One of the most prevalent beliefs in recreational diving is that nitrox is used to dive deeper and stay longer. The reality is nitrox is a relatively shallow-water gas that can be used to extend bottom time at moderate depths, but can become toxic at deeper depths. As Divers Alert Network states:

"Today, nitrox mixes are readily available and prepared across a range of concentrations. It has a lot to offer divers, but it isn't magic; rather, it's a useful tool that provides benefits if used correctly. When diving according to air tables or using the air setting on a dive computer, nitrox can reduce decompression stress on a diver. When used with an equivalent air depth, this safety margin is lost, but bottom time can be extended.

"Nitrox is becoming more popular and accessible to recreational divers all the time, but it is not something to be taken lightly. It requires special training to be used properly and safely, so before you dive with it, be sure to get the necessary training and gain the appropriate certification."

Lionfish are one of the most spectacular fish you can encounter on your dives – and one of the fish that you need to treat with respect and maintain your distance… you don’t want to get stung by one.

The name lionfish does not just relate to their similarity in appearance to a lion with a wonderful mane, but also from their hunting tactics.  The lionfish has enormous pectoral fins and this, together with it’s colorful stripes makes it an imposing underwater predator.  Innocent prey is sought out and surrounded by the pack who then pounce when there is no escape.

Fishermen and divers can access a new, online interactive guide to learn more about the 64 artificial reefs in North Carolina.  These underwater sites enhance fisheries that the coastal economy and culture rely on.  Now, local scientists are involved in ongoing research to determine the best way to maximize fish production at artificial reefs.

The coast of North Carolina is known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic, where hundreds of ships have run aground or sunk to the depths of the sea.  Can you imagine also that old train cars, aircraft, demolished bridges and construction waste lay on the ocean floor?  It’s not a dump site.  These manmade structures make up a collection of artificial reefs that serve as important habitat for fish and invertebrates.  Divers are drawn to these sites where colorful sponges and coral grow on the repurposed material.  Anglers frequent these fish oasis because of the variety and abundance of sea life they attract.

Who here isn’t familiar with that warm and wonderful sensation you get just a second after urinating in your wetsuit. That magical moment when you forget about the cold water around you and everything feels pleasant and fuzzy…

Probably only half of you will admit knowing that feeling, since the diving world is divided in two: Those who pee in their wetsuit with pride and those who will never admit doing it, or just never tried. Which half are you on?

Avoiding heart explosion

Let start with this – You pee in your wetsuit because you have no choice! This is backed up by very good physiological reasons. When our body is immersed in water, the blood volume increases. Luckily, our body has mechanisms to balance that out and keep our blood volume normal, so more blood will flow towards our kidneys and by releasing more liquid from the body, the blood volume will remain normal!

To make a long story short – you pee to prevent your heart from exploding. That reason alone is enough for me… But let’s continue anyway 

August 22, 2016 July 15, 1942. America had been in World War II for less than a year, but the fight was coming to the nation’s shores. That day, off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, the German U-boat U-576 sank the Nicaraguan-flagged freighter SS Bluefields. But it came at a steep price – the merchant ship convoy and its U.S. military escorts fought back, sinking the U-boat within minutes as U.S. Navy air cover bombed the sub while the merchant ship Unicoi attacked it with its deck gun.

The freighter SS Bluefields was sunk by the German submarine U-576 in July 1942. The wrecks of the two ships were discovered in 2014 off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, only 240 yards apart.

NOAA and its partners will visit what remains of the two ships, documenting World War II’s “Battle of the Atlantic,” which pitted U-boats of the German navy against combined Canadian, British, and American forces defending Allied merchant ships.