Imagine, outside the rain hammers down, the British winter evening is drawing in as the city street lights flick on. Inside, brightly coloured fish flash past as you dive in warm tropical water and explore caves and a shipwreck in the one of the world's most advanced indoor diving paradises.

Dive Dome is a unique £25 million project to design, build and operate the first indoor diving leisure centre in the UK. Located in Milton Keynes, 10 minutes from Junction 13 on the M1, Dive Dome will be a state of the art 27 metre deep warm clear water diving lagoon with beaches and a cave system. The lagoon will contain an array of tropical fish, rays, coral and other flora and interchangeable sunken wrecks. Other attractions will include a fully equipped gym and spa, a comprehensive range of diving and marine leisure retail outlets as well as a variety of restaurants, café's and bars.

Dive Dome will be a members club, but non-members will be allowed selective access on a 'pay-as-you-go' basis. The centre will provide a facility that offers experienced and novice divers an unmatched marine experience in a safe and controlled environment. In addition to diving during the day, night dives will be offered so that divers can experience the beauty and tranquillity of the reef and wrecks with the benefit of our advanced lighting systems. The man-made sloping beaches will lead to the lagoon containing specially formulated heated salt water to give Dive Dome an authentic feel. The beach will provide easy access to the dive sites as well as a snorkelling paradise in shallow waters providing an exciting interactive marine experience.

Click here to go to their website.

Dramatic shark photo wins Wildlife Photographer of the Year award.

This spectacular photo was taken by US photographer Doug Perrine, off the east coast of South Africa.

The judges’ were unanimous in selecting the image from among 18,500 entries, sent from over 50 countries.

Perrine took the photographe during the annual sardine run. Suring this massive migration huge shoals of sardines migrate up South Africa’s east coast.

“The sharks would charge through the baitball, bursting through the other side or shooting clear out of the water, their mouths stuffed full of fish,” says Perrine. “So intent were they on feeding that they often bumped me as they rushed past. It was one of the most intense experiences of my life.”

The winners of the competition, organised by the UK's Natural History Museum in London and BBC Wildlife Magazine were revealed on Thursday. The 90 shortlisted images are on display at the Natural History Museum from 23 October until 17 April 2004.

Click here to see the image.

The days of diving enthusiasts sporting faded old Iron Maiden t-shirts and ill-fitting jeans under their dry suits are long gone. Today’s divers – both men and women – are as fashion-conscious as anyone, and this will certainly be in evidence at this year’s Dive Show, taking place on 31/31 October at the NEC.

Eye-catching designs and superb quality clothing from retailers such as Fourth Element, Seven Tenths, IntheWater and DNA Divewear have taken the dive industry by storm - and their popularity is spreading such that now even non-divers can be seen sporting t-shirts with slogans such as ‘Neoprene Nympho’ and ‘Generation H20’.

A special feature area called ‘Dive into Fashion’ will show off some of the best and newest clothing to hit the shops this year at Dive 2004. As well as great designs there will also be some fantastic new brands with eye-catching names that will certainly get their wearer noticed.

DNA Divewear has just launched a fantastic 60’s style range of new t-shirt designs called ‘Underwater Daughters’. However, for divers who are into boys toys the new ‘Submersible’ unisex tee will be a must. DNA’s newest designs range from small – XXL and cost between £19.50 and £25.00.

Diving Daisy t-shirts, sweatshirts and hats are seriously cool divethreads for female divers with a sense of humour. Some of its more outlandish slogans - ‘F**k the housework’ and ‘Neoprene Nympho’ – are guaranteed to raise a few eyebrows!

With its ‘Bitch’ range of styles, TTB Clothing has stormed onto the leisurewear scene with its high-quality range of t-shirts and beachwear. The company named itself after a particularly nasty Titan Trigger fish nicknamed ‘The Bitch’ which regularly attacked divers off the South Point coast of Sipadan. At Dive 2004 three t-shirt ranges, Titan Trigger Babe, Titan Trigger Bitch and Titan Trigger Buddy will be on show. The company’s swimwear comes in a range of sizes from 34 – 40 (European sizes) and three colours – turquoise, pink and purple.

Fourth Element garments are designed by British divers who maintain that quality and comfort are a must in any range of leisurewear. Using the themes of Earth, Air, Fire and Water in its minimalist designs, Fourth Element clothing has become a firm favourite amongst both divers and non-divers. Making a real splash at Dive 2004 will be Fourth Element’s new range of swimwear including sports bikinis, swimsuits and swimming trunks.

Inthewater is a new Cornish-based divewear company with a funky, fresh range for men and women. The company specialises in bold, logo-driven designs on quality colour t-shirts, vests, sweatshirts and hooded/sleeveless tops. All of the Inthewater designs reflect a love of the oceans and a passion for diving.

‘Bad Company’, ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’ and ‘Log Some Bottom Time’ are just some of the popular designs of t-shirts, shirts that will be on show from Taurus. One of the company’s newest designs is ‘It’s a Big Pond’ and this will also be available in small to XXL sizes and on show at Dive 2004.

Happiness is certainly a wet t-shirt if you have one of the ever-popular ‘Beaver’ designs. Priced at £13.95 this t-shirt spearheads the Beaver range which now also includes polo-style shirts.

For over a decade Seven Tenths has remained the UK's foremost independent diver clothing company. Widely acknowledged as the original name in Divewear, the Seven Tenths brand is now available in over 25 countries worldwide and includes brands such as ‘Gorilla’, ‘Mermaid’, ‘Xlogo’ and ‘Zen Speedway’.

This is just a brief glimpse of what will be on show at Dive 2004. So, there’s absolutely no excuse for a display of bad fashion sense with this fantastic array of new designs and ranges to tempt even non-divers at Dive 2004.

Wrecks and wreck diving are most definitely the order of the day at October’s Dive Show (30-31 October, NEC, Birmingham). The free presentation programme will feature some of the world’s top wreck explorers such as Innes McCartney, Leigh Bishop, Teresa Tellus, Monty Halls and John Chatterton. The UK’s very own man-made reef ‘The HMS Scylla’ will also be a highlight of this year’s programme.

Over 2 million people watched the Channel 4 documentaries on the Battle of Jutland and the Padstow U-boat filmed by Innes McCartney. Innes will be at the Dive Show revealing new material on these wrecks which has just come to light.

Leigh Bishop and Teresa Tellus will be repeating their talk on the Britannic that attracted huge audiences at London Dive Show this year. As well as revealing the real reason why the sister ship of the Titanic met such a similar fate, the talk will explain the technical aspects of this fascinating dive.

Getting totally wrecked will be ‘Superhuman’ Monty Halls, who has recently returned from diving the top ten wrecks around the world. Scapa Flow, The Zenobia, Truk Lagoon, The Thistlegorm, The Rainbow Warrior, The Lermentov and The Coolidge are just some of the wrecks and wreck sites he will be talking about.

John Chatterton has spent more than 20 years working as a commercial diver and boat captain. His passion, however, has been researching and diving the deep shipwrecks of the world. In 1991 his discovery and then subsequent identification of the German submarine U-869 off the coast of New Jersey has been the subject of several TV documentaries and a book by Rob Kurson called ‘Shadow Divers’. John, who currently hosts the US TV programme ‘Deep Sea Detectives’ on The History Channel, will be one of the highlights of this year’s speaker programme.

The progress and infestation of the UK’s first ‘purpose-built’ reef The Scylla will also be a crowd-puller, with many visitors keen to find out what awaits them when they make their way to Cornwall to dive this shipwreck. Claire Hopkinson from the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth will be showing film footage and giving the very latest information about diving the wreck in her presentation.

Ocean Weirdo’s is the intriguing title of the film that will be making its world premiere at Dive 2004. The film is a collaboration between John Boyle and John McIntyre and features some of the strangest creatures in the ocean from the deepest abyss to the shallows. It will show the longest creature in the world – which is a jellyfish, not a whale – and also some fascinating footage of a monkfish catching a cod.

Other high-profile speakers will be confirmed in the near future and will complete the line-up for what is sure to be the biggest and most exciting Dive Show ever. On the exhibition floor over 300 companies will be showing the very latest diving equipment, dive and leisurewear, holiday resorts and destinations plus much more. There will also be a British Marine Life Aquarium at the heart of the show, Try Dive and Rebreather pools, the PADI Village, the popular Caribbean Village and, for the first time, a South-East Asia Pavilion. The main holiday prize draw for two people is courtesy of the Cayman Islands Tourist Board.

Award-winning dive specialist Regaldive is teaming up with top dive clothing brand DNA Divewear to offer a fantastic free t-shirt to all those who book a dive holiday this year.

Clients booking direct with Regaldive will receive a free voucher to exchange for a DNA Divewear t-shirt of their choice worth £19.50. A great range of t-shirt prints are available to choose from including the latest 2004 designs in both unisex and female tees. You can check out all the products online at www.dna-dive.com. The free voucher will be despatched with tickets prior to departure so you can even take your new t-shirt with you on holiday!

DNA Divewear clothing comes in a striking range of detailed designs that appeal to both recreational and technical divers. All products are made from the highest quality materials to give a great look whilst being hardwearing and resilient for the needs of the most active diver.

To take advantage of this great offer, plan your next dive holiday at www.regaldive.co.uk. The latest Regaldive brochure is out now and includes everything from great value learn to dive packages in the Red Sea to exclusive charter expeditions in the Galapagos Islands.

Offering some of the best diving anywhere in the world. Mozdivers are offering a guarantee which many places could not deliver.

We know that this may sound a little risky, but it’s not. The chance of being in Tofo for a week and not having a Manta Ray or a Whale Shark encounter is virtually impossible, and we are fully confident in our ability to deliver not only what we are promising, but much more.

What we have come to realize is that there are many dive destinations that claim to have the best diving in the world. We know for fact that Tofo is one of the world’s best diving destinations.

What we are offering is this. We will guarantee that any client who dives with us on one of our ten day tours, from September 1st, 2004, through March 21st, 2005, and does not have either a Manta Ray or a Whale Shark encounter, we will refund the client 1000 Euro.

For the exact conditions of this offer visit their website here.

www.diversjobs.com is the latest website to be created to cover Diving Industry jobs such as dive masters and instructors.

This website keeps track of vacancies and people looking for work in the diving industry.

To visit the site click here.

www.scubadiving.com has announced its latest photo competition.

Enter the 2005 Scuba Diving Magazine Photo Contest You could win cash and prizes AND get your photo published in Scuba Diving magazine! $5250 in cash plus travel, gear, and photography prizes for photos submitted in these categories: Wide-Angle, Macro, Marine Life, Wrecks, Topside/Diving Lifestyle.

Click here for more information.

A system of permits will now control trade in great white shark products, a UN conference in Bangkok has decided. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) has put the shark on its so-called Appendix II list, which demands tighter regulations.

Conservationists welcomed the move, which was passed at the behest of both Australia and Madagascar.

"This will contribute significantly to great white conservation," said Nicola Beynon, of Humane Society International.

"Now we have an opportunity to ensure trade in great white body parts is regulated sustainability."

In their proposal, Australia and Madagascar argued that a higher listing for the great white shark "would help ensure that exploitation of the globally threatened species is regulated and monitored".

Great white sharks are targeted commercially and also by recreational fishermen for their valuable jaws and teeth. Their fins, like those of other sharks, are in high demand for soup.

"I'm thankful that the international community recognises this species for what it really is - a perfectly adapted oceanic predator and a key player in many of the world's marine ecosystems," said Dr Ramón Bonfil of the Wildlife Conservation Society.

"In spite of its reputed ferocity, this species is ironically a victim of what is undoubtedly the planet's most deadly species - humans," he continued.

"This listing will help us manage the trade that currently threatens the great white shark by requiring data that harvests are not a detriment to the species."

The great white already had an Appendix III listing. It has now become only the third shark to be afforded Appendix II protection under Cites, joining the far larger but gentle basking and whale sharks.

The Swiss-based World Conservation Union's "Red List" - a respected wildlife guideline widely used by scientists and conservationists - classifies 82 sharks and rays as threatened.

Great white gains more protection

Another 10 are expected to be added soon.

In a separate development, Japan's proposal to hunt minke whales commercially has been rejected by Cites.

The convention currently gives minkes an Appendix I listing, which bans all trade; Japan had sought a relegation to Appendix II.

But the proposal fell well short of the support it needed for adoption, with a majority of the 166 Cites delegates voting against the motion in Bangkok.

The move preserves an 18-year-long moratorium on commercial whaling.

Data suggests there are more than one million minke whales worldwide
The down-listing of the minke to Appendix II would not have superseded the ban administered by the International Whaling Commission (IWC), but commentators say it would have put pressure on that body to ease the prohibition at some future date.

There are more than one million minke whales worldwide, according to data presented to Cites, and Japan argued that their numbers were now at a level that could withstand limited harvesting.

But conservationists had vowed to block the plan. "Major uncertainty remains over population trends of the minke whale, and permitting trade in whale meat through Cites would have been a challenge to the authority of the IWC," said WWF delegation leader Susan Lieberman.

"We are tired of the Japanese trying to re-establish whaling through the back door."

However, the Japanese delegation said it would continue pushing for a resumption of commercial whaling.

"The West is trying to impose its unilateral standards on us. I regard this as cultural imperialism," Japanese delegate Masayuki Komatsu said.

"We will continue to propose a down-listing."

Eugene Lapointe, president of IWMC World Conservation Trust, which campaigns for the sustainable use of wildlife as a means of protecting biodiversity, agrees the minke whale should not be included on Appendix I.

"This outcome makes a mockery of international regulations for conservation," he said. "Appendix I is supposed to list species that would be endangered by international trade, not those that look good in the publicity material of animal rights groups.

"Minke whales are plentiful, the evidence for their abundance is incontrovertible and there is even a concern that their burgeoning populations may be preventing the recovery of other species, such as the blue whale."

Commercial exploitation of whales in the early part of the 20th Century had caused many whale populations to plummet. Since the IWC moratorium was imposed in 1986, species have been on the rebound (some more than others).

Having seen its minke proposal lost, Japan was then critical of the decision to up-list the great white.

"No global population assessment of this species has been carried out," Japanese delegate Masayuki Komatsu told the Cites meeting.

A large majority of the delegates disagreed, however; and they also went on to approve regulating the trade in humphead wrasse, a distinctive coral reef fish that lives in the Indo-Pacific. It can grow to a hefty 2m in length.

Its rarity, and the fact that it is a prized delicacy, means the creature can retail at around US$130/kg, making it one of the most valuable fish in the live reef fish trade. It will now have an Appendix II listing like the great white.

The signatories to the convention are meeting in the Thai capital for their 12-day biennial summit which ends on Thursday.

Greenpeace activists held a peaceful demonstration in front of the Japanese embassy in Bangkok, Thailand to demand that the government of Japan vote in favour of the conservation of marine species at the 13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES (1).

“The government of Japan has historically sided with industry at this Convention, “ said Tim Birch of Greenpeace. “They must realise that if they don’t start saving marine life now by adopting sustainable fishing practices, they, and indeed all of us, will soon be faced with empty oceans.”

A dozen activists of various nationalities displayed a banner reading, Japan: Don’t empty our oceans! The activists wore “nemo” fish hats and delivered a letter to the ambassador of Japan highlighting the plight of the world’s oceans and Japan’s role in their exploitation.

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation around 75% of the world’s fisheries are classified as fully exploited, overexploited, depleted or recovering from depletion. Recent scientific studies reveal that 90% of all large fish have disappeared from the world’s oceans in the past 50 years.

“The government of Japan continues to treat the world’s oceans as though there is no tomorrow. Their unsustainable fisheries industries are only looking out for their own interests and refuse to accept the fact that the seas are suffering from over-exploitation. They must vote to ensure that short-term profit does not continue to empty our oceans,” concluded Birch.

Greenpeace is an independent campaigning organisation that uses non-violent, creative confrontation to expose global environmental problems and to force solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.

Chris Davis, English Nature's marine conservation officer, said the results, after just 18 months, were surprising.

"We didn't think we would see a difference this early on," he said. "We thought it would take three to five years - that is certainly what was estimated by the experts."

The zone, the first of its kind in the UK, was introduced to try to reverse the problems caused by over-fishing, which has depleted stocks in the oceans.

The draft report by conservation scientists shows there are now three times as many lobsters inside the 'no catch zone' compared to other areas where fishing continues.

But the full effects of the zone will not be known for another four years.

Mr Davis said: "We have seen a threefold increase in the numbers of land able lobsters within the 'no take zone' compared to the control sites outside the zone.

"This is the first time we have seen this striking difference in the lobster stocks. We have found that it has also increased lobster stocks outside the zone around Lundy so we are happy with the idea

"What we hope now is that not only do the populations in the 'no take zone' continue to increase, but that they migrate outside of the zone to the benefit of local fishermen."

Mr Davis said there was evidence of stocks improving outside 'no take zones' where the scheme had been tried in other parts of the world.

He said: "Some of the evidence coming back from New Zealand and America shows stocks can increase outside the 'no take zone'.

"What we need now is evidence from the UK and that's why we have put in this detailed monitoring programme on Lundy. The results are starting to show similar effects to what is being seen around the world."

Shaun Davison, a lobster and crab fisherman from Ilfracombe, said he welcomed the initial results of the scheme.

He said: "We originally found the 'no take zone' difficult because we did fish the area in question, but on what I have heard of these results it's great news.

"If it's increasing lobster stocks I am all for it."

Lundy Island lies 12 miles (19 kilometres) north of the Devon coast in the Bristol Channel and is England's only marine nature reserve.

It is also a designated European Special Area of Conservation and its features include reefs, sea caves, sub-tidal sandbanks, grey seals and sponges.

The Blue Dolphin of Malta 2004

This International Underwater Photographic Competition is being held on the island of Gozo from the 9th to 14th November 2004.
Each competitor will compete over two days (six hours), to present a set of three slides. The slides must include one macro or close up (all subjects except fish), one fish (macro or close up) and one wide angle (ambient).

A Disposable Camera competition is also part of the event, and for the first time, a digital underwater photography category is being included. For further information visit the website here.

Win Underwater MP3!

For your chance to win your very own DV-64 underwater mp3 player, simply visit the underwatermp3 website and enter their competition.

To win simply tell them what you think their mp3 fish should be called, look closely and you should notice its mp3 player skin! The person who submits the best name will win their very own DV-64!

To enter the competition, click here.

DIVE show 2004 30/31 OCTOBER, NEC, Birmingham

This year’s ‘divefest’ at the NEC will house over 300 suppliers of the very latest diving equipment, dive and leisure wear, training organisations, holiday resorts, destinations plus much more. Packed full of ideas and inspiration, the show will give seasoned and wannabe divers the chance to see what’s hot, what’s on the cards for next year and where to go for the best dive thrills.

The popular Try Dive pool will again provide the opportunity for visitors to get hands-on experience, and for divers who can’t get enough of the underwater world there will be one of the largest, stand-alone aquariums in the UK full of fish and marine life. More intrepid visitors will be able to hear first-hand about diving wrecks such as the Scilla and the Britannic, and for those who want to learn how to bring back images of what they see underwater, there will be photographic and film presentations on the free seminar programme.

Tickets to the show cost £7.00 each if booked in advance (£9.50 on the door) and £2.00 for children under 12. Visit www.diveshows.co.uk to buy tickets online or call the advance booking line 020 8977 9878.

Great prices from the companies present

News archives :

October 6th to October 19th 2004.
September 27th to October 6th 2004
September 13th to September 26th 2004.
August 28th to September 13th 2004.
August 11th to 27th 2004.
August 6th to 11th 2004.
August 1st to 5th 2004.
July 2004.
June 2004.

To return to zerovisiblity home, click here.