Got Bite? Prehistoric Fish Weilded Some Powerful Jaws

The armor-plated Dunkleosteus jagged jaws might have put primitive sharks to shame back in prehistoric days. Scientists tested the fish's jaw strength at the Field Museum in Chicago and the University of Chicago using a biomechanical model to simulate it's jaws.

The thirty three feet long, four-ton monster terrorized other marine life in the Devonian Period spanning 415 million to 360 million years ago. Using two long, bony blades in its mouth Dunkleosteus snapped and crushed nearly any creature in its path.

Seems like this prehistoric wonder gave JAWS a whole new meaning.

READ STORY HERE

The Next Cathy Church?

I was browsing Flickr for my Photo of the Day over on Shutter Gypsy and I found Kayla's site. This kid is only 18 and has some fabulous underwater work. According to Kayla, "anything related to water" catches her interest and she enjoys using her photography to express herself. Divester needs to get this girl on their "This Is Why We Dive" photo pool (I didn't see it in her list already.) Maybe I am wrong, but her Flickr site seems to imply this chick dives a lot.....I am soooo jealous!!

Be sure to check out all of her sets. She has some excellent work like the clown fish here and the porcelain crab that made the cover of Reefkeeping Magazine here.

L'Oceanogràfic: Europe's Largest Aquarium

Thanks to Bill Frist and his Illegal Internet Gambling Enforcement Act our President signed last week, I am not headed off to South Africa for PartyPoker.com this week. Instead I am sitting in chilly Dallas watching the Travel Channel who is featuring the construction of the aquarium in Valencia, Spain. It's pretty amazing watching how engineers, botanist, zoologists, and architects created a safe environment for the 100,000 marine life who now inhabit The Oceanographic Marine Park.

The aquarium features three Beluga Whales who were raised in captivity. Belugas are endangered and aquarium scientists took great care transporting the whales. Transporting the Belugas is challenging. Flight patterns were carefully selected so turbulence could be avoided.

One part of the show featured scientists looking for sharks along South Africa's Natal Coast (...and yes I was pouting profusely as I watched them dive). They were experimenting with tonic immobility on Bull Sharks. As I watched the scientists put the sharks in a trance, the narrator said "they [Bull sharks] are not usually agressive, but you never know"....um...??? They did look pretty relaxed in their tonic state....and then I thought, maybe Mr. Frist, now that he has left the senate, needs a little South African vacation of his own. He should go play with some Great Whites. OK so I am changing subjects...

I still recommend the Travel Channel's feature on the aquarium to Republicans, Democrats, poker players, and scuba enthusiast alike.

Divester Loves Happy Fish

If you don't read Divester, well....um duh...you should. Willy Volk and his gang do an awesome job keeping us updated in the diving world. One of my favorite things is Divester's Flickr pool "This is Why We Dive."Today Divester had a post featuring Happy Fish photos with, my favorite--a porcupinefish, grinning. You gotta love those big eyes...but be careful this one is probably a big flirt.

Be sure to check out Divester's photo pool and Seawater's photostream.

Stingray City's Tourist Population Decreases

The decrease in tourists visiting Stingray City is probably bad for the Caymanian tour operators, but I can't imagine this is bad for the stingrays. Poor guys are probably ready for a break from all the hoopla. My Cayman dives have never included Stingray City, I figure it can't be much better than diving Christ of the Abyss off Key Largo...which was NOT fun...Stingray City just guarantees divers to see stingrays because they are fed. I think I would rather see them on my own...makes it a little more special that way.

Planning to Dive South Africa

I THANK GOD my recent gig allows me to travel. I have been stuck here in Dallas way too long, and if me and my passport weren't given freedom soon, I might have just shriveled up and died. My next journey is to take me to South Africa...where? I really have no idea yet (part of the fun of freelance is staying in the dark). I am assuming Johannesburg, but it could be Cape Town...despite my lack of assignment location knowledge, I am setting forth to plan my South Africa dive experience. It looks like this guy might be joining me...so for the first time in three years I am planning a dive for two. Mr. Pokerati just finished his Open Water skills and with any luck he passes his exam tomorrow...but that's another story....sorry for the ADD digression. I am a DM candidate and with Mr. Pokerati being newly certified we will need the first few dives to be a little less challenging. So where to go is a concern.

Tim from Dive The Big 5 and I have been emailing back and forth. I think he's given me some good advice for location. I have a feeling we will choose Sodwana since we can tie in a little land safari, but Great White cage diving is tempting.
Here is an email he sent. Anyone out there with other South Africa dive advice or location suggestions?

Hi Jen,

Many thanks for your e-mail requesting advise on diving South Africa. I'm sure we will be able to put something together for you and your boy-friend.

If your assignment is in Johannesburg you will have to fly to Cape Town as that is where the Great White cage diving takes place. Jo'burg and Cape Town are about 1 600 km's apart, a 2 hour flight by Boeing. If seems hardly worth while going all that way for just one day!! If you are really set on diving with the Great Whites and you are going all that way then I suggest that you spend at least 3 days Great White cage diving. You should also bear in mind that November month is not the best month for Great White cage diving. Great White cage diving is to a certain extent "seasonal", but the sharks are there all year round. We say seasonal for two reasons.

Firstly the weather. The part of the world where Great White cage diving takes place is known as the "Cape of Storms" for very obvious reasons. The winters are normally wet and miserable whilst the summers, although sunny and hot, are known for the "Cape Doctor" or south easter which blows virtually daily. Our statistics are that you are able to get out to "Shark Alley" the narrow strip of water between Dyer Island and Geyser Rock, 12 days out of 30 in the winter months (April through October) and 20 days out of 30 during summer (November through March). The more time you are able to spend in the company of the Great whites, the better your chances are of seeing these magnificent creatures.

Then there are the actual seasons. There are definitely times of the year when the White Sharks are more active and these times are May through October. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly the water temperatures. Contrary to what you would normally expect, the temperature of the water is actually warmer during the winter months (approx. 16 degrees C) than it is during the summer months (approx. 9 degrees C). Sharks prefer the warmer waters and are therefore far more active during the winter than during the summer, and unfortunately that coincides with the time of year when the weather is at its worst. Also November is when the Cape Fur Seal pups. The Cape Fur Seal, being the Great Whites main source of food, congregate in their thousands on Geyser Rock, where up to 60 000 can be found during the pupping and mating season, November/December. With this great abundance of food around it is extremely difficult to attract the sharks to the boat, and if you do, they are just not interested in the bait you have put out to attract their attention, which is hopefully, long enough for the divers to get into the cage and view them in their natural surroundings.

The best reef diving in South Africa is at Sodwana Bay, and November is one of the best month to dive Sodwana. Sodwana is about an 8 hour drive from Johannesburg, or you could fly from Jo'burg to Durban and from Durban its an easy 4 hour drive to Sodwana. The reefs of Sodwana are one of the southern most coral reefs in the world and are even more south than Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef has 1 800 species of fish and Sodwana which is 1/10 the size of the Great Barrier Reef has 1 200 species of fish, 6 of which are endemic to the Sodwana area. Therefore your chances of seeing more species of fish are great at Sodwana than at the Great Barrier reef due to the concentration of the area that you are diving on! At Sodwana Bay the reefs are all unromantically named by the distance they are from the launch site, Jesser Point I.e. 2 Mile Reef, 5 Mile Reef, 7 Mile Reef and 9 Mile Reef. Most South Africans learn to dive at Sodwana so your boy friend will have no problem diving Sodwana, but he must be certified before he comes.

There is also a very nice game reserve 2 hours drive from Sodwana, Hluhluwe Game Reserve. Hluhluwe, the oldest game reserve in Africa was established in 1897, and prior to that is was the hunting preserve of the Zulu Kings. Its 23 000 ha in extent and 30 kilometre’s across and although it's not a very large reserve (by Kruger standards) it is home to "Africa's Big 5" lion, leopard, buffalo, rhino and elephant. Hluhluwe is especially know for it's conservation and breeding success of the highly endangered Black Rhino. At Hluhluwe you have the option of joining a KZN (KwaZulu/Natal) Parks Ranger on an escorted morning, afternoon or evening game drive in an open safari vehicle or you can drive yourself around the reserve should you elect to rent a car.

If you do decide to dive Sodwana, Hluhluwe would be ideal for the safari portion of your trip.

Jen, there you have it. I hope I have not confused you with all the options. I think the starting point would be to find our where you will be on assignment, and then decide if you want to go to Cape Town for the Great White's and if you want to do a combination of diving Sodwana with a safari in Hluhluwe. You should also think about if you want to rent a car and self-drive Sodwana and Hluhluwe or would you prefer us to organise transfers.

What ever you wish I'm sure we can put together a trip of a lifetime.

I look forward to hearing from you in this regard.

Best "Fishes"

Tim.

Mickey Mouse Likes Scuba Too

Feeling a little land-locked with the rug rats at Disney World? Grab your C-card and head over to Epcot for DiveQuest. For $140 scuba divers can take a behind the scenes tour of The Living Seas facility during two time slots at 4:30 and 5:30. Twelve divers per slot are permitted so reservations are not only recommended but required. After the tour, divers suit up for a 40 minute dive in the marine tank which measures over 200 feet in diameter and 25 feet in depth. The tank contains a sample of Caribbean marine life in an artificial salt water and reef environment.

Divers become part of The Living Seas attraction and can swim up to the observation windows to interact with those who preferred to stay dry. Those who would rather gaze at the vast marine life have an eye full. Most of us know the ocean is hit or miss when it comes to seeing certain marine life, but Epcot seems to have it all in one big tank. Divers can swim with turtles, sharks, rays and other fish.

Dive guests only need to bring their masks and bathing suits. For fear of contaminating the marine tank, divers aren't allowed to bring their own gear so Epcot provides all of it, right down to the shorties.

Call 407-WDW-TOUR for reservations and information.

Farmers in the basement

My favorite part of E.T. was when Elliot set all the frogs free in his Biology class. "Set them free! Set them free!" While I don't protest classroom dissection, I am not big on containing living animals/organisms in a tank. However, Steve Lowes web-based coral business thriving in his basement interests me.

Coral farmers like Lowes, propagate their coral by breaking off millimeter-sized fragments and growing them in the tanks. Coral grows two inches in sixth months. At that size they are ready for sale....a portion of a $6.9 billion aquarium market.

Business may be business, but scientists have been able to learn more about different coral species because of these harvesting entrepreneurs. Lowes also contributes to the study of his primary product by using his aquarium to study the interaction of more than 60 species.

Steel mesh nets?

Adelaide's metro beaches are calling for steel mesh nets in order to protect their aquatic revellers from shark attacks. So protect us from the sharks. Let us swim without fear...but without fear are we swimming without a conscience? Shark nets tend to not only trap and kill sharks but thousands of sea turtles, dolphins, whales and other marine life important to the ocean's ecosystem.Sure we want protection from the mighty Great White and the swift Mako...we want to live, swim, dive, and surf freely....but at what cost?

The Endangered Wildlife Trust and WWF are proposing the use of electronic shark deterrent barriers at beaches in the Peninsula along False Bay South Africa. It is a joint effort to preserve the environment divers love to visit.

Here's an idea deter sharks, but don't kill them.Hmmm.

Read

Deep sea poker

While the Caribbean Poker Classic began earlier this week in St. Kitts, poker pros, Juha Helppi and Rob Varkonyi donned wet suits and oxygen tanks in order to play a little heads up game below the surface. The players sat around a specially weighted table, played with weighted chips, and waterproof cards.

According to Poker777, Helppi and Varkonyi had to do a little mental multitasking making sure their table didn't float away and making due with their fishy spectators wanting a little up close and personal action of their own.
Read

Cayman coral reefs in crisis

According to Cathy Church, Cayman island reefs are in danger.

Coral damage stems from recent hurricanes, rising temperatures from global warming as well as coral diseases brought on by pollution.

Varieties of fish among the Cayman reefs are in decline as well. Church said that while fishing is prohibited along the coral walls, fishing line is found on any dive site around the island. While Marine Enforcement officers enforce the illegal fishing law, Church believes officers need to be more strict about the limitations on where to fish.

Recent Ministry of Tourism honouree for his contribution to the local dive industry, Peter Milburn believes overall the coral reefs are in good shape and that there is an abundance of fish life as a result of less fishing among the reefs. Milburn believes the coral reefs are suffocating from algae blooms cause by too much fresh water and dirty water getting into the sea.

Church blames island development as a contributor to polluted reefs.

“This porous little island cannot support high level development because everything we do ends up on the reef,” she said.“Every little bit we do kills off a little more reef”.

Read

TEC diving seminar

For my Dallas readers, if you ever wondered what TEC diving involves, Blue Dolphin Scuba is offering an introductory 'TEC' seminar this evening at 6:30 at their Plano location. The seminar will cover information about mixed gases, cave diving, as well as Extended Range and Decompression diving. Divers will also find out how big their purses (or wallets) need to be for TEC gear.

If you're in town...check it out!

Somolian pirates attempt attack on luxury cruise vessel

Two pirate boats violently attacked the US-owned Seabourn Spirit about 100 miles off the Somalian coast.

Pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles as heavily armed bandits tried to get on board. The cruise ship escaped by moving at high speed and changing courses.

Andrew Linnington, a spokesman for Numast, the Merchant Navy officers' union, said there would be urgent talks with shipowners in London this week to discuss the problem of Somalia, claiming these incidents were close to being out of control.

Close?

Anarchist Somalia, which has had no government since 1991, according to Linnington, had 23 reported attacks since March this year, including two UN relief ships.

In the past 10 years hundreds of seaman have been killed and thousands injured in pirate attacks across the world.

Read

Reason not to dive alone

While I know there is a solo diving certification attainable to those advanced divers, I have never been an advocate of it unless a diver plans to use it strictly for emergency purposes only.

Saturday afternoon, Cape Cod police discovered the body of a 42-year-old man who was diving alone. It is believed he was entangled in lines attached to a buoy or lobster trap.

Read

Wilma tourists still stranded; Cozumel severely damaged

While tourists have finally been evacuated from Cozumel, thousands of others are stranded in Cancun waiting to come home.

Wilma severely battered the Yucatan last week leaving behind destruction above and below the surface. Tourists are sleeping on hotel lawns in Merida and Cancun residents, despite police presence, are manning improvised barricades to protect their neighborhoods from looters. Tourists began standing in line at the

Hurricane Emily swept through in July leaving minimal damage, sparing Cozumel's coveted reefs. Wilma apparently was not so benevolent according to the Environment Department.

Tourists now flood the gutted Cancun airport waiting in line for hours for a plane ticket back home.
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Deep sea giant seen alive off Japanese coast

Had I pulled my head out of the darkroom long enough I may have noticed this a month ago, but it was too cool not to post about it. In September 2004, a giant squid estimating 25 ft. in length was photographed 2,950 feet beneath the North Pacific Ocean. The photos were taken as Architeuthis enveloped the baited line "in a ball of tentacles." The squid was found feeding at depths where no light penetrates even during the day.

The photos were taken with automated cameras. While they aren't up close and personal, it's pretty fantastic to see such a creature so large and alive.



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Global warming threatening East Africa's coral reefs

Global warming threatening East Africa's coral reefs
Rising sea surface temperatures caused by global warming could kill off Africa's coral reefs.

Coral Reef Degradation in the Indian Ocean (CORDIO) researcher Dr David Obura said there was 70 to 75 percent "catastrophic mortality" among shallow-water coral reefs during the El Niño in 1997-98.

East Africa's tourist industry depends on the region's rich reefs as they attract scuba divers.
Read

RE: reasons to sink

Wade wrote in to Scuba Gypsy:

"You have posted way too many articles on your blog for me to catch up. I'm trying though. Tell me the reason for sinking an airplane in a body of water. Is it to make like a waterpark for the sea creatures? I'm sure there is some reason. Maybe it's just the regular body of water would be just too boring scuba people."

Waterpark for sea creatures would be cool...my childish imagination is running a little wild....but wait...no I am thinking of sea monsters and they don't really exist....

To answer your question, as far as scuba parks are concerned, since most don't have aquatic creatures (Athens Scuba Park is a former clay quarry) then sinking DART busses, jets, Clint Eastwood's party barge, and other pieces of machinery just give us something to look at and do some underwater exploring.


In the big deep blue sea however, these submersible items serve as artificial reefs. Many states in the US have artificial reef programs. Florida and Texas have various artificial reef programs where decommissioned ships and oil rigs are submerged to become new homes for sea life.

Here are a few:

Spiegel Grove, Key Largo Florida
Tenneco Towers, Ft. Lauderdale
Snapper, Texas Flower Gardens

So when are you getting certified Wade?

Sand pit may become Texas' next SCUBA park

Two years ago the skull of a 38,000 year-old woolly mammoth was unearthed in Vernor Material and Equipment's sand pit in Clute, TX. Now with the pit near retirement the company hopes to transform it into a scuba park. The 35-foot pit plans to submerge machinery like jet airplanes to become home to largemouth bass, Asian clams, and channel catfish.

This could be great for landlocked Texas divers in a couple of years if the pit owners can achieve decent visibility. I don't know much about Mammoth Lake and whether the pit already has fish or not, but I know breeding aquatic life isn't easy. The owners of Athens Scuba Park has tried to raise catfish, but hasn't suceeded as of yet. Probably because of the intense care it takes to raise the little creatures (I recall someone telling me the owner had to feed them by hand? Interesting.).


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Aquatic Living

Forget Architecture Digest in the future, Aquatictecture might be where it’s at. By the end of this year, Underwater Vehicles, Inc. of Vancouver, B.C. will launch the Trilobis 65. Part houseboat, part submersible, this four level vessel will extend 10 feet above as well as 10 feet below the surface. Along with a bridge, living and sleeping quarters, the Trilobis also sports an underwater observation bulb offering an unobstructed, 360 degree view of it’s passengers underwater surroundings.

Special marinas are also being planned allowing colonies to dock together into “water-based villages”.

The floating homes starting price?

$4 million

If the Trilobis isn't to your liking there's the Jellyfish Habitat and the Neptus 60 Cliff Habitat. Very Star-Trekkie for those who need to be one with the water.

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Sharks switching from tuna to humans?

A South Australian marine biologists said a decline in the shark's natural prey could be cause for the rise in attacks.

Dr. Scoresby Shepherd studies shark attacks in Australia and California. According to Shepherd, attacks that used to happen once every 30-40 years are now occurring once a year.

This is all fine, and it makes sense....but I wonder if he has looked at other factors in attacks that can be attributed to human behavior. Any thoughts?

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Parents settle drowned diver case three years later

Almost three years after scuba diver Mollie Yaley's death, her parents settled a lawsuit with the ambulance company that treated her.

Yaley, a 26-year-old dive master, drowned off the coast of Monterey June 30, 2002. Yaley's paernts said she died because the paramedics responding to her were using heroin and acted negligently. The parents also said the paramedics stopped CPR too early.

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Bill's Blog

So I am a scuba geek and my boyfriend is a poker geek (and I mean a BIG ONE)...I am learning to play poker (and I am not too bad) and he is learning to dive. We always wonder how to merge the two passions with our own.....do we take the table, chips, and cards underwater? Here's an interesting blog from a man who seems to have succeeded in bringing the two together. OK OK.....so it's pretty much a poker blog, but he does have an interesting set of photo galleries from several adventures of his own. Aside from interesting photos, Pauly from Tao of Poker has named Bill the "Jacques Cousteau of poker bloggers". So if you are also looking for the best of both worlds...check it out.

Pumpkin carving....becoming a great underwater past time?

I always feel great when I notice other scuba geeks out there like me looking for any reason to get underwater. Blue Dolphin in Dallas has treasure hunts and even a monopoly game to stir up some deep camaraderie....this morning I got an email from my friends at Deep Blue Adventures in San Antonio about their annual underwater pumpkin carving contest. This has to take some skill. I am definitely the type of person you want to keep away from sharp objects...but this does intrigue me.

If competing with Deep Blue divers have a choice to compete individually or with a team-mate. Drawing on or precutting of pumpkins is not allowed and pumpkin are inspected before contestants enter the water. Divers provide their own pumpkins and cutting tools and have 45 minutes to dive and carve.

Texas isn't the only one with fun and games. Just noticed a post on Divester that they are doing this in New York and Minnesota.

May the best pumpkin win!

If anyone has any photos from these events, please send them to Scuba Gypsy.

Tales from a divemaster candidate (Part 1)

More challenging than I could have ever imagined, my journey toward becoming a scuba instructor opens my eyes with each class I observe. As a former high school teacher, I feel confident about the teaching end of being a scuba instructor. If anything, scuba diving is rekindling my love for the teaching profession.....my classroom, my office will be open and wide....filled with water, fins, tanks, dive logs, and regulators instead of desks, dry erase or chalk boards, and books. With each observation I learn something new, experience a different perspective under water....part of the evolution possibly of becoming a scuba instructor.

Today I evolved a little more.

During my previous visit to Athens Scuba Park to work with a class I tagged along with Reneé, a Scuba Source Divemaster. She showed me the Athens set up routine and showed me how to run and tie the guide ropes for the OW student’s check-out dive. Today, for the first time I was on my own. The rope was tied off at the initial platform where students do their OW skills so I did a surface swim to the next buoy which marked the sunken DART bus approximately ten feet below. I began to submerge when I realized my tank had come completely out of my BCD. Great. I surface and yell out to Mike what had happened.

“Fix it!” he replied.

OK, I thought. I totally suck at this whole tighten your gear up in the water thing.

“Oh, but be careful because you are weighted.”

Uh huh. No room for babies here. (Even though I was resisting the urge to cry)

So I began the task. Inflated my BC and crawled out of it. With a reel of rope in one hand I began to feel around the bottom of my BC to see if this might be an easy fix. No such luck. I needed the other hand. I had a line of rope floating in the water and I couldn’t rest the reel on top of the inflated BC because as I would slightly drift, the reel would fall off creating more problems. So I stuck the rope reel between my knees. Now, I can tread water like a champ, but imagine only being able to tread water by only circulating the lower part of your legs.......remember I have ten pounds of weight around me. (It is definitely time for an integrated BCD.)

Getting the tread part down, I place the regulator in my mouth and head under the BC to start fixing the unruly tank. After a few minutes, it was back in place.

Cool.

Feeling quite proud of myself, I get my gear back on only to realize that my regulator hose is now coming over the top of my head.

Damn it.

So now I have this treading with half my legs down pat, I go through the whole thing again this time turning the tank to make sure it is in the proper position. Only then do I discover that the plastic piece on my BC which helps hold the tank in place is missing. Hmmm....... yes.....time for a new BC. I tighten the strap until I am sure this tank isn’t going anywhere and then submerge to complete the initial task.

As I followed the guide rope back to the platform, my mind was racing. Only then, during that challenging moment, had I realized the true importance of having a dive buddy....and a good one at that. More importantly, for the first time I began to realize that as an instructor with a student, that the student really isn’t a dive buddy...he/she isn't even certified yet, so essentially you are alone. As an instructor, you are required to be skilled enough to handle loose tanks and the like on your own.

A lesson worth learning somewhat the hard way.

The other side of the dive

After trying to shuffle around work and scuba trips, my training as a dive master began a little over a month ago with observing my boyfriend's Discover Scuba session. For the first time, I wasn't the participant and it wasn't all about me and my diving. Because Dan got the hang of everything, Mike went beyond DS, into mask clearing and on to basics about buoyancy. While not all of my observation hours will be so up close and personal, I discovered how beneficial it was to have a relationship with the student as well as the instructor. In the pool observing, I was able to see how Mike from The Scuba Source demonstrated the skills and how Dan executed them, but I had the opportunity to discuss the lesson from a student's perspective. In the car, Dan and I discussed his first scuba experience. I was beaming with pride and by the time my car had turned the corner I was ready to book him on the next trip to Cozumel.....that was the moment I learned something from the student.

Basically, I have the ability to scare people from scuba.....that's what he told me....not in those exact words, but apparently I get so excited about diving that I get too technical. He was right. Thinking back to his beginning scuba questions my talk was filled with decompression limits, air consumption, safety stops, and surface intervals. Little did I know I lost him the moment my talk hit the water. A good instructor, an instructor who wants their student to enjoy the learning process, not only teaches the skills and anticipates problems, but helps the student discover the subject a little on their own.

Typical mistake from a beginning teacher.....as a former high school teacher I should know better....I appreciated the lesson.