The Campaign and Its Impact “Dive Tribes Great Shark Release” hopes to be one of the largest shark releases ever staged. The idea is to release captive bred sharks and sharks we can rescue from restaurants and pet stores in Thailand back to the ocean on Sept 3rd 2011. We are working with a team of marine biologists and shark specialists to make sure that every thing we do is text book and no harm will come to any of the sharks during the release. Currently the shark situation in Thailand is becoming worse, sharks are taken for fins or the pups and small sharks simply taken for soup and Thai dishes. These sharks are sometimes taken illegally and usually at night from our National Marine Parks. By releasing Bamboo, Leopard and Black Tip Reef Sharks we hope we can:  1. Restore a small portion of the shark population  2. Bring public awareness to the decimation of Sharks in Thailand and globally  3. Educate the public as to the importance of sharks  4. Open and start dialogue with the relevant authorities regarding putting in some protection for endangered  shark species in Thailand   5. Make this an annual event until the relevant protection is in place.   Without this campaign we face serious decimation of our sharks population in the coming years. We have to act now and bring all the public media, aquariums & dive centers together and work as one before its too late and some of our last shark are taken from Thai Oceans. Practical and Moral Dilemmas We have been asked a number of question all of them relevant and good questions that deserve equally good answers. 1. Pratical Dilemma: Should one buy sharks from an aquarium or shop in order to release them ? Yes....These sharks are caught whether we buy them or not.They have not been brought in specially for us and as we will be buying them all in one day ,it is not possible to fuel the trade in such a short space of time. What we do is give these sharks a second chance, they are technically doomed as they are sat in tanks in restaurants and pet shops ready for the barbeque or a slow death in a tank to small to live in. 2. Moral Dilemma: Will buying sharks from Aquariums restaurants encourage fishermen to catch more sharks ? No ..... Fishermen catch what they can when they can. Sharks are not caught to order. Our campaign runs once a year so what ever we do take has very little impact on any take. 3. Practical Dilema: Can a captive shark be released and survive ? Yes ! ....Sharks have 420 million years of instinct pumping through their veins. They are not nurtured after they are born they simply know what to do .They are natural scavengers! Even our captive bred sharks that have been released before in smaller releases have been RF tagged and are doing well. Moral Comparison: Would you donate to release a Lion/Orca or Dolphin from Captivity ? Probably ..... So the sharks have a second chance ,surely that must be a good thing? Our Campaign is hard hitting and brings public awareness to a new level in Thailand which is long overdue.  We use rescued sharks and some captive bred sharks all of which are capable of living a long existence in the ocean when released in to the designated no take zones. Sharks will be RF tagged and data logged. Some of the facts  Some species of shark have declined by as much as 93 % simply for consumption in soup and other dishes. 72 Million sharks are killed around the world simply for there fins and flesh. Shark are the apex predator and removing sharks from our oceans at such a rate will upset the natural balance and cause catastrophic consequences for all of us. 70% of the oxygen we breathe comes from the oceans, sharks maintain this balance and order. Shark flesh particularly the fin contain up to 42 times the legal limit of mercury and can be harmful to your health. Tests in Thailand and Taiwan show some sharks contain mercury which exceeds World Health Organisations Recommended levels. Infact the US and Australian authorities have also warned the public and particularly pregnant women and young children against the consumption of shark meat.  OUR STORY Dive Tribe is a group of conservation minded divers that was set up in Thailand to look at what we call G.O.D. or Global Ocean Destruction We are from all sorts of backgrounds,some of us worked as Marine Park Managers, Marine Biologists lecturers at Universities, Dive Instructors and Commercial Divers. Since we all dived together we saw that the oceans and coasts in Thailand desperately needed more conservation work and a tough organisation that was not going to back down from the issues. So with this in mind we set up a list of projects that needed to be addressed immediately and set to work implementing our goals. These ranged from Shark Release programs, Marine Mooring Buoys in our Marine Parks, Giant Clam Farming, Coral Reef Reconstruction, Reef Monitoring, Ghost Net and Debris Removal, Water Quality Testing and Solid Waste Management. We have also been asked along on film shoots to take care of environmental issues and conservation on underwater film sets. Dive Tribe now has over 10,000 active members that follow our conservation work and news. In Thailand we also set up a network of 35 stores that help us actively police the Thai oceans and send us feedback on any environmental anomalies or illegal fishing. We post regular updates and photographs on our social networking sites of the projects we work on and those  that know us and follow us have given us incredible support over the last 2 years. “Dive Tribe are taking real and powerful action to make genuine changes in how we treat the ocean.  These are people who don’t just talk about conservation – they get out there and do something meaningful”. Mark Caney author of Dolphin Way http://www.eurotek.uk.com/markcaney.htm I have been personally funding Dive Tribe for the past 2 years and am now turning to the public to help on the individual projects that we have in our pipeline.  The immediate project we would like to bring your attention too is “Dive Tribes Great Shark Release”  This project is designed directly to raise awareness to the plight of sharks not just in Thailand but globally.  We have had some great successes in the past on different projects, our teams have removed large amounts of Marine Debris from beaches, we have also taken care of “Ghost Nets” at as deep as 45 meters and even removed Sharks Fin dishes from the menu at The "Conrad Hilton" in Bangkok. You may ask isn’t there other groups doing the same, our answer is we are the most high profile and vocal group. We are organised and very focused on getting the job done. Sadly Thailand does not uphold its laws of “No Take” from its Marine Parks and the other groups need our help to make the world know what goes on here. Since our start up we have been invited to talk with environment ministers, policy makers local government, Nation TV Chat shows and the newspapers. Our Motto is : To Protect & Preserve   MISSION Dive Tribe’s mandate is the protection and conservation of the terrestrial and marine ecology of Thailand's oceans. This includes the underwater bio-network of coral reefs and the sensitive land ecosystems of the Thailand's coastline.  At Dive Tribe’s core is a no compromise attitude for the future.  Our primary objective is working towards the protection and preservation of Thailand’s natural resources. WHAT WE NEED & WHAT YOU GET Dive Tribe would please ask the public for help on this important and worthwhile project. As little as $1 will go towards securing the release of a shark. But a real pledge such as $20 will place you on our Shark Conservation Board. What can you get for $20 ? - A fast food meal for two or you could Save A Shark ! But we have some other offers for you that we think make this whole Shark Release programme stand out from  the rest. You could personally save a shark by giving a donation for the full amount for a Bamboo Shark, Zebra Shark or Black Tip Reef Shark (Just take a look to your right and you see the donations are flexible) If we could make 25,000 USD then all of this money will go towards the purchase of sharks, construction of temporary holding tanks, administration, travel logistics and production of a DVD documentary. We would also like to have screenings of the DVD and give lectures about Sharks and this event to the Thai and international schools and colleges here in Thailand to carry on the public awareness campaign after the shark release. We will be presenting our petition to the environment minister and asking that Shark have the protection they need and working with the relevant authorities to install a Shark National Plan of Action. If we don’t make our target the release will still go ahead but the number of sharks released will be fewer and documentary production will be put on hold. And that's not all - How would you like to see a “Thai Politician in the Shark Tank” ? With your donation going to our shark release this could be a reality. ( No promises but we will sure try) What a Finale and what a way to let the public know “Sharks are our Friends Not Food” !!  HOW ELSE CAN YOU HELP ? IF YOUR IN THAILAND & WOULD LIKE TO BE PRESENT ON THE DAY OF THE RELEASE E-MAIL DIVE TRIBE AND WE WILL TRY AND PLACE YOU ON ONE OF OUR PARTICIPATING BOATS OR DIVE OPERATORS. YOU MUST HAVE YOUR DIVING CERT CARD AND BRING YOUR OWN EQUIPMENT. Don’t be Shy !!! Please share this with others on Facebook, Twitter or any of your social networking sites. You can e-mail it to friends and let your family know how much sharks need our help. Thanks for taking the time to read and caring for our oceans.  I hope together we can - Protect and Preserve Kind Regards Gwyn Mills CEO/Dive Tribe

Anyone for a game of sardines? Divers capture incredible pictures of fish shoals so dense they block out the sun

These amazing pictures show shoals of the fish packed so dense off the coast of the Philippines they block out the light of the tropical sun. 

While the annual gathering of vast shoals of thousands of sardines is a well-documented event in South African waters, the Philippine sardine run was unheard of three years ago.

Tightly packed: Even in their natural habitat, these sardines have barely more space to maneuver than the more familiar tinned variety

According to world-renowned underwater photographer Dr Alexey Stoyda, the fish were first spotted gathering in large numbers around the island of Pescador, near Cebu, in the Philippines, in March 2009.

For three months, large swells of sardine were spotted circling the island before their number dwindled and they disappeared.

 

A year later the phenomenon occurred again when a shoal of sardines began to increase in size, and this time it showed no sign of leaving. By July whale sharks and thresher sharks descended on the island for a feeding frenzy.

Today the 'Philippine sardine run' has captured the imagination of divers from all over the world, keen to see one of nature's most impressive sights. And while the number of sardine has not decreased, neither has the variety of predators keen to take advantage of the natural occurring 'bait-ball'.

Group think: A diver swims beneath the massive shoal, which moves as if it had one mind

You eat them whole: The congregation of such vast numbers of tiny fish sparks a predators' feeding frenzy

Dr Stoyda said: 'As our boat approached the island I suddenly saw an enormous shoal in a area of water no more than one metre deep.

'We literally had to jump into it.

'As we began to descend deeper, the shoal seemed like a living, moving wall.

'At a depth of 30m the ball of sardines was so dense there was no visible sun.

'This wall was constantly moving like a cloud in a hurricane and every so often a window opened for divers, as if luring them inside before sucking them in.

'It was unforgettable experience which I'm not sure any photograph can fully convey.'

Spectacle: World-renowned underwater photographer Dr Alexey Stoyda travelled to the Philippines to capture these amazing pictures

 
We're used to seeing them tightly packed in tins on our supermarket shelves, but even in nature it seems that sardines stick close together.

Diver swims 20 MILES through shark-infested seas of Borneo to reach safety after being abandoned by boatman

Survived: Mr Koze managed to swim to safety over 24 hours and 20 miles

A Japanese diving instructor managed to survive being abandoned by a boatman in shark-infested waters by swimming 20 miles to shore in 24 hours.

Hishashi Koze had been left for dead following a routine dive off Borneo's Santubong peninsula with two other diving colleagues.

The three men had gone underwater for a third dive, only to be abandoned when boatmen on the surfrace lost sight of their air bubbles underwater and assumed they were in trouble.

Mr Koze, 39, was then left alone himself after trying to swim after the boat and losing sight of his two colleagues.

Exhausted, sunburned, dehydrated and emotional, Mr Koze managed to swim back to Malaysia's Borneo island, where he told how the dive boat he was on had headed back to the shore after the boatman had decided there was no hope of finding him and his two companions alive.

But Mr Koze's friends, Satoo Makoto, 40, and Ngu Teck Hua, 52, were soon picked up by a passing fishing boat.

Mr Koze, however, lost touch with his friends and did not see them being rescued - he did not even see the fishing boat that picked them up.

'I kept thinking "I must survive - I must survive",' he told The Star newspaper of Malaysia.

 

'I swam backstroke against the waves, covering, I think about 30km through the afternoon, through the night and through until this morning when I reached the shore.'

Mr Koze and his companions had been taken to the site of a Japanese shipwreck, some 50 minutes from Borneo's Santubong peninsula.

The dive was routine for the three men - and none dreamed it would turn into a nightmare, particularly for Mr Koze.

'We made two successful dives and then we decided to dive for a third time,' said Mr Koze.

'The third dive lasted for about an hour. Then when we surfaced I saw the boat was quite far away.'

What the three men did not realise was that the boatman had panicked after losing sight of the trio's air bubbles, a common safety indicator between divers and boatmen.

'I left the two in order to swim to the boat and get it to pick us up, but then I lost sight of it. I then couldn't find the two other divers, but made up my mind it was my responsibility to get rescue.'

Unaware that his friends were later picked up by a fishing boat, Mr Koze struck out for what he hoped was the direction of the shore.

'As the light faded I followed the stars as I swam. I realised I had to be calm.

'The direction of the current told me I was in the right direction and I also had the help of a compass.'

All three men were kept under observation in the Sarawak General Hospital before being released.

Asked if he would go back to sea again, Mr Koze, who manages a dive shop on Borneo, said: 'Oh yes - maybe in a week or so.'

Mekong dolphins on brink of extinction - WWF

REUTERS

An Irrawaddy dolphin, also known as the Mekong dolphin, swims in the river at Kampi village in Kratie province, 230 km northeast of Cambodia, on March 24, 2007.

Tokyo - The Irrawaddy dolphin population in the Mekong River numbers roughly 85, with the survival of new calves very low, suggesting they are at high risk of extinction, environmental group WWF said on Wednesday.

The Irrawaddy dolphins live in a 190 km section of the Mekong between Kratie, Cambodia and the Khone Falls, which are on the border with Laos.

Fishing gear, especially gill nets, and illegal fishing methods involving explosions, poison and electricity all appear to be taking a toll, with surveys conducted from 2007 to 2010 showing the dolphin population slowly declining, the WWF added.

“Evidence is strong that very few young animals survive to adulthood, as older dolphins die off and are not replaced,” said Li Lifeng, director of WWR's Freshwater Programme, in a statement.

“This tiny population is at risk by its small size alone. With the added pressure of gill net entanglement and high calf mortality, we are really worried for the future of dolphins.”

Research also shows that the population of dolphins in a small transboundary pool on the Cambodia-Laos border may be as few as 7 or 8, the WWF added, despite the fact that Irrawaddy dolphins are protected by law in both nations.

The group called on Cambodia to establish a clear legal framework to protect dolphins, including steps such as banning gill nets if needed.

“Our best chance of saving this iconic species from extinction in the Mekong River is through joint conservation action,” Li said.

Dolphins once ranged from the Mekong delta in Vietnam up through the Tonle Sap in Cambodia, and then up tributaries into Laos, but they have been shot by soldiers and harvested for oil in the past.

Irrawaddy dolphins are found in coastal areas in South and Southeast Asia, and in three rivers: the Mekong, the Ayeyarwady in Myanmar, and the Mahakam in Indonesian Borneo. - Reuters

Mermaids invade Las Vegas; Plenty of tales AND colorful tails from annual Convention

(DiverWire) This past weekend, people from all over the world packed up their monofins and gathered in the middle of the blazing desert in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Equipped with silicone, latex, neoprene, glitter, and sequins, these were not your typical divers.  Some weren’t even swimmers.  Mermaids and mermaid lovers alike were coming together for the first ever World Mermaid Convention and Awards.

The two-day event commenced Friday in the Silverton Casino where convention goers walked among mermaids modeling in tails and various mermaid-related vendors.  Booths showcased a wide array of things: authors, artists, tail and accessory makers, underwater photographers, and a demo of an underwater mermaid video game.  There was even a mermaid pageant.

The location was a great setting for an aquatic-themed event.  Known for its fish-filled 117,000 gallon salt water tank, the Silverton hosts interactive fish feedings and mermaid performances next to a mermaid-themed lounge.  Like the famous live mermaid performers at Weeki Wachee springs in Florida, the hotel’s mermaids breathe from long hoses and have to be scuba certified to perform in the 14-foot deep tank.  There were both current and former Weeki Wachee mermaids present at the event, such as pageant queen Kylee Troche and veteran mermaid Arlene Brooks.

A “mermaid” can be anyone from the casual enthusiast to the professional performer, artist, or model.  Some do mermaiding simply for fun, but many use mermaiding as a way of educating people about the environment and other issues.

Long time mermaid, ocean activist, and guest of honor Hannah Fraser, known as Hannah Mermaid, kicked off the first evening’s pool party and award ceremony.  She performed a riveting fire dance before diving into the pool and swimming in one of her hand-made tails.  There’s a great deal of pride amongst mermaids over their tails; many design and make their own with everything from fabric and neoprene to mold-poured silicone.  As people gathered by the poolside and suited up in their outfits, a commonly heard question was “what type of monofin do you have?”  For mermaids who do a lot of underwater work, a good monofin can improve the quality of a tail.  Fraser fits professional Finis Competitor monofins into her tails.

Many people who consider themselves mermaids have been water lovers, snorkelers, and avid swimmers from a young age.  Some, like Marla Lawrenz, got into mermaiding through scuba diving.  Others hope to get scuba certified to help with their mermaid endeavors.  Lawrenz started scuba diving five years ago, and through it became enthralled with free diving and monofins.  She started researching monofins online and was thrilled when she discovered that people were using them to make mermaid tails.  For Lawrenz, “scuba diving is always going to be my first love, mermaiding is just like icing on the cake.  It’s a very different feeling.”

Similar to Lawrenz, the consensus among event goers was that swimming in a mermaid tail is completely different from scuba diving and classic free diving.  While diving with scuba gear is nice because you have more time and can relax for longer underwater, many agreed that they like free diving and mermaiding in part because of the freedom they feel without the extra gear.  To them donning a mermaid tail is a magical, liberating experience that makes them feel more connected to the ocean and the creatures they’re swimming with.

There’s also a fun, playful aspect to having a tail on that draws people to mermaiding.  Susan Knight, a biologist, scuba instructor, and mermaid photographer located in Hawaii, shot underwater portraits for convention goers.  Knight does all of her underwater photography while free diving because she says it’s easier to connect to the animals she often shoots with.  She also feels that dolphins respond well to the playfulness that her models display while wearing a tail.

Swimming around holding your breath with bound legs is hard work and has its dangers.  For convention goer Malena Sharkey, safety is one of the most important reasons mermaids should learn about diving.  Sharkey is a professional mermaid, model, and scuba instructor who now owns the Chesapeake Bay Diving Center in Portsmouth, Virginia where she first got certified.  As well as being a fun and rewarding experience, having both scuba and free diving training has made Sharkey more comfortable, safe, and confident in the water. Malena was profiled in a DiverWire exclusive story earlier this year.

This year’s World Mermaid Convention focused mainly on the experiential, entertainment, and performance aspects of mermaiding, but looking elegant and glamorous in a tail is only one side of being a mermaid.  As the convention grows, mermaids might benefit from booths and presentations that encourage a greater awareness of safety issues and participation in the dive community.

For more information on mermaiding and to see some mermaids in action, check out these sites:

http://worldmermaidawards.com/ – official site of the World Mermaid Awards

http://mernetwork.com/ – a community-oriented forum with a broad range of information about mermaiding

http://weekiwachee.com/ – home of the Weeki Wachee mermaids, a Florida attraction that has been around since the 1940’s

http://www.mermaidtails.net/ – a directory of places to buy tails

http://www.iamamermaid.com – convention goer and author Carolyn Turgeon’s mermaid blog

Where's the Octopus?

Roger Hanlon, senior scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, studies camouflage in cephalopods--squid, cuttlefish and octopus. They are masters of optical illusion. These are some of Hanlon's top video picks of sea creatures going in and out of hiding

Vladimir Putin's Greek urns claim earns ridicule

 

Vladimir Putin carries his archaelogical trophies which - despite their cleanliness - were purported to have languished at the bottom of the Black Sea for centuries. Photograph: Alexei Druzhinin/AP

When a scuba-diving Vladimir Putin found two ancient Greek urns on the floor of the Black Sea this week, it seemed a startling discovery. In his latest spurt of televised heroics, the Russian prime minister raised a triumphant thumb as he circled the pair of amphorae in shallow waters off the Taman peninsula near Ukraine.

The find came to "everyone's utter surprise", claimed the slavishly devotional Russia Today and other state-controlled TV channels. Once on dry land, Putin posed in his wetsuit with a jug in each hand.

But independent media and Russia's lively blogosphere are now ridiculing the incident, in a sign of increasing weariness of Putin's macho photo ops – such as bare-chested fishing, piloting a "water bomber" over forest fires and diving to the bottom of lake Baikal in a mini-submarine.

Critics said Putin's pots were suspiciously unmossy and were probably planted specially for him to discover.

"Diving in the Taman gulf, the Russian prime minister immediately found two amphorae that had been waiting for him since the 6th century AD at a depth of two metres," wrote the Novaya Gazeta newspaper in an editorial dripping with sarcasm. "He was lucky: in the same place, over the last two years archaeologists and divers of the Russian Academy of Sciences managed to find only a few pottery shards."

Putin's visit was meant to highlight the work of Russian scientists exploring the remains of an ancient Greek city, Phanagoria, sometimes called "Russia's Atlantis". The site is not far from Sochi, the Black Sea resort that will host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, and authorities hope to develop its tourism potential.

Yet critics saw the dive as another farcical stunt designed to boost Putin's image before elections in December and March.

"We have become witnesses of a remake of The Diamond Hand and the famous fishing scene at the white cliff," said radio host Anton Orekh, referring to a scene from a Soviet film in which a diver attaches fish to an angler's hook in order to simulate a plentiful catch.