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.

[Thanks, Drew!]

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.

Stephen Frink

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!

Previously:

• Short Stephen Frink Interview
• 10 Questions for...Stephen Frink
• How-To: Photograph Divers Underwater

Spears has some amazingly crisp images of the landing vehicle on his website, including an interesting, and somewhat sad, before-and-after comparison of the damage.

Lembeh Strait is probably the most famous critter/muck diving spot in the world. If you visit, you'll undoubtedly be delighted with the area's amazing diversity of wildlife and comfortable diving conditions. From March 24-28 of this year, Tony Wu -- co-author of Silent Symphony -- is going to be in Lembeh aboard the Archipelago Adventurer I, a boutique liveaboard specializing in cruising the Strait. The Adventurer I takes a maximum of 8 people, has no fixed schedule, and provides dinghy-service so that if you want to dive away from where everybody else is, you can. <Sigh.> Sounds divine.

According to Tony, "I'll be on board the Adventurer I taking photos for myself, but I'll also be happy to help with camera equipment, photo techniques, photoshop questions, marine life questions, etc. for anyone else who's on the boat." Wow! This is a terrific opportunity to dive in a world-class location with a world-class shooter without the world-class "surcharge" added for said opportunity. If you're considering a last-minute getaway in late March, this is where I think you should head.

For those who need a little arm-twisting (or who can't make it but would like to know more about the place), check out Tony's trip report from his last trip to Lembeh, and then head over to the pool of Lembeh photos he added to Flickr. Almost makes you want to fudge the numbers on your tax return, so you can get a larger refund...

Earlier this week, the crew of a Marlborough dive boat saved the life of an English tourist. While descending to New Zealand's Mikhail Lermontov wreck, the 49-year-old woman panicked, spit out her reg, and forced the group to abort the dive. Displaying no vital signs when pulled from the water, the crew immediately started CPR and administered oxygen to the woman, who quickly regained consciousness. Whew...close call.

It's a good thing the dive crew resuscitated the woman so handily, because rescue officials bungled dispatching a rescue helicopter, and it took nearly 45 minutes for the chopper to arrive. According to Dive Marlborough owner Brent McFadden, "It goes to show that CPR and having the right equipment work." Having trained staff on board helps, too, of course.

[Thanks, Disconnect!]