My Surface Interval voted 'Top Blog'

The New Year started with some great news for My Surface Interval - we've been voted one of the world's top scubas diving blog.

The blog was handpicked by the Guide to Online Schools after they scoured the tinterweb for the sites that covered the sport.

Their verdict? "Surface Interval is what this diver does when he’s not underwater—he blogs. Other scuba enthusiasts will love this blog for its frequent news updates and reports from this divers experiences underwater."

Not bad for something run from the back bedroom in between the real job and diving.

Guide to Online Schools

Scuba Diving Blogs

Here are the thoughts on some other sites they recommend:

Channel Islands Scuba is all about diving in the Channel Islands, but is also the best representation of scuba diving blogs.

Why We Love It: This site is literally jam-packed with information about diving, photos, advice, and news. This site is worth reading every day, because you will learn something about diving, be inspired, or be simply amazed.

Kona Scuba Diving is a blog by Steve, a diver and dive shop owner in Kona, Hawai'i.

Why We Love It: Hawai'i has some of the best and most easily accessible diving in the world. This blog can bring it even closer to home with the great posts and lovely photos.

Neutral Buoyancy is the blog of a diver and traveler from the Pacific Northwest.

Why We Love It: Brian loves to scuba dive, and often travels just to dive and take the photos he posts on his blog. Each diving post is full of information and photos that other divers can use. He also sprinkles his own random musings in the blog, which makes for a great read.

Oceanic Dreams caters to the dreams of many divers—swimming with sharks.

Why We Love It: Swimming with sharks can be exhilarating—and terrifying. Live vicariously through this blog, which specializes in photos and news articles about sharks, how to dive with them, where to go, and what not to do.

Optical Ocean comes from Jack Connick, a diver and underwater photographer.

Why We Love It: Jack Connick is a great photographer, and isn’t stingy about posting his photos on the blog. If you’re interested in underwater photography—professionally or just to better document your vacations—his site is worth reading for advice about gear and taking photos in general.

Sea Turtles migrate thousands of miles across the Atlantic

THEY are one of the top sights underway and new scientists have discovered a way of maximising chances of seeing them - diving close to the major currents that rip across the Atlantic.

Researches tagged 25 loggerhead turtles to discover their movements and data from tags on their backs show they swim thousands of kilometres each year.

These journeys take them through areas where they are at high risk of being caught accidentally by fishing boats.

The leatherback is the world's biggest turtle and listed as Critically Endangered, largely because of poaching for eggs and snaring in fishing gear.

Writing in the Royal Society journal Proceedings B, an international group of researchers found nesting sites increased in number the closer to the Gulf Stream System (GSS) that traverses the Atlantic, the ocean current to which hatchlings in this region migrate.

The South Atlantic leatherbacks adopted three different patterns. Some swam west and remained in the tropical Atlantic waters. A second group swam south-west until they reached the coast of South America, and foraged in shallow waters there; while the remainder moved southwards down the western coast of Africa.

It is thought that young turtles require the currents to sweep them from their nesting sites, hence why mothers choose to lay their eggs on beaches closer to the current system.

Scientists hope the study will go some way towards protecting the turtles who are at risk from being trapped by long line fishing practices or gillnets.

Matthew Witt from Exeter University, the study's lead author, told the BBC: "The reason for doing the project is to understand the turtles' movements, but the context is that the Pacific population recently went through a huge decline.

"Part of the reason for that is interaction with fisheries - so it seemed very pertinent to get a better understanding of what the South Atlantic leatherbacks are up to."

Nine new dive sites for Red Sea

So, the end of the year was not a happy one for parts of the Red Sea and our thoughts remain with the families of those injured and killed in the shark attacks.

Sadly, it would appear that sharks are now fair game in the region.

Despite calls for there not to be a cull, a number have been plucked from the waters.

However, the authorities are claiming there is no licence to kill - it's just unfortunate a number of sharks have died after being caught. Oh, that's okay then.

But on to some other Red Sea news........

Nine new dive sites are to be opened in the Ras Mohammed national park to ease the pressure on local dive sites that are being deluged by divers.
But it could mean the closure of popular easy sites such as Ras Katy and Near Garden. For many new divers to the Red Sea, these two sites may have been their first sight of the wonders of the Red Sea.
But it also means that they are suffering from overuse.
As the port of Sharm El Sheikh has grown into a major tourist destination, making it easier than ever for divers to experience the delights, it also threatens to be its downfall.
However, such a spectacular growth also carries sensitive environmental challenges.
It is an unpalatable fact that the biggest threat to the area is the very group who love it so much. Yep, that’s us divers.

Experienced Red Sea guide and Instructor Francesco Germi said more thought needed to be put into how the environment was used.
It is clear that natural resources are finite and cannot resist unlimited use.
He argued that there is a limit – a ‘carrying capacity’ for human use – which has to be embraced to ensure that natural resources are not destroyed.
In an article in Blue magazine, he wrote: “Many observers and industry experts already point to the deterioration of the environment in South Sinai, and in particular the coral reef system and marine life, as the single largest threat to the long run growth of tourism.
“The marine ecosystems have a limited carrying capacity, and there are indications that this carrying capacity has been exceeded, exhibited by a deterioration and loss of coral habitat due to: (1) marine pollution from raw sewage discharge from boats; (2) coastal development and construction; and (3) tourist related activities themselves (diving, snorkelling and boating).
“How much each is a contributing factor is not clear, nor is the degree of deterioration over time.”
With tourism representing Egypt’s biggest earner, he said it it would be prudent to make every effort to mitigate the causes of coral reef deterioration,
in other words to protect ‘the goose that lays the golden egg’.
Coral reefs are not able to support an indefinite amount of recreational use.
The damage inflicted by divers or snorkelers consists mostly of breaking fragile, branched corals or causing lesions to massive corals.
He wrote: “Research indicates that reef communities can tolerate a certain level of degradation before irreversible changes in ecological structure occur.
“The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) recommends a sustainable carrying capacity of 5,000 to 6,000 dives per site per year as a general principle. However, recent research by the National Parks of Egypt showed that some sites in the Sharm el Sheikh area were receiving up to 60,000 dives per year, with an
average of 15,000 dives per year across all sites in the area.
“In order to address this bottleneck, a realistic strategy is needed to plan the development and management of recreational reef use. It is clear that the current number of divers and snorkelers per site cannot be increased without incurring ecological degradation.”

Maybe the only answer is to see the rotating closure of popular dive sites to help relieve the pressure on them and that is something we as divers should encourage if we want this wonderful natural resource to remain.
Which brings us back to the new dive sites.
Francesco was involved in the three day survey in a stretch of coast between the Travco marina and Marsa Ghozlani. The sites are perfect for training or introductory dives with sandy bottoms peppered with coral pinnacles.
And the team recorded a wealth of marine life, including eagle rays, morays, blue-spotted stingrays and barracuda.
So if in the future your favourite dive sites are closed, don’t moan. It is for all of our goods in the future.

Latest on shark attacks in Sharm el Sheikh

THE experts called in to examine the Jaws-like drama in Sharm el Sheikh have suggested two sharks were involved in the attacks, according to the CDWS.

In a statement, the organisation said scientists had indicated that their findings, up to now, suggest one oceanic whitetip shark and one mako shark were responsible.

And they have suggested four factors which may have contributed to the behavioural change in sharks involved in attacks. They include the following:

*One or more incidents of illegal dumping of animal carcasses in nearby waters

*Depletion of natural prey in the area caused by overfishing

*Localised feeding of reef fish and/or sharks by swimmers, snorkellers and some divers

*Unusually high water temperatures in Sharm el Sheikh

The statement continued: "The three international shark experts are continuing to work with authorities in Egypt to determine the causal factors involved in the spate of shark attacks in Sharm el Sheikh.

"The team is progressing with its scientific research and is verifying available data, as well as evidence gathered through eye witness reports from people both in the water and at the shore at the time of each of the five attacks on snorkellers.

"CDWS would like to make it clear these are NOT the final conclusions, and that the investigation is still ongoing. The CDWS would also like to underline that it has NOT been, or will be, involved in any shark hunts.

"The scientific work is currently in phase one: the diagnostic phase. Once this is complete, phase two will involve the exploration of options to deal with the factors of the diagnostic phase. The third phase will be the implementation of chosen options. Phase four will cover the long-term measures that will be taken."

Is this the killer shark?

The BBC has broadcast an image of what is believed to be the oceanic whitetip shark behind the attacks in Sharm El Sheikh.



Diving operations in some parts of the area were starting today as the authorities continued the hunt for the shark.

Now there has been a lot of comparisons between this episode and the move Jaws and it's fair to say the similarities are pretty amazing but before the powers that be get Flint in to start pulling out sharks from the sea lets get things in a little bit of perspective.

Yes it has been without doubt tragic for the victims and their families and ones thoughts are with them at this difficult time.

But we have to accept that the shark has been attracted to the area by man, whether it be over-fishing or the dumping of dead animal carcasses from a cargo ship.

More than 70 million sharks a year are killed by humans and they are an essential part of the marine ecosystem so I hope we don't see the authorities landing dozens of sharks just to appease the tourist industry. We have to remember the devastation we are doing to the underwater world.

The BBC has a good piece on the attacks here.

In it David Jacoby, who specialises in shark behavioural ecology at The Marine Biological Association of the UK, agreed that if animal carcasses had been dumped, it was likely to be a significant factor in the sharks' behaviour.

"Pelagic, or oceanic, species of shark often feed opportunistically because the open ocean can be a sparse environment for food," he said.

"Both species [white tips and makos caught last week] rarely encounter people as they spend large amounts of their time in blue water - open ocean."

Oceanic whitetips are a Red Sea species but are not normally seen in Sharm. Instead they are typically found in the southern Red Sea. And this time of year, the northern Red Sea has been emptied of its pelagics as they head south for warmer waters.

Ian Fergusson, a shark biologist and patron of the Shark Trust, a UK conservation organisation, said it was very rare for shortfin makos to be found in the Red Sea - and exceptionally rare to find them close to shore.