Freediving World Record – 88m without fins

William Trubridge breaks the freediving world record without fins with a dive to 88m (288 feet) in 3:30 in Dean’s Blue Hole, Bahamas. For more information, or to enrol in FREEDIVING COURSES visit verticalblue.net

All footage supplied by Blue Eye FX blueeyefx.com/

See the video: http://vimeo.com/4802703

Lançamento – Naufrágios no Brasil

Whale watching in Bahia

The municipality of Prado, gateway to the Whale Coast, located in southern Bahia, receives from July to November humpback whales that come out to cross Antarctica, give birth and nurse their pups, thus enabling the practice of whale watching.

Animals that can reach 16 m in length and weigh 40 tons take pains stunts ranging from jumping almost completely out of water until the demonstration of the striking head and tail. Besides the gigantic ballet, you can count on the presence of more than 10 whales at one time, Humpback whales are famous for the song, one of the most developed systems of vocalization of the animal world.

Eden Beach

Eden Beach is located behind Wannadive’s Resort just south of Buddy’s Reef. The current can be a little stronger here, so be careful. There are several highlights to Eden Beach.

Under the pier is a web cam, be sure to tell your friends when you plan on being at this site and they can get some photos of you. You can find the link to the web cam at BonaireWebcams.com. As you descend at 30 feet there is an enormous round mooring.

Heading south at 60 feet is the sail boat Bakanal which is abundant with fish. Lantern bass, yellow jaw-fish, sea snakes and more have made her their home. To the north in 45 feet of water is the wreck Our Confidence. The bow faces north in 57 feet on sand and rubble, her masts have fallen and wood worms have weakened the structure, so be careful.

Source: Scuba.com

Buddy’s Reef

Buddy’s Reef

Buddy’s Reef is a resort as well as a wonderful dive site. They have an open dock policy, just stop at the gear locker to let them know you’d like to use their facility if you aren’t staying at the resort. It’s ok to drive your truck to the stairs that lead down to the pier, drop off your gear and then park your truck back in the lot. Here there are stairs or you can do a giant stride off the dock into the water. It’s a short swim to the marker buoy where the reef starts at 35 feet and drops off to a sand bottom at 110 feet. The slope is a myriad of color with soft and hard corals and many sponges. There are many critters here that have made Buddy’s Reef their home. A few things you should not miss are Frog fish, green and spotted moray’s, a resident turtle and even a sea horse. Just ask the dive master for directions to where these animals hang out; photo opportunities galore present themselves at Buddy’s. Once a week a pod of dolphins cruise by the resort, so keep your eyes to the blue and your ears open for this rare treat. Be sure to take a trip to Buddy’s at night where a few Tarpon like to hang out. One is especially large and has been nicknamed “Charlie.” He’s very used to divers and knows to follow your dive light to a nice meal, listen for the snap of his jaws when he strikes. It’s very exciting. Even in this warm water my 3mm full wetsuit made my dives so much more enjoyable, both for warmth and protection from coral.

Buddy’s Reef is a resort as well as a wonderful dive site. They have an open dock policy, just stop at the gear locker to let them know you’d like to use their facility if you aren’t staying at the resort.

It’s ok to drive your truck to the stairs that lead down to the pier, drop off your gear and then park your truck back in the lot. Here there are stairs or you can do a giant stride off the dock into the water.

 

It’s a short swim to the marker buoy where the reef starts at 35 feet and drops off to a sand bottom at 110 feet. The slope is a myriad of color with soft and hard corals and many sponges. There are many critters here that have made Buddy’s Reef their home.

A few things you should not miss are Frog fish, green and spotted moray’s, a resident turtle and even a sea horse. Just ask the dive master for directions to where these animals hang out; photo opportunities galore present themselves at Buddy’s.

 

Once a week a pod of dolphins cruise by the resort, so keep your eyes to the blue and your ears open for this rare treat. Be sure to take a trip to Buddy’s at night where a few Tarpon like to hang out.

One is especially large and has been nicknamed “Charlie.” He’s very used to divers and knows to follow your dive light to a nice meal, listen for the snap of his jaws when he strikes. It’s very exciting. Even in this warm water my 3mm full wetsuit made my dives so much more enjoyable, both for warmth and protection from coral.

Source: Scuba.com

Scientist discovers whales may be singing their own names

 

A German scientist has found whales may be doing more than serenading love interests or telling their pods where the herring is by singing: through their songs, they may actually have names.

“From our research, one can say that whales have signature tones,” said Heike Vester from her lab in the northern Norwegian town of Hennigsvaer. “When many pods of whales come together, the sounds the whales make is very different than if they are just with their own family. This is very important for communicating between groups.”

Pods of whales use clicks for echolocation of food, but the songs they sing are a distinct language that can give instructions too once the food has been found. This means the whales can set a hunting strategy.

“The groups have their own modifications to the language that are learned dialects. It shows other whales the dynamics of that group,” the 39 year old marine biologist from Baden-Württemberg explained. Killer whales have as many as 17 different tones in their whistles, hum and click that each pod can produce to communicate with the community around them.

When more than one pod of whales meet at a school of herring, these tones allow the whales to communicate specifically with their own pod when hunting, like a family calling each other by name.

Vester has been studying killer whales and pilot whales near the Norwegian coast for 10 years and hopes more understanding of the animals will further protect them. Norway is not bound by a worldwide 1985 moratorium against whaling.

“It’s difficult being a whale researcher in Norway,” Vester said, noting that whale hunters and researchers are in a constant battle for what happens at sea. There is little financial support for her research and her team relies on microphones placed in the area by the World Wildlife Fund.

“The whale population still has yet to recover from the whaling that was done. They continue to suffer from the garbage in the sea, the driving nets and chemical pollution such as pesticides out there. These animals are endangered and they need our protection,” she said.

Source: DPA/The Local (news@thelocal.de)

Diving in abrolhos

 

The Abrolhos Archipelago is a Marine National Park located 45 miles off the mid-eastern coast of Brazil. The archipelago of five volcanic islands harbors the greatest chains of coral reefs in the South Atlantic spreading across more than 9 million square yards. The ocean around Abrolhos also covers one of the rarest and most exhuberant coral reef banks in the region. According to scientific knowledge, there is no other place on earth where you can see the type of coral reef pinnacle prevalent in Abrolhos waters, locally known as “chapeirão” [sha-payr-an-o]. The species looks like a giant mutant mushroom and is overgrown with fans of fire coral and round knobs of brain coral also unique to this archipelago.

Abrolhos is also home to some of the richest coral in Brazil, and one of the rarest in the world. All the existing species of fish in the South Atlantic can be found in the surroundings of the archipelago. Between July and November, Abrolhos is visited by Humpback whales, who give their own spectacular performance leaping from the water and emitting a variety of sounds. One of the rarest species of endangered mammals, they measure up to 50 feet and weigh around 30 tons. Abrolhos is the only area in the South Atlantic to which the whales go in order to mate, give birth and escape the Antarctic winters. They are in the archipelago for their entire mating season.

The male whales meet the females again and try to attract them by serenading the ladies with all kinds of sweet songs. The Humpbacks are considered to be the most docile of all whale species, and are also known for their highly-developed communication and acrobatics. That makes for a perfect whale-watching-or-hearing opportunity, whether it be while touring on the topside or diving down under. In the interest of preserving the whales privacy and ensuring their annual return, tourists must maintain a distance of 330 feet from the whales.

Charles Darwin was attracted by the rich fauna and paid a research visit to the archipelago in the 1830s. Today, you are allowed to dive in these turquoise blue waters, provided you are in the company of a guide. There are so many spectacular sights in the archipelago’s coast that it is almost impossible to pick the best dives.

Rosalinda wreck (also known as Rosalina)

The Italian cargo ship sank in 1955. It is approximately 330 x 44 feet and its bow reaches up above the water surface at low tide as it is on a higher incline. At the 66 foot bottom, the ship sits on a coral reef bank between two “chapeirão” pinnacles. Today, the ship is completely preserved and integrated into the rich surrounding coral reef ecosystem. There are fish and “chapeirão” everywhere. Rosalinda carried beer and cement. At least, the cement will still be in sight for sure. As you move around the 3 accessible cargo rooms, do not be alarmed if you see a 550 pound jewfish that tends to spend seasons in the machine room. Although it is huge, it does not hurt anybody. Of course, the same is true for the large turtles that also like the area.

How to get there

There daily flights from São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro to Porto Seguro. Porto Seguro is 164 miles, approximately 4 hours drive, from Caravelas which is the main port for Abrolhos from the mainland. Caravelas has well equipped hotels, guesthouses, restaurants and travel agencies. You can also reach the archipelago leaving from Nova Viçosa, Alcobaça or Prado on a sailboat or motor boat.

Source:www.brazil.ru/en/abrolhosdiving

A World First for Coral Rescue for Nakheel Dubai

 

A coal reef was discovered at Dubai’s dry dock’s breakwater but was in an area that had been chosen as a land base for firms building The World archipelago. Experts decided that the traditional methods of moving coral was going to be too damaging to the fragile creatures and so a plan was formed to move more than eleven hundred rocks, each encrusted with precious coral. Each rock weighed about five tons and had to be moved without leaving the water.

It has now been revealed that the painstaking process, which took over five weeks to complete, has resulted in coral that is thriving in it’s new home as The World’s breakwater.

“Traditionally, when coral is moved it is chiselled or drilled from rocks, placed in baskets and shipped to a new location,” said Brendan Jack, Head of Sustainability and Environment for Nakheel Northern Projects. “That wasn’t open to us because each of the rocks was encased in coral, so we went back to the drawing board to find an engineering solution. This operation took considerable time and effort and, importantly, money and illustrates the extent to which Nakheel takes seriously its environmental management responsibilities. Nothing like this has ever been attempted before and we are very pleased with the outcome.”

In a typical relocation project of this sort only thirty percent of the coral survives, but using this method only seven percent of the coral died during it’s move. The details of the relocation was kept under wraps for a year and was announced to coincide with World Environment day.

Scientific study of the reef is continuing and Marine biologist John Burt, Assistant Professor at Zayed University is regularly visiting the reef and checking on the progress of the transplanted coral.

He said: “What we found [in the initial assessment] was the biggest coral reef in Dubai and an area of extreme importance. Because of the conditions in the Gulf – where the water temperature can reach 35C and drop to 15C – coral has difficulty establishing itself. However, it has learned to adapt and we believed it was important to do everything we could to protect this reef. We could not take all of the coral. In some places the water was too shallow for the crane so the rocks had to be left. I believe once development around the Dry Docks breakwater begins the remaining coral has no chance of survival.”

Engineers and divers drilled iron bolts through the rocks and attached a sling to hoist them from there home. The ricks were then raised, but never removed from the water, being attached to mountings which were welded to the deck of a barge and left suspended in the water. The rocks were then transported the fifteen km to there new resting place before being carefully lowered in to place.

The total area now covered by the new reef is 6,560sq m. The exact location has not been revealed but it is hoped that once firmly established the reef will become a recognised diving site.

A Nakheel spokesman said: “Initial observations show the project has been extremely successful with damage kept to a minimum, as indicated by a lack of breakage and stress. As the coral continues to thrive the waters around The World will see an increase in coral cover and diversity in the long term and will also attract reef-associated fish. A number of the dominant corals, now at The World, are ‘broadcast spawners’ and their reproductive activities could result in the development of coral on nearby rocks.”

Source: Emirates Business 24

Georgia’s Áquario leaves visitor dive with whale shark

The newest attraction and disputed the Georgia Aquarium, the United States is swimming next to one of the largest animal on the planet. Since June, visitors of the largest aquarium in the world can dive tank of sharks, giant virtually harmless.

The tour lasts 30 minutes and costs $ 190 for those who just nothing on the surface of the aquarium and U.S. $ 290 for those who dive. Those who viewed the experience say that it is to cause tachycardia and that only gives to relax when you remember that these sharks, despite the 20 meters in length, from 30 tonnes in weight and mouth giant, is feed on plankton.

Other aquariums where you can dive with the animals:

- Acqua World, in Guaruja
- Aquarium of Busan in South Korea
- Baltimore Aquarium, the United States
- The Florida Aquarium, also in the U.S.
- L’Aquàrium Barcelona, Spain

From: Viaje Aqui