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South African scuba diving, marine and environmental news - Archive February 2005
News and articles relating to scuba diving, marine and environmental issues in South Africa and abroad. Features on Great White shark cage diving, tropical reef diving and wreck diving holidays plus diving with sharks, whale sharks, whales, dolphins and turtles
- Port Elizabeth's famous dolphin dies
Dolly the dolphin has followed Max the gorilla into animal history, after Port Elizabeth's famous bottlenose died on Thursday, aged 36. The oldest Indian Ocean bottlenose dolphin to be born and bred in captivity died at Port Elizabeth's Bayworld oceanarium late on Thursday afternoon, Bayworld spokesperson Eluise Matthys said.
- Tsunami reveals ancient port
Indian archaeologists have found what they believe are undersea "stone structures" that could be the remains of an ancient port city off India's southern coast, officials say. The archaeologists learnt of the structures after locals reported spotting a temple and several sculptures when the sea pulled back briefly just before deadly tsunamis smashed into the coastline December 26.
- Elephant kills ranger at Kruger National Park
An elephant has killed a ranger in the Kruger National Park, a rare fatality for those who work among dangerous animals in the reserve, the park said on Wednesday.
- Tsunami moved Bangkok 9cm
Bangkok has shifted 9cm because of the December 26 earthquake that measured 9.0 on the Richter scale and sent devastating tsunamis across the Indian Ocean, local newspapers reported on Wednesday.
- 2004 the 4th hottest year
Greenhouse gases and to a lesser extent the El Nino current in the Pacific Ocean contributed to making 2004 the fourth warmest year on Earth since temperature measurements began worldwide at the end of the 19th century, Nasa scientists said.
- Diver meets grisly death in harbour accident
A young diver was killed in a gruesome accident in Durban harbour on Tuesday. Troy Allison, the SAPS dive point commander for the search and rescue unit in the Durban area, said Andre Wolmarans, 20, was killed while cleaning the propeller of a fishing trawler.
- Shark attacks on the rise
Shark attacks on humans, while rare, rose slightly in 2004 to 61 worldwide, and will rise more, said a study released on Monday. The 2004 International Shark Attack Files reported 61 unprovoked shark attacks including seven deaths: two in Australia; two in the United States; and one each in Brazil, Egypt and South Africa.
- Perlemoen worth R1.2m seized
Police seized 715kg of dried perlemoen (abalone) valued at about R1.2m at Johannesburg International Airport on Monday morning. The consignment was destined for Hong Kong via Dubai, but was returned to South Africa from Dubai, said Tumi Golding, spokesperson for the police divisional commissioner of crime intelligence.
- South African Hornbill faces extinction
Loss of habitat looks set to put paid to one of South Africa's more distinctive and charismatic bird species, the southern ground hornbill. The savannah-dwelling birds, once widespread across the country's grasslands, now face a "very real possibility" of extinction, says the Endangered Wildlife Trust.
- Oil slick in lake angers residents
Angry residents complained on Monday that a thick oil slick had appeared on the surface of Top Lake at Umbilo Park, Durban, killing marine and bird life.
- Experts warn of changing weather patterns
One day after the Kyoto Protocol went into effect climate experts issued a report on Thursday saying the Earth is getting warmer with polar ice melting resulting in dramatic climate changes, especially in the north.
- Sri Lanka's coral reef reserves still intact
The first assessment of damage to wildlife caused by the Asian tsunami has found that nature has been surprisingly resilient to the devastating effects of the giant waves.
- Ocean cooler, less salty
Scientists have discovered a rapid change in the temperature and salinity of deep waters in the Southern Ocean that could have a major impact on global climate, the team's leader said on Thursday.
- Mixed reaction to South African wind farm
Initial reaction to government's first experimental wind energy farm at Klipheuwel near Stellenbosch has been mixed, Eskom said on Monday.
- Drought: Govt gives R130m
The cabinet decided on Wednesday to review the country's disaster management system completely and has allocated more than R200m for drought and disaster relief. Government spokesperson Joel Netshitenzhe said R75m would go towards local disasters and R130m to drought relief.
- Tons of tsunami aid stuck at Durban airport
About 100 tons of clothing and food aid collected for South Asian tsunami victims is sitting at Durban International Airport and will never reach the people it was intended for. This is because aid workers in the affected areas have been inundated with relief aid and have requested that no more food and clothing be sent.
- Kyoto Protocol may yet benefit South Africa
South Africa is well positioned to take advantage of the Kyoto Protocol provision allowing countries to trade carbon credits, says Sterling Waterford Securities CEO Gregor Paterson-Jones.
- Sea Squirts May Wield Power Over Human Disease
A small and humble sea creature akin to a tube of slime might play a key role in saving the lives of many as a new treatment for cancers that have become resistant to current drugs. These tiny creatures use strong chemicals to defend themelves against fungi and bacteria that may cause disease in the sea squirt.
- Kyoto Protocol receives mixed response
After years of delays, a world plan to fight global warming goes into force on Wednesday, feted by its backers as a lifeline for the planet but rejected as an economic straitjacket by the United States and Australia.
- Nipper blown out to sea
A teenage trainee surf lifeguard has been rescued after setting out from Milnerton beach on a paddle-ski during routine training and getting into trouble in a strong south-easter, gusting to 60-knots, and a two-metre swell.
- KwaZulu Natal ranger saves colleague from crocodile
A KwaZulu-Natal wildlife ranger, Siphiso Nxumalo, has been recommended for the conservation organisation's highest bravery award for saving a colleague who was attacked by a crocodile in the Black Umfolozi River at the weekend.
- Kyoto Protocol is about to make waves
Rejected by the United States, the world's plan to combat global warming goes into force on Wednesday amid scant fanfare and United Nations warnings that it is only a tiny first step.
- Two hurt as Shosholoza hits whale in Table Bay
Two yachtsmen were seriously injured and another was flung overboard when South Africa's America's Cup training yacht Shosholoza hit a whale in Table Bay. Such was the impact yesterday that it brought the 25-ton boat to a stop and sent its navigator and a crew member crashing through reinforced carbon steering wheels, which broke clean off.
- Barrier Reef on death row
It could take less than 20 years for rising sea temperatures caused by global warming to kill Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest chain of living coral, a newspaper reported on Saturday.
- African science gets windfall
The Academy of Science of South Africa has been chosen to receive funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, according to reports on the Science and Development Network website.
- World's wetlands under threat
More than 2 000 species of freshwater fish could face extinction, putting further pressure on the 40% of the world's water birds already in decline because of shrinking wetlands across the globe, environmental experts said on Monday.
- Clever octopus sheds light on arm evolution
The octopus may have flexible arms, but it uses them in the same three-jointed way as vertebrates, a finding that sheds intriguing light on how limbs evolved, a new study says. An Israeli research team filmed octopuses as they stretched out an arm from a hidey-hole in an aquarium to grab a piece of food with their tentacles and bring it to their mouths.
- uShaka Marine World wins theme park 'Oscar' for creativity
Durban's showcase, uShaka Marine World, has just won the equivalent of an Oscar in the theme-park industry. And it has put the R737-million venue in the premier league of international attractions.
- Orcas die trapped in ice
Eleven killer whales were declared dead on Wednesday after being trapped between ice floes and concrete blocks on the northern Japanese coast, but one managed to escape badly wounded back into the ocean.
- Saving South Africa's Floral Heritage
Climate change, sprawl, and alien-species invasion are threatening South Africa's fynbos, the main vegetation type of the smallest, yet richest, of the world's six floral kingdoms. Now conservationists are using data gathered by hundreds of volunteers in a long-term effort to save the fynbos, which includes South Africa's spectacular flowering proteas.
- Worms and crayfish feel no pain - experts
Worms squirming on a fish hook feel no pain - nor do crayfish and crabs cooked in boiling water, a scientific study funded by the Norwegian government has found. "The common earthworm has a very simple nervous system - it can be cut in two and continue with its business," Professor Wenche Farstad, who chaired the panel that drew up the report, said on Monday.
- NSRI men rescue stranded yachtsman
The solo yachtsman, who sent a May Day call to the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) early on Sunday, is in a stable condition on a rescue boat having been treated for a dislocated shoulder. NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon said his 12m 10 ton yacht, the Silb, was being towed to the Victoria and Albert Waterfront and was expected to arrive between 11.45am and 12.30pm.
- South Africa's waves to be used for clean green energy
An overseas company hopes to harness South Africa's wave power and establish three wave energy farms on our coastline. The South African government has set targets to introduce renewable energy over the next decade, but there are no commercial renewable energy power plants in the country.
- Acid seas put marine ecosystems at risk
Gigantic changes to the world's oceans, leading to the complete disappearance of marine life from cod to coral reefs, are now threatened by the main greenhouse gas causing global warming, British scientists warned on Friday.
- We can purify sea water cheaply
Local scientists have developed an advanced new water desalination system that they believe is the answer to Cape Town's water crisis. Their company has already erected desalination plants across the Middle East, Far East and Caspian Sea areas, and at a few sites in Europe, and they claim they can supply fresh water from seawater at a lower price than consumers are currently playing for municipal water.
- Africa at climate's mercy
Africa and South Asia are likely to be the regions worst-hit by climate change a few decades from now, according to projections unveiled here on Wednesday at an international conference on global change. No part of the world will be spared from climate shift if fossil-fuel gases - carbon pollution which stores up heat from the Sun, causing Earth's surface to warm - continues to be emitted at the present rate or at levels close to it, they said.
- Karoo farmers join hands to pray for rain
Only a handful of white farmers turned up to pray for rain at a ceremony attended by Western Cape politicians and religious leaders in Piketberg on Thursday. Piketberg is the centre of the Rooi Karoo, where an estimated 90 percent of wheat crops have failed after a second successive year of drought.
- Save our forests, plead African leaders
Patrolling in a wooden boat between the thickly forested banks of the broad Sangha River, the four "eco-guards" have something to show for their efforts to tackle poaching in this swathe of Central Africa. One holds up the black and brown fur skin of a sitatunga, a type of antelope, seized from a poachers' forest camp. But Alfred Voumia, another of the green-uniformed group of guards, says poaching is less common these days.
- Shark poaching tip-off leads to arrest of ship
An Indonesian fishing vessel and its skipper were arrested in Cape Town harbour yesterday on suspicion of fishing illegally for shark in South African waters. The authorities became aware of the vessel, Fortune 1, after its fishing gear became entangled in the equipment of an offshore oil exploration ship.
- Maputaland is under threat - global study
Nine new hotspots have been identified, including one that traverses the United States-Mexico border, one in southern Africa, and one that encompasses the entire nation of Japan, said Conservation International, which helped organise the analysis.
- Ice caps melting faster
British scientists have warned that global warming is melting polar ice caps in Antarctica much faster than previously thought, it was reported on Wednesday. Experts from the research body British Antarctic Survey believe that the rise in sea levels around the world caused by the melting may have been under-estimated.
- South Africa in top 10 for best bisiness locations
A REPORT released by Research Surveys has found that South Africa ranks sixth in the world for best business location. The survey measured perceptions of more than 36 000 people in 40 countries and found that the country's growing economy, low inflation rate, declining interest rates and strong currency were factors that respondents considered when making their decision.
- 4x4 may make tracks in KwaZulu Natal beaches again
ALMOST 20 percent of Kwazulu Natal's beaches could be used for 4x4 vehicles without causing damage to the environment, a new report has found. The report is based on a scientific mapping of the entire KZN coastline, done by the Oceanographic Research Institute (ORI).
- David Shaw's Forensic Report
Much has been written in the lay press regarding the death of David Shaw on 8 January 2005 in Boesmansgat near Danielskuil in the Northern Cape, South Africa. There has been much speculation on the cause and the accuracy of reporting has been highly variable. In the interest of dispelling myths, providing closure and doing justice to the memory and dignity of the deceased, we have reviewed all the evidence and prepared this report.
- KwaZulu Natal rethinking 4x4 ban on beaches
There is a ray of light for 4x4 owners. A scientific research model presented to KwaZulu-Natal authorities on Monday indicated that almost 20 percent of the province's beaches could tolerate the vehicles without harm to the environment. The model was drawn up by the Oceanographic Research Institute in consultation with other interested parties.
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