SCUBA News 119

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SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011)
Issue 119 - March 2010
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk
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Welcome to SCUBA News. I hope you enjoy it, but should you wish to remove yourself from our mailing list please 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?
- Letters
- Creature of the Month: Lyretail Anthias
- Diving News from Around the World

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What's New at SCUBA Travel?
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Diving Palau

Palau, in the Pacific, offers world-class diving with sea walls, sheer drop-offs, caves and an exuberance of marine life. Its Blue Corner Wall dive is currently second in the Top Ten Dives of the World list. We've therefore given Palau its own section in our Dive Guide.
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/pacific/palau.html

Red Sea Photo Gallery

We've added a new photo gallery featuring images taken around Daedelus, Elphinstone and Marsa Alam in Egypt. Check it out at
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/photomarsa.html

Diving Saudi Arabia

More comments on the diving in Saudi Arabia - some good, some bad - have been added to
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/redsea/divesaudi.html

:ADVERT__________________________________________________

Dive Downbelow - Renowned 5* PADI IDC dive centre with adventure travel agency & dive shop in Kota Kinabalu and dive station on nearby Gaya island, offering training courses, Sipadan diving, daily dive excursions and land-based tours for active Borneo holidays.

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Diving Pakistan

We now have a report on the diving at Charna Island, Pakistan.
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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Letters
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I'm going scuba diving soon at Sharks bay in Sharm, have you seen any sharks there? If so what types?

Megan

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Post any answers on the Diving Board or e-mail news@scubatravel.co.uk.

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Creature of the Month: Lyretail Anthias, Pseudanthias squamipinnis
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A common and welcome sight to warm-water divers. Swarms of these brighly coloured fish hang around coral outcrops, adding colour to the reef.

Also known as a Jewel Fairy Basslet, P. squamipinnis is common throughout the Indian and Pacific Oceans at depths of 5 to 35 m.

The male and female are different colours. The bright orange, smaller fish are the females; pink and yellow coloured fish the males.

The males are territorial and keep a harem of female fish. In most haremic systems there is one male dominant over a group of females. But in large colonies of Pseudanthias there may be more than one male.

All fish start off life as females. Where a male is lacking, the dominant female fish will change sex to replace him. As the adult fish spend their entire lives in one location, this ensures the continuing breeding success of the group.

Further Reading:
Coral Reef Guide Red Sea, Lieske and Myers

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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.

EU Subsidises Fishing Crooks

Fishsubsidy.org has published a list of 41 law-breaking fishing vessels - from Spain, France, Belgium and the UK - who have received EU subsidies to the tune of over 16 million Euros. Their crimes included fishing in prohibited areas, using illegal fishing gear, false landing declarations, illegal mesh sizes, misreporting on logbooks, illegal discards and possession of 2.5 tonnes of cocaine. Currently there is no obligation to take criminal behaviour into account when deciding which vessels should get subsidies.

2010 El Nino Reduces Marine Life

The ongoing El Nino of 2010 is reducing the numbers of pelagic fish, according to scientists at NOAA and Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Census discovers 5000 marine species

A preview of the Census of Marine Life has revealed that the project has discovered over 5,000 new species. A major aim of the census is to provide the scientific support for the establishment of a global network of marine protected areas to prevent damage from fishing and other human activity.

Massive Iceberg Threatens Ocean Currents

The calving of a massive iceberg off east Antarctica this month has prompted fears that the event could alter the salinity of the surrounding ocean, with damaging effects on marine life and global ocean currents.

Barnacle Dinner in the Galapagos

The barnacle, a key thread in the marine food web, was thought to be missing along rocky coasts dominated by upwellings. Now a research team headed by Brown University marine ecologist Jon Witman has found the opposite to be true: Barnacle populations thrive in vertical upwelling zones in moderately deep waters in the Galapagos Islands.

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The Editor
SCUBA News
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PUBLISHER: SCUBA Travel, 5 Loxford Court, Hulme, Manchester, M15 6AF, UK
EDITOR: Jill Studholme