Very Special Visitors.

Very Special Visitors.

Whether you are a professional in the diving industry, a hardcore dive every week kind of diver or a vacation diver; the world of scuba allows us to meet all sorts of people. We at Beqa Adventure Divers are fortunate to be able to dive with some of the icons in the world of sharks and last week was no exception.

To our delight, we were privileged to play host to Stan Waterman, Nancy McGhee and their friend John Crossley. Thankfully Stan managed to fit in a whistlestop visit to us in between charters on the Nai'a and Bilikiki.

The last time Stan paid us a visit we were fortunate to get to dive with all 8 species of shark in Shark Reef Marine Reserve. The sharks must have remembered as Dive Day #1 culminated with a visit by not 1, but 2 tiger sharks. Scarface, the largest of the tigers we see was joined by a smaller individual who we have never before observed. The newcomer was much smaller than Scarface coming in at about 10ft in length.

Dive Day #2 and the heat was on to try and match the previous day's diving. Things did not look good when it was revealed that the bringer of bad luck, Andrew, was going to be aboard for the trip... turns out his luck must have changed as again, we had all 8 species of shark. There was a solitary silvertip, 3 sicklefin lemons, tawny nurses, grey reefs, whitetip reefs, blacktip reefs, over 20 bull sharks and another tiger shark. This time it was Adi, our little princess, who decided to put on a show for Stan, Nancy & John.

So, 2 days of diving, 8 species of sharks, lots of stories being shared and it was time to say farewell once more. Safe travels to Stan, Nancy & John and we wish you a safe and exciting trip aboard Bilikiki.

Until next time, from the team here at BAD, a big vinaka vakalevu.

More protection for our Sharks!

Ever since having established the Shark Reef Marine Reserve in 2003, we have been striving to further expand the protected area. As the data provided from our satellite and radio tagging experiments tell us, the Bull sharks and Tiger sharks tend to roam a much larger territory in this region.

The southern coast of Viti Levu adjacent to Shark Reef comprises the Qoliqoli, or fishing grounds, of the Villages of Galoa, Wainyiabia and Deuba.

After more than one year of sometimes difficult negotiations, we have finally succeeded in signing an Agreement with the relevant Chiefs and Mataqali representatives of Deuba Village stipulating that any catching or otherwise harming of Sharks within the entire Qoliqoli of Deuba Village is henceforth banned.

Galoa and Wainyiabia Villages, our partners in the Shark Reef Marine Reserve, have since joined in by also declaring their own entire Qoliqoli to be banned for Shark fishing.

To compensate for any losses in income, Deuba Village will be entitled to a share of the Marine Park Levy collected on Shark Reef, for which the Swiss Shark Foundation is very kindly providing a minimum income guarantee.
To that effect, the Marine Park Levy on Shark Reef has been increased to $20.

In April 2007, the Fiji Department of Fisheries has sanctioned all relevant Agreements, making them legally binding and thus enforceable.

The protected area, which has been named the Fiji Shark Corridor, comprises approx. 30 miles of coastline and thus hugely expands on the original Shark Reef area. In fact, when you visit Shark Reef, the entire coast as far as you can see in either direction is now protected!

Our special thanks go to
- the Villages of Galoa, Wainyiabia and Deuba for their kind assistance in making the above possible
- Manasa Bulivou, our spokesperson, for his tireless Village diplomacy
- Gary Adkison and Dr. Alexander Goldknecht, of the Swiss Shark Foundation, for their unwavering moral and financial support
- Dr. Juerg Brunnschweiler, for collecting the relevant scientific data
- Aisake Batibasaga, Principal Research Officer and Acting CEO, Fiji Department of Fisheries, for his assistance and guidance

Rusi lending a helping hand!

It's not uncommon on The Shark Dive to witness several sharks trailing long lengths of fishing tackle from their mouths. It's very hard to tell whether it is from sport fishing boats, local fishermen or the dreaded longliners; no matter where the hooks originate from though it always means pain and discomfort for the animals.

One of the tiger sharks that we observe, Adi (Princess), showed up 3 weeks ago with one such fish hook lodged in the corner of her mouth. Unfortunately there was not much line for us to work with, a mere 18" extended from her mouth and the hook was clearly visible.

Rusi, one of the shark feeders, took it upon himself to help Adi and remove the fish hook. Adi, at 13ft, is not the largest of tiger sharks but she is still one very large fish. She will approach cautiously at first, checking everything and everyone out ensureing that there is no treat to her; once confident that all is safe Adi will then make close passes of the feeders and take the bait offered up to her.
On one such pass, there was no bait on offer, instead Rusi reached out and plucked the fish hook from the corner of Adi's mouth. Surprisingly she did not flinch ot show any signs of discmfort upon removal of the hook. On subsequent passes Rusi then held up the hook to Adi so she could see what it was that was lodged in her mouth.

Mass Extinction?

"Human beings are currently causing the greatest mass extinction of species since the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. If present trends continue one half of all species of life on earth will be extinct in less than 100 years, as a result of habitat destruction, pollution, invasive species, and climate change."
from massextinction.net

Did you know that:

• If current trends continue, one half of all species of life on Earth will be extinct in 100 years. (E.O. Wilson, The Future of Life, p. 102)

• One quarter of all mammal species face extinction in 30 years. (United Nations, http://news.bbc.co.uk/)

• For every person in the world to reach present U.S. levels of consumption we would need 4 more planet Earths. (Wilson, p. 23)

• Humans currently consume 50% of the Earth's available freshwater, leaving what's left over for all other species. (World Wildlife Fund, http://www.panda.org/)

• Humans currently consume 40% of all organic matter produced by photosynthesis on Earth, leaving what's left over for all other species. (Wilson, p. 33)

• Every species of great ape on the Earth (gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees, and bonobos) is in imminent danger of extiction. (United Nations, http://news.bbc.co.uk/)

• Every species of tiger on Earth is in imminent danger of extinction. (World Wildlife Fund, http://web.archive.org/)

• The number of lions left in Africa has fallen 90% in 20 years -- there are now only 20,000 remaining. (BBC, http://news.bbc.co.uk/)

• 90 percent of all large fishes have disappeared from the world's oceans in the past half century. (Nature Magazine, http://www.cnn.com/)

• Human population is expected to increase by at least 50% over the next 75 years. (United Nations Population Division, http://www.enviroliteracy.org/)

from speciesalliance.org

And what about Sharks?

"By 2017 it is anticipated that 20 species of shark could become extinct due to hunting, indiscriminate fishing techniques and, ultimately, man's greed."
from bite-back.com

So what if we kill them all?

Cascading Effects of the Loss of Apex Predatory Sharks from a Coastal Ocean

Ransom A. Myers, Julia K. Baum, Travis D. Shepherd, Sean P. Powers, Charles H. Peterson

Impacts of chronic overfishing are evident in population depletions worldwide, yet indirect ecosystem effects induced by predator removal from oceanic food webs remain unpredictable.
As abundances of all 11 great sharks that consume other elasmobranchs (rays, skates, and small sharks) fell over the past 35 years, 12 of 14 of these prey species increased in coastal northwest Atlantic ecosystems.
Effects of this community restructuring have cascaded downward from the cownose ray, whose enhanced predation on its bay scallop prey was sufficient to terminate a century-long scallop fishery.
Analogous top-down effects may be a predictable consequence of eliminating entire functional groups of predators.



This is the newest and probably, also the most compelling study about the consequences of Shark overfishing. You can download the full document from the link above and we're also shortly going to post it on our website.

Bad News

"The world's oceans are a shadow of what they once were.

With a few notable exceptions, such as well-managed fisheries in Alaska, Iceland, and New Zealand, the number of fish swimming the seas is a fraction of what it was a century ago. Marine biologists differ on the extent of the decline. Some argue that stocks of many large oceangoing fish have fallen by 80 to 90 percent, while others say the declines have been less steep. But all agree that, in most places, too many boats are chasing too few fish."
From a chilling report by National Geographic.

Got some great pics and video?

Maybe as good as this one by Doug Perrine?
(Incidentally, that was right before Scarface took that nibble at the end of the infamous naughty file! Check out the pic and you'll see how she's already starting to bend back the monitor! )

Give it your best shot (and I mean that literally) and join the "Under the Blue 2007" International Underwater Photo and Video Competition!
We're one of the main sponsors and you might end up getting some more great price-winning shots on The Shark Dive.

But hurry up, submissions close on May 12.

Best of luck and hopefully, see you soon!

Crazy Stuff !

All of you out there who still think that we're crazy, check out this !!!
I cite: "faut vraiment etre debile, le jour ou il tombera sur un requin moins stone on va bien se marrer" - but who am I to say (-:
Enjoy!

New Beachfront Resort Opens its Doors.

As with a lot of things in Fiji, it took a little longer than initially expected; however it was well worth the wait. Opening its doors in February, The Uprising Beach Resort offers beachfront accommodations with unparalleled views over to Beqa Island.

Uprising Resort has 12 traditional bures available, 6 beachfront and 6 garden all set amongst some beautiful tropical foliage. The swimming pool is encircled by an expansive deck that leads to the bar and restaurant and is a short hop, skip & jump from the clear waters of Beqa Lagoon.

So if you're coming to Pacific Harbour, why not take a look at The Uprising as one of your options?