Dive Tribe and The Team thought this important enough to place on our internal "News Page" and Let the Public know of the possibilities of poisoning through theconsumption of Lion Fish.
More news has come to light to suggest that it may not be a good idea to fight the Caribbean lionfish invasion by eating the critters.
The Nature Foundation is recommending that the Invasive Lionfish not be eaten or consumed based on a recently concluded study where flesh samples which were taken of larger lionfish caught in St. Maarten waters showed levels of the poisonous ciguatoxin which causes Ciguatera poisoning.
Ciguatera poisoning is caused by naturally occurring toxins, called ciguatoxins, which are produced by microscopic plants – gambierdiscus toxicus – that live on seaweed and other surfaces within coral reef communities.When fish eat seaweed or algae they consume the organisms and the ciguatoxins build up in the fish’s flesh.

The toxin is stored in the fishes’ body and not excreted – so it builds up as it goes up the food chain.

The bigger fish eat the little fish and the toxin gets passed on until it is consumed by humans.
Predators at the top of the food chain – like barracuda and lionfish – can end up with large amounts of the toxin in their flesh.

No test can be done to determine if the fish is poisoned and cooking and preparation have no affect on the toxin.
The toxin is unrelated to the venom found in the spines of the Lionfish.

“This is very bad news for us as we were planning on promoting lionfish as an edible, commercially viable fish which we hoped would help in reducing its numbers along the reefs.

However, before we started telling the community that the fish is edible we wanted to be absolutely sure that there were no health care threats associated with eating the fish.

With our partners in the USVI and in the French Islands we tested several samples of lionfish meat and have found that unfortunately an uncomfortably high percentage showed the presence of ciguatoxin in the meat.

Therefore we do not recommend that Lionfish be eaten.

…

Various countries and territories in the Caribbean have been promoting lionfish as edible.
However these areas usually do not have a high level of ciguatoxin in their larger reef fish.

The North Eastern Caribbean from Guadeloupe to the Virgin Islands, including St. Maarten, have a higher level of ciguatoxin than most other areas in the Caribbean.

So to be absolutely safe rather than sorry, we unfortunately can not recommend the eating of lionfish as a method for controlling them,” commented Tadzio Bervoets, Nature Foundation Manager.

                  HAPPY BIRTHDAY DIVE TRIBE - 2 Years Today!



So here we are, celebrating our second anniversary and reflecting on this years progress.

Removing Sharks Fins from one of the largest chain of hotels in Asia ,The Great Shark Release, Water Quality Testing & Analysis, meeting Ric O'Barry , Environmental & Safety Conservation on film shoots, monthly beach clean ups and now our new mooring buoy projects lead us to believe its been a productive year with still more to come.  
We would like to thank you all for your support, ideas and comment over the last year. With your input we have managed to pull off and win some great conservation battles in the seas around Thailand.

 To celebrate our birthday Oceanic-Thailand  have kindly offered to sponsor our projects by offering their awesome OC1 LTD EDITION Dive Computer at a mind numbingly "Low Price of 40,000 Thai Baht or $1305,00 usd" (not incl postage) and giving 5% to our marine conservation projects.

The Reccomended Retail On These Dive Computers is over 60,000 THB or $1950,00 usd
Save Over 20,000 Baht or $650,00 usd
All these computers come with Full Oceanic Factory Warranties

If you're intrested in this great offer - Contact Us at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
We Gaurantee You Wont Find This Stunning and Super Exclusive Watch/Dive Computer Cheaper Anywhere !

 
Lets Take A Look At Whats Exactly On Offer Here !

Introducing: The OC1 Limited Edition Dive Computer

There are divers and then there are dive legends.
The new Oceanic Limited Edition OC1 Pioneer dive watch commemorates diving's pioneers and forward thinkers who inspire us to redefine the limits of what is possible.
There are only 1000 of these limited edition OC1's and 500 will be sold in the US and just a small number are available in Asia.
We have just 5 of these extraordinary and limited edition computers available.
Priced at: 40,000 THB

Which one will you get?
Inspired by diving pioneers, namely Bob Hollis, the driving force behind Oceanic and the innovator behind a 50-year career of equipment development, the Oceanic OC1 Pioneer redefines history with a tough yet timeless design. Each is part of an exclusive Limited Edition of only 1,000 individually numbered watches available worldwide. The OC1 Pioneer features strong and stylish upgrades including a titanium band durable enough to withstand the roughest conditions, an ultra-modern matte black finish and a lens made more rugged by a coating of liquid diamonds.

This exceptional timepiece comes packaged with Bret Gilliam's 489-page collection of interviews, "Diving Pioneers and Innovators."
This impressive coffee-table book is signed by Hollis, and shares the achievements and most memorable moments of diving's great legends.

We invite you to consider this offer and take advantage of acquiring this exclusive, one of a kind dive watch. Just like your favorite dive, it can't be replicated; but will always be remembered.

The OC1 Pioneer Limited Edition is an advanced all-in-one dive computer featuring Oceanic’s exclusive Dual Algorithm™, wireless air-integration, digital compass, remote Buddy Pressure Check®, and so much more. All in a strong, lightweight titanium housing.




What Is Dual Algorithm ?
Oceanic’s Dual Algorithm™ technology, lets you choose the decompression algorithm that best suits your diving needs without compromising safety.

1. Choose Pelagic DSAT for:
 Liberal Recreational Diving
The Pelagic DSAT Algorithm safely maximizes dive time for repetitive, multi-level recreational diving. This algorithm relies on the human Doppler studies used to develop PADI’s Recreational Dive Planner (RDP), and has been the basis of Oceanic's and other manufacturer's computer algorithms for many years. 

To add additional conservatism, you can also adjust the:
•    Tissue-Loading Bar Graph Alarm
•    Conservative Factor Setting


2. Choose Pelagic Z+ for: Conservative Recreational Diving
When applied to standard recreational diving, the Pelagic Z+ Algorithm basis increases the conservative factor of the computer by 15-20%.


Liberal Repetitive Deep and Decompression Diving
The Pelagic Z+ uses the Buhlmann ZHL-16C database, which was conducted to meet the more rigorous demands of repetitive, cold-water decompression diving at altitude. The Pelagic Z+ mode maximizes dive times at depth without penalties.

Dive in sync with any buddy, anywhere
Because the OC1 allows you to adjust the algorithm basis and its conservatism, you can adjust to closely match just about any other dive computer on the market, allowing you and any buddy to always dive in sync. Diving the same profile increases safety for both divers, and eliminates the need for one person to conduct a much longer or deeper stop when buddying with someone wearing a more liberal dive computer. On repetitive dives, there is no more waiting for the more conservative dive computer to clear. Both buddies will be ready to enter the water at the same time and can continue to dive the same profiles. You can’t control which dive computer your buddy wears, but you can control your ability to dive the same profile.


OC1 Features

Black Ion Plating, Full Titanium Band & Diamond Coated Lens
•    4 Control Buttons
•    10 Menus
•    40 Set Selections
•    Dot Matrix Display
•    5 Operating Modes
•    3 Nitrox Gas Mixes
•    35 Warnings / Alarms
•    Dual Algorithm™
•    Altitude Auto-Compensation
•    Variable Ascent Rate
•    Gas / TMT Switching
•    Buddy Pressure Check®
•    Data Retention
•    No Deco Deep Stop
•    Adjustable Safety Stop
•    Gauge Dive Run Timer
•    NDL Conservative Factor
•    Audible Alarm / flashing LED
•    Digital Watch Functions
•    Gauge Mode to 660 ft / 200 m
•    Digital Compass with N, Ref and Home
•    Next Generation Ocean Log with User Upgradeable Firmware

On the 28th September the Dive Tribe team made a trip to meet Ric O’Barry (Flipper-The Cove documentary) in Bangkok.
Ric has been campaigning hard to stop Dolphin slaughter in Taiji and to systematically stop dolphin trade & shows around the globe.
The group that attended the screening of the awarding movie the Cove were then offered to put forward questions that were answered by a panel which included Ric, Mark Berman from Earth Island Institute and Edwin Wieks from the Wildlife Friends Institute.
Ric himself feels guilty for the trade in dolphin which he believes he set up and made popular with the TV show Flipper and he himself was a dolphin trainer at the Miami sea aquarium for 10 years. When he started there were just 2 dolphinariums and since then this has become a “Multi Billion Dollar” industry that wrongfully inprisons dolphins and asks them to perform tricks for the amusement of the public.
For approx 35 years Ric has now been trying to stop the trade in live dolphins and the dolphin slaughter that happens in Taiji Japan.

Dolphins In Captivty
The majority of dolphins held in captivity are Atlantic Bottlenose dolphins. (Tursiops truncatus) They live in temperate and tropical waters worldwide, weigh from 300 to 600 pounds and grow to more than eight feet in length. They live in groups called "pods," made up of from several individuals to several hundred - males usually hanging out with males, females with females and their calves - and they swim up to 40 miles a day, navigating, socializing, mating, and foraging for schools of fish.

But when we see them at a dolphin show, what do we see? I'll tell you what I see. I see a dolphin eager to please and ready to do whatever the trainer wants him to. And why? Because he's hungry. Yes, dolphins perform tricks because that's when they're fed. One of the first things a trainer learns about dolphins is that they do not perform immediately unless they're hungry. This is why dolphins are fed during the show. You see the trainer blow a whistle and toss them a fish every time they do something right. And they know what they're supposed to do because they've been trained to expect a fish when they get it right. In fact they often start the show themselves when they get hungry. The trainers call their training method "positive reward." From the dolphins' perspective, however, it's food deprivation. If the dolphins get it wrong and the whistle is not blown, that means they won't be getting any fish reward.

If you understand the life of captive dolphins, you also begin to see the dolphin show with all its clowning around in another way. It's not clever anymore. It's abusive. When we understand that the dolphins are doing this because it's their only way of staying alive, we see it clearly for what it is: dominance. We're making dolphins do silly things, they would never do in nature, because we're amused by dominating helpless members of another species. The worst part is that it teaches children that it's okay to mock and disrespect one of nature's most fabulous of beings. The law permits this only because it's supposed to be educational. Its a Sick Joke !  (Ric O’Barry)

Whales and dolphins are highly intelligent social animals. In captivity they are forced to live in relatively dull, cramped, noisy and chemically-treated environments that cannot possibly accommodate the mental, physical and social needs of whales and dolphins. 
Confinement in captivity, which often follows capture from the wild, can seriously compromise the welfare and survival of whales and dolphins. In captivity, these animals often suffer from stress & reduced life expectancy. Surely we owe an intelligent creature such as this a better life don’t we ?

Your Role
The Cove movie is as Ric says not his movie but details the dolphin slaughter that takes place in Taiji Japan and brings to light issues like highly toxic mercury content that is associated with Large cetaceans meat, which is sold in the supermarkets of Japan and consequently poisoning their population. Its an exciting documentary on many levels , and I would suggest everyone see this and shares with friends.

Dive Tribe also made a number of contacts at the presentation and with other NGO’s we will be supporting the complete ban on Dolphin shows in Thailand and asking our 11,000 member to help campaign and make the public aware of what dolphin shows really mean.
“What can YOU do about it?”  The biggest impact you can make on this mindless slaughter of 23,000 dolphins per year is to boycott dolphin shows, dolphinariums and any tourist agency that endorses such places, and help bring awareness to the plight of these wonderful creatures.
Find Out More About Dolphin Conservation at Ric's website HERE.

Shark Release Program Aims To Highlight Serious Problem


Dive Tribe, working in conjunction SSI (Scuba Schools International), Waterworks Productions, Scuba with Mike, Save Koh Tao Group, Underwater World Pattaya, Adventure Divers and Dr Wayne Phillips of Mahidol University, organised the largest co-ordinated shark release in Asia, which took place on Saturday 3 September.
The release occured in Pattaya and Koh Tao. 

The aim of the Great Shark Release is not to suddenly fill the tourist-packed waterways with close relatives of that infamous Hollywood man-eating monster Jaws, it is in fact an effort to highlight the desperate plight of these magnificent creatures and go some way to explaining their importance for humankind.

The Great Shark Release is an idea dreamt up by Gwyn Mills, the British founder of Dive Tribe, who has lived in Thailand for 11 years and made Pattaya his base two years ago.
As he states, “We have a big problem and all the dive stores around Thailand have been complaining that they see no sharks on dives anymore.”
For example, Sylvia Gogh, a PADI Course Director who lived and worked in Thailand until 1999 and returned to dive the Similans, expressed dismay that her group did not see a single shark over a two-week diving holiday.  “Twelve years ago you just had to put your head in the water and there they were, swimming majestically. What has happened?” she asked.

The basic answer is overfishing. Dive Tribe keeps a watchful eye on the industry and Mills said he is exasperated by the extent of shark fishing taking place not just around Thailand but the entire southeast Asian region. Sharks are captured and killed almost solely for their fins, which are used in soups and are a delicacy particularly favoured by the Chinese.
An estimated 78 million sharks are killed each year for their fins and flesh.
Considering the fact that shark fins and meat contains up to 42 times the medically acceptable level of mercury for human consumption it is surprising the trade can possibly continue, as the meat is potentially harmful to health.
A further 26 million sharks are killed each year for a variety of other reasons.

Tests in Thailand and Taiwan show some sharks contain mercury which exceeds the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommended levels. The United States and Australian authorities have also warned the public and particularly pregnant women and young children against the consumption of shark meat.

As Gwyn notes, “If we remove all the apex predators from our oceans this will upset the natural balance and can lead to a catastrophic chain of events. Humans rely on the ocean for the oxygen we breathe and 70 percent of that oxygen is produced by phytoplankton and algae. Sharks are vital in the food chain because they remove many of the small fish and crustaceans that eat this phytoplankton and algae. It is claimed by scientists that sharks have kept this balance for 420 million years.”

Gwyn goes on to paint a depressing and much under-publicised picture: “In less than 10 to 20 years we humans have wiped out 90 percent of some species of sharks from our oceans.
This means the phytoplankton eaters will increase which will then lead to a breakdown in the marine environment.”
As he states, “It’s just not possible to remove the apex predator and think that everything will be OK.”

With their slow gestation period and the fact sharks that have live young (Viviparous) and only have very few pups, it soon becomes apparent they cannot recover from this kind of intensive fishing.
“In the 1980’s there was a moratorium on Atlantic Cod as stocks had been severely depleted. We are now 30 years on and those stock have still not recovered. Cod spawn hundreds of fish at a time so what chance do sharks have?”

“It is past time that Thailand put in some legal protection of our sharks, as we know for a fact that numbers have steeply declined over the last few years and illegal fishing continues in many of our National Marine Parks.”
Thailand permits the sale and supply of shark fins to the Chinese markets and the public can sample shark dishes in many restaurants around the country, including a number in Pattaya.
Elsewhere, the governments of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Marshall Islands, Honduras, Maldives, Bahamas, Chile, the province of Ontario in Canada and the American states of Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington are among the first to have enacted legislation prohibiting the sale, possession, distribution and trade of the much sought-after shark fins and their by-products. The Malaysian state of Sabah is moving in this direction as well.

Malaysia is ranked 10th among the world’s top shark-catching nations, yet Sabah fishermen and divers have noticed the impact on the region’s ocean ecosystems. Malaysian media suggests the state government of Sabah is planning to impose a ban on shark fishing by 2012, becoming the nation’s first state to do so.

Minor Victory
Recently Dive Tribe was able to convince the Conrad Hilton Hotel in Bangkok to remove sharks fin from its menu. Gwyn claims, “No one has the right to remove a species and then hide behind the fact that it’s their culture. Thankfully the management of the Conrad could see that consuming sharks fins is now sensibly viewed as politically incorrect and in very poor taste.
“By removing sharks fin from their menu they have shown the market they are working on becoming a sustainable and eco-aware company and showing the rest of the hotel market the way forward.”

The Dive Tribe release program will help shark conservation by putting a few animals back into the ocean where they belong, but the event is primarily designed to raise awareness that sharks are not food, or pets.
“We raised funds from all around the world and let the public know that Thai sharks are fast becoming extinct,” Gwyn said. “With these funds we purchased sharks from local restaurants and pet shops and then placed them in our holding tanks at Underwater World ready for the release on the 3rd September.
Underwater World also have captive bred sharks which will be for release in Pattaya.”

Gwyn understands there is a moral dilemma that purchasing sharks from restaurants and other businesses is actually helping to fuel the trade.
Gwyn says, “Firstly we will be buying the sharks all in one day so no extra stock will be bought by retailers. They do not know we are coming and this is just a yearly operation. You cannot fuel a trade in just one day a year. Also, these sharks are as good as dead so why not RF tag them release them back into their natural habitat and give them a second chance, and by doing this let the public know that sharks are friends not food?”
Talking of the local shark fin restaurant trade, Gwyn says, “We are urging people to say ‘No’ to sharks fin soup. Please walk away from restaurants that serve sharks or have them on display.
We ask the public not to keep sharks as pets or on display in bars, clubs or restaurants; it’s cruel and unethical.”

Economic value
Offering a positive view, Gwyn adds, “Sharks are potentially great for the economy. Scuba diving, which is now the second largest sport in Thailand next to golf, is reliant on repeat customers. Divers will come back to a dive destination if they have exciting dives. Ask any diver what constitutes an exciting dive and most will say, ‘Seeing Sharks’.”
A study by PEW in Palau quantified the economic benefits of the shark-diving industry and found that its worth far exceeds that of shark fishing. The estimated annual value to the tourism industry of an individual reef shark frequenting these sites was an estimated US$179,000 (5.37 million baht) or US$1.9 million (57 million baht) over its lifetime. In contrast, a single reef shark would only bring an estimated US$108 (3,250 baht) if it was on your plate.

The Release

The release on September 3rd went well and a few minor problems were overcome and 62 Sharks were released back into their natural habitat.
The day was a huge success and media attention for the event went all around the world from Thailand ,Indonesia , Dubai , Spain and the UK.
We started loading the sharks on to trucks at 7.30 am and by 9 am all sharks were on board the 2 vessels of Adventure Divers and Scuba with Mike and all the press and divers were ready to set sail to an undisclosed islands off of Pattaya.
By 11.15 am the first Black tip was taken down to 6 meters and released from it's plastic environment into the ocean.
To see the shark swimming freely was such a good feeling says Gwyn. We know that our group the other organisation, friends and sponsors that helped have done the right thing.
The shark release symbolised freedom and the photos and video we got of the release will provide testament to that very fact.
Sharks need our help and only we as diver and as a collective organisation have the power to bring awareness to the public.
Since the releae the media has been positive and we have had talks with many organisations about setting up Shark Safe areas in Thailand.
Today in Koh Tao the Governor is trying to put into place such an area.
Will we be doing it next year ?
The answer is a resounding YES, if sharks need our help then this project will continue.

DIVE TRIBE WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE SPONSORS AND FRIENDS OF SHARKS FOR MAKING THIS HAPPEN