In recent news an Australian publication ‘The Age’ reported an amazing survival story of 4 Russian divers who went missing for over 24 hrs in shark infested waters near Marsa Alam, Egypt.

Vitaly Ivanov,Anna Filippenko, Dmitry Smerdov and Sergei Larionov were swept away by a strong current while diving at one of Egypt’s top dive locations in the Red Sea. The group were said to be among 23 tourists on board a Bohemia luxury wooden motor yacht, which runs dive tours in the area. The group was noted as missing when only 19 resurfaced. Authorities were notified and a search was sent out with no avail. As the search was called of at nightfall the 4 divers said they tried swimming back to shore.

Separated in the dark of the night and over 20kms away, Ivanov made it to shore at a near by village the next morning. Rescuers found the other 3 of his group later in that day.

The Red Sea is a very popular dive destination with it’s unique reefs as well as sharks. Spotting hammerheads, oceanic whitetips, bull sharks and tiger sharks among 44 shark species recorded here is what draws divers Red Sea diving despite difficult diving conditions like strong currents. No strangers to large dive tours, operators in Egypt don’t have a very clean track record and this sort of incident is not unheard of. Egyptian authorities have reported the deaths of 30 foreign divers last year alone.

Irresponsible operators? Or just bad luck? Here’s hoping both divers and dive operators take this incident as a lesson to tighten safety measure when diving in larger groups.

*Photos by star5112 and fearlessRich on flickr

While it may sound quite like  a scene from the famous whale movie ‘Free Willy’, recent news reported a Beluga Whale that sensed the distress of a free diver and saved her from drowning by pushing her up to the surface.

Free diver Yang Yun owes her life to a Beluga whale named Mila at Polar Land in Harbin, north east China. News reported that the 26 year old free diver had been taking part in a free diving contest without any breathing apparatus.  Competitors had to swim to the bottom of a 20ft arctic pool and stay there for as long as possible. The large tank was home to beluga whales one of which spotted diver Yang Yun struggling as her legs paralyzed with crippling cramps due to the cold temperatures.

Lucky Yun  told a reporter : “I began to choke and sank even lower and I thought that was it for me – I was dead. Until I felt this incredible force under me driving me to the surface.”

The Beluga Mila was said to have helped Yun by grabbing on to her leg with it’s mouth before organizers even noticed the problem and they watched in amazement how using her sensitive dolphin like nose  the whale guided the helpless diver safely to the surface.

Beluga whales like dolphins, are known for their intelligence, sensitivity as well playfulness towards humans.  These social creatures can grow up t 15ft (5m) in length and are a striking white color with a humped head. Beluga’s are popular for their amusing facial expressions unlike other whales and they have an almost perpetual smile giving them a friendly face. An amazing fact about this whale is that it unlike most whales can swim backwards.

Unfortunately the dwindling numbers of this species has put it on the Endangered list. Found particularly in very cold waters around Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Russia, the biggest threat to the whale is human caused pollution from our rivers which flow out to the oceans where this whale resides. Hunting is another reason.

Let the remarkable story of Mila the hero Beluga whale, one of our world’s beautiful creatures be a reminder to us all of  the plight of our oceans today.