“Go go go!” were the words I’d been waiting to hear. Gijs, our guide, shouted at us urgently, signalling it was time to drop into the dark Arctic waters below. Without hesitation, I threw myself into the ocean. With snow-covered mountains above and orca fins seemingly everywhere, the world ceased to exist.”
Read my latest Forest and Bird Magazine article: Arctic Adventures with Orcas.
Walking in the Daintree Rainforest, you’d be forgiven for thinking you’d stepped back in time to millions of years ago. It covers about 1200km2 of hilly terrain that makes up the northeast coast of Queensland.
Stretching down to the edge of the ocean in places and fringing remote white-sand beaches, this impressive rainforest is part of the UNESCO-listed Wet Tropics of Queensland and part of the largest continuous area of tropical rainforest in Australia.
Did you know you can visit this incredible rainforest whilst diving the Great Barrier Reef from Cairns? It's just a short bus ride away.
Find out more in my latest article for Forest and Bird magazine, Daintree Delights.
Marine reserves are vital to the health of the global ocean and yet only around 5 percent of the ocean is currently protected. Thankfully, new protected areas are being created each year and offer great diving opportunities.
Find out more about top marine reserves to dive in my latest article for EZ Dive magazine, Marine Reserves.
Kathryn Curzon writer
“Leaning forward to escape the Arctic wind, I catch sight of my snow-filled fins and can’t stop laughing. The feeling in my face has long since disappeared, and the other guests are equally rigid, turning purple in the minus 4°F Norwegian wind chill. Snow is everywhere, and I long to throw myself into the 36°F water to warm up. I never knew snorkeling could be so extreme—frankly, it’s absurd.”
Read my latest article for Scuba Diving magazine Orcas Ahead to find out what it’s really like to come face-to-face with orcas in freezing cold Arctic waters.
Kathryn Curzon dive writer
These incredible animals are able to modify the environment around them and help:
Minimise the effects of climate change.
Support healthy commercial fisheries.
Support thriving marine tourism industries.
In the Southern Ocean alone, the 12,000 or so sperm whales found there enrich the iron-poor waters with their poop, allowing phytoplankton to bloom and minimising the impacts of climate change. These sperm whales remove 200 000 tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere each year!
Find our more about whales in my latest infographic for LiveAboard.com.
It’s a great resource for adults and children to learn about:
How whales support the health of our oceans and minimise climate change.
Current threats to whales.
How you can contribute to whale conservation from home.
Click on the image below to get your copy now.
I've always been a fan of solo travel and it is fast gaining popularity in the travel industry.
Once you get over the initial leap and fear, there are many benefits to solo travel.
It's one of the best ways to meet new people!
You can experience dive and travel highlights from other people's perspectives
Pushing outside your comfort zone will literally change your life!
It can be challenging to find facilities tailored for solo travelers but thankfully more and more liveaboards are providing single cabins. YES!
Here are my top picks for solo liveaboard diving:
French Polynesia diving
Dive with walls of grey reef sharks at French Polynesia's Fakarava atoll
French Polynesia Master, French Polynesia
This gorgeous liveaboard is the ultimate for shark diving fans. Go French Polynesia diving and you'll be surrounded by more sharks than you could wish for.
Thailand
Experience Thailand's incredible beaches and landscapes
This comfortable, large liveaboard visits some of Thailand's best dive highlights, including diving with mantas at Koh Bon and the whale sharks and macro life of Richelieu Rock.
In the heart of the Coral Triangle, Indonesia is home to exceptional marine biodiversity and flourishing coral reefs.
Empress II, Indonesia
Komodo and Raja Ampat are two of Indonesia’ best-known dive destinations and the Empress II takes you to experience them.
Imagine diving with thousands of fish, plus mantas, sharks and tiny colourful critters....Indonesia diving is rightly known as some of the best in the world. Don't miss it!
The Maldives
This luxurious new liveaboard visits a variety of the Maldives best atolls, including these liveaboard diving highlights:
Quiet dive sites and well-preserved reefs at North Male Atoll
Undiscovered dive sites at Laamu and Thaa atolls
South Ari Atoll’s whale sharks
Numerous nurse sharks and stingrays at Vaavu Atoll
A mix of easy and challenging dives at Meemu Atoll, plus mantas and reef sharks
Rasdhoo Atoll's deep drop-off and hammerhead sharks at dawn
Find out more in my latest article for Dive News Wire.
Mako sharks have fascinated divers and shark fans for many years. But having recently been listed as endangered, will we still be able to dive with them in years to come? And more importantly, what will happen if we lost these vital apex predators for good?
The Shark Specialist Group of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has recently announced that both the Shortfin and Longfin Mako shark are now classified as Endangered.
Previously listed as Vulnerable, they have been downgraded to Endangered and are now officially at risk of going extinct.
As an apex predator, mako sharks play a vital role in sustaining the health of ocean ecosystems.
They are one of the most efficient hunters of all shark species and eat mostly bony fish such as tuna, mackerel, swordfish, plus cephalopods, other sharks, porpoises, sea turtles and sea birds.
They control the populations of those species they feed on – ensuring ocean food webs remain in balance and no single population gets out of control.
Apex predators also feed on vulnerable prey, such as old, injured and sick animals; which leaves more food for the healthy prey animals to survive on.
Prey populations explode in numbers when you remove apex predators such as mako sharks. As those prey populations increase unchecked, the prey animals they feed upon then decrease and eventually collapse.
What happens then? The prey populations that boomed in the first place have nothing to feed on and also eventually collapse.
In short, oceanic food webs collapse and ocean biodiversity is lost.
Apex predators prevent that cycle from occurring by keeping prey numbers balanced and under control at all times. They improve the health of ocean ecosystems and ensure marine biodiversity is sustained for all.
shark diving
If we act now, it is not too late to save mako sharks. The latest news on mako shark conservation is cause for hope:
The EU is facing pressure to announce catch quotas for mako sharks in its waters.
Numerous sharks and rays, including makos, are being proposed for listing at the next meeting of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in late May 2019.
Don’t purchase products made from sharks.
Use sustainable seafood guides online to ensure the fish you eat doesn’t have bycatch*
*Bycatch commonly includes sharks and marine mammals.
I have been providing French articles for a variety of news, dive and travel outlets this year. Read on to find out more and get your latest scuba diving fix!
Read about my top tips for improving dive fitness and 10 top tips to master perfect buoyancy in my recent article for ZeSea. This upcoming French blog is one of the 'blogs to watch' in 2019 and has an ever-growing following around the world.
Micronesia is paradise for divers with its thriving reefs, impressive drop offs and world-class wreck dives. Find out more in my article for Plongeeonline Micronesia’s must-see wrecks.
In my latest article for Lepetitplongeur I discuss four of my top dive destinations for 2019 including:
A hidden gem in Western Australia
'Walls of sharks' in idyllic French Polynesia
Read 4 Unmissable Dive Destinations for 2019 to find out more.
It's been an extremely busy few months for me, working with a variety of online dive travel clients and magazine publishers in the US and New Zealand.
The intricacies of print articles are always a favourite of mine and I'm looking forward to sharing the results with you.
With over 60 NEW online articles to share as well, it may take me a while to catch up!
Before I delve into that, let's get inspired by Wakatobi Dive Resort.
Indonesia reef
Wakatobi Dive Resort in Indonesia is tucked away in Southeastern Sulawesi and is a world-class Indonesian dive destination, offering pristine dive sites teeming with marine life.
It wasn't always that way though; as destructive fishing methods creeping across Asia threatened the survival of Wakatobi's reefs.
Indonesia mandarinfish
The founder of Wakatobi Dive Resort was quick to recognise the threats the reefs would likely face and worked tirelessly with local communities to create a sustainable reef tourism business model at Wakatobi.
The results were an outstanding success; creating not only a resort with pristine reefs, but also a resort that has community protection and reef conservation at the heart of all it does.
Wakatobi's conservation success story has truly inspired me and reminded me there is always hope.
Read the full article Wakatobi's Incredible 23 Years of Conservation Success to find out more.
It's been a busy time for me as I've launched my first limited edition fine art prints collection!
The original artworks were lovingly created by me using just one colour pen per artwork.
shark art
Look closely and you'll see each piece of artwork is made entirely of tiny dots. The whale shark took over 50 hours of dot work to complete!
To order a print please contact me.
ocean art
The prints are:
A3 size.
Printed on gorgeous eco archival paper.
Sent in entirely compostable and/or recyclable packaging.
A percentage of sales is being donated to Ghost Fishing NZ.
ocean artwork
The GFNZ team is made up entirely of volunteers; working hard to clean up the waters around New Zealand by removing ghost fishing gear and other trash from our oceans.
They also work with councils for better waste management practices, plus organised regular public beach and dive site clean ups. In short, they're creating cleaner seas for all!
It's a pleasure to be able to support their work and I hope you will too.
I work with marine conservation charities and travel companies to produce artwork for merchandise and resort/commercial spaces.
Please contact me to discuss your art or design needs.
