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Vance's Personal Dive Log for the year 2003

Vance Stevens, P.A.D.I. Open Water SCUBA Instructor #64181

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Vance and Friend off Lima Rock, Musandam, Oman, June 13, 2003 (Dusty at lower left) - picture credit: Edvard Osterberg

In Dec 2006 freelance writers Sujata Devadas and Diane Miller did an article for Friday magazine (a weekly glossy published by Gulf News) about my diving experiences in UAE which was supposed to feature the picture of the whaleshark above. I was asked to write a paragraph on its significance to me. I wrote:

Divers have a unique ability to observe a part of the world that lies unseen by most people, and only a few among divers are privileged to observe creatures so stunning as a whale shark, or to catch a glimpse of a shark or devil ray. From their perspective, divers tend to be vitally concerned about the environment, and about impacts on the environment that threaten nature below the water. In my 40 years of diving, I find that encounters with remarkable animals have become increasingly rare near places where people encroach. Photos and first-hand reports from beneath the sea should serve to heighten people’s awareness of the beauty of the world all around them, including the parts that they can’t always see, and how tragic it is to damage the unseen world through thoughtless development or waste disposal.

When the article appeared on Friday Dec 29 I was well taken aback by what the editors published claiming to be my words from my mouth. They fabricated their own impression of what the experience must have been like, which was completely different to my account of the experience. They ignored my statements which they could easily have used, in the interest of both accuracy and integrity, and attributed instead their choice of words - more importantly ideas and concepts - to me. What they wrote is not worth repeating here, but having someone else not me pose as me in print made me appear foolish to the degree that he, she, or they were unprofessional, and prompted me to post the following disclaimer prominently on my web site:

On Friday Dec 29, 2006 an article about my diving experiences appeared in the FRIDAY magazine of the Gulf News in Abu Dhabi and throughout the UAE. This notice is a disclaimer of so-called quotes attributed to me in this article. . Many of the statements attributed to me in the Gulf News regarding my impressions of the event are spurious; specifically the quote under my picture and the last three paragraphs here: http://www.gulfnews.com/friday/People/10092703.html. Whereas we appreciate Friday Magazine's efforts to focus on and coalesce the community, readers should be aware that this magazine indulges in fiction, not professional-standard journalism. I have reproduced the article showing which parts were fabricated here. I hope this information will assist others contemplating becoming subjects for articles in Friday Magazine.