Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

' DIVINE DIVE PICTURES Olympus Puts The Bite on Underwater Digital Picture Taking Market For divers, swimmers and snorkellers By Stephen Weir 3 May 2009 …By Man-Eating standards, this was a very small shark. She was as big as my two fellow underwater photographers swimming hell-bent-for-rubber towards her. But, what with the cameras in their waterproof housings, aluminum scuba tanks and chewy neoprene wet suits, there was far too much bulk approaching even for a hungry 2-metre long Ginglymostoma Cirratum. After my strobe (underwater flash) fired, the grey Nurse Shark shook her large dorsal fin and leisurely swam through a cut in the living Florida Keys reef and headed into the gloom. Probably in Havana by now. With only one large fish shot to show for an hour of diving, and my air supply dwindling, I quickly scanned the lush shallow reef for something - anything – big to shoot. There! Up above, hovering around the coral-encrusted bow of a WW2 shipwreck, were a dozen 2-metre long

. • The UnderwaterChannel.tv is now available worldwide through the Internet. Launched on September 1st the UK based free TV station features professionally produced video from international underwater filmmakers. The new service is at www.theunderwaterchannel.tv. • During the recently held Republican Convention in Minnesota, visiting political reporter was invited to dive in the Mall of America’s shark filled aquarium. Many scribes accepted the invitation and found it less stressful than covering the convention! The mall is one of the largest indoor shopping centres in the world. • Last year Diver Magazine featured a story I wrote (and have posted on this site) about how the Georgia Aquarium was allowing divers to swim in their giant Whale Shark tank. This month the Atlanta facility announced the addition of a manta ray to that 6.3 million gallon gallery. Nandi, a female manta ray, is the only manta in captivity in the US. Nandi, who measures more than nine feet across and weighs