No 7 “Big & Small” March 14 2016

 Cover by Matthew Smith

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Welcome to the fresh, new SD OCEAN PLANET!

We recognise that you, our readers, are more on the move than ever and want to travel light. So we’ve downsized the magazine format, but upsized the content, with articles and features that fit in perfectly with your busy lifestyle. Whether you’re on your morning commute or on the way to your next dive destination, the new SD OCEAN PLANET is the handy little magazine to have with you!

We’ve got a year of awesome themed issues planned for you, and what better theme for this first issue than “big and small”? In our expansive central feature, “Big Animals and Little Critters”, starting on page 65, we bring you face to face with the largest and the smallest in our compilation of 20 of the planet’s most exciting dive destinations.

As well as a totally new design, the magazine includes great new sections, in addition to old favourites. Our dedicated photography section, Through The Lens, now includes the new Underwater Photographer’s Guide (page 108), this time devoted to Indonesia’s incomparable Raja Ampat – a mind-blowing destination for encounters with all creatures great and small.

And when it comes to big, it doesn’t get much bigger than the largest (and longest-running) dive expo in Asia: ADEX 2016. In this issue, we give you a full rundown of the event’s highlights, including the amazing Photo Video Speakers, the Film Festival programme, and our all-new Book Festival.

We hope you enjoy the new magazine!


John Thet (Publisher)

 

CONTENTS

14 LONG WEEKEND GETAWAY
By Connie Chan
Philippine Feast

By J. Hoon Park & Christine Lee
Jewel of Jeju

20 EAT, SLEEP, DIVE, REPEAT
By Mike Bartick
Awesome Anilao

58 ADEX FILM FESTIVAL
RACING EXTINCTION
By Ian Bongso-Seldrup
Scuba Diver Ocean Planet
talks to Shawn Heinrichs, part of the team behind Racing Extinction, the call-to-action documentary screening at ADEX Singapore 2016

GOMBESSA II
By Gil Kébaïli
Laurent Ballesta and his team unravel the mystery of Fakarava’s grouper spawning aggregation

65 FEATURE
BIG ANIMALS AND LITTLE CRITTERS
By Various Contributors
20 top destinations around the world to encounter some of the ocean’s largest and smallest animals

98 OCEANS’ 11
TINY TREASURES
By Gill McDonald
Discover 11 of the top critters from the Coral Triangle that should be on every diver’s bucket list

102 THE HANS HASS FIFTY FATHOMS AWARD
STANTON WATERMAN
By Leslie Leaney
The name Stan Waterman is recognised throughout the international diving world as one of the pioneers of underwater film and photography

108 AN UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHER’S GUIDE TO RAJA AMPAT
WAKING DREAM
By Hergen Spalink and Kerri Bingham
Everything you need to know about the fantastical underwater world of Raja Ampat

120 PHOTO CLINIC
SMALL WONDER
Laura Waters has her images scrutinised by pro photographers Joseph Tepper and Lia Barrett

128 WHERE NEXT?
WHALE OF A TIME