ScubaGlobe Asia Pacific - Volume 6 No.5

July 1 2008 Indonesia 2009 Raja Ampat Entrance Tag Design Contest Do you have the perfect Raja Ampat photo? Is it one that truly captures the excitement and beauty of Raja Ampat diving? Do you want to see it printed 4,000 times and attached to BCD’s the world over? If so, then enter the official Raja Ampat 2009 park entrance tag design contest (in association with Wetpixel.com) Enter up to two photos or graphic designs to www.wetpixel.com/raja before August 28, 2008. After finalists are accepted, you – the public – will vote for the best until September 25, 2008. The winner will be announced on the October 1, 2008. Please submit digital images at a medium resolution image (up to 1024 x 1024 pixels maximum, no more than 500Kb in file size) in jpg format. On September 15th, finalists will be selected and asked to submit high resolution images. Full story...

July 2 2008 AustraliaTerry Cummins Receives Prestigious Oceanic Legends AwardEach year, leading scuba equipment supplier - Oceanic Australia convenes the Oceanic Scuba Centres Conference. This year the Conference was held in beautiful Coffs Harbour, NSW, Australia and involved the country’s finest scuba retailers and an array of very impressive local and international speakers. As part of the Conference, Oceanic Australia sponsors a prestigious award - the Oceanic Legends Award. The Award recognizes industry peers who have made a significant and outstanding contribution to scuba diving. Terry Cummins, currently International Vice President Marketing Metrics & Performance for PADI Worldwide, was presented with this year’s Award. Terry’s roots lie in the pioneering days of spear fishing, dive instruction, dive retailing and the early exploration of Australian diving sites including the underwater caves of Mount Gambier, South Australia.Notably in 2007 Terry was presented with the OZTeK Award for his “Contribution to Technical Diving in Australia”, but back in the early 80s, Terry together with his partners in Pro Dive; Rick Poole, Russell de Groot and Kevin Deacon (now of Dive 2000) were busy establishing the world’s first dive retail franchise chain. Instrumental in establishing PADI as a training agency within Australia from the early 70’s, Terry left Pro Dive as its Managing Director in 1982 and co-found PADI Australia - a licensee of PADI International and the first PADI office in Australia. Terry served first as PADI Australia’s Training Director and later CEO and also went on to assist with the founding of PADI New Zealand and contributed to the introduction of formal training standards in several Pacific Islands. Full story...

June 28 2008 PhilippinesMuroami divers tried to loot capsized ferry Some fishermen, locally known in the Philippines as muroami divers, reportedly tried to enter and loot the Sulpicio Lines’ capsized ferry, MV Princess of the Stars. Using improvised air compressors, were able to get near to the vessel despite the presence of the Philippine Marines and Philippine coastguard rescue vessels. A radio reporter and a photographer saw at least 11 looters and the photographer was able to take pictures of some them, which police hope to use for identification.Meanwhile, officials have suspended diving operations aimed at recovering bodies form the stricken ferry after it was disclosed that the vessel was carrying 10 tons of endosulfan, a restricted pesticide. “We aborted the retrieval operations because of the pesticide inside the ship,” Philippine Vice President Noli De Castro said. “It's dangerous and no divers are allowed in the area now.”Sulpicio Lines, the owners of the ferry, has come under fire for failing to disclose the nature of the cargo. So far only 56 of the passengers are reported by the Philippine Coast Guard to have been found alive. Full story...

Volume 6 No.5

Bermuda

31 people licensed to cull lionfish

Lionfish have decimated areas of the Caribbean and recently their numbers have been multiplying around Bermuda. A group of 31 volunteers has now been issued special licenses by the Ministry of the Environment and Sports to use scuba equipment to cull the invasive Lionfish which are threatening Bermuda's reef ecosystem and commercial fishing.

Pacific Bikini diving forced to close

After operating for 13-years, financial losses have forced closure of scuba diving at Bikini Atoll.

The problems are due to the inability of the national carrier Air Marshall Islands to get passengers to and from Bikini in the past eight months when both its planes were crippled with mechanical problems, coupled with high fuel prices.

Australia Divers survive 19-hours in the water

Richard Neely, 38, from the UK, and partner Alison Dalton, 40, an American, drifted for 19 hours off Australia's Great Barrier Reef as rescuers failed to spot them.

They tied themselves together as they drifted for nine miles after surfacing too far from the boat they had dived off.

New Boating Set from Beuchat

Designed for boat owners, the new Boat Set from Beuchat fills a void in the market by supplying everything needed to inspect and effect in-water repairs and maintenance tasks on the hulls of pleasure craft.
Read more...

Philippines Crown-of-thorns decimate Palawan is reefs

Crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) have reduced Green Island Bay’s coral cover by as much as 60% since 2007. The bay harbours one of the Philippines’ few remaining populations of dugong.
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