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SCUBA News 100~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We are proud to present the 100th issue of SCUBA News. Thank you so much for subscribing, and the contributions and e-mails so many of you have sent since we launched eight years ago. To celebrate we have some SCUBA Travel merchandise to give away: pens, fridge magnets (which we use as beer mats), caps and such stuff. If you would like a freebie just subscribe to SCUBA News and then drop us an e-mail. Any comments about what you like, dislike or would like to see in the newsletter would also be appreciated. To mark one hundred issues we have the newly updated list of the top 100 dive sites of the world, as voted for at the SCUBA Travel web site. I hope you enjoy the newsletter, but should you wish to cancel your subscription you may do so at http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/news.html Contents: __________________________________________________________ What's New at SCUBA Travel? 
More photos of the sealife of the Maldives are now in our photo gallery. Madagascar, the fourth largest island in the world, lies off the southeast coast of Africa. The SCUBA Travel Guide now lists more dive companies on our Madagascar page.
__________________________________________________________ Top 100 Dives of the World Here are the top 100 dive sites as voted for by SCUBA Travel visitors. We asked for your top two dive sites and your comments on those that came close. We compiled the results by hand, with the runners-up coming into play where there was a tie for a position. For links to descriptions of the dives go to http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/topdiveslong.html
1. Yongala, Australia __________________________________________________________ Creature of the Month: Barracuda, Sphyraena sphyraena 
In blue warm water, being circled by a shoal of barracuda makes for an extremely memorable dive. These silvery fish have an unfair reputation for being dangerous to divers. In reality they will not attack a person unless provoked. Barracuda are unmistakeable fish. They are streamlined with muscular tails for bursts of speed, they have a pointed head and two widely separated fins on their backs. Top-level predators, their large mouths are filled with long, knife-like teeth. Their bottom jaws project forward. A barracuda can attack fish larger than the gape of its jaws. To swallow such large prey they repeatedly bite them and shake their heads resulting in cutting the prey in two. Their scissor-like bite is capable of shearing through the flesh and bone of its prey. The barracuda in the picture is probably Sphyraena sphyraena - the European Barracuda - which lives in the Mediterranean Sea and thoughout the Eastern Atlantic plus in Brazil and Bemuda. The photo was taken off Ustica in Italy. (Three species of barracuda live in the Med and it is difficult to tell them apart.) Globally there are 26 species of barracuda living in warm temperate and sub-tropical waters. Recently, with the seas warming, baracuda have been seen in more northerly waters. The adult European barracuda is generally around 50 cm long, although a specimen has been recorded at 165 cm. The largest barracuda is the Great Barracuda (S. barracuda) at up to 200 cm long. Barracuda school by day. Living in a group has several possible advantages: it might be that they group where the food is, and the group helps them hunt. It may also give them an advantage against their few predators. Barracuda have been found in the stomachs of tuna and dolphin; sharks may also be a threat. Whatever the reason, a school of barracuda is a treat for divers. Further Reading and References __________________________________________________________ Diving News From Around the World 
If you would like to read the diving news as it happens, without waiting for this newsletter, then grab the SCUBA News feed from http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/scuba.xml It's free and automatically updates you with the latest SCUBA news via your web site, e-mail or any news feed reader. Red Sea in Egypt to be Plastic Bag Free The Governor of the Red Sea in Egypt has decreed that the Red Sea area will be plastic bag free with effect from 1st January 2009. This decree represents a considerable step forward in tackling the issues caused by excess rubbish and in particular plastic bags in the Red Sea. Plastic bags pose a massive hazard to birds, turtles, dolphins and other marine creatures that are killed in alarming numbers each year after swallowing or becoming entangled in plastic bags blown out to sea. Turtles easily mistake plastic bags for tasty jellyfish. Once in the stomach, the indigestible plastic wraps itself around the intestines of the creature and it slowly starves to death. Divers plunder wrecks in the 'graveyard' of the Atlantic Divers are plundering the wrecks of vessels sunk during the Second World War in an area known as the "Graveyard of the Atlantic". The stretch of seabed off North Carolina and Virginia contains up to 90 wrecks, most lying at relatively shallow depths, offering divers and maritime historians unique opportunities for exploration. However, experts have warned that the wrecks are increasingly being disturbed by divers, some of whom are removing items to keep as souvenirs. Weapons and other artefacts have been looted and divers are even said to have removed the skeleton of a German sailor from a sunken U-boat in the area. 
New publication aims to be the "Essential Guide for Understanding and Identifying the Sharks of the World". This field guide contains a complete listing of every known shark in existence as well as some extinct species. It talks about sharks from their birth to death, their anatomy, how to distinguish one shark from the next, how their teeth are developed, how they hunt and attack and their importance and purpose within the ecosystem. Scientists Use Naval Exercises to Learn More About How Marine Mammals React to Sonar Using satellite-linked and underwater listening tags to monitor movement and behavior, scientists tagged more than thirty individual marine mammals of four different species. They measured how deep-diving marine mammals feed, interact with one another, dive and respond to sounds in their environment in this pioneering pilot project carried out in conjunction with the Navy's Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2008 exercises. Making Marine Protected Areas Work for Everyone The establishment of marine protected areas is often viewed as a conflict between conservation and fishing. A new study in the journal Conservation Biology, shows that involving all the different groups of people affected by the protection zone early in the planning stage will more effectively protect the environment than ignoring detractors concerns. First sea survey of remote isle What lies beneath the waters around an island forming Scotland's most remote national nature reserve is to be surveyed for the first time. Divers will investigate kelp seaweed forests and sea caves used by grey seals at North Rona, 47 miles north of the Butt of Lewis in the Western Isles. Researchers find cancer-inhibiting compound under the sea University of Florida College of Pharmacy researchers have discovered a marine compound off the coast of Key Largo that inhibits cancer cell growth in laboratory tests, a finding they hope will fuel the development of new drugs to better battle the disease. The UF-patented compound, largazole, is derived from cyanobacteria that grow on coral reefs. Robot Vehicle Surveys Deep Sea Off Pacific Northwest The first scientific mission with Sentry, a newly developed robot capable of diving as deep as 5,000 meters (3.1 miles) into the ocean, has been successfully completed by scientists and engineers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the University of Washington (UW). The vehicle surveyed and helped pinpoint several proposed deep-water sites for seafloor instruments that will be deployed in the National Science Foundation's planned Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI). Randy male fish try to dupe the competition Atlantic molly fish go for less fertile females if another male is present, in a bid to trick the other male into choosing a poorer-quality mate. 
U.S. coral reefs under threat, report finds Half of U.S. coral reefs are in poor or fair condition, threatened by climate change and human activities like sports fishing, shipping and the release of untreated sewage, a U.S. government report has said. Reefs in the Caribbean, in particular, are under severe assault and coral in the U.S. Virgin Islands and off Puerto Rico had not recovered from 2005, when unusually warm waters that led to massive bleaching and disease killed up to 90 percent of the marine organisms on some reefs. Archaeology Underwater: The NAS Guide to Principles and Practice New book provides a comprehensive summary of the archaeological process as applied in an underwater context. Containing extensive practical advice and information, including how to get involved, basic principles, essential techniques and approaches, project planning and execution, publishing and presenting, this book is essential reading for anyone with an interest in nautical archaeology. With "Underwater Archaeology" the Nautical Archaeology Society reveals the real underwater treasure - a rich cultural heritage that has helped shape the world in which we live. Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone Could Reach Record Size The dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico could reach a new record size this year. The discharge of pollutants and nutrients from the Mississippi River causes algae to bloom in the Gulf of Mexico. When the algae dies, the decaying absorbs so much oxygen from the water that large areas become inhospitable to fish. The resulting lifeless area is called a eutrophic or hypoxic zone, or more colloquially, a dead zone. The condition is cyclic, and reaches its maximum in late summer. New Coral Bleaching Prediction System Indicates Some Bleaching In Caribbean This Year A new NOAA coral bleaching prediction system indicates that there will be some bleaching in the Caribbean later this year, but the event will probably not be severe. __________________________________________________________ * Copyright SCUBA Travel - http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/ We are happy for you to copy and distribute this newsletter, and even use parts of it on your own web site, providing the above copyright notice is included and a link back to our web site is in place. Previous editions of SCUBA News are archived at http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/news.html SUBSCRIBING AND UNSUBSCRIBING CONTACTING THE EDITOR ADVERTISING PUBLISHER Subscribe To SCUBA NewsOur newsletter, SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011), is absolutely free. It is a monthly publication, delivered by e-mail. To receive your copy fill in your details below. We will never pass your e-mail address to any third parties, or send you unsolicited e-mail. You will receive an e-mail confirming your subscription. If you don't receive this you have probably entered your e-mail address incorrectly - revisit this page and re-subscribe. Send us your Press Releases
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4. Barracuda Point, Sipadan Island
36. Daedelus, Egyptian Red Sea
54. Booroo, Isle of Man
79. Umbria, Sudan