Amphiprion pacificus, a new species of clownfish discovered in Fiji

Underwater photos of Amphiprion pacificus, adult, approximately 60 mm SL, Fiji. Photo by J. Jensen

Amphiprion pacificus is a new species of anemonefish discovered by Gerald R. Allen, Joshua Drew and Douglas Fenner described in the latest issue of the Aqua, the International Journal of Ichthyology. The researchers discovered A. pacificus in the Wallis Island and Tonga in the western Pacific with other underwater photographs revealing its presence on coral reefs of Fiji and Samoa.

The team notes the new taxon is nearly identical in appearance to A. akallopisos from the Indian Ocean. The two share common characteristics — typically pinkish-brown and grading to orange or yellow on the lower portion of the head and side, with a similar white stripe extending from the head along the dorsal midline ending at the caudal fin. Genetic testing does reveal show A. pacificus is more closely related to A. sandaracinos (Orange Skunk Clownfish) hailing from the Western Australia and Indo-Malayan region. The physical differences between the common orange skunk differs from A. pacificus with its more uniform orange coloration and the white forehead stripe extends onto the upper lip. The team also noticed what appears to be differences in the number of soft dorsal and anal rays on each species.

If you’re interesting in reading the entire paper, you can purchase it online in PDF format from Aqua.

Amphiprion pacificus, a new species of clownfish discovered in Fiji

Divers and Dental Professionals Combine Work and Passion for Scuba Diving Through Fiji Project - Matava - Fijis Premier Eco Adventure Resort

During my previous stays in Fiji I was able to visit the village and local primary and secondary schools and received an education about the availability of health care at the village level. What I learned was that while care is readily available in cities, at the village level, care is scarce.

Returning from that trip I decided to pioneer a Dental Mission. I partnered with Coach Ramey Stroud, a Mill City diver, and Stuart Gow, Director of the Matava Eco-Resort on the island of Kadavu. Together we identified dates for our trip, solicited the cooperation of Air Pacific, the national airline of Fiji, the Fiji Islands Hotel and Tourism Association and the Fiji Ministry of Health. Salem Hospital generously shared information about our trip with their staff.

I traveled with Dr. Mike and Mrs. Carrie Litchfield and Dr. Sean Hanson of Salem and Jim and Gina Jepsen from Ione, Oregon. Dave Beard from Tasmania met us at Matava and joined our team.

Read full article here:

Divers and Dental Professionals Combine Work and Passion for Scuba Diving Through Fiji Project - Matava - Fijis Premier Eco Adventure Resort

August Special: Pay 4: Stay 6

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FIJI SCUBA DIVING - Dive the best of Fiji Diving with Mad Fish Dive Centre, Kadavu, Fiji Islands

Fiji Diving|Underwater Photography Guide

Fiji is an awesome place with beautiful islands, friendly and fun people, a vibrant native culture and some of the best diving in the world. Jacques Cousteau coined it the Soft Coral Capital of the World (more on that later) and that name has stuck and given Fiji much of its diving identity although it’s not always accurate. Fiji is safe and relatively modern for a developing island nation and the cost structure is moderate so it’s a good value.

Fiji also has over 300 islands and a striking amount of diversity both above and below the water. Oftentimes people talk about Fiji as a homogenous place and that’s not the case. The diving is highly varied depending on where you go and even the cultural background of the local people that you will meet. The main island, Vitu Levu is large – over 90x60 miles and mountainous as is the second largest island, Vanua Levu. The outer islands vary from idyllic sand spits to mangrove fringed. The first time we went to Fiji, we spent over a month and still had plenty left to see.

Fiji Diving|Underwater Photography Guide

Underwater Adventure on the Nai'a, Destination: Fiji|Underwater Photography Guide

Fiji, while known for soft corals, has hard coral gardens that are thriving and in my opinion rival world class destinations like Papua New guinea, Indonesia, and Palau. Looking back it would have good to spend more time enjoying the hard corals but at the time I was captivated by the huge clouds of anthias. There is just something about those fish that captures my imagination.

Underwater Adventure on the Nai'a, Destination: Fiji|Underwater Photography Guide

Drop Zone Fiji: Bull Sharks Are Amazing

Bull sharks are amazing. I’m on my third beer – a new type called Vonu which is much better than the standard Fiji Bitter – and it’s still hard to process the feeling of kneeling on the ocean floor 86ft below the surface while staring down an approaching bull shark. I added quite a few shark varieties to my list the other day which now includes whale, great white, white tip, black tip, grey, lemon, nurse, and bull. We had hoped to also encounter the illusive tiger, but at least I have a reason to return. Even without the tiger shark I was not disappointed.

Bull sharks have that classic shark look. Close your eyes and imagine a fat scary shark and that’s a bull shark. I had several swim right at me, our eyes locked, that came within a couple of feet to my face before turning to make another circle. I wasn’t scared. I did feel a few moments of adrenaline as my body reacted to the sight of a big predator headed straight at me, but it was fleeting. The enjoyment was too great. The only problem was that the dive was too short. Twenty five minutes of bliss then a big Fijian was giving me an aggressive thumbs up sign (probably because I had already ignored the last five “head to the surface” signs he’d given). I just didn’t want to leave.


We had two dives, the second at 60ft. In between dives I told the master that I am obsessed with sharks and had done multiple shark dives. I was hoping it would lead him to pull me closer to the sharks. Once the feeding started I was chosen first to kneel next to the feeder. The sharks made circles, took the tuna head on offer then swam right past me as he chewed and swallowed. It was awesome watching such a powerful creature that is so linked to maneating and fear swim right past me, peacefully.

The sharks got closest to Cheyne. Either they liked the red hair or they could sense his fear and needed to look him over closer to see why he was afraid. After a few incredibly close passes, much closer than to anyone else, he gave the camera the “I’m over it sign” and cruised back to a safe distance.
I could go on and on about how much fun it was and how much I wish we got another chance. I could have stayed down there with the sharks all day…. but my beer is getting warm.

Drop Zone Fiji: Bull Sharks Are Amazing

The Drop Zone Fiji - Sportdiver.com

The Drop Zone is the ultimate dive and surf film which follows professional surfers on the adventure of a lifetime. Alex Gray, Cheyne Magnusson and Holly Beck headed to Tahiti in 2008 for an epic adventure – The Drop Zone Tahiti. Now the three young surfers are back and will be joined by two more - Maria Gonzalez and Bede Durbidge. The five of them will explore Fiji on a unique journey both above and below the surface.

Follow Holly, Alex, Cheyne, Maria and Bede – check out the Drop Zone Fiji blog and photos live from Fiji!

	Holly Beck Palos Verdes, California, USA Holly is a former National Scholastic Surfing Association champ and is known for appearances on television shows such as North Shore Boardinghouse and The Best Damn Sports Show. She spends a lot of time down at her house in Nicaragua and is epic on keeping the world up to date on her travels. Holly Beck is not only one of the best female surfers on the planet but she is also a world traveler, actress, and a person who can definitely capture the world in film, photos and in print. Holly's Drop Zone Fiji Blog
Alex Gray Rancho Palos Verdes, California, USA Alex Gray is one of the most unique people on the planet. He is a pro surfer, world traveler, comedian, ladies man, yoga god, paddler, and inspiration to many. He grew up in the South Bay of Los Angeles and still loves to come home and spend time with his family after long trips around the world. This is his second appearance in Drop Zone. Alex's Drop Zone Fiji Blog
	Cheyne Magnusson Lahaina, Maui but currently in Oceanside, California, USA Cheyne is not your typical pro surfer from Maui. He looks a little different and also lives a little different. He may rip like the rest of the upcoming crew that dominate Honolua Bay but he also tears it up on any skate ramp, had a big role in the Lords of Dogtown movie, free dives like a fish, enjoys a good party and was a high profile member of a MTV reality show. Cheyne's Drop Zone Fiji Blog
Maria Gonzalez Puerto Rico Body Glove's newest Team Member. More about Maria coming soon. Maria's Drop Zone Fiji Blog
	Bede Durbidge Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Bede grew up on North Stradbroke Island, a small island off the coast of Queensland, Australia and moved to the Gold Coast when he was 20. He is in his sixth year on the Men's Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour and is currently ranked number three in the world. To date, Bede has won a total of three ASP events and the Vans Triple Crown and he is still striving to achieve his dream of winning a World Title! Bede's Drop Zone Fiji Blog

Photo credit [top to bottom] (Holly, Alex, Cheyne) Courtesy of PADI Americas and Body Glove; Photographer Justin Lewis, (Maria) Courtesy of Body Glove; Photographer: Mark Kawakami, (Bede) Courtesy of Bede Durbidge; Photographer Adam Weathered.

The Drop Zone Fiji - Sportdiver.com

DAN schedules new series of FREE webinars

Since the April announcement of Diver Alert Network's new outreach program of offering free interactive webinars to anyone who wanted DAN® to present or lecture to their group, the response has been extremely positive.

The next several webinars have been scheduled, and a few spaces remain for those interested in participating. You do not have to be a member of the organizing dive club; the technology used in the webinars allows for additional participants outside the organizing group.

The upcoming webinars include:

• July 22: “I May Be Bent, Now What?” 7 p.m. EST

• Aug. 3: “I May Be Bent, Now What?” 7 p.m. EST


To take part in a live DAN webinar, the event site (or individual) must have a computer with Internet access and a way to see the screen and hear the presentation. DAN can coordinate webinars for up to 25 attendees. “Attendees” are defined as the number of people or groups actually logged in to the event; it does not pertain to the number of people in the room at a given event site. The webinars are free to event coordinators and individual participants.

For more information, to participate in an upcoming webinar or to invite DAN to your next event, please contact Marty McCafferty via email at mmccafferty@dan.org or by phone at (800) 446-2671 ext.286.

DAN schedules new series of FREE webinars

Under the Sea: Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Jacques Cousteau's Birth

The great Jacques-Yves Cousteau, who shared with the world his passion for the sea and all forms of aquatic life, would have been 100 years old this month. Author, explorer, ecologist, filmmaker, inventor, photographer, poet, researcher and scientist, “Captain Cousteau” was perhaps the world’s best-known and most beloved marine conservationist. Born in Saint-André-de-Cubzac, Gironde, France, Cousteau died in 1997, leaving a legacy of more than 120 television documentaries and 50 books in addition to his innovations in marine science and deep-sea diving, including the development of the aqualung. His television work was particularly significant in that it enlightened worldwide audiences about the treasures of the ocean and the devastating effects of pollution.

The Cousteau birthday itself, June 11, includes a twenty-hour marathon of documentaries in which he participated. All are TCM premieres, including six episodes of The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau dating from 1968 to 1974, and twelve episodes of The Jacques Cousteau Odyssey, an Emmy-nominated 1977 television series featuring the research adventures of the man called “the public conscience of mankind’s stewardship of our oceans.”

Also premiering is an award-winning documentary about Cousteau. Jacques Cousteau: The First 75 Years (1986), directed by John Soh and narrated by Jose Ferrer, documents the explorer's life from birth and childhood to his 75th birthday.

The remainder of the TCM tribute is composed of sea-themed movies from other directors, ranging from Lucien Hubbard’s The Mysterious Island (1929), adapted from a Jules Verne story, to the TCM premiere of Peter Yates’ The Deep (1977), adapted by Peter Benchley from his novel. The latter film, starring Nick Nolte and Jacqueline Bisset as scuba divers who find buried treasure off the Bermuda coast, has gorgeous underwater cinematography by Christopher Challis — worthy of Cousteau himself — that features a variety of exotic aquatic life including moray eels, puffer fish and tiger sharks.

Other deep-sea adventures include Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (1953), filmed in CinemaScope off the coast of Florida by Edward Cronjager, who earned an Oscar® nomination for his beautiful and innovative underwater photography, and two more Verne adventures, Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) and MGM’s Captain Nemo and the Underwater City (1969). Also included is the original Flipper (1963), which brought wide public interest to the dolphin, a marine mammal that Cousteau championed in his writings and photography.

Under the Sea: Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Jacques Cousteau's Birth

The new Alert Diver Magazine is online!

The new Alert Diver Magazine is online!

You will find, as usual, interesting articles on Dive Medicine and important information on Dive Safety.
Alert Diver Magazine, authoritative, reliable, unbiased!

In this issue:

• Medical Line: Cardiovascular Fitness and Diving Diet and Exercise Go A Long Way,
  But Watch Your Medications, Too
• Dive Medicine: Body Composition. BMI Values Increase With Mass - Whether It’s Due to Fat or Muscle
  
• Events: DAN underwater at Legoland Germany with British scientist Lloyd Godson
  
• SPECIAL INSERT of the DAN Legal Network: “The Good Samaritan's Law across Europe”
  

Grab your copy here

A Checklist of the Fishes of Fiji and a Bibliography of Fijian Fish

Johnson Seeto & Wayne J. Baldwin have published the USP offical Checklist of the Fishes of Fiji and a Bibliography of Fijian Fish

A Checklist of the Fishes of Fiji and a Bibliography of Fijian Fish

Johnson Seeto & Wayne J. Baldwin

A Checklist of the Fishes of Fiji and a Bibliography of Fijian Fish

Division of Marine Studies
School of Islands and Oceans
Faculty of Science, Technology & Environment
The University of the South Pacific
Suva Campus
Fiji
Technical Report
1/2010
February, 2010

You Can Help Give Sharks a Fighting Chance

Sharks are in the fight of their lives. Critical shark species - including hammerheads, oceanic whitetip and spiny dogfish - failed to receive international protection at the recent Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meetings.  

Make a gift and help call for immediate protection of sharks worldwide. 

Global shark populations continue to decline - some by more than 90 percent in the last two decades. And they continue to be fished faster than they can reproduce.

Many scientists fear the worst. Losing these top predators has devastating impacts on our underwater ecosystems and local economies. When sharks disappear, entire food webs can shift and valuable economies become devastated. We need your help.  

Become a Project AWARE Patron today for just 25 ($, £, €) or more. With your support, Project AWARE is securing protection for sharks. We're working to close loopholes in shark legislation, support establishment of effective MPA networks and engage divers in underwater research, data collection and awareness projects.  

Your contribution will help continue fighting for sharks and sustainable ecosystem management. Thank you for helping secure a future for our underwater world.

Sincerely,

Dr. Drew Richardson
Chairman, Project AWARE Foundation