Aug
8
This June a U.S. federal agency proposed that a vast swath of Washington State’s Puget Sound region be granted federal protections to ensure the survival of an iconic killer whale population.
But area residents Tom and Margo Wyckoff, retired healthcare workers, were shocked to learn that Hood Canal, a barb-shaped fjord that slices a narrow path into the Olympic Peninsula, was excluded from the ruling.
“Critical Habitat” for Orcas Leaves Pockets of Vulnerability, Critics Say
Aug
8
A Navy diver submerged 2,000 feet, setting a record using the new Atmospheric Diving System (ADS) suit, off the coast of La Jolla, Calif., Aug. 1.
Chief Navy Diver (DSW/SS) Daniel P. Jackson of Navy Reserve Deep Submergence Unit (DSU) was randomly selected to certify the ADS suit for use by the Navy.
“I feel like the luckiest guy in the world,†said Jackson. “I am honored and privileged to be the first diver to go down to that depth.â€
Aug
7
The Monroe Sheriff’s Office on Friday identified the woman who died while diving for lobster during this week’s mini-season as Judith Silcox, 47, of Cedar Creek Road in Palatka. Her boyfriend Ronald Maloy , 53, also of the same address, is still missing.
The couple had been staying at the Sunshine Key Campground on Ohio Key. A motor home, a pickup truck and a boat trailer registered to them were found at the campground, Becky Herrin, MSO spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. Their boat, a 22-foot center console Proline, was found anchored with a dive flag posted just off shore between Big Pine Key and Little Palm Island.
CDNN :: It Happens Every Summer: Florida’s Dead Lobster Diver Club
Aug
7
Six men and one woman left Dover in Kent early on Saturday and arrived at Cap Gris Nez in Calais, France, 12 hours later.
Each diver spent 30 minutes in the sea before running out of air. They then handed over the baton and refuelled.
BBC NEWS | UK | England | Kent | Scuba divers finish Channel relay
Aug
7
“It was an unbelievable charge!” he says. “The shark’s skin felt like soft suede. Of all the members of the shark family that we encounter in Hawaii, the whitetip reef shark is considered to be the least aggressive.”
That said, Gough, a PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) master instructor with more than 3,500 hours logged underwater, doesn’t advocate touching or disturbing any sea creatures — especially sharks. “I’m a professional diver who has done many dives with sharks,” he explains. “Do not attempt to do that on your own!”
Aug
6
British waters contain 33 different species of shark, of which Blue and Mako are considered dangerous to man.
Mr Peirce told BBC News: “I am primarily a shark conservationist. Part of our job is to get some sense of sharks to the public and politicians.
“We are killing them at a huge rate, there is virtually no real threat from sharks to humans, the threat is entirely the other way round.
BBC NEWS | UK | England | Cornwall | Five in first Cornwall shark swim
Aug
6
In 1946, the United States began a series of nuclear tests on Bikini Atoll to determine the impact of atomic bombs. Delgado, a noted marine archaeologist with the National Park Service, visited Bikini in the late 1980s to explore and document the condition of the sunken ships. His work is more than an archaeological study; it is the history of the nuclear age. This book chronicles the development of the bomb, its deployment in Japan, the preparations for the tests, the attempted clean-up afterward, and the beginning of the Cold War.
Ghost Fleet: The Sunken Ships of Bikini Atoll · Divehappy.com
Jul
14
Zoologists have developed a plan to save the Yangtze River dolphin, probably the world’s most endangered mammal, from extinction.
They hope to take some dolphins from the Yangtze and rear them in a nearby lake, protected from fishermen.
The species is threatened by overfishing which removes its food, industrialisation, boat collisions, and through being caught in fishing nets.
The most recent surveys found only 17 living individuals.
Jul
13
Mark Coghill was relaxing Monday afternoon, fishing on his vacation on Fort Myers Beach, but a shark changed all that.
Coghill, from Greencastle, Ind., said another fisherman, who was fishing on the other side of the pier, hooked a 6-foot blacktip shark and didn’t let go. The shark pulled him off the pier into the water.
“The shark was kinda pulling him around,†Coghill said. “It was pretty exciting.â€
The man, whose name Coghill never got, didn’t speak English very well, but motioned to onlookers that he couldn’t swim.
“No one helped,†he said. “I said, ‘I guess that’s my cue.’ â€
Jul
12
Okay, if you can make it past the annoying hosts, the irritating music, and the distracting images on the screen, then I promise you’ll find a real jewel here. In this video, a scuba diver goes to the bottom of a pool, takes out his reg, and blows perfect ring-shaped bubbles. Then, he does other bizarre things with the bubbles, like making them chase each other, and attaching little red ribbons (?) to them. Evidently, this is what they watch on TV. In Japan.
Bizarre-o Video of Scuba Diver Blowing Perfect Bubbles – Divester
Jul
12
Neighbors Richard Doornbos and Al Embry have stumbled upon numerous mysteries of the Mojave Desert, but never anything like this.
Last week, while walking in a large vacant field across from Sultana High School near G Avenue, the two found a 4-foot-long and ominously unmistakeable shark. The fish, which appeared to have been dumped just hours before, bore large spotted markings.
Neighbors discover 4-foot shark while on daily desert walk – Hesperia Star
Jul
11
And there’s scuba diving. With more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) of coast along the Red Sea and just under 500 miles (800 kilometers) of beach along the Persian Gulf, Saudi Arabia is home to some of the world’s most spectacular dive sites.
“It is the last untouched tropical coral reef in the world, simply because of Saudi Arabian paranoia. And thank God for it,†said Eric Mason, executive manager of Dream Divers in Saudi Arabia. “This place is a divers dream come true.â€
Mason’s company has been offering scuba diving trips for more than three years, drawing coral reef enthusiasts from Europe and Asia.
Khaleej Times Online – Saudis to promote kingdom as cultural and scuba diving tourist destination
Jul
11
Basking sharks have been spotted swimming along the Cornish coast, attracted by the warmer seas.
Also known as the bone shark, they are the second largest fish after the whale shark and can reach a massive 36 feet in length.
But swimmers can stay in the water, as the sharks only feast on tiny marine animals and it is rare that they come so close to the shore.
Jul
11
Lake Tahoe is growing as a destination hotspot for high-altitude diving.
Each year more than one million Americans become certified divers, according to www.scuba.com. And there is no better place to explore clear waters, immense granite cliffs, various shipwrecks and aquatic life than in Lake Tahoe, area dive instructors say.
Jul
11
Matthew Young and Cameron James Avenell, who were convicted of theft of Palau’s underwater artifacts, were sentenced to a jail term of three months and six months, respectively.
Chief Justice Arthiur Ngiraklsong also ordered Young to pay a US$5,000 fine and Avenell US$12,000.
Young was found guilty of violating the Lagoon Monument Act, grand larceny, malicious mischief and conversion of public property.
He was sentenced six months for each violation.
Jul
11
The Oregon Coast Aquarium is offering a class for intermediate scuba divers. “Marine Ecology for the Wet and Wild” offers a chance for divers to experience the aquarium’s Passages of the Deep exhibit, home to hundreds of marine animals. The class will be Saturday, July 22 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and includes a review of the 13 major groups of invertebrates inhabiting Northwest waters.
“We won’t be diving with the sharks,” said Vallorie Hodges, dive safety officer at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. “But we’ll be right up close to many common and some uncommon Pacific Northwest fishes and invertebrates.” Hodges said this is the ideal place for divers to learn about marine life because “You would have to log many hours diving in the open water of the Oregon Coast to find and identify the marine life you will see in one dive at the aquarium.”
Aquarium offers marine ecology for intermediate scuba divers
Jul
11
Does the thought of being in the deep, mysterious depths of water, surrounded by exotic fish stimulate you? Do you dream of going to unexplored, untouched territories and becoming one with nature, literally? Lacadives is the only Indian overseas scuba diving centre affiliated to the World Underwater Federation (CMAS in its French translation). Now in its eleventh year, Lacadives is the brainchild of well-known ad man Prahlad Kakar and has two diving centers – one at Kadmat Island, set up in 1995 and the other at Bangaram Island, set up in 2000.
Sitting in his Tardeo office Kakar speaks about his passion – scuba diving. “I was in Mauritius more than a decade ago when I learnt the beginner course in scuba diving. It was such an indescribable experience that I knew I had to do it again and again. When people talk about Lakshadweep, they always end up thinking about the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. What they don’t realise is that there are more virgin islands on the eastern coast as well. Kadmat and Bangaram are virtually unknown islands,†said Kakkar.
Jul
11
The giant sand pit where the remains of a mammoth and saber-toothed tiger were once discovered may soon be filled with more modern artifacts.
[Click image for a larger version] PAT SULLIVAN/AP
AP
This huge mask is at a Clute, Texas, sand pit, which will be turned into a diving lake. The mask will be in the seascape.There are plans to throw in a bus, a couple of antique firetrucks and even a space shuttle look-alike that once thrilled visitors at the now defunct Astroworld amusement park in Houston.
Developers are hoping the items and many others – including an old F-5 Navy jet already in the 50-acre pit – will help create one of the nation’s largest lakes reserved for scuba divers seeking to explore large objects.
“This is a dream come true,” Mike Cryer, who runs Hydrosports Scuba Shop in nearby Lake Jackson, said as he gazed over a hole as deep as 70 feet. By next year it should be at least partially filled with water and become Mammoth Lake. “We’re in such a unique position. No one has ever started a dive lake from the ground up. They’ve always inherited a hole of water.”
Jul
11
Sara Rich long had an affinity for the underwater world.
But she never really had been, well, under water.
And living in landlocked Kansas, Rich figured her pursuit of watery bliss would have to wait until she moved to one coast or another.
That thinking changed, however, earlier this year.
Rich had a vacation planned in Florida, and she started thinking about diving there. Her daily walk to work carried her past the Scuba Shack in East Lawrence, and one day she decided to stop in.
“It was very convenient,†Rich recalled. “They were so willing to accommodate me. I was on a short schedule. I said, ‘I’m leaving for Florida next week.’ I explained what my situation was, and they basically took care of it.â€
Jul
11
MEN and women have practised breath-hold diving for thousands of years. We know this because scientists found undersea artifacts on land and there are depictions of divers in ancient drawings. This type of diving is still practised today in different variations – free diving and skin diving.
Jul
11
Three years ago, when my husband and I signed up for scuba diving lessons, we envisioned it as a life-changing — or at least a vacation-changing — decision.
Since we had always been partial to beach getaways, we figured we would find ample opportunity to practice our newfound skills. Just days after completing certification, we hopped a plane bound for the British Virgin Islands, where we found time to hit the ocean bottom nine times in between other activities, such as getting married and enjoying our honeymoon.
Jul
11
Despite swirling skepticism, President Bush announced today that he would create the wold’s largest marine sanctuary in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Already designated a reserve, the new designation will extend federal protections to the 140,000 square miles of islands, endangered monk seals, nesting green sea turtles, and 7000 other species that call the area home. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, head of NOAA, which will manage most of the sanctuary, proclaimed Bush’s announcement as “the single-largest act of ocean conservation in history.” In fact, the new Sanctuary will be the largest no-take area on earth.
Jul
11
Scientists towing an underwater digital microscope across the Atlantic have found possible missing links to the global nitrogen cycle, which in turn is linked to ocean productivity.
In a recent report in the journal Science, researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) found abundant colonies of Trichodesmium. The multi-celled, filamentous organism is thought to play a significant role in the input of nitrogen to the upper layers of the tropical and subtropical ocean, nearly half of the Earth’s surface.
Jul
10
This week, I got a copy of the book. Although slim (only 138 pages), the book is packed with dozens of exercises that just about anyone can perform. Overall, it’s well-written, well-organized, and well-presented (with photos that clearly demonstrate each of the exercises described). Moreover, at under $15, the book is a real bargain.
In addition to making divers more physically fit, the Adamses are trying to make divers more mentally fit. Knowing you’re capable of pulling yourself into the inflatable at the end of the dive, for example, means that, during the dive, you can concentrate more on what’s going on around you. In short, fitness breeds confidence, and a confident diver is a safer diver.
Jul
9
THAILAND has dumped 189 old garbage trucks off its southern coast in a bid to build an artificial reef to lure fish for local fishermen.
The trucks, once used to collect refuse in the sprawling Thai capital Bangkok, were dropped into the Gulf of Thailand, about 5.5 km from the southern province of Pattani.
Under a project initiated by Thailand’s queen in 2002, everything from concrete pillars to old rail cars have been dumped at 47 sites in the waters off southern Thailand.
Thailand creates garbage truck reef | World Wide Weird | The Australian