The mind boggles that as some marine animals are disappearing, new species are still being discovered. For example, researchers recently described two new species of deep-sea fishes, the Galapagos ghost shark and the whitespot ghost shark. Inadvertently sucked through a vacuum tube and into a research sub in 1995, these sharks live at depths of around 1200 feet off the Galapagos Islands. So...if they were discovered in 1995, how can they fish be new? Researchers find about 75 new species of fish each year, but each one must be compared to existing animals and confirmed through careful research before being declared new. Consequently, Dr. Douglas Long and his colleagues spent more than a decade making sure they were distinct species before publishing their results.
The newly found ghost sharks differ in size and appearance from related species. The Galapagos ghost shark has an elongated body and a face resembling a rabbit's, while the whitespot ghost shark has distinctive spots above its fins.
The Galapagos shark was actually discovered by Dr. John McCosker, who found the Galapagos ghost shark on his 50th birthday in 1995. As a tribute to his friend, Long named the fish Hydrolagus mccoskeri. According to McCosker, being the shark's namesake is "a great honor...The best part is that it's not an internal parasite." I guess it IS much cooler to have a shark named after you than a tapeworm.
For those of you who purchased one (or more!) of the famous -- and great-looking! -- Divester/Wetpixel shirts, thanks...and congratulations! Through your support, we raised enough money to donate $300 to the Coral Reef Alliance, an organization that works to increase the capacity of communities to work collaboratively towards coral reef conservation. With alltheproblems coral reefs face today, every little bit helps.
For those of you who haven't quite gotten around to ordering a shirt of your own, it's not too late. We still have a few shirts left -- although we have sold out of the XL shirts. Consequently, if your New Year's resolution is to lose some weight, go ahead and order a Large shirt and consider the purchase as a first step towards the new you!
I was informed that Ike Brigham, the founder of Ikelite, passed away last week via email, but I was waiting for confirmation that it was true before I posted it.
Ike was very active on Wetpixel and so when I saw that Eric posted it, it was enough confirmation for me.
Ikelite started out making lights, underwater compasses and finally the strobes, photo and video housings that they are now known for. Ike was known for amazing customer service, where he personally would get involved and solve a problem.
He had been battling an illness for years and he will be missed.
Posted Dec 31st 2006 11:29AM by Willy Volk Filed under: Other
In addition to the HFC 400D, last week Hugyfot also released their HFC 5D housing for Canon's EOS 5D. Nearly identical in appearance to the HFC 400D, the sleek HFC 5D is also built by Green Force, and also allows users to access all the camera's controls with one hand. Sweet. Grab yourself one of Hugy's 45º viewfinders and you're in business.
Machined from a solid block of 2004-T6 high-strength aluminum, the HFC 5D can be equipped with dome- or macro-ports, and is supported by a Nikonos 5-pin flash connections as well as a S-6 flash connection. The HFC 400D is available for around $3300.
Captured in the Seychelles, I'm in awe that this fish -- an astounding 8.5-meter female -- is so huge that it creates its own ecosystem. Check out all the other fish swimming around her, like moons rotating around a planet. Awesome. According to otolithe, the whale shark approached to within 3 feet before diving into the deep blue. I'm sure otolithe forgot to breathe.
Dr. Harry Wong is a recreational diver who wants to sink some of the Navy's decomissioned ships along California's coast. As president of that state's Ships 2 Reefs -- a group of scuba divers, scientists, and engineers whose goal is to sink "20 ships in 20 years" off the California coast -- he's already been offered a decommissioned Navy sub to sink, the USS Sailfish, as well as 2 derelict fishing trawlers. Other ships may be on the horizon. Now, he just has to raise enough funds (it costs roughly $2 million to acquire, clean, prepare, and sink a ship) and secure permission from local lawmakers (which runs in the neighborhood of 5 years).
Seeking help from some non-traditional sources (hoteliers, city governments, and local companies), Wong believes that the benefits to the environment (increased fish populations) and to the economy (increased tourist populations) will encourage people to help.
Oddly, some people (including Sonke Mastrup, the deputy director of California's Department of Fish and Game) don't agree that creating artificial reefs creates habitat for fish. According to Mastrup, "We don't see the ships as significant habitat (for fish) but we see the economic value of it. We're willing to see if we can't make this work on a statewide basis." I don't know how such a high level official could make such a bizarre-o statement, but the important thing is that the Department is onboard with the program, for whatever reason. Viva la wrecks, and a big shout-out to Wong and his group, who just got named Divester's Heroes of the Week!
According to the Center for Biological Diversity, the North Pacific Right Whale -- once ranging from Baja California to Alaska -- is the most endangered large whale in the world, with perhaps as few as 100 individuals remaining. Devastated by commercial whaling, North Pacific Right Whales now face the threat of oil and gas development in their critical habitat. In fact, the US Department of the Interior recently proposed opening up areas in the Bering Sea to offshore oil development, and President Bush is considering lifting the presidential withdrawal that currently prohibits such development.
To that end, the CBD recently filed a lawsuit to compel the Bush administration to protect the hulking mammals. "With the announced extinction of the Yangtze River Dolphin this week, the North Pacific Right Whale now holds the dubious distinction of being the most endangered marine mammal in the world," said Brendan Cummings, Ocean Program Director of the CBD. Unless we act soon, we may not be able to see the Right Whales' beautiful, graceful tails (like this one, shot by otamir) much longer.
This week, a 27-year-old New Zealand woman was enjoying the sun on a boat in the Bay of Plenty. From out of the blue -- literally! -- a dolphin leaped from the water and jumped into her boat, "giving her a number of injuries." According to dolphin expert Alan Baker, "I've been studying dolphins for 40 years and this is the first time I've heard of a dolphin jumping into a boat."
While the woman was rushed to intensive care, the dolphin swam away apparently unharmed.
Last month, we reported that divers had located a Japanese midget submarine off Sydney's beaches. Sunk in 1942, the tiny sub serves as a tomb for the two crewmen who died inside it. As a result of unspecified "technical difficulties" -- including astronomical cost; the fact that the sub is believed to contain live ammunition and could explode at any second; and that it has war grave status -- Australian authorities have decided to leave the sub on the ocean floor indefinitely. In order to protect the vessel, authorities have stepped up surveillance in the area, placing a 1500-foot protection zone around and over the wreck. Divers or boaters who breach the zone face penalties of up to 10,000 Australian dollars or five years jail.
Is your New Year's resolution to get smarter? Learn more:
You might recall the man, freediving off the Florida Keys in September, who shot a Goliath grouper with his speargun. Understandably, the giant fish freaked when it was pierced and headed for cover. In the ensuing freaking-out-ness, the line to the speargun wrapped around the diver's wrist, pulling him to the sea floor. As the man had not thought to bring a knife with him, he was unable to cut himself free, and he drowned. Police divers later found the speared fish wedged inside a hole, with the freediver's dead body tangled in the line.
This poor man has ignominiously been nominated to the 2006 Darwin Awards, which commemorates those who improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it. Vote for him...and remember to bring a knife with you the next time you go diving.
On Christmas, we always give our dog a treat. Although he doesn't really know the meaning of Christmas, it's fun to share with him the joyousness of the season, and he loves being remembered. Marine animals are no different.
This Wednesday, a kindly aquarium employee at the Sea Life Centre decided to give one of the resident turtles a small Christmas treat. Aware that Brussel sprouts are a healthy choice for sea turtles, the employee decided to feed the turtle some of the cabbage look-alikes. Apparently, the fart-bubbles the turtle emitted were so strong, that they set off an emergency sensor inside its tank.
According to marine biologist Sarah Leaney who rushed to the aquarium in response to the alarm, "When I got there, all seemed fine. I looked at the tube containing the sensor and saw a turtle beneath it. As I watched, a few large bubbles emerged from beneath him and rose to the surface next to the tube. Straight away, I realized what must have happened." What a gas.
Rising sea temperatures are blamed for bleaching an estimated 30% of the world's coral reefs. Some researchers have even reported localized bleaching affecting as much as 95% of coral in some regions! Put simply, bleaching causes corals to expel their symbiotic algae and die. This is dangerous, of course, because dead reefs leave shorelines threatened and decrease the food supply for many juvenile fish. In fact, according to a study recently released by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, fish species on the Great Barrier Reef are starving to death due to bleaching.
CoECRS senior researcher Morgan Pratchett and his colleagues spent five years charting the collapse of coral-feeding butterfly fish on an Australian reef. They concluded that the starving fish failed to breed -- and failed to migrate to food-rich reefs. Why didn't the fish just move to a new food source? According to Pratchett, "Fish can be very territorial and it may be hard for refugee fish, which have lost their reef, to relocate elsewhere because the locals will try to keep them out." The bright spot is that coral-feeding fish populations can stabilize if the corals recover.
This clip is only 6 seconds long. However, I laughed out loud for longer than that after watching it. I'm still smiling now.
BTW -- The caption at the beginning of the video flashes only for an instant but reads: "Freediving is an inherently dangerous pastime and should only be attempted by experienced persons." Ah, the irony.
Posted Dec 29th 2006 11:00AM by Willy Volk Filed under: Books
Whales' Angels is corporate-exec-turned-author Paul Mila's second novel. Featuring the husband-and-wife team of Joe Manetta and Terry Hunter, Whales' Angels details the couple's battles with nasty whalers and other bad guys. While simply trying to be good people protecting humpback whales, Manetta and Hunter are inadvertently drawn into the seamy underbelly of international politics, intrigue, and murder.
The fictional novel actually parallels recent non-fiction events. Specifically, the book's heroes work to halt a conspiracy led by Japan, Iceland, Finland, and Norway, as those nations attempt to overturn the International Whaling Commission's ban on whaling. Interestingly, Mila claims that his experience freediving with humpbacks inspired the story, which he hopes will increase efforts to save whales.
With the action taking place from the Caribbean to the North Atlantic, Mila's yarn sounds like a Hollywood film waiting to happen. Until it's on the big screen, however, Whales' Angels is available from Author House and Amazon. From the reviews ("a solid plot, intriguing characters and a realistic depiction of scuba diving and marine creatures"), it sounds like it's worth picking up for your next dive trip.
Posted Dec 29th 2006 9:14AM by Willy Volk Filed under: Other
Earlier this week, we mentioned that Sea&Sea had recently released a housing for Canon's 400D. It looks as though they have some competition: just last week, Hugyfot released their HFC 400D housing for the same camera. Although their website doesn't overflow with information on the svelte, little housing, it does mention that the HFC 400D is built by Green Force (which also works with Gates on their housings), and allows users to access all the camera's controls quite easily. No surprise there, of course, as Hugy products are famous for having superior ergonomic designs, allowing for easy one-handed control while diving.
Machined from a solid block of 2004-T6 high-strength aluminum, the HFC 400D can be equipped with dome- or macro-ports, and is supported by a Nikonos 5-pin flash connections as well as a S-6 flash connection. The HFC 400D will be available beginning in mid-January for around $2500.
The mind boggles that as some marine animals are disappearing, new species are still being discovered. For example, researchers recently described two new species of deep-sea fishes, the Galapagos ghost shark and the whitespot ghost shark. Inadvertently sucked through a vacuum tube and into a research sub in 1995, these sharks live at depths of around 1200 feet off the Galapagos Islands. So...if they were discovered in 1995, how can they fish be new? Researchers find about 75 new species of fish each year, but each one must be compared to existing animals and confirmed through careful research before being declared new. Consequently, Dr. Douglas Long and his colleagues spent more than a decade making sure they were distinct species before publishing their results.
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