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SCUBA News 99~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Welcome to the 99th issue 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? 
The five-star dives are piling up in the Mozambique section of the SCUBA Travel site. "Pinnacle at 35 m with Shark on every dive: Bull, Tiger, silver tip, Hammerheads, Manta, devil rays..." :ADVERT__________________________________________________ http://www.diversland.com/ for Daytrips and live-aboard cruises to the Similan Islands, Thailand, as well as to the neighbouring sites Koh Tachai and Koh Bon. Additionally offer a full range of SSI and PADI certification courses as well as being a BSAC resort centre. Claimed to rival any dive site in Asia, there is now more information on the dive sites and dive operators of Taiwan on the SCUBA Travel site. __________________________________________________________ Diving the Caribbean Island of Dominica 
Dominica is a Caribbean island unlike the rest. It is mountainous, volcanic and very beautiful. It is also covered in forest: much of it rainforest. It rains here all year round, but from January to May the showers are generally short and followed by sunshine. Dominica (or the Commonwealth of Dominica to give its full name) is not the same place as the Dominican Republic. It is in the Lesser Antilles, between Martinique and Guadaloupe. There are several diving centres in Dominica, all on the West coast. The dive operators tend to do two dives in the morning so you have the afternoon free to explore the island or relax on the beach. The diving is mostly a short boat ride away from the shore. Getting There Dominica has two airports but these are both very small. When travelling from a long distance you will need to change at one of the other islands: Antigua, Barbados, St Lucia, St. Maarten, Guadeloupe, Martinique or Puerto Rico. Ferries go to Dominica from Guadeloupe, Martinique and St Lucia. Where to Go The diving in Dominica currently is nearly all on the Caribbean side of the island, so that is where to base yourself. Much of the accomodation is fairly basic: one room with beds, living area and "kitchenette". The kitchenette tends to be a couple of rings, a fridge and a sink. Although there is good diving throughout Dominica, the best is in the South. We'd recommend spending some time in all areas: North, South and Middle. It is only a small island and you can travel from one end to the other in a couple of hours. Currency The local currency is Eastern Caribbean Dollars. US dollars are also widely accepted. The diving operators quote their prices in dollars. If you pay for your diving by credit card though, the company will convert their quoted dollar price to ECD and charge you in that. At the beginning of the holiday check your exchange rates and work out in which currency it is best to pay. There are cash point machines in Portsmouth and Roseau. Recompression Chambers There is now a recompression chambers in Dominica at St Margaret's hospital. :ADVERT__________________________________________________ Diving travel insurance for backpackers. Buy, extend and claim online from anywhere in the world. 5% donation to charity with every policy bought. Find out more at World Nomads ___________________________________________________ADVERT: Getting About Buses run up and down Dominica, but cease operating at 6 pm. If you plan on seeing something of the island we'd recommend you hire a car. Road Runner Rental are cheap and provide a mobile phone for you to use. E-mail: roadrunnerrental@cwdom.dm. Postal Service There are post offices in Roseau and Portsmouth from where you can buy stamps and post postcards. Dominica has no post boxes and the post offices are closed on Saturday. Food and Drink The tap water is generally safe to drink. Meals and food are often expensive. "Chefs" in Roseau is one of the cheapest places to eat and serves very good food. In Portsmouth the "Shacks" - the street stalls next to the Ross Medical School - are good value. There are plenty of restaurants and snack bars around the island. Security Dominica is a very safe place, but there have been problems reported in the South near Scotts Head. Don't leave your belongings unattended here. Other Things to Do Dominica is volcanic. It has hot springs and boiling pools. Take walking boots or strong shoes with you and visit the forests, waterfalls and sulphur springs. The most extreme walk is up to the Boiling Lake. You need a guide for this and it takes around six hours. Take a packed lunch and don't try it in flip-flops. Pack waterproofs as you will need them. 
A less strenuous excursion is the Indian River. Here a Rastafarian guide rows you up a river telling you about the flora you are seeing on the way. The price is fixed by the government. If you can tear yourself away from the diving its worth staying at one of the Rainforest resorts such as Shangri-La. This costs 200 EC dollars per person. For this you get a very nicely constructed bamboo hut complete with balcony and hammock in a spectacular location that is a World Heritage site. Relax in hot spring baths - a natural sauna, and see boiling ponds with clouds of steam. For more on diving the Commonwealth of Dominica see __________________________________________________________ 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. New Coral Reefs Teeming With Marine Life Discovered In Brazil Scientists have announced the discovery of reef structures they believe doubles the size of the Southern Atlantic Ocean's largest and richest reef system, the Abrolhos Bank, off the southern coast of Brazil's Bahia state. The newly discovered area is also far more abundant in marine life than the previously known Abrolhos reef system. One Third of Reef-Building Corals Face Extinction One third of reef-building corals around the world are threatened with extinction, according to the first-ever comprehensive global assessment. The results emphasise the widespread plight of coral reefs and the urgent need to enact conservation measures. Researchers on the third-largest atoll in the world, the Saba Bank in the Netherlands Antilles, have discovered and collected two new species of soft corals (gorgonians) and documented severe anchor damage with the aid of a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) from Seabotix. Experts collected 40 species of soft corals, seventeen of which were collected using the ROV. Cleanerfish create safe havens Cleaner fish are well known to divers on the reef. They eat parasites from much larger fish, many of which are normally predators. Both cleaner and cleaned fish benefit from this behaviour. Cleaner fish are also thought to benefit from immunity to predation. They stroke their "clients'" with their fins to help persuade the predators not to eat them. Researchers in Australia have found that the more stroking the calmer the predator. And it wasn't just the cleaner fish who benefited. Other fish nearby the cleaner station experienced less aggressive behaviour from the predators. The suggests that cleaner stations act as safe havens from predator aggression. Air travel in the tropics is worse for climate A typical flight to the tropics has a greater impact on global warming than a flight in temperate latitudes. As well as producing carbon dioxide and contrails, planes also produce nitrogen oxide, which triggers both the creation of the warming gas ozone, and the destruction of another greenhouse gas, methane. In mid-latitudes, these ozone and methane reactions cancel each other out and you get zero net warming from nitrogen oxide emissions. But the brighter sunlight in the tropics is very efficient at converting nitrogen oxide to ozone - in fact it creates ozone five times faster than in the air of mid-latitudes. Giant vacuum cleaner leaves reefs thriving Sucking problem algae from beneath the sea may sound like a futile task, but a trial shows the technique can help preserve coral reefs. Around the globe, the explosive growth of invasive and native seaweed species is wreaking economic and ecological damage. The "Super Sucker" has been developed as a potential solution to the problem, which is blamed on overexploitation of algae-grazing fish and pollution from fertilisers. Acidifying oceans pose danger to coral reefs Like a tooth dipped in a glass of Coca-Cola, coral reefs, lobsters and other marine creatures that build calcified shells around themselves could soon dissolve as climate change turns the oceans increasingly acidic. __________________________________________________________ * 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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