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SCUBA News 41~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011) Issue 41 - September 2003 http://www.scubatravel.co.uk ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Welcome to SCUBA News. We hope you enjoy it 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? - Creature of the Month: Green Turtle - Diving News from Around the World If you have any diving news, comments on this newsletter or dive reports we'd love to hear from you. E-mail the Editor at news@scubatravel.co.uk __________________________________________________________ What's New at SCUBA Travel? =========================== Australia Previously information about Australia was scattered around the site. We've now organised it into its own section, and added more photos and diving stuff. See http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/australia/ Also, some of you disagreed with the conclusions reached by Alan Guervich after his diving trip to Ningaloo reef. Have you dived Ningaloo? If so let us know what you thought of it. Write to news@scubatravel.co.uk or fill in one of the forms on the web site http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/australia/ningaloo.html Thailand More contact details for diving schools and accomodation in Thailand are now given at http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/thailand/ :ADV_____________________________________________________ Sunrise Divers offers a wide variety of diving around Phuket, Phi Phi and the Similan Islands. Liveaboards to suit all schedules and budgets, day trips, over- night tours, PADI courses and more. Visit us at www.sunrise-divers.com or our office at Karon Beach, Phuket. ______________________________________________________ADV: Costa Rica More information on Costa Rica is at http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/americas/costarica.html Next Month More on the diving around the Italian island of Sardinia http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/italy/ __________________________________________________________ Creature of the Month: Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas) ==================================================== There are seven species of marine turtle: green, flatback, hawksbill, Kemp's ridley, leatherback, loggerhead and olive ridley. All of these are either endangered or threatened. Although clumsy on land, underwater turtles are beautiful, graceful creatures. I have yet to meet a diver who wasn't pleased to see a turtle. A turtle is often curious about divers and will let you approach it. However, a quick swipe of a flipper across its face shows displeasure - a warning to the diver to back off. The green turtle is found in all tropical and sub-tropical seas, occasionally venturing as far north as Britain. It is largely vegetarian, preferring to eat seagrass in warm shallow waters. However, with the extreme loss of seagrass meadows, their major food is now algae. When mature, which may not be until they are 30-50 years old, green turtles return to the beach on which they were born to lay their eggs. A female nests every three years and lays one to six clutches of between 70 and 110 eggs. Incubation temperature affects the sex of turtles. Higher temperatures favour female hatchlings whilst lower temperatures favour males. The mother digs a pit 60 to 90 cm deep in which to lay her eggs. The hatchling turtles seek the brightest horizon, which on moonlit nights will be the direction of the sea. When Columbus sailed into the Caribbean in 1492, he saw vast numbers of turtles. At times, so many that his fleet had to stop dead in the water to let the migrating animals pass. A crew member remarked that there were so many turtles you could walk to land on their backs. The reason for the massive decline is over-hunting: people have eaten nearly all the turtles. Green turtles are also now threatened with a potentially fatal tumour disease. Further Reading: Fire in the Turtle House, Osha Gray Davidson - http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/turtlehouse.html WWF Green Turtle Programme - http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/ For photographs of turtles see: http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/turtleaus.html http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/turtle.html http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/turtleausyongala.html :ADV_____________________________________________________ Agricultural run-off has contributed to the death of seagrass meadows. For more on monitoring marine pollution see http://www.windmill.co.uk/submarine.html ____________________________________________________ADV: __________________________________________________________ Diving News From Around the World ================================= UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION The "Beneath the Sea" annual photographer competition is now open to amateurs around the world. With prizes of trips on liveaboards, entries must be received by December 31st, 2003. http://BeneaththeSea.org/ CROCODILE BITES DIVER Marine biologist Tony Ayling was diving in poor conditions and when a crocodile grabbed him. http://www.abc.net.au/farnorth/stories/ DIVER FOUND DEAD IN ZENOBIA The body of a British man has been found inside the engine room of the wreck of the Zenobia. The ship sank off the coast of Cyprus in 1980 with 104 lorries on board. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/ DIVERS FIND UNDERWATER SETTLEMENT Divers have found an underground settlement up to 10000 years old off the coast of Britain. Dr Penny Spikins of Newcastle University was on a normal training dive when she noticed pieces of flint on the seabed. Among the flints were arrowheads and cutting implements. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/ :ADV_____________________________________________________ Automatically count the customers entering your dive shop - by the day, by the hour, by the week - you choose. Use any Windows program for analysis and decision making. More details see... http://www.videoturnstile.com/ ____________________________________________________ADV: DECOMPRESSION SICKNESS IN JAPAN A recently published study predicts a decompression sickness incident occuring once a weekend in Japan. It is speculated that many divers may develop DCS while moving through high altitudes after diving, particularly at the Osezaki diving spot in Japan. http://emj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/abstract/20/ SPANISH NAVY BLAMED FOR GIANT SQUID DEATHS Shockwaves from scientific tests carried out by the Spanish navy may have killed four giant squid - one the length of a bus - off Spain's coast http://www.enn.com/news/2003-09-19/s_8591.asp WORLD RECORD FREEDIVING ATTEMPT In Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, on October 12, 2003, "Pipin" Ferreras will attempt to match his late wife's freediving record of 170 meters. http://www.iafdusa.com/ UNDERWATER WISH LIST The BBC recently ran a TV programme, 50 Things To Do Before You Die. Results were based on votes from viewers who were asked to choose the top 50 things they think everyone should do in their life. The number one experience wished for was "Swim with Dolphins". Second came diving the Great Barrier Reef with whale-watching at number 4 and diving with sharks at number 5. http://www.emperordivers.com/dolphins.html __________________________________________________________ * Copyright SCUBA Travel - http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/ * Reprinting welcomed with this footer included. We are happy for you to copy and distribute this newsletter, and even use parts of it on your own website, providing the above copyright notice is included, and a link back to our website is in place. Previous editions of SCUBA News are archived at http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/news.html SUBSCRIBING AND UNSUBSCRIBING Visit http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/news.html and add or remove your e-mail address. CONTACTING THE EDITOR Please send your letters or press releases to: The Editor SCUBA News The Cliff Upper Mayfield DE6 2HR UK ADVERTISING Should you wish to advertise in SCUBA News, please fill in the form at http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/newsad.html PUBLISHER SCUBA Travel, The Cliff, Upper Mayfield, DE6 2HR, UK 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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