SCUBA Diving News

Dominica’s Dive Fest, the Caribbean’s longest running scuba diving festival, encourages visitors to discover the beautiful landscapes and colourful marine life within the island’s waters. Would-be divers and snorkellers as young as eight can participate in pool- or ocean-based introductory sessions to teach them the basics, with some trial sessions even offered completely free of charge.

The annual event takes place in Dominica from 11th – 20th July 2008. To mark this special 15th anniversary year, many local dive centres are offering group travel packages whereby one diver goes free with every seven that book.

“Dive Fest was established to showcase the incredible marine environment of Dominica to both visitors and residents and is now one of the island’s staple events” comments Steve Bornn, director of tourism at the Discover Dominica Authority.

More information on the Dive Fest can be found at can be found at www.dominicawatersports.com. For more on diving Dominica see www.scubatravel.co.uk/dominica/

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Labels: Caribbean, dive destination, Dominica

Half a century after the last earth-shattering atomic blast shook the Pacific atoll of Bikini, the corals are flourishing again. Some coral species, however, appear to be locally extinct.

These are the findings of a remarkable investigation by an international team of scientists from Australia, Germany, Italy, Hawaii and the Marshall Islands. The expedition examined the diversity and abundance of marine life in the atoll.

One of the most interesting aspects is that the team dived into the vast Bravo Crater left in 1954 by the most powerful American atom bomb ever exploded (15 megatonnes - a thousand times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb). The Bravo bomb vapourised three islands, raised water temperatures to 55,000 degrees, shook islands 200 kilometers away and left a crater 2km wide and 73m deep.

After diving into the crater, Zoe Richards of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University says, “I didn’t know what to expect – some kind of moonscape perhaps. But it was incredible, huge matrices of branching Porites coral (up to 8 meters high) had established, creating thriving coral reef habitat. Throughout other parts of the lagoon it was awesome to see coral cover as high as 80 per cent and large tree-like branching coral formations with trunks 30cm thick. It was fascinating – I’ve never seen corals growing like trees outside of the Marshall Islands.

“The healthy condition of the coral at Bikini atoll today is proof of their resilience and ability to bounce back from massive disturbances, that is, if the reef is left undisturbed and there are healthy nearby reefs to source the recovery.”

However the research has also revealed a disturbingly high level of loss of coral species from the atoll. Compared with a famous study made before the atomic tests were carried out, the team established that 42 species were missing compared to the early 1950s. At least 28 of these species losses appear to be genuine local extinctions probably due to the 23 bombs that were exploded there from 1946-58, or the resulting radioactivity, increased nutrient levels and smothering from fine sediments.

“The missing corals are fragile lagoonal specialists – slender branching or leafy forms that you only find in the sheltered waters of a lagoon,” Zoe explains. While corals in general have shown resilience, Zoe adds that the coral biodiversity at Bikini Atoll has proven only partially resilient to the disturbances that have occurred there.

Extensive decontamination works have been carried out at Bikini atoll making it safe to visit, however local produce is unsafe to eat, and it is unlikely the Bikinian people will return to live on Bikini Atoll in the near future.

For comparison the team also dived on neighbouring Rongelap Atoll, where no atomic tests were carried out directly although the atoll was contaminated by radioactive ash from the Bravo Bomb and local inhabitants were also evacuated and for the most part, have not returned. The marine environment at this Atoll was found to be in a pristine condition.

The team thinks that Rongelap Atoll is potentially seeding Bikini’s recovery, because it is the second largest atoll in the world with a huge amount of coral reef diversity and biomass and lies upstream from Bikini.

Because of its incredible history and current undisturbed character Bikini Atoll is now part of a larger project to have northern Marshall Island Atolls World Heritage listed. The expedition served to illustrate the tragic history of the Bikinian people is not entirely reflected below the surface because the reefs of Bikini are recovering to present themselves as havens of abundance to the marine life of the Northern Pacific Ocean.

Journal Reference: Elsevier’s Marine Pollution Bulletin No. 56, March 2008 page 5-3-1-515.

Further Reading: ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies

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Labels: coral, research, sealife

SCUBA News are giving away two copies of the Hurghada Dive Guide and Log Book. To enter the competition e-mail name of the author of the Hurghada dive guide, together with your name and address, to news@scubatravel.co.uk before 30 April 2008. (To find out visit http://www.travellingdiver.com/.)

The prize is the forth guide in the series and covers the very popular diving area around Hurghada, on Egypt's Red Sea coast.

The format remains consistent with the other guides - loose sheets designed to fit into a diving logbook binder.

The guide covers 16 dive sites, usually with 2 dives per site. Most of the sites are reefs but there is one wreck at El Mina.

There is an A5 double sided page for each site which can be slid into a 3-ring binder with your other dive logs. The first part of the guide allows you to write in all your personal dive details (time, gas consumption, conditions, weight, temperature, cylinder details). There then follows a description of the site, its location including co-ordinates, a 3-D map and usually a couple of recommended dives. The maps are excellent - showing the dive site very clearly.

Turning over there is a more detailed description of the site covering, geography, history and marine life you are likely to encounter. It really packs in loads of information. At the bottom of the page is a space for you to add your own dive notes.

All in all these are great little guides and money well spent if you are going to the area as nearly all the dives you will do are covered. If you are planning a trip to Hurghada then this will help you prepare and give you a good idea of what to expect.

Copies may be purchased from http://www.travellingdiver.com/ or Amazon.co.uk.

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Labels: competition, dive destination, Red Sea

Voted one of the best dives in the world, the SS Thistlegorm was deteriorating because of the numbers of divers visiting it.

In December 2007, the Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association (HEPCA) installed installed 32 mooring lines at the site of the wreck to help protect it. However, in the three months since the conservation work, at least half of the lines have been damaged

Divers from the HEPCA mooring team have spent the last few days working on the mooring system and have lengthened the lines to minimum 18m depth. All the lines are now fitted with steel eyelets to make tying on easier, and each line has a buoy to aid easier identification. In addition, boats are no longer permitted to use the mooring system unless they throw an anchor from the stern. This extra stability should help to ensure that the lines do not become shredded by rubbing against the structure of the wreck in wind and strong currents.

It is hoped that these new enhancements to the system will eliminate any issues with diving operators using the mooring system and will ensure that all who visit the SS Thistlegorm comply with its use. This additional work was undertaken with minimum disruption and without the need for closure of the wreck.

The conservation work on the SS Thistlegorm is part of HEPCA'S Saving the Red Sea Wrecks Campaign.


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Labels: Red Sea, wrecks

Decompression sickness is caused by nitrogen being released from the blood too quickly, forming bubbles which may expand and injure tissue or block blood vessels. Anything that reduces bubble formation should decrease the risk of decompression sickness.

Many factors increase the chance of decompression sickness, including dehydration. Researchers from the French Navy have found that drinking 1.3 litres of a saline-glucose drink an hour and a half before the dive decreased bubble formation. This provides an easy means of reducing decompression sickness risk.

The test was carried out on eight military divers.

Journal Ref: Br. J. Sports Med., February 28, 2008


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Labels: decompression sickness, research

Bluefin tuna populations have declined alarmingly over the past few decades due to overfishing fuelled by an increasingly expensive industry.

A new WWF report shows that the international fleets hunting this species to extinction have twice the fishing capacity of current quotas and are netting more than three and a half times the catch levels recommended by scientists to avoid stock collapse.

"WWF's new report uncovers the absurdity of a system long out of control, where hundreds of hi-tech boats are racing to catch a handful of fish," says Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries at WWF Mediterranean.

"It is crazy - the numerous new fleets are so modern and costly that fishermen are forced to fish illegally just to survive - and worse still they are fishing themselves out of a job," added Tudela.

To keep fishing capacity within the 2008 legal catch limits imposed by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), the Mediterranean fleet would need to shed 229 vessels - almost a third of the current 617-vessel fleet. Reducing fishing effort to scientifically recommended levels would require the decommissioning of 283 vessels.

WWF is calling on concerned countries to dramatically reduce capacity in this fishery as a matter of urgency ahead of the 2008 fishing season that starts at the end of April.

WWF also urges ICCAT, the body tasked with sustainably managing the fishery, to take a lead in proposing radical solutions. Until the fishery is under control and sustainably managed, WWF continues to advocate a fishing ban - and to applaud responsible retailers, restaurants, chefs and consumer groups who are boycotting Mediterranean bluefin in increasing numbers.

"The fishery is unsustainable in every way - economically, socially, and ecologically. When will the situation be brought under control? The time to act is now - while there are still bluefin tuna to save in the Mediterranean," Tudela concluded.

What can you do? If you want to buy a tin of tuna off the supermarket shelf don’t worry – you almost never find bluefin tuna in a tin. Most tinned tuna is yellowfin or skipjack. If you buy fresh tuna ask your fishmonger whether the tuna is Atlantic bluefin, and whether it comes from the Mediterranean. If it does come from the Med, don't buy it. And at the Japanese restaurant check where they source the Atlantic bluefin tuna. If it is from the Mediterranean, avoid it.

Note: the tuna caught in the Med is called "Atlantic Bluefin Tuna" (Thunnus thynnus). Don't think that because it has the word Atlantic in the name that means it was caught there.

Further Reading:
Bluefin tuna in crisis
Race for the last bluefin: Capacity of the purse seine fleet targeting bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean

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Labels: fish, Mediterranean

Is it important that global warming turns fish deaf? Yes. For coral reef fish, sound is vital for them to judge where to settle down and live.

After hatching, reef fish larvae are dispersed by ocean currents for a few weeks. The larval fish must then find their way back to a suitable reef to make their home.

It's thought that the young fish home in on high-frequency noises. Coral reefs are extremely noisy environments, with the crackle of snapping shrimps and the chatter of fish set against a backdrop of wind, rain and surf. Sound carries well underwater, and most fish have great hearing.

Global warming and more acidic oceans, though, can cause fish to be born with deformed earbones. Reasearchers at the Australian Institute of Marine Science in Townsville and the University of Edinburgh, suspected that it might be harder for these fish to pinpoint the origin of a sound, increasing the chance they would get lost in the ocean. And, indeed, their results show that this is so.

Journal References and Further Reading:
Proceedings of the Royal Society, Volume 275, Number 1634 / March 07, 2008
Animal Behaviour, doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2007.11.004
SOUND: The essential navigation cue for young reef fishes to find their way home


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Labels: coral reef, environment, fish, marine biology, research, sealife