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SCUBA News 85
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Welcome to Issue 85 of SCUBA News. This month we have a free draw to win an on-line coral reef course from Beautiful Oceans. To find out more about the course read our review below. To take part in the draw just e-mail news@scubatravel.co.uk and put Beautiful Oceans as the subject line. The closing date for entries is Monday 11 June. Should you wish to cancel your subscription to SCUBA News you may do so at http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/news.html Contents: __________________________________________________________ What's New at SCUBA Travel? 
Diving in Jordan Jordan is at the north end of the Red Sea with a coastline of just 15 miles. We've increased our coverage of Jordan, with more dive operators listed and a new page on Jordanian dive sites.
ADVERT:__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ Your Letters If you can help any of our letter writers either e-mail news@scubatravel.co.uk or register and post on the Diving Board at http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/forum/ Seahorses I receive SCUBA News and wondered if anyone could point me in the right direction... I would very much like to go diving with seahorses...I am aware of project seahorse in the Phillipines but I wanted to know where else in the world that they live and wondered if anyone had some and more info... with very best wishes Deborah Huck - From the Diving Board... Family Holidays I've been diving since the age of 16 (almost two years now) and diving has become a holiday routine. I have been travelling to places offering diving since starting out. So far I've been to Croatia and Sicily and they have both been great experiences. I was looking for trips to the Red Sea but seeing as my holidays (for now) are family holidays, we all have to agree, I found some reasonable package prices, but my Dad said that it gets far too hot in Sharm El Sheikh in the summer and is almost unbearable. I'd like someone to confirm this as my parents are keen on just finding a boring beach location where they can just sit on a beach all day (Zzzz..) If it is true that Sharm is swelteringly hot in the summer (July is when we plan to go), then could you reccomend some good locations for family-ish holidays with good dive locations around Europe and North Africa please?
Alex __________________________________________________________ On-Line Course Review
Beautiful Oceans The first part of this new course for divers discusses the ecosystem and food web in general. The second part uses a series of animals and plants to illustrate the points previously covered. For instance, the Caribbean Reef Shark is discussed as a top-level, active, predator. I found these species examples the most interesting part. The authors manage to pack loads of information into a small space, without the prose becoming uninteresting. And even when I thought I knew loads about a subject they managed to surprise me. For instance, did you know that sponges may be able to live to over 1000 years old? Although much of the information applies to coral reefs throughout the world, the example species are found in the Caribbean. By the end of the course its authors hope that you will have learnt to appreciate all life on coral reefs from the tiniest phytoplankton to the shark. You should also have learnt how each creature is interconnected with the others. The course materials are well written, with interesting notes about the behaviour of individual species illustrating a point. The Manual, in pdf format, is 119 pages long. It has a comprehensive index and is lavishly illustrated with a high-quality photograph or diagram on nearly every page. The course is available on-line, where you work through at your own pace at your computer. Alternatively you can take the course at selected dive schools in the Caribbean. For more information visit http://www.beautifuloceans.com/. We are delighted to be able to offer you the chance to win the course. Just e-mail news@scubatravel.co.uk and put "Beautiful Oceans" as the subject line. Closing date is 11 June. Your e-mail entries will not be passed to any other company unless you win, in which case Beautiful Oceans will be in touch with you. __________________________________________________________ Ocean Facts: How Sharks Help Other Animals
Recent scientific evidence suggests that sharks and other top predators are essential for a healthy and stable ecosystem. Remember: everything is interconnected. Heavy fishing of top predators allows their prey — carnivorous organisms like groupers, barracuda and triggerfishes — to increase in number. High numbers of these carnivores require lots of food, which means the organisms on the levels below are hit hard, seriously reducing their abundance. Some of these organisms may be herbivores that help prevent algae from overgrowing and smothering corals. The removal of top predators can therefore produce a ripple that affects the survival of corals. Corals provide food and shelter for many other coral reef organisms. It is always worth remembering that an ecosystem is like a fragile house of cards, where the removal of one species can seriously affect the stability of the entire system. From the Beautiful Oceans Coral Reef Ecosystem & Food Web course http://www.beautifuloceans.com/ __________________________________________________________ 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. Dominica - "the Nature Island" - Supports Whaling Dominica has rejected criticism that its vote on the International Whaling Commission (IWC) was up for sale, after the prime minister returned with financial aid from Japan and renewed his support for commercial whaling. Ironically, the Caribbean island markets itself as the "Nature Island", with whale watching being one of its attractions. As a response to the contribution from Japan, a television advertising campaign has been commissioned to try to persuade the inhabitants of Dominica and five other West Indies nations not to support Japan's plan to overturn the ban on commercial whale hunting. People are also being asked to e-mail the government departments of Dominica and the other nations, urging them to oppose commercial whaling. The Dive: A Story of Love and Obsession
Record wreck "found off Cornwall" A record haul of half a million silver and gold coins from a 17th Century shipwreck may have been found just 40 miles from Land's End, UK, an expert said. US treasure hunters said the coins, worth an estimated $500m (253m pounds), were recovered in the Atlantic Ocean. But Odyssey Marine Exploration, who described it as the largest find of its kind, refused to pinpoint the location. Bush Sets Record for Denying Protection to Endangered Species There are currently 279 highly imperiled US species that are designated as candidates for listing as threatened or endangered and that face potential extinction. But the Bush administration has failed to protect any one of them in the last year. Overall, according to a report released by the Center for Biological Diversity, the Bush administration has listed fewer species under the Endangered Species Act than any other administration since the law was enacted in 1973. Some species have become extinct before they were promoted from the candidate list, and have thus been removed from the list. ADVERT:__________________________________________________ Divers to attempt to visit un-dived wreck Stella Polaris On the 2nd September 2006 the famous first class luxury liner Stella Polaris sank off the coast of Kushimoto, Japan.
The ship sank to a depth of 72 m, and has never been dived by commercial or scuba divers. She lays upright on a sandy, gently sloping bottom. Her two masts reach a depth of 40 m.
An international technical dive team from Austria, Sweden, UK and Japan, will attempt visit the wreck between the 22 and 30 May to photograph and film the her. Snorkelling for Six-Year-Olds The British Sub-Aqua Club has reduced the age for youngsters to take up snorkelling with them from 8 years old to 6 years old. Experts Find Turtles Are Drawn to Light Sticks Endangered loggerhead turtles snared by longline fishermen may be inadvertently lured to the hooks because of an attraction to light sticks designed to attract tuna and swordfish, researchers said. Scientists found in lab experiments that young loggerhead turtles will swim toward lights similar to those used by fishermen to attract big fish. "Juvenile turtles are indiscriminate eaters and bite nearly everything small that they encounter," said Ken Lohmann, a biology professor whose expertise is turtle navigation. Lohmann recommended that longline fishermen direct the lights, designed to mimic the night-time luminescence of squid, toward the bottom of the ocean. Turtles spend most of their time near the surface. He also suggested that fishermen switch to colors of light that turtles can't detect. Healthy Coral Reefs Hit Hard by Warmer Temperatures Egypt stops reef fish exports Egypt have cancelled a decree which allowed companies to collect reef fish and export them to Europe and other markets.
According to the Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association (HEPCA), the previous decision had a devastating effect on nature and on the coral reef condition in the whole area. WHO Says Fighting Global Warming a Win-Win To Prevent Health Problems and Save Money Countries that start battling global warming now won't have to wait generations to see the rewards: burning cleaner fuels can yield immediate health benefits that save lives and money, world health experts say. Algae killing sealife in California A bloom of ocean algae that produces a toxic acid has sickened and killed hundreds of birds, sea lions and dolphins in California, environmentalists said. The algae population increases or "blooms" every year as the ocean waters warm but this year's bloom seems early, extensive and "very, very thick,". Rise in turtle sightings in Britain The number of sea turtles visiting waters off the coasts of Devon and Cornwall may have been boosted by protective measures put in place in the United States and Mexico. Leatherback turtles have been the most frequently sighted species. Thirty-Two Mile Cable Installed for First Deep-Sea Observatory Oceanographers have completed an important step in constructing the first deep-sea observatory off the continental United States. Workers in the multi-institution effort laid 32 miles (52 kilometers) of cable along the Monterey Bay sea floor that will provide electrical power to scientific instruments, video cameras, and robots 3,000 feet (900 meters) below the ocean surface. The link will also carry data from the instruments back to shore, for use by scientists and engineers from around the world. Whales Confused by Warming, UN Says Whales, birds and other migratory creatures are suffering from global warming that puts them in the wrong place at the wrong time, a U.N. official has told 166-nation climate talks. Many creatures are mistiming their migrations, or failing to bother as changes between seasons become less clear. The shifts make them vulnerable to heatwaves, droughts or cold snaps. Migratory species are particularly vulnerable because they need separate breeding, wintering and stop-over sites. High value of whale meat costs minkes in Korea DNA detective work has revealed that fishermen in South Korea are snaring far more whales in their nets than they admit. The "bycatch" is so large that some observers believe whales are being netted deliberately, breaking the moratorium on commercial whaling set by the International Whaling Commission (IWC). Scientists Start Encyclopedia of Life The world's scientists plan to document all 1.8 million named species on a web site for all to see. The project, called the Encyclopedia of Life, will provide written information and, when available, photographs, video, sound, location maps and other multimedia information on each species. Dive the World: The Most Fascinating Diving Sites 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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Sharks get a bad rap. Too often they are portrayed as cold blooded killers with an appetite for human flesh; nothing could be further from the truth. Sharks may be carnivores, but they rarely attack humans. In fact less than 10 percent of shark species have ever attacked a human, and statistically we are more likely to die crossing the road than in the jaws of a shark. Sharks actually consume many of the same organisms as humans, such as grouper, snapper and jacks.
