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Lodge Scuba Babes calendar! Lodge scuba academy have created a new calendar for 2005 and the proceeds are going to Children in Need. All support is gratefully accepted. It pictures a number of lovely ladies in very tasteful poses with scuba equipment. Lodge Scuba Academy can accept card payments or cheques or even cash is people are local enough. The cost including postage and packaging and credit card payment is £8.50, and we post out as soon as payment has cleared. For more information email the following address simon@lodgescuba.com Example month. Click to enlarge.
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Spaces
available in January on the Nautilus Explorer to dive the
Socorro Islands, considered by many as the “Mexican
Galapagos” Located 250 miles due south of the Baja Peninsula in the Pacific Ocean, the Socorro Islands have deservedly got a reputation for spectacular diving. Sharks are prolific here, and it is common to encounter over 6 varieties of shark on just one dive. (Hammerheads, Galapagos, Whale Sharks, Whitetip, Silky et al). But this is not all, these volcanic islands are famost for unbelievable Manta encounters, and it’s quite normal to be in the water with 5 to 12 of these winged giants. In fact it has been said by many well-known underwater photographers that “there is no better place in the World to shoot Giant Mantas”. During the first four months of the year, Socorro is home to a large population of Humpback Whales that come here to breed and calve. In the last few years the frequency of underwater encounters has increased dramatically. “Normally anyone wishing to dive the Socorro Islands will find that most of the charter vessels are booked up several months in advance. We’ve luckily had spaces come free in January. There are four spaces on the January 6 – 15 trip for rebreather and scuba divers. Additionally for anyone wanting to learn how to dive the Inspiration, this is a great opportunity. Alternatively there are six spaces for closed circuit rebreather and scuba divers, from January 16 – 25 on the Nautilus Explorer”, stated Mike Fowler, Director of Operations for Silent Diving Systems. “Having dived on the Nautilus Explorer on an earlier CCRB trip this year, I can say that this is the most comfortable, spacious and luxurious liveaboard boat I have ever dived from, and the food is just mouth-watering”. This
incredible ten day holiday will cost just £1,590
and includes diving, liveaboard accommodation, all on
board meals, crew tips and nitrox. All you need to do
is pick up the flights, transfers and land accommodation.
For more information check out
Manta Ray. Click to enlarge.
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| World
Conservation Union Calls for End to Shark Finning
The world's largest environmental conservation body has called for an end to shark finning, the practice of cutting off fins and discarding shark bodies at sea. At its 2004 World Congress in Bangkok, Thailand, IUCN – the World Conservation Union, made up of over 1000 governmental and non-governmental organizations from over 140 countries adopted a recommendation urging all states to ban shark finning and require shark fins to be landed attached to their bodies. The United Nations estimates that over 100 million sharks are killed each year and studies show that shark populations have declined by 90% around the world in the last 50 years. The
practice of shark finning is driven by massive demand
for valuable "Sharks have inhabited the oceans for over 400 million years and as top predators in the food chain, they play a vital role in maintaining healthy ocean ecosystems," says Randall Arauz, Director of PRETOMA, a Costa Rican marine conservation organization and a member of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group. "Yet sharks are disappearing at alarming rates due to massive demand for their fins and very little regulation of shark fishing. By prohibiting shark finning, and by landing fins attached, you conserve sharks as well as facilitate collection of data to help assess the state of the more than 400 species of sharks." Sharks have an uphill battle due to their erroneous depiction as man hunters. Lightning and bee stings are actually greater threats to man. Sharks are considered key to healthy oceans, productive fisheries and in poor coastal communities where shark meat has long been an important source of protein. "This will add significant weight to our requests that fishing states and regional fisheries organizations adopt finning bans as an important contribution towards sustainable shark fisheries management worldwide," says Sarah Fowler, Co-Chair of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group. "We encourage governments and organizations around the world to take note of this Recommendation and the related policies of the UN FAO Committee on Fisheries (FAO COFI) and Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) when adopting national and regional programs for the conservation and sustainable management of sharks."
Free Diving with Regaldive Award-winning dive specialist Regaldive is offering FREE diving this Winter. This exclusive buy one get one free offer is available on five or six day dive packs or on PADI Open Water or Fastrack Open Water courses. The offer applies on selected dates during December and January and may be used on packages booked to Sharm, Dahab, Nuweiba, Hurghada and Marsa Alam. To take advantage of this great value offer and save up to £105. There are also some superb special offers available – everything from Red Sea liveaboards to the Caribbean! BSAC members can even claim an additional 5% discount off all Regaldive holidays. Buy one get one free offer applies to all new bookings made on or after 30th October 2004. To avoid disappointment, book before 30th November 2004. Visit www.regaldive.co.uk for more information.
Diving Passport covers the DEMA show The newest edition of Diving Passport is available now on the Internet. It features one of the most important scuba diving events in the whole world: DEMA 2004, which took place last October in Houston. This is a great chance for you to find out about everything that happened on this show, top diving destinations, the most innovative equipment, new diver programs and much more, with just a click on your screen. See it at www.divingpassport.com.
Grenada Needs Your Help On Sept. 7, 2004, Grenada suffered a direct hit by Hurricane Ivan. The devastating effects of this storm took an overwhelming toll on the people of this Caribbean nation. Ivan claimed lives, flattened the agricultural sector, destroyed homes, public buildings and schools. The destruction has brought the economy of Grenada to a virtual standstill. The country of Grenada asks for your help to restore people's lives, homes and the island's economy. For more information, visit www.grenadaemergency.com. |
Digital Jam 05, 22 - 29 January, Grand Cayman – Guaranteed to banish the January blues Ocean Frontiers, one of Cayman’s leading Dive Centres has some great news for divers, post Ivan. “On Monday October 25th, the legendary Marine Biologist, Dr Guy Harvey came to Ocean Frontiers to go diving and inspect our reefs. Our Senior Boat Captain, Dan Schaar, took Guy Harvey out on the North Side of the island. They completed two dives, one at Split Rock and the second at Babylon. This was the first time divers have been in the water in that area since Ivan. Both reported zero damage and the reefs were exactly how they remembered them before the storm. In fact they thought the reefs looked cleaner with less algae. The
visibility exceeded 30 metres and had returned to the
turquoise crystal blue that is a signature of the Cayman
Islands. They also reported abundant fish life and even
had a close encounter with a Spotted Eagle Ray! Rest assured
that life on the reef is back to normal, all the fishes
are going about their business as if nothing happened”. The East End waters of Grand Cayman offers some superb diving and photo opportunities. This coupled with Dr Alex Mustard, Digital Guru and Marine Biologist, on site running interactive digital photography clinics and editing workshops during the week, is the perfect opportunity to kick off the new year in style. This
7 night holiday with Ocean Frontiers costs just £807,
with accommodation at Compass Point Dive Resort located
on site with Ocean Frontiers in a luxury onsite oceanfront
condominium. Also included is a 6 day dive pack, breakfast,
car rental and much more. All you need to do is pick up
the flights. For more information check out www.oceanfrontiers.com.
Digital Jam (click to enlarge)
Some 13,000 new marine species have been discovered in the past year The Census of Marine Life (COML) has also uncovered previously unknown migration routes used by fish such as tuna and shark. The $1bn 10-year project, which is building a huge database, involves researchers in more than 70 countries. The new knowledge will inform future conservation and fisheries policies. In some of the results we've had you can see a kind of doughnut of circulation which seems to concentrate life in deep water. "We're just skimming the surface," said Dr Ron O'Dor, Chief Census Scientist, based in Washington DC, US. "We know something about the first 100m at this point but we know almost nothing about what lies down in the deep. "Our analysis shows that if you catch a fish below 2,000m it is 50 times more likely to be new to science," he told the BBC News website. The census has seen an exponential growth in knowledge in the 12 months since it issued its last progress report. More than 80,000 specimens were collected during an expedition to the mid-Atlantic ridge. Some specimens are pulled up on trawls, counted and catalogued. Other organisms are even tagged and tracked. A remarkable picture of how life operates in the deep is beginning to emerge. "In some of the results we've had you can see a kind of doughnut of circulation which seems to concentrate life in deep water," explained Dr Fred Grassle of Rutgers University, US, who chairs the Census' International Scientific Steering Committee. "The doughnuts were 10km in diameter and thousands of metres below the surface." The project's Ocean Biographic Information System database now includes more than 5.2 million new and previously existing records of the location, date and depth at which a marine species was found - a rise of 1.1 million entries. The information has allowed the COML to create a map of the distribution of 38,000 marine species, from plankton to whales. Vast areas of the world's oceans have yet to return any data at all. The current total of marine fish species now stands at 15,482. Experts expect the final count to total roughly 20,000 by the time the COML is completed in 2010. Scientists believe knowledge about this aspect of marine life will prove useful in understanding climate change, as these organisms play a crucial role in taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. |
Long distance swimmer An epic three-month, 10,000km swim by a white pointer has hit the record books and left researchers rethinking the social behaviour of sharks. The nearly 4m female shark, tagged in a hi-tech satellite-tracking program, swam from the tip of South Africa to WA's North-West Cape, near Exmouth. The Indian Ocean crossing is the first solid proof that the female white pointer populations of South Africa and Australia travel the vast distance and interact. Previous genetic studies of white pointer populations found a male shark from South Africa in Tasmanian waters, but the females were thought to remain isolated and stay in their "home range". CSIRO researcher Dr Barry Bruce, Australia's foremost authority on white pointers, said the event was a milestone in shark research. "It is very, very exciting to see," he said. "That is the first evidence of cross-Indian Ocean movement of a female shark." It was also the longest distance a tagged shark had travelled since the electronic tagging program started four years ago. The shark was tagged with a pop-off archival tag (PAT) at Gansbaai, south of Cape Town, by researcher Dr Ramon Bonfil last November. The tag detached itself in January at North-West Cape. Data recorded during the remarkable journey was uploaded when the tag broke the ocean's surface. News of the tag's recovery came at a conference of shark researchers in the UK a fortnight ago. Dr Bruce said the discovery provided more evidence to support the push for the global protection of white pointers. "We are concerned about white shark populations worldwide," he said. "They are fully protected in Australian waters and in South African waters. "But the significance is we are now understanding how they move outside of these waters, which is where they are vulnerable to capture or interference." Dr Bruce has spent the past week tagging white pointers off Port Lincoln in South Australia. Last year he tagged two sharks that are still being tracked – one is in WA waters, the other has moved east. Adelaide
shark researcher Rachel Robbins said the South African
shark's journey had rewritten existing theories on their
movements.
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Daily Telegraph Adventure Travel & Sports Show Then why not beat a path to the UK's largest adventure travel and sports event. The Daily Telegraph Adventure Travel & Sports Show has something for everyone. Whether you're looking for the solitude of deserted beaches and island paradises, or the challenge of classic walks, treks and safaris, to the thrill of action sports such as white-water rafting, diving and mountain biking. Plus all the latest equipment and travel advice, from health and safety to better photography, video action, practical demonstrations, information and entertainment. Now in it's 10th year, the show is introducing and expanding new dedicated features. Travel Photography, Year Out Adventures, African Safaris, Family Adventures and Luxury Adventures will be in focus, while over 250 companies and over 100 free talks will inspire and inform you with new discoveries, ideas, activities and destinations. Open your eyes to a vast range of travel and once in a lifetime experiences. Click here for more information.
GET
IT ON!! - LIMITED EDITION SHARK T-SHIRTS Just
1,000 people will get their hands on this stylish, limited
edition Bite-Back t-shirt as we join forces with the specialist
dive wear company, Narked, to heighten awareness for the
campaigns and raise funds. Attractively
priced at £17.95 each (+ £1 p&p), both
the boys' and girls’ t-shirts are available now
in either denim blue or charcoal grey. These unique t-shirts are only available online, via the Narked web site - www.narked.co.uk.
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| More
dolphins are under threat With this capture there is a great risk that Futo will follow in the footsteps of Taiji and become a supplier of dolphins for Zoos and Aquariums in Japan and abroad. In order to prevent this, worldwide protests are needed immediately. Please urge the authorities to let the captured dolphins go. And ask that no further dolphin captures will take place in Japan in the future. Visit www.marineconnection.org for news on how to help. |
Underwater explorer Cousteau's boat to be restored Calypso, the celebrated oceanographic research ship of French underwater explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau, is to get a new $1.3 million lease of life after repining in harbour in La Rochelle, a US firm said on Friday. Carnival Corporation said it would finance plans to restore Calypso, from which Captain Cousteau conducted expeditions made world famous in cinema and television documentaries starting in the 1950s. Cousteau, who died in 1997 aged 87, was undersea explorer, photographer, inventor of diving devices, scuba pioneer, writer, television producer and filmmaker. He co-invented the aqualung, developed a one-person, jet-propelled submarine and helped start the first manned undersea colonies. Calypso, a converted United States minesweeper, has been rusting for the last six years in La Rochelle harbour on France's Atlantic seaboard whither it was towed after sinking in Singapore harbour in 1996. "The Cousteau Society and Carnival Corporation have reached an agreement in principle to restore the Calypso, the legendary research and expedition vessel of Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau," Carnival Corporation said on its website. "Once
restored, Calypso will become an exhibit and a center
for science and the environment."
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| Coral
reef protection and management plan A plan for management of coral reefs through 2010 has been developed to protect ecological systems off the coast of Vietnam and promote their proper use for economic and tourism purposes. The plan is compiled by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, which is worried about the decrease in coral coverage along Vietnam's coast caused by unplanned exploitation, particularly in central provinces. Vietnam's sea is home to one of the world's most diverse coral systems, with about 400 types of coral, forming reefs at more than 200 sites along the coast. However, the coral areas in Con Dao island and the central province of Khanh Hoa have reduced by 30 percent. The
ministry urged coastal provinces to work out plans to
protect and develop coral reefs for sustainable development
of the fisheries sector, prevent the destructive exploitation
of maritime products and set up locally-managed maritime
reserves. |
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Asian Demand for Fin Soup Spurs U.S. Shark Protection Proposal Asian demand for shark fin soup has accelerated the slaughter of the animals around the world and prompted the U.S. to propose protection rules at a fisheries conference this week, said the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The rules would ban cutting the fins off sharks, set limits on shark fishing boats, increase the study of sharks and work to ensure the survival rate for sharks accidentally caught in nets, said Conrad Lautenbacher, 62, who also serves as undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere. "If you can build a sensible international protocol, I think it is possible to get it under control,'' Lautenbacher, a retired U.S. Navy vice admiral, said today in a telephone interview. "This country cannot do everything for the world by itself. If the U.S. could do this all by itself it would probably try.'' The Bush administration asked the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas to adopt the rules, already enforced in U.S. waters, at its meeting this week in New Orleans. In October great white sharks won a level of protection from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. As many as 100 million sharks may be killed annually for food, sport and after being snagged in nets, said R. Aidan Martin, director of ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research in Vancouver. Japan takes the most sharks, averaging 65,000 tons (58,967 metric tons) per year, followed by Indonesia, India, Taiwan and Pakistan, which take 33,000 to 43,000 tons, he said. Japan's estimated haul alone is equal to the tonnage displaced by the average cruise ship. While the U.S. proposal "is better than nothing,'' the most important action would be to knock out demand for shark fins, said Grace Gabriel of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, based in Yarmouth, Massachusetts. "It's finning, driven by Asian demand of the growing middle class in China,'' Helvarg said. "It's being driven essentially by ego -- people who want to show off by serving shark fin soup.'' The price of the soup can run up to $600 a bowl in some places, said Ralph S. Collier, 60, president of the Canoga Park, California-based Shark Research Committee. "It is much more financially attractive to consume the shark fin,'' Collier said. "It only takes a minute or less to hack off all the fins, unhook the still living animal and throw it over the side where it sinks to the bottom because it can't swim and eventually suffocates.'' Going after the market is the strategy pursued by Bite-Back, a London-based shark protection organization. Bite-Back has run campaigns against supermarket chains in the United Kingdom to stop the sale of shark products, its director of such efforts, Graham Buckingham, said in a telephone interview. "The man on the street with money in his back pocket is king,'' Buckingham said. "If he says, `I don't want to see it any longer,' he may provide the breathing space.'' Lautenbacher said it would take a combined international conservation effort to replenish the population of sharks. Effective enforcement may be difficult, according to Martin. "The U.S. asking other nations to collaborate with it to manage sharks as a living resource is laudable in intent, though I am skeptical of its coordination and application in practice,'' Martin said. "The inherent logistical hurdles seem likely to overwhelm the best of intentions.'' The U.S. rules "are a good, modest first step,'' said David Helvarg, 53, president of Washington-based Blue Frontier Campaign, an ocean conservation group. Something has to be done or the world could lose the sharks and big fish, and there is no telling how that would change the oceans, Helvarg said. "Since I was born we lost 90 percent of the large fish in the world, and given that our species has depended on the ocean for thousands of generations it is scary to think we've lost 90 percent,'' Helvarg said. Click here to visit Bite-back's website.
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Dolphinella - Beluga update As most of you are aware the Marine Connection were successful in having two beluga whales confiscated from Sharm el Sheikh where they were being kept in unsuitable conditions. The beluga whales are now being held in a facility called Merryland and whilst the pool area they are now being housed in is larger than the cramped holding pool in Sharm, it is not suitable to hold the animals there for any amount of time. Margaux Dodds, Director & Co-founder of the Marine Connection, has been advised that they plan to hold the two beluga whales at Merryland for approximately 3 months before returning them back to Russia. Visit
www.marineconnection.org
for news on how to help. |
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Paris Cycle Ride UK based dolphin and whale charity, Marine Connection are looking for adventurous cyclists to take part in their London to Paris Cycle Ride in June 2005. Connecting two of the world's most exciting cities on one of the best cycling routes in Europe. Sponsorship money raised will help support the charity’s projects and campaigns, worldwide. This is a fantastic opportunity for anyone wishing to do something amazing for a great cause. You don’t need to be a fitness fanatic to participate in this challenge, as the majority of people on the trip will not necessarily have done anything like this before but like you, want to help save marine life. One of the charity’s main aims is to reach as many people as possible about the importance of protecting the marine environment. Visit www.marineconnection.org for more information. |
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Renewed concerns over shark fin poaching The Western Australia Government says not enough is being done to tackle illegal fishing for shark fin off the Kimberley Coast. There are fears the trade is growing, with many poachers avoiding capture. The renewed concern follows reports that in one recent incident, 42 boats were spotted from the air off the Kimberley coast, but only two apprehended. The other motorised boats, which can travel at speeds of up to 20 knots, avoided being caught. State Fisheries Minister Kim Chance says these new vessels are more difficult to apprehend. "I suspect that at least until the cyclone season starts again, we're going to continue to have difficulties," he said. Mr Chance says more resources need to be allocated to tackle the illegal shark fin trade, but the Federal Government says enough is already being done. |
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| Underwater
art You like scuba diving. You like art. You'll like this: In the Caribbean Sea, the first ever underwater art exhibit. 40 Feet Underwater: Moving Light in an Unlimited Territory will feature, a few fathoms down, the work of Dutch photographer Fred Ros. Ros himself came up with the idea, and his goal is less gimmicky than you might think: He wants visitors to see how natural light variations affect how objects are seen. Regardless, the whole thing's a hoot. Once you get your gear on, you'll kick on over to the museum area, complete with submerged cashier, ready to punch your ticket and give you a waterproof catalog. Explore at your own pace. Or until your oxygen runs out. For more information: www.40feetunder.com. |
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| South
Africa breaks womans scuba diving record
Verna van Schaik from Gauteng set the new record by diving to a depth of 221 meters at Boesmansgat, which also gave her the record for deepest cave dive and altitude dive. Van Schaick descended to the maximum depth of 221 meters in 12 meters and then started the long ascent back to the surface, which required 40 decompression stops that totaled five hours and 27 minutes. Near the end of the dive, Van Schaick switched to 100 percent oxygen to help flush nitrogen out of her body. Another South African, Nuno Gomes, recently tried to set a new world record for the deepest scuba dive but failed with a dive of "only" 271 meters, well short of the planned maximum depth of 320 meters and the current record of 313 meters set by Mark Ellyatt in Thailand on December 18, 2003.
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| Dolphins
prevent NZ shark attack A group of swimmers has told how a pod of dolphins protected them from a great white shark off New Zealand's coast. The lifeguards were training at a beach near Whangarei on the North Island when they were menaced by a 3-metre shark, before the dolphins raced in to help. The swimmers were surrounded by the dolphins for 40 minutes before they were able to make it safely back to the beach. Marine biologists say such altruistic behaviour is not uncommon in dolphins.
The swimmers said the dolphins were extremely agitated and repeatedly slapped the water with their tails, presumably to try to deter the predator as it cruised nearby. The drama happened in New Zealand three weeks ago, but only now are the lifeguards telling their story. It is a day they will never forget, especially for one of the swimmers, who was on her first day as a volunteer. They have no doubt that the dolphins acted deliberately to protect them. Researchers
have said they are not surprised. A marine biologist insisted
that dolphins, which are considered to be one of the most
intelligent mammals, "like to help the helpless".
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News archives :
November 1st to November 24th 2004.
To return to zerovisiblity home, click here. |
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