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(NaturalNews) Many experts believe that the world’s oceans are at a crucial tipping point in which major ecological collapse is imminent. Overfishing, pollution, and general destruction of sea life is putting the oceanic system and its delicate ecosystems in dire straits.

Brian Skerry, an undersea photojournalist interviewed by a journalist from The Boston Phoenix, elaborated on what he was witnessing in the oceanic system. Decaying coral reefs, endangered species, and the massive reduction in population of certain sea creatures are among the devastating realities that has caused this diver to avoid eating seafood.

Every year, over 100 million sharks are killed. The North Atlantic right whale population, which was once a highly populous species in the region, is down to about 400. Atlantic cod is said to be about 10 percent of what it once was. Most commercial fish populations have been reduced by 90 percent or more. The Atlantic Ocean is becoming highly acidic and the Pacific Ocean is becoming a giant garbage dump. And all of these things have occurred in about 50 years.

Some scientists believe that if things don’t change and current practices continue as they are, the ocean will be barren of all sea life by 2048. Others believe this notion is drastic and unrealistic, but the point remains that the careless treatment of the world’s oceans is likely to have catastrophic results if not curtailed.

Overfishing in certain areas has led to increases in coral reef decay and death. Catching shrimp, for instance, involves dragging a net along the bottom of the ocean floor which catches all sorts of other ocean wildlife. Only a small portion of the catch is actually shrimp, leading to the dumping of the rest of the then-dead by-catch back into the ocean.

Some of the ocean damage has also been inflicted by severe hurricanes and tsunamis which are outside of man’s control. Yet there is no denying that ruthless ocean harvesting practices are causing problems that would otherwise not occur if proper ocean stewardship practices were followed.

While some suggest that international regulations should be mandated, the consequences of giving control over natural resources to an international global government would likely prove disastrous for American sovereignty. Many current regulations are actually harming the waters more than they are helping them. Incentives that encourage proper stewardship are one possible option that would preserve freedom and liberty while avoiding totalitarian restrictions over the waters.

Sources for this story include: http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article… http://thephoenix.com/Boston/News/9…

Captain’s Blog – December 17, 2009 – Marathon Florida Keys - I was honored to host the US Spearfishing Team as they filmed an episode for Spear Divers TV.

The team of five hails from all corners of the States, and none had ever fished off Marathon.  I took them to some of my favorite fishing reefs, and they did not disappoint us.  They boys shot all sorts of grouper, snapper and numerous other species. 

The bull sharks proved to be formidable opponents.  The pull of the spear gun trigger acted like a dinner bell in summoning the sharks.  The divers were victorious in that they lost not a single fish to the sharks.  However, they would most likely have captured more fish had they not spent so much of their time on the look-out for the marauding bulls.

In total, the guys shot 2 black grouper, 1 gag grouper, 1 red grouper, 12 rock hinds, mangrove, mutton and dog snapper, countless hogfish, cero mackerel and triggerfish.

The final segment of each episode of Spear Divers TV features cook-the-catch.  Show hosts, Joe Francine and Kevin Suthard, invited me to join them for dinner the evening of their trip.  Joe is a great cook!  Tune in to their show to see all the various ways he prepared our fish. 

The US Spearfishing Team consists of John Modica from Pomfret Center CT, Sean Moreschi from Charlestown RI, Dan Silveira from Half Moon Bay CA, Justin Allen from Pembroke MA and Team Captain Brian Lee from Hypoloxo FL.   Follow the Team’s adventures on their way to the 2010 World Spearfishing Championship in Croatia.

This image took a little planning, but it all came together and is one of my favorite images from Triton Bay, a very remote part of western Papua, Indonesia.

Dibandingkan dengan negara-negara ASEAN lainnya, Indonesia termasuk ketinggalan dalam meneliti dan mengembangkan biologi karang. Satu-satunya buku tentang karang di Indonesia yang sudah lama terbit adalah Coral of Batavia yang diterbitkan pada jaman Belanda 1963. Sedangkan di negara ASEAN lainnya, misalnya Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia dan Phillipines, mareka punya buku tentang karang di negara mareka masing-masing sejak decade 1980-an. Buku tentang karang di Indonesia baru diterbitkan pada tahun 1996 yang ditulis oleh Dr. Suharsono.
Tetapi masalah yang sangat mendasar tertinggalnya ilmuwan karang Indonesia adalah pola berpikir kabanyakan orang Indonesia yang cenderung melihat keuntungan jangka pendek belaka. Mempelajari karang tidak akan langsung memberikan keuntungan ekonomi seperti halnya orang mempelajari ikan. Tetapi karang mempunyai peranan yang sangat penting dalam keberlajutan perikanan laut. Jika pola pikir semacam ini terus dipertahankan bukan mustahil jika ketika banyak mahasiswa dan ilmuwan mulai menyadari pentingnya karang dalam ekologi laut ataupun dalam ekonomi (pariwisata), Pada saat itu karang di Indonesia sudah rusak berat.
Kurangnya buku tentang karang di Indonesia dan sedikitnya mahasiswa Indonesia yang mau dan mampu membaca publikasi berbahasa Inggris membuat pemahaman orang Indonesia tentang karang sangat lemah. Salah satu kelemahan yang mendasar adalah kerancuan pemahaman tentang istilah-istilah yang memang sangat mirp satu dengan lainnya.

KARANG DAN TERUMBU KARANG
Di dalam pembicaraan sehari-hari karang biasa diartikan sebagai batu yang keras (rock). Di dalam istilah biologi laut, karang diartikan sebagai hewan invertebrata dari ordo Scleractinia (Cnidaria, Anthozoa) yang biasanya hidup sesil di dasar laut, yang dalam istilah bahasa Inggris disebut coral (lihat Gambar 1 dan 2). Sedangkan terumbu karang (coral reef) bagi peneliti Biologi mempunyai arti sebagai suatu ekosistem yang biasanya didominasi oleh hewan sesil karang. Sedangkan hewan-hewan lain yang hidup di dalam atau di sekitar terumbu karang disebut hewan terumbu karang (coral reef animal), misalnya cacing polycaheta, echinodermata dan ikan.

Gambar 1. Karang Acropora

Gambar 2. Karang Acropora

Gambar 3. Terumbu karang atau terumbu secara fisik.

Sesuai dengan namanya, ekosistem terumbu karang mempunyai komponen utama terumbu (reef) dan karang batu (coral). Karang batu memang merupakan bagian dari terumbu, tetapi karena dalam keadaan hidup dan sering diteliti secara terpisah sehingga kadang peneliti membedakan antara karang dari terumbunya. Terumbu (reef) merupakan struktur berkapur yang terdapat di perairan laut dangkal. Di dalam ekosistem termbu karang terdapat pula ikan-ikan terumbu, makroalgae, sponge, cumi-cumi, siput, kerang, cacing, bintang laut, dan sebagainya (Gambar 4).

Gambar 4. Ekosistem terumbu karang

Kadang-kadang ada penulis menyingkat sebutan terumbu karang (coral reef) menjadi hanya terumbu (reef) saja, tetapi menjadi sebuah kesalahan jika memperpendek dengan sebutan dengan karang (coral) saja. Kejadian tersebut sering membingungkan orang yang baru memahami istilah terumbu karang. Ikan-ikan yang hidup di terumbu karang disebut ikan-ikan terumbu karang (coral reef fishes) atau ikan-ikan terumbu (reef fishes). Penggunaan istilah ikan-ikan karang tidak dikenal di dalam publikasi standard.
Di dalam ekosistem terumbu karang, karang merupakan komponen yang utama sehingga baik buruknya kondisi suatu terumbu karang ditentukan oleh banyak sedikitnya kelimpahan karang. Jika dianalogkan dengan ekosistem hutan, karang berperan sebagai pohon-pohon yang tumbuh dibukit terumbu. Disamping sebagai tempat tinggal, tempat makan dan berlindung dari banyak hewan lain, karang juga berfungsi sebagai pencegah terjadinya erosi. Jika pohon menahan erosi dengan banyak menyerap air dan memperkuat ketahanan tanaah, maka karang meencegah erosi dengan banyak menimbun sedimen kapur yang meleekat di terumbu.

KARANG LUNAK VS KARANG BATU
Di dalam banyak publikasi tentang terumbu karang sering beberapa istilah lainnya, yaitu : karang batu dan karang lunak, karang hematipik dan karang ahermatipik. Karang batu dan karang lunak merupakan kelompok hewan yang berbeda dalam subklas. Karang batu termasuk dalam subklas Zoanthatiria, sedangkan karang lunak dalam subklas Octocoralia. Secara fisik antara karang batu dan karang lunak mudah dibedakan di dalam air. Karang batu keras karena mempunyai kerangka berkapur, sedangkan karang lunak tidak mempunyai kerangka sehingga tubuhnya bergerak-gerak oleh arus dan gelombang air.
Karang batu (ordo Scleractinia) terpisah dari karang lunak (ordo Acyonacea) pada tingkat subklas. Karang batu termasuk dalam dari subklas Zoantharia. Karang lunak termasuk dalam subklas Octocoralia. Jika peneliti membahas tentang ‘karang’, maka yang dimaksudkan adalah karang batu dari ordo Scleractinia, bukan ‘karang lunak’, bukan pula ‘terumbu karang’. Jika peneliti membahas tentang karang lunak, ia tidak pernah menggunakan kata ‘karang’ saja, melainkan ‘karang lunak’.
Karang lunak berada dalam satu subklas dengan karang ahermatipik, yaitu karang batu yang tidak mengandung zooxanthellae di dalam jaringan tubuhnya. Yang termasuk dalam kelompok ini adalah karang biru dan karang merah. Karang batu yang masuk dalam ordo Scleractinia semuanya merupakan karang yang hermatipik. Adanya algae zooxanthellae membuat karang batu mendapatkan energi ekstra dari sumbangan algae sehingga umumnya tumbuh lebih cepat. Istilah karang jika digunakan secara tersendiri, biasanya mengacu pada istilah karang batu, atau karang yang menghasilkan kapur.

Sebagai suatu hewan karang memiliki sifat-sifat yang sangat istimewa. Banyak karakteristik karang yang tidak banyak dimiliki oleh hewan darat pada umumnya. Sebagian besar karang adalah hewan sesil yang tumbuh di substrat berkapur yang keras, yaitu terumbu. Mirip dengan layaknya tanaman yang tumbuh di suatu bukit. Karang mengandalkan fotosintesis dari algae di dalam jaringannya untuk tumbuh, sehingga karang selalu membutuhkan cahaya matahari yang terang sebagaimana tumbuhan. Di dalam proses reproduksi dan penyebaran larvanya, karang juga lebih mirip tumbuhan daripada hewan.

KARANG BATU DAN INVERTEBRATA KERABATNYA
Invertebrata yang tergabung dalam klas Anthozoa di bagi menjadi dua, yaitu Subklas Octocoralia yang mempunyai 8 tentakel dan 8 mesenteri, dan Subklas Zoantharia yang mempunyai tentakel dan mesenteri lebih dari 8. Di dalam bukunya, Barnes (1986) membagi Subklas Octocoralia menjadi 6 ordo, demikian juga Subklas Zoantharia terbagi dalam 6 ordo.
Keenam ordo dalam subklas Octocoralia adalah Stolonifera, Telestacea, Alcyonacea, Gorgonacea dan Pennatulacea. Di antara keenam ordo tersebut, jenis-jenis yang perlu diperhatikan di terumbu karang adalah karang merah atau karang pipa organ Tubipora, Clavularia (ordo Stolonifera); karang lunak Alcyonium, Sarcophyton, Lobophyton, dan Xenia (ordo Alcyonacea); karang biru Heliopora (ordo Helioporacea); karang gorgonia Gorgonia, Leptogorgia, Muricea (orgo Gorgonacea); serta pena laut Stylatula, Veretillum, dan Renila.
Subklas Zoantharia terdiri atas ordo Zoanthidea, Actiniaria, Scleractinia (Madreporaria), Corallimorpharia, Ceriantharia dan Antipatharia. Ordo Scleractinia meliputi semua jenis karang batu (hermatipik) misalnya Acropora, Fungia, Goniastrea, Montipora, Pocillopora, Porites. Ordo Actinaria meliputi kelompok anemon laut seeperti Metridium, Stichodactyla, Epiactis. Ordo Zoanthidae meliputri bermacam-macam hewan zoantid yang kurang dikenal orang, misalnya zoanthus, Palythoa, Epizoanthus.
Dari sistem klasifikasi tersebut, kelompok anemon dan zoanthid merupakan kerabat terdekat dari karang batu. Karang lunak, karang biru dan karang merah merupakan kelompok yang kekerabatannya lebih jauh karena berbeda subklas. Karang api Millepora (Ordo Milleporina) mempunyai kekerabatan yang paling jauh dengan karang batu. Karang api termasuk dalam Klas Hydrozoa (Filum Cnidaria), yang mempunyai fase medusa dalam siklus hidupnya. Karang merah, karang biru dan karang api biasanya dikelompokkan tersendiri sebagai karang non-scleractinia.

TERUMBU KARANG
Terumbu karang merupakan struktur fisik dari kalsium karbonat (berbahan kapur) di dalam laut yang berasal dari sedimentasi proses biogenik. Berdasarkan lokasi dan topografinya terumbu karang dibagi menjadi bermacam-macam tipe. Karena banyak ilmuwan menggunakan klasifikasi yang berbeda-beda, maka beberapa macam tipe seringkali saling tumpang tindih atau identik dengan lainnya. Di sini hanya empat tipe terumbu yang dibahas untuk menyederhanakan istilah-istilah penting.
1. Terumbu tepi (fringing reef). Terumbu tepi biasanya dianggap sebagai terumbu sederhana ynag tumbuh di tepi pulau. Terumbu tepi merupakan tipe terumbu karang yang paling banyak dijumpai di Indonesia, dan merupakan terumbu karang yang banyak dikunjungi wisatawan seperti di Bali, Lombok, Manado dan Banda.
2. Terumbu penghalang (barrier reef). Terumbu tipe ini tumbuh membatasi pulau dari lautan lepas. Contoh terumbu ini terdapat di selatan Pulau Buru dan selatan Teluk Tomini. Terumbu penghalang yang paling besar tumbuh di the Great Barrier Reefs, Australia, yang tumbuh di sepanjang landas kontinen pantai timur laut Queensland. Terumbu penghalang Sunda Besar (Great Sunda Barrier Reefs) tumbuh melindungi pantai tumur Kalimantan, dan merupakan yang terbesar di Indonesia. Terumbu penghalang yang besar biasanya terdiri atas banyak terumbu-terumbu kecil yang tidak bisa dibedakan dengan terumbu tepi.
3. Atol. Terumbu tipe atol biasanya berbentuk cincin atau tapal kuda jika dilihat dari atas. Atol bisa terjadi karena menurunnya permukaan batuan atau menaiknya permukaan air laut. Di tengah atol terdapat goba. Atol terbesar di Indonesia adalah Atol Taka Bonerate, Laut Flores. Di Kepulauan Tukang Besi, Laut Banda, banyak ditemukan atol-atol yang kecil, misalnya Atol Lintea, Atol Kaledupa, Atol Kapota, Atol Koka dan Atol Noname. Atol juga disebut sebagai pulau tinggi karena terumbu ini dikelilingi oleh laut yang dalam.
4. Taket dan gosong (shoal and coral cay). Taket dan gosong merupakan pulau yang rendah dan tersusun seluruhnya oleh sedimen biogenik (zat kapur dari karang dan biota lainnya). Istilah taket biasaanya digunakan untuk pulau yang hanya muncul ketika air laut sedang surut saja. Sedangkan istilah gosong biasanya digunakan untuk pulau pasir baik yang belum bervegetasi maupun yang sudah bervegetasi. Pulau rendah tipe taket dan gosong merupakan jenis pulau yang terbanyak jumlahnya di Indonesia.
Berdasarkan tipe komunitas dan topografi fisiknya suatu terumbu dibagi menjadi beberapa habitat, yaitu rataan terumbu (reef flat), gudus (reef crest), tubir (reef slope) dan goba (lagoon). Rataan terumbu merupakan bagian terumbu yang dangkal dan biasanya mempunyai topografi yang relatif rata. Pada terumbu tepi, rataan terumbu merupakan bagian dimana biasanya masyarakat mencari siput ketika air surut. Gudus merupakan ujung rataan terumbu yang tumbuh naik sebelum turun ke tubir. Gudus merupakan tempat terjadinya pemecahan ombak ketika pasang naik, dan terdedah ke udara ketika surut. Tubir merupakan bagian terumbu yang menurun ke bawah. Keterjalan tubir bervariasi dari sekitar 40-90°. Lagoon merupakan kolam yang dalam dan terlindung dari arus dan gelombang oleh rataan terumbu.

Captain’s Blog – December 18, 2009 – Marathon Florida Keys - Back at the beginning of the month, I had the pleasure of fishing Jim O’Donnell and a couple of his pals.  You can read the report about their day of fishing by clicking here. 

Jim is an outdoor writer back in his native England, but he spends quite a bit of time here in the Keys and is an avid tarpon angler.  Take a look at what he wrote about his day of fishing with me on World Sea Fishing.  Enjoy!

A video message from Copenhagen

Click on the image and think.

Done in my materials and techniques class yesterday, It was an assignment given out where we had to choose and animal and morph it with some kind of human aspect whether it was a setting or an actual object. I went with combining a bear with a submarine. I went for a lot more stylized approach to it than previous projects, but you can still tell its my style. this is done in acrylics on illustration board. Washed over with blue.  Hope you enjoy it. Be sure to drop a comment by and tell me what you think or critique it in any way.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Meeting Update

Lemon Sharks

As reported below (see 12/7, blog) the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) met on December 10, to vote on a draft proposed ban to prohibit the take of Lemon Sharks in Florida waters. At that meeting the Commission voted in favor of the proposed rule. BUT IT’S NOT OVER YET.

There will be a final FWC public hearing on the Lemon Shark rule in Apalachicola on February 17 & 18, 2010. Don’t let your guard down. As we learned when NMFS backed down at the 11^th hour on their proposed Acropora coral (staghorn & elkhorn) critical habitat designation – it ain’t over till it’s over.

Keep the pressure on FWC with letters, emails and have everyone you know sign the petition to protect the Lemon Shark breeding population at: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/4/urgent-help-needed-to-protect-lemon-sharks

Good News for Groupers

FWC approved a rule to protect grouper spawning aggregations. The rule prohibits all harvest of shallow-water groupers (including gag, black grouper, red grouper, scamp, red hind, rock hind, coney, grasby, yellowfin grouper, yellowmouth grouper and tiger grouper) from Jan. 1 – April 30 in Atlantic and Monroe County state waters. This spawning season closure applies to all recreational shallow-water grouper harvest and lengthens the previous two-month closure to commercial grouper fishing in the Atlantic.

FWC Press Release: http://myfwc.com/NEWSROOM/09/statewide/News_09_X_PostCommDec.htm

by Donald B. MacGowan

Mahana Green Sand Beach on Papakolea Bay at South Point, Ka'u Hawaii: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

There area many wonders and enigmas, out of the way and generally off the beaten track, on the Big Island of Hawaii that have garnered a lot of word-of-mouth popularity over the years; the Golden Ponds of Ke-awa-iki, hike to see the flowing lava and the weird, fabulous and storied colored sand beaches of the Big Island come immediately to mind.  The almost folk-tale way in which traveler’s impart information to each other about these incredible places guarantee that serious errors in the nature and history of these places, or even into the directions on how to get there, creep in to the accounts.  It would be a shame to set your heart on seeing a place a friend told you you just had to visit and not be able to find it, or not understand what it was you were seeing once you got there.

The white sands of Hapuna, Hawaii Island's Most Popular Beach, Kohala Hawaii: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

We here at Tour Guide have endeavored to seek, collate and present an encyclopedic collection of the most up-to-date information on visiting over 500 locations on the Big Island, coloring the material with our decades of personal experience living on the Big Island.  Today, you may access that information here on this blog or by renting our hand-held computer/GPS unit which shows location aware video presentations about all these sites.  Recently, we have released a version of our tours downloadable to iPhone and iPod Touch that covers more than 50 areas of island, highlighting the popular and the uncrowded, the famous and the secluded, the adventurous and and the relaxing.

Our goal is to insure you have the most fun, most interesting and enjoyable vacation here in Hawaii–that you are provided with all the information you need to decide where to go and what to see, and that you are not burdened with out-dated or incorrect information…

So, let’s talk about the storied colored sand beaches of the Big Island…

The Colored Sand Beaches of the Big Island of Hawaii

The wild surf at Wawaloli Beach, Kona Hawaii: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Our Big Island is geologically quite young and the landscape is immature, so our beaches tend to be smaller than those on the older islands, and are therefore all the more precious. What the Big Island has that some of the other islands lack, though, are beaches with spectacularly colored sand…white sand, black sand, green sand and even grey sand.

Secluded, beautiful Makalawena Beach lies in the heart of a tropical wilderness just north of the Kona Airport, Kona-Kohala Hawaii: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

The creamy white sand beaches of picture postcards and hapa haole songs result from the accumulation of small particles of coral reef and crushed shell fish shells. As the reefs grow, wave and storm action break it into small pieces and many fish, such as the parrot fish and the humuhumunukunukuapua’a munch the coral, spitting-out sand sized particles, and the coral they swallow comes out…er…the other end as sand-size pellets of sandy waste. In this way, one coral-eating reef fish can produce up to a ton of white sand a year. Because our white sand beaches result from physical degradation of soft, biological material, the sand grains tend to have rounded edges. Thus, unlike sands derived from rock and mineral sources, such as the California beaches, they do not stack well and tend to produce poor sand castles.

Waialea Beach, or Beach 69, is an out-of-the-way gem that is rarely crowded on the Kohala Coast, Hawaii: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Beautiful white sand beaches occur all over the Big Island, but are biggest and best developed on the Kona and Kohala coastlines, as coral reefs prosper best on the lee-side of the island. Prime examples of white sand beaches include Anaeho’omalu, Hapuna, Waialea and Makalawena Beaches. Snorkeling at these white sand beaches is a joy—the water is a brilliant turquoise due to the amount of light reflected back into the water by the sandy shore bottom. However, this sandy bottom itself is relatively barren of life, so if seeing fish is your main snorkeling goal, be sure to choose a beach with a nearby reef, such as Waialea Beach, since the fish live in and around reefs and rocky cliffs.

Hawaii's most famous black sand beach, Punalu'u Beach, Ka'u Hawaii: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Black sand beaches are strange and spectacular, and, because of their thermal properties, are warm even on a chilly day (Oh, yes, we do have chilly days here in Hawaii–in mid-winter temperatures can dip into the low 70s and even rarely the upper 60s!). In fact, it is the black sand beaches of the Big Island that are the choice among egg-laying female Hawaiian green sea turtles for laying their egg clutches on, precisely because of their warmth.

Littoral Explosions as Lava Enters the Sea at Waikupanaha, Puna Hawaii: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Black sand beaches result from the fiery, explosive mix of hot liquid lava entering the ocean. The skin of the lava stream is instantly chilled as it flows into the water and then blasted off when the ocean water flashes to steam. Black sand also results from mechanical action during the natural physical erosion of the basalt (the name for the rock our lava becomes once it cools). You’d think that sand forged in the volcano would be tough and enduring, but in truth, it’s very, very fragile and black sand beaches do not last long over time. For this reason, although the sand is beautiful and rare, we ask you not to take any home with you.

Kaimu Beach, Hawaii's Newest Black Sand Beach, Near Kalapana, Puna Hawaii: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Black sand beaches occur all over the island… two of the largest are on the north end of the island, crossing the mouths of Waipi’o and Pololu Valleys, respectively. These are not visited as often as some of the others as both entail something of a hike down into the canyons. What once must have been a heart-achingly beautiful, large black sand beach fronts Hilo Town right on Hilo bay, but much of it has been eroded, polluted and degraded by industrial encroachment or simply paved over as a result of urbanization. By far the most popular black sand beach is at Punalu’u. Not only is the beach lovely, inviting and easily accessible, it’s almost guaranteed that the visitor will see Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles basking on this beach. The youngest and most vibrant black sand beach is Kaimu Beach at the end of the Kalapana-Kopoho Road. Kaimu beach, lovely if barren, is a crescent of sand that lies at the end of an unforgiving expanse of basalt from the 1990 flows. The old beach and the fishing village of Kalapana that once stood here are long gone, buried under 50-75 feet of lava—an unimaginable catastrophe

Black sand is made by the interaction of hot. liquid lava and cold ocean water, such as this littoral flow at Waikupanaha, Puna Hawaii: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Snorkeling at the black sand beaches can be dark and mysterious, as little light is reflected back into the water from the sandy bottom, but the bouldery nature of the off-beach sea floor assures the prospect of abundant life and many reef fish. Be aware…because black sand beaches mostly occur on the youngest, and therefore most exposed, portions of our island, many are characterized by big waves, strong currents and nasty rip tides. Swim only where you see others swimming, and only when a life guard is present.

Wild, surreal, enchanting, the Big Island’s green sand beaches are a rare geologic occurrence that appear in only a few choice spots on our island and almost nowhere else in the world. Although they take a little effort to get to, you should not travel all the way to Hawaii and not see these jewel-like beaches.

The green sand is composed almost entirely of the mineral olivine, or peridot as the gem quality crystals are known. These crystals precipitate out of the molten lava while it sits in the magma chamber reservoir before it erupts onto the surface. The liquid lava is melted from rocks at great depth within the earth; the chemical composition of the melt is at equilibrium at extremely high pressures and temperatures. As the magma migrates upward, many miles, through the Earth’s crust, it cools and pressure decreases; this causes crystals to precipitate from the melt. In magmas world wide, olivine is almost always observed to precipitate out first.

In Hawaii, lavas migrate up to the surface so quickly, and then are expelled from the magma chamber onto the surface so quickly, that usually they have little time for many crystals to form. But when lava does sit in the magma chamber awhile, the olivine crystals do precipitate, and they slowly settle to the bottom of the melt. As liquid lava begins to erupt onto the surface, much of the olivine is left behind in the residual liquid. Thus, lavas erupted from the latest stages of these magma chambers sometimes are enriched with crystalline olivine. Since late stage magmas are also relatively cooler and less fluid, their eruptions are more explosive and they tend to form more spatter cones than flows. The green sand beaches of the Big Island result where the ocean has breached one or another of these spatter cones, and the winnowing action of the waves has washed away all the particles except for the relatively denser olivine grains.

There are tiny green sand beaches all along the southern coastline on either side of South Point, but the largest and most accessible is Mahana Beach on Papakolea Bay at South Point, reached by a moderate hike of about 2 ¼ miles along the wild coastline northeast of South Point, following an old 4WD two-track. Because of the unique sand color, snorkeling at the Green Sand Beach is a must…underwater pictures, if you are equipped with a suitable underwater camera, are quite stunning. Just be careful of the treacherous currents, rip tides and big waves. This is the wild and open ocean and this side of the island is completely unprotected. Once again, due to its rarity and the irreplaceable nature of this resource, we ask that you enjoy our Green Sand beaches, but don’t take any sand home with you.

Warm, comfortable and inviting, grey sand beaches result from mixing of black sand particles with white sand along a stretch of beach and as such, are represented by a continuum of grey hues. In fact, many Big Island beaches probably fit more with a definition of grey sand beach than properly occupy either of the two distinct end member compositions, black sand or white sand beach. Ho’okena, Kahalu’u and Honomalino are three of the largest and most popular grey sand beaches on the Big Island. There is one entirely unique beach, Ke-awa-iki, which today is a dominantly black sand beach, but the black sand has incompletely mixed with the older white sand on the southern portion of the beach, leaving a stretch of strange, but oddly artistic, piebald black and white sand.

To see the new iPhone/iPod Touch App, please visit http://www.tourguidehawaii.com/iphone.html. The best of Tour Guide Hawaii’s free content about traveling to, and exploring, the Big island, can be found here. For more information on traveling to Hawaii in general and on touring the Big Island in particular, please also visit www.tourguidehawaii.com and www.tourguidehawaii.blogspot.com.

All media copyright 2009 by Donald B. MacGowan. All rights reserved.

In my opinion, coral reefs are nature’s best most impressive and beautiful artwork. A coral reef is teeming with life, serving as a home to numerous organisms. Unfortunately, many coral reefs throughout the world’s oceans are suffering from gradual depletion. Read more about this issue at the University of Florida’s website and find out what you can do to protect these brightly-colored masterpieces.

http://plaza.ufl.edu/bettie/coralreef.html

These get snapped up by Nottingham’s Eden Spa and Lincoln Heritage Centre.

But I started making jewellery by doing bead weaving- nothing wild, just flowers and snowflakes, and recently I’ve been going back to my making them- for christmas and for some slightly speedier fun… speedier than  bead weaving a whole cuff with the pattern of Argyle… but that’s something I’ll show you another day.

Here are some thing’s I made for Christmas joy times!…

…Right-e-o, back to listening to Rufus Wainwright whilst watching Batman Begins on telly…. Christian Bale is Nowhere near as cool at Michael Keaton but I love love love Cillian Murphy in films!

2010 heralds the return of the unstoppable force of nature that is REEF. Dominic, Gary, Jack and Kenwyn are delighted to announce that they will be heading out on the road again in April.

The West Country’s favourite sons came together again a couple of weeks ago and such was the energy and positivity between them that a reunion and tour was quickly decided upon. The wheels put in motion, a nationwide tour has been booked and rehearsals booked in.

REEF formed in 1993, signing to Sony imprint S2 Records the following year. Their debut 1995 album REPLENISH achieved Gold status and saw the band play shows with the Rolling Stones, Paul Weller and Soundgarden.

TOGETHER – THE BEST OF REEF was released by S2 in 2003. It was around then that he band decided to take an extended break from Reef. They have been working on several projects in the interim including Dominic playing with Mick Jones (The Clash) and Tony James (Gen X) in Carbon/Silicon and Gary and Jack forming THEM IS ME and releasing their debut album in 2008.

You can catch the REEF reunion at the following dates/venues:

APRIL 2010
17 GLASGOW ABC £19.50
18 NORWICH University East Anglia £17.50
20 BIRMINGHAM Academy £17.50
21 BRISTOL Academy £17.50
23 LONDON Shepherd’s Bush Empire £22.50
24 MANCHESTER Academy £17.50

www.reefband.com
www.myspace.com/reefmusicuk

An essay by Andrew Sharpless CEO of Oceana

Enjoy serving shrimp, oysters or crabs during your holiday meals? Then you should pay heed to the big climate change meeting coming up in Copenhagen. What nations decide there could determine if our ocean will continue providing tasty shellfish – or instead become part of a perilous chemistry experiment that could ravage valuable fisheries and coral reefs.

The problem, strange as it may seem, is that the ocean is doing a wonderful job of slowing down global warming. Every day, it removes nearly 30 million metric tons of carbon dioxide – the main warming gas – from the atmosphere. That’s nearly twice what U.S. power plants, cars and factories spew daily into the sky. So we owe the ocean a big thanks for putting a brake on climate change and giving us time to find solutions.

Unfortunately, that help comes at a steep price. When carbon dioxide in the air mixes with seawater, a chemical reaction creates a compound called carbonic acid – the same stuff that gives champagne its acidic zing. In the ocean, however, “acidification” is bad news for shellfish and corals. That’s because as acidification increases – and it is increasing rapidly – the process locks up the carbonate molecules these creatures need to build their shells and stony skeletons. It would be as if you started building a house, and then discovered that someone had locked away your bricks. Imagine trying to survive without reliable shelter or a full skeleton.

One of the first victims of acidification, however, will be the world’s hard corals. Tiny coral polyps build their monumental, dazzling reefs by manufacturing tons of limestone. But the corals won’t be able to keep up their masonry if acidification continues. In fact, several studies have concluded that if emissions aren’t curbed, virtually all warm-water reefs could stop growing and start crumbling to rubble by the middle to end of this century. Among the potential U.S. casualties: reefs off Hawaii, Florida and the Gulf Coast that serve as backbones for some of the planet’s richest habitats. And if the reefs go, so could iconic species that are part of America’s cultural – and culinary – heritage, such as snapper, grouper and spiny lobster.

Such losses would have enormous social and economic consequences. Reefs support tourism and global fisheries worth billions of dollars annually, and more than 100 million people rely on them for their food and livelihood.

ABOUT THE WRITER

Andrew Sharpless is CEO of Oceana, an international ocean conservation group. Readers may write to him at: 1350 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 500, Washington, D.C. 20036; Web site: www.oceana.org.

This essay is available to McClatchy-Tribune News Service subscribers. McClatchy-Tribune did not subsidize the writing of this column; the opinions are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of McClatchy-Tribune or its editors.

Link to complete text: http://www.bradenton.com/living/living_green/story/1882392.html

Rules, guidelines, laws, edicts, tenets. Call them what you will, in every field rules of some sort are necessary. But, like bad guys in Hollywood action films or crackpot dictators, the people in charge of the BBC’s rulebook may have gone a bit overboard.

Recently, the BBC Trust laid the boot firmly into indie production company Reef for “breaching editorial guidelines”. They were sent to the corner to think about what they’d done. They were allowed back into the fold, but forced to hang their heads in shame. Their heinous crime – faking a few bits and bobs on daytime antiques programmes.

If you’ve never seen any of the programmes in question, they’re basically identical; varying configurations of old people dodder about trying to sell bits of old tat that no reasonable person would ever want or need. That’s it. Factual entertainment, as its known, is the TV equivalent of dry ice, in that it fills space cheaply and easily whilst barely even existing.

The rub here is that members of the production team cut corners on location, leading to shocking breaches of discipline. Shocking, they were.

Members of the production team bought a number of items for the old people to sell as if they’d found them!

Researchers stood in for camera-shy members of the public!!

A cameraman bought a painting!!!!!

I don’t know if it’s the fact that I’ve seen more cheating in my time in student journalism than those guys in Eyes Wide Shut, but this all seems a bit tame. If anything it seems like the Reefers, pushed for time and trying to fashion entertainment out of nowhere, took matters into their own hands rather than risk coming home with no programme.

Cheating is wrong, and should be punished, but this is television. Everything’s fudged to some degree.

News is manipulated every which way so as not to take sides. Current affairs is squeezed by the desire to take any issue and turn it into a simple question that can be answered in 30 minutes. The number of murders in Eastenders is simply unrealistic based on present crime data.

Surely you’re better off with the show you wanted, a show in which antiques are bought and sold (albeit to the guy who was meant to be filming everything) than a Dogme 95 account of pensioners not selling carriage clocks.

The BBC Trust “takes these breaches extremely seriously”, but they really don’t amount to much. Everyone knows programmes are edited to buggery, and we all know that things need to be fiddled from time to time. Factual entertainment is barely factual, can’t we at least make sure it’s entertaining?

Tem vários vídeos no u tube como o pior caldo, mas selecionei esse como o THE WORST.

O cara deve ter virado sashimi…

Ele pode não ser o campeão mundial, pois Mick Fanning é o favorito, já que lidera o ranking, mas Parko quebrou no WQS que rolou em Haleiwa.

Nesse campeonato fez um 10 num tubo profundo, balançado e impossível.

Na minha opinião, o melhor tube rider do mundo.

Repara no narrador durante o replay:

- First session, second session, third session, 4th session

Mais um 10 dele, agora em J-bay, para comprovar o que estou falando sobre o melhor tube rider do mundo.

joel parkinson 10 point ride – j-bay 2009

We just got back from Ahe Island in Papua and have a lot to share with you. We were delighted to see that the local people see the need to develop more sustainable sources of income instead of  fishing which currently is their sole income source. We believe that with a joint effort step by step a situation can be achieved from which both people and marine life can benefit.

Let’s start by telling you a little bit more about Ahe and the Harlem Islands.

The Harlem Island are situated in the Geelvinkbaai in Papua. Many moons ago they where ‘discovered’ by the Dutch vessel the Harlem and thus got their name. These 7 islands are situated amongst crystal clear water and pristine reefs. Virtually no one has dived here and we are just touching first base when it comes to discover the diving possibilities of this unique place. We have dived many places around the world but even for us this is diving adventure ‘pur sang’.

Ahe is one of the smaller of the 7 islands. It measures 690 by 450 ft and if you are looking for the true bounty or Robinson experience… this is it. Ahe has a unique feeling to it and is inhabited by many special animals such as the mambruk, the goudvink (which is endemic to the islands) and the cuscus… an animal with a high cuddle factor and if I have to describe it I would say it is a sort of mix between a monkey a small bear and a koala. Sea eagles have their nests on the island and every evening hundreds of fregat birds return to Ahe to sleep in its lush vegetation. Turtles visit the islands to lay their eggs and you may get lucky to see the baby turtles running into the sea. Where ever you look there is white sand and the deep kobalt blue of the calm sea. Doesn’t sound bad huh

When you set foot on the island you can get rid of your shoes or flip flops for the rest of your stay. The first thing you see are two large airplane engines that where taken of the WWII plane wreck that sunk on top of one of Ahe’s reefs and that you can see snorkeling. On my first visit before entering the modest bungalow that was going to be my home for the week I immediately jumped into the water to check out the reef and besides the reef fish you would expect I saw bumphead parrot fish, mantis shrimp, several species of snake eels, many blue spotted rays, spade fish, a group of razor fish,  a turtle and even three cockatoo waspfish….this was at just 20 meters in front of the beach!

Ahe is run by a group of enthusiastic young people from the surrounding islands. They choose not to follow the path of their parents that have been fishermen for many generations, but to develop small scale tourism on Ahe with a focus on the adventurous diver. Ahe at the moment offers basic accommodation that will be developed further without loosing it’s charm or harm the wonderful nature and characteristic of the island. Ahe is truly of the beaten track and has been visited by only 20 tourists this year.

There are no specific diving sites at the moment. You can literally plunge in everywhere and have a great dive on beautiful reefs. In the next months the group that got training by us last week will further ‘recon’ the area to map the best dive sites and spot a top 25 of things divers are keen to see. Some good dive news… one of the site offers year round guaranteed private encounters with whale sharks that literally swim up to the boat and Ahe has a residential group of dolphins.

Scubasigns is truly committed to help the people of Ahe to make their plans become reality and to let both people and marine life benefit from ecologic dive tourism. We will take the following steps:

1. Further dive training of local people to increase dive safety.
2. Set up a team of paid dive guides who will explore dive sites and clean and protect the reefs.
3. Enlarge the protected area and create no fishing zone’s… this has been achieved already for the waters directly surrounding ahe.
4. Together with knowledgeable NGO’s and the local community we will write a masterplan for the future of Ahe and the Harlem Islands.
5. Increase the knowledge of the eco system and marine life within the local community.
6. Improve the dive gear and dive facilities as well as knowledge on maintenance.
7. PR activities to put the Harlem Island on the map of exciting dive destinations.
8. Set up a protocol and ‘rules’ for diving in the Harlem Islands.
9. Appoint an island manager to locally help in the development of the island and implement the necessary action points.

Anyone with good ideas or the desire to help please let us know! If you are keen to protect marine life and want to assure that the beauty of coral reefs and marine life should be safeguarded for future generations then this is your chance to actually do something. Send us an e-mail at dave@scubasigns.com. If you would like to be one of the first divers to visit Ahe then please let us know as well and we will make sure you will have the trip of your live.

Video das Finais em Haleiwa.

Texto Original:

Check out the action highlights for the final day of the 6 STAR Prime WQS Event – Reef Hawaiian Pro 2009, Congratulations to Joel Centeio from Hawaii !

1 Joel Centeio (Haw)
2 CJ Hobgood (EUA)
3 Jay Thompson (Aus)
4 Alain Riou (Tah)
5 Damien Hobgood (EUA)
5 Hank Gaskell (Haw)
7 Kai Otton (Aus)
7 Dion Atkinson (Aus)
17 Marco Polo (Bra)
25 André Silva (Bra)
25 Bernardo Pigmeu (Bra)

Os brasileiros não foram tão bem no campeonato realizado em Haleiwa, mas Marco Polo e Rodrigo Dornelles permanecem no grupo que se classifica para a elite.

Já temos o Jadson André classificado.

Ano que vem o bicho vai pegar.

Breve video das finais do Reef 2009

Reef Hawaiian Pro 2009

1 Joel Centeio (Haw)
2 CJ Hobgood (EUA)
3 Jay Thompson (Aus)
4 Alain Riou (Tah)
5 Damien Hobgood (EUA)
5 Hank Gaskell (Haw)
7 Kai Otton (Aus)
7 Dion Atkinson (Aus)
17 Marco Polo (Bra)
25 André Silva (Bra)
25 Bernardo Pigmeu (Bra)

Ranking do WQS 2009

1 Daniel Ross (Aus) 14975
2 Patrick Gudauskas (EUA) 14876
3 Jadson André (Bra) 14813
4 Owen Wright (Aus) 14338
5 Adam Melling (Aus) 14288
6 Jay Thompson (Aus) 13638
7 Nathan Yeomans (EUA) 13419
8 Luke Munro (Aus) 13263
9 Brett Simpson (EUA) 13150
10 Matt Wilkinson (Aus) 12850
11 Travis Logie (Afr) 12344
12 Marco Polo (Bra) 12331
13 Blake Thornton (Aus) 12325
14 Rodrigo Dornelles (Bra) 12206
15 Drew Courtney (Aus) 12200

No Tourism without Conservation
The biggest conservation enemy is the greed

In 1990, Pemuteran coastal village, Gerokgak in Buleleng regency North West of Bali, was a bare and dry land, the harvest only once a year due the harsh weather. Pemuteran coastal village is located on a secluded bay at the foot of the seer mountain range and next to the important Pulaki Temple. Due to its extremely dry conditions, poor fishermen and dry land farmers were both struggling to make a living.
It is potential as the Balinese have always recognized a sacred place and there are numerous temples in the area. The marine tourism potential was just beginning to be realized in the early 90’s.
Population increase over the years in such a poor area that depended on the sea for their daily food, led to the fishermen using destructive fishing methods like bombing and cyanide fishing, killing all fish indescribable, causing catastrophic damage to the coral reef the very foundation of the marine natural resource. In combination was the further insult of the 1998 El Nino, which caused much of the coral reefs to bleach and die decreasing even further the marine habitat.
In the early 90’s, a few local businessmen attempted to establish the beginning of a tourist offering. They also began using the principles of community-based tourism, as the tools to help the local people’s social life and the local environment in line with Balinese Hindu culture.
The goals were not only to create a better living standard for the local community but also incorporate conservation and protection concepts for the environment as well, both of which the local community and tourism industry depended on.
As the local community understood the importance of protecting and conserver ring their own resources for their current and future benefit, the principals of eco-tourism were introduced and quickly understood. One of the methods introduced to help restore their reefs and fisheries as well as serve as a shining community based conservation educational example for all was the Bio-Rock System of Reef Restoration.

Why the emphasis on coral?
Coral reefs are the major biodiversity, fisheries, tourism and shore protection resource of over 100 countries. In a UNEP report, it has been estimated that a typical coral reef can absorb up to 90% of a wave’s force, thus being the key factor in protecting the shorelines from erosion and destruction. It is also the ecosystem most vulnerable to global warming, absorb 70% carbon emission.
The marine tourism industry depends on beautiful seas and beaches. Without healthy reef systems, future options for social and economic development will be constrained or lost. Not many will wish to holiday or visit polluted beaches and dead seas.

Bio-rock method
In the last few decades a completely new approach, the Bio-rock method, has been developed. It uses safe low voltage electrical currents to grow natural limestone rock out of the sea on steel structures of any size or shape. This provides the same natural material that coral skeletons are made of, and on which baby corals settle. The Bio-rock process provides the only marine construction material that gets stronger with age, and is self-repairing. They are designed to create denser and more varied hiding places for fishes than even a natural reef and rapidly build up large and diverse fish populations. The corals grow faster, can with stand stress up to 50 times more, can recover from physical damage and corals spontaneously settle on them, many times faster than normal. As a result, reefs can be kept alive where they would die. These reefs can also turn severely eroding beaches into growing beaches in a few years.
In a world where water quality is steadily deteriorating from out of control global warming, and pollution, Bio-rock reefs survive stresses that kill all the corals on conventional artificial reefs and cost far less.

Tourism as a tool to conservation
By applying best practices, tourism can be a leader in environmental protection, restoration as well as community education in sustainable development. What really is needed now is not more study but large-scale action, training local students in the arts of ecosystem restoration, and funding them to work with communities to restore their vanishing marine habitat.
In Pemuteran coastal village, coral reef restoration with the use of the Bio-rock system not only increased the range and size of the coral reef area, it also increased the over all health of the whole marine eco-system emphasizing to the community the importance of protecting, conserving and restoring their own reefs. The change from becoming the hunters of the last fishes to becoming sustainable farmers of their resources had begun.
Fishermen were not only able to increase their catches, but the marine tourism industry increased as well, creating jobs and opportunities for all the support services required. They were able to “catch” tourists as well as a master diver.
These positive results increased the social well being of the local communities and served as an excellent example to other communities what can be done to improve their own situation. The tourism industry not only increased job opportunities, but also became the leader in the establishing of important conservation principals to be followed by all for the benefit of all.
Pemuteran’s community-based, conservation, protection and restoration of their own marine habitat areas in line with eco-tourism principles was a learning process that proved to everyone the effectiveness of managing their resources in a way that made it a tourist destination. * dwi