REEF recently announced their field survey schedule for 2007. If you haven't ever taken one of these trips, maybe now's the time to consider it. Not only are they fun, educational, and conservation-minded, they're tax deductible! Who ever heard of taking a tax-deductible dive trip?! Thanks, REEF! Upcoming trips include:

• Grand Turk, February 17-24 -- 7 nights/8 days - $990
• Tortola, British Virgin Islands, April 14-21 -- 7 nights/8 days - $974
• Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, May 22-27 -- 5 nights/6 days - $TBA
• St. Vincent, June 9-16 -- 8 days/7 nights - $1,050
• Key Largo, Florida*, July 7-14 -- 8 days/7 nights - $1,093
• San Juan Islands, Washington, July 23-26 -- 4 days/3 nights - $818
• Kona, Hawaii, August 4-11 -- 7 nights/8 days - $1,485
• Woods Hole, Cape Cod, September 11-16 -- 6 nights/5 days - $509
• Bonaire*, September 22-29 -- 7 nights/8 days - $1,063
• Utila*, October 20-27 -- 8 days/7 nights - $1,110
• Anguilla, November 10-17 -- 8 days/7 nights - $975
• Cozumel, December 1-8 -- 8 Days/7 Nights - $544

All prices quoted are per person, based on double occupancy. An additional $300 REEF fee will be added to each trip to cover the cost of the group leader, seminars, survey materials, and data management. For more details, you know where to go.

*Trip led by Paul Humann, recent inductee into the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame.

The Joint Ocean Commission Initiative, a cooperative effort between the U.S. government and the Pew Oceans Commission, announced that U.S. oceans earned a C- grade for 2006. If you think that's bad, it's a modest improvement over the D+ scored in 2005.

The outlook for 2007? President Bush has requested an 8 percent increase for coastal and marine conservation programs bringing the budget just under $2 billion. There's been fisheries reform and the creation of Hawaii's 140,000 square mile marine sanctuary.

Even so, the Pew Oceans Commission says credit should go to States who "are outdistancing the federal government [in] the race to preserve our oceans." They feel more federal funding should go to education and research as well as the U.S. addressing climate change.

You can grab a copy of the report card here. It breaks down the grade into six categories ranging from F to A-.

The Georgia Aquarium got top billing as the only aquarium in the U.S. to display a whale shark. Not just one, but four. This month the attention got hotter when Ralph, a whale shark, and Gasper, a Beluga whale, died in captivity.

Organizations like the Captive Animals' Protection Society and the Georgia Animal Rights and Protection have cited this as reasons why aquariums should be shut down. Individuals have written letters, sent e-mail, even held a candle-light vigil to protest animal captivity.

Aquarium supporters have fired back, insisting their purpose is to research marine life and educate the public about them. They feel raising awareness of certain animals, like the beluga and whale shark, will help their long-term survival.

With concerns about global warming, pollution, extinction, and overfishing, the only place we may see animals like the whale shark are at the aquarium. Most of the public never gets underwater to realize how much sea life needs protection, and if it weren't for aquariums would they ever know? More marine life is killed as by-catch than will die in captivity.

Aquariums should be held to strict standards and be wholly accountable for their actions, but shutting them down would be the greatest disservice to the very creatures they serve to protect.

If you've never been on a dive trip dedicated to finding and diving with sharks, here's your chance: Wetpixel is running two charters to the Bahamas in July, 2007. The first trip (July 10-21) is for the purpose of finding and shooting oceanic white-tips. Successful in 2006, there's no reason to think that they won't find them this year -- as well as (possibly) tiger sharks, reef sharks, dolphins, and more. Amazingly, on board the boat will be Eric Cheng, Tony Wu, and Alex Mustard. Be nice, and they may give you some photo pointers.

The second trip (July 23-31) is a "classic" tigers-and-dolphins trip, combining a traditional shark expedition with dolphin experiences and the chance to see lemon sharks, reef sharks, and *maybe* even hammerheads and bulls! For the lowdown on what these trips are like, check out Eric Cheng's past trip reports. I know 2 people registered for this particular trip, and they're super-excited about it.

Participants will travel with Jim Abernethy, aboard the M/V Shear Water, a small liveaboard leaving from West Palm Beach, Florida. Space is limited, so book soon. For more information about the trips, or for registration information, head over to Wetpixel.

How many times have you slipped into the water, hoping, wishing, praying that you might get the chance to see a dolphin during the upcoming dive? I know I have. Unfortunately for me, the only time I've ever seen dolphins on a dive is when I went snorkeling off Bimini with the express purpose of finding and snorkeling with dolphins. And even then, we motored around for hours until we finally found a pod. Wouldn't it be cool to be able to find dolphins more easily?

According to his trip report, Simon Rogerson recently went on a dive trip with Jim Abernathy, who's hatched a clever plan for ensuring -- well, for helping to increase the chances -- that divers will get to see dolphins. Using a FIB -- a flying inflatable boat with wings and a giant propeller -- Abernathy launches the boat from the surface of the ocean and cruises 1000 feet in the air, looking for pods of the animals. When he finds them, he calls the coordinates in, and the boat makes its way to the animals.

What a cool idea. It sounds like almost as much fun to ride in the FIB as it does to swim with the dolphins.

Norway isn't the only place with a deepwater coral reef. Lying more than 1000 feet below the surface of the ocean, deepwater corals exist in other places, including the UK, and off the southeastern coast of the US. As opposed to shallow-water corals that create energy through photosynthesis, deepwater corals must snare passing food in the water column. For this reason, they grow even more slowly than their shallow neighbors. Hardly explored and rarely seen (obviously), the deepwater coral reefs off the US might be getting protection soon.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, which sets fishing rules for federal waters in the Southeast, recently proposed protecting about 23,000 square miles of these reefs by prohibiting anchoring, bottom-fishing, and other destructive activities. The protection plan, likely to be voted on within the next year or so, could affect mounting proposals to lay natural-gas pipelines from the Bahamas to South Florida.

Why does the Council want to protect something it knows so little about? According to biologist Myra Brouwer, "The council wants to put in protection measures before anything happens." Protect it before we ruin it? Wha?

Beyond the Blue is a British dive magazine with a decidedly technical focus. Shipped throughout Europe and even to the US (for about $58), the current issue of the magazine discusses rebreathers, rebreathers, and, um, rebreathers.

Even if you're not all that geeked up about rebreathers, you might still be interested in visiting Beyond the Blue's website. Divided into either wreck or cave, the site features lots of exciting trip reports (read about Guy Wallis' 8-days exploring the Karst Regin of the Czech Republic and Hungary), technique tips (where else are you gonna learn about Differential GPS and Proton Magnetometer?), and gear reviews (e.g., the C-Bear Tri-Glove). Quite simply, Beyond the Blue goes way beyond the ordinary dive magazine and explores the limits of our sport.

Although we know coral exists in the cool waters and emerald seas, when we think of coral, we usually think of it thriving in warmer waters. However, Norway -- which is pretty far north and has some pretty cold waters -- has healthy, beautiful coral growing along much of its coast. In fact, Norway is home to the world's largest cold water coral reef. Found off Lofoten, Norway's reef, about 21 miles long and 1.8 miles wide, lies at a depth of around 1000 feet.

Many people, like Jan Helge Fosså of the marine research institute Havforskningsinstituttet, are eager to protect the reef. However, Fosså and other environmentalists face the challenge of keeping local fishermen away from it. The fishermen have known about it for years, of course, because their trawlers often rip off chunks of it and pull it to the surface. Despite this, over the past few years, researchers have been using mini-subs to chart and photograph the reef, to make sure oil exploration efforts don't further damage it.

I don't know about you, but my memory could use some help when it comes to fish identification. Black tip reef sharks and the bright orange Garibaldi are easy to remember but the variations of damselfish and triggerfish can be overwhelming.

Fish ID guides, like those by Paul Humann, are a critical part of any divers bookshelf but they're not always the easiest to use if all you can remember is the general size or markings on a fish. What I've always wanted to see is a fish guide which cross-references their characteristics in greater detail and It looks like the folks at WikiDivers are doing just that.

Their fish identification guide begins with describing the characteristics of fish: body shape, fins, markings, gills, size, and body/fin configurations. Each of these includes a link to fish which have those characteristics. If your unknown fish had vertical bands, click the Bands link and a list shows you those with vertical bands.

There is a growing number of fish species already in the guide but it's a work in progress. While the main page is a great starting point with photos and links, the search results don't generate thumbnails. Bummer, because clicking through links for individual photos is no better than paging through Humann's book. The founders of WikiDivers have voiced their commitment to the site so hopefully their hard work will continue and produce an intuitive and thorough resource.

I'm sorry to say I didn't know of the Right Whale before Willy wrote about it last month. Now that they're on the public radar LiveScience is reporting on the North Atlantic Right Whale, one of which was recently slashed to death by ship propeller blades. The juvenile whale measured 40 feet in length and was found ten miles off the coast of Brunswick, Georgia.
Scientists say the population of North Altantic Right Whales is less than 400 and six were killed last year. These whales spend summers in the North Atlantic (duh) and migrate to Georgia and Florida in the fall to breed.

National Marine Fisheries Service has been taking steps to protect these endangered whales but meeting with resistance from government agencies and the shipping industry. Considering the North Pacific Right Whale was granted protection in 2006, what gives?

[Via LiveScience]

Britain's Protection of the Military Remains Act of 1986 protects ships that sunk with British servicemen inside. However, the act only prevents British citizens from entering such war graves -- it doesn't prevent foreign nationals from diving in them. Citing the prevalence of videos and photos posted on the Internet -- clearly showing that companies are taking divers inside ships like the HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse -- some people want this loophole closed.

Calling for new laws to ensure wrecks are given the same respect as war cemeteries, Hannah Rickard, whose father survived the sinking of the Prince of Wales, claims, "It is obvious from some of the videos and photos circulating that the graves of these men are being disturbed... If it was British divers doing it, they would be prosecuted." However, Rickard admits that visiting the outside of the wrecks is not wrong, though the wrecks should be treated with the respect of a military cemetery: "to dive and just have a look at these wrecks I don't see as a problem. It's not ghoulish at all. We have battlefields that we go to in this country and the Tower of London where lots of people died."

Additionally, campaigners are comparing the taking of artifacts on the wrecks to grave robbing and are calling for a complete moratorium on that, as well. Admittedly, the loophole seems ridiculous and quite unfair.

[Via Diving News]

This is old news (circa 2003) but has amazing photos of a basking shark being freed by a group of divers.

While on a three-day trip off the seldom-dived coast of Galway/Mayo, a small group of divers from Scubadive West were filling tanks when they discovered the basking shark floating on the surface...dead. They snorkeled over and were surprised when the shark's eye moved. A short time later they cut the ropes and the shark swam off.

Visit Scubadive West's web site for photos (scroll down a bit) or their photo gallery.

It's 2007 and hopefully you've survived another Festivus holiday. I'm looking forward to next year when I don't have to follow my 14-month-old around my in-laws' and pulling him away from tables and electrical outlets.

My scuba stocking had these great books inside...

The first, Master Guide for Underwater Digital Photography, is authored by Jack and Sue Drafahl. I've only paged through but it looks like an excellent introductory guide to underwater shooting with your digital camera. There are many photos and references to new(ish) gear from point-and-shoot digitals to SLR. Topics covered include camera settings (what <i>is</i> the histogram used for?), setting proper exposure, strobes, wide-angle, macro, composition, and traveling with your gear. This is my first book on the topic and it looks like an excellent place to start.

The other is a giant coffee-table-sized thing called Ocean: The World's Last Wilderness Revealed. With a foreword by Fabien Cousteau, it's the end-all, be-all visual reference and fact guide to our seas. There are beautiful two-page photos and hundreds of diagrams describing every facet of our great seas from ocean currents to temperature to the creatures living in dark depths. It's the type of book where you can read two or three pages and move onto the next topic. If nothing else this should inspire you to get back into the water, try a new dive site, or simply impress your friends.

So what did you get for dive-related gifts?

Eric Douglas, scuba diving author of Cayman Cowboys and Flooding Hollywood, sent me a note about his latest short story. Bait and Switch features dive instructor Jackson Pauley in Florida's fictitious Withrow Key.

You wanted me to say more and spoil the story?

I should mention Eric's other story, Pearl Harbor Christmas, about a serviceman onboard the U.S.S. West Virginia and the events between the attack and Christmas 1941.

Tonton Marconi assembled this footage of diving in "Oosterschelde," Netherlands. Featuring Zeebars onder de Zeelandbrug; plenty of Begroeide pilaren, Zeepokken, and Naaktslakjes; some Wulk; and, of course, some excellent footage of Strandkrabben vechten om een hapje, the pretty video helps to explain why cold water diving can be so rewarding.

Who knew there were Parende Sepias onder de Zeelandbrug?! Not me!