Yeah, We know. So we’re going diving!
Posted on May 16th, 2009 by caballodemar
Things are still messed up. We are going to have to do a total re-build. We’ll fix everything when we get back from diving. 
Oops! Bad Dive :)
Posted on March 29th, 2009 by caballodemar
We think we’ve got a wee bit too much gas in our system. Somwhere along the line we lost some data during the last software update. We’ll sort out what happened to all of our posts since December, and get it fixed shortly. We think…
“Scuba Diving” magazine changes hands
Posted on December 19th, 2008 by caballodemar
Maybe it might become readable again. We all know it has merely been a collection of sponsors based drivel for the last several years. We’ll see…
In its second major recent acquisition, Bonnier Corp. has added Scuba Diving magazine to its portfolio.
Winter Park-based Bonnier, which also publishes Sport Diver, bought Scuba Diving from F+W Media. Bonnier also produces Undersea Diver. The three publications will be managed by the Bonnier Dive Group.
The deal’s terms were not disclosed.
“We serve the enthusiast market better than anyone in the business, so adding Scuba Diving to our existing Sport Diver title will only enhance our relationship with the dive industry and its passionate audience,” Bonnier CEO Terry Snow said in a prepared statement.
Source
What’s with all the jellyfish?
Posted on December 13th, 2008 by caballodemar
Huge swarms of stinging jellyfish and similar slimy animals are ruining beaches in Hawaii, the Gulf of Mexico, the Mediterranean, Australia and elsewhere, U.S. researchers reported on Friday.
The report says 150 million people are exposed to jellyfish globally every year, with 500,000 people stung in the Chesapeake Bay, off the U.S. Atlantic Coast, alone.
Another 200,000 are stung every year in Florida, and 10,000 are stung in Australia by the deadly Portuguese man-of-war, according to the report, a broad review of jellyfish research.
The report says the Black Sea’s fishing and tourism industries have lost $350 million because of a proliferation of comb jelly fish.
The report says more than 1,000 fist-sized comb jellies can be found in a cubic yard (meter) of Black Sea water during a bloom.
Are 1/5 of the world’s coral reefs dead?
Posted on December 10th, 2008 by caballodemar
That’s what the folks at the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network say.
Almost a fifth of the planet’s coral reefs have died and carbon emissions are largely to blame, according to an NGO study released Wednesday.
The report, released by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, warned that on current trends, growing levels of greenhouse gases will destroy many of the remaining reefs over the next 20 to 40 years.
“If nothing is done to substantially cut emissions, we could effectively lose coral reefs as we know them, with major coral extinctions,” said Clive Wilkinson, the organisation’s coordinator.
Apeks Regulator Recall!
Posted on September 25th, 2008 by caballodemar
WASHINGTON, Sept. 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. (To access color photos of the following recalled products, see CPSC’s Web site at http://www.cpsc.gov/.)
(LOGO: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030904/USCSCLOGO ) Name of product: Apeks Second Stage Scuba Regulators Units: About 25,000 Distributor: Aqua Lung America of Vista, Calif. Manufacturer: Apeks Marine Equipment Ltd., of Blackburn, England
Hazard: These regulators can be missing the diaphragm cover which can cause the diaphragm to become displaced during a dive, allowing water to enter the scuba regulator. This poses a drowning hazard to divers.
Incidents/Injuries: None
Description: This recall involves Apeks TX, ATX, and XTX second stage regulators that have never been serviced. Apeks and TX, ATX, or XTX is printed on the regulator.
Sold at: Authorized Apeks dealers nationwide from February 2000 through June 2008 for between $420 and $1,450.
Manufactured in: England
Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop diving with these regulators and visit an authorized Apeks dealer for a free inspection and free installation of a diaphragm cover, if the cover is missing.
Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Aqua Lung toll-free at (877) 253-3483 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. PT Monday through Friday, or visit the company’s Web site at http://www.aqualung.com/.
For More
500 new marine species discovered!
Posted on September 18th, 2008 by caballodemar
Awesome!
Hundreds of previously undocumented species have been found living in and around one of the world’s most visited coral reefs.
Bizarre and beautiful crustaceans, corals and colourful worms were discovered off the Australian coast by researchers working for the Census of Marine Life…
“The impressive thing was the sheer number of the species sitting under our noses. These are places people have been diving on for years and they have research stations,” said Julian Caley, of the Australian Institute of Marine Science.
He estimated that among more than 1,000 species found during the three expeditions, 300 to 500 were unknown to science, and he expects more over the next two years as the reefs are revisited.
Source
Scuba for the disabled
Posted on September 13th, 2008 by caballodemar
We’ve done stories like this before, but we feel it is worth reminding our readers about dive opportunities for the disabled. Here is another inspiring story (complete with video)
Jennifer Choi bobbed to the surface of a Pennsylvania lake, dropped the scuba regulator from her mouth and addressed instructor Martha Katz.
“I’m done?” she asked expectantly.
“You’re done,” Katz responded with a big smile.
What Choi, a 26-year-old New York University doctoral student from Westbury, had done at the Dutch Springs quarry was complete her 13th dive and her advanced open-water scuba diving certification.
Thousands of people every year do that. What made Choi’s accomplishment more unusual is that she is paraplegic. Born with spina bifida, she has been unable to walk since age 9. But she didn’t let that stop her from learning to dive.
Full Story
In case you are not aware of the Handicapped Scuba Association, we suggest you visit their site to se what they are about.
Aqua Lung recall
Posted on September 12th, 2008 by caballodemar
Aqua Lung Recalls Scuba Regulators and Adapters Due to Drowning Hazard
September 11, 2008
WASHINGTON, D.C. - THE U.S. CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION, IN COOPERATION WITH THE FIRM NAMED BELOW, TODAY ANNOUNCED A VOLUNTARY RECALL OF THE FOLLOWING CONSUMER PRODUCT. CONSUMERS SHOULD STOP USING RECALLED PRODUCTS IMMEDIATELY UNLESS OTHERWISE INSTRUCTED.
NAME OF PRODUCT: TITAN DIN 1ST STAGE SCUBA REGULATORS AND TITAN/CONSHELF DIN SCUBA ADAPTORS
UNITS: ABOUT 6,000
MANUFACTURER: AQUA LUNG USA, OF VISTA, CALIF.
Read Full Recall Notice
A unique? way to protest shark finning
Posted on September 3rd, 2008 by caballodemar
Now this is technically not related to diving, but it is quite interesting. We’ve run stories before about the horror of shark finning, so this kind of fits in there. We will however spare you the pictures. You’ll have to click the link for that.
Alice Newstead took the drastic action in protest at the practice of finning – where sharks are impaled on hooks, before their fins are sliced off to harvest meat for shark fin soup. The sharks are then thrown back into the ocean still alive.
A crowd gathered outside the Lush cosmetics shop in London’s Regent’s Street to see the 26-year-old impaled by hooks in her back and gasped as blood trickled down her back.
Miss Newstead said: “I am doing this because the demand for shark fin soup and other shark products is wiping out the shark population.
“I have had my torso, legs, arms, stomach and knees pierced before so that I could hang from them, so this is no big deal.
“Being hung from the chest is more painful than the back because it restricts your breathing, but as long as the piercer knows what they are doing then it is completely safe,” she said.
