About 1,000 people are feared dead on the Indonesian island of Nias after a massive underwater earthquake. Confusion surrounds the exact figure, ranging between 200 and 2,000, but the disaster centre for Aceh and North Sumatra said the number was 1,000.

Most of the deaths are believed to have been caused by collapsing buildings following an earthquake measuring 8.7 magnitude. Despite one report of a 10 foot wave hitting Simeulue near Nia, the thunderous waves that struck the Indian Ocean rim on Boxing Day failed to emerge.

Nias, off Sumatra, was nearest the epicentre of the earthquake. Tsunami warnings were issued in the region last night - unlike the morning of December 26 when about 300,000 people died. Tens of thousands of people, especially in Indonesia, fled to the mountains last night with memories of Boxing Day causing panic.

The governor of North Sumatra province, on the main island opposite Nias, said relief efforts had been hampered by bad weather. Visibility is only 400 metres. No helicopter or fixed-wing flights had yet made it to the island. Oxfam aid agency managed to get a small group of workers on to the island by helicopter this morning.

Alessandra Boas, a member of the team, said: "The devastation is obvious as soon as you land. Many of the houses here have collapsed, but it's still too early for us to get a sense of the full scale of this."

British tourists were carrying on with their Indian Ocean resort holidays and UK tour operators were continuing trips to the region. Association of British Travel Agents spokesman Keith Betton said: "UK holidaymakers were moved away from their hotels and taken to higher land but were able to return later.

Early tsunami warnings had been sent out by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii and distributed across the region.

Police, soldiers, monks, fishermen and ordinary residents of coastal areas across the Indian Ocean used megaphones, radio, telephones and temple bells to warn of the possibility of another tsunami. Beach-front roads in major resort areas - where tourist numbers are still well down on last year - were clogged with traffic as residents and holidaymakers jumped in any available transport to evacuate to higher ground.

South African shark experts are considering legal action against foreign media over "sensational" coverage of an attack by a Great White during a shark-diving excursion.

Mariette Hopley, chairperson of the Great White Shark Protection Foundation, lashed out on Tuesday against media reports on an apparent attack on a diver in a cage off Hermanus.

Mark Currie of Cumbria, England, made news this week when he told of his narrow escape near Hermanus when a shark bit at a steel cage in which he was diving.

A video of the incident was screened on British and American TV. According to reports, Currie narrowly escaped death after the shark suddenly attacked the cage. Hopley said the video footage showed the bait, thrown for the shark, floating past the cage.

"According to guidelines we have to follow, we are not allowed to feed the sharks.

"The bait is immediately pulled back into the boat if a shark goes for it.

'These are all lies'

"In this instance, the shark bit one of the rails. It happened twice more and when he realised it was not food he swam away."

Hopley said reports that someone on the boat had scared off a shark with a steel pole were incorrect.

"These are all lies. We are considering legal action against the media that first spread the stories."

She said this is not the first time something like this had happened during an excursion.

"One mustn't lose track of the fact that shark diving is an adrenalin sport.

This incident was simply a common action-packed day on such an excursion. We put the safety of clients and sharks high on our priorities list."

But, Currie said he definitely would dive with sharks again. Hopley had been reacting to the reports only a day after British tourist Chris Sullivan was bitten by a shark on his calf while surfing off Noordhoek Beach. Sullivan was admitted to Constantiaberg Medi-Clinic.

Hopley said it was a pity a shark had bitten a tourist to South Africa. It was unfair, however, to blame the incident on shark-diving operators as the closest one to Noordhoek was on the other side of the peninsula, she said.

A Florida shark fisherman was fined $18,000 for cutting the fins off sharks and discarding the carcasses, an illegal practice called shark-finning, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Monday.

Bruce A. Stiller, owner and operator of the Miss Sharon, based in Palm City, was discovered in possession of 15 sets of shark fins without the accompanying carcasses, according to a news release from the agency, which enforces federal fishing laws.

Shark fins have become extraordinarily valuable because of the demand in China and other Asian countries, where shark-fin soup can cost more than $100 a bowl. As a result of severe fishing pressure around the world, shark populations have dropped sharply over the past 20 years.

Several fishing boats work the waters between Savannah, Ga., and West Palm Beach, using gillnets to catch sharks, primarily for the Asian market.

Because the fins are by far the most valuable part of the shark, many fishermen prefer to cut them off and toss the shark back into the water, often alive, where it slowly dies. The United States banned shark-finning in 2000, and many other countries have done the same.

During an inspection of Stiller's boat, federal and state fishing enforcement officers found a satchel of wet shark fins in a forward compartment, according to the news release. When questioned, Stiller claimed to be unaware of the shark fins. An inventory of shark fins and carcasses determined that about 15 carcasses had been illegally dumped overboard.

Sonja Fordham, international conservation manager for the Ocean Conservancy, an environmental group, said the federal government is working hard to enforce the law against finning.

"They seem to be taking these rules seriously," she said. "I think it's an important action, and we hope it will be a deterrent."

The shark captured on DVD by Mark Currie, has been catapulted into the media spotlight after he survived an attack in South Africa. However many people have said that the South African shark diving operators are at fault and the media have sensationalized the event.

Mark Currie said he has netted a small fortune after the national newspapers got their teeth into his story, he revealed in the Evening Mail on Monday.

Mark Currie, 32, was on a tourist excursion in South Africa when his cage was attacked by a great white shark. He was inside a metal viewing cage dangling in the water when the 18ft creature became very aggressive towards the cage. The shark bit the cage buoys which caused the cage to list and begin to sink.

The two-tonne shark forced its head further into the cage and attempted to sink the cage with Mark Currie inside. The tourist then managed to scramble on board the boat to which the cage was attached.

Mr Currie said: “The story was on the front page of The Sun, for which I got £10,000, and it’s been in a lot more papers.

“It is amazing, When I told the tale to a friend in the King Alfred pub in Walney I did not realise it would lead to this.”

In New South Wales Australia a man has told of his escape from a four-metre great white shark off the state's central coast.

Chris Parker, a father of two of Bateau Bay, said yesterday he was 60 metres from shore and paddling for a wave when the shark, twice the length of his board, hit him from behind and catapulted him into the water.

"I saw its head, its dorsal fin and its tail," he said. "I managed to get back on my board and then saw how far I was from shore, and I thought I was gone, for sure.

"But I just kept paddling. I kept waiting for it to hit me, but I didn't look back. It was the biggest fish I'd ever seen."

Mr Parker's encounter was at least the fifth between a man and a shark in Australian waters this summer.

Last Saturday, Geoffrey Brazier, 26, was killed by a shark while snorkelling in Western Australia. On January 14 a three-metre shark frightened a children's regatta on the Mornington Peninsula.

On December 16, Nick Peterson, 18, was killed by two great whites while riding a surfboard being towed behind a boat off West Beach in Adelaide.

"However, the report has pointed out that the tsunami had unfortunately retarded the promising re-growth of our coral gardens after the 1998 El Nino bleaching incident," Gayoom added.

Award-winning dive specialist Regaldive has launched its latest learn to dive offer to encourage families to take the plunge this Summer. With the new Learn to Dive Family Pack, families who book two PADI Open Water courses can get a third Open Water course for their child free of charge. A second child can also learn to dive for just £30. Diving is something that can be enjoyed by the whole family and with this new, great value Regaldive Learn to Dive Family Pack a family of four can save up to £380 on learning to dive.

The Learn to Dive Family Pack is available at the superb family-friendly resort of El Gouna in the Red Sea. El Gouna was recently featured on the UK’s most popular TV travel show and is a beautiful, self-contained resort situated just 30 minutes drive from Hurghada. Superb hotels coupled with excellent access to the best of the Northern Red Sea dive sites make El Gouna a great holiday destination. Built on 10 km of beach and spread across a myriad of islands interlinked by lagoons, El Gouna boasts a unique cosmopolitan style.

For divers, the Northern Red Sea features around 40 dive sites including a number of well-known wrecks such as the Giannis D, the Carnatic and the Thistlegorm, with wild dolphins regularly accompanying day boats to and from dive sites. Spectacular coral gardens such as Abu Galawa and Sha’ab el Erg are ideal for less experienced divers, while drift and wall dives at Umm Gamar and Blind Reef offer a greater challenge.

And for those non-diving days, El Gouna offers a host of activities including an 18-hole PGA rated golf course, horse riding, glass-bottom boat trips, a go-kart track, desert safaris by camel and quad biking. A range of accommodation options is available in El Gouna to suit all tastes and budgets and family rooms can also be arranged on request.

The Learn to Dive Family Pack is valid on complete packages booked directly with Regaldive in advance for departures on or between 3rd June – 2nd September 2005, subject to availability, and is valid for new bookings only. Children need to be at least 10 years of age to take the PADI Open Water course. To find out more, visit www.regaldive.co.uk.

Reef authority sinks pontoon plan

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority has knocked back a proposal for a tourist pontoon on a reef in far north Queensland.

"It's not a matter of one group being more important than the other it's the impact that the proposal would have," he said.

Nearly two-thirds of Caribbean coral reefs are currently under threat from human activities, a report by scientists at the World Resources Institute (WRI) has revealed.

Using geographic information system (GIS) data to determine reef degradation, the report studied an area of around 10,000 square miles covering the entire Caribbean reef system.

Developments such as sewage discharge, water-based sediment and pollution coming from farms, marine-based pollution from sources such as cruise ships, and over-fishing were primarily taken into account, though natural phenomena such as hurricanes were also considered.

"We estimate that many of the region's reefs are threatened from direct human pressures, such as over-fishing, runoff of pollution and sediments from the land," lead author of Reefs at risk in the Caribbean Lauretta Burke stated.

"And the overreaching threats of coral bleaching from warming oceans, coral disease from new pathogens and ravages of increased hurricane frequency are additional threats that put even more reefs at risk."

The report also showed that the Caribbean's natural reefs provided shoreline protection from extreme weather by dissipating wave and storm energy, saving between US $700 million and US $2.2 billion every year.

Dive tourism also generates around US $2.1 billion for the region each year, but WRI warned that reef degradation could cause this to be cut by around US $300 million annually by 2015 if nothing was done to preserve the coral.

Filmmaker Jean-Michel Cousteau said in support of the report: "Human activity has undermined the health and vitality of reefs. The coral reefs I observed in the 1940s are totally different today, and sadly, none of those changes are for the better."

The WRI's Reefs at Risk Index has been used to measure threats in Southeast Asia, the centre of global marine diversity, but this is the first time it has been applied to the Caribbean or used in an area that is heavily dependent on tourism for its revenue.

"We have only rated 64% of the Caribbean's tropical coral reefs as threatened, compared to 88% of those in SouthEast Asia," Mr Burke said. "However, the threat of disease, which is not included in the model, is far greater in the Caribbean."

Because of their incomparable beauty, coral reefs long have been popular tourist destinations. A report at the end of last year by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network found that 20 percent of the world's coral reefs have been effectively destroyed and show no immediate signs of recovery.

The report also said that more than 500 million people relied on coral reefs for food, coastal protection and tourism income.

Among the threats to the reefs are rising sea temperatures caused by global changes. This results in a "bleaching" of the coral and can cause irreparable damage, but direct human pressures are equally disturbing. advertisement

Overfishing and destructive fishing (using explosives and cyanide) are major threats. Sedimentation from pollution and coastal development are further dangers to reefs.

"While it's true that rising water temperatures are a big threat, you can give the coral reefs the best bet at survival by trying to remove all of these human pressures," said Helen Fox, a marine-conservation scientist for the World Wildlife Fund.

Last summer, the Australian government temporarily or permanently closed to all fishing 33 percent of Great Barrier Reef (42,000 square miles, about the size of Pennsylvania) to protect fish stocks and natural habitats.

The report said that the many Caribbean reefs have seen up to an 80 percent decline in coral-reef cover, and that the marine life and vegetation that scuba divers and snorklers see today pales in comparison to what they saw in the past.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium's great white shark was involved in another altercation last week.

An aquarium spokeswoman said the large shark bit a soupfin shark while they were swimming in the Outer Bay Exhibit.

The incident is the second in 12 days for the great white, which has been in captivity for a little more than six months and faces a return to the open sea if it is deemed too aggressive.

Spokeswoman Karen Jeffries said the male soupfin shark had a 5-inch cut near its tail. It was removed from the Outer Bay and put in a separate tank, Jeffries said. It received stitches and is expected to recover, she said.

Jeffries said the great white shark is an agile female that seemingly was not attacking the other shark but bit when it was startled because the soupfin was in its path.

"The soupfin sharks are slower drifters," she said. "It didn't look like an attack. They were swimming alongside each other.... It was non-intentional."

There are no plans yet to move the great white, which has boosted attendance at the aquarium, but it will be closely monitored, Jeffries said.

The first incident last month also involved a soupfin shark that was killed by the great white.

Except for the fact that it resulted in a fatality, aquarium officials said the first incident was similar to the second in that the great white apparently attacked because the soupfin suddenly appeared in its path. In the first case, the soupfin's tail was severed.

The aquarium's white shark has been in captivity for about 180 days, longer than any other great white.

About 600 to 1000 whale sharks were estimated to be in Ningaloo's waters.

More than 45 dead porpoises - five times the usual number - have been found along the North-East coast in the past two weeks, some with 12in bites on their torso.

Decapitated seals have also been found, along with remnants of other large fish. Experts say the size of the bites and number of kills would be consistent with a large mako shark in the area. The bodies of the porpoises have been sent to the Natural History Museum, where autopsies will be carried out to establish the cause of death.

It is not unusual for mako sharks - which prefer cold water - to be found in the North Sea, but it is uncommon for one to stray close to the shoreline because they prefer deep waters. It is believed cleaner water along the North-East coast as a result of conservation schemes has caused a massive increase in the natural porpoise population, which may have attracted the shark. Zara D'Aronville, of the Blue Reef Aquarium, North Tyneside, said: 'It is possible that mako sharks are in the water, but we will not know for sure what is happening until we get the autopsy results.

'There is definitely an unusual amount of dead porpoises being washed up. Sharks are often spotted in the waters, but quite far off the coast. One could well have strayed closer to the shore looking for food and that could be the reason.' Fishermen operating off the Sunderland coast reported the increase in dead porpoises. Staff from Sunderland Lifeboat Station were called to Seaham Beach in County Durham on Friday and Saturday after reports of attacks.

They found two dead porpoises, both showing signs of an attack by a large shark.

Ron Carroll, from the station, said: 'The first porpoise had a chunk taken out the side of its head and neck. The bite mark was about 10in long.

'On Saturday, the next porpoise had been bitten on the left side of the fin and its abdomen and this was about 12in across. It is very unusual to have this amount of dead marine life being washed up on shore.'

A spokesman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: 'We would advise all those using the water, including surfers, fishermen and divers, to be especially careful and vigilant.

'There have been no reported sightings of this shark yet but we cannot rule out the possibility that one might be out there.'

The warnings come as marine biologists report growing numbers of exotic fish and marine creatures in British waters.

Global warming has pushed up water temperatures, resulting in regular sightings of the smooth hammerhead shark, which is not dangerous to humans. The once rarely- seen red mullet, black bream and cuttlefish are now being caught in fishermen's nets as far north as the Isle of Man.

Japanese and Portuguese oysters - previously imported into Britain but unable to live in the cold water - have started to breed in British waters, as have the compass jellyfish and leathery sea squirt, which is originally from the Pacific.

Two new surveys of Thailand's coral reefs show the impact of the Asian tsunami was highly varied, but with most damage identified within the country's national marine parks. Some of the world's most diverse coral reef ecosystems are found in Thailand within a 12,000 square kilometre block, including a 200km stretch of the Andaman coast from Ranong to northern Phuket and extending 60km out to sea to include the Similan Islands, the Surin Islands, and Phra Thong Island. Some 600 species of coral reef fish, as well as four species of endangered marine turtles and many other marine species, are found within this area.

"As tourism in the Andaman Sea relies on healthy marine ecosystems, such as coral reefs, an important first step is to assess the actual damage to the reefs caused by the Tsunami and decide what action needs to be taken as a response" said Robert Mather, Director of WWF Thailand's Programme Office.

An initial coral reef assessment conducted by local dive operators near Phuket, and within the Surin and Similar archipelago, showed that out 70 sites, 13 were found to have suffered heavy damage. Another survey of 174 sites coordinated by Thailand's Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) showed that 13 per cent were highly impacted.

"The 13 per cent of coral reefs which suffered high impact - over 50 per cent damage - were concentrated in some of the country's well known dive sites, including in the Surin and Phi Phi Islands," Mather said. "Damage to the Thailand's coral reefs showed no obvious pattern, but as one might expect, exposed shallow fringing reefs and coral with delicate structures suffered most."

Fish and other marine life appear to have not been as affected as the coral reefs, although many bottom-dwelling marine organisms have disappeared. According to another DMCR survey, approximately 70 per cent of a total of 80 square kilometres of sea grass beds along the Andaman coast revealed generally less than five per cent damage.

Experts believe that overall damage caused by the Tsunami was actually quite small. In fact, many of the coral reefs in Thailand's Andaman Sea were already significantly damaged before the December 26th tragedy struck Southeast Asia, which by some estimates killed up to 300,000 people. In Thailand, over 5,000 people died, many of them foreign tourists vacationing on the popular beaches of Phuket, Khao Lak, and Phi Phi Island. Among the fatalities were three Marine National Park rangers, as well as two local people working on the Naucrates Turtle Conservation project on Phra Thong Island. All twelve of Thailand's Marine National Parks on the Andaman coast were closed.

"Pollution, global warming, habitat destruction, and over fishing these insidious dangers are the real issues that need to be addressed so as to maintain the health of the reef ecosystems that so many local livelihoods in both the tourism and fisheries sectors depend on," Mather said.

"It is important to consider not only the need to rehabilitate the damage caused by the Tsunami, but more importantly, to consider the overall needs for improving coral reef management in Thailand."

WWF is calling on Thailand's Department of Marine and Coastal Resources to follow through with plans to conduct more detailed assessments of severely impacted reefs, and to conduct long-term monitoring of recovery. The global conservation organization is also urging dive operators and individual divers adhere to codes of conduct for "best practice" standards, prevent illegal trade in souvenirs and other marine species products, report any illegal activities in marine parks, and support the call for appropriate legal and policy reform (including the establishment of Marine Park Management Boards) to improve coral reef protection and management.

Surin Islands:

Some of the shallow hard coral fringe reefs show damage around Ao Chong Kad. Sites in the deep straits between Ao Pak Kaad and Torinla Island suffered the most extensive damage, with Ao Pak Kaad and the shallow corals of Torinla Island suffering medium levels of impact. In the Surin Marine Protected, the biggest coral reef colony at Laem Mae Yai was partly damaged but still in relatively good condition. Reef fish monitoring shows continued high diversity and abundance. There is also a high diversity of reef crabs and shrimps.

Similan Islands:

Damage appears to be limited to the shallow part of some fringe reefs. A few of the rock formations had soft coral removed by the tsunami current. Highly popular dive sites such as Fantasea Reef, Sunset Point at Similan Island 4, Deep Six, West of Eden and Pusa Rock at Similan Island 7, North Point and Breakfast Bent at Similan Island 9 are in fine shape. However, the China Wall site on the south-east of Similan 4 and Snapper Alley on Similan 9 suffered the worst damage.

Ko Tachai:

Some damage was reported in the shallows. Twin Peaks is undamaged.

Ko Bon:

Minimal damage to The Ridge.

Shark Point and Hin Daeng:

Unaffected.

Richelieu Rock:

No damage, but the strong current moved some of the rubble at the base of the rock.

The Burma Banks:

No damage.

UK's sea fish in peril

A new assessment of the country's oceans indicates that fishing and climate change are beginning to have an adverse effect on marine life.

Much of the open sea is not affected by pollution, and levels of some contaminants are starting to decrease, according to the report.

But in many areas fishing, industrial activities, pollution and the invasion of non-native species seem to be having an effect.

The report finds that rising sea temperatures and climate change appear to be blame for these changes.

The extent to which this mixed evidence is having an effect is not fully clear.

Existing monitoring programmes are inadequate to assess the status of some elements of the marine ecosystem - so a new series of 'indicators' will be developed to provide more conclusive data.

Environment Minister Elliot Morley said: "What I can say with some certainty is that we are having an adverse effect on our marine life and climate change is clearly evident in our seas."

Shark shootout

Join Stuart Cove's Dive Bahamas and Scuba Diving magazine for the annual Great Bahamas Shark Shootout, hosted by Scuba Diving's Stephen Frink and Stuart Cove's resident photo pro Claudia Pellarini.

The Shark Shootout is a weeklong event scheduled for Nov. 5-12, 2005, that focuses on capturing a single photo subject—sharks. A Shark Shootout package includes seven nights' accommodations at the Wyndham Nassau Resort and Casino on Cable Beach, six days' diving on a boat reserved exclusively for event participants, Stuart Cove's Shark Awareness specialty certification, group transfers between the dive shop and hotel, a welcome breakfast, a farewell dinner at the Atlantis Marketplace restaurant, round-trip airport transfers and personal photo coaching.

To book your space and view images from last year's event, log on to www.sharkshootout.com.

Win a dive holiday to Bonaire worth more than £2000!

Award-winning dive specialist Regaldive is teaming up with Bonaire’s popular Buddy Dive Resort to offer a week’s diving holiday for two on this diver's paradise island.

Famed for its fantastic shore diving, crystal clear waters and prolific marine life, Bonaire is known as the 'home of diving freedom.' In recent years it has started to gain a dedicated following from British divers - and now one lucky winner and their buddy will get the chance to sample it for free.

The lucky winner will receive return flights (from Heathrow, Birmingham, Manchester or City airports) with KLM via Amsterdam for two people, transfers, seven nights room-only accommodation at Buddy Dive Resort and six days unlimited air, tanks and weights, PLUS six boat dives!
Bonaire is widely recognised as one of the Caribbean's premier diving destinations. With over 90 sites, the majority of which are accessible from the shore, this beautiful island is one of those rare dive destinations that appeals to divers of all levels. Bonaire is also ideal for snorkellers and non-divers who just want to soak up the relaxed atmosphere or take advantage of the wealth of other active sports available on the island.

Buddy Dive Resort is located just North of the capital, Kralendijk and is one of Bonaire’s most popular accommodations. This small, friendly oceanfront resort is extremely well managed and positive feedback and regular repeat bookings make ‘Buddy’ a firm favourite with Regaldive’s guests. Divers clearly appreciate easy twenty-four hour access onto their excellent house reef and the ease of having the PADI 5 star Gold Palm dive centre on site. To enter this free prize draw and be in with a chance of winning this great prize, log onto www.regaldive.co.uk. You can also enter at the London International Dive Show on 5th and 6th March 2005. Come and see Regaldive at stand no. 500 or Buddy Dive Resort at stand no. 914 to pick up your entry form. The closing date for entries is 31st May 2005.

Red Sea regulators alter new rules

The Egyptian authorities have made alterations to new regulations affecting dive boat operators and divers in the Red Sea.

• Divers, on liveaboards or dayboats, should present medical certification of fitness to dive, issued within the past year. The complaint was that this was contrary to the system of self-declaration forms accepted by many operators and dive organisations.
• Complaints were also received over a rule that all liveaboard divers should have logged at least 50 dives. This rule only applied to diving in marine parks, such as the Brothers, Zabargad, Daedalus and Rocky Island.

A US entrepreneur is planning to build a hotel 50 feet below sea level off Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas, in a project worth US$40 million.

To date, there is only one such underwater hotel in existence, a small refitted marine lab located in murky waters off the coast of Key Largo, Florida, the Jules Undersea Lodge.

But unlike that one, guests at the Poseidon will not need to don scuba gear to dive to their rooms, but rather the hotel will be connected to the mainland through two tunnels and an escalator, and rooms will be maintained at above-surface pressure.

"I think there's a tremendous number of people who would be interested, including anyone who is looking for a different experience," said entrepreneur Bruce Jones.

The hotel will have its own restaurant, a bar and 20 large suites with transparent acrylic walls facing coral gardens that can be lit up at night. Guests can expect to see a large variety of tropical fish, tuna and turtles, and even sharks from the comfort of their rooms, or even from their private Jacuzzis, said Mr Jones.

There will be controls in each room that guests can use to adjust the lighting of the underwater worlds outside their windows and to release food for fish swimming just outside.

"They will enjoy five-star luxury accommodation, all with stunning views of the underwater world," said the Florida-based entrepreneur.

He said he is currently signing on the last of the investors. Mr Jones spent 17 years designing, refitting and selling submarines, and said he is confident the planned resort will become reality, probably sometime in 2006, even though a number of similar projects have foundered in the past.

A separate undersea project is planned for off Dubai, the 220-suite Hydropolis resort. However Mr Jones said Hydropolis' planned tariff of US$500 per night is unrealistic, with Poseidon guests to be charged three times that amount.

"It's an economic reality. We couldn't do it and make a profit for less," he said.

He said there is a tremendous amount of interest in the subsea world, and that such a move would in fact help protect underwater environments. "By doing this we can entertain people, but also educate people and promote environmental stewardship," he said. "Only in really experiencing what it's like underwater can you really motivate somebody to protect the natural resources of the sea."

Dive Worldwide have announced their first ever festival of marine life that is to be held in Zanzibar on the 18th to the 27th November 2005.

The oceanic East coast of Zanzibar still offers the unique opportunity of diving in a world that is essentially untouched. Dive Worldwide have teamed up with Paul Shepherd who has spent many years in Africa and he discovered many of the sites in the area. He has many years of experience teaching and exploring from the Breezes Beach Resort.

Whether you are a beginner, novice or experienced diver there are plenty of activities and diving for everyone. A host of experts are to attend so you can discover and learn about the marine environment, these include:

Lawson Wood - leading underwater photographer and the author of over 50 books on the marine environment.

Dr Alexander Mustard - marine biologist at the Southampton Oceanography centre and award winning underwater photographer.

Alan James - Underwater photographer.

Catharine Muir - East-African-based biologist.

John McIntyre - BBC correspondent, videographer and underwater photographer.

Heather Hammond - Award winning photographer and digital editing specialist.

The Festival of Marine life will be supporting the Born Free Foundation and its important turtle research.

For more information visit the site here.

Zambezi sharks under threat at Protea Banks

Sharklife.co.za has been fighting an ongoing for the protection of the Zambezi shark on Protea Banks but has been informed that a fishing charter is still trophy fishing for these sharks.

Sabah Parks Director Datuk Lamri Ali said chemical effluents from washing detergents and soap were noted to have caused an impact on the corals and bivalves such as sea snails.

He said the process of using underground water from a well also resulted in salt water rising, thus, destroying vegetation and plant life found in Sipadan over the long run.

He said Sabah Parks had taken steps to prevent further degradation as well as rehabilitate the island so that birds and marine life such as seagulls and turtles would return.

"In a few months, a joint in-depth study by Sabah Parks, UKM and several environmentally-related (government) departments will be conducted (concerning Sipadan)," he said.

He said a main plan on conservation management, rehabilitation management and tourism activity management would be carried out to prevent overlapping of interest.

"Based on study results and main plan, we will forward our request to turn the Marine Park to be listed as a World Heritage Site," he said.

Lamri noted that the resort owners had been given until end of this month to tear down all remaining structures in Sipadan. He said some structures would be temporarily used to house Sabah Parks and security personnel stationed there.

However, it was only a temporary measure until the authorities have drawn up a master plan for a proper site to build infrastructure for the personnel.

"This is to avoid any disturbances on the sand, beach and coastal areas on the island," he said. As for the divers' convenience, a toilet facility has been reserved for their use after their diving expeditions around Sipadan waters.

The Solomon Islands is widely acknowledged as one of the world's premier scuba diving destinations, however, civil unrest and widespread degradation of coral reefs have severely crippled the nation's tourism industry.

Dive industry primed to grow from this innovative and unique computer-based training program. Comprehensive program targeted to retailers and resorts.

A new age is dawning in dive training and PADI's eLearning, computer-based dive training program is answering the call from consumers. Launching in March, PADI eLearning will provide customers with convenient dive training courses that will help eliminate time as an obstacle. Consumers will be able to take advantage of dive training anywhere, anytime, seven days a week.

PADI eLearning has been designed to meet the consumers need for convenient dive training while keeping customer relationships and profits in the hands of PADI Members. PADI Members who become eLearning Providers (PADI eRetailers and eResorts) will benefit through profit sharing and marketing support.

The eLearning system primary objective is to open the PADI System to millions more potential divers via the internet and tie them to their local PADI Dive Center or Resort. Although eLearning diver education begins on the internet, it continues and concludes with PADI Dive Centers and Resorts.

PADI's eLearning system leverages all the advantages and benefits of on line, computer based training, including student guidance, knowledge of results, flexibility and learner-based pacing. PADI Dive Centers and Resorts will benefit from expanding beyond traditional business traffic through outreach to more consumers who become customers.

See their website here: www.padi.com

News archives :

January 30th to February 27th 2005.
January 7th to January 30th 2005.
December 8th to January 7th 2004.
November 24th to December 8th 2004.
November 1st to November 24th 2004.
October 19th to October 31st 2004.
October 6th to October 19th 2004.
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