SCUBA Brothers Compete for Guinness World Record- Cormorant Cannibalism Spells Trouble for UAE
- Hong Kong Cargo Airline Bans Transport of Shark Products
SCUBA Brothers Compete for Guinness World Record
The world record for longest cold open water SCUBA dive was once held by Declan Devane, at just under 12 hours, but was bested by a Maltese team in February of this year. However, Declan’s brother Paul intends to bury both records with his own goal of 15 hours. Paul Devane initially attempted to beat his brother’s record in 2009, but was forced to abort the dive due to a faulty P-valve on his drysuit. He’d made it nearly 8.5 hours before the discomfort became too much to bear. Paul will be attempting to break the record again on October 9, off the coast of Ireland, and money raised in support of the event will go to Hand in Hand, a children’s cancer charity.
Cormorant Cannibalism Spells Trouble for UAE
Researchers from the UAE university were stunned to witness fledgling cormorants sneaking up to nests holding helpless chicks and devouring them, a behavior that is highly unusual for the fish-eating birds. Nine cases of this type of cormorant cannibalism were recorded over the course of 10 days, leading scientists to speculate that fish shortages are the cause of this bizarre behavior. Although it is common for cormorants to desert their young at a certain age to teach them to be self-sufficient, researchers have noted that the parents are leaving the young earlier and for longer periods of time, likely tied up in longer searches for food. To combat overfishing, the UAE government is in the planning stages of several programs that would see zooplankton restored to healthier levels, as well as the release of 10 million fish per year into the Gulf of Oman.
Hong Kong Cargo Airline Bans Transport of Shark Products
Chinese air freight company Cathay Pacific, the world’s largest cargo airline, announced today that it would no longer be allowing the transport of shark fins or other shark products due to the unsustainable nature of many shark products on the market today. The announcement comes in spite of the fact that Cathay Pacific is based in Hong Kong, the world’s largest consumer of shark fins. The ban will take effect over the next 3 months.
That’s wonderful. I’ve flown on that airline a number of times. They are fantastic!
They are a class act..do support them..:)
We will travel Cathay Pacific exclusively when ever the opportunity arises….well done!!!
It’s not fresh seafood, no need to air flight dry sharks fin. They will just ship it. Swire Group (largest share holder of CX) has plenty of ocean linners that ship sharks fin. Wait until they said stop shipping before we celerbrate.
Dominic, that is a valid point — most of the cargo shipping of shark fins happens at sea, not in the air. Still, it’s a big step in the right direction, and the bigger the companies are that support stifling the unsustainable shark fin trade, hopefully more companies will follow suit.