SCUBA News 276
(ISSN 1476-8011)
July 2023

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SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011)
Issue 276 - July 2023
https://www.scubatravel.co.uk
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What's New at SCUBA Travel?

	Cape Verde This remote archipelago hosts loggerhead turtles, dolphins, sharks, manta ray and tons of colourful invertebrates LEARN MORE…
	Great Diving in Grenada Including the largest wreck in the Caribbean, the Bianca C. READ MORE…
	Welcome Creta Happy Divers to the SCUBA Travel Community Since 1989 Creta Happy Divers have provided super diving in Crete through their four dive centres. LEARN MORE…

10 Last Minute Liveaboard Deals - Save up to 50%!

We bring you news of the latest dive boat deals, specially selected for us by Divebooker.com, the liveaboard specialists

1. Sea Serpent Glorious Miss Nouran, Egypt, Brothers, Daedalus, Elphinstone 26 Aug - 02 Sep 2023 (7 nights), SAVE 50 Euro per person, Price from EUR 1,399 per trip per person
2. Maldives Blue Force 3, Maldives, Central Atolls Classical Route, SAVE 50%, Price from USD 845 per trip per person
   
3. Tiare, Indonesia, Komodo and Banda Sea cruises, SAVE UP TO 25% on selected Komodo and Banda Sea cruises on 2023 (6 to 11 nights),
4. Sea Hunter, Costa Rica, Cocos Island, SAVE 20% for selected trips in Autumn, 2023 (10 nights). *Offer valid for new bookings only
5. Sea Pearl, Seychelles, Summer Cruise, SAVE 20% for any booking made before the 31st January 2023 for 6 night trips in the May-October cruise season 2024. Price from EUR 1,044 per trip per person
6. Caribbean Explorer II, St. Maarten / Saba /St. Kitts, 12 - 19 Aug and 19 - 26 Aug 2023 (7 nights), SAVE USD 1000, Price from USD 1,695 per trip per person, * Valid for new reservations only, booked and deposited between July 4th and August 12, 2023, additional terms may apply.
7. Galapagos Master, Galapagos Islands, SAVE UP TO 30% on selected trips in 2023-2024 (7 & 10 nights), when booking made from 5th July to 31st Aug 2023.
8. The Junk, Thailand, Similan & Surin Islands, 23 - 29 October 2023 (6 nights), SAVE 20%. *Promotion applicable to bookings made from 5th July to 31st Aug 2023. *Repeater discounts can be applied but applies to new bookings only. Departures may be added or removed at any point from the promotion
9. Seadoors, Philippines, Southern Visayas, 18 - 24 Nov & 09 - 15 Dec 2023 (6 nights), SAVE UP TO 15%, Price from EUR 1,680 per trip per person, *Valid for new bookings made before October 8, 2023
10. Discovery I (Amelia), Egypt, different routes, SAVE 15% on all trips in December 2023 (7 nights), Price from EUR 872 per trip per person
    

Creature of the month is Sabre Squirrelfish, Sargocentron spiniferum

Sabre Squirrelfish. Also known as Giant Squirrelfish or Long-Jawed Squirrelfish. Photo: Tim Nicholson

The largest of all the squirrelfish, you see this in the Indo-Pacific including the Red Sea and East Africa. A member of the Holocentridae family, squirrelfish have large eyes and are nocturnal. During the day you'll find them under ledges and in caves, away from the light. Growing up to 45 cm, they live alone or in small groups. You can distinguish Sargocentron spiniferum from other squirrel fish by the red blotch behind its eye.

Easyily seen by divers but hidden from other fish

Like many nocturnal fish, Sargocentron spiniferum is red. To us it is easy to spot during the day, but to other fish it blends into its dark crevice or cave. Long red light wavelengths don't penetrate water well, so fish colour vision tends to be tuned to the shorter, blue and ultra-violet end of the spectrum. This means that red and pink fish are inconspicuous.

The Sabre sqirrelfish lives to around 7 years.

References

Coral Reef Fishes, Indo-Pacific and Caribbean, by Ewald Lieske and Robert Myers, Harper Collins
New Scientist Magazine, 29 July 2000
A S Mohammed et al Age, growth and population parameters of the spiny squirrelfish, Sargocentron spiniferum, 2020

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Diving news from around the World

	Shark shock - scientists discover filter-feeding basking sharks are warm-bodied Approximately 99.9% of fish and shark species are "cold-blooded", meaning their body tissues generally match the temperature of the water they swim in - but researchers have just discovered the mighty basking shark is a one-in-a-thousand exception.
	Scientists: Fishing boats compete with whales and penguins for Antarctic krill Scientists and campaigners recently documented huge krill fishing vessels plowing through pods of whales feeding in Antarctic waters, a permitted practice they say deprives the whales of food. As Antarctic waters warm due to climate change, krill numbers are declining, stressing wildlife that rely on the small crustaceans at the bottom of the food chain.
	Tag team effort brings tech to aid leatherback turtle conservation In Puerto Rico, scientists and conservationists are deploying drones and satellite tags to gather data about leatherback sea turtles.
	Do octopuses dream? Neural activity resembles human sleep stages Brain probes reveal complexities of octopus sleep. These invertebrates have a two-stage sleep cycle similar to that seen in many vertebrates
	Deep-sea expedition reveals rare octo-nurseries off Costa Rica A scientific expedition in June found two new deep-sea octopus nurseries on two different low-temperature hydrothermal vent sites off the west coast of Costa Rica - two of only three known deep-sea octopus nurseries in the world.
	At sea as on land? Activists oppose industrial farming in U.S. waters Aquaculture produces more than half of the world's seafood, mostly in inland and coastal waters. Industrial finfish aquaculture, such as salmon farming, accounts for just a fraction of that production, and comes with a host of negative environmental impacts.
	Scientists unveil plans for underwater AI bot that detects illegal fishing Scientists have started work on a new underwater artificial intelligence bot which can detect activities that harm the ocean environment.
	Picky green sea turtle has travelled to the same place to eat for generations For approximately 3,000 years, generations of green sea turtles have returned to the same seagrass meadows to eat.

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SCUBA News is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. This means we are happy for you to reuse our material for both commercial and non-commercial use as long as you: credit the name of the author, link back to the SCUBA Travel website and say if you have made any changes. Some of the photos though, might be copyright the photographer. If in doubt please get in touch.

Photo credits: Alan De Witt, Rudmer Zwerver, Howard Chew/DepositPhotos, Denis Riek, The Global Ocean Surface Ecosystem Alliance (GO-SEA) Field Guide (CC-BY 4.0), Tim Nicholson, Jill Studholme

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Jill Studholme
SCUBA News
The Cliff

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