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-.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change -- comprised of 2500 experts from 130 countries -- the Great Barrier Reef could become "functionally extinct" within a few decades. According to the Panel's leaked report -- the final, official draft of which should be available this Friday -- the reef will (might?) die from bleaching, which occurs when water temperatures grow too high, and which involves a breakdown of the symbiotic relationship between corals and their color-giving zooxanthellae. Interestingly, the cooling waters associated with last year's Cyclone Larry preempted the potentially catastrophic bleaching event that scientists had predicted for 2006. However, the thought is that by 2030, the GBR will likely begin suffering from routine bleaching events and quickly perish.
What's most disturbing to me about this news is that the GBR is the largest living organism on the planet. Able to be seen from space, a dead GBR would be a permanent, hideous scar -- a constant reminder of beauty and life wasted.
Last week a creature from the depths washed up on a north Oregon beach. Not a frill shark or giant squid, but a Longnose Skate. Skates and rays aren't an uncommon sight while diving, but most of us won't see a Longnose because they dwell up to 2,000 feet below the surface.
A benthic fish, this deep dweller spent considerable time on the dry sand before being rescued by the Seaside Aquarium. Nearby beach goers (actually a group of people observing a bird for possible rescue), dug a hole in the sand and filled it with water until the aquarium staff arrived. "He's in pretty bad shape because of being in the air so long, so it's hard to say if he's going to make it," according to Keith Chandler of the aquarium staff.
The rescued skate measures 32 inches in length and has two eyespots (fake eyes) to distract predators. Little is known about the Longnose although they can be found between the Bering Sea and Baja California.
The Vaquita porpoise can be found in only one place on Earth: the Sea of Cortez in Mexico. Scientists are meeting this week in California to discuss the threats faced by this critically endangered mammal whose population numbers between 100 and 300.
This small porpoise can grow to five feet and is often killed in fishing nets, however it's the level of toxic pollutants from the Colorado River which are an even greater concern. Last year, the Chinese River dolphin was declared extinct due to the high levels of pollution in China's Yangtze River.
If you live in San Diego, stop by the Birch Aquarium tonight at 6:30 PM for a two-hour presentation and dialog with over 50 scientists monitoring these, and other, endangered marine mammals.
Keith Kimmons was snorkeling off Sepa, in Indonesia, last April when his wedding ring slipped off his finger. Kimmins searched for the ring but since "The atoll was as big as a small football field," he never found it. Kimmons' dive guide, Jamhuri, promised Kimmons that he'd keep looking for it.
Fast forward nine months. Kimmons returned home, received endless abuse for having lost his ring (while he was on that vacation that his wife didn't even want him to take), probably had to slog out and buy a new ring, and even make plans to renew his wedding vows...okay, I admit it: I don't know all these details, I'm just trying to add a little color to the post...
Fast forward nine months. Kimmons returned home and forgot about his ring. A storm blew over Sepa, and when Jamhuri took his next group of snorkelers to the reef, he found the ring. He sent Kimmons a text message telling him he found it and met him in Jakarta to return it. According to Kimmons, "I gave him a reward. I had to force him because he did not want to take it." Note to Kimmons: next time make the reward bigger, and you won't have to force him. And next time you go snorkeling, don't wear your ring. Bright jewelry is a no-no when underwater anyway.
Although Indra Swari has a lot of excellent underwater images to choose from, today's This Is Why We Dive features one of her photos of a Periclimenes amboinensis, ak.a., a shrimp.
Photographed in Sulawesi, I love the detail in the shrimp's little...er, big!... pincers and body. He looks ready to put up a fight if you drift too close to his home. I'm also intrigued by the detail in the coral on which the creature is sitting. Finally, I think his white-ish body against the dark-ish background simply makes for a very pleasing image. Nice work, Indra.
If you have any images of animals with big pincers, please add them to Divester's Flickr pool. Just be careful of your fingers.
Earlier today, Abalone diver Eric Nerhus was diving in murky water off Australia's southern coast when a 10-foot-long white pointer shark (a.k.a., a great white!) seized him by the head. Claiming his lead-lined weight vest protected him from the brunt of the nuzzling, Nerhus told friends that he escaped from the shark's jaws by stabbing and clubbing at the creature's head and eyes with an abalone knife.
Nerhus immediately surfaced and clambered onto his boat with the aid of his son. He was soon transferred to the local hospital, where he is reportedly in stable condition.
Recently, George Tierney had the opportunity to go diving with with Manta Rays off Mexico's Revillagigedo Islands. Upon returning, he posted the footage he shot to YouTube, for the rest of us to enjoy. Each time I see these amazing "devil fish," I marvel at their size, grace, and beauty. Great work, George! I bet you'll never forget the experience.
The memorial of the USS Arizona was erected in 1962...a little over two decades after its infamous sinking on December 7th, 1941. Its serves as a silent reminder that over 1,000 sailors gave their lives for their country.
But like Titanic, the Arizona is deteriorating in just 30 feet of water. Salt water and the weight of so many reef animals is putting a strain on the hull, once an inch thick, now less than half. There is concern not only for the structural collapse of the ship but for the 500,000 gallons of oil which remain trapped inside.
Today, small orbs of oil bubble to the surface and National Park officials aren't sure how to remove it from the wreck. A weak hull, incomplete maps, and a grave site, they're hoping to keep the ship intact for another two decades while they determine a solution.
If you've been thinking of visiting the memorial at Pearl Harbor, consider booking the trip sooner than later.
A Los Angeles dive shop sent me an e-mail about their interest in sinking the USS Sailfish, a decommissioned U.S. submarine. The e-mail was encouraging divers to attend a meeting of the Sunken Treasures Society of Los Angeles where Dick Long, founder of DUI and instrumental in sinking San Diego's Yukon, was a guest speaker. (Tip for the STSLA: post the meeting minutes on your web site).
Why does this sound familiar? Because Dr. Harry Wong, an active wreck diver in the Bay Area is also seeking to obtain the sub as an artificial reef in his neighborhood.
After 137 days in captivity and 600,000 visitors later, this 6 foot 4.5 inch fella was released into the Pacific Ocean yesterday. He enters the record books as the second white shark to be held in captivity for more than 16 days, but the stay was 61 days shorter than his predecessor.
In mid-April his tag will automatically release and send data to scientists so they can track his journey across the globe. The data will be published on TOPP (Tagging of Pacific Pelagic) if you're into that sort of thing.
Stephen Frink recently returned from a 7-day dive trip to the Galapagos Islands. Guess what? He had an awesome time -- both above and below water -- and he took some absolutely incredible photos. If you're interested in reading about his fantastic experience, Scuba Diving is hosting his well-written, day-by-day trip report. In it, he carefully details the dive sites he visited, describes the liveaboard he stayed on, provides some trip tips, and more. If you think your dive boat usually has a lot of cameras on board, check out the image of the camera table on the first page. It looks like a high-end camera store!
Don't forget that you can travel with Frink on one of his many upcoming trips. From Raja Ampat, to Australia, to PNG, it looks like he's going to have an exciting 2007!
Is it just me or did someone send out a memo that every incident with an endangered whale be released in the media? Maybe I'm just noticing it like when you get a new car and suddenly everyone on the freeway has your same car.
In any event, the second largest whale after the Blue Whale is the Fin (or Finback Whale). One of these beasties recently washed ashore in Seattle, Washington apparently a victim of being struck by a large ship. The fin whale is on the endangered species list and the International Whaling Commission put a ban on them in 1966.
Finbacks can grow to over 80 feet in length although this poor soul had only gotten to 56 feet (unless of course you believe the news story which printed 567 feet - that would be newsworthy). These whales are known for their speed (23 MPH), can dive to 1,800 feet, and spend most of their time in the open ocean, rarely venturing close to land. This suggests the dead finback may have been feeding in shipping lanes which is unusual unless, of course, you're hungry and looking for food.
I should mention the photo is not of the actual whale carcass since it washed up on Indian Reservation land which is closed to the public. It's of a fin whale that stranded in France (scroll down...keep going) in 2003.
If you're thinking about getting married next month -- or you're considering renewing your vows -- but you want to do something a little...I don't know...different, then maybe a trip to Thailand is in order. On Valentine's Day, 30 couples from around the world will participate in a special wedding ceremony, held 40 feet underwater off Thailand's Trang Province. Never heard of this event before? Dunno why. It's the 10th Anniversary of the annual Underwater Wedding, and in 2000, participants entered the Guinness Book.
The Underwater Wedding is way more than just an underwater wedding, though: it's also a cultural immersion. Participants will get to enjoy traditional Thai wedding culture, which includes Buddhism rituals and the Thai tradition of pouring ceremonial water. Moreover, couples will experience the symbolic hand-woven, silk Thai wedding costume. Unfortunately, the Wedding Certificate that participants receive is merely a Certificate of Participation in the Trang Underwater Wedding and is not legally binding. However, for $625 per person, you can afford to get the wedding officiated elsewhere for real. Hurry! The deadline for registration is January 31st. Not surprisingly, only certified divers are allowed to participate.
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.
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.
According to the 
Last week a creature from the depths washed up on a north Oregon beach. Not a 
The 
Keith Kimmons was snorkeling off Sepa, in Indonesia, last April when his wedding ring slipped off his finger. Kimmins searched for the ring but since "The atoll was as big as a small football field," he never found it. Kimmons' dive guide, Jamhuri, promised Kimmons that he'd keep looking for it.
The 
A Los Angeles dive shop sent me an e-mail about their interest in sinking the 
It seems like only yesterday when the 
Stephen Frink
Is it just me or did someone send out a memo that every incident with an endangered whale be released in the media? Maybe I'm just noticing it like when you get a new car and suddenly everyone on the freeway has your same car.
If you're thinking about getting married next month -- or you're considering renewing your vows -- but you want to do something a little...I don't know...different, then maybe a trip to Thailand is in order. On Valentine's Day, 30 couples from around the world will participate in a special wedding ceremony, held 40 feet underwater off Thailand's 
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.
