SCUBA News 29
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SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011)
Issue 29 - September 2002
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk
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Hello and welcome to SCUBA News. My apologies for the
late arrival of this issue which is due to the editor's
holidays. This month many congratulations to our lead
photographer - Tim Nicholson - both on his marriage last
weekend, and on recently winning five awards for his
underwater photos!
We hope you enjoy SCUBA News, but if you wish to cancel
your free subscription you can do so at
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/news.html
This month
- What's new at SCUBA Travel?
- Your Letters
- Santorini Dive Report
- Diving News from Around the World
If you have any diving news, comments on this
newsletter, questions or dive reports we'd love to hear
from you.Just fill in our Contact the Editor form.
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What's New at the SCUBA Travel Web Site?
========================================
Photo Gallery
Our photographer, Tim Nicholson, has won several
categories in the annual "Isle of Man Splash-In"
competition - including the Best in Show award. Two of
the awards - Macro and Diver activity - were for
photographs which had to be taken in the week prior to
the judging. Tim, however, was most pleased by winning
the Overseas portfolio and the British portfolio, as
there were some extremely high standard entrants in these
two categories. To view some of his prize-winning Overseas
portfolio, see
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/numidiacoral.html
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/crustacean.html
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/numidia.html
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/anemone2002.html
Cuba
Many thanks to Mick, Barbara, Steve and Bev, who all sent
us excellent information on Cuba. To read their comments
go to
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/scuba.html#Cuba
Dive Operators in Thailand
We now list more diving operators in Thailand, including
some operating from Phuket.
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/thailand/thailand-dive-centres.html
:ADV_____________________________________________________
Save money on a vast selection of posters and prints:
whales, sharks, dolphins, fish, seascapes...
Browse the offers at
www.allposters.com
______________________________________________________ADV:
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Your Letters
============
Could you post a request for information from anyone
with direct (as opposed to second-hand) experience with
the Kimberley Explorer liveaboard out of Broome, WA, or
Rowley Shoals. Also, if anyone has any experience with the
Australian Christmas Island, which is off the NW coast of
the continent quite close to Indonesia.
Thanks.
Alan Gurevich
--
My husband and I are planning a diving trip to Grand Cayman
Islands. We would like to know what time of the year is the
best to go and if someone has some budget tips as we've
heard it's very expensive there.
Regards
Kristin
--
If you can help Alan or Kristin, please contact
the Editor at news@scubatravel.co.uk
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Manage your mailing list with Subscribe Me. Send
newsletters and announcements to your contacts and
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Santorini Dive Report
=====================
In July Sián Belton asked for information on diving in
Santorini (Greece). She's now back and here is her report
of her trip.
Unfortunately I had an accident where I ripped the
muscles in my foot right at the beginning of my holiday
before I had the chance to book any diving which held me
back considerably. However, there was no way I was going
to go home without at least trying one dive.
I dived a site called Adiaviade and I was surprised how
good it was for the med. The water was lovely and warm
and the visibility was around 26-30 meters. There was
plenty of life down there, just couldn't name a lot of
what I saw. What I can name is King Solomon's, Octopus,
Barracuda, Red Snapper and Grouper, but there was more!
There was also a lot of coral. Red, Vibrant Yellow and
Black. Clams, huge shells with snails in, some anemones.
Apparently this was not one of the best sites, there are
plenty more, so I would recommend anybody try it out if
you go there.
Apart from that the Island is a lovely place to go for
a holiday, with lots to do if you have not pulled any
muscles!!!
Hope the information helps future divers wishing to
explore Santorini.
Regards
Sián
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Interview with Lauren and Michael Farley, Authors of
Baja California Divers Guide
====================================================
When Michael Farley was managing a chain of dive stores in
the southern California area in the early 1970's, many people
came into the dive shops asking for information on Baja
California diving. There was at that time nothing published
on the subject. He and his wife, Lauren, decided to take an
extended journey to the Baja Peninsula in 1977, together
with their inflatable boat, compressor, dive tanks, Nikonos
photo gear etc. After a year of diving and travels in Baja,
which included living on islands with fisherman up and down
both sides of the Baja Peninsula, they returned to California
intending to produce a small pamphlet for use at the dive
stores. However, the vast amount of information and photos
that they had compiled led to the publication of our first book
in 1978, entitled Diving Mexico's Baja. They updated this
several times, changing the title to Baja California Divers
Guide.
The book was the first guide book ever published on scuba
diving in Baja California waters, and was a compilation of
their actual, logged dives. As such, it became the bible
and reference book for many years thereafter. Lauren and
Michael were pioneers in the field, producing photographs
in the days of disposable flash bulbs that you had to
carefully capture in a plastic bag after each photo in
order not to pollute the ocean; diving in pristine sites
that very few if any divers had ever seen; discovering new
dive sites by tagging along with shark fishermen on their
daily net checks; and recommending conservation practices
such as not anchoring on coral reefs, and "taking only photos
and memories" from the ocean instead of living shells and game.
From thousands of hours underwater Michael perhaps remembers
most fondly a dive off the waters of San Jose del Cabo on a
film trip with Howard Hall and Marty Snyderman near Gorda Banks Reef,
over 15 years ago. "A 50 foot-plus whale shark appeared out of
the depths and came towards us. At that time, we were one of
a handful of people that had ever seen a whale shark underwater.
It stopped abruptly in the water, and allowed me to approach
it, exploring the entire length of its body. While I was
hanging on to its first dorsal fin, it began swimming slowly,
and I was surprised that instead of being brushed off by the
water pressure, I was actually almost suctioned to the whale
shark by the low pressure area of its movement with the water.
I swam forward along its body, towards the head, got near the
eyes and noticed that instead of cartilaginous membranes closing
over the eyes like most sharks, it in fact retracts and extends
its eyeball in its socket. I found this fascinating and most
likely was the very first person to actually observe this
phenomenon up close. It left me with a sense of wonder, that this
huge creature actually LET me interact with it and in fact
initiated the contact...they are in fact so powerful that one
has a profound experience of one's own insignificance and
at the same time an extreme appreciation for all of those
sea creatures that we still know very little about."
Lauren Farley's most memorable dive was off the Marisla Seamount
near La Paz, where instead of just observing the large schools
of hammerhead sharks at the base of the sea mount, she actually
swam straight into the school with her buddy, Patti Whitfield,
where she reports that it was "like being invisible inside
the school with huge, undulating prehistoric looking creatures
moving in rhythm all around you, and there were so many that
they looked like minnows as you looked up at the surface. A
feeling of being in a large primordial bowl of soup outside of
time."
After diving in many spots around the world for both
business and pleasure, working on documentaries about
sharks, manta rays, whale sharks, whales, etc...Michael
and Lauren now enjoy running the eco-resort, Danzante,
where they can introduce other people to the treasures
of Baja California waters, where you never know what you
will see...from a 250 pound marlin circling you, to
hundreds of manta rays leaping out of the water, or a
golden sea horse swaying in the surge simply wrapped around
a piece of sea weed.
--
The full interview will be published shortly on the
SCUBA Travel site at
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/interview.html
Although currently out of print you can obtain a copy of
Baja California Divers Guide from Amazon.com
For more information on the Danzante resort contact
info@danzante.com
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Diving News From Around the World
=================================
DIVE 2002 SHOW
The Dive 2002 Show is at the NEC Birmingham (UK) on
12-13 October. Meet 250 leading suppliers of diving gear,
holidays, RIBs, leisure wear, training, etc - plus
continuous seminars and presentations by many of
diving's famous names.
http://www.diveshows.co.uk/
BILLIARDS TOURNAMENT WRECKS RED SEA REEF
Organisers of a billiards tournament have been
allowed to build on a protected islet in the Egyptian
Red Sea. In theory, Egyptian environment laws forbid
any action that causes the deterioration of the
natural environment or its plant and animal life,
whether above or below water, and violators are subject
to stiff fines or imprisonment. But apparently billiards
players are exempt.
http://www.metimes.com/2K2/issue2002-38/
DIVERS FIND TREASURE
Welsh divers have discovered an 18th century wreck
containing a load of tin which could be worth over
£1 million. If the Receiver of Wrecks decides the ship
is of historical value it could go to a museum, with
the divers being paid the value of the cargo.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/2208362.stm
BASKING SHARKS DON'T HIBERNATE
Contrary to what was previously believed, basking
sharks don't hibernate. Scientists studying the movements
of these giant fish used satellite technology to show
that not only did the sharks undertake extensive journeys
but also that they did not sink to the floor of the ocean
and go to sleep for months at a time.
Download your free copy at
http://www.windmill.co.uk/gps.html
____________________________________________________ADV:
ASTRONAUTS DIVE TO MIMIC SPACE STATION
A NASA crew are spending 5 days in an undersea
laboratory. During their stay they are working on
experiments, conducting "extravehicular activities" by
diving outside to simulate building segments of a
space station, and learning to work together.
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/
DIVERS UNCOVER ANCIENT HARBOUR
Divers have found evidence of the oldest working
harbour in Britain, built centuries before the Roman
invasion. Timber pilings excavated from a deep layer
of silt on the sea bed have been dated at 250 BC.
The scale of the construction work was astounding,
and implied a large, skilled and organised workforce.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/
EMERALD FOUND IN CONCH SHELL
A part-time salvage diver collected a conch shell
from a 380 year-old Spanish wreck, and on later
opening it found a 40 carat emerald.
http://www.dema.org/
__________________________________________________________
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