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SCUBA News 63~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011) Issue 63 - July 2005 http://www.scubatravel.co.uk ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Welcome to SCUBA News. We hope you enjoy this issue, but should you wish to cancel your subscription you can do so at http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/news.html If you would like to reprint any of this newsletter you may do so, as long as you include the following notice and a link to our web site. * Copyright SCUBA Travel - http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/ * Reprinting permitted with this notice included. Contents: - What's new at SCUBA Travel? - Your Letters - Bookshelf: The Simple Guide to Commercial Diving - The Trip of a Lifetime to Sipadan - Creature of the Month: Lion's Mane Jellyfish - Diving News from Around the World __________________________________________________________ What's New at SCUBA Travel? ============================ Top 10 Selling SCUBA Books Stuck for which books to take on holiday? Get ideas from the top ten list of SCUBA bestsellers. http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/bestsellers.html Discover the Diving in East Timor Looking for a new diving destination? East Timor comes highly recommended. http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/pacific.html#EastTimor Diving Centres in Sardinia Find the best diving operators in Sardinia - now updated with more of your recommendations. http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/italy/sardop.html Diving Centres in Thailand Likewise the Thailand Diver Operators page has again been revised http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/thailand/thaiop.html __________________________________________________________ Your Letters ============ Hi, I live in south west France and am trying to locate a doctor to update my diving medical, any help gratefully received. Many thanks Bob W -- Hi I wonder if someone could help. My son and I are both divers and are on holiday in France (near Royan / La Rochelle). We would like to dive in the area if possible, but I'm having great difficulty in finding any information on what's available. Does anyone know of a diving school / resort etc? Regards, Peter Iles-Smith -- If you can help Bob or Peter e-mail news@scubatravel.co.uk. -- From the Diving Board... Hi everyone, I'm totally new to diving and would like learn to dive abroad preferably in the Indian Ocean with the opportunity to do other stuff too - work in the community etc. Any suggestions? Add your views at... http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=140 ADVERT:__________________________________________________ FREE ADVERTISING FOR DIVERS: Post a month of diving adverts for free at the Diving Board Forum. http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/forum/viewforum.php?f=5 __________________________________________________:ADVERT __________________________________________________________ Bookshelf: The Simple Guide to Commercial Diving ================================================ Steven M Barsky and Robert W Christensen Hammerhead Press, 2004 176 pages, $29.95 0-9674305-4-2 Are you thinking about a career in commercial diving? If so read "The Simple Guide to Commercial Diving". Barsky and Christensen's book covers the skills and attitudes needed by a successful commercial diver in a straight-forward and forthright way. The book starts with a scary warning page before you even get to the contents, summarising the physical and emotional dangers of commercial diving. Once you get past that it describes the training you need to be a commercial diver, the types of work the divers do, the equipment used and the the attitude you need to be successful. The book is amply illustrated with 160 black and white photos and diagrams. At the end of each chapter the authors elegantly illustrate their points by recounting their own experiences: foolish dives they shouldn't have done, near misses, equipment failures... If one of the lines in the book is true: "The more you know the longer you live" then any aspiring commercial diver should buy this book for the insight and advice it provides. The Simple Guide to Commercial Diving is available for $25.46 from Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0967430542/mussoutdoorpursu and also from Hammerhead Press for $29.95 at http://www.hammerheadpress.com/ About the Authors ================= Steve Barsky started diving in 1965 and was certified as a diving instructor in 1970. He trained as a commercial diver between 1974 and 1976. He has since worked as a diver in the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, before moving to first Diving Systems International then Viking Dry Suits. In 1989 he started his consulting company - Marine Marketing and Consulting. He has written 16 books and in 1999 formed the publishing company Hammerhead Press. Bob Christensen was a US Navy diver before becoming a commercial diver. In 1969 he was invited to become an instructor at the Marine Diving Technician Program in Santa Barbara. He ultimately taught in this program for 16 years before retiring in 1985. A few years into retirement Bob started working with Kirby Morgan Diving Systems Inc and is still associated with them. __________________________________________________________ Dive Trip to Sipadan ==================== by Graham Collins Manchester - Singapore - Sipadan -------------------------------- With a business trip to Singapore looming and no holiday organised for the Red Sea this winter, I looked for an extension to the Singapore trip to get in some good diving. I first tried some UK dive tour operators to see if a stop-over in Singapore could be organised but the flights were not available. Then it was onto the web for a local operator to book a tour out of Singapore. I found several but selected Waikiki Divers because they seemed to have flexible tour lengths and times. A quick email followed by a phone call put me in touch with Stella Lee from Waikiki who was able to create a six day, five night trip to Sipadan on the day required, and returning in time for the flight back to Manchester. From Singapore it was a 9:30 am taxi to the Senai airport across the border in Malaysia, a flight to Kotu Kinabalu, followed by another to Tawau, and then a one hour minibus ride to get within one last leg of the destination. A one night stay at the very spacious and quite luxurious Seaquest Hotel in Semporna was the break in the journey. The following morning at 8:30 am we were met by the mini-bus which transferred us the short distance to the jetty where Palau Sipadan resort tours have their shore base. A 1 hour speedboat ride was the final staqe to get to Kapali where the accomodation is in wooden chalets connected by wooden walkways built over a submerged reef, with a small very white beach uncovered at low tide. No one has been able to stay on Sipadan itself since 1/1/2005, apart from some soldiers whose job is to prevent divers who land there for their surface interval, from wandering off down the beach or into the inerior of the island. Our group comprised one from England, an American, a Canadian, a Turkish couple and a Japanese, so plenty of opportunity for swapping notes on world diving. The Diving ---------- The check out dive followed later in the morning and was a dive from the jetty at the dive centre. Basically a sandy bottom with coral blocks and quite a variety of small fish. In the afternoon a short boat ride to sweet-lips table led to a similar dive but with somewhat bigger fish (sting rays, large jacks) giant mantis shrimps and a very large turtle. Most evenings the dive centre organised a dusk dive for those with the energy left. Some considerable time was spent trying to get photgraphs of a shy mandarin fish. The next day we took the boat to Sipadan (about half an hour away with 300-400 horsepower behind us). In the morning we dived at the coral garden area, and after a break went to the South Point. Here the life was what you might expect from one of the top dive sites in the world. I counted 11 white tip reef sharks resting on the bottom, was passed by a six foot tiger shark going the other way, one Napolean wrasse, too many turtles to count and an octopus in the shallows at the end of the dive. For variety we also went to Mabul Island where we dived in the junk underneath the SeaVentures rig. Here were plenty of exotic small creatures (nudibranchs, frog fish etc) but too much man-made rubbish for my liking. Further dives at Sipadan saw similar numbers of macro creatures, including a large shoal of barracuda forming the traditional swirling cylinder, and again an unlimited selection of turtles. We were extremely well looked after by the staff at Kapalai, the food was good, the weather warm but really quite windy (which keeps the huts cool at least). Trip of a Lifetime ------------------ The trip was well organised, everything went just like clockwork but was very relaxed at the same time. So if you get as far as Singapore I stringly recommend you contact Stella at Waikiki Divers and let them organise the trip of a lifetime for you. More Information: ================= For more on the diving around Sipadan see http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/malaysia/malaydive.html To contact Waikiki Divers go to http://www.waikikidive.com/ ADVERT:__________________________________________________ LOW COST TRAVEL INSURANCE: World Nomads offers divers low-cost travel insurance which doesn't limit the depth to which you can dive. For more details visit www.worldnomads.com.au/ __________________________________________________:ADVERT _________________________________________________________ Creature of the Month: Lion's Mane Jellyfish, Cyanea capillata ======================================== For photos of the Lion's Mane see http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/lionsmane.html http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/lionsmane2.html http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/lionsmane3.html With tentacles up to three metres long and covered with stinging cells, it's better not to get too close to the Lion's Mane jellyfish. It's body can be up to 200 cm across making it one of the largest species of jellyfish. The tentacles are arranged in eight bunches, with each bunch containing over 100 tentacles. The oldest tentacles are often coloured dark red. They have a very severe sting that can produce blisters, irritation, and muscular cramp and may even affect respiratory and heart function. Fragments of tentacles, left on buoy ropes for example, retain their stinging power. This species does occasionally occur in large swarms, largely thought to be due to storms and tides that concentrate individuals together. They are predators, eating zooplankton, small fish and moon jellyfish. You'll find the Lion's Mane in the cold Arctic and Pacific Oceans, the North and Irish Seas and off coast of Australia. They are mostly no deeper than around 20 metres. Further Reading: ---------------- MarLIN Marine Life Information Network http://www.marlin.ac.uk/species/Cyaneacapillata.htm Great British Marine Animals http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/britishmarine.html __________________________________________________________ Diving News From Around the World ================================= 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/newsfeed.html It's free and automatically updates you with the latest SCUBA news via your web site, e-mail or any news feed reader. MTV Damage Leatherback Turtle Beach in Tobago MTV's shooting of its reality TV show "The Gauntlet" on Turtle Beach in Tobago caused massive damage to an important nesting beach for critically endangered leatherback turtles. The shoot continued with little concern for the nesting sea turtles despite requests from a local conservation group to relocate. http://www.enn.com/aff.html?id=751 Eyptian Bomber Named Saturday's bomb attacks in the Red Sea diving resort of Sharm al-Sheikh killed at least 64 people. Most of the dead are Egyptians, but foreigners are among the victims too. Situated on the southern tip of the Sinai peninsula, Sharm has long been a popular diving destination. The Naama Bay area, where two of the bombs exploded, has virtually become a resort in its own right. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4720421.stm HSE Warns Divers against Dangerous Fishing Methods The British Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has warned divers of the risks of using unsafe electrical equipment underwater during commercial fishing operations. The warning comes after a multi-agency investigation into illegal diving for razor fish (spoots) off the coast of Scotland. http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2005/e05096.htm Scientists Raise Alarm About Ocean Health With a record number of dead seabirds washing up on West Coast beaches of the USA, marine biologists are raising the alarm about rising ocean temperatures and dwindling plankton populations. http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=8236 Prolonged diving experience may cause Small Airways Disease New study finds that prolonged diving experience may result in the development of small airways disease. Divers frequently have unusually large lung volumes, suggestive of obstructive airways disease. However large lungs may represent part of the natural selection for diving, rather than a training effect. http://www.chestjournal.org/cgi/content/abstract/128/1/224?ct Artificial gill may revolutionise diving An artificial gill that mimics the way fish breathe could allow divers to dispense with bulky oxygen tanks, it has been claimed. The device, which has been developed by an Israeli engineer, could also be used to supply air to submarines and underwater hotels. http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=733142005 Instructor blamed for diver death A Royal Navy petty officer caused the death of a junior officer by letting him dive on a full stomach in breach of safety rules, a court has heard. Jonathan Fuller QC, prosecuting, told Winchester Crown Court that Mr Watt had failed to adhere to safety guidelines barring diving for two hours after a heavy meal. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/4074124.stm Scientists Map Ocean Floor in Antarctica Using inflatable boats, a portable depth sounder with GPS, and a REMUS autonomous underwater vehicle, a team of scientists and engineers has created the first detailed, comprehensive chart of the ocean floor around Palmer Station in Antarctica, revealing previously unknown submerged rocks. http://www.enn.com/aff.html?id=687 ADVERT:__________________________________________________ LOW COST SEAFLOOR MAPPING: Log data from GPS, sonar and other instruments to your database or mapping program with the free Windmill software. For diving, seafloor mapping, salvage, coral reef monitoring, etc. Download your free copy at http://www.windmill.co.uk/gps.html __________________________________________________:ADVERT New Legislation Aims to Bail Out Oceans New US act lays out a plan for improving the health, productivity and sustainability of ocean resources and ecosystems. Among other provisions, the bill strengthens the role of science in fisheries management, provides increased federal support for coastal habitat restoration and tightens controls on key sources of coastal and ocean pollution. http://www.enn.com/aff.html?id=686 Newborn dolphins go a month without sleep Newborn dolphins and killer whales do not sleep for a whole month after birth, new research has revealed, and neither do their mothers, who stay awake to keep a close eye on their offspring. Normally, newly born mammals and their mothers stay asleep for as long as they can after birth. http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7606 Australia Scientists Find New Dolphin Australian researchers have identified a new species of dolphin. The Australian Snubfin Dolphin is one of the rarest sea mammals on the planet. http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=8162 Fingerprints point to human cause of ocean warming Researchers claim to have found the first strong evidence that human activities are responsible for warming the world's oceans over the past 50 years. In a recent paper, the researchers rule out natural variations in the climate and the effects of volcanic or solar activity as causes for the oceans getting warmer. http://www.scidev.net/content/news/eng/ Marine crisis looms over acidifying oceans The oceans are gradually turning into a vast "fizzy drink", a transformation that could be catastrophic for ocean life. Levels of carbonic acid - the reaction product of water and carbon dioxide that is found in soda water - are increasing at a rate one hundred times faster than the world has seen for millions of years. http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7609 Divers Assess Battleship Using a floating ramp as a base, divers are measuring, surveying and mapping the midsection of the wreck of the USS Arizona. When completed, the model will be able to predict how quickly and in what way the ship will disintegrate and which major structural features will give way first. http://www.navytimes.com/ New underwater markers visible in dark to 10 m Available from Aquastuff.net, a new range of markers visible in the dark up to 10 metres, and waterproof to 30 metres. Attach to diving, and other emergency equipment. 10 year life. http://www.aquastuff.net/ __________________________________________________________ * 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 web site, providing the above copyright notice is included and a link back to our web site 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 Ltd, 5 Loxford Court, Hulme, Manchester, M15 6AF, 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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