Currently down in Costa Rica for the CMS and some filming. Sharks are still extremely endangered and action must be taken now. Anyone interested in helping lend a hand to the fight against illegal fishing of sharks and shark finning please check out http://www.finfree.org and find out how you can help.
Headed off again today with Outpost Magazine to check out the amazing adventure travel spots Malaysia has to offer. White water kayaking/rafting, Scuba diving in Borneo and much more. stand by for updates along the way!
The past few weeks my good friend Rob and I have been traveling throughout the Caribbean starting in Turks and Caicos and heading south to where we are now in Barbados. Our goal, other than have the trip of a lifetime, was to try and see as much of each island we landed on above and below the water in the short time we had to do this. Our first stop was in the British Virgin Islands (BVI’s) and it was absolutely spectacular! The islands are incredible and the underwater life is abundant. The BVI’s is a sailors paradise, with hundreds of sailboats of all sorts out each day touring around the islands. But the underwater life is really what drew us there and more specifically a ship wreck that Rob has been dying to dive on since he started diving at the age of 14, the wreck of the RMS Rhone. The Rhone sank in 1867 in a hurricane and lost 123 lives, only one man survived. It was labelled as the first ever unsinkable ship and after the disaster of the Titanic, also deemed unsinkable, there has never again been a ship called unsinkable. 
We then travelled to Dominica where we saw some of the most incredible coral reef’s bursting with sea life that I have ever seen. There wasn’t a single dive that we didn’t see an incredible amount of different species anywhere from Eels to Frogfish to Seahorses and many many more. It was truly a scuba divers dream come true. To top off the time in Dominica we managed to get out on the water to spend several hours with Sperm Whales and also head up the volcanic mountains to experience lush rainforest, breathtaking waterfalls and natures hot tub, piping hot natural hot springs. It was by far one of the most amazing places I’ve ever experienced.
We have just landed in Barbados and today is our first day on the island but from our drive from the airport to where we are staying I have no doubt this place will be just as exciting and incredible as the last few. 
Yesterday I with my good friend Rob took part in a lion fish capture study with the Department of Environment and Maritime Affairs (DEMA) and Turks and Caicos Reef Fund (www.tcreef.org)in the Turks and Caicos Islands to study some different capture techniques. Lion Fish are an incredibly invasive species of fish that have managed to find there way to the Caribbean from the Indo-Pacific and are definitely doing a number on the local populations of reef life here. Culling them is one way to ensure that they don’t kill off many the indigenes species of the Caribbean. 
It’s been a long time since I’ve updated my blog. I have since been traveling the Canadian Arctic with Outpost magazine in search of what they again proved to be the elusive Narwhal and I’m currently in Sumatra for 1000 Days for the Planet TV series filming Gibbons, Orangutans, Elephants and the extremely endangered Sumatran Rhinos. There is an amazing vibe which is very present in this country between the people and the incredible wildlife and landscape.
It’s been a year to the day now since I went to Ushuaia, Terra Del Fuego, getting ready to set sail to the most remote uninhabited island in the world. We spent 33 days at sea in the SubAntarctic Ocean traveling first around Cape Horn, then on on to South Georgia Island and later onto Bouvetoya to be the first of a handful of people to climb the remote volcanic rock and glacier. It was a trip of a lifetime and one we will always remember. Stand by for info on the film which will be out shortly. 
I recently had the pleasure of an invite on a trip to the Bahamas at a place called Tiger Beach. When most people think of a beach, they are thinking white sand, girls in bikinis and guys checking them out, perhaps a man with a tray walking around selling drinks out of coconuts with umbrella’s, not here. You really have to look for the beach, it’s 30 feet underwater with no sight of land around, no umbrella drinks however. Sad, I know. But it does have something most other beaches do not, and abundance of tiger sharks and lemon sharks.
The trip was organized by a father and son team by the name of Leander. Now I consider myself close to my father, we work on motorcycles together, he’ll be rebuilding carburetors on his while I’m trying to put mine together next to him all the while making small talk but mostly just asking each other if we have any idea what piece fit’s what and “did you steal my wrench?” But these two that I met on the trip to Tiger Beach have a different kind of bonding experience. They free dive with Tiger sharks, and Lemons, and Reefs, and whatever shark they can get into the water with. It’s truly one of the best uses of father son bonding time I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing.
Wolfgang lives in Bolivia, a retired banker who spends as much time as possible living what he loves most and free diving with sharks. It is one of the most beautiful activities, graceful and silent. You can really see the connection that he has built and the pure understanding he has developed over the years for these gorgeous animals. Felix who resides in Miami with his wife and new born son seems to be born right into it, with a natural ability to be relaxed and comfortable right in the mix of a school of 50 sharks in close quarters. Most people aren’t comfortable in this mix but these two truly understand the animal that they love so much and it really shows when they are in the water with them. When most people have exited the water, dried off, downloaded the photo’s they just took and are sipping on a nice hot chocolate, Wolf and Felix and still out there until the sun is touching the horizon getting every last moment available in with the sharks.
It was truly an honor to meet them and spend time with them, there is always something to be learned from people like these.
Image by David Ulloa
Image by Will Allen
Selling two Underwater Housing KITS Camera’s and Housing.
http://montreal.fr.craigslist.ca/pho/2740765952.html
Nikon D2X and Nikon D100 Underwater KITS
Various shots, white sharks, seals, etc. Put to the music of the Sam Roberts Band, Sang Froid.
Will Allen 