tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462520502545421212024-03-12T17:51:24.747-07:00Scuba DivaAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10071248517822044241noreply@blogger.comBlogger195125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-346252050254542121.post-17115485025485021622016-11-11T04:02:00.003-08:002016-11-11T04:02:34.485-08:00Diving in Bermuda<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Throwback to working as a dive instructor in Bermuda, where I was interviewed by Keeon Minors for his website wearebermuda.com</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Check it out <a href="http://wearebermuda.com/love-bermudas-ocean-see-different-perspective/#" target="_blank">here</a></span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10071248517822044241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-346252050254542121.post-10493219615172627572016-10-02T10:18:00.001-07:002016-10-02T10:18:13.979-07:00Underwater Photography Top Tips<div style="text-align: center;">
<u><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">To get good underwater photos follow these top tips:</span></u></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">1) When photographing marine life, give it somewhere to swim to in the photo. Framing too close to the head of a turtle, for example, often leaves a lot of negative space behind the subject.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">2) Let the turtle come to you. You will never be able to outswim anything underwater and chasing marine life is harassment. Plus, you'll only end up with the back of a turtle's shell in your photo.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">3) Pre-focusing your camera can save time. Pick a nice feature- a colourful sponge for example- then focus your camera on that feature. When the turtle swims past it you are ready to shoot with pre-programmed settings.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">4) Visualize the shot before you take it. Jumping into the water and haphazardly swinging your camera around snapping shots is great if your goal is to delete a lot of images, but it probably isn't. Stop, think, then act.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">5) Once you think you've composed the shot, take it several more times. Backscatter and fish photo-bombing the frame can ruin a good shot. Digital cameras make it easy to take multiple shots.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10071248517822044241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-346252050254542121.post-80334945542294301012016-09-04T04:21:00.001-07:002016-09-04T04:21:46.040-07:00Nobody does history like the Greeks<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">There is history like no other hidden in the Ionian Sea. Go
diving off the Greek island of Kefalonia to discover 2,000 year old shipwrecks
and ancient archaeological artefacts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">With the island being first settled in 1200 BC, the
surrounding Ionian waters harbour shipwrecks dating back over 2,000 years.
There isn’t much left of the wrecks themselves, but what can be seen is
hundreds of ancient artefacts and amphorae.</span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BcIkxGhYgTM/V8wDIJ2GKpI/AAAAAAAAB_c/fVqPEVvVwb8NErTYdHYT3JlGo16DVatjACLcB/s1600/IMG_0130.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BcIkxGhYgTM/V8wDIJ2GKpI/AAAAAAAAB_c/fVqPEVvVwb8NErTYdHYT3JlGo16DVatjACLcB/s400/IMG_0130.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Off the north-east coast of Kefalonia lies a very small
rocky islet with just one church on it. The islet is mentioned in Homer’s
Odyssey as ‘Asteris Island’ but is more commonly referred to today as Daskalion
Islet. Drop down beneath the surface and you’ll discover that this is actually
a submerged mountaintop which is surrounded by marine life. Octopuses, moray
eels, groupers and nudibranchs can all be encountered here; although it is not
the marine life that sets this dive apart.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">At 30-35m you will find the remains of a 2,000 year old
Roman shipwreck which presumably wrecked on the rocks of Asteris Island. Although
most of the vessel has been eroded away (bar a few wooden struts and ballast
weights) it has left behind hundreds of amphorae, some of which are still
intact and have been undisturbed for thousands of years. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hxieZGap6Eo/V8wDMfhnjaI/AAAAAAAAB_g/tL03mxhEBgoKcfvssv2c76h_gtGJSSKgwCLcB/s1600/IMG_0138.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hxieZGap6Eo/V8wDMfhnjaI/AAAAAAAAB_g/tL03mxhEBgoKcfvssv2c76h_gtGJSSKgwCLcB/s400/IMG_0138.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Excellent visibility, which often exceeds 20 metres, makes
it possible to see the vast extent of the ship’s cargo scattered across the
seabed. Underwater, you get a real sense of the magnitude of the history,
imaging what it must have been like thousands of years ago and how the ship
must have met its end there. Past becomes present and history comes alive as
you see all of the amphorae that the ship once carried.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-np7j9qvgTk0/V8wDILp4vKI/AAAAAAAAB_Y/H7IpmgibJYcGQW_Swzl_0oQbEIjtNBKrACLcB/s1600/IMG_0121.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-np7j9qvgTk0/V8wDILp4vKI/AAAAAAAAB_Y/H7IpmgibJYcGQW_Swzl_0oQbEIjtNBKrACLcB/s400/IMG_0121.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">From a historical point of view, Kefalonia is an extremely
interesting island. Archaeological finds date back 40,000 years in time. This
is reflected in the diving, which allows an opportunity to discover a type of
history unseen by most people. Whilst you may not get the perfectly preserved
type of wrecks that more modern history offers, instead you get a story and
ancient archaeological artefacts that you’ll struggle to match anywhere else in
the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Amphorae can be seen at several dive sites around Kefalonia
as well as during dives off the neighbouring island of Ithaca. As Ithaca is one of the more remote and less
inhabited islands the marine life and quality of wall dives there is
spectacular. Ithaca is also where Homer’s Odyssey was based; a testament to the
quality of history that these islands provide.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PJujV4Bjglg/V8wDHwHumcI/AAAAAAAAB_U/sXdToa148PA9Be3YdFFHIwJIeJY7r6bNQCLcB/s1600/IMG_0129.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PJujV4Bjglg/V8wDHwHumcI/AAAAAAAAB_U/sXdToa148PA9Be3YdFFHIwJIeJY7r6bNQCLcB/s400/IMG_0129.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Kefalonia offers diving steeped in rich history combined
with average visibility of 30m, 28°C water temperature and diverse marine life.
Contact Aquatic in Agia Efimia, to enquire about all diving possibilities on
the island.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10071248517822044241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-346252050254542121.post-15395427209850664202016-08-19T04:07:00.004-07:002016-08-19T04:08:20.367-07:00"The Shallows"<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.32px;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Yesterday I went to see "The Shallows" because I wanted to see how Hollywood has yet again demonized an endangered species. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.32px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.32px;">In reality, we pose a far greater danger to sharks than they do to us. For every human killed by a shark, humans kill approximately 2 million sharks. This movie is responsible for perpetuating the false belief that sharks should be hunted and not helped. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.32px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.32px;">The truth is that shark attacks on humans are incredibly rare, but sharks are now critically endangered due to human activities.... A fact far more chilling than any shark-themed horror movie.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10071248517822044241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-346252050254542121.post-23444648617586527632016-06-23T00:34:00.001-07:002016-06-23T00:37:59.035-07:00Wreck diving in Bermuda<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 13.5pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="color: #0b5394; line-height: 115%;">Since Bermuda was first colonized by the survivors of the Sea
Venture in 1609, its fringing reefs have maintained their reputation as
notoriously treacherous over the centuries, claiming hundreds of vessels that
attempted to navigate Bermuda’s waters. These shipwrecks have shaped the
history of the island and what was once a boat captain’s nightmare is now a
wreck diver’s dream destination.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0b5394; line-height: 115%;">Bermuda consists of 21 square miles of land encompassed by 500
square miles of coral reef, which may explain why there are over 350 shipwrecks
surrounding the island. Bermuda is hailed as the ‘shipwreck capital of the
world’ for the range of wrecks available to divers. These vary in historical
significance, aged between 10 to 500 years old, and include an array of types
of vessel; from paddle steamers to tug boats. The shipwrecks lie dotted around
the perimeter of the island, nearly all of which sunk on shallow reefs (between
30ft-65ft in depth), making them accessible for divers of all abilities and
allowing maximum dive time for exploration. Dive operators on the south shore
have access to a number of wrecks within a 5-10 minute boat journey out, which
all have their own interesting history behind them.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0b5394; line-height: 115%;">The<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Mari
Celeste<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>was a civil war
blockade runner and paddle wheel steamer which sank in 1864 with only one
casualty. Today, she sits in 55ft of water and is one of the only vessels of
her kind to have both paddle wheels still intact which make an excellent site
for photography and a particularly popular<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>wreck
with divers. Teddy Tucker is a revered Bermudian legend who discovered,
researched and charted most of the shipwrecks in Bermuda as well as recovering
treasure and providing information of great historical importance. However,
there are estimated to be a number of missing wrecks still waiting to be found
and The<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Roanoke</i>, a
contemporary of the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Mari
Celeste</i>, has attracted recent attention from hopeful treasure hunters. A
long-lost American Civil War blockade runner, it was commandeered by the
Confederate Navy and burned and sunk off the coast from St. George’s in 1864
and has yet to be discovered. The area of Five Fathom Hole is where divers
expect to find the wreck and groups of divers plan annual trips to the site to
see what they can uncover. In 2013 one group found 11 anchors and a further 6
anchors, glass bottles and plates in 2014.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0b5394; line-height: 115%;">Off the north-west coast of Bermuda is the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Constellation,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>a four-masted schooner built in
1918. She wrecked on the reef in 1942 carrying a 2,000 ton cargo en-route from
New York to Venezuela. It was in fact this wreck which provided the inspiration
for Peter Benchley’s story<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>The
Deep</i>, as amongst her cargo the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Constellation</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>carried thousands of drug ampuls and
many broken glass vials and bottles which can still be found by divers today in
only 30ft of water. Within only 50 yards of the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Constellation</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>is another wreck, the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Montana</i>, which sunk in 1863.
She<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>is an English paddle wheel
steamer and civil war blockade runner which is often referred to as the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Nola</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>as she was given multiple names to
elude American spies. She lies in 33ft of water, 8 miles north-west of Dockyard.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0b5394; line-height: 115%;">Surrounding the wrecks in Bermuda are thriving coral reefs and
interesting rock formations which offer arches and swim-throughs for divers to
explore. For the more intrepid individuals there are some intriguing cavern
systems with some narrow tunnels to discover. However, there are also some
wider, more open passages for less experienced divers. Most dive operators on
the island offer a wreck and reef 2-tank dive for certified divers every
morning during peak season. During the last 30 years wreck diving has become
increasingly popular, so much so that more wrecks have been created for divers
to experience.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0b5394; line-height: 115%;">In 1984 the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>King</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>set the trend for a new kind of
shipwreck in Bermuda, one which was intentionally sunk. The<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>King</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>is an old Navy tug boat, built in 1941
and was the first vessel to be scuttled in Bermuda. At 55ft long she lies
intact in 62ft of water, a short ride out from East Whale Bay. Purposefully
sinking the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>King</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>for diving proved such a success that
it encouraged other vessels such as the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Hermes</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Forceful<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>to be scuttled as well. The<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Forceful<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>is also an old tug boat which was
intentionally sunk in 2008, just 50 yards away from the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>King</i>, creating a site where two
wrecks can be explored on one dive. At 75ft long, she has an open hull which
provides safe and easy penetration and there are many ways she can be
explored: divers can even stand inside the pilot house. Also in 1984, The<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Hermes</i>, originally a 175ft U.S.
Navy buoy tender built in 1943, was purposefully sunk for diving and now lies
in 65ft of water. She has been made safe for wreck penetration diving, and
remains intact, upright and very photogenic.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Oz1KL46tYwI/V2uQ4xj3iiI/AAAAAAAAB-A/C8c1Ltl0fq4esY-1UCFRAkZeOxld_u5tgCLcB/s1600/IMG_0887.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: blue; line-height: 115%; text-decoration: none;"><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shapetype
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0b5394; line-height: 115%;">Fuelling the Bermuda Triangle myth; it is not just shipwrecks
that can be found in the waters around Bermuda, but also aircraft. In 1962, a
U.S. B-29 Bomber plane took off from Bermuda and went down over the sea due to
a fuel problem. Fortunately the pilot and crew all successfully bailed out from
the plane before she crashed into the water so there were no casualties. Now
known as the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Airplane</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>wreck she lies in only 33ft of water
and many parts of the plane, such as the propeller still remain intact for
divers to explore.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0b5394; line-height: 115%;">However, the wrecks do not exclusively define the diving in
Bermuda. There are also beautiful and vibrant coral reefs, full of marine life.
One of the popular reef sites, South West Breaker, is where the opening scenes
of the adaptation of Peter Benchley’s novel<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>The
Deep<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>was filmed. This dive
site is absolutely thriving with marine life; lobsters, barracudas, octopi,
green moray eels, grouper, snapper can all be seen here. Average depths on the
other reef sites range between 26-72ft, the visibility between 50-200ft
dependant on the conditions and season. As there no strong currents, little
dangerous marine life and strict government licensing requirements, Bermuda
boasts an exciting opportunity for safe and unique diving.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10071248517822044241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-346252050254542121.post-32908168447430708232016-06-09T09:52:00.000-07:002016-06-23T00:54:42.456-07:00My World<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394;"></span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I see things that most people do not: A different world underwater.</span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N10I2Fb6f44/V1mfdoAygfI/AAAAAAAAB8k/bdMnnXuuUk8y7RGnP4bO_CrkbSu3dibOwCLcB/s1600/IMG_8823.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N10I2Fb6f44/V1mfdoAygfI/AAAAAAAAB8k/bdMnnXuuUk8y7RGnP4bO_CrkbSu3dibOwCLcB/s320/IMG_8823.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">This is my world.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">But
my world is being destroyed. The ocean is dying. I have seen first hand the after
effects of what we have done, how we are</span> <span style="color: blue;">ruining it. Water is what differentiates our planet
from any other and facilitates life. No ocean, no life. We call this world
planet earth, but seven tenths of the world’s</span> <span style="color: blue;">surface is covered by water and over 80%
of life on earth lives in the ocean. Life on earth evolved from the sea. </span></span><span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">We
all come from the sea, but we are not all of the sea.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-98nQJZLh4Q0/V1mfqjS_ThI/AAAAAAAAB8s/UU1_Yoy6w_gfCm0ZcuZtlZsBSqiToYqSACLcB/s1600/G0024294.jpged2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-98nQJZLh4Q0/V1mfqjS_ThI/AAAAAAAAB8s/UU1_Yoy6w_gfCm0ZcuZtlZsBSqiToYqSACLcB/s320/G0024294.jpged2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">There are those who have never seen these creatures in the wild. They see them in their bank accounts. </span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">T</span><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">hey profit from the destruction of our oceans. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RG2YzHqJ_MQ/V1mhO_MjFVI/AAAAAAAAB9U/Qj78f0kJrCgGZTk931J0Ruvpjp0PgX2xwCLcB/s1600/captured-dolphin-taiji.jpgd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RG2YzHqJ_MQ/V1mhO_MjFVI/AAAAAAAAB9U/Qj78f0kJrCgGZTk931J0Ruvpjp0PgX2xwCLcB/s320/captured-dolphin-taiji.jpgd.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">They take exactly</span> <span style="color: blue;">what they want with no thought or respect for the impact it will have.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><br /></span></span>
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JjnWU8TN0CY/V1mf4_WQMdI/AAAAAAAAB88/vmOoa5iDSn078lCTumb5I61NT5g1XyV-QCLcB/s1600/img_0069_186.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: blue;"></span></a></div>
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">But we
depend on the oceans. They hold 97% of the planet's water, produce more
than half of the oxygen in the atmosphere and absorb the most carbon from
it. </span></span></span><span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Over
2 billion people rely on the oceans for their primary source of food. Destroying
the ocean is threatening everything that lives in it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">Sharks
are just one of the species that are in real danger. But ironically, society has taught us that sharks
that are dangerous and you grow up believing it. But when you see the
very thing you were told to fear underwater: it’s absolutely incredible. If
sharks were the evil, deadly man eaters that the media sensationalises them to
be, then I would have probably been eaten years ago.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: blue;">However, I believe that sharks know we are not
prey.</span><span style="color: blue;"> Millions
of people swim every year in waters where sharks hunt all the time. If they
wanted to eat us they would, but they don’t.</span><span style="color: #0b5394;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aMSQd7UEC_s/V1mgr9kbDsI/AAAAAAAAB9I/mu_w_9JPcbQatgY7MyYIYM88wNbIQXjmwCLcB/s1600/13063318_10153559185921711_123063795040803156_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aMSQd7UEC_s/V1mgr9kbDsI/AAAAAAAAB9I/mu_w_9JPcbQatgY7MyYIYM88wNbIQXjmwCLcB/s320/13063318_10153559185921711_123063795040803156_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">Swimming
with sharks I feel vulnerable, clumsy and small. They have an aura of
invincibility, but nothing is as it seems. Sharks are in serious
trouble. Every single second of every single day around 3 sharks are
killed by us. With 90% of the world's shark populations already wiped out,
sharks are being depleted faster than they can reproduce and if an apex
predator is taken out of any ecosystem then eventually it is going to collapse.
Sharks are vitally important; they have shaped life in the ocean for over 400
million years. Sharks kill 5 people each year. We legally execute 2,400
people a year and kill 100 million sharks. Is it really sharks that we should
fear? Don’t fear them. Fear for them.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">I
believe that future generations are going to look back on us as</span> <span style="color: blue;">barbarians, in the same way we now look
back on slave traders.</span></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">We
are driving species to extinction and the worst part is that we know what
we’re doing and yet we’re still allowing it to happen. </span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I
just hope that by the time people finally see sense, it isn’t too late, the
damage isn’t irreversible and we aren’t faced with the extinction of species.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">People
protect what they love, this is what I love and I’m determined to fight
for it. I want future generations to grow up to be able to experience the
same ocean that I have. But if this carries on, in the next 4 years 30% of
known species of sharks and rays could</span> <span style="color: blue;">become extinct. Once they’re gone we’ve lost them
forever. </span></span><span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">We
will have to carry that on our conscience; it will be the fault of
mankind. We have caused these problems, now it is our duty to fix</span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">People
don’t see what goes on in the oceans so it’s easy for them to ignore. They
wanted to save bears, leopards and elephants;</span> <span style="color: blue;">mankind was afraid of sharks and
creatures of the deep. However I believe that if others had witnessed what
I have seen in my lifetime from hundreds of hours underwater, I would not seem</span> <span style="color: blue;">outspoken at all.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10071248517822044241noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-346252050254542121.post-49325922858002887222016-06-07T08:07:00.002-07:002016-06-09T04:52:17.022-07:00Are you sitting comfortably? Don't. Life is short<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">People constantly aspire to have more; to be wealthier, own
more possessions and get promotions, which is crazy when you think that there is
someone out there </span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">who is </span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">aspiring to just have what you already do. There are always
those better off and worse off than you. Remember that.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">I was lucky to have
been born in a developed first world country, to have; not just education, food
and clean water every day, but also so many opportunities. I'm far from the
wealthiest person I know, but I still have so much, I am extremely fortunate. I
don't know why I was born into these circumstances and not different ones, but
I do know that I definitely won't take it for granted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">I have been that girl; working two jobs, seven days a week
just so I can afford to cover my costs. I was literally working to afford
working. However, unlike many of my peers, I now refuse to work a job I don't
like just to make money, to carry on living a life that I'm unhappy in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">So people should not aspire to materialistic goals. They
should strive to improve themselves in some way; making money doesn't equate to
making yourself better. Travelling changed my life. My mindset used to be all
about money. Although, it wasn't really MY mindset; I was just a product of the
society I was raised in. Aspiring to make money and orientating everything
around that is what is expected from you as a responsible adult, </span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">and is just viewed as being </span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">the social norm.</span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">I had myself lined up a successful career based on the hard
years spent working to get my degree, but then I boarded a plane to travel the
world working as a dive instructor instead. I defied the stereotypical
expectations people held of me which was the best decision I ever made.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">I quickly came to realise that making money was most
certainly not the most important thing in life, not for me anyway. Now I would
gladly live out of a suitcase; sacrificing material possessions for
life-altering experiences.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">So, don't waste your life aspiring for things that can only
be measured in materialistic success because, "</span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Life isn't about how many
breaths you take, but the moments that take your breath away."</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eMuCZeQBX-A/V1bi_UH5KfI/AAAAAAAAB8Q/ym3qA6W57VUplR94QqhDj8bKwe8uf1aMACLcB/s1600/copy%2B-%2BCopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eMuCZeQBX-A/V1bi_UH5KfI/AAAAAAAAB8Q/ym3qA6W57VUplR94QqhDj8bKwe8uf1aMACLcB/s320/copy%2B-%2BCopy.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10071248517822044241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-346252050254542121.post-37075133133054998892016-02-28T10:54:00.002-08:002016-05-25T03:27:13.282-07:00Exploring the underwater world on one breath<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Freediving with a shoal of goggle eye in Grand Cayman</span></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqsNn2vRtek" target="_blank">Click here to watch it</a> </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10071248517822044241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-346252050254542121.post-12018384139657465782015-11-06T07:43:00.003-08:002015-11-06T07:43:24.797-08:00Scuba Diving in Grand Cayman<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px; line-height: 30.345px; margin-bottom: 1.5em;">
<span style="color: blue;">Having worked in Grand Cayman as a dive instructor for nine months, there isn’t much I don’t know about the diving there. Whether you’re planning a dive trip to Grand Cayman, considering whether to try diving there or are just curious as to what it is all about, this post is for you.</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">Grand Cayman is revered as one of the top diving destinations in the world, and it’s not hard to see why. With a drop off to over 4,000ft underwater around the island, it is only a five minute boat ride to access deep dive sites. The reason for this is that the island sits on top of an underwater mountain so it is entirely surrounded by deep water and pelagic marine life.</span></div>
<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" data-shortcode="caption" id="attachment_97" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px; line-height: 26.775px; margin: 1em 40px 1.5em; max-width: 100%; width: 300px;"><a href="https://worldworthexploring.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/img_0308cc1.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: blue;"><img alt="Balloon Fish" class="size-medium wp-image-97" height="225" src="https://worldworthexploring.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/img_0308cc1.jpg?w=300&h=225" style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); box-sizing: inherit; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 5px;" width="300" /></span></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.9rem; line-height: 23.04px; margin: 0.8075em 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue;">Balloonfish</span></figcaption></figure><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px; line-height: 30.345px; margin-bottom: 1.5em;">
<span style="color: blue;">The marine life inhabiting the waters around the Cayman Islands makes it a dream diving destination for avid divers and novices alike. The ocean ecosystem is so diverse, top to bottom, that it makes every dive such a rush. From as soon as you drop below the surface, right down to the bottom, there is life worth seeing every step of the way regardless of how deep you go.</span></div>
<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" data-shortcode="caption" id="attachment_98" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px; line-height: 26.775px; margin: 1em 40px 1.5em; max-width: 100%; width: 225px;"><a href="https://worldworthexploring.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/img_03561.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: blue;"><img alt="Common Reef Octopus hiding on the bottom" class="size-medium wp-image-98" height="300" src="https://worldworthexploring.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/img_03561.jpg?w=225&h=300" style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); box-sizing: inherit; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 5px;" width="225" /></span></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.9rem; line-height: 23.04px; margin: 0.8075em 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue;">Common Reef Octopus hidden in the reef</span></figcaption></figure><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px; line-height: 30.345px; margin-bottom: 1.5em;">
<span style="color: blue;">Depending on the wind and wave conditions you can often find large mats of sargassum weed on the surface. This weed is home to frogfish, nudibranchs, seahorses, crabs, shrimp and many different species of juvenile fish, and was my favourite spot to start and end my dive as I could hang out with the predators underneath. The mid-water column houses a full range of tiny, colourless microorganisms, invisible until they cruise by your mask with the much larger ctenophores (comb jellyfish), tunicates and salps following suit.</span></div>
<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" data-shortcode="caption" id="attachment_96" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px; line-height: 26.775px; margin: 1em 40px 1.5em; max-width: 100%; width: 300px;"><a href="https://worldworthexploring.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/img_0289cc1.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: blue;"><img alt="Poppy's favourite- Porcupine Fish- " class="size-medium wp-image-96" height="225" src="https://worldworthexploring.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/img_0289cc1.jpg?w=300&h=225" style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); box-sizing: inherit; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 5px;" width="300" /></span></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.9rem; line-height: 23.04px; margin: 0.8075em 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue;">Porcupine Fish</span></figcaption></figure><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px; line-height: 30.345px; margin-bottom: 1.5em;">
<span style="color: blue;">The reef ecosystems in Cayman are an excellent example of what a healthy reef should look like and the coral in particular is extremely healthy. From the brain and boulder corals that build the reefs to the gorgonians and sea fans that baffle nutrients down onto the substrate beneath, it everything about the reef seems alive and well. Just the sheer number of different creatures you can see on a single dive never makes for a dull moment. The reefs are covered with parrotfish, grunts and snapper taking shelter amongst the coral below the schools of chromis and wrasse venturing up in the water column above them. Every crag and pore in the reef holds some sort of interesting organism; lobsters, large clinging crabs and eels being the usual suspects.</span></div>
<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" data-shortcode="caption" id="attachment_85" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px; line-height: 26.775px; margin: 1em 40px 1.5em; max-width: 100%; width: 300px;"><a href="https://worldworthexploring.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/img_0084.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: blue;"><img alt="Caribbean Spiny Lobster" class="size-medium wp-image-85" height="225" src="https://worldworthexploring.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/img_0084.jpg?w=300&h=225" style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); box-sizing: inherit; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 5px;" width="300" /></span></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.9rem; line-height: 23.04px; margin: 0.8075em 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue;">Caribbean Spiny Lobster</span></figcaption></figure><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px; line-height: 30.345px; margin-bottom: 1.5em;">
<span style="color: blue;">My favourite part of every dive was the contrast between the reef creatures and the sand habitat surrounding the coral fingers. This is where you would find hogfish, southern stingrays and spotted eagle rays snarfing around in the sand looking for their daily meals amongst the beds of garden eels and rubble piles that house sand tilefish.</span></div>
<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" data-shortcode="caption" id="attachment_94" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px; line-height: 26.775px; margin: 1em 40px 1.5em; max-width: 100%; width: 300px;"><a href="https://worldworthexploring.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/img_02281.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: blue;"><img alt="Female Southern Stingray" class="size-medium wp-image-94" height="200" src="https://worldworthexploring.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/img_02281.jpg?w=300&h=200" style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); box-sizing: inherit; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 5px;" width="300" /></span></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.9rem; line-height: 23.04px; margin: 0.8075em 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue;">Female Southern Stingray</span></figcaption></figure><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px; line-height: 30.345px; margin-bottom: 1.5em;">
<span style="color: blue;">My favourite fish are the large, predatory pelagic fish that come up from the water water off the wall and cruise into these areas. The sinewy, silver type that make one close pass to inspect you and are on their way, i.e. the permit, amberjack and african pompano that fly by without giving you the chance to prep your camera.</span></div>
<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" data-shortcode="caption" id="attachment_87" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px; line-height: 26.775px; margin: 1em 40px 1.5em; max-width: 100%; width: 300px;"><a href="https://worldworthexploring.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/img_01031.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: blue;"><img alt="Permit Fish" class="size-medium wp-image-87" height="225" src="https://worldworthexploring.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/img_01031.jpg?w=300&h=225" style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); box-sizing: inherit; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 5px;" width="300" /></span></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.9rem; line-height: 23.04px; margin: 0.8075em 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue;"> Permit Fish</span></figcaption></figure><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px; line-height: 30.345px; margin-bottom: 1.5em;">
<span style="color: blue;">Found amongst all of this are what Cayman is most famous for: sea turtles! I would say I saw at least one turtle on eighty percent of the dives we did there. If not on the dive then we would definitely see one popping up from the reef on the way in or out.</span></div>
<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" data-shortcode="caption" id="attachment_91" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px; line-height: 26.775px; margin: 1em 40px 1.5em; max-width: 100%; width: 300px;"><a href="https://worldworthexploring.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/img_0158.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: blue;"><img alt="IMG_0158" class="wp-image-91 size-medium" height="225" src="https://worldworthexploring.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/img_0158.jpg?w=300&h=225" style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); box-sizing: inherit; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 5px;" width="300" /></span></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.9rem; line-height: 23.04px; margin: 0.8075em 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue;">Hawksbill Sea Turtle</span></figcaption></figure><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17.85px; line-height: 30.345px;">
<span style="color: blue;">Hawksbills are the most common sea turtle with loggerheads heading by every now and then in the spring and summer. Green sea turtles are also very common in a few specific areas of the island. As far as the larger marine life goes, we did run into some sharks every now and again which always gave us something to talk about for the next week or so. While nurse sharks are common, the occasional caribbean reef shark or hammerhead could also be seen. Their cousin, the manta ray, was also spotted in a few rare instances. If you want my advice and are able to make the trip, then grab your gear and jump in. You won’t regret it.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10071248517822044241noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-346252050254542121.post-87534559064678909912015-07-21T15:54:00.002-07:002015-07-21T15:54:42.758-07:00A far more accurate portrayal of Mick Fanning's "shark attack"...<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><a href="http://newsthump.com/2015/07/20/shark-survives-attack-by-australian-surfer/" target="_blank">Click here</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I believe that Fanning was not attacked at all. The shark's tail fin is what can be seen thrashing at the surface, pointing at a downward angle. This is indicative that the shark simply got caught in his surfboard leash and then panicked so attempted to swim downwards with Fanning still attached to the leash. However, as soon as the leash broke Fanning was released and unharmed. </span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">If it was an attack the shark would have approached at an upward angle under the board, but it was simply curious as to what Fanning was. It frustrates me that the media have yet again sensationalised and embellished this story to evoke fear and hatred for sharks. In fact, it was a missed opportunity for a positive story demonstrating how sharks don't necessarily target and attack people, this was a simple entanglement accident, not an attack.</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">However, I do applaud South Africa for not reacting to this incident with kill orders and culls, like is happening in too many other parts of the world.</span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10071248517822044241noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-346252050254542121.post-88483899525801499752015-07-04T13:12:00.002-07:002016-06-13T06:49:35.851-07:00Why I wear pink fins<pre style="line-height: 21.3000011444092px; white-space: normal;"><pre style="line-height: 21.3px; white-space: normal;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Most people assume that I wear pink fins and have pink diving accessories because, obviously, I'm a cliche girly girl. In fact the reason is totally the opposite. I wear pink precisely because I'm not usually perceived to be a girl at all; to <span style="line-height: 21.3px;">mark my female identity</span><span style="line-height: 21.3px;"> and redeem a sense of femininity in a predominantly male orientated industry. </span></span></span></pre>
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<pre style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.3px; white-space: normal;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"></span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.3px; white-space: normal;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I'm not sure why, but the colour pink seems to be synonymous with female identity, so my using of the colour pink is an attempted reminder that I am, in fact, a girl. I have always been happier to go catch some waves or play beach sports with the guys than to lie on the beach sunbathing, but <span style="line-height: 21.3px;">in doing so I have been accepted and treated like one of the boys, because 'most girls don't act like that.' </span></span></pre>
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<pre style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.3px; white-space: normal;"><span style="line-height: 21.3px;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"></span></span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.3px; white-space: normal;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 21.3px;">I want to break down these gender barriers and stereotypes that dictate what is and isn't socially expected from girls. Working as a dive instructor I have unfortunately experienced countless </span><span style="line-height: 21.3px;">sexist remarks and</span><span style="line-height: 21.3px;"> people's archaic views on the 'woman's place' </span><span style="line-height: 21.3px;">first-hand.</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.3px;">It used to be considered bad luck to have a woman on board a boat because they distracted the sailors from their sea duties. Thankfully we've come a long way since then and I am qualified to drive, crew and work on boats just as my male counterparts are. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.3px;">However it seems that some people's views have not moved with the times.</span></span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.3px; white-space: normal;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.3px;">
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<pre style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.3px; white-space: normal;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I often receive condescending comments about wearing pink fins; however<span style="line-height: 21.3px;"> I would rather accept these sweeping generalisations and assumptions of fitting a stereotype than to be forgotten as a female. What I struggle to accept though, is</span><span style="line-height: 21.3px;"> people assuming I will be inferior to my male colleagues; an opinion purely determined by my gender. Or people presupposing that I am just a deck hand or intern because they don't expect a girl to have a career teaching people to scuba dive. </span></span></pre>
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<pre style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.3px; white-space: normal;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 21.3px;">What frustrates me the most though is when people are</span><span style="line-height: 21.3px;"> surprised if I actually do a good job: I want to be seen as good at my job <b>because</b> I'm a girl, not despite it.</span></span></pre>
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<pre style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.3px; white-space: normal;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"></span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.3px; white-space: normal;"><pre style="line-height: 21.3px; white-space: normal;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">However, this gender stereotyping can even be extended to colleagues and employers. I have worked in several dive jobs where women are encouraged to work in the shop and let the men do the heavy lifting and filling of tanks. <span style="line-height: 21.3px;">Is equality so much to ask for in first world society in the twenty-first century?</span></span></pre>
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<pre style="line-height: 21.3px; white-space: normal;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"></span></pre>
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<pre style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.3px; white-space: normal;"><pre style="line-height: 21.3px; white-space: normal;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 21.3px;">For a while I tried</span><span style="line-height: 21.3px;"> to suppress my female identity and fit in with the guys, in order to be treated as an equal, but to no avail. T</span><span style="line-height: 21.3px;">he guys I worked with used to hide or use my dive equipment 'as a joke' because I was the only girl, and so by default, the only target. I am all for a bit of fun in the workplace, but it gets tiresome when you become the target for all pranks, solely due to your gender. So I bought pink fins to embrace the fact that I am a girl, but to be respected and not targeted for being one. It seemed to work, apparently most guys don't want to be caught dead diving in bright pink fins.</span></span></pre>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10071248517822044241noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-346252050254542121.post-14914206081750710872015-07-04T09:04:00.000-07:002015-07-04T09:04:01.324-07:00Meet Kiki the nurse shark<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Here in Grand Cayman we have a friendly neighbourhood nurse shark called Kiki who absolutely loves divers and often joins us on our dives.</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rT3bmSLnovo/VZgBSYJf8UI/AAAAAAAAB4g/YDXrS-cKpnA/s1600/IMG_3080.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rT3bmSLnovo/VZgBSYJf8UI/AAAAAAAAB4g/YDXrS-cKpnA/s400/IMG_3080.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">She has the temperament of a labrador puppy and will swim right alongside divers, sometimes even brushing up against them. It is important that divers resist the urge to reach out and pet her though, however tempting it may be, as humans have all kinds of grease and bacteria on their hands which if transferred onto a shark's skin can be harmful to them.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tAKzWhll_MM/VZgBYgNAOjI/AAAAAAAAB5I/lpKFa7Y-_F8/s1600/IMG_3104.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tAKzWhll_MM/VZgBYgNAOjI/AAAAAAAAB5I/lpKFa7Y-_F8/s320/IMG_3104.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pkqa9oKz1Uo/VZgBVatf_DI/AAAAAAAAB48/zzq4TWNaN6M/s1600/IMG_3083.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pkqa9oKz1Uo/VZgBVatf_DI/AAAAAAAAB48/zzq4TWNaN6M/s320/IMG_3083.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Nurse sharks can reach up to 14 feet in length and weigh up to 750lb. Kiki however is around 5 feet long.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cNU3ANfrbzg/VZgBTT9BEDI/AAAAAAAAB40/bQREJ3qGB8o/s1600/IMG_3059.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cNU3ANfrbzg/VZgBTT9BEDI/AAAAAAAAB40/bQREJ3qGB8o/s400/IMG_3059.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NjFQEgRIZQc/VZgBTMRSdNI/AAAAAAAAB4w/S0MpqtlED64/s1600/IMG_3058.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NjFQEgRIZQc/VZgBTMRSdNI/AAAAAAAAB4w/S0MpqtlED64/s400/IMG_3058.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">We know it is Kiki when we see her, not only from her behaviour but she also has a scar in her lip where she was once hooked on a fishing line.</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j-5D72bPEOQ/VZgBYnj_-WI/AAAAAAAAB5M/fL1GRjxFUmY/s1600/IMG_3106.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j-5D72bPEOQ/VZgBYnj_-WI/AAAAAAAAB5M/fL1GRjxFUmY/s400/IMG_3106.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CJUgo5Skx-Y/VZgDVg5321I/AAAAAAAAB5Q/IGmILkJF8aY/s1600/nurse%2Bshark%2Bhead%2Bon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="358" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CJUgo5Skx-Y/VZgDVg5321I/AAAAAAAAB5Q/IGmILkJF8aY/s640/nurse%2Bshark%2Bhead%2Bon.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Nurse sharks are generally a nocturnal species, however Kiki seems to be active all through the day, choosing to hang out with divers over sleep!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10071248517822044241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-346252050254542121.post-59430546544073346722015-06-18T09:16:00.000-07:002015-06-18T09:16:04.116-07:00Planet Ocean<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">"The only way we can guarantee our continued survival on earth is to recognise the importance of other non human life forms and stop pretending we're on top of some pyramid of domination over other beings." - Rod Coronado</span></span></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UbrweQwt7Do/VYLqRZyD-UI/AAAAAAAAB4E/StOnG3Iz0HU/s1600/2558_10151685638941711_1839846958_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="347" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UbrweQwt7Do/VYLqRZyD-UI/AAAAAAAAB4E/StOnG3Iz0HU/s400/2558_10151685638941711_1839846958_n.jpg" width="400" /> </a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">It is nice to feel humbled by a creature I have no control over, in an environment my species cannot tame, in a society where we determine such creatures' value by the profit they generate dead.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><br /></span></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10071248517822044241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-346252050254542121.post-61384657540424151832015-06-15T10:51:00.005-07:002015-06-15T10:51:40.975-07:00Porcupinefish<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Porcupinefish are my favourite reef fish so I thought it was about time I dedicated a blog post to them.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D_KN_3w5PAA/VX8OshODVNI/AAAAAAAAB3c/NiFkSLlqn2w/s1600/IMG_0259.jpged.jpgd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D_KN_3w5PAA/VX8OshODVNI/AAAAAAAAB3c/NiFkSLlqn2w/s400/IMG_0259.jpged.jpgd.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Porcupinefish</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Porcupinefish are fishes of the family Diodontidae, also called blowfish, ballonfish and globefish and collectively referred to as pufferfish. They are medium to large sized fish, found in temperate and tropical seas worldwide.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3_d5Y4Ws9ck/VX8QD7_4usI/AAAAAAAAB3o/rw0FTxDfJTw/s1600/IMG_0308.jpgcc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3_d5Y4Ws9ck/VX8QD7_4usI/AAAAAAAAB3o/rw0FTxDfJTw/s320/IMG_0308.jpgcc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Balloonfish</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Porcupinefish have the ability to inflate their bodies by swallowing water or air. They can increase in size almost double which reduces the range of potential predators to those with only much larger mouths. A second defense mechanism is provided by the sharp spines which radiate outwards when the fish is inflated.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-b3LhK4_rzIY/VX8QV_fnS7I/AAAAAAAAB3w/vupHYdc4M2I/s1600/IMG_0289.jpgcc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-b3LhK4_rzIY/VX8QV_fnS7I/AAAAAAAAB3w/vupHYdc4M2I/s400/IMG_0289.jpgcc.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Porcupinefish</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Some species are poisonous, having a tetrodotoxin in their internal organs. This neurotoxin is at least 1,200 times more potent than cyanide. As a result of these three defenses, porcupinefish have few predators although adults are sometimes preyed upon by sharks and killer whales.</span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10071248517822044241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-346252050254542121.post-32322100173267631022015-06-12T09:13:00.001-07:002015-06-18T09:38:32.306-07:00Scuba Diving: A deceptively easy way to die<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">"Scuba diving is itself a hazardous sport. To do it without any training is tantamount to playing Russian roulette with a loaded revolver." - Robert F. Burgess</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GmxnxR8iyCk/VW4KOxl8oOI/AAAAAAAAB2s/g60Uhw0J8qw/s1600/10653491_10152317528736711_5238342064296250805_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GmxnxR8iyCk/VW4KOxl8oOI/AAAAAAAAB2s/g60Uhw0J8qw/s400/10653491_10152317528736711_5238342064296250805_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">As a scuba diving instructor, I spend my days teaching people how not to kill themselves underwater. However, there is only so much information I can provide- what students choose to do with it is unfortunately out of my control. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Scuba diving is an increasingly popular recreational activity. The majority of new divers get certified so that they can explore the underwater world on their vacations. Although, despite being warned of the risks associated with scuba diving, many just see it as a fun (albeit expensive) new hobby that doesn't require any more thought or planning than a round of golf. This is exactly where problems tend to arise.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">In theory; if you follow all the correct procedures, respect the ocean and obey the rules you should never have a problem: I've done over 1,000 dives without incident. However, so many divers don't seem to care about following any kind of rules, even if their lives depend on it, especially when they're on vacation. Perhaps they rationalise to themselves that the rules don't apply to
them, or perhaps they did it before and got away with it. But you wouldn't jump out of a plane without checking you had a parachute, yet I see people jump into the water without checking whether their air is turned on every day.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">But this isn't
the only way accidents happen whilst diving. Of the numerous things that can go wrong, here are just a few:</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">- Decompression Sickness (the bends) </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">- Lung over-expansion injury</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">- Nitrogen narcosis</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">- Running out of air</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">- Oxygen toxicity</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">- Aquatic life injury</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">- Equipment problems</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">- Entanglement</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">- Entrapment in overhead environments: Caves/wrecks</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>And all of these can potentially lead to death.</b></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">If reading this post scares you, then good. That is my aim. I want to
raise awareness of the risks associated with diving to encourage
divers t<span style="font-family: inherit;">o</span> take more responsibility. Hopefully this will then lower the chance of them ever having a problem underwater. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">So for those who assume that I have an easy job and my life is one big
vacation, think again. Being responsible for people's lives underwater
is no picnic, especially when divers pay little respect to the dangers
associated with scuba diving.</span></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10071248517822044241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-346252050254542121.post-8809700307610278322015-06-11T17:37:00.002-07:002015-06-11T17:51:45.180-07:00Are you sitting comfortably? Don't. Life is short<div class="ecxseparator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #92edf4; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 11.8800001144409px; font-style: italic; line-height: 16.6319999694824px; text-align: center;">
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<pre style="background-color: white; color: #92edf4; font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe UI Web Regular', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Helvetica Neue', 'BBAlpha Sans', 'S60 Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.8800001144409px; font-style: italic; line-height: 21.2999992370605px; white-space: normal;"><pre style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe UI Web Regular', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Helvetica Neue', 'BBAlpha Sans', 'S60 Sans', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.2999992370605px; white-space: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: medium; line-height: 25.5599994659424px;">People constantly aspire to have more; to be wealthier, own more possessions and be successful which is crazy when you think that there is someone out there aspiring to just have what you already have. There are always those better off and worse off than you. Remember that.</span></pre>
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<pre style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe UI Web Regular', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Helvetica Neue', 'BBAlpha Sans', 'S60 Sans', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.2999992370605px; white-space: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: medium; line-height: 25.5599994659424px;"> I was lucky to have been born in a developed first world country, to have; not just education, food and clean water everyday, but also so many opportunities. I'm far from the wealthiest person I know, but I still have so much, I am extremely fortunate. I don't know why I was born into these circumstances and not different ones, but I do know that I definitely won't<span style="line-height: 21.2999992370605px;"> take it for granted.</span></span></pre>
<pre style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe UI Web Regular', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Helvetica Neue', 'BBAlpha Sans', 'S60 Sans', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.2999992370605px; white-space: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: medium; line-height: 25.5599994659424px;"></span></pre>
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<pre style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe UI Web Regular', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Helvetica Neue', 'BBAlpha Sans', 'S60 Sans', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.2999992370605px; white-space: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: medium; line-height: 25.5599994659424px;">I have been that girl; working two jobs, seven days a week just so i can afford to cover my costs. I was literally working to afford working. However, unlike many of my peers, I now refuse to<span style="line-height: 21.2999992370605px;"> work a job I don't like- just to make money- to carry on living a life I'm unhappy in.</span></span></pre>
<pre style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe UI Web Regular', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Helvetica Neue', 'BBAlpha Sans', 'S60 Sans', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.2999992370605px; white-space: normal;"><span style="line-height: 21.2999992370605px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: medium; line-height: 25.5599994659424px;"></span></span></pre>
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<pre style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe UI Web Regular', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Helvetica Neue', 'BBAlpha Sans', 'S60 Sans', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.2999992370605px; white-space: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: medium; line-height: 25.5599994659424px;">So people should not aspire to materialistic goals. They should strive to improve themselves in some way; making money doesn't equate to making yourself better.</span><span style="color: blue; font-size: medium; line-height: 21.2999992370605px;"> Travelling changed my life. </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: medium; line-height: 21.2999992370605px;">My mindset used to be all about money. It wasn't really MY mindset though, I was just a product of the society I was raised in. Aspiring to make money and orientating everything around that is just what's expected from you and is seen as being sensible and realistic.</span></pre>
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<pre style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe UI Web Regular', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Helvetica Neue', 'BBAlpha Sans', 'S60 Sans', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.2999992370605px; white-space: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: medium; line-height: 25.5599994659424px;">I had myself lined up a successful career based on the hard years spent working to get my degree, but then I boarded a plane to travel the world working as a dive instructor instead. I defied the stereotypical expectations people held of me... The best decision I ever made.</span></pre>
<pre style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe UI Web Regular', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Helvetica Neue', 'BBAlpha Sans', 'S60 Sans', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.2999992370605px; white-space: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: medium; line-height: 25.5599994659424px;">I quickly came to realise that making money was most certainly not the most important thing in life, not for me anyway. Now I would gladly live out of a suitcase; sacrificing material possessions for life-altering experiences.</span></pre>
<pre style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Segoe UI Web Regular', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Helvetica Neue', 'BBAlpha Sans', 'S60 Sans', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.2999992370605px; white-space: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: medium; line-height: 25.5599994659424px;">
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 30.2933368682861px;">So, don't waste your life aspiring for things that can only be measured in materialistic success because "Life isn't about how many breaths you take, but the moments that take your breath away."</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10071248517822044241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-346252050254542121.post-18739717971148422852015-06-03T09:21:00.001-07:002015-06-03T09:21:12.624-07:00Scuba diving Grand Cayman, Caribbean 2015<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MOWBLSaB7f4" width="480"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10071248517822044241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-346252050254542121.post-32440086406238783162015-06-01T05:57:00.002-07:002015-06-01T05:57:30.059-07:00Ecuador seizes huge illegal shark fin haul<div class="story-body__introduction" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.375; margin-top: 28px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Police in Ecuador have seized around 200,000 sharks fins which were about to be illegally exported to Asia.</span></div>
<div class="story-body__introduction" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.375; margin-top: 28px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MPQVsV77F70/VWxWnbROogI/AAAAAAAAB2Y/GKHbw7zkomY/s1600/fin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: blue;"><img border="0" height="223" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MPQVsV77F70/VWxWnbROogI/AAAAAAAAB2Y/GKHbw7zkomY/s400/fin.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.375; margin-top: 23px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The fins - often used to make soup - were discovered after raids on nine locations in the port city of Manta.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.375; margin-top: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Six people, including a Chinese national, have been arrested on charges of damaging wildlife.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.375; margin-top: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Interior Minister Jose Serrano said at least 50,000 sharks had been killed by the traffickers.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.375; margin-top: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">He said the authorities had "dealt a major blow to an inaternational network that trafficked shark fins".</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.375; margin-top: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">"We must end these criminal networks that are only interested in their own economic interests and are destroying the eco-system."</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.375; margin-top: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Shark fishing is prohibited in Ecuador and they cannot be sold unless they have been accidentally caught in fishing nets.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.375; margin-top: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Read the full article <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-32926068" target="_blank">here</a></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10071248517822044241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-346252050254542121.post-77104990400361644052015-05-30T09:47:00.002-07:002015-05-30T09:47:15.625-07:00The future is promised to no one...<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The best bit of advice I can give to anyone is to find what it is that you really love doing, whatever it is, and do it as much as you possibly can. </span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-73_nM1Zca9I/VWnpacdk9XI/AAAAAAAAB2E/EgalKYkZs9Q/s1600/10649800_10152289212661711_7694375248221772089_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-73_nM1Zca9I/VWnpacdk9XI/AAAAAAAAB2E/EgalKYkZs9Q/s320/10649800_10152289212661711_7694375248221772089_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Everyone has a limited amount of time on this planet, so don't waste it doing something that doesn't bring you happiness.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10071248517822044241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-346252050254542121.post-18722201407789266582015-05-28T17:13:00.001-07:002015-05-28T17:13:40.474-07:00Education is conservation <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C9rbveYZLqQ/VWepupxrfdI/AAAAAAAAB1Y/-PTUdIlbP7M/s1600/20080607192730_100_8228_v.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="215" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C9rbveYZLqQ/VWepupxrfdI/AAAAAAAAB1Y/-PTUdIlbP7M/s400/20080607192730_100_8228_v.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<pre style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.3000011444092px; white-space: normal;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I'm sorry little boy, I don't mean to be rude, I just find it hard to talk to you when you're wearing that dolphin discovery t-shirt; advertising that your parents paid for you to swim with a wild animal being kept like a prisoner in captivity.</span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.3000011444092px; white-space: normal;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eLntZJQoGnw/VWeoU0bN_uI/AAAAAAAAB08/Vxdp_QylntY/s1600/11082657_10152709454556711_5946277177374535978_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eLntZJQoGnw/VWeoU0bN_uI/AAAAAAAAB08/Vxdp_QylntY/s320/11082657_10152709454556711_5946277177374535978_n.jpg" width="238" /></span></a></div>
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<pre style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.3000011444092px; white-space: normal;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I know that you're too young to understand, I don't blame you, dolphins are cute and I understand why you wanted to swim with them. I blame your parents though, they know better than to let you swim with them in those conditions.I believe you should be educated on the truth behind "Dolphin Discovery" so that you'll have no desire to see </span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large; line-height: 21.3000011444092px;">dolphins in captivity.</span></pre>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wqs3K4enjVI/VWeopYdYU-I/AAAAAAAAB1E/VWKeebDjQKo/s1600/Dolphins_Loro_Parque_BW_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wqs3K4enjVI/VWeopYdYU-I/AAAAAAAAB1E/VWKeebDjQKo/s320/Dolphins_Loro_Parque_BW_3.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<pre style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.3000011444092px; white-space: normal;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Did you know that 23,000 dolphins are killed in Japan each year? They are killed during the process they use to catch the dolphins that you paid to swim with. By paying to go to "Dolphin Discovery", SeaWorld or anywhere else of that nature, your parents are funding this barbaric process. </span></pre>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JpWIbc95V8M/VWeoF4-RcKI/AAAAAAAAB00/g8W54n6C05M/s1600/4093273.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JpWIbc95V8M/VWeoF4-RcKI/AAAAAAAAB00/g8W54n6C05M/s400/4093273.jpg" width="308" /></a></span></div>
<pre style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.3000011444092px; white-space: normal;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The people who run these establishments have never seen these creatures in the wild- they just see them in their pockets. They profit from t</span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large; line-height: 21.3000011444092px;">he destruction of our oceans.</span></pre>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZxUbGWYwuBM/VWesjhVk8iI/AAAAAAAAB1k/g5JVbVv3nLM/s1600/img_0069_186.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZxUbGWYwuBM/VWesjhVk8iI/AAAAAAAAB1k/g5JVbVv3nLM/s400/img_0069_186.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<pre style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.3000011444092px; white-space: normal;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">If you really do love dolphins then that is precisely the reason you shouldn't pay to go and see </span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.3000011444092px; white-space: normal;"><span style="line-height: 21.3000011444092px;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">them in captivity. Go see them in the wild- where they belong.</span></span></pre>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AIJ4crgawBY/VWepSDCDyXI/AAAAAAAAB1Q/rQFLx74yItU/s1600/dolphins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AIJ4crgawBY/VWepSDCDyXI/AAAAAAAAB1Q/rQFLx74yItU/s400/dolphins.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10071248517822044241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-346252050254542121.post-56057360452399532722015-04-29T14:06:00.000-07:002015-04-29T14:06:04.826-07:00Sharing the sea with sharks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EfxpIWVpJFE/VUFHm1O0bQI/AAAAAAAAB0Y/-N83N40rjkE/s1600/tiger-shark-picture-swimming-pictures_261284.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EfxpIWVpJFE/VUFHm1O0bQI/AAAAAAAAB0Y/-N83N40rjkE/s1600/tiger-shark-picture-swimming-pictures_261284.jpg" height="356" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;">In the South African coastal city
where I grew up, shark incidents were fairly common out on the reef
where the surfers congregated. As a boy, my father lost a friend to a
shark at our local beach. He remembers how the kid who pulled his friend
out the water was sent to school the next morning and expected to get
on with things.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;"><span id="more-3041031"></span>Now
I live in Sydney, where I do the occasional open-water swim in a bid to
confront my mild phobia of sharks. I still spend ninety-nine per cent
of each swim thinking about them, which may explain my surprisingly fast
race times. It doesn’t help knowing that the number of shark bites in
Australia—and worldwide—has more than doubled since 1990. But that
increase is not, in fact, cause for alarm. It simply reflects human
population growth and higher numbers of oceangoers. Even in Australia,
which has the highest number of fatal shark bites in the world, the risk
of death from a shark bite is extremely low: a yearly average of 1.1
fatalities over the past twenty years. Meanwhile, we’ve been
systematically killing off sharks, in spite of evidence that, as “apex
predators,” they’re crucial to maintaining biodiversity. The populations
of large predatory fish such as swordfish and sharks have been reduced
by ninety per cent over the past century.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;">The
notion of the “rogue shark” with a taste for human flesh that needs to
be hunted down and eliminated has long been shown to be a myth. Yet the
knee-jerk response of some governments to shark-bite incidents is still
to hunt, trap, and kill sharks indiscriminately. Most shark scientists
agree that this aggressive approach is not based on sound science, but
is more often about politicians wanting to avoid being blamed for shark
incidents by a public they perceive to be vengeful and panicky.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;">Recently,
a series of fatal shark bites in Western Australian waters led to an
unusual exemption for the state government from federal environmental
laws protecting white sharks. In late 2013, the government was permitted
to attempt a large-scale cull. The state’s Premier, Colin Barnett
(dubbed “Captain Hook” by environmental activists), posed triumphantly
for photographs beside a giant hook, designed to be used off state
beaches. Any white, tiger, and bull sharks larger than three metres
caught on one of seventy-two new drumlines—unmanned, baited hooks
suspended from buoys—would be killed.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;">The public
outcry was immediate. Thousands attended anti-drumline rallies across
the country, and as far afield as London and Rome. More than three
hundred marine scientists signed a public letter to the state government
stating that there is “no evidence to suggest that the lethal drumline
program … will improve ocean safety,” and that the government had
ignored outcomes from a similar program in Hawaii that “showed no
improved safety outcomes despite a lethal long-line program lasting 16
years that captured nearly 300 tiger sharks a year.” Sharon Burden,
whose son died from a fatal white-shark bite, in 2011, was a leading
member of the anti-cull campaign.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;"><a data-smart-underline-link-always="" data-smart-underline-link-background-position="67" data-smart-underline-link-color="rgb(0, 0, 0)" href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/11/05/neptunes-navy">Sea Shepherd Australia</a>
took out a boat nicknamed Bruce to film private contractors and
Fisheries Department staff as they checked the drumlines and killed
target species. The footage is distressing to watch. The hook “usually
went into the shark’s mouth and outside their head at the side of the
mouth, then over and back into their head again,” Shayne Thomson, an
ex-Fisheries Department employee turned conservationist and filmmaker,
explained. “These sharks had horrific injuries. Even the ones that were
released would not have survived. It was not humane.” He and other
concerned observers saw many of the larger tiger sharks being shot
several times, and shark species being wrongly identified or sized.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;">During
the three-month drumline trial, a hundred and seventy-two sharks were
caught (a hundred and sixty-three were tiger sharks, which have not been
responsible for a fatal shark bite in the region since 1925), and
sixty-seven were shot or died on the line. Of the marine animals caught
on the drumlines, seventy-one per cent were classified “non-target,”
such as stingrays or harmless shark species, or undersized sharks. In
October, 2014, the government abandoned its drumline policy after
suffering a major political embarrassment: the state’s Environmental
Protection Authority recommended that the program be discontinued due to
uncertainty about its “impact on the environment,” and on white-shark
populations in particular. There is still, however, a controversial
catch-and-kill order in place for any sharks deemed to be a “serious
threat.”</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;">“The drumline policy was designed to
provide public catharsis through retribution, not public safety,”
Christopher Neff, a public-policy shark expert who teaches at the
University of Sydney, said. Neff grew up in New England and was a “shark
kid” from an early age—he kept a huge cut-out of a white shark in his
bedroom, and on a trip to Martha’s Vineyard was thrilled to ride in a
cab that had been used in the movie “Jaws.” His research has shown that
governments tend to respond to shark incidents by addressing public
perception of the risk through “a bunch of symbolic policy responses
that do nothing to address the underlying level of risk but are helpful
politically.” In the past, communities have sometimes lashed out at
elected representatives in the aftermath of a shark bite. After a string
of now infamous shark bites in New Jersey in 1916 (which inspired the
book and then movie versions of “Jaws“), for example, voters in nearby
districts tended to vote against the party in power.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;"> <a class="tny-slot" data-smart-underline-link-always="" data-smart-underline-link-background-position="68" data-smart-underline-link-color="rgb(0, 0, 0)" data-total-words="917" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="/3"></a><a class="tny-page" data-smart-underline-link-always="" data-smart-underline-link-background-position="68" data-smart-underline-link-color="rgb(0, 0, 0)" data-total-words="917" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="/2"></a></span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;">However,
Neff believes that governments have been misreading the contemporary
public’s mood and attitudes toward sharks for a while. Several surveys
have shown that the vast majority of Australians no longer supports
radical, lethal action after a shark bite, even a fatal one, and many
don’t want shark-control programs at all. Neff said that this is true
for many beachside communities around the world that share their local
beaches with sharks.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;">Neff’s research has also
highlighted the need for more accurate language to describe shark
incidents. For example, he found that, in the past thirty years,
thirty-eight per cent of shark “attacks” in New South Wales, where
Sydney is located, resulted in no injury to a human. In 2013, Neff
co-wrote an influential paper recommending a new set of categories for
describing shark incidents: sightings, encounters, bites, and fatal
bites. The American Elasmobranch Society (the world’s largest shark and
ray science society) recently petitioned the Associated Press and
Reuters to include these terms in their style guides, and I have tried
to use their categories—though I was disappointed by how often I was
tempted to use the more chillingly evocative term “shark attack.”</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;">Public
opposition to established shark-culling programs on the east coast of
Australia is also growing, in part because of campaigns run by
environmental groups like Sea Shepherd, No Shark Cull, and Support Our
Sharks. Queensland, for example, has a “mixed-use” program of more than
three hundred and fifty drumlines and twenty-nine shark nets, and New
South Wales’s Shark Meshing Program uses fifty-one shark nets.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;">In
1937, when the first shark nets were installed off Sydney beaches, on
Australia’s east coast, sea-bathing was still a relatively new
pastime—prior to 1903, daylight ocean bathing had been banned as
improper. At the time the nets were introduced, the state’s beaches were
experiencing, on average, one fatal shark bite every year. The
government felt that it needed to be seen as proactive, and nets were
one of the least hawkish measures proposed; suggestions made during a
1935 public-submissions process included mounting machine guns on
headlands and setting explosives. From the outset, the purpose of the
nets was to catch and kill sharks.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;">Almost eighty
years later, the nets are still installed off the New South Wales
coast. They go in at the start of September, the beginning of the
warm-weather season, and are removed at the end of April. At each of the
fifty-one participating beaches, nets are installed for fourteen days
of the month. They do not act as a total barrier: they are generally
only a hundred and fifty metres long and six metres wide, and are set
beneath the surface in ten to twelve metres of water, five hundred
metres out from the shore. They’re anchored to the sea floor, but there
is significant space above and below them. (A study of a similar
shark-net program in South Africa found that thirty-five per cent of the
catch was “on the shoreward side of the nets”—in other words, sharks
are often caught on their way out to sea.)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;">Allyson
Jennings, the New South Wales coordinator of Sea Shepherd’s anti-cull
campaign, said that, since 1950, when data began to be officially
recorded, the Shark Meshing Program has entangled more than sixteen
thousand marine animals. In the 2013-2014 season alone, a hundred and
eight animals were officially reported tangled in the nets, of which
seventy-six per cent were non-target or threatened species. These
include grey nurse sharks, which look fierce but are rarely aggressive
toward humans, and are considered a critically endangered species;
turtles; and rays. Two humpback whales have become entangled in the nets
in the past two years. Mortality rates for entangled animals are high.
The nets used are “gill” nets, and, as their name suggests, they have
fine mesh designed to catch in the gills of large creatures and cause
serious damage as the animal thrashes until it drowns. Contractors are
required to check the nets every seventy-two hours, weather permitting,
and to free any marine creatures still alive if “practical and safe to
do so”—but Jennings said that, in reality, “nets are sometimes only
checked once a week.”</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;"> <a class="tny-slot" data-smart-underline-link-always="" data-smart-underline-link-background-position="68" data-smart-underline-link-color="rgb(0, 0, 0)" data-total-words="1616" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="/4"></a></span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;">These
days, the New South Wales government avoids saying outright that the
nets are designed to cull sharks, and instead claims that the nets
“deter sharks from establishing territories.” But sharks roam across
extremely large home ranges. Robert Hueter, the director of the Center
for Shark Research at Mote Marine Laboratory, in Sarasota, Florida, said
that there’s no evidence of territoriality in any shark species.
“Sharks do not exhibit what animal behaviorists call true territorial
behavior, which is occupying a specific area and defending that area,”
he said. “Sharks take their territory with them as they swim.” Another
eminent shark scientist joked to me that the only reason the nets deter
sharks from establishing territories is because “a dead shark can’t
establish anything.” Geremy Cliff, the head of research at the
KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board, in South Africa, which has run a shark-net
program for more than sixty years, agrees that sharks aren’t
territorial. However, he said that the board’s research team has
observed bull sharks—which are capable of moving across large
distances—sometimes spending time in a particular location, or
“residence,” if conditions are favorable, and believes that the nets
installed near the coastal city of Durban “took out the bull sharks that
were hanging around popular swimming beaches at the time of their
introduction.”</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;"> <a class="tny-page" data-smart-underline-link-always="" data-smart-underline-link-background-position="68" data-smart-underline-link-color="rgb(0, 0, 0)" data-total-words="1836" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="/3"></a></span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;">The
most controversial aspect of shark-net programs is whether it has been
scientifically proven that shark nets reduce shark bites. Some
researchers who have worked for government shark-meshing programs over a
long period wholeheartedly believe that they do. Since the start of the
KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board netting program—which uses much larger nets,
for a longer period, than the New South Wales program—there have been
“only two attacks, both non-fatal … at protected beaches … over the past
three decades.” And the New South Wales government reports that since
“the NSW shark meshing program was put in place in Sydney in 1937, there
has only been one fatal attack on a meshed beach.”</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;">However,
the New South Wales Fisheries Scientific Committee—which is required by
law to review the performance of all parties involved in the Shark
Meshing Program— has for years reported its concerns about the
scientific and research aspects of the program, in particular the claim
that the program has been effective at providing a safer environment for
swimmers. The committee believes that “this statement is
unsubstantiated because it is not based on a scientific comparison
between meshed and unmeshed beaches of shark numbers, interactions or
attacks,” and said that it has repeatedly asked for the claim to be
removed from official program reports, to no avail. But, while Cliff
believes in theory that this kind of comparison would be useful, he said
that, in practice, it would be very difficult to carry out. “Catches in
shark nets are often the only indication we have of shark-population
numbers,” he said.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;">Other shark scientists,
however, support the committee’s criticisms. Ryan Kempster, a shark
biologist at the University of Western Australia and the founder of the
Support Our Sharks conservation society, told me, “It’s extremely hard
to prove that such programs are successful in reducing human fatalities.
This is because decreases in shark-bite incidents may simply reflect
broader declines in shark populations, driving down encounter rates.”
Hueter agrees. “Removing X number of sharks from a specific area does
not insure that nobody is ever bitten by a shark there again,” he said.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;">“Shark
bites fall into a very particular statistical category as rare and
random events,” Neff said. “Claiming that a decline in non-fatal shark
bites is due only to the presence of nets is a case of correlation
without causation.” He has highlighted that sixty-three per cent of all
New South Wales shark “attacks” between 1937 and 2008 occurred at meshed
ocean beaches, which suggests that the nets don’t stop sharks from
biting but, rather, that the bites often are no longer fatal, thanks to
better on-scene medical treatment and the availability of antibiotics.
He also suggests that improved water quality may have contributed to the
decrease in fatal shark bites at meshed beaches over time. (Until 1970,
Sydney’s abattoirs discharged offal through the sewage outfall.)</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;">Either
way, nets and drumlines are increasingly painted as crude, antiquated
shark-culling tools. Shark scientists and entrepreneurs are now starting
to direct their energies toward finding a technological solution that
could keep both humans and sharks safe. The KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board,
in response to growing opposition to shark nets, aims to come up with a
“non-lethal alternative.” It has been researching electronic
shark-deterrent technologies since the nineteen-nineties, based on
findings that a shark’s electroreception system—clusters of nerve fibres
in gel-filled canals, visible as dark pores on a shark’s head—may be
sensitive to changes in electrical fields. The board recently began
testing a hundred-metre cable that emits a low-frequency pulsed
electronic signal designed to repel sharks.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;"> <a class="tny-slot" data-smart-underline-link-always="" data-smart-underline-link-background-position="68" data-smart-underline-link-color="rgb(0, 0, 0)" data-total-words="2431" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="/5"></a></span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;">Many
innovative technologies are, somewhat ironically, coming out of Western
Australia, often with a bit of help from the state government’s small
pot of funding for applied research of this kind. The Shark Shield has
been developed in Western Australia using KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board
technology. These are individual user devices, worn on the ankle, that
emit electronic pulses. Findings so far have been promising, though
sharks’ response to the technology seems context-dependent. Early tests
by the KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board showed that there were no attacks on a
static bait when the device was attached to the bait itself. More
recent independent tests in different conditions showed that the Shark
Shield did not stop sharks from consuming a nearby static bait, though
they took longer to take it; however, when a moving seal decoy was
fitted with a Shark Shield, there were no breaching attacks on the
decoy. Shark Shields are being used by the U.S. Navy, Australian Navy,
and Australian police, as well as by commercial shell and abalone
divers, and recreational divers, kayakers and spearfishers. The company
was given a grant by the Western Australian government to help fund the
development of a surfboard application, to be released later this year. A
surfboard manufacturer also from Western Australia has an in-built
surfboard transmitter, Surfsafe, already on the market; independent
product testing is underway, but no results are available yet.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;">Nathan
Hart, a marine neuroscientist at the University of Western Australia’s
School of Animal Biology and Oceans Institute, has been studying shark
vision for years. His research has shown that many shark species are
most likely colorblind. Some of Hart’s findings have found a commercial
application in two shark-repellent wetsuit designs by a Western
Australian biotech company, SAMS. One is a camouflage pattern for
snorkelers and divers, designed not to scare the shark away but to
introduce visual ambiguity: “You can’t see me, or you’re not quite sure
what I am, and you may leave me alone,” Hart explained. The other is for
surfers: a black-and-white stripe design mimicking the patterns of a
pilot fish or banded sea snake, which sharks are known to avoid. “This
is the ‘Yes, I’m here, but you don’t want to eat me’ approach,” he said.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;"> <a class="tny-page" data-smart-underline-link-always="" data-smart-underline-link-background-position="68" data-smart-underline-link-color="rgb(0, 0, 0)" data-total-words="2810" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="/4"></a></span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;">There
are many other related ideas still in their infancy: a playback of
killer-whale screams underwater, air-bubble curtains, strobe lighting,
artificial kelp forests. SAMS is also developing a sonar shark-detection
device, called a Clever Buoy, with the Australian telecommunications
giant Optus and Google as partners. There’s the Eco Shark Barrier, a
strong but flexible modular enclosure, which is being tested in the calm
waters of a Western Australian beach. People have been travelling from
surrounding areas specifically to swim there since it was installed;
many users say that it gives them complete peace of mind, especially
when swimming at dawn or dusk. Researchers at the Center for Shark
Research at Florida’s Mote Marine Laboratory are investigating a range
of magnetic, chemical, and electronic shark electroreception-system
stimulants. And the New South Wales government recently pledged a
hundred thousand dollars to test new shark-mitigation technologies at
Sydney’s beaches next summer, a sign that it’s aware that the shark-net
approach might be outdated.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;">Most of the shark
scientists I spoke to believe public education is still the best method
of protecting oceangoers and marine animals, especially while a
technological solution is still years off. Many cite Cape Town’s Shark
Spotters program as a gold standard because of its emphasis on
observation and education: community members on beachside cliffs use
flags and alerts to keep the public informed of shark sightings. “As an
effective approach, education is number one,” Hueter, the Florida-based
shark expert, said. “Most people here have embraced the idea that this
is the sharks’ home, their natural habitat, we’re going into their
space. … People respond to a shark-bite incident differently now. It’s a
tragedy, yes, but it’s accepted as something out of our control, like
being struck by lightning.”</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;">“We’re not just
afraid of predators. We’re transfixed by them, prone to weave stories
and fables and chatter endlessly about them, because fascination creates
preparedness, and preparedness, survival. In a deeply tribal sense, we
love our monsters.” These words from E. O. Wilson, the Harvard
socio-biologist, could be quoted by people on both sides of the
shark-cull debate. For some, the takeaway is that we need to be prepared
in order to survive; for others, that we need to find better ways of
expressing our love for our monsters. His words made me think of an
encounter that my husband and I had with a small Galapagos shark while
snorkelling on Lord Howe Island. When I saw the shark’s shape
approaching underwater, I was filled with unexpected joy—we had been
told that the juveniles were harmless. I spluttered to the surface to
tell my husband, but he had mistaken my rapid movements for fear, and
had done a slow-motion underwater clap to scare it away. Afterward, we
felt ridiculous, and also bereft, aware that we had wasted a precious
opportunity to gaze at this magnificent creature. We kept returning to
the same spot to snorkel, but never saw another shark again.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/sharing-the-sea-with-sharks" target="_blank">Sourced from here</a> </span></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10071248517822044241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-346252050254542121.post-79477991303608233822015-04-15T09:41:00.000-07:002015-04-15T09:41:40.842-07:00Latest SeaWorld lawsuit<h1 class="content__headline js-score" itemprop="headline">
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Latest SeaWorld lawsuit demands park end 'false statements' on orca welfare </span></span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">Third lawsuit in three weeks is not demanding visitor refunds –
instead, plaintiffs ‘want to force SeaWorld to tell the truth’ in killer
whale marketing.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">SeaWorld has been hit with another class action lawsuit accusing the
aquatic theme park company of misleading the public when it insists its
captive, performing killer whales are happy and healthy.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">Unlike in two <a class=" u-underline" data-component="in-body-link" data-link-name="in body link" href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/10/seaworld-florida-killer-whales-lawsuit">recent</a>
lawsuits, the plaintiffs in the latest legal action in California are
not demanding that SeaWorld reimburse millions of visitors for the price
of their tickets but that the company simply be forced to “cease making
false statements” about the welfare of its giant mammals.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"> The environmental advocacy and research group Earth Island
Institute, based in Berkeley, California, is advising the legal team
representing the plaintiffs.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">“We want to force SeaWorld to tell the truth,” Mark Palmer, assistant
director of the Earth Island Institute’s International Marine Mammal
Project, told the Guardian.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"> Two members of the public who have visited the SeaWorld park in San
Diego are the named plaintiffs: Mark Anderson and Ellexa Conway, from
San Francisco.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">But Palmer said the institute was the driving force behind the
lawsuit and sought out the individual plaintiffs to represent the class
action on behalf of members of the public.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">The lawsuit demands that SeaWorld refute marketing statements that whales at its parks are thriving.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">SeaWorld declined to issue a fresh statement in response to the
latest lawsuit and said an earlier statement applied, which called the
accusations baseless and said SeaWorld intends to defend itself “against
these inaccurate claims”. The company vigorously denies the allegations
in the lawsuits and points out that its parks are regularly inspected
by the US government.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">The
institute ultimately wants SeaWorld to be compelled to cease running “a
whale circus”, Palmer said, and stop captive breeding programs, instead
allowing its orcas to retire to large sea pens and live out the rest of
their lives being fed and tended to by SeaWorld trainers and
veterinarians, he said.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">“We hope the courts order SeaWorld to tell the truth about orcas in captivity,” Palmer told the Guardian.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">The lawsuit, filed in California superior court in San Francisco on
Tuesday, seeks a court order requiring SeaWorld “to cease making false
statements about the health and welfare of the orcas and to make a
factual public statement about the orcas, refuting previous false
claims”.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">It is the third lawsuit in three weeks involving the SeaWorld company and its three marine parks in Orlando, <a class=" u-underline" data-component="auto-linked-tag" data-link-name="auto-linked-tag" href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/florida">Florida</a>, San Antonio, Texas, and San Diego, California.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">Palmer said the latest action has been in the pipeline for the last
nine months and was not coordinated with the other two class actions.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">The lawsuit filed in Florida last week and one in California last
month both seek refunds on behalf of millions of visitors, which, if
successful, would cost the company billions of dollars. The plaintiffs
in all three cases claim that the company misled them about what they
allege are the miserable conditions endured by captive, performing
orcas.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">David Phillips, an expert in marine mammals at the Earth Island
Institute, said: “If SeaWorld told the truth about the whales’ shortened
and stressful lives in concrete tanks, and severe depression and
boredom from sterile living conditions, no one would ever go there.
Would people bring their children to SeaWorld if they knew the cruelty
behind the orca whale circus show? We think not.”</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">SeaWorld has vociferously denied all the claims in the previous two lawsuits.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">The Earth Island Institute is advising the law firm Covington &
Burling, which filed the latest lawsuit in San Francisco on behalf of
the plaintiffs.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">“SeaWorld is violating California consumer protection laws and
engaging in unfair business practices,” said Christine Haskett, a
partner with the law firm.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">SeaWorld has been contacted for comment.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"> Content sourced from <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/14/seaworld-lawsuit-park-false-statements-orca-welfare" target="_blank">here</a></span></span></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10071248517822044241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-346252050254542121.post-51360511175237370942015-04-10T08:46:00.003-07:002015-04-10T08:48:46.815-07:00Why you have to love surfing...<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I6MQzt9Z78U/VSfuu39sCRI/AAAAAAAAByw/2q9QdLwBwDo/s1600/first.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I6MQzt9Z78U/VSfuu39sCRI/AAAAAAAAByw/2q9QdLwBwDo/s1600/first.png" height="245" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">The first wave I ever caught</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I never developed
any sense of fear of the ocean, not even when surfing and getting dragged under
in the impact zone which put many of my friends off for life. </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The thing is; I love it. And you're only going to last
so long if you're not really in love with it because you're going to nearly
die, you're going to see bad things happen and people get scared out of it
pretty quick. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 21.3333339691162px;">The ocean presents one of the most significant challenges between man and nature, so you have to really love it or you're not going to last long. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 21.3333339691162px;">In a somewhat perverse way, the closer you are to death, the more alive you feel.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Duck dive</span></td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10071248517822044241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-346252050254542121.post-7893782932163046722015-04-10T08:17:00.002-07:002015-04-10T08:22:59.152-07:00What you feel passionate about is not random, it's your calling<pre style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.3000011444092px; white-space: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 21.3000011444092px;">It is a truth universally acknowledged, albeit ignored by most, that if you're not doing what you love then you're wasting your time. So many people I know despise their jobs and moan about them constantly, they literally work so that they can continue working and live for the weekends.</span></pre>
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<pre style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.3000011444092px; white-space: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I don't do my job for money. I just see money as transitory; a necessity to live, not something I aspire to accumulate as if that's the point of living and what defines life. I don't see the point in working a job I hate just to benefit my bank account, after all we never know which day will be our last and you can't take it with you. Instead I live for the moment and I chose a lifestyle that allowed me to do what I love every day. I'm being paid to do what I would otherwise be paying to do. I can't ask for more than that.</span></pre>
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<pre style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.3000011444092px; white-space: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I love the ocean, I have done ever since I can remember. I'm a total mermaid; I learnt to swim before I could walk and it's the one thing I cannot stand to be away from. As one of my idols Duke Kahanamoku once said, "Out of water, I am nothing."</span></pre>
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<pre style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.3000011444092px; white-space: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I've always felt an inexplicable connection to the ocean. It is the one place I feel most at home, I can't explain why. <span style="line-height: 21.3000011444092px;">During my lifetime I have been extremely fortunate to have encounters with incredible creatures in the wild</span><span style="line-height: 21.3000011444092px;">. I usually get very lucky in the ocean, seeing things that aren't commonly experienced. I've seen dolphins off the South coast of England, manatees off the beach in Florida, turtles in Greece, orcas, a seahorse and an electric Ray in Portugal, whale sharks and manta rays in the Maldives, eagle rays in Bermuda and sharks in Grand Cayman to name a few. I have an affinity with the ocean, sometimes it feels almost as if they were seeking me out.</span></span></pre>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10071248517822044241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-346252050254542121.post-68377994355994362132015-04-09T09:34:00.003-07:002015-04-09T09:34:32.548-07:00Maldives Throwback<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I just found this blog post I wrote whilst in the Maldives but never published. I love how in discovering it, I was totally transported back to the moment in which I wrote it. Therefore, instead of just deleting it I thought I would post it as a retrospective diary entry. My goodness, I miss it there...</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">"Today was my day off. I had planned to go out and volunteer again on the manta
research boat but due to a problem with the boat it had to be cancelled.</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">So I went to the staff beach in the
morning instead and was super excited to discover that there were juvenile blacktip reef and lemon sharks swimming around in the shallows! Being a shark fanatic, I grabbed my
camera and jumped straight into the water with them. I spent over an hour swimming with them which
was an amazing experience and it was fascinating to see how scared they were of
me which is ironic considering the unfortunate reputation sharks have.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: start;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">In the afternoon I went on the turtle safari boat. We went to a reef just off another island, and jumped into the water with our snorkelling equipment. We saw 3 turtles, moray eels and a whole host of amazing fish and coral. I was free-diving with the turtles for most of the time which was a truly incredible experience."</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10071248517822044241noreply@blogger.com0