Between June 1 and June 6, my father and I enjoyed Grand Cayman’s charms. During our well-deserved vacation, Don Foster’s dive operation took us out as we explored the reefs and the marine life off the western and northwestern edges of the island. Ultimately, we managed to squeeze in a dozen dives, all of which were at least “very good,” and some of which were “spectacular.” Topside, we did some exploring, too.
Thailand is blessed with many world class diving sites - and there’s so many of them, it can get a bit bewildering about where to go. The Tourist Authority Of Thailand has a very good summary of the different sites on a single webpage, with links out to separate pages on each of the different major dive destinations. It’s well presented, with maps and some beautiful photos to get you in the mood for what you’ll see. There’s also practical info on how to get to each destination too.
Thailand Dive Sites At A Glance - divehappy.com: Scuba Diving In Thailand and South East Asia
A new type of hammerhead shark has been discovered in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, marine scientists say.
BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | New shark discovered in US waters
“We can see from fossils that whales clearly lived on land - they actually share a common ancestor with hippos, camels and deer,” said team member Martin Cohn, Ph.D., a developmental biologist and associate professor with the UF departments of zoology and anatomy and cell biology and a member of the UF Genetics Institute. “Their transition to an aquatic lifestyle occurred long before they eliminated their hind limbs. During the transition, their limbs became smaller, but they kept the same number and arrangement of hind limb bones as their terrestrial ancestors.”
In findings to be published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists say the gradual shrinkage of the whales’ hind limbs over 15 million years was the result of slowly accumulated genetic changes that influenced the size of the limbs and that these changes happened sometime late in development, during the fetal period.
There’s an excellent scuba diving liveaboards comparison chart tucked away on the Divernet website - it covers not only Thailand and other countries in the Asia Pacific region, but the major diving regions across the world. It looks a bit clunky, but the information is invaluable and a good start to figuring out which company you should invest your hard earned cash with for a dive holiday.
Scuba Diving Liveaboards Compared - divehappy.com: Scuba Diving In Thailand and South East Asia
This fall, Chuck and Roz will host two separate humpback whale snorkeling excursions in beautiful Tonga. (Opportunities for diving exist on this trip to the Friendly Islands, but not in conjunction with the whales.) The trip costs $2,863 per person, and includes accommodation, meals, 5 days with the whales, and airfare from LAX all the way to Vavau, Tonga. Chuck only has space for 6 people per trip, so email him soon to reserve your spot.
The world’s largest aquarium has added two of the world’s largest fish.
Two female whale sharks - Alice and Trixie - arrived late Saturday at the Georgia Aquarium.
They joined the aquarium’s two male whale sharks, Ralph and Norton, in their 6 million-gallon tank. The four sharks are the only ones of their kind on display outside of Asia.
AP Wire | 06/04/2006 | Georgia Aquarium adds two female whale sharks
Hoping to entice more scuba divers to visit the amazing sights of Malaysian Borneo, budget air carrier AirAsia are offering discount fares for divers
“Don’t hold your breath” is a mantra heard in virtually every scuba diving course every taught. You can easily damage your body during ascention by holding your breath during SCUBA diving. The expansion of the air can quickly cause damage regions with very few nerve endings to tell you that you’re doing bad things to yourself. Today in SCUBA Theory, why breath holding is a valuable skill to practice.
The manatee, long the poster mammal of the environmental movement in Florida, lost its endangered status from the state on Wednesday.
The controversial move was the latest and biggest political win for boating and building interests, which five years ago launched a campaign against a growing array of restrictions intended to protect the lumbering sea cows.
MiamiHerald.com | 06/08/2006 | Manatees lose their status as ‘endangered’ in Fla.