Oh the diving is just awful!!!

So after a stormy week, the weather calmed down really quickly and we were able to go diving again.

Kevin went out on Tuesday and whilst I thought the visibility would still be poor, I could not have been more wrong, Kev report better than 15metre visibility which was incredible considering the storm.

2 days later and Ben is out, yes he finally made it! I was absolutely gutted, as I found out that I had given Ben the diving work, on the only day this low season we had a power cut all day!

But Ben thoughtfully sent me a text on his way back from Koh Haa.....

"Bad day, 30m visibility, 5 Turtles, 1 Marble Ray, SeaHorse and a Leopard Shark"

Sounds terrible Ben!!!

You can really go off people ;-(

 Blue Planet Divers

Please watch till the end.....

Andaman 2012 Freediving Competition

We at Blue Planet Divers, are please to announce that both our Sponsors for our Freediving Competition in 2011 have agreed to back us again in 2012.

Our Freediving Competition is open to all and an ideal starting competition for those new to the sport. You will find everyone on our team, the judges and other competitors, more than willing to share tips and ideas with you on how to improve your performance.

Andaman Freediving Competition 2012

9th - 12th February 2012

Day 1 - Sea Practice and Competition outline (on the Blue Planet Divers Boat)
Day 2 - Depth Competition (on the Blue Planet Divers Boat)
Day 3 - Pool Practice (Royal Lanta Resort)
Day 4 - Pool Competition (Royal Lanta Resort) and Competition Party!

We recommend planning to come early to the event as competitors can take advantage of the reduced fee on the boat for the week leading up to the event.

Thought for the day - Just 2 bags!

So today, I was really disappointed when I walked the dogs on the beach and saw the amount of rubbish that the wind and waves had brought ashore. The usually pristine beach was full of rubbish, foam, polystyrene, flip flops (so many and never a pair), bottles, plastic and of course lighters. You hear about these plastic islands that are floating around our oceans and it is so sad when you see it what we humans have done to our environment.

It is sad to see this on the beach, but imagine the damage it is doing to our aquatic life as turtles and other mammals eat the rubbish we throw away. Unfortunately we don't have to imagine because researchers all over the world are finding it in the stomachs of dead turtles.

Luckily the storm also washed up some bags, including 2 rather large rice bags, and so i did a mini-clean up, to be honest it didn't really make a difference but it did make me promise myself that each time I go on the beach i will take at least 2 bags to fill up before I return. 2 bags is not going to make a huge difference, but it did make me feel like I was doing my bit and will stop a lot of rubbish going back into the sea when the storm subsides. Maybe if we all took just 5 minutes every time we got on the beach to just fill 2 bags then we could make a difference. Just because you didn't throw the rubbish away isn't an excuse not to pick it up, it is our world and we all have a responsibility to it.

Maybe you don't want to do 2 bags but how about instead of just picking up your own rubbish, that you take just 30 seconds to pick up a few more items on the way to the bin? It's not much is it? but imagine if everyone did it, what a difference that would make!

Mellisa

A good article, pity they had to use the term "Jaws" in relation to sharks.

Why Jaws needs protecting: Bahamas bans shark fishing as THIRD of all species now face extinction

By Fiona Roberts From the Daily Mail


They're supposed to be the ultimate hunters - but it turns out they're really the hunted.
A U.S. report has revealed shark numbers have declined by as much as 80 per cent worldwide, with a third of all species now threatened by extinction as millions are killed each year for their fins.
It comes as the Bahamas announced it has banned commercial shark fishing in its territorial waters, the latest in a long line of countries anxious to protect the ocean predator.

Protected: Divers off the Bahamas proudly advertise the country's new ban on commercial shark fishing, as it is revealed their numbers are declining

It turns the island chain's 243,244 square miles of territorial waters into a shark sanctuary, designed to protect the 40 species which inhabit that part of the Caribbean.
The move will also be good for the Bahamian economy. The country is one of the world's premier shark-watching destinations for divers, and the industry brings in $78million each year.

It was already a shark-friendly country - 20 years ago it banned longline fishing, stopping sharks becoming caught in fishermen's nets and allowing the predators to thrive in its waters.
Famously, the final Jaws movie was filmed on 'Jaws Beach', on the archipelago's New Providence Island.

Sanctuary: Jaws Beach on New Providence Island in the Bahamas. The archipelago's waters are home to 40 different species of shark 

But elsewhere sharks are increasingly under threat, according to a new report published by the Pew Charitable Trusts.
It revealed shark numbers have declined by some 70 to 80 per cent, and a third of all species are threatened or near-threatened by extinction.
Part of the reason is food. Each year, 73 million sharks are killed by fishermen to supply a growing market for Chinese delicacy - shark-fin soup.
Their fins are usually sliced off then the bloody carcasses are thrown overboard.
On top of that, tens of millions of the predators are killed every year when they are caught in lines or nets intended for other fish.
Shark-fin soup has traditionally been served in China as a way for people to show off their wealth. 

Image problem: Experts say shark numbers are declining in part because they are now thought of as the ultimate human enemy, after the the 1975 film Jaws

As the country's proportion of rich people grows, so too does the demand for shark fins, which can be worth up to 100 times more than the meat itself.
And unlike, for example, tuna fish, which produce 10 million eggs each year, female Great White sharks produce just two to four live young every couple of years, so their numbers can fall dramatically in a short space of time.

Delicacy: The demand for shark-fin soup is growing every year

Experts say part of the issue is an image problem - since the 1975 movie Jaws enshrined sharks forever in popular mythology as the ultimate enemy, fear of the predators has grown.

But in fact unprovoked shark attacks are incredibly rare. Just six people were killed by the animals last year, according to the International Shark Attack File.
Sharks don't even like the taste of human beings, according to Christopher Neff, an Australian shark researcher.

In a new book on sharks by Juliet Eilperin, the Washington Post's natural environment reporter, she says part of our horror stems from the way many species of shark swim with their mouths open so they can breathe.

She writes: 'This is one of the reasons people see sharks as scary: cruising along as they display their sharp teeth, they look as if they're poised to attack at any moment.'
Now many countries are trying to stop their decline by protecting them.
Earlier this year Palau, the Maldives and Honduras  banned commercial shark fishing.
Hawaii, which has one of the biggest markets for shark fins outside Asia, has banned all shark-fin products, and California, which also has a huge market for them, is in the process of doing so.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2011899/Bahamas-bans-shark-fishing-THIRD-species-face-extinction.html#ixzz1RNcD498M

160 Sharks killed per minute.... something to thing about!

Still makes me cry ;-(

Thank you Kat & Sophie

You can imagine, that when I saw the note stuck to our shop shutters surrounded by flowers, I only had one thought.... unfortunately for me, it was not some hot guy professing undying love, but 2 really lovely Rescue students letting Kev and I know that they had a great time.

So did we guys..... so did we!

Happy travels and see you real soon,

Mellisa & Kev xxx