Dive and SCUBA News for the 3rd Week of 2016:
Do Fishermen Lie About Their Catch?
Perhaps the biggest news this week: the fish catch numbers we’ve been given are hugely underestimated. Fishers failing to report nearly a third of their catch.
Is it because fisherman lie? Or do countries count their catches incorrectly? Or do lying fisherman just get the cliché backwards? They’re supposed to lie about the huge size of their catch, not the ones that got away.
This “Learning Diver Update” keeps SCUBA divers, free divers, underwater enthusiasts updated, informed and inspired with weekly news from around the world. The Learning Diver is part of the New Wild Media Network.
Scientific American also covered this one here: Global Fish Harvests Far Higher Than Official Figures, Study Says.
Sub Wreck Discovered In September Hits the News
What happens when an energy company scans the bottom of the sea for a new windmill project? They find cool stuff. 60 wrecks in all, two of them are new finds, and t
A WWI German U-boat found off Norfolk, England coast was identified as U 31. All 35 men aboard were lost after it hit an English mine in 1915.
The U-Boat lies about 50 miles off the coast in about 100 ft of water. There is some shaky unedited, (but interesting) video of the first dive on YouTube.
A TED Talk That’s Both Underwater and Underground
As a kid, she wanted to be an astronaut. But as she grew older, underground cave diving excited her more. After all, astronauts haven’t discovered creatures as old as dinosaurs with no eyes and no pigment. (One of the critters is so poisonous that it would be the most dangerous animal on the planet, if it were the size of a house cat.)
Equipped with a highly specialized re-breather system, “Heinerth unravels the mysteries of the life-forms that inhabit some of the earth’s most remote places and helps researchers unlock the history of climate change.”
This 6 minute video, Jill Heinerth: The mysterious world of underwater caves is highly recommended.
Gorgeous Models, Photos, Sharks
It’s pretty wacky what people will do underwater. This well known underwater photographer spent a weekend and over six hours underwater getting photos of a lady, dressed up in a flowing white dress with sharks encircling her.
The pictures are amazing and all the effort is going towards a great cause: shark protection. The making of story of this shoot and the photographer’s site are worth a look, too.
Huge Freshwater Fish
Our fascination with big fish continues with, “catfish that eat pigeons, huge groupers that eat sharks and saber-toothed Payara that spear their prey with six-inch long fangs.” Whoa. I don’t plan on ever diving with any of these big fellows, but I’ll definitely watch out Zeb Hogan’s new “Monster Fish” show.
Look What Washed Up
In the short time that I’ve been paying close attention to dive and underwater news, I’ve noticed a trend: things often wash up on shore that people have never seen before.
This particularly odd looking fish has what appear to be legs and feet! A fish with legs? New Zealand experts to identify unknown deep sea creature. Scientists believe it’s a type of frog fish; a fish that’s got the fastest bite response of any vertebrate. How fast? Faster than a 22-bullet.
More Strange Names
If you happened to be wondering how the internal organs of sea life get named (and who doesn’t?!) check out: The Odd Nautilus Organs Named After People
Most folks have never heard of these guys, but one the one named Owen, “was a prolific British naturalist best known for coining the word Dinosauria.”
In other odd name news, make sure you see my links to the Bastard Cunningfish from Week 1’s list and the Ninja Lanternshark from Week 2.
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