The Joint Ocean Commission Initiative, a cooperative effort between the U.S. government and the Pew Oceans Commission, announced that U.S. oceans earned a C- grade for 2006. If you think that's bad, it's a modest improvement over the D+ scored in 2005.
The outlook for 2007? President Bush has requested an 8 percent increase for coastal and marine conservation programs bringing the budget just under $2 billion. There's been fisheries reform and the creation of Hawaii's 140,000 square mile marine sanctuary.
Even so, the Pew Oceans Commission says credit should go to States who "are outdistancing the federal government [in] the race to preserve our oceans." They feel more federal funding should go to education and research as well as the U.S. addressing climate change.
You can grab a copy of the report card here. It breaks down the grade into six categories ranging from F to A-.
Five years ago, rangers with the National Park Service found the carcass of a 45-foot humpback whale in Glacier Bay, Alaska. A necropsy determined the cause of death as massive head injuries. A cruise ship was in the area a few days before and was accused of the whale's death.
Although the legal proceedings aren't finalized, it's expected that Princess Cruises will pay $755,000 to the National Park Service for "failing to operate at a slow, safe speed while near humpback whales." A large portion of the fine will go to support the Glacier Bay National Park.
With all the news about Japan's whaling spree, it's nice to see the U.S. is enforcing the law in its waters.
I don't know about you, but my memory could use some help when it comes to fish identification. Black tip reef sharks and the bright orange Garibaldi are easy to remember but the variations of damselfish and triggerfish can be overwhelming.
Fish ID guides, like those by Paul Humann, are a critical part of any divers bookshelf but they're not always the easiest to use if all you can remember is the general size or markings on a fish. What I've always wanted to see is a fish guide which cross-references their characteristics in greater detail and It looks like the folks at WikiDivers are doing just that.
Their fish identification guide begins with describing the characteristics of fish: body shape, fins, markings, gills, size, and body/fin configurations. Each of these includes a link to fish which have those characteristics. If your unknown fish had vertical bands, click the Bands link and a list shows you those with vertical bands.
There is a growing number of fish species already in the guide but it's a work in progress. While the main page is a great starting point with photos and links, the search results don't generate thumbnails. Bummer, because clicking through links for individual photos is no better than paging through Humann's book. The founders of WikiDivers have voiced their commitment to the site so hopefully their hard work will continue and produce an intuitive and thorough resource.
It's 2007 and hopefully you've survived another Festivus holiday. I'm looking forward to next year when I don't have to follow my 14-month-old around my in-laws' and pulling him away from tables and electrical outlets.
My scuba stocking had these great books inside...
The first, Master Guide for Underwater Digital Photography, is authored by Jack and Sue Drafahl. I've only paged through but it looks like an excellent introductory guide to underwater shooting with your digital camera. There are many photos and references to new(ish) gear from point-and-shoot digitals to SLR. Topics covered include camera settings (what <i>is</i> the histogram used for?), setting proper exposure, strobes, wide-angle, macro, composition, and traveling with your gear. This is my first book on the topic and it looks like an excellent place to start.
The other is a giant coffee-table-sized thing called Ocean: The World's Last Wilderness Revealed. With a foreword by Fabien Cousteau, it's the end-all, be-all visual reference and fact guide to our seas. There are beautiful two-page photos and hundreds of diagrams describing every facet of our great seas from ocean currents to temperature to the creatures living in dark depths. It's the type of book where you can read two or three pages and move onto the next topic. If nothing else this should inspire you to get back into the water, try a new dive site, or simply impress your friends.
For those divers out there who are a lot manlier than me, you might be interested to know that Iceland boasts some world-class diving. According to the Iceland Review, one of the world's best dive spots is within a deep crevasse named Silfra, near Thingvellir Lake. Filled with water that originated from glaciers, this dive site is an amazing journey through craggy, sheer-faced, vertical cliffs. To reach Silfa, the water has traveled underground for some 10,000 years. Cut off from both oxygen and sunlight and cooled to a chilly 2ºC, the water is virtually free of organisms, offering viz in the neighborhood of 300 feet! Wait -- two degrees Celsius?! That's, like, waaay below freezing, right? Don't forget your drysuit.
More interesting than the frigid waters and the nearly endless viz is the fact that Silfra is part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge -- the result of the slow separation of two tectonic plates: the North American Plate and the Eurasian Plate. What this means is that you can begin your dive in Europe and finish it in North America. Bitchin'! Don't forget your passport.
If Silfra just leapt ahead of other destinations on your must-dive list, check out DiveIceland or DivingInIceland to book a trip. While making plans, don't forget to schedule a dive at the Strýtan thermal chimney. Did somebody say "thermal chimney"? Now THAT sounds like a dive! Don't forget the cocoa.
In August, Divester reported the deaths of two Seattle-based Coast Guard divers who died during an operation in the Arctic Ocean. Apparently, Lt. Jessica Hill and Petty Officer 2nd Class Steven Duque were diving beneath the Coast Guard Cutter Healy, inspecting the ice-breaker's rudder. At the time, the Coast Guard declined to provide many details of the incident; they simply described the dive as a cold water familiarization exercise turned tragic. The following month, the Coast Guard revealed that when crew-members aboard the boat noticed something was wrong with the divers after only 10 minutes, they pulled them from the water. Since then, the Coast Guard has released no additional information about the divers' deaths, although the agency has relieved the Healy's commander, citing a loss of confidence in his ability.
Hill's father recently released the autopsy results of his daughter and plans to ask an independent pathologist to review the findings. According to the autopsy summary, Hill suffered "an uncontrolled descent to a possible depth of 189 feet." The autopsy ruled Hill's death accidental, concluding that her death was asphyxia, lung trauma caused as pressure decreases during ascents, and possible air bubbles in the blood. The Coast Guard claims Hill and Duque were planning to dive to a maximum depth of 20 feet that day. If that's true, why did the surface support team allow nearly 200 feet of rope to enter the water? A spokesman said the Coast Guard would not discuss Hill's autopsy report prior to the outcome of its investigations, which are expected next year.
Willy recently brought us the sniper of the sea and today I present the arctic Hooded Seal and its ability to survive extreme cold at depths more than 3000 feet.
Scientists have found these seals stop shivering in cold (36 deg F) water to lower their metabolism and conserve oxygen. Their brain even cools by five degrees, further slowing the need for oxygen and reducing the risk of brain damage. All mammals exhibit a mammalian dive reflex but not to this extent. During deep dives the arctic seals survive on oxygen levels so low that humans would die from hypoxia on a comparable amount.
No one knows how hooded seals can do this but scientists speculate it may be due to neuroglobin levels four times greater than humans. If the secret is discovered it may provide benefits to people experiencing heart attack, stroke, and respiratory disorders which interrupt oxygen reaching the brain. Maybe someday it'll extend your bottom time.
Last month, we told you about the two Coast Guard divers who drowned during a reported cold water familiarization exercise 500 miles north of Barrow, Alaska. On August 17th, while many of the crew relaxed topside, Lt. Jessica Hill and Boatswain's Mate Steven Duque went for a dive off the 420-foot icebreaker, the Healy. A support team held ropes tethered to the divers, and several research scientists watched from the deck. Apparently:
The pair had been underwater for about 10 minutes.
Something appeared to be wrong, so they were pulled from the icy water.
EMTs immediately performed CPR.
The divers were carried to the ship's sick bay, where they were pronounced dead two hours later.
After more than a month, no one is able to explain what happened to the divers. In the meantime, the Coast Guard has started two investigations -- one, focusing on the cause of the accident; another, a broad administrative investigation that could result in findings of responsibility -- and has relieved the Healy's captain of duty. The Coast Guard has also removed all diving equipment from the ship, and suspended all polar diving. Despite this, the Coast Guard has refused to release any information about the event, and the families of the divers can't even get death certificates. Weird? Conspiracy? CYA? What do you think?
I know it's naive of me, but I'm always a little extra-surprised when I read about professional divers who drown. I guess I assume that since they're "professional," they would be insulated against accident. However, I know that's silly. Moreover, as "professionals," they often spend more time in the water than the rest of us, making them all the more likely to suffer an accident.
Sadly, on Thursday afternoon, two Seattle-based Coast Guard divers died during an operation in the Arctic Ocean. Lt. Jessica Hill and Petty Officer 2nd Class Steven Duque were diving beneath the Coast Guard Cutter Healy -- in the Arctic, about 500 miles north of Barrow, Alaska -- to inspect the ice-breaker's rudder. Although the Coast Guard declined to provide details of the incident ("the deaths are under investigation"), agency officials described the shallow dive as a cold water familiarization exercise.
This story blew me away, it was like seeing the forest of the trees for the first time. We've been reporting on huge jellyfish populations, dirty water and dead zones but what is emerging, is an argument that we are turning the clock back on the the sea, to a more primitive time. "Runoff from modern life is feeding an explosion of primitive organisms. This 'rise of slime,' as one scientist calls it, is killing larger species and sickening people." Primeval sea creatures back on the rise.
Things like fire-weed scare the crap out of me, if you ever run into jelly fish, it's unpleasant but usually doesn't leave you with chemical burns and scars on your body.
In the article, the fisherman describes the pain as being, "It's like acid,...It kept pulling the skin off." It's gotten so bad that some of the commerical fisherman have simply given up during certain months of the year.
Great.
I for one, welcome our new primitive organism overlords
Jim Osse studies climate change.
But he doesn't just sit in his office and crunch numbers all day. No way. Instead, he's a very hands-on researcher. For
example, Osse's next data-collection foray will entail donning scuba gear and being lowered into a hole in the ice
covering the Arctic Ocean. Although he'll only descend about 12 feet below the ice's surface, the water there is so
cold that it will begin to refreeze almost immediately after the hole is cut in the ice. Ergo, Osse is not your typical
statistician.
Quite understandably, Osse and his fellow researchers
face many challenges when they collect their samples. In addition to having to pack in everything they need at the North Pole Environmental Observatory, they also have to deal with
polar bears, freezing scuba gear, and severe weather. New York Times reporter Andrew Revkin
thought their story would make an excellent adventure novel. To that end, Revkin has written The North Pole Was
Here, which comes out this month.
So what has Osse learned in his travels? "In the Arctic, never pass up a meal, a shower or a flight
south." That sounds like good, practical advice...even if you don't work in the Arctic!
Of course, we’ve all heard about the opportunities to go diving in cageswithsharks. But what about
snorkeling in the open ocean with sharks? Of course, I’m not talking about snorkeling with a great white –
although it HAS
happened! – but snorkeling with blue and mako sharks, some of the fastest, sleekest animals on the planet.
Amazingly, Chris and Monique Fallows run these trips off
South Africa. The best time to go on one of these excursions is
from November to June, when the Fallows claim around a 90% success rate of seeing these amazing creatures. Snorkeling with these blue water predators must be stunning!
(According to Murray
Williams, who recently went on one of these trips, it is!) Using low frequency sounds to attract the sharks,
snorkelers slide into the water as the animals approach. What happens next? I’m guessing lots of:
camera-snapping, frightened inhalations, and arm flapping as you try to maneuver yourself close to – and then out
of the way of! – these beautiful animals.
I’ve been on a great white cage dive in SA and on a shark feeding in the
Caribbean, but I haven’t ever been snorkeling with blues or makos. It sounds incredible.
OK. Stop what you’re doing, grab a sticky, and write this down: April 5th
at 8 pm. On that night, Jean-Michel Cousteau’s "Ocean
Adventures" debuts on PBS. This six-part, HDTV series uses state-of-the-art technology to investigate
eco-systems hundreds of feet beneath the ocean's surface, and brings viewers up close with the friendly – and
ferocious – inhabitants of the deep. The six one-hour programs included in the "Ocean Adventures"
series are:
The
26th Annual London International Dive Show is scheduled for
Saturday, April 1 and Sunday, April 2, in London’s ExCel Exhibition Center. There will be
over 260 exhibitors in attendance. Moreover, the
Show will feature talks ranging from discussions of
Baltic Wrecks to the Future of Diving. Among the many speakers at the Show will be the Chatterton/Kohler duo; John Boyle; Monty
Halls; and Jean-Michel Cousteau.
Ticket prices run 7.50GBP per day and gain you entrance to the exhibition halls and the guest speakers. That’s a
great deal.
If you’re on the hunt for some dive site information, then you might want to check out the aptly
named dive site directory. Begun by Clare and Matthew Slightam as a
free source of reference for the diving community, it’s a great resource for divers trying to scrape together
information about potential dive destinations, especially those that are a bit off-the-beaten-path. When it began, dive
site directory featured only 80 dive sites covering 3 countries. Today, it houses over 510 dive sites in 25 countries!
When searching for information, you can search by clicking a world map; you can check out the site’s highlights or recent
additions (like this piece about diving with killer whales
in Norway); or you can search for specific dive sites from A
to Z (I found some interesting information about the Canary Islands this
way). Some of the sites link to dive shops to make your trip-planning easier. And don’t forget that you can also
contribute a review and upload a photo, if you feel generous. As the site grows, of course, it’ll become more and
more useful. But even today, I think you’ll find it’s really stellar. Check it out.
The Joint Ocean Commission Initiative, a cooperative effort between the U.S. government and the Pew Oceans Commission, announced that U.S. oceans earned a C- grade for 2006. If you think that's bad, it's a modest improvement over the D+ scored in 2005.
Five years ago, rangers with the National Park Service found the carcass of a 45-foot 
I don't know about you, but my memory could use some help when it comes to fish identification. Black tip reef sharks and the bright orange Garibaldi are easy to remember but the variations of damselfish and triggerfish can be overwhelming.
It's 2007 and hopefully you've survived another 
In August, Divester 
Willy recently brought us the 
Last month, we told you about the two Coast Guard divers who drowned during a reported 
I know it's naive of me, but I'm always a little extra-surprised when I read about professional divers who drown. I guess I assume that since they're "professional," they would be insulated against accident. However, I know that's silly. Moreover, as "professionals," they often spend more time in the water than the rest of us, making them all the more likely to suffer an accident. 
This story blew me away, it was like seeing the forest of the trees for the first time. We've been reporting on 
Of course, we’ve all heard about the opportunities to go 
OK. Stop what you’re doing, grab a sticky, and write this down: April 5th
at 
The
26th Annual 
If you’re on the hunt for some dive site information, then you might want to check out the aptly
named 
