Acknowledgments
Thank you to all the divers who contributed to individual chapters . Told with candor , not all stories glorified you ; some reveal your mistakes and misjudgments . I am confident that your honesty will help aspiring bluewater hunters develop their skills more rapidly , and hopefully save them from injury or death .
One of the most stimulating and gratifying things about writing this book was the unselfish and enthusiastic help I received from respected freediving experts . Hearing about the project , professionals and amateurs generously contributed their stories , pictures and editing skills . Thank you to those of you whose assistance spanned two or more chapters : Howard Benedict , Fred Biller , Tom Blandford , Tommy Botha , Bill Boyce , Carl Butler , Cuan Cronje , Darrell Hattingh , Skip Hellen , Terry Lentz , Gerald Lim , Milton Love , Jim Mabry , Ron Merker , Ian McGonagle , Peter McGonagle , Tom Millington , Greg Pickering , Jack Prodonavich , Wally Potts , Dave Reid , René Rojas , Rick Rosenthal , Andy Ruddock , Linda Schneppershoff-McWhorter , Al Schneppershoff Jr ., Terry Schuller , Dave Sipperly , Adam Smith , Mark Steele , Robert Torelli and James D . Watt .
My special thanks :
To women bluewater hunters , your accomplishments speak for themselves as the following pages reveal . In addition , as organizers and record-keepers , women like Jessica Jones of South Africa and Carol Rose of the United States have given decades of unselfish service to their respective country ’ s spearfishing communities . Readers , please note : for simplicity , I use the masculine gender throughout this book . Where you see “ he ,” please read he / she , and where you find “ spearfishermen ” read spearfishermen and spearfisherwomen .
To Milton Love , Ph . D ., author of Probably More Than You Want to Know About the Fishes of the Pacific Coast , for his assistance in developing the natural history of many of the bluewater species profiled .
To bluewater hunter , marine journalist , and artist Darrell Hattingh . His beautiful line drawings illustrate most of the bluewater species , sharks
4 and the flasher . Darrell was instrumental in developing and coordinating information from his South African countrymen . His work is available through BlueWater Freedivers .
To Australian Rob Torelli , who assisted me with personal introductions to the finest bluewater hunters in his country . Many in the freediving world appreciate his ground-breaking work with the Australian Spearfishing and Freediving News .
To bluewater hunter and Long Beach Neptune Wes Morrissey , for his assistance in providing most of the black and white photographs used to illustrate the sections on gear and photography .
To the medical professionals who reviewed my sections on shallow-water blackout : tuna hunter and physician , Andreas Agathos ; Frank Farm , director of the Hyperbaric Treatment Center , University of Hawaii School of Medicine ; William Hurford , M . D .; and Tom Millington , M . D .
To the major color photograph contributors ; Howard Benedict , William Boyce , Bob Caruso , Greg Pickering , Rick Rosenthal , Robert Torelli and James D . Watt .
To the three major Southern California spearfishing clubs whose members have given support and valuable contributions : my own club , the Long Beach Neptunes ; our sister club , the Los Angeles Fathomiers ; and the grand members of the San Diego Bottom Scratchers .
To the record-keepers of the major English-speaking bluewater hunting countries : Mel Brown of the Australian Underwater Federation ; Jessica Jones of the South African Spearfishing Federation ; Carol Rose and Dan Mosier of the Underwater Society of America .
To Harry Davis for his friendship , his bluewater hunting experience and his scientific approach .
For this 2017 edition , special thanks to the beautiful artistry of Amadeo Bachar whose images adorn each fish chapter . To Bill McIntyre who proofed this edition for typos and currency .