SCUBA Diving News

Dominica’s Dive Fest celebrates 15 years

2008-05-07T14:38:00.003+01:00

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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Bikini corals recover from atomic blast

2008-04-17T11:09:00.004+01:00

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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Win Red Sea Dive Guide and Log Book

2008-04-16T10:49:00.006+01:00

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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Better Mooring for the SS Thistlegorm dive boats

2008-04-11T09:29:00.004+01:00

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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Glucose pre-dive drink may prevent decompression sickness

2008-03-20T16:38:00.000Z

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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Mediterranean leaders urged to save tuna

2008-03-13T13:29:00.005Z

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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Global warming turns fish deaf

2008-03-12T09:49:00.005Z

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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Scientists Reveal First-Ever Global Map of Total Human Effect on Oceans

2008-03-05T10:55:00.003Z

More than 40 percent of the world's oceans are heavily affected by human activities, and few if any areas remain untouched, according to the first global-scale study of human influence on marine ecosystems.

By overlaying maps of 17 different activities such as fishing, climate change and pollution, the researchers have produced a composite map of the toll that humans have exacted on the seas.

The work, published in Science, was conducted at the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) at the University of California at Santa Barbara, and involved 19 scientists from a range of universities, NGOs, and government agencies.

The study synthesized global data on human impacts to marine ecosystems such as coral reefs, seagrass beds, continental shelves and the deep ocean.

"This research is a critically needed synthesis of the impact of human activity on ocean ecosystems," said David Garrison, biological oceanography program director at NSF. "The effort is likely to be a model for assessing these effects at local and regional scales."

Past studies have focused largely on single activities or single ecosystems in isolation, and rarely at the global scale. In this study the scientists were able to look at the summed influence of human activities across the entire ocean.

"This project allows us to finally start to see the big picture of how humans are affecting the oceans." said lead scientist Ben Halpern of NCEAS. "Our results show that when these and other individual impacts are summed up, the big picture looks much worse than I imagine most people expected. It was certainly a surprise to me."

The study reports that the most heavily affected waters in the world include large areas of the North Sea, the South and East China Seas, the Caribbean Sea, the east coast of North America, the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Bering Sea and several regions in the western Pacific. The least affected areas are largely near the poles.

Human influence on the ocean varies dramatically across various ecosystems. The most heavily affected areas include coral reefs, rocky reefs and seamounts. The least impacted ecosystems are soft-bottom areas and open-ocean surface waters.

"My hope is that these results serve as a wake-up call to better manage and protect our oceans, rather than a reason to give up," added Halpern.
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Turtles at risk from non-stick pans

2008-03-04T14:58:00.002Z

The same chemicals that keep food from sticking to our frying pans and stains from setting in our carpets are damaging the livers and impairing the immune systems of loggerhead turtles - an environmental health impact that also may signal a danger for humans.

A scientific team monitoring the blood plasma of loggerhead turtles along the U.S. East Coast consistently found significant levels of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs). PFCs are used as nonstick coatings and additives in a wide variety of goods including cookware, furniture fabrics, carpets, food packaging, fire-fighting foams and cosmetics. They are very stable, persist for a long time in the environment and are known to be toxic to the liver, reproductive organs and immune systems of laboratory mammals.

PFC concentrations measured in the plasma of turtles found along the coast from Florida to North Carolina indicated that PFCs have become a major contaminant for the species. The levels of the most common PFC, perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), were higher in turtles captured in the north than in the south. Data recently evaluated by NIST and College of Charleston graduate student Steven O’Connell shows that this northern trend of higher PFOS concentrations continues up into the Chesapeake Bay.

Blood chemistry analyses of PFC-contaminated loggerheads suggested damage to liver cells and the suppression of at least one immune function which could lead to a higher risk of disease. To support the “cause-effect relationship” between PFCs and illness, the researchers exposed Western fence lizards to the same PFOS levels found in loggerheads in the wild. The lizards showed significant increases in an enzyme that indicates liver toxicity. They also had signs of suppressed immune function.

These findings, Keller said, indicate that current environmental PFC exposures—at concentrations comparable to those seen in human blood samples—are putting marine species at enhanced risk of health problems from reduced immunity and may suggest a similar threat to us.

Keller reported that a recently completed study led by colleague Margie Peden-Adams of the Medical University of South Carolina that showed PFOS is toxic to the immune systems of mice at concentrations found both in loggerhead sea turtles and humans. The ability of the mouse immune system to respond to a challenge was reduced in half by PFOS—and this occurred at the lowest level of the compound ever reported for a toxic effect.

Further Reading: NIST Tech Beat
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Butterflyfish 'May Face Extinction'

2008-03-03T12:48:00.005Z

The Chevroned Butterflyfish may be at risk of extinction, scientists have warned.

The case of the Chevroned Butterflyfish is a stark example of how human pressure on the world's coral reefs is confronting certain species with 'blind alleys' from which they may be unable to escape, says Dr Morgan Pratchett of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University.

In a study published in the journal Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology, Dr Pratchett and Dr Michael Berumen of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (USA) warn that the highly specialised nature of the feeding habits of this particular butterflyfish – the distinctively patterned Chaetodon trifascialis - make it an extinction risk as the world’s coral reefs continue to degrade due to human over-exploitation, pollution and climate change.

“The irony is that these butterflyfish are widespread around the world, and you’d have thought their chances of survival were pretty good,” Dr Pratchett said today.

“But they only eat one sort of coral – Acropora hyacinthus – and when that runs out, the fish just disappear from the reef.”

The team found it hard to believe a fish would starve rather than eat a mixed diet, so they tested C. trifascialis in tank trials on a range of different corals. The fish grew well when its favourite coral was available – but when this was removed and other sorts of corals offered, it grew thin, failed to thrive and some died.

“We call these kinds of fish obligate specialists. It means they have a very strong dietary preference for one sort of food, and when that is no longer available, they go into decline. We still don’t have a satisfactory scientific explanation for this, as it seems like rather a risky tactic in evolutionary terms – but it must confer some advantage provided enough of its preferred food is available,” Dr Pratchett says.

The A. hyacinthus coral, which the butterfly fish feeds on, is itself highly vulnerable – to attacks by plagues of crown-of-thorns starfish (thought to be triggered by humans releasing excess nutrients onto the reef as sediment, fertilizer or sewage), to storms and to the coral bleaching caused by the heating of ocean surface waters to 32 degrees or more, which is thought to be linked to global warming.

“Although extremely widespread, the Chevroned butterflyfish may be at considerable risk of extinction following ongoing degradation of coral reefs around the world, because the coral itself is exceptionally vulnerable, Dr Pratchett explains.

“It is estimated that up to 70 per cent of the world’s coral reefs are now badly degraded, which usually involves the loss of this particular coral – and, when it goes, the C. trifascialis also disappear from the reef.

“To make matters worse, butterflyfishes are one of the main families of coral reef fishes being targeted by aquarium collectors. However, the specialized coral-eaters are clearly not suitable for keeping in aquaria - and often die because they cannot obtain their main food source.”

A previous case in which a coral-dependent fish vanished occurred in the case of Gobiodon a specialized coral-dweller known only from one site, Kimbe Bay in Papua New Guinea, which was thought by scientists to have possibly become extinct after its habitat was destroyed.

Researchers consider that such extinctions are likely to occur as part of the global mass extinction of species now taking place, and that marine ecosystems may be particularly vulnerable in that small changes in habitat or water quality can have a big impact on their species.

Dr Pratchett and Dr Berumen say theirs is one of the few studies so far to consider the evolutionary and ecological basis of dietary versatility, and has implications for the fate of specialised feeders throughout the animal kingdom.

More information: ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies

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Robotic sea glider flies through water

2008-02-26T14:10:00.004Z

Researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and Webb Research Corporation (Falmouth, Mass.) have successfully flown the first environmentally powered robotic vehicle through the ocean. The new robotic “glider” harvests heat energy from the ocean to propel itself across thousands of kilometers of water.

Unlike motorized, propeller-driven vehicles, gliders propel themselves through the ocean by changing their buoyancy to dive and surface. Wings generate lift, while a vertical tail fin and rudder allow the vehicles to be steered horizontally.

Gliding underwater vehicles trace a saw-tooth profile through the ocean’s layers, surfacing periodically to fix their positions via the Global Positioning System and to communicate via Iridium satellite to a shore lab.

“Gliders can be put to work on tasks that humans wouldn’t want to do or cannot do because of time and cost concerns,” said Fratantoni, an associate scientist in the WHOI Department of Physical Oceanography. “They can work around the clock in all weather conditions.”

The vehicles can carry a variety of sensors to collect measurements such as temperature, salinity, and biological productivity. Gliders also operate quietly, which makes them ideal for acoustic studies.

Though the thermal glider is not the first autonomous underwater vehicle to traverse great distances or stay at sea for long periods, it is the first to do so with green energy. Most gliders rely on battery-powered motors and mechanical pumps to move ballast water or oil from inside the vehicle’s pressure hull to outside. The idea is to increase or decrease the displacement (volume) of the glider without changing its mass.

The new thermal glider draws its energy for propulsion from the differences in temperature—thermal stratification—between warm surface waters and colder, deeper layers of the ocean. The heat content of the ocean warms wax-filled tubes inside the engine. The expansion of the warming wax converts heat to mechanical energy, which is stored and used to push oil from a bladder inside the vehicle’s hull to one outside, changing its buoyancy. Cooling of the wax at depth completes the cycle.

“We are tapping a virtually unlimited energy source for propulsion,” said Fratantoni. The computers, radio transmitters, and other electronics on the glider are powered by alkaline batteries, which are, for now, the principal limit on the length of operation.

The engineering trial for the thermal glider is the first step in a broader plan by Fratantoni and colleagues to launch a fleet of gliders for studies of the waters in the subtropical gyre of the North Atlantic, a key region for assessing the ocean’s response to climate change.
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Corruption in fisheries – from bad to worse

2008-02-19T14:20:00.002Z

Corruption in global fisheries is compounding the devastating effects of overfishing – and the problem could get worse, according to The World Conservation Union (IUCN).

Corruption in fisheries is increasing against a backdrop of declining fish stocks and increased consumer demand. It taints all aspects of the fishing industry, from the scientific evidence that quotas are based on, to the mislabelling of fish.

“The large-scale occurrence of corruption adds insult to injury,” said Head of IUCN’s Global Marine Programme Carl Gustaf Lundin. “The world’s global fish stocks are already severely depleted by overfishing and this is just making the situation worse.”

Fisheries corruption undermines the ability of scientists to know how many fish are removed from the oceans, causing inaccurate stock assessments. Fisheries managers are therefore far more likely to approve total allowable catches that are higher than those that would be based on sound scientific advice.

“Scientists’ evidence is not being taken into consideration when it comes to management decisions on fisheries and quotas,” said Deputy Head of IUCN’s Global Marine Programme Andrew Hurd. “Fisheries managers should be held accountable when ignoring scientific advice.”

Source: IUCN

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Win a Red Sea Guide Pack

2008-02-19T10:39:00.005Z

Win a dive guide to Safaga, on Egypt's Red Sea coast. To enter just tell us how many dives sites are included in the Safaga pack (visit http://www.travellingdiver.com/ to find out) and e-mail your answer, together with your name and address, to news@scubatravel.co.uk before 29 February 2008.

Designed for the recreational holiday diver, the guide integrates detailed site-by-site information and maps with loose-leaf logbook pages. The pages fit into a standard 3-hole diving binder and let you research, plan and record your dives in one place.

You can purchase the Safaga guide from http://www.travellingdiver.com/ or Amazon at http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/asin/0955640229/nws-21. Or wait and see if you win our competition!

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Divers make precision measurements

2008-02-06T12:50:00.000Z

A new system lets SCUBA divers perform many measurements underwater with a precision similar to that possible in a laboratory.

Microsensors are powerful tools for environmental studies. These are miniature electronic devices that detect information about a specific variable such as temperature or pH. However, their use has often been restricted to laboratory applications due to the lack of adequate equipment for their deployment in the field. A new report details a diver-operated motorised device with microsensors for underwater work to a depth of 25 m.

The new device can accommodate pH, oxygen and hydrogen sulphide measurements. The system can be pre-programmed to autonomous operation or interactively operated by divers. Internal batteries supply power for up to 24 hours of measurements, storing up to 64 million data samples.

Three studies are discussed in the report. In the first the oxygen distribution in a sand ripple was 3-D-mapped. The second looked at sediment build-up on hard corals and the third oxygen dynamics in sedimentation.

Journal Reference: Environ Sci Technol, September 1, 2007; 41(17): 6210-5.
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Win a Dive Guide and Log Book

2008-01-11T11:30:00.000Z

Win a logbook and guide to Marsa Alam in the Egyptian Red Sea.

The guide comprises loose sheets designed to fit into a diving logbook binder.

The pack covers 16 sites in the Marsa Alam area: 11 shore dives and 5 off-shore reefs which you would need to dive from a boat.

The guide is extensive and covers all the sites you are likely to do on a week's holiday to the area and more. It includes Elphinstone reef which in my view is one of the best sites in the Red Sea and one I am particularly familiar with. The coverage of this site confirms my belief that these guides are accurate and do detail most of what you will need to know for the dive.

The pack contains the dive guides and also 2 spare logbook sheets (4 dives). All the sheets are standard 3-hole diving logbook size and contain a section for collecting dive data, a guide to the site including a 3D colour drawing, a description of the site and marine life. Finally there is a section for you to add your own notes on the dive.

The data section is very detailed and covers: the usual dive data on duration time, air consumption, weight as well as gas mix, tank type, visibility, water temp, sea conditions. In my view more than enough information.

All-in-all a good idea: I like the idea of a combined dive log and guide.

Review by Andrew Reay-Robinson

About the author of the guide
Julien Stein began exploring the remote diving destination of Marsa Alam in 1999, when it was still a largely unknown diving region. Over many years he created detailed maps of the different dive sites in the area. Today Julien continues with his explorations of new dive sites, while also coaching beginner divers and writing articles for diving magazines.

Win a free copy...
SCUBA News has two copies of the Marsa Alam dive guide and log book to give away. To win your copy, name three of the 16 dives sites included in the Marsa Alam pack (visit the publishers - http://www.travellingdiver.com/ - to find out.) To enter e-mail your answer, together with your name and address, to news@scubatravel.co.uk before 31 January 2008. Note: your details will be deleted when the competition ends - you will not be sent any junk mail.

If you are not lucky enough to win a copy you can purchase one from http://www.travellingdiver.com/ or Amazon.
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Top 10 diving books of 2007

2008-01-09T10:11:00.000Z

SCUBA Travel today releases its list of the best selling books and DVDs bought by SCUBA divers in 2007. For the fourth consecutive year, The Dive Atlas of the World retains its top spot! A surprise entry at number three is a guide to the Italian island of Sardinia - a very popular diving destination last year. Another new entry is Shipwrecks from the Egyptian Red Sea, by Ned Middleton. Perhaps the best performer though is the Blue Planet DVD. This has not been out of the top ten since the list began in 2001.

Here are the top ten: figures in brackets show the previous year's position.

Dive Atlas of the World: An Illustrated Reference to the Best Sites by Jack Jackson
300 pages detailing some of the world's best dive sites. (1)
Dive: The Ultimate Guide To 60 Of The Worlds Top Dive Locations by Monty Halls,
Describes 60 of the world's best diving areas, and highlights specific dives not to be missed whilst you are there (2)
Sardinia (Lonely Planet Regional Guides) by Paula Hardy
Complete, practical regional guide for independent travellers. Includes dedicated activities chapter including the best dive spots. (--)
Neutral Buoyancy: Adventures in a Liquid World, by Tim Ecott
Tales of the characters and episodes in the history of diving: the sponge divers, the second world war saboteurs, the free divers, etc. (7)
Coral Reef Guide Red Sea (Coral Reef) by Ewald Lieske, Robert Myers
Covering jellyfish, corals, nudibranchs, starfish, sea urchins, fishes and turtles of the Red Sea. (--)
Dive in Style by Tim Simond,
An illustrated book combining the best of travel, lifestyle and nature photography (4)
Coral Reef Fishes: Indo-Pacific and Caribbean by Ewald Lieske, Robert Myers
A compact, guide to over 2000 species of fish you might see whilst diving on coral reefs. (3)
Lonely Planet Diving & Snorkeling Baja California by Walt Peterson
Guide to the dive sites of Baja California. (--)
The Blue Planet DVD
The BBC television series on DVD - action shots of the intriguing behaviour of the underwater world with commentary by David Attenborough. (9)
Shipwrecks from the Egyptian Red Sea by Ned Middleton
Eight years of research went into this accurate and definitive guide to the wrecks of the Egyptian Red Sea. (--)

California waters for leatherback turtles?

2008-01-08T11:15:00.000Z

The National Marine Fisheries Service, the US agency in charge of ocean species management, has announced that it will examine in detail whether waters off the California and Oregon coasts should be protected as critical habitat for the endangered leatherback turtle.

According to the Center for Biological Diversity, a conservation charity, Leatherback turtles in the Pacific Ocean have declined by more than 90 percent over the past three decades, primarily as a result of drowning in industrial longline and gillnet fisheries aiming to catch swordfish, sharks and tunas.

The Fisheries Service's finding, published in the Federal Register, comes in response to a formal petition from the Center for Biological Diversity, Oceana and Turtle Island Restoration Network seeking a protected area of roughly 200,000 square miles. This comprises a food-rich upwelling region favoured by many marine species, including the leatherback.

In its finding, the Fisheries Service concludes that designating critical habitat for the leatherback off California and Oregon "may be warranted" and solicits public comment on the issue. The finding initiates a detailed review by the Service that must be completed by September, 2008.

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New IMAX Film: DOLPHINS AND WHALES

2007-12-20T11:29:00.000Z

Filmmakers and environmentalists Francois and Jean-Jacques Mantello and ocean explorer Jean-Michel Cousteau are pleased to announce they have joined forces on the new 3D documentary film DOLPHINS AND WHALES 3D: Tribes of the Ocean, which will be released at IMAX (R) Theatres beginning on February 15th, 2008. This latest installment in 3D Entertainment’s unique ocean themed film series will deliver a strong and compelling conservation message while bringing audiences on a close encounter, for the very first time in 3D, with small and giant cetaceans such as humpback and sperm whales, orcas and dolphins.

"I am delighted to be associated with this new, unforgettable underwater voyage where viewers will don their 3D glasses much in the same way we put on our diving masks and will be immersed in the rarely seen world of these fascinating but vulnerable creatures," says Jean-Michel Cousteau. "DOLPHINS AND WHALES 3D: Tribes of the Ocean is an ideal means of reaching a vast audience and helping individuals around the world to understand that we need to act responsibly in order to ensure the preservation of the world’s oceans and its inhabitants because, in the end, the most crucial partners whales and dolphins have are YOU and me."

"DOLPHINS AND WHALES 3D: Tribes of the Ocean will show a large variety of cetacean species, filmed exclusively in the wild, as they really are in their daily lives: interacting socially, playing, communicating through their highly complex system of sound, feeding, breeding, migrating and perpetually fighting for their survival," explains the film’s director, Jean-Jacques Mantello.

"Although each encounter with these wild creatures was truly magical and highly emotional, this marks one of the most challenging and epic productions I have ever taken on."

Principal photography began in June 2004 in Polynesia. An extensive three years were required to capture the footage during the course of 12 international expeditions and over 600 hours underwater at some of the remotest locations on Earth, including off the Pacific Ocean atolls of Moorea and Rurutu, Vava’u island of the Kingdom of Tonga, Pico Island in the Azores archipelago, the Valdez Peninsula in Argentina, Sapphire Coast of Australia, Bay of Islands in New Zealand and Canada's Hudson Bay. Unlike other IMAX-type documentaries, the film consists solely of underwater footage, with none of the usual “dive preparation” sequences.

The film trailer can been seen at http://www.DOLPHINSandWHALES3D.com
High-resolution photos from the film are available at http://www.3DEpublicity.com.

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Regulators Recalled

2007-12-19T14:37:00.000Z

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission have recalled Oceanic and AERIS SCUBA Regulator First Stages. Divers should immediately stop using these items and take them to any authorised Oceanic or AERIS dealer for a free replacement part

An internal component that seals air between the high pressure first-stage and the intermediate pressure second-stage can fail. This can result in uncontrolled flow of air to the diver and pose a risk of serious injury or death.

The manufacturer, ROMI, has received two reports of units malfunctioning during diving and six reports of units malfunctioning while being tested by dealers prior to delivery to consumers. No injuries have been reported.

Regulators purchased from May 2006 to October 2007 are affected.

For further information, Oceanic customers can send an e-mail to service@oceanicusa.com or visit the firm’s Web site at www.oceanicworldwide.com. AERIS customers can send an e-mail to info@diveaeris.com or visit the firm’s Web site at www.diveaeris.com

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