A federal judge in California has ordered the US Navyto temporarily stop using sonar equipment because it might harm whalesand other sea mammals.
Environmentalists applied for the restraining order to cover a Pacific warfare exercise off Hawaii’s coast.
The US Department of Defense had earlier exempted the navy from anotherlaw aimed at protecting sea mammals against the use of sonar equipment.
Government lawyers were reviewing the ruling, a naval spokesman said.
Some scientists believe the powerful sound waves emitted by underwater sonar equipment can harm sea mammals.
The navy is carrying out the anti-submarine warfare training exercise, known as Rim of the Pacific (Rimpac) 2006, this week.
It involves 40 ships and six submarines, and the navy was planning to use a high-powered military sonar.
Different laws
On Friday, the US Department of Defense for the first time gave thenavy a six-month exemption from the Marine Mammal Protection Act, toallow the use of its sonar equipment.
But California district judge Florence-Marie Cooper based her order onthe National Environmental Policy Act, after campaign group the NaturalResources Defense Council challenged the military exercise.
She wrote that the plaintiffs "have shown a possibility that Rimpac2006 will kill, injure, and disturb many marine species, includingmarine mammals, in waters surrounding the Hawaiian Islands".
She said the navy should have considered holding the exercise in a less densely-populated marine habitat.
"Fortunately this country has more than one law against the needlessinfliction of harm to endangered whales and the environment," JoelReynolds, lawyer for the National Resources Defense Council, was quotedas saying by Reuters news agency.
Judge Cooper’s order is due to remain in effect until 18 July when theNavy will be allowed to argue against the injunction at a full courthearing. Rimpac 2006 involves eight countries – Australia, Britain,Canada, Chile, Peru, Japan, South Korea and the United States.

Uit: Mare (Leids Universitair Weekblad)

"Twee onderzoekers van Naturalis en het Instituut Biologie Leiden hebbenmaar liefst tweeentwintig nieuwe soorten slakken ontdekt. Vader Edmunden zoon Adriaan Gittenberger beschreven de op koraal levende diertjesin het vakblad Contributions to Zoology.Omdat de uiterlijke kenmenken van de schelpjes vaak overlappen, zijnsommige soorten alleen met moleculair-biologische hulp van elkaar teonderscheiden. Onder de soortenoogst bevinden zich ook drie compleetnieuwe genera; namen voor de 22 leden van de familie der Epitoniidaezijn nog niet vastgesteld. De meeste van deze nieuwe slakkensoortenleven op een of enkele specifieke koraalsoorten, en hebben eenverspreidingsgebied dat vergelijkbaar is met dat van hun gastheer."

Arjan Gittenberger was tot vorig jaar de voorzitter van mijn duikvereniging.

Het afgelopen weekeinde was er weer pinksterkamp van onze duikvereniging. Dat is altijd heel gezellig. We hebben op zaterdag een paar duiken gemaakt vanaf het schip MS Theo, eerst Ouddorp Inlage en daarna ’t Koepeltje en op zondag bij Den Osse haven. Een heel eind lopen langs de dijk en dan nog 300 m snorkelen voordat je een beetje diepte hebt. Maar toch ook een leuke duikstek.

Vanmorgen om 3 uur ben ik thuisgekomen. Moe, knalrood van de zon en vol van impressies.
Als ik m’n ogen dichtdoe zie ik nog steeds koralen en als ik sta, voel ik de wereld schommelen alsof ik nog aan boord ben.

Shark’s Bay Umbi is een bedoeinen resort. Als enige tussen alle veel te dure all-inclusive hotels, is dit een strandje met hutten en bedoeinententen waar je lekker een waterpijp kunt roken en een biertje drinken terwijl er relaxte muziek klinkt, meisjes in bikini in de zon kunnen liggen zonder lastige blikken van geile Arabieren etc. De mensen zijn vriendelijk en mild gestoord. De toeristen zijn voornamelijk backpackers. Wij waren de enige Nederlanders, verder veel Italianen van het alternatieve soort en nog een paar Duitsers en Russen.

In deze hut sliep ik.

We hebben een heleboel duiken gedaan, dat wil zeggen meestal drie per dag. En dat is best zwaar. maar het was zeker de moeite waard. Ik was niet de meest ervaren duiker deze vakantie, er waren twee Divemasters bij, maar volgens de gids moet ik maar snel instructeur worden. Dus blijkbaar doe ik toch iets goed.

Wat is Nederland toch een nat en kil land. Maar het is eindelijk vakantie! Ik ga lekker een week naar de zon. Dan kan ik eindelijk weer warm worden, een beetje bijbruinen en kijken hoe het er onder water ook alweer uitzag.

Ik trek me niks aan van de terroristen en ga lekker naar Egypte. We gaan een week naar Shark’s Bay met een paar dagen liveaboard om naar de Thistlegorm te duiken.
De Thistlegorm is al in de jaren vijftig door Jacques Cousteau gevonden, maar daarna weer een heleboel jaren vergeten. Nu is het een van de bekendste wrakken in de Rode Zee. Het is een Engels vrachtschip dat door de duitsers gekelderd werd tijdens de tweede wereldoorlog. Aan boord bevinden zich nog ruimen vol met motorfietsen, vrachtwagens en legerlaarzen. Naast het wrak liggen zelfs nog twee stoomlocomotieven die door de inslag van het dek geslingerd werden.
Dit soort beelden is best luguber en zo’n wrak brengt de oorlog wel heel dichtbij. Maar o wat is het mooi om daar te duiken.

En ik ga volgende week naar Egypte om te duiken. Deze aanslagen zijn echt bedoeld om toeristen weg te jagen en zo de egyptische economie te ontwrichten. Nou, ik ga lekker toch!

CNN

CAIRO, Egypt (Reuters) — Three explosions shook the Egyptian Sinai resort of Dahab on Monday and smoke could be seen rising from the town’s tourist bazaar, witnesses said.

Residents said they saw body parts and debris on the street after an explosion at a restaurant.

“There is smoke coming from the area, and there are people running everywhere,” said the witness, who did not want to be named.

The explosions were heard about 7:15 p.m. local time on Monday, part of a five-day spring holiday in Egypt, the witness said.

An Interior Ministry official confirmed there had been explosions but said he had no further information. “There were explosions, but the picture is still not clear,” he said.

One visitor said cars and buses leaving the resort were being stopped by police.

“There were body parts and debris in the street … There are ambulances and cars taking people to hospital,” said one resident.

Last July, at least 60 people were killed and more than 200 were wounded when two car bombs and a suitcase ripped through hotels and shopping areas in Egypt’s tourist area of Sharm el-Sheikh.

New ray discovered in Kanchanaburi

A Smithsonian institute researcher shows the new species of string ray, Himantura Kittipongi. The Wildlife Fund Thailand (WFT) and the Smithsonian Institute have jointly identified a new species of aquatic ray living in a river in Kanchanaburi province.

The new species has been named Himantura Kittipongi in honour of Kittipong Charuthanin, who found a ray with strange features in the Mae Klong River in 2004 and gave it to the WFT to examine.

“After research and comparing its features with known species, we have found this is a new species in the family of Dasyatidae,” WFT expert Dr Chavalit Vithayanont said yesterday. He added that Dr Tyson Robert from the Smithsonian Institute had helped verify the new ray species.

According to Chavalit, the Humantura Kittipongi’s outstanding features are its dark, yellowish-brown shade on its back and as many as 15 rows of small teeth in its mandible. Chavalit said he thought the discovery of Humantura Kittipongi was proof of the Mae Klong’s good ecological system.

“Ray species are generally very sensitive to ecological changes,” he said.

However, Chavalit expressed concern at the fact the rays were often caught in fishing nets and any changes in the river, such as a construction of a dyke, could adversely affect Humantura Kittipongi’s existence.

“If the species disappears from the river, it becomes extinct. Unlike marine fish, the species in the river does not have the possibility of spreading its species into the vast expanse of seas or oceans,” he said.

Chavalit recommended the establishment of fishing zones, because local people didn’t want to catch the ray in the first place.

On a national level, he called on relevant authorities to prioritise research into the diversity of aquatic animals in the country, and to give them protection.

Janjira Pongrat
The Nation

Joechei, de Neptunusduik is weer geweest! Ik heb weer een paar nieuwe leden mogen inaugureren met m’n drietand en m’n zeemonsters. Mijn voorganger Hermann heeft het jaren gedaan, maar die zit nu in Oosterrijk. Nu heeft de club me hier al voor de tweede keer gevraagd. Blijkbaar doe ik leuk genoeg.

Het was wel rotweer, met regen en wind, maar dat hoort op de Neptunusduik. Na de ceremonie zijn we wel zelf ook nog een duikje gaan maken. Dat was verder niet zo’n hele speciale, het Oostvoornse Meer is niet zo boeiend. Maar het was wel de eerste maal dat ik met een droogpak dook. Een hele nieuwe ervaring, best wel vreemd als je schoenen steeds losser gaan zitten wanneer de lucht naar je benen stroomt En toen we boven kwamen, als laatsten de rest van de club was al naar huis, scheen de zon. Dus al met al een leuke dag.

Underwater lanes

Matt Schuman, (Bio) schuman@greeleytrib.com
December 16, 2003

GILCREST – Cindy Shrout of Greeley has been a bowler since she was 9 or 10, but never before has she bowled at a place quite like the one she did Saturday night – at the bottom of the Valley High School swimming pool.
That’s right, Shrout, 48, was bowling under water, and so were her friends, who are members of the Banana Skin Divers Club. The area scuba divers club includes divers from all over the state and is run through Greeley’s Tortuga Bay, 3820 W. 10th St., a store that sells scuba diving equipment.
The bowling tournament was part of a charity event sponsored by the club. The entry fee was an unwrapped toy to give to the Greeley police officers’ toy drive. Those participating would put on their scuba gear and dive to the bottom of the pool. They would lay down and roll a ball down the hill going into the deep end of the pool where a set of glow-in-the-dark pins sat at the bottom. Each bowler could roll three balls per frame instead of the usual two, and each bowler rolled only four frames instead of the usual 10. Participants had to keep their ball between lines in the pool that served as markers for gutter balls, and they had to stay behind a line at the top of the pool that served as a foul line.

The setup presented some challenges for the bowlers, who had limited vision of the pins and had to deal with trying to roll a ball in water.
“I thought current might have some effect on it, nah. I was equally bad on every throw,” Shrout joked.
Actually, Shrout said the currents in the water would push the ball “4 inches on either side of the line depending on the enthusiasm you put into it.”
Still, seeing the ball was one of the biggest challenges.
“You could see the pins and you could see the silhouette of the ball, but it was dark enough when all the lights were out that you had a difficult time seeing where the ball was going,” Shrout said.
It certainly was a challenge that Shrout never experienced at a real bowling center.
“This was a totally different breed of bowling,” Shrout said. “I think professional bowlers would be challenged with this opportunity.”
That may be an understatement. It was even a challenge for the organizers of the event, who had never done underwater bowling before and had never seen it done. That meant tournament organizers such as Tortuga Bay general manager Jeremy Bland and tournament director Starr Hudson had to figure out how to put such a unique event together.

The first challenge was to figure out what to use as bowling pins. They had to be able to stand up in the water and glow so that the divers could see them. So, organizers took some clear liter-sized bottles and filled them with water and sand and put a glow stick in each pin so it could be seen. Then organizers had to decide what kind of balls to use. They thought a bowling ball would be too big and might damage the pool. So, they used boccie balls, which are smaller but still heavy enough so they won’t float. If that wasn’t enough, organizers also had to find a way to hold the pins together until each person was ready to bowl. So, Bland developed a triangular rack made of metal, similar to those used in pool, to hold the pins in place until the divers were ready to bowl. They even devised an underwater scoreboard.

“The only thing we’re missing is the noise, Hudson said. “Next year, we’re going to record a bowling alley and we’re going to play bowling alley sounds for everyone who is spectating.”
While it is the first time the group has tried underwater bowling, it is not the first time the group has tried some unique underwater events. Two months ago, the group had a golf ball hunt at Pelican Lakes in Windsor. The person who recovered the most balls won a prize. The group recovered 400 golf balls in an hour despite diving in freezing-cold water and mud that made it difficult to see.
“The water was about 12-13 feet deep, but there was about 8 inches of mud, so by the time you plunged your hand in for that first golf ball, there was zero visibility, so it was Braille diving, basically, for golf balls,” Hudson said.

Each April, the group also sponsors its big fund-raising event, aquabatics. Aquabatics is a series of five different games done in a pool that are meant to test the basic skills of each diver. The games include unusual events such as a buoyancy contest where divers must throw a dart-like object called a “toy-pedo” through different-sized weighted hoops and also swim through the hoops.
“We just have some really creative people in our group,” Hudson said.
Of course, none of the events may be quite as creative or as fun as underwater bowling.
Eaton’s John Brethauer, 36, said he’d love to do it again next year.
“It was goofy, but it was a lot of fun, and it’s just a good excuse for us to get out in the pool and play and maintain our skills,” Brethauer said. “That’s really what it is all about, to keep practicing and wait for the warm water so we can hit the Caribbean.”
Bland, who served as the referee and pin setter, said the group is anxious to try it again next year. He said the biggest challenge was getting the pins to stay down once they were knocked over and having a scoreboard all the divers could read. Next year, he expects to have all the kinks worked. Until then, all the participants will work on their skills and strategy for next year’s event. “Strategy?” Shrout said. “Mine was to stay underwater and not to get a gutter.”

RESULTS

Results from the Banana Skin Divers scuba club underwater bowling tournament held Saturday at the Valley High School swimming pool in Gilcrest. Each participant rolled four frames of three balls each.

1. Craig Laufert, 74, two spares and only strike
2. John Brethauer, 67, four spares
3. Cindy Shrout, 57, three spares
4. Ed Maple, 51, two spares
5. Scott Ziebell, 49, two spares
6. Kim Eden, 6, rolled one frame

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