10 new artificial reefs coming to Panama City Beach, Fla.
FELICIA KITZMILLER / News Herald Writer PANAMA CITY BEACH — Bay County has committed to build at least 10 new artificial reefs by the end of the summer and more are in the works. At their last meeting, county commissioners voted to accept a $60,000 grant from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to construct 10 new artificial reefs in an area approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about 10 nautical miles from the entrance to St. Andrew Bay at a depth of about 88 feet, according to a board memo. The reefs will augment an existing reef formed when the remnants of the old DuPont Bridge were sunk in that area. Each reef will be composed of four premanufactured concrete and steel pods arranged in grid pattern about 600 feet … Read entire article »
Filed under: Artificial Reefs, Events, Reefs, Reference, Report
Discussion to open cave diving at Wakulla
By Jennifer Portman Democrat senior writer CRAWFORDVILLE —Opinions were sharply divided at a public workshop Thursday night on whether recreational cave diving should be allowed at Wakulla Spring, the centerpiece of Wakulla Springs State Park. More than 200 people turned out to the Wakulla County Agriculture Extension Arena for the meeting hosted by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to get input on a proposal to reverse a 26-year-old policy forbidding public diving in the 300-foot-deep first-magnitude spring. About 100 people filled out speaker cards and were given about a minute each to make their pitches — both for and against the plan — to officials with DEP’s Division of Parks and Recreation. Many of those opposed to the idea wore badges and held small signs that read: “No more threats to Wakulla Spring.” “It may … Read entire article »
Beneath The Sea Meadownlands Exposition Center, New Jersey
.. And to You, A Special Invitation to Our New Dealers Day It’s our lead-in to the show where only you and our exhibitors – over 300 of them, can do business: Friday, March 23rd. Check it: our web site, www.BeneathTheSea.orgClick on ‘Exhibitors’, then ‘Dealer Day Registration’ ps: We do have exhibit space available for you. Zig Armand Zigahn, Executive Director Beneath The Sea Inc. 495 New Rochelle Rd., #2A Bronxville, NY 10708 (914) 664-4310 Zig@BeneathTheSea.org BTS Expo 2012 March 23, 24, 25 ©Beneath The Sea 2012 … Read entire article »
Filed under: Convention, Events, Promotions, Reefs, Reference
Administration unveils sweeping plan to protect the country’s oceans
By Andrew Restuccia The Obama administration unveiled on Thursday a federal strategy for protecting the country’s oceans that calls for improving oil-spill response capabilities in the Arctic and managing the effects of climate change. The draft plan outlines a series of steps that various federal agencies will take to meet the goals of a 2010 executive order that called for ensuring the “protection, maintenance, and restoration” of the oceans. “This action plan will help focus our resources on actions that will enhance the stewardship of coastal and marine resources on which so many communities, small businesses, and American jobs depend,” Nancy Sutley, the head of the Council on Environmental Quality and the co-chairwoman of the National Ocean Council, said in a statement. The plan outlines a strategy for improving federal agencies’ ability to respond … Read entire article »
Filed under: Events, Open Water, Promotions, Reefs, Reference, Report
Public hearing on whether or not to open the Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park to cave divers
On January 19th, the Florida Park Service will be hosting a public hearing on whether or not to open the Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park to cave divers (see the Media Advisory). Currently, diving access to Wakulla Springs has only been through government permit, with few permits having been applied for and granted. As a result, access to Wakulla Springs has largely been closed to technical divers irrespective of training organization or qualifications. If potential future access is of interest to you, than we urge you to attend the hearing in support of opening Wakulla Springs to properly trained and certified technical cave divers, as well as submitting your opinions in writing prior to the meeting (the address for written submissions is included in the below Media Advisory). If you … Read entire article »
Titanic Items To Be Sold 100 Years After Sinking
By STEVE SZKOTAK RICHMOND, Va. — Items as small as a hairpin and as big as a chunk of the Titanic’s hull are among 5,000 artifacts from the world’s most famous shipwreck that are to be auctioned in April, close to the 100th anniversary of the disaster. Nearly a century after the April 15, 1912, sinking of the ocean liner that hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic, a New York City auction is being readied by Guernsey’s Auctioneers & Brokers. That auction house has garnered headlines in the past by selling off such historical curiosities as prized Beatles photos, famous jewels of the late Princess Diana, beloved Jerry Garcia guitars and a police motorcycle used in the Texas motorcade when John F. Kennedy was slain. But nothing as titanic as the so-called … Read entire article »
Filed under: Artificial Reefs, Auction, Events, Promotions, Reefs, Reference
Bali – Alarming Shark Hunts
Desy Nurhayati The Jakarta Post Marine scientists have announced that shark hunting in waters offshore Bali and surrounding areas has reached an alarming rate, threatening the animal’s population. Ketut Sarjana Putra, marine director of Conservation International Indonesia (CII), said on Tuesday that the massive catches had taken place in the waters around Nusa Penida, some six kilometers to the north of the island and around the Tulamben area. “Many shark species are endangered, and this excessive degree of hunting could threaten their population, as most of the sharks that are caught are adult females,” he said. He explained that the hunt did not target certain species of sharks. However, the primary species that is targeted around Bali is the thresher shark. Several months ago, a team from CII held a marine survey in waters around Bali. During their 200 hours of diving, they only found three sharks. It … Read entire article »
Conversations with History: Ocean Voyages with Sylvia Earle
I present to you Dr. Sylvia Earle … Read entire article »
Filed under: Conservation, Diver, Featured, Promotions, Reference, Report, Training
BBC Planet Earth/Blue Planet Deep Ocean Creatures
Filed under: Featured, Open Water, Reference, Report, Video
Subscription to post notification
New Subscription and notification system. For those who are familiar with the main divetalking web page, the old subscribe by email has disappeared and a new Subscribe field is presented. If you were previously subscribed to receive notifications, you need do nothing. Your previous subscription has been imported into the new system. If you are new to Divetalking and with to subscribe to post notifications, simply type in your email address in the field and click on . If you have not registered as a user of Divetalking.com, simply click on found in IMPORTANT AREA. You will be brought to the following screen: Click on the Register link, the next screen you will be presented with is: For Username, typing in a name you would like to use as your log in name/ID, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Reference
Making it count – November 2011
Making It Count – November 2011 GIVE THANKS TO OUR OCEANS BY DONATING TO REEF By Paul Humann, REEF Co-Founder I am excited to announce the launch of our Winter Fundraising Campaign. During this holiday season, please consider a contribution to protect and conserve our marine ecosystems. Donate today using our secure online form, call REEF HQ at 305-852-0030, or mail in your donation to REEF, PO Box 246, Key Largo, FL 33037. Members who donate $250 or more will receive a limited, signed, and numbered print of a beautiful Peppermint Basslet. This year, we give thanks to all our supporters and donors who have made REEF’s programs in 2011 successful. Your donation supports a database of over 154,000 fish and invertebrate surveys, marine conservation research, Nassau Grouper and Goliath Grouper protections, lionfish invasion … Read entire article »
Conservationists Find it Hard to Dent Hong Kong’s Appetite for Shark Fin Soup
The Wrong Kind of Status Symbol In many parts of Asia, shark fin soup is considered a delicacy. It is traditionally served at weddings, but it’s also a way for the newly wealthy to show their status. The problem is, the number of people in Asia who are entering the middle-class and can now afford to eat more shark fin soup has grown exponentially in the past decades and – as Jaymi explains in her post about shark finning – there are between 73 and 100 million sharks killed every year, mostly just for their fins. Because sharks are top predators, they are crucial to oceanic ecosystems. Conservationists have long tried to either ban or at least regulate the practice, with various levels of success, and to convince people living where the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Conservation, Featured, Reference, Report, Sharks