Underwater Photography, Travel, and Adventures

Photographs by Don Silcock, Vladimir Chubenko and Martin Voeller

Australia, Indonesia, PNG, the Philippines, Timor Leste, Tonga, Japan, the Americas, South Africa, the Azores … It’s little surprise that Scuba Diver ANZ Senior Travel Editor and acclaimed underwater photographer Don Silcock has so many divers asking if they will ‘carry his bags’.

Travel has all the time been an integral a part of Don’s skilled and leisure lives: ‘I had two careers: 25 years within the oil and gasoline trade, dwelling for 14 years in Libya, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

Then, I labored for an organization in Australia for 25 years that took me throughout Asia, China and India, together with being primarily based in Shanghai for 2 years. I can ask for a beer and say thanks in each language in Asia…’

Don first dived in Malta in 1978, changing into ‘certified’ with a one-day introductory course. Eventually he turned a BSAC Advanced Instructor.

Now 70 years younger with 3,500-plus dives underneath his weightbelt, Don retired from full-time work on the finish of 2019 (‘Perfect timing’, he notes, in gentle of world occasions) to focus on diving and underwater pictures.

Growing up in working-class northern England, Don was all the time fascinated by the ocean, however by no means imagined he would get to see as a lot of it as he has. Currently he has home-bases in Bali and Sydney, from which he continues to discover the underwater and topside worlds extensively.

His life above water centres on household (together with two grandkids) and motorcycling. Adventure driving has taken Don all through Vietnam, the Indian Himalayas, Tibet, Morocco, Myanmar, Australia and the US (as chronicled on his nomadicpixel.com web site.)

Don barely appears to take a seat nonetheless between adventures. On common, he logs 250-360 dives a 12 months: ‘I attempt to do a giant journey, about three weeks each two months.

Typically I dive at the very least thrice a day every journey.’ He’s made 26 visits to PNG in 25 years, persevering with to frequently develop his complete on-line ‘Complete Guide to Diving Papua New Guinea’: ‘PNG was actually the primary place I went to after transferring to Australia.

I’ve been enthralled by it ever since. I like to think about PNG as ‘our Africa’, so near Australia but so utterly totally different.’

Don’s visually luxurious web site posts and frequent journal articles permit readers to dwell vicariously via his in depth travels and enviable underwater highlights.

In addition to a eager topside curiosity in panorama pictures, he’s a flexible, world-class underwater photographer: ‘I’m besotted with massive animal, wide-angle pictures!’

On the flipside, he acknowledges that, ‘Macro, particularly wide-angle macro – is a fantastic way to show the personality and character of the amazing smaller creatures we encounter underwater.’

He recollects, ‘‘Without doubt, my best ever experience was in 2022 with El Blanco, a white southern right whale calf in Argentina where I was in the water on snorkel for five days. On the fourth day, I’d had in all probability the scariest animal encounter I’ve ever had.

A big however nonetheless immature southern proper whale calf charged my buddy and I ten to 12 instances, turning on the final minute and popping out of the water one to 2 metres above us, being actually aggressive. The boat was apprehensive however couldn’t get in between us to get us out.’

‘After that we questioned if we even ought to get within the water the following day? But we did and had a chic expertise with a uncommon white calf for over two hours.

The mom was within the background with a watching eye. In 2023, I entered a picture of the white calf and gained a class in Underwater Photographer of the Year, which is just like the Oscars for underwater pictures.’

Other highlights of Don’s adventures embody diving with oceanic mantas in Socorro, American crocodiles at Chinchorro and big salamanders.

He provides, ‘Manatees in the Crystal River and all the shark stuff I did in the Bahamas were also pretty special. And the whale heat runs in Tonga were incredible!’

Don’s equally excited by Australian diving, having made 15 pilgrimages to the good whites in South Australia and 7 visits to Whyalla’s annual cuttlefish aggregations.

He acknowledges that ‘None of this would be possible without having a wonderful wife who lets me do it – and a lot of exercise!’ (He retains bodily match by doing crossfit classes round 5 instances per week when not travelling.)

His web sites and journal articles recommend that authenticity is a elementary precept for Don. His posts are industrial free, providing sincere opinions and solely together with pictures that symbolize what he really noticed whereas current at any given vacation spot, versus cherry-picking from a group of pictures taken over time: ‘Truth and integrity are paramount for me. I don’t like all of the clickbait nonsense the web and social media have develop into. I am going out of my option to be as sincere as I can.’

‘What I basically try to do is understand and concisely explain why whatever I’ve seen and photographed is going on. That takes a variety of work. But I profit from it as my private understanding of how the oceans work has actually improved.

This deeper focus permits me to conceptualise the ‘big picture’ of all of it.’ Speak to any severe long-term diver, and their observations of that ‘big picture’ typically yield knowledgeable perceptions about ocean well being.

Don says, ‘There’s little doubt the oceans are actually confused and affected by all that’s fallacious. But nature is extremely highly effective and resilient. I’ve been capable of witness examples that give me optimism that the oceans can bounce again if we people do the suitable issues.’

He notes shark ecotourism within the Bahamas as one instance. ‘The first step in addressing problems, even those as big as the ones we are facing with the oceans, is to recognise they exist. That, in my opinion, seems to be happening.’

Don stays ever hopeful and enthusiastic about what the long run holds, for each the ocean and his private expertise of it: ‘Top of my record is an prolonged keep in Baja, Mexico to totally discover the Sea of Cortez and components of the Pacific coast.

I hope to do this subsequent April. Then there are the sperm whales in Dominica, and critter diving in Japan …’ You can hold up-to-date with lots of Don’s previous and future dive adventures at www.indopacificimages.com, and thru his common function articles within the pages of Scuba Diver’s world assortment of magazines.

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This article was initially printed in Scuba Diver ANZ #64

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