The damage to aquatic resources and also perception that all diving and fishing spots has been affected due to the disaster. However, the perception is not completely correct as majority of the coastal waters in Florida Gulf are clear and opened for any kind of watersports activities.

The EPA has authorized the use of some dispersing agent and continue to monitor BP’s use of it and at the same time measures if there’s any negative impacts on the environment compared to the benefits. Divers are advised to check with local authorities who are monitoring the oil spill issues to ensure they pose no threat to divers.

This year, ADEX will be held from 9th to 11th of April 2010 at Suntec Convention Center, Singapore (Hall 402). For the year 2010, this expo is dedicated to Sharks – the majestic but threatened species.

There will be a number of activities around the shark theme, from expert presentations to interactive anti-shark fin soup features. Presentation topics on the main stage will focus on both the excitement of diving with sharks and the urgent need for shark conservation, especially as it relates to the inhumane practice of shark fining.

See you in Singapore!.

Any air leak resulting from an O-ring failure would be slow, because these fittings are designed to the EN250 standard, which requires a very small (0.3mm) opening in the high-pressure hose fitting, but we nevertheless take this issue seriously and intend to correct all affected units.

The O-rings in some units may have been replaced in an earlier service campaign, but this recall requires replacing the entire metal quick connector female fitting at the end of the high pressure air hose that holds the O-ring (new Mares part no. 44200829). Replacement connector assemblies have a groove machined around the middle of the fitting, but recalled units do not.

ALL CONSUMERS SHOULD STOP USING ANY NEMO AIR DIVE COMPUTER, AND ALL RETAILERS SHOULD REMOVE THESE UNITS FROM DISTRIBUTION, UNTIL THEY HAVE BEEN INSPECTED AND REPAIRED BY AN AUTHORIZED MARES DEALER / SERVICE CENTER.

Affected product codes are:
Finished goods
414158 – DIVE COMPUTER NEMO AIR
414159 – DIVE COMPUTER NEMO AIR W/COMPASS
Spare parts
44200771 – HP HOSE W/QUICK CONNECTOR NEMO AIR
44200770 – QUICK CONNECTOR ASSY. FEMALE NEMO AIR

Please contact an Authorized Mares Dealer/Service Center in your area to schedule the removal and substitution of your Nemo Air computer Quick Connector Assembly Female with the new Nemo Air computer Quick Connector Assembly Female. If you want MARES to perform the above service procedures, please contact our customer service department at 1-800-874-3236 for a return authorization number. You will need to provide the unit(s) serial number(s).

ALL NEMO AIR QUICK CONNECTOR FEMALE ASSEMBLIES MUST BE REMOVED AND SUBSTITUTED WITH THE NEW ONE PRIOR TO DIVING NEMO AIR. THERE IS NO CHARGE FOR THIS SERVICE.

For detailed information please go to www.mares.com

This voluntary recall is being conducted by Mares in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The submarine can be powered by two people with no specialist training and moves at about walking pace.

It is made from a special acrylic glass, reports the Telegraph.

Apart from two sets of pedals, it has a steering wheel and a few buttons to make operating the submarine as simple as possible.

Developed Marine Innovative Technologies Ltd (MIT), it is expected to cost 50,000 pounds although prices could drop to around 15,000 pounds for bulk buyers.

At 11ft long and 6ft 6in wide it is possible to transport the craft on the back of a car trailer. (ANI)

Fans became concerned after the 25-year-old singer’s collaborator, Mike Batt, wrote on his Twitter account last weekend that “Katie Melua went diving yesterday and had an ‘I’m about to die’ moment when her air supply was cut off, nearly drowning her. That girl!’”

Melua, whose debut album “Call off the Search” reached the top of the U.K. album charts in 2003, explained to her followers that she’s fine after the minor incident.

She wrote on her blog, “I had a small incident with air supply last Saturday. Mike (@Mike-Batt) tweeted about me nearly drowning? the incident was all my own fault. What kind of nutter goes scuba diving in December in a lake near Heathrow airport? I did!”

She said she couldn’t concentrate on her scuba task as she was stresses by the cold and the water visibility was poor. She “choked on a lungful of water” and started panicking when she kept on choking on water. Her diving teacher helped her out.

Her rep told BBC that Melua just “had a fright” but was now “absolutely fine.”

Source: allheadlinenews.com

Visitors to a national park in Cancun could soon come face-to-face with life-sized sculptures in human form fixed in the seabed, as plans to create what could be the world’s largest underwater museum start to become a reality, reports BBC News.

On 19 November, four sculptures are due to be submerged in the Caribbean waters, off the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico’s eastern state of Quintana Roo. They will be the first of many hundreds of figures, which will be dotted around an area of the region’s national park.

The sculptures will be made of PH-neutral concrete, which, it is hoped, will attract algae and marine life and give the local ecosystem a boost. According to the park’s director Jaime Gonzalez, one of the aims is to reduce the pressure on the natural habitat in other areas of the park by luring tourists away from existing coral reef, which has suffered damage from hurricanes and human activity.

Some 750,000 people visit the park a year, said Mr Gonzalez, with about 450,000 of them visiting Punta Nizuc, an area of just four hectares. Fewer visitors could allow the coral in the area to regenerate, giving it a greater chance of withstanding hurricane damage, said Mr Gonzalez.

One of the first sculptures to be installed is called La Jardinera de la Esperanza, which features a young girl lying on garden patio steps, cultivating pot plants. Situated just four metres below the surface, it will include propagated coral that is expected to prosper in its new environment.

“It all happens rather quickly – within two weeks, we will see green algae,” says artist Jason deCaires Taylor, who is in charge of the project. “Then within a few months, juvenile algae will appear and the project will progress from there.”

The sculptures have been designed to be durable and, according to Mr deCaires Taylor, will have no detrimental effect on the local ecosystem. “We carried out an environmental survey beforehand,” he said. The conservation of coral is at the forefront of many environmentalists’ minds.

Coral reefs make up less than a quarter of 1% of the ocean’s floor. Yet they are a key source of food, income and coastal protection for around 500 million people worldwide. The project has an initial budget of $350,000 (£210,000), with a significant proportion of the funding being provided by the Mexican government. The rest has been donated by individuals and organisations with an interest in promoting the area.

Mr Gonzalez said: “We already have $160,000 but if this is successful, then who knows when the project will end.” Artists should get involved in environmental matters so it is not just scientists getting the message out there Dr Paul Jepson Oxford University Mr deCaires Taylor is travelling around the country looking for people from various backgrounds to pose for the exhibition.

“The other day I was in a cafe and saw a really fascinating man with strong character lines and expressions, so in my bad Spanish went over to him to explain about the project. Next thing, he was in his underpants in my studio being cast in plaster alginate.” One aim of the subterranean museum is to attract more tourism to the region. This year, 4.6 million international tourists visited Mexico compared with 5.2 million in the same period last year. Robert Diaz, president of one of the project’s key sponsors, Cancun Nautical Association, said the area had been badly affected by the recession and other factors, such as Mexico’s narcotics war and negative publicity surrounding the H1N1 (swine flu) virus.

Dr Paul Jepson, a lecturer in conservation at the UK’s University of Oxford, welcomed the idea of the museum. “Conservationists need to find different ways of engaging with the world. Artists should get involved in environmental matters so it is not just scientists trying to get the message out there,” he said.

The idea of underwater museums are not new. A number already exist around the world. In Egypt, Unesco has voiced its support for a planned underwater museum in Alexandria, which would host treasures belonging to Queen Cleopatra. And in May this year China’s Baiheliang Underwater Museum in Chongqing opened to the public. Made from a natural ridge in the Yangtze River, visitors can see inscriptions by poets and writers, some of which are thousands of years old.

Source: BBC News