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Rex De Silva: Then...
... and now!
As we look to the future; for years of great diving yet to come (optimistically assuming that the Mayans erred in their math predicting an apocalyptic end in Dec 2012) we must also look back at the past and the chronicles and adventures of few great men who pioneered diving in Sri Lanka. Rex De Silva is one such a person.
In "Diving in Sri Lanka: A History", Rex De Silva hopes to preserve for posterity, a wealth of information about those heady days of diving! Here we find a fascinating narration of those days gone by; and discover the magical adventures of the pioneers such as Vicky Athukorale, Tony Buxton and the legendary diver Rodney Jonklass.
Diving in Sri Lanka: A History by Rex De Silva can be considered invaluable historical document about diving in Sri Lanka. By capturing those memories of the wonder years and also bringing together a collection of remarkable photographs; Rex De Silva has managed to create precious vault of information which otherwise would have been lost for ever!
Rex is currently working on; An Illustrated Guide to the Sharks of Sri Lanka, An Illustrated Guide to the Skates and Rays of Sri Lanka, An Illustrated History of Diving in Sri Lanka ( Some of the material is shared in Diving in Sri Lanka: A History)
Rex considers that his most important (marine and underwater) contribution has been his study of sharks in Sri Lankan waters. Twenty two of the Fifty odd species were discovered or first documented by Rex.
Inside the cathedral of light at the British Sergeant(?)
The great reefs of Vakarai
2011 was a great year for discovery! After searching for a ghost ship marked on admiralty charts (as often the location was incorrect!) we finally found the mysterious deep ship at 57 meters off the shores of Colombo. At about the same time, the Maldivian Cargo Ship which sank 5 Kilometers off Mount Lavinia in 2009, suddenly became accessible as the Navy lifted restrictions on diving this wreck. During the east coast season we conducted several expeditions to Vakarai and documented two new ship that had never been photographed before and also dived some great reefs in the same region.
The big ship in particular aroused our great interest. Intense research of its last known location, measurements of the width of hull, comparison of segment photographs of the wreck to the archival photos strongly lead us to believe that this is indeed the British Sergeant that was sunk by the Japanese on the 9th of April 1942 along with the H.M.S Hermes, the worlds first purpose built Air Craft Carrier and fleet of other ships.
.... 
Above: The new Medhufaru and the deep ship B2633
Read all about it in our 2011 Report!
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