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South African scuba diving, marine and environmental news - Archive March 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
- Ecosystems on edge of irreversible collapse
Planet Earth stands on the cusp of disaster and people should no longer take it for granted that their children and grandchildren will survive in the environmentally degraded world of the 21st century.
- Protest against seal-clubbing begins
Animal rights groups have begun fresh public campaigns timed for the start of the annual seal hunt off the coast of Canada this week and suggestions that South Africa may kill elephants for population control could spark similar protests here.
- Human damage to Earth getting worse and worse
Humans are damaging the planet at an unprecedented rate and raising risks of abrupt collapses in nature that could spur disease, deforestation or "dead zones" in the seas, an international report has said.
- 700 aftershocks rattle island
More than 700 aftershocks have rattled the Indonesian island of Nias since a massive earthquake hit on Monday, meteorologists said on Thursday.
- NOAA emphasizes need for global tsunami warning system
Steps taken since the December 26 disaster allowed for a better exchange of information between NOAA and countries under the threat of a potential tsunami, but many hours of waiting for confirmation highlights the need for a more robust tsunami detection system.
- Surfer Sullivan 'fine' after shark attack
Shark attack victim Chris Sullivan is "doing fine", according to Constantiaberg Medi-Clinic emergency unit manager Barbara Lander. Sullivan underwent surgery on Monday afternoon for lacerations to his lower right leg and will be recuperating in the clinic for a few days.
- An increase in shark attacks?
The shark attack off Noordhoek beach on Monday has again raised the questions whether shark attacks are more common nowadays and why they happen.
- Shark survivor in good spirits
He's going to buy a new wetsuit and a shark's tooth as a souvenir, said Chris Sullivan, who survived a shark attack at Noordhoek beach on Monday.
- Brit attacked by shark in South Africa
A British tourist was attacked by a shark while he was surfing at Noordhoek beach near Cape Town on Monday. Craig Lambinon for the National Sea Rescue Institute said Chris Sullivan, 32, was attacked about 10:00 by what is believed to have been a 4m great white shark.
- Scuba diving Barrier Reef loses popularity as divers down under go elsewhere
Julieanne Van Zyl is one of the many scuba divers shunning the Great Barrier Reef. Will the tourist industry need to adjust? Van Zyl says that talk both on and offline shows a definite shift in where people dive when they go down under.
- British tourist almost eaten alive by shark
A British holidaymaker has described how he narrowly escaped being eaten alive by a giant shark in South Africa. Mark Currie, 32, was on a shark-spotting expedition when the 18ft Great White shark attacked a metal viewing cage he was dangling in off the port of Hermanus, near Cape Town.
- 3rd Asian earthquake possible
A prominent seismologist said on Tuesday he could not rule out the risk of a third big quake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, where two massive temblors have occurred in just three months.
- Epic protests mark the start of seal cull
The world's largest cull of seals began on Tuesday in the Gulf of St Lawrence in Canada, targeting 325 000 seal pups.
- Hunting banned next to Kruger National Park
Limpopo imposed a moratorium on Tuesday on hunting in nature reserves that border the Kruger National Park. Fences that divided neighbouring reserves from the Kruger park were removed in 1996.
- Gordon's Bay another sandy bay
Conditions at Gordon's Bay harbour could become life-threatening if a solution isn't found urgently for sand silting up the entrance. Yachtsmen have been complaining for a while about a sandbank at the entrance that makes it dangerous to sail there, but now rescue organisation have entered the fray.
- Earth's movement prevented tsunami
The latest big earthquake to strike Southeast Asia did not cause a tsunami because the earth must have moved downwards rather than upwards, a British seismologist said on Tuesday.
- Quake death toll rising
At least 430 people have been confirmed dead on two islands off the coast of Indonesia after a massive earthquake, officials said on Tuesday.
- Quake puzzles tsunami experts
Tsunami experts could not understand why Monday's forceful earthquake off Indonesia failed to produce massive waves similar to those generated by the December 26 quake.
- Cyclone batters South Africa's KZN coast
Several swimmers were injured and shark nets torn from their moorings when the effects of Cyclone Hennie, currently raging in the middle of the Indian ocean, were felt 3 000km further on the KwaZulu-Natal coast.
- Up to 2 000 feared dead
A powerful 8.7-magnitude earthquake hammered Indonesia's west coast, flattening houses, killing up to 2 000 people and sparking widespread panic across Indian Ocean countries still traumatised by the December 26 quake and tsunami disaster.
- Quake upgraded to 8.7
The quake was measured at magnitude 8.0, some 90km southeast of the island of Sinabang,just off the southern coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island. Other measurements put the quake at 8.2. The magnitude was later upgraded to 8.7 from a preliminary reading of 8.2, making it one of the biggest quakes in the last century, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.
- Tsunami alert after 8.2 quake
A powerful earthquake of measuring 8.2 on the Richter scale hit Indonesia's tsunami-devasted Sumatra island late on Monday, causing major panic and power blackouts, officials and reports said.
- Mauritius on alert for tropical storm Hennie
Mauritius has issued a storm alert as severe tropical storm Hennie approaches the Indian Ocean island, the world's seventh biggest sugar producer. The Mauritius Meteorological Services (MMS) said "Hennie", spotted at about 330km to the north of Mauritius, was moving in a southerly direction at 10kph.
- Coral reefs in Maldives escape tsunami damage
The world famous coral reefs of the Maldives were not seriously damaged by the December 26 Indian Ocean tsunamis, an Australian report released on Wednesday found.
- Artificial reefs to replace Phuket's damaged coral
Local fisheries officials in Thailand's southern resort province of Phuket yesterday promised to closely monitor the activities of trawler vessels, following the discovery that trawlers are destroying coral reefs which provide essential monsoon shelter for dolphins.
- Upgrade for Sterkfontein World Heritage Site
A MAJOR upgrading project is under way to bring the facilities at the Cradle of Humankind world heritage site into line with international tourism standards.
- Trunk call: jumbos learn to mimic sound
Elephants have an unusual ability to mimic and learn new sounds which scientists believe they use as a form of acoustic communication.
- Giant squid again wash ashore Orange County beaches
Dead jumbo squid are again mysteriously washing up along Orange County's coastline, baffling scientists who are trying to find out why.
- Bleak outlook for rivers on World Water Day
Tasneem Essop, MEC for environmental affairs and development planning, said at the World Water Day celebrations in Khayelitsha on Tuesday that the province's state of the environment report revealed that 95 percent of Western Cape rivers were not in a healthy state.
- Culling: Tourism boycott looms
The international community is exercising a lot of pressure on the government and national parks to give up its proposed plan to start culling elephants in the Kruger Park as early as next year.
- 10-year-old sets record as youngest to dive in city shark tank
The four ragged-tooth sharks at the Two Oceans Aquarium are usually fed at 3.30pm every Sunday, so 10-year-old Julian Ratcliffe picked a good day yesterday to set a record as the youngest person to dive in the aquarium's predatory exhibit.
- Shark search ends in failure
Australian police called off a search on Monday for the remains of a man and for the shark that bit him in half in a horrifying attack witnessed by tourists on a luxury boat off Australia's remote west coast.
- Culling is not the state's only option
Animal welfare and environmental pressure groups supported by millions of people worldwide are gearing up for concerted campaigns to dissuade the South African government from using culling as a means to control the country's burgeoning elephant population.
- Beware the red tide, warn environmental gurus
The public should remain alert to the toxic red tide and not collect and consume any shellfish along the Western Cape coastline, the department of environmental affairs warned on Friday.
- Maritime environment important for global trade
There is a growing appreciation of the importance of marine and maritime environment to this country's global competitiveness and to the future of global trade trends.
- 'Plague' is just not cricket!
Residents of countless Boland towns complained about a plague of Biblical proportions on Thursday after "millions" of crickets - the most in years - invaded streets and houses.
- New Asian quake threat warning
The earthquake that triggered the December 26 tsunami has increased stress on nearby faults, making another major South Asian quake more likely, scientists reported today.
- Global Warming Unstoppable for 100 Years, Study Says
Even if humans stop burning oil and coal tomorrow, we've already spewed enough greenhouse gases into the atmosphere to cause temperatures to warm and sea levels to rise for at least another century.
- Sonar blamed for fleeing whales
Sonar pulsing from a Navy guided-missile destroyer during training exercises near the San Juan Islands two years ago was likely loud enough to send killer whales fleeing, according to a government agency report.
- Response team set up for red tide danger
The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism has set up a "red tide response team" following the detection of a toxic red tide along the entire West Coast. The red tide has been detected from Doring Baai to Cape Agulhas.
- Spinal injuries and not a shark killed man
Lifesavers say spinal injuries and not a shark attack killed 51-year old Anthony Arnachallan who's body was found at the Isipingo river outside Durban last week.
- Undersea earthquake moved islands
Three popular beach resorts were among seven islands on India's Andamans archipelago that shifted southwestwards when a giant earthquake hit on December 26, geologists said on Wednesday.
- River dolphins in freshwater battle against extinction
On the eve of World Water Day, WWF warns that Asias river dolphin populations are in severe decline due to polluted waters, dams and entanglement in fishing nets and has launched an initiative to save some of the worlds most threatened mammals.
- Maldives coral reefs undamaged by Asian tsunami
Many television viewers have seen for themselves the destructive power caused by the Asian tsunami. But what kind of damage did it cause to the underwater ecology in places like the Maldives?
- Scientists monitoring red tide areas
The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism has issued a warning about a widespread red tide along the West Coast from Doringbaai southwards, into False Bay and Walker Bay and as far east as Cape Agulhas.
- Mount Kilimanjaro snow-cap melting
Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, has been photographed stripped of its millennia-old snow- and glacier-peak for the first time, in a move used by environmentalists to show the perils of global warming.
- Rainfall as usual?
Near normal rainfall is predicted for most of South Africa for the coming winter period to the end of July, the South African Weather Service said on Tuesday.
- Stranded yacht hitches a ride
The National Sea Rescue Institute is towing a Frenchman's yacht, beached at Monwabisi Beach on Monday, to Simon's Town after refloating it at high tide on Tuesday.
- Dangerous red tide hits West Coast
People living along the West Coast are being warned not to collect or eat mussels, oysters or other filter-feeding sea creatures after a highly toxic red tide was detected along the coastline.
- French yachtsman runs aground in Cape waters
A French yachtsman and his dog, Joe, were shipwrecked on Monwabisi beach early on Monday after strong winds and currents snapped the two anchors of his 7,4 metre sloop.
- Peninsula's beaches at risk - report
The Cape Peninsula's coastal dunes are under serious threat from development that has encroached too close to the beach. The dunes, the most important and fragile part of the coastal ecosystem, have also been heavily damaged by vehicles and pedestrians.
- South African elephants face culling, say animal welfare
South Africa might cull elephants for the first time in a decade. Animal welfare groups say this is cruel and unacceptable, but might be needed to control a surging population. "We are strongly leaning towards culling and we want the public to digest this hard fact," Hector Magome, director of conservation services for South African National Parks, said on Sunday.
- Ten weeks after the tsunami ripped into the Maldives
Mohammed Solhie and the 1,400 folk of Guraadhu never had much money but they had their own little half a square mile of paradise and knew its every mood. All that ended on Boxing Day. In just under a minute, their homeland vanished under water. They went from safe, secure natives to refugees in about 55 seconds...
- Marine life groans under weight of ocean city
An incredible building development, founded on man-made islands, has begun off the coast of Dubai. It could transform the state into one of the world's leading trade and leisure centres. But, as the boulders and sand go down, marine life suffers.
- Shark victim's body washes up on KZN beach
The body of a man believed to have been the victim of a shark attack was found near the mouth of the Isipingo River in KwaZulu-Natal on Friday.
- Measuring Loss of Biodiversity the Expert Way
Many plants in South Africa's fynbos are found nowhere else in the world. Biologists have devised a new method of rapidly assessing how much human actions are affecting the natural world. They say their method will help in determining progress towards the internationally agreed target of significantly reducing biodiversity loss by 2010.
- South African rangers mull pros and cons of culling
South Africa may cull elephants for the first time in a decade, a move animal welfare groups say is cruel and unacceptable but which may be needed to control a surging population.
- Crisis looming, WWF warns
Global warming is causing Himalayan glaciers to rapidly retreat, threatening to cause water shortages for hundreds of millions of people who rely on glacier-dependent rivers in China, India and Nepal, WWF warned on Monday.
- 24-hour dive raises thousands for tsunami victims
Divers have raised more than 3500 Pounds for tsunami relief and recovery programmes - by running a decidedly imaginative 24-hour pool 'diveathon'.
- Hunt off for missing seaman
The search for an elderly crewman of a capsized fishing boat has been called off, said the National Sea Rescue Institute at Mossel Bay on Thursday.
- South African earthquake not caused by mining
The earthquake that rocked the Stilfontein area in North West was not caused by mining activities, DRDGold mine company said on Thursday.
- South Africa quake goldminers freed
One man was killed and four injured when an earthquake trapped a group of goldminers in an underground shaft south-west of Johannesburg. Rescuers battled for 12 hours to free the men, trapped at a depth of 2.4km (1.5 miles) beneath the surface.
- Whale stranding cases in UK 'increase'
Whale, dolphin and porpoise strandings have doubled in the UK over the last 10 years to 782, according to a new study. The Whale and Dolphin Stranding Scheme at the Natural History Museum blames an increase in fishing activity, which it says leads to more "by-catch".
- Tsunami warnings by 2006
Experts from the United Nations and Indian Ocean countries agreed to set up a tsunami warning system to prevent a repeat of the catastrophe that struck on December 26, Unesco said.
- NASA Satellite Sees Ocean Plants Increase, Coasts Greening
A few years ago, NASA researcher Watson Gregg published a study showing that tiny free-floating ocean plants called phytoplankton had declined in abundance globally by 6 percent between the 1980s and 1990s. A new study by Gregg and his co-authors suggests that trend may not be continuing, and new patterns are taking place.
- Australia dive boat capsizes: Divers, crew forced to swim for their lives
QUEENSLAND, Australia - Reliving her ordeal yesterday, Cathie Horne said she was thanking her lucky stars that she had not seen the movie Open Water, based on the fateful Barrier Reef dive trip of American tourists Tom and Eileen Lonergan.
- Post-tsunami coral reef assessment done in Thailand
Two new surveys of Thailand's coral reefs show the impact of the Asian tsunami was highly varied, but with most damage identified within the country's national marine parks.
- Rangers confiscate perlemoen from 'bergie'
An alleged "mule" working for a Hout Bay perlemoen poaching syndicate will appear in Simon's Town magistrate's court in the Western Cape on Wednesday after being arrested by Table Mountain National Park marine rangers.
- No more jetskis allowed in Cape Peninsula
The authorities are set to enforce a ban on jetskis around the Cape Peninsula from Mouille Point to Muizenberg. The blanket ban on jetskis in Peninsula waters was introduced in June last year when the entire coastline from the Mouille Point lighthouse to Surfers' Corner at Muizenberg was declared a marine protected area.
- Sub linked to dolphins' death
The US government has launched an investigation into whether the mass beaching of dolphins in south Florida this past week was caused by naval exercises involving a sonar-equipped submarine, officials said late on Saturday.
- Three-hour rescue mission ends in defeat
Blouberg beach was the scene of a three-hour battle to save a beached beaked whale on Friday. The battle ended in defeat when nature conservation officials decided to shoot the animal to put it out of its misery.
- Undersea find reveals how little we know
A strange world of see-through shrimp, crabs and other life forms teems around a newly explored field of thermal vents near the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, scientists report.
- Danger is a waddle away for Boulders penguins
Simon's Town's vulnerable African penguins at Boulders Beach were being knocked down by speeding motorists faster than pins in a busy bowling alley.
- CEO of WWF-SA joins the National Environmental Advisory Forum (NEAF)
The Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, has announced the establishment of the National Environmental Advisory Forum (NEAF).
- He's a master diver - and only 12
A 12-year-old from Plymouth has qualified as the youngest master scuba diver in the South West. And the achievement of James Douglas, from Mannamead, is even more remarkable as the youngster only started diving 12 months ago.
- Seven rare whales found dead
The carcasses of seven rare Gray's beaked whales have been found on an isolated northern New Zealand beach where they apparently were stranded, the conservation department said on Wednesday.
- Submarine delivery undecided yet
The South African Navy said on Wednesday reports that the first of its three new submarines would be shipped to South Africa because of a shortage of affirmative action crew were speculative and premature.
- Chinese Tigers Learn Hunting, Survival Skills in Africa
On a grassy plain in South Africa, thousands of miles from home, four zoo-bred South China tiger cubs are learning to hunt in the wild. The hope is that they will one day pass on their skills to their offspring, allowing the next generation to return to wildlife reserves in China, where they will be able to fend for themselves and propagate their species.
- No risk of ozone hole above Arctic - claim
The reported risk of a hole in the ozone layer appearing over the Arctic this winter has been overstated, a Swedish researcher said on Wednesday.
- South Africa's new submarine may arrive by ship
Safety concerns and a lack of fully trained, representative submarine crew could mean the navy's first new submarine will be brought to South Africa by ship.
- Cape Town still in dire straits
Despite an improvement in water savings for the month of February, the City of Cape Town is still lagging behind its overall savings target and drought conditions continue, the city government said on Tuesday.
- St Lucia man killed by crocodile
A 75-year-old St Lucia man was attacked and killed by a large crocodile while fishing at an overnight fishing spot near the lake's estuary on Monday night, the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park authorities said on Tuesday.
- Antarctic voyagers come back form the cold
Three University of Pretoria students have returned from Antarctica aboard the polar supply ship SA Agulhas laden with data to help understand weather patterns in some of the most remote regions on Earth.
- Two boys save woman from sea
When it comes to bravery, you can't teach two young Melkbosstrand boys anything! The two, 11-year-old Luke Swanevelder and the 12-year-old Jannus Visser, both Grade 6 pupils at Laerskool Van Riebeeck Strand, rescued a woman from the sea at Melkbosstrand on Sunday.
- Quake reformed Indian islands' geography
The earthquake that triggered Asia's tsunami has moved, twisted and tilted India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands, raising some out of sea and sinking large parts of others.
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