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SCUBA News 97~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Welcome to the May issue of SCUBA News. This month: the results of our competition to win a diving guide to Hurgada, your letters, special offers, creature of the month and the world's diving news. There is still time for you to win a diving guide to Sharm El-Sheikh - see below for how to enter. 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? 
Discover the best dive operators and dive sites in Jordan at our Red Sea section. :ADVERT__________________________________________________ Dive Belize in Exotic Luxury at St. George's Caye Resort. Seven miles from Belize City. Visit us at www.gooddiving.com or call 1-800-813-8498. Pamper yourself at our all inclusive island paradise! Valet Diving, snorkelling and gourmet food await your arrival. Saudi Arabia is much less dived than Egypt, and our readers report amazing coral gardens, rays, barracuda, 25ft eels and many types of shark. Read more at the SCUBA Travel newly updated Saudi Arabia section. __________________________________________________________ Red Sea Competition Results Congratulations to "Kev" and Fedir Volodchenko. They have both won a copy of the Guide and Logbook of Hurghada (Red Sea), courtesy of Travelling Diver. There is still time to enter last month's competition to win a Sharm El-Sheikh (Red Sea) Guide. Just tell us the name of the first dive site listed in the guide. To find out go to the Travelling Diver web site at http://www.travellingdiver.com/find_your_dive_site/sharm_el_sheikh.phtml. E-mail your answer, together with your name and address, to news@scubatravel.co.uk before 31 May. 
Whilst you are there you can enter a free draw to win a Jotron Dive Strobe. Just register at the Travelling Diver website at http://www.travellingdiver.com/ and this multi-purpose personal marking and distress strobe light could be yours. Waterproof to 300m, its powerful strobe light is viewable from up to 6 miles. __________________________________________________________ Letters From the Diving Board... Nominate a diving company for a responsible tourism award The Responsible Tourism Awards encourages tourism in a way that respects and benefits destinations and local people. You are invited to nominate a company for the 'Best in a Marine Environment category', which includes any organisation related to a beach or other marine environment - such as turtle conservation or a marine eco-tourism trip - that you may have visited on your diving travels. Go to http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&p=1714 to find out more. I am in Broome, Australia with a Working Holliday visa. My plan is to do my advanced/rescue/dive master but where? Thanks a lot Emilien If you can advise Emilien either post on the Diving Board at http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&p=1714 or e-mail news@scubatravel.co.uk. I am trying to do some research for an article and I am trying to compile the top ten places to dive in Europe. Ultimately getting the three best places to dive. It has to take into consideration the scenery, cave diving, wreck diving? Accessability? etc. Would be interested to know people's top place to dive in Europe and why? http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1427 __________________________________________________________ Special Offer for SCUBA News Readers: Diving in Malta Holidaysmaltagozo specialise in the islands of Malta and Gozo. Their offer for May includes two four night break offers in Malta, in the areas of Sliema and St Julian's. These two areas in Malta are popular because they have a lot of history, are central to everything you need to see on the Maltese Islands and also a great base for accessing some of the best dive sites in the Mediterranean. The special offers include either 3* or 4* accommodation, 6 Guided Dives inclusive of full equipment and transfer from Malta International Airport. They can be started on any day of the week and are for 1 - 4 persons. For SCUBA News readers they are pleased to offer a further 10Euros off per person and you should quote ScubaTravelMayPress at www.holidaysmaltagozo.com to take advantage of this offer. For other great diving packages please visit the Malta section of Scubatravel.co.uk or keep an eye on the commercial section of the Diving Board. __________________________________________________________ Creature of the Month: Giant Clam, Tridacna gigas 
The world's largest bivalves, Giant Clams can grow to up to 1.4 m and may weigh over 1100 kg. You find them on coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific oceans, typically shallower than 20 m. Once settled on a reef the clam is fixed forever. At first by byssal threads but bigger clams may be anchored just by the weight of the shell. They can live for over 100 years. Clams shut their shells very slowly, and when fully grown can't completely close the shell. The clams get some of their food by filter feeding. They use a siphon to draw in water from which they extract and consume plankton. They supplement this by hosting symbiotic algae in their mantles (the fleshy bits) and consuming the sugars and proteins the algae produce. The larger the clam gets the more it relies on nutrients from the algae. The biggest clams get 90% of their requirements this way, and only 10% from filter feeding. To get the best from their algae, when the clams fix themselves on the reef they position themselves for maximum exposure to sunlight, which the algae require. They have further refinements to help the algae. On the upper surface of their tissue they possess many small lens-like structures. Originally these were probably visual organs, but they've evolved to focus light into the deeper layers of the mantle where the algae are clustered. These adaptations to benefit the algae, increasing the nutrients available to the clam, have allowed the Giant Clam to evolve to its great size. It is now completely dependent on its symbiotic algae and dies if the algae are removed. The clam is listed as "vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened species. The numbers in the wild have been greatly reduced by extensive harvesting for food, shell sales and the aquarium trade. __________________________________________________________ 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. 
Dominica's Dive Fest celebrates 15 years Dominica's Dive Fest, the Caribbean's longest running scuba diving festival, encourages visitors to discover the landscapes and marine life within the island's waters. Would-be divers and snorkellers as young as eight can participate in pool- or ocean-based introductory sessions to teach them the basics, with some trial sessions free of charge. The annual event takes place in Dominica from 11th - 20th July 2008. To mark this special 15th anniversary year, many local dive centres are offering group travel packages whereby one diver goes free with every seven that book. :ADVERT__________________________________________________ Mediterranean Dive Club in Santorini, Greece, can make your dream to have your most fun experience this summer come true in the crystal clear waters surrounding Santorini and the Volcano Islands. Visit http://www.santorinidiving.com/ for details... ___________________________________________________ADVERT: Pilot whales are the sprinters of the deep Pilot whales are the cheetahs of the oceans, focusing their hunting effort on short, intense chases after a few rich food items. They are the first deep-diving whales known to follow such a strategy. Until now, biologists had assumed that all deep-diving whales would cruise slowly and graze on slow-moving prey items while underwater, since this minimises their energy expenditure. Using this strategy, most deep-diving whales can spend nearly an hour at a time underwater. Pilot whales, however, are the exception - their dives last no more than 15 to 20 minutes. "They look like they are going after big, nutritionally rich, prey." Stressed seaweed contributes to cloudy coastal skies A new international study has found that large brown seaweeds, when under stress, release large quantities of inorganic iodine into the coastal atmosphere, where it may contribute to cloud formation. Growing ocean dead zones leave fish gasping "Dead zones" containing too little oxygen for fish to breathe are growing as global temperatures increase. Warmer water dissolves less oxygen, so as temperatures rise, oxygen vanishes from oceans. Marine biologists are warning that if dead zones continue expanding, oceanic "deserts" could massively deplete marine life and fish stocks. The beginning of the end for Japanese whaling? A Japanese public prosecutor announced on 19 May that it was launching an investigation into allegations that workers on whaling ships are embezzling whale meat and selling it to restaurant owners. Conservationists are daring to hope that the resulting domestic scandal could herald the end of Japan's "scientific" whaling programme. Brittle-star 'city' discovered on underwater mountain Scientists have captured the first images of a novel brittle-star "city" that has colonized the peak of a submerged mountain. The colony was discovered on the Macquarie Ridge, an underwater mountain range south of New Zealand. It is mostly made up of brittle stars (Ophiuroidea), which are related to starfish. Tens of millions of the creatures were found living crammed together. EU agrees to outlaw 'green' crimes After eight years of negotiation, the European Parliament has reached an agreement with member states on legislation that will force national governments to apply criminal sanctions to those causing deliberate or negligent damage to the environment.
According to the agreed text, the list of punishable crimes will include: Treasure-Laden Shipwreck Found off African Coast A 500-year-old shipwreck has been found off the coast of southern Africa, laden with tons of copper ingots, elephant tusks, gold coins, and cannons to fend off pirates. The wreck and its treasure were recently discovered by geologists prospecting for diamonds off the coast of Namibia. Shipwrecks Along Lake Superior's North Shore: A Diver's Guide "Beneath the icy waters of Lake Superior lies a vast museum of maritime treasures, relics, and souls that in years past were lost to the crashing waves of this massive body of water." This new book describes many of the shipwrecks there. With hundreds of photos, charts and diagrams. __________________________________________________________ * Copyright SCUBA Travel - http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/ 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 CONTACTING THE EDITOR ADVERTISING PUBLISHER 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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