Scuba News

More reviews of SCUBA diving books are now on the SCUBA Travel site at http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/interview.html

Brand new page on the SCUBA Travel site about the diving in the Maldives. With more underwater photos, recommended dive sites and diving centres.

Completely revised edition of "Scuba Diving" is now available. A reference book explaining the techniques of diving: bouyancy, diving physiology, dive tables, dive planning, etc.

Hong Kong shark fin merchants have reacted angrily to a US study that said meat from endangered species was being sold in the city's markets to make a popular soup. In the new study for the journal Endangered Species Research, US scientists said they had used DNA testing to trace the geographic origin of shark fins on sale in Hong Kong. They found 21 per cent of the fins came from endangered scalloped hammerhead shark stocks in the western Atlantic. But the Hong Kong Shark Fin Trade Merchant's Association said its members had not done anything illegal. "The study is exaggerated," a spokesman for the association told AFP. "We are not doing anything against the law. The sale of endangered scalloped hammerhead shark fins has not been made illegal here."

SCUBA Travel have extended their diving in Brazil section and included more Brazilian diving operators.

Read about some great diving in India in the new SCUBA Travel section. The best dive sites and recommended diving centres in the Andaman Islands, Lakshadweep Islands and Goa.

Hand-picked diving books: guides to diving around the world, stories of the history and pioneers of diving, books featuring great underwater photography and some just stories about diving.

This new book covers the full spectrum of conditions and ailments that affect divers. Diagrams highlight key aspects, such as ear barotrauma, while therapeutic decompression tables complement the chapters on acute decompression illness, deep diver rescue and emergency ascents. Written by an experienced diving medical officer who has been a board member of DAN (Divers Alert Network) Southern Africa since 2001.

Swarms of miniature robotic ocean explorers could one day help predict where ocean currents will carry oil spills. The robot swarms could also aid in development of marine protected areas by following currents for determining critical nursery habitats and for tracking harmful blooms of algae.

Thailand Divers are offering SCUBA News readers a discount on diving courses, day trips and liveaboards to the world famous Similan Islands.