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SCUBA News 74~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011) Issue 74 - June 2006 http://www.scubatravel.co.uk ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Welcome to June's SCUBA News. This month we've an article on diving in Panama and the last chance to win an on-line coral reef biology course specifically designed for divers, worth $99.55. We hope you enjoy SCUBA News, but should you wish to cancel your subscription you can do so at http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/news.html Contents: - What's new at SCUBA Travel? - Win an On-line Coral Reef Course - Your Letters - Diving Panama, by Bill Mashek - Did You Know? Coral Reef Facts - Diving News from Around the World :ADV_____________________________________________________ Millite Scuba finger-mounted hand free LED torch. Rugged, powerful, ultra-bright. Two selectable intensities blinking/signalling modes. Designed for diving Special Forces to operate up to 60m/200ft. View at www.fingerlight.com. £34.99 inc PP UK. E-Mail jarvillm@aol.com to order or further info. ______________________________________________________ADV: __________________________________________________________ What's New at SCUBA Travel? =========================== Diving in Malaysia You've made more recommendations for diving centres in Semporna, Sibu and Kuala Lumpur. There are also more comments on the dive sites of Malaysia. http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/malaysia/malayop.html http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/malaysia/malaydive.html Diving in Honduras You can now see a video of the diving around Utila, courtesy Steve Hurford. This includes some lovely shots of whale sharks. Plus more dive operators and dive sites in Utila and Roatan are listed. http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/americas/honduras.html __________________________________________________________ Last Chance to Win the Coral Reef Course ======================================== Congratulations to Indi Kaur who has won last month's draw for an on-line coral reef course, worth $99.55. We're running our final draw this month - so enter now for the last chance to win. As usual e-mail news@scubatravel.co.uk with Beautiful Oceans as the subject line. The course includes over 60 underwater videos of the behaviour of animals on the coral reef. It enables you to... - Understand the intricate relationships that exist between coral reef creatures; point them out and explain them to your dive buddies - Discover the rare and unique behaviours of coral reef organisms - Distinguish coral reef organisms with ease and understand their place in the web of life - Understand the meaning of scientific names and make even marine scientists blush - Master your map of the coral reef and help guide your dive buddies to their creatures of interest - Become a true coral reef specialist, and be recognized as such by your peers. For more details read our review at http://www.news.scubatravel.co.uk/ or see the Beautiful Oceans web site http://www.beautifuloceans.com/ __________________________________________________________ Your Letters ============ France I wonder if someone could help. I will go on holiday in France this summer to Royan. I 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, Renald E-mail news@scubatravel if you have any information for Renald -- And from the Diving Board... Mexico Looking for a recommendation for a dive operator in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - visiting shortly for a 2 week vacation cheers Simon http://scubatravel.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=546 -- Cyprus Hi there all, I am John and have been diving since September 2005. I am an advanced open water diver with nitrox (under the PADI system). I have recently returned from the Red Sea on a liveaboard, which was all organised. I will be travelling to Paphos in Cyprus in October for 1 week with my girlfriend (who does not dive). I was wondering what part of my equipment i should take (as I/we shall be doing other things besides scuba diving) as I will only get a couple of dives in (3-6), and where is the place to go for the diving in Paphos. Please get back to me with some information. Thanks John http://scubatravel.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=697#697 __________________________________________________________ Panama: Multi-Sport and Spanish School Vacation ================================================ Diving at Portobelo and Bocas Del Toro by Bill Mashek We went to Panama for fun, I am a multi-sport type and Panama is a good place for a lot of activities. We also attended Spanish school in Bocas Del Toro. Diving Portobelo I made diving arrangements with Panama Divers ahead of time. We flew into Panama City and the next morning, Clay, owner of Scuba Panama picked me up at my hotel. We drove to Portobelo to a small hotel and one boat dock. It only took about 15 minutes to get to our dive spot near Drakes Island. The diving out of Portobelo is deep. Our first dive was about 110 ft (35 m). Most places I dive everything worth seeing is between 40-70 ft (12-22 m). Deep diving is just something to do. In this area of Portobelo things didn't get "provocative" until you hit 90+ ft (28 m). Lots of interesting corals. A couple of turtles, lobster, strange macros made for excellent pictures. Lots of spotted drums. Nothing "epic" but fun. Cost was $125, which made multiple dives out of my reach. Rafting and Surfing The next day did a couple days of great rafting on the Changres and Chirque rivers prior to arriving in Bocas Del Toro. For surfers, there are some great surf spots in Bocas, the two I went to were bluff and bouncers. Both were Strong reef breaks, best for short boards due to the steep drops. Diving Bocas Del Toro While in Bocas I attended Spanish School at Spanish by the Sea (http://www.spanishbythesea.com) for a week. Bocas is your typical Caribbean backpackers island. Nothing real fancy. Lodging is simple and inexpensive, food around the island is varied and ok, not great, and lots of inexpensive crafts from street artists. The language school experience was excellent. Part of their program included diving. I took advantage. I dived with Dutch Pirate. Rolf (owner and instructor) is a great guy and his girlfriend/dive master Karrol is a teacher at the Spanish school (http://www.spanishbythesea.com) and used to be a dolphin trainer at Anthony's Key Resort, Roatan. We dived six different spots between Isla Colon and Bastaimentos. Diving was shallow, no deeper than 40 ft (12 m). The water was extremely calm, no currents. Almost like diving in a swimming pool. We dived one interesting wreck. Diving Panama (on the Caribbean side) was OK. Not fantastic. Fish are not "prolific". Everybody says Coiba Island is the place to dive where there are many Pelagics. Coiba was the site of a prison for many years. Now all that exists is a rustic resort. Coiba also offers excellent spearfishing for freedivers. Next time. by Bill Mashek http://www.rubiconadventures.com/ For photos to accompany this article see http://community.webshots.com/album/547827614NIfGFQ ADVERT:__________________________________________________ LOW COST TRAVEL INSURANCE which doesn't limit the depth to which you can dive. For more details visit http://www.worldnomads.com.au/ __________________________________________________:ADVERT __________________________________________________________ Did You Know? Coral Reef Facts ============================== At 2300 km in length, the Great Barrier Reef is not just the largest coral reef in the world, it is the largest living structure of any kind in the world. Australia's Great Barrier Reef is a collection of nearly 3000 smaller reefs and around 1000 islands, and is home to 400 species of coral, 400 species of sponge, 1500 species of fish and around 4000 species of mollusc...and these are just the ones that have been documented. Countless others remain undiscovered. -- From the Beautiful Oceans on-line course: Coral Reef Architecture and Organisms. To read our review of the course see http://www.news.scubatravel.co.uk/ __________________________________________________________ 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. Ageing Increases Risk from Decompression Sickness The effect of aging on risk for the development of decompression illness in SCUBA divers has often been reported as an incidental finding in analyses of diving accidents. However, previously no-one had specifically attempted to quantify or qualify those risks. Now though, a new study demonstrates that aging increases risk for injury overall, and in particular serious injury. It also lessens the potential for recovery. http://www.news.scubatravel.co.uk/ Warship wrecked for SCUBA Divers Last month we had news of a warship sunk to become the largest artificial reef in the world. For pictures of this new dive see http://uwex.us/051806.htm ADVERT:__________________________________________________ POSTERS AND PRINTS: Save money on a vast selection of posters and prints: Doubilet's Red Sea, sharks, Great Barrier Reef, coral...browse the offers at www.allposters.com 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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Coral algae could adapt to warming
Some of the world's coral reefs may be able to adapt
to global warming - up to a point. Reefs get their
vivid colours from algal cells that live inside, and
feed, the coral polyp. If the water gets too warm the
algae flee, leaving the coral white and, eventually,
dead. Warmer seas have led to severe bleaching and
die-offs on some reefs.
Now biologists in Australia have shown that some
algae can adapt. Corals from warmer reefs harbour a
strain of algae called type D and resist bleaching.
Corals from cooler reefs have a slightly different
strain, called type C, which can't take the heat.
This finding holds a 'nugget of hope' for some corals.