What’ s BSAC all about?
32 A Shetland Symphony
Published by: IN2 PUBLISHING Ltd, Unit 2A Oaklands Court, Tiverton Business Park, Tiverton Way, Tiverton, EX16 6TG
Email: info @ in2publishing. co. uk
Editor: Simon Rogerson Sub Editor: Kristina Pedder Design: Paul Hanson Equipment Testing: Neil Hope
Publishing Director: Charlie Wise Email: charlie @ in2publising. co. uk Tel: 01398 310 250 Mob: 07787 565 771
Advertising Manager: Michelle Simpson Email: michelle @ in2publishing. co. uk Tel: + 44( 0) 7434 779164
Print Consultant: Jamie Ringrose Consultant: Jon Fellows © 2025 British Sub-Aqua Club
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means without written permission of the copyright owners. Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this publication, the publishers cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions. In the interest of independence and impartiality, many features in SCUBA have been written on behalf of the publisher by third party experts. It should be noted that any opinions and recommendations expressed therein are the views of the writers themselves and not necessarily those of BSAC. BSAC and publishers ensure that the paper used for printing this publication has been sourced from sustainably managed forests.
CONTENTS
If you love diving and want to benefit from great training and an international community of scuba divers and snorkellers, you should get to know BSAC.
What’ s BSAC all about?
BSAC stands for British Sub-Aqua Club, and we are the UK National Governing Body of scuba diving and snorkelling. We have clubs, centres, and members worldwide who are all as passionate as we are about the underwater world.
We are Britain’ s biggest dive club, with hundreds of local clubs run by committed divers and snorkellers on a non-profit basis. With us, you can learn to dive from the age of 10 and snorkel from the age of six.
If you’ re already a diver, that’ s great! All divers are welcome at BSAC. You could further your training or just join us on some great diving. Or both!
As well as developing safety and training standards and supporting our community, we are also focused on the environment and underwater heritage to help protect the waters we love to dive and the earth we live in.
Have a look at this magazine to get a real feel for what we’ re about— we think you’ ll love what you read. To get involved, head to bsac. com, email us at hello @ bsac. com or call 0151 350 6201. We’ d love to hear from you!
JOIN BSAC TODAY: bsac. com / joinus FIND YOUR LOCAL BSAC CLUB: bsac. com / findaclub or call + 44( 0) 151 350 6201
8 SCUBA HUB
All the latest BSAC and diving news
16 Go Diving Report
BSAC Awards, workshops and news from the show
20 Critter Confidential
Paul Naylor tracks the rise of the sponge crab
22 Kirsty Andrews
Our columnist joins the Cult of Blackwater
24 Yo-Han Cha
In praise of dive buddies
27 Ocean Science
Karen Boswarva wallows in glorious mud
29 Two Sophies
How can new divers keep theory learning fresh?
30 SCUBA Chat
Your letters, tributes and announcements
32 A Shetland Symphony
Explore the shallow seas of Shetland with local photographer Billy Arthur
40 Catching the drift
A perfect day of snorkelling in Norfolk with Adam Curtis
42 Inside the Britannic
Exclusive excerpt from Simon Mill’ s new book on the Titanic’ s sister ship
46 Test Centre
Type BCD from SEAC + Pandora Lab k1 Rescue Dive Light
50 Volunteer Life
Meet Sands Castro of Lothian Divers, Instructor Training Scheme mentor
52 Protect Our Seas
Kerry MacKay on seaweed packaging + Search for Lost Sharks + bird flu and seals + humpback whales in Cornwall + entanglement threat persists
56 Travel Special
Malta and Gozo, as seen through the eyes of a first-time visitor
64 Snorkelling
Andy Torbet catches up with the UK’ s progress on snorkelling trails
66 Crossword
Charles Wheeldon sets another puzzle for SCUBA’ s sharpest minds
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