Right Wales given a century till extinction

Despite good calving years, Scott Kraus senior scientist at the New England Aquarium, said there are still more right whales dying than being born every year. Without changes in the management of shipping and fishing industries, Kraus said, the right whale will face extinction in the next 100 years.

An Environmental News Service article reported scientists estimate less than 350 North Atlantic right whales exist today. The whales become easy victims to ship strikes and fishing gear entanglement......these account for half of all recorded deaths of the right whales.

Because mandatory ship location reporting, aerial survey efforts and mariner education fail at reducing ship strike mortalities, scientists are calling for migratory corridors and changes in the operation of ships within right whale habitats.

Nemo there's no place like home

So maybe Nemo wandered off a little too far in the movie, but according to this article researchers have discovered many young clown fish who stray find their way home. Despite the fact these creatures float around the ocean as larvae for a week, research found a third of the juveniles settle back near their original resident anemone.

This is the first time researchers have tracked fish using DNA analysis and chemical tagging with the antibiotic tetracycline.

Dr. Sean Connolly, a lecturer in marine biology at James Cook University, said that the baby fish don't necessarily boomerang back to their mom and dad's pad, but find another anemone in the same neighborhood. While no one knows how the fish find their way back, Connolly thinks possibly they are guided by certain smells or sounds of their particular reef.

Connolly says the research is helping plan marine reserves to help sustain the fish's population.

Sharks bite on Florida's Atlantic coast

Wednesday 13-year-old Nichole Carlos was bitten by a shark while wading in shallow waters at Daytona Beach.

The Jupiter resident suffered a cut on the back of her left hand and had bite marks near her wrist making her possibly the third possible shark bite at the county's beaches in less than a week.

Saturday while paddling 20 yards from shore, a 61-year-old surfer suffered minor injuries after being bitten on his right foot. Another surfer reported a shark bite at New Smyrna Beach on Friday, however that report has not been confirmed.

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Jeddah sees largest beach cleanup ever--oh and voodoo vanquished too

Earlier I got all wrapped up in an E Magazine article discussing our ocean's declining ecosystem and how the Bush administration has ignored most of the recommendations of its own U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy which expired after they created the U.S. Ocean Action Plan. But then felt a little sigh of relief when I read this article about how Saudis were cleaning up Red Sea reefs.

In Jeddah yesterday Prince Sultan ibn Salman, the secretary-general of the Supreme Commission for Tourism, along with 350 divers participated in the largest beach clean up in the country. During the first dive divers removed three tons of garbage.

The campaign, organized by the Supreme Commission of Tourism and the Makkah Governorate, efforts hope to remove garbage and waste destroying the coral reefs. The Red Sea is one of Saudi Arabia's main tourist and environmental assets.

On a less serious note, Saudis were not only happy to free the reefs from trash and debris, but free "bewitched" people from voodoo black magic......yep you heard me! The Arab News article said divers found 13 voodoo curses which were examined by members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. Members of the Commission "read verses from the Holy Qur’an to undo the black magic."

Very interesting. I never knew voodoo was an issue in Saudi Arabia, but hey, you can't complain when you can free the Red Sea reefs of trash and voodoo......talk about all in a days work!

Seal Beach, CA a hot spot for stingray singles

Researchers believe Seal Beach is like a singles-bar hotspot where stingrays go to get acquainted before moving to an estuary to mate.

According to an article in Beachweek, Seal Beach has such a large population that it results in one-third of all injuries inflicted by rays on humans in the US. Warmer waters due to nearby power plants along with adjacent jetties and nearby breakwater offer ideal conditions for the rays. The site, according to marine biology instructor Christopher Lowe, mimics an estuary, or prime gathering spot for stingrays.

Six years ago Lowe began researching the stingrays lifestyles along a 40-mile stretch of coast as they migrate between Newport Beach and Long Beach. Assisted by University of Southern California's Sea Grant program, the Surfrider Foundation, and the Seal Beach lifeguards Lowe and 20 students net hundreds of the stingrays for study. The study includes measuring, tagging, and sometimes trimming the poisonous caudal spines.

Twice a month the students pull between 150-300 rays in a single tow. Their highest catch has been 800.

Lowe hopes to not only be able to track the stingrays, but learn more about their mating pattern which is still mostly a mystery.

Search called off for PADI divemaster and Danish divers

Canadian PADI instructor Neil Clark along with four Danish dive students went missing July 16 Pemba Island near Zanzibar. Nine days later, the search was called off.

Danish students Lisa Lotte along with Dannie Schov and her two sons, Gabriel and Simon Lowestan were participating in a PADI Gold Palm scuba certification course at Swahili Divers. The group was diving in an area noted for strong currents and were possibly swept away. Police feel by the time the group surfaced they were too far from the dive boat to signal the captain.

Police, an anti-smuggling unit, and volunteers with a private light aircraft and fishing boats searched to no avail.

The CDNN story explained incidents similar to this one have increased sharply in areas where a dive safety infrastructure or missing diver response preparedness is lacking.

I was supposed to be aboard Pemba Afloat this time last year, but some civil unrest changed my plans from Africa to Cuba. I love the idea of going to remote places.....places where few dare to travel, places where tourists haven't screwed everything up completely. I had received my OW certification six months before my expected departure date and probably wouldn't have been prepared for such currents.......maybe someone intervened? I ended up in Cuba for a photo workshop and dove Maria la Gorda instead with only 15 dives under my belt......but that was in calm Caribbean waters....


I still want to go some day......I have this thing for Africa. If any of you other gypsy souls have been diving around Zanzibar or Pemba......what were your experiences? What would you recommend to those diving in the area?

Great white curiosity

Was browsing Divester this evening and found a great post about a couple of scuba divers' encounter with a great white of the coast of South Africa. The divers were descending down the anchor line when they spotted the white giant behind their dive master and seemed to be headed right for them.

You have to read this absolutely amazing post. No attack, no gruesome details, just a story of awe. Most of us seeing a great white in our path would be sure that we were finished, but the shark was just out there doing its thing. While at the same time their fantastic encounter was without tragedy, it was obvious the divers used common sense. When you do read the post notice the divers didn't hang out on the anchor line waiting for the shark to return.They headed straight down to the sand gully below.

"As the shark disappeared from sight I assessed our situation: The boats safety was dancing on the choppy swell only five metres above us. Unfortunately it was at the surface, the place where you definitely don’t want to be with a Great White shark in the immediate vicinity."

Thanks Juergen for an unforgettable tale implying sharks may not be the devil after all.

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Marine park offers sea life interaction

Sounds like something offered at Chankanaab minus the sharks, but the Ko Olina facility will begin construction this year in Oahu, Hawaii. Once the park is complete (estimated opening date for sometime in 2007)The park's biggest attractions will include swimming with dolphins, large pelagic rays, small black tip reef sharks and juvenile hammerhead sharks. Visitors will also be able to walk along the "shark encounter" tank, where they will walk through a dome with sharks swimming under, over and around them.

Another attraction will be a manmade reef in an enclosed lagoon, where snorkelers will be able to see a variety of fish. The area will also feature a shallow beach for children, along with waterfalls and small water slides from upper to lower pools.

Visitors wishing to swim and interact with dolphins, rays, and sharks will be trained on how to encounter the marine life.

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Penguin review

These webbed feet were made for walkin'!
Went last night to see March of the Penguin. All I can say is I love the emperor penguins. Those little suckers just waddle back and forth at least 70 miles across Antartica all in the name of sex and baby(yes singular because each couple has only one). Narrated by Morgan Freeman this movie was more than a nature documentary. The cinematographers shot beautiful footage of the land where all is either blue or white and captured exquisite views of the lives these penguins lead. Bravo to Luc Jacquet, Jarome Maison, and Laurent Chalet for helping us understand the lives of the tribe that decided to stick to Antartica!

Looking them in the eye

Browsing my Mac OSX software downloads page I noticed the Eye of the Storm which seemed timely and appropriate for my current unplanned landlocked situation so hanging out at Cafe Brazil yesterday I downloaded it while catching up on some much needed blogging.

For what it is it seems pretty cool. It starts up with "storm facts of the day" which can be set to appear upon start up. You can peruse them to your delight or close it to use the program. The program allows you to see satellite views from NOAA and also includes various weather reports like region outlooks, marine advisories, etc. While the program states upon setup that it's for "sole entertainment purposes" it seems to be a nifty little tool.....maybe great for that weather geek in your house.

Coral for cash

Georgia Institute of Technology from the US and the University of the South Pacific are giving Fijians an opportunity to protect their coral reef legacy while reaping financial benefits from their coral conservation efforts.

Villagers will plant synthetic rock in the ocean and wait for marine life to cover. Once sea life is present the synthetic rock will be harvested as a green product and sold to individual and public aquariums around the world.The project is designed to prevent purposeful coral breakage.


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Divers save shark

It's nice to see when fellow divers take caring for the ocean and it's marine life in their own hands. Three British divers found a 12-foot basking shark off the south coast of Cornwall caught in gill nets. The divers mangaged to cut the belly-up shark free, roll her over, and watch her swim off.

"Seeing her finally swim off was one of the most amazing experiences of my life," Jonathan Smith told BBC news.

My Scuba Gypsy soul smiled after reading this. Nice job boys.

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Emily foils other diver's plans

So as much as I would like for it to all be about me......it isn't........ Found this article talking about some people from Richmond, VA who were vacationing in Mexico and had to evacuate the Yucatan with 400 others to a storm-refugee camp in southern Mexico bordering Belize. The article features contrasting experiences from a scuba diving family visiting Cozumel/Akumal and one girl vacationing in Cancun. When it comes down to natural disasters, sounds like you should make sure you book your trip with an appropriate travel agent.

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Damn you Emily!

Emily and I need to have a little chat. How dare she choose to plow through my little Yucatan diving destination. Does Emily realize who she was messin' with when she foiled my plans for a long weekend of diving in Cozumel? I would love to take her out in the parking lot for a round or two....show her a thing. So maybe she would shift her category 5 winds around....but I think I am hormonal enough right now....I could take her!!

After a tough storm in Dallas a week ago which knocked out my DSL modem, and my phone, I have been wire-LESS (less being the operative word). I have been ADD distracted between photo work, restaurant work, etc......and on top of it all it is FREAKIN' hot here....I don't mind hot...but concrete isn't good for this gypsy soul....I needed to get out of this city, I needed to do my own mental decompressing at least 60 feet under. I should be under water right now.......or at least resting up for my night dive!

It was 10:30 Thursday night, surprisingly packed and ready for my 6 a.m. I was exhausted and frustrated by my lack of internet access......wanted to blog about my up and coming Cozy trip. I headed over to Mr. Pokerati's house to mooch off his wifi access and do some last minute blogging before grabbing a nap. All set up and ready to blast through the emails piled up in my account, there it was.......the email subject reading "Cozumel Cancellation" dated Wednesday:

We have just learned that Fiesta Americana and most of the other resorts in Cozumel are closed. We are very disappointed that our travel agent, Adventure Tours, and the Mexican Tourist Bureau did not release this information earlier in the week.

Me too.

I got up from the computer stomped around a little but refrained from the temper tantrum I wanted to throw. I went to the next email "Cozumel Latest" which informed us "Cozumel Non-travelers" (I hate being classified as a non-traveler) that the manager at Dive House reported all their staff, facilities, and boats are okay and that they had already discovered the reefs to be in good shape minus some minor coral breakage. However, "The resorts did not fair as well". Most have no power and very limited water.

hmmmm I don't need power, I can adjust to limited water.....right? Nonetheless, the resort where we were staying was closed, so unless I wanted to sleep on the beach this trip was out.

I am still pouting.

Penguin point of view

Emperor penguins had a little company waddling across cold, white Antartica during the filming of March of the Penguin. Cinematographers, Laurent Chalet and Jerome Maison lived for 13 months on a pre-existing base run by the French Institute for Polar Research to film the documentary. Maison and Chalet spent their time squatting at penguin eye-level for six to seven hours a day in 13 to 22 below zero Fahrenheit in order to capture character-like qualities of the creatures.

"I spent a year squatting, literally," Chalet told the Los Angeles Times. "Our goal was to film from the penguins' height. They're afraid of things that come from above. We would be a few yards away, and we would let them go on about their business. Then we'd move in 2 feet, then another 2 feet, until, at the end, we were maybe 3 or 4 feet from them."

The film opened June 24 and documents the emperor penguin's trek across barren Antartica to mate and raise a chick (yep only one). The exhausted females make the dangerous journey to the fish filled-waters of their home facing leopard seals, a feared predator. The males stay two long months with no food during the dangerous polar winter cradling the egg on their feet and waiting for the egg to hatch. They feed the little one on their minimal food reserve while waiting for the females to return to take over the care. These are definitely amazing animals. I have to get out and see this one!

There is a great article where Chalet and Maison tell about their experiences with their new feathered friends.

Read

Diving into deep black holes

Barely obtaining my Rescue Diver certification, I am intrigued by cave and wreck diver's abilities to penetrate such dark dangerous spaces. As adventuresome as I am, I am not ready for the challenge (yet). Fast Company has a great article on Wes Skiles, a veteran cave diver. The article begins with his dangerous descent into the Yucatan's Grand Cenote cave system and covers Skiles first experiences with cave diving, why Skiles dives solo, and how these dangerous expeditions are just another day at the office for Skiles and his partner. Skiles tells how he has learned how to harness danger and how he escaped some too close for comfort cave diving situations. Hearing his tales definitely give PADI's recommendation of stop, think, act a whole new meaning.


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Charlotte teen bitten off Texas coast

Fourteen-year-old Lydia Paulk, suffered from ripped tendons in her left foot after a shark bit her yesterday.

The North Carolina teen was swimming in waist-deep water with family off the Texas coast near Galveston. Paulk was hanging on the end of a rubber boat when the shark grabbed her foot. The girl's aunt, Kit Marshall was in the boat with a younger niece.


"My sister saw the shark coming," Marshall said. "It all just happened really pretty quick. She knew immediately what was happening because she saw the tail start wiggling."

The teen arrived at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, where she was in fair condition after surgery. Another surgery is scheduled for Friday.

Marshall said the shark incident would not keep them out of the ocean permanently.

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Plankton vanishing from California waters

More evidence of global warming and the effect it's having on our ocean's ecosystem reared it's ugly head. Plankton are vanishing from Northern California waters creating stress for wildlife and the fishing industry. The cause is linked to the lack of a seasonal upwelling which is the seasonal movement of cold, nutrient-rich offshore water into areas near shore.

Krill (upper size limit of zooplankton) drive the food web dynamics off the coast of Northern California and the lack of this tiny shrimp-like crustacean is effecting all wildlife from the humback whales,salmon, to rare seabirds like auklets. While salmon seem to be adapting by feeding on bait fish like sardines and anchovies, auklets feed almost extensively on krill. With their main food source lacking, marine ecologists are predicting zero nesting success for the birds.

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Living Oceans open in Malaysia next month

Making it the largest living ocean's exhibit in South-East Asia, Aquaria KLCC plans to house more than 5,000 freshwater and marine animal exhibits. Visitors will view sea life in Aquaria's long tunnel made out of 295 feet of fiberglass.A moving walkway will move aquatic viewers through the tunnel allowing them to stop off at different spots anytime to view the sea life.

The Living Ocean's exhibits will emphasize Malaysia's sea life along with species found in East Malaysian waters.

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Motion in the ocean: USS Spiegel sits up

In June, I went on and on about how Spiegel Grove is such a great but challenging dive. Divester reported today that apparently hurricane Dennis shifted the Spiegel causing it to sit upright.

Spanning almost two football fields long the USS Spiegel Grove was originally (and unintentionally) sitting on its starboard side with a slight 15-degree list toward an upright position.

Waves at the the wreck were reported to be 20 feet high Friday afternoon.Billy Causey, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Superintendent, is concerned about the movement of the mammoth wreck.

Sanctuary officials have temporarily closed the site to sport divers to observe the Spiegel's stability and to replace lost mooring buoys.

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Damaging fragrances

They give us that oh so smelling fresh feeling but synthetic fragrances added to perfumes, soaps, and shampoos could be damaging marine life. In a National Geographic News article, John Roach explains how these nontoxic fragrances overwhelm an organism's cellular transporter eventually allowing unwanted toxins to slip in and contaminate the cell.

Scientists are testing mussel cells which share properties with some human cells. Stanford post doctoral fellow Till Luckenbach said he isn't sure if human cells react the same way to these synthetic fragrances.

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Mega wet pixels

It's all about the megapixels. Although most of my photography is done on land I have jumped head first into underwater photography I have started renting the Nikonos V for diving trips. The reality is I need my own underwater gear! While I am currently trying to figure out how I will afford just the $4000 housing for my Nikon D1X, I am wondering how this would do for the time being. Of course I would have to deal with the fixed lens issue (a gypsy doesn't like to be boxed in), but 5 megapixels would work.

Boasting 5.5 megapixels and 3x optical zoom, SeaLife claims the DC500 offers advanced button operations along with a 2.0" color LTPS screen to make viewing and editing underwater easier. The camera lists for around $600USD.
DC500 camera press release

Paradise in peril

San Salvador. A Bahamian oasis where divers spot Nassau groupers and swim near unthreatened hammerheads. But there is trouble in paradise. According to a Miami Herald article, the island's sea life and surroundings may be threatened. Evidence of illegal shark finning along with rumors of scuba divers illegally spearing lobster and fish has led to talks on plans for a no-take zone, to conserve resources. Land based operations such as development of a world-class golf course could threaten San Salvador's reefs and walls steeply spanning fro 20 to 2000 feet.

Local residents, researchers, and dive operators are circulating petitions and forming meetings to create support for a marine reserve.
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Sea Scrounging

My little hippie soul couldn't resist sharing this article. Mother Earth News' Suzanna S. McDonald discusses in her article how to be a sea scrounge. McDonald details methods on how to safely scrounge for crabs, clams, mussels, and more as well as how to prepare your gastronomic discoveries. Some good tips if you happen to get stuck on a little deserted paradise and need to revert to hunter/gatherer ways.

Read about scrounging

Trash to eventual treasure

Ninety miles off the Texas coast rests a 95-foot production platform, owned by Houston-based El Paso Production Corp. Workers spent a week deconstructing the rig so that it can eventually serve as an artificial reef attracting marine life from invertebrates to whale sharks. Companies donate half the money they save from not having to tow decommissioned rigs to shore in order to support the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's Rigs to Reef program.
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Cozumel Countdown: Confessions of a scubaholic

Submersion and me.......it was just something meant to happen. I have been diving for two years now and with 63 dives under my belt (yes not enough), I wonder why didn't I do this sooner! I have decided that I was meant to spend a majority of my life underwater descending to the depths of our oceans and noticing the little things.....ok well the big things are cool too. Two weeks from today I leave for Cozumel! It will possibly be my last diving venture until January.....hopefully not........but maybe (I do have photo work to get done)..........but that possibility frankly has me a little worried. I think I might need to go to some sort of help group......if there is such a thing.

Hello, my name is Jennifer Browning and I am a scubaholic!

I have been fortunate in the past four months to have been able to do diving in the Turks and Caicos Islands, Miami/Key Largo....and those few trips to Athens Scuba Park although it's just a 30ft. clear blue hole did help my scuba fix. Two weeks before heading to the Yucatan I am already worried about jonesing for scuba once I return........

Scuba diving is my drug. It is the way I relax. It is the way I deal with crazy photo clients, demanding deadlines, and with life in general. The knots underneath my shoulder blades immediately disappear the moment I stride into the water inhaling my first aquatic breath from the regulator. So what's a scuba gypsy to do when she finally finds herself landlocked?

Yes. I might have a problem.

Tagging to understand the great whites

University of Cape Town researcher Alison Kock is working toward tagging 35 great white sharks this year to research the behavorial ecology of the great whites in False Bay, South Africa. Tagged sharks are scanned by one of 28 receivers attached to weighted tires sunk in many locations around the Cape Town area as well as Seal Island.

Kock hopes to gain a better understanding of what time of year great whites are in False Bay, which areas they frequent and how long they are there. She is also hoping to discover how the shark's movements react to trek-net fishing and water-user activities.

Read story here: Playing tag with great whites.

Divers flock to see sharks

Recent shark attacks haven't hurt the Gulf's dive industry. If anything business is booming at the Eagle Ray Dive Center in Bonita Springs. Shark dives are so popular that one trip is already booked for the following year. It's encouraging to see that despite the media hype on shark attacks in the Florida area that divers are still curious about these sharp-tooth creatures. Of course, divers can't jump in and start yanking on fins. Hopefully these dive operators are teaching their divers respect for the sharks and their environment as well as selling them the thrill of entering the shark's domain.

Shark attacks spur interest in scuba diving

Shark tank nuptuals

So maybe us aquatic gypsies have made it clear. These media hyped shark attacks aren't going to keep us from submerging into the deep blue. It didn't stop a Tampa couple either. Yesterday, Gale and Wayne Landry married in wet suits and scuba gear in The Florida Aquarium's shark tank. The wedding guest were made up of nine sharks and two shark handlers along with 50 human guests who watched from outside the tank.

A sand tiger shark did investigate Gale's bouquet, but swam away after she tossed the flowers to her husband. The bride said the recent attacks did not frighten her. She was more worried about her wedding cake arriving on time.

Tampa Bay's 10 News story

Oceans on acid

Life is all a balancing act, and nature is no different. CNN recently reported rising carbon levels created by burning of fossil fuels is dramatically increasing the seawater's acidity. High acid levels could wreak havoc on the ocean's ecosystem making it harder for sea life to survive and threatens tropical and subtropical reefs and the species that reside there. And that is only the beginning of a chain reaction of drastic changes in weather, environment, and our own communities.

Read about acid oceans here.

Bull shark found beached ashore Lake Okeechobee

So I have heard of Bull sharks sauntering up the Mississippi. It makes sense.....it's a river.....the mouth opens at the Gulf of Mexico........so the shark gets a little confused, but how the bloody hell does one end up in a lake?

After a thunderstorm in Okeechobee, Fla. a bull shark carcass was found washed ashore at Lake Okeechobee. No one is sure how the shark go there. Bull sharks, who can live for a while in fresh water, have been found up to 1,750 miles up the Mississippi River in the USA and 2,500 miles up the Amazon River in Peru.

Read about the lost shark here.

Diver sucked into pipe

Divers are used to currents in the ocean. There is a chance to be swept upward in an updwelling or to be swished off of your intended dive site if you aren't properly informed, but we don't worry about such movements in lakes.....or do we?

Forty-year-old Joan Eddy along with her husband and two others were enjoying their dive in Lake Michigan yesterday, when suddenly Joan disappeared.

Sucked through an 8-foot intake pipe for the Consumers Energy J.H. Campbell power plant, Joan went sprawling nearly a half-mile through the pipe before emerging seven minutes later with a bloody nose. She exited in an open-air canal inside plant property.

Read about Joan's ride here.

Goliath grouper attacks diver

Ok so this is a little late, but I just stumbled on this story today and this story caught my attention. I swam with Goliath groupers when I dove the Spiegel in early June. Actually most of the dive spots had resident Goliaths hanging around. Diving around these huge creatures, was incredible. I never worried about diving around the giants because they always seemed so docile. I had heard a tale of a giant grouper swallowing a diver whole, as well as a story about a Goliath chomping down on a diver's arm or leg and dragging the diver deeper, but never really thought it could happen. My own encounters with Goliath's were always timid ones. As I would move in closer to take a photo, they generally tend to move away, but this story is pretty incredible.

On June 7 diver Bob Charles was attacked in the Florida Keys by a Goliath grouper estimating 100 pounds. Charles and his buddy were spearfishing for mangrove snapper when the attack occurred. The goliath mouthed the divers head tearing off his face mask and his regulator. Charles made it back to the boat and suffers from bruises and four stitches to his lip.

Do you think the Goliath confused Charles with a snapper?

Read story here.

Late tarpon may be related to Florida Panhandle shark attacks

Tarpon tournament host, Joe Mercurio, believes the late tarpon migration may be related to the rise in recent shark attacks. Mercurio explained that breeding tarpon migrate around Florida's eastern coastline during the last week and the first week of July. This year the tarpon, some weighing 150 to 200 pounds, are late.

Before the tarpon arrive resident bull sharks seek out other prey, Mercurio said. This encourages bull sharks to feed on baitfish found in shallow waters which could be the result of recent attacks. Once the schools of tarpon reach the Panhandle, sharks follow the tarpon offshore to deeper water away from swimmers.

Read article here.

Treasure hunters warned

Four divers from Glasgow discovered ancient coins and gold after exploring two wooden wrecks off the Scottish coast. Police are warning other possible explorers not to endanger their lives. You can read more about it in Sarah Bruce's story on The Scottsman's online publication.

Beyond the limits

Even instructors can get it wrong. PADI scuba instructor Steven O. Donathan went missing Saturday, June 28 while diving the Yukon off Mission Beach, Ca. His body was found three days later in the Yukon's boiler room, an area that had been sealed off to divers.

Donathan, who was credited with discovering a B-36 bomber last year., was considered to be among the area's elite technical divers Unfortunately he is an example of what happens when we dive beyond our limits.

You can read more about the accident here.

Divers show no fear

The guys at Divester have developed a little poll to check out their readers shark fears......or lack of one. Readers, swimmers, and divers alike can vote. At the time of this post the results showed that divers where either didn't give their aquatic participation a second thought or the recent reports on shark attacks made them want to dive more. You can see the latest results here.

Don't swim with dead fish and other common sense

Media attention on shark attacks have been escalating this summer with recent attacks in Florida, Vanuatu, and South Africa. The incidents somewhat differ but the media paints the same picture.........innocent bystander enjoying the aquatic world and then boom out of nowhere here comes Jaws. Any accident whether it's aquatic or on land is a tragedy, but the media persists in hyping up the attacks. The shark is always at fault.......or is it? As humans we should give a little more respect to the ocean and the sea life in it. Unlike the attack upon the little girl in Vanuatu, most of these shark attacks could have been prevented. Shark attacks seem to happen more often to spearfishermen, like the diver killed off the Cape Town coast, because they are spearfishing near their catch. The diver killed early this June had a speared fish attached to his marking buoy and was allegedly swimming in waters that were known to contain Great Whites. That can't be smart. A similar speculation is being made about of 16-year-old Craig A. Hutto of Lebanon, Tennessee who was attacked while fishing in chest-deep water off Cape San Bliss, Fla.

"There's a good chance that the fact that they were fishing played a role. It's speculative at this point, but they might have had a bucket of bait in the water or even caught fish on them, " George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File in Gainesville, Fla told National Geographic News.

You see, we get into a car and we know that there is danger out there on the road. We know there are possibly inexperienced or drunk drivers. We know there are people just simply not paying attention. So we drive defensively with caution, and respect for the road. Is entering the ocean any different? Maybe it's not this simple, but common sense has to be a start.

Sharks are not waiting off the coast to attack humans, however, they are animals who act on the instinct to find food. If you look or smell like food, then isn't it reasonable to believe the shark might want to explore a taste? Unfortunately, a taste can be fatal. As aquatic revelers we can use our common sense and do things to prevent being attacked.

1) Don't swim out too far from shore. Sharks tend to hang out off sand bars and sharp drop offs.

2) Swim in a group. Sharks usually attack lone individuals.

3) Avoid wearing shiny jewelry. Sharks are attracted to the jewelry because it looks like shiny fish scales.

4) Avoid the water at dusk and at night. Sharks tend to be most predatory at night. (OK OK....so I love night diving too, and since the Caribbean Reef Shark in the Turks & Caicos Islands left me alone, I am willing to take my chances!)