Durban gripped by Sardine fever - Sardine Run in full swing

The phenomenal sardine run is awaited by fishermen, commuters and tourists every year and it's been dubbed the Greatest Shoal on Earth.



Each year, millions of sardines leave the southern Cape coast and journey 1 000km along the Wild Coast to KwaZulu-Natal waters, according to the Scottburgh tourism website.

As the shoal makes its way up the coastline, sharks, dolphins, seals, gannets and humans alike gather for this short-lived feeding frenzy. According to the website, the phenomenon is natural and has been happening forever.

Each year the shoal gets bigger and better and when the first fish are netted, crates of the silvery fish can fetch up to R220. But at the height of the sardine season, a dozen fish can sell for as little as R2.

Once the fish are sighted, life as many know it becomes a frenzy. Fishermen head out to sea hoping to net hundreds of the long awaited silvery fish, while the old and young flock to the beaches to witness and take part in the action.



Local businessman Sagie Naidoo has been netting sardines for more than 10 years and says that this year the sardine run will last longer.

As a seafood distributor, Naidoo nets sardines on a daily basis during the sardine run and sells the fish to commuters, some of whom re-sell them.

"It's an event that almost everyone awaits and, if you have the opportunity, why not partake in the fun? When all the fish aren't sold, some fisherman use them as bait," he said.

He said the sardine run is more of a cat-and-mouse game. You have to be at the right place at the right time to catch them.

"Fortunately this year is proving to be a good run thus far, and that's an indication of a long run ahead."

The sardine run also provides a boom for businesses and the hotel industry on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast. Tourists, according to the website, visit the coast each year hoping to catch a glimpse of the fish.

Source: www.iol.co.za

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Durban gripped by Sardine fever - Sardine Run in full swing

Baby dolphins never sleep

Sleep-deprived mothers of newborn babies should spare a thought for bottlenose dolphins and killer whales.

An international study has shown the young of those two species don't sleep during the first month of life.

Unlike other mammals, they are active 24 hours a day, and their mothers have learned to cope.

Scientists from the US and Russia publish their findings in today's issue of the journal Nature.

"Somehow these seafaring mammals have found a way to cope with sleep deprivation, facilitating rather than hindering a crucial phase of development for their offspring," says author Dr Jerome Siegel, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Siegel and his colleagues say the developmental pattern they discovered in the dolphins and whales is different to other mammals.

All other mammals studied so far sleep the most as newborns, and need less sleep as they grow into adults.

But as the calves of dolphins and killer whales grow, they sleep more, until they reach adult levels.

"Their bodies have found a way to cope, offering evidence that sleep isn't necessary for development and raising the question of whether humans and other mammals have untapped physiological potential for coping without sleep," Siegel says.

The scientists believe the newborns' lack of sleep has several advantages.

Their constant movement reduces the danger from predators and helps to maintain their body temperature until they develop greater mass and blubber.

It also allows them to swim to the surface frequently to breathe and helps their body and brain to develop.

Source: abc.net.au

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Baby dolphins never sleep

Global warming kills our wildlife - humans are the cause

Global warming is the greatest threat to wildlife, according to Sir David King, chief scientific adviser to the British government.

Writing in Birds, the magazine published by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, King listed four serious man-made dangers to wild animals, putting climatic change at the top.

The other threats to biodiversity were habitat destruction, invasion by non-native species and human over-exploitation, he said.

"The pattern of climate change that has been seen over the past one hundred years or so cannot be accounted for, unless human activities are included in the calculations," he said.

He pointed to pending rises in sea levels, the melting of snow, ice and glaciers, severe flooding and hotter summers.

King noted that British birds were breeding earlier, which he interpreted to mean that insects also appeared earlier.

Looking to Antarctica, Kings said the Adele penguin was in rapid decline, pointing to the decline in sea ice.

"The warming could take place so quickly that many species will not be able to adapt quickly enough to leave successor species, or, trapped in local environments, these species will be unable to migrate to more hospitable areas of the planet," he said.

King, who has made global warming a regular theme in recent months, called for a concerted international effort to limit carbon dioxide emissions.

"Effective action requires international agreement to curb future emissions radically, a process that would eventually need to engage the entire population," he said.

Boundaries moving
Independently a team at East Anglia University in eastern England said fish species were being driven from the North Sea as a result of warmer waters.

The study surveyed data relating to more than 90 species of fish living at the bottom of the North Sea and focused on commercially important species, concluding that Atlantic cod, sole and whiting could disappear within 50 years.

The team led by Alison Perry found that the distribution of 15 out of 36 species shifted in relation to warming, with distances ranging from 50 to 400km.

For half of 20 species with a southern or northern range limit in the North Sea, the boundaries moved significantly, with most movements being in a northerly direction.

Six species were moving territory boundaries by 2km a year.

"This study shows that climate change is having detectable impacts on marine fish distributions, and observed rates of boundary movement with warming indicate that future distribution shifts could be pronounced," Perry said, predicting that "these findings may have important impacts on fisheries".

From 1962 to 2001, the North Sea warmed on average by 0.6 of a degree Celsius. Predictions are that the rate of temperature increase will at least treble by 2080.

Source: www.news24.com

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Global warming kills our wildlife - humans are the cause

Global warming could shift sands of African desert areas

One of the first studies to examine how climate change might alter the land surface of Africa has been published by scientists from Oxford University.

Their research details how the immense dunefields of the Kalahari could be stirred up by global warming.

The investigation, reported in the journal Nature, warns that large areas of currently productive land could become engulfed by shifting sands.

"The social consequences of these changes could be drastic," they say.

The team, led by Professor David Thomas, urges politicians in the region not to pursue development policies that might exacerbate the coming problems, turning currently semi-arid areas into desert.

"We've seen in Botswana, for example, with European Union support, an enormous growth in livestock production using groundwater. That in itself has put great pressure on the Botswana landscape," Professor Thomas told BBC News.

"[The shifting sands] will make those Western-sponsored programmes very unsuccessful into the future."

All outcomes
The Oxford team took data from three different computer models that are used to forecast likely climate change over the course of the next century.

The scientists ran this information through their own simulator, which has been specifically tuned to the dynamics of the Kalahari dunefields.

These dunes punctuate 2.5 million sq km of Africa - from the northern end of South Africa, right up through Angola, Botswana and Namibia, to western Zimbabwe and western Zambia.

They were built up thousands of years ago and are now reasonably well covered by vegetation.

But Professor Thomas and colleagues found that no matter which general climate model data they used, their simulator came out with projections for dramatic increases in dune "activity" - they will start to erode and move as precipitation falls and wind speeds increase.

The southern dunefields of Botswana and Namibia become activated by 2040, while the more northerly and easterly dunes in Angola, Zimbabwe and Zambia begin to shift significantly by 2070.

By the end of the 21st Century, all the dunes from South Africa to Zambia and Angola are likely to be reactivated.

Changing world
Tens or even hundreds of thousands of people would be affected by such changes, the team said.

"The Kalahari is a large area that supports a reasonably big rural population that lives by farming," Professor Thomas explained.

"It's these people who are vulnerable to their currently savannah-like environment becoming a rather more hostile, active, dune landscape than it is today.

He added: "There has been little work done on how the landscape is likely to evolve under climate change impacts.

"We've had a lot of work done on ice-cap melt and glacier retreat; there's been a lot of interest in changes around coastlines, particularly Europe and North America, and the low-lying islands of the Pacific, of course. But relatively little concern has been expressed with regard to the way the landscapes of Africa are likely to change in the 21st Century.

"What we're saying here is that these landscapes are potentially very dynamic and they can kick in with a form of activity that is rather hostile to farming."

The leaders of the major industrial countries, known as the G8, meet in Scotland on 6 July to discuss African development and climate change.

Last week, an alliance of 21 UK-based charities and environment groups issued a report which claimed any G8 strategy to alleviate poverty in Africa was doomed to failure unless urgent action was taken to halt climate change.

Source: BBC News

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Global warming could shift sands of African desert areas

Seven scuba diving deaths recorded in past two weeks

Officials with CoCo View resort announce the deaths of two divers Tuesday near Pirates Point. One was a guest on a guided tour, the other was Divemaster Tulio Gomez. Both occurred minutes into the excursion.

There were no witnesses to either incident.

In a statement, resort management says diving was suspended Tuesday until all systems could be evaluated, but boat diving would resume Thursday morning.

Authorities are investigating what caused the mishaps, with autopsies ordered on both divers. The equipment used during the dives has also been taken into evidence. Footage from web cams is also under review.

Other scuba diving deaths:
On Monday, a 34-year-old crew member on a private dive boat in the Bahamas died. Officials say D.J. Pottorf was aboard the Nekton Rorqual and decided to "free dive" without scuba equipment. Fort Lauderdale police say witnesses tried unsuccessfully to revive Pottorf.

An autopsy is being performed. Last Friday, retired New York City police officer, Frank Langon, went missing while on a dive excursion at "Hole in the Wall" in South Florida's Jupiter Inlet. U.S. Coast Guard and local police searched for days before calling off rescue operations on Tuesday.

The latest deaths bring the number of scuba diving fatalities in the past two weeks to at least seven.

Source: www.allheadlinenews.com

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Seven scuba diving deaths recorded in past two weeks

The new Jaws era...a chance for divers to play a new role

Based on the successful 1975 film of the same name, Playstation's new game, Jaws lets you play as a great white shark who must defend his territory from underwater drillers. The game features locations from the movie and destructible underwater environments.

The game storyline is not unfamiliar: Amity Island is growing, making corporate connections with prestigious companies like Environplus to improve the Island's economy. Unfortunately the increased population around the Island and recent industrial activity has also attracted YOU--one of Earth's most fearsome creatures--a Great White Shark.

When the Environplus CEO's son falls prey to your deadly attacks, the CEO hires renowned shark hunter Cruz Ruddock to track and kill you. Meanwhile, Marine Biologist Michael Brody tries to capture you for research. Can Ruddock and Brody stop you from causing havoc and killing more people before the 4th of July celebration?

Damage the surrounding vehicles, enemies, and structures with your underwater and surface attacks. With "shark vision," you can see your victims before they know you're coming. In addition to being the predator, you must solve puzzles, battle bosses, and overcome a variety of challenges. It is scheduled to be released in the United States in October 2005.

The 30th Anniversary Edition of JAWS the movie just hit store shelves. This exclusive double DVD set contains deleted scenes and outtakes, a never-before-available interview with director Steven Spielberg, a two hour documentary on the Making of Jaws and much more.

Features:

• Take control of Jaws the Great White Shark while playing out themes and in locations from the JAWS film universe
  
  
• More than 10 meticulously detailed, destructible environments, each with unique designs and intense action
  
  
• Unleash real-time damage on intelligent enemies, vehicles and structures
  
  
• Perform a variety of stunning underwater, surface and air attacks via a user friendly combat system
  
  
• Dismemberment engine provides multiple points of disconnection allowing for characters and objects to be torn apart piece by piece
  
  
• Follow story-based missions or choose to freely roam the island and its surroundings causing havoc
  
  
• Encounter multiple side missions/challenges including timed destruction, stealth, chase and others
  
  
• Face fearsome arena bosses including killer whales, powerful boats and more
  
  
• See your victims before they know you’re coming and target lock on enemies from afar with Shark Vision
  
  
• Created by Appaloosa Interactive, developer of the award-winning Ecco the Dolphin series
  

To learn more about the game and play a demo version, visit Playstation's dedicated website: http://www.jawsthegame.com

Source: www.divenews.com

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Bull Sharks blamed for attacks in Florida

The past 10 days have seen three extraordinary incidents involving sharks in the waters of Florida.

The extreme western sector of Florida's Gulf Coast has seen two shark attacks on recreational swimmers, one fatal. In addition, a salt-water shark was found deep in the interior of the state, in a fresh-water lake far from the ocean coastlines.

The lake shark was a bull, and it is suspected that the animals involved in both of the attacks ( which took place in the Gulf of Mexico) were bull sharks as well.

The bull shark is known locally as a very aggressive and unusual species, stopping at nothing to fill its belly and indiscriminate in its appetites. The bull's willingness to devour anything, including the decaying animal carcasses that often make their way from interior waterways to ocean outlets, often results in bite victims developing severe infections from the bacterial colonies in the bull sharks' mouths.

These three events have begun to focus local divers' (and other aquatics enthusiasts') attention on the Florida bull shark population, with increasing concern that Federal regulations imposed during the 1990's to protect the inshore shark species may now be resulting in overpopulation pressures which induce the bulls to range farther, and hunt novel prey in search of nourishment.

Source: www.deeperblue.net

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Bull Sharks blamed for attacks in Florida

Florida attacks spotlights the real, but rare danger of shark attacks

Two shark attacks in three days off the Florida Panhandle have left one teen dead and a second seriously injured. The tragedies spotlight the real, though rare, danger of shark attacks.

Yesterday a shark nearly severed the leg of 16-year-old Craig A. Hutto of Lebanon, Tennessee, as he and two companions fished in chest-deep water 60 feet (18 meters) off Cape San Blas.

Hutto was airlifted to a hospital in Panama City, where doctors amputated his severely damaged leg. Hutto remains in critical but stable condition and is expected to recover.

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

Yesterday's attack followed the death on Saturday of Jamie Marie Daigle. The 14-year-old from Gonzales, Louisiana, was fatally bitten by a shark as she boogie-boarded with a friend near Miramar Beach.

Daigle "was [reportedly] well offshore in a sandbar area where sharks are known to prowl," said Burgess, who believes a bull shark was the likely culprit. "Baitfish were sighted in the area as well. So two contributing factors were isolation and baitfish activity."

Scientists collect such clues to further their understanding of why sharks occasionally attack.

"We're not trying to point figures at people or suggest that they did something wrong," Burgess said. "These are just important contributing factors, because shark attacks happen for a reason."

The two shark attacks occurred some 80 miles (130 kilometers) apart.

Attacks Rare But Rising
Shark attack numbers have risen over recent decades. The reason is not more aggressive animals but booming human populations and increased coastal recreation.

"It's sad, but it's natural that the more people … get into the water, the more chances there are for these things to happen," said Ramón Bonfil, a shark researcher with the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Bonfil, whose recent work includes the hand capture and tagging of great white sharks, said people should arm themselves with information before taking to the water.

"I'd never say that the sea is absolutely safe. I'd say assume the responsibility and the knowledge that there is a potential danger of encountering a shark," he cautioned.

"If we go to the Serengeti and walk in the bush, we should know that we might encounter a lion. But for some reason people assume that the sea is safe and that we have the right to play safely," he said. "We tend to forget that it's the natural habitat of sharks and other predators."

Still, statistics suggest that fear of shark attack shouldn't deter beachgoers.

The United States averages only about one shark-attack fatality every two years. By comparison, lightning kills more than 41 people each year, on average, in the coastal U.S. alone.

Each year there are 50 to 70 confirmed shark attacks and 5 to 15 shark-attack fatalities around the world, according to the International Shark Attack File, which is maintained by the American Elasmobranch Society and the Florida Museum of Natural History.

Though Florida has been a relative hotbed of shark activity, with an average of 21 annual attacks since 1990, the death on Saturday of Jamie Marie Daigle was only the fourth fatality in the state in the past 15 years.

"Statistically it's like the lottery … . I'm cautious but conscious that my chances of being that one-in-millions-guy are very low," Bonfil, the Wildlife Conservation Society shark researcher, said.

Shark experts say media coverage of shark attacks is unfailingly heavy-handed and tends to spike fear of sharks in a predictable summer pattern.

The summer of 2001, for example, saw an explosion of shark-attack media hype and was even heralded on the cover of Time magazine as the "Summer of the Shark." Yet 2001 was statistically average: The year saw 76 shark attacks and 5 fatalities worldwide, compared to 85 attacks and 12 fatalities in 2000.

"It's frustrating to try and understand why so much attention is focused on sharks [rather than other dangerous animals]," Bonfil said. "When these [attacks] happen so close to each other, that's when the paranoia starts."

"We've had two serious attacks back-to-back," Burgess added. "It's a tragedy, and we can't short-change the implications of that. But the reality is that this is still a very rare event. Our chances of being attacked are very slim, and those of being killed are slimmer yet."

Sharks, themselves, don't enjoy such favorable odds.

Although they kill fewer than 20 people a year, sharks suffer greatly at human hands. According to the American Elasmobranch Society, between 20 and 100 million sharks die each year due to fishing activity.

Source: National Geographic

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Florida attacks spotlights the real, but rare danger of shark attacks

Stranded bulk carrier's cargo to be removed

The bulk carrier Kiperousa was still stranded on the coast near East London on Tuesday, three weeks to the day after running aground.

Repeated attempts to re-float the vessel have failed.

SA Maritime Authority (Samsa) spokesperson Peter Kroon said the latest effort on Friday to pull the vessel was unsuccessful.

He attributed this to the good weather.

Most of the attempts to re-float the ship have been planned around spring tide when the waves were at their most tumultuous.

"Salvors don't like good weather. They want swells and waves," he said, adding that calm weather was no good in a rescue attempt of this nature.

He said Friday's attempt had been abandoned and the salvors would now start removing the ship's 8 000-log cargo to make her lighter.

"We will possibly try pull her off within the next week or two," Kroon said.

The Kiperousa - a 14 921-ton log-carrier - ran aground on a reef off Bhenga, south of Hamburg, in the Eastern Cape, three weeks ago while en route from Gabon to Durban to take on fuel oil.

Source:

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Stranded bulk carrier's cargo to be removed

Three new world heritage sites on the cards for South Africa

Three new sites in South Africa may become United Nations world heritage sites.

They are the Vredefort Dome in the Free State, the Taung Skull fossil site in North West and the Makapans Valley in Limpopo.

The nominations were unveiled in Johannesburg on Tuesday by Arts and Culture Minister Pallo Jordan at a briefing on the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) World Heritage Committee (WHC) meeting to be held in Durban next week.

"The prestige of having world heritage sites in a country raises awareness of heritage and conservation," said Jordan.

"The ultimate goal of having the sites recognised is to enhance the quality of collective existence and preserve them for future generations."

He said each site was chosen because it had something to offer.

The Vredefort Dome was formed by a meteorite hitting the earth - thought to be the biggest meteorite strike yet known - and is regarded as valuable for scientific research.

Taung is where an early Hominid skull was discovered.

The Makapans Valley was home to some of the earliest settlements in South Africa that range in age as far back as three million years.

South Africa is already home to six world heritage sites and hopes are high that the new three nominations will be approved by the world heritage committee, said Jordan.

To prevent these sites from being de-listed as world heritage sites, an African World Heritage Fund will be set up to maintain and preserve them.

These sites include Robben Island, the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park, the Cradle of Humankind at Sterkfontein near Krugersdorp, Drakensberg Park, Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape in Limpopo and the Cape Floral Region Protected Areas.

"Robben Island is one such site that was in danger of being de-listed because the WHC inspectors found it was not well preserved," said Jordan.

"This fund will ensure that this site and others are well preserved and will not be de-listed."

Contributions towards the fund will come from the public and private sector, as well as other governments and international organisations, said Jordan.

There are over 788 world heritage sites situated in 134 countries, with 63 sites in Africa.

"South Africa's six existing sites and the nomination of three others does not only bring prestige to the country, but impacts on other significant factors like economic development, tourism and sustainable development," said this year's chairman of the WHC, Themba Wakashe.

He said all national sites would be branded, linking the sites together as opposed to being seen in isolation.

"By clustering them the opportunities for retail and tourism can be enhanced. It is hoped that the branding will have positive effects on the individual sites as well as on the communities around them," Wakashe said.

"Our African Heritage" was chosen as the logo to be used on all heritage sites.

Source: www.iol.co.za

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Three new world heritage sites on the cards for South Africa

Tortoise thieves running amok on Zanzibar

Thieves are taking advantage of lax security and the docile nature of giant Aldabra tortoises to purloin growing numbers of the protected reptiles from Zanzibar's Changu Island, a senior official said on Tuesday.

Despite efforts to stop the thefts, nearly half the estimated 200 Aldabra tortoises that troll the sun-drenched tourist stop have been picked or hoisted up and stolen over the past eight years, he said.

At least 80 of the slow-moving, placid herbivores, second in size only to the mammoth Galapagos tortoise, have been stolen between 1998 and 2004 and only eight have yet been returned, Zanzibar tourism minister Mussa Ame Silima said.

"We are working hard to prevent theft of tortoises, one of the best tourist attractions in Zanzibar on Changu Island," he told lawmakers, pledging to curb the rampant theft of the animals.

Silima said eight stolen tortoises had been recovered and returned but another 21 seized by authorities on the Tanzanian mainland had yet to be brought back due to an ongoing legal battle with the alleged owners.

His comments came in response to a question from MP Ramadhan Pandu who represents the Zanzibar South constituency in the semi-autonomous Tanzanian island's parliament and demanded to know how if the government took tortoise theft seriously.

"We want the government to be serious in protecting our tourist attractions, like those in Changu Island," he said, lamenting the decline in numbers of the tortoises which tourists often attempt to ride during beach excursions.

Silima said his office was working with private sector tourism industry to step up enforcement of laws intended to protect the tortoises from nefarious animal collectors and vowed greater patrols.

The tortoises, which can often grow to weigh more than 225kg, are a main attraction on Changu, also known as Prison Island, just off Zanzibar, that used to house slaves pending their transport to other markets.

Source: www.iol.co.za

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Tortoise thieves running amok on Zanzibar

Meet the newly appointed BSAC Council members for 2005 - 2008

Following the BSAC Annual General Meeting in May of this year, the BSAC has some newly elected Council members.

You can meet all of Council at www.bsac.com/about/meetcouncil.htm and see where their interests lie and also their contact details.

In July the Council are meeting and will be allocating their teams and their objectives for the next three years. Once these teams are formed the email addresses for team leaders will be promoted and if you have anything which you would particularly like to raise specific to that team for discussion you will be able to do this.

In the meantime, existing and new Council members are keen to attend local branches and carry out Regional Visits and meetings if you would like to meet them. In some areas this is already happening.

Over the next few months you will see more about the BSAC Council and hopefully meet many of them.

Bob Healey, a newly elected member is keen to carry out any visits, meetings, formal or informal or attend an event if you wish him to in his area, North West England. Please do contact Bob directly at bob.healey@bsac.com or north.sdo@bsac.com or northwestsnorkeller@ntlworld.com or telephone on 0161 292 6243. Bob would be delighted to hear from you.

To contact other Council members for visits please email them on the email address provided on the website.

Source: www.bsac.org

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Shark attacks in perspective - article

Say the word "shark" and the first image most people conjure up is a Jaws-inspired white shark devouring unsuspecting bathers while well-meaning authorities and scientists helplessly stand by.

Shark attacks are probably the most feared natural danger to man, surpassing even hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes in the minds of most beach users and sailors. Among the earth's large animals implicated in the attack and consumption of humans, only sharks have not been "controlled" by man.

Even the fiercest of terrestrial predators, the large cats and bears, are extremely susceptible to a rifle and "problem" animals simply have been eliminated, leaving many of these species endangered. Some crocodilians, especially the Nile and saltwater crocodiles, are certainly as dangerous as sharks, but these reptiles have never captured as much "press" in part because their populations are largely limited to Third World countries and they, too, are vulnerable to human hunting pressure.

The sea's only other creatures with the capability of consuming a human, killer and sperm whales, are not normally considered threats to man. Sharks, on the other hand, have been documented attackers (and sometime consumers) of humans around the world throughout recorded history and have remained relatively immune from human intervention.

Shark attacks did not become a subject of particular public interest until the twentieth century. Several factors have contributed to the upswing in public awareness of shark attacks during the last sixty years. First and foremost has been the evolution of the press from a parochial to a cosmopolitan news-gathering system that covers a larger portion of the world in a more rapid and comprehensive manner.

Increased competition and a shift of journalistic values in certain quarters additionally has contributed to more active searches for "shock" stories, i.e. those that titillate the public and promote sales. Needless to say, an examination of current weekly tabloids confirms that "shark eats man" is a best-selling story line.

World War II, with a plethora of air and sea disasters never before encountered during previous confrontations or in peacetime, regrettably spawned large numbers of shark attacks and spurred research to find an effective shark repellent. The general worldwide trend towards more intense utilization of marine waters for recreational activities during this time period has also increased the chances of shark-human interactions with a resulting increase in the total number of attacks. Add in fictionalized shark accounts in the popular press and movies and it's easy to see why shark attack is a hot topic.

Shark attack is a potential danger that must be acknowledged by anyone that frequents marine waters, but it should be kept in perspective. Bees, wasps and snakes are responsible for far more fatalities each year. In the United States the annual risk of death from lightning is 30 times greater than that from shark attack.

For most people, any shark-human interaction is likely to occur while swimming or surfing in nearshore waters. From a statistical standpoint the chances of dying in this area are markedly higher from many other causes (such as drowning and cardiac arrest) than from shark attack. Many more people are injured and killed on land while driving to and from the beach than by sharks in the water.

Shark attack trauma is also less common than such beach-related injuries as spinal damage, dehydration, jellyfish and stingray stings and sunburn. Indeed, many more sutures are expended on sea shell lacerations of the feet than on shark bites!

Nevertheless, shark attack is a hazard that must be considered by anyone entering the marine domain. As in any recreational activity, a participant must acknowledge that certain risks are part of the sport: jogging offers shin splints, camping brings ticks and mosquitoes, tennis may result in sprained ankles, and so on.

Beach recreation has its inherent risks as well, and shark attack is simply one of many that must be considered before entering the water. Most people agree, however, that the extremely slim chance of even encountering a shark - much less being bitten - does not weigh heavy in their decision-making.

Article Source: Florida Museum of Natural History Ichthyology Department

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Shark attacks in perspective - article

Master the Zen of diving with peak performance buoyancy

What's the quickest way to tell the difference between a novice diver and an experienced diver underwater? The answer is easy - just observe their buoyancy skills.

You can tell in an instant if divers are truly comfortable in the water. Inexperienced divers are easy to spot – they're still trying to master staying in one place. But with practice and the right training, anyone can effortlessly hover over the reef like a zen master.

PADI's Peak Performance Buoyancy Specialty course can significantly improve your dive skills in as little as one day. Here are just a few examples of how Peak Performance Buoyancy can improve your dive experience:

Reduce air consumption by adjusting your position in the water - without swimming or using your BCD. Learn how proper weighting can help you float effortlessly above the reef in the perfect horizontal position.

Hone your underwater photography skills by practicing the perfect hover. You can earn a free PADI Excursion kit by enrolling in a PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy Specialty course during the month of July.

Visit your PADI Dive Center or Resort, or click here for more information.

Source: SportDiver Magazine

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Master the Zen of diving with peak performance buoyancy

Shark attack scare hits the United States

A shark mauled a 16-year-old boy fishing in knee-deep water off the Florida coast on Monday, causing panic just three days after a teenaged girl was killed in another attack.

A number of beaches were closed because of the attacks.

The youth was fishing on a sand bar off the Gulf of Mexico resort of Cape San Blas when he was seized by a shark, which inflicted critical injuries to his leg.

Gulf county spokesperson Dalton Upchurch said the boy, who was not named, had waded out from the beach with a friend to go fishing.

A spokesperson at the Bay Medical Centre hospital told US media that following an operation the youth would survive.

Upchurch said all beaches in the county had been closed until Tuesday as a precaution.

On Saturday a 14-year-old girl, Jamie Marie Daigle, was killed in an attack about 100km down the same coast in neighbouring Walton County.

Walton County beaches were closed on Sunday but reopened Monday.

Daigle had been playing on a boogie board with a friend, Felicia Venable, about 180m offshore when they spotted a "dark shadow" in the water.

Venable swam frantically to shore after she saw Daigle being pulled underwater, police said.

A nearby surfer Tim Dicus found the girl, who came from Louisiana, unconscious in the water and put her on his surfboard to float her back to shore even as the shark made repeated attempts to stage a new attack.

Dicus, 54, said he heard a scream and found the girl in the centre of a circle of bloody water and that much of the girl's thigh had been cut to the bone. Daigle died from wounds suffered in the attack.

"The shark kept coming back around," Dicus said. "I've never been so scared in my life. It was like the movie 'Jaws' except I was in it."

Erich Ritter of the Shark Research Institute said the girl was probably attacked by a 1.85m-long bull shark, based on measurements of the bite wounds.

"This was a rare case where the shark hits many times," said Ritter, whose organisation campaigns to protect the predator.

Shark attacks remain rare, with just 61 unprovoked attacks in 2003, including seven deaths: two in Australia; two in the United States; and one each in Brazil, Egypt and South Africa, according to the International Shark Attack Files.

In Florida there were 12 recorded shark attacks last year, down from 30 in 2003, when it had the largest number in the world, according to the University of Florida.

But scientists have warned that the number has been rising in recent decades because of the growing number of swimmers and surfers at sea.

Ritter said warmer water could have drawn sharks closer to the two teenagers attacked in recent days.

Source: www.news24.com

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Shark attack scare hits the United States

Australian fishing group attacks shark dive fee plan

There has been a mixed reaction to a NSW Government plan to introduce a fee to dive with grey nurse sharks in marine parks.

As part of its campaign to protect the endangered species, the Government wants to introduce a $20 fee per diver.

All diving with the grey nurses would be under the supervision of commercial operators.

The NSW Fishing Clubs Association has condemned the move, claiming it is a smokescreen to ban all activities in marine parks.

But a commercial diver based on the north coast, Peter Hitchens, believes the tax is a good idea and another way of protecting the shark.

He says his only concern is how the revenue would be spent by the Government.

"I feel all divers up the coast would be very keen to contribute to something if it's going to...help the shark out - personally I'd like to see where the money would go to and what help it's going to give the shark," he said.

The fee would apply to 10 critical habitat sites along the NSW coast, including those in South-West Rocks, Byron Bay, Forster and Seal Rocks.

The NSW Minister for Primary Industries, Ian Macdonald, says the money raised by the fee would contribute to the ongoing costs of research and breeding programs for the grey nurse.

It is believed that less than 500 of the sharks remain in NSW waters.

Mr Macdonald says the exact cost and the means of administering the fee will be determined in consultation with dive operators and other stakeholders, but a date for implementation has yet to be set.

"It would be used exactly for what I'm saying, that is research and supporting programs for the grey nurse shark on those sites, and that is the absolute guarantee that I give," he said.

"That we will be doing further research into the survival of this shark and this money will be...dedicated to research and development."

Source: www.abc.net.au

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Australian fishing group attacks shark dive fee plan

DAN and International ATMO offer scholarships

The DAN America Recompression Chamber Assistance Program (RCAP) and International ATMO, a leader in hyperbaric medical education, have joined together to offer scholarships to send candidates to the International ATMO Hyperbaric Safety Director Course in San Antonio, Texas.

The course scholarship is available to all staff members of remote chambers affected by RCAP; the course is held twice a year, the dates for the next class is Oct. 19-22.

To promote the appropriate education of recompression chamber personnel, DAN RCAP will provide at least two scholarships for attendance at the course. Assistance will be in the form of transportation, housing and subsistence. International ATMO, Inc. will provide the fee for course attendance.

This 30-hour program, which is offered at the Nix Medical Center in downtown San Antonio, is designed to provide necessary tools and resources to fulfill the responsibilities of the hyperbaric safety director as defined by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA 99, Standard for Health Care Facilities).

This course is appropriate for hyperbaric technologists, respiratory therapists, nurses and physicians. The curriculum includes classroom instruction and practical exercises.

The selection of a suitable candidate will be based on a number of requirements. For scholarship selection criteria and an application form, check the DAN website.

Through its Recompression Chamber Assistance Program, DAN assists recompression chambers in the DAN America region in areas of equipment, training and emergency assistance or helps those chambers maintain or reach levels DAN America believes appropriate. DAN also assists those chambers that may otherwise not be able to financially provide what is needed.

Founded in 1979 under the guidance of Dr. Jefferson C. Davis, International ATMO is one of the oldest continuous providers of hyperbaric medicine services. It has provided technical, nursing, and management services for comprehensive wound care programs at two hospital-based locations in San Antonio, Texas. Corporate President, Paul J. Sheffield, Ph.D., is an original founder of the organization.

For more information on this release, contact DAN Communications at editors@DiversAlertNetwork.org or call +1-919-684-2948.

Source: Divers Alert Network

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DAN and International ATMO offer scholarships

Shark kills teen in Florida

A 14-year-old girl was bitten to death by a shark as she swam with a friend off a northwestern Florida beach, authorities said on Sunday.

Jamie Marie Daigle and her friend, Felicia Venable, also 14, were about 180 metres off shore on Saturday when they saw a "dark shadow" in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the Walton County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

Venable swam to shore to call for help after she saw Daigle being pulled underwater and saw she had been bitten, the statement said.

Jack Timothy Dicus heard the calls for help, swam to the girl and saw her lying face down in the water and unconscious. He put her on his surfboard to float her back to shore.

The shark tried to attack the girl repeatedly as Dicus brought her back to shore, but Dicus was able to strike its nose and continue toward the beach, authorities said.

Rescuers tried to save Daigle, but the Gonzalez, Louisiana girl, who was bitten on the lower part of her body, died of her wounds.

Shark attacks are extremely rare, with just 61 unprovoked shark attacks in 2003, including seven deaths: two in Australia; two in the United States; and one each in Brazil, Egypt and South Africa, according to the International Shark Attack Files.

Attacks have been on the rise since the beginning of the 20th century as more and more people swim, surf and sail. Attacks peaked in 1990, with 481 over 10 years, according to the group, which keeps the worldwide statistics.

Source: www.news24.com

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Shark kills teen in Florida

New software able to track causes of oil spills and pollutants

Authorities now have a new tool to help nail culprits responsible for oil spills and other chemical pollutants, an international chemistry conference will hear.

Details of new computer software that will help to analyse more accurately the source of pollution will be presented at the Connect 2005 conference of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, to be held in Sydney next month.

When an environmental regulator wants to find out whether a tanker is the source of an oil slick, it collects oil samples from the tanker and the slick to try and work out if they match.

But an Australian analytical chemist, who has developed the new software, says that turns out not to be easy.

"[The samples] are never quite the same," says Professor Bryn Hibbert of Sydney's University of New South Wales.

"By the time the oil's got onto the beach it's changing all the time because of the environment. It's weathering, as we call it."

Current methods rely on an expert profiling hundreds of different chemical compounds in the oil samples and then comparing chemical profiles.

"They look at it and then the expert stands up in court and says, 'In my professional opinion these two come from the same source'," he says.

Calculating the probability
Hibbert is taking a different approach, based on using statistical analysis to calculate the probability of samples coming from a particular source.

He uses a database of chemical profiles of oil samples, and using a famous statistical theorem known as Bayes' theorem, comes up with the probability of a match.

Hibbert says the theorem was originally developed in the 1700s by Reverend Thomas Bayes, when he was trying to work out the probability that God existed.

The research was government funded and Hibbert worked with what was then the New South Wales environment protection agency to develop the software.

Hibbert says the software may help regulatory agencies to more cost-effectively prosecute polluters, and can be applied to other fields including forensics.

Part of the research was published earlier this year in the journal Analytical Chemistry.

Source: abc.net.au

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New software able to track causes of oil spills and pollutants

Marine polution risk minimised during Kiperousa salvage operation

The risk of marine pollution at the scene of the stranded Kiperousa, is substantially minimised as an the oil transfer operation which commenced earlier this week, is nearing completion.

The Department is pleased with the progress made by the salvors who began pumping the approximately 250 cubic metres of heavy fuel oil and 63 cubic metres of diesel oil from the grounded Kiperousa onto a receiving tug, the Nikolay Chiker, earlier this week.

The 'Kuswag1', the Department's oil pollution abatement vessel, remains on standby and the Department anti pollution patrol aircraft, 'Kuswag 8', continues to undertake regular aerial surveillance of the area. No further oil leaks have been reported.

The protective boom across the Mtana Estuary located north of the grounded 'Kiperousa which was set up by the departments' response team, would remain in place until the vessel is successfully re-floated. Our response team remains at site, monitoring the situation closely.

The salvors are continuing with attempts to re-float the grounded vessel. The removal operation of the deck cargo has commenced in preparation for the next re-floating attempt scheduled for later today when swell conditions are expected to be favourable.

The Kiperousa, a 14921 gross ton log-carrier, en route from West Africa to the Far East, grounded on a reef off Bhega, 5 miles south of Hamburg in the Eastern Cape on 7th June 2005.

Source: www.deat.gov.za

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Marine polution risk minimised during Kiperousa salvage operation

Whaling issue 'still unresolved'

The 57th Annual International Whaling Commission (IWC) concluded its five day meeting on Friday in the South Korean coastal town of Ulsan with an agreement to hold further talks on a management procedure of whale hunts.

IWC member countries accepted a resolution presented by Germany, Ireland and South Africa which plans further discussions over a revised management scheme (RMS) to permit controlled catches.

Since 1986 there has been a prohibition against the commercial hunt for large whales.

The working group is to meet ahead of the next IWC conference to discuss the "remaining issues that must be resolved before adoption of the RMS can be considered".

The approval guarantees that the discussions are continued, said German delegation leader Peter Bradhering.

Discussions on a RMS, which the IWC has been working on for years, could replace the current ban on whaling.

Neither the pro-whaling countries such as Japan, Norway or Iceland nor the anti-whaling camp that includes Australia, New Zealand and Germany have been able to compromise on a management scheme draft.

On Tuesday, the commission rejected Japan's proposal to replace the prohibition on commercial whaling with an RMS to allow controlled catches.

Thursday, Japan was handed another defeat when a proposal to allow limited hunts of 150 minke whales annually was rejected. Japan then withdrew a second request to catch 150 humpback whales.

Source: www.news24.com

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Whaling issue 'still unresolved'

Climate change in Africa gave rise to modern humans

Now experts fear that global warming linked to carbon emissions will have its worst impact on humanity's cradle. "Africa is the most vulnerable continent to climate change," said Jennifer Morgan, director of the Global Climate Change Programme at conservation group WWF.

"Most African livelihoods depend on rain-based agriculture so droughts and floods will have a serious impact on the workforce," she said, adding that the continent's extreme poverty reduced its ability to cope. Africa's plight will be high on the agenda of a Scottish summit of the Group of Eight industrialized nations next month which could herald increased aid flows to the region.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has also made climate change a priority of Britain's year-long presidency of the G8.

Global warming is widely blamed on emissions of heat-trapping gases from cars, factories and power plants -- gases mostly spewed from the rich world.

"If leaders don't deal with climate change effectively they won't be doing all they can for Africa," said Morgan.

APOCALYPSE NOW
Climate change in Africa prodded mankind's distant ancestors along their evolutionary path as forests gave way to grasslands, forcing early humans into an open environment where it appears stone tools and long strides first developed.

But while most past changes in weather patterns were gradual -- giving our pre-historic ancestors a chance to adapt -- the pace of global warming today could overwhelm modern Africa.

The United Nations projects that temperatures may rise by 1.4-5.8 Celsius by the year 2100.

Desertification threatens to drive millions of Africans from their homes, said a recent international report drawing on the work of 1,360 scientists in 95 nations.

The problem is illustrated by gullies of eroded, barren earth scarring the shoreline of Lake Victoria, which borders Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The Kenya-based World Agroforestry Center says one of them, the Katuk-Odeyo gully, now extends to a remarkable 45 km (30 miles).

Global warming may already be a source of violence in central Nigeria, where nomadic cattle herders and peasant farmers have been locked in conflict over scarce land for decades as the desert creeps southwards.

Deforestation, dwindling water supplies and rising sea levels could spark mass migrations, provoking ethnic conflict.

"Regions that are already least secure in food production, like sub-Saharan Africa, stand to be worst affected by global warming as wet areas become wetter and dry areas become drier," says a recent global report on climate change.

Uganda's climate has become hotter and its rains more erratic in the last decade, researchers and the government say, posing a threat to its key coffee crop.

Rising sea temperatures are also among the threats seen to the coral reefs off Africa's lush east coast, the life-blood of poor coastal communities dependent upon fisheries and tourism.

HUMANITY'S CRADLE
And this tragedy of the weather is unfolding across the continent where climate change gave birth to modern humans.

The evidence for this is embedded in the Sterkfontein caves, 30 km (18 miles) northwest of Johannesburg, where hominid fossils dating back over 4 million years have been unearthed.

"There was a drying up of Africa around 2.5 million years ago ... There was a change from forest to grassland," said Dr. Ron Clarke, who heads excavations at Sterkfontein.

Intriguingly, it was in this period that the Sterkfontein fossil record reveals our ancestors first making stone tools.

"The change in climate may have forced us into an open environment with new challenges which meant we had to adapt by using tools. That of course is speculation," Clarke said.

Climate change would continue to steer humanity's path.

"About 130,000 ago, the climate switched ... briefly into a warmer, moister mode," write Chris Stringer and Robin McKie in their book "African Exodus: The Origins of Modern Humanity."

"The deserts began to retreat and the forests to expand again, a situation that probably led to prototype modern humans' first tentative steps out of Africa into the Middle East 120,000 years ago," they say.

The Sterkfontein Caves, surrounded by rolling farms, are again witness to environmental change -- this time man-made.

"The water table below the caves is dropping because it is being pumped out by local farmers," said Clarke. And water in the area will become more scarce if temperatures rise as fast as some fear.

Source: Reuters

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Climate change in Africa gave rise to modern humans

Tsunami alert system takes shape

Six months after the 26 December tsunami, which swept away a myriad of futures, many homes still remain crumpled and lives shattered. But amongst the ruins a resolve is growing: next time it will be different.

Within both local communities and governments, people are working tirelessly to build a comprehensive tsunami early warning system.

There is still a long way to go but the will is rigid and, already, the distance covered is great.

"We have made a lot of progress. I think by the anniversary we will look back and think, 'My god, did we really do all that in a year?'" said Robert Owen Jones, climate change director for the Australian government.

"On 26 December there weren't any arrangements in place for the Indian Ocean. Now we have the system mapped out, we have lots of plans and money allocated by countries to develop the capabilities. There is no comparison."

The tsunami early warning system for the Indian Ocean can be seen as a two-tier operation.

Firstly, there is the hi-tech network of ocean monitoring technology, which will feed back into an international web of early warning centres. And secondly, there is the low-tech community response drill, which will take an emergency warning to every hawker on the beach.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (Unesco) Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) is coordinating the first tier, while individual governments, with help from the International Red Crescent, are handling the second.

Both tiers are still in the planning stages, but physical "interim" preparations - both technological and social - are already underway.

Network of centres
This week, Unesco is hosting a meeting in Paris to hammer out details for the hi-tech system, which will be shared by 27 countries around the Indian Ocean.

Each country is to set up a tsunami warning centre to receive information from the pressure gauges, seismographs and wave sensors that will survey the ocean basin. Many countries have already begun work on their centres.

"Today we have a very good number of national information centres for tsunami," said Petricio Bernal, executive secretary of the IOC. "We have 25 in all and in December 2004 we didn't have any.

"These centres are helping coordinate emergency preparedness but also warnings for the population."

Some countries have gone a step further. On Monday, Thailand opened a hi-tech national disaster centre.

The one-storey building in Bangkok is packed with state-of-the-art computer and communications equipment, which will receive information from monitoring centres in Hawaii and Japan, as well as national meteorologists, hydrologists and even the public.

"We can broadcast to all TV and radio stations in Thailand," said Col Anutat Bunnag, deputy executive director of Thailand's National Disaster Warning Centre. "Every station will switch from normal programmes to warning centre programmes, and we can send text messages to all mobile phones.

"We could warn people within 20 minutes if another tsunami took shape today."

Mr Bernal is impressed with Thailand's $1.5m (£800,000) centre. "This is a very important investment by Thailand, I think they are taking the lead," he told the BBC News website.

"The centre has the capability for analysing and broadcasting information. They have installed sirens and alarms at beach sites, which are centrally managed."

Hi-tech equipment
Although Thailand's national disaster centre is currently linked up to monitoring stations in Hawaii and Japan, this will become more localised when the arsenal of alert technology is fully installed in the Indian Ocean.

At the moment, several existing tide-gauges are being upgraded so they can fire off immediate information about wave development.

"These upgraded sea-level gauges work in real time to detect changes," said Mr Bernal. "So in other words, they are now capable of detecting the presence of a tsunami after an earthquake."

The next stage will be to install a series of pressure gauges - each worth about $300,000 (£160,000) - which sit under the sea and monitor the weight of water on top of them.

By 2006, when the whole system should be complete, the Indian Ocean will host several million dollars' worth of equipment. However, according to Mr Owen Jones, cost should not be a stumbling block.

"There is a huge willingness and goodwill amongst donor countries to support the system and make sure it works well," he said. "So it is all coming together fairly well."

Low-tech response
As many have pointed out, all the expensive technology in the world amounts to nothing unless individual countries can prepare their sometimes remote communities.

Technology might be the most expensive part of the early warning system, but taking the alert to every fisherman and beach dweller is by far the hardest.

Johan Schaar, of the International Red Crescent, says their job has been particularly tough because they are dealing with communities who are so damaged by the last tsunami that living for the present is all they can do.

"In many communities, people are living in temporary shelter and they still need to survive day to day," he told the BBC News website. "Mobilising and working through communities that are under such stress is very, very hard."

However, the damage caused by last year's tsunami was so catastrophic that a low-tech response chain has already fallen into place, driven by sheer dread. And tragically, it has already been put to the test.

In March of this year, another earthquake hit the region, killing hundreds. Although technology in the Indian Ocean was still incapable of predicting a tsunami, many coastal communities did not wait to be told.

Officials were quick to spread the word in Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand, and thousands of terrified people evacuated their homes. In the end, no tsunami materialised, but the swift response demonstrated that 26 December 2004 will not be allowed a repeat performance.

"I have just been to Sri Lanka and the response there was very good," said Mr Schaar. "The government used existing telecommunications systems and the network of police stations along the coast to warn people. It was very effective - people did evacuate fast."

The region remains volatile, aftershocks reverberate and many experts believe another devastating tsunami may not be so far away.

"People are scared about the possibility of another earthquake and they are very much on their toes," said Mr Schaar. "There is a great risk that this could happen again soon.

"But we can be confident that people would react differently today."

Source: BBC News

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Tsunami alert system takes shape

Korean shark fishing skipper gets off lightly

Eastern Cape newspapers carried the story last week of a South Korean fishing vessel arrested at sea after a dramatic sea chase involving one of Sea Fishery's new patrol ships.

It also appears the master of the arrested long-line shark fishing vessel, Hwan Lee-An, bit off more than he could chew when he tried to entice an official of the Marine & Coastal Management (MCM) to 'look the other way'.

The South Korean fishing vessel Dong Won 630 had on board an MCM observer from Port Elizabeth, Raymond Manning, and was fishing along the South African coast. At first everybody on board the vessel was very friendly towards the observer, until it became obvious he was videoing certain illegal activities on board the ships.

These included the illegal dumping overboard of live sharks after their fins and tails had been removed (they die slowly this way – South African law requires the fishermen to retain the shark carcasses onboard along with their fins for comparison ashore).

According to reports the official was initially offered an inducement to 'look the other way', which he declined. Things then got nasty, with threats made against his well-being; until he felt the need to summon help from the authorities ashore.

As a result the sea fisheries patrol boat Ruth First put to sea and, after an overnight chase in a northeasterly direction, took the Dong Won into custody.

Once in harbour the vessel was placed under detention and the master arrested. Appearing in a Port Elizabeth court a few days later, evidence was led that relations between the crew and Manning had been excellent during the first few days at sea, during which Manning observed the harvesting of shark fins and tails along with the dumping overboard of plastic and other non-biodegradable material.

However, once the crew noticed that he was videoing the laying of long lines during the daytime – illegal because of the danger it poses for albatrosses and other sea birds becoming snared on the hooks when they dive for the bait - things turned nasty. Initially offered an inducement to 'look the other way' Manning was threatened when he made it clear he intended laying a charge once the vessel returned to port.

Hwan Lee-An had been charged with three counts of breaking the conditions of his permit. These related to illegal de-finning of sharks and the dumping overboard of their carcasses; dumping non-biodegradable material overboard; and interfering with the duties of a MCM official.

The permit issued to Dong Won 630 required the bodies of the sharks be retained until the vessel returned to port, where they could be compared with the fins already removed. Manning gave evidence that instead the shark carcasses were dumped overboard to make space for more fins.

On this charge Hwan Lee-An was fined R1 million (or two years in jail) which was suspended for five years.

On a second charge of dumping non-biodegradable material overboard Hwan was fined R150,000 or 18 months imprisonment, of which R100,000 or 12 months was suspended for five years.

On the charge of interfering with the duties of the MCM observer on his ship, he was fined R50,000 or six months, which was also suspended.

Considering the gravity of the charges, which included threats against an official going about his work, plus the cost of mounting a sea chase to apprehend a fleeing vessel, the South Korean can consider himself lucky in getting off so lightly.

Source: www.ports.co.za

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Korean shark fishing skipper gets off lightly

Jellyfish is Anatomically Sophisticated

A U.S. study says the anus-less, headless, heartless, gutless, back or front-less jellyfish is really a remarkable genetically sophisticated creature.

Scientists at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., say beneath the seemingly simple exterior of the jellyfish and its relatives, known as cnidarians, lies an amazing collection of genes including many that give rise to humans' complex anatomy, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

Lead researcher, Kevin J. Peterson, a Dartmouth biologist, said, This data have made a lot of people step back and realize that a lot of what they had thought about cnidarians was all wrong.

Cnidarians developed with their body parts growing from two primordial layers of tissue. Other animals, including humans, have a third layer of embryonic tissue which gives rise to muscles, the heart and other organs not found in cnidarians, the Times reported.

In a paper to be published in the journal Paleobiology, Peterson and his colleagues propose that once water began to fill with animals, the earliest cnidarians anchored themselves to the sea floor and grew upward.

In the process, they abandoned the body plan of their ancestors, the Times reported. Around the same time, cnidarians evolved their weaponry - a cell containing a miniature harpoon for paralyzing prey with toxins.

Source: RedNova News

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Jellyfish is Anatomically Sophisticated

South Africa warned to scale back on gas emissions

Forget about South Africa's big soccer date in 2010 for a moment. Focus instead on 2012 - that's the date when South Africa's honeymoon with cheap and dirty energy supplies is likely to come to an end.

Just seven years from now, the country will most likely be forced by fellow Kyoto Treaty members to scale back on greenhouse gas emissions.

This was the warning given to business and industry by Shirley Moroka, deputy director of Global Climate Change in the department of environmental affairs and tourism.

Speaking at the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry's annual environmental congress, Moroka said four developing countries - South Africa, China, India and Brazil - were expected to come under increasing world pressure to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions from 2012 onwards.

South Africa relies on cheap supplies of coal-generated electricity and is the largest greenhouse gas generator in Africa.

In terms of the Kyoto Treaty which came into force earlier this year, the major industrialised nations of the West are legally bound to reduce their industrial greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 5,2 percent during the treaty's so-called "first commitment period" which lasts from 2008 to 2012.

In this period, developing countries such as South Africa are exempted from having to cut back greenhouse gas emissions.

However, during the second commitment period, which begins in 2012, Moroka says, South Africa will almost certainly have to make cutbacks.

"I don't see us escaping any form of commitments - but we will also have to be able to live with those limits."

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change greenhouse gases are being pumped into the the atmosphere at levels which speed up global warming.

Moroka said there was no longer any doubt that global climate change had started. She said government and industry had to recognise this fact and incorporate climate-change impacts into long-term planning - even to the extent of locating future industrial zones and housing states further away from the coastline because of expected sea-level rises and storm-related disasters.

However, Durban environmental lobbyist Andy Cobb said he detected a noticeable lack of urgency in South Africa on climate change issues. This was despite predictions that Mount Kilimanjaro would lose its snow cover within 15 years because of rising world temperatures.

Bonke Dumisa, Chief Executive of the Durban chamber, also told the congress that the days of driving big petrol-driven cars and intensive use of natural resources were coming to an end.

"Can we continue to live this lifestyle in the next 25 years? The answer is no."

Source: www.iol.co.za

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South Africa warned to scale back on gas emissions

Great white shark dies in captivity

A great white shark mistakenly captured by fishermen died shortly after the Monterey Bay Aquarium transported it to an ocean holding pen.

The 5-foot, 60-pound shark was caught eight days ago off Huntington Beach before a 4 million gallon holding pen had been moved from storage in Mexico and set up in ocean waters off Malibu. Aquarium officials initially moved the female shark to a much smaller holding pool in San Pedro until the larger pen was ready.

The shark was finally moved to the ocean pen on Friday. It was found dead on Sunday.

"It seemed like a reasonable thing to do," said aquarium spokesman Ken Peterson. "Our husbandry staff had some comfort level." But he acknowledged that "something in transit took longer than it should have."

Researchers had not yet decided whether to tag and release the animal or move her north to the aquarium display. Another white shark that had been held for a record 198 days, drawing record visitors, was released back into the wild in March after growing too large and too aggressive.

The cause of death was under investigation. The animal had not eaten since her capture, but it was not clear whether that was caused by an injury, stress from her capture or an unknown medical condition. The results from a necropsy were not immediately available.

"The best indication is she just kind of ran out of gas from not having eaten," Peterson said. The shark also had injured an eye, though it's not clear when or how that occurred. "We didn't feel comfortable releasing it into the wild," Peterson said.

The death is not expected to affect the shark research program, though it does fuel debate over whether the aquarium should be trying to keep white sharks in captivity. "These animals can't be kept long term, and short-term captivity compromises them," said Sean Van Sommeran, executive director of the Pelagic Shark Research Foundation in Santa Cruz

But Chris Lowe, director of the California State University, Long Beach's SharkLab, which works with the Monterey Bay Aquarium, disagrees.

"We're just scratching the surface in terms of what we understand about these animals," he said. "We've learned more in the last four years than we did in the previous 50.

Source: SharksTrust

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Great white shark dies in captivity

National parks opposes diving fee plan

The National Parks Association of New South Wales has come out in opposition to a proposed fee for diving in critical habitats along the state's coast.

Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald last week proposed the fee, with money raised to go toward research to help preserve grey nurse sharks

But the association's marine projects officer, Nicky Hammond, says a better option would be to ban fishing in grey nurse shark habitats.

"So this species, they gather together at certain small areas along the coast of Australia and accidental hookings at these areas means that they're becoming infected," she said.

"They're unable to feed and consequently it's leading to a lot of deaths of the sharks.

"Now, just by eliminating fishing at these small areas, you can actually save the grey nurse shark population along the east coast."

Source: www.abc.net.au

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National parks opposes diving fee plan

Maui swimmer punches tiger shark and gets away with it

Brad Grissom locked eyes with a 7-foot tiger shark just before he punched it in the snout in waters off Kamaole Beach Park I on Saturday morning.

"I didn't really hit him that hard," the 49-year-old Kula contractor and triathlete recalled of his 10-second shark encounter.

Grissom managed to get out of the ocean, and with the help of people on the beach, called in the 10 or so other swimmers in the area. A few minutes later, Maui County ocean safety officers, who had just reported for duty shortly before 8 a.m., closed Kamaole I and all the beaches within a mile in each direction. The beaches, including Kamaole II, Kamaole III, Cove Park and Charley Young, were all reopened at 12:30 p.m.

"I can't believe how lucky I was. It doesn't seem real. It seems like it's a movie but every time I talk about it, it becomes more real," said Grissom.

He had been ill for about two weeks, staying away from Kamaole I, his favorite swimming spot on the island. But on Saturday morning as he was on his way to a job site in Wailea, he decided to stop for a swim.

Grissom said he ventured about 35 yards offshore in an area between the Royal Mauian Resort and Kamaole I. He had been swimming for no more than 15 minutes when he spotted something moving in the water.

"I thought it was a big barracuda," Grissom said. A frequent swimmer at Kamaole I, Grissom said he had seen other kinds of predator fish and small barracudas in the area before – but he had never encountered a shark.

With a second look, he found himself and the shark looking at each other eye to eye. Immediately, the shark swam toward Grissom, who hadn't even given a thought to what he should do. He struck out with his right fist and hit the approaching shark.

Grissom said the shark appeared startled.

"The whole thing happened so fast. . . . I think he was surprised that I responded the way I did," he said.

Grissom said after he punched the shark, he immediately swam to shore. He did not see which direction the shark went.

The water had been "a little murky" Grissom said, but otherwise calm, as on many other swim days.

While sharks are not commonly seen in the waters off the Kamaole beach parks, they are known to occasionally come in close to shore. Swimmers in 1973 and 1974 reported being bitten by small sharks off Kalama Park and Kamaole I.

Grissom said he believed that his attentiveness in the water helped him.

"I’m aware when I'm in the water. I look around me, and I stay aware of what's there," he said.

Grissom said swimmers may feel secure when they see people nearby in the water, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're safe.

"That's what could have happened to me. You get a false security and then you don't stay aware," he said.

Grissom wondered out loud what could have happened had he not keyed in on the shark first.

"He could have bit me," he said.

Grissom said it appeared to be a tiger shark that was at least 7 feet long, maybe 8 feet, and perhaps 2 feet wide. Its color was gray with distinct stripes.

"Its underbelly was so white. I remember that white belly," he said.

Grissom reported the incident to lifeguards on the beach, who immediately followed up by posting shark-warning signs along the beaches, with help from state conservation enforcement officers.

After speaking to the ocean safety officers, Grissom decided it was safer at work and headed off to the job site in Wailea.

"I feel fine," he said.

Ocean Safety Capt. Jeff Meadows said beachgoers were cooperative, but he did have to get the help from the state enforcement officers who spoke to a group of fishermen who had a net in the water and hesitated to take it out.

Gill nets that have fish trapped in the netting can be an attraction to predators such as sharks.

Meadows said standard operating procedure is to close the beaches once a shark sighting is reported.

"You know what, it's better to be safe than sorry," he said.

Meadows and his staff walked the beaches and combed the waters in personal watercraft to look for signs of the shark. They also monitored the shores to make sure no one went swimming while the beaches were closed.

Once they determined that the waters were clear of any shark attractions or a shark itself, the ocean safety officers reopened the beaches.

Seattle visitor Ron Johnson, who arrived at Kamaole I with body boards and his son, Zack, said he didn't mind the beach closure.

"Hey, I'm on vacation. It doesn't matter. As long as I don't have to go to work," he said.

Instead of going in the water, the Johnsons relaxed on the sand near one of the freshly posted "shark sighting" signs.

Source: www.mauinews.com

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Maui swimmer punches tiger shark and gets away with it

Tugs gather around grounded ship for salvage attempt

Like vultures hovering around a fresh kill (or should that be like tow-vehicles gathering at the scene of a roadside accident), three additional tugs are on standby to assist with salvage attempts on the stranded logger Kiperousa.

The 25,375-dwt bulk ship, en route from West Africa to Asia with a load of logs, went aground off the Eastern Cape coast southwest of East London on 7 June after hitting a submerged object, believed to be a reef.

The vessel was sailing close inshore at the time to take advantage of the inshore counter-current and on a heading for Durban where Kiperousa was to take bunkers before heading out across the Indian Ocean.

Although the Tsavliris salvage tug Nicolay Chiker has been awarded the contract to pull the ship clear of the reef on which it is now grounded, all attempts have so far failed. While waiting for this week’s spring tides (the best tide is today, Thursday) several other tugs have arrived to give assistance if required. They include the Durban-based Pentow Service, which went to the scene immediately the call for assistance went out on 8 June, and the Smit Dudula tug Smit Amandla (former John Ross).

Smit Amandla has been successful in pulling a number of wrecks clear of the South African coastline in recent years, whereas Nicolay Chiker, although more powerful has had few jobs in South African waters.

Another tug to arrive from Durban is the service and salvage tug Toto which has been employed to transfer bunker fuel from the stricken Kiperousa ashore at East London. This has been successfully completed.

Yesterday was expected to be the "make or break" attempt – should refloating efforts fail with the high tide then the chances of Kiperousa becoming yet another permanent fixture along the Southern African coast will be that much higher.

Source: www.ports.co.za

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Tugs gather around grounded ship for salvage attempt

Circle hooks help save sea turtles

Results from the first large-scale testing of specially designed fishing hooks show that the use of circle hooks can reduce the number of endangered sea turtles killed in long line fishing operations by as much as 90 percent, said WWF.

The results from the one year research project, which involved 115 fishing vessels in Ecuador, were presented at the annual meeting of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission in Lanzarotte, Spain.

Incidental death - as a result of traditional long line fishing operations - is one of the main reasons for the decline of loggerhead, and giant leatherback turtles, whose numbers in the Eastern Pacific have plunged by more than 90 percent over the past 20 years.

The results of the study found "bycatch" was dramatically reduced when the boats replaced their traditional "J" shaped hooks with specially designed circle hooks.

"This is a win-win situation. We were looking for a way to save the turtles without putting the fishermen out of business. The preliminary results indicate we've found it. Circle hooks seem to be an effective new tool in our efforts to address this urgent conservation problem" said Moises Mug, Fisheries Coordinator for WWF's Latin America and Caribbean programme.

Over the past year, Ecuador's tuna and mahi-mahi fisheries each tested one large and one small circle hook. Larger devices reduced the number of sea turtles that got hooked by 88 percent in the tuna fishery and 37 percent in the mahi-mahi fishery. The smaller hooks proved less effective, but still reduced bycatch rates by 44 and 16 percent, respectively.

So, when the survival rate for hooked turtles was factored into the results, the researchers estimated that the circle hooks reduced sea turtle mortality by 63 to 93 percent in the tuna fishery and 41 to 93 percent in the mahi-mahi fishery, depending on the size of the hook used.

Also encouraging was that catch rates for tuna were almost identical regardless of whether circle or J hooks were used. The catch rate was lower in the mahi-mahi fishery, however, and researchers said further refinement of fishing gear and better training of fishermen would be needed to close the gap.

NOTES:

WWF is now conducting or supporting turtle conservation work in 45 countries and is engaged in every major international turtle conservation policy discussion underway. In the eastern Pacific, WWF has a long history of constructive engagement in the bycatch reduction work of IATTC, and is now formally represented on the Commission. In the western Pacific, WWF has helped shape the new Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission policies, which will be important in reducing turtle bycatch in longline fisheries.

Scientists estimate that as many as 200,000 loggerheads and 50,000 leatherbacks are caught annually by commercial long-line tuna, swordfish, and other fisheries. See: Rebecca L. Lewison, Sloan A.Freeman and Larry B. Crowder, Ecology Letters, (2004) 7: 221–231. Quantifying the effects of fisheries on threatened species: the impact of pelagic longlines on loggerhead and leatherback sea turtles.

For more information, please contact:

Monica Echeverria, WWF’s Communications Coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean, T: +202 778 9626; monica.echeverria@wwfus.org

Source: WWF

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Circle hooks help save sea turtles

Scuba diving fee of $20 to swim with sharks

SCUBA divers could be forced to swallow a fee as high as $20 each time they plunge into the ocean to watch grey nurse sharks.

The State Government is considering the surcharge for diving in the critical habitat areas of the endangered sharks.

Under the plan, divers with their own boats would also be banned from entering the areas, restricting access to accredited professional dive charter operators.

The Fisheries Department, part of the Department of Primary Industries, is asking divers for their views on the new charges.

Primary Industries Fisheries Minister Ian Macdonald told The Daily Telegraph that while no price structure had been set, similar schemes are commonplace overseas.

"In addition, most other recreational users of NSW coastal waters pay a small fee," he said.

Forcing divers to go out only with licensed operators is an attempt to limit the number of people in the water.

"Because of [the shark's] endangered status, the State Government believes some control measures should be in place," Mr Macdonald said.

He said money raised from the fees would go back into research and conservation programs for the grey nurse shark.

Dive shop owner Jack Cavazzini was contacted by the Fisheries Department for his views. "They said it could be a fee per dive or annually and it could be as high as $20 per dive," he said.

"I told them $20 a dive was pretty expensive, especially when some people are only paying $40 to go diving."

Mr Cavazzini, who owns Sundive in Byron Bay, said a fee would be hard to administer and would put people off the sport.

"We do have some impact [on the area] but we try to minimise that – we tell people not to take anything and not to touch anything. There are certain protocols we follow with the grey nurse shark anyway.

"A large proportion of our divers are backpackers and if there's a large increase in price they wouldn't dive here."

Ten critical habitat areas were declared in 2002 for protection of the grey nurse sharks. Fishing has already been banned from these areas and divers are not permitted to dive at night, touch or harass the sharks or use electronic shark repellers.

Grey nurse sharks are listed as critically endangered in NSW and Australia, with fewer than 250 believed left in the wild.

Source: dailytelegraph.news.com.au

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Scuba diving fee of $20 to swim with sharks

Disruptions in the Earth's magnetism causes whale strandings

Increased solar activity causing disturbances in the Earth's magnetic field may cause whales to run aground in the North Sea, say researchers.

Analysis of whales stranded between 1712 and 2003 shows that more are stranded when solar activity is high.

Writing in the Journal of Sea Research, scientists propose that whales use the Earth's magnetic field to assist navigation like homing pigeons do.

As the Sun disrupts the magnetic field whales can become confused, they say.

Animal magnetism
The Sun goes through a cycle with an average length of about 11 years, though individual cycle lengths have ranged from eight to 17 years.

Some evidence exists to suggest that shorter cycles produce a higher flux of radiation from the Sun.

Dr Klaus Vanselow and colleagues from the University of Kiel have analysed the lengths of solar cycles and have found that 87 of the 97 reported sperm whale strandings over the past 300 years in the North Sea region occurred when the length of the Sun's activity cycle was below average.

They argue that whales may be like pigeons and dolphins in having a magnetic sense based on small crystals of magnetite found in certain cells.

Pigeons use such cells to sense the Earth's magnetic field to help in their navigation. Pigeon enthusiasts are well aware that the birds can go astray during times of high solar activity, when disturbances in the magnetic field confuse them.

"It may be the same for whales," Dr Vanselow told the BBC News website. "Sperm whales migrate long distances with very little visual clues as to where they are going. It would be unsurprising if they too had a magnetic sense.

"We believe that our research showing that more whales are beached during times when the Sun disrupts the Earth's magnetic field makes it a strong possibility that they do."

The numbers of cetacean - whale, dolphin and porpoise - strandings around the UK have doubled over the last 10 years.

Marine mammal experts say an increase in fishing activity, which leads to more "by-catch", is a major cause of the problem.

Campaigners also claim increased noise in the oceans, coming from ships' engines and sonar, is a significant factor in whales losing their way.

Source: news.bbc.co.uk

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Disruptions in the Earth's magnetism causes whale strandings

Scientists map ocean floor in Antarctica to reveal hidden dangers to passing ships

Using inflatable boats, a portable depth sounder with GPS, and a REMUS autonomous underwater vehicle, a team of scientists and engineers has created the first detailed, comprehensive chart of the ocean floor around Palmer Station in Antarctica, revealing previously unknown submerged rocks.

The new chart, the first in 50 years, was made by a research team from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the University of Southern Mississippi over five weeks in April and early May as they looked for sites for a new underwater observatory.

Their findings revealed a number of previously unmapped submerged rocks, among them a set of sharp rocky pinnacles that are potential navigational hazards. Some rise nearly 100 meters (about 330 feet) to a depth of six meters (about 20 feet) below the surface and near to the routes generally taken by ships through the area.

The previous nautical chart of the area was produced in the mid 1900's by single soundings taken at very wide spacing. Although some underwater hazards were marked on the earlier chart, the old chart was found to be incorrect by at least 0.5 nautical miles (just under one mile).

Since Palmer Station was first established as a scientific outpost in 1965, ships have followed a particular route through the visible rocks. In typical marine navigation in poorly charted waters, ships new to the area proceed cautiously, making continuous soundings with their bridge fathometer. They then note their routes on charts and follow the same routes when entering and departing the area.

"We were astounded to find these rocks so close to the surface and the shipping lanes," said Scott Gallager, an associate scientist in the Biology Department of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. "When you think of all the ship traffic that has passed through the area through the years and the often hostile weather conditions, you realize how skillful and lucky they have been."

Gallager and co-principal investigator Vernon Asper of the University of Southern Mississippi conducted the survey with WHOI engineers Keith von der Heydt and Gregory Packard. Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation's Office of Polar Programs.

Palmer Station is at 64°46' S, 64°03' W, on protected Arthur Harbor on the southwestern coast of Anvers Island, about midway down the Antarctica Peninsula. Palmer is one of three U.S. research stations on the continent and the only station north of the Antarctic Circle. Named for American sealer Nathaniel B. Palmer, who in 1820 was one of the first to see Antarctica, the station was built in 1968 to replace the prefabricated wood huts of 'Old Palmer' station, established in 1965. In 1990 Palmer Station was designated by the National Science Foundation as a long term ecological research (LTER) site.

Most researchers travel to the station from Punta Arenas, Chile across the Drake Passage aboard the research vessels Laurence M. Gould and Nathaniel B. Palmer, operated by the National Science Foundation for the Antarctic research community. In light of the new information, the Gould and the Palmer are now using modified access routes into Palmer Station to give a wider berth to the newly imaged rock hazards.

Gallager, Asper and their team went to survey the sea floor around Palmer Station to locate possible sites for the installation of the first underwater cabled observatory in Antarctica. The Polar Remote Interactive Marine Observatory (PRIMO) will be equipped with sensors to monitor ocean properties during an entire year.

It will be installed in the Austral fall of 2006 about two nautical miles to the south of Palmer Station on the ocean bottom at a depth of approximately 130 meters (425 feet), connected by a fiber-optic and electrical cable to a newly constructed building at Palmer Station.

Instruments, including current meters, plankton imaging systems, and an under ice video observation system, will travel up and down through the water column throughout the day from the observatory's base to just below the surface, even after the pack ice forms and covers the area.

Proximity sensors on the top of the profiling platform will send and receive acoustic signals to prevent it from contacting the ice. The scientists hope to use this first observatory as a proof of concept and test-bed for a similar observatory to be located in deeper water.

Other scientists, students and educators around the world will be able to access PRIMO via the Internet (http://science.whoi.edu/users/sgallager/PRIMO/home.html) and conduct experiments related to plankton distributions, carbon cycling, and climate change.

"Protection of the cable and underwater platform from grounding icebergs at depths of 100 meters (330 feet) or greater is a major concern, and the primary reason for needing the detailed underwater maps, but finding the rocks was an unexpected bonus of the trip," said Gallager. "The real challenge now is to design and build a platform that will survive the harsh Antarctic winters in the water and provide us the first ever long-term, high resolution glimpses of what is going on in this region of the Southern Ocean. That will be exciting!"

About WHOI:
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is a private, independent marine research, engineering, and higher education organization located in Falmouth, MA. Its primary mission is to understand the oceans and their interaction with Earth as a whole, and to communicate a basic understanding of the ocean's role in the changing global environment. Established in 1930 on a recommendation from the National Academy of Sciences, the Institution is organized into five scientific departments, interdisciplinary research institutes and a marine policy center, and conducts a joint graduate education program with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Contact:
Shelley Dawicki, Media Relations
508-289-2270 or 3340
sdawicki@whoi.edu

Source: www.enn.com

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Scientists map ocean floor in Antarctica to reveal hidden dangers to passing ships

Big fish important in the gene pool - study

Anglers chasing big fish and leaving the small fry might be doing far more harm than good, according to marine scientists in the United States.

Charles Birkeland at the University of Hawaii and Paul Dayton at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California have discovered that big fish are vital to maintaining populations, and taking them does crucial damage.

Not only does the fertility of big females increase dramatically compared with small fish, but the offspring of big fish tend to grow bigger and faster than those of little ones, New Scientist magazine reported.

This means that taking the big fish weakens the gene pool by effectively favouring the fish that grow more slowly and stay small.

Source: www.iol.co.za

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Big fish important in the gene pool - study

Taking the Master Scuba Diver challenge

Want to join the best of the best in recreational diving? Explore the underwater world like never before? Live the dive lifestyle? If you answered yes to any of these questions then you'll want to visit your local PADI Dive Center or Resort to accept the Master Scuba Diver Challenge.

Master Scuba Diver is PADI's highest recreational diving certification. This is where the best of the best come to play because the dive possibilities are endless.

To become a Master Scuba Diver you must log 50 dives and complete the following PADI Courses:

Open Water Diver

Advanced Open Water Diver

Rescue Diver

Five Specialty Diver courses

No one said prestige was easy to come by, but it is certainly well worth it. As a Master Scuba Diver your experience will open a new level of confidence whether you're diving local wrecks, quarries, reefs or exploring exciting dive environments around the world.

Complete your Master Scuba Diver certification before December 2005 and PADI will reward your efforts with a customized wall certificate and embroidered Master Scuba Diver backpack. The challenge is on – it's your turn to Want It, Live It and Dive It. Contact your local PADI Dive Center or Resort and get started today.

Source: PADI

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Taking the Master Scuba Diver challenge

Underwater enthusiasts congregate to 'Celebrate the Sea' in Singapore

The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) Asia Pacific were again proud supporters of the growing underwater photography and film festival – Celebrate the Sea held over 3 full days (3-5 June 2005) Suntec, Singapore.

Supporting our partnership with Asian Geographic Magazines Pty Ltd., PADI Asia Pacific co-hosted a lunch on Friday 3 rd June 2005 and took the opportunity to introduce PADI Diving Society – Asia Pacific to members and partners.

More than 100 guests gathered to attend the informal launch eager to learn more about the exciting new development with Scuba Diver Australasia and the PADI Diving Society!

Celebrate the Sea 2005 opened this year in Singapore with the mantra "We celebrate anything and everything on this earth but neglect the very thing that keeps us alive – the SEA – Let's Celebrate the Sea!"

A plethora of underwater enthusiasts attended the action packed three day event ensuring that all concerned achieved favourable results.

The festival has conservation at its heart which is highlighted by a visually stunning underwater picture and underwater film festival – including international competitions, workshops and seminars. In addition kids are invited to join in the celebration with the children’s painting competitions – showcasing some amazing young talents!

Highlights included "An Unforgettable Evening" with Dr. Sylvia Earle, Scientist & Explorer, David Doubilet, National Geographic Photographer and Dr. Phil Nuytten, Deep Sea Explorer who all inspired and amazed the audience with a series of presentations.

Asia Scuba Tour – a major feature at Celebrate the Sea 2005
Crowds gathered around the Asia Scuba Tour proving again to be a main attraction at Celebrate the Sea.

The try-dive tank was positioned at the entrance to Suntec City shopping centre, supported by PADI and conducted by PADI Members, the Discover Scuba Diving program proved to be a great success with the virgin divers.

Close to 100 first-time divers were invited to suit up and become part of the fast-growing and exciting dive community and PADI officially validated each try dive with the use of the PADI Discover Scuba Diving program.

Source: PADI

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Underwater enthusiasts congregate to 'Celebrate the Sea' in Singapore

PADI Diving Society welcomes members and partners at launch event for Asia Pacific region

The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) Asia Pacific were very excited to co-host the first PADI Diving Society Asia Pacific launch event and welcome members and partners on Friday 3rd June 2005.

More than 100 guests gathered to attend the informal launch eager to learn more about the exciting new development with Scuba Diver Australasia and the PADI Diving Society!

Already established in the USA and UK, the PADI Diving Society is the largest diver affinity group of its kind offering members a vast range of benefits for a lifetime of scuba diving adventures.

The PADI Diving Society was first launched in 1997 when PADI co-founder and CEO, the late John Cronin, saw a need for an affinity group within the diving industry. We are now delighted to introduce the PADI Diving Society to the Asia Pacific region in collaboration with Asian Geographic Magazines.

"The PADI Diving Society is all about being a diver and getting the most out of your diving lifestyle. Being part of the PADI Diving Society is something special with more than 175,000 PADI Diving Society members worldwide and growing!" said Shahram Saber, Marketing Manager, PADI Asia Pacific. "Being a diver means living the diving lifestyle, enjoying underwater adventures and forming friendships with other likeminded enthusiasts. "Your membership to the PADI Diving Society enhances your lifestyle".

The PADI Diving Society Asia Pacific complements PADI's position as the industry leader in scuba diver education and aims to:

Encourage fun, enjoyment, and an active lifestyle through valuable savings and benefits tailored to members’ interests.

Entertain members with a unique blend of fabulous photography, inspired writing, and humour in the pages of Scuba Diver Australasia magazine, the Official Publication of the PADI Diving Society.

Educate all people on the need to preserve and protect the marine environment while providing opportunities for involvement in conservation efforts.

Enrich the dive experience by presenting new opportunities for adventure and exploration above and below water.

Enhance the knowledge, skills, confidence and technical awareness of divers and others who love the ocean.

We thank all our Dive Centre and Resort members for their support and participation in the benefits program and are confident they will regard this as an important tool to help grow the industry whilst gaining exposure to a vast audience of dive enthusiasts and most importantly - keep divers diving!

Source: PADI

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PADI Diving Society welcomes members and partners at launch event for Asia Pacific region

Well known British diver has gone missing

Keith Morris, one of Britain's best-known technical divers, went missing on a dive in the English Channel on 17 June. The boat from which he was diving has returned to the scene with a diving search party.

Morris, 66, was one of a group chartering the hardboat Skin Deep, of Weymouth, for a Guernsey-based diving holiday. The group had been in the area for about five days. Morris is reported to have been using a Megalodon rebreather to explore the wreck of a submarine in about 68m of water when he disappeared.

Skin Deep reported the diver missing at 2.20pm, about 20 miles north-west of Guernsey. The area is controlled by the French authorities which co-ordinated searches by a French navy helicopter, the Portland Coastguard helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft from the Channel Islands. The search was stood down after nightfall.

However, on 21 June Skin Deep was back on site with divers to search for signs of Morris, a London-based photographer by profession. A BSAC National Instructor, he was among the first sport divers to undertake trimix diving in British waters.

Projects organised by Morris include the 2001 and 2002 Channel expeditions to dive the WWII wrecks of HMS Charybdis and HMS Limbourne, in about 80m of water.

Source: www.divernet.com

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Well known British diver has gone missing

Young girl killed by shark in Vanuatu

A young New Zealand girl has been killed by a shark in Vanuatu while on a family yachting vacation in the South Pacific nation, officials in New Zealand said on Thursday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said seven-year-old Alysha Margaret Webster was killed while swimming off a beach on Malekula Island in northern Vanuatu on Wednesday afternoon.

Alysha was on a yachting vacation with her parents Grant and Sheree Webster, who come from Whitianga on New Zealand's North Island, the ministry said in a statement.

New Zealand High Commissioner in Vanuatu's capital, Port Vila, Paul Willis, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that the attack "is a very real tragedy" and the "family are very distressed."

He said the family had sailed their yacht from Port Vila to Malekula and were swimming at a beach with other people, including local residents, when the shark attacked.

Willis said he believed the girl died quickly as a result of the attack.

The mission had sent a small plane to ferry the family and the child's body back to Port Vila and they were expected to arrive there later Thursday, he said.

Source: www.news24.com

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Young girl killed by shark in Vanuatu

CapeNature managers take a 5% pay cut amid crisis in funding

Senior managers at cash-strapped CapeNature have taken a voluntary 5% cut in salary to try to ease the conservation organisation's serious financial problems.

CapeNature's chief executive officer, David Daitz, told MPLs at a standing committee meeting this week that the organisation was R20 million in the red.

Those who have taken 5% pay cuts from July to the end of the year are Daitz; Kas Hamman, director of conservation; Fanie Bekker, operations manager; Nicole Welch, director of finance; Adnaan Adams, director for business development; Glenda Keyster, human resources manager and Sandy Floris, financial manager.

"We're trying to prove we, as the executive, are serious about the cash-flow problem. The staff are all aware of it," Bekker said.

He said the cash problems had affected staff morale, but this was improving as "opportunities were opening up" to solve the problem.

"The trademark of conservation staff is that we're passionate about what we're doing. If we were a private company in the same financial difficulties, I don't think you would have had seen the same thing of taking salary cuts," Bekker said.

The MEC for Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, Tasneem Essop, said she had not been told about the pay cut. She had heard about it when it was raised by the DA and had asked her chief director, Theo Tolmay, to establish if this was correct.

Essop referred the Cape Times to Tolmay, who confirmed CapeNature's senior management had taken pay cuts.

CapeNature ran into a cash crunch after being transformed into a board in 2000. The move was designed to allow it raise funds and to enter into public-private financial partnerships, but this has not worked as planned.

Although R35m has been raised from donors, the money may not be used for managing projects. Daitz said earlier this meant that raising donor funds had got CapeNature into more financial trouble.

It was envisaged private companies would develop tourist facilities in nature reserves and pay CapeNature rent. But CapeNature has not signed a single lease in five years, largely because private enterprise has been scared off having to shoulder all the financial risk, including installing infrastructure like roads and sewerage.

Source: www.capetimes.co.za

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CapeNature managers take a 5% pay cut amid crisis in funding

Sardines Run heads for Durban

The sardines reached Amanzimtoti on Monday and was expected to beach in Durban on Tuesday, or Wednesday at the latest.

Drew Aitken, a marine scientist following the shoals of sardines, who is attached to the Natal Sharks Board, said that there have been large shoals on the South Coast, especially at Amanzimtoti.

"They are (at Amanzimtoti) and since sardines are known to travel between 20 and 30km a day, I would say that they can be expected (in Durban) today.

"If not, then certainly on Wednesday," said Aitken

Source: www.iol.co.za

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Sardines Run heads for Durban

New 'cutting edge' Buoyancy Compensator announced by Poseidon

Poseidon, world reknowned for their extremely durable and easy breathing regulators, has announced the release of their series of innovative and cutting edge Buoyancy Compensators.

Known as the BeSea, the companies President, Thommie Hjälmner says "BeSea follows the goal we had while we developed the Xstream regulator series, to develop world leading dive equipmentwithin every product area. To use the knowledge and ideas that are deeply rooted here at Poseidon, when we develop regulators, applied to all the products we will develop in the future. We do not believe there is any room for a brand in the middle fold. You will either be a volume brand or concentrate being on the leading edge of development. Which type Poseidon has chosen need not be questioned in the future."

"We make the best regulators in the world", says Yaniv Bertele, responsible for R&D at Poseidon, who has been guiding the BeSea project from start to finish.

"Now we are hoping to take the same leading position on BC´s as well", he says. With this mission in mind, Poseidon started developing a truly comfortable and functional B.C that fits all kind of divers no matter sex, size, experience or demands. After numerous tests, ideas, developing, changes and new tests, Poseidon proudly presents BeSea - Become one with the SEA.

"When we started this project we were not experts on BC´s but we had to be to be able to develop the BeSea line. We started from scratch with a comprehensive market study of what was already out there. Questions were asked about what and how divers carry tanks, how far they walk, about boats and transportations. This also meant testing competitors best BC´s, different kind of backpacks were evaluated but also parachute harnesses and 5 point seatbelts for race cars, and so on."

Poseidon worked in conjunction with specialists within the areas of materials, stitching, welding of Polyurethane etc. This has resulted in a truly unique BCD concept where every seam, every material, every single detail has been checked, tested and rechecked until it can live up to Poseidon's high level of standards.

Poseidon's main objective as a manufacturer and brand is to always provide "The Ultimate Dive", all of it's equipment should work together to help you to do what you love -- to dive, anywhere... anytime....

For more information, visit their website at http://www.poseidon.se

Source: www.deeperblue.net

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New 'cutting edge' Buoyancy Compensator announced by Poseidon

Tanya Streeter launches charity underwater marathon event in UK

World champion freediver Tanya Streeter launched Mencap's first 24 hour sponsored scuba diving event, Dive:24 on Saturday 18 June at the 30 metre Submarine Escape Training Tank in Gosport, Portsmouth during a DeeperBlue.net FreeDiving Course.

The dive took place at the start of Learning Disability Week (20-26 June).

Starting at 12 noon 280 divers throughout the UK, including divers with a learning disability, are taking part in both indoor and outdoor dives for Dive:24. Each team has over 24 divers (12 buddy pairs) taking it in turns to dive for a minimum of two sessions of one hour underwater with a surface interval in between.

Across the country divers will be underwater from noon to noon, Saturday to Sunday. The event is supported by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI).

Tanya Streeter said: "I'm delighted that Mencap is getting involved with the growing number of people who enjoy recreational diving. This event will raise awareness of what a fantastic sport diving is for people of all abilities."

Jo Williams, Chief Executive, Mencap said: "Learning Disability Week is all about opening up new worlds of opportunity. Dive:24 is an opportunity for Mencap to find new supporters among divers at the same time as encouraging people with a learning disability to consider a sport that may not have been so accessible in the past."

Tanya Streeter has surpassed both women's and men's freediving world records on several occasions, making her one of the most accomplished and recognised athletes in her sport. The launch took place from the Submarine Escape Training Tank in Portsmouth where Tanya Streeter is training people interested in freediving for a special one off course by DeeperBlue.net this weekend. She is a patron of the Scuba Trust a charity that helps people with disabilities learn to dive.

Each diver is raising a minimum 50 GBP sponsorship. Funds raised will help Mencap support children and adults with a learning disability, their families and carers. Dive:24 launches Mencap's Learning Disability Week 2005. This year's theme is Opening up new worlds of opportunity. Events will show how much people with a learning disability can achieve with the right support and opportunities.

Article submitted by Stephan Whelan

Source: www.deeperblue.net

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Tanya Streeter launches charity underwater marathon event in UK

Whale watching beats slaughter

Anti-whaling nations were jubilant on Wednesday over the vote against a Japanese-backed move to resume commercial hunting of the marine mammals, but environmentalists warned Tokyo would likely still kill more whales next year.

The International Whaling Commission voted on Tuesday 29-23 to uphold an almost two-decade-old ban on commercial whaling, dealing a setback to Japan, Norway and other nations that favour a resumption.

"We've had a good result, and I just hope the Japanese government has a look at that result and says 'gee, that must be saying something about world opinion' and acts accordingly," said Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

Australia and New Zealand are strongly opposed to commercial whaling but are keen to avoid offending Japan, a major trading partner.

"Japan is a good friend to Australia and will remain so irrespective of our differences on this issue," Howard said.

New Zealand Conservation Minister Chris Carter told National Radio that the vote was a resounding defeat for Japan.

"The vote was never going to be won by Japan but if they won a simple majority they would have had a big diplomatic victory and it would have justified their decision to double the number of whales they intend to take under their so-called scientific programme," Carter said.

A prominent environmentalist in Australia, Greens Sen Bob Brown, also welcomed the vote, but pointed out that Japanese whalers could continue with their annual scientific hunt of whales and called on Canberra to ban them from ports including Hobart on the southern island state of Tasmania.

"It will run a shudder down Tasmanian spines to think that these whale killers are being replenished in Hobart," Brown said in a statement.

Christopher Brown, managing director of Australia's Tourism and Transport Forum, welcomed Tuesday's vote.

"This is a win for cameras over harpoons," he told Australian Broadcasting Corp. "We're delighted that whale watching has triumphed over whale slaughter."

Whale watching is a fast-growing source of tourist revenue in Australia and New Zealand.

In 2003, in Australia alone whale-watching generated about A$270m, according to the International Foundation for Animal Welfare.

Source: www.news24.com

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Whale watching beats slaughter

New attempt to refloat Kiperousa

Maritime authorities are looking to Wednesday's spring tide off the coast of East London to assist in refloating the beached bulk carrier Kiperousa.

Salvors are expected to begin further attempts at refloating the grounded bulker Kiperousa (25, 375-dwt), which went onto a reef off the Eastern Cape coast on 7 June. With the advent of spring tides this week new attempts are likely from tomorrow (Wednesday).

Previous efforts at pulling the vessel off her rocky resting place using the Tsavliris tug Nicolay Chiker have so far proved unsuccessful, and last week salvors postponed further plans ahead of oncoming bad weather and instead pumped water into the ballast tanks to add weight to the vessel to help her ride out the storm.

Kiperousa is loaded with logs from West Africa and was en route for Asia when she hit a submerged object, believed to be a reef close to the coast near the village of Hamburg. Water entered the engine room causing a loss of power and the ship later drifted ashore a few miles northeast.

The crew of 24 was safely evacuated and a salvage team appointed to refloat the ship under the watchful eye of the Department of Environmental Affairs. Small amounts of oil have been seen dispersing from the ship and at the weekend oil was reported on several East London beaches.

The salvage team is currently attempting to plug a hole in the ship's hull leading to the engine room, ahead of further attempts to pull the ship clear.

Although the Tsavliris tug Nicolay Chiker is the appointed salvage tug for this operation, the nearby port of East London had two additional tugs on standby this morning – Pentow Service from Smit Salvage’s Durban base and Smit Amandla from Smit Dudula in Cape Town.

Source: www.ports.co.za

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New attempt to refloat Kiperousa

Film shows whale’s ‘protracted death’

CAMPAIGNERS against whaling have released an under-cover film which they say undermines claims they die quickly and as painlessly as possible.

The footage, taken off the coast of Vardo, Norway, last month, by the World Society for the Protection of Animals and the Environmental Investigation Agency, shows a minke whale being hunted and eventually killed over a two-hour period.

The wildlife groups said this runs contrary to claims by pro-whaling countries like Norway that whales are hunted and killed within two minutes.

Environmentalists in Scotland have previously expressed concerns that Norwegian whalers, which this year have permission to kill as many as 796 minke whales, may be killing those that would otherwise travel to the waters around Scotland.

Around 80 identifiable minke whales return to west coast waters every year to feed, and thousands of tourists take sea tours each year in the hope of spotting them.

The film is being released days before governments meet for the 2005 meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Usan, South Korea, next week.

Investigators who followed the Willasen Senior, a licensed Norwegian whaling ship, said they witnessed the whale being hit by a grenade tipped harpoon then repeatedly resurfacing and splashing frantically before it finally died at least 14 minutes later.

During this time, it was shot with a rifle seven times.

The whale lived for seven times longer than the average two minutes whalers claim it takes one to die after being harpooned.

Leah Garces, campaigns director of WSPA, said: "This footage is further proof, if any were necessary, that there is no humane way to kill a whale."

"This footage is further proof, if any were necessary, that there is no humane way to kill a whale."

Source: www.theherald.co.uk

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Film shows whale’s ‘protracted death’

Japan's proposal to resume whaling voted down

Japan lashed out at anti-whaling nations on Tuesday after its proposal to resume limited commercial hunting was voted down by an international commission and its "scientific" harvesting heavily criticised.

Japan had sought the approval of the 66-member International Whaling Commission for a management scheme it said would promote sustainable commercial whaling, but critics said the plan was riddled with holes and would allow for more whales to be killed.

The proposal had little hope of being adopted because it takes a 75 percent majority of IWC states to approve major policy changes. It failed by 29 votes to 23 with five abstentions.

Pro-whaling states were also dealt a blow on the first day of the meeting on Monday when a Japanese proposal to change voting procedures to a secret ballot was narrowly defeated.

"The whole process has been a charade where anti-whaling nations have stalled implementation of an RMS (revised management scheme) for more than 10 years," said Minoru Morimoto, the head of Japan's delegation.

The IWC's pro-whaling lobby has a slim majority for the first time since a moratorium on commercial whaling was introduced in 1986 following the accession of three states - Gambia, Togo and Nauru - to the commission.

But the three were unable to vote because they had not yet paid their dues or their delegates had yet to arrive in Ulsan, a former whaling port.

Environmentalists fear that pro-whaling nations such as Japan and Norway may try to roll back conservation measures if they can swing a majority at the commission and critics accused Tokyo of delaying tactics.

"The pro-whale slaughtering nations are using every tactical method they can to slow down any substantive vote until the new members arrive," said Ian Campbell, Australia's environment minister. "It is becoming farcical."

Australia's hopes of proposing an early resolution criticising Japan's announcement that it plans to double its annual scientific catch of minke whales from 440 to 850 were scrapped due to proceedings Australia saw as slow.

Japan's well-flagged plan to dramatically expand its research programme also includes hunting 10 fin whales a year for the first two years, although it says it will not hunt humpbacks for another two years.

Australia, New Zeland and other anti-whaling nations have been highly critical of the plan and conservation groups said the programme is actual commercial whaling in the guise of science.

But any resolution on Japan's scientific whaling would have no impact on the programme as it is not regulated by the IWC.

Anti-whaling states say Japan exploits a loophole in the 19-year-old ban on commercial whaling to hunt the giant mammals in the guise of science, and that much of the whale meat ends up on store shelves and on the tables of gourmet restaurants.

"It is commercial whaling by any other name," said Leah Garces, campaigns director for the World Society for the Protection of Animals, while Conall O'Connell, the head of Australia's delegation called it "an outrage."

Source: www.iol.co.za

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Japan's proposal to resume whaling voted down

Bull elephant tramples guide to death

A guide at Knysna Elephant Park between Knysna and Plettenberg Bay was trampled to death on Tuesday by a bull elephant as he took it for a morning walk.

Park owner Lisette Withers said ranger Tobias Ndlovu, 32, was leading the 72-year-old elephant, Harry, to a barrier about 10:00 when the man apparently tripped and landed under the animal's feet.

Two other rangers looked on helplessly while the elephant "lifted up" Ndlovu and then trampled him.

Withers said the park's elephants were not kept in camps, but wandered around "freely". This had left the management even more puzzled about the accident.

Ndlovu, originally from Zimbabwe, had worked for 18 months with the elephants. He lived in the park with some of the other workers.

Withers said the park's 12 elephants had always been "calm and peaceful" and had never before gone on a rampage. The accident was the first of its kind they had had.

Was one of first at park
Withers said: "We believe it was an accident and have begun an investigation. Harry is being kept in a camp at present and it does not seem as if he knows that he did wrong."

The park was founded 11 years ago with Harry and an elephant cow called Sally as the first residents.

Withers said the park's elephants had entertained, "educated" and enriched the lives of countless people.

"The accident was a great shock to us, and all the workers and their families are being given counselling," she said.

She thanked people for their support and said funeral arrangements would be made for Ndlovu this week.

He leaves a wife, Zhippa, and three children.

"It is important to us to continue our educational task. The park provides work for 55 people. We do not intend to have Harry put down," said Withers.

Source: www.news24.com

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Bull elephant tramples guide to death

CapeNature seeking help to clear debt of R20m

CapeNature has asked the provincial legislature's community development committee for at least R20-million to bail it out of the red.

The nature conservation authority has experienced severe cash-flow problems and earlier this year owed R6,6-million to its creditors.

Now it has paid all its trade creditors, except the government garage for transport.

Chief executive David Daitz met MPLs on Monday to tell them how CapeNature got into the "mess" and to ask for an increase in its current funding of R63,7-million from the provincial environmental affairs and development planning department.

CapeNature has been working on a "three-legged pot" system, he explained, to raise the extra R50-million it needed annually. An expected R15-million would come from grants and donors, R15-million from public-private partnerships and R20-million from the province.

But after five years it had received only R34-million from grants and donors. "This was not a terrible period - it was just less than what we wanted," he said.


Falk AdSolution

It then received a three-year, R23-million donation from the Cape Action Plan for the Environment (Cape) "and we are currently bringing in R30-million a year". Daitz said CapeNature had tried to be too independent, the timing of the "three-legged pot" strategy was out, and project management fees were too much of a burden.

Project funding money could only be used for what was stipulated in the contract, said Daitz. "When we approach a donor for funds for a project and they give us R10-million, they only give us the money for the project, but don't include the costs for managing the project, so we have to use money from our core fund."

No public-private partnership contracts had been signed since August 2001.

"We are not yet out of the woods, but we have turned a corner. There are still months to go before it's all behind us."

"Very drastic action needs to be taken. We need everyone's co-operation, and everyone's ideas are valuable."

"We have to rescue our service. We can't sit on our hands."

Daitz and some executive members have taken a voluntary 5 percent pay cut while a senior member is taking a 4 percent cut from July to December.

Staff will also feel the brunt by not getting a salary increase soon, but Daitz said that may change later in the year. "They are aware they will not get an increase and, while some are unhappy about it, there are those who understand. I will also be meeting trade unions, but I don't think they will be happy about it."

Asked by committee member Grant Hoskin how much CapeNature wanted, Daitz said: "The minimum requirement increase would be R20-million."

"We will have to do a lot to get the organisation out of this crisis. We have to build up core funding."

Source: www.iol.co.za

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CapeNature seeking help to clear debt of R20m

Oiled African penguins arrive in Cape Town for care

Close to one hundred oiled African penguins have been found on Bird Island in Algoa Bay near Port Elizabeth, and 65 of them have been flown to Cape Town for cleaning and rehabilitation.

But conservationists do not believe the birds were oiled by fuel spilled from the stranded log-carrier Kiperousa, which is still firmly stuck on a reef near East London.

Rather, the culprit is believed to be a ship illegally cleaning its bilges as it sailed past Algoa Bay.

The oiled birds, which were flown to the city as SAA cargo, are being treated at the Rietvlei headquarters of Sanccob (the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds).

They were rescued from Bird Island last week by South African National Parks with help from the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism's marine protection vessel, Ruth First, and Port Elizabeth's Bay World facility.

The remaining 33 oiled penguins are being treated in Port Elizabeth.

"The oil on the birds does not appear to have originated from the Kiperousa," said Sanccob fundraising manager Darden Lotz.

Also, the oil from the stranded ship was a light, diesel-like fuel, whereas the penguins had been polluted with a thick black oil, she added.

"This is not an oil spill - we suspect it is a result of ships illegally flushing their bilges."

National park staff are closely monitoring the penguin colonies on Bird Island and the surrounding small islands in search of more oiled birds.

After being washed, the African Penguins will undergo three-to-five weeks of rehabilitation before being strong enough to be released back into the wild.

# Anyone wanting to contribute to rehabilitating the oiled birds with donations of money and/or towels can contact Lotz at telephone number 021 557 6155.

Source: www.iol.co.za

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Oiled African penguins arrive in Cape Town for care

Elephant management strategies discussed by SADC member countries

Member countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are discussing ways to establish a common strategy to manage the elephant population in the region in order to monitor their migratory movements, their impact on their habitats, and to minimise the conflict between wild life and human populations.

Raimundo Matusse, of the Conservation Areas department, in the Tourism Ministry, told AIM that staff from Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, met in Victoria Falls, in Zimbabwe, between 25 and 27 May, to try and draft a common strategy.

One of the aspects broached during the meeting was the conflict between elephants and people and the socio-economic implications of this. The meeting also decided to conduct a census of the entire elephant population in the various countries.

He said that to try and solve this problem, the participants decided to set up a regional Elephant Coordination Unit charged with the task of raising the necessary funds for common projects within southern Africa in this sector.

The participating states, that have areas where elephants move to and from neighbouring countries, decided to strengthen inspection in those areas, and to fix trophy quotas as a means to ensure a sustainable exploitation of this resource.

Matusse stressed that, despite the conflicts between elephants and humans (because the animals destroy crops), one cannot disregard the elephant's high value for tourism.

Mozambique's own elephant population was devastated during the war of destabilisation, but it has subsequently shown some signs of recovering. The latest estimate is that the country has about 18,000 elephants.

Source: www.allafrica.com

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Elephant management strategies discussed by SADC member countries

South African shark tourism booms amid latest shark attacks

South African medical student Henri Murray was spear fishing off the coast of Cape Town, the country's main tourism center, when a 5-meter (16-foot) great white shark seized him from below and dragged him away.

The June 4 attack, the third this year, drew banner headlines and newspaper stories across the country suggesting sharks have started targeting bathers, just like in the Jaws movie in 1975. It's also fueling a niche industry in South Africa, where British and German tourists line up to see the predators close up.

"When there is an attack, we get even more people phoning," said Kim MacLean, who has run shark diving trips near Cape Town since 1992, in an interview. "It seems to boost interest."

The center of the shark tourism industry is Shark Alley, a stretch of ocean between Dyer and Gyser islands, about 100 kilometers southeast of Cape Town, where eight companies offer day trips costing about 1,000 rand ($149) each. It is part of a booming tourism trade that attracts more than 190,000 overseas visitors to South Africa each month and employs 1.2 million people.

In peak season, more than 200 shark watchers, mainly from Britain and Germany, sign up daily for trips costing about 1,000 rand, said Dave Caravias, who runs a central booking agency in the town of Gansbaai, where the Shark Alley boats are based.

Feeding the Sharks
Operators throw sardines, pilchards and fish heads into the water, a technique known as chumming, to lure the sharks closer to their boats. Customers can then descend into a floating steel cage wearing scuba or snorkel gear for a closer encounter with the predators, which can measure up to six meters and weigh more than 3 metric tons.

Not everyone approves.
"The local diving and surfing community has rightfully become increasingly concerned about shark attacks," the Shark Concern Group, whose members include a shark attack victim and environmentalists, said in a statement. The risk of attacks may be increasing "as a result of how humans are interacting with sharks, for example, using shark cage diving and chumming."

In June last year a shark tour operator's boat caught fire in a Cape Town harbor and police said they suspected an arsonist was responsible.

Regulators and shark experts say there is no causal link between the attacks and the proliferation of the shark tourism industry.

"For the most part, sharks won't attack humans," said Len Compagno, a shark expert based at Cape Town's Iziko Museum, who served as a technical adviser on the original Stephen Spielberg movie Jaws about a great white that hunted humans. "If people were sharks' natural prey a lot more people would be taken. Occasionally you do get an attack but it's rare."

Sharks vs Bees
Just 46 attacks occurred off South Africa's coastline between 1960 and 2004, eight of them fatal, according to the International Shark Attack file. More people die as a result of bites from bees, wasps or snakes than in shark attacks, according to the Florida-based institute.

South Africa's last fatal shark attack before this month occurred in November, when 77-year-old swimmer Tyna Web was seized by a great white off Cape Town's Fishhoek beach, about 15 kilometers from where Murray, 22, was killed. While no-one has died cage diving, a British tourist narrowly escaped injury in March when a great white attacked the cage he was in.

The government's Marine and Coastal Management department is overseeing new research to tag and monitor sharks in a bid to assess what may influence their movements. It has ruled out revoking a 1991 ban on killing great whites.

"If we had any figures saying we are interfering with the great whites and are changing their behavior, I would shut my business," MacLean said.

Craig Ferriera, another tour operator, says that the amount of chum thrown into the water by the handful of operators is miniscule compared with that used by hundreds of commercial fishing boats.

Compagno expects occasional shark attacks to occur as long as humans stray into their natural hunting ground. "There just are a certain number of incidences that will happen," he said "If you want absolute safety, don't go in the water."

To contact the reporter on this story: Mike Cohen in Cape Town mcohen21@bloomberg.net

Source: www.bloomberg.com

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South African shark tourism booms amid latest shark attacks

A Shark's Tale: Who is afraid of who?

Thirty years after Jaws first bared his teeth, sharks are still seen as man's deadliest predator. But, really, it's them who should be afraid of us, says Michael McCarthy

Take two marine animals. Both have been subject to relentless slaughter by man. Both may be driven to extinction. Yet the fate of one commands worldwide public sympathy, while for the other there is, at best, indifference. One is a whale, the other a shark.

Today, the International Whaling Commission's annual meeting opens in Korea, and anti-whaling campaigners around the world will be hammering home their conservation message. Meanwhile, the almost incredible rate of shark slaughter evokes hardly a flicker of public interest. In fact, today is a significant date for sharks for a very different reason: it is the 30th anniversary of the opening of Jaws.

There, in Steven Spielberg's blockbuster film version of Peter Benchley's novel, is the simple but enduring reason for our difference in attitude to these two creatures: what concerns us about the sharks is not our killing them, but them killing us. The fear is clearly a very deep and ancient one, hard-wired into the genes: the fear of being hunted, killed and eaten by a predator. Not many beasts actually eat us, after all: polar bears, tigers, crocodiles, occasionally lions. Yet sharks seem to top them all in the terror they induce, perhaps because they appear mysteriously from the unknown depths. "Sharks come from a wing of the dark castle where our nightmares live, deep water beyond our sight and understanding," Benchley wrote.

What the film of his novel did, three decades ago, was to give the world a modern shark myth, universal in its appeal. And appeal is the right word: we seem to have a horrified fascination with shark attacks. Type the latter words into an internet search engine and you will get nearly half a million entries describing the damage that a great white, say, can do to the body of an unlucky surfer.

The International Shark Attack File (ISAF), based at the Florida Museum of Natural History, carefully checks out all shark attack reports every year and puts our fear into some sort of perspective. Only seven people were killed by shark attacks in 2004: two in Australia, and single deaths in Brazil, California, Egypt, Hawaii and South Africa. In 2003, the figure was four deaths; the year before that it was three. Professor George Burgess, who runs the ISAF, thinks that the wide publicity given to any shark incident gives a completely false sense of the risk, and points out that in the US you are hundreds of times more likely to die from a deer colliding with your car that from a shark attack.

In fact, it's the sharks who should be afraid of us. In the last 20 years, the shark has shifted from predator to prey. When China embraced capitalism in the late Eighties and early Nineties, it also embraced conspicuous consumption, and with it came a renewed and widespread taste for an old Chinese delicacy: shark's fin soup. This has led to an explosion in demand for fins, so great that in some parts of the Pacific sharks have been fished out to supply it. Not the least unpleasant aspect of this trade is that, often, when sharks are caught their fins are cut off and the fish are thrown back into the water to die.

Furthermore, as traditional fish stocks have plummeted, fishermen around the world have increasingly turned to sharks as a substitute. It is estimated, based on data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, that 100 million sharks are now being taken out of the ocean every year, either from fisheries that target them directly, or as "bycatch" - the accidental product of other fisheries. And shark populations, because of their basic biology, simply cannot stand it.

Sharks are not like cod: they are top predators, living at the apex of the food chain, and they have very few natural enemies. This means that they do not need to overcompensate for large-scale mortality in their young by producing them in large numbers. A female cod may lay five million eggs, of which only a tiny fraction will survive; but a great white shark may only produce two pups, which will take a long time to grow to maturity. So if a shark population is heavily reduced by fishing, it can take many decades - or even centuries - to rebuild itself.

"Biologically speaking, they're among the most vulnerable animals in the ocean," says Sarah Fowler, a leading British shark expert. "The problem is, they have so few young, so infrequently, and they take so long to reach maturity, that if you take a population and halve it, it can take 270 years to bounce back. We won't see the recovery of some of them in our lifetime."

The latest estimate from the IUCN, the World Conservation Union, is that 65 of 373 shark species assessed - out of a world total of about 440 - are now threatened. But the real figure may be higher. The trouble is, data is scarce, and there is an absence of regulation, especially in Europe. "None of them are protected, there are no regulations concerning their management, none are subject to fisheries regulations, there is no minimum size, no maximum size, nothing," says Fowler.

A marine ecologist, she was the founding director of the Shark Trust, a charity set up in 1997 to promote conservation management and education about sharks in the UK. This year she has gone one better: she is the joint author of The Collins Field Guide to Sharks of The World, which claims to be the first single volume to illustrate, describe and map all the world's shark species.

One of its fascinations is the distribution map for the great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias - Jaws himself - which clearly shows that they could be all around the British coast. Fowler, however, is not convinced: "It's possible rather than actual," she says. "There's absolutely no reason in the world why the great white shouldn't be around our coasts, except it's never been recorded, and you would expect it to be, if it was around. The temperature is fine for them - they occur in much colder waters. Possibly they're just so scarce in this part of the world, there aren't enough of them there."

She hopes the Field Guide will spark more interest and perhaps more understanding for sharks, which, she agrees, are languishing a long way behind whales in the public sympathy stakes. "It's a cultural thing," she says. "It goes back a long way. The Greeks were saying nice things about dolphins at the same time as Aristotle was describing sharks as ravening monsters."

Spielberg's movie, she says, definitely did not help, although she is an admirer. "I think it's one of the best films ever produced, the best animal horror story ever," she says. "But it did demonise sharks for people all around the world."

She instances a visit she made to a fishing village in Sabah, in Malaysia. "There are people there who catch sharks, and none of them have ever been attacked by sharks," she says. "But they've all seen Jaws, and those of the villagers who are not going out catching sharks are frightened of them because of the film.

"Decades later, in parts of the world where you just wouldn't expect people to have heard of it, it's still having an impact."

'The Collins Field Guide to Sharks of the World', by Leonard Compagno, Sarah Fowler and Marc Dando, costs £25. The Shark Trust can be reached at www.sharktrust.org.

Source: news.independent.co.uk

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A Shark's Tale: Who is afraid of who?

South African pollution permit conditions to be reviewed

The government will start identifying South Africa's top 50 dirty industries from next month and get them to clean up their acts, Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk announced on Monday.

Addressing the Western Cape Sustainable Development Conference in Cape Town, Van Schalkwyk said that once the industries had been identified, their air pollution permit conditions would be completely reviewed.

This was an interim measure until the 30 new air quality licensing officers had been trained in each province to implement the tougher new Air Quality Act which replaces the air pollution legislation promulgated in the 1960s.

"Our department will, by the end of July, appoint a service provider to identify the top 50 air polluting industries or sectors in South Africa. We will be be helping industry to phase in the much stricter standards of the new law and will be improving air quality for our communities," Van Schalkwyk said.

Source: www.iol.co.za

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South African pollution permit conditions to be reviewed

Climates of change coming to South Africa

The Western Cape will be the first province in the country to experience at first-hand the results of climatic changes in the next 10 to 15 years.

It will rain more along the east coast, and the Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal will be more densely forested.

Man and beast will find it more difficult to move around in those areas.

Environmental Affairs Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said on Monday that, according to a scientific investigation into climatic changes in South Africa, rainfall would decrease dramatically in the next 10 to 15 years.

Speaking at the Western Cape conference on sustainable development, he said higher rainfall regions would become like the Karoo.

"The present good rainy season is probably a highlight in a dry rainfall cycle."

From the west coast, South Africa will become a drier and even desert-like country.

"We will have to start looking at where our national parks should be, what type of crops we should plant and with what type of illnesses we will have to cope.

Van Schalkwyk said: "The investigation indicates that malaria could increase dramatically in provinces such as Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape."

Source: www.news24.com

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Climates of change coming to South Africa

South Africa's commissioner not attending International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting

South Africa is set to be severely embarrassed at the crucial International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting which opens in South Korea on Monday by the absence of vice-chairperson Horst Kleinschmidt.

The blame is being laid squarely at the door of the department of environmental affairs and tourism, of which he was until recently deputy director-general and head of its marine and coastal management section.

He resigned suddenly this year.

Veteran whale conservationist Nan Rice has even suggested that Kleinschmidt, who until a week ago was all set to attend the annual meeting, was effectively blocked by "inside politicking" in the department, although others say indecision is to blame.

The IWC is on the rack, being pulled in opposite directions by the pro-whaling nations led by Japan, and the anti-whaling lobby backed by Australia, New Zealand, Britain and South Africa.

This morning it appeared Japan had for the first time garnered enough support from the changing IWC membership to gain a slim majority.

Although this will be insufficient to approve the resumption of commercial whaling, which requires a 75 percent majority vote, it will have a profound psychological effect and could lead to significantly increased "scientific" whaling.

Kleinschmidt, who was to have been South Africa's commissioner at the meeting and holds the IWC's second most senior position, is a seasoned negotiator in this forum.

He has strongly pushed South Africa's non-lethal whaling line in recent years, stressing the lucrative tourism option of whale-watching.

He was expected to have played a significant role in countering the pro-whaling arguments, particularly from Denmark which holds the IWC chair.

Under normal circumstances, Kleinschmidt would assume the chairmanship next year.

Although another senior official in the department, marine scientist Hermann Oosthuizen, and a foreign affairs official were also scheduled to attend, Kleinschmidt was to have been South Africa's official representative, or commissioner.

But he confirmed on Friday that he would no longer be going. The official line from the department is that Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk approved Kleinschmidt's travel plans, but "local difficulties" like Kleinschmidt getting flu prevented him from going.

On Sunday, department spokesperspon J P Louw could not elaborate on these difficulties, nor could he say when Van Schalkwyk had approved Kleinschmidt's travel plans.

However, Louw said Kleinschmidt had confirmed all South Africa's rights and obligations at the meeting with Oosthuizen, and that its non-lethal whaling line remained unchanged.

Kleinschmidt himself declined to comment, other than to say that Oosthuizen "knows the game" and had been preparing South Africa's position on all the issues.

"So technically, South Africa will stick to its guns," he said.

Kleinschmidt also said that, because of his position as vice-chairman, he still considered himself entitled to speak on IWC issues and would be following the meeting closely.

He also said he would discuss the issue of his succession as IWC chairman with Van Schalkwyk afterwards.

Rice, who heads the Dolphin Action Group (incorporating Save the Whales), said she had learned of the move "with some surprise and disappointment".

"While not denigrating his replacement Hermann Oosthuizen, Kleinschmidt has been an excellent commissioner who was lauded by many anti-whaling countries and also international non-government organisations," Rice said.

"He would naturally have become chairman of the IWC in due course, a great honour for South Africa."

The department had not explained the "sudden change" for the "absolutely crucial" meeting.

"Neither the media nor my organisation was informed. Frankly, this smacks of inside politicking, which is not what saving whales is all about.

"Kleinschmidt's withdrawal from the commission is a great loss to the anti-whaling lobby and also to the whales."

Source: www.iol.co.za

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South Africa's commissioner not attending International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting

Warm weather brings Basker Sharks - Look but Don't Touch!

Newspapers have been reporting on the warm weather with glee, splashing coverage of people enjoying the sun across the media, and alongside the people, sharks.

This weekend has seen more hot balmy weather, and as a consequence more of us have flocked to the shore seeking relief in the cool calm waters, basking in the sun and playing in the surf.

The warm, calm conditions cause an aggregation of plankton along thermal fronts in the water column, attracting the basking sharks to feed. More people in the water over the warm weather and calmer seas making the fins easier to spot, have meant basking shark sightings have soared. Pictures of people swimming with, and even touching these gentle giants have been all over the weekends press.

Although the Shark Trust welcomes reports of basking shark sightings, we are concerned about irresponsible human shark interactions. Getting too close to these beautiful and enormous creatures could cause disturbance or injury to the sharks, and although not harmful, their sheer size makes the need for caution around them necessary. An ill-timed tail-flick can cause serious injury to the well-intentioned swimmer.

The Shark Trust produces a code of contact to advise readers how to interact safely and responsibly with basking sharks and is encouraging beach users who come into contact with these animals to adhere to this code. Basking sharks are protected under UK law and it is illegal to come into direct contact or knowingly harass these animals in any way. Those caught doing so face a heavy fine and the possibility of a six month prison sentence.

Basking sharks are migratory and follow the thermal front containing the plankton aggregations northwards from Cornwall to the west coast of Scotland, but it seems changing sea temperatures are now causing this to happen earlier. The Marine Conservation Society reports a 65% increase in sightings off the west coast of Scotland and a 66% decrease in South West England in the last four years. Dr Jean-Luc Solent, MCS biodiversity policy officer, said:

"We already know that rising sea temperatures are affecting the distribution of plankton in UK waters and may in fact be making Scottish seas more favourable for the sharks,"

Swimming with Basking Sharks.
If in the water with basking sharks the Shark Trust recommends swimmers take the following precautions

Do not try to TOUCH the sharks

Keep your distance. Stay more than 4 meters away from them and be wary of the tail

Groups of swimmers Must stay together and ideally stay at the surface.

Avoid entering the water if visibility is less than 4 meters.

Restrict the number of swimmers in the water at any one time to 4

Avoid flash photography which could scare the sharks

Do not use underwater propelled devices

Copies of the Shark Trust Basking Shark code of conduct can be obtained by sending a stamped addressed envelope to the Shark Trust. Rope Walk Coxside, Plymouth, PL4 OLF, UK

Source: SharksTrust

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Warm weather brings Basker Sharks - Look but Don't Touch!

South Africa celebrates 45 years of research on Antarctica

South Africa is celebrating 45 years of research on Antarctica and this month is also Antarctica Month. The protection of this delicate area is now also firmly entrenched with the signing of the environmental liability regime in Sweden two weeks ago by all countries of the Antarctic Treaty.

A celebratory function by the departments of science and technology and environmental affairs and tourism was also held today on the supply ship, the SA Agulhas in the Cape Town harbour today.

An environmental disaster in Antarctica will be catastrophic and up to now nobody could be held liable for such an event. It took 12 years for the treaty countries put together the liability regime. Now the polluters can be forced to clean up and foot the bill, but countries have five more years to implement the liability regime.

"It is very important for us that we adjust our regulations to our treaty act to compensate for that, so we can force operators to take the necessary insurance for clean-up purposes," says Henry Valentine, the director of Antarctica and Islands at the department of environmental affairs and tourism.

Antarctica Month aims to attract more scholars in the field of science and research, but also expose them to Antarctica's wonders. The department of science and technology has also put together and Antarctic research strategy for South Africa, which aims to create more full-time researchers and more scientific collaborations with other countries at our base in Antarctica.

"Unless we are able to share it, we will find that we are not able to get where we would like to be and in particular it is important to realise you can't do science alone," Mosibudi Mangena, the minister of science and technology, says.

Celebrating the Winter solstice
The South African Antarctic team of nine will tomorrow celebrate the Winter solstice with a lavish dinner as the tradition dictates. In six weeks time the sun will also re-appear after the dark winter months. The team has eight months left of their stint in Antarctica.

"I want to say hello to all the families of the team members, to let them know we are all ding well this side, missing them a lot and hoping to see them soon," said Jonathan Stark, a leader of the SA team in Antarctica, during an SABC telephone link up with the team.

Antarctica must be a special place as those who have gone there before cannot stop talking about their experiences. Kgaugelo Rampedi was the first black women to make the trip and now she actively tries to recruit young people to experience Antarctica. "I wonder why more women haven't done it before because it is an experience of a life time. Six years ago I was on this ship going down. I didn't even know Gough Island existed even then. It shows you how much people don't know about these things," she says.

The SA Agulhas will set sail for Antarctica in December with fresh supplies and the new team, which will spend 13 months in the frozen landscape.

Source: www.sabcnews.com

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South Africa celebrates 45 years of research on Antarctica

Caught in nets: WWF report identifies dolphins, porpoises most in need of urgent action

Nine dolphin and porpoise populations around the world need immediate action if they are to survive the threat of entanglement in fishing gear.

These are the findings of a new WWF report based on a first-ever assessment by leading marine scientists.

According to WWF, bycatch – the capture in fishing gear of unwanted fish and other species – is one of the greatest global threats facing dolphins, porpoises, as well as whales.

When caught in fishing nets, many of these cetaceans, which need to come to the surface for air, get trapped underwater and die.

Previous estimates show that more than 300,000 cetaceans are killed in fishing gear each year in the world's oceans.

The report indicates these dolphins and porpoises as languishing without attention, but stresses they could recover if changes to fishing methods and other conservation efforts were made.

They include harbour porpoises in the Black Sea, where thousands of porpoises are killed each year; Atlantic humpback dolphins off the coast of West Africa; Irrawaddy dolphins in South East Asia; and Franciscana dolphins in South America.

Most of the species on the list are threatened by the widespread use of one type of fishing gear – gillnets. These nets are difficult for dolphins and porpoises to spot visually or detect with their sonar, so they may become tangled in the netting or in the ropes attached to the nets.

"Almost 1,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises die every day in nets and fishing gear. That's one every two minutes," said Dr Susan Lieberman, Director of WWF's Global Species Programme. "Some species are being pushed to the brink of extinction. Urgent action is needed - and we developed this ranking to help governments and aid agencies know where their money and efforts can really make a difference."

For example, between 1993 and 2003, fisheries in the United States introduced changes, such as modifications of fishing gear, that reduced cetacean bycatch to one-third of its previous levels.

But so far, few of these successful measures have been transferred to other countries, and in much of the rest of the world, progress to reduce bycatch has been slow or nonexistent.

"Rather than simply identifying the species or populations at greatest risk, or the geographical locations where the bycatch problem is most severe, the group of scientists was asked to emphasize where the prospects for successful intervention were especially good," said Dr Randall Reeves, lead author of the report and the chairman of the IUCN Species Survival Commission's Cetacean Specialist Group.

The report will be submitted to the International Whaling Commission's scientific committee at its annual meeting next week in the Republic of Korea.

The scientific committee last year endorsed the methodology of the WWF report.

NOTE:

Species and populations designated in the report as among the top priorities for investment of resources are:

Irrawaddy dolphins in the crab net/trap fishery in Malampaya Sound, Philippines

Irrawaddy dolphins in gillnets in the Mekong, Mahakam and Ayeyarwady rivers and in Chilka and Songkhla lakes, Southeast Asia

Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins and Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins in drift and bottom-set gillnets on the south coast of Zanzibar (Tanzania)

Harbour porpoises in coastal gillnets in the Black Sea

Spinner dolphins and Fraser’s dolphins in large-mesh driftnets and purse seines in the Philippines

Atlantic humpback dolphins in coastal gillnets in the northern Gulf of Guinea (Ghana, Togo)

Burmeister’s porpoises in artisanal gillnets in Peru

Franciscana dolphins in coastal gillnets in Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil

Commerson’s dolphins in coastal gillnets and midwater trawls in Argentina

For further information:

Joanna Benn, Communications Manager
WWF Global Species Programme
Tel: +41 22 364 9093

Olivier van Bogaert, Senior Press Officer
WWF International Press Office
Tel: +41 22 364 9554

Source: WWF

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Caught in nets: WWF report identifies dolphins, porpoises most in need of urgent action

Elephants rumble in the jungle

Each elephant has its own unique, expressive voice, according to new research on how African elephants communicate with each other.

The research, conducted at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Florida, suggests elephants live rich social lives and feel an array of human-like emotions.

The findings also strengthen claims that animal communication can be content-rich and emotionally complex.

While careful human listeners might hear elephant conversations, elephants, particularly chatty females, converse in low-pitched rumbles that human ears often miss, according to two related studies accepted for publication in the journal Animal Behaviour.

Similar to humans ignoring conversations at other tables in a restaurant, elephant strangers do not pay much attention to each other.

"Female friends exchange rumbles even when they are out of sight from one another, and their voices differ from one another, so I believe that they can recognise each other by their voices alone, just as humans and many other social animals can do," says Joseph Soltis, who led the study.

"Females that have known each other for many decades, for example, often engage in rumble exchanges, but females who haven't known each other very long do not respond to each other's calls."

Soltis, a research scientist in bioacoustics at the theme park, and his colleagues placed radio collars on six female elephants that live there. All recorded sounds were computer-analysed and compared with film footage of the elephants.

A unique sound
The recordings indicate that each elephant has its own voice.

"The shapes of their mouths and trunks cause the rumbles from females to sound different from one another," Soltis says.

"It's the same for humans. In the case of our elephants, the sizes and shapes of their vocal tracts, including their trunks, shapes the unique sounds of their rumbles and makes each elephant sound a little different."

Soltis and his colleagues discovered that elephant rumbles became jittery when they appear to feel threatened, such as when a dominant female march by.

Soltis believes fear, and other emotions, are likely to be conveyed in elephant rumbles.

Dominant females within the herd do not necessarily vocalize more than other elephants. And ovulation cycles are also not a factor.

But the closeness of relationships are. Elephant friends and members of families converse more with each other, the study found.

Chatting before dinner
Jeff Kinzley, elephant manager at the Oakland Zoo, agrees with the findings.

"I've even noticed that elephants will have back and forth conversations for a long time before they all suddenly turn around and do something, like go to eat," Kinzley says.

"They wind up walking in a certain order, so it is as though they were deciding who can eat after the matriarch."

Kinzley adds that males converse with each other too, only not as much and usually more when they seem happy.

"Low and slow rumbles seem to indicate happiness," Kinzley says. "We sometimes hear this from both males and females when they appear glad to see us or when they are lounging at a comfortable spot with their trunks resting flat on the ground."

Source: abc.net.au

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Elephants rumble in the jungle

Early win for anti-whalers

Australia and other anti-whaling countries today won an important battle against pro-whaling nations led by Japan.

The anti-whaling or "conservation" lobby beat by a single vote Japan's attempt to slash the agenda of this week's annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission in South Korea.

The test of strength between the two sides was brought on by Australia's federal Environment Minister, Ian Campbell, after the Japanese Government outlined plans to cut a series of items from the agenda, including debate over whale sanctuaries.

In the first vote of the meeting, New Zealand won a point of order against Japan, which then moved to change the meeting's agenda, potentially ending anti-whaling nations' aims to broaden the IWC's mandate away from whaling.

Conservationists won a vote on the agenda 29-28.

New IWC members Nauru and Togo, which were expected to vote on Japan's side, were unable to vote because their finances had not yet cleared.

The vote suggests the IWC will remain dominated by the anti-whaling lobby, as it has been for 23 years.

Pro-whaling nations led by Japan and Norway are hoping to be able to swing control of the 66-nation body for the first time since 1982.

The result what was seen as a test of whether whaling advocates have built a majority among the 66 members of the International Whaling Commission.

A majority would give pro-whaling countries broad authority to set the commision's agenda. However, it would still fall far short of the three-quarters vote required to overturn the moratorium on commercial whaling.

The British-based commission regulates whaling. It banned commercial hunts in 1986, handing environmentalists a major victory in protecting species that were near extinction after centuries of hunting.

Norway holds the world's only commercial whaling season in defiance of the ban.

Japan kills whales for what it describes as scientific research, but sells the meat. Japan, Norway and other nations this year are expected to take more than 1550 whales.

New Zealand, Australia and conservationist groups such as Greenpeace oppose any expansion of whaling.

Japan is against new whale sanctuaries and proposed that this issue - and others opposed by pro-whaling countries - be pushed off the agenda at the opening of the commission's annual general assembly in South Korea.

The commission voted 29-28 to end debate on the Japanese motion, prompting IWC Commissioner Henrik Fischer of Denmark to rule that the agenda was to be adopted as is.

"That was a defeat for Japan," said New Zealand Conservation Minister Chris Carter.

Joji Morishita, Japan's chief negotiator on whaling issues, said there were remaining questions about whether the agenda was properly adopted, adding that his country was putting up a "good fight".

A simple majority of pro-whaling nations would be able to pass resolutions favouring their stance, including ones that express support for Japan's research program or voice backing for the resumption of limited kills.

The next vote at the meeting was likely to be on whether to adopt secret ballots, a move the pro-whaling countries favour.

The United States earlier this month urged against any expansion in what Tokyo calls its research hunt, with its research agency the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration saying any increase in the "number or type of whales killed and marketed under the guise of science is unacceptable".

"The world today will either be stepping forward into an era where conservation and the environment really matter, or it will be stepping back into the Dark Ages, where the people of the world think that slaughter of whales using grenades, electric lances and shooting them with rifles is something that we should accept," said Senator Campbell.

Last year's whaling panel meeting ended with a resolution for Japan to halt its research program. That generated angry calls in Tokyo for the country to retaliate by quitting the group, or at least withholding funding.

"More and more people are starting to say: 'Why do you stay in the IWC?'" Japanese ruling party lawmaker Yoshimasa Hayashi, a member of Japan's 82-member delegation to the conference, told reporters just before this year's meeting began.

Source: www.smh.com.au

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Early win for anti-whalers

See the beautiful side of South African marine life

Marine biologist Thomas Peschak is the principal author of a beautiful coffee-table book packed with exquisite photographs and scientifically accurate (readable) text explaining why the southern African coastline is one of the most exciting and diverse marine environments in the world.

When marine biologist Thomas P Peschak stepped off a plane in Cape Town in January 1999 to start a doctoral thesis, his first words to his University of Cape Town supervisor George Branch were: "Does this PhD come with a bulletproof jacket?"

It was said only half in jest, because Peschak, 29, was about to study the ecological impacts of perlemoen poaching on the kelp forests off the south-west Cape coast and his work would put him in direct contact with poachers.

"In the first years of my thesis, I learned as much about guns, anti-poaching and Mafia syndicates as I did about abalone ecology," he says.

Peschak is the principal author of Currents of Contrast, a beautiful coffee-table book packed with exquisite photographs. Its scientifically accurate but readable text explains why the southern African coastline is one of the most exciting and diverse marine environments in the world: because it's the merging place of
two "ocean giants" the Atlantic Ocean's cold Benguela current and the Indian Ocean's warm Agulhas current.

Co-author Claudio Velàsquez Rojas is also a marine biologist, although his contribution is limited to some of the photographs. Peschak was born in Hamburg, Germany, but "grew up all over the place".

His first underwater excursions with a mask and snorkel started when he was about 10. He began scuba diving a few years later. "I knew I wanted to be a marine biologist from about 14. "I was a marine junky, obsessed with the ocean, and when other kids my age were playing computer games I was learning the scientific names of reef fish, making check-lists of species and reading everything marine-related I could get my hands on."

He became a dive instructor and, in his late teens, started assisting marine biologists. A degree in marine biology from the University of Plymouth in England was followed by an honours year in Honduras, Central America, studying the biodiversity of tropical seagrass communities.

His first African experience was in the mid-1990s as a scientific diver in northern Mozambique, carrying out marine biodiversity surveys on the coral reefs of the remote Quirimba islands.

One of the scientists on that expedition had two books with him: The Living Shores of Southern Africa and Two Oceans, both written or co-written by Branch, professor of marine biology at UCT and a world expert in his field. "These books that awoke my appetite for the southern Africa's marine environment," says Peschak.

He contacted Professor Branch and eventually found himself on an aircraft to begin a PhD. Peschak started selling photographs to magazines and books nine years ago, but became seriously interested in photography and filmmaking only after arriving in South Africa.

Now, he's official photographer for the marine programme of WWF-SA (World Wide Fund for Nature ­ South Africa) and has also started a production company (Currents of Contrast Productions) that focuses on creating images, telling stories and carrying out research that "celebrate, reveal and preserve Africa's last great wilderness the oceans".

"After about two years of fulltime research on my PhD I began to realise that while the science was exciting and enthralling, my interests went far beyond abalone and kelp forests they ranged from white sharks, to coral reefs, to baboons and otters and much more.

"So for the past four years I've found myself dividing my time between marine biology research and wildlife/underwater photography, writing and film-making.

"And when I finish my PhD later this year, I'll keep one foot firmly rooted in marine science and the other in popular natural history media."

Scientifically, the most interesting stretch of the southern African coastline for Peschak is the temperate zone, especially the kelp forests and reefs between Cape Hangklip and Cape Agulhas.

"The enormous productivity, bountiful marine invertebrate life and the presence of predators such as otters, seals and great white sharks make this boiling cauldron of life an exquisite and exciting research arena for me."

But he also has several "non-scientific" favourite places. "For a true coastal wilderness experience, nothing can beat the northern reaches of Namibia's Skeleton Coast National Park between Moewe Bay and the Kunene River mouth.

"The most awe-inspiring places I've ever visited are along the Pondoland coast especially Waterfall bluff where a 110m-high waterfall plunges straight into the Indian Ocean.

"And the wetland wilderness of Kosi Bay also holds a special place in my heart, but mainly because of the people who live there, the Tembe-Thonga.

"They've given me a unique insight into a society where the ocean still plays a central, life-giving role. At Kosi Bay, seawater still seems to flow through the arteries and veins of everyone."

Closer to Cape Town, the seas around Dyer Island (near Gansbaai) are a magnet, being home to a prolific population of great white sharks that have become one of his favourite photographic subjects.

"I now dedicate several months a year to capturing images of the ocean's most evocative yet misunderstood resident," he says. Peschak's mission is inspired by quotes, which are in his book.

Source: www.iol.co.za

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See the beautiful side of South African marine life

Grounded vessel still monitored

An oil spill response team from the Environmental Affairs and Tourism Department has put up a protective boom across the Mtana Estuary in the Eastern Cape as part of its precautionary measures after a gross ton log-carrier lay aground.

The "Kiperousa" was traveling from West Africa to the Far East when it was grounded on a reef off Bhega, five miles south of Hamburg in the Eastern Cape on last Tuesday.

It sustained damage on the bottom that resulted in the engine room being flooded and a total loss of power and facilities.

It was later blown onto the beach.

It's owners, Sealink Marine of Piraeus from Greece, have contracted an international salvage company Tsavliris.

Environmental Affairs Spokesperson JP Louw said the protection of the marine environment remained an important priority for his department.

It has deployed the oil pollution abatement vessel, Kuswag1, and Kuswag 8 surveillance aircraft to the scene since Monday to monitor the situation.

"A small amount of oil was reported to be leaking from the vessel, but is naturally dissipating rapidly. No oil is reported to have reached the shore," said Mr Louw.

However there is concern that the risk of pollution in the area remains as approximately 250 cubic metres of heavy fuel oil and 63 cubic metres of diesel oil remain aboard the vessel.

Members of the South African Maritime Safety Authority Casualty Response Unit also remain on site.

"The salvors are continuing with attempts to re-float the grounded vessel. Equipment necessary for an oil transfer operation is also being transferred onto the vessel," he said.

"A heavy lift helicopter is also on site and provides assistance in the transfer of heavy duty salvage equipment onto the Kiperousa," he said.

Source: www.allafrica.com and www.deat.gov.za

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Grounded vessel still monitored

Great White shark reputation still blemished by the "Jaws" movie 30 years on

Thirty years ago, in the summer of 1975, Jaws had moviegoers paralyzed by fear. The story, about a giant great white shark that terrorizes a seaside community, tapped into the most primal of human fears: What unseen creature lurks below the ocean surface?

Millions of beachgoers heeded the advice of the movie's tagline—"Don't go in the water." They filed into theaters instead, and Jaws became the biggest box office hit to date.

To the dismay of many scientists, however, Jaws cemented a perception in the minds of many people that sharks were stalking, killing machines. The reputation remains entrenched in the public psyche 30 years after the movie's release.

"It perpetuated the myths about sharks as man-eaters and bloodthirsty killers … even though the odds of an individual entering the sea and being attacked by a shark are almost infinitesimal," said George Burgess, a shark biologist at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Burgess says the movie initiated a precipitous decline in U.S. shark populations, as thousands of fishers set out to catch trophy sharks after seeing Jaws. Later, in the 1980s, commercial fisheries further decimated shark populations.

But the phenomenal popularity of the movie also helped the study of sharks, researchers say. Before Jaws, very little was known about the predators. After the film's release, interest in sharks skyrocketed, resulting in increased funding for shark research.

"On the one hand, the movie did damage to sharks, because people saw them as monsters," said Robert Hueter, who directs the Center for Shark Research at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida. "But for scientists, the whole Jaws thing started working in our favor, because of the overexaggerated public interest in these animals."

Mechanical Shark
In the hands of a young director named Steven Spielberg, Jaws, which was based on the best-selling novel by Peter Benchley, was widely hailed as a masterful thriller. Its music score, by John Williams, contains one of the most recognized themes in movie-music history.

Filming was plagued by technical problems. Scenes with a mechanical shark had to be cut, because it did not look believable enough. That, however, only made the movie scarier, heightening the unsettled feeling of helplessness that many moviegoers felt toward the beast, which remained largely unseen.

"The fear of being eaten is ingrained in people," said Mike Heithaus, a marine biology professor at Florida International University in Miami. "If we feel like we have some control or [a] fighting chance, a situation isn't as scary. With sharks there are no trees to climb, and you can't outswim a shark."

Real-life shark attacks, though widely publicized, are extremely rare. People in U.S. coastal areas, for example, are about a hundred times more likely to be struck and killed by lightning than killed by a shark. According to the Florida Museum of Natural History's International Shark Attack File, there were 61 unprovoked shark attacks worldwide in 2004, resulting in seven deaths.

"Those are ridiculously low numbers when you consider the billions and billions of human hours spent in the water every year," said Burgess, who curates the Shark File.

Kill Tournaments
The number of shark attacks has increased over the past several decades, but that is because humans are going into the water in increasing numbers.

Humans are not part of sharks' normal prey.

"Most sharks don't attack prey that is close to their own size, and they can be wary of strange situations or objects they're not used to, like humans," Heithaus, the Miami marine biologist, said. "This makes attacks very unlikely, even if a hungry shark sees a person."

But sharks have suffered greatly at human hands. Between 20 to 100 million sharks are killed by fishing each year, according to the Shark File, which is administered by the American Elasmobranch Society, whose members study sharks, skates, and rays. The organization estimates that some shark populations have plummeted 30 to 50 percent.

That decline can be traced in part back to Jaws. In the years after the movie's release, the number of so-called kill tournaments spiked.

"There was a collective testosterone rush that went though the U.S. in the years following Jaws, where guys just wanted to catch these sharks so they could have their pictures taken with their foot on the head of a man-eater and the jaws later displayed on their mantle," Burgess said.

Biological Buck
When Jaws premiered, scientists knew little about sharks, partly because they were considered a nuisance by fisheries.

"The most important commercial species always get the biological buck in terms of grants and money," Burgess said. "Nobody cared much about sharks. They ate good fish, so they were considered bad by fisheries."

In the 1980s U.S. commercial fisheries turned their attention to sharks. Commercial overfishing further depleted the number of sharks. As shark populations declined, marine ecosystems suffered.

"As a result, we soon started getting funding from fisheries to do basic research on sharks—how old they get, how fast they grow, how many young they make," Burgess said.

Scientists have since learned that sharks, as apex predators, can affect the entire ocean food chain from their position at its top.

Most people, when they hear the word "shark," may still think of a huge great white shark, like the one in Jaws. In reality, there are more than 375 shark species, and only about a dozen are considered particularly dangerous.

But the public is slowly learning, scientists say.

"In the final analysis, Jaws has been a positive thing for the science of sharks," Hueter said, "because it has elevated the public's interest in these animals."

Source: National Geographic

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Great White shark reputation still blemished by the "Jaws" movie 30 years on

Calls for ban on chumming as shark attacks increase

The Shark Concern Group has called on the government to ban chumming and the use of bait in the shark tourism industry because of the increase in shark attacks.

The group, which includes surfers, yachtsmen, scientists and a surgeon, has written to Environment Affairs Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk requesting "urgent action" in shark tourism.

Chris Bovim, who was attacked by a great white shark on Christmas Eve in 2002 while crayfishing off Scarborough, said in an open letter to Van Schalkwyk: "From enjoying our ocean in a state of ignorance and abandon, the local diving and surfing community has rightfully become increasingly concerned about shark attacks.

"We are concerned that the risks have increased as a result of how humans are interacting with sharks, for example using shark-cage diving and chumming. These practices are unnecessary and have ecological implications that are largely unknown.

"We propose boat-based shark viewing without the use of attractants. This would be true eco-tourism."

The group has also called on the government to give the great white the same protection as it has in California, where any interference with the shark is forbidden.

"If we do not know whether chumming has an effect on great white sharks, then a precautionary approach should be adopted as a matter of extreme urgency," the letter said.

It called for an environmental impact assessment with full public participation so the options could be reviewed.

Some of the signatories are zoologist Graham Noble, Olympic yachtsman Ian Ainslie, surgeon and surfer Brian Bernstein, climber and film-maker Chris Lomax, Kommetjie Environmental Awareness Group chair Wally Petersen and At du Plooy, of the SA Institute of Skippers.

Bovim said some research indicated that sharks did become "habituated", in the same way that other animals did.

"What is there to lose by banning chumming? We're not calling for cage diving to be banned, just for the industry to be re-engineered.

Banning chumming is a start which should be implemented urgently. There had not been sufficient oversight of the shark cage industry," Bovim said.

Bovim was attacked about 70m off Scarborough while he was snorkeling. "The shark was so vast it was like being next to a submarine," Bovim said, recalling the attack.

At one stage the shark had both of Bovim's arms in its mouth and Bovim escaped by head-butting the animal repeatedly. He made his way to the shore with "my right hand hanging from my elbow".
Bovim has lost some of the use of his right hand.

Van Schalkwyk's spokesperson Riaan Aucamp said on Tuesday that the minister took the matter seriously.

His department, with the Universities of Pretoria and Cape Town, the SA Museum and the Natal Sharks Board, was conducting scientific studies on the possible relationship between cage diving and shark attacks.

As the research had begun last year, it was too early to have made any findings.

Source: www.iol.co.za

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Calls for ban on chumming as shark attacks increase

Sardine fever has hit KwaZulu Natal South Coast

The sardines have arrived! Holidaymakers and locals enjoyed themselves on Monday catching the slippery silver fish when they beached at Hibberdene on the South Coast.

Mike Anderson-Reade, Deputy CEO of the Natal Sharks Board, said that the large shoal of sardines brought thousands of dolphins to the coast. "There is lots of sardine activity on the coast. Thousands of common and bottlenose dolphins were spotted chasing the sardines," he said.

Anderson-Reade said that sardines were spotted at Port Edward, Glenmore and Pumula beaches over the weekend. "Sardine activity is definitely heating up."

However, it is difficult to say where they will move to next," he said.

According to Anderson-Reade, some fishermen netted around 500 baskets of sardines at some beaches while local people gathered to watch the fun. He said that sardines sold for around R220 a basket at first but the price quickly dropped to R120 a basket.

"It was definitely a good day for everyone down at the beach," said Anderson-Reade.

Sagie Naidoo, a local fisherman, said that Hibberdene beach was a hive of activity as fishermen jostled to get their nets out.

"It has been a bumper day for all at the beach. Children were trying to grab the sardines with their hands. There's even a television crew down here trying to get a piece of the action," he laughed.

Naidoo said that he had netted sardines for the first time on Monday since they had arrived on the coast and was excited about their arrival. "There are several other fishermen at the beach, all trying to bring in their sardine laden nets," said Naidoo.

In the late afternoon, fishermen packed up and headed in convoy to Umzumbe Beach, where the sardines advanced.

The beach was busy with local fishermen, children and tourists in the water trying to catch as many sardines as possible.

People ran to and fro with buckets and plastic bags full of the fish while others were happy to catch the sardines on camera.

Source: www.iol.co.za

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Sardine fever has hit KwaZulu Natal South Coast

DAN offers new training program in providing oxygen

As part of its Mission to help divers through education and rapid access to treatment, DAN (Divers Alert Network) recently provided customized training to diver instructors in Cozumel.

Underscoring the need for early recognition of the symptoms of decompression illness and the benefits of providing oxygen to injured divers, DAN Training recently teamed with local DAN Trainers and Instructors in Cozumel, Mexico to conduct a two-week Training Exposition. The event targeted those first at the scene when an injured diver returns to the boat.

Jeff Myers, DAN Training Vice President, said the offering, Orientation to Oxygen Administration for Divers program, was designed specifically for boat captains and mates. More than 200 dive charter boat captains and mates, dive guides, photographers and other dive professionals participated.

"Though dive injuries are rare, safety training for those most likely to be at the scene provides them with a greater understanding of how to deal with injured divers," Myers said. "This should create a greater safety net for divers traveling to this popular dive destination."

The primary objective was oxygen training, Myers said. "We definitely fulfilled that; 175 people completed some level of oxygen training and we trained 25 people in field neurological assessments and in assessing hazardous marine life injuries."

Myers said creating such courses for dive leaders has not been easy. "They all agree that DAN courses are important, especially for those with the responsibility of caring for other divers, but it's tough to work out the logistics when everyone is so busy working with the many visiting divers coming to the area," he said. "So, we headed to Mexico in hopes of supporting our DAN Trainers and Instructors to address these challenges."

Source: Divers Alert Network

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DAN offers new training program in providing oxygen

South African scuba diver sets new deep dive world record

South African scuba supremo Nuno Gomes is the deepest diver in the world. On Friday, after 12 hours and 20 minutes of Red Sea time, Gomes surfaced with a new world record under his belt.

Official measurements revealed he had reached a depth of 318.25m. Gomes, a 52-year-old engineer, reached a depth the length of the Eiffel Tower, including the aerial at the top.

Even though he had planned to go to 320m, his plunge was still enough to beat Mark Ellyatt's 313m record set in Thailand in 2003.

It took Gomes about 20 minutes to reach that depth and 12 hours to surface in order to decompress.

Gomes is one of only a handful of divers who have been below 250m.

In fact, more people have gone to the moon than have gone to that depth.

He now holds the world records for the deepest sea and deepest cave dives.

In 1996 he descended into the inky blackness of Boesmansgat, in the Northern Cape, 282.6m under water.

Source: www.capetimes.co.za

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South African scuba diver sets new deep dive world record

Salvage operations to resume for stranded vessel

Attempts to salvage the bulk carrier Kiperousa, which is stranded off the Eastern Cape coast, were suspended until Monday, SABC radio news reported.

The attempt to refloat the 15 000-ton vessel would resume as soon as a specialist salvage master was flown in from overseas to assist with the operation.

The Kiperousa was en route from Gabon to Durban to take in fuel oil when it ran aground on a reef off Bhenga, just south of Hamburg in the Eastern Cape, on Tuesday.

The South African Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) said the Kiperousa's load of 250 000 litres of heavy fuel oil and 63 000 litres of diesel oil could enter the water.

Small amounts of oil had leaked from the ship, but Samsa said the slick was thin and was dispersing naturally.

Pollution response teams from the department of environmental affairs were on standby if the leakage increased.

Source: www.iol.co.za

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Salvage operations to resume for stranded vessel

Great White Shark 'not to blame' for spearfisherman's death

While the death of Henri Murray is indeed tragic, people and particularly the young man's father, need to realise that spearfishing is to blame and not the shark.

Shooting fish underwater is like ringing a shark's dinner bell - sharks are lured towards the scent of blood and the vibration of a wounded fish.

As a survivor of a near-fatal shark attack in the Bahamas, I was engaged in the same activity as Murray, when I got attacked.

Instead of blaming the shark, I endeavoured to learn as much about them and why I was attacked.

The bottom line is that if you are going to engage in an activity such as spearfishing, you need to take certain precautions and accept the risk and responsibility that goes with the territory.

This letter was sent to News24 by Kent Bonde from Miami, Florida

Source: News24

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Great White Shark 'not to blame' for spearfisherman's death

Coalition urges UN curbs on harmful ocean sounds

An environmental coalition urged the United Nations on Wednesday to take steps to protect whales, dolphins and other marine life from the powerful sound waves used in oil and gas exploration and by the world's navies to navigate and detect submarines.

Marine scientists believe there is a link between the use of high-intensity sound and recent mass strandings of whales and dolphins in waters off Greece, Hawaii, New Zealand and elsewhere around the world since 1985, said the Ocean Noise Coalition.

In each of these cases, the strandings took place near high intensity sonar or near the use of high-powered industrial "air guns" used in oil and gas exploration, the coalition grouping over 120 different organizations told a news conference at U.N. headquarters.

Intense sound can also seriously injure or kill fish and drive down the catch rates of commercial fishing operations, according to scientific studies cited by the coalition, which includes the Swiss-based World Conservation Union, Chile's Centro de Conservacion Cetacea and the U.S.-based Sierra Club and Natural Resources Defense Council.

"It is time to pay attention to the studies showing that air guns and sonar-type signals can seriously injure and kill fish," a coalition statement said.

"The fact that several studies show that fish catch rates are significantly lowered by noise from air guns indicates that increasing levels of human-produced noise in the ocean can significantly and adversely affect the food supply, employment and economies of many nations," the statement said.

The groups are trying to convince delegates from 148 nations to take action on the issue during their consultations this week in New York on oceans and marine law.

The European Parliament and the International Whaling Commission are among groups recognizing intense ocean noise as a threat to marine life and backing international controls, they said.

Some governments including the United States, however, have argued that sonar use cannot be regulated internationally as it is a matter of national security.

Source: www.swissinfo.org

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Coalition urges UN curbs on harmful ocean sounds

Red Tide toxins pose lingering threat to marine mammals

New research findings have revealed that the toxins produced during Florida red tides do pose a threat to marine mammals, even after the blooms have disappeared.

As reported in the June 9 issue of Nature, scientists from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWC/FWRI) and the University of North Carolina Wilmington Center for Marine Science (UNCW/CMS) together with collaborators from Mote Marine Laboratory, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have discovered how brevetoxin accumulation and transfer in the food web, a series of interconnected food chains, resulted in mass fatalities of endangered manatees in 2002 and bottlenose dolphins in 2004.

In Florida, red tides cause massive fish kills, contaminate shellfish with brevetoxins making them unsafe for human consumption, and can cause respiratory problems in humans.

Brevetoxins, the dangerous neurotoxins produced during Florida red tides (blooms of the toxic microalga Karenia brevis) also have been implicated in numerous mass marine mammal deaths in Florida. However, the mechanisms of intoxication leading to their deaths have remained uncertain.

"We knew that brevetoxins were involved in manatee mortalities, but we did not understand how these herbivorous mammals could be exposed to lethal amounts of toxins after the red tide had dissipated," said Leanne Flewelling of FWRI's Harmful Algal Blooms group and first author of the publication.

The authors reveal that brevetoxins can accumulate in high concentration on seagrass, the principal food source for manatees, and can remain there after the bloom is gone. This can be especially dangerous when the red tides form in early spring and the migrating manatees move to coastal waters, eating seagrass which has been exposed to the red tide toxins.

The involvement of brevetoxins in dolphin mortalities has been much debated, primarily because toxins were not always found in dead animals and because the source of the poisoning was not understood.

"Because red tides typically result in massive fish kills, people believed that brevetoxins could not accumulate to concentrations dangerous for marine mammals that feed on whole live fish prey," said Jerome Naar, research assistant professor at UNCW/CMS and corresponding author in the publication.

With funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Florida Department of Health and FWC, Naar, the principal investigator, and Flewelling, along with Jan Landsberg (FWC/FWRI), co-PI, Karen Steidinger (FWC/FWRI) and Daniel Baden (UNCW/CMS), all co-authors of the publication, have been studying the potential for fish to accumulate brevetoxins by food-web transfer and demonstrated that fish can be a significant source of vectored brevetoxin in the food web.

They explained that planktivorous fish can in fact feed on the red tide cells, but brevetoxin seems to be fatal to them only if the toxin passes through their gills. When there is only a low level of toxin dissolved in the seawater, these fish can become contaminated, particularly in the internal organs, and can cause fatalities in other species, such as dolphin or seabirds which rely on whole fish as a food source.

The 2004 spring mortality of 107 dolphins in the Florida Panhandle was the first evidence that brevetoxin-contaminated fish are a threat to dolphins.

"Discovering exactly the same toxin composition in the dolphin stomachs as in the planktivorous fish gave us quite a good indication of what was responsible," Naar said.

"The finding that red tide is this toxic to manatees and dolphins highlights the need for more research on the health effects of red tide toxin exposure in human populations," said David Schwartz, M.D., director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Despite documented annual red tides in the Gulf of Mexico since the late 1800s, there are no reports of human poisonings from fish consumption in red-tide impacted areas.

The investigation of the dolphin mortality led by NOAA included multiple scientists from state and federal agencies as well as other non-profit organizations and universities. Additional funding support for the study was obtained from three NOAA National Ocean Service Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) programs: the HAB Event Response program, the Monitoring and Event Response for Harmful Algal Blooms (MERHAB) program, and the Marine Biotoxins program. Funding was also provided by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Source: AScribe Newswire

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Red Tide toxins pose lingering threat to marine mammals

Nets kill nearly 1,000 marine mammals a day, says WWF

Fishing nets intended for other marine species are killing at-risk species of dolphins and porpoises around the world, according to a report commissioned by the nonprofit World Wildlife Fund-U.S.

Leading marine scientists ranked dolphins and porpoises across the globe for the risk they face from lethal fishing nets. Ten species are included in a list of populations conservationists say require urgent action to prevent further deaths.

The report lists the following priority locations and species:

• Philippines and Southeast Asia: Irrawaddy dolphins
  
• Zanzibar (East Africa): Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins and Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins
  
• Black Sea: Harbor porpoises
  
• Philippines: Spinner dolphins and Fraser's dolphins
  
• Ghana and Togo (West Africa): Atlantic humpback dolphins
  
• Peru: Burmeister's porpoises
  
• Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil: Franciscana dolphins
  
• Argentina: Commerson's dolphins
  

Researchers say most of these species are killed by gillnets. Made of monofilament (single-strand) nylon mesh, gillnets are difficult for dolphins and porpoises to see or detect with their sonar.

Once entangled in netting or its supporting ropes, marine mammals face high risk of drowning. Driftnets and crab nets can also kill the mammals. Nontarget species accidentally caught in fishing equipment are known as bycatch.

"Almost one thousand whales, dolphins, and porpoises die every day in nets and fishing gear," said Karen Baragona, of the WWF species-conservation program.

The new report will be submitted to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) at its annual meeting next week in South Korea.

Last year the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy identified bycatch as the greatest global threat to cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises). Marine experts estimate that more than 300,000 cetaceans are killed by fishing gear every year.

Randall Reeves, lead author of the WWF-U.S. report, chairs the World Conservation Union's Cetacean Specialist Group, based in Gland, Switzerland. He says the study team focused on identifying cetacean species or populations most likely to end up as bycatch—especially those where the prospect of successful mitigation measures appeared good.

Conservation Guidance
"It's crucial to give guidance to agencies and organizations on how they should invest their resources," Reeves said.

Baragona, of the WWF-U.S., says accidental dolphin and porpoise deaths can be significantly reduced, often with simple, low-cost solutions.

"The United States and several other countries have significantly reduced bycatch in their waters," she noted. "Slight modifications in fishing gear can mean the difference between life and death for dolphins."

Species on the bycatch priority list include the Irrawaddy dolphin. Globally threatened, the marine mammal has at least two populations that are listed as critically endangered by the IUCN.

The dolphin's last known haunt in the Philippines is Malamapaya Sound, where only around 77 individual dolphins remain. Study co-author Brian D. Smith, of the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society, says the population's decline is almost certainly due to crab fishing.

Smith said a positive step would be to develop more efficient crab pots as an alternative to nets, which ensnare and kill Irrawaddy dolphins. He and his colleagues also recommend closing some Irrawaddy dolphin habitats to gillnet fishing.

In addition, data suggest that thousands of harbor porpoises are killed annually in the Black Sea by gillnets set for turbot, sturgeon, and dogfish.

In 2003 the International Whaling Commission indicated that existing fisheries regulations for the Black Sea were not being enforced. The WWF report recommends assisting Black Sea nations, such as Ukraine, to tackle illegal fishing.

In the case of Atlantic humpback dolphins, the report's authors have little idea how many of the animals remain or how many die as bycatch. The coastal species is found only in West Africa. Some Atlantic humpback dolphin populations are known only by a single specimen.

Lack of Data
In Ghana, West Africa, tens of thousands of coastal residents earn their livelihood from the sea. Because of this, researchers say, gillnet closures are unlikely. They add that little has been done to safeguard dolphins in the region, mainly because a lack of data has left regional governments unconvinced that stocks are severely depleted.

In other parts of the word, measures to reduce levels of cetacean bycatch are thought to be working. In U.S. waters, for example, gillnets are now prohibited in some coastal areas. Pingers (acoustic deterrents that warn or scare dolphins, porpoises, and whales away from fishing nets) are mandatory in other areas.

In European Union waters, the use of drift nets for tuna in the Atlantic and Mediterranean was banned in 2002. All other drift-netting will be phased out by 2008. Pingers are also becoming mandatory for all E.U. gillnet fisheries.

It's the fate of dolphins and porpoises in the developing world that most concerns conservationists, especially because these waters support the greatest number of cetacean species and the most at-risk populations. The WWF report says fisheries in the developing world "tend to be small-scale and decentralized, making assessment, monitoring and conservation intervention difficult."

Baragona, of WWF, says developing nations must recognize they have a problem and make change a priority. She also calls for better data on fisheries by these countries: "How many boats? What type of gear? What are they targeting? How much bycatch are they landing?" She adds that better enforcement of fishing regulations and increased monitoring of cetaceans is also needed in developing nations.

Baragona says that, around the world, fishing gear that traps marine mammals needs to be replaced.

"A more cutting edge approach is to use nets infused with barium sulfate, which makes them stiffer [and thus less likely to tangle] and easier [for marine mammals] to detect acoustically [for example, with sonar]," she said. This technology could possibly be "combined with materials that make the nets glow in the dark underwater, so the animals can see them," she added.

In April WWF awarded a prize for a fishing net design incorporating such dolphin-friendly features.

Related Article: Fishing net wins battle with Great White Shark

Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

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Nets kill nearly 1,000 marine mammals a day, says WWF

Pride of India docks in Cape Town

A display of Indian naval power is open to the public at Cape Town's Victoria and Alfred Waterfront.

Visitors will be allowed to board the INS Delhi and INS Ganga from 11am to 3.30pm on Friday and Saturday and will be afforded the rare opportunity to see a virtually new destroyer and a guided missile frigate in the flesh.

The ships arrived in Table Bay Harbour early on Thursday on an official four-day visit, after which they will set sail to take part in exercises with the South African Navy.

The guided missile frigate INS Trishul and the replenishment ship Aditya also arrived in Durban earlier this week for a visit.

Commissioned in 1997, the INS Delhi was the first of three conventional destroyers designed and built in India. A destroyer, one of the most powerful naval vessels at sea today, is surpassed in armament and size only by the cruiser and is the backbone of modern navies.

They bristle with weaponry and sensors that allow them to fight against aircraft, other ships or submarines in a combination of roles.

INS Delhi boasts a 500m2 helicopter deck and twin hangars where two British-made Sea King helicopters are kept at the ready for anti-submarine duty. They also launch missiles.

The ship cost $980-million to build, "about the same as what we paid for our four new corvettes", said Helmoed Romer-Heitman of Jane's Defence Weekly.

Source: www.iol.co.za

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Pride of India docks in Cape Town

Maritime officials making new salvage plans

Attempts to refloat the stranded log carrier Kiperousa failed, but would be attempted again on Friday evening, the South African Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) said.

Spokesperson Captain Peter Kroon said on Friday that the cable between the tug and the ship had come undone on the first pull on Thursday evening.

"She hasn't moved, she is still sitting there," he said.

Samsa would try again at around 6pm on Friday when the tide would be at its highest.

"The weather is fine, the wind is down, the swell is down, and we'll use a bigger, better, stronger cable," Kroon said.

The Kiperousa is a 14 921-gross-ton log-carrier and was en route from Gabon to Durban to take in fuel oil when it ran aground on a reef off Bhenga, just south of Hamburg in the Eastern Cape, on Tuesday.

"The vessel sustained damage to its bottom which resulted in the engine room being flooded and a total loss of power and facilities."

On Thursday, crew members were airlifted from the stranded vessel onto a tug, the Nikolay Chiker, by helicopter.

Earlier on Thursday Samsa said it had given permission for the salvage operation to go ahead without the oil being removed from the Kiperousa.

"As removal of the oil from the vessel would be very difficult and time consuming, Samsa has agreed to the salvor's plan to try and get the vessel off the beach as soon as possible."

Small amounts of oil were leaking from the ship, but Samsa said the slick was very thin and was dispersing naturally.

Pollution response teams from the Department of Environmental Affairs were on stand-by if the leakage increased.

The Kiperousa is carrying 250 000 litres of heavy fuel oil and 63 000 litres of diesel oil.

Source: www.iol.co.za

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Maritime officials making new salvage plans

Experts wade into anti-shark waters

Specialists are being asked to critically review all standard anti-shark measures such as shark nets, electronic repellents and baited lines and to assess their usefulness in protecting Cape Town's coastline.

The specialists are being commissioned by the Shark Working Group, and their findings, which will be made public after a three-day workshop, are expected in about three months.

Also, the public is being asked to submit any rational suggestions to protect sea-users from sharks.

"We will allow a specialist external review to be done so that we can be assured of the correct decisions and public record," said group spokesman Gregg Oelofse.

The controversy over whether shark cage-diving is indirectly causing the unusually high number of shark attacks will also come under the spotlight.

"All evidence certainly suggests there is no link," said Oelofse. "However, we will ask international specialists to review this as well."

The working group met yesterday following the weekend attack by a White Shark at Miller's Point that claimed the life of medical student, Henri Murray, 22.

His remains have not yet been recovered.

The group was set up informally after the attack on young Muizenberg surfer "JP" Andrew in April last year, which cost him a leg, but it was formalised after several other shark attacks later in the year.

Co-chaired by the City of Cape Town and the Marine and Coastal Management (MCM) branch of the Department of Environmental Affairs, its members include scientists and field researchers from the White Shark Research Unit of Iziko-SA Museum and other institutions, and representatives of the National Sea Rescue Institute, the SA Surf Lifesaving Association, surfers, conservationists and the fishing and shark cage-diving industries.

The group considered the Great White shark "an incredibly important species", Oelofse said. "Their continued conservation is vital."

However, the group also recognised that shark attacks were very traumatic, and wanted to express its condolences to Murray's family, Oelofse added.

"We would like to stress the importance of individual responsibility of making the choice of entering the sharks' environment.

"It is a personal choice that should be made, knowing that however small the risk, there is always some risk.

"We also want to stress that the ocean is a wilderness area in which a number of predators live. We don't believe there is a great risk, but there will never be no risk, and spear-fishing is a high-risk sport in Cape waters."

On the "rogue shark" theory, Oelofse said the working group did not believe just one Great White shark was responsible for all the recent attacks in Cape waters.

"Internationally, there is no evidence to suggest that Great Whites become 'man-eaters' or 'problem animals'.

"All the authorities are in agreement that there will be no culling or attempt to look for this particular shark and certainly not to take it out. We really don't believe that's a solution."

The group is closely watching a joint shark monitoring project by the University of Cape Town, the SA Museum and MCM. So far, 28 "bottom monitors" have been placed in False Bay that record the movements of passing sharks fitted with acoustic tags.

There are four each at Muizenberg and Fish Hoek, and others at places like Kalk Bay, Kogel Bay, Macassar, Simon's Town and Castle Rock.

Two monitors will be installed at Dunes, off Noordhoek beach, when weather conditions allow.

Researchers are tagging Great White sharks at Seal Island with acoustic tags whose signals will be picked up over the next two to three years.

"This information will allow us to understand what factors influence shark behaviour and presence

Shark behaviour
By the end of next month, 48 noticeboards explaining White Shark behaviour and how to best to avoid the risk of a shark attack will be in place on Cape Town beaches.

This is part of the Shark Working Group's new communication strategy around sharks.

The group's advice includes:

Don't swim, surf or dive alone.

Be aware of your surroundings and make sure you know whether sharks have been sighted in that area recently. If they have, stay out of the water.

Don't swim at dawn or dusk.

If there is a lot of activity in the water - such as shoals of fish present, birds diving, or dolphins and seals feeding - don't go into the water.

Undertake watersports away from known seal colonies.

In the unlikely event of a shark attack, phone 107, or 480 7700 from a cellphone and the operator will arrange the appropriate response.

Source: www.allafrica.com

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Experts wade into anti-shark waters

DAN Associate Pro Level recognizes dive professionals

One of the single most important determining factors for most divers to become DAN Members is the advice and recommendation of their dive instructor.

Dive instructors refer new members to DAN every day: they are true advocates for DAN, the work DAN does, and the value of DAN membership and insurance. They do this for the safety of their divers without any thought of personal gain.

To recognize those dive leaders, DAN has created the Associate Pro designation.

This program is free to any DAN Member who holds a professional-level dive certification with a dive training agency. This includes divemasters, dive controllers, assistant instructors and instructors.

Associate Pros will get some basic benefits, mostly access to additional teaching tools, marketing and educational opportunities about DAN. Most importantly, however, they will have the ability to accumulate points, redeemable for any product in the DAN catalog.

If you are a DAN Member who is eligible to be an Associate Pro, call DAN today to begin earning points: +1-919-684-2948.

Source: www.diversalertnetwork.org

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DAN Associate Pro Level recognizes dive professionals

Book Review: Currents of Contrast - Life in Southern Africa's Two Oceans

THE ocean currents peculiar to southern Africa create four distinct marine provinces with richly varied habitats -- the cool temperate west coast of the Benguela region, and the warm temperate south coast, subtropical east coast and tropical east coast of the Agulhas-Mozambique region.

These waters create what authors Thomas Peschak and Claudio Velasquez Rojas describe in CURRENTS OF CONTRAST -- LIFE IN SOUTHERN AFRICA'S TWO OCEANS (Struik, R275) as the world's third-hottest biodiversity hotspots, with more than 18625 described plants, 70000 species of invertebrates and more than 11100 marine organisms, including 2150 species of fish -- more than 1000 of them found at Kosi Bay.

This superbly illustrated natural history kicks off with how and why the currents affect the region, and describes briefly the history of human habitation, exploitation, and conservation.

The section on the Benguela contains some fascinating insights into the lives of sharks. There is a section on "fingerprinting" great whites (though "finprinting" would be a more accurate term, as they are identified by the shape, pigmentation and serration of their dorsal fins) and another on False Bay's flying sharks.

Despite the common perception of the great white, described by one newspaper writer as "a 4000-pound ocean predator with a mouthful of dagger-like teeth and a nasty habit of occasionally snacking on humans", SA was in 1991 the first country to give protection to the great white.

An industry has sprung up around them, with at least 11 companies offering cage diving. Some days Jaws-spotting tourists outnumber sharks 200 to 1.

Africa's only kelp forests -- home to sea urchins, perlemoen and filter feeders including sea cucumbers, sponges and sea squirts -- are covered, as are the coral reefs biochemists are hoping will yield antitumour and antiviral agents. Less obvious creatures also feature -- seahorses, warrior limpets, the immensely diverse inhabitants of the submarine canyons off Sodwana, where coelacanths have been seen -- alongside dolphins and whales.

There is no way Peschak and Velasquez Rojas could have packed in every life form into this coffee table book. The two marine biologists have instead focused on findings of the past 25 years, and presented photographs so tempting you will dig out your snorkel and head for the beach. This is a book for marine junkies.

Even if you think you have seen it all on television documentaries, there are interesting surprises here, like the Great Sea Urchin Mystery. No, all will not be revealed here -- find the book and read it for yourself!

Source: www.allafrica.com

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Book Review: Currents of Contrast - Life in Southern Africa's Two Oceans

Stricken carrier to be pulled out to sea

Oil has begun to leak from the stranded bulk carrier Kiperousa at the Bira River mouth near East London. Now an attempt is to be made to pull the ship off the rocks at high tide, about 4pm on Thursday.

As the wind shifted, increasing the chances of fuel oil from the ship blowing on to the coast, pollution controls were put in place by the South African Maritime Safety Authority.

The deep sea salvage tug Nikolai Chiker arrived in the area overnight. It was hoped that the mighty Russian-owned tug would be able to pull the bulk carrier off the rocks to deeper water, said Terry Taylor, spokesperson for the Port of East London.

The Maltese-flagged Kiperousa ran aground on Tuesday morning after drifting without power because of a flooded engine room.

The 256 000-ton deadweight ship was carrying expensive tropical hardwood logs from West Africa to East London and the Far East.

Taylor said there had been very bad weather, with a 45-knot wind and five-metre swells overnight.

"Fortunately the wind was offshore so the oil was blown out to sea," he added.

The oil was spotted on the surface of the ocean during an overflight by helicopter on Wednesday.

Taylor said the salvage crew had returned to the ship on Thursday morning and would prepare for the tow.

"But the wind has changed and there is a threat that oil from the ship could come ashore.

"The South African Maritime Safety Authority has put anti-pollution measures in place," he said, adding that if the attempt to pull the Kiperousa off the coast failed today (Thursday), plans would be made to remove her fuel oils by pumping it to other vessels.

Source: www.iol.co.za

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Stricken carrier to be pulled out to sea

Nets kill thousands of marine mammals - WWF

Almost 1 000 whales, dolphins and porpoises die daily in fishing nets and urgent changes are needed in trawling methods to save nine populations under immediate threat, conservation group WWF said on Thursday.

Its report - which WWF says is the first assessment of the situation by leading marine scientists - points to the accidental catching of cetacea in fishing gear as one of the gravest global threats to marine mammals.

"Almost 1 000 whales, dolphins and porpoises die every day in nets and fishing gear. That's one every two minutes," said Dr Susan Lieberman, director of WWF's Global Species Programme.

"Some species are being pushed to the brink of extinction. Urgent action is needed," she said.

Air-breathing mammals, dolphins and other cetacea drown if they get trapped underwater by fishing gear; becoming what the industry refers to as "bycatch".

The report says nine dolphin and porpoise populations - 10 species in total - need immediate action if they are to survive the threat of commercial fishing nets.

They include harbour porpoises in the Black Sea, the Atlantic humpback dolphins off the coast of West Africa, and Franciscana dolphins in South American waters.

The Irrawaddy dolphins of south-east Asia, one of the rarest sea mammals on the planet, are also at risk.

"Most of the species on the list are threatened by the widespread use of one type of fishing gear; gill-nets," said WWF.

"These nets are difficult for dolphins and porpoises to spot visually or detect with their sonar, so they may become tangled in the netting or in the ropes attached to the nets," it said.

But the report says the populations of these threatened creatures could recover with changes to fishing gear combined with other conservation methods.

"Between 1993 and 2003, fisheries in the United States introduced changes, such as modifications of fishing gear, that reduced cetacean bycatch to one-third of its previous levels," WWF said.

"But so far, few of these successful measures have been transferred to other countries, and in much of the rest of the world, progress to reduce bycatch has been slow or nonexistent."

Innovations include attaching acoustic alarms to nets which annoy marine mammals; a method that has reduced harbour porpoise deaths in the Gulf of Maine.

WWF said its report would be submitted to the International Whaling Commission's scientific committee which will be meeting later this month in South Korea.

Source: www.iol.co.za

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Nets kill thousands of marine mammals - WWF

Southern African Ministers meet to unlock Transfrontier Parks' potential for 2010 World Cup

As part of the preparations for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Minister of Environmental Affairs & Tourism, will on Monday host nine other Southern African Ministers for the Environment and Tourism in Johannesburg for discussions about a regional approach to unlock the tourism potential of Southern Africa's transfrontier parks.

The Ministers attending are from Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Namibia, Angola, Mozambique and Botswana.

The meeting will consider a new regional strategy identifying seven specific transfrontier parks and the necessary upgrading to ensure that these facilities offer travellers to the World Cup the opportunity to experience Africa beyond the walls of the soccer stadia.

This approach is to enable travellers to experience a number of different African countries in a single destination. The discussions will also address issues of tourism infrastructure investment, quality assurance within the hospitality sector, ease of travel within the region, and obstacles to convincing World Cup spectators to travel more widely.

The seven transfrontier parks under discussion will be: !Ai/!Ais-Richtersveld; Kgalagadi; Kavango Zambezi; Limpopo-Shashe; Great Limpopo; Lubombo; and Maloti-Drakensberg.

Members of the media are hereby invited to attend a short media interaction with the Ministers following the meeting.

Date: Monday, 13 June 2005

Time: 13:15 - 13:45

Venue: Holiday Inn, Johannesburg International Airport

Please RSVP by Friday, 12:00.

Source: www.deat.gov.za

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Southern African Ministers meet to unlock Transfrontier Parks' potential for 2010 World Cup

Oil to be removed from stricken ship

The South African Maritime Safety Authority has made contingency plans to deal with a possible oil spill from the bulk carrier Kiperousa, aground off the Eastern Cape coast.

As a salvage ship from Cape Town headed to the area, measures were being put in place should estuaries need to be closed off in the event of an oil spill, said National Ports Authority spokesperson Terry Taylor.

A rescue was launched on Tuesday when a mayday signal was put out by the vessel after it apparently struck an object about two nautical miles offshore, south of Hamburg.

It was not clear what the ship was lodged on, but it could be a rock, Taylor said.

Most of the crew were transferred to a rescue vessel and taken to land.

However, poor weather hampered efforts.

The salvor would pump fuel off the ship to make it as light as possible and attempt to float it out to sea where further repairs could take place.

The Malta-registered vessel was sailing from Gabon to Durban.

Source: www.iol.co.za

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Oil to be removed from stricken ship

Salvage operation launched to save stricken ship

A major salvage operation was mounted off the Eastern Cape coast on Tuesday to prevent a bulk carrier, which was disabled after hitting a reef, from running aground.

The 160-metre-long, 15 000-ton Kiperousa, from West Africa, was passing Port Alfred on Tuesday with a consignment of timber, en route to Durban, when it apparently hit a reef, began taking in water in the engine room and lost power.

The ship was 1.3 nautical miles (about 3km) off Birah Beach, near Hamburg.

There were fears that it would be carried ashore, endangering the lives of its 25 crew and possibly causing a major environmental disaster by spewing fuel along the coast.

With the ship listing in the swell, the National Sea Rescue Institute was first on the scene after receiving a call from a resident in the area who had spotted the ship.

National Sea Rescue Institute Port Alfred Station Commander Keryn van der Walt said she had received a call at 11am from a resident.

"We got confirmation from port control that a mayday call had been received, and we launched our nine-metre boat, Kowie Rescue, as well as our 5.5m rubber duck," she said.

An NSRI crew member climbed aboard the cargo vessel to assess its condition. "They asked us to stand by, but not to evacuate the crew," said Van der Walt.

Also on standby were two NSRI rubber ducks from East London and a four-metre police duck.

The National Ports Authority later sent a tug and a salvage team to inspect the damage and to prepare to tow the vessel further out to sea.

The police, Netcare medical rescue and Marine and Coastal Management officials also arrived on Birah Beach to assist.

The East London-based Netstar Rescue helicopter was dispatched to the scene, but left after the crew indicated that they wished to stay on the vessel.

Although the crew members were not in any danger, Terry Taylor, a spokesperson for the National Ports Authority in East London, said the master was assessing the damage. The hull of the massive vessel had been breached, but the exact cause was not known.

Taylor said the main priority was to secure a tow rope and to pull the ship out to sea, because East London was expecting bad weather.

"There is obviously some damage to the boat, but to what extent, we don't know.

"The salvage team's main objective was to stabilise the vessel and to pump out the water," he said.

"After the damage has been assessed, the owners of the ship will take the necessary actions to get it fixed, or they might decide to temporarily fix it and continue their journey."

Taylor said it would be difficult to tow the ship to the harbour because certain factors had to be considered.

"It is safer to do it this way, because we have to consider the extent of the damage first, and then the position of the ship," he said.

Van der Walt said: "We are waiting to see if we can take the crew off."

She added that the decision to evacuate the crew would be taken by the South African Maritime Safety Association's Capt Peter Kroon, who had spent almost two hours aboard the vessel negotiating with the captain and assessing the damage. A helicopter was on standby in the event of the situation changing.

Source: www.iol.co.za

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Salvage operation launched to save stricken ship

Asia risks second mega-tsunami

The Indonesian island of Sumatra is now at risk from two potentially major quakes, one of which could generate waves 10 metres high, seismologists warn.

The research team is headed by the same expert who predicted a quake that struck Sumatra on 28 March, barely three months after the 26 December mega-quake, the second biggest ever recorded.

The research is published today in the journal Nature.

Lead author John McCloskey, a professor of environmental sciences at the University of Ulster, and team fear the next quakes may be as high as 7.5 and 9 respectively on the Richter scale.

In the latter case, cities along much of Sumatra's west coast would be exposed to a tsunami.

"I think it would be irresponsible for those in charge of preparing people in this area to ignore the possibility that the earthquake could happen in a year," McCloskey says.

A seismic mosaic
The study takes a fresh look at Sumatra's seismic mosaic in the light of the last two great quakes, focusing on the two biggest fault lines.

One fault line runs on the land down the western side of Sumatra, and has lateral friction, with one side trying to head northwest and the other trying to move southeast.

Stress on this so-called Sumatra fault, especially in the northwest, in the region of Banda Aceh, remains high, the researchers warn.

"The threat of an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 to 7.5 on the Sumatra fault north of 4° north [of the equator] has not receded," they write.

An even greater threat lies in the second fault line, the so-called Sunda Trench, a notorious seabed crack that runs about 200 kilometers to the west of Sumatra.

This area has a different and more perilous profile than the Sumatra fault as it has vertical movement, the kind capable of creating big waves by thrusting up sections of the sea bed.

It lies in a so-called 'megathrust' area, in which the Australian plate is trying to push its way under the Eurasian plate to the northeast.

The Sunda Trench has been a flashpoint of seismic activity for centuries.

Part of its northern section, at the conjunction with the tongue-shaped Burma microplate, was the epicentre for the 26 December quake, at 9.3 the second highest ever recorded.

The ocean floor ruptured along 1200 kilometres, creating a wave in which 217,000 people around the Indian Ocean's rim were killed or left unaccounted for.

That massive event had a domino effect, placing further stress to the south.

On 28 March, just 160 kilometres to the south, an 8.7-magnitude earthquake killed more than 900 people.

In turn, this quake has created a new spot of high vulnerability about 500 to 600 kilometres further south underneath the Mentawai Islands, between 0.7 and 5.5° south of the equator, according to the computer modelling.

On average, the Mentawai Islands produce a very big quake every 230 years, says McCloskey's team.

The last big one in the southern part of this section was in 1833, with an 8.5 quake that unleashed a damaging tsunami up to 10 metres high.

By comparison, the wave that scoured the coastline of the northern Indian Ocean on 26 December varied in height from 10 to 15 metres.

In the northern part of this section, there has not been any big quake since 1797, when there was a small slip of only a few metres under the main island of Siberut.

"Slip on the northern part of this section could be greater than 10 metres depending on the timing of the last rupture, [and] slip on the southern portion could be as great as in 1833," the researchers say.

When could this happen?
McCloskey says no one knows for sure when this could happen. But he says time is already short before the next expected event and may now be even shorter because of the cascade of recent thrusts on this highly tensed region.

Two "minute ... tiny" changes in stress, of one-tenth of an atmosphere pressure were sufficient to unleash the December and March events, he notes.

"If this earthquake [under the Mentawai Islands] were to happen within a year, it would not surprise me," he says.

"Even if the earthquake doesn't happen for 10 years, it's still better to start moving towards a culture of preparedness for these things, because they will happen.

"An earthquake under the Mentawai Islands which produced a tsunami would be felt strongly along the cities along the west coast of Sumatra.

"The tsunami will be generated 200 kilometres offshore, moving at 750 kilometres an hour, which gives you 15 to 20 minutes for people to get on to higher ground."

Source: abc.net.au

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Asia risks second mega-tsunami

Secrecy shrouds oil-rig 'mutiny'

There is a veil of secrecy at an oil rig which docked in Cape Town harbour recently, after rumours that the crew wanted to throw the captain overboard.

A helicopter was called last Friday to pick up the French captain of the Pride South Sea after he apparently had had a "nervous breakdown".

Court Helicopters pilot J D Burger said he had received the call on Friday afternoon when the rig was many sea miles northwest of the Cape.

"After I brought the man, who seemed emotionally upset, safely back to the city, he was treated by medical staff."

The captain, whose name is not known, is reported to have had a "nervous breakdown" after American crew apparently had thrown a suitcase containing personal items overboard and threatened that he would be next.

The oil rig was under way from the Gulf of Mexico to Cape Town when the incident - one of a whole series - apparently took place.

Burger said he had taken two inspectors to the rig on Saturday.

"I was under the impression they were technicians."

Apparently, they were private investigators who had come to investigate events on the rig.

Five American crew were reportedly removed from the rig by helicopter and presumably will face disciplinary steps.

Pride Foramer, the company that owns the rig, did not want to comment on Wednesday.

Related Story: www.capeargus.co.za

Source: www.news24.com

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Secrecy shrouds oil-rig 'mutiny'

Fresh water danger for Lake St Lucia

Lake St Lucia is drying up and under pressure. That's the view of local ecologist and tour operator Kian Barker who has spoken out about his and others' growing concern over the continued closure of the estuary mouth, which is preventing sea water from entering the system.

The long-term closure of the mouth - since June 2002 - was resulting in the lake becoming a fresh water system.

A Greater St Lucia Wetland Park spokesperson said bird and animal life remained healthy despite the very low water level.

There was no shortage of grazing or fresh water for hippos, according to the park authority's Joseph Fataar, and there were many fish-feeders, especially pelicans and ducks and, during summer, huge numbers of waders, all exploiting the rich feeding.

Because of the continued low level of the huge lake, fish were concentrated in a smaller water volume, and a survey last December showed some 30 species, dominated by tilapia, which were "breeding prolifically", Fataar said.

Some estuarine fish that should move out to sea to spawn and return to the lake system were unable to do so because of the closed mouth.

Park ecologist Ricky Taylor said salinity levels fluctuated depending on evaporation and increased fresh water inflow or rainfall, and salt levels were higher in the northern reaches of the lake.

Barker said his concerns over the continued closure of the estuary mouth were shared by other experts.

St Lucia was turning into a fresh water lake and fresh water species were starting to invade a traditional estuarine area.

He said ncema grass was growing near the mouth and fresh water weeds were beginning to colonise in the lower section of the estuary.

Barker believed the lake level had been allowed to drop too far. If water was allowed to enter slowly, this would avoid a sudden blast bringing a lot of silt into the system.

Source: www.iol.co.za

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Fresh water danger for Lake St Lucia

Ragged Tooth sharks arrive early at Protea Banks

Every year the Ragged Tooth sharks make there way up from the colder Cape waters to the east coast of KwaZulu Natal as part of their breeding cycle.

They generally start arriving at Protea Banks from late June and hang around until late October. This year (2005) these sharks have been sighted on the reef from the beginning of May.

If this is any indication that the "Raggies" are going to arrive in the same force as last year then it will be a fantastic winter season.

Last year (2004) saw the "Raggies" arrive on Protea Banks in there hundreds literally carpeting the reef, it was a truly magnificent sight.

Placid and slow moving, the "Raggies" accept the divers without fuss.

Protea Banks is rated as one of the world's best shark diving spots. Divers are taken to the reefs in semi rigid boats (all dives are boat dives) that are launched directly from the beach and through the surf. The launches have been likened to white water rafting in wet suits. All dives are drift dives and are lead by local dive masters who know the reef intimately.

Visibility varies from 5 to 40 meters, and the water temperature in summer is 24+ degrees Celcius and in winter not colder than 19 degrees Celcius. The depths vary between 30 and 40 meters and one must be an experienced diver for these often 3 knot mid-water drift dives. This is adventure diving at it's best but for experienced divers only.

For the adventure of a lifetime and the chance to dive with these magnificent creatures visit Dive South Africa and African Odyssea for more information and tour packages.

Source: African Odyssea newsletter

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Ragged Tooth sharks arrive early at Protea Banks

No Great White Sharks will be killed says green groups

"There will be no attempt to hunt, remove, or kill that shark or any other shark."

That was the word on Tuesday from Cape Town environmental and policy research co-ordinator Gregg Murray, after a meeting of top city officials and scientists of the Shark Working Group in response to Saturday's fatal attack on 22-year-old medical student Henri Murray at Miller's Point.

The group consists of 12 representatives from the City of Cape Town, Marine Coastal Management (MCM), the White Shark Research Institute of the South African Museum, and AfriOceans Conservation Alliance, among others.

The group emphasised that it did not support any call for revenge against the sharks.

Gregg Oelofse, environmental policy and research co-ordinator for the City of Cape Town, said after the meeting that the group's position at the moment was not to go after any sharks.

George Murray, father of the latest victim, has said he is opposed to the call for the elimination of sharks in Cape Town waters, but would not mind if the animal that attacked his son was killed as it is dangerous.

The group made three main resolutions at the meeting.

First, that they would continue to pursue a shark monitoring research initiative between the University of Cape Town, MCM, and the South Africam Museum. This research involves the tracking of sharks using tags and monitors that have been placed around the shorelines of Muizenberg, Fish Hoek, Macassar, Kogel Bay, Kalk Bay harbour and other locations.

Said Oelofse: "Information from this research will allow scientists to assess whether certain activities such as trek net fishing and the opening of the Zandvlei mouth are likely to draw sharks towards the shore.

"Also, scientists can examine the different conditions in which sharks swim close to shore, looking at the weather, the tide, and the time of year."

This research would continue for a number of years, but the group would report back regularly, according to Oelofse.

The second resolution was that the group would invite specialists to review the shark safety measures used worldwide and assess their applicability to Cape Town waters.

"We don't necessarily see most of these measures - for example, shark nets and electronic repellents - as being appropriate for Cape Town because of their environmental cost. But in the public interest it is appropriate that they are given due consideration as options," said Oelofse.

Last, the group responded to suggestions that a single shark had been responsible for the attacks over the previous few years.

"This 'one-shark theory' has been bandied about in the media and none of us at the meeting believed that this was the case," said Oelofse.

"No evidence has shown that sharks become so-called 'rogue sharks', 'man-eaters' or 'problem animals'."

The Shark Working Group was formed after the 2003 attack on teenage surfer JP Andrews in Muizenberg. Its mission is to create awareness about shark attacks and guide scientific research.

Source: www.iol.co.za

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No Great White Sharks will be killed says green groups

BSAC launches new look "Come and Dive 2005" campaign

The BSAC's annual Come and Dive event has had a re-vamp for its tenth anniversary in time for the biggest campaign yet.

Taking place from 26th September – 2nd October 2005, this year's event will see branches charging try-divers to take part for the first time.

The £10 try dive fee has been introduced to drive branch participation and cover the costs of hosting the event (£2.50 will cover administration costs at HQ and £7.50 will go to the branch). It should also help to convert participation into membership by attracting those truly interested in diving.

To make it a nation-wide event it is important that as many branches as possible decide to take part in the event, and breathe new life into the BSAC!

IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE CAYMAN ISLANDS
After the success of the 2004 campaign, Come and Dive will once again have sponsorship and support from the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism for the second year running.

HOW DO WE TAKE PART IN THE COME AND DIVE EVENT?
It's really easy to take part, and there are a number of easy ways to register your branch.

Visit www.bsac.org/services/comeanddive2005, fill in the enclosed form or contact Odette Baker at BSAC HQ on 0151 350 6221 to register to take part.

We look forward to welcoming your branch to the campaign.

Source: www.bsac.org

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BSAC launches new look "Come and Dive 2005" campaign

Enter the world of the shark at your peril

Should man-eating sharks be hunted and destroyed?

This is how Australian authorities have responded after gory shark attacks.

On one occasion, the state fisheries gave police "shoot to kill" orders.

Australian cabinet minister Monty House said that although the shark in question belonged to a protected species, it could not be allowed to threaten swimmers. "The community's safety is paramount," he said.

Some Capetonians believe local authorities should do the same. But spokespeople for various local sea-based recreational codes disagree.

Ian Weinberg, National Sea Rescue Institute CEO: "We are entering their space every time we enter the water. If we had to kill every lion we come across that looks aggressive then there wouldn't be any lions left. If we walked through the bush without regard then every lion that's hungry is going to take us out, eventually."

Cleeve Robertson, doctor and diver: "I'm not sure that there's any research to support the fact that sharks target humans as prey. The initiative that they've taken in Australia is bizarre."

"Sharks are the pinnacle predator in the food chain. People who venture into the sea are aware of that. These guys (shark victim Henri Murray and his friend Piet van Niekerk) were diving in the shadow of the mountain. Sharks exploit poor contrast due to poor light. That's why they're at their peak at dawn and dusk. But sharks are shy and timid animals. They don't hassle scuba divers."

Robin de Kock, general manager, Surfing South Africa: "Once you open that door, you'll have guys going out to hunt sharks every time there's an attack."

"It's their territory. It's like wandering around Kruger Park with a piece of meat tied around your neck."

"That's my personal philosophy and that of most surfers I've spoken to - leave the sharks alone and hope that they do the same."

"If sharks really were human predators then there'd be attacks every day. The best plan would be to put shark nets up. But they're expensive. And they catch other marine life too. Maybe we should use shark pods, or other ways of keeping sharks away from bathing beaches."

Mark Dotchin, Western Province Lifesaving chairperson: "We're not sure that knee-jerk reactions like extermination are appropriate."

Peter Cole, surf-skier: "People think it may be the same shark from the last attack. One of the things I used to love to do was go for a paddle on my own and forget about everything. That's one thing I won't do anymore. I wish they could get some research done to clarify matters."

Source: www.iol.co.za

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Enter the world of the shark at your peril

Crew of sinking ship safe, vessel to be towed out to sea

The 25-man crew of a ship, slowly sinking off the coast of East London on Tuesday night, were being transferred to a South African navy ship as a safety measure, port authorities said.

By 19:00 on Tuesday, weather conditions and water flooding the ship's engine room led to the Kiperousa crew's decision to seek help from the national port authority, said spokesperson Terry Taylor.

"At first, they said there was no problem," he said. "But the weather is changing and we expect it to get rough and windy."

Why the 180m ship, carrying a consignment of logs from West Africa, was sinking was unclear and rumours that it had collided with an object were a possibility.

Taylor said the crew would soon board the SAS Protea, scheduled to dock in the morning.

After this, the Protea would help tow the Kiperousa out to sea where the water could be pumped out of the engine room.

The Kiperousa was anchored two nautical miles (about 3.5km) offshore in the Bira area close to Hamburg.

Taylor said a helicopter was on standby in case the situation changed and the crew's lives be in any immediate danger.

Source: www.news24.com

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Crew of sinking ship safe, vessel to be towed out to sea

Only fond memories of shark attack victim remain

Family and friends will be sharing their memories at a memorial service on Thursday for shark attack victim Henri Murray, who was taken by a Great White near Miller's Point.

Relatives and friends will gather at the Dutch Reformed Church in Stellenbosch.

Murray's father, George Murray, said on Monday that he and his four remaining sons would each deliver a tribute to Henri during the service.

"We don't have anything to bury or cremate, so it will really just be a bunch of people who were close to Henri talking about his life, what he meant to us, and hopefully we will have some sort of closure after all this," he said.

The Murray family is originally from Vanderbijlpark in Johannesburg and on Monday they were making arrangements for the domestic worker who used to look after Henri as a child to make the trip to Cape Town.

"The woman who helped us raise Henri is not in Cape Town so we are waiting for her to arrive, as she was very attached to Henri and is really like his second mother," George Murray said.

Henri Murray was spearfishing on Saturday with best friend Piet van Niekerk when the shark took him in its jaws and disappeared.

Van Niekerk shot the shark to save his friend but his efforts were in vain.

Both Van Niekerk and Murray were fifth-year medical students at Stellenbosch University.

On Monday night Van Niekerk and some of Henri Murray's friends and housemates at the Hippokrates residence at Tygerberg Hospital had a small get-together at the residence.

The Hippokrates house father, Nelis Swart, said the Bible study group in the residence was giving Van Niekerk an opportunity to talk about his feelings in a supportive environment.

"We hope that with the help of professional counsellors, Henri's friends and especially Piet will be able to deal with what has happened," he said.

Source: www.iol.co.za

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Only fond memories of shark attack victim remain

Scientists oppose shark culling

Civilisation has outgrown animal bounties, an oceanographic scientist said on Monday following calls to hunt down sharks after an attack on a Cape spear fisherman.

"Bounties come from the Dark Ages," said Professor Rudy van der Elst, director of the Oceanographic Research Institute in Durban.

Van der Elst was responding to the shark attack on medical student Henri Murray, 22, whose body had still not been recovered by Monday afternoon. Murray was spear fishing with a friend in False Bay on Sunday when he was taken by a Great White shark. His death sparked calls for the culling of problem sharks.

Van der Elst said civilisation had outgrown the practice of bounties being placed on animals considered to be dangerous to humans, such as crocodiles.

He said hunting Great Whites, who were apex predators, could harm the "delicate balance" of the eco-system, leading for instance to an excess of seals.

Van der Elst said elephants were only culled when they were in excess to the natural system, and were not killed indiscriminately. He attributed the fact that the Great White population along the Cape coast remained stable, and had even increased, to the sharks being a protected species in South Africa.

While the death of Murray was "absolutely awful" the reality was that spear-fishing was a "high-error" situation that could become harmful to humans.

"The point is that there is already association with lots of things in life, whether in a motorcar, swimming or spear-fishing, and the individual has to decide whether that risk is worth it... It's as simple as that."

Concurring with Van der Elst's sentiments, Natal Sharks Board deputy CEO Mike Anderson-Reade said culling or bounties on sharks would not solve the problem of shark attacks.

"The chances of culling the right shark are very, very slim." Sharks would be killed unnecessarily, "willy nilly", and Anderson-Reade cautioned against over-reaction. In Cape newspapers, Godfrey Mocke of the Swimsafe Project has called for a bounty to be placed on Great White Sharks.

He said it was easy for Environmental Affairs Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk to declare sharks as bait. "It would be easy for the Environment Minister to mark the area from Cape Point to Hangklip and a two kilometre strip from the high-water mark out and say 'OK boys, go for it. Do your thing'," Mocke was quoted as saying.

Environmental Affairs department spokesperson Carol Moses said Great Whites were protected species and the department would not support the killing of these sharks. "And anyone found killing them will be guilty of a criminal offence," she said.

Source: www.sharktrust.org

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Scientists oppose shark culling

Mossel Bay pair rescued after being swept off yacht

A pair of Mossel Bay residents were rescued after being swept off their yacht by crashing waves on Tuesday, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said.

Barbara Lang and Leon Gouws were both found floating in the sea, having fallen off a 45-foot yacht called Opera, said NSRI Knysna station commander Mike Elliot.

"Both had been thrown into the water, near the Knysna Heads, after the vessel was knocked flat by waves," Elliot said.

"Lang was taken to hospital for minor injuries and Gouws required no further assistance after being assessed by medics."

The vessel docked safely in Knysna.

Of the remaining crewmen, Errol Lischman was taken to hospital for stitches to a back laceration, Elliot said.

Source: www.news24.com

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Mossel Bay pair rescued after being swept off yacht

Humans heat the oceans according to study

Human-caused global warming is measurably heating up the oceans, say US and UK researchers.

Calling on more than 7 million temperature readings from different depths in every ocean, the international team compared the realities over the past 40 years to predictions by computer climate models.

They discovered that the only way they could get the models to act like the real oceans was to add a human-induced greenhouse effect.

"I think this is the most compelling [data] yet," says Dr Tim Barnett of Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego.

Barnett is lead author of the paper, published in the current issue of the journal Science.

Barnett and his colleagues played devil's advocate with eight different computer climate models, tweaking them to try and see if they could make the warming trend appear in the oceans without a greenhouse effect.

But nothing worked.

"This present work is different in that it does not attempt to quantify this imbalance, but to attribute it to a specific cause," says Tim Boyer, oceanographer with the Ocean Climate Laboratory at the National Oceanographic Data Center.

A different approach
Previous studies have looked at ocean warming with more of an eye towards measuring it, says Boyer.

In fact, the oceans have been delaying the rapid increases in air temperatures from the greenhouse effect by absorbing a lot of heat, Boyer says.

The greenhouse effect is what happens when the atmosphere becomes richer in carbon dioxide and other gases that hold on to heat instead of letting it dissipate into space.

The danger of warming oceans is their unpredictability. Oceans operate as a heat sink; water retains heat longer than air, and oceans can also move heat into the depths, only to bring it back up decades or centuries later.

In the deep ocean, water may not return to the surface for thousands of years, says Boyer.

"If it returns to the surface in an area where the water is warmer than the air, heat will be released from the ocean to the atmosphere," he says.

For this reason, and others, it's hard to predict the exact climatic consequences of ocean heating, says Boyer.

What is certain, says Barnett, is that there will be consequences.

Source: abc.net.au

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Humans heat the oceans according to study

Shark defenders rally to 'Jagged-Toothed One'

The aptly named "Jagged-Toothed One" will have strong scientific support at a meeting of the Shark Working Group on Tuesday, despite some knee-jerk reactions to Saturday's tragic death of a young spearfisherman at Miller's Point.

The group is meeting to discuss the attack by a White Shark - more commonly but inaccurately called the Great White Shark - on 22-year-old Matie student Henri Murray, whose body had still not been recovered on Monday afternoon.

At least one person has called for a bounty on sharks.

The group, chaired by a representative of the City of Cape Town, will include officials from the Marine and Coastal Management branch of the department of environmental affairs, which declared the White Shark a protected species in 1991, making South Africa the first country to do so.

Others in the group are from the National Sea Rescue Institute, the Surf Lifesaving Association, conservation groups, scientists, the fishing industry and the shark cage-diving industry.

One of those scheduled to attend was Len Compagno, a scientist who works at the Iziko Museums and who is acknowledged as one of the world's foremost shark experts.

The scientific name of the White Shark is Carcharodon carcharias, which translates as the "Jagged-Toothed One".

Compagno points out that humans are not the natural prey of the White Shark.

"If we were their normal prey, why aren't there more incidents of people being taken and eaten? They would start racking up a lot of victims," Compagno says.

So while White Sharks are certainly capable of taking humans and eating them for food, it's clear from the small number of attacks that they are not doing that, he says. "They are not roaming the beaches and taking people."

And there is therefore no justification in allowing this species to be hunted or to put in shark nets, he argues.

"I don't think that's justified - this animal has enough problems without people going in for vengeance hunting."

He points out that the White Shark has been around for much longer than humans - "probably 20-million years or more".

He notes there is no scientific substance to support claims that some sharks become "rogues" or "man-eaters" through repeat attacks.

"Evidence for this is so poor that it's really hard to prove."

The issue is bedevilled by the media, and particularly the film media, which constantly push the image of the White Shark as a "Jaws-type man-eater", he argues.

"Trying to give people a broad perspective is very hard. Basically this is about perspective. It (a shark attack) can be horrific if you make it so, but objectively it's no big deal."

Compagno said he appreciated that shark attacks were extremely traumatic for those involved, but said the number of incidents was low compared to other causes of death.

"I get more upset about traffic accidents."

In his recent book, Currents of Contrast, University of Cape Town marine biologist Thomas P Peschak refers to the White Shark as "the ultimate symbol of wildness".

Statistically, a beachgoer is more likely to be killed by a falling coconut on the way to the beach than being killed by a White Shark while swimming, he says.

"The fact is that humans do not constitute part of the White Shark's catholic diet."

But, despite their excellent eyesight and smell, these sharks do sometimes mistake people for their natural prey.

And because they are by nature territorial, this species may attack in self-defence while trying to defend their personal space from human intruders, Peschak says.

"Occasional 'man-biter' the Great White may be, but to label it a 'man-eater' is inaccurate and undeserved." - Environment Writer - jyeld@incape.co.za

The White shark (Carcharodon carcharias) occurs in seas all over the world, except in polar regions.

It is found from very shallow inshore water to the deep open ocean.

It is described as an "intelligent and inquisitive shark with highly complex social behaviour".

White sharks are warm-blooded, maintaining a constant body temperature even in very cold water.

They give birth to litters of two to 10 pups, which are between 110cm and 160cm when born. Mature males are between 3,5m and 4m and females between 4,5m and 5m, reaching a maximum length of 6m.

They are usually grey on top, with a fairly sharp dividing line between the white colour below, but old adults often become paler on top, giving rise to the "white" shark name.

This species is listed on the "Red List" of the World Conservation Union, with its official status as "vulnerable".

Source: www.iol.co.za

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Shark defenders rally to 'Jagged-Toothed One'

South African deep diver, Nuno Gomes, wants world's deepest sea diver title

With 21 large bags of diving gear, South Africa's scuba supremo, Nuno Gomes, has made his way to the Red Sea to claim the title as the world's deepest sea diver.

Gomes is preparing to plunge 320m into the Red Sea at Dahab, Egypt, and so go where no diver has been before.

And according to Gareth Lowndes, one of the support crew, everything is going according to plan for the dive, which will take place within the next week.

"The decompression tree has been built and the shot line calibrated to 320m. The four massive buoys that will support all staged cylinders have been tested. The depth tags are prepared. So far all is on track," Lowndes said from Dahab.

In July last year, Gomes failed in an attempt to set the record.

Diving with seven scuba tanks he had planned to make a 16-minute descent to 320m. After being "under" for 11 hours, in order to make a number of decompression stops, Gomes was meant to have surfaced with the new record.

But due to technical problem, he stopped at 271m.

Gomes, who when he is not underwater works as a civil engineer, has spent months in physical and mental training and acquired the best equipment. He has also assembled a team of nine experienced divers to assist him in his record bid.

Last Saturday, when the team arrived at Johannesburg International Airport, the 320m of shot line, which weighed 56kg, drew disapproving glares from the baggage handlers.

Lowndes said: "We arrived in Cairo at 4am on Sunday and 10 minutes later we were travelling through that city negotiating stray dogs and the odd camel with dexterity. It took another seven hours, by bus, from Cairo to get to Dahab."

On Monday, the team had their first dive.

"There was plenty of equipment to sort out. We did an 80-minute acclimatisation dive."

On Tuesday, the team went a little deeper.

"The build-up dives have started. It was 11.30am when we hit 50m."

The team is staying at the Planet Divers Hotel - and just walk out of their rooms and into the sea.

"No launch, no petrol fumes and no sea sickness," Lowndes said.

"Just through the millpond surface and descend. The whole team went."

Gomes has a custom-made dry-suit with "Nuno Gomes" in bold letters on the back, which Lowndes complains, interferes with pre-dive arrangements.

"We often have to wait in the water while autograph hunters intercept Nuno on the way to the dive. Then there are photos and more signings. The man has some notoriety around these parts. The proprietor of Sharky's fish bar renamed a prawn dish in honour of Nuno. I can actually recommend Nuno Gomes Prawns. They are king size and R10 each."

The team ended preparations with a night dive.

"I have an intense dislike for night dives," said Lowndes.

"This was cultivated off the Aliwal shoal three years ago. I was violently ill and saw nothing, It rained and the sea resembled Hurricane Gilbert! The Red Sea is different. Most day fish politely go to bed and the nocturnal cabaret begins. Spectacular. Cuttlefish, Spanish dancers and cleaner prawns dance in the torch light. Nocturnal moray eels swim past and the normally shy black spiny sea urchins make highways through the sand."

On Wednesday, the team drove 45 minutes north of Dahab to the Blue Hole - a hole in the reef.

"Famed for its abundant fish life and easy access, divers can relax in the many huts that hug the coastline. These are tastefully done and come with Bedouin-style carpets, blankets and cushions. However, the real lure for us is under the water. A natural archway that begins at 52m," said Lowndes.

"The archway leads into the open ocean beyond. The swim through is about 30m with a roof as dazzling as that of the Sistine Chapel."

If Gomes breaks the 320m mark, he will be uncrowning Mark Ellyatt, who holds the record for 313m, set in Thailand in 2003.

Ellyatt's dive beat the previous record of 308m set in 2001 by John Bennett, who died last year during a commercial salvage dive in South Korea.

Gomes holds the world record for the deepest cave dive when he descended into the inky blackness of Boesmansgat, in Danielskuil in the Northern Cape, in 1996. He reached 282,6m - the dive, though, nearly ended in tragedy when he got stuck at the bottom.

"I felt dizzy. I tried to swim up but I couldn't. I started to inflate my buoyancy compensaters until the lift took me out of the mud. I used my head."

Australian pilot Dave Shaw set the record for a diver using a rebreather system, where his air is recycled, reaching 271m in October last year at Boesmansgat. During this dive, he came across the body of another diver - Deon Dreyer. But Shaw lost his own life on January 8 in an attempt to retrieve Dreyer's corpse from the bottom of Boesmansgat.

In January, just after Gomes had watched the footage from a camera that had been mounted on Shaw's helmet, I asked him if he was still prepared to make the record attempt.

"Absolutely," he said, but added that the grisly footage had sent a strong warning.

"I must be in top condition. I must plan even more thoroughly. I'll do it. And I'll come back."

Source: www.iol.co.za

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South African deep diver, Nuno Gomes, wants world's deepest sea diver title

Scientists identify key vectors of toxicity in marine mammals

A gray whale that strayed into Tokyo Bay during the Golden Week holiday period early last month found its sudden fame cut short when it was strangled by a fixed shore net.

The whale, which was only 1 or 2 years old, was on its way to the Arctic Ocean to join other whales who head there at that time of the year for the rich feeding grounds. However, it might not have fared better if it had reached the Arctic Ocean, as the ocean is becoming increasingly polluted with toxic chemicals.

Marine biologists are finding high concentrations of DDT, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins in the carcasses of whales, seals and polar bears.

These chemicals affect the immunity and reproductive powers of these creatures to the extent of threatening the continuity of some species, experts warn.

Prof. Shinsuke Tanabe of Ehime University's Center for Marine Environmental Studies says agrochemicals, which are used widely across developing countries in Asia, are mainly to blame for the pollution of the Arctic Ocean.

Many of the agrochemicals banned in developed countries are still legal in developing countries. They are highly volatile and about 90 percent of chemicals used on agricultural land end up in the air, Tanabe said.

In a landmark study, Tanabe identified four key methods by which sea mammals become affected by toxic materials.

In the first, toxic chemicals that have dissolved in cold water become vaporous once the temperature rises and return to a liquid state when the temperature falls. Alternating their physical states in this way, the toxins travel 10,000 kilometers from South Asia to the Arctic Circle and end up in the food chain.

Once ingested, the chemicals become trapped in the thick layers of fatty tissues in sea mammals such as dolphins and whales.

In the third method, chemicals are transmitted from mother to child during breast-feeding.

Last, sea mammals, unlike land mammals, lack mechanisms to break down enzymes.

Tanabe's discovery of these four vectors has been hailed by experts around the world. In the United States, his thesis on the discovery was named one of the 10 most frequently quoted academic papers about environmental studies and ecology last year.

At home, he was awarded by the Japan Society for Environmental Chemistry last year.

Tanabe's study was reflected in the 2001 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.

Tanabe said the key to success in his study was field work and team work.

A sea mammal found in the Arctic Ocean, for instance, would be dissected by up to 50 laboratory technicians, who would make detailed measurements and could detect even minute traces of toxins.

The results were then analyzed by experts in such fields such as ecology, environmental studies and toxicology.

Tanabe's laboratory contains 400,000 samples kept in freezers of sea mammals from all over the world, making him the envy of his peers, many of whom propose joint studies with him.

But as much as he is successful, the noted environmental researcher said he felt sad as the high demand for him and his studies reflected the seriousness of environmental pollution.

In addition to traveling to the Arctic Circle, Tanabe pointed out that toxic chemicals used in developing countries in other parts of Asia are also polluting the Sea of Japan, raising the density of DDT to a high level.

Tanabe said part of his strategy for cleaning up the Arctic Ocean and the Sea of Japan is to educate students from developing countries so that when they return home, they will share their knowledge on the safe way of handling agrochemicals.

Commenting on the need to clean up the world, Tanabe pointed out that while the European Union is to implement new regulation governing toxic materials in products in July 2006, the Japanese governments and corporations--as usual--are content to follow the lead of Europe and the United States and conform to their environmental standards rather than formulate their own.

When it comes to the environment, Japan has fine academics such as Tanabe, but the country never steps up to assume a leadership role as the government lacks an overall strategy for preventing pollution.

That reminds me, sadly, of the strayed whale that lost its way. I can only hope this country will not end up following that whale's sad fate.

Asaba is a senior writer of The Yomiuri Shimbun.

Source: www.yomiuri.co.jp

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Scientists identify key vectors of toxicity in marine mammals

Drifting ship blown ashore by strong winds

A Maltese-registered vessel has run aground at Great Fish Point on the Transkei coast.

The Kiperousa, with a crew of 25 people, was battered by the sea on Tuesday as her crew battled with a serious engine room problem.

It was reported that the ship was drifting without power in the Agulhas current before she was blown ashore by strong wind.

The ship reported her emergency to the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre shortly before noon on Tuesday.

Source: www.iol.co.za

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Drifting ship blown ashore by strong winds

Are shark attacks on the increase?

The shark attack off Miller's Point over the weekend has again raised the questions whether shark attacks are more common nowadays and why they happen.

The so-called 'increase' is really a public perception fuelled by media hype, says Leonard Compagno of the South African Museum's Shark Research Centre. Your chances of being attacked by a shark, Compagno points out, are very low. This doesn't mean people shouldn't be cautious, but there are other far greater dangers to worry about in the ocean – drowning, for instance.

According to Geremy Cliff, head of research at the Natal Sharks Board, although the numbers of attacks in KwaZulu-Natal have actually decreased, in the Eastern and Western Cape they have increased slightly over the years. The national average now stands at about four or five a year. Some years do exceed this, says Cliff: "In 1998, there were 18 attacks. But not all are fatal."

But when increased numbers of shark attacks occur, it may be because of changes in human rather than shark behaviour. There are more people taking up salt-water sports like surfing and spear-fishing, and people may be taking more risks in the water.

"When you think of the thousands of people swimming off our beaches, the shark attack figures are really very low," says Cliff. "The increase in attacks may simply be because there are more people in the water. Also, there are more surfers these days than in the past, and they're able to stay in the cooler waters for longer because they have better wetsuits. Most of the attacks we're seeing happen to people like surfers who spend a lot of time in the sea, and go further out."

Chumming, where shark tour operators use a mixture containing fish blood to attract sharks, has also often been proposed as a cause of attacks, although this is hotly contested. "It’s hard to prove that chumming causes more attacks," says Cliff. "The practice has been going on in this country since 1991, and in 15 years the increase in attacks has been slight."

What about 'dead zones'?
Southern African coastal waters don’t fall into one of the 146 currently recognised 'dead zones' – oxygen-free areas that result from nitrate pollution – which may force sharks to look for food in areas closer to popular beaches. Most of the dead zones are situated in coastal areas near developed countries, from where the bulk of nitrates is entering the environment.

"That doesn't mean, though, that nitrates from South Africa's fertilisers aren't having an impact on ocean life, but at this stage it can't be said to be affecting numbers of shark attacks," says Olivia Rose-Innes, Health24's Envirohealth expert.

"Shark attacks are way down on the scale of health risks facing the average person (even surfers and divers). Just consider our road death stats. That's cold comfort, I know, to victims of shark attacks and their families, but the point that shark conservationists and scientists are trying to make is not that sharks aren't dangerous – rather that they have been unfairly 'demonised'."

Source: www.health24.com

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Are shark attacks on the increase?

Israeli inventor develops revolutionary underwater breathing system

An Israeli Inventor has developed a breathing apparatus that will allow breathing underwater without the assistance of oxygen tanks.

This new invention will use the relatively small amounts of air that already exist in water to supply oxygen to both scuba divers and submarines.

The invention has already captured the interest of most major diving manufacturers as well as the Israeli Navy.

The idea of breathing underwater without cumbersome oxygen tanks has been the dream of science fiction writers for many years. In George Lucas' movie "The Phantom Menace", Obi-Wan whips out a little Jedi underwater breathing apparatus and dives in. As things tend to happen in our world, yesterday's science fiction has turned into today's science fact due to one Israeli inventor with a dream.

There are a number of limitations to the existing oxygen tank underwater breathing method. The first is the amount of time a diver can stay underwater, which is the result of the oxygen tank capacity. Another limitation is the dependence on oxygen refueling facilities near the diving site which are costly to operate and are used to compress the gas into the tanks which might be dangerous if not handled properly. The final problem has to do with the actual use of oxygen tanks underwater. When these tanks are in use they empty out and change the balance of the diver in the water.

Engineers have tried to overcome these limitations for many years now. Nuclear submarines and the international space station use systems that generate Oxygen from water by performing 'Electrolysis', which is chemical separation of Oxygen from Hydrogen. These systems require very large amounts of energy to operate. For this reason, smaller, diesel fueled submarines cannot use these systems and are required to resurface to re-supply their oxygen tanks every so often.

Divers can't even consider carrying such large machines not to mention supplying them with energy. To overcome this limitation an Israeli inventor, Alon Bodner, turned to fish.

Fish do not perform chemical separation of oxygen from water; instead they use the dissolved air that exists in the water in order to breathe. In the ocean the wind, waves and underwater currents help spread small amounts of air inside the water. Studies have shown that in a depth of 200m below the sea there is still about 1.5% of dissolved air.

This might not sound like much but it is enough to allow both small and large fish to breathe comfortably underwater. Bodner’s idea was to create an artificial system that will mimic the way fish use the air in the water thus allowing both smaller submarines and divers to get rid of the large, cumbersome oxygen tanks.

The system developed by Bodner uses a well known physical law called the "Henry Law" which describes gas absorption in liquids. This law states that the amount of gas that can be dissolved in a liquid body is proportional to the pressure on the liquid body. The law works in both directions – lowering the pressure will release more gas out of the liquid.

This is done by a centrifuge which rotates rapidly thus creating under pressure inside a small sealed chamber containing sea water. The system will be powered by rechargeable batteries. Calculations showed that a one kilo Lithium battery can provide a diver with about one hour of diving time.

Bodner has already built and tested a laboratory model and he is on the path to building a full-scale prototype. Patents for the invention have already been granted in Europe and a similar one is currently pending examination in the U.S. Meetings have already been held with most major diving manufacturers as well as with the Israeli Navy. Initial financial support for the project has been given by Israel Ministry of Industry and Commerce and Bodner is currently looking for private investors to help complete his project.

If everything goes according to plan, in a few years the new tankless breathing system will be operational and will be attached to a diver in the form of a vest that will enable him to stay underwater for a period of many hours.

Source: www.isracast.com

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Israeli inventor develops revolutionary underwater breathing system

Kill the killer, says grieving father of shark attack victim

The father of 22-year-old shark victim Henri Murray is opposed to calls made to exterminate the predators, but says he wouldn't object if the Great White that attacked his son was killed.

"I don't have a grudge against sharks after what happened to my son. We shouldn't get up in arms and eliminate them all. They have a place, as we do," said George Murray. "(But) that particular shark is dangerous and if we can stop it, we should."

Marine Coastal Management communications head Carol Moses said the government took shark attacks seriously.

"The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism is doing scientific research about the relationship between shark cage diving and the incidence of attacks. For now, it is illegal to kill Great White sharks."

Moses noted that a public outcry against sharks often arose after attacks, but the families of the victims commonly came to the predators' defence.

Following the attack in November in which Tyna Webb, 77, died, a number of people called for a war on sharks. But Webb's daughter, Isabelle, was among the first to rebuff them, saying: "My mother would be horrified (by this). She had such a respect for life in any form."

Geremy Cliff, head of research at the Natal Sharks Board in Durban, spoke out against a call that has been made to rid Cape Town waters of sharks.

"We have to get away from the notion that sharks, especially Great Whites, are cruising around waiting to attack people."

Emphasising that the question of killing the killer shark was difficult, Cliff said: "What you have to ask is, 'Is this shark likely to attack again?'"

Police divers took advantage of good weather on Monday and went out to search for Murray for the third day in succession.

The search had been called off at 3.30pm on Sunday. The area would be monitored for the next few days, said NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon.

A memorial service for Murray jun is to be held at 3pm on Thursday at the Old Dutch Reformed Church in Stellenbosch and will be open to the public.

Murray had been spearfishing 150 metres off the beach at Miller's Point with a friend, Piet van Niekerk, 23, when a huge Great White tried to grab him from below. Murray twice managed to evade the Great White, but at its third attempt, it pulled him under.

Van Niekerk, a few metres away, shot the shark with his speargun, but failed to deter it. Van Niekerk swam to shore to alert emergency services.

Rescuers have found only the top half of Murray's wetsuit, his speargun, one fin, his mask, snorkel and parts of a weight belt.

There have been no further sightings of the shark.

It was last seen on Sunday afternoon off Kalk Bay and Simon's Town, dragging Van Niekerk's spear and a buoy.

Source: www.iol.co.za

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Kill the killer, says grieving father of shark attack victim

Sponging dolphins learn from mother

Female bottlenose dolphins are taught by their mothers to use marine sponges to look for food, according to a study.

The finding represents the first case of material culture observed in a marine mammal species.

An international team looked at wild dolphins from western Australia and used DNA analysis to investigate if the behaviour could be inherited.

They tell the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences it is most probaby transmitted socially.

Biologists observing the dolphins in eastern Shark Bay saw the animals break marine sponges off the seafloor and wear them over their snouts to probe into the seafloor for fish.

Sponging was mostly confined to females - only one out of the 13 regular spongers was male.

"It looks like the animals use the sponge as a kind of glove to probe the [sediments]. It might just give them protection against some noxious critters hiding in there," said Michael Krützen, of the University of Zürich in Switzerland, co-author of the study.

"But they might also be able to chase other fish living on the seafloor. That's what it looks like from the surface. We can't go in the water; Shark Bay was given its name for a reason," he told the BBC News website.

All in the genes?
If genetic explanations for sponging could be discounted, it was likely the behaviour was passed down from mother to daughter through learning.

To investigate possible genetic factors, the team took small tissue samples from the dolphins' dorsal fins for DNA analysis.

Results from mithochondrial DNA (mtDNA) - which is passed down the maternal line only - suggested spongers were part of a close-knit family group with a very recent common ancestor - a "sponging Eve" if you like.

This suggested transmission of sponging within a single "matriline" (a related group of animals linked by descent through the female line), but did not resolve whether it was learnt or inherited.

A complex pattern of inheritance based on multiple genes that can be shuffled during sexual reproduction was considered unlikely. "Why, then, would it be confined to one maternal line?" Dr Krützen proffered.

So the researchers investigated whether sponging might be inherited via a single gene. None of the 10 possible single-gene scenarios matched what researchers saw in the field.

'Recent switch'
"It's really hard to make genetic arguments for recent switches in behaviour, because things don't happen that quickly in populations," commented Grant Pogson, an evolutionary biologist at University of California, Santa Cruz, US.

Professor Andrew Read, professor of conservation biology at Duke University in Beaufort, US, said: "There have been similar insights from sea otters, so it wouldn't particularly surprise me if it were true.

"In bottlenose dolphins in Saratoga [US] there have been some suggestions that individually specific foraging behaviours are likely to be transferred from mother to daughter because of the long time they spend together."

It is unclear why the behaviour is confined solely to females, but clues may come from a recent study of chimpanzees.

A paper published in Nature last year suggested female chimps learn from their mothers how to gather termites much faster than males - who prefer to spend more of their time playing.

Dr Krützen added: "Those who work on these animals know that if there is a prime candidate for socially transmitted behaviour - culture - in the marine mammal world, it is bottlenose dolphins."

"It has been shown in captivity that they can socially learn - they can imitate. If one dolphin can do it then others should be able to."

Source: news.bbc.co.uk

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Sponging dolphins learn from mother

South Africa celebrates National Environment Week

Issues relating to the environment come under the spotlight this week as South Africa celebrates National Environment Week, coinciding with International Environment Day today.

The week has been themed: "Our environment belongs to all who live in it".

The United Nations General Assembly established World Environment Day in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment.

This resulted in the establishment of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), through which the international community addresses concerns for the environment.

As part of the celebrations in South Africa this year, the National Assembly will debate the subject on Wednesday with special emphasis on climate change and the Kyoto Protocol.

Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk is also expected to formally designate the first group of Environmental Management Inspectors (EMIs) - the "Green Scorpions".

The environmental inspectors are authorised with a range of enforcement powers varying from routine inspections to search and seizure operations, setting up roadblocks and arresting suspects.

They will also issue formal notices to individuals or corporations who are breaking environmental laws or not complying with the terms of their licences.

Launching the week, the Minister said it was appropriate that the UNEP chose this year's theme for World Environment Day - 'Green Cities' - because cities consumed more than 75 percent of global resources.

He said this week's celebrations would emphasise the South African approach to environmental concerns.

"This approach places people at the centre of the environmental equation, and takes the view that protecting and promoting the interests of people and the interests of the environment are one and the same battle," he explained.

Meanwhile, the Minister will launch the first in a series of countrywide Clean Air Imbizo meetings in Boipatong tomorrow, to engage with communities worst affected by air pollution.

"Ensuring Green Cities and the ownership of our environment by all communities means dealing with the damage caused by urban development," said the Minister.

Today, Environmental Affairs and Tourism Deputy Minister Rejoice Mabudafhasi is celebrating with the Makuleke community in Limpopo.

The community is regarded as a "beacon of hope" for land restitution in the country, following the return of their land within the Kruger National Park.

The Makuleke people occupied the land between Limpopo and Luvhuvhu River north of the park until they were forcefully removed from their rich land in 1969 by the apartheid government.

However, through the Land Restitution Programme, the community has been acknowledged as true owners of the land and have since enjoyed economic benefits for their land rich with bio-diversity and conservation value.

Source: www.allafrica.com

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South Africa celebrates National Environment Week

Declare war on sharks, says swimming legend

An experienced long-distance swimmer is calling for a bounty to be placed on Great White sharks after medical student Henri Murray was attacked - and says he is planning to hunt them.

Great Whites, predators at the top of the ocean food chain, are a protected species and may not be caught or harmed in any way without a permit from the Marine and Coastal Management branch of the department of environmental affairs and tourism.

Murray, 22, a Stellenbosch University student, has been missing and presumed dead since Saturday after he was attacked while spearfishing at Miller's Point.

Godfrey Mocke, SwimSafe Project manager and a long-distance swimmer with 40 years' experience, said on Monday that it was time to declare war.

"I have all the mechanics in place to take out that shark and all his mates who are near us. We need action now," he said.

"There are big-game fishermen from America willing to pay up to $500 000 to hunt Great Whites.

"It would be easy for the Environment Minister (Marthinus van Schalkwyk) to mark the area from Cape Point to Hangklip and a two-kilometre strip from the high water mark out and say OK boys, go for it. Do your thing'.

"The sharks would work out quickly that this was not an area where they wanted to be.

"I know the Great White is a protected species but it can't have carte blanche. I say we put a bounty out there and swell the tourism coffers. If we can cull seals, why can't we cull sharks?"

Mocke said he knew Murray as he had lived in the same residence as his son, Jasper.

"I saw Henri and Piet van Niekerk (the friend who was diving with Murray) on Thursday when I went to fetch my son at the res and I spoke to Henri."

Asked to comment, Van Schalkwyk said the issue was "serious" but he did not respond directly to Mocke's suggestion.

"We are guided in our decisions by scientific research and that is why we are conducting scientific studies on the possible relationship between cage diving and shark attacks on humans," he said on Monday.

He pointed out that the universities of Pretoria and Cape Town, the Iziko-South African Museum and the Natal Sharks Board were taking part in these studies, which started last year.

"It is too early to provide any findings," he said.

On Sunday the shark believed to have taken Murray was spotted near Simon's Town.

Brendan Dingel from Hout Bay and a group of friends were diving near a shipwreck north of Roman Rock at about midday when a "huge shark" hovered in the waters above them, trailing a line "plus what looked to me like a trigger mechanism".

This was presumed to be the remains of Murray's speargun.

Source: www.iol.co.za

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Declare war on sharks, says swimming legend

South Africa’s plan for the protection of the Marine Environment to be launched

The Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Ms Rejoice Mabudafhasi, will on Wednesday 8 June 2004 launch the South African Implementation Plan for the Protection of the Marine Environment.

This plan forms part of a global programme to address marine pollution caused by land-based activities.

The launch of the plan coincides with World Oceans Day and National Environment Week.

Date: Wednesday 8 June 2005

Venue: On Board the SA Agulhas, Quay 500, Cape Town Harbour

Time 10:30 for 11:00

Please RSVP with Sandile Mawela on 073 531 9063 or 021 402 3028

Source: www.deat.gov.za

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South Africa’s plan for the protection of the Marine Environment to be launched

Parents make peace with shark attack victim's fate

An outdoor enthusiast and a keen sportsman, medical student Henri Murray had a fighting spirit.

Murray, 22, had plans to travel to KwaZulu-Natal to offer his services to those in need and was also a sociable person who decided to study medicine to improve the lives of South Africans.

But when a huge Great White shark attacked him on Saturday while he was spearfishing near Miller's Point, his fighting spirit and a desperate attempt by his diving partner to save his life were not enough.

The shark approached Murray once and he managed to fight it off with his speargun.

The predator came back a second time and again Murray prodded it until it left, but the third time the creature took him in its jaws and disappeared.

Even though his dive buddy, Piet van Niekerk, shot the shark with a speargun, it was too late to save his close friend.

Van Niekerk managed to swim ashore unharmed and called for help to search for his friend.

Murray's flipper, mask and parts of his weight belt have been found by police divers.

They have also found a speargun and the buoy usually attached to it but there has been no sign of the 22-year-old.

A piece of wet suit containing his car keys in a flap pocket was found on a beach at Fish Hoek on Sunday, about 7km from where the attack took place.

"At this stage he is assumed dead but members of the public should alert authorities if they see anything related to the incident," National Sea Rescue Institute spokesperson Craig Lambinon said on Sunday.

Lambinon said although the search for Murray had been called off, police divers would have a last look around on Monday.

Murray's attack comes only seven months after 77-year-old Tyna Webb was taken by a Great White off Jagger Walk at Fish Hoek.

All that was found then was her red swimming cap.

There have been seven shark attacks in the Western Cape since 2002 but shark expert Geremy Cliff of the Natal Sharks Board said that if one looked at the patterns with shark attacks, there were bad years and good years.

"More people are going into the sea so there is a greater chance for humans to come into contact with sharks than there was before. If one also considers how many people spend hours in the water, the situation could probably be a lot worse."

Cliff said that although there was a slight possibility that the shark which attacked Murray might have been the same one which attacked Webb last year, he doubted that a great white which had developed an unusual taste for humans would wait seven months to feed.

Great Whites, Cliff said, usually took one investigative bite to determine whether they wanted to eat something.

However, their jaws were so powerful and the sharks were usually so big, that such a bite could prove fatal.

On Sunday afternoon Murray's family also received news that a piece of his diving suit had been located and a shark which might have attacked him had been spotted near Kalk Bay.

Murray's father, George Murray, said the family had made peace with what had happened to their son and although the entire family was sad, they were not bitter or resentful.

Murray said his wife, Lizette, and their four other sons would rely on each other's support to come to terms with Murray's death.

Murray, a fifth-year medical student at Stellenbosch University, had left behind a wonderful legacy, his friends and family said.

But for his mother he has left behind a little extra.

On Mother's Day he presented her with a necklace made of pearls and wood which he had made himself.

On Sunday, as she reflected on what had happened to her son, his mother clutched the necklace and spoke of his achievements, talents and ambitions as she held back tears.

"He was such a lively person. If he walked into a room he would light up the entire space and he really motivated us all.

"He was also very compassionate and really cared about other people," she said.

She added that her son had always had a positive outlook on life.

She said he had a healthy appetite and appreciated her home cooking as he lived in the university residence at Tygerberg Hospital.

George Murray comfortingly stroked his wife's hand as she spoke and said his son had no longer been a child - he had been an adult who loved his country and had been proudly South African.

"I really looked up to him as I look up to all my children and today I really feel that I have not only lost my son but a very good friend," Murray said.

He also said that although Henri Murray might no longer be around, the rest of his family was here and they would try their best to do the things that would have made Henri proud by doing more for others and working towards making South Africa a better place for all.

Henri leaves his father George, mother Lizette and brothers Sep, Wim, Andrew and Colyn.

Source: www.iol.co.za

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Parents make peace with shark attack victim's fate

Search off for shark attack victim

The car keys of the spear fisherman feared to have been taken by a great white shark at the weekend were found on a beach at Fish Hoek, the National Sea Rescue Institute said.

Spokesman Craig Lambinon said a member of the public yesterday had found a piece of wetsuit containing the keys in a flap pocket, about 7km from where the attack took place. It is believed to have been the clothing and keys of Henri Murray, 22.

Murray was apparently attacked by the creature some 200 to 300 metres off Millers' Point, near Simon's Town, around 4pm on Saturday.

The search for Murray by the Cape Town Fire and Rescue Service, police and the NSRI continued until late yesterday afternoon, he said.

Police divers on Saturday found the spear-gun, a flipper, a mask, a snorkel and parts of a weight belt belonging to Murray.

"Private boat operators and authorities have been asked to continue to look out for any signs in the days ahead," Lambinon said.

Murray had been spear fishing with fellow University of Stellenbosch student Piet van Niekerk, who managed to escape the attack by the shark.

According to reports, the shark that cut short the life of Durbanville medical student was spotted in False Bay yesterday dragging his fishing buoy. The shark was seen at Roman Rock lighthouse in Simon's Town and Kalk Bay harbour by fishermen in the area.

Murray, had been fishing 150 metres off the shore of Miller's Point with Van Niekerk, 23, when, at 3.45pm, a great white shark tried to get at him from below. He shouted to Van Niekerk, 10m away, to swim to shore, but his friend only swam in closer to save him.

Murray managed to evade the great white twice, but on its third attempt, the shark breached, pulling him under. Van Niekerk, a few metres away, shot the shark with his speargun, but to no avail.

Van Niekerk immediately swam back to shore, took off his diving gear and ran for help.

The NSRI, Metro rescue, and Simon's Town Police and Fire Services - were contacted at about 4.15pm, and arrived on scene within 20 minutes.

After two days of looking, the search for Murray was officially called off yesterday.

Source: www.dailynews.co.za

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Search off for shark attack victim

Shark 'bounty-hunting' mooted

The project manager of Swimsafe says he plans shark "bounty hunts" similar to those in Southern Australia after a Matie student was attacked by one of the predators at Miller's Point.

Henri Murray, 22, a fifth year medical student at Stellenbosch University is missing, presumed dead.

It was the fifth attack in just over a year and Godfrey Mocke says something has to be done.

He says American big-game fishermen have offered $500 000 to catch Great Whites off South Africa's coast.

While making the sea safe for divers, rowers and swimmers, he says, it will also generate revenue.

Mocke says he has been thinking about shark hunting for some time.

He says shark hunting will ensure that a 2km stretch of the coast is safe for people to swim in.

Murray and a friend, Piet van Niekerk, 23, went spearfishing at Miller's Point when he was attacked by a Great White.

The attack took place at about 15:45 on Saturday in 6m-deep water about 200m from the shore.

Henri saw the shark and warned his friend that they should get out of the water, his father George said on Sunday.

Twice, he succeeded in fending off the shark.

"The third time the shark was determined and grabbed him while he was swimming towards the shore."

Van Niekerk succeeded in shooting the shark with his spear gun, but had to watch how his friend was dragged away by the predator.

Craig Bovim of The Shark Concern Group said on Sunday the group had been planning for some time to send an open letter to Marthinus van Schalkwyk, minister of environmental affairs and tourism, to ask for changes to the shark tourism industry.

Bovim, who was attacked by a shark at Scarborough in December 2002, said the industry should put an end to the practice of chumming.

He was of the opinion that it could be more lucrative if the industry was based on sightseeing tours where tourist could watch how sharks hunted seals naturally.

Great Whites are a protected species.

Source: www.news24.com

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Shark 'bounty-hunting' mooted

List of Top 100 dive sites of the World updated

SCUBA Travel: The Independent Guide to Diving around the World have updated their list of top 100 dive sites from around the world.

Here is the list of the 100 top dive sites.

1. Yongala, Australia
   
2. Blue Corner Wall, Palau, Micronesia
   
3. Thistlegorm, Egyptian Red Sea
   
4. Navy Pier, Australia
   
5. Big Brother, Egyptian Red Sea
   
6. Barracuda Point, Sipadan Island
   
7. Elphinstone Reef, Egyptian Red Sea
   
8. Shark and Yolanda Reef, Egyptian Red Sea
   
9. Manta Ray Night Dive, Kailua Kona, Hawaii
   
10. Great Blue Hole, Belize
    
11. Sodwana bay, South Africa
    
12. Sha'ab Rumi South, Sudan
    
13. Liberty, Bali, Indonesia
    
14. Similans, Thailand
    
15. Darwin Island, Galapagos
    
16. Bloody bay wall, Little cayman
    
17. The Zenobia, Cyprus
    
18. Jackson Reef, Egypt
    
19. Pedras Secas, Noronha, Brazil
    
20. Holmes Reef, Coral Sea, Australia
    
21. Puerto Galera, Philippines
    
22. Poor Knights, New Zealand
    
23. Shark Alley, Grand Cayman
    
24. Richelieu Rock, Thailand
    
25. Dos Ojos underwater cavern in Playa del Carmen, Mexico
    
26. Ras Mohammed, Egyptian Red Sea
    
27. Mnemba Island, Tanzania
    
28. Stingray City, Grand Cayman
    
29. Hanging Garden, Sipadan
    
30. Booroo, Isle of Man
    
31. Sound Drift, Isle of Man
    
32. Chickens Rock, Isle of Man
    
33. Darwin Arch, Galapagos
    
34. Barra Reef, Mozambique
    
35. Grand Central Station, Solomon Islands
    
36. Gizo, Solomon Islands
    
37. Wreck of the Bahama Mama, New Providence, Bahamas
    
38. Blue Hole, Malta
    
39. Turtle tavern, Sipadan
    
40. Hin Muang, Thailand
    
41. Great Basses reef, Sri Lanka
    
42. East Timor
    
43. alcyone, Cocos Island, Costa Rica
    
44. Tormentous, Cozumel, Mexico
    
45. Osprey Reef, Coral Sea, Australia
    
46. Eel garden, Dahab, Egyptian Red Sea
    
47. Diamond Rocks, Kilkee, Ireland
    
48. Boulari pass, New-Caledonia
    
49. Am chesonet, St Lucia WI
    
50. Aliwal Shoal, South Africa
    
51. RMS Wreck of the Rhone, British Virgin Islands
    
52. Santa Rosa Wall, Cozumel, Mexico
    
53. New Dropoff, Palau
    
54. Kunkungan, Lambeh Strait, N. Sulawesi, Indonesia
    
55. Great white wall, Tavieuni Fiji
    
56. Cenotes, Playa Del Carmen, Mexico
    
57. The Express, Kuredu, Maldives
    
58. Fujikawa Maru
    
59. Fernando de Noronha, Brasil
    
60. Port Jackson, Sydney, Australia
    
61. Punta Sur, Cozumel, Mexico
    
62. Sugar Wreck, Grand Bahama Island
    
63. Lake Malawi, East Africa
    
64. Blue Hole, Dahab, Egyptian Red Sea
    
65. Koh Tao, Thailand
    
66. James Barrie, Scapa Flow
    
67. Utila, Honduras
    
68. Mahdia
    
69. Los testigos islands, Venezuela
    
70. Umbria, Sudan
    
71. Amazing, Coral Sea
    
72. Dolphin House, Red Sea
    
73. El acuario, Catalina Island, Dominican Republic
    
74. Marbini Padre, Malaysia
    
75. Manta Point, Maldives
    
76. Fish Rock, Off South West Rocks in NSW, Australia
    
77. Office, Mozambique
    
78. Tepekong, Bali, Indonesia
    
79. Fanore, Ireland
    
80. South Point, Sipadan
    
81. Chios island, Greece
    
82. Half Moon Wall, Belize
    
83. Mayafushi, Maldives
    
84. Pixie pinnacle and pixie wall, GBR, Australia
    
85. Palancanar Bricks, Cozumel, Mexico
    
86. Bay of Pigs, Cuba
    
87. Tiputa pass, Rangiroa, New Zealand
    
88. Wolf Island, Galapogos
    
89. Dirty rock, Cocos Island, Costa Rica
    
90. Protea Banks, South Africa
    
91. Albatross Passage, Kavieng, PNG
    
92. Peleliu Express, Palau
    
93. Donovan's dream, Alor, Indonesia
    
94. Hin Daeng, Thailand
    
95. Sanganeb, Sudan
    
96. Manuelita, cocos island, costa rica
    
97. Gili air, Indonesia
    
98. Cement Wreck, Brunei
    
99. Cebu, Philippines
    
100. Panorama Reef, Safaga, Red Sea
     

Source: www.scubatravel.co.uk

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List of Top 100 dive sites of the World updated

'Monster' shark spotted in False Bay waters

The shark believed to have cut short the life of Durbanville medical student Henri Murray on Saturday, was spotted in False Bay on Sunday, dragging a fishing buoy.

The shark was spotted by fishermen at Roman Rock lighthouse in Simon's Town, and at Kalk Bay harbour. According to their reports, a spear fired by Murray's friend, Piet van Niekerk, remained embedded in the shark, which has also been dragging his spear-gun and buoy along with it.

On Sunday, Murray's car keys were found in a flap pocket of a piece of wetsuit that washed up on Fish Hoek beach, National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) spokesperson Craig Lambinon told the Cape Times.

Murray, 22, had been spear-fishing 150 metres offshore of Miller's Point for about an hour with Van Niekerk, 23, when, at 3.45pm, a Great White shark tried to get at him from below. He shouted to Van Niekerk, 10m away, to swim to shore, but his friend instead came to help him.

Murray managed to evade the Great White twice, but on its third attempt, the shark took him, breached and pulled him under. Van Niekerk, a few metres away, fired his speargun at the shark in the hope it would leave Murray, but to no avail.

Van Niekerk immediately swam back to shore, took off his diving gear and ran to a nearby slipway to ask for help.

Emergency services - including NSRI, Metro rescue, and Simon's Town Police and Fire services - were contacted at about 4.15pm, and arrived on the scene within 20 minutes.

The search for Murray was officially called off at 3.30pm on Sunday, though the area will conti