this documentary will reach many people and give awareness to Diveheart’s mission: to revolutionize rehabilitation by using zero gravity underwater to help those with everything from mobility issues to chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder. We help our participants find that self-confidence, personal strength, and independence, and we will continue to do so in the years to come.”

Tickets to the premiere are $12 for general admission and accessible seating. For information about the documentary and tickets, visit this link.

Find out more at www.Diveheart.org.

In this exclusive Zoom interview, Jeff Goodman, Scubaverse Editor-at-Large, chats to Arlindo Serrao, Founder and General Manager of PortugalDive.com. They talk about diving in Portugal, The Azores and Madeira, as well as The Diving Talks International Diving Congress 2022.

Arlindo describes himself as "a father of three, a cave diver, and I love to share what Portugal, the Azores archipelago and Madeira islands have to offer."

"After 25+ years working in multinational companies, I decided to start doing it for fun! I founded Portugal Dive, the “We worry, You dive!“ concept: a boutique dive concierge that organizes group and solo trips for guests to experience Portugal’s underwater highlights on the mainland and in the Azores and Madeira. More recently I founded Diving Talks, an international diving congress that brings Portugal divers, explorers, scientists, researchers, to share with the diving community their most recent subaquatic achievements and discoveries."

Find out more at www.portugaldive.com and www.divingtalks.com.

In this exclusive Zoom interview, Jeff Goodman, Scubaverse Editor-at-Large, chats to Shawn Heinrichs - Emmy Award-winning cinematographer, photographer, scuba diver and marine conservationist about his life and work.

Shawn Heinrichs is a co-founder of SeaLegacy and was one of the lead activists and cinematographers for the Emmy-nominated film, Racing Extinction. Most recently, he was featured in the award-winning Netflix series ‘Tales by Light’ that showcased his innovative use of imagery to inspire and drive conservation of one of earth’s crown jewels, West Papua. Fuelled by his passion for the oceans, Shawn's groundbreaking work fuses dramatic imagery with intimate and thought-provoking stories, to connect the global community to the beauty and vulnerability of threatened marine species and habitats.

As an investigative conservation journalist, Shawn has gone undercover to expose stories in some of the most remote or challenging locations and his work has provided a rare view of the people and some of the more disturbing elements of the endangered species trade. His investigative footage and images have been used as centrepieces for documentaries and campaigns reaching hundreds of millions of people. In his drive to spread the word, Shawn has published numerous conservation articles and given presentations on marine conservation to audiences across the globe.

Find out more at

In this exclusive Zoom interview, Jeff Goodman, Scubaverse Editor-at-Large, chats to Joanna Ruxton MBE, film maker and conservationist, about her life and work, 'A Plastic Ocean' (Netflix) and her new project Ocean Generation. 

Find out more at www.oceangeneration.org

In this exclusive Zoom interview, Jeff Goodman, Scubaverse Editor-at-Large, chats to Clayton Conn, freelance journalist and filmmaker, about his winning film Tiger (Shark) King - Jim Abernethy in the Scubaverse November 2021 video competition.

Follow Clayton on Instagram @clayton.conn and on Twitter @ClaytonTConn.

In this exclusive Zoom interview, Jeff Goodman, Scubaverse Editor-at-Large, chats to Hannah (Mermaid) Fraser - underwater mermaid, performance artist and dedicated ocean activist about her life and work and her adventure dancing with Tiger sharks.

Find out more at www.hannahmermaid.com