Scubaverse

In this exclusive Zoom interview, Jeff Goodman, Scubaverse Editor-at-Large, chats to Jim Abernethy - award-winning author, photographer, cinematographer and conservationist who pioneered shark encounters without a cage.

Find out more at www.scuba-adventures.com and www.instagram.com/jim_abernethy/

In this exclusive Zoom interview, Jeff Goodman, Scubaverse Editor-at-Large, chats to Dr. Katey Lesneski, Director of Restoration Science at Coral Vita, about the future of coral reefs.

Coral Vita are the winners of the £1million Revive Our Oceans Earthshot Prize. You can read our story on this HERE.

While often mistaken as being from lower latitudes, Katey is a true New England native at heart. Escaping the winter at opportune times, Katey has volunteered, studied, and worked in Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos, Belize, and the Florida Keys. Her time in these communities before college, studying abroad while at Brown, and during her PhD at Boston University led her to appreciate the importance of community involvement, which she gained a deeper understanding of as a 2018 Switzer Environmental Fellow. Katey has enjoyed weaving her knowledge of coral reef conservation and management into lesson plans for when she was a middle school science teacher, a graduate Teaching Fellow, and a divemaster and assistant scuba instructor.

Katey currently works as the Director of Restoration Science at Coral Vita, where she applies her background of marine ecology and genetics to reef restoration projects. Now that she is done with her PhD she is rediscovering "free" time, and enjoys freshwater fish husbandry, plant cultivation, reading sci-fi novels, and just about any watersport. She lives with her adopted potcake pup Dogtor Pepí in Freeport, Grand Bahama.

Find out more about the work of Coral Vita at www.coralvita.co

In this exclusive Zoom interview, Jeff Goodman, Scubaverse Editor-at-Large, chats to diving legend and explorer Sylvia Earle about her new National Geographic book - Ocean: A Global Odyssey - and the Mission Blue project.

Sylvia Earle is a marine biologist, oceanographer, explorer, author and lecturer, scuba diver, and research scientist. She founded Mission Blue, an organization dedicated to protecting the ocean from threats such as climate change, pollution, habitat destruction, invasive species, and the dramatic decrease in ocean fish stocks.

Sylvia has dived in all five of the world’s oceans, and plays a leading role in establishing marine protected areas (MPAs) as “hope spots” around the world. MPAs are intended to "protect and restore the blue heart of the planet."

Find out more at www.mission-blue.org

In this exclusive Zoom interview, Jeff Goodman, Scubaverse Editor-at-Large, chats to Ahmed Fadel and Elke Bojanowski from Scuba Scene Liveaboard in the Red Sea.

Ahmed started working as safari guide in 2000 giving him unique experiences exploring the southern Egyptian Red Sea. It gave him a great opportunity to learn and gain a lot of experience in the nature of the Red Sea, and also qualified him to become the author of the book ‘Southern Red Sea Dive Guide’.

He is also an experienced dive instructor since 1997 and an experienced Tech instructor up to the level of Advanced Trimix.

Working for a number of reputable companies has given Ahmed an in-depth understanding of the nature of boats and the way they have developed over the years, as well as great connections to the local crews and staff.

Elke moved to Egypt in April 2004 after completing her Ph.D. in biology (focusing on the behaviour and communication of bottlenose dolphins), to combine her interests in marine biology and diving.

Using Egyptian liveaboards as a platform, she started collecting data on shark populations, while working as a guide in the Red Sea since October 2004.

In 2012 she founded – and is still running – the Red Sea Sharks Trust, an officially registered charity in the UK. This is the umbrella organisation for a variety of projects on sharks, including the biggest database for Oceanic Whitetip Sharks in the world.

The general goals of this charity are to collect as much information on sharks as possible to be made available for shark conservation, and to increase the awareness among divers about the problems and conservation issues that sharks are facing worldwide

Besides collecting scientific data, Elke is giving educational presentations and seminars for the guests on board her Marine Park trips, covering shark topics such as: species identification, biology and behaviour, and conservation and research.

Since January 2019, all diveguides working on liveaboards in the Egyptian Red Sea have had to attend a mandatory seminar on guidelines and safe diving practices for interactions with Oceanic Whitetip Sharks. The seminar written and presented by Elke has been attended by more than 1400 guides and other dive professionals to date.

Find out more at https://scubasceneliveaboard.com

In this exclusive Zoom interview, Jeff Goodman, Scubaverse Editor-at-Large, chats to Rich Somerset, Territory Director PADI EMEA Regional Support about Dive Project Cornwall and PADI's conservation work.

Rich began diving as a teenager on the south coast of England. His university studies took him to the North of the UK and he developed a passion for cold water wreck diving in the frigid waters of Scotland. After finishing university, Rich became only the second person to be awarded the European Our World Underwater Rolex Scholarship. This experience allowed him to travel and develop training in a wide range of scuba related disciplines, including hyperbaric medicine, technical diving and marine conservation. Rich then worked as a PADI Instructor in Australia, Micronesia and the Caribbean before setting up and running dive centres in England. A PADI Course Director and Instructor Examiner, Rich is now the Territory Director, leading a team of PADI staff supporting over 800 dive centres across the UK, Ireland, Maldives, France, Greece and Portugal.

Find out more at www.padi.com/padi-dive-centers/regional-support/emea and www.diveprojectcornwall.co.uk

In this exclusive Zoom interview, Jeff Goodman, Scubaverse Editor-at-Large, chats to Andy Foster, Project Director of Dive Project Cornwall.

Dive Project Cornwall will educate hundreds of thousands of young people by delivering an education programme directly into schools across the UK, raising the awareness of the importance of the planet's marine environment and its vital role in our very existence.

Find out more about Dive Project Cornwall at www.diveprojectcornwall.co.uk

In this exclusive Zoom interview, Jeff Goodman, Scubaverse Editor-at-Large, chats to Ellen Cuylaerts about her diving and underwater photographic career.

As an underwater and wildlife photographer, Fellow of The Explorers Club and having a front seat in exploration being part of the Flag and Honours Committee, Ellen is also a Member of the Women Divers Hall of Fame. She travels the world and tries to make the most of every destination and the path that leads her there. Ellen acts as an ocean citizen and believes as divers we should all be ocean ambassadors and lead by example. She is now based in the UK after many years in Grand Cayman.

Find out more about Ellen and her work at www.ellencuylaerts.com

In this exclusive Zoom interview, Jeff Goodman, Scubaverse Editor-at-Large, chats to Staci-lee Sherwood, Founder & Former Director of S.T.A.R.S. - Sea Turtle Awareness Rescue Stranding - about Florida’s latest assault on sea turtles and why the global community should be concerned.

Find out more about Staci-lee on Instagram and YouTube @realitycheckswithstacilee

In this exclusive Zoom interview, Jeff Goodman, Scubaverse Editor-at-Large, chats to Paul Naylor about his new book Great British Marine Animals (4th Edition). You can read Jeff's review of the book here.

Paul is a marine biologist and underwater photographer with a passion for showing people what beautiful and fascinating animals live around the British coast, through articles, talks, films, social media and TV, as well as his latest book.

The creatures’ intriguing behaviour and colourful life stories are the particular focus of his still photography and video, both for scientific research and engaging audiences.

Paul works with conservation organisations and the media to raise the profile of our wonderful marine life and the importance of caring for our seas.

Find out more about Paul and his work at www.marinephoto.co.uk

In this exclusive Zoom interview, Jeff Goodman, Scubaverse Editor-at-Large, chats to Daniel Fernando, Co-Founder at Blue Resources Trust, about conservation funding from corporate sources and other marine conservation issues.

Daniel is a Sri Lankan marine biologist and the co-founder of Blue Resources Trust, a marine research and conservation organisation, where he leads the Sri Lanka Elasmobranch Project. Since 2013 he has been providing technical support for elasmobranch management policy at conventions such as CITES and CMS, thereby helping bridge the gap between science and policy and encouraging a shift toward sustainable fisheries. He has served as a ministerial advisor, is currently the Regional Co-Vice Chair of the IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group for the Indian Ocean, an MCAF Fellow, and the Vice-Chair to the Sessional Committee of the CMS Scientific Council.

Find out more about Daniel and his work at www.blueresources.org