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Ocean 'dead zones' now top 400, experts find
"We could end up with no crabs, no shrimp, no fish," study co-author warns!!!

This map compares the location of 400 dead zones (black dots) with humanity's footprint — ranging from low population density in green to high density in darker colours.

WASHINGTON - Like a chronic disease wasting a body, ocean "dead zones" with too little oxygen for marine life are spreading around the globe, researchers reported Thursday. The experts counted 405 dead zones in 2007 — a third more than their 1995 survey.
"The number of dead zones has approximately doubled each decade since the 1960s," the researchers wrote in the journal Science.
"We have to realize that hypoxia is not a local problem," study co-author Robert Diaz said of the oxygen-depleting trend. "It is a global problem and it has severe consequences for ecosystems."

"It's getting to be a problem of such a magnitude that it is starting to affect the resources that we pull out of the sea to feed ourselves," added Diaz, who is with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.
"If we screw up the energy flow within our systems we could end up with no crabs, no shrimp, no fish. That is where these dead zones are heading unless we stop their growth," Diaz said.
The newest dead areas are being found in the Southern Hemisphere — South America, Africa, parts of Asia — Diaz and co-author Rutger Rosenberg reported.
The dead zones covered an area of 95,000 square miles in 2007. The largest U.S. dead zone is at the mouth of the Mississippi River and this summer covers some 8,000 square miles, about the size of New Jersey.
Earth's largest dead zone is in the Baltic Sea, the researchers said, and experiences hypoxia year-round.
Some of the increase is due to the discovery of low-oxygen areas that may have existed for years and are just being found, Diaz said, but others are newly developed.

Fertilizers, fuel, sewage blamed
Pollution-fed algae, which deprive other living marine life of oxygen, is the cause of most of the world's dead zones. Scientists mainly blame fertilizer and other farm runoff, sewage and fossil-fuel burning.Diaz and Rosenberg, of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, conclude that it would be unrealistic to try to go back to pre-industrial levels of runoff.

"Farmers aren't doing this on purpose," Diaz said. "The farmers would certainly prefer to have their (fertilizer) on the land rather than floating down the river." He said he hopes that as fertilizers become more and more expensive farmers will begin seriously looking at ways to retain them on the land.

New low-oxygen areas have been reported in Washington state's Samish Bay, Yaquina Bay in Oregon, prawn culture ponds in Taiwan, the San Martin River in northern Spain and some fjords in Norway, Diaz said.

A portion of Big Glory Bay in New Zealand became hypoxic after salmon farming cages were set up but began recovering when the cages were moved, he said.

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Please sign my petition to protect the sharks and ourselves!!!

Danny rescues a baby leopard shark, because it was trapped in an old fishing net! Want to see a little movie? Click here

Shark Protection
With a mouthful of teeth, sharks do not seem to need much protection. In fact one shark goes through thousands of teeth in a lifetime. Each row of succeeding teeth is larger than the set before.
But sharks´teeth are built for eating. The shape of a sharks teeth depend on the type of food it eats, and some sharks’teeth change shape as they grow older and their diet changes to suit the needs of their growing bodies.
sharks also have other types of protection. A protective lid, called the nictitating lid, helps keep its eyes safe from harm when it attacks prey or nears an unfamiliar object. Some sharks will also roll their eyes back into the sockets showing only the whites while attacking prey to protect the more important seeing part of the eye.
Bottom feeding sharks, such as the angel shark or wobbegong, have coloration matching their environment. Others will bury themselves in the sandy ocean bottom.
However, sharks have little or no protection from humans who hunt them for almost every part of their body to make leather, jewelry, soup, cosmetics, and other items. Sharks are also hunted for sport and many are inadvertently caught in fishing nets or in nets placed to protect humans.

Shark finning
However; the product that drives the market are the fins. After drying, collagen fibers are extracted from them, cleaned, and processed to make 'shark fin soup'. In spite of the fact that these fibers have little flavour or nutritional value, the soup is considered a delicacy, and may sell in the Orient for more than $100 ( £65) a bowl. As long as the humans pay a lot of money for these fins, it will never stop, and we will kill  the sharks and ourselves!!!
The explosive growth of the Chinese economy and rapid expansion of trade with the outside world during the 1985 and 1995 created an unprecedented situation. Suddenly there was an insatiable demand for shark fins of almost any size or type. Improvements in shipbuilding and navigational electronics meant that shark fishing boats could now go anywhere in the world, moving from one place to another as local shark populations were destroyed. The fins are now so much more valuable than the rest of the shark that the carcass is often discarded after the fins are removed, to save storage space on the boat. Often the fins are sliced off when the shark is still alive and the mutilated shark is dumped back into the water, where it sinks straight to the bottom because without its back fin it can´t swim, to die a slow and agonizing death.

Helping To Protect Sharks
Since sharks reproduce at a much slower rate and mature more slowly than bony fish, it is important that people are careful not to deplete the shark population to a point where it can not be recovered. In some cases the environments in which the sharks live are being destroyed.
While sharks have a bad reputation, they rarely attack people unless they are provoked or mistake a human for their normal prey. More people drown in the ocean each year than are attacked by sharks. Only a few of the 365 types of sharks, the bull, the great white, the oceanic whitetip, and the tiger shark are aggressive toward human.
Encouraging the use of electric barriers instead of nets to keep sharks out of an area is one way to help. Also discourage the hunting of sharks for sport or the production of unnecessary articles such as jewelry and souvenirs. In addition learn more about sharks and inform others of ways to live peaceably with these fascinating animals.

A Shark’s Sixth Sense
In order to live and hunt in the ocean waters, sharks have the same 5 senses as human do. They have smell, taste, touch, hearing, and sight. These senses vary in their strength. Many sharks have sharp eyesight, some of which seem particularly sensitive to movement. Most sharks also have a well developed sense of smell.
However, sharks possess a sixth sense which people do not have. Sharks are able to detect weak electrical signals generated by their prey. This sense is detected through small sensory pores called ampullae.

Shark Facts
• The smallest shark is the dwarf dog shark which is 6 ½ inches (16 cm) in length.
• The largest shark, ranging up to 40 ft. (12m) in length is the whale shark.
• Whale sharks are large non aggressive creatures which will sometimes allow divers to hitch a ride by holding on to a pectoral fin.
• Most sharks give birth to live young rather than lay eggs.
• The shark with the longest tail is the thresher shark. Its tail can be 5-8 ft in length, or as long as its body.
• The hammerhead shark swings its head from side to side as it swims, allowing it to use its well developed sense of smell and many ampullae to search for prey in a wide variety of directions in a small amount of time.
• The fastest shark is the Mako, which can swim at 20 mph (32 kph) and leap completely clear of the ocean surface when it is excited.
• Angel sharks have extra large pectoral fins resembling angel wings. These sharks spend their lives mostly on the ocean bed resting in the sand waiting for prey to come to them.
• Some sharks migrate hundreds of miles using what scientists believe to be a sense of the earth’s magnetic field to guide them.
• One shark makes oval shape bites in its victim, by creating a suction with its lips and swiveling around for the bite. It is appropriately named the cookie cutter shark.
• One of the smallest sharks, the lantern shark, grows to only 8 in (20 cm) in length and glows in the dark.
• The most recent discovery of a shark was not made until 1976. This was the large Megamouth shark, of which only five more have ever been found. This unusual shark which feeds on krill has luminous organs around its mouth.

Please sign my petition to protect the sharks and ourselves!!!

 

New from Poseidon for divers and friends!
Since the 01.02.07 we offer always Thursdays a sunset tour to the local islands with BBQ and a possibility to do a night dive.
80% of the fishes are night active and therefore night diving is one of the best and most fascinating experiences as a diver.
We start the trip at 5:30 pm and we´re cruising into the sunset. BBQ and Soft drinks are included in the Price and will be served on the way out. As soon as it is dark we set up for a night dive, with a max of 4 divers per Divemaster or Instructor. It´s very safe even for those who have no experience in night diving.
We are looking forward to seeing you on the boat!
There are as well some new Pics on the page http://www.poseidon-diving.com/8.html
Always happy bubbles

The Poseidon Dive-Team

Dani

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