Greetings from Crete: Diving Like It’s 2999

by Iva Skoch on

If Crete is the first place you will ever dive, chances are you won’t ever do it again…unless you like hanging out underwater, some 60 feet deep and in poor visibility, and seeing about ten fish an hour, that is.

If diving here is any indication of the state of fish in the Mediterranean, we should all be very, very scared. There are, for sure, more fish at an average all-inclusive hotel restaurant buffet table than there are in the water off the northern coast of Crete.

To be fair, we did see a few barracuda and a couple fireworms, but that’s about it. Save your Euros for sightseeing and frappe-drinking instead.

Swimming With New Zealand Fur Seals

by Brett Atkinson on

I’ve just come back from a couple of days in Kaikoura on the South Island of New Zealand. I’ve been whale watching by helicopter and staying in a luxury tree house, (more about that tomorrow), but the coolest thing was bobbing about in the ocean with a colony of New Zealand fur seals.

After being poured into an essential winter weight hooded wetsuit I ventured with Sealswim Kaikoura to a local landmark called Barney’s Rock, about 300 metres off the coast. A layer of kelp surrounds the base of the rock and adolescent seals were spinning and diving amidst the tangled marine forest. My guides, father and son Graeme and Matt Chambers, provided an essential tip to maximise the experience. “Imitate the seal, and mimic whatever they’re doing.”

It was excellent advice and by just floating on my back in the gentle swell, the seals didn’t regard me as threatening. Out of the water it would have been a different story for the territorial older bulls, but joining them in their own environment I was regarded as just another benign species.

The younger seal pups swept recklessly towards me, made underwater eye contact, and then darted playfully away. On the rocks a few older seals kept sleeping in the sun, and I got the idea that none of the younger ones in the water felt the need to wake up their dozing uncles and aunties.

Thanks to Sealswim Kaikoura for the pic.

Photo of the Day (8/24/07)

by Neil Woodburn on

Another Photo of the Day from former Gadling blogger Willy.

This one features a Lemon Shark, so named because of the ripe lemons they usually keep pinched between their teeth and gums. Lemon Sharks like to do this to keep their breath smelling fresh; they are, after all, the so-called Gentlemen of the Seas.

Lemon Sharks are also very generous sharks. They simply love it when divers reach deep into their serrated pie holes and pull out the lemons they have cached there. I don’t see any lemons on this particularly fine specimen so that means Willy must have already plucked them out. Great job, Willy. Keep up the good work!

Is It Better To Have Your Eyes Open Or Closed?

by Brett Atkinson on

So you really enjoyed your spot of snorkelling in the Caribbean? Such pretty coloured coral and a profusion of vibrant fish. And the water was so warm… There’s not a lot of Nemo-lookalike clown fish in the verdant valleys of Wales, so maybe that’s why the locals have come up with Bog Snorkelling. On August 27 the sleepy Welsh town of Llanwrtyd Wells (try saying that when you’re underwater) comes alive with the World Bog Snorkelling Championships.

Contestants have to negotiate two lengths of a muddy 60 yard trench wearing snorkels and flippers (wetsuits optional but recommended). Last year’s champs drew more than a 100 participants including brave snorkellers from as far away as Russia and New Zealand.

Is there anything my mad Kiwi compatriots won’t do?

Thanks to stepbar on Flickr for the pic

Reason #451 Why I’m Afraid of the Ocean

by Justin Glow on

I’m not afraid to admit it: the ocean scares me. I know that, for the most part, it’s an irrational fear, created out of a childhood of JAWS-induced nightmares. I just don’t like going in the ocean, and I’ll do everything in my power to not to wade past my knees. Unless, of course, there’s a group of children or a rather good looking girl going in the water. Then, and only then, will I comply and follow lead into the salty bad dream, so that I don’t appear to be the complete and total wuss that I am.

It’s seeing pictures like the one above that absolutely do not help to fight my fear of the ocean. Well, I suppose it’s not a fear of the ocean itself — (pool) water does not bother me. It’s what lives inside that counts. Sharks, jellyfish, sting rays, barracuda, whatever — they’re all disgusting, vile creatures better suited for consumption, or peering at through a thick sheet of glass, than swimming amongst.

Snopes says the photo is real. It was taken from the September 2005 issue of Africa Geographic, and it is, indeed, a Great White. Scary. [via]