Explorer Ernst Van Der Poll on when a Right Whale took over his Elementary class, and Alex Finden on how to hold your camera properly

SPEAKER_04 0:03

Season two of the Deep Blue Podcast is brought to you by Sunto. Finnish engineering, pirating adventure from mountaintop to ocean floor since 1936. Sunto. Welcome to the Deeper Blue Podcast, your weekly guide to everything that is happening around the world underwater. My name is Stephen Whelan. I'm the founder of Deeperblue.com, the world's most popular diving website. Every week, the Deeper Blue Podcast covers everything that's happening in the scuba diving, freediving, diving travel, and ocean advocates world. So join us as we explore the Deeper Blue. Welcome back everyone. We've had a short break and we're pleased to be kicking off season two of the Deeper Blue podcast. A huge welcome back to all the listeners who stayed with us during season one last year. It's truly an honour to be back. For those of you who new here, quite simply, we're your weekly guides to everything happening around the world underwater. We truly believe that we give you the best 30 minutes about getting underwater every single week. In this episode, the latest scuba diving, freediving, ocean, and diving travel news that's been happening in the last week from around the world underwater, then co-host Lyndon Walbert talks to Ernst Vanderpool, a course director, explorer, and environmentalist. Ernst speaks openly about his first connection to the ocean, an experience that leads to a dynamic life and ultimately led to a moving experience with giant manta rays. We then hear from Alex Finden, celebrated underwater cinetographer and co-founder of the wildlife app and social network Mammals, who gives us a top tip on how to capture epic underwater footage no matter what skill level you are. And then finally, we hear from listener Brett Stanley on his best dive ever. Now, you're briefed on what to expect, so let's dive into this week's diving and ocean news. First up, newly elected US President Joe Biden has signed an executive order number 13998, which mandates that masks be worn on all public maritime vessels, which has now been confirmed to include dive boats and dive charters. The move is designed to mitigate the risk of spreading COVID-19 and compels operators of vessels to use best efforts to ensure people wear a mask when boarding, disembarking, or for the duration of travel. And of course, remember to swap out your face mask for your diving mask before you jump in the water. How would you like to live and dive while working remotely in the Cayman Islands? There's a new program that's been launched encouraging people to live and work in the Cayman Islands, particularly working remotely for up to two years. Often called the Digital Nomad Initiative, there are similar ones that have been launched in other Caribbean islands, including Barbados, Bahamas, and Bermuda. Under the programme requirements, applicants must earn a minimum yearly income of $100,000 if applying as an individual, or $150,000 if applying with an accompanying spouse or civil partner. As of this week, 54 people who have been approved to work remotely in the Cayman Islands under the Global Citizen Concierge Program are now currently residing on the island. From date of approval, applicants will have 90 days to arrive in the Cayman Islands. So for those of you who are fantasizing about working somewhere else for a couple of years, especially after all those enforced lockdowns, this now might be your chance. The US military's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, is working on a bunch of ocean technologies that allow navigation underwater without GPS as a way to monitor what's going on underwater. In a recent DARPA podcast, John Waterston, a program manager in the agency's Strategic Technology Office, talks about his experiences as both a US Navy submariner as well as a technology developer. Waterstone himself is developing technologies to better understand, monitor, and navigate the world's oceans. One of these efforts includes developing a GPS-like system that can be used in the deep ocean. Another program Waterston is working on involves what he calls the ocean of things, comprises of thousands of floating sensors to get an unprecedentedly fine-grained understanding of what's happening in the vast ocean environment. According to Waterston, it's an immense job. 70% of the Earth's surface is water, and even with all the ships, aircraft, satellites, and all the existing sensors that we have, there's only a fraction of the overall era being sampled. The most anticipated underwater photography event of them all, the under-bathwater photographer of the year competition, is back in 2021. It's a brainchild of the team at Fourth Element. The Under Bathwater of the Year competition gives avid underwater photographers, as well as those like me who are dabbling with an underwater camera for the first time, to get their creative juices flowing. And all of this without leaving the confines of their own home. Last year, during lockdown, when this was first launched, there were some epically creative photos that honestly you wouldn't really believe they were shot in the bathtub. This year, there's five categories indoor animal behaviour, self-isolation portrait, lockdown lego, positive and negative, and zoom in. Prizes are available in all categories, as well as an overall professional winner who'll get an amazing North Cam Super Macro converter lens, although I'm not entirely sure what that is, but I'm sure all professional winners would know that. And an overall amateur winner will also win a Paralens Vacuita camera. Full details over at fourthelement.com should you wish to enter. Two men were recently kicked off a New Jersey flight for wearing a scuba mask on board to help protect against COVID. Brothers Rob and William Joseph were kicked off for flight to Florida on January 23rd because they weren't wearing the prescribed surgical masks. Instead, they wore airtight fail shields with inhale and exhale filtration systems, inspired by all those full face snorkeling masks that we've seen so much over at the beaches and dive resorts in recent years. United Airlines was unrepentant, saying that the masks they wore did not comply with the company's mask policy and create certain impediments in a variety of emergency scenarios. I suspect we're going to see more and more of this kind of creative use of diving masks, but in this case didn't go too well for these two brothers. So in case you missed it, it was Valentine's Day just this past weekend. And Subu Ocean Park in the Philippines offered a different way to celebrate Valentine's Day amid the pandemic. This past weekend, the marine themed park provided an underwater dining experience as it transformed its main tank and viewing tunnel into a restaurant. Customers got to see sea creatures gliding above them and alongside them as they enjoyed a five-course meal. The menu itself featured sustainably sourced lobster, caviar, wet ages, certified Angus beef, as well as a number of vegetarian options. In a statement, the park said a surprise live mermaid show also took place during one of their dinner courses. I don't know about you, but I'm currently on lockdown, and doing something like this would be absolutely amazing. Way more exciting than watching the four walls that Mrs. W and I ended up doing on Valentine's Day. Free Diver and co-host here on the podcast, Megan Heaney Greer, has launched a new web series called The Imperfect Conservationist. The idea behind this web series is to bring a dose of conservation empowerment. That is an understanding of how and what you can do to make a positive impact on the world around you right now. Living more sustainably does not mean that you have to do it all or even do it perfectly. In fact, exactly the opposite is true. So you can join Megan every week on YouTube and learn how you can easily bake bite-sized yet impactful conservation action into your busy day-to-day lives. Finally, got a little bit of podcast news. We're incredibly proud and honored that the D4 Podcast has been shortlisted as the best sport podcast in the 2021 Publisher Podcast Awards. We're up against some incredible talents, including some of the major publishing houses like the Bleacher Report, DC Thompson, and Arnchnant. If you followed us in season one, you'll know that all of us here on the podcast are incredibly passionate about diving and protecting the oceans. So getting this podcast launched during last year in that first lockdown was a real passion project for everyone involved. Jason, the podcast producer and co-conspirator on this, managed to persuade me back in February last year to get this project started. And the fact it's turned into one of the most popular podcasts in the diving and ocean world just blows my mind. It really is a team effort though, so a huge shout out to the fellow co-hosts helping interview some epic personalities in the diving and ocean world. Plus, to be honest, they have much better sounding voices than mine. So a big underwater high five to Lyndon Walbert, Megan Heaney Greer, Sarah Richard, and Tech Clark. That's it for the news this week. Remember, you can catch up on all the latest news and happenings around the world underwater by heading to deeperblue.com or checking us out on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. And finally, if you like what you've heard, please take a moment and tell one friend who loves diving about the podcast. We really do rely on you, our passionate listeners, to help spread the word about this podcast.

SPEAKER_06 10:10

You're listening to the world's only weekly podcast for scuba diving, free diving, dive travel, and ocean advocacy. I'm Tony Mishlayev, also known as Tones of Blue. And this is the Deeper Blue Podcast.

SPEAKER_07 10:31

Hi, this is Jay Sonyas, producer of the Deeper Blue Podcast. In today's episode, Deeper Blue co-host Lyndon Wilbert speaks with explorer, course director, and environmentalist Ernst Vanderpole. Originally from East Africa, Ernst has had an eclectic life, from being appointed personal diving instructor to the Crown Prince of Dubai to Costa Rica, where he now lives, and where he founded Connect Ocean, a corporate social responsibility management consulting firm based on social and environmental entrepreneurship. Ernst speaks openly about his first connection to the ocean, an experience that unsurprisingly led to such a dynamic life, and which ultimately led to a moving experience with giant mentories.

SPEAKER_01 11:10

Ernst, I'm so curious, how did you initially discover how much you love the ocean?

SPEAKER_05 11:16

So for me, it was definitely a pivoting moment when I was sitting in an algebra class in a little town called Port Edward. I had a very inspiring teacher. Her name was Mrs. Helen Swanepool. She was busy explaining to us a math problem on the board. But out of the corner of my eye, I saw a big water spout coming out of the ocean. So our classroom was very close to the ocean. You know, we were literally about 200 yards from it, kind of elevated up on the hill. And pretty soon all the kids inside the classroom were watching out the window. So it was a southern right whale that came right into the bay in front of the school, and she was giving birth to a baby whale. Now, the most fascinating thing about it, there was an entire pot of dolphins that kind of looked like they encircled the southern right whale completely, like they were trying to protect it. Now, our teacher gave me one of the most important lessons. He said, Kids, I can see you not paying attention to what's going on in this board. So I'm going to teach you one of the most important lessons of your life. We learn from nature, nature's everywhere. Everything that you're going to be learning within the four walls of this classroom, you'll probably forget. But he says, everything that you learn outside of this classroom, you'll remember the rest of your life. With that saying, we packed up our books and we went across the road down to the beach, and I saw this amazing whale right in front of us. You know, and that was my first connection to the ocean.

SPEAKER_01 12:40

Wow. And this led you into this incredible life of travel and exploration. And can you tell me just a little bit more about Connect Ocean and how you founded that?

SPEAKER_05 12:52

So Connect Ocean, as our name aptly says, connects people to the ocean. And we believe, you know, the ocean is for everybody. And for us to truly make a difference on this planet, there needs to be a paradigm shift in actually helping people to understand how important the ocean is. We can do it exponentially better by teaching them how to swim. And we have learned to swim programs that lead into ocean literacy courses and an ocean explorer programs. And it all is based around marine learning and hands-on community type learning that teaches people about the interconnectedness of their lives to the ocean.

SPEAKER_01 13:25

Amazing. Erin, you've been so many places around the world and on over 10,000 dives. Take us on a dive with you where you had a profound moment in the underwater realm.

SPEAKER_05 13:40

One of the things is encountering oceanic manta rays that we get over here in Las Catalinas, the island that we dive on on a daily basis. We are the Manta Trust representatives out here in Central America, and one of the biggest experiences that I had was encountering a seven-meter manta that came and circled us and stayed with us for the entire dive. They have the largest brain compared to their body size of any fish in the world. So the same ratio as mammals, super intelligent. It was a very humbling experience because of its sheer size. And knowing that these animals are now on the sight's endangered list, you know, knowing there's not that many of them around, it truly, truly makes you feel small in their presence. They're very majestic. And it is a life-changing experience seeing one of these animals so close.

SPEAKER_00 14:48

Hi, this is Paul DeGelda. Oh shit, tagline number one. Hi, I'm Paul DeGelda from Discovery Channel Shark Week. And you're listening to the best 30 minutes about diving, the deeper blue podcast.

SPEAKER_05 15:14

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_04 15:17

Okay, so Jason, season two of the Deep Blue Podcast is brought to you by Suntor.

SPEAKER_07 15:24

Suntor.

SPEAKER_04 15:25

Today we want to have a quick chat about these dive computers look damn good, I have to say, these days. They're not these big clunky massive wall clock strapped to your arm wrist type thing that I used to remember diving 25 years ago with. These are really nice. And uh the the D5 Copper, which I think comes out, came out yesterday, right? From the 15th of February. Yep. So it came out yesterday. This is one really nice looking piece of equipment.

SPEAKER_07 15:54

Well, that's important to me because uh obviously, as you know, I'm an extremely good-looking man. And so when I go diving, what I like nothing more is to walk out of the water and straight to the back rat table. You've been doing quite while I I said that I was very good looking. You didn't respond.

SPEAKER_04 16:11

So professional journalist here, Jason. It's always always good about listening to what people say. So the the good thing is I do remember in season one, you referred to yourself as a piece of flotsam. So you you've upgraded yourself to Daniel Craig, James Bond, 007.

SPEAKER_07 16:26

Uh you're gonna have to work on Gilnery.

SPEAKER_04 16:28

We're gonna have to work on both your British and French accents for that to work, I'm afraid.

SPEAKER_07 16:33

Well, I did I did say I was a piece of flotsam. I'm like a piece of seaweed wrapped around dead wood floating in the in the surge. So that's my that's more of my dive technique.

SPEAKER_04 16:43

Okay. Well, at least you can look good whilst doing it with a D5 copper strapped to your wrist, right?

SPEAKER_07 16:48

There is something to be said. You know, there's a lot of smartphones and smart watches out there. There is something nice about identifying with an adventure watch like Cinto, like a dive watch. There's something about having that on your wrist that kind of keeps you connected to the ocean in a way when you're not there. I really do like that.

SPEAKER_04 17:06

And I think one final thing I'd say on this point is there's been numerous times where I've looked over and seen someone wearing a dive computer smartwatch like the Cinto D5, and give that knowing look, yeah, that wink and a knowing look, and then you start up conversation about diving because you know that they're a diver.

SPEAKER_07 17:21

On that note, yeah, thank you for sponsoring Cinto.

SPEAKER_04 17:24

Thanks, Cinto.

SPEAKER_07 17:30

Today's top tip comes from Alex Finden, celebrated underwater cinematographer and co-founder, COO, and head of content for mammals.com.

SPEAKER_03 17:40

So, my top tip as a underwater cinematographer is to hold the camera steady. It's a tip that I stole from Howard Hall. It's the best advice I've ever received as an underwater cinematographer, and it is the thing that separates amateurs from professionals. If you can hold the camera steady, your footage will elevate to that next level. And there are multiple ways to do this. Of course, one is hone in your scuba diving capabilities so that you can be as still as possible in the water. The other is to add resistance to your rig. So depending on what you're using, whether it's a GoPro or a full-size gates housing with a red epic inside, you need to have some arms sticking out in some way that resist movement in the water. And that is the easiest way to make sure that you aren't going to have any dramatic tilts or pans that are unwarranted in your footage.

SPEAKER_04 18:45

Finally, every episode we share a story from you, the dive community, where we ask you to tell us about your best dive ever.

SPEAKER_02 18:53

My name is Brett Stanley, and I'm currently in Los Angeles. And my favorite dive ever was in Tonga in the South Pacific. And we were diving in a canyon off the side of a reef, and we could hear the humpback whales singing around us. And as an underwater photographer, I was too busy taking pictures of the fish and the coral, and I heard lots of screaming behind me. And I looked up and I saw coming up the canyon over the top of us, maybe two or three meters above us, two large humpback whales rolling over each other, coming through our bubbles and and basically buzzing our dive party. It was incredible. My trigger finger on the camera was just going crazy. It was etched in my mind forever. Just the beauty of these animals and being able to be in the water with them and just experience that. It was it was pretty awesome.

SPEAKER_04 19:49

We'd love to hear your story about diving. So at the end of the show, you'll find out all the info you need to submit your best dive ever. Thanks for listening to the Deeper Blue Podcast. Find out more on all the stories you've heard this week, plus connect to the world's largest online dive community at deeperblue.com. And if you like what you've heard, please subscribe, like, and comment wherever you hear your podcasts. These comments and subscribes really make a difference. The DeeperBlue Podcast is brought to you by Sunto, Finnish Engineering, pioneering adventure from mountaintop to ocean floor since 1936. Sunto. Before we go, I want to give a big shout out to Jason Elias, our producer. In case you didn't know, he has an amazing podcast about people who have a deep connection to our world's oceans. Connections strong enough that they've dedicated some part of their lives to being in or working on behalf of the water. Take a listen when you get a moment to Jason's show, the Big Deep Podcast. Every week, we want to hear your stories and share them with the world. So please record and send in your short story of your best dive ever. Keep it brief, no longer than two minutes, please. And in it, tell us your name and location, where you were on the dive, what happened that make it so great, and why it's meant so much to you. You can get that over to us at bestdiveever at deeperblue.com or head to our website podcast.deeperblue.com forward slash best dive ever. Join us again next week and explore much more of the deeper blue.