SCUBA News 103

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SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011)
Issue 103 - November 2008
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk
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Welcome to November's SCUBA News. This month the SCUBA Travel site made it into a British national newspaper's "Top 10 links for aquatic life". Their other favourite sites include the BBC's Blue Planet program, the Coral Reef Alliance and National Geographic. Go to http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ to see their other picks.

I hope you enjoy the newsletter, but should you wish to cancel your subscription please do so at http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/news.html

Contents:
- What's new at SCUBA Travel?
- Letters
- Creature of the Month
- Diving News from Around the World

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What's New at SCUBA Travel?
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Diving Australia

Lord Howe Island is 600 km away from mainland Australia, and very few divers reach this unspoilt location. Read more about Lord Howe Island and other dive sites of Australia at
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/australia/

Diving the Cook Islands

"There's something very cool about knowing you're the only divers in the ocean for 2000 miles" - Just one of the comments in our new Cook Islands Diving section.
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/pacific.html#Cook

More...

For regular announcements of what's new at the site see the Diving Board at
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/viewforum.php?f=2

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Letters
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How do i get to Mindanao island from Korea? Is there any diving and accommodation on the north side around Cagayan de Oro city? I am travelling to the Philippines in 2 weeks.

Danny Glover

Any answers post at the Diving Board or e-mail SCUBA News.

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Creature of the Month: Sea Snake
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You mostly find sea snakes in shallow, tropical waters. They look a little like eels but they are reptiles not fish and must come to the surface regularly to breath. Some types of sea snake have the most potent venom of all snakes.

It has been a long-standing dogma that all sea snakes satisfy their drinking needs with seawater, their internal salt glands filtering and excreting the salt. Experiments published this month with three species of sea snake captured near Taiwan, however, found that the snakes refused to drink saltwater even if thirsty - and then would drink only freshwater or heavily diluted saltwater.

The research may help explain why sea snakes tend to have patchy distributions and are most common in regions with abundant rainfall. Although unlike most other sea snakes, the sea kraits can still return to land.

Researcher Professor Lillywhite believes the sea snakes that spend their lives in the open ocean drink water from the "lens" of freshwater that sits atop saltwater during and after rainfall, before the two have had a chance to mix. That would explain why some seawater lagoons, where the waters are calmer due to protection from reefs, are home to dense populations of sea snakes — the freshwater lens persists for longer periods before mixing into saltwater.

Sea snakes are reptiles that have returned to the sea from the land. Of the 15 living families of snakes, four contain marine species. Altogether there are 70 known species of sea snake.

The bite of the sea snake is painless. However, half an hour later stiffness, muscle aches and spasm of the jaw or pain in the bitten limb may occur. This is followed by blurred vision, drowsiness and respiratory paralysis.

Sea snakes are are generally not agressive and will not bite unless provoked. Even then they tend not to use their venom, and their short fangs cannot penetrate a neoprene wetsuit. Although many are shy and will not approach divers, some can become very curious - swimming close to you to get a better look. If this happens to you remain calm and enjoy watching these elusive animals.

Further Reading
SCUBA Diving News
Sea Snakes by Harold Heatwole.
Introduction to Dive Medicine: Dangerous Creatures of the Sea, University of Utah

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Diving News From Around the World
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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.

Deco for Divers: Decompression Theory and Physiology

This new technical guide provides a comprehensive overview of the principles underlying decompression theory. This book aims to bridge the gap between introductory books and source scientific information.

Computers decide when to stop searches at sea

Researchers at Portsmouth University and the US Coast Guard are working together to develop a computer model that will predict how long someone will survive when lost at sea. The Search and Rescue Survival Model has been designed to take the pressure off rescuers making difficult decisions about when a search and rescue mission should be stopped.

Thailand tourism plumits

Thailand has been called the Land of Smiles but few are smiling here now as the political turmoil builds daily. Tour operators are already writing off this year's peak season and worrying about the next. Since anti-government protesters seized Bangkok's Government House in August, tourism arrivals have fallen precipitously with diving operators being hard hit.

Why a speeding shark is like a golf ball

Shortfin mako sharks can shoot through the ocean at up to 50 miles per hour (80 kilometres an hour). Now a trick that helps them to reach such speeds has been discovered - the sharks can raise their scales to create tiny wells across the surface of their skin, reducing drag like the dimples on a golf ball. Tiny vortices or whirlpools form within the cavities between the scales. These vortices provide a kind of "buffer layer" between the skin's surface and the fast moving fluid, preventing a turbulent wake from forming behind the shark.

Ink squirts make squid swim for their lives

Squid can't shout out in alarm to their comrades when danger threatens, but they certainly can squirt out, and this, it seems, serves the same purpose. It is assumed that the main reason squid squirt ink is to have a "cloaking device", allowing them to escape from predators - but other squid may pick up on it as well.

Oceans predict climate change

A group of scientists this month reported that if current patterns of change in the Arctic and North Atlantic Oceans continue, alterations of ocean circulation could occur on a global scale, with potentially dramatic implications for the world's climate and biosphere.

Recipe for rescuing our reefs

If current emission trends continue, we could see a doubling of atmospheric CO2 in as little as 50 years. This would lead to an unprecedented acidification of our oceans that coral reefs would be unlikely to survive. That would lead to the death of countless marine species as well as the devastation of economies dependent on ocean health and productivity. It would also mean the end of an era for coral reef and scuba diving aficionados around the world. So says Rod Salm writing on the BBC web site. He adds a list of practical measures that can be taken to protect the reefs. "We need to find ways to convince people to take action, but that is a major challenge."

Life in the abyss is no protection from bad weather

It's a long way from atmospheric clouds to the floor of the Pacific Ocean, but the two are intrinsically linked. In fact, the climate controls the fate of animals dwelling at the bottom of the abyss, 4 kilometres beneath the surface, new research reveals.

Solar-powered sea slug harnesses stolen plant genes

A sea slug that gains the ability to turn sunlight into energy from the algae it eats is arguably the first functional plant-animal hybrid found in nature

Deep Oceans could bring limitless clean energy

A trick that exploits temperature differences in the sea could supply the world with cheap green power.

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