Japanese Waters Witness an Attack of Giant Jellyfish

More than 6 ft 7 inches wide, over 450 lbs…while it may sound more like a sumo wrestler description we’re actually talking about the Giant Jellyfish or Nomura’s Jellyfish (Echizen kurage in Japanese) found lurking in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea. No stranger to Japanese waters, these massive creatures have been known to invade Japan’s coastline in swarms bought in by ocean currents and potentially cause severe losses to Japan’s Billion Yen fishing industry.ao nang scuba talent

Giant jellyfish are one of about 200 species of coastal jellyfish or large jellyfish that exist around the world. Nomura’s stand out because of their enormous size. Quite a spectacle for divers, the pink jelly like mass with seemingly countless tentacles is in fact poisonous like all jellyfish. An Echizen’s sting can be fatal, causing a build-up of fluid in the lungs. Victims take up to a day to die and there have been 8 reported deaths from this particular type of jellyfish.

*Photo credit: YOMIURI SHIMBUN/AFP/Getty Images

The news of such an invasion of Nomura’s jellyfish may bring a smile to a divers face and is often much awaited by scientists to study, local fishermen however, are not impressed. In 2005, the Japanese fishing industry reported an estimated 300 to 500 million monster jellyfish to have passed through the Tsushima Strait into the Sea of Japan. The jellyfish destroy fishermen’s nets, getting trapped in them, tearing holes and ruining catches. Their size often compared to that of sumo wrestlers, it only takes about 5 or 10 of them to destroy a commercial fishing net. In addition to damaging nets, the giant jellyfish are said to be responsible for killing other fish in the catch with their venom, capsizing trawlers and stinging fishermen much to the nightmare of fishermen.

Similar invasions have previously been reported in 2002, 2005, 2008 and now 2009 becoming an increasing regular nuisance. Some theories surrounding the skyrocketing numbers of the giant jellyfish include, overfishing in Chinese waters decreasing the populations of the jellyfishes natural predators, development of ports and harbours along the Chinese coast providing more structures for the Nomura larvae to attach themselves to and thirdly, global warming which causes the heating up of the seawater and encourages jellyfish breeding. No definite cause has been identified but studies are being undertaken to find out, while precautions to decrease the damage they cause are in full force.

30 year anniversary of Tauchsport und Tauchreisen Lorenc

Presentation of an award to Andrea Lorenc and her team by Jean-Claude Monachon of PADI Europe on the 30 year anniversary of Tauchsport und Tauchreisen Lorenc.

With great pleasure and gratitude Andrea Lorenc was presented the award on the 26th of February 2010 on the 30-year anniversary of the founding of the business. To be able to exist so long in the tough competition of the Austrian market is surely a very great success. Numerous diving schools in Vienna and its surroundings work hard to improve the services provided in the area of dive sport.

Tauchsport Lorenc recognized early on the market requirements of a complete service shop ranging from PADI dive training to a good inventory of products and extending to diving trips and it carries on today, fully determined, with this format. Andrea and Günter Lorenc are not alone in this pursuit: only together with the team of highly motivated employees, assistants, diving instructors, travel agents, dive leaders and trainees in the shops has this great success been made possible.

Tauchsport Lorenc however does not sit still: as customer interests change, for example through e-learning, and as constantly new products come to market such as HUD Data-mask and as travel destinations located further away become constantly less expensive to reach, Yap, Palau, Cairns, etc., Tauchsport Lorenc updates its offering in order to reach one objective at the end of the day: satisfied customers. This is what we work for. Together with PADI. We are looking forward to continued successful years of collaboration.

Join PADI at Dive Fest 2010, Cornwall, UK

Dive Fest is the UK’s biggest and best diving festival and takes place at Pentewan Sands Holiday Park in Cornwall.

Come and check out the PADI stand where you can find out more about PADI’s full range of courses including eLearning options, and the latest range of technical diving courses.

In addition, Mark Caney, Director Rebreather Technologies in PADI’s Technical Diving Division, will be giving a talk about the revised range of PADI TecRec courses and PADI’s philosophy and attitude towards technical diving. The talk will be useful for anyone considering getting involved in technical diving or for those wanting to crossover with another technical qualification to the PADI TecRec range.

Dive Fest 2010 takes place over the May bank holiday weekend from 6pm on Friday 30th April to 5pm on Monday 3 May 2010 and is set to be even bigger and better than last year’s festival!

Fantastic discounts are available on advance ticket purchases - so make sure you book your tickets as soon as possible! Buddy passes and group discounts are not available on the door and will be charged at full price of £40 per person for weekend tickets, £20 per person for Saturday tickets and £15 per person for Sunday tickets.

In order to access Dive Fest and Pentewan Sands Holiday Park you will need to have a ticket, so don’t delay... join PADI at the Dive Festival of the year - book now at www.divefest.co.uk

SCUBA Certification Agencies- PADI, NAUI, BSAC, CMAS and more

In order to successfully complete any Scuba Diving training, a student receives what is called a C-Card or a Certification Card. This card acts like a license to dive and all dive shops are required to ask to see this card before renting out any dive gear and equipment. As a sport recreational scuba diving doesn’t have any one centralized certifying or regulatory agency, but is mostly self regulated. There are, however, several large diving organizations that train and certify divers and dive instructors and have become recognized certification agencies of the sport the world over, which most dive outlets and dive shops consider proof of proper scuba training.

These agencies work by training and certifying instructors in their syllabus and teaching methods, and then allowing those instructors to certify individual divers. In addition to providing all levels of diver training, the agencies also regulate the sport as a whole and represent diving professionals such as dive masters, dive instructors and dive operators. They widely participate in researching dive medicine, promoting marine conservation as well as marketing diving as a sport.

At a beginner level, the certification agency doesn’t play too much of an importance as the courses they offer as more or less similar courses and any main agency will be recognized by dive operators anywhere in the world. Right up to the professional level training the agencies recognize each others qualifications for recreational diving. However, when it comes to diving professionally they may not recognize each others qualifications.

When you first start off diving, you need to consider the instructors experience and the dive center offering up the course rather than letting the agency dictate your choice.

Here are the most recognized Scuba Certification agencies around the world today. Of these, PADI and NAUI are the most prevalent in the United States.

PADI- Professional Association of Diving Instructors
Based in the United States and by far by the biggest and most recognized dive certification agency in the world, PADI was started in 1966 to improve the training into a variety of different courses rather than just the one single universal course. prevalent at the time. PADI courses are very performance based dive programs. The introductory level emphasizes practical knowledge, safety and motor skills along with the foundations of diving physics, physiology and chemistry.

PADI centers are the most widely spread out across the world and you can find one in almost any dive destination. More beginner divers are certified by PADI than all other agencies combined. It has certified approximately 70% of divers in the United States and approximately 55% of divers worldwide.They are very active in promoting the sport and also in marine conservation through their Project AWARE operation.
Website: www.padi.com

NAUI- National Association of Underwater Instructors
Again a United States based agency, NAUI started in 1959 is the oldest recreational scuba certification agency. NAUI is a non-profit association which was started for the promotion of dive safety through education. Its diver courses are very similar to that conducted by PADI and SSI and it enjoys a status of being the second largest scuba certification agency after PADI.

NAUI boasts of a no. of celebrities and industry pioneers certified by them like Kevin Costner, Tiger Woods (NAUI divemaster member), Cameron Diaz, Jacques-Yves Cousteau (inventor of the aqualung) and many more. Many of whom have popularized the activity for NAUI. As of 1997 NAUI published standards for teaching technical diving as well.
Websites: www.naui.org

BSAC- British Sub Aqua Club
Founded in 1953 and based in the United Kingdom, BSAC is the largest dive club in the world. With over 50,000 members it has being recognized as the official governing body of recreational diving in the United Kingdom. BSAC operates through 1600 local independent dive clubs and over 400 diving schools world wide. Given that UK waters are relatively cold and have restricted visibility, BSAC training emphasis on rescue training very early in the programme.
Website: www.bsac.com

CMAS- Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques/ The World Underwater Federation
CMAS is the international umbrella organization for diver training organizations. Founded in 1958, CMAS is based in France. The organization offers the international framework for diver and instructor qualifications and members of the CMAS Council are representatives of the other recognized dive agencies.

The training philosophy of CMAS members originates from professional or military diving backgrounds and tends to reflect the full range of European and world diving standards.The difference in the philosophy for diving between CMAS and US-originated dive education is very distinct as their ideology is entirely about quality education over profit, which accounts for its courses being taught worldwide in more dive schools than dive shops.
Website: www.cmas2000.org

SSI- Scuba Schools International
With 35 Regional Centers and Area Offices around the globe, the 1970 established SSI is based in the United States. It has well over 2,200 authorized dealers and supports Dive Businesses and Dive Resorts. A major difference between SSI and other diver education organizations like PADI, NAUI, CMAS and others is that SSI is a Retail based organization, intended to ensure the quality of training worldwide.
Website: www.divessi.com

Other Agencies
IDEA- The International Diving Educators Association (www.idea-scubadiving.com)
ACUC- The American Canadian Underwater Certifications (www.acuc.es) ao nang scuba talent
PDIC- The Professional Diving Instructors Corporation ( www.pdic-intl.com)
SDI/TDI- The Scuba Divers International/Technical Divers International (www.tdisdi.com)

To Shop for Scuba Diving Equipment and Gear visit LeisurePro.com – The Diver’s Emporium

Scuba Tips: 10 Tips for Better Buoyancy Control

Buoyancy control can be a hard skill to perfect, but a very important and fundamental one in Scuba diving. Not being able to control your buoyancy properly during a dive can be frustrating as you’ll end up having to add and let out air from your BC (Buoyancy Compensator) constantly to keep from bumping into things or grazing the floor with your fins or knees. Bad for you and even worse for the reefs. Not to mention, the uncontrolled bobbing up and down directly affects a divers air consumption and simply takes away from the enjoyment of the dive.

(*Photo by – whitecat singapore on flickr)

Here are 10 tips for improving your Buoyancy Control when you Scuba dive-

• Using proper Scuba weights. Wearing the right amount of weight/s is crucial to achieving the right buoyancy. With an empty tank and no air in your BC, at the surface you should be at eye level with the water, when properly weighted. The goal is to be neutrally buoyant at the 15-foot safety stop where your tank will have less air and be positively buoyant. Always adjust your weights in 1-2 lb increments.
• Keep a record of the weights you used for each dive which will help provide a guideline for making adjustments when at a new dive location. Also note the wetsuit thickness used as this will play a part in the weights you used.
• Improve your buoyancy control by using your Buoyancy Compensator less, not more. The key to neutral buoyancy is not in using your buoyancy compensator more. In fact, in a a lot of cases it is the reason for not being able to achieve the perfect buoyancy. When you first descend, release air from your BCD slowly and give it a time to take effect. Once you’re at a depth you want to stay at avoid touching your BC for the rest of the dive. (*Above photo by – star5112 on flickr)
• As soon as you are underwater get into a horizontal position. The water pressure against your body helps you descend faster without taking out too much air from your BC thus allowing you to keep a fair amount to remain neutrally buoyant near the bottom and not sink like a rock for letting out too much. Staying horizontal also ensure that when you kick it propels your forward and not upward.
• Remember your Scuba tank will become lighter during the dive so make sure your descents are easy. If you have to struggle to get down, chances are you’ll have to work hard to stay down at the end of the dive and safety stops are difficult if you’re too buoyant.

(*Photo by – tmc74 on flickr)

• Stretch the inflator hose of your BC upwards while releasing air. Squeezing the BC against your chest with your free arm will also ensure that the last few bubbles find the exit.
• Breathe right, deep and consistent. You can ascend or descend a few feet solely by breathing in or out. Never hold your breath, but learn to control your breathing. Exhale completely before reaching for the inflator buttons on your BC. A lung full of air can add as much as 10 pounds of buoyancy.
• Relax. Extra movement, like flailing arms and improper fining can make you raise without even realizing it. This may make you think you are lighter than what you really are. Especially while descending try to overcome any nerves and make a conscious effort to keep your arms still and extend your legs, pointing your dive fins straight down for the least resistance.
• Scuba diving wetsuits can have an effect on your buoyancy. As your wetsuit gets wetter, the bubbles in the wetsuit compress from the pressure and it’ll become less buoyant. Keep this in mind before you jump to the conclusion that you are under weighted and add any weights to compensate. (*Photo by – dachalan on flickr)
• Practice. Like most Scuba diving skills, buoyancy control takes practice to perfect. With more dives under your belt you tend to relax and be more comfortable underwater making buoyancy control a breeze wherein you don’t even think about it. It also helps that with more experience, you know the weights you need.
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James Cameron’s Love for Scuba Diving Shows in Avatar

It’s a pretty well known fact that Canadian film director, producer and screenwriter- James Cameron has a love for the Ocean and of Space & Alien life. One of the most well known Celebrity Scuba Divers, his love for these two subjects is apparent in most of his movies right from the ‘Alien’ series, ‘Titanic’, ‘The Abyss’, ‘Volcanoes of the Deep Sea’ and is even clearly seen in his latest blockbuster and superhit movie ‘Avatar’. Now you’re thinking, you get the Alien bit about ‘Avatar’, but you don’t see anything to do with the Ocean, right? Well if you look closely, Cameron’s influence of Scuba diving and love of the sea with it’s fascinating and unique life is deeply embedded in the movie.

Some of the computer generated flora and fauna in the movie Avatar have an uncanny resemblance to marine life which Cameron himself has admitted to being influenced by in interview about this movie and his past work. Remember the scene where Jake Sully (Worthington) wonders off distracted by his surroundings, while Dr. Grace (Sigourney Weaver) and biologist Norm were busy collecting samples, he comes to a patch of rather tall spiral looking flowers they call ‘Helicoradian flowers’. On his touch the flowers shrink or rather retract into the ground…sound familiar to the Christmas Tree Worm you’ve seen when you went diving? Only the Christmas Tree Worm is a lot smaller than in the movie as seen in the picture above.

How about the seeds of the sacred tree Eyra? Their movement seem strangely familiar to that of jellyfish? Well these similarities to marine life in Cameron’s movie are far from coincidences.

James Cameron has previously been quoted saying-

“I learned to scuba dive in a pool. It wasn’t until I moved to California that I ever even scuba dived in the ocean. But I just loved it. I loved this idea that there was this alien atmosphere right here on planet earth. I knew that I was never going to be an astronaut and visit another star system or land on another planet, but I knew I could explore an alien world right here.”

- James Cameron

When asked about his Aquatic influences in an interview about Avatar, he replied:

“I just swept in every design influence in my life. I’ve always had this deep respect for nature and a lot of my youth was out in the woods hiking around. I was a total science geek. I spent over 2,500 hours underwater and I’ve seen things that are absolutely astonishing on the bottom of the ocean. It really is like an alien planet. I’ve always felt like that’s something I’ve been able to do was live out a science-fiction fantasy adventure for real in my diving work. So yeah, there’s a lot of stuff there. There’s even a lot of stuff in the shallow ocean that’s influenced things. The Banshee wings are based on the colourations of tropical fish, for example. We were a little concerned that these large creatures wouldn’t scale with these incredibly vivid colour patterns, but we managed to make that work.” - James Cameron (see full interview)

It also comes as no shocker that Cameron’s next project is yet another water influenced movie titled ‘The Dive’ based on a true story of a Cuban free diver Francisco “Pipin” Ferreras and Frenchwoman Audrey Mestre who went on to break several world records under his guidance before dying in 2002 while competing. “It’s a drama, a love story,” Cameron said. “This will require underwater photography, which will look gorgeous in 3-D.”

So, we’re certain to see more of Cameron’s scuba diving influences in his future endeavors. And when you watch the much talked about sequel to Avatar which is speculated, keep your eyes peeled for more such similarities to the water world.

*Photo credits: photos by Nick Hobgood, Loimere on flickr

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Boxfish good fish come in square packages

Boxfish are indeed a peculiar family of fish, often seen in reefs waddling side to side and not seeming to get anywhere fast. The comical looking boxfish family comprises of squared bony fish that have a more hexagonal skeleton structure that move by rowing side to side adding to their comical appearance. Members of the boxfish family include Cowfish, Trunkfish, and Cofferfish all of whom are closely related to the porcupine fish and pufferfish family.

The boxfishes cube shaped body is covered with a hard bony armor that provides excellent protection for these slow swimming fishes. Additionally they are also able to secrete a deadly toxin from their skin when they are in danger, which poisons the surrounding water protecting them from predators.

They can be found mainly near coral reefs in the Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean and in the southern Atlantic where they feed on algae, mollusks, and crustaceans.

Longhorn Cowfish
Longhorn Cowfish are instantly recognizable members of the boxfish family owing to their yellow appearance and elongated ’horns’ that protrude from the front of its head rather like a cow or a bull. The Cowfish survives off sponges, molluscs and worms that it uncovers from the sandy substrate by blowing jets of water into the sand.

Spotted Trunkfish
Another instantly recognizable boxfish that gets its name from the black spots it has covered over its yellow/golden body which grows to 15 to 30 cm (6 to 12 in) in length. Spotted trunkfish are shy but curious fish that swim slowly above reefs and like all box-fish live in shallower waters and in protected lagoons or areas of less current. Trunkfish are protected by a bony outer surface that acts as body armor and has two sharp spines guarding their rear fins. Additionally, trunkfish secrete a colorless ciguatera toxin from glands on its skin when touched. The toxic is only dangerous when ingested, so there’s no immediate harm to divers, however predators of the trunkfish often end-up dead after ingesting this toxin.

Boxfish seldom do well raised in captivity, but surprisingly there is high demand from aquarists to keep various kinds of boxfish in their marine tanks. Strangely enough the Boxfish if stressed or spooked in a fish tank will secrete its toxin often poisoning everything in the tank including itself, as it has no place to run. This has nicknamed the boxfish the “neutron bomb” by aquarists who despite this fact continue to keep boxfish in captivity. The best place for viewing boxfish is in its natural environment as a scuba diver, where we guarantee you will smile when you see these comical fish struggling to swim or rather waddle away from you.

* Photo credits- photos by gwylow71, Joachim S. Müller, tab2space on flickr

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