 May 2007 Printer-Friendly Volunteers Needed for SCUBA Show 2007 Seminar Rooms Volunteers are needed for monitoring the seminar rooms at SCUBA Show 2007, to take place at the Long Beach Convention Center, June 2-3. For information e-mail mail@scubashow.com or call (310) 792-2333. New Dive Boat Humboldt Sets Sail in San Diego  Waterhorse charters will launch its premier vessel the Humboldt on May 23rd. With tons of space, cool crew, good food, and all the stuff that makes diving in San Diego fun, Humboldt will be making trips out to the wrecks, down to the Coronados, over to the kelp, and even on up to the Channel Islands. The Waterhorse vessel, the Humboldt, is a Newton 46’ boat, with an overall length of 49’11” and a 16’ beam. This boat is designed specially for scuba diving and has a top speed of 30 mph and a cruising speed of 26 mph. Waterhorse is now accepting charters and already has trips scheduled months in advance. Remember, unless otherwise stated, a boat dive includes two tanks, weights, food, and drinks. To reserve a place, just call 619-224-6195, e-mail at info@waterhorsecharters.com or check them out at www.waterhorsecharters.com. New Dive Center Opens in Orange County Professional dive center—All Things Scuba—opens its doors April 23 and will celebrate with a Grand Opening tent event May 10-13. The new dive store will carry a full line of dive gear featuring Scubapro, Aqualung, and Aeris, as well as other major brands. Full rentals will also be available with top of the line gear. All Things Scuba has 3,500 sq. ft of retail space to offer Orange County’s widest scuba product selection in a customer friendly environment. All Things Scuba is committed to growing the dive community by offering scuba classes from beginner to professional. They are focused on keeping new divers diving and have several programs such as their “Dive Now!” program that enables newly certified open water scuba divers to rent gear packages at special rates. All Things Scuba is open 10 to 7 Monday through Friday, 10 to 6 on Saturday and 11 to 5 Sunday. The new store is located at 24320 Swartz Dr. in Lake Forest, just seconds off I-5 at El Toro Rd. They can be reached by calling 949-454-8872, or visit their web site at www.allthingsscuba.com. Mexico Passes Shark Finning Ban and New Protections for Great White, Whale and Basking Sharks, Manta Rays In a surprising move, the Mexican government has recently published sweeping new regulations and protections for sharks, including a shark finning ban, an extension of the moratorium on new commercial shark fishing permits, and extensive protections for great white sharks, whale sharks, basking sharks and manta rays. In the past few years, Mexico has been recognized as one of the few places on the planet where large congregations of great white sharks appear each year at Isla Guadalupe. Along with whale shark aggregations in Holbox, destination tourism with these shark species and others is growing. Captain Mike Lever owner of expedition dive vessel MV Nautilus Explorer was thrilled at the news. “The people of Mexico afford us a great privilege in allowing us to dive with the white sharks at Guadalupe Island. The February 14th enactment of Mexican rules for responsible shark and ray fisheries is incredibly good news and really bodes well for the survival of these magnificent animals. Our hats are off to all of the scientists who helped make this happen”. The new rules and regulations came after 10 years of debate and the broad support of researchers, scientists, conservations groups, eco-tour operations and local citizens. — from Sharkdiver.com DAN and NAUI Ally for Dive Accident Insurance DAN and NAUI are pleased to announce their alliance to work together for the greater good of diver safety. Effective immediately, DAN is the official dive accident insurance provider for NAUI Worldwide. NAUI has discontinued its Dive & Travel Insurance Program and is endorsing the Membership and Dive Accident Insurance programs offered by DAN. “We’ve always supported DAN’s mission,” says Jim Bram, President of NAUI, “and the quality of their insurance program is well known. We value what DAN provides to the dive community, and we hope that our joining in this alliance will contribute to DAN’s continuing success for many years to come, while allowing NAUI to focus on maintaining the strength and quality of its diver education programs.” Divers currently carrying NAUI’s Dive & Travel Insurance will be notified of the change as their policies come due for renewal, and they will be offered the opportunity to join DAN. In addition, NAUI dive centers and instructors will be provided materials on DAN and its programs, including the DAN Student Membership Program. “DAN has always been dedicated solely to divers and diver safety,” says Dan Orr, President and CEO of Divers Alert Network, “and our record certainly speaks for itself. Yet no matter how much we’ve been able to contribute in the past, we are always looking for ways to provide more. When we first developed the idea of working directly with the training agencies, it was with the intent to increase the network of resources for divers, as well as the commitment of the dive industry to safety practices. We are delighted NAUI has made this public commitment with us, and we are proud to call them our ally in this continuing directive.” Founded in 1959, NAUI Worldwide is the second-largest diver certifying organization in the world, whose members offer a full range of training programs from Skin Diver through Instructor Course Director, with dozens of specialty courses including Nitrox and Technical diving. Divers Alert Network (DAN) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit medical and research organization dedicated to the safety and health of recreational scuba divers and is associated with Duke University Medical Center. Founded in 1980, DAN has served as a lifeline for the scuba industry by operating the only 24-hour diving emergency hotline, a lifesaving service for injured divers. Additionally, DAN operates a diving medical information hotline, conducts vital diving medical research, and develops and provides a number of first-aid and continuing education programs for everyone from beginning divers to medical professionals. Black Abalone May Be Headed for Endangered Species List The Center for Biological Diversity filed a formal administrative petition seeking to have the black abalone (Haliotis cracherodii) protected under the federal Endangered Species Act. The black abalone, an invertebrate ranging from Coos Bay, Oregon to Cape San Lucas, Baja California has declined by as much as 99 percent in significantly large portions of its range. Once occurring at densities of up to 120 per square meter, the black abalone was among the most common and visible invertebrates in Southern California tidepools and shallow water environments. The black abalone has now virtually disappeared from the Southern California mainland and from many areas of the Channel Islands where it was once most abundant. The primary drivers of the decline of black abalone are sport fishing, which severely depleted populations, followed by the outbreak and spread of a disease, withering foot syndrome. This disease has devastated remaining populations in the Channel Islands and Southern California and is spreading northward through the remaining range of the species. While in California fishing of black abalone is now banned, withering foot syndrome has yet to be controlled and remains a dire threat to the continued existence of the species. The National Marine Fisheries Service, the federal agency charged with implementing the Endangered Species Act, has 90 days to respond to the petition. The process of listing a species under the Endangered Species Act generally takes two years from petition to formal protection under the statute. Once listed, the black abalone would join the white abalone (Haliotis sorenseni) and the elkhorn and staghorn corals as the only marine invertebrates protected under the Endangered Species Act. Each of these species has been protected under the Endangered Species Act only following a similar Center for Biological Diversity petition. A copy of the Black abalone petition is available on the Center for Biological Diversity’s web site at http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/SPECIES/ABALONE/Black-Ab-Petition-12-21-06.pdf. The Center for Biological Diversity is a national non-profit conservation organization with more than 25,000 members dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places. © Copyright 2007, all rights reserve, by Saint Brendan Corporation, P.O. Box 11231, Torrance CA 90510, mail@cadivingnews.com. No part of this may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system/website, or transmitted in any form by any means without prior written permission of the publisher. IMPORTANT NOTICE: The contents of this publication/website are opinions of the individual writers. The publishers of California Diving News and its contributors assume no responsibility for any mishap claimed to be a result of use of this material. Diving is an adventure sport and with it comes inherent risks. Improper use of diving equipment or improper diving techniques may result in serious injury or, in extreme circumstances, death. Readers are admonished to use their own best judgement in each individual situation. |
