JAMAICA TRIP PICTURES

Divemaster candidate Tom Anderson took some nice shots in Jamaica. He was lucky enough to even see an extremely rare Blue Lobster!

SEA SICKNESS

What is it? Why do I get it? How can I prevent it? CLICK HERE

Jumbo flying squid attack scuba divers in San Diego

Just in case you thought Lake Michigan was rough. I found this on the web.

Tom

Jumbo flying squid attack scuba divers in San Diego

Jumbo flying squid with razor-sharp beaks and toothed tentacles have invaded shallow waters off San Diego, attacking scuba divers near tourist beaches.

Published: 5:47PM BST 17 Jul 2009

A beak of a Humboldt squid, also known as a jumbo flying squid, at the laboratory of the National Marine Fisheries Service in San Diego. Photo: AP

The aggressive 5ft-long sea creatures, which can weigh more than seven stone (45 kilograms), arrived off the city's shores last week.

Divers have reported being attacked by the Humboldt squid, with tentacles enveloping their masks and pulling at their cameras and gear.

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The squid are more commonly found in the deep waters off Mexico, where they have been known to attack humans and are nicknamed "red devils" for their rust-red colouring and aggressive streak.

Those who dive with them there fill the water with bait and sometimes get in a metal cage or wear chain mail to avoid being lashed by tentacles. The squid hunt in schools of up to 1,200, can swim up to 15mph and skim over the water to escape predators.

The creatures stay too deep to bother swimmers and surfers, but many longtime divers in San Diego have said they will stay out of the surf until the sea creatures clear out.

Mike Bear, a local diver, said: "I wouldn't go into the water with them for the same reason I wouldn't walk into a pride of lions on the Serengeti, For all I know, I'm missing the experience of a lifetime."

Shanda Magill was surprised by a large squid which hit her from behind and grabbed at her with its arms, pulling her sideways in the water. It ripped her buoyancy hose away from her chest and knocked away her light.

"I just kicked like crazy. The first thing you think of is, 'Oh my gosh, I don't know if I'm going to survive this'. If that squid wanted to hurt me, it would have," she said.

Scientists are not sure why the squid have started appearing in the water off the Southern California coast and say they are concerned.

One theory is that their prey has moved to shallow waters due to changes in sea temperatures and the squid have followed. One biologist estimated there could be hundreds, or possibly thousands.

OCEAN LIFE IN TROUBLE BY POWERFUL EXTERMINATOR - US!

Earth is a beautiful planet. It is also small, fragile, crowded and ravaged by overpopulation and over development, primarily in coastal areas. Even if birth rates in developing countries rapidly decline, which seems unlikely, there will be twice as many of us by 2050. At the same time, rapid economic development around the world will further diminish our planet´s biodiversity. In this century 20-50% of earth's species will be wiped out by earth's most powerful exterminator--us

To read more click here

http://www.squidoo.com/OCEANLIFE

BLUE? YELLOW? WHITE?

Due to a rare genetic mutation, Lobsters can be found in many colors. It is extremely rare and depending on the color can be 1 in a hundred million.

SHARK FEEDING DIVE IN ST. MARTEEN

Sea Lions student Mike Wallenberg recently returned from a week long cruise and made a few stops to Scuba. One was a shark feeding dive in St. Marteen. Also check out the Octopus in the last pic! Great shot!


Check out some of the great photos Mike took. Send us your Scuba pics! We love to look at them and share them with all!

SCUBA DIVING AND TIPPING

Looking for some tipping scuba diving tips? Not sure how much, or even if, you should tip your divemaster and/or crew? Don't sweat it.

We'll give you some advice.
Your dive is supposed to be enjoyable and you don't want to be agonizing over how much to tip. So here are some tipping scuba diving tips you can use as a guide on your next dive: CLICK HERE