Welcome to SCUBA News. Our sea creature feature this month is lovely masked pufferfish, one of the planet's most poisonous animals. We highlight diving in France and step back in time to diving the Nicaraguan Corn Islands. Plus the liveaboard deals specially selected for us by Divebooker.
We've also teamed up with AquaMarine Diving Bali to offer you 10% off published prices, free rental gear and an AquaMarine Goodie-Bundle when you use code ScubaTravelUK2024. They are an excellent dive company and Bali is a stunning place to dive.
The French Mediterranean is littered with wrecks sitting on sandy bottoms with clear warm water. What more could a confirmed wreck diver ask for? LEARN MORE…
Nicaragua has many unspoilt dive spots. Journey back in time to the Caribbean's past on the secluded Corn Islands. Additionally, experience freshwater diving in volcanic crater lakes or dive on the rocky reefs of the Pacific coast. READ MORE…
With impressive wreck dives, stunning underwater landscapes and unforgettable marine life encounters, should a UK diving adventure be on your wish list? FIND OUT …
We bring you news of some brilliant dive boat deals, specially selected for us by Divebooker.com, the liveaboard specialists. Including some little dived destinations like Saudi Arabia's Five Corals and Seven Sisters. Divebooker will also help you with transfers and give 24/7 expert support. (We use them and on the two occasions we've needed help the support was excellent.)
Indo Master, Komodo National Park, 05 - 15 August 2024 (10 nights), SAVE UP TO 20%, Price from USD 5,250 4,462 per trip per person (Cannot be combined with any compensation voucher or loyalty discount)
Merdeka 3, Thailand, 29 April - 4 May, SAVE 15%, Price from $1116$948 per trip per person. Small liveaboard with just 6 cabins offering South Andaman Dive 'n Chill Cruise from Phuket to Phi Phi island.
Masked Pufferfish - amongst the most toxic animals in the world
Our Creature of the Month today is the Masked Pufferfish, Arothron diadematus
Taken on Sha'ab Hassan, Egyptian Red Sea by Tim Nicholson.
Distinctive looking, this small pufferfish has a black mask over its eyes reaching back to its pectoral fins, and a black mouth. It is common on fringing coral reefs in the Red Sea. Elsewhere it is replaced by Arothron nigropunctatus (the Blackspotted Puffer). However, some experts believe these to be the same species.
Masters of Self Defence
Pufferfish are bulbous fishes with a scaleless, prickly, skin. They are called pufferfish because when threatened they greatly inflate themselves with water, making themselves look much larger than they usually are. They do this by rapidly gulping water into their extending stomach. This makes them into a spiny ball three to four times their normal size. It can be stressful to the puffer fish though, so they only do this when seriously threatened. This defence mechanism is important because they move so slowly through the water.
Their second line of defence is their toxicity.
100 Times as deadly as the venom of the black widow spider
The Puffer is harmless, unless eaten. The liver, intestines, gonads and skin are highly poisonous and cause death in around 60% of people who eat it. If prepared properly the puffer (or fugu) is edible and considered a delicacy in Japan and Korea.
Masked pufferfish. Jill Studholme
The Puffer's toxin - tetrodotoxin - is produced within the pufferfish by bacteria. The fish acquire the bacteria by grazing on the reef and eating molluscs and other invertebrates. Weight-for-weight, tetrodotoxin and is up to 100 times as deadly as the venom of the black widow spider and one of the most poisonous natural substances.
Pufferfish tetrodotoxin used to treat tumours
Researchers have shown that the masked pufferfish's toxin can be used to treat breast cancer, increasing lifespan by 46% and decreasing the number of tumour cells.
Fused teeth which never stop growing
Adult puffer fish have just four teeth, fused together into one strong beak. They can use this to open clams or mussels, and graze on coral. These teeth can regenerate indefinitely, so they never become completely ground down. The four teeth gave rise to both the name of their family - Tetraodontidae and the name for their toxin - tetrodotoxin, so named in 1894 by Dr. Yoshizumi Tahara.
Masked pufferfish taken in Hamata, Red Sea. You can clearly see the fused teeth. Jill Studholme
Dolphin Talk: Deciphering their language What do dolphins mean with their whistles, pops and non-verbal communications? With their large brains dolphins have many factors in common with humans.
One dead and 17 divers rescued in Malta One diver has died and 17 others have been rescued after getting into difficulty in the sea during unexpectedly strong winds in Malta, police have confirmed.
Diver fined for touching whale shark in Thailand Whilst diving at Richelieu Rock, the diver, a tourist, touched the whale shark's tail in spite of having been briefed not to. Whale sharks are protected wild animals in Thailand'.
Tanker grounds in marine reserve: Egypt detains vessel Libyan registered gas carrier, sailing to Russia after offloading at Aqaba, ran aground at Ras Nasrani near Sharm el Sheikh. Vessel could be fined in the tens of millions of dollars depending on the level of damage in the marine reserve.
A coral superhighway in the Indian Ocean Despite being scattered across more than a million square kilometres, new research has revealed that remote coral reefs across the Seychelles are closely related.
Reef-World Joins Big Give Green Match Fund to Save Coral Reefs The Reef-World Foundation Launches "Let's Save Our Reefs!" Campaign to Protect Coral Reef Ecosystems in the Big Give Green Match Fund for the first time. As coral reefs face unprecedented threats, Reef-World aims to protect these invaluable marine ecosystems.
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. Most photos though, are copyright the photographer. Please get in touch for details.
Photo credits: Waielbi/CC BY-SA 3.0, DepositPhotos, Tim Nicholson, Jill Studholme, Darko Kovacevic Laboratory of Maritime Archaeology
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