Blog Archives

A deep-sea shark spawning ground has been discovered on Scotland’s only inshore coral reef. It was found by the team from Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University which discovered the reef itself. They discovered egg cases of the blackmouth catshark on the Mingulay Reef in the Outer Hebrides. Deepwater sharks have long been a draw for anglers in the area, but this is the first time their spawning grounds have been found in Scotland. The European Commission is considering whether to designate the Mingulay Reef as a marine protected area. The Heriot-Watt scientists believe this would be essential to help safeguard local sharks and the millions of pounds generated by recreational anglers who visit Scotland.

Deeper waters

Dr Lea-Anne Henry, of Heriot-Watt University, said: “It’s very exciting t...

The UK’s recent run of damp summers could be down to a cyclical warming of the Atlantic Ocean. That was the view of scientists and meteorologists who gathered at the Met Office to discuss the unusual weather patterns of recent years. They said that this 10 to 20 year pattern of Atlantic warming was shifting the jet stream, leading to washouts in six of the last seven summers. But they suggested that the pattern would change at some point in the next decade.

The researchers said the location of the fast moving winds of the jet stream was critical to the UK’s weather...

Bali Aqua is a 5-Star scuba dive operator and scuba training facility, and an PADI and SSI Divecenter offering expert knowledge, years of experience, great service, and the flexibility you need to get the best from your holiday time.

Of course diving must be fun! So whether on day-trips or safaris, we make sure you will enjoy all of your time with us – and still stick to high international standards of safety and service. At the same time, we keep our prices good and give our best to you – and we never cut corners, we simply believe in giving you great value. Hundreds of satisfied customers will agree with this, please have a look at our report on Trip Advisor!

• Dive trips
  –  Bali’s best Divesites carefully chosen to suit the conditions, your wishes and experience
• Diving courses
  –  ...

Diving in Komodo Island with Komodo Aqua Diving !!

geography. It is old and constantly developing. Familiar, yet unique. Our focus is to showcase the diversity of this vast continent for our clients and their passengers, delivering the African travel experience with an exceptional level of organization and customer satisfaction.

Carlos Nelli Borges
General Manager and Diving Instructor

Geisa Remane
Director
Diving Packages and Mozambican Receptive
Assistant Instr...

Marine scientists at CCMI’s Little Cayman Research Centre say the coral nursery project established in September last year to help replenish local reefs is doing well. As a pilot project, researchers deployed a single structure, multiplying four parent colonies of staghorn coral to 58 new individuals. After 3 months of the trial, all colonies have survived and are growing rapidly. These positive results provide the basis for installing additional structures and further developing the nursery, according to CCMI. Focusing on the fast growing staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) which experienced massive mortality in the 1980’s, the nursery will augment existing populations, enhance the existing reef structure and could potentially improve overall coral reef health.

“The indirect benefits o...

Eighteen Vietnamese crew members have been detained after their cargo ship hit a coral reef in the central Philippines, the coastguard has said. The ship – the Unicorn Logger – was heading from Malaysia to deliver logs to Japan when it hit the reef. In April, 12 Chinese fishermen were charged with poaching after their boat ran aground on the protected Tubbataha reef park, a UN World Heritage site.

A US Navy ship also crashed into the Tubbataha reef in January. The navy was fined for reef damage and made to pay the costs of dismantling of the ship. Coastguard spokesman Armand Balilo told the AFP news agency that the Unicorn Logger ran aground off the tiny island of Sambawan on Friday.

“The crew are detained aboard their vessel as the damage to the reef is assessed,” he said.

Officials s...

Ocean acidification due to rising carbon dioxide levels will reduce the density of coral skeletons, making coral reefs more vulnerable to disruption and erosion, according to a new study of corals growing where submarine springs naturally lower the pH of seawater. The study, led by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), is the first to show that corals are not able to fully acclimate to low pH conditions in nature.

“People have seen similar effects in laboratory experiments,” said coauthor Adina Paytan, a research scientist in the Institute of Marine Sciences at UC Santa Cruz. “We looked in places where the corals are exposed to low pH for their entire life span...

The discovery of the first deep-sea shark spawning ground in Scotland has fuelled calls for better protection of the seas and the nation’s multi-million pound wildlife tourism sector.

Marine biologists at Heriot-Watt University revealed that they have found a nursery for the blackmouth catshark on a coral reef in the Outer Hebrides.

Lacadives has pioneered diving in India, setting up the country’s first dive center and (recreational) diver training facility in Kadmat, Lakshadweep in 1995. Since then Lacadives expanded it’s operations to Bangaram and Agatti in the Lakshadweep Islands, and Havelock and Wandoor in the Andaman Islands, making us the only dive operator in the country to offer diving on both sides of the subcontinent.

Currently, Lacadives operates dive centers in Wandoor and Chidiya Tapu in the Andaman Islands, with mainland training centers in Mumbai and Bangalore. We also conduct regular, staff-accompanied live-aboard trips to the top dive destinations in Asia.

The variety of destinations we offer, our ability to cater to divers of all skill levels and our affiliation with some of the leading islan...