DiveNation
citizens of the sea
Sunday, 29 May 2011
Life Log: Seahorses in the UK - Studland and beyond
If you've been inspired by Britain's Secret Seas this evening, check out the Studland Seagrass and Seahorse study group's website. Here you can find out more general info and how to get involved in the survey's that are taking place to protect their habitat.
Mad about Seahorse's and can't get to Studland? Then check out the Seahorse Trust and find out where to find them in the UK and how as a diver you can make a valuable contribution to their protection.
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
Life Log: World's Biggest Gathering of Whale Sharks
By Brandon Keim
May 2, 2011
To see a single whale shark — the world’s largest fish, a solitary behemoth that can grow to school-bus size — is a rare experience. Seeing hundreds gathered in one place is unprecedented.
“It’s one of the most incredible gatherings of animals that’s ever been recorded. It’s mind-blowing,” said marine biologist Al Dove of the Georgia Aquarium. “As someone who studies whale sharks, which have a reputation of being something you see once in a blue moon, the idea of finding 400 in an area of the size of a couple football fields is unheard of.”
The so-called Afuera gathering, described April 29 in Public Library of Science One, took place in August 2009 off the northern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula, not far from the waters around Cabo Catoche. Dozens of whale sharks have converged there each summer since 2002, drawn by crustaceans that feed on massive plankton blooms fueled by upswellings of nutrient-rich deep-sea water.
‘It’s one of the most magnificent animals in the ocean, and we don’t know some of the most basic things about it.’
Rather than plankton, the Afuera gathering is sustained by the eggs of little tunny, a common species of tuna. In a blog post on Deep-Sea News, Dove notes that a spawning event capable of feeding 400 whale sharks eating constantly for an entire month is itself an ecological marvel. But it was naturally overshadowed by the whale sharks themselves, with the Afuera congregation representing a full fifth of all whale sharks believed to live in the Caribbean and western Atlantic.
“It’s the dog days of summer. It’s very, very hot. The water tends to be still and flat. You can hear the whispering of fins and tails cutting through the water,” said Dove. “People used to joke, in the old days of fisheries, ‘You could walk across the water on the backs of fishes.’ It’s not that far from the truth.”
In the new study, Dove and colleagues document the existence of this marvelous event. Once past the basic details, however, many questions emerge.
The Afuera whale sharks are just eating, not mating; the mating habits of whale sharks are a mystery to biologists. The gathering contained no juveniles, only adults; biologists don’t actually know where juvenile whale sharks live, where they’re born or even how they’re born. Whale sharks are literally a colossal mystery.
“It’s one of the most magnificent animals in the ocean, and we don’t know some of the most basic things about it,” said Dove. “It’s exciting and humbling. People are going to ask simple questions that you’re not going to be able to answer. But those huge gaps represent great opportunities to get out there and discover stuff.”
Video: 1. Aerial footage of the Afuera whale shark aggregation. (Alistair Dove/Georgia Aquarium)
Source
May 2, 2011
To see a single whale shark — the world’s largest fish, a solitary behemoth that can grow to school-bus size — is a rare experience. Seeing hundreds gathered in one place is unprecedented.
“It’s one of the most incredible gatherings of animals that’s ever been recorded. It’s mind-blowing,” said marine biologist Al Dove of the Georgia Aquarium. “As someone who studies whale sharks, which have a reputation of being something you see once in a blue moon, the idea of finding 400 in an area of the size of a couple football fields is unheard of.”
The so-called Afuera gathering, described April 29 in Public Library of Science One, took place in August 2009 off the northern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula, not far from the waters around Cabo Catoche. Dozens of whale sharks have converged there each summer since 2002, drawn by crustaceans that feed on massive plankton blooms fueled by upswellings of nutrient-rich deep-sea water.
‘It’s one of the most magnificent animals in the ocean, and we don’t know some of the most basic things about it.’
Rather than plankton, the Afuera gathering is sustained by the eggs of little tunny, a common species of tuna. In a blog post on Deep-Sea News, Dove notes that a spawning event capable of feeding 400 whale sharks eating constantly for an entire month is itself an ecological marvel. But it was naturally overshadowed by the whale sharks themselves, with the Afuera congregation representing a full fifth of all whale sharks believed to live in the Caribbean and western Atlantic.
“It’s the dog days of summer. It’s very, very hot. The water tends to be still and flat. You can hear the whispering of fins and tails cutting through the water,” said Dove. “People used to joke, in the old days of fisheries, ‘You could walk across the water on the backs of fishes.’ It’s not that far from the truth.”
In the new study, Dove and colleagues document the existence of this marvelous event. Once past the basic details, however, many questions emerge.
The Afuera whale sharks are just eating, not mating; the mating habits of whale sharks are a mystery to biologists. The gathering contained no juveniles, only adults; biologists don’t actually know where juvenile whale sharks live, where they’re born or even how they’re born. Whale sharks are literally a colossal mystery.
“It’s one of the most magnificent animals in the ocean, and we don’t know some of the most basic things about it,” said Dove. “It’s exciting and humbling. People are going to ask simple questions that you’re not going to be able to answer. But those huge gaps represent great opportunities to get out there and discover stuff.”
Video: 1. Aerial footage of the Afuera whale shark aggregation. (Alistair Dove/Georgia Aquarium)
Source
Citizen Science & Citizens of the Sea: Tracking Whale Sharks with Astronomical Algorithms
By Brandon Keim
May 24, 2011
With the help of algorithms designed to guide the Hubble telescope’s starscape surveys, conservation-minded coders have designed software that helps biologists identify whale sharks by their spots. The program enlists the help of citizens with cameras, and lets researchers track Earth’s biggest fish across time and oceans.
At the ECOCEAN Whale Shark Photo-Identification Library, people can upload photographs to the database, where they’re analyzed and classified. Photographers can then learn about their individual animal and receive emails each time it’s spotted. In the meantime, researchers will use the records to study population trends and the histories of individual whale sharks.
“If you put a tag in skin, it wears off or falls away. But we can recognize these animals for the rest of their lives,” said whale shark expert Al Dove of the Georgia Aquarium, a participant in the ECOCEAN project. “It lets you recognize and track animals without marking them, and it’s permanent.”
The program began when Jason Holmberg, then an English teacher in Cairo with a passion for scuba diving, saw his first whale shark during a trip to Djibouti in 2002. Fascinated by the giant, gentle fishes, he accompanied researchers on an expedition that fall.
‘If you put a tag in skin, it wears off or falls away. But we can recognize these animals for the rest of their lives.’
To count the animals, they used a technique called mark and recapture: Researchers marked individual whale sharks with plastic tags and, depending on how many were seen in subsequent years, calculated population size and trends. It’s a standard technique among biologists, but hard to implement in whale sharks, which tend to shed tags and swim far beyond the scope of any single research group.
“I said, ‘What percentage of these do you see in the future?’ They said, ‘Less than 1 percent.’ And I thought, ‘There’s some room for improvement,’” said Holmberg.
Now a technical writer for EMC, Holmberg wondered whether patterns on whale shark skin, which differ between each individual, could replace the tags. A cold-call enlisted the collaboration of Australian whale shark researcher Brad Norman; Over the next year, they developed a pattern recognition program that mapped X- and Y-coordinates of spots, then compared them between whale shark photographs.
It was a rudimentary approach, but it was a start. Soon the pair were joined by Zaven Arzoumanian, a whale shark enthusiast and NASA astrophysicist who introduced them to the work of Ed Groth, a Princeton University astronomer who’d developed algorithms to compare photographs of the night sky and determine what star patterns they had in common.
Groth’s equations were developed for astronomers using the Hubble telescope, Holmberg’s crew adapted them for biologists studying Earth’s biggest fishes. The algorithms did what they hoped to but in a far more elegant way, one that involved calculating the properties of every possible triangle within a pattern’s spots, and using those as a basis of comparison. The results were published in a 2005 Journal of Applied Ecology article entitled, “An astronomical pattern-matching algorithm for computer-aided identification of whale sharks Rhincodon typus.”
From that work grew the ECOCEAN library, now a database of 32,000 photographs of some 2,800 different whale sharks, contributed by more than 2,600 people — and not just by researchers, but people with cameras who happened to see whale sharks. The largest database of its kind, it’s used by whale shark researchers from Mozambique, Belize,Mexico and Australia.
The data is still being calibrated, as it takes years of records before biostatisticians can update equations used with old-fashioned tagging methods and feel confident about extrapolating population trends with the new methodology. But it’s very promising, said Dove.
Because whale shark patterns are a permanent tag, they let researchers gather data about single animals over unprecedentedly long times. “If we can see how big an animal was three years ago when we last saw it, then we know the growth rate. That is tremendously useful information, and otherwise hard to learn without some way of perpetually recognizing an individual,” Dove said.
“And another thing about whale sharks is that they’re a highly migratory species. They don’t respect national borders. This opens up the possibility that animals we see can be recognized” anywhere, he added. “If I put a tag on, I only recognize my own, not those of a researcher in a different country. The spot pattern is universal.”
The approach isn’t limited to whale sharks, either. It’s been customized for use on the whisker patterns of polar bears — a species for which standard mark and recapture is especially difficult and possibly damaging — and the fin shape of humpback whales. Later this week, ECOCEAN expects to release a generic, open-source 1.0 version of its of software, which Holmberg hopes will be customized for use by researchers using mark and recapture for any distinctively patterned animal.
With their free software package doing the dirty work of data management, “We want to link computer vision scientists who only want to write algorithms with biologists who are technophobes with statisticians who will use the data to make projections,” said Holmberg. “It will be a a framework for studying any species.”
Holmberg also hopes that other programmers will follow his lead and lend their coding skills to worthy projects. “Pick the species or concern you’re most passionate about, pick the researchers who are working on it, and identify their technical needs,” he said. “I’m not even a great programmer. I’m underqualified but highly productive.”
Source
May 24, 2011
With the help of algorithms designed to guide the Hubble telescope’s starscape surveys, conservation-minded coders have designed software that helps biologists identify whale sharks by their spots. The program enlists the help of citizens with cameras, and lets researchers track Earth’s biggest fish across time and oceans.
At the ECOCEAN Whale Shark Photo-Identification Library, people can upload photographs to the database, where they’re analyzed and classified. Photographers can then learn about their individual animal and receive emails each time it’s spotted. In the meantime, researchers will use the records to study population trends and the histories of individual whale sharks.
“If you put a tag in skin, it wears off or falls away. But we can recognize these animals for the rest of their lives,” said whale shark expert Al Dove of the Georgia Aquarium, a participant in the ECOCEAN project. “It lets you recognize and track animals without marking them, and it’s permanent.”
The program began when Jason Holmberg, then an English teacher in Cairo with a passion for scuba diving, saw his first whale shark during a trip to Djibouti in 2002. Fascinated by the giant, gentle fishes, he accompanied researchers on an expedition that fall.
‘If you put a tag in skin, it wears off or falls away. But we can recognize these animals for the rest of their lives.’
To count the animals, they used a technique called mark and recapture: Researchers marked individual whale sharks with plastic tags and, depending on how many were seen in subsequent years, calculated population size and trends. It’s a standard technique among biologists, but hard to implement in whale sharks, which tend to shed tags and swim far beyond the scope of any single research group.
“I said, ‘What percentage of these do you see in the future?’ They said, ‘Less than 1 percent.’ And I thought, ‘There’s some room for improvement,’” said Holmberg.
Now a technical writer for EMC, Holmberg wondered whether patterns on whale shark skin, which differ between each individual, could replace the tags. A cold-call enlisted the collaboration of Australian whale shark researcher Brad Norman; Over the next year, they developed a pattern recognition program that mapped X- and Y-coordinates of spots, then compared them between whale shark photographs.
It was a rudimentary approach, but it was a start. Soon the pair were joined by Zaven Arzoumanian, a whale shark enthusiast and NASA astrophysicist who introduced them to the work of Ed Groth, a Princeton University astronomer who’d developed algorithms to compare photographs of the night sky and determine what star patterns they had in common.
A comparison of spot patterns between two whale sharks. ECOCEAN
Groth’s equations were developed for astronomers using the Hubble telescope, Holmberg’s crew adapted them for biologists studying Earth’s biggest fishes. The algorithms did what they hoped to but in a far more elegant way, one that involved calculating the properties of every possible triangle within a pattern’s spots, and using those as a basis of comparison. The results were published in a 2005 Journal of Applied Ecology article entitled, “An astronomical pattern-matching algorithm for computer-aided identification of whale sharks Rhincodon typus.”
From that work grew the ECOCEAN library, now a database of 32,000 photographs of some 2,800 different whale sharks, contributed by more than 2,600 people — and not just by researchers, but people with cameras who happened to see whale sharks. The largest database of its kind, it’s used by whale shark researchers from Mozambique, Belize,Mexico and Australia.
The data is still being calibrated, as it takes years of records before biostatisticians can update equations used with old-fashioned tagging methods and feel confident about extrapolating population trends with the new methodology. But it’s very promising, said Dove.
Because whale shark patterns are a permanent tag, they let researchers gather data about single animals over unprecedentedly long times. “If we can see how big an animal was three years ago when we last saw it, then we know the growth rate. That is tremendously useful information, and otherwise hard to learn without some way of perpetually recognizing an individual,” Dove said.
“And another thing about whale sharks is that they’re a highly migratory species. They don’t respect national borders. This opens up the possibility that animals we see can be recognized” anywhere, he added. “If I put a tag on, I only recognize my own, not those of a researcher in a different country. The spot pattern is universal.”
The approach isn’t limited to whale sharks, either. It’s been customized for use on the whisker patterns of polar bears — a species for which standard mark and recapture is especially difficult and possibly damaging — and the fin shape of humpback whales. Later this week, ECOCEAN expects to release a generic, open-source 1.0 version of its of software, which Holmberg hopes will be customized for use by researchers using mark and recapture for any distinctively patterned animal.
With their free software package doing the dirty work of data management, “We want to link computer vision scientists who only want to write algorithms with biologists who are technophobes with statisticians who will use the data to make projections,” said Holmberg. “It will be a a framework for studying any species.”
Holmberg also hopes that other programmers will follow his lead and lend their coding skills to worthy projects. “Pick the species or concern you’re most passionate about, pick the researchers who are working on it, and identify their technical needs,” he said. “I’m not even a great programmer. I’m underqualified but highly productive.”
Source
Dive Spot: Diving the Cenotes of Mexico
Lovely article here in Sport Diver by Levison Wood, on diving the Cenotes of Mexico...
Many people associate cave diving with having a death wish. It features in the stuff of nightmares - running out of oxygen or getting lost within a labyrinthine network of pitch-black water-filled caves. For others, the allure of inland diving away from the masses amid some of the world’s most beautiful and untouched scenery allows them to overcome the apparent madness of it all. Travel writer and photojournalist Levison Wood recently dived the awe-inspiring cenotes of the Yucatan Peninsula.
“You don’t actually need any specialist qualifications, other than the PADI open water certificate,” said Aaron, the local divemaster who has been exploring the cenotes of Mexico’s easternmost region for more than fifteen years, “the most important thing is a sense of adventure.” That’s putting it lightly I thought, as we climbed down a rusty set of ladders some twenty metres down a natural bore hole in the middle of the jungle, an hour’s drive from the nearest town.
Cenotes are a natural phenomenon unique to this part of Mexico and neighbouring Belize, a result of the huge meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. The whole peninsula is dotted with these holes, ranging from cavernous wells to tiny potholes. Many of them are linked by an underground network of tunnels. Because of this, there are no natural rivers here and all water flows underground creating a vast undiscovered water world beneath the jungle. I began to realise that there is more to Mexico than meets the eye - the luxuriant grandeur of Cancun and bustling markets of the Spanish Colonial cities are a world away from this remote spot.
A sensational cenote scene
As we donned our fins and masks Aaron points to a particularly dark corner of the cave. “We are going that way, make sure you follow me.” He need not have reiterated that point. Up until now I had only ever dived off the coasts of Egypt and Thailand, civilized affairs where the boat - and therefore safety - was never too far away. This was something totally different.
Aaron told me that the water in this particular cave was fairly new and had been steadily rising over the centuries. As we began to descend into the water I was amazed at just how crystal clear the fresh water was. The visibility was incredible, despite the lack of natural light. I soon lost my initial fear.
Cenote diving is not cave diving in the truest sense (for which you need specialist certification and nerves of steel), because when you get below the small entry points they open up into immense cathedral-like caverns where it is almost impossible to get lost. Aaron led the way, following a pre-placed line to the bottom of the cave. I was surprised to see fish and even a turtle swim gracefully by.
I gazed in wonder at my surroundings, drooping stalactites and stalagmites protrude to create an otherworldly feeling. Even the water changed in appearance to give the impression it was layered with sections of air. “It’s just a different kind of water,” said my guide through the high tech inbuilt microphone system in my mask. At the bottom of the cave we found what we were looking for. “He is maybe two thousand years old,” Aaron said, pointing at the human skull, sitting incongruously on a rock shelf next to a pile of bones. Nearby is a pair of perfectly preserved ceramic jars about the size of a keg of beer - each containing yet more bones. “They are from animals - probably cows.” On the cave wall is a painting of what looks like a horse.
The cenotes were seen by the ancient Mayan civilisation, which flourished in Central America until the coming of the Spanish in the 16th century, as gateways to the afterlife. Many of the caves were then dry and became used as burial chambers and places where human and animal sacrifices took place.
The conquistadors effectively ended many of the traditional practices and as Christianity took hold the cenotes were left to disappear into the jungle and were forgotten about for several hundred years. It was not until 19th-century European explorers and anthropologists became interested in the Maya, and discovered such architectural riches as Chichen Itza and Uxmal, that cenotes were even heard of. Sketches were made - and later photographs taken - of these natural wonders, but it was not until the 1970s that the first intrepid divers decided to explore the underwater treasures. Even now only a handful of the cenotes have ever been dived and there are believed to be more than 3000 left undiscovered. Aaron hopes to enable more visitors to experience what he has seen and is one of only a couple of qualified diving guides that operate in the region.
As we slowly ascended toward the moon-like circle of light above I felt a tremendous sense of tranquillity, but also real privilege to have been able to explore this fascinating underground world. It only felt like we were under water for five minutes but Aaron smiled and showed me his watch - I am stunned to realise we had actually been submerged for more than half an hour. “It’s the magic of the Maya,” he said with a chuckle as we climbed out into the emerald lushness of the Mexican Jungle.
Levison Wood is the founder of the expeditionary service Secret Compass, which specialises in taking clients to the world’s most remote and undiscovered destinations. He is leading a one-off dive trip to explore the cenotes of the Yucatan in September. If you would like to find out more or to apply to join the expedition, visit www.secretcompass.com.
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
News: Duke & Duchess of Cambridge Scuba!
Prince William and Kate Scuba Dived with Sharks on Honeymoon
May 23, 2011 01:00 PM EDT
Prince William and Kate spent honeymoon hours in the water, scuba diving with sting rays and turtles and sharks. Their Seychelles hideaway is surrounded by a nature preserve, so the Royal pair had many chances to be up close and in touch with the water wildlife, reports US Weekly. "They got to see some wonderful things," says Amanda Hunt, press attaché for the local government. Prince William is an experienced diver, having taken scuba trips to many of the world's most famous spots. Duchess Kate is obviously a capable "dive buddy".
The Prince and the Duchess watched a nest of sea turtle eggs, hatching. Viewers don't need to dive for that, because turtles nest on the sand, but it tends to happen in the dark, so you have to get up really early. But the whole island area was closed off and surrounded by safety, so Prince William and Kate must have had days of private time, to go off bird watching. Don't all honeymooners go bird watching?
May 23, 2011 01:00 PM EDT
Prince William and Kate spent honeymoon hours in the water, scuba diving with sting rays and turtles and sharks. Their Seychelles hideaway is surrounded by a nature preserve, so the Royal pair had many chances to be up close and in touch with the water wildlife, reports US Weekly. "They got to see some wonderful things," says Amanda Hunt, press attaché for the local government. Prince William is an experienced diver, having taken scuba trips to many of the world's most famous spots. Duchess Kate is obviously a capable "dive buddy".
They went on several dives, Hunt mentioned. The whole procedure must have been interesting, because the best way to see wildlife is generally when you move quietly, with no fuss. But the odds are the couple never had a chance to dive as a pair, alone. There would be bodyguards in scuba gear all around, and likely a few sharpshooters with spear guns, just in case one of the "friendly sharks", as Hunt called them, turned out to be a less docile kind. There would be advance men, checking out the area for hazards before Prince William and Kate entered the water. There would be scuba bubbles everywhere. You might almost expect 007 in a tuxedo under his wet suit. They're lucky they saw any wildlife at all, except for the coral.
The Prince and the Duchess watched a nest of sea turtle eggs, hatching. Viewers don't need to dive for that, because turtles nest on the sand, but it tends to happen in the dark, so you have to get up really early. But the whole island area was closed off and surrounded by safety, so Prince William and Kate must have had days of private time, to go off bird watching. Don't all honeymooners go bird watching?
Monday, 23 May 2011
Life Log: Whale spotting season starts early in Australia...bodes well for a bumper season come August
It might be winter in Australia, but still some great reasons to visit!
24th May 2011
The first humpback whales of the season have already been spotted heading north past Fraser Island, on the way to their breeding grounds in North Queensland.
It’s an early start, which bodes well for a bumper whale-watching season during their return journey in August.
Hervey Bay’s whale-watching season runs from August 1 until the end of October with some of the most prolific whale spotting this side of the east coast.
Each year, an estimated 4000 to 5000 whales take time out of their migration down the Australian coastline and back to Antarctica to socialise, play and perform in the warm waters on Fraser Island’s lee side.
Kingfisher Bay Resort head ranger Colin Anderson said researchers believed this happened in only two places in the world: one is in Hervey Bay, the Australian whale-watch capital; the other, Hawaii.
“There’s no doubt the calm waters off Fraser Island offer some of the most jaw-dropping whale watching in the world,” he said.
“That’s why it keeps popping up in those ubiquitous ‘best experiences’ lists.
“And that’s why visitors come back year after year.
“It’s quite a show.”
Kingfisher Bay Resort, on Fraser Island’s western shores, is just a short cruise away from Platypus Bay and the humpback action, and is offering a whale of a deal this season.
For more information, visit Kingfisher Bay website
Wednesday, 18 May 2011
More than 500 lionfish captured during weekend Lionfish event in Florida Keys
By Scott Jones
Lionfish are a growing problem throughout the Atlantic Coast, Florida Keys, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. The flamboyant fish is easily spotted by its array of venomous spines. The lionfish, which reproduces at a spectacularly fast rate, is causing damage in
local waters because it has no natural predators and its natural habitat is the South Pacific. Scientists have been studying the Lionfish problem for the last two years.
Officials from REEF and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary has scheduled at least three Lionfish events for scuba divers and watersports enthusiasts for the spring and summer. Saturday's event at Fiesta Key Resort in Long Key is the first of the three. Organizers said that as of Saturday evening, the unofficial total was 530 lionfish.
A lively mix of male and female divers came to middle Keys for the event. Participants ranged from teens to retired executives and hailed from Miami all the way to the lower Keys. Some hunted with scuba equipment and others were free diving.
After getting out of the water, teams had their catch "weighed" and then went to the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary area, where the fish were filleted for the evening’s dining. Appetizers of fried lionfish bites and lionfish wrapped in bacon were prepared for sampling. The remaining fish went to REEF for further research.
Chris Rose and Adam Villa of Team Strategery are two participants who watched the tally board closely. In the last week, the pair devoted a few days on the water researching sites and marking them with GPS numbers to plan their attack. As avid members of the South Florida Freedivers club, they would not be using SCUBA. The due diligence paid off. Hitting 75 spots they came in with the top count of 158 lionfish and received a grand prize of $1,000.00 in cash.
For more information on the Lion Fish invasion, see here.
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Sunday, 15 May 2011
Want to be in the Guinness book of World Records?
The current Guinness World Record for most scuba divers diving simultaneously was set in 2009 in by the Indonesian Navy at Malalayang beach, Manado (Indonesia).
If you want to have a go at setting a new record, you have two opportunities in 2011.
1) 26th July 2011 - Hurgada, Egypt
2) 24th September 2011 - Swanage, UK
Egypt's attempt
By divernet.com
The Egypt Scuba Challenge aims to get 3000 divers into the water off Hurghada on 26 July, weather permitting.
The stunt is being organised by the Egyptian Divers Syndicate in co-operation with the Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association (HEPCA).
“We have been looking for a spot that is suitable to hold such a huge amount of divers without any detrimental effect on the environment and have agreed on the outside area of the New Marina in Hurghada,” says HEPCA.
“This location has a large sandy plateau at 12-13m depth, which is capable of holding 3000 divers. There is hardly any marine life there, but plenty of rubbish.
“For this reason we do not only want to break the world record for the largest collective dive, but also the world record for the largest underwater clean-up.”
Local dive centres and travel agents operating to the area have been asked to “support the event and actively promote it”.
The event will “help promote tourism in Egypt and, at the same time, raise environmental awareness”.
Companies interested in supporting or taking part in the event will be provided with "promotional material and ideas".
Individual divers from overseas are also invited to participate.
“If you’d like to be part of the world record attempt and are a qualified diver, start searching for flights to Egypt and we look forward to seeing you here in July,” says HEPCA.
The minimum qualification level required is PADI Open Water Diver.
Enquiries should be sent to urte@hepca.com.
The UK's attempt
From divernet.com
Diver and organiser Jason Haiselden plans to hold the event off Swanage beach on 24 September, weather permitting. Permission to run it has been granted by Swanage Town Council.
In the process, Haiselden aims to raise money for Heroes Haven Swanage, which wants to build a holiday cabin for disabled service personnel; the Scuba Trust, which provides dive training for the disabled; and the RNLI.
Participation in the record attempt will cost £10 a head.
The attempt has the backing both of the Council and of the Swanage and Purbeck Hospitality Association, which represents many local businesses.
The Guinness record to beat is the figure of 2486 divers who descended together off Indonesia in 2009, in a stunt organised by the country’s navy.
Haiselden hopes to get as many as 3000 divers under water together for, as required by Guinness, at least one minute. Observers and a Guinness adjudicator will decide whether or not this has been achieved.
“Swanage should make a good venue for the attempt because the seabed shelves gradually, with a depth of two to three metres when you’re some 200m out,” Haiselden told Divernet.
"In addition, the eastward-facing bay is sheltered from our predominantly southerly to westerly winds.”
Apart from diving participants, people also being sought are two standby diving doctors and kayakers to act as safety stewards.
Information and registration – www.gwr.scubaclick.com
The Egypt Scuba Challenge aims to get 3000 divers into the water off Hurghada on 26 July, weather permitting.
The stunt is being organised by the Egyptian Divers Syndicate in co-operation with the Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association (HEPCA).
“We have been looking for a spot that is suitable to hold such a huge amount of divers without any detrimental effect on the environment and have agreed on the outside area of the New Marina in Hurghada,” says HEPCA.
“This location has a large sandy plateau at 12-13m depth, which is capable of holding 3000 divers. There is hardly any marine life there, but plenty of rubbish.
“For this reason we do not only want to break the world record for the largest collective dive, but also the world record for the largest underwater clean-up.”
Local dive centres and travel agents operating to the area have been asked to “support the event and actively promote it”.
The event will “help promote tourism in Egypt and, at the same time, raise environmental awareness”.
Companies interested in supporting or taking part in the event will be provided with "promotional material and ideas".
Individual divers from overseas are also invited to participate.
“If you’d like to be part of the world record attempt and are a qualified diver, start searching for flights to Egypt and we look forward to seeing you here in July,” says HEPCA.
The minimum qualification level required is PADI Open Water Diver.
Enquiries should be sent to urte@hepca.com.
The UK's attempt
From divernet.com
Diver and organiser Jason Haiselden plans to hold the event off Swanage beach on 24 September, weather permitting. Permission to run it has been granted by Swanage Town Council.
In the process, Haiselden aims to raise money for Heroes Haven Swanage, which wants to build a holiday cabin for disabled service personnel; the Scuba Trust, which provides dive training for the disabled; and the RNLI.
Participation in the record attempt will cost £10 a head.
The attempt has the backing both of the Council and of the Swanage and Purbeck Hospitality Association, which represents many local businesses.
The Guinness record to beat is the figure of 2486 divers who descended together off Indonesia in 2009, in a stunt organised by the country’s navy.
Haiselden hopes to get as many as 3000 divers under water together for, as required by Guinness, at least one minute. Observers and a Guinness adjudicator will decide whether or not this has been achieved.
“Swanage should make a good venue for the attempt because the seabed shelves gradually, with a depth of two to three metres when you’re some 200m out,” Haiselden told Divernet.
"In addition, the eastward-facing bay is sheltered from our predominantly southerly to westerly winds.”
Apart from diving participants, people also being sought are two standby diving doctors and kayakers to act as safety stewards.
Information and registration – www.gwr.scubaclick.com
Thursday, 12 May 2011
Sardine Run...South Africa
Surely the Sardine Run has to be at the top of many divers wish lists...especially those who like a little adrenalin on a dive!
This video has to be seen to be believed...it's only a minute or two long, so take a look.
This video has to be seen to be believed...it's only a minute or two long, so take a look.
Honestly, I wouldn't want to meet this fellow on a dive...
The Shark Men crew work to keep the great white shark nicknamed Apache alive on board their boat.
Talk about a big fish—an expedition crew has hauled up—and released—what the team says is the biggest great white shark yet caught.
The 17.9-foot-long (5.5-meter-long) male behemoth was found off Mexico's Guadalupe Island.
The animal breaks the team's previous record of 16.8 feet (5.1 meters), set when they caught a female great white named Kimel. (Both records are unofficial and not maintained by a formal organization.)
The new titleholder was named Apache after the dog of Brett McBride, boat captain on the National Geographic Channel show Shark Men. Shark Men chronicles the work of scientists and fishers who catch and release great whites in an effort to figure out where the mysterious giants breed and give birth. The scientific team is led by Michael Domeier, president and executive director of the Marine Conservation Science Institute.
The two-ton Apache put up a fight—at one point breaking free from his barbless hook, said expedition leader Chris Fischer.
"The battle with Apache was like nothing we've ever dealt with," Fischer said.
Once on board, the researchers fitted the fish with a satellite-tracking tag, took a blood sample, and released him, watching him vigorously swim away.
For full article, click here.
Photograph courtesy National Geographic Channel
Christine Dell'Amore, National Geographic News, Published May 6, 2011
Talk about a big fish—an expedition crew has hauled up—and released—what the team says is the biggest great white shark yet caught.
The 17.9-foot-long (5.5-meter-long) male behemoth was found off Mexico's Guadalupe Island.
The animal breaks the team's previous record of 16.8 feet (5.1 meters), set when they caught a female great white named Kimel. (Both records are unofficial and not maintained by a formal organization.)
The new titleholder was named Apache after the dog of Brett McBride, boat captain on the National Geographic Channel show Shark Men. Shark Men chronicles the work of scientists and fishers who catch and release great whites in an effort to figure out where the mysterious giants breed and give birth. The scientific team is led by Michael Domeier, president and executive director of the Marine Conservation Science Institute.
The two-ton Apache put up a fight—at one point breaking free from his barbless hook, said expedition leader Chris Fischer.
"The battle with Apache was like nothing we've ever dealt with," Fischer said.
Once on board, the researchers fitted the fish with a satellite-tracking tag, took a blood sample, and released him, watching him vigorously swim away.
For full article, click here.
Divevoluntourism
Are you a passionate scuba diver who would like to give a little back on your next dive? If you are planning a trip to Australia, check out Divevoluntourism and see how you can get involved in:
Get a feel for the project experience here:
- Compiling Biodiversity Inventories
- Reef Surveys
- Manta Ray and Whaleshark research
- Shark and Turtle research
- Marine Research Station volunteering
- Marine Debris survey, clean ups and marine park maintenance
Get a feel for the project experience here:
What a great idea! If you know of similar projects around the world, please share them with me here.
Basking Sharks caught on video - Hebridean Coast - May 2011
Continuing with the theme...Sea Life Survey's has caught some amazing video footage of courting basking sharks off of the Hebridean coast in the last week...sit back and watch the whole thing, its amazing!
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
2011 Basking Shark season well under way...
Motivated by the fantastic BBC 2 broadcast of Britain's Secret Seas...Giants of the West this week, I have discovered (rather late) that the UK's Basking Shark season is well under way already...earlier than usual owing to the warm weather and subsequent plankton bloom.
The first sighting was at Roskilly Beach, Newlyn, Cornall on Sunday 20th March, but they have also been seen in Waterford, Ireland and Niarbyl, Isle of Man.
So, if you're based in the UK, there's no need to travel to far flung corners of the earth to swim with Whalesharks...all you need to do is grab a wetsuit, mask, snorkel and fins and at various points up and down the UK's West Coast, you could be basking with our very own giants of the sea.
For more information about how you can support the conservation efforts of these wonderful creatures, or to report a sighting of your own visit:
Thursday, 5 May 2011
Left alive and wild, a single shark worth $1.9 million
By Jeremy Hance
2nd May 2011
For the Pacific island nation of Palau, sharks are worth much more alive than dead. A new study by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) has found that one reef shark during its full life is worth $1.9 million to Palau in tourism revenue. Sold for consumption the shark is worth around $108. In this case a shark is worth a stunning 17,000 times more alive than dead.
"Sharks can literally be a 'million-dollar' species and a significant economic driver," explained Mark Meekan, principal research scientist at AIMS, in a press release. "Because of their low rates of reproduction and late maturity, shark populations have been driven into a global decline due to fishing. Yet our study shows that these animals can contribute far more as a tourism resource than as a catch target."
In total, the study found that shark tourism brings in $18 million to the island nation a year (8% of the country's gross domestic product), making each shark worth around $180,000 annually.
2nd May 2011
For the Pacific island nation of Palau, sharks are worth much more alive than dead. A new study by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) has found that one reef shark during its full life is worth $1.9 million to Palau in tourism revenue. Sold for consumption the shark is worth around $108. In this case a shark is worth a stunning 17,000 times more alive than dead.
"Sharks can literally be a 'million-dollar' species and a significant economic driver," explained Mark Meekan, principal research scientist at AIMS, in a press release. "Because of their low rates of reproduction and late maturity, shark populations have been driven into a global decline due to fishing. Yet our study shows that these animals can contribute far more as a tourism resource than as a catch target."
In total, the study found that shark tourism brings in $18 million to the island nation a year (8% of the country's gross domestic product), making each shark worth around $180,000 annually.
A reef shark glides above a marine turtle in the waters of Palau. Photo by: Todd Essick.
Due to overfishing, bycatch, and the demand for shark-fin soup, shark populations have been decimated around the world. Some species' populations have fallen by over 90%
An increasingly popular Asian delicacy, shark-fin soup is exactly what its name suggests. Sharks are caught, their fins sawed off, and often the animals' bodies—sometimes still alive—are thrown back into the water. Shark finning alone is estimated to have killed an average of 38 million sharks per year between 1996 and 2000.
In 2009, Palau declared its waters as a 'shark sanctuary', completely off-limits to shark fishing and finning. Since then it has declared whales, dolphins, and dugongs off-limits as well, making it one of the most progressive marine conservation nations in the world.
"Shark tourism can be a viable economic engine," said Matt Rand, director of Global Shark Conservation for the Pew Environment Group, which commissioned the research. "Overfishing of sharks can have disastrous effects on ocean ecosystems, but this study provides a compelling case that can convince more countries to embrace these animals for their benefit to the ocean and their value to a country’s financial well-being."
The study looked solely at a shark's worth for tourism, and not at the economic worth of ecological services provided by sharks. As top predators sharks play a major role in marine ecosystems.
An increasingly popular Asian delicacy, shark-fin soup is exactly what its name suggests. Sharks are caught, their fins sawed off, and often the animals' bodies—sometimes still alive—are thrown back into the water. Shark finning alone is estimated to have killed an average of 38 million sharks per year between 1996 and 2000.
In 2009, Palau declared its waters as a 'shark sanctuary', completely off-limits to shark fishing and finning. Since then it has declared whales, dolphins, and dugongs off-limits as well, making it one of the most progressive marine conservation nations in the world.
"Shark tourism can be a viable economic engine," said Matt Rand, director of Global Shark Conservation for the Pew Environment Group, which commissioned the research. "Overfishing of sharks can have disastrous effects on ocean ecosystems, but this study provides a compelling case that can convince more countries to embrace these animals for their benefit to the ocean and their value to a country’s financial well-being."
The study looked solely at a shark's worth for tourism, and not at the economic worth of ecological services provided by sharks. As top predators sharks play a major role in marine ecosystems.
my 360 dive...caught on camera
Since telling you about my 360 dive, I have been in touch with Treasure Images to ask their permission to share the video they made of the dive and you can now see it here. We stayed with Borneo Divers and had a truly great time...I hope you enjoy.
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