SCUBA News - #189 - February 2016

SCUBA News ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011) Issue 189 - February 2016 http://www.scubatravel.co.uk ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Welcome to SCUBA News. Last month we had a complaint about the layout - so we've changed it a little in this issue. We wanted to keep it simple and easy-to-read though - so have stuck to one column. Does it work for you or have you improvements to suggest? Email news@scubatravel.co.uk. You can download a pdf version of the newsletter here. Save 50% on Diving Advertising! Lock into low advertising rates at the SCUBA Travel site - book by end of Feb and get the low price for life. Tell Me More Contents: - What's new at SCUBA Travel? - Letters - Europe's Top Ten Dive Sites - Diving news from around the World What's New at SCUBA Travel? Philippines Dive Shops and Liveaboards The apex of the coral triangle, with around 36000 km of coastline, the Philippines has lots of options for diving and many, many dive shops - but which to choose? Read Divers' Reviews Diving Tanzania's Spice Islands March is an excellent time to dive Zanzibar and Mafia Island - Tanzania's Spice Islands. Travel is cheaper and it's a good time to see see whales, sharks and turtles. Read More Diving Albania Albania is opposite the heel of Italy and north of Greece. It's a new area for diving, with plenty of places to be explored. Read More Letters Diving with Dyslexia Please could you tell me which teaching regime would be best for my 14yr old dyslexic daughter. Thanks Alex It's a good question and we don't have a definitive answer. It is probably more important to choose a sympathetic dive school rather than a particular teaching regime. Regarding the written tests, it should be possible to have the questions read out to her and to give oral answers if necessary. Good luck to your daughter - I hope she enjoys learning to dive. Please contact news@scubatravel.co.uk with your experiences of diving with dyslexia and we'll pass them onto Alex. Europe's Top Ten Dive Sites Europe boasts some world class dive sites, with great visibility and masses of underwater life. According to our readers, these are the ten best dive sites in Europe. Blockship Tabarka, Scapa Flow, Scotland This shallow 18 m dive is a real beauty. One of the block ships scuttled to prevent submarine attack during WW2. Covered in life, worth the trip and the one of surprises of Scapa. Photo credit: Joe Ryan   The Zenobia, Cyprus The wreck of a huge ferry. Lying on its port side, the wreck starts at about 15 m and descends to 42 m. Needs several dives to see anything like all of it. Photo credit: Malcom Browne (CC BY-NC 2.0)   Cirkewwa, Malta Features the wreck of the Rozi MV as well as stunning underwater topography. Visibility is very good and there is a mass of sea life: barracuda, morays, octopus, cuttlefish and even dolphins. Photo credit: Richard Kingfelt   Silfra, Thingvellir, Iceland An extraordinary dive in a narrow crack between the American and the European continental shelves, in astonishingly clear water. The clarity of the water gives the diver the feeling of flying above the bottom and on sunny days, when there are slight waves on the surface, the light breaks into a rainbow of colours. Photo credit: David Ramsey   Blue Hole, Gozo A beautiful sharp drop off into the blue hole with what seems like limitless visibility and feels like you are on the very edge of the world. Photo credit: Runeng   Eddystone Reef, England 12 miles off Plymouth, England. The reef is from 8 to 60 m. Encrusted with jewel anemones and with the remains of ancient wrecks, including a large 17th century anchor. Stunning. Photo credit: Tim Nicholson   Chios island, Greece Small undersea caves and paths between impressive rocks, colourful reefs and vertical walls. Photo credit: Andrew Reay-Robinson   Diamond Rocks, Kilkee, Ireland Claimed to be on a par with the famous Yongala. It is a cold water dive off Ireland's west coast. The bay is fairly sheltered and is teaming with life. The terrain is full of rocks and gullies and the water is really clear. Photo credit: Tim Nicholson   Fortunal, Vis Island, Croatia Wreck of a fishing boat which sunk in 1991. Lies at 45 - 55 m   Photo credit: Divebooker   Fanore, Ireland Shore dive in crystal clear Atlantic water with abundant fish. You might even see Dusty the Dolphin. Photo credit: Tim Nicholson   Your favourite dive not included? Then cast your vote. Diving News From Around the World Our round up of the more interesting underwater news stories of the past month. For breaking news see our Twitter page or RSS feed Shark virgin births seen in two generations for the first time Two surprising new findings are overturning everything we knew about parthenogenesis, suggesting virgin births could be far more common than we thought. Reef sharks prefer bite-size meals Black-tip, white-tip and grey reef sharks have a similar diet to large fish like groupers and snappers, but they don't eat each other. So rather than eating big fish, reef sharks are eating like big fish. Motorboat noise halves reef fish survival rate The rate at which predators capture fish doubles when boats are motoring nearby. But this means that just by banning motorboats from some areas fish there can recover. Devastating global coral bleaching event could hit Great Barrier Reef next Australia's world heritage-listed reef is threatened by warmer waters that have killed off coral in Fiji but the full impact depends on the weather. Artist creates exquisite, hand-crafted coral to send a message about climate change An artist who has been using ceramics to call attention to ocean issues for years, unveiled an enormous installation - a larger-than-life tour through coral and its biggest enemies: rising sea levels, higher temperatures, and of course, humans. Rare Right Whales Get 40,000 Sq Miles Protected Habitat Entire Georgia and and South Carolina coasts declared Right Whale haven Beluga data show whales dive to maximize meals Study helps illuminate aspects of a yearly migration that spans thousands of kilometers in a region that's experiencing rapid change. Sperm Whales' Language Reveals Hints of Culture These deep-diving whales off the Galapagos have their own dialects, a sign that they have a culture. Octopuses resolve conflicts with many-armed body language Often thought of as solitary animals, octopuses have been observed changing colour and posture to prevent confrontations in crowded spots from escalating Green worms create a superorganism that becomes a giant seaweed It's not just corals that get food from algae. Flatworms live off energy provided by the green algae they store in their tissues, meaning they can spend their lives sunbathing on sunny beaches. SCUBA News is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. This means we are happy for you to reuse our material for both commercial and non-commercial use as long as you: credit the name of the author, link back to the SCUBA Travel website and say if you have made any changes. Photo credits: Tim Nicholson, Andrew Reay-Robinson, Tiziana, David Ramsey [CC BY-SA 2.0], Runeng [CC BY-SA 2.0] Previous editions of SCUBA News are archived at http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/news.html SUBSCRIBING AND UNSUBSCRIBING Visit Unsubscribe and add or remove your e-mail address. To change whether your receive the newsletter in text or HTML (with pictures) format visit this link ADVERTISING Should you wish to advertise in SCUBA News, please see the special offers at http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/newsad.html Other advertising opportunities are at http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/advertising.html CONTACTING THE EDITOR Please send your letters or press releases to: Jill Studholme SCUBA News The Cliff Upper Mayfield DE6 2HR UK news@scubatravel.co.uk PUBLISHER SCUBA Travel Ltd, 5 Loxford Court, Hulme, Manchester, M15 6AF, UK