Introduction to Scuba Diving

SCUBA, a common word, is actually an acronym for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus originated in 1939 to refer to US military diver's rebreather sets used by the Navy. A Scuba set is basically an independent breathing equipment, equipped with breathing gas that enables divers to stay underwater for considerably long periods of time. The Aqualung was the first modern scuba diving equipment invented by Jacques-Yves Cousteau (picture) and Emile Gagnan in 1943.

Scuba diving, which was initially intended for military and scientific use, has now become one the most popular recreational water sports around the world today. Children, as young as 10 years old, can now get Open Water Diver Certification (junior) from various centers. Scuba diving can be a lot of fun for people who love marine life, commonly used by recreational divers for fish identification, search and recovery, underwater photography or videography, etc. However, since scuba diving is a fairly dangerous sport, it is recommended by experts to take necessary lessons or certifications before pursuing the sport as a hobby.

Commercially, scuba diving is used for underwater constructions such as oil platforms, bridges, docks, dams, nuclear power plants and other coastal structures. Scuba diving, which involves scientific surveys and inspections, is known as scientific diving, which is exclusive to scientific purposes such as underwater experiments and underwater archaeology. As for the military, scuba diving has been put to use for naval ship repair and construction, and includes specialized diving divisions such as explosives ordnance disposal and combatant divers.

A person has to be at least at least 15 years old to get the open water diver certification, in good health and be able to swim 200 yards using any stroke, and float or tread on water for about 10 minutes. Some of the most popular and biggest scuba diving certification agencies include PADI, NAUI, YMCA, Scuba Schools International, and PDIC. These organizations offer some of the best scuba courses and training instructors available. There is also a Junior Open Water Diver Certification for people between ages 10 to 15, provided by agencies such as Bubblemakers, Scuba rangers, and SASY.
Basic scuba diving equipment includes accessories such as the mask, fins, snorkel, weight belt etc. There are two main types of scuba sets – open-circuit and closed-circuit.

Most scuba divers use standard air - 21% Oxygen, 79% Nitrogen – for their open-circuit scuba sets, which is much more cost-effective than using mixtures such as heliox and trimix. The open-circuit scuba set (also known as Aqualung) itself is quite simple so is also cheaper and more popular than other types. Basically, the user breathes in from the set and out to waste, with the gas cylinder worn on the back. There are 2- and 3 backpack cylinders open-circuit scuba sets available.

Closed-circuit scuba sets use rebreathers (picture). In this system, exhaled air is reprocessed by the rebreather to make it fit for re-inhalation. This can be very economical for people who need to take long dives. The three types of rebreathers include oxygen, semi-closed circuit and fully-closed circuit rebreathers.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com

Scientists believe that we have only explored about 5 percent of the ocean, making it by far the most undiscovered part of our planet. Find any coral reef and grab a snorkel and mask and you become Jacques Cousteau, perhaps finding one of the tens of millions of undocumented creatures that live in the ocean. This is a sport aimed at all sorts of people: singles, families, couples, experts, beginners, researchers, and explorers. Whether you are diving or snorkeling, aquatic life fascinates on a number of levels. Tropical locations dominate the diving and snorkeling seen. The fish are more colorful, the water is warmer, and a beachside bar is never far away. Whether your on the Bay Islands of Honduras, the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, Sipadan odf Borneo or just some lonely island off the east African coast, the scenery is always different under the water each time you dive, often more so than the world above.

Earth Hour 2009

Official Earth Hour 2009 video. Support by turn off all our lights for 1 hour. Earth Hour is on March 28th, 2009 at 8:30pm. More at http://www.earthhour.org/

Support Earth Hour by making your own video and adding it to our Earth Hour Global group here: http://www.youtube.com/group/earthhourglobal

p/s: Hope can see the Milky Way like when i was at Sipadan, Borneo.... Ha.. Ha..

Stop Shark Finning Now!!

Quick Shark Facts:

100 million sharks are killed each year (that works out to more than 10,000 per hour)!

Sharks kill fewer than 5 humans on average each year, and only one in 2007, while humans kill 100 million sharks annually. You're more likely to be killed by a lightning strike, bee sting or falling coconut or falling soda machine.

Of the more than 500 species of sharks in the world, only 10 have been known to attack a human being.

There are 6.65 billion people in the world and in the past year one (1) of those people were killed by sharks.

Vast numbers of sharks die incidentally as "bycatch," killed needlessly and thrown overboard unused by fishermen using nets and longlines to catch other types of fish. One report estimates 50 million are caught and killed this way.

As many as 73 million are killed by the shark finning industry.
It is estimated that 90 percent of all large sharks have been wiped out, and 93-99 percent of all large sharks off the east coast of North America are gone (tiger sharks, bull sharks, hammerhead sharks, etc.).

Shark finning is the practice of catching a shark, slicing off its fins and dumping the still-living shark back in the ocean, where it drowns or bleeds to death.

Shark finning is largely illegal—in many areas, fishing fleets are regulated by a fin-to-carcass weight ratio, which means that shark fins can only be a certain percentage of the total weight of their shark haul onboard—but fleets routinely ignore regulations, and enforcement worldwide is sorely lacking.

Shark fins, exported to Asia for shark fin soup, are now among the most expensive seafood products in the world, fetching up to 500 euros ($676) per kilogram. A single Whale Shark pectoral fin can sell for up to US$15,000.

Global trade in shark fins is increasing, and the market for shark fin soup is estimated to be growing by 5 percent per year.

Finning occurs worldwide and is most common in high seas fisheries, hundreds of miles out to sea. Oceanic fishing fleets target valuable fish such as tuna, using thousands of baited hooks on miles of long-line, and freezing their catch onboard. Unfortunately, long-liners often catch several times as many sharks than they do tuna. Until relatively recently, this shark 'bycatch' was considered a nuisance, and sharks were cut loose and allowed to swim away. However, as shark fins have become increasingly valuable, fewer sharks are being released.

No sharks are protected internationally. Only a handful of countries manage shark fisheries. Enforcement is very difficult.

Where figures exist, they suggest that Hong Kong is the world's shark fin trading centre, accounting for an estimated 50% - 80% of all fins traded worldwide. Currently the EU supplies 27% of all fins imported into Hong Kong.

Reported trade in shark fins has more than doubled, from 3,011 metric tons in 1985 to 7,048 metric tons in 1997. In 2006, the largest number of sharks were killed on history – though we already knew they were endangered.

Consumers are largely unaware of the origins of shark fin. Studies in Hong Kong and Taiwan show that consumers have little understanding of where shark fin soup comes from, of overfishing, of illegal shark fishing or of the practice of finning.

Shark fins are tasteless, and contain high levels of toxic methyl-mercury.
Shark fin soup is thought to be an aphrodisiac in some cultures, but it can actually cause infertility.

The legal limit for consumption of methyl-mercury, set by the EPA, is 0.1 microgram per kilogram of body weight. Studies have shown shark meat contains as much as 1,400 micrograms of methyl-mercury in one kilogram. A person weighing 155 lbs would therefore get 50 times the legal amount in one single portion of shark steak.

Sharks' life history makes them vulnerable to exploitation – for example, Basking Sharks take 15-20 years to mature, have a 2-3 year gestation period and produce only 4–6 pups. Currently, Great White Sharks, Whale Sharks and Basking Sharks are the only sharks to have been listed on CITES Appendices.

Effective conservation and management are hindered by meager insight into the biology, life history, distribution, migration and exploitation of most shark species.

The prospect of a food chain minus its apex predators may mean the end of the line for many more species.

Sharks have widespread global distribution and play a vital role in maintaining the health of ocean ecosystems.

The oceans are the most important ecosystem on the planet, containing life that absorbs most of the carbon dioxide (global warming gas) that we put into the atmosphere, converting it into 70% of the oxygen we breathe. That life is kept healthy by sharks, who, at the top of the food chain, regulate the oceans. Destroying shark populations is destroying our oceans and our life support system.

Source: www.sharksavers.com

Sungai Gabai Falls, Hulu Langat, Selangor

Map to Gabai Falls

Yesterday I,my luv and her friends went to Sungai Gabai, Hulu Langat. Finally i reach the place that i think maybe the only waterfalls in Selangor close to the city... I never been to this place before. So my guide just the Google Map and some of direction from the internet.. What an awesome place to go after a long week of 8.30 to 5.30 job... A nice place to relax where you can get wet with a lots of very cold water running all around ur body.

"One of the most spectacular waterfalls in Selangor, Sungai Gabai Waterfalls consist several falls cascading from an impressive height of 100 metres to a series of pool at the foot of the falls." - Virtual Malaysia.

It took about 45 minutes to reach the place (I'm from Puchong and i took Kesas straight away to MRR2). Here's a complete direction to the Sg Gabai Waterfalls:

Click the map (on top) to enlarge.

-Start from MRR2 highway exit to Ampang. Travel down Jalan Ampang coming out of the city past Ampang Point and De Palma Hotel on your left and keep going past the Ampang LRT.

-You will come through numerous sets of traffic lights along the way. Just go straight. Then follow the signboard to the new Carrefour Ampang and turn right and the last traffic light end of Jalan Ampang. (you really can’t go too much further if you continue straight takes you up a hill)

- Continue past the Carrefour through several shops, houses and sets of lights until you come to a major road on your left with a blue signpost Kajang B31.

-Go up a very steep hill past the KL ‘Look Out’ ( this is quite a good place to stop in the lay by and get photos of the KL city) and keep going down the other side until you come to a junction with a mosque on your right (Pekan Batu 14).

-Take a left here (Jalan Hulu Langat) and immediately after this there is a big green sign on your left saying 14 kms to waterfalls. Follow this road pass Dusun Tua until you come to a small place with shop lots on both sides (Pekan Batu 18) and then there is another blue sign which says Hutan Lipur and Sg. Gabai 6 kms to the right.

-Take this turning. Go over a small bridge. Follow this road (along Jalan Kampung) until you see another sign Sg Gabai and turn left. This is just a small road with goat farms and dusun all the way so be carefull... 2kms you will reach the main gate to the car park. Just pay the guy when he asked for enterence fees only RM1 per person (some people said RM2 per parking).

If u like to camp (some people don't !!) , bbq and hiking near the city.. This is the place u want to be.. The waterfalls got several cascades. The upper cascades have nice pools and more attractive waterfalls. There's is one part u can use the cascade as a slide. Cemented steps lead to the upper regions of the falls. At several places shelters also have been erected and also some bridges make the crossing of the stream an easy job. Best to visit early morning if you come on weekend. Enjoy!

More pictures at My Fotopages

Back to Perhentian .... and day trip to Redang Island

Finally I will return to Perhentian Islands for my Rescue Diver Course for 5 days.. Here's the preview and map of Perhentian.

Perhentian Islands is located in the South China Sea 25 km from the coast of Kuala Besut (Kota Bharu Airport to Kuala Besut Jetty 40min). It consists of two main islands, Pulau Perhentian Besar and Pulau Perhentian Kecil (Take a boat from Kuala Besut to the Island about 30min). Both islands are surrounded by beautiful palm-fringed sandy beaches and crystal-clear blue sea. A trip to this lush and exotic tropical island is a must for all nature lovers and those who enjoy scuba diving, snorkeling, swimming, surfing, sailing, boating and canoeing. Plus jungle tracking!