Written by X

I’m an independent instructor in Arizona.  I’m keeping my identity cloaked so that I can tell the buying public the truth and keep you informed. Tevis of K2 has the balls to publish this on the K2 blog. . . cheers for his courage!

The below testimonial from DiveMatrix is not an isolated incident, in fact it has been the dirty little secret of that diveshop owners have kept from the buying public.

Dive shop owners have known for years that the Henderson Hyperstretch, the most expensive the wet suit  full suit in the Henderson arsenal, only lasts for a year of cold water dives,  before its fails thermal protection.  When  I asked dive shop owner that I taught classes for, “ . . .  well isn’t this kind of crappy and for such an expensive wetsuit, and aren’t we kinda  fleecing our customers? He replied,  it keeps them coming back, and I can keep selling them the Hyperstrech year after year!”

Incidentally, he was a jerk and eventually went out of business. Good riddance!

So, in other words there is a built in failure/ obsolescence to those amazingly comfortable, mondo stretch, in this form-fitting  type F4 hybrid neoprene material.  What you achieve in comfort you eventually  gives up in the thermal protection. Said a different way, the reason why the suit is so comfortable, is because of the large diameter of the blown nitrogen bubble resident in the neoprene.

You will be able to actually witness  the role that compression plays in this K2 video, you will witness  when neoprene compresses the bubbles burst.

From the first dive, neoprene compresses, and it doesn’t uncompress, it has burst. . . . so each and every time you  descend on your dive,  you lose both thickness as well as thermal protection.

This is part and parcel of the saying that “cheap costs.”  This is a given with most cheap bargain basement wetsuit  (see chapter 9 Cheap Does Cost)  What is an anathema, is that Henderson (a great and solid company) has the one of the most expensive, retailing at $455.00. . . and it has a usability life of one year.

[Editors Note:  Henderson IS a GREAT Company, and K2 IS a Henderson Dealer.  We have included this Chapter to share with you some of the nasty little secrets that Dive shops perpetrate on the buying public.  The Hyperstretch is what it is, and for a non conforming body type diver, it is the ONLY suit that fits comfortably.  But don’t you deserve to know that your wetsuit only has a year or two worth of dives before you will need another one?]

As soon as 20 to 30 dives, you begin to lose both thickness and warmth as the neoprene bubbles burst.  After  40-60 dives,  there has been such a catastrophic loss of the neoprene bubbles that it loses its ability to keep you warm at all.

A Question of Warmth

Please read the testimonial below about the Henderson Hyperstretch 7mm.  Pay close attention to how many dives were completed before the wetsuit failed thermal protection

So, I thought I’d post my thoughts on my Henderson Hyper Stretch wet suit.

Having owned a very warm and extremely durable old neoprene (Rubatex aka N231 neoprene) 1/4 inch farmer john style Blue Water wet suit for many years, I was ready for a new suit. The old suit was built like a tank, but was a real pain to get in and out of.

My number one consideration for a replacement was comfort. I don’t get cold easily, so this was secondary. I was not really looking for durability, but would not have minded finding something durable that was extremely comfortable. I decided that a 7mm full suit would fit my needs and that for me, anything else would be overkill.

I tried many wet suits on one day and left the Henderson for the end since I had been told by quite a few people that this would probably be the most comfortable one. I tried on so many suits that I actually had blood blisters on one finger of each hand. I was exhausted and somewhat over heated. It was now time for the Henderson.

Well it popped on so easily I couldn’t believe is was really a 7mm wet suit. That was enough for me. I had found what I was looking for.

Now I’ll tell you my experience with it up to this point.

I’ve got 180 dives on it.

At about 100 dives it lost a good deal of its thermal protection. That doesn’t really bother me because I don’t get cold very easily. When it was new, I was quite comfortable for an hour long dive down to about 50º. Now it’s fine down to about 55º for about 45 minutes. From about 48º to 52º, I do notice I now get quite a bit colder than when it was new. I have not noticed that it has lost much more of its thermal protection since around 100 dives.

At around 150 dives, the zipper started to come out and I had it sewn back in at about 160 dives.

At 180 dives it’s looking a bit like swiss cheese with the biggest holes under the arms and in the knees above the knee pads. I’ve noticed that above the knee pads seems to be a common place for these to get holes in them when I see other Henderson suits around the area.

I don’t remember exactly what I paid for it, but remember it being a bit over $300.

So, what’s the bottom line? Would I buy another one?

Absolutely! The comfort level and ease of getting in and out of this thing is worth throwing it away around every 200 dives. I think it still beats the cost of ownership for a dry suit, but probably not by much.

Instead of replacing this one anytime soon, I’m going to buy a dry suit instead. Then I’ll probably get another one that I’ll only where occasionally.

Has anyone out there had a similar or very different experience with a Henderson wet suit?

Christian

[Note:  This testimonial and comments can be read in it’s entirety here: http://www.divematrix.com/showthread.php?t=1340]

Putting my flame suit on.  Bring it.  Im sure the whining will come from dive shop owners and reps that want to keep this hidden.

No related posts.

This is Seeded from John McKenzie of http://blog.wetcatscuba.com/?p=704

it is much too important NOT to spread this virally. . . don’t count on the manufacturers. . they don’t have your best interests in mind.

We can take care of your Dive Rite wing OPVs if you need help.  Welcome to the Tribe called K2!

By John McKenzie, on February 7th, 2010

You giant stride from the gate of the dive boat into the cold swells of the Pacific Northwest’s emerald sea. But unlike on other entries you don’t bob quickly back to the surface with your OK sign beaming. “What’s up?! I am sinking!” goes through your mind. You have an important first choice – whether or not to panic. No panic and you have some good options for recovery and more dives. Panic and you may have only a few minutes before drowning.

That was just one scenario that went through my mind upon a recent discovery while cleaning my dive gear. Thankfully I was not jumping off the back of a boat with my defective gear; instead I was in the comfort of my garage trying to understand why my Dive Rite wing was blowing air out from the lower dump valve. I shuddered as I watched the corroded spring that holds the valve closed and the air inside crumble to bits in my hand. Luckily, I dodged that bullet, as did my partner, my friend and dive shop owner Grant, and the owners of every Dive Rite wing recently inspected by another local dive shop owner at his shop.

The story I wanted to be able to write was one that told how the folks that run dive equipment companies, most likely divers themselves, are extra vigilant and responsive to safety issues with their products. I wanted to hear that upon finding one corroded stainless spring, that was never supposed to rust under any dive conditions, they immediately launched a full scale investigation and rapidly notify dive shops and customers of the potential threat to their life. That’s the responsible thing to do. And when you read this in the recall statement, “…the company is working closely with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPC) and has instituted a VOLUNTARY recall…,” it spins the impression that they “recently” found a problem and are taking quick action to protect divers.

But I cannot tell that comforting story. The story of what we learned

shouts loudly this message to every diver, “If you want to maintain good odds of coming back alive, do not depend on the manufacture, the dive shop, the government recall, you must check your own gear often and have regular professional maintenance.” From our research and many news stories we have seen over the years, we can be confident that the Dive Rite OPV recall story is just one example of how the incentives for a company NOT to respond quickly to prevent injury or death can muddy the ethical waters. It is not all bad news. It does appear that months before the Dive Rite recall, Halcyon, finding the same problem, did take responsible steps in the interest of safety. But, given what we learned about the timeline at Dive Rite, it is possible the even Halcyon found bad springs well before the recall was instituted. From talking directly with Dive Rite staff there is evidence that Dive Rite was much slower to respond and may have only done a recall to cover their butts. It shows that we dare not overestimate the good folks that run our favorite dive business. The sad reality is that CYA and money fears can and often do eclipse thoughts of your safety in business.

THE PROBLEM

The spring that holds the over pressure valve (OPV or dump valve) closed on the (some unknown) number of BCD wings sold by Dive Rite (and by Halcyon and maybe other brands) was supposed to be made of quality marine grade 316 stainless steel. However, someone at an unknown factory in (wait for it…) China made some of the springs out of not so good 304 stainless steel. After a while of being immersed in saltwater, these bad springs will corrode and literally crumble to bits. Before they completely crumble the bladder will start leaking air. And if you are not one of the few divers that routinely inspect for these kind of things, you may get a leak when you are hanging from it over a significant amount of water.

We know of at least three equipment sellers that bought problem OPV springs from the same supplier. These are Dive Rite, Halcyon and Custom Buoyancy Inc. (CBI). CBI is reported to be out of business. Could there be more? The general consensus is yes. Most OPVs on scuba BCDs and other equipment look and work alike. Other suppliers could be getting their valves from the same Chinese factory. But this is a hard trail to follow. Dive Rite claimed to not know the name of the manufacturer and while admitting that divers should be warned, they flat out refused to tell us the name of their supplier. We have filed a freedom of information request with the CPSC…stay tuned.

THE RECALL STORY

As mentioned above, Halcyon came out first with the recall on October 1, 2009 (CPC date) (see our article at http://blog.wetcatscuba.com/?p=563). Our conversation with Halcyon took a much different tone than with Dive Rite. At the least, Halcyon seemed to have a culture of serious concern for their customers’ safety and an indication that they took every step to “do the right thing.” They saw the problem and instituted the recall on their own accord (although a Dive Rite marketing director said she believes Halcyon had in “incident” that prompted the recall). Halcyon staff were not sure of the quantity of bad springs, so they made the recall broad in scope to cover over 20,300 units. They later augmented the recall to ask dealers to replace springs in those units within the range, even if they showed no signs of corrosion. Our Halcyon contact said, “We realized that some units may not have been in the water long enough to corrode, but could corrode later. Why take chance for the measly price of a spring. We told dealers to replace them and we would cover it.” Unlike Dive Rite, Halcyon did not wait for or require their dealers to ask for replacements. They sent the dealers replacement springs with a log book to track replacements. They also created two informational/instructional videos and posted them on their website (see link above).

Dive Rite’s recall came in late December 2009. Why did Dive Rite wait over two months? Did it take them that long to figure out that they also had some bad springs. Not according to their own staff. One Dive Rite source admitted that they saw the problem well over a year before the recall. I was surprised that told me that they only instituted the recall because they knew that people, seeing the Halcyon recall, would sooner or later would figure out that Dive Rite springs were the same. This would look bad if they did not do a “voluntary” recall like Halcyon. He also played down the likelihood that anyone would get hurt by this problem.

Previous to this call, we spoke with another staff member of Dive Rite who also minimized the the numbers, claiming “maybe 100 world wide and only 35 in the U.S. We already had 2 cases in our house, the shop owner who sold us the wings said his was also bad. The second person I talked with was another area Dive Rite dealer. He said, “every spring we checked so far in the 2006-2208 year range tuned out to be corroded.” Other dealers reported similar findings. Now either those bad wings were highly targeted to the Pacific Northwest or our Dive Rite contact was low-balling. We later talked with another Dive Rite contact that admitted the numbers were likely much higher.

I asked Dive Rite if they have sent replacement springs out to their dealers (as Halcyon did) or do dealers have to request them? The response was, “we are sending free replacement springs to dealers, when they ask for them. We do this because we would like to get them to tell us how many they need. We don’t want to send them a pile of springs they may not need. And we need at least some of the serial numbers and counts for the CPC paper work.” During my conversations with Dive Rite, I told them that our LDS had given us a two non-dive rite springs to help get us back in the water. I also told them the shop owner’s spring was bad and he had sold a bunch of Wings within the recall period. A week later he received only four springs from Dive Rite.

After our calls to Dive Rite, the marketing director called us and complained that we were just looking to slam them. She wanted to know “who, at Dive Rite told us those things.” She then admitted that they did see bad springs 18 months before the recall, but claimed that they did take immediate action. She said they notified all dealers about the springs and put an announcement in each of their monthly newsletters since then. However, when we checked more sources we found little evidence of her claims. A former Dive Rite sales representative, who was a liaison between Dive Rite and Dive Rite dealers during the this time said he never heard about the spring problem. He sent us all of his monthly newsletters for the past year and we found no mention. Other dealers had similar stories.

THE COMPANY LINE

Here is the text from the Dive Rite site at: http://www.diverite.com/products/service/opvspringrecall/

Dive Rite takes the safety of our consumers very seriously. In cooperation with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, Dive Rite is issuing a voluntary recall on various Dive Rite Wings.

The Over Pressurization Valve (OPV) springs found on Dive Rite wings manufactured between June 2006 and October 2008 may rust and fail allowing the buoyancy compensator devices to leak. The wings may be red, blue or black in color and have serial numbers falling between 42000 and 72000. The following models are affected by this recall: Travel, Venture, Rec, Trek, Classic, Nomad and Super Wings It does not affect EXP or 360-branded wings. The recall does not affect lift bags, surface marker tubes or other Dive Rite inflatable devices.

We apologize for any inconvenience and encourage Dive Rite wing customers to contact your local Dive Rite dealer or Dive Rite directly at 800-495-1046 with any questions.

THE MORAL OF THE STORY SHOULD BE REPEATED

Don’t be fooled into thinking this is just a story of the failings of one dive equipment manufacturer. Even for the most responsible of companies, it will still take months for them to institute an official recall. Dive equipment manufacturers need to do better. But, if you want to improve you chances of living through you next dive, get religious about checking and maintaining your own gear. We dive weekly and on every group dive trip I can remember someone on the trip had found they had some kind for equipment problem just before or during the dive.

While you do need to have a professional check your gear on a regular schedule, most of the problems found can be fixed by any diver (e.g. loose hoses, bad o-rings). The training agencies offer specialty courses to help you get more knowledgeable about maintaining your kit. This spring problem is simple to check and fix. If you find any bad springs in any other brands (or any other equipment failure patterns) let us know (john@jmckenzie.com) and we will warn our fellow divers.

The incentives for companies to take the wrong path cannot survive if divers will report problems, demand better gear and better ethics from your equipment vendors. These companies have the technology to catch problems and communicate the resolutions quickly to dealers, shops and customers and only some are doing it. You can also vote with your wallet for companies that have the good values to build safe equipment, with parts from manufacturers they know and trust, and when they do have a problem to handle it quickly and responsibly.

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By MONIKA SCISLOWSKA Associated Press Writer

WARSAW, Poland (AP) – A frightened, shivering dog was rescued after floating at least 75 miles (120 kilometers) on an ice floe down Poland’s Vistula River and into the Baltic Sea, officials said Thursday.

Now his saviors just have to figure out who really owns him.

Four people have already claimed him, but so far rescuers say there’s been no wagging tail of joy from the miracle dog they nicknamed “Baltic.”

The dog’s frozen odyssey came as Poland suffers through a winter cold snap, with temperatures dipping to below minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 20 Celsius).

The thick-furred male dog was found adrift Monday 15 miles (24 kilometers) out in the Baltic Sea by the crew of the Baltica, a Polish ship of ocean scientists carrying out research.

Researcher Natalia Drgas said Thursday the rescue was difficult and at one point it seemed the dog had drowned.

“It was really a tough struggle. It kept slipping into the water and crawling back on top of the ice. At one point it vanished underwater, under the ship and we thought it was the end, but it emerged again and crawled on an ice sheet,” Drgas said.

At that point, the crew lowered a pontoon down to the water and a crew member managed to grab the dog by the scruff of his neck and pull him to safety.

Too weak to shake off the frigid water, Baltic was dried and wrapped in blankets. After he warmed up, he was massaged, fed and soon got on his feet to seek company, Drgas said.

A firefighter in Grudziadz, on the Vistula river 60 miles (100 kilometers) inland from the Bay of Gdansk, told The Associated Press the dog was spotted Saturday floating on ice through the city. Firefighters tried to save him but could not approach the dog due to shifting ice sheets, said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Baltica crew, now moored in the port city of Gdynia, have been searching for the dog’s owners, ship captain Jerzy Wosachlo said. So far four people have claimed him, but Baltic has not claimed any of them back, Drgas said.

The dog didn’t welcome the first two people to come for him, keeping his distance and showing no recognition toward a couple on Wednesday and a woman on Thursday who both said he was theirs. Two other would-be owners were still en route to Gdynia for a possible reunion.

Once in port, the brown-and-black mongrel was taken to a veterinarian, who found him in surprisingly good condition and estimated his age at around 5 or 6 years old. Veterinarian Aleksandra Lawniczak said the 44-pound (20-kilogram) dog was clearly frightened but in strikingly good shape and had suffered no frostbite.

A dog with thick fur and a layer of fat can survive such cold conditions for as long as eight days if it has water to drink, Lawniczak said.

She described Baltic as a friendly dog who was clearly well treated before getting lost.

Wosachlo said the research team is prepared to adopt Baltic if his original owner is never found.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The global ocean surface temperature was the second warmest on record for December, according to scientists at NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. Based on records going back to 1880, the monthly NCDC analysis is part of the suite of climate services NOAA provides. Scientists also reported the combined global land and ocean surface temperature was the eighth warmest on record for December.

For 2009, global temperatures tied with 2006 as the fifth-warmest on record. Also, the earth’s land surface for 2009 was seventh-warmest (tied with 2003) and the ocean surface was fourth-warmest (tied with 2002 and 2004.)

Highlights for December 2009

• The global ocean temperature was the second warmest on record, behind 1997. The temperature anomaly was 0.97 degree F above the 20th century average of 60.4 degrees F.
• The combined global land and ocean surface temperature was the eighth warmest on record, at 0.88 degree F above the 20th century average of 54.0 degrees F.
• The global land surface temperature was 0.63 degree F above the 20th century average of 38.7 degrees F – the coolest December anomaly since 2002.

Global Temperature Highlights for 2009

• For the calendar year 2009, the global combined land and ocean surface temperature of 58.0 degrees F tied with 2006 as the fifth-warmest on record. This value is 1.01 degree F above the 20th century average.
• NCDC scientists also noted the average temperature for the decade (2000-09), 57.9 degrees F, was the warmest on record surpassing the 1990-99 average of 57.7 degrees F. value.

Other Highlights

• Arctic sea ice covered an average of 4.8 million square miles during December. This is 6.6 percent below the 1979-2000 average extent and the fourth lowest December extent since records began in 1979.
• Antarctic sea ice extent in December was 2.1 percent above the 1979-2000 average, resulting in the 14th largest December extent on record. December Arctic sea ice extent has decreased by 3.3 percent per decade since 1979, while December Antarctic sea ice extent has increased by 0.6 percent per decade over the same period.
• Northern Hemisphere snow cover during December 2009 was the second largest extent, behind 1985, on record. North American snow cover for December 2009 was the largest extent since satellite records began in 1967.

NCDC’s preliminary reports, which assess the current state of the climate, are released soon after the end of each month. These analyses are based on preliminary data, which are subject to revision. Additional quality control is applied to the data when late reports are received several weeks after the end of the month and as increased scientific methods improve NCDC’s processing algorithms.

Scientists, researchers and leaders in government and industry use NCDC’s monthly reports to help track trends and other changes in the world’s climate. The data have a wide range of practical uses, from helping farmers know what to plant, to guiding resources managers with critical decisions about water, energy and other vital assets.

NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth’s environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources.

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by B. N. Sullivan

Here’s another Butterflyfish from Hawaii. This one is called the Milletseed Butterflyfish (Chaetodon miliaris), although you also may see it identified in some picture books as the Lemon Butterflyfish. Which common name you prefer may depend on whether you focus on its lemony background color, or its vertical rows of black spots.  The scientist who named the species focused on the spots, which he thought resembled milletseeds, hence  the species name miliaris.

Like the Multiband Butterflyfish (Chaetodon multicinctus) that we presented in the previous post, C. miliaris is a Hawaiian endemic species.  In fact, the two species are closely related, both belonging to the subgenus Exornator. Nevertheless, the behavior of the two species is different in several ways.

Most conspicuously, the Milletseed Butterflyfish lives in aggregations instead of in pairs, and they are not territorial. It is not uncommon to see whole mobs of these bright yellow fishies moving along the reef together, looking for food.  Now,  ”mob” is hardly a scientific term, but it suits shoals of Milletseed Butterflyfish.  Unlike some other fishes that school and move along in an orderly way, almost in unison, the Milletseeds move along together in an almost rowdy fashion — but  I must say, that is a wonderful sight to behold.

Milletseed Butterflyfish have a much more varied diet than C. multicinctus. Their preferred food is zooplankton, but they also will eat the eggs of other fishes — especially those of fishes that deposit egg masses on rocks and other surfaces.  Milletseeds sometimes perform as cleaners of other fishes, too.

The Milletseed Butterflyfish occurs naturally only in Hawaii, but it is not rare in the islands.  In fact, C. miliaris is said to be the most common among the 24 species of the Butterflyfish family (Chaetodontidae)  found in the Hawaiian islands.  If you dive or snorkel in coral reef environments in Hawaii you are almost certain to encounter a ‘mob’ of these yellow beauties.

Read the full story

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RESTON, Virginia — For the first time, the presence of an exceptionally virulent fish virus (viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus or VHSV) has been identified in fish from Lake Superior by researchers at the Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and confirmed by scientists at the USGS Western Fisheries Research Center in Seattle.

The disease (VHS) caused by the virus can result in significant losses in populations of wild fish as well as in stocks of fish reared by aquaculture. It is of sufficient global concern to be one of only nine fish diseases that must be reported to the World Organization for Animal Health.

Lab: Deadly Great Lakes Hemorrhagic Fish Virus Spreading To New Species; ‘This Is An Epidemic’

Study: Ocean virus identified in human blood samples; effects unclear

Scientists: Tiny Fish Key to Evolution of Human Immune System; ‘Missing Link’ Identified

Report: ‘Health Time Bomb’ as Hong Kong Fish Vendors Accused of Using Toilet Water in Fish Tanks

Study: ‘Climate Change’ Will Alter Lake Tahoe’s Water Mixing; ‘Just Like Any Other Lake Or Pond’

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By Nicole Butler for The World Today

Posted Mon Jan 25, 2010 5:04pm AEDT

The father of the American honeymooner killed by her husband while diving off the Great Barrier Reef has accused Queensland justice officials of stonewalling a new investigation into the matter.

Tina and Gabe Watson had been diving off the Great Barrier Reef in 2003 when 26-year-old Tina sank to the bottom of the ocean and drowned.

They had been married just 11 days.

Despite being a qualified rescue diver, Gabe Watson was unable to save his bride and immediately became a suspect.

For years the bubble wrap salesman denied any involvement, but last year he pleaded guilty when murder charges were downgraded to manslaughter.

A Queensland court sentenced him to 18 months’ jail – a sentence that has been widely attacked as being too lenient, and US officials want to take the matter further.

The Alabama attorney-general is considering bringing first degree murder charges against Watson – a move strongly supported by Tina Watson’s grieving father Tommy Thomas.

But to pursue a murder charge US officials need evidence and information from the investigation in Australia, and Mr Thomas says his family is frustrated with the lack of cooperation from Down Under.

“I believe that had this gone to trial before a jury in Australia, we would have got the justice that Tina deserved,” he said.

“But since it did not go before trial, since he did not have to face the evidence, since he did not have to face his own contradictory statements to police and in his civil deposition and to others, they were able to cut a deal.

“And now the only way to get justice is to just try and have that same trial before a jury here.”

Repeated requests

It has been reported that Alabama attorney-general Troy King recently sent a second round of letters to Queensland justice officials requesting more information.

Mr Thomas says he cannot understand why it is proving so hard to obtain evidence from Queensland authorities, and says the Queensland Government and police are stonewalling the US investigation.

“A few months back [Queensland officials] had acknowledged to the attorney-general’s office that they had received their request and that was about it,” he said.

“Right after the news story a couple of weeks ago, there was another acknowledgment saying that it was complicated and that they needed to really explore how they should handle this.

“And this [is] something that I really don’t understand because the fact of the matter is that during the investigation the Helena Police Department here, as well as the FBI here, cooperated with the Queensland Police Service when requests were sent over through Interpol.

“Now all of a sudden someone, and I don’t remember exactly whether it was the Queensland Police Service’s statement or whether it was the DPP or the Attorney-General’s office or what, that made a comment about it being a federal issue.

“Well, why all of a sudden is it a federal issue when all we want them to do is send some of that same evidence back that was sent over there?”

‘No double jeopardy’

Mr Thomas says under US law Watson can face trial in Alabama even though the death occurred in Australia and the case has already been prosecuted outside America.

“It is because several pieces of the evidence give a clear indication that this crime was probably planned in Alabama before he ever came to Australia,” he said.

“I know there is a lot of discussion about double jeopardy.

“There is really no double jeopardy involved because, first of all, he wasn’t tried for murder in Australia to begin with, but secondly, this is a separate sovereign jurisdiction so there is no double jeopardy that would come into play.”

Queensland Attorney-General Cameron Dick declined to comment on claims his office is not cooperating with US officials.

A spokesman for Mr Dick says it is a complicated case and the Minister is awaiting legal advice.

A spokeswoman from the Queensland Police Service gave a similar response, saying there are a range of complex legal considerations when providing investigative assistance to other nations.

She says these are presently being explored within the context of the Alabama authorities’ request.

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Just off the coast of Cuba, a diver displays nerves of steel as he swims alongside an 11ft, 1,000lb crocodile.

Risking his life for the potentially deadly experience, diver Israel Gonzalez, 31, got close enough to be tolerated for over two hours by one of nature’s most lethal killing machines.

Swimming in an area known as The Queen’s Gardens, the lone female crocodile was returning to her nest on one of the 50 or so tiny islands that make up the offshore paradise.

Nerves of steel: Diver Israel Gonzalez got close enough to be tolerated for over two hours by an American crocodile off the coast of Cuba

Around 60miles from the south coast of Cuba, Mr Gonzalez and underwater photographer David Doubilet matched the enormous crocodile for pace during their encounter.

‘This crocodile exhibited very benign behaviour for such a notorious predator,’ said Mr Doubilet.

‘As a wildlife photography opportunity this was extremely exciting to capture not only the rare and overlooked American crocodile, but also to run the gauntlet with the animal.

‘Honestly after the initial rush when we encountered the crocodile, our levels of fear dropped down quite considerably.’

Best friends: Mr Gonzalez had trawled the area searching for the rare reptile, who proved remarkably ‘benign’

Travelling to The Queen’s Gardens with a diving team, which also included local Cuban fishermen familiar with the area, the pair trawled the island chain for the elusive American crocodile.

‘Most people don’t know that there are crocodiles which live in the Americas,’ explained Mr Doubilet.

‘They assume that they live only in Egypt, in sub-Saharan Africa and Australia.

‘However, there are around 1,500 American crocodiles living in Florida and the same number across Central America and South America.

‘They are classed as a threatened species.’

Gliding alongside the croc, Mr Doubilet and Mr Gonzalez were aware that at any minute the situation could turn life threatening.

‘Unfortunately we had no protection on us. No sticks, no harpoons, nothing that would have saved our lives had the crocodiles turned nasty,’ said David.

‘But we were not unduly worried. We were careful to know our limits and not to stress the creature.

‘We were there to observe this rare occurrence.’

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A pet shop owner had a narrow escape when he was bitten by a piranha fish as he tried to sell it.

Dave Brown, 44, needed stitches to a deep wound after the fish sunk its sharp fangs into his thumb.

It took a chunk out of him as scooped the animal into a bag at Holmbush Pet Centre in St Austell, Cornwall.

Dave had already tried to pick it up twice but the fiesty fish lunged at him on his third attempt and bit into his right digit.

Attack: David Brown needed stitches after being bitten by the piranha fish

Experts say he was ‘very unlucky’ to be bitten because piranhas only attack when they are hungry – and not in self defence.

Dave, of St Austell, said he only took in the six-inch fish as a ‘one-off’ because the previous owner was too scared to look after it.

He said: ‘It was the only piranha we have ever had and I don’t think we’ll be taking on another one.

‘There was blood everywhere. Every time I had him in a plastic bag the fish would bite through it. He was quite a feisty one.

‘When I went up to the desk at the hospital and said I had been bitten by a piranha, they looked at me in disbelief.’  Fish expert David Waines (corr), of the Blue Reef Aquarium in nearby Newquay, said Dave was ‘very unlucky’ to be attacked.

A piranha or piraña is a member of a family of omnivorous freshwater fish which live in South American rivers. They are known for their sharp teeth and a voracious appetite for meat

He said: ‘Piranhas are not usually aggressive but they are voracious eaters and have incredibly sharp, powerful teeth.

‘He was very unlucky as these fish normally just attack when they’re hungry. It may have been a bit peckish.

‘But you always need to take care when handling these type of creatures. Piranhas can do a lot of damage when they do attack.’  Piranhas are freshwater fish mainly found in South American rivers and occasionally in North America.

They are normally about six to 10 inches long, although some specimens have been reported to be up to 18 inches in length.

Piranhas have the same sensory system that enables sharks to detect blood in minuscule amounts.

They have a single row of powerful teeth and feed on a diet of fish, birds and mammals.

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ScienceDaily (Jan. 26, 2010) — A major increase in maximum ocean wave heights off the Pacific Northwest in recent decades has forced scientists to re-evaluate how high a “100-year event” might be, and the new findings raise special concerns for flooding, coastal erosion and structural damage.

The new assessment concludes that the highest waves may be as much as 46 feet, up from estimates of only 33 feet that were made as recently as 1996, and a 40 percent increase. December and January are the months such waves are most likely to occur, although summer waves are also significantly higher.

In a study just published online in the journal Coastal Engineering, scientists from Oregon State University and the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries report that the cause of these dramatically higher waves is not completely certain, but “likely due to Earth’s changing climate.”

Using more sophisticated techniques that account for the “non-stationarity” in the wave height record, researchers say the 100-year wave height could actually exceed 55 feet, with impacts that would dwarf those expected from sea level rise in coming decades. Increased coastal erosion, flooding, damage to ocean or coastal structures and changing shorelines are all possible, scientists say.

“The rates of erosion and frequency of coastal flooding have increased over the last couple of decades and will almost certainly increase in the future,” said Peter Ruggiero, an assistant professor in the OSU Department of Geosciences. “The Pacific Northwest has one of the strongest wave climates in the world, and the data clearly show that it’s getting even bigger.

“Possible causes might be changes in storm tracks, higher winds, more intense winter storms, or other factors,” Ruggiero said. “These probably are related to global warming, but could also be involved with periodic climate fluctuations such as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, and our wave records are sufficiently short that we can’t be certain yet. But what is clear is the waves are getting larger.”

In the early 1990s, Ruggiero said, a fairly typical winter might have an offshore wave maximum of a little more than 25 feet. It was believed then — based primarily on data from two offshore buoys — that 10 meters, or 33 feet, would be about as large as waves would ever get, even in a massive “100-year” storm.

But then a major El Nino — which tends to bring larger waves, higher water levels and increased erosion — happened in 1997-98 and led to a string of “100-year” wave events of around and above 33 feet. Researchers went back to the drawing board, continued to study data and storm events, and now believe that the maximum waves the region may face could approach or even exceed 50 feet.

Increasing wave heights, they said, have had double or triple the impact in terms of erosion, flooding and damage as sea level rise over the last few decades. If wave heights continue to increase, they may continue to dominate over the acceleration in sea level that’s anticipated over the next couple of decades. The prior concern about what sea level rise could do, in other words, is already a reality. If sea levels do increase significantly in future decades and centuries, that will only add to the damage already being done by higher waves.

Exactly what impacts this will have in terms of beach erosion and shifting shorelines is difficult to predict, scientists say, because currents and sand move in complex ways, creating both “winners and losers” in terms of beach stability. But some effects are already visible, Ruggiero said.

“Neskowin is already having problems with high water levels and coastal erosion,” Ruggiero said. “Some commercial structures there occasionally lose the use of their lower levels.

“Going to the future, communities are going to have to plan for heavier wave impacts and erosion, and decide what amounts of risk they are willing to take, how coastal growth should be managed and what criteria to use for structures,” he said.

Hampering the research effort is the fact that two of the major buoys used for these studies, which are some distance off the Pacific Northwest coast and measure waves in deep water, were only installed in the 1970s. Even at that they provide two of the longest high-quality wave height records in the world. OSU researchers are studying historical records through climate data, old newspaper records and other information to try to recreate what wave heights and storm events were like going further back in time.

The largest wave height increases, scientists say, have occurred off the Washington coast and northern Oregon, with less increase in southern Oregon and nothing of significance south of central California. The study also noted that similar increases in wave heights have occurred in the North Atlantic Ocean, as well as the seasonal total power generated by hurricanes.

These issues do not consider the potential drop in land level that is expected to occur in this region with a subduction zone earthquake at some point in the future. Ruggiero noted that he did some research in Sumatra following the huge 2004 earthquake there — an area with geology very similar to that of the Pacific Northwest — and some of the shoreline had dropped from 1.5 to five feet. If and when that occurs, the impacts on shorelines could be enormous.

This research was supported by the Sectoral Application Research Program, a part of the Climate Program Office at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

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His interest in the under-water world sparked through recreational diving, Ron Vermeltfoort was looking for “a ticket to the next level.”

He found it many years ago in the commercial diving course at Seneca College’s King City campus. Graduation from the comprehensive program led to a career path under the sea that he followed for six to seven years before returning to London, Ontario, to work as a firefighter.

Most of Ron’s work was up and down the British Columbia coast, among the Queen Charlotte Islands and off Vancouver Island. There, he dove for the seafood industry, harvesting horse clams, geoduck clams, sea cucumbers and sea urchins, usually at depths of 20 to 60 feet. Most of those products were exported to Japan, whose own seafood industry had been damaged by over-harvesting.

Many of the clams were embedded in the bottom of the ocean, with just the tip visible. The divers were equipped with a high-pressure water jet to free the clams from the bottom. They were collected and then hoisted up by crane to the surface.

“We’d stay down for three hours straight, take a break and then go back down for another three hours,” Ron recalls.

Those long periods under water were made possible by what is known as “surface supplied diving.” Unlike recreational divers, commercial divers don’t carry an air tank on their backs. The air supply is on the surface, either on a dock or a boat, and is pumped down to the diver. It provides an unlimited supply of air and enables divers to be more mobile. “We were often walking around on the bottom.”

“It was a strange environment. There were eels and sharks, but for the most part the sharks were small enough that they were not a huge threat.”

Of greater concern were the currents and tides they worked in. The captain of the dive ship kept the divers informed about them, using either radio communications or line signals. The latter involved pulling on the diver’s line. Two pulls would mean something, three pulls something else, and there were short pulls meaning something different again. The divers would return the signals from the bottom.

In Ontario, he worked for an engineering company that rebuilt government wharfs. This involved salvage work, underwater welding and taking videos of underwater structures needing repair. “We did videos of the structures underwater to analyse where the weakest points were.”

Another career option for divers, of course, is becoming an instructor.

Ron finished his commercial diving career in 1992 after thousands of hours under water. He rarely dives now and says if he did, it would be “anywhere south where the visibility is better.”

He doesn’t regret his years spent working under the sea. “It’s (commercial diving) seasonal, but there’s still work out there for divers. You’re at sea for three or four weeks at a time. For a single guy it’s a good job and it paid well.”

Kathy Dowsett Padi Certified Diver :: owner  and operator of www.kirkscubagear.com  Your Canadian connection for all your scuba needs. 

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The Swiss Company Rinspeed has developed a new concept car called "sQuba", which is the world’s first ‘green’ diving car. This innovative car is capable of driving on roads just like a normal car, yet it can also be turned into an amphibious vehicle capable of diving, reaching depths of up to 10 meters (33 feet). It is no accident that this concept car looks like it was taken out of sci-fi movies, as indeed such movies inspired the cars creators. sQuba will be exhibited at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show.

"sQuba" is constructed out of carbon nano tubes – an ultra strong yet light material, making the "sQuba" significantly lighter than other cars of its size. The car has room for a driver and a passenger and in order for them to be able to breathe while the car is submerged, a self-contained on-board system supplies the vehicle’s interior with fresh air.

The "sQuba" diving car is equipped with an electric motor with powerful torque that drives the rear wheels. When the car is underwater, it is able to advance thanks to two propellers in the stern and two powerful jet drives in the bow, which push the car forward. Since "sQuba" uses an electrical engine it will not pollute the sea when it dives.

When seeing this concept car, you might be reminded of the James Bond film "The Spy Who Loved Me", where James Bond drove his Lotus Esprit into the sea and the car turns into a submarine.

Frank M. Rinderknecht, Rinspeed’s CEO, noted that this movie was one of the sources of inspiration for the sQuba car’s design: "And exactly thirty years later, this amazing – yet at the time animated – film sequence materializes and becomes reality, in today’s world". Unfortunately, the company added that "sQuba" will "remain most likely – as its predecessors – a unique and exclusive one of a kind vehicle."

TFOT (The Future of Things) previously covered quite a few concept cars. These include a concept vehicle called M400 Skycar that can execute vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) like a helicopter, fly like an airplane and drive short distances on the ground like a car, CCXR – a new bio-fuel powered sports car, Honda’s "PUYO" gel-like car, and the world’s first "water powered" car.

More information on Rinspeed’s "sQuba" can be found on the company’s website.

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TAMPA, Florida — Seawater in a vast and deep section of the northeastern Pacific Ocean shows signs of increased acidity brought on by manmade carbon dioxide in the atmosphere — a phenomenon that carries with it far-reaching ecological effects — reports a team of researchers led by a University of South Florida College of Marine Science chemist.

The scientists, whose results are published in the American Geophysical Union’s journal Geophysical Research Letters, analyzed Pacific seawater between Oahu, Hawaii, and Kodiak, Alaska by comparing pH readings from 1991 and from 2006. This study provides the first direct measurements of basin-wide pH changes in the ocean’s depths and at its surface and has produced the first direct evidence of acidification across an entire ocean basin, the investigators said.

Principal investigator Robert Byrne, a USF seawater physical chemistry professor, said the study leaves no doubt that growing CO2 levels in the atmosphere are exerting major impacts on the world’s oceans.

“If this happens in a piece of ocean as big as a whole ocean basin, then this is a global phenomenon,” Byrne said.

Adding carbon dioxide to seawater makes it more acidic, and each year the world’s oceans absorb about one-third of the atmospheric CO2 produced by human activities.

Using pH-sensitive dyes that turn from purple to yellow in more acidic waters, the scientists were able to track changes produced by 15 years of CO2 uptake near the ocean’s surface, Byrne said. In deeper waters, down to about half a mile, both anthropogenic and naturally occurring changes in CO2 and pH were seen. In the very deepest waters, no significant pH changes were seen.

The results verify earlier model projections that the oceans are becoming more acidic because of the uptake of carbon dioxide released as a result of fossil fuel burning, said Richard Feely, a member of the research team and chief scientist of the cruise and NOAA researcher from the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle.

Byrne and colleagues at USF’s College of Marine Science developed the methods for precise pH measurements and the project was the first time a team of researchers employed those methods in the field.

Byrne led a team of scientists that made pH measurements aboard the NOAA-National Science Foundation-sponsored cruise R/V Thomas G. Thompson in the spring of 2006 using state-of-the-art techniques developed at USF’s College of Marine Science. The researchers found that upper-ocean pH had, over the preceding one-and-a-half decades, decreased by approximately 0.026 units, equivalent to an average annual pH change of ‑0.0017, over a large section of the northeastern Pacific. Similar recent pH trends have been found at isolated time-series stations in the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and corroborating observations have also been reported by scientists who study other CO2-related substances in seawater.

“The pH decrease is direct evidence for ocean acidification of a large portion of the North Pacific Ocean,” said Richard Feely. “These dramatic changes can be attributed, in most part, to anthropogenic CO2 uptake by the ocean over a 15-year period.”

The implications for sea life and the world’s food web are serious, Byrne said. When seawater becomes more acidic, lower concentrations of carbonate result. Because the protective shells of sea organisms are made of calcium and carbonate, more acidic waters make it more difficult for many organisms to make their shells and thrive.

That affects not only the food web, but also many important processes essential for healthy marine ecosystems, such as coral reef formation, Byrne said.

The cruise was part of a decade-long series of repeat hydrographic sections jointly funded by NOAA-Office of Global Programs (now the Climate Program Office) and NSF-Division of Ocean Sciences as part of the Climate Variability and Predictability/CO2 Repeat Hydrography Program.

The program focuses on the need to monitor inventories of CO2 and heat in the ocean. Earlier programs under the World Ocean Circulation Experiment and U.S. Joint Ocean Global Flux Study have provided baseline observational fields.

Scientists from 11 academic institutions and two NOAA research laboratories participated in the expedition, whose goal was to determine how the release of huge amounts of carbon dioxide from fossil-fuel burning, land-use practices, and cement production will affect the chemistry and biology of the ocean.

Over the next millennium, the global oceans are expected to absorb approximately 90 percent of the CO2 emitted to the atmosphere, says Christopher Sabine, chief scientist for the first leg of the cruise.

“It is now established from models that there is a strong possibility that dissolved carbon dioxide in the ocean surface will double over its pre-industrial value by the middle of this century, with accompanying surface ocean pH decreases that are greater than those experienced during the transition from ice ages to warm ages,” Sabine said. “The uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide by the ocean changes the chemistry of the oceans and can potentially have significant impacts on the biological systems in the upper oceans.”

“Estimates of future atmospheric and oceanic CO2 concentrations, based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change emission scenarios and general circulation models, indicate that by the middle of this century atmospheric CO2 levels could reach more than 500 ppm, and near the end of the century they could be over 800 ppm. Current levels are near 390 ppm, and preindustrial levels were near 280 ppm,” Feely said.

Corresponding models for the oceans indicate that surface water pH would drop approximately 0.4 pH units, and the carbonate ion concentration would decrease almost 50 percent by the end of the century. This surface ocean pH would be lower than it has been for more than 20 million years.

Byrne and many other scientists expect that even if substantial reductions are made in the pace at which humans produce carbon dioxide, ocean acidification will continue for hundreds of years to come.

“The bad news is it takes many hundreds of years for self-correcting factors to occur,” he said. “That leaves many centuries of ugly consequences.”

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A deep freeze in the shallow waters of Florida Bay and Everglades took a heavy toll on snook and other native fish.

BY CURTIS MORGAN

cmorgan@MiamiHerald.com

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Football players wear them. So do people competing in hockey, baseball, cycling and a myriad of other sports.

But divers wearing helmets? And being supplied with compressed air via a hose at the water surface that connects to their helmets? Who would have thought it?

During a recent Caribbean cruise I experienced this interesting twist on underwater exploration during a stop at Coral World Ocean Park in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is called “helmet diving.”

We boarded a bus in St. Thomas and were taken on a 40-minute drive on the wrong side of the road – at least what North Americans consider the wrong side — to our destination, which they called “the cove.”  Among the other attractions at this facility are snorkelling, scuba diving and encounters with sea lions, sharks or turtles, to name a few. Equipment can be rented or purchased there. 

The helmet diving base is a large round covered area. After a brief introduction that included instructions and the usual signing of a waiver absolving the facility of liability, gloves and water shoes were provided. We descended a ladder three steps into the water, where a white helmet was placed over our heads, resting on the shoulders. It was the receptacle for the compressed air that was pumped down from the surface.

The helmet, which featured a clear mask, was large enough to enable us to wear our glasses. That was a bonus in clear water where the visibility ranged from 30 to 40 feet. We were told to stay upright to prevent water from entering the helmet. Breathing was normal, but we had to purge our ears.  The helmet weighed 70 pounds, but with the buoyancy created by the water we experienced a weight of just 15 pounds when we were below the surface.

Descending the final steps of the ladder to the ocean floor 20 feet beneath the surface in 81-degree Fahrenheit (27.2 Celsius) water, we began our helmet dive walk. Two scuba divers guided us on the 30-minute trip. An added safety measure was a chain along the route; we were told to hang on to because the water was fast moving. Unfortunately, one of our helmet divers had to leave the water after experiencing breathing difficulty. While it should not be a problem for most people, those who have breathing difficulties or who suffer from claustrophobia might not want to try it.

Of the five of us taking part in the helmet dive, I was the only one who scuba dives. It struck me that helmet diving is an excellent opportunity for those who do not wish to go the scuba route to see some of the underwater world that thrills divers. But in exposing helmet divers to that same visual experience – especially in the clear waters of the Caribbean – it is also a vehicle to attract new people to scuba.

I would highly recommend helmet diving to anyone thinking of getting into scuba diving, or to those who just want a glimpse into a diver`s world.

Kathy Dowsett, owner and operator of

www.kirkscubagear.com

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Freshwater fish take up chemicals from the surrounding water through their gills

Biologists have cast doubt on the long-held theory that fish gills evolved primarily for the purpose of breathing.

The researchers studied the development of gills in rainbow trout larvae.

Their experiment suggests that it is likely that fish evolved gills for the primary purpose of regulating the chemicals in their bodies.

The team reports in the Royal Society journal Proceedings B that this developmental study gives an insight into the evolution of fish gills.

Clarice Fu, a zoologist from the University of British Columbia in Canada, led the study.

She and her colleagues found, as the larvae matured, their gills developed the ability to regulate the chemicals in their blood earlier than they began to take up oxygen.

To discover this, the team measured the uptake of ions, which are charged chemical particles, such as sodium.

These ions are necessary for the body’s cells to function, but they become toxic if their levels in the blood become too high.

Ms Fu explained that fish take up these ions from the surrounding water, to “maintain this delicate ion balance in their blood”.

“In freshwater fish, like rainbow trout, they tend to lose ions from their blood to the water, because the ion concentration in blood is greater than that of freshwater,” she said.

The team took measurements from the gills of young, developing rainbow trout to find out what functions they were performing.

“When the gills are still immature, a significant portion of ion uptake occurs at the skin. As the fish get older and the gills mature, [this] can gradually shift to… the gills,” said Ms Fu.

“We found that ion uptake shifted from the skin to the gills earlier than oxygen uptake. This led us to propose that the gills are needed for ion regulation earlier than they are needed for oxygen uptake.”

Watching evolution

Ms Fu told BBC News that the “pressures” on developing larvae are similar to evolutionary pressures.

“Some of these pressures include an increasingly active lifestyle, greater body size, increasingly thicker skin,” she said.

Scientists often study larval development to investigate evolution.

Ms Fu explained that, as the larvae developed, the pressures drove ion exchange to the gills before the animals started to breathe through their gills, so the same thing may have happened as the fish evolved.

Professor Rick Gonzalez, from the University of San Diego in the US, studies the physiology of aquatic animals.

He described the study as a “very interesting first step”, but said it wasn’t clear if it answered the question of why fish evolved gills.

“Gills combine some of the functions of the lungs and kidneys in mammals, which leads to interesting interactions of function,” he told BBC News.

“The physical and chemical nature of the water can play an important role in their function. So how these all work together to get the various jobs done is very interesting and offers insight into how natural selection works.”

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Unicorns of the Sea, Seeded from Kathy of ScubaDiving Blog

Narwhals are one-of-a-kind sea creatures, with a long spiraling tusk that has earned them the nickname Unicorns of the Sea. For hundreds of years, sightings of these mammals have spawned tales of mermaids and sea monsters when sailors and explorers have encountered them. In reality, these aquatic beauties are related to bottlenose dolphins, belugas, harbor porpoises, and orcas. Their natural habitat is the Atlantic portion of the Arctic Ocean. They are also found in fewer numbers in the Greenland Sea, extending to the coast of Russia.

The narwhal is 13 to 16 feet in length and weighs between 2,200 and 3,500 pounds, living exclusively on a diet of fish and squid.  They are often sighted swimming in groups of 15 to 20, but gatherings of hundreds or more have been reported. A notable quality of the Narwhal is its ability to perform incredibly deep dives for a marine mammal, going to at least 800 meters (2,400 feet) with many dives reaching 1,500 meters (4,500 feet).

Their diving skill aside, the most unique feature of the Narwhal is, of course, the tusk, which is actually one of its two upper teeth. After the first year of a male narwhal’s life, its left tooth grows outward, spirally. This long, single tooth projects from its upper jaw and can grow to be 7-10 feet long.  Marine biologists disagree on the evolutionary purpose of the tusk, sighting mating appeal, a defensive weapon and a fish-sensing antenna as possible uses.

Usually humans spot narwhals on the ocean’s surface, but there is the possibility (albeit limited) of scuba diving with these amazing creatures.  April is the only month where Arctic diving is realistically possible, as it’s the warmest month of the year there, when the raging cold reduces to a still-really-chilly dull roar.  Of course you will need your dry suit as well as high-tech microfiber undergarments to keep you from turning into an ice cube in the approximately 28 degree water.  And a cold-water regulator is a must, as your “regular” regulator will cease to function before you even get in the water.

Once you are ready, it’s time to find someone to take you there.  Few people on this earth have the scuba know-how and the means to organize an undertaking like this on their own.  A few companies offer expedition-like trips to the Arctic Circle and can, for a price, incorporate diving into the itinerary.  Their role includes finding pods of narwhals and other whales to see, an important part of the equation when one is talking about 1000s of miles of open ocean where these animals live.

To date, few people, other than scientists, can say they have gone scuba diving with the Unicorn of the Sea.  But increased availability of ice diving training, improved ice diving gear and an ever-growing body of knowledge about these creatures is improving the chance that you too can dive with these unusual aquatic wonders.

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By ANDREW DARBY – The Age

Marathon diplomatic talks over whaling are going nowhere, according to an insider.

Japan wanted to continue ‘’scientific” whaling in exchange for a token cut in the number of whales it kills, Jose Truda Palazzo, Brazil’s former representative on the International Whaling Commission told The Age.

”This is the worst possible deal, as it not only lets the slaughter in the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary continue, but also legitimises the Japanese abuse of right,” he said.

In reply, anti-whaling nations must refuse to yield ground, he said.

Now, in a rare view of the IWC’s closed meetings, Mr Truda Palazzo said many delegates were fed up with Japan’s refusal to co-operate.

”[Japan] just sits there and says nothing until someone comes up with a specific proposal either to shut down scientific whaling or reduce numbers caught,” he said.

”Then they say, ‘It is not acceptable to us’, and shut up again. Two years of this is starting to get on people’s nerves.”

There have been 10 rounds of IWC emergency meetings to find a solution to the deadlock since 2007, most closed to non-government organisations and the media. The next is due later this month in Honolulu.

Mr Truda Palazzo is speaking out now after being dropped from his country’s IWC delegation for criticising President Luiz Da Silva’s domestic environmental policies.

Mr Truda Palazzo said Japan was proposing a cut of 200 to 500 whales from its scientific quota, which now takes 1535 whales in the Antarctic and North Pacific.

”While foreign affairs lawyers seem to be reluctant, I hear many IWC commissioners hoping strongly that Australia takes Japan to the International Court of Justice,” Mr Truda Palazzo said.

But this view contrasts with the official statement in December by IWC chairman Cristian Maquieira, who said he was pleased with progress after the last round of talks in Seattle.

”Discussions are ongoing and I believe they could serve as a basis of a way forward for the IWC that will more effectively conserve whales and manage the whaling that is happening in our oceans,” Mr Maquieira said.

In Japan’s only public comment, IWC commissioner Akira Nakamae rejected suggestions its failure to reach agreement by last June’s deadline was due to his country’s intransigence.

”We were meant to make some kind of compromise … but some parties are not making any concession, and then making it almost impossible to carry out scientific whaling,” he told the IWC’s annual meeting.

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ScienceDaily — Researchers in Canada are reporting for the first time that high mercury levels in certain Arctic seals appear to be linked to vanishing sea ice caused by global warming. Their study provides new insight into the impact of climate change on Arctic marine life.

Researchers are reporting that high mercury levels in Arctic seals appear to be linked to vanishing sea ice caused by global warming. (Credit: NOAA)

Gary Stern and colleagues note in the new study that Canadian Arctic ringed seals, like many Arctic marine animals, have relatively high levels of mercury. However, researchers have never determined how these levels are linked to sea ice extent and the resulting composition of arctic cod and other prey containing mercury available to ringed seals.

The scientists analyzed the mercury content in muscle samples collected from ringed seals between 1973 and 2007. They then compared the levels to the length of the so-called “summer ice-free season,” a warm period marked by vanishing sea ice in the seals’ habitat. They found that the seals accumulated more mercury during both short (2 months) and long (5 months) ice-free seasons and postulate that this is related to the seals’ food supplies.

Higher seal mercury concentrations may follow relatively short ice-free seasons due to consumption of older, more highly contaminated Arctic cod while relatively long ice-free seasons may promote higher pelagic productivity and thus increased survival and abundance of Arctic cod with the overall result of more fish consumption and greater exposure to mercury. Longer ice-free seasons resulting from a warming Arctic may therefore result in higher mercury levels in ringed seal populations as well as their predators (polar bears and humans).

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Denmark is a big shame The sea is stained in red and in the mean while it’s not because of the climate effects of nature.

It’s because of the cruelty that the human beings (civilised human) kill hundreds of the famous and intelligent Calderon dolphins.

This happens every year in Feroe iland in Denmark . In this slaughter the main participants are young teens.
WHY?
To show that they are adults and mature…. BULLLLshit


In this big celebration, nothing is missing for the fun. Everyone is participating in one way or the other, killing or looking at the cruelty “supporting like a spectator”

Is it necessary to mention that the dolphin calderon, like all the other species of dolphins, it’s near extinction and they get near men to play and interact.. In a way of PURE friendship



They don’t die instantly; they are cut 1, 2 or 3 times with thick hocks. And at that time the dolphins produce a grim extremely compatible with the cry of a new born child.

But he suffers and there’s no compassion till this sweet being slowly dies in its own blood


Its enough!
We will send this mail until this email arrives in any association defending the animals, we won’t only read. That would make us accomplices, viewers.

Take care of the world, it is your home!

Assine contra essa crueldade: Sign Against this cruelty: 1.- Ana kARINA Rivas  (m) Mexico DF 2.- Carlos Enrique Bulle-Goyri. DF 3.- Alejandra Nabarro ( Mexico Cuernavaca ) 4.- Esteban criz mejia. Mexico DF 5.-ANDREA GONZALEZ ALVAREZ ( MEXICO ) 6.-González Alvarez Victor Rodrigo 7.-Ines Garcia Perez (México) 8.-Stella Morales (México) 9.-lgarcia (México) 10.-Leticia Cuéllar (México) 11.-Salma Urbina Aguilar (Quintana Roo, México) 12.-DIANA LUCELLY POOT PUC (quintana roo, mexico ) 13.-Josue Acero Gonzalez ( Quintana Roo , Mexico ) 14.-Micaela Medina ( Argentina ) 15.-sofia bidondo( Argentina ) 16.- Ma. Marta Soruco ( Argentina ) 17.- Cyntia Mariela Roitman ( Argentina ) 18.-Aldana Martínez ( Argentina ) 19.- Adriana Salomon ( Argentina ) 20.-fernando valussi( argentina ) 21.-MARIANELA SANCHEZ( ARGENTINA ) 22.- Leyes Alberto Fabian ( Argentina ).- 23.- Augusto Patricio Mateos ( Argentina – Chaco ) 24.- Maria Alejandra Bury ( Argentina – Chaco ) 25.- Claudio Alexis Agnesio ( Argentina – Chaco ) 26.- Cesar Abel Falcon(Argentina-Chaco) 27-MARIANA GOMEZ MARTINEZ 28-SILVIA CLAUDIA GIMENEZ 29-NELIDA BEATRIZ MARTINEZ 30-MARIA ESTHER URSU 31- NATHIA JUDKEVICH ( Argentina ) 32-MARINA JUDKEVICH  ( Argentina ) 33-MARIANA JUDKEVICH (Aregentina) 34- Bogado Espinoza, Lorena Abi ( Argentina ) 35- Ortiz, Natalia Muriel ( Argentina ) 36- Marcelo Rodrigues de Rezende (Sorocaba-Brasil) 37- Thais Chenchi Santana (Sorocaba-Brasil) 38- Lilian Yoshie Kato ( Sorocaba – Brasil) 39 – DIOGO CRISTO ( Sorocaba – Pindorama – Gaya ) 40 - DANILO GOMES ( Sorocaba – Cidade de Mentiras) 41- Tiago Holtz Guerreiro (Sorocaba- Brasil) 42 – Laura Nunes Garcia Vieira ( Sorocaba – Brasil) 43 – Anderson Schmitt Junkes (Jandira – Brasil) 44 – Eronides Santos Filho (Jandira – Brasil) 45 – Suzana Lopes Ribeiro ( Jandira – Brasil ) 46 – Paulo Henrique Ferreira (Cotia/SP Brasil) 47 – André Luiz da Fonseca Roberto ( Carapicuiba/ Brasil ) 48 – Jean Paulo Camargo Costa (CARAPICUIBA/ BRASIL) 49 – Rodrigo de Jesus Ferreira (Jandira – Brasil) 50- Bárbara Tabain Seslija de Sá (Jandira – SP – Brasil) 51 – Ana paula Morina Ferreira (Barueri – SP – Brasil) 52-Bárbara Louise (São Paulo-SP-Brasil) 53-Diego Lima (Carapicuíba-SP-Brasil) 54 – Wanda leila de Oliveira marra ( Osasco – SP –Brasil ) 55 – Joilva Duarte (Osasco-Brasil) 56 – Patricia M. Dias ( São Paulo – Brasil) 57- Eduardo M. Dias  ( São Paulo – Brasil) 58 – Wagner R. Franco (São Paulo – Brasil) 59- Ruth Cristina Serafim (São Paulo – Brasil) 60- Thiago Silva (São Paulo – Brasil) 61 – Cristiano S. de Moraes (Rio de Janeiro – Brasil) 62 – Kelly Lopes Dias (São Paulo – Brasil) 63 – Fábio Ferreira / São Paulo – Brasil 64- Fábio Araujo / São paulo – Brasil 65- Marcia Stevaux/ São Paulo – Brasil 66 – Débora Gisele Ferraz – Brasil 67- Andrea Alexandre de Carvalho 68 – Adilson dos Santos Pinto (Cruzeiro SP) 69 – Francisco ReZende (Lorena-SP) 70- Mislane Souza Prates( São Paulo-Brasil) 71 – Janderson Dutra (Rio de Janeiro-RJ – Brasil) 72 – CECÍLIA SANTOS (SÃO PAULO) – BRASIL 73- KÁTIA I. SANTOS ( SÃO PAULO ) – BRASIL 74- Maria L Lima – (Rolândia – Brasil) 75 – Marilise G.Z. Solle (Rolândia-Brasil) 76- Luis Fernando Silva de Almeida (Rolândia Pr- Brasil) 77- Adriana Amaral de Souza (Rolândia Pr – Brasil) 78 – Carlos Alberto Ferreira do Amaral (Rolãndia PR – Brasil) 79 – Lilian Carla de Souza Gonzalez ( Londrina – Pr. – Brasil) 80 – Ailton Valdivino da Silva – (Uberlândia – MG – Brasil) 81 – Heliza Piosiadlo (Uberlândia – MG – Brasil 82 – Patrícia Cordeiro ( Joaçaba-SC-Brasil) 83 – Danielle Argenton (Herval D’ Oeste – SC – Brasil) 84 – Valdirene Soares ( Joaçaba – SC – BRASIL ) 85 – Luiz Sérgio Belló – Joaçaba SC Brasil 86- Eduardo Wieser  -SC- Brasil 87- Julio Pancera  ( Navegantes , SC – Brasil) 88- Fredi Goede ( Pomerode , SC Brasil) 89 – Mario L.Fanton 90 – Valério Littig ( Curitiba – Brasil ) 100-cassia cavalheiro 101 – Paulo Terumitsu Ishii [ Curitiba - Paraná - Brasil] 102- Caroline Niro ( Curitiba – Paraná – Brasil 103-Alexandre Batista(Londres-Inlaterra) 104-udson bergues de almeida 105 – Inês Calazans, Alemanha 106 – Anabela Martins – Portugal 107 – Luisa Sequeira – Silves / PORTUGAL 108 – Alzira Rodrigues – Silves / Portugal 109 – Cremilde Ribeiro – A. de Pêra / Portugal 110 – Augusto Miguens – Elvas / Portugal 111 – Natália miguens – Elvas / Portugal 112 – Manuela Santos – Carcavelos / Portugal 113 – Carla Santos – Oeiras / Portugal 114 – Maria Carlos Barreto de Carvalho – Carcavelos / Portugal 115 – Eliete Mendes – Lisboa / Portugal 116 – Conceição Oliveira – Lisboa / Portugal 117 – Mariana Domingues – Portugal 118 – Joana Murtinha – Portugal 119 – Filipa Almeida – Portugal 120 – Iolanda Fontes – South Africa 121 – Kalen Viljoen – South Africa 122 – Wendy Golding – South Africa 123 – Inge Strugnell – Botswana 124 – Philippa Lee – Botswana 125 – Ilse Swart 126 – Miche de beer 127 – Celeste Smit 128 – Jeneane Fourie 129. Stefnie de Beer (SA) Human beings ? How can we call ourselves that ! 130 Corné van Staden 131 Anna-Marié van Staden 132. Sheralee Scott ( South Africa ) 133 Bev Hindmarch ( South Africa ) 134. Ian Pardy (SA) 135. Dominic Porter (SA) 136. Carl Bennett (SA)  Sick Bastards!! 137  Dieter Rossler South Africa uncivilised idiots 138.  Vigie Naidoo, Johannesburg South Africa (how far western man??) 139.  Rodney Reddy S.A. — lily-livered, sure they’l never dare try this with some tiger or bull sharks 140.  Mira Naidoo, Johannesburg South Africa (shameful specimens called humans) 141.  Rocco Steffannelli, Bari Italy (senseless killing) 142.  Christian Hoffer,  Mank   Austria (Neanderthals!)? 143. Sarah Caine (SA) 144.  Lorraine Caine (SA) 145.  Elaine Caine (Sa) 146.  Lorraine Isaac (SA) 147.  Ronnie Isaac(SA) 148.  Angelique Mason(SA) 149.  Alysha Isaac (SA) 150.  Mary Joe Emde (SA) 151.  Nalisha Gangadien SA) 152.  Charlene Gangadien (SA) 153.  Cordelia Soobramoney 154.  Nicholas Soobramoney 155.  Gabriela Pillay 156.  Sarah Pillay 157.  Jaeden Chetty 158.  Sam Chetty 159.  Dean Prinsloo 160.  Nicole Pillay 161.  Janine Geldenhys 162.  Noeleen Pillay 163.  Vigie Naidoo, Johannesburg South Africa (Nordic barbarism!! – Climate Change?- go figure?) 164.  Colette Boyd 165.  Tanya Scheffel 166. Rob Armstrong 167. Megan Adriaanzen – Jhb S.A. This is the most appallingly, disgusting thing I have ever seen!!! 168. Gareth Adriaanzen 169. Aldorette Swanepoel 170. Steve Maree – Durban , South Africa 171.  Karen Robjant – and they are supposed to come from a civilised country – very sick people 172- Johnny Roy, Durban , South Africa .

173 Ann Horne Flemington NJ USA

174 Desmond J Thompson S.Afrca/Ireland

175 Wendy Sharpley

176Kathryn Agnew – South Africa

177. Liesl Medeira – Kuwait

178. Elcid Mendoza – Kuwait/ Philippines

179. Norvelyn Tolentino Lico – Kuwait/ Philippines- Have Mercy please!!!!

180. Mini Jayasheelan – Kuwait/India – World is our home

181. Praveena Pratheesh – Kuwait

182.Pratheesh Kumar – Kuwait

183. Shijo Pillai – Kuwait

184. Nidheesh Nair – India.

185. Divya Haneesh – India/Kuwait

186. Anitha Santhosh – India

187. SAIJU GS – India

188. Anoop Sajid P M – India

189. Ansar Bin Umsan- India

190.Cherrylyn Tan – Philippines

191. JOEL P. JARDELOZA – DAVAO CITY, PHILIPPINES

192. Albert B. Jubilo – Davao City, Philippines

193. Jeralyn ESTERNON – Baguio City, Philippines

194.Janine Grace Javier- Baguio City, PHILIPPINES

195. Arnold Donato – Philippines

196. Grace Adamos – Philippines

197. Liberty L. Catbagan – Philippines

198. madelaine n. cortez-philippines

199. frances orduna-philippines

200. Lorie Jane Solano-Philippines

201. Shahid Malik – Pakistan

202. Tevis Verrett-United States I am my brother’s keeper, even the animals that God gave us dominion over, what a horrid shame!

No related posts.

come visit us on Facebook, there you can RSVP:

Team K2 SCUBA So Cal Hardcore Beach Divers

Mark your calendars sports fans!

Date:

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Time:

11:00am – 5:00pm

Location:

Nicholas Canyon, Malibu California

Street:

33850 Pacific Coast Highway

City/Town:

Malibu, CA

Time to give some BBQ love for my peeps who live up this way in the City of the Angels.
Malibu at Nicholas Canyon: http://bit.ly/VtSnV

What is this puppy:
An event for the K2 Family, Beach lovers and divers alike
Lets all meet, fun starts at 11a (I will prolly arrive with the fam when I arrive, so don’t give me crap).
The opportunity to catch up with great old friends and meeting new friends, family friendly love with our kids playing with each other on the grass. . .
This is going to be a pot luck so please bring stuff to burn on the grill for your family and a side dish for yourself and others. This is the Tribe Called K2 so I am sure generosity abounds.
Umm, let me say again, this is a BBQ so bring sompthin’ or pony up to our Goddess in charge Amie or Debby for a portion of the convestibles.
Roland is bringing his kids, Im bringing my kids, Scott is bringing his kids, so let me stress FAMILY DAY AT THE BEACH, and us divers will try and not hog the benches with equipment.
Did I mention magic: Date is Jaunuary tirty-eth and official meeting time is when you get there ( woot, just got chills) If you are like me and drink until 3a and then pass out, no worries come when you can, we will be there all day!
Also, forgot the best part! Divers One (http://www.diversone.com) and BadDivers (http://www.baddivers.com) and are in the hoouse and are our BBQ pardners!
Toldja there is magic!

Please ping us on Facebook, leave a comment here, give us a call at HQ: 818 982 2652. . . you just gotta come and be a part of the magic that is the Tribe Called K2!

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Melting Tundra Creating Vast River of Waste Into Arctic Ocean

ScienceDaily (Jan. 12, 2010) — The increase in temperature in the Arctic has already caused the sea-ice there to melt. According to research conducted by the University of Gothenburg, if the Arctic tundra also melts, vast amounts of organic material will be carried by the rivers straight into the Arctic Ocean, resulting in additional emissions of carbon dioxide.

Sofia Hjalmarsson, PhD, Department of Chemistry, University of Gothenburg. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of Gothenburg)

Several Russian rivers enter the Arctic Ocean particularly in the Laptev Sea north of Siberia. One of the main rivers flowing into the Laptev Sea is the Lena, which in terms of its drainage basin and length is one of the ten largest rivers in the world. The river water carries organic carbon from the tundra, and research from the University of Gothenburg shows that this adds a considerable amount of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere when it is degraded in the coastal waters.

Increased temperatures

The increase in temperature in the Arctic, which has already made an impact in the form of reduced sea-ice cover during the summer, may also cause the permafrost to melt. “Large amounts of organic carbon are currently stored within the permafrost and if this is released and gets carried by the rivers out into the coastal waters, then it will result in an increased release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere,” says Sofia Hjalmarsson, native of Falkenberg and postgraduate student at the Department of Chemistry.

Study of two areas

In her thesis, Sofia Hjalmarsson has studied the carbon system in two different geographical areas: partly in the Baltic Sea, the Kattegat and the Skagerrak, and partly in the coastal waters north of Siberia (the Laptev Sea, the East Siberian Sea and the Chukchi Sea). The two areas have in common the fact that they receive large volumes of river water containing organic carbon and nutrients, mainly nitrogen.

The thesis Carbon Dynamics in Northern Marginal Seas was publicly defended on 18 December.

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Japan pins whale row on Gillard

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THE Rudd government won’t guarantee international legal action against Japanese whaling, despite toughening its anti-whaling rhetoric since Wednesday’s collision in the Southern Ocean.

The sinking Ady Gil

• Calls for international court
• Ady Gil now sinking and abandoned
• “Really important and meaningful dialogue”

Since the high-profile collision between the Ady Gil protest ship and a Japanese whaling vessel, there have been growing calls for the government to live up to its pre-election promise to take Japan to an international court over its whaling practices.

The $1.5 million Ady Gil is now sinking and has been abandoned by its owners, who say it is too damaged to be salvaged or towed.

Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard says Australia is pushing the anti-whaling case “with all of our force”.

Environment Minister Peter Garrett says he remains strongly against whaling, but is reluctant to divulge whether Australia will take legal action against Japanese whaling.

“The success of a legal case is something that cannot be guaranteed, it is difficult, and it can be a time consuming process,” he told ABC Television.

“If we are to take that course of action we want to be substantially and resolutely prepared as we can …”

Pressed to say if legal action would ever be taken against Japanese whaling, Mr Garrett replied: “I wouldn’t want to put a time on it for the simple reason that we’re involved in what I think are really important and meaningful dialogue and discussions with other whaling nations including the Japanese.”

K2 Cries Bullshit!

What do you folks think!  are you mad?

Comment!

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TOKYO, Japan — Japanese whalers have accused the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society of carrying weapons on the Ady Gil, rejecting claims by the protesters that their state-of-the-art speed-boat had sunk.

The Shonan Maru No.2 retrieved several lethal-force bowgun arrows drifting among the Ady Gil debris. credit The Institute of Cetacean Research

Ady Gil drifting in Antarctic. The slick seen below the horizon is fuel leaked from the Ady Gil. credit The Institute of Cetacean Research

The Institute of Cetacean Research released photographs last night of four large arrows they claim were found floating near the Ady Gil, which collided on Wednesday with the Japanese vessel the Shonan Maru No 2.

The text of Japan’s Institute of Cetacean Research press release follows:

The antiwhaling group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has apparently abandoned reported efforts to salvage or tow to port the disabled New Zealand watercraft Ady Gil. Japan’s research vessels monitoring the area have confirmed that an oily substance thought to be fuel is leaking from the Ady Gil and continues to spread over the sea surface, raising concerns that Sea Shepherd is willfully polluting the Antarctic environment.

The Shonan Maru No. 2 reported that the other antiwhaling ship which had been harassing the Japanese vessel with the New Zealand watercraft, the Bob Barker, initially seemed to be making efforts to tow the Ady Gil. However, the Bob Barker has left the scene abandoning the drifting Ady Gil by the early morning of December 8.

In addition, the Shonan Maru No. 2 retrieved today from the sea part of the severed Ady Gil hull as well as various drifting objects including several bowgun arrows. Bowgun arrows are weapons with the ability to produce casualties if used against a person or persons. The Sea Shepherd activists have been escalating the viciousness of their sabotage including hurling projectiles containing hazardous butyric acid and firing line-launch rockets against Japan’s research vessels. However, their carrying and possession onboard of a lethal-force weapon makes one ponder whether they would hesitate or not to produce casualties.

The Institute of Cetacean Research strongly condemns the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society actions.

The Institute of Cetacean Research urges again all related nations including Australia, the de facto home port country to the Steve Irwin, the Netherlands, the Steve Irwin’s flag state, and New Zealand, the now drifting and abandoned Ady Gil flag state, to take every means available to prevent the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society actions and strongly request that they observe their international obligations and deal with the Sea Shepherd in a strict and objective manner.

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