{ Editor’ s NOTE
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{ Editor’ s NOTE
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Dr Dave Harasti
At the end of 2025, ASIAN Geographic is ending its quarter-century run as the region’ s leading geographical print magazine, with its award-winning coverage of environmental issues, science, exploration, travel, heritage, arts and culture moving to online platforms in 2026. While this marks the end of an era in terms of regular print issues, you can still look forward to forthcoming special editions of ASIAN Geographic magazine in the new year – and beyond.
As one of our final issues, this collector’ s edition of ASIAN Geographic PASSPORT is devoted to one of the principal components that forms the magazine’ s DNA, namely, the ocean. In compiling this issue, we took some of our favourite stories from the pages of Asian Diver’ s“ Big Blue Book”, highlighting just some of the iconic animals that inhabit our oceans – and the best spots to dive with them.
We examine“ The Magnificent Seven” species of sea turtles( page 22), three of which are listed as“ Endangered” or“ Critically Endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature( IUCN). We discover why divers are so enamoured with seahorses(“ Unravelling the Seahorse”, page 80) and take an intimate look at the private lives of the pygmy species(“ Stories from the Stables”, page 90). And, at the other end of the scale, we meet the biggest fish in the sea, the whale shark(“ Cerulean Colossus”, page 100), and learn about some other marine heavyweights, the mobula rays(“ Ocean Giants”, page 110).
And what better ambassador for ocean tourism than the humble dolphin on our cover, captured by pro photographer Viktor Lyagushkin? Ultimately, ocean tourism, when managed sustainably, is a vital way to get people invested in the ocean as a natural resource – and motivated to protect it.
Ian Bongso-Seldrup