Can YOU identify this Fish? Wilderness travel...Snorkeling in Palawan & Whale Sharks in Donsol... by Lee Goldman
This is Lee…Lee Goldman that is… I thought you might like this article and read about my recent experience in the Philippines...
Hi Lee, Gunther here…of course you always welcome and we are very happy to publish your real life stories, thanks Lee please keep it up, we appreciate your input very much.
See below the story which I have just received, thanks again to Lee Goldman, Marine Biologist, who always finds the time and supplying us with some interesting articles.
Who can Identify this Fish? Please
help...

Photo © Lee Goldman, image taken in the
Philippines
Snorkeling the
Islands of Palawan. Okay, so the title sounds like we spent the
entire time in Palawan, but our first 2 days of the expedition were
snorkeling with Whale sharks in Donsol. Come ‘on, how can I
invite guests to the Philippines and not expose them to one of the
best big animal encounters a snorkeler can have!
This entry will be a quick one because how can I describe the
experience? Amazing, exhilarating, sometimes exhausting. Because
visibility often does not exceed 12 m, when you see a whale shark,
it is an up close and personal encounter! The guides put you right
near them and as they swim by, you are sometimes only a few feet
from them. My guests all commented on how amazing it was that they
actually had to swim away from the sharks rather than having to
chase them down. Needless to say, our experience with the whale
sharks in Donsol was exactly as it has always been promoted; come
and swim with lots of whale sharks. We swam with no less than
eight. We also had a chance to snorkel in the area. Due to
proximity of the rivers, visibility was not optimal, but we
didn’t miss a beat. Many varieties of fish and coral exist
there and for most of my guests, new species of fish were checked
off in their fish identification books. For one guest, an avid
admirer of nudibranchs, a new species of Phyllidia was her treat
for the day. As a guide who spent many years in the Philippines and
Palau, you may think I had seen it all. No way, that’s what I
love about the Philippines; new species of fish I may know but not
seen, or in my case in Donsol a new species of fish I had no idea
existed.
Even some of the better
ichthyologists could not help me with the identification. I intend
to pursue this one and will keep everyone updated as I know more.
Anyone out there with a suggestion?
Lee
Goldman
Our Philippine-Micronesia Alliance
partner in Palawan Philippines is Club Paradise & Dugong Dive
Center for all your travel arrangements and
for Lee Goldman's Wilderness travel contact our partner in
Manila Blue
Horizons.
PALAUTOURS.COM updated today May 7th 2008...including the FSM...Federated States of Micronesia...plus a lot more very soon.
Before you make all our travel arrangements check it out...why not stop over in the Philippines for a few extra days and Dive some of the best Bio diversity in
the world. Plan your trip as a combination Philippines - Micronesia then you have the very best of both worlds.
Think about it.
PalauTours.com Now... Welcome to Micronesia!
The colors of the Pacific...
(FSM - The Federated States of Micronesia)

Chuuk (Truk Lagoon) - Yap - Kosrae & Pohnpei
Click the image or the link below
http://www.palautours.com/micronesia.html
As promised... we have just updated the
palautours.com site changes and NEW additions are as follow;
Micronesia section is updated see the screenshot on this blog - a Palau and Regional map has been added -
in the Photo Gallery we have now provided caption on all the images for easy identification - Getting here is
been updated - some pages have additional text - plus we have changed some photos in various categories.
More to come by this weekend and an incredible update is in progress for the Dive sites of Palau, we will feature
most of the dive sites and not only the popular ones, a big undertaking but I am sure you enjoy it once that is done.
We try very hard to have our first listings up also by Sunday, please stay tuned or start subscribing.
Your Palau Tours Team
A NEW Website on PALAU Micronesia...bringing the Philippines and Micronesia closer? Travel News from the Pacific...
a very interesting NEW site which promise to be a huge source of information, I guess they still sorting out some issues but from what I have seen so far WOW.
If this site goes the way it looks already then what else do you need for your information on Palau and Micronesia.
The Philippine-Micronesia Alliance is keeping an eye on this one and we try to link up with them sooner than later.
Have a good browse, even it is not quiet finished but it is certainly very impressive.
GD
PALAUTOURS.COM
Your Tour Guide to Palau and Micronesia

© Gunther Deichmann - Kayaks in the Rock Islands, Palau
click the image and go to our Gallery @
http://www.palautours.com/gallery.html
PALAUTOURS.COM is a unique and very informative site for
all Your requirements before traveling to Palau in Micronesia.
The site is fully up and running but we have to fix some minor glitches
and add some more exciting pages for you.
By this coming weekend we should have everything just about in place.
The interesting part is, not only Palau will be represented but we include
islands like Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae in due time.
Just stay tuned or subscribe to our RSS feed for the latest developments.
With these addition we bring you a lot closer to this amazing part of the world, You dont get any closer to Nature...above and below the waves.
To some extend these islands are still unexplored in parts hence the recent discovery of some unusual inhabitants (see our last blog) the scientist are still debating who and where these small people came from. PalauTours.com is trying to keep you well informed from this part of the World, not only on leisure activities, but news on Marine life, Science projects, discoveries and of course environmental related issues. If you have any interesting stories please dont hold back, send it to us, we love to publish it.

© Gunther Deichmann - Hotel, Resorts, Restaurant and Bar
Guide/Information
on Palau...click the image and go to Palautours.com
http://www.palautours.com/gallery.html

© Gunther Deichmann - Duty Free & Retail stores, Tour Operators
Government offices, Conservation & Medical services
plus a lot more...click the image and go to Palautours.com
http://www.palautours.com/gallery.html

© Gunther Deichmann - the World famous Blue Hole and
Blue Corner, Palau, plus many more different dive sites in our
Dive section including Dive Centers & Dive Resorts...
click the image and go to Palautours.com
http://www.palautours.com/gallery.html
We like YOU to use Palau Tours as your Resort, Hotel, Restaurant, Dive & Tour guide... YOU be amazed how beautiful this part of the world really is.
The Editor
Late breaking NEWS from the ADEX show in Singapore, plus...MacDive Matchmaker realizing that his beloved Suunto D9 and Mac computer were having communication issues...
GD
See
below the latest
NEWS
from Fins Magazine...
MacDive Matchmaker
This
information has been provided by Fins Magazine... click the link
above for more information...
Saturday,
19th April 2008, 12:48 pm by FiNS Team

Realising that his beloved Suunto D9 and Mac computer were having
communication issues, Singapore-based Kiwi Nick Shore created
MacDive, a free application to help the two get along.
Nick says: “There wasn’t an application that had the
functionality I wanted or the look and feel of a Mac application,
and I thought it would be easiest to just start from scratch and
make the exact app I wanted. Plus, this way I could make it free. I
worked on MacDive in my spare time after work. It’s been a
real labour of love. I know there are many divers who are also Mac
users and who, like me, have been frustrated with the lack of
options available for Macs. I hope MacDive will help make them
happy.”
While developing MacDive, a number of divers in Singapore loaned
him their Suuntos for testing. As a result, the application is
currently compatible with the D9, D6, D3, Cobra, Cobra 2, Vyper,
Vyper 2, Gekko, Vytec and Mosquito.
Nick plans to continue developing MacDive, adding support for more
dive computer brands as well as additional functionality, and
he’s keen to receive user feedback on where to take the
application next.
At the same time, Nick is working on a project with two programmers
and divers from Belgium and Canada to make it easier to develop
applications for the majority of dive computers on the
market.”First things first, though. I’ve got to get in
the water and do some testing of my own!”
MacDive is available for free download at:
http://thedoorisajar.org/macdive
What has a Whale in common with India & Boracay in the Philippines…? More than you might think... just amazing.
DID YOU KNOW?
Is brought to you by the
Philippine - Micronesia
Alliance,
the Divers Choice.
We care about our Environment!
What
has a Whale in common with India & Boracay..?
Well,,I
have been to both places recently!
As you know I have just returned from Mumbai in India &
Boracay
in the Philippines... and today I came across this very interesting
article.
If
you book a Safari trip with
Calypso
Diving in Boracay then
you have a good chance to see them in Panagatan and if you go to
Kashmir in India you might find some of their relative in
sedimentary rocks as fossils.
Strange…
I
only returned from India and Boracay, and now this article rolled
over my table…
Coincident? Who knows…?
But
did you know that Whales “lived on land” according to
some new discoveries... check out this amazing article
below...
GD

Photo Courtesy by © Rene Buob - a Whale shark near the
surface
on a perfect day in Panagatan.
Whale 'missing link' discovered
Courtesy
of:
By Helen Briggs
Science reporter, BBC News
Indohyus. The
animal was small, stocky and about the size of a raccoon
The whale is descended from a deer-like animal that lived 48
million years ago, according to fossil evidence.
Remains found in the Kashmir region of India suggest the fox-sized
mammal is the long-sought land-based ancestor of whales, dolphins
and porpoises.
Research in Nature indicates the animal lived mainly on land but
dived into water to escape predators.
Whales are known to be descended from land-dwellers but the
"missing link" has been a mystery until now…for more
interesting reading and photos click the link below:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7150627.stm
About 40 million years ago, when the Earth looked dramatically different to how it does today...did you know?
We
dont like to talk always about diving and how great our
destinations are ...No...
we like you to be informed about our fragile environment and the
latest NEWS... as a matter of fact keeping you in touch with the
latest science and new discoveries is very important to
us.
We do care... a lot!
A big thanks' to Walter Ty for bringing this to my
attention.
DID YOU KNOW?
Is brought to you by the
Philippine - Micronesia
Alliance,
the Divers Choice.
We care about our
Environment!
To watch
this amazing video click the image
About
40 million years ago, when the Earth looked dramatically different
to how it does today, a tiny arachnid was crawling around in the
Baltic.
But the little bug was soon to meet a sticky demise. As it crept up
a tree trunk, it encountered a blob of tree resin and its spindly
legs rapidly became stuck-fast in the gluey trap.
Fast-forward a few thousand Millennia and the creature still sits
in the same pose, preserved in a small lump of amber.
However, its location is now rather different from the prehistoric
forest floor where it once roamed.
Terry Collingwood
I noticed something was in there hiding beneath a layer - it looked
like a leg
Terry Collingwood
It can now found within the vaults of London's Natural History
Museum - taking pride of place as the latest donation in the
museum's palaeontology collection.
"You can just spend hours and hours looking at amber," said Terry
Collingwood, who discovered the amber-encased creature.
The Rochester-based fossil collector had bought a batch of amber on
an online auction site before noticing, on closer inspection, that
one of the pieces looked a little unusual.
"I spent a long time looking at this piece and then I noticed
something was in there hiding beneath a layer - it looked like a
leg.
"So I started to work on the piece, polishing it and working to get
those layers off.
"And then I eventually saw it - I realised straightaway that it was
something special."
Stuck fast
He sent the mysterious creature off to the Natural History Museum
to be checked out.
"When we looked at the amber under the microscope we could see it
was a harvestman," said Dr Andrew Ross, collection manager of
fossil invertebrates and plants.
Harvestmen belong to the arachnid class.
At first glance, with their eight legs, they look similar to
spiders. But, while spiders' heads and abdomens are segmented,
harvestmen's bodies and heads are fused together. They also lack
silk glands - making spinning webs impossible.
Amber with arachnid (NHM)
Usually some of the legs will snap off as the insects try to escape
the sticky resin, but this one must have got stuck fast
Dr Andrew Ross, Natural History Museum
Closer examination revealed that the specimen was rare, a species
called Dicranopalpus ramiger, which is now extinct.
"This one is quite a young spider", explained Dr Ross. "Its body is
the size of a pinhead and its legs are about 6mm long.
"But what is really interesting is that all of its legs are still
intact - usually some of the legs will snap off as the insects try
to escape the sticky resin, but this one must have got stuck
fast."
Dr Ross said that fossil finds like this recent donation from Mr
Collingwood were extremely important.
He said: "They are a record of something that lived millions and
millions of years ago.
"Amber is particularly special. It preserves some of the smaller
animals that you don't get preserved in rock.
"It gives us a fantastic insight into lots of prehistoric
insects."
Mr Collingwood added: "I just love insects in amber. Knowing
something is going to be at the Natural History Museum is just
wonderful."
Check out this incredible video & click this
link:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7327038.stm
Sharks could protect us from severe storms and Typhoons...stop the killing of this amazing creature which has been around for million of years
DID YOU KNOW?
Is brought to you by the
Philippine - Micronesia
Alliance,
the Divers Choice.
We care about our Environment!
Sharks
could protect us from Typhoons and other bad storms…real
amazing stuff from a researcher…and thanks
again to Walter Ty for bringing this to my attention...
Super interesting article and one more reason why we should take
care of our sharks and environment.
GD
STOP
the killing of our Sharks,
slurping of this tasteless soup must
STOP!
"They
could protect us from disaster."

© Gunther Deichmann - a storm over the
Pacific...
...can sharks give us some
warning signs?
Sharks 'may predict the storms'
Lauren Smith
Courtesy of the BBC
Lauren Smith studied dogfish, a type of small shark
Sharks could
be used to predict storms following research by a marine biology
student.
Lauren Smith, 24, is close to completing her PhD studies into the
pressure-sensing abilities of sharks.
If her studies prove the theory, scientists in future could monitor
the behavior of sharks to anticipate severe weather fronts.
Research was partly carried out in an altitude chamber at the
National Hyperbaric Centre in Aberdeen.
Miss Smith, originally from West Bromwich, had previously
investigated the behavior of lemon sharks in the Bahamas. She then
used their near relations, the lesser spotted dogfish, for further
research at Aberdeen University's altitude chamber at the National
Hyperbaric Centre.

© Gunther Deichmann, Shark and Photographer,
that is how it should be...
Who
can say if this could lead to sharks predicting weather fronts...
but it certainly opens the way to more research, Lauren Smith. It
is thought her work is the first of its kind to attempt to test the
pressure theory.
It was prompted by an earlier shark habitat study in Florida, which
coincided with the arrival of Hurricane Gabrielle in 2001, when
observations suggested that juvenile blacktop sharks moved into
deeper water in association with the approaching storm.
Miss Smith said: "I've always been keen on traveling and diving and
this led me to an interest in sharks.
"I was delighted to have been able to explore this area for my PhD,
particularly as it's the first time it's really been explored
fully.
"How many other students get the chance to put a shark in a chamber
to study its behavior?
"Who can say if this could lead to sharks predicting weather
fronts, there's so much more we need to understand. But it
certainly opens the way to more research."
The chamber's changes in pressure mimic the pressure changes
experienced in and around the ocean, caused by weather fronts, and
the protocol was approved by the Home Office.
Sharks were found to head for deeper water ahead of bad
weather.
Miss Smith, who completed her first degree in marine biology and
coastal ecology at Plymouth University, studied shark behavior in
the wild at the Bimini Biological Field Station in the
Bahamas.
It has been established that a shark senses pressure using hair
cells in its balance system.
Work at the Bimini Shark Lab enabled her to observe shark behavior
by placing data-logging tags to record pressure and temperature on
juvenile lemon sharks, while also tracking them using acoustic tags
and GPS technology.
In Aberdeen, she was able to study the effects of tidal and
temperature changes on dogfish, none of which were harmed, in the
aquarium.
She also tested the pressure theory by recreating weather
conditions at the chamber at the National Hyperbaric Centre.
She is due to complete her PhD and prepare papers for publication
later this year and will be looking for a job which will give her
the chance to expand her experience of shark research.
David
Smith, of the National Hyperbaric Centre, described the student's
research as "ground-breaking".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/north_east/7311847.stm
Scuba divers get the chance to observe the wired and wonderful… amazing things happen on our planet… courtships and rock an’ roll…
The courtship of the sea horses and now the Dolphins continuous…
I thought Valentines day was over…I guess not, here I am getting articles from Asia Divers in Puerto Galera and now a very interesting story from our silent supporter Walter Ty, thanks Walter we all appreciate your input.
The last blog has been on the mating and courtship of the sea horses…now we have some real weird ones from the Amazon river dolphin's courtship, some how all during the month of March… enjoy this cool story. Wave some branches at your girlfriend, and you be alright… maybe.
My blog is going to be a bit thin in the next two weeks, I am off to India for Apple, it is the World Tour of Aperture 2, my part is the intro into this sure amazing software in Mumbai.
Now enjoy the story…courtship about Dolphins…this is really wired stuff…
Amazing how much we learn everyday about our precious environment…lets keep our planet in one piece and green!!!
I have to sign off now, I am listening to Wishbone Ash…not Nash… sorry folks…to cool to miss… right Allan…who is Allan… you better check out the Point Bar in Puerto Galera you might run into him…they play the coolest music on the beach. The Philippine-Micronesia Alliance The Divers Choice.
GD

© Gunther
Deichmann - aerial over the Puerto Galera area
with the Point Bar, Asia Diver & El Galleon,
red circle.
Now to our main story...Dolphin woos with wood and
grass
Courtesy
by Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website
The
Amazon river dolphin's unique courtship...
A South American river dolphin uses branches, weeds and lumps of
clay to woo the opposite sex and frighten off rivals, scientists
have discovered.
Researchers observed adult male botos carrying these objects while
surrounded by females, and thrashing them on the water surface
aggressively.
Writing in the journal Biology Letters, they say such behaviour has
never before been seen in any marine mammal.
The boto lives in only two rivers, and numbers are thought to be
declining.
A group of British and Brazilian researchers studied the dolphin's
unique courtship behaviour over three years in the Mamiraua
Reserve, a flooded rainforest area on the Amazon.
"You see them coming up with bits of wood or lumps of rock in a
very ritualised manner," recalled Tony Martin from the Sea Mammal
Research Unit at St Andrews University.
They may be fairly numerous now, but they're going downhill fast
and we can't see any end to it,Tony Martin.
"Quite often they'd slowly come up above the surface in a vertical
posture holding this stuff in their mouths, then sink down rotating
on their own axis.
"They would also throw it or smash it against the surface, and it
does appear that the waving around and bashing is to impress the
ladies; but at the same time there's a lot of aggression between
adult males, and we have to infer that's part of it."
Professor Martin's group established that rock carrying and branch
thrashing were almost exclusively the preserve of adult males, and
that they did it more when lots of adult females were
present.
Although the males were more aggressive towards each other at these
times, they were never seen to hit each other with the rocks or
plants.
Sound
theory
Three years ago, scientists found bottlenose dolphins in Australian
waters carrying pieces of sponge, either to help with foraging or
to defend against predators.
But using objects for socio-sexual display is a novel
finding.
"I naively imagined this kind of thing was seen in other mammal
species," said Professor Martin.
"But I was quite surprised when I consulted friends and colleagues,
and it turns out that only chimps do anything similar - and that's
much less sophisticated."
How and why the boto evolved the behaviour is unclear; although as
cetaceans communicate largely with sound, it appears likely that
the displays also create an impressive auditory impact on females,
rival males, or both.
Hooked on
boto
This research stemmed from a larger project, Projeto Boto, aimed at
conserving the Amazon dolphin and its habitat.
River dolphins are among the most threatened of all cetaceans; the
baiji, a native of the Yangtze in China, may already have gone
extinct in the last two years, while numbers of the Indus or blind
river dolphin of South Asia are believed to be down to around the
3,000 mark.
Botos are increasingly turning up harpooned, their flesh used for
bait
Compared to these species, the South American dolphin is in good
health in its traditional haunts along the Amazon and Orinico
rivers. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species suggests "there are
probably tens of thousands of botos in total".
But the future does not appear secure. The Red List concludes that
the boto is threatened by dams (causing fragmentation of their
habitat) and pollution, such as from mercury used in gold
mining.
"With growing human populations in Amazonia and Orinoquia, the
conflicts between fisheries and dolphins are certain to intensify",
it notes.
Projeto Boto has found that fishermen are increasingly catching the
dolphins for use as bait to catch a fish, the piracatinga, which
usually feeds on dead flesh.
Meat from the caiman, a close relative of the alligator, is also
used for this purpose.
Projeto Boto scientists are regularly finding dead dolphins, either
harpooned or entangled in ropes.
"We lost half of the animals from our study area in just five
years," said Tony Martin.
"They may be fairly numerous now, but they're going downhill fast
and we can't see any end to it."
For more on this story and some photos go
to:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7313385.stm
A Tribute to John Bennett...the Legend lives on...he was the deepest diver in the world & and Pioneer...we miss you John.
GD
"He was the the greatest diver that ever lived... a memorial yesterday for John Bennett who died 4 years ago 15th of March. A very sad day not just for the dive community but his closest friends & loving family ! Gabby, Josh & Katie. We gathered yesterday for a remembrance of this great man that lead the way for divers & pioneers of today, he was a LEGEND, we love him & miss him. The deepest diver in the world John Bennett, we will never forget you,
from Mark Cox, a good friend."

© Photo: Mark Cox,
Australia

© Photo: Mark Cox,
Australia
Shark feeding...a very sad Shark encounter...a tragedy that happened in the Bahamas...lets learn some lessons from it...plus photographing Crocodiles
DID YOU KNOW?
Is brought to you by the
Philippine - Micronesia
Alliance,
the Divers Choice.
We care about our Environment!
You
might remember one of our previous article, the issue on Shark
feeding, below is a
follow up article from Lee
Goldman our consultant for marine environment and
conservation.
Lee is also the one who is conducting the
Kayak Wilderness Adventure trips in
Palawan. (see
below)
Best Adventure Trips 2008
A
Masked Ball in the Philippines
http://www.concierge.com/ideas/
Thanks'
Lee for your very interesting article we appreciate this very much
and while I am on the subject Sharks here is a
reminder...
Stop finning...Dont slurp this disgusting
soup.

© Photo Courtesy of
Sam's Tours
Palau
Confiscated Shark fins in Palau,
Micronesia
Sharks have been around for million of years and have survived...
well trying to survive...we are entering their territory, respect
and watch them from the distance.
I write in one
of my next blogs an article on the Saltwater
Crocodiles...captured...released...by some photographers who are
seeking the "great shot." Easy done... they even tied them down
with a string and retouch the rope or string in the computer...a
practice in Palau and other places by some operators...totally
unacceptable by myself.
You dont nail your kids on to the floor either to get this
great shot...or do YOU?
Let's leave our wildlife alone and develop the skill/technique to
do this from a distance with out stepping into their
territory.
The same
applies for some underwater photographers who walk all over the
reef, instead of swimming.
GD
See below the very interesting letter from Lee
Goldman
Hi Gunther,
Several weeks ago I wrote a blog about shark feeding. I
didn’t take sides. I presented the current arguments from
supporters for and against it. I thought it was important to show
that very few published studies exist that maintain any solid
conclusions about shark feeding. In my blog, my only personal view
concerned the ‘idea’ of shark feeding and, although
seemingly popular in its appeal, how I believe it could detract
from the overall diving experience at particular destinations
around the world.
Out of respect, I waited a bit before I submitted this follow up in
the wake of the tragedy that happened in the Bahamas. But I did
want to respond, because clearly this situation was a direct result
of the shark feeding activity. To those in opposition against shark
feeding, this was a situation that solidified their platform and,
in all truthfulness, gives them the good evidence they need to put
a stop to this practice. To those who favor shark feeding, this is
a tragic event, but isolated. Compared against the number of people
who participate in shark feeding on an annual basis, this
incredibly misfortune event represents a fraction of a
percent.
Once again, I will not take sides. But, I do want to point out
something that seems horribly wrong to me. Something that as a
SCUBA Instructor, expedition leader, and tour coordinator is
paramount to producing successful tours. Safety.
Before I get deeper into what I mean by Safety, I want to set it up
a bit more. I received an article from Gunther about the accident
in the Bahamas. In the article it mentions that although there
seems to be more shark attacks (which the author claims is the
result of an increasing exposure or encroachment of people into the
sharks territory), there are comparatively fewer deaths than
several decades ago. I will not debate the higher numbers of
swimmers, but I do have another point of view against the reasons
for lower deaths. The author asserted that our knowledge of trauma
treatment has gotten so advanced, that the attention to highly
traumatic wounds, such as shark bites, can be treated with a high
level of success. Okay, fair enough. I believe that is an accurate
statement. But I have something else to add, which, in all of my
responder and wilderness first aid courses taught me as equally
important: timing. Timing in the form of how fast can the victim
get proper medical treatment.
Florida banned shark feeding from their waters. Whatever their
reason is, right or wrong, agree or don’t agree, it is
illegal. The response from the operators who provide this type of
activity was to go farther offshore, to international (or Bahamian)
waters where the activity is legal. See where I am heading? Going
farther offshore to circumvent the law reduces the margin of
safety. The margin of safety in this situation is clearly the
ability to quickly evacuate the victim to a trauma center where
their chances of surviving the attack are exponentially higher. The
operator could have 50 years of experience with no customer having
ever been attacked before, with a great first aid kit on board. The
bottom line is that safety was compromised by making the hospital
farther away, making the time for properly trained EMT’s to
arrive longer, making the time for the victim to reach proper
medical facilities longer…and making the conscious decision
to do this so as to provide a service, but also to earn a
living.
Again, being in the dive industry I know all about liability. I
know the assumption of risk must be acknowledged by the
participant. But there must also be a reasonable amount of safety
built into the program. Traveling so far offshore and engaging in
this type of activity is not reasonable to me. And remember, were
talking about divers that are 100% exposed to the sharks. If this
were a cage diving experience and something tragically went wrong,
I would not be as concerned, because the cage is itself above and
beyond reasonable safety. Accidents do happen. But what exactly was
their safety plan. It sounds like they did all of the necessary
things correctly, but were themselves a victim of their own
decision to go farther offshore. Perhaps, there should have been a
compromise for their activity? Perhaps there should have been a
discussion like “okay, we have to go farther offshore, so we
need to make it safer because we don’t have as direct access
to evacuation and EMT care. Let’s put people in cages
or…”. I don’t know the “or…”.
If I was an operator, you bet I would.
I said I wasn’t taking sides and it may appear that I am. I
assure you, I am not. I am merely pointing out a situation that
must be addressed in order for this type of activity to continue.
Similar to my approach to any high risk adventure that is made
available to the public (usually a less-informed public) for a
price, I am not in opposition, just asking for a higher margin of
safety.
Please, my approach here could be dead wrong. I encourage anyone
who disagrees with me to say something. Maybe the boat had a full
service trauma room on board. Maybe an EMT was there. I don’t
know. All I know is what was presented in articles and news
reports. Thus, this is probably what the general public knows. And
the general public doesn’t need anymore stories about sharks
harming people; it needs more stories about people harming
sharks.
Lee Goldmann - Marine Biologist
ФИЛИППИНЫ - МИКРОНЕЗИЯ АЛЬЯНСУ ® 2008 From Russia with Love... sounds familiar...yes, 2008 Golden Dolphin Photo and Film Festival, Moscow
ФИЛИППИНЫ
-
МИКРОНЕЗИЯ
АЛЬЯНСУ ®
2008
![]()
ДОБРО
ПОЖАЛОВАТЬ
К НАШЕМУ
ФИЛИППИНЫ -
МИКРОНЕЗИЯ
АЛЬЯНСУ
ЭТО ТВОЙ
ЛУЧШИЙ
ПАРТНЕР
ДЛЯ
ПЕРВОКЛАССНОГО
ПОДВОДНОГО
ОТПУСКА
You have to check this article... very cool indeed,
from Dive Photo Guide, one of our supporters in the
Philippine-Micronesia Alliance.
I guess it is very cool at this time
of the year in Russia...but the girls
are...
From Russia with Love...
sounds familiar...yes,
even more so once you see some of the images from the
Golden Dolphin
Show you have to see
these Girls...
I have included below for our Russian readers an intro into the
Philippine-Micronesia Alliance in their russian language. Enjoy the
article from Dive Photo Guide and have your own opinion on the
photos...brrrrrrrrr but so HOT..., well the russians certainly have a very
different approach, how would that be in the
tropics?
GD
2008 Golden Dolphin Photo and Film Festival in
Moscow
Author: Jason Heller / March 01, 2008 12:00AM MST
Golden Dolphin, Moscow, Russia,
by Gyula Somogyi
February 14 - 17, 2008: Moscow was home to the VII Annual
International Foto and Film Festival, the Golden Dolphin. The
capital of the Russian Federation serves as a huge scene to this
festival - the combination of the beauty of the underwater world
and the rich city results a very colorful and lively festival and
exhibition.
The big exhibition hall is in the Gostivny Dvor, just a few steps
form the famous Red Square. The huge open air space accommodated
all the booths, the movie theater booth and the photo exhibition as
well.
Golden Dolphin Moscow Scuba Expo
Make no mistake: the heavy diving market of Russia is one of the
biggest in the world! Several newspapers, tabloids, websites and
diving clubs serve the demand of the diving community, especially
in Moscow. Sim Magazine has chosen a very special way to promote
the magazine, as you can see here below...you don't see this type
of promotion in the US.
Read the whole
article and check out some "Hot" images just click this
link.
See below for our Russian
friends, all our partners have their pages in russian, plus so many
other languages to choose from...
ФИЛИППИНЫ
-
МИКРОНЕЗИЯ
АЛЬЯНСУ ®
2008
ДОБРО
ПОЖАЛОВАТЬ
К НАШЕМУ
ФИЛИППИНЫ -
МИКРОНЕЗИЯ
АЛЬЯНСУ
ЭТО ТВОЙ
ЛУЧШИЙ
ПАРТНЕР
ДЛЯ
ПЕРВОКЛАССНОГО
ПОДВОДНОГО
ОТПУСКА
Огромная
площадь
теплых
тропических
вод Тихого
океана
между
Филиппинами
и
Микронезией
известна
среди
дайверов
всего мира
еще и своим
богатым
многообразием
подводного
мира. Более
1300
наименований
рыб, более 700
видов
кораллов...
Здесь вы
найдете
бесконечное
множество
тем для
подводных
съемок,
включая и
удивительную
коллекцию
...затонувших
кораблей.
Наш
ислючительный
индивидуальный
сервиc от
первоклассных
отелей для
подводников
на
Филиппинах,
Палау и
рэк-лагун в
Микронезии,
а также
разнообразие
туристических
маршрутов
делает
путешествия
и
подводное
плавание в
этом
фантастическом
месте
Тихого
океана еще
интересней
и удобней,
чем прежде.
Пережитые
подводные
впечатления
останутся
в вашей
памяти
навсегда.
Филиппины-Микронезия
Альянс
обладает
лучшими
отелями,
которые
могут быть
предложены
в этих
местах.
Наши
партнеры
подобраны
нами так
тщательно,
чтобы
помочь
каждому
подводнику
провести
первоклассный
отпуск на
самом
высоком
уровне
профессионализма,
безопасности
и
наслаждений.
Итак,
передайте
планирование
Вашего
отпуска
нашим
целевым
экспертам.
Мы
озаботимся
о том, чтобы
Ваши
тихоокеанские
приключения
стали
единственными
в своем
роде
впечатлениями.
Сядьте
поудобнее,
расслабтесь
и
предоставьте
нам
спланировать
отпуск
вашей
мечты,
мечты
каждого
подводника.
Вашими
партнерами
в
высоклассном
подводном
отпуске
являются:
На
Филлипинах
- Asia Divers with El Galleon Resort, Puerto Galera, Club Paradise
& Dugong Diving Center, Palawan Pinjalo Diver Resort,
Boracay
В Паллау,
Микронезии
- Sam’s Tours, Palau Truk Lagoon Dive Center, Chuuk
With Love from Palau... Sam's Tours timed it right for Valentines day this week...
Sam, you making a lot of divers very happy...not only with the service and diving, but been also very connected to the rest of the world.

"Hi Mom, hi darling
dont worry I am fine, the diving has been great lot's of sharks and
awesome schools of fish and guess what I am sending you some photos
with my next email...your..."
Click on the images and find out more about Sam's Tours Digital
Photo Center - DPC
The Digital Photo Center is getting more and more popular and not
only for Photographers, the iMac's are a perfect choice with their
build in Camera.
Say
hi and see your loved ones on Valentines day on a nice
20 inch iMac screen.
The
Digital Photo Center at Sam's Tours
Palau, Micronesia, is getting more and more popular not
only with photographers but with customers who just like to say hi
to their loved ones...great
timing for Valentines day.
From the rental of Video Cams and small digital Canon Cameras...to
the more pro, the ability to use Photoshop Elements or
Aperture...Yes, you can
do all your own editing or let Sam's Tours staff help you with the
safe keeping and storage of your images...and now also
available headphones for
your connection and chatting away to your loved ones via Skype...
I guess iChat is only around the corner.
You are in the middle of the Pacific and can communicate with the
rest of the world after your diving with Sam's Tours,
now that is real cool.
The Survivor Micronesia series on TV may have shown you how
fantastic Palau really is, and if you have missed Survivor
Micronesia you can always check out some of my images on Palau and
go to Gunther Deichmann's
PhotoShelter Archive or to the
PhotoShelter Collection for all other special selected stock images
including Micronesia and the Philippines, just click on the
links... Sam's Tours is also a founding member of the
Philippine-Micronesia Alliance...
very simply The Divers
Choice. Top dive site
and destinations, modern facilities and very, very connected with
Wi-Fi and pro photography setups in the Philippines and Micronesia.
We keep you in touch no matter how remote the destinations
are...
Your passion is diving... ours is service... and the ultimate
in island hopping.
Check out the images from
our other destinations just click here.
GD
I
have received today these images from
Dermot Keane the GM at Sam's Tours, Alex one of the Girls and a new
DPC staff prepared them for us, thanks Alex.

For our non professionals, Camera
rentals with and without underwater housing,
if you like to explore Palau above and below the waves, Sam's Tours
got you covered.
___________________________________
Asia Divers with Tech Asia, a wreck and tech diving story from the Philippines by Dave Ross

We
have received this interesting article on Wreck and tech diving
from Dave Ross, Dave is from
Tech
Asia/Asia Divers with El Galleon Beach Resort
located in Puerto Galera, Philippines and members of
the
Philippine - Micronesia
Alliance.
Coron
with
Tech Asia….
by Dave Ross
Tech Asia
![]()
The year 2007 saw the closure of the last of the Coron Bay
shipwreck identity mysteries.
Tech Asia
and its divers are happy to have played a small part in this final
chapter.
Coron
bay, in the western Philippines, has been a known diving locale
since the 1980’s. Having been the scene of a September 1944
air strike by the USS Lexington lead Task Force 38, at the time,
the longest range carrier based air strike in history. As diving
opened up in the Philippines, the area necessarily attracted those
with a nose for history and wreck diving. Of the principal wrecks,
some were identified accurately and immediately. The IJN seaplane
tender Akitsushima for example, reported sunk in the US After
Action reports, is an unmistakable vessel. For the oilers and
merchant ships present at the time of the raid, identifications
were shakier. Partly this is the product of researchers trusting in
the reporting of the post war authorities, charged with putting a
positive ID on such a vast number of maritime casualties. Often the
ship that best fit the action reports went down in the annals as
the victim, and nobody involved at the time had any real reason to
question any grey areas or anomalies. Reports from bodies such as
JANAC were often taken as unquestionably
accurate.
One of the men
who took the keenest interest in the Coron story and her losses was
Capt. Peter Heimstaedt, who in the early 90’s, dived, and
exhaustively documented what he saw. He became a friend of ours
through communications on other ships sunk in the Philippines, and
kindly came to Puerto Galera in his free time to give a
presentation on Coron in July of 2007. During the evening he showed
us clear photographic evidence that the oiler thought to be Taiei
Maru, was in fact the Okikawa Maru, and the ship once known as
“Hector”, or the Tangat Wreck is the Olympia
Maru.
The last vessel to have bred confusion, having been thought to be
another of the many Taiei Maru’s, or another Olympia, was
confirmed by Capt Heimstaedt in 2006 to be a vessel whose original
name was Morazan, turned Ekkai Maru when she fell into Japanese
hands in 1941. A source which convinced him of this was the
excellent reference N582 Japanese Merchant Ship Recognition Manual
of 1944, issued by the US Navy Dept – Division of
Intelligence. He was sure his identification was solid, and passed
this on to us, though had not yet returned to Coron to verify this
with a dive.

How Tech Asia
came to be involved in this story was through slightly unforeseen
circumstances. Following Capt Peter’s talk we had two week of
liveaboards on the M/B Rags II. The first week, in October 2007 had
perfect weather, and the divers and the divers spent a lot of their
time on the deeper and more exposed wrecks such as Irako and
Akitsushima. However the November week was more influenced by the
bizarre behaviour of Tropical Storm Lando, which crossed Mindoro,
went all the way to Vietnam, then turned around and came straight
back. The couple of days of unsettled seas it created caused the
divers to divert away from Irako to more sheltered sites, the
Morazan amongst them.
Always a man to seize an opportunity to bring a dive to life, our
guide, Technical Wreck Instructor Sam Collett, seized the Peter
Heimstaedt information and ran with it. Armed with all the commonly
found Coron literature, plus` some 30’s photos of Morazan, he
tasked the eight divers in his care with examining ten
photographically observable features and comparing them to the ship
itself. These ranged from the numbers, position, and spacing of
portholes, to positions and style of air vents, railings, doorways
and davits. Also some distinctive fittings on both masts, and bolt
holes on the funnel where a letter “V” had existed.
Morazan had operated under Vaccaro Brothers in the Honduras, and
their logo appears in old photos. Everything observed by Sam and
his divers matched Morazan to the last detail. Though merely
confirming another mans research, the clear verification brought
tremendous satisfaction to the day for the divers.
Following the trip, some internet browsing threw up an interesting
history, starting life as the S.S. Manco, sold and renamed Morazan
and working the Amazon for years before moving to Hong Kong,
eventual capture by the Japanese in Shanghai, and a watery grave in
the Philippines in 1944. From this history arose one more
interesting observation. The hull of the ship still bears the
letters “CEI……SH” , which for years has
puzzled everyone. Whilst serving in Honduras and the Amazon, the
ships home port was La Ceiba – just maybe these letters
reflect the name of her former home port?

The
Morazan/Ekkai Maru story is just a single chapter in two weeks of
excellent, shallow ( it doesn’t always have to be deep and
helium) technical diving that we managed to run. Great fun –
I guess that means we’ll have to go
back!
Dave Ross
- Tech
Asia
Feedback on the shark feeding story by Lee Goldman
I have received already a response to this article from Steve White the editor of Action Asia magazine, thanks Steve for your input.
GD
An interesting post Gunther. I like the guy's approach in not outright saying 'yay' or 'nay' to feeding. It's a true dilemma, with good points on both sides.
Steve W
_______________________________
Shark feeding... is it right or wrong...do we have to interfere with our marine life for thrills?
Shark feeding... is it right or wrong...
do we have to interfere with our marine life for
thrills?

© Gunther Deichmann -
You can see action like this
without the need for feeding...
Blue Corner, Palau Micronesia, shark dives with
Sam's Tours are carried out the natural
way.
I have received this
article from a good friend and marine biologist, very interesting.
I just returned from Chuuk Micronesia and during my stay found out
that a dive guide had been bitten by a shark, yes he is is ok., but
with scars to prove the story.
No, this is not fiction, this one is real, our dive guide (very
experienced) went to a dive site where shark feeding had been
carried out by some dive operator in the past (not Truk Stop Dive
Center), he had not been in this area for a while and to his
knowledge the feeding was not done for sometime, No he did not feed
the sharks on this dive but somehow noticed the more aggressive
behaviors of this normally docile animal, OK that is all I can say
for now, read the story and opinion from a marine biologist view
and YOU decide for your self what is right or wrong.
The Philippine
-Micronesia Alliance does not support any shark-feeding or
intervening in the natural Marine life.
We do care about our environment!
GD
Just before I left Guam for my permanent move to the
Philippines, I read an email sent out by a local dive shop
advertising ‘Big animal encounters’ in Yap. Having been
there a few times, I immediately conjured up images of mantas
gliding by in channels leading from the outer reefs into the inner
lagoons and a variety of reef sharks patrolling the reefs around
the island. I clicked on the link to see what it was all about and
was surprised to see that it involved shark-feeding. My immediate
thought was ‘why they decided to start this practice’?
I went to the website of the operator and found that they have been
doing it for many years. My thoughts changed immediately to
‘why didn’t I know about this earlier’? I have
been in the diving industry for many years in Micronesia, beginning
my career as a guide in Palau. Again, why didn’t I hear about
this? Certainly during my visits to Yap, and diving with the
operator, I would have heard of this. But, no, I really
didn’t up until two weeks ago when I read the email.
Dismissing the thought of not knowing about the attraction was much
easier than why were they doing this in the first place. What about
it was bothering me? As a Marine Biologist, and a dive Instructor
still with important ties to the industry, I knew there was a
fierce conflict between those that subscribe to the practice versus
those that don’t.
Those that feel shark feeding is good cite the thousands of
encounters with sharks (and these come from operators from South
Africa to Australia to California to the Caribbean, to tropical
Pacific) without incident. Further, they expound on the important
considerations these encounters provide people, namely that the
intimate experience which brings a greater appreciation for sharks,
thus, ultimately, this is a way to increase conservation efforts. I
kinda agree with this, especially in situations where unless there
is a bit of shark feeding / baiting, most people would not have the
chance to ever see these magnificent creatures (example: Great
Whites in SA and AU, and pelagics of the California coast).
Those that don’t agree with shark feeding feel that it
promotes an activity that could potentially cause harm to humans
(whether it is those participating in the shark feeding program or
nearby swimmers). Further, they argue that the feeding causes
unnatural aggregations of sharks to the areas on the reef where the
feeding takes place. Also, it may make the sharks
‘dependent’ on these feeding rituals and it could
potentially upset their natural feeding patterns – which
leads back to the potential attacks due to the association of food
with humans.
Well, both sides have a point except that both sides are basing
their information on un-proven points. When Gunther asked me to
write something up, my first task was to do a literature search to
see what the science has to say about this subject. There currently
(to my knowledge) is nothing out there (yet) about this. Florida
has banned the practice mostly due to ease fears from potential
tourists (and rightly so, with my full understanding for their
actions in tact) and in response to all of the media attention in
2001 about the now misrepresented ‘summer of the
shark’. A number of fatal shark attacks were taking place off
of the Florida coast. It got media attention due to the number of
attacks that happened within a relatively short period of time.
Yet, the total number of attacks never exceeded previous year
numbers, thus, contrary to what the media was reporting, there was
no exponential increase in shark attacks – and no reason to
lay blame for the cause on any good suggestion to fall their way.
Most importantly there was no scientific basis for Florida to come
to their decision. Hawaii is putting legislation through the system
to ban it but it has not been made into law. They are also working
off of fears.
So, okay, now we have Yap. What make Yap unique among the other
operators doing tropical reef shark feeding is that they are not
bringing in unnatural aggregations of sharks…they’re
already there. They are also not endangering local and visiting
swimmers since the area where they are feeding is not a public or
even visited swimming hole. So with the information, it really
leaves the anti-shark feeding advocates with little left to argue
with Yap about.
So why am I bothered by this?
It took a few more days of thought until it finally hit me.
What’s bothering me is that by conducting shark feeding it
loses the charm of being Yap. When we think of many areas in the
world that have reefs, we rarely associate sharks with them (or
rarely see them while we are diving may be a better way to put it),
mostly because they are either fished out, not really prevalent in
the first place, or wary of humans. Remember, shark feeding is a
way to DRAW IN sharks so that customers, who would not normally see
them, get a chance to see them. When I think about Micronesia, my
mind drifts off to a place that is still raw with marine-life,
including sharks. One does not have to bait them in for close
encounters. Shark encounters are already going to happen. As
divers, we know that nature is unpredictable and it is the chance
to see the animals that gives us a thrill and an even bigger thrill
when we get to see them. We hedge our bets on getting these
encounters by visiting magical places like Micronesia and leave
being overwhelmed by the entire experience. To me, shark feeding in
Micronesia is, well, cheating the experience. It’s like
having a full house in poker and cheating for
four-of-a-kind…when you know that the full house is top
hand. To me, Yap may gain some of the ‘benefits’ of
shark feeding (mostly the ‘commercialization’ of shark
encounters), but it loses some of its natural appeal. Now Yap can
be lumped in with other countries promoting this experience, and
for those who have been diving for many years, you know that most
of these destinations may summon up ‘cattle-boat’
diving mentality as well as clearly being right ‘ON the
beaten track’. Yap was not destined for this. Go there, it is
absolutely worthy of being the far-flung, exotic, beautiful,
customs-oriented island that you think of as Yap. Commercialization
is the last thing you’ll think of when your there…but
maybe not anymore.
Ahh, I could as easily be wrong or misguided as I could be right or
spot-on when it comes to my thoughts about this subject and the
island of Yap. This is just my opinion as someone who fell in love
with this area after spending many years traveling and diving in
other exotic locals. It was the raw natural beauty and the thrill
of encounters with incredible marine life that kept me and
continues to keep me entranced to this day.
From a Marine
Biologist
_________________________________________
Chris saw a Whale-shark while participating in an Intro Dive & diving with Mantas in Palau plus Survivor Micronesia
Scuba diving with us in the Philippines, Micronesia and the Pacific
in 2008.
The Divers Choice.
scuba-uitrustings duik - plongée de
scaphandre - Tauchen mit Unterwasseratemgerät - diving dello scuba
- diving do scuba - salto de la escafandra
autónom
Filippijnen - Philippines
- Philippinen - Filippine - Filipinas - Philippines - Filipinas -
Micronesië - La Micronésie - Mikronesien - La Micronesia
vreedzaam - Pacifique - pazifisches meer -
pacifico
H a p p y H o l i d a y s

© Gunther Deichmann
- Palau, Micronesia
Quiet again in Palau after the Survivor
show/filming is over.
Select a beach and have a romantic Vacation, like the couples
on the three Coconut Island.
Click the
image for more photos of our
destinations.
Blog post from Sam's Tours
Palau
SURVIVOR MICRONESIA -
Officially Announced!
Surv

