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SCUBA News 87~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Welcome to Issue 87 of SCUBA News. I hope you enjoy the newsletter, but should you wish to cancel your subscription you may do so at http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/news.html Contents: __________________________________________________________ What's New at SCUBA Travel? 
More details on the diving and dive operators in Sudan, Zanzibar,
Mozambique and South Africa, including what has been described as "the
best dive on the planet".
New page showing your comments on diving the Cenotes
and Cozumel.
__________________________________________________________ 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/ Red Sea I learned to dive on the Atoll Explorer in the Maldives. Looking for a similar experience in the Red Sea. Any recommendations? David Fox Where to Dive in November Having trawled the net for a suitable destination I am finding that there is no "Go Here to Dive in this Month" guide. Plenty of Top 10 lists etc, but I need to know where in the World is the best nature diving in November. Not particularly restricted in geography and we are not particularly hot on wrecks but concentrate on photography. Any tips?
Mike Dooley Family Diving in May I am looking to go on a family holiday in May 2008. I will be at advanced level and my 11 year old son will have completed his Open Water CW - so looking for somewhere safe for my son to complete his open water and make his first sea dives, somewhere safe and enjoyable for my wife and youngest son to play around the pool. Suppose most will say Egypt but a little unsure of this place with all the threats of bombings - any advice please?
Bluetang __________________________________________________________ Bookshelf: The SCUBA Travel best selling diving books of the last quarter.
__________________________________________________________ Ocean Facts: Phytoplankton, producers of the sea Phytoplankton are one of the major producers of the sea. They are capable of producing energy from sunlight through photosynthesis. Phytoplankton is not a taxonomic group, but rather a term used to describe a range of different microscopic plant-like organisms that drift passively on the world's oceans. Phytoplankton include both algae and bacteria. Phytoplankton are the most numerous producers on the planet. A litre of sea water may contain a million of these organisms. Plankton comes from the Greek word planktos, meaning to drift or wander. Any organism that drifts in the the water rather than swimming is considered part of the plankton (including large jellyfish). Phytoplankton blooms can have a considerable affect on the environment. Dinoflagellates are responsible for a destructive event known as a red tide. They contain a powerful toxin that can kill fishes, oysters, clams, etc, and even poison humans. During a red tide dinoflagellates bloom in such high numbers, they literally turn the water red. Red tides can stretch for hundreds of kilometers. During a night dive you might notice millions of tiny flashing lights in the water. These are dinoflagellates. Their ability to glow is known as bioluminescence and can be used to evade predators, attract prey or simply to communicate. The dinoflagellates' flash, which lasts for only a fraction of a second, is produced by a chemical reaction inside the organism triggered by a disturbance in the water. Even a motion as gentle as passing your hand through the water can leave a trail of stars in its wake. Most bioluminescence is blue, because this is the colour that travels furthest through the water. Red light is quickly absorbed as you descend, which is why everything appears blue at depth. From the Beautiful Oceans Coral Reef Ecosystem and Food Web Course __________________________________________________________ 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/scuba.xml It's free and automatically updates you with the latest SCUBA news via your web site, e-mail or any news feed reader. Zooplankton move to the moon's tune How do ocean animals that live below the depth to which moonlight penetrates migrate in phase with the moon? Hans van Haren of the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research in Den Burg used sonar to track zooplankton movement over 18 months. They migrate up and down the water column on daily and seasonal cycles, and van Haren also identified a strong monthly movement that coincided with lunar cycles. But the zooplankton remain at or below 800 metres, while moonlight penetrates no deeper than 150 metres. "This has nothing to do with physical processes," say van Haren, "but a biochemical clock could explain it."
Other studies have shown that zooplankton kept in the dark can retain light-induced biorhythms for several weeks. Van Haren's work suggests that biorhythms can be preserved for far longer. Construction of oil site 'frightening whales away' Unusually high noise levels at an oil and gas construction site off the east coast of Russia is frightening endangered whales out of their feeding grounds, environment groups are claiming. Skinny grey whales swim Pacific Coast A high number of skinny grey whales are being seen from Mexico to the Pacific Northwest. Thus far this year, there hasn't been a decline in grey whales but this is the scrawniest they have been since malnourishment and disease claimed a third of their population in 1999 and 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported. Scientists suspect the same thing may be happening now that triggered the die-off then: rapid warming of Arctic waters where the whales feed. ADVERT:__________________________________________________ New service to hire underwater cameras
You can now hire a waterproof camera to take on holiday with you. Choose your type of camera and it will arrive through the post. When you've finished return the camera and get your deposit back. Cameras include Digital 3.2 Megapixel Sea and Sea Camera to 60 Meters and 35mm Film Camera Nikonos to 50 metres. Thousand of new volcanoes revealed beneath the waves The true extent to which the ocean bed is dotted with volcanoes has been revealed by researchers who have counted 201,055 underwater cones. This is over 10 times more than have been found before. The team estimates that in total there could be about 3 million submarine volcanoes, 39,000 of which rise more than 1000 metres over the sea bed. When fish get emotional Like humans, fish process information - and perhaps emotions - on different sides of the brain. Fish growing up in the wild among predators use their left eye to look at novel objects, while their offspring raised in captivity use the right eye. This suggests that life experiences can affect which side of the brain fish use, and even, says Victoria Braithwaite of the University of Edinburgh, UK, that they have emotional mindsets, since different sides of the brain may correspond to a curious or suspicious attitude. EU Paper Shows Options on Warming Europe Water shortages in the Mediterranean, flash floods along the Rhine and summers so hot that nuclear power stations can't cool down. This is what Europe can expect as its climate warms over the next decades, a European Union paper warned Friday, as it laid out options for what governments can do now to prepare for the effects of climate change. A warmer atmosphere is a wetter atmosphere, and that already means more rain and snow in northern Europe and more frequent droughts in the south. The paper says that taking early action would save on future costs. Without flood defenses to cope with rising sea levels, damages would be four times higher, it estimates. Sea Turtle Conservation and Tourism Clash on Japan's Yakushima Island The start of summer has led to a clashing of conservation and tourism on the island of Yakushima, Japan. This island is home to the primary rookery for the North Pacific loggerhead sea turtle where more than 30 percent of nesting occurs. Listed as globally endangered by the World Conservation Union, loggerheads have declined dramatically to only 2,000 nesting females per year.
Critical conservation concerns at the Yakushima nesting beaches are related to a growing tourism market since the island was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1993. Hurricanes May Aid Stressed Coral Corals stressed by warming conditions may benefit from the passage of a hurricane -- as long as it doesn't slam right into them. Bleaching of corals has been a growing problem in recent years with the loss of algae or reduction of pigment in the living corals that occurs when they are stressed by warming water. How fish punish queue jumpers Fish use the threat of punishment to keep would-be jumpers in the mating queue firmly in line and the social order stable, a new study led has found. In fact the subordinate fish deliberately diet - or starve themselves - in order to remain smaller than their superiors and so present no threat that might lead to their being cast out, and perishing as a result. each fish has a size difference of about 5 per cent from the one above and the one below it in the queue. If the difference in size decreases below this threshold, a challenge is on as the junior fish tries to jump the mating queue - and the superior one responds by trying to drive it out of the group.
Clear waters run deep in the Pacific As clear as the clearest lakes on the planet, salty as ocean waters, and roughly the size of the Mediterranean: this, say researchers, is the clearest and most lifeless patch of ocean in the world. And it is in the middle of the Pacific. Rich Nations Accused of Green Imperialism on Climate Change Rich countries are being hypocritical in criticizing China's greenhouse gas emissions while using the country's cheap labor in industries that pollute, Asian business and government leaders have said.
China has come under increasing pressure from the United States in particular to take more forceful measures to curb carbon dioxide emissions.
Asian leaders also criticized the U.S. and Australia for not signing the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which caps the amount of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases that can be emitted in industrialised countries. __________________________________________________________ * 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, 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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