Posted under Diving
Found this website earlier today:
It contains a lot of goot information about diving all over the world, including my favorite place ‘The Red Sea’.
A lot of very nice pictures as well, go have a look.
Posted under Red Sea
According to this article:
http://www.businessinsider.com/egypt-saudi-arabia-gulf-of-aqaba-bridge-2011-07#ixzz1ScvC5sWf
Egypt has approved the plans to make a bridge from just north of Sharm el Sheikh to Saudia Arabia.
I REALLY hope the do everything they can to protect the local coral reefs
Posted under Red Sea
CDWS member update: 15 December 2010
22:00
On 14 December 2010 CDWS received Governor Decree # 357 for year 2010 relating to the opening of some beaches and the restart of some marine excursions in Sharm el Sheikh.
This decree caused a lot of confusion and as a result, chairman of CDWS Mr Hesham Gabr, requested a meeting this evening with the Governor of South Sinai and the Egyptian coast guard in a bid to gain some clarification for CDWS members on what activities are allowed and which are not.
As a result of this meeting, CDWS can now confirm the governor ruled upon the following:
A: for certified divers with 50 dives or more:
B: for certified divers with less than 50 dives:
C: for beginners courses & intro dive activities,
Diving is allowed only in the following areas (this applies until 21.12.2010)
D: other divers
E: Snorkelling
F: Glass bottom boats and semi-subs
G: Banana, tube and water ski
A copy of the decree will be sent by email as soon as our office receives it tomorrow, Thursday 16 December.
CDWS will keep members informed as soon as we receive further updates from the Governor‘s office
Posted under Red Sea
Here is the newest press release from CDWS
CDWS statement: 9 December 14:00
1. Preliminary findings of shark scientific team
2. Sharm el Sheikh diving restrictions remain in place until further notice
The three international shark experts are continuing to work with authorities in Egypt to determine the causal factors involved in the spate of shark attacks in Sharm el Sheikh. The team is progressing with its scientific research and is verifying available data, as well as evidence gathered through eye witness reports from people both in the water and at the shore at the time of each of the five attacks on snorkellers.
Scientists have indicated that their findings, up to now, suggest two species were involved in the attacks: one oceanic whitetip shark and one mako shark. Initial investigations by shark experts and marine scientists suggest factors that may have contributed – but are not limited to – the causes of behavioural change in sharks involved in attacks include the following:
*One or more incidents of illegal dumping of animal carcasses in nearby waters
*Depletion of natural prey in the area caused by overfishing
*Localised feeding of reef fish and/or sharks by swimmers, snorkellers and some divers
*Unusually high water temperatures in Sharm el Sheikh
CDWS would like to make it clear these are NOT the final conclusions, and that the investigation is still ongoing. The CDWS would also like to underline that it has NOT been, or will be, involved in any shark hunts.
The restrictions placed on diving and watersports activities along the Sharm el Sheikh coast will continue until further notice. The majority of areas in Sharm el Sheikh remain open to diving activities for CDWS members and their clients, however, there are restrictions on where these can take place and on client experience.
Qualified diving clients, who must have a minimum of 50 logged dives, are permitted to participate in scuba activities run by boat by CDWS members in the following areas:
- area of Tiran
- all dive sites south of Naama Bay to Ras Mohammed National Park
- the entire area of Ras Mohammed National Park
Diving remains completely banned at this time in the area between Ras Nasrani to the north of Naama Bay. No shore diving is permitted anywhere in the Sharm el Sheikh area.
Under NO circumstances are introductory or training dives permitted to take place in the sea anywhere in Sharm el Sheikh until CDWS members are notified otherwise. However, training and introductory diving activities are able to take place in other resorts, such as Dahab.
CDWS chairman Hesham Gabr said: “It is widely known sharks behave very differently towards divers in the water. However, as an extra precaution, only experienced divers are permitted to take part in guided activities in Sharm el Sheikh at this time. The 50 logged dive limit is a benchmark judged in recognised scuba standards to ensure divers have good buoyancy and control underwater and behave in a calm and controlled manner.”
Egyptian authorities confirmed restrictions currently in place along the Sharm el Sheikh coast, will remain until further notice. Snorkelling activities and other watersports remain heavily restricted – with the exception of glass bottom boat operations – along the whole of the Sharm el Sheikh coastal area.Swimming/snorkelling in the sea is only in designated safe, natural sheltered bay areas within the Ras Mohammed National and the Nabq National Park.
Holidaymakers can continue to enjoy their holidays in resort and are able to swim in the many swimming pools of hotels and also have access to sunbathe on the beaches.
Any decision to reassess restrictions will be made only when the scientific work by the team of experts is completed. Safety of visitors is of the upmost concern to all the authorities involved.
The scientific work is currently in phase one: the diagnostic phase. Once this is complete, phase two will involve the exploration of options to deal with the factors of the diagnostic phase. The third phase will be the implementation of chosen options. Phase four will cover the long-term measures that will be taken.
-ends-
Editor’s notes:
CDWS:
The Chamber of Diving and Watersports is the regulatory body for diving and water sports in Egypt. Operating under the umbrella of the Egyptian Tourist Authority, CDWS have implemented a set of European standards to which all members must comply. According to Egyptian Law, it is required that all diving operations be a member of CDWS in order to obtain or renew their operating license issued by the Ministry of Tourism. For more information regarding CDWS visit www.cdws.travel
Shark experts working with the marine scientific team:
Dr George H Burgess, the director of the Florida Program and curator of the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History for Shark Research.
Dr Marie Levine, head of the Shark Research Institute in Princeton, USA.
Dr Ralph Collier, of the Shark Research Committee and author of Shark Attacks of the Twentieth Century.
For further information please contact Laura Coppa by email laura.coppa@cdws.travel or Mary Gleeson mary.gleeson@cdws.travel
Posted under Red Sea
I got this newsletter today from HEPCA.
The contents is so good, I decided to post it directly on my webpage.
If there are any copyright issues due to this, contact me and i’ll take care of it.
All, please go and subscribe to their newsletter: www.hepca.com
Also downloadable as PDF file here
The Oceanic Whitetip Shark
(Carcharhinus Longimanus)
Facts about the local population in the Egyptian Red Sea
Sightings of oceanic whitetip sharks at certain dive sites in the Central & Southern Egyptian Red Sea became a common occurrence in the late 1990s/early 2000s. Found off-shore in tropical and subtropical seas around the globe, they are normally cruising the upper layers of their open-ocean habitat in search of food.
They are easily recognisable sharks, with their broad, large, rounded first dorsal fin, wing-like pectoral fins, and conspicuous colour markings on practically all fins (see fig. 1). These markings do not only identify them on the species level, they also allow for easy identification of individuals.
Fig 1: The oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus)
In October 2004 a photo-identification study of oceanic whitetip sharks was initiated that continues until today (see www.longimanus.info).
Collecting underwater images of these sharks led to a species catalogue containing the individual markings as well as sighting histories of close to 550 identified oceanic whitetip sharks to date.
Taking a closer look at these documented sightings, certain residency and movement patterns have emerged over the last 6 years. The hotspots for oceanic whitetip sightings have been Daedalus Reef, Brother Islands and Elphinstone, with clearly fewer sightings reported from St Johns, Fury Shoals, and South Sinai. Aside from the occasional encounter in spring and summer, the clear majority of these sharks are seen from late September to early December. Most of the oceanics approaching dive sites, dive boats and humans are ranging from ~1.5 m to ~ 2.2 m total length.
On occasion, individuals have become residents of a certain site or area for months at a time, but a more typical pattern is a short stay during one season with a 15-40% chance of resighting in following years.
Single individuals are seen over several years on a regular basis, proving the suitability of the natural markings used for this research (see example in figure 2).
Fig. 2: Underwater images of the dorsal fin (right side) of individual 506, an adult female oceanic whitetip, from 2004 – 2010. The reef where the respective picture was taken is given underneath the information on month and year (© longimanus-project).
Very few animals reaching (or even almost reaching) the reported maximum size for the Red Sea (2.5 – 3 m) have been documented throughout the last 6 years. A total of eleven individuals were identified from the species catalogue before November 2010. Table 1 gives details on where and when these large sharks were photographed.
Table 1: List of the larger oceanic whitetip sharks documented on photographs collected since October 2004.
Figure 3 shows the different body proportions identifying these large specimens, even without accurate measurements being available.
Fig. 3: Proportion of different oceanic whitetip sharks from the Egyptian Red Sea. Top: juvenile, middle: slender adult, and bottom: large adult.
Behaviour towards humans:
The Egyptian Red Sea is THE place worldwide to observe oceanic whitetip sharks underwater. Unlike some of the other shark species in the area, which are easily intimidated by human presence, they are self-confident and inquisitive. This notorious boldness – often wrongly interpreted as aggression – results in close and memorable encounters for thousands of divers every year.
Throughout the last 6 years a few incidents of oceanic whitetips biting humans in the water were reported from the Central & Southern Egyptian Red Sea. Most of these cases could be linked to illegal feeding and/or baiting activity from liveaboards and all of them involved snorkelers.
No serious incidents with divers have been reported.
Baiting and feeding predators can cause changes in their behaviour. As a consequence, interactions with them might become more unpredictable and potentially dangerous.
Guidelines for diving with sharks in the Red Sea:
Remember, you are entering the realm of highly evolved and perfectly adapted open-ocean predators, who should be treated with respect and caution. While the risks in diving with sharks are minimal, following certain behavioural rules helps to avoid potentially stressful or even dangerous situations.
Scientific Outlook:
The Oceanic Whitetip Shark is the only Red Sea shark species, for which any kind of scientific data is available. Using the presence of divers and the widespread use of underwater digital cameras, the collection of underwater images has proven to be a useful tool for the study of these ocean-going predators.
These efforts to collect photographs and videos will be intensified, reaching out to visitors to the Red Sea and encouraging them to make their footage available to the study.
Additionally HEPCA is funding a pilot tracking project fitting oceanic whitetip sharks with satellite tags. These tags will hopefully provide introductory information unavailable from purely photo-ID based studies, such as dive profiles and geolocation tracks. Subject to future funding, a more extensive study will be conducted, focussing on identifying critical habitats of the species, e.g. reproductive areas and nursery grounds.
To address the lack of data available for other Red Sea shark species, a monitoring program is planned involving diving professionals as qualified volunteers. Further details on these projects are available at www.hepca.com/longimanus-red-sea-shark-id.aspx.
Facts about the Sharm El Sheikh incidents November / December 2010:
Between Tuesday, November 30th, 2010, and Sunday, December 5th, 2010, five swimmers were attacked by shark(s) off the South Sinai Coast, between North of Naama Bay and Ras Nasrani.
The first two victims, two Russian women, were attacked in short succession in the early afternoon on Tuesday while swimming off the beach. Both suffered multiple bites resulting in serious injuries. Minutes before one of these attacks, divers photographed a large adult female oceanic whitetip shark and observed it approaching one of the swimmers on the surface.
The following day, two men (one Russian, one Ukrainian) were attacked – again in short succession close to the beach around midday – a few kilometres north of the area of the first attacks. One of the victims was bitten once resulting in minor injuries, the other again suffered multiple bites and serious injuries. No video or photograph has been available of this attack or the involved shark.
As a consequence, all diving, snorkeling and other watersports activities were suspended in the Sharm El Sheikh area, with the exception of Ras Mohamed National Park.
Fig.4: Satelite map of the Southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula (© Google Earth)
Fig.5 : Characteristical markings of female oceanic whitetip believed to be responsible for at least some of the attacks in South Sinai.
This large female was observed and filmed by divers in Ras Za’atar (Ras Mohamed National Park) on Friday, December 3rd, 2010, around midday. It showed the typical inquisitive behaviour of this shark species; no aggression was reported.
The information, that the shark implicated in the first 2 attacks was seen in Ras Mohamed was made available to officials immediately.
On that same day, exploratory dives had been carried out by dive professionals along the Sharm El Sheikh coast without encountering any other sharks.
All restrictions on water-activities were lifted and the beaches re-opened on the morning of Saturday, December 4th, 2010.
On Sunday, December 5th, 2010, around midday, a German swimmer was attacked by a shark in Garden Bay. She died on site due to the severity of her injuries. A picture taken on the surface during the attack shows the same large female oceanic whitetip shark that had been observed during Tuesday’s attacks, and interacting with divers in Ras Za’atar on Friday. Again, individual markings were used to verify her identity.
All beaches were immediately closed again, and at the time of writing, only dive professionals and experienced divers have been allowed in the water, with further restrictions in place in the area of the attacks. These divers have been asked to report back any shark activity in the area.
On Tuesday, December 7th, 2010, around midday, underwater photographs taken in Ras Mohamed by some of these divers again show the large adult female oceanic whitetip shark (from Tuesday, Friday & Sunday) interacting with divers at Yolanda/Shark Reef.
Conclusion:
A single large female oceanic whitetip shark has been observed at the site of 3 attacks on swimmers off Sharm El Sheikh, with eye-witness reports available for two. She is still in the general area, and – for the last 8 days – followed a pattern of traveling between the area of the attacks North of Naama Bay to Ras Mohamed National Park and back within 2-3 days.
The severity of the attacks and the amount of human tissue taken (and potentially swallowed) indicates a clear deviation of the normal behaviour of an oceanic whitetip shark. Instead of briefly grabbing for testing or tasting purposes, this female apparently considers human swimmers as a potential food source.
For further information & questions please contact:
Dr. Elke Bojanowski
Biologist and initiator of the longimanus-project
sharks@hepca.com
To submit underwater images of Oceanic Whitetip Sharks, please go to
http://www.longimanus.info/rss_upload/upload.html
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