Spectators at Orlando’s Sea World were witness to more than just some cute looking Killer Whales also known Orcas jump out of the water and do a few tricks, on Wednesday 24th February, 2010. It was during a show packed with an audience, that a Killer whale named Tilikum snatched a trainer from a poolside platform with its jaws and thrashed the woman around underwater, killing her as spectators watched horrified.

Officials fail to confirm that it was an attack, saying the 40-year-old female trainer- Dawn Brancheau slipped or fell into the tank leading to the horrific incident. Eye-witness’ however, clearly told reporters a different tale, stating that the trainer was rubbing the 12,000 pound whale’s belly, when it suddenly took off really fast, came around right up to the glass, jumped up grabbed the trainer by the waist and started violently thrashing about till just a shoe came floating up to the surface. More than a few witness’ recount events of the incident in the same way and park authorities and the Sheriff’s Office maintain that it was an accident with no sense of foul play.

This was not the first incident the same Killer whale Tilikum was implicated in. Two previous deaths were linked to the same whale in the past, another trainer that was performing with the whale in Canada in the year 1991, while the second incident though not confirmed as an attack was when a naked body was found in its tank in 1999. Other deaths and attacks by killer whales at different Sea Worlds and this recent one included have sparked off the age old debate of keeping this wild marine animal and others in confined tanks.

Killer whales (Orcinus orca) commonly known as Orcas belong to dolphin family. Quite unlike it’s portrayal in ‘Free Willy’ the Hollywood blockbuster Orcas are not the friendliest or nicest of whales. In fact they are quite the predators in the ocean and hunt sharks, marine mammals including sea lions, seals, walruses and even large whales. Although they aren’t a direct threat to humans, they are known to be aggressive when kept in tanks, as big as they are to us may seem bath tub sized to the whales that are used to swimming thousands of miles across oceans in their life.  With nearly two dozen attacks since the 1970s by captive killer whales it’s clearly a sign that they are not meant for captivity and shows plain cruelty towards these animals.

This incident is in stark contrast to the story – Beluga Whale Saves Free Diver from Drowning

*Photo Credits: photos by milan.boers and eschipul on flickr

What may seem just like any other mountain lake, the Pavilion lake in British Colombia, Canada is being termed a biological mystery, drawing teams of astro-biologists and astronauts from NASA and CSA to explore in it’s depths.

The seemingly normal picturesque lake situated 420 kilometers northeast of Vancouver among the limestone cliffs of Marble Canyon, is not unusually large or deep, not especially acidic or alkaline; nor are there high concentrations of minerals dissolved in its water. Yet, it is home to colonies of Microbialites which are carbonate rock formations that look like coral, but are thought to be produced by primitive bacteria. These ancient structures were common from 2.5 billion to 540 million years ago, and are one of the earliest remnants of life on Earth. How these microbial formations manage to survive in Pavilion Lake in such large quantities, in various shapes and sizes unlike anywhere else on Earth has baffled all. But, no one’s pondering that fact, considering themselves lucky with the discovery as research of the Microbialites and their formation in Pavilion lake may be key in the search for life on Mars and make it easier to identify potential forms of extraterrestrial life on future missions to Mars.

Space agencies like NASA and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) along with number of research institutions all over the world set up the Pavilion Lake Research Project and have been studying the lake for several years. Scuba divers retrieved samples from as deep as 100 feet below the surface for analysis and the deeper parts explored by DeepWorker submarines just large enough for a pilot to squeeze inside. NASA and CSA sent astronauts to the scene for space exploration training saying that the lake bottom was like the surface of another planet altogether. Scientists, technicians and even astronauts with limited scientific field experience are trained to perform good scientific observations while contending with the stress of operating underwater as if it were space.

Bizzare isn’t it, that the life we’re searching for on planets like Mars may be just like what we have right here on Earth, in a Canadian lake!

*Photo Credits: All photos by SpacePhotoBill on flickr.

For all you underwater photography enthusiasts out there, here’s a bit of good news. The leading underwater photography website DivePhotoGuide.com recently announced the launch of the highly anticipated free series of comprehensive underwater photography tutorials written by professional underwater photographers.

If you’ve ever just picked up an affordable point and shoot with housing to capture and share those sights of the underwater world with friends and loved ones or investing in some more advanced underwater photography gear these tutorial guides are just the thing to get you started or fine tune your skills to get some stunning shots down below. Written by professional underwater photographer Jason Heller and DivePhotoGuide.com editor Matt Weiss, along with contributions from several world renowned professional and award winning underwater photographers, such as National Geographic photographer David Doubilet, Martin Edge and Alex Mustard, the guides include great pictures that illustrate each technique.

The easy-to-read tutorials are for photographers of all levels and cover a wide array of topics right from understanding of basic principles and techniques or underwater photography to creative techniques that include- macro, wide angle, super-macro, composition, lighting, surf photography and so on. The simple objective- to learn how to take GREAT underwater photos. The next time you hit the water we suggest you be prepared and armed with these  practical underwater photography tips that promise to help you with some rewarding underwater images.

DivePhotoGuide.com: The popular underwater photography website DivePhotoGuide.com has been a valuable resource to a community of over 50,000 underwater photographers around the world since 2005. In addition to the new free techniques guides, the website features underwater photo galleries from the top pros and amateurs in the world, daily underwater photography and ocean related news, in-depth articles, a comprehensive underwater photography equipment guide, travel guide, event calendars and a monthly photo contest with prizes.

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

Heron Island, Australia, Dec 20^th 2009: An Australian teenager is in a stable condition in Hospital after being attached by a Shark, while diving off the coast of Heron Island in Queensland.

John Pengelly, 19 yrs old,  was diving with two friends at Lamont Reef off Heron Island when a three-meter bull shark bit him ripping a deep 20cm gash in his forearm. Pengelly who is reported to be a free diving champion was said to be spear fishing with his two friends when the incident occurred at around 7:45am on the 20^th of December. His companions immediately came to his assistance and tied their t-shirts around the gash to stop the profuse bleeding.

The victims are reported to have approached a passing fisherman vessel for assistance.Surprisingly the vessel refused to take aboard the wounded diver, but instead only radioed  the authorities for assistance.  The group had to sail back to Heron Island on their small craft which took half an hour before the Royal Flying Service airlifted Pengelly to Royal Brisbane Hospital for surgery to repair the several damaged arteries, tendons and bone damage.

Pengelly, who was questioned in recovery after his surgery said he had just returned to the surface after shooting a Mangrove Jack fish when the shark attacked him from below, catching him totally by surprise. He stated it was probably an inquiry bite, a case of mistaken identity from the part of the shark.

photos by: adman_as, cliffandally, fabiogis50

It’s an early Christmas in Japan’s Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise Aquarium which has put on an incredible show where scuba divers dressed as Santa, deliver scuba gifts to the aquariums resident Beluga Whales.

The Yokohama Hakkeikima Sea Paradise located at the tip of the Yokohama Bay in Japan, is a combination of an amusement park styled aquarium, combining the best of both worlds, amusement park styled rides, like surf coasters, free fall drops, and merry go rounds, as well as an aquarium that boast of Japan’s largest collection of marine life. With over 500 different varieties of fish and over 100,000 sea creatures, the Hakkeikima Sea Paradise is also one of Japan’s largest aquariums boasting of undersea tunnels and large three story viewing tanks.

In the Scuba show which launched this November at the Sea Paradise, a Scuba diving Santa Claus feeds the white beluga whale’s sardines in front of the spectators in a special run up show to Christmas. Beluga whales are, in fact, the smartest animals on earth with an average I.Q. of 155, and are known to learn extremely quickly which is why they can perform complex shows at aquariums. The Scuba Santa show at the Sea Paradise is an amazing example of the intelligence of these whales. (Also read: Beluga Whale Saves Free Diver from Drowning)

<

Members of the Maldives cabinet this Saturday 17^th October 2009, donned their Scuba diving equipment and held a meeting underwater, staged to highlight the threat of global warming to the lowest-lying nation on earth.

President Mohammed Nasheed and 13 other government officials descended to their conference tables and took their seats at 20 feet (6 meters) below the surface of a lagoon off Girifushi island.

Maldives is an Island nation off the south western tip of India that lies in the Indian Ocean. The meeting was which was held to draw attention to fears that rising sea levels caused by the melting of ice caps could swamp this Indian Ocean nation whose island are barely 7 feet above sea level. The country is taking the threat of global warming very seriously and has plans to become the worlds first carbon-neutral nation.

Maldivian President Mohammed Nasheed signed a document underwater calling on all countries to cut down their carbon dioxide emissions ahead of a major U.N. climate change conference in December in Copenhagen. The cabinet communicated during this session using hand signals and underwater white boards. While President Nasheed is a certified Scuba diver, many of the cabinet members had to take special Scuba diving lessons in the weeks that led up to the meeting, in order to attend.

Have you ever been on a dive where you look out not too far away into the distance and see a massive shoal of barracuda’s, jacks, fusiliers or other variety of fish give you that feeling of being small and insignificant in their world? Well, that’s exactly the kind of feeling some fish off the coast of North Sulawesi would have had when they saw a slightly different although extremely large shoal of a completely different species in August this year! 2861 divers went for a 31 minute dive simultaneously off the North Sulawesi capital Manado to earn themselves a new Guinness book record. A press release posted by Hobie on DiveBuddy.com quoted

“We have just smashed a world record today. It gives us pride as we can prove our country is a strong maritime nation,” Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Minister Freddy Numberi said after the mass dive.

The number of participants in Manado set a new world record of “most people scuba diving simultaneously”, breaking the previous mark of 979 set in Maldives in 2006.

North Sulawesi Governor Sinjo Sarundayang, Gorontalo Governor Fadel Muhammad, deputy Navy chief Vice Adm. Moekhlas Sidik and 51 foreigners were among the participants of the record breaking dive, which was held as part of the Sail Bunaken festival.

This couldn’t have been an easy feet and just considering the logistics of arranging such a dive would be a nightmare for even the most seasoned dive operators. A feat of this sort would involve 2,861 sets of masks, air tanks, , regulators, wetsuits and no less than 5722 fins! That is one large dive group to say the least.

If only we had some underwater images of what 2861 divers in the water looked like I’m sure it’s an image the fish of that region won’t forget. For each one of those divers, it would have been something fresh for the long book which most other divers couldn’t claim to have seen on their dives.

Photos by: The Daily Telegraph Australia & iTelegraph uk

September 29^th 2009:

The Republic of Palau is an Island nation in the Pacific some 500 miles east of the Philippines , with a rich and diverse marine ecosystem surrounding it. The economy of Palau subsists primarily on tourism, agriculture  and fisheries, and it came as a great surprise to all when they announced in the recent UN Assembly  the brave step to create the world’s first “shark sanctuary”, banning all commercial shark fishing in its waters.

The move announced by the Island nation’s President Johnson Toribiong, stated that Palau will protect about 600,000 sq km (230,000 sq miles) of ocean, roughly the area of France, and aim to curb the cruel practice if shark fining, which is the process of catching sharks, cutting off their fins and throwing the rest of the fish, still alive, back into the ocean to die.

The fins are prized throughout Asia for use in sharks fin soup and local medicines. As many as 100 million sharks are killed each year around the world and the once prolific shark, is now slated to be placed on the endangered list in the next few years.

“Palau will declare its territorial waters and extended economic zone to be the first officially recognized sanctuary for sharks,” Palauan President Johnson Toribiong told the Associated Press in an interview Thursday.

The Palau Shark Sanctuary will not only serve to protect the Shark but will also aid in Palau ’s economic growth, with a tourism industry that relies heavily on World-class Scuba diving, and snorkeling as a leading source of revenue the destruction of Palau’s shark population contributes to unbalancing of the marine reef diversity which could over time cause fish populations to decline.

At present with only one boat to patrol the waters of Palau which is an area the size of Texas, seems like a monumental task and will need to step up its enforcement measures; but is indeed a step in the right direction and should serve to encourage other nations to take better measures to conserve our marine ecosystems.

In recent news in Chatham, Massachusetts officials first reported sightings of great white sharks in the area early on Friday, Sept. 4th, 2009. The next day’s news confirmed the shutting down all of east-side facing beaches of Chatham for swimming as three great whites came within 75 yards of the coastline. Harbormaster patrols closely and monitor the area for sharks regularly. Beaches however will remain off-limits to swimmers till the middle of the week officials said.

(*Photo by- cdngrlnaomi on flickr)

Early Saturday a team of Cape Cod fishermen along with a state biologist, successfully tagged two of the great whites with tracking devices. This operation was the first successive great white shark tagging in Atlantic Ocean.

CNN News Reported:

“The taggings took place in the waters near Chatham, Massachusetts, two days after Greg Skomal, shark expert for the Division of Marine Fisheries, reported as many as five large sharks were seen near Monomoy Island, a National Wildlife Refuge off the southern elbow of Cape Cod. The island is about a mile away from Chatham’s Lighthouse Beach, a public swimming area.”

Tagging these sharks with satellite trackers better allows scientists to track the shark’s movements thus helping them understand their migratory patterns. Found near the coasts of California, Australia and South Africa, the Great White’s appearance near New England is relatively rare but not unheard of because of it’s seal colonies. Chatham does see other sharks species like makos, blue sharks and thresher sharks quite regularly because of the same.

So, while the big daddy of all sharks the Great White has taken residence off the Massachusetts shore, much to the inconvenience of beach swimmers, the tagging of the most feared predator of the sea’s is a boon to researchers who will hopefully gather some valuable data about these complex creatures which is a big step in learning more about them in the long run.

For the Best in Scuba Gear and Equipment right from Scuba regulators, Wetsuits,  Buoyancy Compensators, Scuba Accessories, underwater camera housings and more visit LeisurePro.com- The Diver’s Emporium