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SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011)
Issue 175 - December 2014
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk
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Contents:
- What's new at SCUBA Travel?
- Letters
- Creature of the Month: The Scarlet Lady Nudibranch
- Diving news from around the world
Diving Belize
Belize boasts the largest barrier reef in the Northern hemisphere, and the second largest reef system in the world. Belize's most famous dive site is the Blue Hole, currently ranked the sixth best dive in the world. However, some people think that Belize has even better dive sites. Read which at
scubatravel.co.uk/americas/belize-diving.html
Interviews with Authors and Diving Book Reviews
We've interviewed 19 authors of diving books and reviewed 34 dive guides, novels, marine conservation books, sealife guides, histories and memoirs at
scubatravel.co.uk/interview.html
Letters
Diving in January
Where are good dive locations off Pacific in January?
Jennifer G. Smith, via Twitter - @JenniferGSmith
We recommended Palau in Micronesia or Hin Daeng and Hin Mouang in Thailand. Anyone any other suggestions? E-mail news@scubatravel.co.uk or tweet @SCUBANews.
Snorkelling in Cuba
We are a couple who love to snorkel so reefs need to be fairly shallow and close to a nice beach so we can enter from the beach. We have never been to Cuba before. Can you recommend a suitable area/place.
Susanne
Can anyone help Susanne? E-mail news@scubatravel.co.uk and we'll pass your message on.
Creature of the Month: The Scarlet Lady Nudibranch
Coryphella browni. Photo by Tim Nicholson.
Coryphella browni, or the Scarlet Lady nudibranch, is one of the few animals to eat stinging hydroids, in particular the Oaten pipes hydroids (Tubularia indivisa). It not only doesn't mind their stinging cells, it actually puts them to use. The nudibranch passes the intact cells through its digestive tract and out to the cerata tips (the colourful projections on its body). Any animal taking a bite out of the cerata will discharge the stinging cells, then give up and go and eat something less painful.
Coryphella browni with its favourite food the Oaten pipe hydroid (Tubularia indivisa). Photo credit: Tim Nicholson.
Coryphella browni has a translucent body and numerous red cerata with white tips. The inner cerata are longer than the outer. It grows up to 5 cm long. You find it around the British Isles and Northern Europe. There are other species very similar to C. browni, such as Coryphella lineata which is distinguished by white lines down its body and along its cerrata.
Coryphella lineata (above) is distinguished from C. brownii by the white lines on its body and cerrata. Photo credit: Tim Nicholson.
Nudibranchs are hermaphrodites: possessing both male and female organs. If you see wavy white threads amongst the hydroid stems, these are the eggs of Coryphella browni.
Animalia (Kingdom) > Mollusca (Phylum) > Gastropoda (Class) > Opisthobranchia (Subclass) > Nudibranchia (Order)
Photos taken on the Isle of Man and copyright Tim Nicholson, whose underwater photographs and photo books are available from http://www.photoboxgallery.com/timnicholson.
More on Coryphella Browni…
View more nudibranch photos on our (new) Pinterest board.
Diving accidents down again this year [Tweet this…]
In the last three years the number of reported diving incidents has declined by approximately 60 per year. Are people doing less diving, keeping quiet about incidents or diving more safely?
Humpback whales sing for their supper [Tweet this…]
Humpback whales work together whilst foraging on the bottom for food - but how do they co-ordinate their behaviour? The answer might be a "tick-tock" song.
Ocean plastic count in the trillions [Tweet this…]
The first estimate of plastic afloat on the global oceans is a 'highly conservative' 5.25 trillion pieces. The count, which only measures surface-floating plastic, finds its total mass would weigh around 268,940 tonnes - though the vast majority of pieces are smaller than a grain of rice.
Underwater robot maps ice [Tweet this…]
An underwater robot has enabled researchers to produce the first detailed, high-resolution 3-D maps of Antarctic sea ice. Scientists say the new technology provides accurate ice thickness measurements from areas that were previously too difficult to access.
Electric eels remotely control their prey [Tweet this…]
A jolt from an electric eel does more than stun its prey, scientists say. A report the journal Science says that eels can use their electric organs to remotely control the fish they hunt.
Crown-of-thorns starfish outbreak threatens North West Australia's beleaguered coral reefs [Tweet this…]
A crown-of-thorns starfish outbreak has been discovered on the little-known coral reefs of Western Australia's Pilbara region, which are already suffering from severe coral bleaching.
Huge decline in Gulf fish stocks [Tweet this…]
Number of fish in Arabian Gulf fell by 88% between 1975 and 2011
Japan calls ban on hunting 'stupid' [Tweet this…]
Tokyo's chief negotiator at the International Whaling Commission attacked 'eco-imperialist' countries who want a 'stupid' ban on hunting
Turtles starving to death in wake of Queensland cyclones and floods [Tweet this…]
Marine wildlife such as turtles and dugongs are still starving to death as a result of Cyclone Larry, Cyclone Yasi and the Brisbane floods, researchers at James Cook University in far north Queensland say.
Microbes discovered by deepest marine drill analysed [Tweet this…]
The tiny, single-celled organisms survive in this harsh environment on a low-calorie diet of hydrocarbon compounds and have a very slow metabolism.
For breaking news see our Twitter page or RSS feed
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Photo credits: Tim Nicholson; Sanc0602
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CONTACTING THE EDITOR
Please send your letters or press releases to:
Jill Studholme
SCUBA News
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Upper Mayfield
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