Wednesday, March 26th, 2008
Driftnets, a fishing gear that can reach dozens of kilometres in length, were prohibited in the European Union in 2002 because they constitute a threat to the conservation of cetaceans, sea turtles and sharks. Oceana has reported that Italy and France continue using this illegal fishing gear to capture bluefin tuna and swordfish, years after the ban entered into force. The European Court of Justice has refused to grant the French fleet a temporary exemption to permit the use of driftnets.
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Thursday, March 20th, 2008
This new book enables divers to have a thorough understanding of some of the medical problems and illnesses associated with diving. After reading this book you will be able to fully recognise each of the individual conditions and have a clear understanding of the best action to take in the event of decompression illness. It is suitable for all levels of experience from novice to instructor. It explains topics in clear non-medical language. It is a guide to initial treatment and first aid. It includes emergency action charts and recompression tables. It contains emergency contact numbers and recompression tables.
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Tuesday, March 18th, 2008
It's a novel escape route that makes a mockery of the status of the individual: if you run the risk of being eaten, just clone yourself. That is the approach taken by the larvae of sand dollars - marine animals related to sea urchins.
Fish are voracious predators of sand dollar larvae. Dawn Vaughn and Richard Strathmann of the University of Washington, Seattle, found that when they put four-day-old sand dollar larvae in a tank with fish mucus, the larvae cloned themselves.
They did this by either splitting in two or by producing a small bud which detached itself and developed into a new larva. Either way, the clones were smaller than the original larvae. Sand dollars did not clone themselves if there was no fish mucus in the water.
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Monday, March 17th, 2008
The vivid colours of coral reef fishes represent a 'language' that dates back at least 50 million years but is still baffling to humans in many respects, a leading fish expert concedes.
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Thursday, March 13th, 2008
Atlantic Bluefin tuna populations have declined alarmingly over the past few decades due to overfishing fuelled by an increasingly expensive industry.
A new WWF report shows that the international fleets hunting this species to extinction in the Mediterranean.
If you want to buy a tin of tuna off the supermarket shelf don't worry - you almost never find bluefin tuna in a tin. Most tinned tuna is yellowfin or skipjack. For fresh tuna ask your restauranteur or fishmonger if the Atlantic Bluefin tuna was caught in the Med. If so, avoid it.
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Wednesday, March 12th, 2008
"Whale shark and Bottlenose dolphin on the way out to the site, and a Blue marlin as we entered the water, to the most coral species I have seen on any of my dives around the world. It was just yummy."
Just one of new comments on the diving and dive operators of South Africa at the SCUBA Travel site.
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