This being the International Year of the Reef, a group of volunteers is surveying the reefs on several islands in Malaysia under the Sustainable Island Programme. By REVATHI MURUGAPPAN

Time and time again, we read articles on the problems plaguing our diverse marine life – overfishing, global warming, blasting, unchecked tourism, pollution, etc. Coral reefs around the world have been in crisis for some time now.

Ocean life: A grumpy grouper.

But is anyone listening?

The statistics are alarming with 30% of the world’s coral reefs severely threatened, 15% lost over the last decade, and many fish stocks becoming extinct. The first step towards a solution?

Reef check surveys.

Three organisations have teamed up to run the Sustainable Island Programme (SIP), which will see reef checks and island assessments being carried out to gauge reef health around the islands of Redang, Tenggol, Tioman and Perhentian. It’s a collaborative project between Sime Plantations, Reef Check Malaysia and Wild Asia.

Reef check is a way of measuring the health of coral reefs by collecting data on selected fish, invertebrates and corals. The surveys are conducted by a group of volunteers who have been certified EcoDivers.

The survey is pretty simple. It entails the EcoDivers swimming along a 100m transect line and counting the relevant organisms along the way as well as noting down the damage to the reef caused by bleaching, anchoring, destructive fishing and pollution.

In 2007, Reef Check Malaysia conducted 33 surveys covering 21 sites around four East Coast islands in Peninsula Malaysia and discovered that they were facing various pressures.

“Although some survey work was carried out in previous years, there is insufficient data to accurately identify trends in the status of coral reefs on these islands,” said Wild Asia’s sustainability advisor Shafinaz Suhaimi.

Since the health of coral reefs is an indicator of the state of our oceans, the SIP aims to combine reef survey data with land data to come up with a comprehensive action plan that can be undertaken by government authorities, scientists and conservationists.

Giant clams.

In addition, there will be workshops by Wild Asia together with the resorts and dive operators to introduce the concept of Responsible Tourism.

Originally, Shafinaz said, they wanted to certify up to 40 recreational divers and marine scientists as EcoDivers but so far, only 26 have been given the thumbs-up. The majority of them come from Malaysian Underwater, the largest local online diving community.

“It’s purely on a voluntary basis as the certification fee is RM750. But, once they are certified, the carrot we dangle is for them to participate in the SIP surveys and have their dives and accommodation fully sponsored.

“That way, they get to dive for free and do their bit for the environment,” she added.

Getting involved is easy. All you need is a valid scuba diving licence, good buoyancy skills, a keen eye for detail and a passion for the environment.

Over the past few weeks, the certification process, which included six dives and identification tests, saw many diving enthusiasts, from beginners to dive masters, taking part in the 3D/2N weekend courses.

In Pulau Tioman last month, 11 divers enrolled and emerged enlightened at the end of it. One of them was engineer Goh Shu Wei, 37, who has been diving for the last two years. He said he found the certification process educational.

“I’m also a marine aquarist – as in I used to buy marine life from others and put it in my tank in the office. Before, I used to go near the reef just to see how I could redesign it for my hobby and, sometimes, I ended up destroying the reef but not intentionally.”

When his fish tank cracked one day, Goh took it as an omen to stop his hobby. He decided it was “pay back” time and signed up to become an EcoDiver.

“I now realise how important it is not to damage corals and to ensure that they are there for future generations to see. I’d like to participate in as many surveys as possible,” he said.

Divers identifying substrates during the EcoDiver certification programme.

For freelance photographer Emran Taib, 31, the course was an eye-opener as he now viewed things differently and can tell straightaway if a reef is healthy or not.

“However, I need to improve on my buoyancy. I have no problems in mid-water but to hover over a reef is a humbling experience!” he said, shaking his head.

Most participants felt buoyancy was an issue and something they needed to work on. Many of the divers noticed the dearth of invertebrates like the banded coral shrimp and lobsters, while there was an abundance of urchins, signifying excessive pollution.

Civil servant Mohd Fairul Zahari, 29, felt the crash course was gruelling as he found it difficult to digest some of the information. He opined that all divers should go for the basic course so that they would be more aware of the threats to marine life.

CIMB financial executive Ummi Haslinda Mohd Rosli, 29, felt more practical sessions could have been incorporated to make the species identification portion easier.

You don’t see good coral variety like this much. — DERRICK LOW

She said, “I signed up to increase my awareness on the subject and learn different terminology. When I go for my next leisure dive, I’ll look out for the groupers!”

After attending the course, student Mohd Najib Zulkifli, 22, was singing praises.

“As a student, I have no money so I go for the best deal. Here, I get a two-in-one – the certification and the dive trip. And, I have finally figured out how the ecosystem works!” laughed the Business Information Systems major.

Now that the EcoDiver certification process has been completed for the year, the actual reef surveys will begin next week. Six surveys are being planned, and once the data is collected, it will be compiled into an annual report, together with other reef check surveys around the world.

Only then will we know the true health of the world’s reefs and find ways to nurse them back to health.

If you’re interested in becoming an EcoDiver, contact Reef Check Malaysia at wecare@reefcheck.org.my or surf for more information at www.reefcheck.org

source :The Star

p/s Well done Shafinaz a.k.a shafi and the rest of MUW members

PARIS - Divers trained in archaeology discovered a marble bust of an aging Caesar in the Rhone River that France’s Culture Ministry said Tuesday could be the oldest known.
The life-sized bust showing the Roman ruler with wrinklesand hollows in his face is tentatively dated to 46 B.C. Divers uncovered the Caesar bust and a collection of other finds in the Rhone near the town of Arles — founded by Caesar.
Among other items in the treasure trove of ancient objects is a 5.9 foot marble statue of Neptune, dated to the first decade of the third century after Christ.
Two smaller statues, both in bronze and measuring 27.5 inches each also were found, one of them, a satyr with his hands tied behind his back, “doubtless” originated in Hellenic Greece, the ministry said.
“Some (of the discoveries) are unique in Europe,” Culture Minister Christine Albanel said. The bust of Caesar is in a class by itself.
“This marble bust of the founder of the Roman city of Arles constitutes the most ancient representation known today of Caesar,” the ministry statement said, adding that it “undoubtedly” dates to the creation of Arles in 46 B.C.
Among other things, researchers are trying to uncover “in what context these statues were thrown into the river,” said Michel L’Hour, who heads the Department of Subaquatic Archaeological Research, whose divers made the discovery between September and October 2007.
The site “has barely been skimmed,” L’Hour told The Associated Press, adding that a new search operation will begin this summer.
He said the Arles region, in the Provence region of southern France, with its Roman beginnings, and the Rhone are “propitious” for discoveries.
Albanel called the find “exceptional” and said that the Caesar bust is “the oldest representation known today” of the emperor.
Divers also found a huge marble statue of Neptune, dated from the third century.

Source : http://news.yahoo.com

Weddings boost Shark’s fin consumption in Singapore: report

Agence France-Presse

SINGAPORE - Shark’s fin consumption more than doubled in Singapore last year from 2006, with demand driven by an economic boom and an increase in wedding celebrations, a report said Saturday.

Singapore consumed more than 470 tons in 2007, up from 182 tons the previous year and reversing a four-year decline, the Straits Times reported.

Strong economic growth in 2007 and a rise in the number of people getting married drove demand despite a 30-percent rise in shark’s fin soup prices and appeals by environmental groups to ease consumption, it said.

Shark’s fin soup is popular at Chinese wedding banquets, where it is seen as a status symbol.

“Most of the couple’s parents consider this dish a premium and without it, they would lose face,” Ruth Soh, communications director at the Mandarin Oriental, told the newspaper.

She said however that the hotel buys shark’s fin only from fish farms.

Housewife Janet Gan was quoted as saying: “Shark’s fin is a must at a wedding. It is like a birthday cake.”

But Michael Aw, a marine conservationist, said more than 30 sharks have to be killed to feed a wedding banquet with 300 guests, according to the report.

“We must continue to educate the younger generation and make them see that sharks are guardians of the sea that ensure a balance in the food chain,” Aw said.

The message is not lost to Melanie Tan, who will walk down the aisle next month.

“I don’t want to be part of the cruel act of killing sharks just to make others satisfied on my wedding day,” she was quoted as saying.

Source : http://www.abs-cbnnews.com

Fri May 9, 7:12 AM ET

SYDNEY, May 9 (Reuters Life!) - A beach vacation usually conjures up images of lying on white sand relaxing not dicing with death but Forbes.com has come up with a list of the world’s most dangerous beaches.

Strong currents and deadly jellyfish are among the dangers that spring to mind but the biggest fear is sharks, according to Stephen P. Leatherman of the International Hurricane Research Center & Laboratory for Coastal Research in Miami.

“But in reality, you’ve got a better chance at winning the lottery than getting bitten,” he told Forbes.com, adding that there were only 112 incidents globally of shark bites in 2007.

Following is a list of the most dangerous beaches by category which was prepared by Forbes.com and focuses mainly on the United States. The list is not endorsed by Reuters:

1. Shark Attacks/Bites

New Smyrna Beach, Volusia County, Florida.

The were 112 incidents of shark-human “contact” in 2007, according to the International Shark Attack File released in March but only one resulted in a human fatality. New Smyrna, an inlet on the eastern coastline of Florida, had the most attacks, with 17 bites recorded.

2. Pollution:

Hacks Point Beach, Kent County, Md./Beachwood Beach West, Ocean County, N.J.

According to the National Research Defense Council, an environmental action group, these two beaches had the highest percentage of samples exceeding U.S. health standards in 2006.

3. Jellyfish Attacks:

Northern Australia

The coast of Northern Australia serves as a home to chironex fleckeri, also known as the box jellyfish, which has caused 60 deaths in the last 100 years, according the Center for Disease Control, Australia. While fatalities are rare, about 40 people are hospitalized each year in the Northern Territory. Last year, a 6-year-old boy died in the Tiwi Islands, north of Darwin.

4. Lightning:

Florida

Florida tops off the list as the most dangerous spot for lightning, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Between 1997 and 2006, there were 71 deaths caused by lightning in Florida, more than any other state. Popular beaches such as New Smyrna and Clearwater are often evacuated and then closed for days because of the threat of lightning.

5. Boating Accidents:

Florida

Data by county or beach is not available, but according to the U.S. Coast Guard’s Boating Safety Division, the state of Florida reported 633 boating accidents and 68 fatalities in 2006, the highest number of any state in the country with more people actively involved in boating in Florida.

6. Rip Current Drowning:

Brevard County, Florida

In 2007, 10 people drowned in Brevard County due to the rip current alone, according to the United States Life Saving Association

—Photograph by Stefan Lovgren

April 29, 2008—Recreational fishers and biologist Zeb Hogan (wearing cap) hold a live, 14-foot-long (4.3-meter-long) giant freshwater stingray the fishers caught in the Bang Pakong River in Chachoengsao, Thailand, on March 31, 2008.

After weeks of combing remote Southeast Asian rivers for giant freshwater stingrays—possibly the largest freshwater fish in the world—Hogan finally found the creature near a Thai city. To his surprise, she gave birth soon after capture.

There are accounts of freshwater stingrays growing as large as 1,000 pounds (450 kilograms), which could make them the largest freshwater fish in the world, Hogan said.

Hogan runs the National Geographic Society’s Megafishes Project, an effort to document 20 or so freshwater giants. (National Geographic News is part of the National Geographic Society.)

The giant river rays are extremely difficult to catch, as they bury themselves in mud when hooked. They routinely break fishers’ lines and bend finger-size hooks straight to escape capture.

The ray’s deadly barb, located at the base of its whiplike tail—and wrapped in a cloth in this picture—can easily puncture skin and bone.
Source : http://news.nationalgeographic.com

April 30: In this photo provided by Harpo Productions, Inc., magician David Blaine is shown inside a sphere where he set a new world record

CHICAGO —  David Blaine set a new world record Wednesday for breath-holding — 17 minutes and 4 seconds — fulfilling what he said was “a lifelong dream.”

The feat was broadcast live during “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and the studio audience cheered as divers pulled the 35-year-old magician from a water-filled sphere 8 feet in diameter. Less than two years ago, Blaine went into convulsions during a similar attempt.

“A lifelong dream,” a relaxed-looking Blaine told Winfrey immediately after setting the record. “I can’t believe that I did that.”

While still underwater, Blaine worried his heart rate might be too high, saying he “actually started to doubt that I was going to make it” as a result. A lower heart rate helps minimize oxygen consumption.

The previous record was 16 minutes and 32 seconds, set Feb. 10 by Switzerland’s Peter Colat, according to Guinness World Records.

Before he entered the sphere, Blaine inhaled pure oxygen through a mask to saturate his blood with oxygen and flush out carbon dioxide. Guinness says up to 30 minutes of so-called “oxygen hyperventilation” is allowed under its guidelines.

In May 2006, as a finale to a week spent in an aquarium with an oxygen mask at New York’s Lincoln Center, Blaine tried to set a new breath-holding record. Without breathing pure oxygen beforehand, he tried to break the existing record of 8 minutes, 58 seconds for an attempt of that type.

But he had to be rescued shortly after 7 minutes when he was unconscious and having convulsions.

Blaine has said he was fascinated by holding his breath since he was a child, using the skill to excel in swimming races at a YMCA in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, only needing to breathe when turning at the wall for another lap.

The endurance specialist has spent more than a month suspended in a glass box by the River Thames in London, was buried alive for a week in a see-through coffin in New York City, and was encased in a block of ice for 63 hours, also in Manhattan.

Source : http://www.foxnews.com

In a sight never previously witnessed an orangutan uses a sharpened stick to try and spear fish.

In pictures: Orangutans go fishing The hugely powerful creature uses fingers and toes to anchor himself on the branches of a tree overhanging the water. The orangutan used a fishermen’s poles to try and spear the fish but didn’t quite have the dexterity The male orang lives in a sanctuary on the island of Kaja in Borneo which rescues animals driven out of their traditional rainforest home by loggers and palm oil plantation owners. The great apes, which share 97 per cent of its genes with humans, are routinely slaughtered if they get in the way of workers. Often they are butchered and their meat sold in shops with the animal’s decapitated head used as an adornment. But those lucky enough to be brought to the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOS) are lovingly cared for and nurtured in the hope that can eventually be rehabilitated and returned to the forest. Orangutan translates from the Indonesian into Man of the Forest. The beguiling creatures are great imitators and having seen local people fishing with sticks they are quick to try for themselves. The orangutan used one of the fishermen’s poles to try and spear the fish as they swam by but didn’t quite have the necessary dexterity. Instead he used the stick to hook out fallen fruit as it floated by. Another orang used a fishing stick to pick out fish trapped in lines set by locals. The relentless demand for land for agriculture, the continuing loss of invaluable rainforest and the worsening plight of the orangutans are told in a new book, Thinkers of the Jungle. It tells of the work of Dr Willie Smits who set up a charity in 1991 that evolved into BOS. It warns that unless something is done quickly orangs may disappear from the wild within 10 years.   Source : http://www.telegraph.co.uk

“Hong Kong is a niche market and diving is a niche sport,” said Director of Tourism Malaysia Promotion Board for Hong Kong and Macau, Zaliha Zainuddin. “Malaysia is great value for people who are into diving and into eco-tourism.”

Tourism Malaysia has targeted Hong Kong’s scuba diving enthusiasts with a campaign promoting the country’s scuba diving attributes. At a function in Hong Kong last week, representatives from the Tourism Malaysia office in Hong Kong were joined by the Malaysian Consul General and dive operators from Sabah, as well as Olympic swimmer Alex Fong, to promote Malaysia’s off-shore diving islands…

Although the campaign is focused on the Hong Kong and Macau market, it is also expected to bring in additional visitors from Southern China, who use Macau as a departure gateway to Malaysia.

Malaysia is in the heart of one of the richest marine bio-diversity areas on the planet and offers a unique combination of marine life and leisure attractions.

Swimmer Alex Fong, who has been named 2008 Malaysia Diving Ambassador to Hong Kong and Macau, spent some time touring key diving locations. “Malaysia is a true paradise for divers. My trip to the country’s amazing underwater world was a real eye-opener.”

“We believe the participation of Alex will further promote the popular water sports in Hong Kong, especially among those who appreciate the high proximity to Malaysia and its wondrous marine landscape,” continued Zainuddin.

“Malaysia is one of the top diving destinations in Asia for Hong Kong tourists,” said Consul General of Malaysia, Cheong Loon Lai. “Tens of thousands of visitors from Hong Kong travelled to Malaysia last year to enjoy its unique diving environment.”

As part of the campaign, a series of fly/dve packages have been released, in conjunction with Tourism Malaysia partners Malaysia Airlines and Golden Holidays. These include diving courses for beginners as well as diving and accommodation options in Langkawi, Tioman Island, Redang Island and Sipadan Isand.

The diving campaign is a destination specific campaign conducted by the Hong Kong office of Tourism Malaysia and it is not known if a similar campaign will be taken up by tourism authorities in Australia.

Source: Travel Blackboard

GRAND CAYMAN ISLAND:As a doctor monitored his heart and his blood and breathing, David Blaine filled his lungs with pure oxygen and prepared to hold his breath — for 16 minutes, he hoped. Blaine is a famous magician, but he insisted that this was no trick.
He was training to break the world record for breath-holding, a logical enough step in his other career. As a self-described endurance artist, he’d spent 35 hours atop a 105-foot pole and survived a week buried in a coffin. He’d fasted for 44 days in a box suspended over the Thames, a nutritional experiment that was written up in The New England Journal of Medicine (with Blaine listed as a co-author).
This breath-holding experiment, conducted last week at a swimming pool on Grand Cayman Island, was being run by Ralph Potkin, a pulmonologist in Los Angeles who is a researcher trying to understand the human propensity for going without air.
This ability isn’t new — it involves an ancient reflex shared with dolphins and other mammals — but it has only recently been rediscovered, thanks largely to the sport of free diving. Using just their lungs, free divers have kept going deeper and holding their breath longer than anyone expected.
“The empiric results have consistently exceeded theoretical predictions,” Dr. Potkin said. He is the team physician for the United States free-diving team, whose members were training at Grand Cayman Island along with Blaine.
A century ago, Houdini was celebrated for being able to hold his breath for three and a half minutes. Today even a novice can quickly learn to last longer than that, as I discovered under the tutelage of Kirk Krack, the free-diving coach who has been training Blaine for his world-record attempt. (For a breathless account of my 3 minutes and 41 seconds underwater: nytimes.com/tierneylab.)
Researchers in the 1960s calculated, based on lung capacity and the effect of water pressure, that humans couldn’t dive deeper than 165 feet. Today free divers are going down more than 600 feet and returning in apparently fine shape. Most of the time.
The day before his attempt in the pool, Blaine was practicing in the ocean and told me he was headed down for a dive of 100 feet, so routine that he didn’t bother doing the usual preparatory ritual: a slow, steady “breathe-up,” followed by exhalations to purge carbon dioxide and then a final series of quick gulps of air called lung-packing.
I watched him disappear into the depths and then reappear about two minutes later, swimming smoothly upward next to a guide rope. But about 20 feet from the surface, he suddenly veered away from the rope and appeared to struggle upward with his arms flailing. His coach, Krack, recognized the symptoms of a blackout instantly and rushed to grab Blaine, supporting his head above the surface until he regained consciousness.
He’d succumbed, Potkin said, to one of the most common and sometimes fatal dangers of free diving — and one of the reasons you shouldn’t try any prolonged breath-holding unless someone like Krack is supervising.
“Divers rarely get into trouble at depth,” Potkin said. “But as the diver approaches the surface, the decreasing water pressure causes a drop in pressure of the oxygen in the brain. If the level in the brain gets too low, it’s like a switch: lights out.”
Blaine, predictably, seemed untroubled once he recovered. What’s a little blackout to a guy who was once encased in a block of ice for 63 hours? He blamed it on overconfidence (he’d kept going 20 feet deeper than planned) and on his relative inexperience with diving.
His specialty is static apnea: holding your breath while remaining immobile in a swimming pool. It requires some of same skills as being buried alive for a week, Blaine said: “It’s all in your mind. You’ve got to stay calm and slow everything down.”
The natural impulse to stop holding your breath (typically within 30 seconds or a minute) is not because of an oxygen shortage but because of the painful buildup of carbon dioxide. Blaine said he began trying to overcome that urge when he was a child in New York and at age 11 managed to hold his breath for three and a half minutes.
In his current training, he said, he does exercises every morning in which he breathes for no more than 12 minutes over the course of an hour, and he sleeps in a hypoxic tent in his New York apartment that simulates the thin air at 15,000 feet above sea level.
He has been concentrating on lowering his oxygen consumption by slowing his metabolism, partly through diet (he fasted for 18 hours before the breath-hold in the pool) and partly through relaxation. In a test by Potkin, Blaine on command quickly lowered his heart rate by 25 percent.
“David seems to have a phenomenal ability, like Buddhist monks, to control his body,” Potkin said.
When Blaine began his breath-hold in the pool, his heart rate during the first minute fell to 46 from 81, a drop that was not entirely his own doing. Immersing the face in water produces a protective action in humans similar to that in dolphins, seals, otters and whales. Called the mammalian diving reflex, it quickly lowers the heart rate and then constricts blood vessels in the limbs so that blood is reserved for the heart and the brain.
By exploiting that reflex, free divers can remain active underwater for more than four minutes, and much longer if they remain still. The world-record holders have exceeded nine minutes after filling their lungs with ordinary air, and more than 16 minutes after inhaling pure oxygen.
As Potkin monitored the electrodes hooked up to Blaine, Krack was in the pool with him watching for danger signs, like blue lips, and periodically instructing him to move a finger to show he was conscious. Otherwise, Blaine remained motionless until he heard he’d hit 16 minutes.
He emerged and broke the surface at 16:09 — stopping, as he’d planned, just shy (by five seconds) of the Guinness World Record for pure-oxygen apnea. He said he could have gone longer but wanted to hold off until his formal attempt on April 30, in front of Guinness judges and a live television audience on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”
“It felt pretty good,” Blaine said right after emerging, sounding perfectly lucid and smiling with pink lips. “I wasn’t even there most of the time. I imagined being deep in the ocean.”
Any pain during the 16 minutes?
“Not even a little bit,” he replied.
No one is sure of the long-term neurologic effects of such prolonged apnea, Potkin said, but his examination of Blaine (including the subsequent results from blood tests) didn’t turn up any problems or abnormalities.
“Many doctors still don’t realize the body can tolerate prolonged apnea so well,” Potkin said. “My hope is to understand the process so we can apply the lessons to help people with heart and lung disease and neurological problems.”
Blaine said he too hoped there would be some long-term benefit from his efforts, but his immediate concern was breaking the world record. He made 16 minutes look easy last week, but doing it at a swimming pool in the Caribbean isn’t the same as doing it on live television. Even a Buddhist monk might have a hard time controlling his heart rate on “Oprah.”

Source : http://www.iht.com

More than 140 mourners at a funeral in northern Thailand are reported to have been taken ill after eating a dish that appears to have contained puffer fish.

The mourners were rushed to hospital after being served soup containing fish balls bought at a local market in Nan province, the Bangkok Post reports.

They started vomiting and complained of numb tongues and shortness of breath.

Doctors said the symptoms were consistent with puffer fish poisoning, which can be fatal even after cooking.

The fish contains a poison known as tetrodotoxin, which paralyses the diner’s muscles. There is no antidote.

The fish is prized as a delicacy in Japan - known as fugu - and chefs are specially trained to prepare it safely.

Puffer fish meat is sometimes used illegally in Thailand to produce fish balls because it is cheaper than most other fish meat, the Bangkok Post reports.

Seven of those taken to hospital are reported to be in a serious condition.

Source : http://news.bbc.co.uk