First Dive in Fish Rock Cave June 8, 2006
Posted by Andy Carroll in : CaveDiving, OceanDiving, Travel , add a commentI often read the articles at Travel-Dive and wish that I could dive all these great places. O often also look at Jane Wilkinson’s blog on The Deep Stop, as she is a great photographer. I was really pleasantly surprised to see that she has written up her first ‘cave dive’ after diving what is called Fish Rock Cave, in Australia. Fish Rock cave is in New South Wales and Jane dived with the South West Rocks Dive Centre, which is owned by a family of brothers who have lived and dived there all their lives. Although Jane was anxious about the dive she came through it all admirably and its a great story.
Even though visibility was good, in the darkness I was straining to see where the break in the rock was to exit along the tunnel. Although far from panicking the fact that I couldn’t see the exit made me anxious and being very aware of how I was feeling I knew my breathing rate would automatically start going up and I would be getting through the air, which of course made me more anxious! However, it can’t have been for long before Scott returned – probably not more than a few minutes but I have to confess to hanging onto to him for a moment or too for reassurance just till I had calmed down. Fortunately he guessed and didn’t think I was making a pass at him 24m underwater in a cave!
Diving ban proposed in South Africa to help curb perlemoen poaching May 26, 2006
Posted by Andy Carroll in : Conservation, Travel , add a commentTHE Eastern Cape legislature has called for an interim ban on all scuba diving to help authorities curb perlemoen poaching, which has reached “preposterous proportions”.
Reaction to the call has been mixed, as diving companies have questioned whether the ban would work and how effective it would be. From an article in The Herald Online
In a notice of motion unanimously passed by all the political parties in the Bhisho legislature on Tuesday, DA provincial leader Athol Trollip said “scarce, ecologically sensitive marine reserves that are a natural heritage to this province‘s coastline are being irrevocably destroyed in complete contempt of all existing legislation and policing initiatives”.
Stop exaggerating the Sipadan incident, says Deputy Chief Minister May 25, 2006
Posted by Andy Carroll in : Conservation, Travel , 2commentsUnderwater Times have copied an article from bernama.com (Don’t you just hate it when there is no link to the source) regarding the recent incident at Sipadan when a construction company used a large barge to transport building materials to the island rather then a smaller ‘kompit’ boat originally granted in their application.
There was an uproar and many news organisations and websites condemning the whole thing talking about the destruction of the reef and the Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Chong Kah Kiat has finally asked the media to stop exaggerating.
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Malaysian dive operators issue statement on Sipadan reef disaster May 24, 2006
Posted by Andy Carroll in : Conservation, Travel , add a comment
I know there has been plenty of news and articles written on various sites regarding the incident on Sipadan, regarding a construction barge which had apparently destroyed some reef there. Willy Volk at Divester has been covering the story in great detail. Well, it seems that the diving operators have issued a statement which supports the authorities in their attempt to build some kind of infrastructure on the island. This will undoubtedly annoy some of the scuba divers who have been saying that there is no need for any building work to be undertaken on the island, but here is a statement via finsonline.com
Disabled on scuba dive, man sues Coast Guard and DAN May 8, 2006
Posted by Andy Carroll in : Accidents, News, Travel , 1 comment so farThere is a story in the St Petersburg Times today which tells the story of Timothy Hogan, who was spear fishing in the Gulf of Mexico at 122 feet when ‘His vision had gone blurry. When he blinked, he saw flashes of light, like electrical charges.’
The weird thing is that Hogan then ignored these signs and continued pulling in a 7lb mangrove snapper he had caught. Eventually arriving back on board his symptoms worsened and his toes were tingling, spreading to his legs. Divers Alert network and the coastguard were called, and a rescue was made, but unfortunately he has never walked since.
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23 Killed by Three Bombs in Dahab April 27, 2006
Posted by Andy Carroll in : News, Travel , add a commentThree nearly simultaneous bombings on Monday shattered the evening tranquility of the beachfront promenade in Dahab, killing at least 23 people and wounding more than 60 a day after Osama bin Laden issued a taped warning against Westerners.
From StarNewsOnline;
The explosions – the third terror strike on a Sinai resort in less than two years – hit Dahab at 7:15 p.m. Interior Minister Habib el-Adly said those killed included 20 Egyptians and three foreigners, and that 62 people were wounded.
“There were just three loud bangs and people rushing around,” British tourist Paul McBeath told Sky News. “Everybody is shaken.”
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