SCUBA News 117

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SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011)
Issue 117 - January 2010
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk
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Happy New Year and welcome to the first SCUBA News of 2010. hope you enjoy it, but should you wish to remove yourself from our mailing list you can do so at http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/news.html

SCUBA News is published by SCUBA Travel Ltd, the independent guide to diving around the world.

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

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What's New at SCUBA Travel?
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Red Sea Photo Gallery

The Brothers, two tiny islands in the Red Sea, comprise a world class dive site. We now have a photo gallery dedicated to underwater at the Brothers.
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/photobrothers.html

Diving Thailand

Our directory of Thailand Dive Operators has grown so big we have split it into two. One section now details diving the Andaman Sea and the other diving the Gulf of Thailand.
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/thailand/thailand-dive-centres.html
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/thailand/thailand-divers.html

Diving Malaysia

Malaysia is home to the world-famous dive sites like Sipadan and Tioman. Find which dive operators are recommended at
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/malaysia/malaysia-diving.html

More...

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

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Creature of the Month: Cornetfish, Fistularia commersonii
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Until I started researching this article, I had always called this fish a trumpetfish. In Australia it is often known as a flutemouth. Whatever you call it, I am talking about the long, tubular fish you see hovering in the waters of the Red Sea, Sea of Cortez and Indo-Pacific.

Growing up to 150 cm in length, it has a long snout with a pair of short, weak, jaws holding minute teeth. A stalking predator, it feeds on crustaceans and diverse fish including the lionfish. The lionfish itself is a predator, with venomous spines, and is usually safe from other fish. The cornetfish, though, ambushes it from behind.

The tail fin of the cornetfish has a long filament running off it. This is lined with sensory pores which may act as a long-range system for detecting prey.

Instead of scales the cornetfish has small spines embedded in its skin. It is usually silvery green in colour with wavy blue lines.

The fish may be solitary or in schools.

Further Reading:
Coral Reef Fishes Indo-Pacific and Caribbean, Lieske and Myers
The Underwater Photographer: Digital and Traditional Techniques, by Martin Edge, Paperback, 536 pages (2009)
Part 1, Farid S Atiya
A Natural Predator of the Lionfish, Pterois miles, by Gilad Bernadsky and Denis Goulet, Copeia, Vol. 1991, No. 1 (Feb. 7, 1991), pp. 230-231
Australian Museum

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Diving News From Around the World
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If you would like display this news on your web site then go to http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/newsfeed.html. It's free and automatically updates your web page with the latest diving news.

Scientists say dolphins should be treated as 'non-human persons'

Dolphins have been declared the world's second most intelligent creatures, with scientists suggesting they are so bright that they should be treated as "non-human persons". A bizarre phrase but researchers argue that their work shows it is morally unacceptable to keep such intelligent animals in amusement parks or to kill them. (Some 300,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises are killed by people each year).

Seaweed chokes Great Barrier Reef

Australia's Great Barrier Reef is overgrown in places by seaweed in what could be a worrying indication of the health of the coral structure, scientists say.

Acoustic tools help Whales

New acoustic sensors are being used in research and conservation projects around the world, with some very important practical results. Among them is improved monitoring of endangered North Atlantic right whales in an effort to reduce ship strikes, a leading cause of their deaths.
http://news.scubatravel.co.uk/2010/01/acoustic-tools-help-whales.html

"Minke Whales Should Not be Culled" say Scientists

A new genetic analysis of Antarctic minke whales concludes that population of these smaller baleen whales have not increased as a result of the intensive hunting of other larger whales - countering arguments by advocates of commercial whaling who want to cull minke whales.

Clever stingrays use tools to solve problems

Freshwater stingrays use water as a "tool" in problem-solving tests, scientists reveal for the first time. The stingrays learned to use jets of water as a tool to extract a meal of hidden food from a plastic pipe. Freshwater stingrays, found in many tropical waters such as the Amazon river, are related to ocean stingrays.

Red Grouper create home for many animals

Researchers have found that Red Grouper dig out and maintain complex structures at the bottom of the sea. They remove sand, exposing hard rocks that are crucial to corals and sponges and the animals that rely on them. The work demonstrates that Red Groupers modify their environment, much as beavers do, creating habitat for many other animals including lobster and commercially important fish.

Conference highlights impact of unsettled summer weather on UK marine life

A recent scientific conference has provided new evidence for the effects of unseasonal summer storms on a variety of marine life, including deadly jellyfish, basking sharks and oceanic seabirds.

Drowned cities: Myths and secrets of the deep

New Scientist reports on sunken towns and cities around the world.

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EDITOR: Jill Studholme