Guest Speakers

A top photographer from Germany.

Over the past 35 years Helmut Debelius has been diving and taking photographs in all seas worldwide, particularly in the  Indo-Pacific region. His interest in the taxonomy of marine creatures has led  him to write articles and books of interest to scientist and layman alike. Some of his early books were 'Armoured Knights of the Sea' (1984), and the 'Marine Atlas' (1991). In addition, he has been invited to provide expert advice on marine life to the German Ministry for the Conservation of Nature and the Environment. 

Relying on his UW-ARCHIVE IKAN, from 1993 onward, he started to produce and publish a new series of books dedicated to the diver and marine enthusiast, who seeks knowledge about the marine environment and the animals that live in it. The author emphasises not only identifying the species, but also to show their interesting behaviour in short stories and additionally to remember in such stories the relationship between man and the mrine ecosystem.

Meanwhile his books  are well respected worldwide and comprise titles such as the regional guide RED SEA REEF GUIDE (1998, published in 9 languages) and, together with Rudie Kuiter, monumental worldwide volumes such as the FISH ATLAS (2006) and  the FAUNA ATLAS (2009) including more than 10.000 underwater photographs.

 One of five newly discovered seahorses, Debelius' pygmy seahorse was named after Helmut Debelius, the underwater photographer who led a successful campaign to track down this miniature Red Sea inhabitant. After initial sightings in 1993, it took over a decade to find the specimens described in a January 2009 study.

His lecture :

 WHEN THE MALE GIVES BIRTH .    The family Syngnathidae (seahorses and relatives) includes species, where the father gives birth. I will go through all genera of the family and display their amazing behaviour with outstanding uw-photography during a power point talk. I also discuss the evolutionary advantages of this rare behaviour in the underwater world. The 2. part consists of videos(DVD) and shows for example courting and mating ghostpipefishes and all existing pygmy seahorses in their natural habitat. I can top the story as I discovered the only pygmy seahorse west of south east Asia, which was even named scientifically after me, see attachment.

http://www.conchbooks.de/contents/en-us/d6.html

Dos Winkel (Nl) : Underwaterphotography

In 1984 I started diving around the island of Aruba in the Caribbean. I gave lessons there (orthopaedic medicine) to the local doctors. After the first dive, I knew my life had changed. For many years already I photographed the nature above the water, but from then immediately I decided to become an underwater photographer.
My third dive actually became my first camera dive! I had rented a Nikonos 3 and the results were extremely moderate, but I was still proud of it. My family and I were "in love" with Bonaire, the island where I did my first diving course. To make a long story short: I gave many classes in the United States and several European countries, so the best option was to live on Bonaire. We eventually bought land and built a house by the sea, so now, I could dive on my "own" house reef.
We have lived 10 years on this particular island, but then it was no longer possible to live there for professional reasons, and we went back to Belgium.
Now I have about 4000 hours spent underwater. My first publications about underwater photography appeared in 1993 in “DIVE” and “TAAUCHEN”. Later, the publications followed by hundreds in many journals worldwide, and I also became the author of many books.
In the quarter century that I now explore the underwater world, I have seen dramatic change.
I remember how beautiful Hurghada was in 1985, and look how awful it became now. I'll will show in my presentation satellite pictures of the reefs at Hurghada in 1985, and also recent ones.
In 2005 I was so disappointed by all the negative changes that I decided to do something. I closed my medical practice and retired from teaching. Now we are almost five years later, and I spend almost 100% of my time on ocean protection. With a group of enthusiastic supporters in Belgium and the Netherlands I formed an NGO, the First Sea Foundation. We focus on education in the broadest sense, but, above all teaching in primary and secondary schools, and lectures at universities.

In the book "What's wrong with fish and fish oil?" And "The Weeping Sea" I describe the plight of the oceans: over fishing, bycatch, pollution of the seas and their inhabitants, poison in fish, the fate of mangrove forests and coral reefs.