Latest issue of SCUBA News now (ISSN 1476-8011) now available to download.

Featuring: Best Diving in Thailand - Top 5 in 2024, our guide to identifying Red Sea marine life, 10 Fantastic Dives in Scandinavia, 10% off diving in Bali, liveaboard deals, Swimming monkey shot wins world's largest underwater photo contest plus the diving news from around the world.
#diving #scubadiving #dive #scuba #underwater #diver #travel #scubadive #scubanews #Thailand #underwaterphotography

Welcome Creta's Happy Divers to the SCUBA Travel community #scubadiving #scuba #Crete #Greece

Sunken warships exceptionally good for coral reefs, Thistlegorm study finds.

Thanks to the steel structure of the SS Thistlegorm, which has been voted one of the best dives in the world, coral and other species which need hard substrates thrive on an otherwise sandy bottom in the northern Red Sea.

https://news.scubatravel.co.uk/sunken-warships-exceptionally-good-coral-reefs-thistlegorm.html #scubadiving #scuba #thistlegorm #wreckdiving #RedSea #Egypt #coral
📷Tony Gibson

Why closing Guadalupe islands puts sharks at risk - interesting video at https://youtu.be/hyzc9V5G6jw plus more background info at
https://news.scubatravel.co.uk/why-closing-guadalupe-island-puts-sharks-at-risk.html #scubadiving #guadalupe #sharks
📷Andrea Izzotti/DepositPhotos

This time with photo!
Mother and baby octopuses photo, taken shortly before mother’s death, wins best in show underwater photography contest #scuba #octopus 📷Kat Zhou

A Happy Christmas (Tree Worms)
They can live for an estimated 40 years. Each worm has two crowns or Christmas Trees. The worms come in a myriad of colours, but an individual’s two crowns are always the same colour. Spirobranchus spp #scubadiving #scuba

Northern Red Sea reefs resist bleaching, providing a haven for coral https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.938454/full #scubadiving #coral #reef #scuba #RedSea

Shameless plug for a new nudibranch book by a friend of mine. Some gorgeous photos and lots of information on finding and identifying nudis and sea slugs - review is at https://news.scubatravel.co.uk/whats-the-difference-between-a-nudibranch-and-a-sea-slug.html #scubadiving #scuba #nudibranch #seaslug #isleofman

Where are the 5 best dive sites in Thailand?
According to the divers voting at our web site they are:
1. Hin Moung
2. Hin Daeng
3. Richelieu Rock (Surin Islands)
4. East of Eden (Similan Islands)
5. Breakfast Bend (Similan Islands)
Do you agree?
#diving #scubadiving #dive #scuba #ocean #diver #travel #oceans #whaleshark #similan #thailand #richelieurock #phuket #phiphiisland #racha

Another fab drawing, this time by Jo Brown https://bernoid.com/ #fungi #art

In a rare piece of good news in the marine world, scientists have found two diving areas where manta rays are thriving.

Off the coast of Ecuador, American scientists have identified a distinct population of oceanic manta rays that is more than 10 times larger than any other known subpopulation of the species.

Meanwhile, over in the Raja Ampat archipelago in Indonesia, reef manta ray populations have increased significantly. #scuba #scubadiving #oceans #marinebiology

Went to a very good talk on fungi last night. Learn lots, including including that planting trees on old, fungi-rich grassland is worse for capturing carbon than leaving the mushrooms to do the job. #fungi #environment #mycology

What’s the difference between a nudibranch and a sea slug?

Until I read a gorgeous new book on nudibranchs by Tim Nicholson I didn’t think there was a difference. Not so. All nudibranchs are sea slugs but not all sea slugs are nudibranchs.

Sea slug is the common name for any marine gastropod without a visible shell (slug-like rather than the snail-like) including sea hares & nudibranchs. A nudibranch is 1 type of gastropod among many.

Book review is at https://news.scubatravel.co.uk/whats-the-difference-between-a-nudibranch-and-a-sea-slug.html

Just discovered the beautiful drawings of Jessica Eggers jessieggers.com #scubadiving #art #oceans

Just finished Helen Scales excellent book Spirals in Time. I'm now desperate to see the Pinna nobilis giant mussel sea silk weavings in Sardinia #scubadiving #molluscs #marinebiology #ocean

On Nov14, governments are meeting to consider placing international trade restrictions on over 50 vulnerable species of sharks at CITES. PADI are asking you to sign a letter urging your government to vote yes to protect the sharks.

https://e-activist.com/page/114810/petition/1

Two of my old friend Tim Nicholson's photos feature in new issue of #isleofman stamps (#nudibranch and squat lobster) #underwaterphotography

A boring sponge

Not just any old sponge that is a bit tedious, but the Red Boring Sponge.

It's called the boring sponge as it drills into coral and sea shells. The sponge breaks down dead and diseased (and sometimes live) coral.

In "normal" conditions they play an important part in the reef, recycling calcium carbonate. But if the coral is struggling due to high temperatures or pollution, the boring sponges can erode the reef faster than the corals can replace it. #scubadiving

Acropora coral amongst xenia in the Red Sea

If you've dived in the Red Sea you will have seen pulsating soft coral repetitively "grabbing" at the water. They are so common that we take them for granted. But only one family of coral does this - the Xeniidae.

#scubadiving #underwaterphoto
#coral

Love these cartoons by Christian Talbot and Sophie Hodge