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2024 Second Quarter

Malpelo
Features

Text and photos by Brandon Cole

Most fans of big animal action are familiar with the legendary Galápagos, Cocos, and Socorro dive destinations. All are remote and remarkable. Far fewer people know of — let alone have dived — another open-ocean oasis in the eastern tropical Pacific region: Isla Malpelo.

Diving with a PFO
Safety 101

By Douglas Ebersole, MD

To clear up any confusion divers may have about patent foramen ovale (PFO), I will share how I explain the condition to patients. The heart has four chambers: two on the top (right and left atria) and two on the bottom (right and left ventricles). As our heart is forming before we are born, the wall between the two bottom chambers is solid, but the wall between the two top chambers is not.

Pieter-Jan van Ooij
Researcher Profile

By Madeline Coombs and Frauke Tillmans, PhD

Pieter-Jan van Ooij, MD, PhD, is the head of the Department of Research, Innovation, and Education at the Royal Netherlands Navy’s Diving Medical Centre (DMC).