Scuba With Bill

Not exactly one of the world’s top spots for scuba diving, but when life gives you lemons . . .

St. Andrew student Anne Villarin had never scuba dived until this week. She is on the Helena Lions Swim Team and said it was really fun to be able to breathe underwater.

This is also the first time sophomore Mary Holbrook has experienced scuba diving.

“I’ve never had a fear of water, but I’ve never been a fan of holding my breath for a long time,” she said.

Interesting write-up on the course being offered at the Waynesboro YMCA.

If humans were meant to explore the depths of the ocean, they would have gills. Since most don’t, underwater enthusiasts turn to self-contained underwater breathing apparatus, or scuba, to get their aquatic fixes.

One of the cool things about large aquariums is that somebody has to clean them and feed the fishies.

Great story of a couple of divers who were joined by a whale shark while diving a wreck in Brunei. Most people go out of their way to dive with these gentle giants but this time the shark came to them.

DiveHappy has a good write-up on the best dive sites in Thailand. Worth checking out if you need a reason to drool this winter.

Maldives has made a new world record for “Most people scuba diving simultaneously” on a single site. Nine hundred seventy-nine divers all went diving at Sunlight Thila to break the record.

Great story over at Live Science on the reasons why and how dolphins spin.

Once a dolphin breaks the surface, everything changes.

As it enters the air, the dolphin sheds all of the resistant forces that slowed it down in the water. And that’s when things really get dizzy.

Airborne, the spinner dolphin can make up to seven revolutions in as little as a second.

Photo borrowed from Flickr user blather.

Geologists have noticed signs that a major portion of the African continent might be splitting apart.

Geologist Dereje Ayalew and his colleagues from Addis Ababa University were amazed — and frightened. They had only just stepped out of their helicopter onto the desert plains of central Ethiopia when the ground began to shake under their feet. The pilot shouted for the scientists to get back to the helicopter. And then it happened: the Earth split open. Crevices began racing toward the researchers like a zipper opening up. After a few seconds, the ground stopped moving, and after they had recovered from their shock, Ayalew and his colleagues realized they had just witnessed history. For the first time ever, human beings were able to witness the first stages in the birth of an ocean.

Read the full story . . .

Photo borrowed from Flickr user Edu-Tourist

David Mattila and Ed Lyman, from the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, have developed several home-made tools to assist rescuers in freeing whales caught in fishing line and nets.

I’ve spoken to people who rescue marine mammals and several volunteers have died attempting to give aid to trapped whales. The volunteers know that the mammals mean them no harm but when you’re dealing with a multi-ton animal of that size, a simple slap of the tail while thrashing around could not only kill a human but is likely to take out any rescue boat the volunteers are on.

Image borrowed from Flickr user Mark Carey.

As happens with many wonderful and beautiful destinations, cruise ships are both a blessing and a curse. Cruise ships bring visitors, money, and a boost to the local economy but the extra people often ruin exactly what made the place special to begin with.

Examples of this are everywhere. I’ve noticed this especially in Cozumel. You know when the cruise ships are in even if you didn’t see them. Cruise ship tourists are typically of the hit and run mentality. They have a very fixed and often very short stop and they try to pack as much of whatever it is they came to do as possible. Some shop and the stores suddenly are overwhelmed with tourists. Dive sites are suddenly overrun with divers. Bars and restaurants are overflowing.

And then suddenly . . . they all disappear.

Belize is starting to get a taste of the cruise ship tourist and people are having mixed feelings.

Photo borrowed from Flickr user So Cal Metro