News
Dr. David Wilkinson Named 2019 DAN/Rolex Diver of the Year
Divers Alert Network® and Rolex® have announced that Dr. David Wilkinson has been selected as the 2019 DAN/Rolex Diver of the Year. The award was presented earier this month at the Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society® 45th Annual Awards Program in New York.
Dr. Wilkinson is a senior staff specialist in anesthesiology and the medical director of the hyperbaric medicine unit at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. A researcher and educator, he is also a clinical lecturer at the University of Adelaide and a fellow of Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine. He became captivated by hyperbaric medicine one day while working in the Royal Adelaide Hospital’s intensive care unit. When a colleague was taking a patient to the hyperbaric department, Wilkinson asked if he could accompany them, and he was completely fascinated by the chamber. “There was an element of frontier medicine about it,” he said. “It took my fancy.”
He has since dedicated his career not only to diving medicine but to treating many of the ailments that can be improved with hyperbaric oxygen therapy. And rather than being content with the accepted limitations of hyperbaric medicine, Wilkinson has pushed the envelope of its utility, studying its effectiveness in treating even more conditions, including diabetes and the side effects of radiation therapy. He was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for services to hyperbaric medicine.
An advanced nitrox and decompression diver, Wilkinson sits on the board of directors of the Australasian Diving Safety Foundation/DAN Asia-Pacific Foundation, an organization dedicated to advancing dive safety throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
Physicians in the hyperbaric medicine unit at the Royal Adelaide Hospital (and in recent years, other Australian hospitals) operate Australia’s Diving Emergency Service (DES) hotline. The DES hotline is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week to provide medical guidance to injured divers in need. The hotline’s toll-free number is fully funded by DAN World, and the doctors who take these calls are unpaid volunteers. More than 20 years ago Wilkinson took over as coordinator of the DES hotline and has personally fielded the majority of the calls that have come in since then. Currently the hotline receives about 400 calls each year.
For the past 30 years, DAN and Rolex have collaborated to honor an individual who has made significant contributions to dive safety — and to name that person the DAN/Rolex Diver of the Year. This award began in the late 1980s as a generous grant to DAN from Rolex to recognize the organization’s work on behalf of divers. In 1989 the award evolved to feature a specially engraved Oyster Perpetual Rolex Submariner Dive Watch. As part of the award Rolex makes a $15,000 donation to DAN to help fund the dive safety research DAN does. The DAN/Rolex Diver of the Year award is now one of the most prestigious honors in scuba diving.
“David’s commitment to hyperbaric medicine and his volunteer work with the Diving Emergency Service hotline have helped thousands of divers get the care or practical medical guidance they needed when they needed it most,” said Bill Ziefle, DAN president and CEO. “The dedication he has shown to the dive community in the last two decades is truly inspirational, and we’re thrilled to honor him as the 2019 Diver of the Year.”
For more info, please visit: www.diversalertnetwork.org.
Source: www.divenewswire.com
Free Octopus with every purchase of a SCUBAPRO regulator system
Just in time for the spring season, divers can save money with the FREE OCTOPUS SPRING PROMOTION! Until July 31st SCUBAPRO offers an Octopus for free
with every purchase of a regulator system!
Get a free S270 OCTOPUS with purchase of these combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with A700
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with S620Ti
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with D420
MK25 EVO Din mit S620Ti-X
Get a free R105 OCTOPUS with purchase of the following combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with G260
MK25 EVO or MK17 EVO with S600
SCUBAPRO offers a 30-year first owner warranty on all regulators, with a revision period of two years or 100 dives. All SCUBAPRO regulators are of course certified according to the new European test standard EN250-2014.
Available at participating SCUBAPRO dealers. Promotion may not be available in all regions. Find an authorized SCUBAPRO Dealer at scubapro.com.
More information available on www.scubapro.com.
Jake Davies boards Ghazala Explorer for an unforgettable Red Sea diving experience…
Overnight, the wind picked up, making the planned morning dive a bit bumpy on the Zodiacs to the drop point on Thomas Reef. There, we would dive along the reef before descending through the canyon and then passing under the arch before ascending the wall with a gentle drift. The site provided great encounters with more pelagic species, including shoals of large barracuda, tuna, and bigeye trevally.
Once back on the boat, it was time to get everything tied down again as we would head back south. This time, with the wind behind us, heading to Ras Mohammed to dive Jackfish Alley for another great gentle drift wall dive before then heading up the coast towards the Gulf of Suez to moor up at the wreck of the Thistlegorm. This being the highlight wreck dive of the trip and for many onboard, including myself, it was the first time diving this iconic wreck. I had heard so much about the wreck from friends, and globally, this is a must on any diver’s list. Fortunately for us, there was only one other boat at the site, which was a rarity. A great briefing was delivered by Ahmed, who provided a detailed background about the wreck’s history along with all the required safety information as the currents and visibility at the site can be variable.
Kitting up, there was a lot of excitement on deck before entering the water and heading down the shoreline. Descending to the wreck, there was a light northerly current which reduced the visibility, making it feel more like the conditions that can be found off the Welsh coast. At 10m from the bottom, the outline of the wreck appeared as we reached the area of the wreck which had been bombed, as our mooring line was attached to part of the propeller shaft. Arriving on deck, instantly everywhere you looked there were many of the supplies which the ship was carrying, including Bren Carrier tanks and projectiles that instantly stood out.
We headed around the exterior, taking a look at the large propeller and guns mounted on deck before entering the wreck on the port side to take a look in the holds. It was incredible to see all the trucks, Norton 16H, and BSA motorcycles still perfectly stacked within, providing a real snapshot in time.
Overall, we had four dives on the Thistlegorm, where for all of the dives we were the only group in the water, and at times, there were just three of us on the whole wreck, which made it even more special, especially knowing that most days the wreck has hundreds of divers. Along with the history of the wreck, there was plenty of marine life on the wreck and around, from big green turtles to batfish, along with shoals of mackerel being hunted by trevally. Some unforgettable dives.
The final leg of the trip saw us cross back over the Suez Canal to the Gobal Islands where we planned to stay the night and do three dives at the Dolphin House for the potential of sharing the dive with dolphins. The site, which included a channel that was teeming with reef fish, especially large numbers of goatfish that swam in large shoals along the edge of the reef. These were nice relaxing dives to end the week. Unfortunately, the dolphins didn’t show up, which was okay as like all marine life they are difficult to predict and you can’t guarantee what’s going to be seen. With the last dive complete, we headed back to port for the final night where it was time to clean all the kit and pack before the departure flight the next day.
The whole week from start to finish on Ghazala Explorer was amazing; the boat had all the facilities you need for a comfortable week aboard. The crew were always there to help throughout the day and the chefs providing top quality food which was required after every dive. The itinerary providing some of the best diving with a nice mixture of wreck and reef dives. I would recommend the trip to anyone, whether it’s your first Red Sea liveaboard in the Red Sea or you’re revisiting. Hopefully, it’s not too long before I head back to explore more of the Red Sea onboard Ghazala Explorer.
To find out more about the Northern Red Sea reef and wrecks itineraries aboard Ghazala Explorer, or to book, contact Scuba Travel now:
Email: dive@scubatravel.com
Tel: +44 (0)1483 411590
Photos: Jake Davies / Avalon.Red
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