Scuba Tribe issue 1

QnA with Zoona

Hanifaru Bay

Shark Conservation

Thila Diving

Diving at the British Virgin Islands

Grey Nurse Sharks of AustraliaOctober 2011

Issue 1

SCUBA TRIBE issue 1 ~ October 2011

PublisherAzim Musthag (Zim) [email protected]

Editor Mohamed Seeneen [email protected]

Supervising EditorHamza Khaleel

ContributorsJim Dodd Rob Lysak Mohamed Faizan Waheed (Robert) Hamza Khaleel Marie Saleem Mohamed Hamza Fritz Anees Adenwala Mariyam Zunadh Zahir Mohamed Seeneen Azim Musthag

PhotographyRob Lysak Jim Dodd Azim Musthag Ibrahim Yaamin Abbas Mohamed Seeneen Ty Sawyer Mauricio Handler Adam Rasheed

IllustrationsIlham Abdulla

Design and LayoutMohamed Faizan Waheed (Robert)

Sales and MarketingAhmed Arshad [email protected]

SubscribtionTo subscribe visit our web-site www.scuba-tribe.com. Subscription is free.

Scuba Tribe Magazine Tel: (960) 7719555 Email: [email protected] Web: www.scuba-tribe.com Scuba Tribe Magazine 2011, all rights reserved.©

Covershot Lonesome manta at Hani-faru Photographed by Sindhi

DIRECTORY

Sarudhaaru Dhonmanik 7 Portofolio:Adam Rasheed 16Analox 22Featured Dive Centre: Meridis Dive & Relax 23Featured Liveaboard: Black Pearl 26My Diving Life: Anees Ademwala 28Swimming Fast for Sharks 29Featured Wreck: MV Maldive Victory 30Proper Weighting & Buoyancy 35Contributors Profile 39

QnA With Zoona 5Grey Nurse Sharks of Australia 9Façade of Maldivian Shark Industry 12

Diving the British Virgin Islands 14Hanifaru Bay 33Thila Diving 37

Contents

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http://scuba-tribe.com/



Azim Musthag Publisher/Founder

Scuba Diving is an industry with many elements working together. You cannot just take one bit and leave out the rest. Scuba Tribe sets out to in-form the world about these elements. To share the amazing underwa-ter world, celebrate the people who explore it and expose it to others and work to preserve it. Hope you all enjoy and appreciate the work of all our contributors and writers and be part of the tribe. It goes without say-ing, we would value your criticism and will work to improve Scuba Tribe.

Mohamed Seeneen (Sindhi) Editor

It’s always been a dream to create a book or a magazine to share with the world. Diving is more of a need than a hobby or work for most people who are doing it. The most amazing thing about doing this work, as in mak-ing Scuba Tribe, is collaborating with such people and sharing knowledge. This is just the beginning of many issues to come. A lot more to talk about, document and explore awaits. Keep following us through the social media.

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http://www.cruisemaldives.travel/

SCUBA TRIBE issue 1 ~ October 2011 4

Zoona Naseem is no ordinary wom-an. Born to the island of Kudafari in the Maldives, she had the perfect parents to groom an active and em-powered girl. Zoona’s father was al-ways supportive in her love for the ocean and her mother was a patient and caring person who filled her with love. On days when she came home with cuts and bruises after amateur surfing at her home islands' house reef, her father would encourage her by saying that now she would know what she did wrong and not to repeat it. This has been Zoona's phi-losophy that lead her to be the Area

Marine and Rec-reational Manager at Banyan Tree Resort

Maldives and one of the few female dive instructors in the Maldives.

Zoona came to Male' the capital is-land of Maldives to stay at a rela-tives home and study. She showed her potential for an active life style by engaging in a lot of sports activi-ties. She would lead on to claim the national women’s badminton title in her youth. After finishing her studies at the all girls Secondary education school Ameeniya, Zoona joined Sun Diving dive center as a receptionist. Sun Diving was owned by her relative Ahmed Shiyam. It was Shiyam who gave her the opportunity of studying

as a Dive Instructor in return that she works on a 5 year contract with Sun Diving. Zoona was just 18 years old when she attended her PADI Instruc-tor Development Course.

Upon her return with Instructor certi-fication Zoona was offered to work at Bolifushi Island Resort where the dive center was owned by Shiyam. Zoona worked off her 5 year contract and then returned to work with her dear friend and colleague Ms.Shaheena, who owned Sea Explorers dive center and safari boat in the capital island Male'. Ms.Shaheena was an inspira-tion for Zoona to continue her work in the field. Ms. Shaheena had done her dive trainings and certification with Zoona hence they had a strong bond and close friendship. Zoona re-members her time at Sea Explor ers as the most fulfilling experience in her carrier. She was able to teach and educate a lot of young people. Zoona always found it very natural to teach and she enjoys every moment of the education process.

Zoona who is one of the handful of female dive instructors in Maldives, is

a goal oriented leader that young peo-ple can look upon to. She has aimed and achieved many of her life long dreams. With friends she has trekked to the foothills of the Himalayan Mountain range and climbed to the Base camp as well. Coming from the lowest lying islands of the world it is an amazing feat in itself.


“Zoona is one of the handful of female local

dive instructors

By Hamza Khaleel

In Love with The Ocean Interview with Zoona Naseem

5

ST: What are your most favorite Dive Spots in Maldives?Zoona: Lankan Manta Point would be amongst a long list of spots but now even though it was a protected site it is gone. A sacrifice in the name of commercial development. Other spots would be Emboodhoo Express and Fan Thila where you see a lot of Grey Reef sharks. I love spots which are challenging with strong currents and big creatures.

ST: What are the barriers of being a Female Dive Instructor

Zoona:It is mainly barriers set by society and parents who believe that young girls going to resorts to work even in the Dive industry is not ac-ceptable.Truth is it is all about self discipline.It is an individuals own choice to behave in a certain way.Quite frankly girls can work in the Diving industry as well as any resort job equal to any boy.I personally faced no discrimination for being a female worker in the tourism indus-try

ST: Where have you been diving outside of Maldives?Zoona: I have been to Australia (Nin-galoo), Lakes in Switzerland (which was amazing and a lot of technical diving were required), Malaysia (Tio-man) and Trincomali dive spots in Sri Lanka.

ST: Tell us some memora-ble experiencesZoona: I could never forget the moments I dived with some people with dis-abilities. I dived with a man who was blind. We did a night dive and he wanted to touch a turtle. When we surfaced he was laugh-ing and smiling so much it warmed my heart. Also there is no feeling like see-ing the ecstatic reactions after a Discover Scuba Dive.

Though I am now in more manage-ment area I like to still do DSD's and also courses in full. Teaching gives me so much pleasure.

ST:Advice for the young and new?Zoona: I would like to say “It is never impossible, when you start you will develop a pas-sion and if you hold on to it you can do anything”. Also if you are a man-ager do not distance yourself from the field for I still teach courses and dive often to fully understand the grass-roots situation as to be a more proper manager.

ST: Thank You ListZoona: My parents were and are the strongest pillars for support for me. I was blessed with them. I have to thank Shiyam for giving em the opportunity to get into the field and educate myself. My friend Shaheena cannot go unnamed as she was key in supporting me in the field and when I left her Dive Center to take up a position at Banyan Tree she told me I would always have a job at her place anytime I wished to come back. At Banyan Tree I met Mr. Abdul Azeez, one of the few Maldivian Marine

researchers. Mr.Azeez has shared so much knowledge on so many aspects of marine life and trusted me with my current position.

Latest on Zoona: At 35 years old she is happily married and Area Marine and Recreational Manager at Banyan Tree Resort Maldives. She has played for the Maldivian National Female Football team as well. She also serves as the current president of the Divers Association of Maldives. Zoona says she is at the peak of her diving career and is thinking about changing the field and going more towards man-agement but she still has one more course she wants to finish; PADI Course Director.



The photos are in black and white and the world is dusting itself from the second world war. In the tiny islands of Maldives with a population of less than 60,000 people, Mr. Sarudhaaru Dhonbe' or Ismail as it says on his national identity card, was taking his plunge to ensure his survival.

Dhonbe' was a passionate energetic and artistic young man with a natural passion for the environment. His life has always been simple and introvert-ed. His ideas and his dreams but were nothing less than those of a true vi-sionary. Mild mannered but observant

Dhonbe used to work for the Maldives National Security services. His job provided him with very little oppor-tunity to learn or create but soon, in time, his natural instincts to reach to the inner soul of a true artist overcame him.

Due to the world war and the limited development of the country, food was at a shortage, and one who did not fend for himself often went hungry. Dhonbe' decided to take fate into his own hands and with such a vast ocean surrounding the island it was obvious that the first option would be fishing. With crimson waters abundant with life surrounding the capital island Male' of the Maldives archipelago, he had the whole ocean to hunt from. In his fishing/spearing expeditions, he was also simultaneously feeding his artistic hunger for colors shapes and images that filled the underwater; and it was true love that he found.

Dhonbe loved the ocean and found it natural to dive to about 20 meters eas-ily and breath hold for about 3 min-utes. His friends from the neighbor-hood joined him occasionally. Soon it

became a passion and he found him-self combining the two loves of his life. The ocean and painting and sketching the beauty of nature.

The passionate ocean lover was first given an underwater mask by a tour-ist which turned out to be too big for him. So he decided to let his handicraft creativeness come to use and designed his own underwater mask and snorkel. This mask was so well designed, with glass and rubber tires as a seal; the Maldivian Army came to hear of it and asked him to produce 60 more masks, for them. Dhonbe' also designed his own spear gun. He designed it with hard flexible rubber from old tires, which still has its marks on his foot, reminiscent from all the times when he loaded the gun using his feet to pull the rubber. Dhonbe' has speared more than any youth could probably claim to today, but for Dhonbe', it was not only about the hunting, but so much more. It was the understanding of the life underwater and the creatures and their habitats and their behaviors. Even today, Dhonbe' can tell you which cave to swim to in a certain atoll of Mal-dives where at a certain period of the

monsoon one can endure watching some biological chef-d'oeuvre spawn in colors that you could never even imagine. His understanding of the creatures he hunted was his respect for them. Unfortunately this is a lacking attitude amongst the new generation fishermen who fish for fun and barely know their catch.

Sarudhaaru Dhonbe

By Hamza Khaleel

7

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In the early 1960's when the first tourists started com-ing to the Maldives in search of exotic island paradises, Dhonbe met the German tourist Mr.Rodney Jonklass. Mr. Jonklass, an avid diver and spear fisherman and ex-

plorer from neighboring Sri Lanka; exposed Dhonbe' to spear fishing and also handed him the first factory made underwater mask. Later on Dhonbe' was also lucky enough to meet the world re-known Dive Expedition Researcher, Profes-sor Hans Hass, from Germany. It was Professor Hass who came to the Maldives, and intrigued Dhonbe' to scuba dive and traveled with Dhonbe' through out the Maldives exploring reefs, caves and different species of underwater life .With the dates in place it can be safely said that Prof. Hass was in the Maldives in 1957 for the shooting of the underwater documentary "Travelers Tales: The Undersea World Of Adventure" which was aired on BBC and other International Channels as well. He later published a book called "Expedition into the Unknown" in testi-monial of his time spent in the Maldives. When Prof. Hass left, he left a spear gun, scuba gear and a diving compressor with Dhonbe' but most importantly, techniques and tools to explore the oceans. Though Prof. Hass did not conduct a licensed scuba diving class for Dhonbe; he definitely gave the knowledge and explained the know how. In the next few years Dhonbe' had traveled to most of the Maldives and swam, hunted, dived and scuba dived at some of the most luscious underwater gardens the world had to offer.

His memory is fond to remember the moments he once poked an electric ray near the house reef of Male'. It left electric shocking feelings that leaves jovial pictures of his youth engraved forever in his memory. Dhonbe' also could nev-er forget the first moment he saw a dark shadow coming towards him in the waters of Koattey Area (Addu Atoll, Maldives) which turned out to be a whale shark. The scientific significance of spotting a whale shark in that region during the early 1970's could hold important information on the changing patterns of whale shark habitation in the Maldivian waters.

At 83 years old he still designs, paints and sketches the beautiful creatures and environment he had come to love and call home to. He never owned a camera or even used one underwater but his memory captures and his hands encompasses the images as if it was a picture. Dhonbe' had no formal training in the field

of diving nor painting but his life and work has affected so many a new younger scuba divers by encouraging and assisting them to be knowledgeable and interested in this field. His impact on the diving community of Maldives as well as the artists community will always be remembered as one who touched the hearts of so many. His plunge into new dreams has opened the hearts and minds of so many a youth and touched their lives in ways that entwined them and made them one with nature and fall in love with the beauty of the underwater life. His respect for all that is liv-ing lead him to believe his own saying that; “even if a crea-ture like a sea urchin could harm you, you can still admire and love it”.

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The Grey Nurse Shark (Carcharias Taurus) is also known as the Sand Tiger in the US and the UK, and the Spotted Ragged Tooth shark in South Africa. Australia’s east coast population of Grey Nurse Sharks is classified as “Critically Endangered” while the west coast population is classified as “Vulnerable”. The east coast population was the first shark population to be pro-tected in the world, when it was protected in New South Wales (NSW) in 1984. In the year 2000 the NSW Fisheries department did a survey on the numbers of the Grey Nurse Shark, where it was thought that the numbers on the east coast of Australia could have been as low as 292 individuals. There are now 10 critical habitat zones along the NSW coastline which were declared in 2002, and 2 in Queensland, Australia.

The Grey Nurse Shark or GNS live in shal-low inshore waters. They prefer habitats that have rocky caves or sandy bottom gut-ters and are close to rocky reefs or islands. Their range on the east coast is from the south coast of New South Wales to southern Queensland. On the west coast their distri-bution is on the south-west coast of Western Australia.

Their upper body is a bronze colour while the underside is usually white. Juveniles have dark spots on the body which fade with age. These spots are as unique as a humans finger print and can be use to identify an in-dividual. They have two dorsal fins similar in size and a large upper tail lobe compared to the lower.

Australia’s Grey Nurse Sharks


By Jim Dodd

9

Some shark conser vat ion organisations use a computer

program much like the police use to ID a finger print, to match the spots. By sending in a side profile photo with date and location information, they can track the sharks and find out where they go and when.

These sharks have a ferocious look but are very placid in nature making them easy targets to slaughter. This is the main reason that they became en-dangered. In the 1950’s 60’s and 70’s spear fishermen of the time would use explosive power heads on their spears and shoot them for sport as they were considered man eaters. They pose no threat to divers or swimmers even though they can grow to a maximum length of 3.6 metres or 11.8 feet.

Males reach sexual maturity at 4 – 6 years of age and the females at about 6 – 8 years, both are about 2.2 me-tres in length. I have seen bite marks and scratches on smaller sharks. The GNS breeding cycle is thought to be bi-annual, with one shark born from each uterus. The sharks are thought to mate in the autumn and have a 9 – 12 month gestation period. Develop-ing young are enclosed in egg cases within each of the females two uter-

us. They hatch from the egg cases at around 55mm in length and then eat any unfertilised eggs and even their brothers and sisters towards the end of the gestation period. This is known as intra-uterine cannibalism. After the gestation period, 2 young are born. As

a result there is only ever a maximum of 2 sharks born from each litter. This is the lowest reproductive rate of any

shark, which make it even more sus-ceptible to threats from external pres-sures. When born the pups average approximately 1 metre in length.

Grey Nurse Sharks are more active at night when they feed upon fish, other small sharks, rays, squid and crus-taceans. They also swallow air at the surface and hold it in their stomachs. This provides buoyancy and enables

the shark to hang almost motionless above the sea floor.

Although the sharks are protected to-day, they were commercially fished quite extensively in years gone by. Unfortunately illegal fishing does still occur and accidental capture by both

recreational and commercial fisher-men also poses a very serious threat to the sustainability of these sharks.

The Grey Nurse Shark’s key habitat sites/areas are often popular fishing sites as well. There have been many reports of recreational fishermen acci-dentally catching Grey Nurse Sharks. Scuba divers continually witness large numbers of the sharks with fishing hooks and lines in their mouths, pro-truding from their gills and even stuck in their face and eyes. Some sharks will survive their injuries sustained from the fishing gear, but many don’t. In 2000 a Grey Nurse Shark autopsy revealed the death was caused by the perforation of the stomach wall by nu-merous small hooks of the same type used by the recreational fishing com-munity.

Scuba diving with these majestic creatures is something that everyone must do at least once in their life. It is something that I can’t get enough of especially when you are able to get within an arms length of them on some occasions. Being a dive mas-ter has enabled me to spend over 200 dives with these sharks, and not even once have I felt threatened by them even when I was in an area about 5m wide and 8m long with 22 sharks and about 6 – 7 divers in the water.


Seeing the expression on people’s faces as fear turns to amazement brings a feel-ing of fulfilment to me. On

many occasions I have had to reassure and calm a diver to get them into the water. I would tell them that when they get out of the water they will want to get straight back in with the sharks and do it all over again. Did it work? You bet it did every time.

The best sites to dive with a Grey Nurse Shark, in Australia, are the Critical Habitat sites. These ag-gregation areas are where the sharks come to rest during the day. The sites are as follows in order from north to south: 1. Julian Rocks (Byron Bay)2. Green Island (South West Rocks)3. Fish Rock (South West Rocks)4. The Pinnacle (Forster)5. Big and Little Seal Rocks (Seal Rocks)6. Little Broughton Island (Port Stephens)7. Magic Point (Maroubra – Sydney)8. Bass Point (Shell Harbour)9. Tollgate Islands (Batemans Bay)10. Montague Island (Narooma)

To dive in these areas you must obey the rules. The rules are:• Noscubadivingbetweensunsetandsun rise;• Noblockingentrancesofguttersorcaves;• Nofeedingortouchingthesharks;• Nochasingorharassingthesharks• Noelectronicsharkrepellingdevices;• Nounderwaterscooters• Nomorethan10diverstoagroup

There can also be different techniques required for different areas. As I dive at the Little Broughton Island Critical Habitat, I will tell you about the best diving practices here. When entering the ar-eas where the sharks inhabit ensure that you are as close to the bottom as you can get as this seems to disturb the sharks less than if you swim even 1 metre off the bottom. Enter the gutters by keeping your body very close to the gutter walls while in single file and exit gutters in reverse order if need be. They sharks can’t see through your bubbles and will feel boxed in. I have seen them swim across shallow rocks risking injury when people do the wrong thing. I have also found that the greater the number of individual sharks the more comfortable they are with your presence. You can tell how the sharks are feeling by you being there by the posi-tion of its pectoral fins. If the fins are horizontal then the sharks aren’t bothered at all, but if the fins are pointing down then they are annoyed with you. If there is only 1 or 2 sharks then chances are that once you enter the gutter where the sharks are, they will swim away into another part of the site. You may see the shark(s) again pro-viding they don’t leave the area altogether.

References: http://www.saveoursharks.com.au/Save_Our_Sharks_-_Grey_Nurse_Shark.htmlhttp://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/publica-tions/grey-nurse.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_nurse_sharkhttp://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/381315/Grey-nurse-shark-critical-habitat.pdfhttp://www.diveoz.com.au/gns/gns-threats.asp


http://www.saveoursharks.com.au/Save_Our_Sharks_-_Grey_Nurse_Shark.html









It has been a good year for sharks worldwide and hopes are rising for the possibility of their survival for the future generations to enjoy and ap-preciate! Honduras and Bahamas have joined the Maldives and Palau in ban-ning commercial fisheries of sharks in their waters this year making it nearly 2.4 million square kilometers where these animals are protected by law.

A recent study carried out in Palau shows that shark diving brings approxi-mately US$ 18 million annually to the country’s economy, which is equivalent to 8 % of their GDP. The annual income generated in salaries by the industry is US$ 1.2 million and contributes 14 % to the country’s business tax revenue. An individual shark that frequents the dive sites is worth US$ 179,000 annu-ally or US$ 1.9 million over its lifetime. The principal research scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science Dr. Mark Meekan who led the study said that sharks could be “million-dol-lar” species and a significant economic driver due to the demand from divers that the declining numbers of sharks have created over the years.

So does this mean that the Maldivian economy can benefit from making the entire Maldivian EEZ a shark sanctuary? The answer is yes, it can! Maldives is visited by an immense number of tourists each

year for its beaches and underwater beauty. Last year more than 700,000 tourists visited the Maldives, 10 fold more than the number that visited Palau in 2010. Snorkeling and diving are two of the most pop-ular activities for the tourists visiting the Maldives and they pay large sums of money to observe the underwater beauty and its flora and fauna. Observ-ing a shark on a dive is a highlight for many and a study undertaken in the 1990s estimated that tourists

paid a total of US$ 2.3 million just for shark watching dives n the Maldives. In comparison export of sharks fins and meat in the same year brought revenue of US$ 0.7 million. Furthermore results from a survey done at the time showed that an individual live shark at a dive spot brings in a revenue equivalent of US$ 3300 per year. This indicates that sharks are worth more alive than dead. The fact that 10 times more tourists visit the Maldives compared to Palau also

The Façade of the Maldivian Shark Sanctuary

By Marie Salym

12


hints on the fact that the rev-enue anticipated from shark diving in the Maldives will be

even higher than that for Palau, making it significant to protect these animals in the country.

Based on overwhelming evidence of declining shark populations, along with mounting pressure from the tourism industry and conservationists, the Govern-ment of Maldives decided to make the Maldives a shark sanctuary from 1st March 2010. At the time, plans to implement a trade ban on all shark products was also announced. With a slight delay the Cabi-net decision to ban all types of shark fishing within the Maldivian EEZ was implemented from the 15th of March 2010, technically making the Maldives the largest shark sanctuary in the world. Due to pressure from the traders of shark products, the trade ban was delayed and this year the Ministry of Environment

and Housing announced the prohibition of catching, keep-ing in captivity, trading or harming any species of sharks from the 21st of July 2011. The announcement (Iu’laan No: (IUL)138/1/2011/42) was made under Clause 4 (i) of the Environmental Protection and Preservation Act (4/93).

Conservation of species and environment often come at a cost and the livelihoods of those fishermen involved in shark fishery were laid on the line with the announcement of the fishery ban last year. However, the government has spent millions of rufiyaa to compensate these

groups so they could turn towards an alternative source of income. Another group that is seeking compensation are the own-ers of the souvenir shops who stock different shark products. In a sense this is ironical as it is the tourism industry that are the beneficiary of the ban and at present it is a sector of the tourism industry that is keep-ing the products on its shelves to sell to the visiting tourists. While the guests will not be al-lowed to take any shark prod-ucts out of the country, the

owners are unwilling to take

the products off their shelves without proper com-pensation.

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Diving the British Virgin Islands


In 2003, I came to the British Virgin Islands (BVIs) to film for Dive Zero. Little did I know, this island paradise would later become my home.

The 60 storybook islands, pictur-esque beaches, low-key resorts, and the world famous drink, the “Pain-killer” from the Soggy Dollar Bar made my choice an easy one. Never-theless, the world-class diving of the

BVIs was the most important fac-tor in my decision. The BVIs boast wreck sites such as the RMS Rhone and The Chikuzen, which truly stand out in Caribbean.

The RMS Rhone, a mighty steam powered 310-foot iron hulled ship, sank during the great hurricane of 1867. Built in 1865, this vessel had a short life punctuated by a tragic end-

ing. The RMS Rhone was carrying 253 passengers and crew when she hit Blunt Rock at Salt Spring Island and sank, killing all passengers and crew except for one crew member who clung to the mast. The Rhone is in two magnificent pieces with her 40-foot mast lying on the sea floor in the middle. Though I have dove this wreck countless times, I never get bored. When it is a night dive,

the RMS Rhone comes alive with the huge creatures that call the wreck home. Jacque-line Bisset swam through the hatch door of the Rhone in the iconic 1977 movie The Deep.

The wreck of the Chikuzen is my favorite dive in the BVIs. The Chikuzen is a 246-foot re-frigeration ship that sank in 76 feet of water. Now, it is an oasis in the middle of the ocean. This wreck is a fun one to shoot because she lays on white sand. This factor gives one lots of light to play with. The wreck has huge schools of bar grunts and snappers, school-ing barracudas, stingrays, sharks, eagle rays and even the occasional whale that passes her lonely coral encrusted remains. Inside the hull lives a Goliath Grouper. This epic five hundred pound fish is a bit shy. When she comes out to play, it is a dive highlight. By no means is the Chikuzen an easy wreck to dive. She lays 12 miles out in the open ocean where the swell can be massive, making accessibility an issue. When conditions are favorable, the Chikuzen is a “must dive” site.

When I decided to move to the BVIs, I chose the barefoot island of Jost Van Dyke for my home. This pristine island has 131 resi-dents, 32 bars and most importantly, some of the best dive sites in the British Virgin Is-lands. One of these sites is The Playground, a short 15-minute boat ride to the east end of Jost Van Dyke. The Playground is the num-ber one rated big animal dive in the BVIs. Here you will find sharks, eagle rays, school-ing tarpon and cubera snapper along with

By Rob Lysak

14


over 60 different species of reef fish. In my many times filming The Playground, I

have found that this dive site never disappoints! Some of the other dive sites near Jost Van Dyke in-cludes the Cathedrals and the Twin Towers, At the Twin Towers one finds two monolithic boulders that

lay beside each other at a depth of 76 feet. The site offers magnificent swim-through s, along with can-yons coated with coral encrusted walls filled with bait balls that make the daylight disappear. At The Cathedral, divers can swim into the inside of Jost Van Dyke via a 50-foot cave. At the end, one can pop up above the water to see light peering in from the top of the 250-foot tall rock. The rest of the dive you will find coral coated canyons and a sea bottom covered with assorted sea fans that sway gently side to side. This site is also offers the best chance to see Dolphins!

Along with spectacular wreck sites, the BVIs have their share of pirate lore. Pirates have long been a fascination with me, and ever since I was a little boy, walking the plank and pretending to be Blackbeard or Long John Silver was a priority, and what little boys didn't dream of being a pirate! The British Vir-gin Islands have made Pirates famous from writers such as Robert Louis Stevenson's book “Treasure Island”. Dive sites such as Great Thatch, The In-dians, and Pirate's Purchase are some of the most popular pirate-centric dive sites in the BVIs. Pirate's Purchase is my personal favorite. Colin Aldridge, owner of Jost Van Dyke Scuba, found this wreck in 2002 while doing blue water drift dives. When I filmed her in 2005, she lay in full mast and rigging at 96 feet deep. This wreck has sharp objects and rig-ging that can tangle you up, along with contents that have never been touched or removed. You can pen-etrate into her lovely insides to what I call the “Love Palace”, a large area that still has all its romantic re-mains. The only company to dive it is JVD Scuba. This is a company I know well, and happens to be the number one rated dive operator in the British Virgin Islands. Jost Van Dyke Scuba wants to keep this wreck mysterious and secret. To get a chance to dive Pirate's Purchase is a thrilling experience! The British Virgin Islands dive scene is magical, mystical, unique and full of adventure!

If you are interested in experiencing the underwater wonders of the BVIs for yourself, please contact me at [email protected]

Here are some informative links:Dive Zero TV: http://www.divezero.tvThe BVI Channel: http://bvi.divezero.tvThe BVI Tourist Board: http://www.bvitourism.comJost Van Dyke Scuba: http://jostvandykescuba.com

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http://www.divezero.tv


http://www.bvitourism.com

http://jostvandykescuba.com

Portfolio of

Adam Rasheed




Adam Rasheed (Aana)

Adam has been diving since 2000 and was always in-terested in underwater photography but could not get his hands on an underwater camera. The first camera that he had was a Sony Cyber Shot with an underwa-ter housing in 2005. From then he was hooked and dived to take photos whenever he got a chance. He now shoots with a Canon 40D camera with Sea n Sea Housing and Strobe. His love for the sea and nature developed when he was a child. Adams description of a photo is “some-

thing that never changes but what’s in it will change”. He wants to document all what he sees underwater and archive it for the next generation.Adam works as the Dive Base Leader at Banyan Tree Vabbinfaru.

e-mail: [email protected]: http://www.blanniez.com/flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blanniez


http://www.blanniez.com/

http://www.blanniez.com/


http://www.maldivers.net

Not so long ago was the horrible De-sert Storm where Saddam Hussains armies marched in to Kuwait , hijacked their oil wells and set them on fire. The whole word came to alert, including the Maldives and it's people. People in the communities used to say "oh my god Kuwaits' resources are being burned by Saddam and his army, and condemned theses actions. This brings me to a sad story of two people who are neighbours who throw their daily gar-bage off the break water of Male' while condemning Saddam's actions. Is it ig-norance or hypocrisy or is it just plain ungratefulness, I wonder.

We are a nation with one resource . One really unique resource superior to many other nations. We have the sea and the the wonderful tropical climate that we are blessed with through out the year. The sea has always taken care of us. Since the beginning of Maldives it brought the first settlers to this para-dise, the sea has provided us with cow-rie shells, which was used in regional trade, plenty of tuna for our fishermen as food and enabled them to prosper in the fishing industry in the region. Over time we thrived and also became one the worlds leading tourism desti-nation with many thanks to the beauti-ful islands formed by the ocean.

In this way we could say with humil-ity that we are a nation of Mother Na-ture and we in our customs believe that paradise lies beneath out mothers feet. This brings us to the sad reality of hu-man weakness and the always need for humans to be reminded . We have been blinded by the materialistic desire to run the rat race with the great cost to the "hand which feed us" which is our complex ecosystem. Take fishing for an example. In comparison, our pole and line fishing method is undeniably one of the most eco-friendly and efficient forms of fishing in the world. Unfortu-nately today modern day fishermen are under the miss conception that live bait fishing and long line fishing are more efficient.

Let us take the story of the the Group-er; a beautiful fish which inhabit our garden reefs and at parts of the word is a delicacy. We were not smart enough to control the demand and supply in a way which would protect “our own”. Like it or not all creatures which live in Maldives regardless of a national iden-tity card, in reality are belonging to the Maldives. They have the right to exist and continue their species without fear of extinction.

As with sea cucumbers the sad truth

applies here as well. We took it too far. Their scars are still fresh. So many of our youth in the northern atolls got the bends (suffering from decompression sickness). Once again greed got in the way of safety and proper care.

Figure it out you intelligent people. There are ways you can reach equilibri-um between the money you make and a happy full life where you can show your offsprings the world, instead of just stories.

Come to think about what's been said here brings to the scene from the Sci-Fi movie The Matrix where Agent Smith has Morpheus in custody and inter-rogated him for the pass code to the mainframes of Zion. A statement he makes goes like: “...I'd like to share a revelation during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your spe-cies. I realized that you're not actu-ally mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding en-vironment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can sur-vive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know

what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You are a plague...”If not for our moral values and respect Smith would have been right. It is in our nature to be in the path of negativ-ity and destruction, though we do have the capacity to care, save and build within us.

Dive guides, like said in the PADI dive master program, you are ambassadors to the sea. Please live up to your cer-tification. Remember certified does not necessarily means qualified. If you know anyone who pollutes and are cor-rupted by greed have them listen to the song by Ben Harper titled “Excuse Me Mr”, Maybe that would give them the message.

Do a honest days work boys and girls. Which will be followed by success. Re-spect nature and elders. Listen to good advice. Most of all manage your most valuable resource which is the only non renewable resource. Time and the time and effort of others. Till next time. Adiós.

Nation With A ResourceBy Scuba Nomad


As a diver, more than often, we all think about what could go wrong on a dive and we work to minimize those chances of a catastrophe happening. We learn to use a bunch of emergency scuba skills and carry a load of extra equipment. We dive with devices such as DSMBs, alternate air sources and more. During our entry level diver courses and the rescue level courses we learn about the effects of breathing air at depth and how it could lead to De-compression Illness, Nitrogen Narco-sis and such. Contaminated air is such a topic we learn. For some it may not be a big deal but for others, it’s always something that is in the back of their mind.

The effects of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning are potentially fatal. Alter-natively they could leave the diver with ongoing health problems and disabili-ties. A small concentration in a diver’s gas can affect the body, with symptoms including headaches, fatigue, confu-sion and dizziness. Prolonged expo-sure could lead to unconsciousness, brain damage or even death. Please note that contaminated air is a rare thing at this day and age. Dive op-erators take uttermost care while fill-

ing compressed air and other gas mix-tures that is used for diving.

A number of incidents of carbon mon-oxide poisoning, prompted Analox Sensor Technology, to focus their re-search on the development of equip-ment to detect the gas in a diver’s air supply, prior to a dive. Analox Sen-sor Technology (or AST) produced the CO Clear and the EII CO carbon monoxide analyser.

The Analox CO Clear is a fixed c a r b o n m o n o x -ide alarm w h i c h m o n i t o r s for high levels of c a r b o n monoxide from diving compressors. This is designed to provide continuous monitoring for the presence of CO in breathing air compressor lines. Visual and audible alarm warnings indicate rising levels, ensuring a timely re-sponse to the presence of the gas. The

type of sensor used in the CO Clear is a capillary type sensor. It is mounted on the wall in the desired area using the supplied screws and other items. The power supply for the unit can be either AC (110V or 230V) or DC (9-24V). The CO Clear can be connected to the compressor (so as to monitor CO) using a pressure regulator. The CO Clear has to be calibrated every 6 months to ensure proper readings. The

calibra-t i o n is ex-plained q u i t e w e l l on the u s e r m anu -al. One m i g h t t h i n k it takes a con-

siderable amount of time but is worth, compared to the service the unit pro-vides. Analox company recommends changing the sensor every 18 months.

EII CO carbon monoxide analyser is a compact, portable carbon monoxide

analyser, easy to use immediately prior to diving. It is quite similar to a hand held enriched air analyser. Pre usage calibration is a pretty straight forward process but might require a bit of pa-tience in the divers part. It is powered by a 9V battery which would give the user about 1 year of use before chang-ing the battery. The CO is monitored by an electrochemical carbon monox-ide sensor. The sensor itself has a two year graded warranty. A bump test will ensure the unit is functioning correctly prior to testing the diver’s air. It is done using a small can of CO which is sold by Analox. As long as the bump test gives a reading over 5ppm, the sen-sor is fully functioning and there is no need to recalibrate the unit. The unit is water resistant and shock resistant as well. Accessories apart from the bump test kit Analox offers a compact storage case for the EII CO, calibration gas kits and tool kit.Other devices produced by Analox Sensor Technology includes the O2EII Nitrox Analyser and ATA pro Trimix Analyser

For further information, please visit www.analox.net.


Precaution against contamination Analox By Azim Musthag

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http://www.analox.net

By Azim Musthag

Meridis is a company which operates 3 dive centres in Maldives; they have dive centres at Chaaya Island Dhonveli, J Resort Alidhoo and Dhonakulhi Island Hideaway. Among these three, their dive centre in Chaaya Island Dhonveli , The Meridis Relax and Dive, is in the closest proximity to Male’and the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport. Chaaya Is-land Dhonveli can be reached in approximately 20 minute by speed boat from either of these locations. The company is owned by two friends who has travelled and dived at many locations around the world. The local Director/MD for the company is veteran diver Mr. Mohamed Waheed who has been diving all over Maldives for more than 30 years.

The name of the dive centre reflects their philosophy in running the place. Guests do not have to be con-cerned about anything other than just coming for

their scheduled dives. Instructors focus solely on their divers. The wants and the needs of the divers are their first priority. The owners of the centre strive to bring the best qualities they experienced through their diving adventures.

The dive centre is conveniently located near the main jetty of the island. At this quaint building, all

of the services and the pricing are displayed right at the main entrance of the dive centre so as the guests can get informed even if there is no one immediately there to assist. The schedules and an area map with all the dive sites are included as well. Guests can just sign up for the dives they want to go. The dive centre consists of the equipment storage areas, compressor room, wet room, classroom, office, a small shop and the administrative office. There are also equipment rinsing tanks and bathrooms at the back. The dive centre on Chaaya Island Dhonveli is managed by a lively and outgoing German couple, Chris and Ulli. Chris has been working as a dive instructor for more than 15 years and Ulli has been working for more than 16 years. The dive centre has been operating in the island for nearly two years now. They have been working with Meridis for four years. Working as a team, Chris handles the technical side where as Ulli deals with the management side of the dive centre. But they do discuss and support each other with

their work. Including the mangers there are four instructors working at the dive centre as well as a compressor tender/dive centre assistant whom they light-heartedly refer to as the “friendly ghost”. Ac-cording to them, you would not see him at his work but you will see it done. Whether it is planning out the daily program or addressing any hitch, the staff consults and talk amongst themselves as a team. Languages spoken here include, English, Dhivehi, German, French and Italian. Japanese and Chinese speaking staff are brought in when the need arises.


Featured Dive Centre Meridis Dive & Relax

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The equipment storage area is well organ-

ized and pleasant. Every single piece of gear is meticulously maintained on a regular basis. All the gear seemed as if they were recently acquired. If the dive centre feels that the equip-ment is not in the proper condition it is replaced with new gear. Rather than sticking with a single brand Me-ridis uses the best pieces of equipment manufactured by different brands. The filling is done in a separate area where the compressor and tanks are being stored. Nitrox is also available at no extra cost for those divers who are cer-tified to use it. Fill logs and repair logs are well maintained. The dive centre

has gear capacity to cater to 35 divers at once. The dive centre offers all the PADI dive courses and programs from Dis-cover Scuba Diving to Divemaster and a variety of Speciality courses. Dive programs for kids and junior courses are run as well. Meridis has special gear for the Children including small-er tanks. During all courses and dives the ratio is no more than four divers to one instructor so as to ensure all di-vers are well attended to and they feel comfortable. Of course if a group or a family comes and requests to dive to-gether that is allowed but in that case more than one instructor would han-dle the group. Experienced divers and

photographers get flexibility as well.

The dive centre has close access to the lagoon from both the East and West side of the island. This means that the Discov-er Scuba Diving and other con-fined water dives can be planned to carry out at the calmest side. The house reef if is

close by and is ideal for orientation dives and course dives as well. There are a lot of dive sites in close proximity to which the dive centre does boat dives. Some of the best dive sites of North Male’ At-oll such as HP Reef and Nassimo Thila is quite close by and is a regular spot. Dive trips are done daily, usually with a two tank dive in the morning and a single dive in the af-ternoon. Night dives are also regularly scheduled. Divers can just sign up for the dive they wish to go to. When a new diver arrives to the dive centre they can do an orientation dive to the house reef or another easy site so they can get comfortable to the gear and adjust to the dives which they will be doing. Ulli describes a typical day as an ex-citing day where the dive centre is full of activity. The dive staff meets prior to the arrival of the guests and make sure all what’s needed is there. By the time the guests arrive they just have to depart. The boat crew busies up with getting all the gear ready while the in-structors focus on their divers. They

call in and check the weather and con-ditions of the area they are going to be diving. They make certain that all divers get their full attention. Brief-ings, unless the dive site is very close by, is on the boat. Upon arrival the dive conditions are checked and the divers are informed of how the dive is going to go exactly before entry. If the divers feel that they are not comfort-able with making the dive or have any other concerns they can sit out of the dive. Meridis does not charge in that case. Also for example if diver has an equalizing difficulty and cannot de-scend they do not get charged for the dive either. Client satisfaction is taken very seriously here. The guests have a huge flexibility.


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Meridis Dive and Relax is also an en-vironmentally concerned organiza-tion. Rather than just doing a yearly clean up on Environment Day (which they also do), they clean their sur-rounding reef every now and then. If there are not a lot of divers coming, the free staff just buddy up and heads out on a clean-up dive. Apart from the diving services the dive centre also provides snorkelling programs and trips to the house reef and other locations by boat. Also for the more adventurous people, night

snorkelling is offered as well. The wa-ter sports department is a part of the dive centre as well. A variety of water sports gear is available. Except for the surf spot, Meridis organizes and run the water sports activities. This op-eration is run by two water sports in-structors. Meridis Dive and Relax at Chaaya Is-land Dhonveli is a professionally run dive centre staffed with dedicated people. They operate the centre as if it is their own and with the best interest of their divers at heart.

For more information check out their website www.meridis.de.


http://www.meridis.de/


I had a long standing invitation to go on a trip aboard the Black Pearl ever since the boat started to cruise the Maldivian waters, but always put it off. So Sindhi and I, fully loaded, went aboard for a 10 day trip. When we arrived at the Hulhumale’ (island close to the capital Male' of Maldives) Harbor to board the boat, we had no clue how the trip was going to go.

Black Pearl is owned and operated by two Maldivian dive buffs and a Brit. On all cruises Siday or Risheen, either one of the 2 Maldivian partners would be the cruise director and dive guide. They personally supervise the day to day running aboard the Black Pearl and ensure everyone has a good time.

Black Pearl measures 29m by 8m and consists of 7 cabins with double bed and a bunk bed, with Fan and AC at the lower deck. All rooms have at-tached bathrooms. Dining is done at the aft of the boat and there is also a Lounge/Bar. At the front of the boat is a seating area with chairs and ta-bles where everyone usually gathers around to have a drink and swap dive stories. At the top is a large sun deck with comfortable chairs. Compared to most live-board’s these days, the Black Pearl could be called a small boat. But it is really comfortable and homely. One of the divers on this trip said “a smaller boat is better as you have the chance to interact with everyone. You didn’t make this trip to just dive and stay in your cabin”, and I totally agree with him. There are 5 crew working on the boat (excluding the dive guides).

There were 12 guests from 7 different countries and all of them except one, were divers. Despite the language bar-riers and all, everyone got along really well and became friends really quickly. Among the guests was a 5th time re-peating diver, Ferenc Orsi. So I asked him why did he come so many times to the same boat. To put his answer in a nut shell; It is because he finds the boat to be stylish and friendly. He likes the service on the boat and espe-cially commented on Captain Chons remarkable expertise. Also he likes diving with the dive guides and enjoys their companionship. Overall he loves the atmosphere of the boat”. But it is not only Ferenc that gets exceptional service on the boat. The crew really does go out of their way to make the guests have a comfortable and pleas-urable voyage.

Featured Liveaboard Black Pearl

By Azim Musthag

26


The boat mainly operates as a dive live aboard (does surf trips during off sea-son). Three dives are usually done in a day and there is a night dive in the dive package as well. Prior to decid-ing the dive site the conditions of the sites are checked. The divers aboard are informed of the places which they are going to be visiting. But the guests have the flexibility to request certain places if everyone is in agreement. Also it is possible to revisit certain special places. The crew gives regular updates to all the guests aboard. Siday and Risheen have been diving for a considerable number of years now and has experienced diving at many locations. It is a lot of fun to dive with them.

S i n c e it was a large g r o u p and there was a s t u d e n t diver do-ing his d i v e s , we had J a a b e ’

aboard to help out with the group. Jaabe’ is a free lance Divemaster and is a regular guide on the Black Pearl, when needed. He is incredibly knowl-edgeable about different dive areas and a good sport as well. Black Pearl caters to divers of all experience lev-els and conducts dive courses as well. As most of the liveaboards here in the Maldives, the diving is done by a smaller auxiliary boat or Dhoni. The dive Dhoni of the Black Pearl named “Dive” is 16.5m by 5.4m and is manned by 3 crew. It is very spacious and you don’t have to elbow your buddy while kitting up. All of your dive gear can be stowed in the Dhoni. At the back of the boat there is a fresh water shower and a rinse tank. Similar to the Black Pearl, the diving boat also has a sun deck where you can catch some rays to and from the dive site. All of the filling is done aboard the dive boat so there is no noise on the main vessel. Two Coltri-sub compressors are used to fill the scuba tanks. The crew does regular and annual maintenance of all the scuba equipment and compressor. The second favourite thing aboard the Black Pearl is the dining. It is a wonder how all the delicious food comes out of the the small kitchen in the Black Pearl. The menu is new everyday and there was no repetition

of dishes. Differ-ent types of cuisine are served. Freshly caught fish is served regularly, pre-pared in different ways. Often the fish caught is straight away prepared and served as Sashimi. Apart from diving, other activities on the boat includes different card games and board games. Everyone aboard joined in for these games. There are trips to local islands, including fishing and barbeques on a deserted island beaches. We really enjoyed the games we played and everybody had fun. If board games are not your choice of “after dive”, relaxation method, then there is a Play Station 3 and a choice of movies and songs available. Overall it had been a really wonderful cruise (despite the weather) amongst good company. The dives were superb. Will surely come back for some more diving, aboard the Black Pearl, hopefully in the not so distant future. We would like to thank the owners and crew of Black

Pearl for having us aboard.

For details of our trip aboard the Black Pearl check out cruise journal at our website. www.scuba-tribe.com. For more information about the Black Pearl go to www.searchmaldives.com.mv.

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http://www.searchmaldives.com.mv/



Coming from Mumbai which is an island city, my love for the sea was very strong. I have always been fascinat-ed watching the programs on National Geographic and Discovery channel. While I was working for Mr. Prahl-ad Kakkar of Genesis Film Production I came to know that he has leased an island in the Lakshadweep Islands off the southern coast if India and the company was taking us there for a 5 day break. I was very ex-cited to sail on Bharat Seema, north-west towards the Lakshadweep Islands. It is a magical moment when you sail away from the continental shelf and you see the colour of the water changing from brown to murky green and finally blue!

When we reached Kadamat Island of the Lak-shadweep archipelago, I tried SCUBA gear for the very first time and took my first breath un-derwater. I was hooked from that moment and there was no looking back. Within a year I was on my way to Mauritius to train and qualify as a CMAS ** Instructor, which was in 1997. The best

thing I like about this sport is that it is not a com-petitive thing. It doesn’t matter who you are, what walk of life you belong to or how powerful you are. Underwater we are all the same. Just another crea-tion of the universe. Just another wonder of the al-mighty and are humbled by the experience.

I t

has been 15 years since then but I am still fascinated by the beautiful oceans. Over the years I have came across many divers from all over the word. The bond that div-ing builds remains for life.

Orca Dive Club was my vision to bring diving closer to the people on mainland India, to make them appreci-ate the beauty of the underwater world and to give them easy access to this wonderful sport. We conduct train-ing dives (confined water dives) in Mumbai and travel

with our divers to various destinations in the world. We do regular trips to Lakshadweep and the Maldives.

My other passion is bringing Bollywood closer to un-derwater photography and film in Indian cinema. This happens through Underwater Film Services, which is a company started by Mr. Prahlad Kakkar and myself. The very first film we worked on was Saya (a Mahesh Bhatt production) in 2003 which was directed by Mr. Anurag Basu. We have worked on more than 25 Bol-lowood films, serials, TV commercials and a few Hol-lywood productions as well. The pleasure of shooting underwater is not just the actual shoot itself but also in the training of all the actors, making them comfortable with the equipment and being underwater. Thus bring-ing them closer to SCUBA Diving.

SCUBA diving is surely a must do and should be on your wish list. So better late than never. DIVE NOW! For more information about Orca Dive Club go to www. orcadiveclub.in.

My Diving LifeBy Anees Adenwala

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http://www.orcadiveclub.in/


Sharks have gained diverse reputes among human-kind, over the years. At one end they are perceived as ‘vicious killers’ and ‘blood thirsty creatures’ while at the other, they are deemed to be no more danger-ous than any other ferine animal that we may en-counter. Today the practice of slaughtering sharks is becoming widespread around the world at an esca-lating speed – brutally killing them in the name of medical remedies, accessories and food.

Mass murders of these magnificent creatures were initiated with the enhanced popularity of the shark fin soup, a delicacy in Asian countries. According to sea Shepherd Conservation Society (2011), over 200,000 sharks per year, are finned and mindlessly thrown back into the ocean to die a slow, agonizing death. These inhumane killings are solely responsi-ble for the decline in the shark population around the world. The oblivious nature of these bloodbaths is likely to bring the shark species to the brink of ex-tinction. Though the specifics have not been visibly identified, the imbalance in the ecosystem caused by this is, without a doubt, bound to disrupt the natu-

ral functioning of the world. People from different parts of the globe have taken the initiative to put an end to this atrocious act of shark finning. ‘Swim-ming fast for the sharks’ is one of these projects ini-tiated and conducted by a Shark Savers volunteer/supporter, Todd Cameron, in order to augment the global awareness for shark conservation and protec-tion.

Todd Cameron is an Open Water Swimmer with a degree in Fitness and Health. He is also a Nation-al Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) Swim Coach, a certified Advanced and Rescue Scuba Div-er and a life guard for the National Lifeguard Ser-vice (NLS). In addition to these, he is involved in the Aquatic Army for the Oceanic Defense organi-zation.

‘One of the most amazing experiences I had was an opportunity to dive with sharks on my birthday in the Bahamas’, he had claimed in the official website for ‘Swimming Fast for the Sharks’.The cohesion of his passion for swimming and his fascination for sharks allowed him to compile a pro-ject incorporating the two major elements of his life. ‘Swimming Fast for the Sharks’ is composed of training sessions, races and swimming lessons coached by Todd Cameron, himself. All aspects of the project are devoted to raise awareness in order to terminate the barbaric act of killing the magnifi-cent species of sharks.

As an integral component of the project, six swim-ming races have been conducted at different parts of the world, to date. Two of these races were held in Canada, one in the United States of America, an-other in Netherlands and two in Australia. One of the races in Australia consisted of a 14.5km swim between Whitsunday Island and Hamilton, in the Great Barrier Reef.

The coaching segment of the project is derived from the ‘Lateral Line Aquatic Training’ method. A holis-tic approach targeting swimming, technique, fitness, nutrition, recovery and overall health is practiced in this method. Within this, the training sessions exploit swimming skills, dry-land exercises, physi-cal therapy as well as other forms of exercises. Todd utilizes a strict vegan diet for these training ses-sions which is restricted to raw and uncooked food. A typical day, for him, comprises of three medium sized meals and three to four large snacks. Todd is determined to generate a vegan diet program com-prised of raw, plant-based food, for professional swimmers.

‘Swimming Fast for the Sharks’ is undoubtedly an opportunity to individually build up as an athlete. Furthermore, it has the potential to create a stir around the world and generate a global change. Such projects are anticipated to cumulate differ-ent perspective from all over the world in order to ultimately and successfully provide protection and conservation for the shark species. For more in-formation go to www.swimmingfastforsharks.org. Fins Up!

Swimming Fast for Sharks

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http://www.swimmingfastforsharks.org/

M.V. Maldive VictoryFriday, 13th February 1981

By Mohamed Seeneen

Her three Thousand tons and cargo slammed into the depths of the ocean floor near the Male’ Inter-national Airport at a depth of 40meters. She settled upright slightly tilted to the port side. Her chains on the port side had been set free as a last rescue attempt by her crew but the 110 meter cargo vessel had started to take water. She was single hulled. The impact that was made when she ramped on the reef of the Airport had opened the hull. She and her crew was fighting a battle that could not have

been won on the day of Friday the 13th February 1981.

Maldives Victory had a massive cargo. In her hold was everything that was needed for the capital city of Maldives and for the nearby re-sorts. The cargo ranged from tooth picks to cars to radio cassette play-ers, cement, to common items that a household would need everyday.

Celebrating 30 Years of M.V Maldive Victory


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It could be said that this was the most efficient salvage op-eration that had been carried out during that time period by local divers.The entire wreck was basi-cally stripped off within a few months time.This included car’s, which were bought to the capital city, tin metal used for roofing houses during that time. Not to men-tion a huge supply of Alcohol, which was brought for resorts. The Bridge was also stripped including most of the rooms.Radios, cassette players and tape were in big numbers on the wreck. Some still remain. There is never a dive that you do on the Victory that the tape player is not found. Divers are often seen holding them close to their ears.

The furious currents that rushes though the channel is nature way of sandblast-ing. The paint on the ship was stripped allowing the salt to slowly eat its way in. Monsoon after monsoon bought coral lava and an artificial reef was formed. It soon became an international hit among divers worldwide.

The Victory is a demanding dive. Currents are often strong so good wreck diving techniques and skills is vital. Otherwise diving at the wreck when there is strong current could be both stress full and tiring. A familiar guide or instructor will show how hide and duck from the currents around the wreck at various points. However The Maldives Victory is best dived on with a medium or small cur-

rent. Perhaps the best time would be when currents are following into the channel. i.e. a small ingoing current.

When using normal air this dive would have a maximum no deco time of 20min. Nitrox could extend this dive to a hassle free no deco dive of 45 to 50 min of total bottom time. With outgoing currents it would be challenging but divers could hide and


Left, HassanManik(Lakudi Boa) one of the first divers to have been underwater at the Victory on 13thfeb 1981 sits next to the Port side Anchor.Date 13th Feb 2011

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lay low and swim up to the bow. The most interesting part is the bridge and the cargo compartments. As on all dives in Maldives, dive operations fol-lows the same rules when diving on the victory

Maximum depth is 30meters. A spare tank of air on the reference would be helpful incase of low on air or for a long safety stop. Decompression dives are not practiced at dive centers in Maldives. Penetration of the wreck is not practiced because of the metal fa-tigue and the old state of the wreck. Re-moval of objects is not allowed. Gloves are recommended with a full wetsuits.

Marine life on the wreck includes the occasional Giant Barracuda, Dog Tooth Tuna, String Rays, Napoleon Wrasse, FusiliersGiant Trevallies and wide variety of colourful fishes. Nudi-branches and other small critters are seen as well. Coral blooms here and there. It is quite colourful at places such as inside the bridge.

At present Maldives Victory still does not let her grip go and is intact. She shows heavy sighs of metal decay and some of the masts that stood straight have given way. the biggest threat to the Wreck is perhaps the silt that storms on to in it from the airport lagoon


http://www.diveclubmaldives.com/


Hanifaru Bay is no secret. Al-most all of the divers visiting here has heard of the place and it is quite on top of the diving bucket list for most. It is ‘that place with all the mantas and whale sharks’ which they saw on TV and youtube. It is located in Baa Atoll which has recently been given the status of a Bio-sphere Reserve.

Historically the site was called Vandhumaafaru Adi and was a place where the locals use to hunt Whale Sharks for the pur-pose of extracting oil.This prac-tice has stopped long time ago. Contrary to whats been stated in the media and on TV programs this place was known among dive operators years ago. Yes it is true. You can see more than a hundred Mantas at once. Whale Sharks are seen too. You could get a neck strain from trying to watch too many at once. But the whole feeding frenzy thing is not something happens every single day. Man-tas and Whale Sharks congregate there during a certain period in the North West Monsoon. You need a combination of many factors such as weather, tide and current. One of the points which dive guides on liveaboards and resorts

have observe at Hanifaru is that whenever there is a storm and after it has settled down after a day or more with full bloom of the sun, apparently this is a good time to let loose of the fingers which you have been keeping crossed.

On a day when conditions right you should be prepared for a experience of a life time. It is a hysterical scenario of pure madness. When in full swing hundreds of manta rays of all sizes speeding towards you passing you on all sides. You have to duck and move away at times. And if luck is really on your side you might see 3 or 4 whale sharks in a row which is in the bay and just below the surface scooping out tons

of water with plankton. This could go on for a while till the currents change. Yes it does not happen every day there could be days with just a lonesome manta in the bay or none. But divers who have seen the magic would tell you that it is worth travelling all the way to Baa Atoll just to see it for a single day.

HanifaruBy Mohamed Seeneen

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The current status There is a huge downside to the huge popularity Hanifaru has.

Too many people are visiting the place at once. Obviously it has negative affects on the wild life of Hanifaru Bay. At times it is quite unpleasant for the visitors as well. A few can ruin the experience for all. Why can’t we all get along? It’s human nature to point fingers. Liveaboards blame resorts, resorts blame research-ers and the researchers blame all the divers. Pretty sure the people who are trying to resolve it feels like pulling their hair out. Its just a few people who ruins it for all. Future Plans The Environmental Protection Agency of the Maldives has stepped in to manage Hanifaru Bay. They have made regulations for visitors and it will be affective from 2011.Even now there are measures taken to manage the place such as limiting the number of visitors per day. Resorts and Liveaboards get access to the site on alternative days.

The guidelines and rules that will be implemented starting 1st January 2012 include:

No activity shall happen inside the Bay without permission from the authorities.

No vessels (apart from the shuttle and rangers) are allowed inside the Bay.

Boats that are authorised must use the designated mooring buoys and travel along with designated route. No boat is allowed inside the bay. No more than 5 boats at a time should be there.

Usage of water crafts, boards and diver propelled vehicles are not allowed in the Bay. Scuba Diving is not allowed inside the Bay. Only snorkel-ling/skin diving.

Each visitor has to purchase a token before entering in to the Bay.

A specially trained Hanifaru Tour Guide (by the EPA) must supervise the group at a ratio of no more than 10 snorkellers to 1 guide. Each person is allowed to be in the water for 45 minutes. 80 is the maximum number of people allowed in the Bay at a time.

Commercial Photography and Videography must be done only after getting authorization.

No research should happen in the Bay without authorization.

For the full rules and regulations please contact the Envi-ronmental Protection Agency of the Maldives. www.epa.gov.mv. The most important think one should do is use common sense and behaving decently. You are amongst wild ani-mals in their natural habitat and you are the visitor. At no such time would you be allowed to ride touch or put your head inside a whale sharks mouth to take a picture to show mom and say YEA!! Done that! All pun aside deciding the future plans for Hanifaru and such places and places that are not discovered yet should not be done by a single party. All the stake holders and the authorities must come together on a single forum to dis-cuss this no matter how different people’s views are. I don’t think there is anyone who is not concerned about conserving the place. We all must do what we can to protect the place.

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http://epa.gov.mv/

http://epa.gov.mv/

By Mohamed Hamza

Scuba diving is one of the most rewarding recrea-tional activities in the world and its done in almost every corner of the planet, from the polar ice caps to the tropical coral reefs. There is a vast amount of training available from beginner level courses to ad-vanced and specializations. There are many different diver certifying agencies which offer a wide range of courses. An example is PADI, the organization which I belong to. Their courses are designed to be taught in many different climates and conditions and it’s the responsibility of the instructor to tailor the course to suit it for the environment and local conditions, without altering or violating the stand-ards of the teaching organization. Proper weighting and breathing techniques are fun-

damental for scuba divers from entry-level students to professionals who teach diving. Let us think for a moment why we use weights in the first place. Why do we use it? Is it a part of the scuba equipment? Is it something you need to descend ? The main use of weights is to offset any positive buoyancy from the equipment we use for diving! In a sense, weights are not a piece of equipment. So what we all have to keep in mind is where we are diving, what type of equipment we have in use and also the type of the scuba cylinder. When it comes to equipment the only major positive buoyant equipment is the wet-suit, and I am not talking about 7mm wetsuits or dry suits. which are quite different. The other piece of equipment that is positively buoyant is the tank, of course, when its 50bar or less. Then again, for the tank to be positively buoyant, it has to be an alu-minum tank. Steel tanks don’t float when they are empty. Mask and fins are almost always negatively buoyant.

The human body is a factor to consider of course but most of us with half empty lungs will not float on the surface. In general terms a physically fit and healthy individual will require no weights for their physical body to sink once taught how to breathe properly.

Take all these factors into consideration and then how much weight you really need for your equip-ment. Try doing an experiment using an empty tank and the full dive kit in place. See how much weights

it takes to make it neutrally buoyant at the location that you are diving at. Place the gear in the water and see for yourself. Also experiment with your wet suit and find out how much weight is needed to make it neutral on the surface. This is the correct amount of weights you need and not a kilogram more. At the end of the dive at 5 meters safety stop, empty your BCD and you would be neutral.

As diving instructors, this is the one of the first things we should be teaching our students, along with body positioning and technique of kicking. Then focus on skill development. You should never overweight the students during the confined ses-sions. There is nothing in the standards which states that the students have to be in a seated position to perform their skills. The students can hover and per-form some skills while using proper breathing tech-niques. Even if they are seated they could still have neutral buoyancy so that they are not negative and pinned to the bottom.


Proper weighting and buoyancy

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During the your entry-lev-el dive courses, when you are just starting to dive and during your orienta-tion dives, the one of the most important thing to focus is the proper weight-ing, breathing and swim-ming techniques. Once you master this everything else becomes a walk in the park and you attain good air consumption.

To conclude, what I would like to say is, don’t make your dive hard by think-ing it would be easier with a couple of extra weights, while in fact you are really over weighting yourself. Concentrate on proper breathing. You will be sur-prised how little a lead is really required for optimal diving comfort and safety.

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Thila diving is one of the most com-mon types of diving in the Maldives. A simple definition of a Thila would be a submerged reef which is deep enough for a Dhoni (local boat) to pass over. A Thila could be big or small as well as shallow or deep. Diving techniques and what you see at a Thila may differ from one Thila to another. Different Thila's would be suitable for different experi-

ence levels of divers, hence it is best to have a experienced dive guide to orient you to the place and if necessary assist in making the dive. Also it is very im-portant to know a little bit about the geography of the Maldives. Most Th-ila's are spectacular reefs, with a lot of colour and an abundance of life. This makes diving at such places worth-while.


The Entry

Prior to jumping to a Thila you need to know the speed and direction of the current. A simple technique to do so would be to snorkel in and look at the schooling small fishes. The fishes would be swimming against the cur-rent. Take a stationery landmark if possible for the direction of current or you can use a compass to determine the exact direction. Next find out the strength of the current by skin div-ing against the current. This would help you to plan your en-try point and the type of descent.

A f t e r c h e c k -ing the current, d i s c u s s it with the boat captain and move the boat to the top of the Thila and go up current. While observing the Thila from the boat you can see the green colour (indicating it is shallow area) changing to blue which means you are now moving away from the Thila. Most of the Thila's would have Fusi-lier schools at the up current which

can be quite helpful. Finding out the best entry point and adjusting the boat is a little tricky. You have to es-timate the distance between the en-try point and the Thila depending on the strength of the current and depth of the reef top of the Thila. If there is a strong current enter at about 15 to 20m up current from the Thila. If the current is slow you can jump closer at about 5m. A deep Thila would require you to increase the distance and vice versa for a shallower Thila. Once you are at the entry point, stop the boat,

orient yourself to where the Thila is and jump. Be quick as possible be-cause the wind and current would cause the boat to drift away from the entry point. Make sure the jump is coor-

dinated as there could be some diffi-culties when there are a lot of divers aboard. Don’t spend so much time on the surface or spend no time on the surface. Missing the entry point would mean that you have to come up without finding the reef. If the current is strong do a negative entry.

Thila DivingBy Mohamed Faizan

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Once you are in the water swim down towards the Thila. It is very important to know the direction of the Thila and be oriented as you could miss the place. Even if you are using a compass it could fail to direct you to the reef as you could have drifted to a side which will give you a wrong heading. One trick is to swim towards the school-ing fish which would be up current from the Thila. Descent deeper than the edge of the Thila as soon as possible. Other-wise you could drift over the reef top.

If you feel that you have missed the reef come up and try again. There is no need to be embarrassed about this, as even the most experienced divers tends to miss the Thila once in a while.

During the Dive

Once you are down at the reef, swim against the cur-rent and go to the up current point. It is here where most of the fish life is and the action happens. Often there would be Sharks, Tunas, Trevallys and other predatory fishes hunting. After spending sometime there you can drift along the reef. Some Thila's are small and round. At such types you can drift and cover one side of the Thila and swim against the cur-rent to see the other. In big Thila's it may not be pos-sible to cover the entire place. Find out where the best coral life is at big Thila's and then dive to that particular area.

Ending the dive

When ending the dive at a shallow Thila, you can do the safety stop at the reef top. But if the reef top is

deeper than 5m, it is best if you put up your safety buoy and do the safety stop in the blue water. The boat would be following the movement of the di-vers by looking at the bubbles and would be waiting

at the down current the Thila. Once on the surface keep the buoy up so that the boat can more easily find you and also to warn any other boat passing by that there are divers in the water.

In conclusion, diving at a Thila is a per-fectly safe and enjoyable type of diving when done well. When diving at unfa-miliar reefs get a proper orientation and dive with guides who is well experienced in that particular area.

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Marie SaleemMarie is an environmental consultant working at Seamarc Pvt Ltd and is one of the co-founders of the company. She has a Masters in Protected Area Management from James Cook University of Aus-tralia and her passion is marine conservation. She worked at the Marine Research Centre for more than 16 years. Her role in the shark conservation process of Maldives is a noteworthy one. She is married with 2 children with whom she shares her “love for nature”.

Rob LysakRob is a professional underwater photographer for 8 years and vid-eographer for 20 years. After having his underwater camera equip-ment stolen he stayed with videography,doing both under the water and topside. He has been managing Dive Zero (www.divezero.tv) for the past 8 years. Rob works for Jost Van Dyke Scuba as media manager (web, photography, and videography) and in charge of set-ting up group dives. He is currently a Dive Master with plans on

becoming an Instructor as well as captain boats fo the company.

Mohamed HamzaMohamed Hamza is a PADI Dive Instructor working for Euro Di-vers Wordwide and is based in the Maldives. He is 25 years old and has been working as a dive professional for 3 years. Apart from SCUBA diving he is also a competitive free diver and the only Mal-divian to have participated and qualify to the world championship in free diving. He holds the Maldivian National record of free div-ing since 2007 having a maximum depth (with one breath) of 86m.

He also likes long distance swimming, kayaking and sailing.

Jim DoddJim did his Open Water course in 1998. Soon he fell in love with the sport and continued on with his training. He did his PADI Di-vemaster course in 2003 and does part time divemastering work. He has been diving in Australia ( in Sydney, Gold Coast and with White Sharks at Neptune Islands), Thailand, Sipidan, Philippines and Vanuatu. He has been doing underwater photography for 9 years and runs the website www.uwphotography.com.au.

Hamza KhaleelSince school Hamza has been a keen writer. He has worked as a journalist at English Language local magazines. He is an outspoken advocate for youth and environmental issues and actively works in the civil society arena. Apart from that he enjoys SCUBA diving and travelling.

FritzFritz is a professional cartoonist living in San Francisco California. He specializes in custom cartoons for businesses who want to use humor cartoons in their marketing. Fritz also volunteers to teach students how to draw cartoons at the local schools and museums.

Mohamed Faizan Waheed (Robert)Faizan is a young and upcoming dive professional who is working as a dive guide on a live aboard. He has been working in the field for nearly 7 years now. He has dived a good part of Maldives under vari-ous conditions and is very knowledgeable about the sea. Apart from diving he likes art and especially painting.

Contributers

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http://www.seamarc.com/


http://www.uwphotography.com.au


Parting Shot

Photo by:Mohamed Faizan WaheedLocation:Maamigilli Beyru (South Ari Atoll, Maldives)Equipment used:Canon Powershot G9 Ikelite Housing. Taken in ambient light

“say OOoa”

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Documents

Scuba Tribe issue 1