HOW MUCH DAMAGE HAS HUMAN FISHING DONE TO THE OCEAN?
We thought we could fish forever, because the sea was a limitless protein mine. But dawning now is a realization that we were wrong about that. But how naive were we? And what price will be paid? Ocean life is dying back in unexpected ways: although there are fewer fish and other sea animals, more of them are starving, while waves of 'sickness' spread as primitive microbes gain the upper hand. Symptoms include spreading 'dead zones,' harmful algae blooms and a diminished presence of sea animal life in general. Is fishing implicated in all of this?
Atlantic Canada reveals what is probably the clearest evidence anywhere of the ecosystem-effects of persistent human fishing. The early 1990's crash of the once great Canadian cod stock is held up as a global cautionary tale against fisheries mismanagement, against greedy human 'overfishing.' But less well known is that the story is not that simple, that, at the level of scientific detail, so much has gone severely and unexpectedly wrong in Atlantic Canada...that the most basic assumptions underlying the 'science of overfishing/sustainable fishing' must now be questioned.
Zooplankton were unexpectedly and inexplicably lost along with Canadian fish stocks. If, as seems likely, this is part of the ecosystem impact of fishing, then this finding has global significance.
Evidence: a Transformed Ecosystem
As the size and abundance of commercially targeted fish species has plunged in recent decades, populations of smaller, unexploited organisms, the 'foundation' species of the marine ecosystem, have also experienced major downshifts. Oceanic zooplankton is in decline, and NASA/NOAA has recently reported an apparent global declining trend in marine phytoplankton production. Evidence suggesting lowered marine nutrient cycling can also be seen along clean oceanic shorelines.
Example: A clean, rocky intertidal zone in Atlantic Canada was heavily dominated by barnacles (filter feeding animals) in summer, 1948, reflecting relatively high marine productivity at that time. (Photo from Stephenson and Stephenson 1954 J. Ecol. 42:14-70 ) Move mouse over photo to see this site in summer, 2002. Now dominated by rockweed with relatively sparse barnacle cover, with individual barnacles very small, this shift away from dominance by filter feeders, and towards dominance by seaweeds, offers classic evidence of a decline in "nitrogen loading" rates. (Carpenter and Capone, Nitrogen in the Marine Environment (Acad. Press, NY, 1983)) This pattern of shifting dominance from filter feeders to seaweed is also widely evident today in the tropics where mass coral bleaching and infectious coral epidemics signal the failing health of those once dominant filter feeders.
WANNA KNOW MORE??
http://www.fisherycrisis.com/
Keywords:
South America, vacation, Scuba and Jason Kilgore, Naui and Jason Kilgore, How to scuba dive?, skin diving, snorkel, mask, fins, sight seeing, hotels, Jason Kilgore and Hawaiian islands, Kona, Maui, other specialty certifications, Ocean Conservancy, International Coastal Cleanup, Costa Maya Hotel, Mexico Hotels, Mexico Scuba Diving, Diving in South American Scuba, Crabs, Sea Slugs, Marine Animals, Wildlife, Florida, Southern States, Marine Life, Pacific States, Pacific Northwestern States, California
Showing posts with label Scuba Hawaii. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scuba Hawaii. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
“Six Degrees Could Change the World”
A new documentary titled “Six Degrees Could Change the World” will be airing on the National Geographic Channel on Sunday 10 February at 8pm ET.
The program, based on a book by the same title by Mark Lymas, sounds like scenes from a dramatic “The Day After” style disaster movie: from 1 degree of temperature increase: “residents flee midwest drought” “alpine villages threatened by frequent rockfalls” “mass bleaching of coral spreads, scientists warn of ecological impact” “hurricane expected to hit Mediterranean coast”… to 6 degrees of temperature increase:
“emergency alert system disbanded” “communications sporadic as major infrastructures collapse” “ocean’s surface becomes poisonous” “cities and towns unsustainable”
The book and documentary are based on the estimation that, during the last 100 years, global warming has increased by about .07 degrees Celsius or 1.2 degrees Farenheit. According to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), at no other time in the past 1,300 years has our planet been as warm as it is now. Temperature records from the deep ocean suggest that temperatures are now within a degree of their highest levels in 1 million years.
The IPCC estimates that Earth will continue to increase in temperature between 1.4-5.8 degrees Celsius by the end of this century. Though six degrees doesn’t sound like a lot, it’s enough to alter the world as we know it in a devastating way. Much of life will be destroyed. The signs are already there - the snows of Kilimanjaro are melting, glaciers on the Matterhorn in the Alps are melting and releasing huge boulders, and atoll nations in the Pacific are disappearing inch by inch under the water as it rises due to global warming.
This documentary and book describe in vivid detail what will happen if global warming continues unchecked. Check them out! Sunday 10 February at 8pm ET
Keywords:
Advance Scuba training, Adventure Sports, Basic Open Water, Digital Underwater Photography, Extreme Scuba and Jason Kilgore, family travel, sharks, discount travel, Enriched Air, Hawaii Scuba Diving, Hawaiian Islands sight seeing, ITAN, Kona, NAUI, NOAA, other specialty certifications, sharks, SSI, TDI/SDI, airlines, family travel, family vacations, Hawaii reef divers, Hawaiian Islands, hotels, Jason Kilgore, Maui, scuba certification, scuba diving, scuba rental gear, Scuba Hawaii, Hawaii Travel, Caribbean Scuba, Scuba Certification, Scuba Jay, Costa Maya Scuba Dive, Gear, Cave Diving, TDI, Water Rescue Diving, Water Rescues, PADI Technical Scuba Diving, Dive Rescue, Scuba Dive Answers, Jason Kilgore and Martial Arts, Jason Kilgore and USANA, Jason Kilgore and Karate, Jason Kilgore and Scuba Diving, Sacramento, auburn, California, Hawaii, Jason Kilgore and Sierra Foothills Karate, Sierra Foothills Karate and Scuba Diving, Jason Kilgore and Scuba Diving, snorkel and fins, vacation, Basic Open Water, Extreme Scuba and Jason Kilgore, Hawaiian Islands, PADI Divemaster SCUBA Certification, Snorkel Bob, Snorkeling/Fin, TDI/SDI, Underwater Instructors, airlines, Divemaster scuba, family vacations, Reef Relief, coral reef, reef fish, maui divers, dive shops, scuba dive shops, cave diving, ice diving, wreck diving, Shark Diving, Shark Exploration, Baja, South America, vacation, Scuba and Jason Kilgore, Naui and Jason Kilgore, How to scuba dive?, skin diving, snorkel, mask, fins, sight seeing, hotels, Jason Kilgore and Hawaiian islands, Kona, Maui, other specialty certifications, Ocean Conservancy, International Coastal Cleanup, Costa Maya Hotel, Mexico Hotels, Mexico Scuba Diving, Diving in South American Scuba, Crabs, Sea Slugs, Marine Animals, Wildlife, Florida, Southern States, Marine Life, Pacific States, Pacific Northwestern States, California
The program, based on a book by the same title by Mark Lymas, sounds like scenes from a dramatic “The Day After” style disaster movie: from 1 degree of temperature increase: “residents flee midwest drought” “alpine villages threatened by frequent rockfalls” “mass bleaching of coral spreads, scientists warn of ecological impact” “hurricane expected to hit Mediterranean coast”… to 6 degrees of temperature increase:
“emergency alert system disbanded” “communications sporadic as major infrastructures collapse” “ocean’s surface becomes poisonous” “cities and towns unsustainable”
The book and documentary are based on the estimation that, during the last 100 years, global warming has increased by about .07 degrees Celsius or 1.2 degrees Farenheit. According to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), at no other time in the past 1,300 years has our planet been as warm as it is now. Temperature records from the deep ocean suggest that temperatures are now within a degree of their highest levels in 1 million years.
The IPCC estimates that Earth will continue to increase in temperature between 1.4-5.8 degrees Celsius by the end of this century. Though six degrees doesn’t sound like a lot, it’s enough to alter the world as we know it in a devastating way. Much of life will be destroyed. The signs are already there - the snows of Kilimanjaro are melting, glaciers on the Matterhorn in the Alps are melting and releasing huge boulders, and atoll nations in the Pacific are disappearing inch by inch under the water as it rises due to global warming.
This documentary and book describe in vivid detail what will happen if global warming continues unchecked. Check them out! Sunday 10 February at 8pm ET
Keywords:
Advance Scuba training, Adventure Sports, Basic Open Water, Digital Underwater Photography, Extreme Scuba and Jason Kilgore, family travel, sharks, discount travel, Enriched Air, Hawaii Scuba Diving, Hawaiian Islands sight seeing, ITAN, Kona, NAUI, NOAA, other specialty certifications, sharks, SSI, TDI/SDI, airlines, family travel, family vacations, Hawaii reef divers, Hawaiian Islands, hotels, Jason Kilgore, Maui, scuba certification, scuba diving, scuba rental gear, Scuba Hawaii, Hawaii Travel, Caribbean Scuba, Scuba Certification, Scuba Jay, Costa Maya Scuba Dive, Gear, Cave Diving, TDI, Water Rescue Diving, Water Rescues, PADI Technical Scuba Diving, Dive Rescue, Scuba Dive Answers, Jason Kilgore and Martial Arts, Jason Kilgore and USANA, Jason Kilgore and Karate, Jason Kilgore and Scuba Diving, Sacramento, auburn, California, Hawaii, Jason Kilgore and Sierra Foothills Karate, Sierra Foothills Karate and Scuba Diving, Jason Kilgore and Scuba Diving, snorkel and fins, vacation, Basic Open Water, Extreme Scuba and Jason Kilgore, Hawaiian Islands, PADI Divemaster SCUBA Certification, Snorkel Bob, Snorkeling/Fin, TDI/SDI, Underwater Instructors, airlines, Divemaster scuba, family vacations, Reef Relief, coral reef, reef fish, maui divers, dive shops, scuba dive shops, cave diving, ice diving, wreck diving, Shark Diving, Shark Exploration, Baja, South America, vacation, Scuba and Jason Kilgore, Naui and Jason Kilgore, How to scuba dive?, skin diving, snorkel, mask, fins, sight seeing, hotels, Jason Kilgore and Hawaiian islands, Kona, Maui, other specialty certifications, Ocean Conservancy, International Coastal Cleanup, Costa Maya Hotel, Mexico Hotels, Mexico Scuba Diving, Diving in South American Scuba, Crabs, Sea Slugs, Marine Animals, Wildlife, Florida, Southern States, Marine Life, Pacific States, Pacific Northwestern States, California
Friday, January 25, 2008
Philippines Scuba
Dive Instructor Thierry left Mexico last year and went off on an extensive journey to explore the Philippines. Here is a photo essay of his trip.
The Philippines is an archipelago consisting of 7,107 islands. They separate the Celebes Sea and the South China Sea from the Pacific OceanThe archipelago is the second-largest in the world after Indonesia.
The warm, clear waters of the Philippines are known to contain some of the most diverse and beautiful marine life to be found anywhere in the world. Its waters are home to more than 3000 species of fish and 448 species of coral (compared to 700 species of fish and 100 species of coral in the entire Caribbean). But there have also been a lot of mixed reports on the destructive aftermath of dynamite fishing. Many visitors return from the Phillippines dissapointed divers because they didn't encounter the abundant marine life and healthy reefs others talk so enthusiastically about. Although some of the world's most extensive coral reefs are found in the Philippines, they are under such sustained assault by dynamite fishing that marine biologists say the corals are on the verge of utter collapse.
"There are many horrific things going on in the world's oceans, but this tops the list," said John McCosker, the chairman of aquatic biology at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. "When divers talked about the world's finest coral reefs 20 years ago, the consensus for the top spot was always the Philippines, but nobody feels that way now." Read more here...
A member of the Dive Global team snorkeled off Boracay island 20 years ago and remembered the reefs looking quite healthy back then. We were curious to find out from Thierry what his general impression was and if it still is a country worthwhile going to for scuba divers. Thierry visited quite a few islands during his stay and traveled by air, bus, ferry, banca (the traditional outrigger boat) and the famous Jeepny to get to the different places on his itinerary. A jeepny, for those of you that don’t know, is a US military vehicle left there in the Second World War. The jeeps have taken on a life of their own. Over the years, the Philippines have decorated these vehicles to their hearts content. You find them everywhere as a local means of transportation and they are considered a national symbol of the country.
Generally speaking, dive sites in the Philippines are known to include walls and drop-offs, coral gardens, drift dives and many rare and truly unique creatures including huge numbers of riggerfish, parrotfish, pennant fish, moray eels, surgeonfish, snappers, groupers, moorish idol, lizardfish, gobies, batfish, lionfish, trumpetfish, pufferfish, filefish, emperors, wrasses, fusiliers and trevallies. Invertebrates from the tiniest transparent shrimp and neon-colored nudibranchs to huge basket sponges adorned with hundreds of multi-colored crinoids can be found.
Anemones, sea cucumbers, starfish and worms reside with vast numbers of hard and soft corals and gorgonian sea fans. Turtles, octopus, cuttlefish, manta rays, eagle rays and sharks make guest appearances in certain areas.Palawan, which is south of Luzon, is considered the best (commercialized) diving destination in the Philippines. Shipwrecks abound in Coron, while excellent coral formations can be found in El Nido. Apo Island and the Tubbataha Reefs, to name a few, are still considered coral paradises.However, if you prefer to stay near Manila, you can go on a day trip to either Batangas (Anilao or Nasugbu) or Mindoro (Puerto Galera). Boracay is also very popular and easy to reach by a direct flight from Manila. It offers some amazing drift dives on walls and the beaches as positively stunning!
The island has become more commercialized over the years however and isn't as idyllic as it used to be.Thierry had an amazing time and even though he experienced some great dives in other locations, the highlight of his trip definitely was a visit to Malapascua Island which is known for a dive location where regular encounters with thresher sharks are pretty much guaranteed. Malapascua Island is in the Visayan Sea and belongs to Cebu. Cebu is easy to reach but this area has not yet been over-commercialized in diving terms and is considered one of the better exciting and off-the-beaten track diving destinations in the Philippines.
Keywords:
Advance Scuba training, Adventure Sports, airlines, Basic Open Water, Digital Underwater Photography, discount travel, Divemaster scuba, Enriched Air, Extreme Scuba and Jason Kilgore, family travel, family vacations, Hawaii reef divers, Hawaii Scuba Diving, Hawaiian Islands, Hawaiian Islands sight seeing, hotels, Jason Kilgore, Kona, Maui, scuba certification, other specialty certifications, NAUI, NOAA, scuba diving, scuba rental gear, sharks, SSI, TDI/SDI, Underwater Instructors, vacation, Scuba and Jason Kilgore, Naui and Jason Kilgore, How to scuba dive, skin diving, snorkel, mask, fins, Reef Relief, coral reef, reef fish, maui divers, dive shops, scuba dive shops, cave diving, ice diving, wreck diving
The Philippines is an archipelago consisting of 7,107 islands. They separate the Celebes Sea and the South China Sea from the Pacific OceanThe archipelago is the second-largest in the world after Indonesia.
The warm, clear waters of the Philippines are known to contain some of the most diverse and beautiful marine life to be found anywhere in the world. Its waters are home to more than 3000 species of fish and 448 species of coral (compared to 700 species of fish and 100 species of coral in the entire Caribbean). But there have also been a lot of mixed reports on the destructive aftermath of dynamite fishing. Many visitors return from the Phillippines dissapointed divers because they didn't encounter the abundant marine life and healthy reefs others talk so enthusiastically about. Although some of the world's most extensive coral reefs are found in the Philippines, they are under such sustained assault by dynamite fishing that marine biologists say the corals are on the verge of utter collapse.
"There are many horrific things going on in the world's oceans, but this tops the list," said John McCosker, the chairman of aquatic biology at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. "When divers talked about the world's finest coral reefs 20 years ago, the consensus for the top spot was always the Philippines, but nobody feels that way now." Read more here...
A member of the Dive Global team snorkeled off Boracay island 20 years ago and remembered the reefs looking quite healthy back then. We were curious to find out from Thierry what his general impression was and if it still is a country worthwhile going to for scuba divers. Thierry visited quite a few islands during his stay and traveled by air, bus, ferry, banca (the traditional outrigger boat) and the famous Jeepny to get to the different places on his itinerary. A jeepny, for those of you that don’t know, is a US military vehicle left there in the Second World War. The jeeps have taken on a life of their own. Over the years, the Philippines have decorated these vehicles to their hearts content. You find them everywhere as a local means of transportation and they are considered a national symbol of the country.
Generally speaking, dive sites in the Philippines are known to include walls and drop-offs, coral gardens, drift dives and many rare and truly unique creatures including huge numbers of riggerfish, parrotfish, pennant fish, moray eels, surgeonfish, snappers, groupers, moorish idol, lizardfish, gobies, batfish, lionfish, trumpetfish, pufferfish, filefish, emperors, wrasses, fusiliers and trevallies. Invertebrates from the tiniest transparent shrimp and neon-colored nudibranchs to huge basket sponges adorned with hundreds of multi-colored crinoids can be found.
Anemones, sea cucumbers, starfish and worms reside with vast numbers of hard and soft corals and gorgonian sea fans. Turtles, octopus, cuttlefish, manta rays, eagle rays and sharks make guest appearances in certain areas.Palawan, which is south of Luzon, is considered the best (commercialized) diving destination in the Philippines. Shipwrecks abound in Coron, while excellent coral formations can be found in El Nido. Apo Island and the Tubbataha Reefs, to name a few, are still considered coral paradises.However, if you prefer to stay near Manila, you can go on a day trip to either Batangas (Anilao or Nasugbu) or Mindoro (Puerto Galera). Boracay is also very popular and easy to reach by a direct flight from Manila. It offers some amazing drift dives on walls and the beaches as positively stunning!
The island has become more commercialized over the years however and isn't as idyllic as it used to be.Thierry had an amazing time and even though he experienced some great dives in other locations, the highlight of his trip definitely was a visit to Malapascua Island which is known for a dive location where regular encounters with thresher sharks are pretty much guaranteed. Malapascua Island is in the Visayan Sea and belongs to Cebu. Cebu is easy to reach but this area has not yet been over-commercialized in diving terms and is considered one of the better exciting and off-the-beaten track diving destinations in the Philippines.
Keywords:
Advance Scuba training, Adventure Sports, airlines, Basic Open Water, Digital Underwater Photography, discount travel, Divemaster scuba, Enriched Air, Extreme Scuba and Jason Kilgore, family travel, family vacations, Hawaii reef divers, Hawaii Scuba Diving, Hawaiian Islands, Hawaiian Islands sight seeing, hotels, Jason Kilgore, Kona, Maui, scuba certification, other specialty certifications, NAUI, NOAA, scuba diving, scuba rental gear, sharks, SSI, TDI/SDI, Underwater Instructors, vacation, Scuba and Jason Kilgore, Naui and Jason Kilgore, How to scuba dive, skin diving, snorkel, mask, fins, Reef Relief, coral reef, reef fish, maui divers, dive shops, scuba dive shops, cave diving, ice diving, wreck diving
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