News round-up

Each month, we bring together the latest industry news from right here in the UK, as well as all over our water planet. To find out the most up-to-date news and views, check out the website or follow us on our various social media @scubadivermag www.scubadivermag.com/news

Human disturbance of Britain’s seal population will become a criminal offence if a Bill put before Parliament in early February passes into law. Proposed by Tracey Crouch, Conservative MP for Chatham & Aylesford, it had its first reading on 9 February.

The Seals (Protection) Bill would

This would put seal protection on the same basis in British law as whales and dolphins, and it would not be a valid defence to claim that it was a person’s dog, vessel or drone that had disturbed the animals. Britain is home to more than a third of the world’s grey seal population, Crouch told the House of Commons, explaining that as a globally rare species it was the equivalent of the African elephant. The UK also hosts 30% of European common seals, which she described as in ‘alarming decline’.

“I was thrilled to hear from the Zoological Society of London that the latest population survey estimated that 700 harbour seals and 3,000 grey seals live in the Thames estuary,” said Crouch. “As a Medway MP, I was pleased to discover how many seals are drawn to the Medway and Swale estuaries to rest and pup on the excellent mudflats and salt-marsh habitat, due to the abundance of prey, including smelt and sea bass.” As the largest no-take fish zone in the UK, she said, the Medway was ‘the perfect restaurant for seals’.

Seals as top predators helped to maintain a balanced marine ecosystem, and could also contribute to coastal economies as tourist attractions, said Crouch, though they faced issues such as habitat loss and chemical and plastic pollution. While such elemental threats required global solutions, tackling the human disturbance of seals – defined as any action that disrupts a seal from a settled state in response to a perceived threat – was something Parliament could achieve ‘with a minor tweak to existing legislation’.

Citing a dog attack on a popular seal near Hammersmith Bridge on the River Thames last year, Crouch said: “I know

through my work with Mary Tester, a British Divers Marine Life Rescue medic who was in charge of Freddie, how he brought joy to the local community and visitors alike, especially during lockdown.

“The injuries that Freddie suffered, sadly, resulted in the decision being made to put him down.” The dog’s owner was barrister Rebecca SabbenClare QC. Although dogs are not required to be kept on leads in open spaces, it is illegal if they are deemed to be ‘dangerously out of control’, but the Metropolitan Police took no action.

In January this year an unnamed jogger in the north-east of England ignored the advice of seal stewards and approached a group of more than 100 seals resting on rocks, causing a stampede. The Yorkshire Seal Group later confirmed that his reckless behaviour would have caused numerous injuries and might have led to the deaths of some of the pups.

Whether intentional, reckless or negligent, disturbance causes stress and wastes seals’ vital energy reserves, often resulting in injury, said Crouch, while broken ribs or jaws could prove fatal.

Last spring the Government had worked with the Seal Alliance to launch the ‘Give Seals Space’ awareness campaign, advising the public to stay well away from seals, never feed them, keep dogs on a lead and take all litter home. In response to a parliamentary petition it had also confirmed that it would fund related signage on the banks of the Thames, which Crouch hoped would be extended to other locations such as Medway where seals could be endangered.

Thirty conservation organisations had previously signed a letter to the Prime Minister calling for urgent action on seal disturbance. With cross-party support for Crouch’s proposal, the Bill is expected to pass through its second reading on Friday, 18 March.

UK conservation charity Sea-Changers has announced the six recipients of grants from its new Marine Conservation Social Fund – cash intended for use on environmental projects in which sometimes disadvantaged participants can derive their own social, health and well-being benefits.

“Engagement with blue spaces can have a hugely positive impact on well-being,” says the voluntary body. “It is also the case that volunteering has both individual and community cohesion benefits.” Describing the successful applicants’ projects as ‘innovative, thoughtful and important’, it reckons the work will make a significant impact over the next 12 months, if not beyond.

Made possible by a single donation of £23,000, the 2021 Marine Conservation Social Fund is to be shared between The Dee Estuary Well-Being with Nature Project (Cheshire Wildlife Trust); The Ocean Well-Being Project (Clean Ocean Sailing); Reusable Period Education to our Schools (GRAB); Ocean Pathways (Ocean Conservation Trust); Trash & Treasure (Penparcau Wildlife Group); and Blue Youth: Kickstarting the Connection with Marine Conservation (Whale & Dolphin Conservation).

Sea-Changers was founded by scuba divers Helen Webb and Rachel Lopata and began its grant-giving programme ten years ago, with the active participation of the UK diving community. Raising funds through corporate partnerships (which now number 18), online giving and auctions, sponsored events and individual donations, it distributes the money to UK marine charities and non-profit organisations, including schools, as one-off grants for conservation and research projects.

There are two regular funds, Main Grants and Small Grants, and Sea-Changers says that the former has now expanded, with applications for grants of between £500 and £2,500 on offer. There are two annual rounds of applications for the Main Grants Fund, with deadlines of 31 March and 30 September.

The Small Grants Fund, for awards of up to £500, is now open for applications year-round: “You can apply any time and get a quick decision,” promises Sea-Changers. www.sea-changers.org.uk

Aqua Active was created in 2020 to introduce, distribute and market innovative scuba-diving brands to the UK. The company aim is to be distributors of well-designed quality equipment that meets scuba divers’ needs in both UK and foreign holiday settings. Aqua Active will manage each brand and its distribution, reselling through a growing dealer network, as well as also promoting the products through their close relationship with the diving press. The first brand to launch in the UK was the Tecline range of diving equipment. With fully modular configurations and attractive ergonomic designs, Tecline answers the demands of the recreational diver as well as exacting technical divers.

Aqua Active is a joint venture between Wojciech Bernady and Diederik Kohnhorst. Both have ten years diving experience, having progressed from recreational to technical diving in the UK and abroad. Wojciech has run a dive shop in northwest London for the last five years, he is qualified to test cylinders and service a large range of dive equipment. Diederik has had a long career in IT systems and brings a wealth of process and workflow experience to Aqua Active. www.teclinediving.eu

GO Diving Show Main Stage speaker Monty Halls was in full hero mode when he helped rescue a common dolphin that was stranded on mud flats in the Dart Estuary. Monty, who lives near Old Mill Creek in Dartmouth, Devon, was out walking his dog late-January when he saw a pod of dolphins in the estuary. As he is not used to seeing them that far inland, he knew it was ‘an indicator that something wasn’t quite right’, and sure enough, closer inspection revealed that one of the pod was stranded on the flats. Volunteers from British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) attended the scene, along with the RNLI, and Monty helped them free the mammal from the mud flats, get it into a specially constructed floatation device, and move it out to deeper water. The entire operation took nearly three hours of hard slog, but as Monty said: “It was really life-affirming to know that there are all these good people out there just standing by to help out if things get a bit tough.

“Everyone did a phenomenal job and there was that lovely final moment of just watching the animal disappear down the estuary and towards the horizon.”

Want to tick off a ‘bucket list’ dive trip with a difference in 2022? Then join Scuba Diver and Scuba Dive Adventures as we embark on an adventure to the ‘land of the dragons’ – Komodo!

Komodo National Park is well known for the ferocious-looking dragons, but the unique ecology of the area, formed by volcanic activity, has shaped a diver’s paradise underwater with muck dives, walls and more marine life than you could ever see in a single holiday. Dive after dive reveals the immense biodiversity, from vast pelagics to microscopic macro and vibrant reefs that are so characteristic of this corner of Indonesia.

The Komodo National Park itinerary is filled with exotic and far-flung dives that will make your logbook the envy of others. Sangeang, Banta, Satonda and Komodo are the focal points of the trip and each has a distinctive flavour.

Emperor Harmoni is Emperor Divers Indonesia’s brand-new liveaboard, the second for Emperor Indonesia, and is one of only a select few liveaboards in this region to have two engines – at 48 metres, she happily welcomes 20 guests in spacious surroundings.

Scuba Diver Editorial Director Mark Evans will be on this epic adventure, writing a feature or two about the incredible underwater and topside scenery and action – and you will be involved! We want to make the guests on this trip an integral part of what appears in the magazine!

We are also working on a number of other ‘special features’ which will mark this trip out as ‘out of the ordinary’ compared with a normal itinerary – watch this space!

The trip runs from 23 September to 2 October and is £3,950 per person, based on two people sharing. This includes nine nights full board on Emperor Harmoni (incl tea/coffee, juices, soft drinks and local beers), transfers between liveaboard and local airport or hotel on days of embarkation and disembarkation, all diving on air, nitrox if certified, 12-litre cylinder, weights and weightbelt, and equipment hire

Contact Scuba Dive Adventures on 0113 4681100 or: enquiries@ scubadiveadventures.co.uk for more information or to book.

Iceland’s fisheries minister had said that whaling is no longer profitable and that commercial whaling could end in as little as two years – much to the delight of marine conservation groups.

In an article in the Morgunbladid newspaper, Svandis Svavarsdottir said that the fact only one whale had been killed in the past three years showed that whaling had little economic benefit for Iceland, and that this would be a crucial factor in any decision regarding extending whale hunting beyond 2023. “Why should Iceland take the risk of keeping up whaling, which has not brought any economic gain, in order to sell a product for which there is hardly any demand?” she said.

She pointed out that Iceland’s whale-killing activities can have a genuinely negative impact on the country, as witnessed by the US chain Whole Food stopping marketing any Icelandic products when the country resumed commercial hunting in 2006. There are far more lucrative whale-related industries in Iceland. Hundreds of thousands of tourists descend on the island to go whale watching every year.

As part of their 25th anniversary celebrations, the Shark Trust has launched a brandnew community science initiative aimed at divers and snorkellers – the Great Shark Snapshot – which will take place during the last week of July.

Divers from all over the world will be invited to record all the shark, ray and skate species that they see during that week. The information of what they find over the week will be added to the Shark Trust’s Shark Log. This will, over time, allow shark scientists to build a picture of species distribution and any changes that occur.

Sharks are threatened by destructive fishing, climate change and habitat loss. The data collected during the Great Shark Snapshot will help scientists put effective conservation plans in place. Dive clubs, centres, and boats can sign up to show their support for this exciting new event and advertise their planned dives on the Great Shark Snapshot registration page. Divers looking to join an event will be able to use the map to find Great Shark Snapshot dives taking place near them.

As well as gathering vital data, the event will provide a chance to celebrate the incredible shark and ray species that live close to you. The Great Shark Snapshot is a way for divers to get together, go diving, and do something to help shark conservation. Non-divers can get involved too. Shore-based events can be organised so groups can explore their local beaches and search for egg-cases and record these over the week too. Every record can be added to the Shark Trust’s Great Eggcase Hunt.

It is easy to join in. Just go diving between 24 and 31 July (inclusive) and record every shark, ray and skate that your dive group sees. If possible, take photos and some video footage too. The Shark Trust really want to see what species you encounter on your dives. Then make sure that you record your sightings on the Shark Trust Shark Log recordings website or on the new app (which is coming soon).

If you need help identifying a species of shark or eggcase, head over to the Shark Trust website where you will find ID guides to help you. Join the shark and dive communities online and let other divers know what you saw during your dives. Remember to use the hashtag #GreatSharkSnapshot and the Shark Trust will share sightings over the week. It will be incredible to see what divers around the world see on their Great Shark Snapshot dives. www.sharktrust.org

The 2022 diving year got off to a tragic start on Saturday 5 February, with the news that a scuba diver died after slipping off rocks while exiting the water in St Brides Bay in Wales. The as-yet-unnamed man, who is believed to be from Cardiff, was shore diving with two other men at the popular Pembrokeshire site. According to Dfyed-Powys Police, at around 11.35am, as the divers were exiting the water, the man slipped, fell and disappeared under the water.

A 999 call was made to the police, who contact Milford Haven Coastguard shortly afterwards, and a search-and-rescue operation involving RNLI lifeboats from Little Haven and Broad Haven, and St David’s, a Coastguard helicopter from Newquay in Cornwall, Wales Air Ambulance and rescue teams from Dale and Broad Haven was launched. The missing diver was located and brought to the beach at St Brides, but was declared dead after failed attempts to resuscitate him.

Aggressor Adventures is saying goodbye to the Kona Aggressor II, which has been part of its extensive fleet of worldwide liveaboards for 33 years. In a statement released on social media, Aggressor Adventures’ CEO Wayne Brown explained that after extensive topside remodeling on the Kona Aggressor II, the remaining work was to be done in a shipyard to complete any hull repairs before putting the yacht back into service.

In early February, the yacht duly travelled to a shipyard in Honolulu, which is where it is now. The aluminum inspection revealed the repairs would require removing the entire superstructure to repair the pontoons at an estimated cost in excess of $500,000.

Due to the excessive costs to repair the vessel to Aggressor’s safety standards, the Kona Aggressor II yacht owner has made the decision to cease operations in Kona, Hawaii, effective 14 February 2022. www.aggressor.com

The National Diving and Activity Centre (NDAC) has closed down permanently, to the dismay of divers and dive centre owners across the country. In a brief message on the company’s Facebook page and website, it said: ‘The National Diving & Activity Centre is permanently closed. We are not taking bookings for leisure activities or public diving.We’d like to thank all our customers for their support over the years.’

NDAC had become one of the most-popular inland dive sites in the UK over the last few years, and had a plethora of sunken attractions at depths to suit all levels of diver. And talking of depth, that was one of the main selling points of NDAC – it had technical-level depths and so provided a great location for tech training that was not susceptible to the weather.

It was the site of the inaugural GO Diving Roadshow in September last year, and as well as all of the diving facilities, also boasted an inflatable Aqua Park, zip line, paddleboards and flyboarding.

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