Caribbean
Bargains
August 7, 2001
American Airlines has cut Caribbean vacation package rates by as much
as 35 percent. You must book by Friday, August 17 and travel between
August 18 and December 14. Resorts include the Divi Flamingo Beach on
Bonaire, Young Island (St. Vincent), the Anchorage on Dominica, and
the Sands at Grace Bay, Providenciales. Typical price: flight from Miami
and 4 days, 3 nights at Divi for $381/person. Call your travel agent
or American Airlines Vacations at 1-800-321-2121. Or visit www.aavacations.com.
Travelocity.com
also has their Caribbean Fall Sale. Reserve by August 24, 2001, for
travel from August 18 through December 15. You can also call 1-800-249-4302
to get up to 35 percent off normal rates.
Galapagos
Sea Lions Mutilated
August 7, 2001
At least 35 sea lions in Ecuador's Galapagos islands were found dead
in July, on the beaches of San Cristobal Island, where hunting and fishing
is prohibited. Their skulls had been cracked and their genitals removed,
presumably to be sold in Asian markets as an aphrodisiac.
Asia
on the Cheap August 7, 2001
Why spend the money for
Palau or PNG, when you can cover the Indian Ocean for $999. That's the
price of Cathay Pacific's All Asia Pass, which includes roundtrip Economy
Class air fare between New York, San Francisco or Los Angeles and Hong
Kong, plus 21 consecutive days of Economy Class travel to any or all
of 16 other qualifying Asian cities like Bali or Bangkok. Go to: http://www.cathay-usa.com/offers/aap20012002.asp
Papua
New Guinea Coral Bleaching
August 7, 2001
We ran a reader's comment on coral bleaching in Milne Bay in Papua
New Guinea a couple months back. In response, we heard from Maya Srinivasan,
School of Marine Biology and Aquaculture, James Cook University, about
Kimbe Bay, roughly 400 airmiles from Milne Bay:
"For 3 years, I have been
doing fieldwork for my PhD on coral reef fish ecology in Kimbe Bay and
monitoring coral health for the PNG Divers Association at several reefs
in the bay. On almost all the reefs I have been monitoring, levels of
bleaching have been relatively low, with roughly 10-15% (or less) of
the corals partially or fully bleached. Only one or two reefs were badly
affected (20-25% corals bleached). This is nowhere near the extent of
bleaching in areas such as the Maldives and Palau, where many reefs
experienced up to 80% mortality of corals following bleaching. . . .Rates
of recovery following bleaching have been high on most reefs I have
been monitoring. Many corals regained their normal levels of pigmentation
within 6 weeks. These reefs remain in relatively pristine condition
and are among the worlds most healthy, diverse reefs. . . .Observations
by recreational divers can often lead to either under- or over-estimates
of what is really happening. As bleached corals tend to stand out to
the untrained eye, levels of bleaching can often be overestimated. Proper
quantitative surveys need to be done to accurately estimate levels of
bleaching. Your reader commented that ‘the side effect
of this bleaching... was a notable absence of fish.' As a fish ecologist,
I can safely say this cannot be true. Ecological interactions on coral
reefs are quite complex and fish populations do not respond immediately
to changes caused by coral bleaching. Corals first have to die and become
overgrown by algae (which can take several weeks) before fish even begin
to be affected. Even then, only fish that feed directly on coral polyps
are affected at this early stage. Also, while you might find a change
in the composition of the fish community on a reef that has been badly
damaged, the overall number of fish won't necessarily decline. The numbers
of corallivores (e.g., butterflyfishes) may decrease, but numbers of
herbivorous fishes will increase. Since many coral reef fishes (including
many damselfishes, surgeonfishes and parrotfishes) feed on algae, fish
numbers might even increase. In addition, a recent study has shown that
fish diversity is highest at intermediate levels of coral cover (i.e.,
40-60%). This means that a reef that has 100% coral cover often has
the same low number of species as a reef with 0% coral cover, of course
the species that are there will be different."
Bonaire
Fund Raiser
August 7, 2001
To support the after school program for Bonaire's kids, the youth center
is trying to get divers to enter what is billed as "The World's
First Internet Banquet and Scuba Dive," Your $30 donation will
get you a shot at round trip airline tickets between the USA and Bonaire,
free hotels, and other prizes. Have a look at www.jongbonaire.org
Honduras
Chamber Destroyed August
7, 2001
In Utila in late July, the
building that housed the Bay Islands College of Diving and the Hyperbaric
Chamber was destroyed by fire. Rick Reno, the PADI Course Director there,
told us via email that "the chamber, which had been run for ten
months, came about by the efforts of Kisty and Jim Engel (owners of
Utila Lodge), who built the facility, raised a little money, financed
the rest of the project themselves, got a chamber, furnished the trauma
center, then assembled a group of dedicated volunteers to make the whole
thing work. It's treated about 20 injured divers. Many, but not all,
were tourists. But we also remember the commercial fisherman Indio who'd
done ten dives deeper than 100' in a morning, been paralyzed soon afterwards,
and came to us that night after this wife's failed attempts to exorcise
the demons by soaking him with very hot towels. After three treatments,
he walked out, unaffected and with a little better understanding of
the effects of pressure. He knows now that it wasn't the demons but
the ten dives that got him. Sadly, he's returned to diving, but hasn't
been back to the chamber. . . .We have begun rebuilding the facility
and locating a chamber, a $250,000 effort. If you are interested in
helping us get back to the business of serving our community, we'd welcome
any help. Funds collected are tax-deductible and may be sent to:
Wesley United Methodist Church
C/O Utila Fund 3890 Dowlen Rd.
Beaumont, Texas 77706
You can contact the chamber
administrator, Jim Engel, at 011-504-425-3143 (FAX: 011-504-425-3209)
or email him at : bicdive@hondutel.hn
or ulodger@hondutel.hn
-- Ben
Davison,
publisher
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