Just a friendly reminder that the deadline for the Wetpixel.com and DivePhotoGuide.com photo contest at Our World-Underwater is on 7 January 2007, which is practically around the corner.

There’s over US$35,000 in prizes to be won including trips to some of the world’s top dive destinations. FiNS Contributor Tony Wu has been added to the list of distinguished celebrity list of judges, which includes two other FiNS Contributors — Dr. Alex Mustard and Eric Cheng, as well as top photographer Stephen Frink. Click here for more information.

On 9 October 2006, the Badalveda Diving Medicine Network opened a new hyperbaric chamber on the island of Koh Tao in Thailand. Koh Tao is one of the most popular diving destinations in the world with over 70,000 diving visitors annually.

In the past, anyone suffering from Decompression Illness (DCI) had to be evacuated via speedboat to the island of Koh Samui — approximately two to three hours away. It wasn’t an ideal situation as patients could be subjected to delays due to bad weather or the lack of adequate light at night. Read more…

Bryce Groark’s delightfully engaging video on cleaning behaviour among Hawaiian reef animals has just been released as Episode 31 of DiveFilm Podcast Video. Featuring fantastic footage of sea turtles, morays, and reef fishes being cleaned by a variety of intrepid cleaner shrimps and fishes, this film is both visually beautiful and highly informative.

Cleaning symbiosis among marine creatures has captivated divers since Hans Hass, Conrad Limbaugh and other pioneering divers began documenting their observations of this vital behavior in the last century.

This film is an official selection at the 2006 Annual San Diego UnderSea Film exhibition. The podcast can be accessed by going to DiveFilm.com and following the links on the home page. By subscribing to the podcast through iTunes, viewers help keep DiveFilm Podcasts a “Featured Video Podcasts” at iTunes.

Here’s a photo of a black manta ray sent to us by Hiro Watanabe, who runs Alotau Dive & Tours in Papua New Guinea. Visit Hiro and he’ll take you to Gunabarabara (What a cool island name!) to see manta rays. If you’re lucky, a beautiful black manta like this one will show up and hover at close proximity above you.

FiNS Magazine Associate Editors and marine life book authors Andrea and Antonella Ferrari had another of their ridiculous lucky strikes a few days ago while muck diving in Puri Jati — a black sand expanse at low and medium depth along Bali’s north-eastern coast — courtesy of local specialist AquaMarine Diving — Bali. Just a few seconds after having entered the water from the deserted beach they spotted a relatively common denizen of the site, a large mimic octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus), gently swimming on the sea bottom. Read more…

A new report from the United Nations Environment Programme suggests that the number of dead zones in the ocean have increased dramatically. Dead zones are large areas of ocean largely devoid of marine life, due to low oxygen levels. Researchers believe that fertilisers for things like agriculture and golf courses, sewage and fossil fuels are largely to blame. Read more here.

FiNS Magazine Contributor Tony Wu recently visited North Sulawesi and dived in Manado, Bunaken, Bangka and Lembeh. Check out Tony’s blog to read some of the highlights of his trip.

Iceland has recently announced its intention to resume commercial whaling. Predictably, international outcry has been quick and strong. A search on Google will turn up dozens of recent press releases on this subject. Almost any discussion to do with whales and whaling is complicated and sensitive. For a good overview on the Iceland decision and the issues associated with commercial whaling in general, see this recent article in the Guardian.

Tauch Terminal Tulamben Resort is happy to announce the arrival of their new Resort Manager — Volker Katzung.

Born January 1961 in Germany, Volker has spent the last 15 years of his life in Asia, diving/ working in different places. He has approximately 6,000 dives and 1,000 certified students to his credit. Volker’s greatest hobby is underwater photography, and some of his photographs have been published. He brings with him a wealth of diving experience and is eager to put this into use at Tulamben Resort.

The Tauch Terminal Team welcomes Volker to Bali!

Siam Ocean World, Planet Scuba, and FiNS Magazine are happy to announce the winners of our joint “I Love Sharks” Hand Illustration Contest, chosen from over 200 beautiful entries we received Read more…