We kick off the new year with an issue of Beyond Blue dedicated soley to the polar regions of our planet, and the wildlife that call these dangerous places their home. We also take a look at the recent discussions regarding climate change, and what the future may hold for the evolution of our planet.
To open the deep blue world of Beyond Blue all you have to do is register online at www.beyondbluemag.com and enjoy!
Dolphins have long been recognised as among the most intelligent of animals but many researchers had placed them below chimps
Dolphins have been declared the world’s second most intelligent creatures after humans, with scientists suggesting they are so bright that they should be treated as “non-human persons”.
Studies into dolphin behaviour have highlighted how similar their communications are to those of humans and that they are brighter than chimpanzees. These have been backed up by anatomical research showing that dolphin brains have many key features associated with high intelligence.
The researchers argue that their work shows it is morally unacceptable to keep such intelligent animals in amusement parks or to kill them for food or by accident when fishing. Some 300,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises die in this way each year.
“Many dolphin brains are larger than our own and second in mass only to the human brain when corrected for body size,” said Lori Marino, a zoologist at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, who has used magnetic resonance imaging scans to map the brains of dolphin species and compare them with those of primates.
“The neuroanatomy suggests psychological continuity between humans and dolphins and has profound implications for the ethics of human-dolphin interactions,” she added.
Dolphins have long been recognised as among the most intelligent of animals but many researchers had placed them below chimps, which some studies have found can reach the intelligence levels of three-year-old children. Recently, however, a series of behavioural studies has suggested that dolphins, especially species such as the bottlenose, could be the brighter of the two. The studies show how dolphins have distinct personalities, a strong sense of self and can think about the future.
It has also become clear that they are “cultural” animals, meaning that new types of behaviour can quickly be picked up by one dolphin from another.
In one study, Diana Reiss, professor of psychology at Hunter College, City University of New York, showed that bottlenose dolphins could recognise themselves in a mirror and use it to inspect various parts of their bodies, an ability that had been thought limited to humans and great apes.
In another, she found that captive animals also had the ability to learn a rudimentary symbol-based language.
Other research has shown dolphins can solve difficult problems, while those living in the wild co-operate in ways that imply complex social structures and a high level of emotional sophistication.
In one recent case, a dolphin rescued from the wild was taught to tail-walk while recuperating for three weeks in a dolphinarium in Australia.
After she was released, scientists were astonished to see the trick spreading among wild dolphins who had learnt it from the former captive.
There are many similar examples, such as the way dolphins living off Western Australia learnt to hold sponges over their snouts to protect themselves when searching for spiny fish on the ocean floor.
Such observations, along with others showing, for example, how dolphins could co-operate with military precision to round up shoals of fish to eat, have prompted questions about the brain structures that must underlie them.
Size is only one factor. Researchers have found that brain size varies hugely from around 7oz for smaller cetacean species such as the Ganges River dolphin to more than 19lb for sperm whales, whose brains are the largest on the planet. Human brains, by contrast, range from 2lb-4lb, while a chimp’s brain is about 12oz.
When it comes to intelligence, however, brain size is less important than its size relative to the body.
What Marino and her colleagues found was that the cerebral cortex and neocortex of bottlenose dolphins were so large that “the anatomical ratios that assess cognitive capacity place it second only to the human brain”. They also found that the brain cortex of dolphins such as the bottlenose had the same convoluted folds that are strongly linked with human intelligence.
Such folds increase the volume of the cortex and the ability of brain cells to interconnect with each other. “Despite evolving along a different neuroanatomical trajectory to humans, cetacean brains have several features that are correlated with complex intelligence,” Marino said.
Marino and Reiss will present their findings at a conference in San Diego, California, next month, concluding that the new evidence about dolphin intelligence makes it morally repugnant to mistreat them.
Thomas White, professor of ethics at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, who has written a series of academic studies suggesting dolphins should have rights, will speak at the same conference.
“The scientific research . . . suggests that dolphins are ‘non-human persons’ who qualify for moral standing as individuals,” he said.
Additional reporting: Helen Brooks
Scientists say dolphins should be treated as 'non-human persons' - Times OnlineWe bid a fond farewell to Fiji Aggressor II as she sails off into the seas around Palau. Many of you will have dived the ’soft coral capital of the world’ from her deck.
Previously based in the Koro Sea, Fiji Aggressor II will now change her name to Tropic Dancer and be cruising the tropical Micronesian waters of Palau as part of the Dancer Fleet.
So here’s wishing Fiji Aggressor II bon voyage and welcoming Tropic Dancer, may you continue to offer up years of diving fun to your guests.
Pulau Liveaboard - Fiji Agressor becomes Tropic Dancer in Malaysia | Dive The WorldAs bad news about the environment piles up, it can be heartening to consider a conservation success story.
I recently traveled to Fiji to visit the Namena Marine Reserve, a type of marine protected area (MPA) where conservation organizations and local villages are working together to save both reefs and local cultures from a variety of threats.
For a week, I lived aboard the Nai'a, a 120-foot motorsailer yacht that research groups use as a base for their underwater studies. My journey was spearheaded by the Coral Reef Alliance, a conservation organization that wanted to show its members where their efforts are going.
To read the full text of the article, click here.
RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, CA – 16 December 2009 -- Extending their commitment to the popular PADI National Geographic Diver program and support for PADI National Geographic Dive Centers, PADI and National Geographic have renewed the program agreement through 31 December 2011.
The PADI National Geographic Diver program combines the PADI Open Water Diver course with National Geographic specific content in special PADI National Geographic Diver course materials. Since 2003, PADI is the only international training organization to work closely with National Geographic to provide such training, as well as a network of PADI and National Geographic Dive Centers around the globe.
“We’re committed to continuing this relationship with National Geographic,” said PADI President and COO Drew Richardson, “because the PADI National Geographic Diver program establishes an explorer-scientist mindset. It’s a great way to start out in diving, it gives people reasons to keep diving, and it brings new faces into PADI National Geographic Dive Centers.”
Besides renewing PADI National Geographic Diver, National Geographic also recently invited PADI, DAN and other dive industry entities to participate in their National Geographic Live Speaker series. The series features key photographers, naturalists and speakers in high profile venues throughout the US, with participants helping publicize the events.
“It’s gratifying that National Geographic thinks enough of diving to call on our industry to participate,” said Richardson, “This speaker series will definitely get the attention of divers and potential divers, so it’s to everyone’s benefit to participate.” Richardson also noted that PADI National Geographic Dive Centers will particularly benefit because those attracted to diving by the speaker series will be attuned to the “National Geographic” of their PADI National Geographic Dive Center status.
For more information about the PADI National Geographic Diver program, contact your local PADI office.
Others promise … PADI delivers.
Rettung für Korallenriffs
Sendeanstalt und Sendedatum: SWR, Sonntag, 22. November 2009
Weltweit lässt der Klimawandel die Meerestemperaturen steigen mit einem verheerenden Kollateralschaden: Die Korallenriffe sterben langsam ab. So auch auf den Fidschi-Inseln im südpazifischen Meer. Das kleine Dorf Waitabu stemmte sich als erste Gemeinde auf den Fidschis gegen die Folgen: Die vorgelagerten Riffe wurden als Naturschutzgebiete ausgewiesen, Touristen und Taucher dürfen nur nach einer ökologischen Einführung zu den Korallen, Fischer müssen ihre Fangtechniken umweltverträglich machen. Seitdem erholen sich die temperatur- und stressempfindlichen Korallen wieder sichtbar. Über 200 Dörfer sind inzwischen dem Beispiel von Waitabu gefolgt und haben Schutzgebiete angelegt – mit der Hoffnung, dass ein gesundes Riff der Erwärmung der Meere zumindest länger standhält.You will find, as usual, interesting articles on Dive Medicine and important information on Dive Safety.
Alert Diver Magazine, authoritative, reliable, unbiased!
Note: we are still working hard to optimize the transition from paper to digital. Our goal is to improve the quality of our magazine and make it more readable and intuitive. Y
“Into The Drink” is a travel show like no other: Imagine if Jacques Cousteau and Hunter S. Thompson adopted a wayward orphan. Host Aaron Faulls is part fish, part rock star, taking viewers past the known and into the unknown.
This adventure has a twist that keeps us interested and informed. Aaron takes us all into the drink on an intoxicating celebration of exotic destinations near and far, experiencing and touring local breweries and distilleries and diving into eclectic nightlife in regions shared by some of the most mystifying creatures in the ocean.
The syndicated show will begin airing coast-to-coast in January 2010, as well as internationally. Primary distribution will be on the newly-launched Tuff TV network. For information about where and when to tune in, and to view episode trailers, go to www.intothedrink.tv/watch.
The sights, the sounds and even the smells from the sometimes unique local spirits to the poshest vineyards; from the tide’s ebb to the wrecks, whales and adrenaline-pumping marine life in the middle of the deep blue sea. Who says drinking and diving don’t mix? It is all about the order of life that allows you to live it. If Anthony Bourdain has no reservations, then Aaron Faulls has no limitations.
LiquidAssets.tv is filming the first season of “Into the Drink” in 2009, and what makes them unique is that they’re inviting divers to join them on-location in destinations including Guadalupe Island, Mexico to film great white sharks aboard the MV Nautilus Explorer, Sunset House on Grand Cayman, Wakatobi Resort and Pelagian Live-aboard in Indonesia, and Qamea Resort and Spa in Fiji. For more information about these trips and how you can join them, please visit www.intothedrink.tv/travel. NOTE: Book any one of these trips and you'll automatically be entered to win a complete set of Scubapro gear!
The newly-launched “Into the Drink” fan web site includes features such as show trailers, a message board, blog, online store, information about where and when to watch the show, bio of the host Aaron Faulls, sponsors, and much more. Visit www.intothedrink.tv for more information.
Our friends at X-Ray Mag have released a new issue, available for download.
Some of the main feature and hightlights in this issue include
Sabah, Malaysia. A joint production by Andrea and Antonella Ferrari, Tim Hochgrebe of underwater.com.au and Peter and Gunild Symes.
Reefs & Rainforests by A & A Ferrari :: Pulau Lankayan - Sugud Islands Marine Conservation Area - Sepilok Orangutans - Kinabatangan River - Danum Valley Conservation Area.
Sipadan revisited. Tim Hochgrebe and Peter Symes takes a closer look at Sipadan, Mabul and Kapalai and check out the latest developments in the region.
Profile: Clement Lee. X-Ray Mag asks Borneo Divers' CEO, Sabah Tourism board member and multiple award winner Clement Lee some questions about the past, present and future.
Kids Love Scuba: Reaching out to a new generation of divers. Gunild Symes talks to Syed Abd Rahman, director of Kids Scuba in Malaysia.
You can download the new issue here
