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Help Us to Protect Goliath Groupers

Sign the Goliath Groupers Petition, requesting to continue the protection of the Goliath Grouper (Epinephelus Itajara).

Goliath Grouper have been inhabitants of Florida's reefs for millions of years and serve a vital role in the healthy functioning of the reefs. They have been listed as a critically endangered species by the World Conservation Union (IUCN), and have been protected from fishing in the United States since 1990, and in the Caribbean since 1993.

Many of us are divers and have witnessed the large congregations of these amazing creatures from August to October in Palm Beach County, where they travel perhaps hundreds of miles to congregate in groups of 50 to 75 for breeding purposes. It is incredibly sad that a group of 50-75 individuals constitutes a large aggregation, but such is the state of our oceans today.

We have witnessed the curious nature of these massive creatures and watched them roll on their sides to have their bellies scratched by a diver. Fisherman and spear-fisherman wish to hunt them for sport, but we cannot see the sport in shooting an animal that willfully approaches divers.

We are extremely opposed to the removal of protected status from these gentle giants.

Feel the same?
Click Here to sign the Goliath Groupers Petition and help us to protect them


categories: environment

issue #6 of Underwater Journal available

------------------------------ Official Press Release ------------------------------
The Underwater Journal (http://www.underwaterjournal.com) is out with their latest release. The arrival of UWJ-issue 6 marks the one-year anniversary of this free, online publication became accessible to underwater enthusiast using the world wide web.

22-year veteran dive photojournalist, and now publisher of the Journal, Walt Stearns tells us, “what you see, is only the beginning. There is still more in the works.” And you got to see to believe.

For those with a interest in the “Dark Side” of advanced sport diving, the Underwater Journal has put together a pretty extensive round-up of closed circuit rebtreathers based on what was present at last November’s DEMA show. Yes, CCR’s are entering the mainstream.

The Journal also gives us a glimpse to the spectacular, and seldom seen side of Kona’s incredible open ocean, night diving scene.

Additional page turners include: a fun time going face to face with pikeblennies with Ned DeLoach, co-author of REEF FISH Identification book series, as well as a view into some of Lake Superior’s tantalizing wrecks to an ocean watch with Oceana as they address one of the issues concerning Global Warming. Plus a few more treats.

Download it now, and get in and explore! Also, be sure to tell a friend.

Note: due to file size, traffic on the net, some readers may experience a delay in downloading the complete 61-page journal.

Read more: http://www.underwaterjournal.com/
------------------------------ Official Press Release ------------------------------


categories: environment | press releases

Antibes 2007: Mixed feelings / critique

Antibes: Mixed Feelings / Critique

I really enjoy meeting fellow people of the underwater industry during the prestigious Antibes Festival in France any time I have the chance to visit it. However this year’s visit could not have been more contradictious than anything else I have seen during my time as an underwater photographer and environmental conservationist.Read on to find out why.


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categories: features | environment | events

DIGIDEEP Members save $300 on Shark Diving

ORIGINAL PRESS RELEASE

November Brings Largest Great White Sharks to Mexico -
Eighteen Foot Long Sharks Biggest Draw for Divers, According to Shark Diver

Great White Shark

San Francisco, CA - September 1, 2006 - November usually brings to mind Visions of Thanksgiving, voting ballots and recovering from Halloween candy. However in the world of Great White sharks, November is their Spring Break. Isla Guadalupe, 210 miles off the coast of Mexico, has become the worldwide recognized dive destination for an unprecedented number of Great White sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) and exceptional opportunities for divers seeking encounters with these misunderstood denizens of the deep.

After four years of solid operations at the Isla Guadalupe dive site, the Shark Diver team, lead by dedicated shark specialists in conjunction with U.C Davis and CICIMAR's research teams, have noted several unique seasonal shark patterns.

"Something exciting always happens in November," notes eco-adventurer and Shark Diver CEO Patric Douglas. "For the past several years we see many juvenile and mid-sized animals from September through late October. But when the seasonal temperature shifts, the real giants appear!"

The giants in question are massive female Great White sharks that appear in large numbers later in the shark season. In early November when water temperatures dip several degrees lower, larger breeding-aged female Great White sharks stalk the waters at Isla Guadalupe looking for something the Shark Diver research team is trying to discover.

"We have data showing these sharks actively stalking the small Guadalupe Fur Seals (pups and adults) early in the shark season," says Douglas. "By November these pups are quite big and begin to play offshore, which is the equivalent of ringing the dinner bell for females who need to consume mass quantities of food to fuel up for the winter and for breeding season."

There are few places in the world that feature consistent sightings and interactions with Great White sharks as Isla Guadalupe. Douglas speculates that divers' best chance for seeing sharks as long as 18 feet (or more) is in November. As he and his team have discovered with past Great White shark diving off the coast of California in Ano Nuevo and off the Oregon coastline, sharks of that size don't just wander around aimlessly - they are destination animals, just like any migratory species.

To see Great White Sharks in action in November, call Shark Diver
at 888.405.3268 or visit sharkdiver.com to book your trip today.

About Shark Diver

Great White Shark Isla Guadelupe

Since 2002, Shark Diver has introduced divers of all ages to the extraordinary world of cage diving with Great White Sharks. In the last few years, Shark Diver has expanded to offer cage diving trips with Tiger Sharks in the Bahamas, Giant Squid encounters, Whales Sharks in Honduras, as well as deep-dive submarine trips to see Giant Sharks in Roatan. CEO Patric Douglas is a natural born eco-adventurer, who started his career in the U.S. ###### Islands in hotel tourism, spent two years as a tour guide in Vietman, Bali, Hong Kong, Australia/New Zealand and Latin America, served as an outdoor reporter for CBS in San Francisco, and founded an outdoor adventure club called "Absolute Adventures" which continues to thrive in San Francisco today. For the past several years, Douglas has dedicated his life to providing educational and interactive experiences for clients through shark diving. In addition, Shark Diver is partially funding efforts to preserve the habitat and safely study the Great White shark species at Isla Guadalupe. For more information on Shark Diver and Patric Douglas, visit sharkdiver.com.




Sharks and Andi on Television

If you want to get a better impression about Tiger Sharks I recommend to read our Bahamas Expediton Report 2004 by Lars, or the story How Tiger Sharks utilize Nikon cameras. There you can see much better pictures of the animals and you will hopefully conclude that slowing down your heartbeat is not a necessity for shark diving. To be honest: do you know any underwater photographer who is not overwhelmed by joyful heartthrob when he has a shark in front of his camera?

Small sidenote : The date for DIGIDEEP’s Shark-Expedition 2006 is fixed. If you want to join from 30th July till 5th August 2006, to film or photograph sharks and dolphins in the Bahamian waters, please send me a private message via our forum.



Oh look, they call me "Sharkdiver Andi Voeltz"


categories: environment | people

Wetpixel Bahamas Shark Expedition





archive
September 2004
2004/09/26 Sharks choose Nikon [Part 2] - Interview with Manu San Felix Andi Voeltz
2004/03/21 The secret seahorse Roberto Sozzani
June 2003
2003/06/22 the baltic sea is full of life! Ingvar Eliasson
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